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Fandom {1x1 || Our Ninja Way || Modern AU Naruto RP}

"Don't mind him," Kakashi tried to stay calm, the man was trying get a rise out of him. He was cautious though of what he said, Aku was known to manipulate information to suit his needs and from the sound of it, make the jonin out to be the villains. Was he trying to reopen the debate on whether the school was educating the students or turning them into soldiers? "It's alright, I won't let him hurt you," a promise he hoped to keep, but there was a slight fear nibbling at the back of his mind that it was a promise he might not be able to keep. He'd die trying at least.
Luckily the rest of the team found them, Kakashi herding his squad to safety as his eyes lingered on Aku seating himself with another group in the distance.
"If it's not Naruto it's Hanaru, I wish he'd just leave us alone for once," Sakura sighed, no matter how many inspections she'd lived through before, all of them were as nerve wracking as the last. Except for this one, it was far more intense than any they had ever experienced before.

Sasuke's eyes were on the purplette, "What did you say?" he asked, though not nearly as harshly as he'd done earlier making Naruto grit his teeth at the teens insistence, "Not this again! It doesn't matter what she said-"
"Of course it matters! Everything we say, everything we do...if we're not careful, it could end badly for us all." Sasuke shot Naruto a glare as he stabbed his lunch with his chopsticks.
"So what? It's not like he's always after you, y'know. You think he's watching everyone, but no, it's me he's watching. I can always feel him watching, waiting for-" Naruto bit down on his tongue. There was a time when he thought he could trust the man, like he really understood what it was like to be different like he was, to be hated by everyone without even understanding why. He was wrong though, he was very very wrong, it had taken some time before he saw through the deceit and even then he tried to find some good in the man...but there was none.
Sasuke averted his gaze down to the grass below them, he refused to admit that Naruto had a point, it's not like any of them were ever targeted the same way he was, but he stayed firm in his belief that it was bigger than just Naruto and Hanaru. To him, the man was out to damage the name of the academy, not to just target one or two students but everyone at the same time. To cut short the long familial lines of proud shinobi who had built this school and paved the road for them. To demolish the pride they had as ninja, and break the trust the public had in them. If they didn't act and talk and walk in a certain way, every little thing could be used against them.

It was something that the old shinobi families passed down through generations; the way Hyuga's carried themselves, the way the Aburame's conducted their business, maybe its just because they were traditionalist families, but Sasuke could see the difference in those who were not from these types of families. They lacked a certain something and in times like these they could end up bringing more harm to those around them without realizing it.
"Don't fight, you guys, let's just have a nice lunch together, OK?" Sakura pleaded from between them, they'd almost gone a whole day without any arguments between any of them, even Sasuke and Hanaru were keeping things relatively calm between them. Sasuke looked over at Hanaru, squinting as the sunlight danced through the leaves, he thought he saw her eyes were red, had she been crying again or was there just something in her eye? She wasn't looking at them, keeping to herself under the tree. His gaze wandered to his sense who seemed to be staring off into space, he hadn't even touched his lunch, then again they'd never seen him without his mask on, so he doubted the man would touch his food in public anyway. He followed his teacher's gaze, the silver haired jonin hadn't once taken his eye off of Aku in the distance. Curious, the man was sitting with another group, chatting happily with them.
"I know it's hard to keep an eye on each other during class, but Sakura, Hanaru, try to stay in a group..."
Sasuke looked back at his sensei, he sounded distant like he was deep in thought, "He's been 'interviewing' mainly the girls in those groups over there."

Sasuke turned his head to look, actually focusing on the group Aku was with and sure enough he seemed to be focusing a lot more on the girl; laughing with her, petting her head...could he get any more creepy? He supposed so, the man was playing it nice while under the watchful gaze of the teachers. He hadn't noticed until now how many eyes were on the man.
"I know who that is," Sakura said after squinting at the team on the other side of the court yard, "She tried to put chocolates in Sasuke's locker last month." The raven haired boy rolled his eyes, well now he knew who to thank for breaking his lock and having to get yet another replacement. "She's a part of Sasuke club?" Kakashi quirked a brow, "What about the girl in the adjacent group?"
"Um," Sakura took a long hard look, not that she could really make out the girl's face, but she was someone she'd seen before, "I guess."
"Hm? What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto tilted his head looking back and forth between the distant group and his sensei, he could almost see the gears in the man's head turning and clicking into place. The Uchiha turned fully, his eyes now scanning each individual trying to figure out what Kakashi was seeing as so significant about the other teams. He almost didn't notice how the girls turned and giggled to themselves as looked at them...fangirls? Is that what Mitomori was after, why? What the hell could any of them tell him about Naruto or Hana- "He's talking to girls who think they like me," he said looking over to Hanaru, is that what the blonde meant when she said he would be next on Mitomori's list?

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Asuna was use to either very chill conversations or very explosive ones when it came to her father, or any other family member in general. It's what she knew, something she'd grown up with, but with Asuma, there was only ever a laid back and relaxed typed of conversation. He was somehow able to make it feel like everything would be alright. He radiated that same sort of calm that Asuna could only compare to the Sandiame, maybe it was just a 'Sarutobi' thing, but she was glad that out of all the teachers, he was her sensei. "R-right," she nodded, he was right, they were just genin, "I just..." her voice trailed off, cutting off whatever apology her tongue wanted to form. 'Don't be sorry, be careful,' she could hear her father's voice echoing in her mind. She wasn't going to apologize for something she couldn't control, things happen and instead of wasting time with 'I'm sorries' she could at least try to prevent it from happening again. "Thank you, Asuma-sensei," she smiled softly, it felt like it was a step in the right direction. She didn't pull away when he placed his arm over her shoulders, if it was anyone else they would have received 'the look', but it was just a testimony of how calming his presence was.

