( Unlikely )

[Genkai]

It was a typical day for fourteen year old Sakura Haruno. She woke up early, refreshed her mind with some quick studying as she got dressed. She brushed her long hair out a few dozen times and grabbed an apple for breakfast and off to school she went. Along the way she finished her apple and ran into her friend/enemy, Ino Yamanaka who Sakura had no time for and just threw her core at the blond's face and hurried off the school with Ino hot on her trail. This exchange of sorts made Sakura's Inner Self quite pleased who saw the day already looking up. As she arrived at the Academy she noticed a few people lingering outside. The air was warm which meant summer was upon the bustling village of Konoha. Sakura enjoyed warm weather even if her hair did not and just lingered outside to keep an eye out for her favorite classmate, Sasuke Uchiha. It was only a week till graduation and Sakura was hoping she and Sasuke would be paired up. But since Sasuke and herself were some of the top students in Iruka-Sensei's class, she knew it might be unlikely that she would be put on a team with the dark haired male that any girl her age would pine after. When Ino finally caught up with Sakura, ready to dish out some revenge the bell rang for them to pile into the school. Sakura flashed Ino a grin and headed inside alone.

On the outside, Sakura likely appeared to be your typical teenaged kunnoichi, she did well in school and was fairly social. She was pretty but also able to handle herself as any ninja should. Yet if you looked past her outward appearance, you would find someone who was quite miserable on the other side of the typical spectrum of being a teenager. Sakura didn't really have friends she could gossip with or hang out after the Academy let out. For the most part, she kept her head inside the books and got A's. Since she didn't have much to do, either her time was spent at home or at school doing work of some kind. Her parents weren'tfond of her decision to become a ninja, despite how proud they should have been to raise an intelligent pretty kunnoichi. Her father was indifferent at best while her mother was often distraught about her only daughter resigning herself to a life of danger and hardship. Perhaps it was this doubt at home which made her so eager to prove them wrong, to show that she could be just like any other legendary ninja in the history books. Sakura didn't want to regret her decision to become a ninja, no, she would make sure it was the best decision of her life which was why she refused to fail or show weakness. Perhaps this endeavor of hers cost her a few friendships or party invitations but she knew it was for the greater good.

Entering the classroom, the pink haired girl headed over to her seat near the center of the class while the others filed in at their own pace. She took out her notebook and flipped through the pages of her notes, trying to study anything last minute just in case there happened to be some kind of pop quiz. Iruka-Sensei wasn't that kind of teacher but since they were almost Genin, she was sure he wanted to prepare them for anything, even if in the form of a silly little quiz. As Sasuke entered, she perked her head up a little, as did everyone else's, but then a bumbling blond who Sakura tried to avoid entered: Naruto Uzumaki. She clenched her pen and looked away before he caught her eye. It wasn't that she hated Naruto, he was just creepy around her and she was sure she knew why. Yet if she stepped back and noticed how alone she was and how alone he was, it could have been possible to befriend the crazy kid. When Iruka-Sensei entered the classroom, he quickly began taking attendance while Sakura just went back to scanning her notes from the past few weeks. Once that was taken care of and if any stragglers still needed to settle in, the teacher began to talk about one last assignment which made most of the class groan in perfect unison. Sakura flipped to a new page and waited to hear more.

- - -

Another nightmare, another restless night for Sasuke Uchiha. He got dressed and ate breakfast alone. He lived in the Uchiha compound without any company except for perhaps a few stray birds or rabbits to which he sometimes saw as food more than company. But Sasuke enjoyed the space, he liked to train on his own as well as think on his own. Since this Monday morning came early for Sasuke, he got dressed and headed out into the sleeping village he could call home. He tip toed along the rooftops to test his quick agility. He sped up a little to test his balance and hopped down when he neared his destination. There, on the outskirts of the village was his destination. While many wouldn't consider the dark haired Uchiha very sensitive, he still enjoyed watching the sunrise over the lake's calm waters. It was always a good way to begin the day in his opinion. Sasuke weaved through the long grass and finally reached the bank of the lake took a seat. Many nights would stop short for him so he often headed out to the lake to train or just distract himself from his inner turmoil. The boy laid back on the grass and sprawled out. He closed his eyes and managed to find a few minutes of rest before the sun hit his skin, acting as a natural alarm clock. He slowly pushed himself up, the strong scent of grass and dirt entering his nose. Maybe now it was time to head back?

He got to his feet and dusted any traces of his jaunt off of himself before sprinting back into the heart of Konoha. As he moved along, using the less used route, such as roofs, alleyways and such, he noticed a few of his classmates heading toward the Academy as well which was a sure enough sign that he may have been able to spend maybe a minute or two more at the lake before he might get into trouble. And he didn't like trouble, he didn't need the attention, he just needed to train, to get strong enough to kill someone who needed to be killed. Just the though of his brother ruined the start of a beautiful day for Sasuke. He landed in the front of the Academy and turned to see a pack of girls squabbling or something. He didn't think much of them and just headed inside before the bell rang. When it did, he managed to get a bag of chips before being considered tardy. He entered the classroom and ignored the sea of eyes cast upon himself. He sat in his own row and just looked ahead, waiting for class to start. When the roll was over, Iruka-Sensei began to talk about the last assignment which Sasuke was interested in. "You will be paired into pairs and each person in the pair will have to create a solid transformation of their partner down to the very detail of their clothes, to their personalities. You will then be given the task to create two leaf duplicates to which your partner will then be turned around and will have to use their shuriken throwing skills to spot the two fakes and take them out."

It seemed like an interesting task, simple at first glance but it did have room for complications. Sasuke flexed his wrists a little and wondered who would be paired with who but Iruka-Sensei said it would be due by Thursday which didn't give the groups much time to practice together which was why he would be calling today a short day to release everyone to just practice. Sasuke frowned a little and knew that it would be tough, depending on who was paired with who. And it seemed their teacher wasn't about to pull any punches. Naruo and Ino, Shino and Kiba, As Iruka read down the list, Sasuke was surprised to hear he had been paired with Hinata. He turned around and tried to locate her. He saw her and didn't show much joy or disappointment. He supposed he could be in worse shape with Ino or Naruto as his partner. Sakura was then paired with Shikamaru and the others were soon paired off until no one was left. Sasuke rose from his chair and pushed it in, as he knew it was unlikely that the shy Hyuga girl would initiate contact with her assigned partner so Sasuke took it upon himself to act as their leader, of sorts. He walked over to her and brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. "So where do you want to practice?" He asked her. Meanwhile Sakura held her notebook tightly, trying to see the silver lining in the whole pairing up of classmates. She looked over at Sasuke and then went off to find Shikamaru.

[Blazed]

The air all around Shikamaru Nara was calm and smooth. He lay there in his bed, his arms pulled up behind his head as he gazed out the window up into the blue clear sky. The birds could be heard nearby singing their songs that they did every morning. Shifting his weight slightly he moved his hand towards his mouth and yawned lazily, her eyes watering slightly. Although, it was not yet time to get up, Shikamaru would awake on his own by the songs of the birds. This part of him, was something that only his best friend ever saw. The large yet kind Choji Akimichi, a friend before his family put him into the academy. Hearing the loud pounds on the wooden hallway of his tyrannical mother mother coming to awake him for the day, he rolled to his side facing the wall away from the door with a sigh. He closed his eyes and muttered “Troublesome” before his mother broke the calming morning air.

“Shikamaru! Get up or you won’t have time to eat before Choji gets here!” she yelled as she pounded on the door. Shikamaru’s eyebrows pulled together in an annoyed way before he very lazily rolled out of bed. It almost like he was about to roll right onto the floor, but his feet pushed him up as his mother started to pound on the door again “Shikamaru did you hear me?!” He sighed rubbing his face as he started to get changed.

“Yes mother” He half-heartedly yelled back to her. Once dressed, he didn’t bother bushing his hair, just throwing it up into the usually Nara style ponytail and leaving the room, his pj’s on the floor, his bed unmade as half the sheets lay on the floor before greeting his family at the table. Table talk was full of lectures, and the usual adult like talk between husband and wife. It couldn’t have come sooner when Choji had called for him from outside, making Shikamaru excuse himself before his plate was empty. He heard his mother huff as he walked out of the room, blocking her nagging voice out into a odd mutter.

As the two boys made their way to class, there was the usually chattiness from Choji, letting Shikamaru stay rather mute with only the odd response here and there. He walked in a way that he could take in the world around him, yet it appeared awkward to many others. Hands pushed into his pockets, his back slouched. His mother was always nagging him to walk upright, yet his father almost walked in the same way. He only stood up right with his hands in his pocket. His mother had his father on puppet strings.

The two boys came to the school early as always, and pushed their way into the classroom around all the kids to get their usually spot in the back. It was the best way for Choji to sneak his constant snacking and gave Shikamaru the room to sleep, although, most of the time Iruka-Sensei knew to keep an eye on him. After all it was only one last week, before he wouldn’t be able to nap at all. Ninja stuff made you stand. Sleep standing was something even Shikamaru couldn’t do. It was such a drag knowing that he would have to do some work once he graduated. Troublesome really.

The class began to fill up, along with the nosy and hyped up classmate. Pressing his forehead into his crossed arms, he lay his head on the desk and closed his eyes. He didn’t understand why everyone had to be so awake for something so lame. Shikamaru was rather good at tuning people out at this point in his life, but the fact that it was the last Monday before graduation people were ready to get out there and do whatever, the hell ninja’s did. As Iruka made his way into the classroom, Shikamaru was only half listening as the class became quiet. Just as he was about o drift off Choji nudge him, making Shikamaru roll his head on his arms to look at the boy, as if saying’ what’.

“May want to listen, he’s making us do assigned group work.” Choji whispered, making Shikamaru groan slightly, shifting to sit a little more upright as he leaded his head on his elbow. At this point Shikamaru had no idea what was happening, he had really only picked up on how this was a last test before their final. He could only hope Iruka-Sensei did the smart thing and put him with Choji. However, this all blew up in his face when he heard he was being paired up with the third most annoying girl he knew. Sakura.
“What a drag.” He muttered as Iruka-Sensei finished listing off the rest of the groups. He watched his best friend sadly walk over to some guy who he didn’t even know. As groups started to leave, Shikamaru glanced out the window, not bothered to find the know-it-all loud and annoying girl. She was bound to find him, which he quickly did. Not bothering to turn his head he looked over at Sakura, for a moment saying nothing. Sighing he said “How troublesome.” Standing up he pushed his hands into his pockets and started for the door. He was going to his favorite spot, that way she could fill him in there well he got to do his favorite pass time. Watching the clouds.

Shikamaru could only hope that Choji would get the same idea, since it was their usual hang out place after class, or when they skipped class. Glancing behind him, a slightly annoyed look on his face he said. “What exactly do we have to do that we are getting let out this early?” He asked as they walked down the streets of Hidden Leaf village. When they finally drew closer he took the stairs surprisingly two at a time before coming to his bench where he laid down, his arms behind his head as he glanced up at the sky.

~~~

Sitting at the table for the morning meal with her family, the young Hinata Hyuga, pushed her food around with her chop sticks. The dark cloud that was her room, never let up the presser. She had already lost her title as heir to her younger sister, her father seemed to hate her and took her as worthless, her cousin came to hate her more than anyone else. She was alone in a clan and village. No friends to really call her own. Just sitting there watching the world pass her by, for no matter how hard she tried, she could never get better. The sun was starting to raise in the distance and the young Hyuga girl excused herself from the table taking her things to the kitchen along with her family’s as they all left her alone.

Once the dishes were done, drip drying on the rack she left the Hyuga sublet and made her way into town. It was a nice day, a lovely breeze danced along the streets. She made her way towards the usual training grounds that she went to every morning. She tried her hardest to become better, but always fell short of the expectation her family set for her. Taking in a deep breath of morning air, she closed her lovely tinted lavender eyes and pushed his foot out into a stand, her arms tucking into place. “Byakugan” She spoke, in her soft toned voice. Her eyes became sharp, dented with veins along with her sides of her face. She pushed forward, focusing her charka into her hands before slamming them into a tree stump over and over again. With each hit she let out a breath, that held a sort of grunt cry, that clearly showed she was using as much strength as she had.

Her hands over the years had become hard from training, they were not soft like all the other girls her age, they were cracked, and rough. As time passed she winced slightly as her hands could no longer take the impact. Huffing for breath she looked down at her hands with sad eyes. Some of the old cracks had reopened. Slipping one of her hands into her pocket she pulled out the secret Hyuga clan medicine which she always carried with her. After carefully rubbing it onto her wounds she slipped the small container back into her pocket and started to make her way back towards the village.

As she walked, her hands came together, her two pointer fingers pressing together and slightly pulling apart before pressing together again. As she made her way to the Academy, she only hoped that Naruto would pass with the rest of their class so she could be put on the same team as him. He was they boy she adored, he made her feel so much better about herself. Although, she was sure he didn’t have a clue who she was. Yet she watched from afar to learn from him. He was the reason she was able to get out of bed each morning and push forward to train. As he said all the time, he would never give up and because of that, neither would she.

The students were starting to fill into the school, Hinata came to a light jog, coming in behind everyone else, sitting down beside Kiba. She sat there shifting in her sit rather uncomfortably as she watched for Naruto to come in. For once he came in just as Iruka-Sensei walked in the other door. He sat just ahead of her, letting her watch him well being able to still pay attention. As Iruka-Sensei started to explain their task for the next week, she could only hope that she would be paired with Naruto. However, just the thought of getting to spend one on one time with Naruto made her cheeks heat up, turning a light pink. She shrunk her neck slightly into her light brown sweater, her hands coming up to hide her cheeks a little. However, her hopes were dashed as Naruto go paired with Ino, who yelled at Iruka-Sensei for doing this to her. Naruto replied with his usual angry yell back, just making Ino sigh in frustration.

As the class was dismissed, Naruto was dragging Ino out of the classroom first. It appeared as if Ino was going to fall over, she hadn’t seen this coming. Hinata couldn’t help the small smile that came over her face as she wished Naruto good luck. As Hinata stood up, a few of the girls who were still in the class room glared at her, making her look around with worried eyes. Her hands came together in their usual habit, she wanted to run. One girl whispered to her as she passed “Try anything and your dead”, this causing Hinata to look down at her feet as they shifted awkwardly.

Before anyone else could curse her, Sasuke came up to her, his words startled her slight, making her look up quickly, her hands still fidgeting. “ah.” She held for a moment as if she was caught off guard. It was still a hard thing for Hinata to talk to her other class mates, she glanced down. “We could go to one of the t-t-training groups. . . . Un-unless you have a place you’d like to go. . .?” She spoke trailing off towards the end. She peeked up at Sasuke, with her lavender eyes wondering if she would be good enough to work with Sasuke. Everyone knew he was the best in the class, always doing things that people had yet to learn. It was the kind of thing that happened in a high clan. . . well before his was all murdered. He had done so well to keep up his training, and skill. If only Hinata could have been able to do that for her clan, things would have been much better at home. “Um, I-I-I guess we should get going” She spoke softly before walking off with Sasuke.

[Genkai]

'Sucker!' Inner Sakura thought as she could still hear Ino's loud complaints as she was pulled off by Naruto. When Sakura located Shikamaru, he already appeared to be en route to some location. She let a brief glare grace her face before it changed back into a muted expression. She knew this task would test more than her knowledge and skill as a kunnoichi, but as a patient woman too. As she walked after Shikamaru, she didn't take long before she was walking beside him. While she could ask where he was headed to, she decided to let him have the lead, for the time being. He asked what was going on and she rolled her eyes and looked off for a moment. 'This has to be some kind of joke. I have no idea who is worse, Shikamaru or Naruto.' Sakura thought angrily. 'And why did Sasuke get paired with Hinata, this is some cruel joke, Iruka-Sensei.' She thought and looked back to the lazy ninja beside her as they neared the grassy park which seemed pretty much vacant.

"Well..." She began. "Each of us has to create a replication of the other and then two shadow clones, they have to be perfectly identical. Then the other partner has to spot the two clones and take them out with a shuriken." Sakura summed up for him. 'The only solace I have is that Ino is in a much worse situation than I am.' She silently hoped as they headed down to a grassy location and Shikamaru got comfortable. Sakura made a bit of a face and remained standing, her pink hair slightly moving in the breeze. It was a great day out but when Sakura thought about studying, she thought about doing it with as less distractions as possible and being outside give someone an endless supply of distractions. To be honest, Sakura had no idea Shikamaru was even capable of graduating. From what she could tell in class, he wasn't attentive nor driven academically and she had no idea why he wanted to be a ninja when he had such terrible qualities.

Part of her was hesitant to bring up his standing grade in the class, it wasn't her place but she couldn't help herself, "Shikamaru...I'm not sure how you're doing in class but if you do really well on this last test, I'm sure you'd pass with flying colors." She offered a small slightly forced smile. "I mean, our grades will be individual I'm sure but we'll still have our teamwork taken into account and soon we'll be in teams once we graduate anyway..." She collected her thoughts and continued, "So maybe we should use this to get to know one another as practice. I could just say you're on your own and that would be that." Which was something he'd probably enjoy, and he wouldn't be the only one with that thought. "But we have to work together and prefect our technique so it becomes effortless, don't you think?" Sakura offered to him.

As another breeze blew by, she could have sworn she heard some of her classmates walking by in one of the other districts of Konoha. Sakura felt her stress level rise as she began to wonder how the end of the week would be with her and Shikamaru crashing and burning. No matter what, she couldn't allow him to let her slack off and get a poor grade. She had to be perfect, she had to prove herself no matter what. Sakura looked down at Shikamaru and took out one of the tools she kept in her pocket. She took out her shuriken and walked over to the tree nearby and etched an "x" into it and stepped back over. If Shikamaru was content with taking a nap, so be it, but she was going to practice her throwing and aim.

Leaning back, she lunged her body forward and threw the metal star at the tree. It hit and stuck but it only managed to hit next to the "x" she was aiming for. She let out a bit of a growl and headed back to the tree to retrieve her weapon. 'Maybe all this end of the year stress is catching up to me.' Sakura considered, her head starting to hurt. In her mind, if she took life less seriously, she'd end up a total loser like Naruto or Shikamaru and she didn't want that. She wanted to be great, to be noticed by Sasuke Uchiha, she deserved that much didn't she?

Sakura headed back over to Shikamaru and looked at him again. "So are you just going to lay there the whole day?" She asked him. "If we can get this started then maybe we won't have to work as hard later down the line and we can relax a little." She saw no point in relaxing now and panicking later when you could just get the hard work out of the way. Turning around, she threw her star back at the tree and it went right passed the trunk and landed in the grass. 'Argh you have got to be kidding me!? My aim has never been this terrible! What's going on?!' Her Inner Self was livid. Sakura clenched her jaw and fists and stomped over and got her shuriken and headed back to the bench again and sat down next to it on the grass. She had no idea what was with her today, it was as if her mind was refusing to focus. "At least Sasuke isn't here to see me humiliate myself." She sighed quietly and rubbed her temples slowly.

- - -

The Uchiha male didn't have much of an opinion formed on his classmates despite having spent plenty of time with them. He knew Naruto was annoying idiot, Sakura and Ino were loud mouths and the rest pretty much held little impact in his current state of mind. Sasuke was only vaguely aware of some fan club or gaggle of females who enjoyed his company but he didn't pay much mind. Either because he didn't care or he didn't know too much about it. If he had energy to use, it wouldn't be wasted dealing with insignificant things. Like crushes or seeing movies. No, he enjoyed training because he knew his fate was bigger than anyone could ever imagine, nor did he expect anyone to understand. He knew how he was viewed around the village and he hated it, used it to fuel his own tireless efforts.

And since Iruka-Sensei had said this was their final test before graduation, he was ready to finish it even if it sounded too easy. He knew some lesser minds would be challenged and that was all well and good but not for him, Sasuke sometimes felt trapped in the Academy lessons outlined by the staff. He felt he could do much more, and he often did and had extra credit to prove himself. Yet the only person he wanted to prove himself to was Itachi Uchiha, his brother. Sasuke snapped back to reality and looked at those who were staying in the area to train and those who were wandering off. Sasuke saw Sakura trailing behind Shikamaru and turned his gaze back toward Hinata who he knew to be an utterly shy weakling. He knew her clan and bloodline could do amazing talents but he thought they were wasted on someone such as her with no backbone, no passion, no fire.

In fact, he had barely caught much of what she said. Perhaps it was her lack of confidence that made it troublesome to listen to her. He wasn't really aware of her feelings for the dunce, Uzumaki though if he was made aware of it, he probably would just laugh a little and brush the news off. The dark haired boy folded his arms in thought. 'I could take her to my compound or the park or the training grounds or even the lake...' The last thought was tough. The lake, to him, was his own place. He wanted it to remain that way, even if others may visit, it was the one place that didn't have tainted memories in his mind.

"How about we check out the lake, there probably won't be anyone there?" He suggested and began to head out with her. He noticed a few females watching them closely and he shook his head and picked up the pace a little, not wanting to bog his partner down with any sort of stupid drama which could boil over if they dared linger. He wasn't concerned much about his skills about replicating Hinata's appearance or personality as there wasn't much too it as far as he was concerned. She was a simple wallflower, not much else could be said in that regard. His main concern was with her own skills and how she could do what Iruka-Sensei had asked.

"You are aware that you'll need to be more confident when you turn into me and make clones aren't you?" He questioned as they kept walking. He picked up the pace a bit more so they could get there with time to train and figure things out. The day was of course young and he already foresaw them needing to head back into the village to get lunch in a few hours. 'Hopefully by then we'll have made progress.' Sasuke thought to himself. When they finally arrived at the lake, Sasuke began to stretch a little. He flexed his arms and began to clear his mind, conjuring up the image of Hinata. This would be a rough draft, so to speak. He would have to get a bit closer and break her personal bubble if he wanted to get everything exact, which he did wish to do. He crackled his knuckles and looked back to the purple haired kunnoichi, trying to mentally asses her strengths and weaknesses. He knew she got decent grades but he couldn't think about much else. 'At least she isn't annoying but being too quiet can also be a problem.' He considered.

"Alright Hinata," He wasn't great working with others so this was certainly new to him, but like everything else he tackled, he took control. "I think we should start off by doing basic clones of one another." He told her simply. "Then we can tell each other how to improve any weak areas." He finished and decided to go first. Sasuke closed his eyes and slipped his hands together. Dog. Boar. Ram. And then he applied the transformation jutsu and turned into Hinata as if the girl were looking into the mirror. Sasuke blinked a few times and looked at himself, the appearance seemed fairly accurate but he knew the details were off. He then adjusted his personality a little. "So...um...h-how did I do?" He asked, finding some annoyance in how she spoke but he would get used to it.

[Blazed]

The annoyance that was rolling off Sakura was hard to miss. It changed the whole air around the two as they walked in the sun. It was such a nice day, and her evil thoughts that were most likely cursing Shikamaru. He didn’t care though, if he was lucky he wouldn’t get stuck with any bothersome people and would be able to live an ordinary life. Nothing too good, nor too bad. Letting his lazy eyes roll over towards Sakura as she spoke, he quickly started to calculate what he needed to do. Getting this work done now, would leave an easy week for him. Really an easy task, just a troublesome one. “What a pain.” He said as she came to the end of the explanation. Letting his eyes move away from Sakura before she looked at him again, they came to the stairs. He made his way up and into his spot. The annoyance of Sakura shot through the air as he looked up in the sky.

“Ya know, getting all pissy at me, isn’t going to change things. Just relax and stop stressing so much. The only reason why Iruka-Sensei gave use this much time is for those dunces like Naruto.” He said as a light breeze blew by, letting the wonderful smell of summer move over Shikamaru. It was a nice feeling, a calming one. Letting off a sleepy yawn, he still didn’t move. Yet he wasn’t just laying there watching the world pass him by, he was slowly piecing each thing he needed to know. Body shape, colours, clothing, hair, eyes, facial expressions and lastly her bothersome personality. Shikamaru was a watcher, a listener. Although most of the time he looked as if he wasn’t even in the current time, he was. Things just came so easily to Shikamaru that he’d rather not waste the time trying to prove himself. He wasn’t out to impress anyone.

As Sakura began to speak, he let out a soft scoff, as his eyes looked over at her. She thought she was better than him, and the rest of the class. Add that to another things that were troublesome about her. To think he had to spend a week with such a snob. Pushing up to sit, he let his weight fall on his arms which lay behind him. He sighed. This woman was already driving him nuts. Just as he was about to stand Sakura started off towards a tree. Marking it with an x and trying to train, he shifted, bringing his knees up, he rested an elbow on one knee and watched her. Watching her work so hard, all for nothing, made him just want to nap some more. He hadn’t gotten his daily nap because of this damn project.

Having her almost miss made him worried. He wasn’t about to get killed by some lame ass test. Sighing softly he felt like he was about to play teacher. It was such a drag. “ It’s the air flow. You have to either throw differently or –“ He stopped letting out a lazy yawn before carrying on “aim differently. Your narrow mindedness on hitting the target as the goal is making you forget everything around you.” He said before letting his eyes trail all around him.

It was at that moment Sakura started on her way back, the wicked mood killer, made him glance towards her again. A bored look masked his face. She started to lecture him just as his mother always did. They held the same tone, making Shikamaru sigh, knowing he would have to make her shut up. It would mean doing some work, but at least then maybe he could enjoy the rest of the day doing what he enjoyed. As she threw the star in frustration, he watched it land in the grass making him laugh a little. He couldn’t help himself. “Clearly you didn’t listen.” He stated well debating if he should just lay back down or get up. He liked the idea of laying back down more than getting up. Too much work.

She threw her little hissy fit, making Shikamaru just shake his head. When she muttered to herself, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow before shaking his head yet again. “I really don’t see what you girls see in that guy.” He said well forming his hand signs to create two clones, before making each one transform. The only one which was perfect was the one that Shikamaru had taken on himself. The other two were close, but not totally spot on. He had stood up, leaving one sitting down clutching her notebook, the other clone stood as well. He cleared his throat to try and get her voice spot on.

“Oh look there’s Sasuke! Isn’t he so cool! He’s the best and I hope he picks me out of all the other girls!” He yelled well bringing his hands up to his face, trying to make his cheeks go red and failed. The clone which was also standing walked over to Shikamaru and pressed their foreheads together.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, Sasuke is mine!” it called out, making the third who was still sitting slam the notebook close and stand up as well.

“Would you two shut up, I’m trying to study. You don’t get perfection without hard work.” Now all three glared at each other, before each one smirked at the other turning towards Sakura and said in unison, “See that wasn’t so hard? What do you expect of the smartest girl in class?” After they finished they each flipped their hair. Shikamaru could only hope that Sakura would be able to guess which one before his Justus wore off. She really only had about a minute before it would. Two clones with all the same transformation was a lot of charka for academy students. They didn’t get enough time to build up their small amounts of charka, and even if Shikamaru had a little more than others from training in the shadow possession he didn’t want to waste all his charka in one sitting.