"And AsuAsu joins the InoShikaCho!" Choji chuckled as they stepped onto the roof, Asuna making her way over to the beckoning Shikamaru.
She didn't really pay much attention to Ino who was poking at their sensei, trying to get him to divulge the secret origin of the bento box. To her, their teachers love life wasn't their business, so she wasn't going to join in with the prodding. On the other hand he wasn't so good at hiding his feelings for a certain kunoichi and vice versa so it wouldn't be a surprise if I said contents of the bento was made by Kurenai. "I'd rather just nap for a while, but napping is dangerous," Asuna said trying to keep herself upright, "If I close my eyes now I don't think I'll wake up again, even if you threw me off of the roof." Sleeping wasn't something she ever had a problem with, it took some time, but she learned to fall asleep quick and turned into a notoriously heavy sleeper, having no trouble sleeping through big and noisy family gatherings.

"Mm, you'd probably end up taking his head off in the end..." she mused staring off into space, "Go on trial for murder, maybe they'll go easy on you and send you to jail..." she leaned against his side, watching as a ray of sunlight burst through the dense cloud cover, before it was swallowed again. "And some big muscle guy named Jeff'll turn you into his cuddle bug. Maybe you'll plan a prison break and hide out at Choji's, but the Anbu'll find you...so you cut you hair, change your name to Shikai and run away." As she spoke she tried to fight off the sleep attempting to claim her, her voice turning to a low groggy grumble as her mind put together a story. "I'll remember you, if you run away. Tell the devil cat just how brave you were," she pushed away from him, his body heat was lulling her further into slumber, and the rush of cold was enough of a jolt to fend off haze for now."Nah, Shikamaru's too smart to get caught in the first place," Choji said between bites, "I think he'd get away with it." Asuna just hummed in response, stabbing the short straw into her juice box, taking a moment to enjoy the burst of sugary goodness.
 
Kakashi's words, while she appreciated the fact that he was trying to be reassuring, really didn't do much in the way of easing the female's nerves. If anything, it almost made her feel worse. She felt like... a burden. As a half demon, she'd never quite had a place in this world. Humans were scared of her demonic heritage, and so far, though she had yet to meet a fully blooded demon, they would more than likely shun her for her tainted human half. She didn't belong, she was born into a world where she just... didn't fit. And she had no control over this fact.
"I told him he was a piece of shit and to get lost," she told Sasuke blankly, her face void of emotion. "More or less, anyway..." Naruto had tried to help her by deterring the Uchiha's line of questioning, but there was nothing that the blonde could have done to make him less curious. Hanaru didn't know why Sasuke cared so much, but she didn't really care for his reasoning. Either way, the bottom line was, Aku Mitomori was doing everything he could to dig up dirt on Hanaru. "Tch... of course he's going after those airheads..." she mumbled, rolling her eyes and turning away. She could feel Sasuke's gaze burning holes through her head. Why...? Why couldn't he just leave her alone.
"It's not any of you he's after, anyway, why do you care?" she asked Sasuke finally, raising a pointed eyebrow in his direction, almost immediately becoming hypocritical to her own thoughts. "It's just like with Mizuki-sensei, they can't wait for the moment I slip up--to get rid of me." She stood, her suppressed anger rising as she felt that sickly sweet voice purring whispers into her mind. How easy it would have been to stomp over to that rat of a human and put her hand straight through his--!
Hanaru hadn't realized that her silvery black chakra had been pooling under her claws until Kakashi was beside her, his hands gripping her own nearly until they hurt, but not quite--just enough to pull her out of whatever state she was in. "Hanaru... what did Mizuki-sensei do?" Kakashi asked blankly, his singular eye flashing a look of warning at her--losing control is exactly what Aku was waiting for. It would be stupid of her to have gone so far throughout the day without incident, only to let her emotions get the better of her now. She squashed that internal voice, not eager to hear it's siren's call once more. Damn that Mizuki! Ever since arriving at the Konoha academy, she hadn't felt any of her old urges until him and his dumb pompous attitude.
She kissed the back of her teeth with her tongue in annoyance again, pulling away from Kakashi to settle herself back on the ground, pulling her legs into herself and looking quite... small. "It doesn't matter. Nothing's going to change." I'm always going to be a monster... Of course, she didn't dare say it out loud, but Kakashi could probably guess where her thoughts were leading her, and he sighed, also seating himself. Somewhere, during all of that mess, his food had completely disappeared. Sakura ate quietly, looking down at her food, and Naruto, unsure of what to do, gently placed a hand on Hanaru's shoulder, and she didn't shrug him off. He probably understood her the most out of all of them, and yet she didn't communicate with him on why. She didn't really communicate with any of them, after all. What did any of them really know about Hanaru (aside from Kakashi, of course)?