~~~

As Sasuke thought of where they could go Hinata let her eyes trail along the room, as it emptied. She heard a loud call from Naruto, along with a loud yell from Ino. She was clearly having a hard time dealing with his personality. One that Hinata liked so much, for no matter what came at him, tried his best and worked harder than anyone else she knew. How someone so wonderful in mind and spirit could be so hated by the village she would never understand. It seemed more of the adults of the village hated him, which turned to the children. As a child she had been pulled away by her guard, who then explained never to get tangled up with a boy. He had just saved her from some school bullies. . . and yet no matter how she tried to thank him, she could never get close enough.

When Sasuke spoke, she snapped back to the current time, her eyes locked with his for a moment before she nodded her head, her hands coming up towards her face as her eyes drifted towards the ground again. The thing which Hinata was worried the most about was. . . being Sasuke in mind. How could she act the way he did. . . now that she thought about it, she hardly knew much about Sasuke. As Sasuke turned to leave, she followed him close on his heels as the few groups picking to stay in the class room watched them go. She knew Sasuke was the best in the class, hard working and always doing things perfectly, but she didn’t understand why all the girls found him so amazing. He was sure to be a great and strong ninja, but he treated Naruto like a bug he wanted to stomp on. Just like the rest of the village.

As they made their way through the town, her mind started to wonder about the task. When Sasuke told her, that her personality needed work she felt her heart speed up. Usually she was totally alone when she trained, but. . . to do this and be a ninja she would have to work and train with others. It made her heart beat quickly with the fear of what others would say about her. She didn’t want to be the failure her father always called her. She didn’t want to be put down by her team like her family put her down. Hinata’s eyes had come upon a sadness, that she quickly masked the best she could as replied. “I know” She said ever so softly. Her hands laced together as she looked at Sasuke’s feet in front of her as they walked. After that it was quiet for some time,as they drew near the lake she couldn’t help but look around in awe. It was a very nice place, and like Sasuke had said, no one else was there. It made her feel a little better about training.
Hinata knew this was not going to be an easy task for her. They came to the lake side and Sasuke quickly moved into business. He began to warm up, as if he was about to work on physical training, yet as he did so, he looked at Hinata. It wasn’t normal, it made her very uncomfortable. It was as if he was trying to stare into her soul, she felt her cheeks heat up and she looked away and towards the lake. Her weight shifting slightly as her mind raced. How was she going to do this, she was going to fail and that would just give her family another thing to shame her on.

When Sasuke was ready she nodded her head to let him know she was listening. She thought his idea was good, the copying part should be the easy part, she would need more work acting like Sasuke more than anything else. Being the prefect Sasuke was going to be one of the hardest things she had done. As Sasuke changed in a poof of smoke, she blinked a few times as she looked at her face. Her eyes slowly traced along her own face, before traveling along her hair. He had done very well on that part. “Umm.” She brought up her hands towards her face again as she slowly let her eyes travel along the boy in front of her.

It was a weird thing looking at herself, it was almost calming. It made her feel less scared and shy. It was her that she was looking at, not someone else. Although she knew it was Sasuke, there was a sense that she was alone. Not being judged by other on lookers. She could. . . be well herself. “Umm.” The undershirt is missing. “ She started off, pointing towards Sasuke’s chest, before noticing he wouldn’t see it, unless she pointed it out. Her sweater usually hide it rather well, so it was something easy to miss. Reaching down she readjusted her sweater before point to just above her zipper the little black line followed by fishnets.

“The hood is also. . . a little different.” She turned to show her hood off a little better. The folds where off. Her eyes slowly trailed down noticing the strings of her hood were a little shorter. “The strings need to be longer.” She stared at herself a little longer before deciding that was all she could really see. “Umm, I think that’s all.” She finished, waiting for Sasuke to turn back, for her to take her turn. Once he did, she felt her nerves come back. She glanced away for a moment taking in a deep breath. “I-I-I guess I’ll go now.” She said before slowly letting her eyes look back at Sasuke.

For a long moment she struggled within herself to try and fully take in Sasuke’s form. Sighing she looked away. “Co-could you not look, when I take in the details of. . . well you.” She asked softly before glancing back. “Al-all you have to do is close your eyes.” She finally rushed out. She waited for a moment to see if he would do it. She still hesitated for a moment before stepping closer, her eyes taking in each detail she could remember. She took her time, and even walked around Sasuke twice before finding herself ready to try.

Letting out a slow breath, she formed her hand signs and in a puff of smoke she opened her eyes, pushing her hands in her white pockets and leaning back slightly. It was a small slouch but not a full one. “You can open your –your eyes.” She said cursing herself for struggling. Her voice wasn’t on key either. Pressing her lips together in a firm line she cleared her throat again. “Is.” She paused, closing her eyes. “Is this tone better?” she asked, hoping that soon enough she’d be able to do this well keeping her eyes open. She was fighting with herself not to bring her hands up into their usually habit. Her fists clenched tight, she wondered if Sasuke could tell she was struggling.

[Genkai]

If Shikamaru was trying to help, he wasn't doing a very good job at it. He could provide some kind of useful constructive criticism but instead he went about it in his usual lazy way. She would be downright surprised if he did manage to graduate and even if he did, she hoped he wouldn't be put on her team. He was lazy and unmotivated, held no passion for anything or anyone, he was not the kind of person she wanted to rely on in real combat. If there was one person she wanted in her group it was Sasuke Uchiha, but not just because he was cute and handsome and smart and someone who had a good head on their shoulders. It was more to it than that. But if she got stuck with Ino or Naruto or Shikamaru, she wouldn't be very happy at all. In all likeliness, she would try to change the minds of whoever put the teams together. But for now she didn't have much to worry about, as she doubted Naruto or Shikamaru would graduate and the odds of two kunnoichi being put on the same team were pretty low.

When Shikamaru preformed his own jutsu and replicated her image with himself and two other clones, she shot him a nasty glare. As he impersonated her, she got to her feet and clenched her jaw, he was too eager to get on her nerves now wasn't he? She was already having a hard day and dealing with a lazy jackass who was insistent on making a mockery of who she was, wasn't helping her mood whatsoever. As the three continued to babble on and exaggerate her tendencies, she let out a bit of a growl. 'He's asking for it.' She thought angrily. Since she didn't have anymore tools on her, she decide that punching the clones out of existence would be a fine course of action. When they turned towards her and flipped their hair, she decided she had endured enough and decided to put the idiot boy out of his misery. She marched over, already knowing which two were the pesky clones and which one was just the pesky bum.

With a quick left jab to one of the clones, it popped and with another quick right hook to the other clone, she stepped back. Mostly because she wanted to nail Shikamaru in the face too but knew that she couldn't or she'd risk smudging her beloved perfect school record. Her hardened expression hadn't changed as she turned back around and folded her arms, trying to calm her temper down. On the inside, she was boiling but she knew she couldn't start screaming at Shikamaru no matter how much he deserved it. 'What a jerk...at least I don't mock him, he was doing that on purpose!' She fumed. It wasn't her fault that she wanted to carry herself above the others and that Shikamaru Nara was simply a lazy inconsiderate dimwitted jerk. He didn't have to take his own flaws out on her. It was totally uncalled for. Turning back around to face him, she hoped her hurt expression had been masked by mild impressiveness. "Not bad..." She forced herself to say.

"Though when we're in front of the whole class it would be nice of you if you didn't mock me!" She couldn't help but raise her voice slightly as she unfolded her arms and used her own handsigns and then created two clones and transformed herself into Shikamaru. His appearance wasn't hard at all, though his facial expressions themselves would be a pain to work with. She slouched her shouldered slightly and pocketed her hands while one of her clones let out a yawn and plopped back onto the grass. The other clone took a finger stuck it in its ear and just looked off, bored. Sakura shrugged a little. "You know I don't see much point in all of your yelling, Sakura." She lectured toward her partner. "How am supposed to get any sleep with your loud mouth running all the time?" She ended it with a yawn and moved to sit on the bench. Unlike pretty much everyone in her class, perhaps minus Sasuke, Sakura was very gifted with chakra control and had no problem giving her clones enough chakra to function as well as herself. Her appearances were pretty much spot on though she knew her flaws without him needing to point them out.

"Troublesome." She leaned back and put an arm behind her spiky haired head and gazed up at the sky. Pretending to be someone who didn't care about anything was pretty hard for Sakura, whose mind was always running, always thinking about something. It did annoy her that all Shikamaru intended to associate her with was her feelings for Sasuke and her perfectionism. They weren't bad things either but from his point of view they seemed to be. She'd rather be passionate about something than nothing, there was nothing Sakura found that Shikamaru had an interest in. He only spent time with Choji, never did much school work or studying for that matter. She closed her eyes and when Shikamaru disabled his own transformation jutsu, she let hers slip away as well, not because she was tired of holding the jutsu as most would, but because being around a jerk like Shikamaru was draining her spirit. She, now back in her own human form, got up from the bench and looked to Shikamaru, still rather upset with him.

The pink haired girl was trying to find a way they could talk without pissing one another off. For now, they had to try and call it a truce, otherwise Sakura would give up and do the entire thing herself and not care about Shikamaru, but this was to test their teamwork and if she did pull herself away to do it herself, she would never let it go. "Why don't we just...get something. Or something." She suggested, her face twitching slightly. Being nice to a jerk was painful work. "You know, like an early lunch maybe it'll help us concentrate better." Though she already foresaw Shikamaru eating and then taking a nap somewhere. She couldn't wait till the end of the week. She headed back up toward the main distract of Konoha where they could find something inexpensive yet filling. "You can pick, it'll be my treat." She told Shikamaru. She didn't have a lot of money on her, but one of her neighbors knew she was about to graduate, gave her some money for her hard work and dedication to the village.

She was going to buy some new tools with it but she thought a lunch would be okay too.

- - -

Sasuke had predicted that there wouldn't be much for him to alter, and he was correct.

When the shy purple haired kunnoichi pointed out the undershirt, he watched her reveal that layer to him. He gave just a nod and let her move on with her timidly spoken evaluation. The second thing, or rather last thing, she pointed out was the slight difference in her hood. Sasuke moved in closer and paced around her, taking in more detail this time. "Got it." Sasuke just noted as he stood still in front of her as she finally decided that she was ready to try it out. In all honesty, he wasn't expecting much from her. He knew she wasn't like the others in class, mostly because he didn't notice her a lot. He did figure though, that if she was either smart or stupid, he would have seen a sign in class but since nothing came to mind, he just assumed she was in the middle of the pack and that didn't impress him much. He didn't see the use in being an invisible wallflower.

That could be more dangerous and almost useless in a situation. For him, it was best to be decisive and to strike quick. If you showed weakness or regret, it would be the end of you. Itachi made that fact clear, he would never forget it. A soft wind blew by as he undid his transformation and blinked a few times at the girl who then asked him not to look at her. He gave her a weird look and simply closed his eyes, a bit annoyed with her weak sort of spurts of dialogue but just waited for her to get whatever she needed from him before she could transform. Sasuke could feel her odd colored eyes on him as he stood still and felt her repeat what he had done to her minutes ago. It seemed like he waiting quite a while before he sensed a change in the young girl's chakra make up. He then figured she had completed the transformation jutsu.

Her new voice, or his in this instance, told him he could open his eyes. He didn't have to look to sense she hadn't gotten everything perfect but this was their first attempt and he would be around to make sure they got it right. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at her job. She tried to correct her tone by adding more of an assertive force but it still failed in his opinion. That would be something she would have to work on herself. "Hm." He took a deep breath and let it out as he paced around her once more like a curious shark. He reached out and touched one of the long bangs of hair which rested on the side of her face. He then looked at the height and noticed hers was a bit shorter. "The hair isn't bad...the height, needs to be about two inches taller." Sasuke told her and then paced around again, trying not to rip her too poorly. It was obvious her lack of self esteem had to be taken into consideration if they were to work well together. "Um...your tone, well, needs a lot of work but I don't think it's something I can really help you with."

Then Sasuke gave a bit of distance and went back to where he had been prior to their experimenting. There was about three feet between them now. "The pants are a bit off and the sleeves..." He trailed off and could sense the nervous chakra just frittering around inside of her. From what he knew about her clan, he was a bit surprised by her lack of discipline and control. Sasuke rubbed his neck a little. "If you don't relax your jutsu is going to come undone, not to mention when you add clones into the equation." He commented. "You need to have more faith in your abilities. I mean you're not an idiot like Naruto, just because I'm your partner doesn't mean you should be nervous." He did hate to think that she would be this uneasy around any other person in class, if that was the case, he questioned her strength and resolve when it would come to going on risky missions and saving lives. The Hyuga clan was important to the village but he didn't know about Hinata.

Sasuke was aware of Neji Hyuga and Hinabi Hyuga but it seemed Hinata was terribly successful at flying under the radar. Was she really okay with that? Obviously he couldn't fix her himself, but for the sake of whoever was paired up with her in a week or so, he had to try to get something changed. He waved a hand at her casually. "Why don't we try something else." He began to suggest. "Let's just go back into town and try to talk this out." Maybe that would be better than staring at one another in hopes something would connect. There had to be something he could do to make Hinata not so tense. If she just relaxed, her jutsu would be much better and so would her outlook on life. But he was probably swinging for the fences, there was only so much he could do in the short window of time. He began to head back and decided he would try and suggested sketching, as a chance to get down any details or focus on a touch spot. Though the biggest challenge she had was his personalty. "I know this isn't easy for you but tonight when you're home, you could try sketching me." Wow, that sounded really weird. "I mean, then write down something you'd think I'd say and practice it yourself." He finished.

Maybe that cleared things up? He looked back ahead as they finally made it back into Konoha. He was a bit hungry though his appetite was never a bother, unlike his annoying blond classmate who loved to eat, especially ramen. As noon drew closer, many scents entered the air around them. Sasuke spotted familiar pink hair and saw Sakura and Shikamaru a few blocks ahead though they turned down another road. The dark haired boy turned to Hinata and slowed down a little. "Any place you feel like going?" He asked he. In his mind, he debated taking the backseat to this outing to see how the shy girl would do with taking the reigns but a large part of him was fairly sure that would mean they'd be stuck in the middle of the street for a long time. Part of him wished he had gotten someone with more personality and less inability. She had a bloodline but it was clear she hadn't even gotten close to seeing what she could really do with it, which was a shame. He was learning about his every day, pushing himself harder and harder.

[Blazed]

It was a bit of a struggle for Shikamaru to keep up his little act with the look that came over Sakura’s face. She was pissed, and for some reason it made Shikamaru want to lay on the ground in a fit of laughter. The fact that the personality she shows every day in front of everyone, the truth she can’t take. Shikamaru was not ashamed of who he was or how he acted. He knew that, Sakura may be upset because that’s what women do. It’s their thing. He only became worried when he heard the soft growl that came out of her lips. Her face had taken on that of his mother’s when Choji and him had done something to upset her. Like coming home to late, missing dinner. That was a huge no, no in his house.

She came marching up towards him, making him flinch back a little, the other two clones taking a step back. “Oh no.” He grumbled wondering if he was going to get punched in the face. Clearly Sakura couldn’t take the truth of her flaws. The one’s that everyone had. It was the reason why Shikamaru would never get upset by the mockery that came his way. He just didn’t care what others thought. It was one of the reasons he became so close with Choji. All the others judge the outside appearance of him, and because of that teased him. Yet Choji was the kindest, most caring person he had ever met. Shikamura wasn’t about to not befriend such an amazing person because of the mockery that may come his way. People like that were just idiots. Not idiots like Naruto, that was idiot on a whole other level.

Lucky for Shikamaru, Sakura quickly took out the two clone, and left him untouched. He let out a huff a breath that he hadn’t noticed he was holding. Letting his hand fall on his chest he fell back on the bench with a poof of smoke as he returned to his own image. Letting his hands shift to behind him as he leaned back, he watched Sakura carefully. Maybe she was just waiting to take her revenge on him. Clearly she was pissed off with him. Clearly his actions just made things worst. He let out an annoyed sigh, and thought ‘women you can never please them’. But there was no way in hell Shikamaru was going to say sorry for his actions. She wanted him to do something, he clearly stated he knew what he was doing. He just wanted to sit back and not waste his time with pointless things. Why keep doing something you already knew how to do. It was the only reason his grades were close to Naruto’s. He just couldn’t be bothered with putting the pen to paper. He knew he knew the stuff he needed to know. Why should he have to try and prove himself?

As she turned to look at him, he felt his face pull into more of a frown. He had clearly not just pissed her off but upset her. As she spoke trying to hide her feelings, her voice wavered enough for anyone to notice. Leaning forward again he placed his elbows on his face and rubbed it with a slight groan. As she continued, Shikamaru peeked through his fingers, watching her anger mask her sadness. Before his brain could even think about how to deal with such a thing, she quickly started her little mockery. He had a feeling that would happen next would just piss her off more. He watched her without a word, his hands dropping from his face to hand off his legs as he leaned on them. He waited until she was finished before sighing again and standing up. Turning to her, he took one of his hands from his pockets and poked her in the forehead. “You think too much. Relax. You can think without stressing. You’ll never get the facial expression on less you totally relax. “ For a moment he was quiet, thinking about how to do this better. Sighing her muttered “Troublesome” before trying to explain how to relax to an uptight person like Sakura.