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Asuma could only smile brightly for his student, wishing nothing more to encourage and strengthen her despite her fears. However, he was thoroughly pissed underneath. The good jonin didn't appreciate when anyone was messing with their kids, that was for certain... His eyes narrowed in thought before they broke out onto the more lighthearted atmosphere of the rest of their squad on the roof. He was embarrassed, of course, by Ino's assumptions about his homemade meal, and he did his best to convince the blonde that it was merely made for him by his sweet older neighbor, but Ino was a lot smarter than that. Or maybe just nosy enough to not be buying it. Choji was glad to see Asuna--she was one of the rare girls that didn't give a damn about Sasuke, and sometimes gave him food, so she was plenty alright in his book.
While Choji continued to munch on his food, and Ino and Asuma continued
to bicker, Shikamaru was silently grateful that Asuna had taken his invitation of sitting next to him, once again looking over her form with concern, but not speaking up on the matter. After all, there was no need for him to speak up and say something dumb that would just push her away from him further. Asuna was smart--maybe not as book smart as Shika was, but definitely street smart. She had a worldliness about her that, well... Shikamaru couldn't help but admire. It was one of the many reasons why he found her pull so gravitationally disorienting--as if the path that he had set himself on was completely different than her own, he'd still be pulled back into her orbit. Not that she was a big person or persona, this wasn't a fat joke or an ego joke--it was the truth. She more power over those around her than she gave herself credit for or even realized. Another trait that Shikamaru found endearing. She was humble.
He listened to the group theorize about how he might get away with murder, and Shikamaru shrugged. "I can tell you that yes, in fact, I would get away with it," he surmised at the end, absentmindedly stroking his chin in thought with a playfully smirk upon his features.
"Well? Don't just leave us hanging, then!" Ino barked impatiently, looking about ready to tackle him for information. "No one gets away with harassing my b-b..." she stumbled over her words, remembering that she was supposed to be mad with Asuna, before sighing. "I can't do it--I'm sorry Asuna." Ino? Apologizing? "That creep deserves the wrath of AsuShikaInoCho!!"
"As if I'd tell you my secrets," Shikamaru smirked, enjoying the look of annoyance/anger on Ino's face as she huffed and began to eat her pudding. Shikamaru snorted; at least as a team they were all able to hang out like this. No one else was on the roof, they were away from prying eyes, and Asuma-sensei was a really chill sensei regardless of any of the mess that was going on. He chuckled at their jokes and enjoyed their banter, and Shikamaru felt a calmness he hadn't felt... well... since with Asuna in the pool, the other night. Before Kiba wandered in on them, of course. That was a buzzkill thing to do, and he hated having to explain himself. Since when wasn't it cool just to be friends?! Their genders shouldn't devide them, it was so lame.
Turning to Asuna, he rose an eyebrow at her. "If you were to dump the bastard's body, where would you do it?"
"Normally," Asuma-sensei cut in, raising a pointed eyebrow at his squad as he gave them a warning. "I would be against this kind of behavior, but since I'm in a good mood and rather intrigued, I want to know as well." Shikamaru grinned--even if Asuna hadn't been accosted by that creep, Asuma-sensei would have still been in on such a conversation, the Nara just knew it. "And don't think that means your methods are safe, Shikamaru." His smile turned into an annoyed groan. "We'll save our expert for last--now... if you were to do an assassination and disposal of someone like our friend who happens to be bothering us today, what is your strategy? I'll turn this into a learning exercise. You have a minute to think about it."
 
The sandy blonde was sitting and nodding to herself, she looked like she was far away, but she was very aware of what was going on around her. She was enjoying the company of her team, just because she wasn't always around didn't mean she didn't find some pleasure in being around them. The only downside was how idle her mind became, and slowly, one negative thought after another would crack through. "Hm?" her focus was brought to Ino who was bowing her head slightly and apologizing, "Alright...but it's not like I was mad at you or anything," Asuna said. She knew Ino would take a bullet for the Uchiha boy and would fight anyone who didn't think he was a literal god. Then again she'd also fought those who thought so. Her opinion of the Uchiha wasn't rose tinted or lined with gold lace like Ino's was, which was something that the blue eyed kunoichi both loved and found irritating. She loved it because Asuna wasn't 'competition' and it was irritation because she lacked the admiration and respect he deserved, but no matter how many times Ino decided to 'ignore' her or declared them 'not friends', they never stayed that way for long. She chuckled, almost choking on the juice she'd been nurturing, as Shikamaru denied to divulge his secrets.

"How would I dispose of a body," Asuna repeated, it was something she'd thought of before, never seriously. She'd threatened the delivery man for almost dropping some breakables, as well as the paper boy who decided to throw the morning paper up onto the first floor balcony. Her father might have found it convenient, but more than one ceramic pot had met its untimely demise at the hand of the paper slinging slasher. Her father also called her into theoretical huddles of body disposal ideas whenever her grandmother tried to arrange some sort of blind date for her.
"I say we dump him in the river, y'know? Like in those movies!" Choji said as they all tried to think up something.
"No, that would be way too obvious! What if we snuck into his house in the middle of the night, we can get him in his sleep! Make it all look like an accident by throwing him out of the window or something!" Ino nodded to herself, it sounded like a pretty great idea to her. No one would catch them out if it was ruled an accident.
"If they put a ninken on a case like that, we'd be caught before sunrise," Asuna said leaning back as she thought about it, "Our friend, he's pretty high up there, so it would make sense if he actually had hired muscle to keep him safe at night." It was hard because of how high up in the government he was.
"I'd say, we find a way to take him to Kabukasu..."
"The red light district? We're theorizing how to assassinate him, not show him a good time!" Choji's face contorted in confusion at the girl's suggestion.
"Yeah, we take him to Kabukasu. My old man says a place like that is just crawling with yakuza and other unsavory characters. Just about everything is a deathtrap in disguise. I'm sure there'll be a lot of people who don't like him, and so many people just end up dead in the love motels it wouldn't be to strange if he was just another statistic." Asuna was playing with her straw, it all sounded like it could work, but there was a problem. Something most conspirators always fell into; the more elaborate the plan the more likely it was to fail, "Otherwise, we can just shove the body into a meat grinder. The meat works plant have those really big ones, no one would even know."

Choji actually stopped eating, if he thought taking the man to the Kabukasu was weird, now he was eyeing the beef in his lunchbox warily, "Hey, I'm still eating over here!" Asuna stabbed her straw into her empty juice box again, "Nana says with the right spice you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference."
"Ew! No!" Ino protested, "Do you know what goes into making baloney? No one would even know if there was a little bit of politician in there," Asuna said waving her juice box, but she stopped her ranting as Choji was visibly becoming more uncomfortable. The poor boy was looking a little green around the mouth, and for his sake she ceased and desisted, there were less extreme methods. Dumping him in the river wasn't a bad suggestion but, there was no telling whether the man would drift up after a few months. Kabukasu while a perfectly fine place during the day, with great shops and a damn nice park, it turned belly up after the sun went down. It wouldn't really matter on what method they'd use to do the deed there, but no matter how she thought of it, if the Uchiha police force started snooping with ninja hounds that could turn out problematic. Ninken were a force all on their own, ugh, and if the police had undercover ANBU members in it that would be worse. "But the controversy though..." Asuna mused quietly bringing the juicebox up to her lips, forgetting it was empty. If the special police force suddenly started looking into Kabukasu they would have riots on their hands, it wasn't like they didn't take missing persons cases seriously, but with gang wars and the yakuza shaking up the people, working girls that vanished into thin air, with so many cases pouring in daily if the higher ups suddenly focused all of their resources on one person they'd have a class war on their hands.