“Stay.” He began before sitting down beside Sakura. “Look up again.” He asked rather then ordered. Pointing up towards the sky, he asked “What do you see?” He waited for her answer and shook his head. “You can see with more you eyes, take everything in and let it sink into your body. Become one with your surroundings.” He said as a small smile come across his usually annoyed look. “Now, don’t get any more upset with me, but if you want people not to point out your flaws then you can’t have the flaws to start with. Everyone has flaws you just have to deal with them. Not let them bug me, so you can mock me in front of the whole class, make them laugh, but I won’t care either way.” He finished with a sigh and stood started to lay down again, putting his hands behind his head, his eyes taking in the sky. He saw the whole world around him.

It was then that Sakura spoke again, lunch, she sounded kinda like Choji. He sighed. “Well if that’s what you want.” He said, he pushed himself up and started walking with her. His eyes just took a slight glance at her as they walked side by side. Clearly she still wasn’t relaxed. “ Your still not relaxed are you? Why stress yourself out so much, when clearly you know what your doing. It’s pointless, it’ll just make your hair go gray by the time your twenty.” He said. Shikamaru’s niceness was quickly fading away. That little try and make her feel better was just sinking away. “I’m sure that won’t make Sasuke notice you.” He said before chuckling to himself. It was then that she said he could pick and it would be her treat. He shook his head.

“You women may be bothersome, but if my mother found out I didn’t pay, she’d raise the devil himself.” He said with a sigh, the flash of his mother’s wrath falling upon him. “How about that barbecue place, it’s not that far from here. Choji drags me there all the time, the foods pretty good.” He said with a shrug yawning slightly as they made their way there. He was hoping that Choji would end up showing up, but with them already taking a break, clearly Choji’s partner wouldn’t want to take a break already. Hell Shikamaru had already forgotten who Choji was working with.

They came up to the restaurant and were seated. Shikamura couldn’t help but yawn again and shift slightly getting more comfortable. He wouldn’t mind taking his nap right then and there, he had a feeling though that, that would not happen. They way Sakura had been going all morning, he wouldn’t get a nap at all. “So what kind do you want?” He slightly mumbled out, having already known his own order. He wouldn’t have to order at all if Sakura wasn’t here. Choji and he came here so much, they just knew what to order for the boys.

As the owner came up and spoke to Shikamaru,” No Choji today? Could it be that you’re on a date with this lovely lady. You’ve very pretty.” He smiled at Sakura making Shikmaru sit up quickly almost falling over.