"Shikamaru," Choji murmured, "Make her stop," he pleaded as the sandy blonde chewed on her straw muttering quietly, he wasn't sure what she was saying but her last suggestion made his stomach churn and he didn't want to imagine what nightmarish idea she was concocting now, "What would you do?"
Asuna cocked her head as they looked over at the boy, "Hm, guess you'll have to tell us your secrets now." Shikamaru always had his head screwed on right, at least in her opinion. He was smart, and took the time to think things through. Unlike most of her plans, she didn't really plan too far ahead and usually just went with her gut feeling. She often got away with it, be it by sheer luck or coincidence, or maybe just someone turning a blind eye much like Anko had done. He always had a methodical way of doing things, everything was planned and thought out. Behind his dark eyes she always thought she could see the cogs of his mind turning.

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Sasuke held her gaze with fierceness. His unblinking stare boring into her golden orbs and the longer he held her gaze the more he felt his heart flutter, trying to burst from his chest. He didn't know why. He hated the tingling sensation that danced down his spine because he didn't know what it was or why it was so persistent. "I don't care," he stated flatly only to feel an ache in his chest, "I haven't beaten you into the dirt yet. Without people like you and Naruto to overcome, how can I sit here and say that I'm the best?" Itachi was leagues above him, Naruto and Hanaru were close seconds and he could think of several shinobi who outclassed him in every way. There was a knot in his stomach, twisting and turning as a voice in his mind whispered 'You'll never be good enough in his eyes' and it made him grit his teeth, baring them as his fist clenched at the grass beneath him. "If they take away the only real challenge, how can I even begin to get stronger? This is about my own interest only and if he decided to close the school because no one is deemed fit, I'll come for you. You and everyone else who couldn't keep just shut up!" His fist slammed into the ground, his eyes filled with fire and something else, something just behind the intensity.

Growing up, Naruto was his only rival, but he never even so much as thought about the boy in that way. Not until he witnessed just what the blonde was capable of. Then Hanaru came along, and not only was she strong, but unlike Naruto who had to be pushed before he would let loose, no, the purplette brought her A game right off the bat. In a battle of smarts, he could dominate her easily, but in strength he didn't hold a candle. He'd become accustomed to her always having the higher reach and whenever he gained a new height she'd so easily slip up higher to a new seemingly unreachable height. She became his main rival, his main focus for the past three months and now, he felt threatened. The shadow of Mitomori was long and dark and had impossible reach, and they found themselves in it's twilight. The thought of the man taking her away, the thought of a life without her around stirred his insides in a most unpleasant way. Maybe he was just doing it for his own gain or maybe he'd actually grown to respect her and enjoy her company, even if it was just a little bit. Hanaru wasn't like the other girls, she didn't throw herself at him and when she did it was usually followed by a devastating uppercut. Her entire being was an enigma. That puzzle box with the IKEA level instructions where nothing made sense, the puzzle he'd yell at and throw against the wall in frustration only to come crawling back to try and solve it after a few hours. He couldn't stay away from her no matter how hard he tried. It was magnetic. After spending the night with her wandering the school, something in him was awoken from some dark and forbidden place in his mind. He never wanted to protect something more in his life and the sad part was, he didn't even know why.

"Sasuke! Why are you being so mean today?" Naruto was quick to defend Hanaru, "Whether you like it or not, she's a part of this team! We're friends alright, we look out for each other!"
"You can be friends with whoever you want. I'm not here to make friends, she's my rival and that's as deep as it goes," Sasuke retorted, but he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else at that point. His own personal feelings towards them were jumbled and confusing. He understood Naruto to some extent, it's not like the boy had a real family so he adopted people into his own little patchwork family and Hanaru, being so similar, had the boy trying to take on a more 'brotherly' role.
"No it's not, you guys are all I have! And I won't let some guy get in the way of that!" Naruto said, his lunch tray discarded on the grass, "I know deep down, we're more than just obstacles to you. I know some part of you actually cares about us; me, Sakura and I know you care about Hanaru too even if you refuse to admit it!"
Sasuke didn't say anything, breaking eye contact as he turned his head away from them. It was his way of saying he was done with this conversation, not wanting to admit or deny what Naruto had said.

Naruto crawled his way over to Hanaru, plopping himself beside her, "If you won't help then I'll do it by myself. I'll fight and I'll make things change," he said still looking at the Uchiha. It wasn't just words and Sasuke knew that Naruto was vowing to not just protect his makeshift family, but change the way people saw him and Hanaru. The boy had a way with his words that Sasuke didn't understand. Once he had his mind set, it was like people flocked to stand by him and he wasn't immune to that magnetic pull. 'Damn you, Naruto,' Sasuke cursed the boy and his dumb charasma, and the bright smile on Naruto's face made it clear that he'd won the Uchiha over.
"That's all fine in theory, but Mitomori isn't just another one of the low life thugs you've dealt with before," Kakashi spoke up, he wasn't going to sit by as his students tried to run to their early graves, "You can't just run in blindly, Naruto. This is a man with a lot of power and if you're not careful, a lot of people can get hurt," he hated being the one to burst their bubble, it was endearing to see them come together to stand by someone they'd only known for a few months, but he had to find out just how far Mitomori's reach went. By the sound of it, there might be some jonin under his influence, "Now, why don't you tell me what happened with Mizuki? You can't expect things to change if you're not willing to speak up about what's bothering you."
There was silence in the group as Kakashi waited for someone to speak up, of all the students his were the ones to keep things to themselves and act on their own accord and this once he hoped they'd actually let the jonin handle it. His eye was fixed on Sakura as he waited.
"Some kid was messing with her tail and Sasuke stood up for her because Mizuki-sensei wasn't stopping it," she eventually cracked, "He gave them both detention." That wasn't all of it and Kakashi knew it, but if Sasuke and Hanaru were the only people there then it wouldn't be so easy to squeeze the information out of them as they were equally stubborn.
 