“No-no-no! You got it all wrong. We’re working on a project together.” He rushed out slightly flustered. He didn’t want the owner to start thinking this crazy thought of his was for real.

~~~

As Hinata pointed out the few things that she noticed that were wrong, Sasuke walked around her. Watching her own image look at her, was an odd thing. She felt his eyes looking at her, like something not of this world. She could feel hear heart beating quickly. It was not an easy thing to deal with. She knew being paired with Sasuke was going to make her look even weaker then she already was. He was going to bug her, feel hateful towards her. He would look at her with the same eyes as her family. That was something she was so afraid of. Her kind nature as a child was what led to her failure in training. She didn’t want to hurt others, and because of that she put shame to her family. Following that shame came the hurtful words and almost being casted out, which made her so shy and scared today. After all no matter how hard she tried to impress it was never enough.

As it feel upon her turn, she slowly started to build up the courage to try. Once she finished her rounds around Sasuke taking in as much as she could without feeling like . .. well she didn’t even know. She just didn’t like being so close. She worked her magic and prayed she did alright. Clearly when Sasuke looked at her, the unimpressed look that came over his face just made her all the more nervous. She was trying so hard to keep her calm, it was her biggest weakness, but clearly she was totally failing. Just like everything else. She was nothing but a failure.

He circled her again, making her heart beat even faster, she was having a hard time focusing on keeping the image. Normally Hinata was amazing, prefect, with charka control, but with on lookers, she wavered. If she had been using the gentle fist it would have no fazed her, but this. . . this was something she didn’t really work on. That’s when he grabbed her hair. . . well his hair. She felt her heart leap out of her chest. She almost totally lost control of the image, it wavered for a moment before solidifying again. She almost missed what he had said, but let her eyes slowly look up towards him, the fact that she could still look up, made him right. She nodded feeling her cheeks burning. She wondered if he could see the blush. In the image she had, she was hiding the blush, but still being young and inexperienced, she couldn’t be sure.

As he backed off she let out a slow breath and released the justus. Giving a small bow, well trying not to cry, her hands clasped tightly in front of her she said, “I’m sorry.” She let out a deep breath raising up-right. Her eyes didn’t leave the ground. “I-I-I know I’m not the best like Sakura. . . . but I-I-I promise to work hard!” She finished in a rush. She let her eyes slowly come up to look at Sasuke, the worry in her eyes was clear, as her hands came up together to fidget once again. It was then that he started into his attempt to help Hinata be more confidence in her abilities, but it wasn’t her abilities that were the issue.

However, that’s when he started to hate on Naruto, something inside her let a moment of anger flicker in her eyes. She looked away, her hands falling away from each other. “Sasuke. . .You should give Naruto more credit.” She started pausing feeling her cheeks heat up slightly. “He-h-he works hard. He may-may not be the best, but. . . he never gives up. Doesn’t that count for something?” She asked softly, as her shyness came back. She couldn’t believe she had just done that. She was just so tired of everyone hating on him, putting him down. Hinata could understand, but not the fullest. Only her family looked down on her, Naruto seemed to be hated by everyone. It was not something easy to deal with.

The mood slowly started to change after that. Hinata could feel it. It almost felt like Sasuke wanted to give up. Give up on her. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She was trying so hard not to let it crush her. She had to be strong, strong like Naruto was. “Okay” She said softly as she fell into step beside Sasuke as the two started to make their way into town. Her nerves were not getting any better as time went on. Her hands came together in their usually way, as her mind raced on what to say. When Sasuke finally spoke, her head shot up quickly and she let her eyes drift quickly away. It was very weird thing to try, but she would give it a shot. “I’ll try my best.” She said before they carried on into town.

Hinata was trying her best to pull up images of Sasuke. She really didn’t have many, only those which had Naruto in them. Well that and today. She was going to really struggle with this. Yet it seemed Sasuke had already piece Hinata together. They came to the center of the town before Sasuke spoke again, making Hinata stop and think for a moment. She knew a few places in town, but she had no idea what Sasuke liked. “Umm.” She thought a little longer before finally coming up with an idea. “I-I could always cook so-something.” She started off feeling her shyness hit her hard. “I mean. . . it’s just. . . I have no idea what you like. If I cook. . . . then you can anything.” She started off fumbling over how to explain her thoughts.

Hinata was not the all-star chef, but she did a lot of cooking for her family. Being very tradition, took on some of her mother’s roles when she lost her place as heir. The only thing that she worried about was going home and having someone of her family fall upon them. What would they say. She hide her worried thoughts well and gave a small smile to Sasuke. “I can be either my place or yours. . . . I’m sure I can find something good to make.” She said, hoping he wasn’t thinking she was a total freak. Hinata may be shy and scared of other’s options of her, but she desired most was to prove herself. Not just prove herself to her family, but to everyone else. She also wanted Naruto to notice her. It would make her so happy.

Once Sasuke picked the two started to head towards their destination.

[Genkai]

Part of her knew what point he was trying to get across, that she needed to relax but it wasn't just some phrase you could sling at somebody and expect them to get it. The last thing Sakura ever thought about doing was relaxing. She had papers and reading to do and then she had cleaning to get to at home because despite her mother staying at home all day, it was expected that Sakura pull some weight around while still managing her grades which never dropped below As or Bs. As they walked, she thought about Shikamaru's flaws, she didn't necessarily intend to make fun of him when it came to the class presentation. She knew what it was like to be bullied and as much as a jerk her had been to her, she didn't want to hurt his feelings intentionally in front of everyone. So then the challenge presented itself to her, she had to get to know Shikamaru so she didn't just exaggerate his laziness or lack of interest. There had to be more to the guy than that right? Shikamaru stilled noticed how tense she was and his comments didn't exact help her any, though she could have sworn her had given her some kind of back handed compliment about her skills.

For the most part though, Sakura just frowned at his words, not wanting to think about how accurate his statement about her future appearance might be. He could be so cruel without even realizing it. Didn't he know that his words only made everything worse? 'Chaaa, what does he know about Sasuke?! Nothing! And he knows nothing about me too!' Her Inner Self ranted. 'This guy is so confusing!' She bit the inside of her mouth and felt her feelings of inner turmoil shift when Shikamaru mentioned that she shouldn't be paying. Sakura wanted to bring up that a guy should only pay if he wanted to, not because he felt like he had to. She also wanted to mention that this wasn't some kind of date and that she didn't mind paying for him, or that they could at least pay for half of the end cost. She just let him lead her off to a barbeque place which she hadn't tried before. She had walked by it hundreds of times but she never really went in to try anything. She supposed now was as good as a time than any and took a seat across from the yawning machine.

"Hm?" She looked to him and then at the small menu. Sakura looked back to Shikamaru when someone came over and began speaking to him. Then suddenly she was mentioned in quite a weird context. "Wh-whaaat?" She blushed, her face matching her dress. Shikamaru quickly explained everything and Sakura nodded quickly. "We're just classmates a-and I like someone else." She couldn't help but add, trying to defend herself. The only person she wanted to be seen with in such a setting was off with some shy wallflower. Sakura sank in her chair, feeling deflated after that whole misunderstanding. Sakura didn't even try to look over at Shikamaru and just gave her order and just looked anywhere but at him. It wasn't for a few long minutes before Sakura broke the silence. Part of her wondered if she should make a joke about the misunderstanding or pretend it never happened. Sakura decided to go with the second route, "I wonder what...the others are doing..." She said, it wasn't a very interesting topic to bring up but it was better than the other idea she had. She was sure Naruto and Ino were struggling and that made her smirk a little.

The more she thought about it, the more work she saw they had in front of them. At the same time, they were probably better situated than some other pairs who had yet to even master the transformation jutsu. Sakura knew she could polish up her throwing skills without the inattentive watch of Shikamaru who seemed miserable when it came to helping her. By the time their food arrived and they began grilling it, her heart started to go back to a normal pace of beating. Sakura and Shikamaru didn't talk much as they just ate their lunch and made light comments here and there. The man's comment really threw Sakura's whole train of thought off so when Shikamaru took the bill and paid, she quickly got up to say, "I um...think we can call it a day." Which she knew would make Shikamaru happy. "Yeah..." While she didn't see them getting off on to a good start, she thought she would be much more comfortable with just going home for the day and working on her own. And surely Shikamaru could go back to bed or whatever he wanted. "Thanks for lunch." And with that she quickly exited the restaurant, hoping her face had finally gone back to its normal color.

As soon as she arrived home, she hide in her room and poured over some textbooks. After she finally could clear her mind, she practiced turning into Shikamaru and spent the rest of the day conjuring up clones and trying to perfect the details. By the time her father came back from work to eat supper, she was sure she had perfected her transformation. The only thing she needed to perfect was the attitude in which she presented it. Her aim with the weapons was fine, she knew she was just having a bad day since someone else had taken Sasuke right from under her nose. Sakura helped clean up after dinner and couldn't help but mention to her mother as they dried the dishes, "I got paired with Shikamaru Nara, I don't know who's worse...him or Naruto." She grumbled. "He has his head in the clouds all the time, he's impossible to work with and-" She paused, not wanting to admit that he had hurt her feelings. "and he's just...he doesn't appreciate hard work at all." She sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't try to meet up tomorrow." She considered and headed off to her room to get ready to take a long well deserved bath to calm her nerves.

Sakura's mother considered both sides of the story. Having grown up raising a perfectionist, she knew how tough and stubborn Sakura could be. And while she didn't approve of Sakura's choice in "career" she did want her daughter to be great so she decided to drop by the Nara household to see if something could be done to patch up the rough day the two had. When she knocked, she thankfully got Shikamaru's mother and the two quickly talked outside about making the kids meet up at the park to do some work and try to get used to one another. The next day arrived and Sakura came down for a late breakfast though she got up early to do some studying. "Sakura dear, would you go to the park in an hour?" She asked her daughter, to which Sakura gave her a bit of a puzzled look. "I think you need to relax a little after yesterday's events. Why don't you take it easy, I made you a lunch." She set a small bento box on the counter and headed off. Sakura rolled her eyes and sat at the table and after about an hour, she grabbed her lunch and headed off to the park. The kunnoichi found a soft spot a top a small grassy hill and sat down. The day was pretty nice, she had to admit.

- - -

Sasuke never understood why woman let themselves seem so emotional, it was weak. He also didn't understand why Hinata was comparing herself to Sakura, he supposed everyone had a goal they wanted to hit though Sasuke wouldn't necessarily think Hinata's goal was to end up like Sakura Harno. They were very different people with different strengths and weakness. He didn't comment about that and just watched her. Suddenly she seemed to speak up about Naruto and slowly Sasuke realized that perhaps the little ninja had some kind of feelings for the idiotic blond boy. He found this a bit amusing but kept the chuckle to himself. Hinata thought she had a point, that Naruto's dedication meant something but it didn't if it didn't yield any worthwhile results. The topic of Naruto was a boring one, one he didn't care much for and found his interest in everything wane substantially.

After Hinata said that she would try her best, he wanted to start yelling at her. Her words choice didn't make any sense to him. Try your best? Try? In his mind, you should always do your best, at the very least of course. You could always do more than that in his mind. Trying meant you could fail but she would never accomplish anything if she tried and failed, she had to do, she had to take action otherwise she would be left in the dust. Sasuke kept his temper in check as they walked along. The girl beside him then mentioned that she could cook. Cook? He hadn't had anyone cook for him. You would think as the handsome ninja of the class, that many girls would be serving him homemade food, but none did. And he honestly liked it that way. He learned to fend for himself, cook, all on his own. Cooking was a way for Sasuke to let everything go. While food was something one had to eat to survive, he didn't see why it couldn't taste good. Of course he saw himself as a good chef, no one else had really been a guest in his house to tell him otherwise.

At the moment, he didn't feel like going to either one of their large compounds to eat a simple lunch when they would have to get back to training soon. He wanted something quick and simple. "I like most kind of foods...riceballs mostly." They were easy to take on the go and could be filled with nearly anything you were craving. His most desired filling was bonita. He disliked natto and only ate tomatoes from time to time. Fish and game were fine by him as well and you could never go wrong with a simple miso soup or salad. Hinata then went on about cooking as it was an idea she seemed attached to. "I guess you can come over to my place." He shrugged as they picked a small place to go to at the moment for lunch. They picked a small cafe which had a lot of everything. The fare was light so it wouldn't hinder their trainer after the meal, in fact it would only give them lots of energy. Sasuke ordered some tea, miso soup and some sushi. He looked around and saw not a lot of people were eating. He liked his seclusion very much. "I can pay." He quickly told Hinata as he took a sip of his tea. He didn't go out a lot so he had no issues paying for one lunch, especially if she wanted to cook for him. It was only fair.

Rubbing his eyes a bit, their order came and he took a drink of soup, saving the bits at the bottom last. Sasuke shifted a little in his seat. "If you are set on coming over tomorrow, it could be around noon." He decided he could also make something and see how his cooking really was when it was in someone else's mouth instead of just his own. The meal didn't have too many hiccups as both people were quiet and didn't speak up. After they finished their light lunch, they headed back to do some more training, this time it was with aiming the shuriken. Sasuke saw Hinata wasn't too bad in that department but overall if she had more conviction, more drive, more passion then her skills would be much better all around. "You know it's in your best interest to have confidence. I mean I can't make you have confidence, Naruto can't...it's on you." He told her as they were wrapping it up. She clearly seemed lost inside and he couldn't help her and he wondered if she even wanted to help herself. "You can't try...what you said a while ago about trying your best...I mean, what is that?" He put a hand to his head in annoyance. "I mean you can't have that attitude because I'm sure you're trying with the idea you're already going to fail. Then everything becomes pointless." Sasuke told her. "You can't just try anymore, you have to start doing things with real commitment and pride."

"If you applied yourself even a little bit, jeez, you could do a lot with your kekki genkai." He told her. "It really annoys me to see you wasting your talent, so maybe if you stopped worrying about Naruto or Sakura, you'd be a lot farther along where you're meant to be." He let out a long sigh and turned back to head home as the sun was dipping down. "If you're not ready to do something, you shouldn't come over tomorrow." He muttered and just headed off, deciding that the lake's view would have to go unnoticed today. By the time Sasuke got home, he had quite a headache and spent most of the evening meditating and training. As he was getting ready for bed, he couldn't help but wonder if he had been a bit too harsh on the girl. He also wondered if perhaps he should have been a bit more clear about his point of view. He was honestly just hoping his words could help her, not just with their little project but with the rest of her life. He had no care if she did listen or not because he would only warn her once, he just hated to see such power go untapped. As he got into bed, he considered what he would do tomorrow, as he wasn't sure Hinata would even show up after what he had told her. If she had any common sense in that head of hers, she would think long and hard before doing anything. It was clear her head needed to be screwed on tighter in any sort of direction.

Sasuke found himself the next day, in the kitchen. It was a bit later than he would normally wake up but he decided a half an hour or extra sleep would be okay. Thankfully his dreams hadn't been infected with his family history so he rather welcomed the restless sleep even in abundance. Sasuke had finished breakfast which was a simple egg, white rice and fish. He had an apple set aside for a snack later on. At the moment he was making something for lunch. While he wasn't sure about his classmate's attendance to his own residence, he decided he would give her the benefit of the doubt and make something that could accompany whatever she brought with her. He was making a simple stew dish which could cook for a few hours. It had leeks, carrots, chicken, miso broth among other things. It was a nice dish that would fill them up and give them energy to work on everything. Of course he knew until Hinata worked harder, that the training would be a bit useless. As he was finishing up his cleaning in the kitchen, he had to admit that any change, wouldn't happen over night, that if she were to improve her outlook and attitude, it would would require time. With a slight sigh, he left the stew on simmer and moved out to the back of his estate to start stretching for the day. Everything always looked better after he trained.

[Blazed]

The man who had come up grinned a little as the two panicked, he reached a hand up and patted Shikamaru hard on the bed. “Maybe next time.” And after taking the two orders he walked off laughing. Shikamaru rubbed his shoulder before rubbing it, bitterly glaring at the man as he walked away.

“Sorry about that” He mumbled with a small sigh before letting his eyes travel to the window in a thoughtless relaxed state until Sakura pitched in. He pulled his shoulders up with a small shrug. “How knows or really cares.” He said before feeling something click. He didn’t let it show though, with his lazy gaze he shifted to rest his face in his hand, which was using the table to keep himself upright. “Why care about the others? That’s something I don’t understand about people, what does it matter what other think of you? Or what they are doing. All that matters is what you do with your life and that your happy with what you’re doing and who you are.” He said before letting out a sleepy yawn, his eyes watering up slight.

However, after that things got rather quiet as the food made it to the table. The man gave Shikamaru a little thumbs up making him roll his eyes. He would never fully understand the stupid habits of people. He started to cook his food and not much was said until the meal was done. He paid just as he said he would. Placing his hands on the table as he started to get up, she stopped for a moment titling his head to look at Sakura. “Ah, sure.” He said feeling slightly shocked that the prefect hard working, know it all wanted to call it quits. Either way it worked for him, this way he would be able to enjoy more of the day.

When the two exited the small restaurant they turned different ways. Shikamaru in his usually way with his hands deep in his pockets as he walked in this rather sluggish way. He didn’t look back and his mind didn’t think to look back, he just pushed on towards his usually cloud watching place. After awhile Choji showed up with his usual snacks and the two hung out doing what they usually did till dinner time came around. When it got home his mother was running late, it made him raise an eye but waited at the table with his father as his father asked about his day, pressing on more than usual.

Once the meal was done, his dad and himself went off the spend the rest of the night doing the usual. When it was time to call it the night, he flopped in his bed, his hair pulled out of its usual high pointy ponytail. His hair was on the longer side and when not up in its usual style would fall into his face. It was almost like a current for his eyes. Blocked out the sun pretty well, not that he ever really slept in. Rolling over in his bed he drifted off to sleep and awoke in his usual way. Following the same habit as the day before, his mother coming over to disburse the peaceful moment of the morning air, followed by the morning meal.

This is when things started to make Shikamaru understand why his mother was late for dinner last night. After his morning meal his mother said “This is for you, and I want you to go to the park without Choji. I’m sure he’ll understand. I promised a friend of mine that I would let her try a new recipe I came up with. “ Shikamaru saw right through the lie but shrugged it off in his usual way. He pushed off passing Choji as he whined about his partner, who he was off to meet. When Shikamaru came to the park he had a small smug look come over his face. He knew this was what his mother was up to. He had no idea how she knew, but mothers just knew stuff like that. That’s why they were so scary.

“So does this mean this lunch is for you or a way for my mother to get me here?” He asked lazily as he came up behind Sakura holding out the box lunch. Placing it down beside her, he took his seat and leaned back to look up at the sky. Not nearly as nice as yesterday but still nice. “So how are your cloud watching abilities?” He asked in a force way to try and make his mother happy. He knew that she would raise hell tonight if he didn’t. . . do something. He glanced with his annoying lazy looking eyes, “I want you to try something, can you trust me for like two seconds? I swear I’m not going to be some idiot like Naruto.” He said, once he felt she was going to do it he let off a small smile. “Okay, tell me what you feel- you not allowed to think. Just feel, let what everything around you take you away. To that free place away from everything.” He said as if watching for her to really relax.

Since yesterday he could see that her body was slightly more relaxed but still it wasn’t what he was able to pull off. Rolling his eyes he flopped back, his arms coming behind his head as he stared up in the sky. “Until you totally relax I’m not getting off my lazy ass.” He said outright mocking himself for his ability to do nothing. He peeked over at her for a moment, “If you can do this, I’ll listen to you next” He finished before closing his eyes and waiting for her to be ready.