Shikamaru bit his lip as he listened to all their ideas. Dumping the body in the river wasn't a terrible idea, but the currents were rather unpredictable, so it was an unreliable way to hide the body. Besides, any tracking ninja would have been able to trace evidence if you weren't careful enough. And it was probably easy to get caught with trace amounts of DNA or be seen if you were any bit not confident or nervous while performing. Let's just say, with any assassination attempt, there was going to be a bit of a mess if you weren't careful enough to cover your tracks. Shikamaru didn't miss, despite being lost in his thoughts, Asuna's suggestion. "Going all Dmeon Barber of Fleet Street on us, Asu-chan?" Shikamaru teased with a smirk, enjoying the way Choji and Ino both became squeamish about her suggestion. He nodded along with her words. "It makes sense--despite how revolting the idea might be..." he tilted is head to one side as he closed his eyes in thought.
"So we've got river dump, the Red Light District cover-up, balcony-accidents and Meat pies. THat's a few different bases that we could cover..." Asuma-sensei couldn't help but chuckle at his students--at least no one could say that they weren't creative! He shook his head lightly, before his dark, amused gaze turned from Asuna to Shikamaru. "Exactly, c'mon. What's brewing in that mind of yours, Shikamaru?"
"He's a government official, and one witha fair amount of political power, so there's no way that anyone is going to buy an accident..." his hands came up in that signature way that they did when he was deep in thought, and Shikamaru kept trailing down different rabbit holes, but with Aku Mitomori... he kept forseeing scenarios where they were to get caught, and jailed or killed for their actions. "Hmm..." he silenced himself for a moment, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he followed one particular trail. "I like the idea of using Kabukasu, but even the Yakuza has ties within the government, we've been trying to see through their spies for years, so someone would leak that it's a hoax. And the river's unreliable." Asuma-sensei nodded thoughtfully, leaning back on his hands as he sat with his legs crossed, wishing for a smoke but not being able to do so (legally) on school grounds.
"I'd take him to the rift," Shikamaru said finally, immediately feeling Asuma's narrowed eyes on his form.
"The rift...?" Ino tilted her head, her long blonde locks falling over her shoulder as she did so. "What... what is the rift?"
"Hmm... your father mention it to you, Shikamaru?" Asuma-sensei rose an eyebrow, doubting that Shikaku would relay such sensitive information to his son. Shikamaru was smart enough to know where and how to find information, should he seek it out.
The pineapple-haired male shook his head, confirming his sensei's suspicions. "I was sent to do some cleaning in the archives for sleeping during one of Iruka-sensei's classes. I happened upon a scroll that talked about the demons in this world, and the rift that they come out of. Shinobi from the different schools take shifts patrolling it to make sure nothing gets out, and no one gets in."
Asuma-sensei sighed and nodded. "I see... continue?"
"After seeing that, I did some more digging..." he didn't mention where, specifically his father's office, and maybe once or twice slipping into the archives again. What? He was just practicing intelligence gathering--at least, that's what he would have said if he got caught (which he didn't). "The forest around the rift is that forest that's said to be haunted--it's really full of patrolling shinobi casting genjutsu to keep people out and keep everyone safe, but that area is off limits, so even government officials aren't allowed to freely walk around in there. I'd lure him in with something he desires--men like him are easy to seduce with power. And then you assassinate him once he's there and claim he was after a rift demon to harness it's powers for his own, and you had to stop him."
A silence hung about them as Shikamaru's hands dropped back to his lunch, and he went back to eating as Asuma stroked his beard thoughtfully. In all honesty... it was actually a pretty damn good plan. He also found it hard to believer that no one had seen Shikamaru in the archives, but the kid was pretty lucky usually. Shaking his head, he let out a low whistle, Choji mumbling under his breath about how he liked that idea a lot better than "people food." Their sensei turned to look at them with a grin. "That reminds me, the Sandaime has asked our squad to do a very special mission, so it's only fair that Shikamaru found out about The Rift, considering you were all going to find out shortly. We're on rotation for keeping unwanted individuals out of the forest. There's a secret portion of the ANBU dedicated to watching the monsters in the portal. Of course, we are not yet strong enough to face these monsters, so that group will be doing sweeps around the portal. Our job is guarding the forest. A B-Rank mission, how does that sound?" Technically it was B-rank, because you never knew who was prowling about, but that being said... they could also simply not run into anyone.