~~~

Hinata took note of what Sasuke said before he dragged her off towards a small café were each one ordered something quick and easy. It was a long meal. . . or it felt that way. The awkwardness that was between the two of them left Hinata uneasy. Hardly anything was said. Both were rather quiet by nature, but for very different reasons. Hinata took notes as they spent more time with each other. Watching him the way she would watch Naruto, she wanted to prove to Sasuke she could do this. She wanted to be able to do this. As the meal came to a close, Hinata went to tell him no, that he shouldn’t but she knew there was no point. Her mouth closed just as it opened and she thanked him in her usual quiet way. Sasuke was all on his own, Hinata was part of a very wealthy family. . . . she could only wonder if he knew that. After all not many people knew who she was, why would they know she was once the heir of her clan?

They turned back towards the lake after this, and went to train. Hinata worked hard and listened to anything Sasuke had said. She was rather good with her throws, this was without using her eyes. She liked to make her skills as best as they could be without using her kekki genkai. After all, the training she did as a child, was mostly without using them. That was how you trained your body to react before relying on your eyes. However, as time went on, she could feel this type of mood looming over Sasuke. It was like that her family put on her. He seemed angry, frustrated, fed up. How was it that someone her own age, not of her clan could do the very same thing to her. She tried not to think about it.

As their long day of training came to a close, she started to pack up when Sasuke started to speak. It was more like an attack, rather than something to help her. Her hands shifted to in front of her body. Her eyes didn’t look up once, a glaze coming over them as she tried not to cry in front on him. It was like a shot to the heart. Her eyes were wide the whole time. She tried her best, it was all she could do. All her life she had failed in the eyes of others and clearly that didn’t change with Sasuke. He was just like her family. It most have something to do with the fact they come from high end blood lines. The best of the clans and because of that, Hinata was the weirdo, the weak, the outsider. She would never live up to what was expected of her.

She didn’t want to fail, she tried so hard not to, but it seemed she always did. It wasn’t her fault she fell below the expectations of others. Some are born better than others, that would be bloodlines. Some are born with natural talent, and rise to the same level if not above those of bloodlines. Then there are those like Sasuke, natural talent and bloodlines. Lastly, there were people like her, those who are born ‘better’ then others but fall into the same league as those who are normal. She was weak in the eyes of the people who range above the normal and because of that she is weak, when really she is just like all the others.

Worrying about others, she wasn’t trying to be anyone but herself. She worried about what people thought of her. After all, all her life she had been judge, thrown under the bus, for being born better and yet not living up to that. It was why Neji was above her, even her sister. Neji was much like Sasuke, well her sister clearly just had the upper hand because of the bloodline. She couldn’t look up as Sasuke walked away. She waited a long time before finally crumbling in the spot. She sobbed for a long time, her knees held tightly to her chest. She shouldn’t be hurting since people like Naruto had so much more pain then she had, but it was so hard. How can people stand all the hateful things. How can people stand being looked down on. As if they are nothing.

Once her body was drained from Sasuke’s smack down, she went home. Told her father of her day, she got approval of working with Sasuke, but was told not to hold him back. She dragged herself off to bed and slept the night tossing and turning. In the morning she rose the usual time and started to work on Sasuke’s image, she worked hard, having three copies of him to be what she believed as perfect. She pushed herself hard, but she knew she was still struggling with his personality. She knew she would have to go over today, to get more of who Sasuke was. No matter how much it hurt her. How much she was afraid. She was going to show this better than everyone else natural talent that she wasn’t useless.

She cooked up a lovely box lunch of stir fry, curry covered rice and a small amulet. If Sasuke threw her out she would eat it herself, but she would try to impress him. She made her way over, towards the compound and hesitated at the entrance. It was the ghost town of the village. It amazing Hinata that he could still live there. But she pressed on and into empty place. She came to the house which she believed was Sasuke, she knocked on the door lightly, but then realized it would have been too soft. She knocked again and listened. She could hear Sasuke coming, she bowed her head and held out the lunch. The door opened and she spoke. “Please forgive my weaknesses. . . .I-I-I wish to show you something.” She said before the two came into the house and placed the lunch down.

She could smell the meal that Sasuke had made, it smelled really good. She asked him to follow her into the backyard and took him over towards the tree. Taking in a deep breath she turned to Sasuke, trying to show no fear. She held her hands palm up for Sasuke to look at. “Ev-every morning I train. . . for two hours. . . .I go so hard m-my hands bleed.” She took in a deep breath and let it out. Trying not to back down from the scary boy before her. “I. . .I don’t have those soft hands. . . that all the other girls have. . . my shines are. . . always bruised.” She stopped speaking closing her eyes before whispering “Byakugan” her eyes snapping open.

Turning towards the tree, she took her stance and began, her usual morning training. Each hit into the tree was strong and powerful, each kick made her bones ring. Once she felt that she had proved her point she huffed slightly and turned to Sasuke and bowed her head. “I-I-I’m not the best, but I work hard. . . . .I’m not wasting my talent. . .just not everyone can be the best.” She finished a slight sadness hitting her voice towards the end. She wished her father could understand that, but at least maybe Sasuke would understand where she was coming from. She raised her head and looked at Sasuke with sad eyes. “Natural talent does not come to everyone, or otherwise everyone would be the same. . . “ She forced a small smile her hands coming together. She could only hope that Sasuke wouldn’t rip a new one into her. She would not do well being rejected yet again, by yet another person.

Her heart beat quickly, but she knew after this the two would go and try each other’s meals. Clearly Sasuke wanted to see if his food was any good.

[Genkai]

The day itself wasn't too bad but when she sensed someone approaching, she knew that could change in a heartbeat. She looked over her shoulder to see Shikamaru and she realized her big mouth had brought this upon herself. If she hadn't complained to her mother about Shikamaru then maybe she could spend the day working on her own, without anyone criticizing her and belittling her. He asked about the lunch as he too, as something in hand. "...I don't know, we could share lunches." She suggested before thinking about it. If she had spared herself a few moments, she wouldn't have said such a stupid thing in the first place. Her food was on one side of her as Shikamaru set his down between them and took a seat himself. She watched him, her body already tensing up. "Okay I guess." Of course she wanted to add that she wasn't as much of a pro as he was but she knew her comment would be taken poorly so she held it back as he continued to speak. He asked her to trust him and while she wasn't sure she could one hundred percent, she just nodded, showing that she would try. Then Shikamaru offered a small smile which made her smile a little in return as it was better than him just staring blankly at her.

His request was strange and made her second guess him quickly. But since she had agreed to try and do whatever it was, she looked away from him and stared ahead of her. She took a deep shaky breath, hated that she felt put on the spot. She remembered what he had told her though. Sakura closed her eyes and felt herself relax a little more but she had no idea what she felt around her. "You can't threaten someone to relax." She muttered at his comment but then tuned him out again and tried once more. "Okay..." She listened to the wind and felt the sun and the grass under her. Sakura sighed again. "Well at first I feel whatever I'm feeling...annoyed, worried, stressed..." She then paused and changed her focus. "But then..." Sakura licked her lips. "I guess around me, I feel weightlessness, relaxation, happiness, warmth..." She trailed off and opened her eyes and looked to the lazy boy by her. Her eyes looked up at the sky for a moment and her body did seem much more relaxed now, as if she actually had control over what she was feeling rather than allowing her own emotions to control her motions and mood. It really wasn't easy for her to do but she could try and tap into everything around her, to mellow out the wildness inside of her.

That was probably what Shikamaru was aiming at. She then remembered that he said he would listen to her next, but the thing was, she didn't know what she had to say to Shikamaru now. She didn't want to yell at him like his mother or teacher. She wanted him to want to do well for the sake of himself or at least to do well in general but he seemed so aloof about everything, she couldn't see that trait lending itself well to ninja missions. Sakura wasn't sure what to say to him. So she opened her bento and reminded herself to remain fairly relaxed and maybe if school or their future wasn't brought up, it might help her and Shikamaru not clash like yesterday. Taking out a slice of an orange, she popped it into her mouth and looked around at everything. Maybe it would do them some good not to just jump into something and take it slow. It was a tact she was willing to try if he was willing to give more effort to their project. She tried to come up with something to say. Again, joking about the misunderstanding of their lunch was a possible route but one she quickly did away with. "Here, want some?" She gestured to her boxed lunch, as her mother had made some nice sushi and sashimi roles along with some fruits and vegetables. Sakura didn't think eating it all would be polite nor healthy so she thought the lazy bum might want some if they were his tastes.

"I find it a bit comical of Iruka-Sensei to pair us together." She couldn't help but mention. "I mean we're total opposites." At least when it came to their personalities. "I mean Ino and Naruto are somewhat alike...and Sasuke and Hinata are also somewhat alike..." Though in her mind, she was still upset that Hinata had gotten Sasuke, as if she knew how good she had it. Sakura quickly changed the topic from Sasuke before she became stressed out again. "Maybe he had an idea that we'd be able to balance each other out..." Sakura said, the gist was pretty obvious and didn't require any explanation so she just grabbed a carrot and ate it as quietly as she could as to not disturb or bother Shikamaru. Her mind couldn't help but wonder how she would have been like around Sasuke. Would he enjoy her hard work and dedication or would he too, be annoyed like Shikamaru and point out her flaws? Sakura frowned a little at the idea of embarrassing herself in front of her crush and decided having Shikamaru wasn't so bad then. Why did she care if he saw her bad sides of her? It wasn't like she needed to impress him, she could be herself, even if it was a bit unpredictable. Her frown turned into a sad sort of smile as she plucked a small blade of grass from beside her. "Do you like anyone?" She couldn't help but ask Shikamaru. Since she and everyone else liked Sasuke, she wondered if the boys in her class had similar fantasies.

- - -

Training went well for the Uchiha, he let go of everything else and focused on himself and his future. He envisioned a bloody future but one where he would finally grasp his purpose in the palm of his hand and prove to his brother that he was strong enough to right the wrongs done to his clan. He had no idea how much time had even passed when he sensed someone approached his home. He headed off and grabbed a towel to wipe his face as he walked inside where it was cooler. There was a second tiny knock and he wished Hinata had listened to his words of wisdom and had shown up with more determination. He decided to give her a chance and hoped she wouldn't waste their time. Sasuke opened the door and saw his classmate in front of him, holding something which smelled pretty good. He let her inside without a word and she set the food down on a table and he waited for her to speak as it seemed obvious that she had something to say after what had happened the night before. Instead of her speaking, he just lead her into the back where he trained almost every waking moment if he wasn't at the lake or in class. Sasuke hoped for her own sake that Hinata had looked hard at her life and her choices thus far and how it would effect her future and everyone around her. It was clear she lived with stress from her clan but she could control how she reacted to it.

"Well what is it?" He asked her, not sure what she wanted to show him. The little girl in front of him began to explain herself and her daily routine when it came to training. He wasn't sure if her explanation, her insight was supposed to impress him or not. The fact that she did train daily and worked herself till she bleed almost made her progress that more depressing. If she did push herself hard every day, he would have expected her to be more self assured, more along than most her age but from his standpoint, she was still behind. Sasuke didn't say anything as she activated her bloodline and at first he thought she was going to spar with him but instead Hinata's attention moved to a nearby tree. The girl went at it for a while until she felt like stopping. He watched her and didn't move, just studying her. It seemed his words had done more than just hurt her as she seemed like she felt a need to prove herself to him when he had just wanted her to prove something to herself, but she was in the middle of doing that already it seemed. She ended her small demonstration by saying not everyone had natural talent, she was right in that regard but she still didn't see his point. She probably wouldn't until in battle.