----------------

Hanaru didn't understand what was going on in Sasuke's head, and while curiosity burned at her throat like strong brandy, she couldn't bring herself to ask. So they were rivals, nothing more? That stung, though she couldn't give a definitive 'why'. Naruto... he was far too pure for his own good. "If it's all for yourself, then you don't need me, your ego does enough talking for you..." she mumbled, her eyes challenging, and the ghost of a smirk played upon her lips, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Friends... hah..." Hanaru snickered at the idea. She'd never had friends--she didn't even know what a proper friendship was supposed to be like. Usually, in her world, everyone was out to gain something. You did your best work protecting yourself and making sure that you were okay, before anything else. That was the only way you were going to survive. After all, people only approached with "friendliness" if they wanted something out of you--in Mitomori's case, another criminal taken down--another feather in his cap of achievements gained on the backs of other individuals. For Sasuke? Power. He desired power so much it blinded him--when he got angry, he got sloppy, and so Hanaru made it her purpose to push his buttons, and show him that he was no longer the top of the food chain. She might use more instinct than intelligence, but her raw power and abilities were enough to win her each fight until they either passed out or got broken up by the senseis.
"He can act however the hell he wants to, Naruto," Hanaru sighed, looking away. There was another brief moment of silence from the girl as she listened to him and Sasuke bicker, ignoring Naruto as he crawled beside her, though she did tilt her head at his words. "... don't do too much..." she said softly, and if they knew any better, a bit of tenderness seeped into her voice as she looked down at the blonde. The knucklehead was looking up at her, grinning one of those big, dumb Uzumaki smiles and she felt her cheeks start on fire. Reaching over, she pulled his hitaite over his eyes, growling loudly in annoyance for how much this loser made her heart feel like mush. Like he was the brother she'd always wanted. Like a missing piece of her life. When Hanaru had arrived at Konoha, Naruto had sneakily stolen a piece of her heart and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get it back from him.
Whether she admitted it or not, they all had.
When Kakashi asked about the incident with Mizuki, Hanaru quickly looked away. She had cried in front of Sasuke! Not one of her proudest moments, and she had already done as much as she could to shove that memory as far and as deep as she possibly could. Her golden gaze locked with Sasuke's again, as if in a silent warning. However, it took no time at all for Sakura to crack under the pressure of their sensei's intense glare. "Nothing he hasn't done before," Hanaru all but spat, avoiding Sasuke's gaze now as she bit her lip nearly until it bled. The pain... felt good, though she was no masochist. It was just a reminder. To feel something. "Mizuki-sensei gave Sasuke detention for standing up for me, and he always tries to bait me to attack him. Nothing else happened."
"I feel like it's more frequently too," Sakura stated, and Hanaru looked to the pinkette in mild surprise. The girl in question blushed at how quickly Hanaru's head had snapped in her direction. "W-well! When you first got here, he would mostly ignore you. But recently he's started picking on you a lot... I just don't think it's fair, is all." She mumbled, crossing her arms. Hanaru scoffed, her ears flattening. She didn't know they all noticed. Perhaps, even though they were just humans, she should have given their observation skills more credit.
There was a moment of silence in the group, and the purple haired half demon took that as a sign that they were done with lunch. Not wanting to waste the period, she sighed and mentally shook her head. There was something that still had to be done. "Sensei..." Hanaru mumbled, standing up again. "I left something in the one of the art rooms."
Kakashi tilted his head, looking to her in mild suspicion, but he supposed her fear would overtake her ability to do something stupid. "I suppose we're done with lunch. Take someone with you, please. I need to report this information to the Sandaime." It was hard for him, being stretched between his students and his reports. Hopefully he could slip in at just the right moment if anything else happened. Hanaru shared a look with Sasuke before turning on her heel and walking towards the art classrooms--away from where Mitomori was last seen. "Great, Naruto, please stick with Sakura, and stay in large groups. Don't let yourselves be caught alone." Sakura groaned loudly, Naruto cheering rather boisterously as they both got up to take care of the group's lunch trays.
"Remember, you only get one question..." Hanaru stated over her shoulder as they walked, separate and yet together. "Since ghosts aren't real you technically failed. So choose wisely."
 
Sasuke just gave Hanaru an irate look, him? A big ego? Of course not! He couldn't help the fact that he was just simply better than everyone else...until she showed up. He just owned up to his own accomplishments. Psh, ego...yeah right. He didn't miss the challenging look in her eyes though and if he weren't trying to keep himself out of trouble, he would have accepted and thrown down right there. 'Why are you like this?' he asked mentally, not understanding why she just couldn't get down into her proper place and stay there. Why did she have to challenge him at every turn? Tch, it didn't matter, he'll get stronger and put her back in her place. As he glared at her and his mind kept turning his body was on autopilot, reaching for the chocolate dessert. The raven haired boy froze as the chilled sweet flavour hit his tongue and he broke eye contact with the purplette. Did he seriously just eat that? He wasn't very fond of sweet things, why the hell did he take the pudding in the first place?! Making a face of utter disgust he passes the open pudding cup over to Sakura, "Take it," he said after forcing the spoonful of chocolate down his throat. Maybe it was the horribly sweet substance, but watching Hanaru and Naruto act so buddy-buddy was making his stomach churn. He caught the blush that spread over her cheeks before she pulled the blond's headband down, did she like him or something? It's not like he cared, she and Naruto could go frolic off a cliff face for all he cared, but that feeling of his insides being covered in black goopy ink was back. A part of him wanted to seperate them, so she wouldn't be so affectionate towards the boy, but he tried to squash that thought, there was no reason for it. It's not like he liked Hanaru, that would be crazy. He just wasn't sure why he felt like this after seeing them so jovial.

Sasuke wasn't going to say anything about Mizuki if Hanaru wasn't. What happened in detention was going to stay there, he wasn't her babysitter, it was her own responsibility to man up and tell Kakashi. Well, maybe he'd do as he planned that day and leave an anonymous tip off regarding the teacher's actions. He made her cry and it made him angry, but it wasn't his place to tell their sensei that in front of the rest of their squad. He stopped, looking down at his hands as Sakura cracked under the gaze of their squad leader. Hanaru had cried and he remembered how angry he felt, how lost he felt not knowing what to do. What was he trying to accomplish worrying about what the students did and said in the presence of Mitomori? His entire argument was invalid if he wanted to do something to help Hanaru. He couldn't keep up his image and pride, he couldn't fight for the school if he wanted to fight for her. Sasuke closed his eyes, he was at a crossroads, he couldn't do both of those things. If he was going to join Naruto and fight against people like Mizuki-sensei and Mitomori-san, he'd have to throw away the years of teachings his father had bestowed on him. If he didn't, if he fought to keep the school in a good light for Mitomori-san, then there would never be an end to the fighting until Naruto and Hanaru were out of the picture for good. The decision wasn't easy, he wished he'd never have to make it, just what was he willing to lose?