Sasuke was silent, thinking about what she had done and said. And of course he kept in mind what he had told her the night before by the lake. He looked into her eyes. "I know not everyone is blessed with natural talent, Hinata." He told her, his tone steady and strong. "And not everyone with bloodlines will know how to utilize them." He was an example of that. "My Sharingan isn't something I've mastered yet but I will. I will master it in order to avenge my clan." He told her. "And your Byakugan hasn't been mastered yet either." He added to her, which she was already aware of. "But just because you don't see yourself as having natural talent, doesn't mean others don't. You have the desire to make the effort, some people don't." He said, which in his mind was something of a compliment. "Clearly you do try...I'm sure someday the points will connect for you and you'll realize the potential others have seen in you." And with that he headed back into the house, ready to get something to eat. He found her packed food and put it on the low table and brought his own over. Sasuke got them both tea and water and took a seat. Since he didn't have many guests over, he wasn't sure what to really say or do. At the least, he waited till Hinata joined him before he started to eat. He tried a bit of her stir fry. It was good. Then again, he was tired of his own cooking so anything would be good.

Except maybe instant ramen, he hated the stuff. Sasuke looked to her and decided to bring up their assignment. "So have you made any progress?" He couldn't help but inquire. "Once we've had our fill, we should try to create clones of one another again." That would be their biggest hurdle and once they mastered it, they could hone their throwing for the clones but he didn't see that being such a challenge for either one of them. Well, as least it wouldn't be for him and he was hoping that with her eyes, her accuracy would be fairly spot on along with the ability to spot someone within a mess of clones. He went back to eating and took a drink of water. "Your cooking...it's very good." He told her. "Thank you..." He said and looked back down at his plate, realizing he had already finished most of what was on it. He gave himself seconds, knowing full well he'd have to work harder to not gain any unnecessary weight after such rich food was consumed. He felt unsure of what to talk about as they ate. History from the lunch before was about to repeat itself unless he spoke up and he really didn't feel it was right to have zero conversation between him and his guests. His mother wouldn't have been pleased. "So...I guess you're hoping to be put on Naruto's team?" He didn't want to talk about him though, they had varying opinions of the kid. "I don't have guests here usually...I hope my home is suitable." He said stiffly.

[Blazed]

Shikamaru couldn’t help but laugh softly as she muttered at him. She had a good point, threaten her wouldn’t make her relax. Then again Shikamaru was almost always relaxed, even if someone was yelling at him- much like his mother. But she tried again and that was what made Shikamaru happy, he didn’t express it in his face as he watched her out of one eye, the other one closed as they lay there in the grass. She really was trying to just give in, which clearly wasn’t an easy task for the girl. She must have never realy relaxed before, even as he watched her body slowly loosen up, pushing away all those worries and becoming one with the world around you. Truly carefree, Shikamaru could easily be a monk, but to him even that would be too troublesome.

Closing his one open eye, he let his body sink deeper into the earth around him, the smell of the grass running deep into his very core. He heard Sakura shift beside him, before a soft click of something followed. He let his one eye peek open again as it trailed along the bright blue sky above over towards Sakura. He let out a small sigh and let his other eye flutter open. His hands slipped out from under his head as he pushed himself up right again. Popping open his lunch he hold it out to Sakura. “Here take what you like, I’ll have whatever is left. I’m not picky so I like about anything.” He said in his usual casual tone. It was slightly out of his character, but he was allowed to be nice once in a while. After all she had trusted him to just relax.
Sakura had done the same, just as he had spoke making him laugh softly. “Sure.” He said placing his lunch back down on the grass before taking some of Sakura’s popping it in his mouth. Tasting it he must say it was pretty good. “Did you make it?” He asked feeling like trying to be a little nicer just for now may make things easier in the long run. Hopefully this pairing wasn’t a per thought to a three man team, but if that was the case they would have put them in groups of three and not two. Shikamaru really had no idea why he and Sakura had been put together. Maybe it was to test their abilities to adapt quickly and work with any type of personality. Even though that seemed rather pointless to the boy since their teams would only do rank D missions until they became chuins.

As the two munched away at the two lunches Shikamaru was somewhat surprised that Sakura wanted to talk to him. Sure it was a little forced but the fact that they had been thinking almost about the same thing was a little scary. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about her statement about the grouping. As he finished what was in his mouth he sighed and looked back up into the sky. “I haven’t gotten a clue what Sensei was thinking, it is so random and really out of place.” He trailed off thinking a little more before leaning forward and rubbing his face again. “The best reason I can come up with, is to see if we are too child-like to be ninja’s. It isn’t so much on our skills, but being able to put side our personalities for the better of the ‘mission’. After all that is what we will be doing soon. Even though we have nothing really in common, we most likely have something that we ourselves don’t really know about.” He said with a shrug, not really caring about the reasons behind it.

Popping in another mouth full he mulled around a few thoughts around in his head before commenting again. “I wouldn’t say they are better matches, yeah Ino and Naruto are loud-mouths and hell annoying, but they are in different ways. Ino is clearly always trying to show you up against Sasuke, since you are clearly the smarter of the two, and well Naruto. . . he’s just an idiot. But really don’t worry about Sasuke and Hinata- I can see it is bugging you. They are just both quiet, they’ll most likely have gotten this perfect yesterday with maybe some flaws on Hinata’s part. Then again I really don’t know anything about the girl, I usually forget she’s even in our class.” He said with another shrug before taking in yet another mouthful of food.

As he chewed slowly, her next question almost made him choke on his food. Clearing his mouth he glanced at Sakura with a raised eyebrow before shaking his head. “Naw, women are troublesome. But I know one guy that watches you, and no it’s not Sasuke, sorry if that hurts your feelings.” He said before munching away, his mind bothered with the idea of liking someone. Should he? Well he wanted to one day be married, have kids and the usual, but really he had never really thought about who. For a long time as the two ate away, it was quiet, both gone off into thought. As Shikamaru reached over to grab some of the last bit of food his hand bumped into Sakura’s. “Ah- Sorry go ahead.” He said pushing the lunch box towards her and flopping back down on the grass feeling pretty full.

Sighing softly, he knew that if this was going to work out without them killing each other, or rather Sakura killing him, he would need to also listen to her. “Hey, since you did your little relax thing, if you want to work, I’ll give you an hour before I take a nap, deal?” He said without opening his eyes, his body laying in his usual pose, the sun beating down on his skin letting him take in all the warmth. He was almost like a flower there in the grass.

~~~

She stood before Sasuke, scared yet strong. She was shy, not weak. No matter what everyone seemed to put down on her. She was not the failure people seemed to think she was. She was just not the at the standers that had come to be over years and years of people becoming stronger and stronger. She was unable to keep up with the time and the geniuses. Her cousin was one of those people, her sister was able to keep up with the time and because of that she was left in the dust. Sasuke was just like her father, a hope crusher. As she started she almost had a hope that he was going to see it how she saw it, but he crushed her very soul. She felt that small piece of hope in her eyes fade into the darkness.

Her hands that rested at her sides slowly came up in their usual habit as she felt her heart beat quickly in her chest. It felt like someone was breaking the pieces that had just been put back together. She could feel that inner self starting to shake with the desire to just give up. To cry, to just end this painful existence. Clearly she wasn’t worth it, nor was anyone going to miss her well she was gone. No longer the heir to her own clan, her so called clan saviour hated her to the core, her family couldn’t look her in her eyes. The. . boy she liked so much, most likely didn’t know her name, or that she was even in the class. As Sasuke turned to walk back into the house, her head dipped down, along with her hands. Her small hands curled into tight little balls as her eyes began to water.

She took in a deep breath, brought up that soft coloured coat of her’s and wiped away the water welling up in her eyes. She knew he would notice, but at this point she didn’t care, no that was a lie. She cared what people thought, she wanted to be praised, for once in her life. Not looked down on like a little weak girl, who is a waste. She slipped into the house a moment or two after Sasuke, her head bend down in her usual shy fashion, only this time it was from her trying to hide her emotions as best she could. If she were to cry in front of him, it would only make it worst for her. He would most likely send her on her way and they would show up at the end of the week, do their thing and move on. That wasn’t how this should work.

She took her place across the table from Sasuke, just as the day before. She mostly pushed around the food on her plate, taking only small bites here in there. It was good, really good. It was just. . . she didn’t seem to have the taste for food. She had hardly looked up from her plate, her mind focusing on not crying. He thanked her for the food and said it was good, but it really didn’t make her feel any better. It was somewhat of the same reply her family gave her. Slowly she let her gaze come up, not letting her eyes look at his, but focused on his forehead. “ah, thank you. . . your-yours is good too.” She said softly before quickly looking back down. Clearly she had taken a huge blow out there. She knew Sasuke had his own issues, but it seemed like he never looked to see what happened to others around him.

Opening her mouth to ask him a question, she quickly closed it. Cut off by his question, her head snapped up quickly her eyes wide her face bright red, the water that had come up from her tear ducks ready to spill over. “Wh-what-what makes you say that?” she asked in a bit of a rush once she was able to spit it out. It was clear he was trying to force conversation between the two of them, but – how-did he know? Her heart felt like it was ready to burst out of her chest. Once she realized how she looked, her face went an even brighter red as she looked away. “Ah-um- it doesn’t really matter who. . . I’m on a team with. “ She trailed off thinking ‘so long as I don’t let them down too.’

With her face starting to cool off a little, only a sight pink left to it, she peeked over at the boy from across the table, reading his body langue, he looked relaxed yet tense, but tense in such a way that he was uneasy, almost nervous. He. . . was acting like her, totally uncomfortable, just without the shy aspect to it. “Ah-ah, is there. . . anyone in the class you hope to have on your team? I’m not sure. . who has the second best grades in our class for the boys, but I know Sakura. . . has the best scores. They- they usually have at least one girl on each time. . .So you could get her. Keep the best, together?” She asked softly, hoping that would lead them into a more friendly, less upsetting type of setting. She wasn’t sure she could take much more beating emotionally from someone who knew nothing of being an heir and a clan still around.

Beginning to finally eat the food and not just push it around, she felt the flavors dance around her mouth. He really did a good job cooking. When he asked about his home, Hianta couldn’t help but glance around. She really hadn’t looked around. It was nice, rather empty. .. almost depressed feeling. She peeked over back at Sasuke and gave a small shy smile. She wasn’t really sure how to act, all her interactions had only ever been with her clan. Even in the school, she was the girl who sat in the back and watched. “It’s nice. . . “ She paused. “You must have a hard time keeping it so clean.” She said softly letting out a small sigh. “If-if you want. I can . . .could. Come over and cook for you once a week. . . if you want. Like. . . a break or something.” She said softly feeling her cheeks heat up. It wasn’t like she wanted to spend more time with him, but. . . he must get lonely. Being here all alone, all the time. “I really don’t mind.” She finished looking down at her almost empty plate.