Later, he'd ponder on it later, as he heard Hanaru speak up, now was his chance to get some answers out of her. "Fine," he tried to sound disinterested, but he was actually curiously excited. "Why can't Naruto go with her?" Sakura protested as he quickly stood and followed after the purplette. He stayed alert as they walked off over the courtyard. The art rooms were all clustered together in long strips, all leading to the theatre where the drama students practiced. While they liked hanging out around the theatre, there was no one around there today, most likely because of the team lunch situation which had them all disbursed. "I don't know, you were pretty scared," Sasuke retorted, how could he only choose one question when he had so many? Maybe if he was vague enough she'd have to tell him more. "You seemed to think that for phantom was real enough," he said as he walked up beside her, his arm lightly resting on the small of her back as he guided her to the classroom he knew would be open, "And the deal was if you got scared, which, you absolutely were. So technically, I didn't fail," he tried to coax her to let him ask more than one question. "In here," he lightly pushed her towards a heavy wooden door, checking to make sure no one was following them before he slipped in, closing the door behind him.
The room smelled of paint for the most part and it was warmer than outside. Walking to the far side of the room he leaned against one of the large tables, her golden honey orbs were warm, so different from last night. He fought back the heat rising to his face as he realized just how intimate it felt being alone in the room with her like this. 'That's stupid', he thought, it's not like he's never been alone with her before. "My question...What's your deal?" He smirked, thinking himself very clever, "Yeah, your deal...what's your story?"


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Asuna grinned and chuckled at Shikamaru, rather pleased that he saw where she was coming from and even if it sounded rather disgusting, it was still a pretty good way to get away with getting rid of someone. She watched as he mulled over their suggestions, calling out the fatal flaws in their plans and trying to find a way around them, his hands cupped in his thinking pose. It was just something he'd always done, something she found funny whenever someone who didn't know him thought it was some kind of hand seal. One by one all of their ideas were shut down completely, she wanted to protest, but she'd learned over the years that his better judgement was just that...better. He wouldn't have shut down the ideas if he wasn't certain of a positive outcome, which is probably why she'd follow along with any plan he came up with. Curiously her head tilted to the side as the empty juice box was finally laid to rest, Ino though had voiced the question that was probably on all of their minds. A rift? Of what? Her head turned to Asuma, noting that look of suspicion that furrowed his brows before she turned back to Shikamaru listening to his explanation. The hair on the back of Asuna's neck stood on end as a chill shimmied down her spine, it almost didn't sound real but Shikamaru wouldn't lie about something like that, especially if Asuma-sensei seemed concerned with how the boy even knew of something like that.

She knew of the haunted forest, everyone knew of the haunted forest, where days turn to minutes and those who dared enter either came back with no memories or never came back at all. And all these years she thought Nana Fu was just a bat shit crazy old woman. "Isn't it dangerous just keeping something like that open? Can't they just close it?" Choji asked, it sounded scary thinking that just outside of the city was a literal demon portal. "I don't think they can, otherwise they would have done so by now, right?" Asuna looked over to Asuma who nodded solemnly. "I could see Mitomori-san being lured in by the prospect of power and a coverup if his body was discovered," she said thinking the pineapple haired boy's plan over, "Leave it to Shika to put something like that together," she nodded, it was a solid plan and she could actually see them getting away with it. "Is that a little brown on your nose there, Asu-chan~? Or are you just saying that because you want that second date~?" Ino leaned into her side, whispering the last part in the sandy blonde's ear causing a dust of pink to flush over her face. "..." for a second Asuna thought of threatening her to stop with the chopsticks, but she remembered the playground logic that the blonde beside her (among others) used; if you deny it, you're guilty and if you don't deny it, you're also guilty. "Whatever'll make you sleep tonight," she sighed in defeat, it was like arguing with her dad when he was wound up extra tight, nothing anyone said could convince of anything other than whatever conclusion he had jumped to.

As Asuma-sensei briefed them of their special mission, the sandy blonde could feel her blood run cold. A B-ranked mission? Them?!
"Seriously? Yes! Something other than picking up the litter in the park!" Ino cheered beside her, "Lord Third must really have faith in us!" Choji added excitedly, it was quite the honor to get assigned a mission like this, they were just genin after all! Asuna didn't say anything though, yes it sounded exciting and yes it would really score their team some major points, but she was a little worried. She missed a lot of training sessions, a lot of classes too and to be frank, she was a little scared being assigned such a high ranking mission. She'd been so caught up in trying to keep her life together she neglected to practice her jutsu and she was seriously behind on her ninja arts. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru...they were all leaps and bounds ahead of her. On one hand what if nothing happened on the mission? But, what if something happened, what if a demon escaped the rift and the special team couldn't contain it? Would she be of any use to her team?
"You're looking a little pale, Asu, you ok?" she heard Choji ask and she blinked in his direction, "Yeah, fine."
"B-rank mission~! Isn't it exciting?" Ino asked and she nodded hesitantly. In her mind Asuna was trying to calculate how much training she could cram into the day; with how tired she was she wasn't too sure, then there was detention and when she got home she'd probably have to do a sweep of the shop, check the stock and replenish, then there was chores and homework. An early night would have been ideal but that wasn't going to happen, even if they hadn't just been given a mission, there was just too much to do. "Ah, when...are we going?" Asuna asked in false confidence, secretly hoping it would be months away, but deep down she knew it wouldn't be.
"That's the spirit!" Ino threw her arms around Asuna who stiffend and was visibly uncomfortable, "Yay...now get off," she said pushing at the Yamanaka girl trying to keep her inner turmoil from leaking to the surface.
 
There was so much that Hanaru didn't know and didn't want to understand, but Sasuke was a burning enigma (both literally and figuratively) that was always in the back of her mind, regardless of how much she tried to push him out of her thoughts. Of course, she had no feasible idea as to why this was, but she also didn't put the time and effort into sorting out her feelings. In fact, she never did that, which was probably unhealthy, but the purplette would far rather push everything down and ignore it. That was how she "solved" most of her problems. Ignored them until they blew up in her face or went away. It was a dangerous way to live, though she hardly acknowledged that out of stubbornness and pride. They were both two prideful fools... maybe that's why she couldn't get him out of her head. He was insufferable, to say the least, and particularly moody (and she thought she was bad!).
Ignoring Sakura's protest as Sasuke followed her, she frowned, thinking about what Sasuke could possibly ask her. She wasn't looking forward to telling him anything in any capacity, but she'd die before she broke a promise. It was a stupid thing to promise anyway, and she was about to eat her own foot. On one hand, she wondered if she might feel a sense of relief, from letting one peer in on her secrets, but on the other hand... well... let's just say the sense of dread she felt was overwhelming. Would he think she was weird? Or worse, a monster, like so many others told her?
She scoffed at his words, shaking her head as she refused to look back at him. "Try as much as you like, I'm not about to let you get the upper hand, Uchiha. Just because you're privileged doesn't mean you get exceptions from me," at that, she did turn to offer him another one of her challenging glares. Though, the banter didn't dislodge the rock that had sunk to the bottom of her stomach, in fact, it merely reinforced her fear. Her ears were pinned to the back of her head--if he wanted to ask her how to get ahead of her, maybe she'd start by telling him to study an animal behavioral book, considering how much her ears and tail gave away her emotional state. A hand on her back brought her out of her musings, and she felt heat creep under her cheeks as he guided her to an empty art room. The blush was gone as soon as the chemical scent of paint hit her nose. She groaned inwardly--the half demon had forgotten how much she had hated art classrooms. They smelled awful, and were honestly a bit disorienting.
Turning to face Sasuke once he had closed the door, and she looked to him with a gaze that seemed impassible. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but her expression wasn't as harsh as it was before. They were alone, Mitomori was elsewhere threatening Sasuke fanclub members... she willed herself to relax as she waited for him to ask his question. Her eyes traced his face, his hair, though she didn't allow her gaze any lower--he would be attractive, if he wasn't so arrogant. And stupid. And a hothead. And an angsty fu--she needed to cut that train of thought off right now.
Hanaru's mouth opened at his question, her eyebrows furrowing as her previously relaxed posture immediately tensed with his words. "Y-you..." she couldn't find her brain. That was... exactly the way to find the answers he sought, and she had no escape. Of course she could always lie to him, but her brain knew... she knew that someday she wouldn't be able to hide every secret, and then he would feel betrayed that he had been lied to. Sasuke struck her as someone that would lose themselves in revenge at a hint of betrayal, and despite whatever she thought of the male, that was a future she wanted for no one. It had not been kind to her, after all. "You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you." She held his gaze, before her shoulders slumped, and she walked over to the windows. "Sasuke..." she even surprised herself, with how softly her words came out. "Do you know of the demons that exist in this world?" She didn't wait for an answer, but a silence permitted the room. "... Naruto carries one inside him. A Bijuu... a tailed beast. That's why the jonin like Mizuki-sensei or that Mitomori asshole don't like him. They associated Naruto with the monster he never asked to have sealed away in his body." She leaned her head in her hand. "I... never asked to be born. I am a monster..."
Hanaru felt a lump in her throat and her ears drooped. She couldn't look him in the eye. "My mother and I were always on the run... never having a moment of rest. And then one day we were attacked, and she..." 'I murdered her.' The words... they wouldn't form. She choked on spit as her shoulders trembled. She couldn't even say that she died. For whatever she thought of Sasuke, the boy was smart. He would be able to infer what happened. That was something he would never have to know. 'It wasn't my fault!' Her mind screamed. 'I was nearly dead and I lost control... and she jumped in the way to save Hitsugi, her flesh and blood...' And she died in your arms, the blood of your mother coating your skin, revealing a monster's true purpose. She felt like she couldn't breathe. "I took jobs...!" damn her shaky voice. "Whatever I could... and so I killed, and stole and became every bit of the monster that I am, praying, and hoping, that someone would end my life... pondering... did I deserve to be born?" Her shoulders fell. She looked... defeated. "And yet, when captured by Konoha ninja, the Sandaime gave me the option. Live and become a ninja of Konoha, or die. And despite knowing what the answer was. Despite wishing for it and finally receiving the blessing of an end to something that never should have been, I..." her shoulders trembled again. "I chose to live. Selfishly. Like a coward. So... that's my 'deal'. My 'story'. The story of a monster who walks through waves of blood. They called me None because I completed jobs with 0% survival ratings. But I always took the name as "No one." Because monsters like me have no one." She looked to the ground, and in the opposite direction. "I'm just... so tired of running. And any chance they get, those who know of my criminal background try to get me to slip up. To make a mistake. And all because of the fact that I'm just a scared, and weak-willed fool who doesn't want to die, I take it. Over and over and over again." She chuckled lowly, the sound dead and hollow. "What a pathetic monster I am..."

-------------------------

While Asuna's ideas weren't bad, they weren't exactly fool-proof either, and the more Shikamaru thought about it, the more dangerous such a mission would be. "You have to think about the possibilities of being found out, and the consequences that would happen due to your own negligence," Shikamaru stated calmly once he had finished his piece, bringing his hands out of his positioning as he looked back to the group. Asuma-sensei stroked his beard absentmindedly as he nodded in agreement. "Considering his ranking as a government official, like I said before, and accident wouldn't be plausible. Tracker nin like the Hyuga could use their Byukugan clan trait to fish a body out of a river, and just as I said before, the Yakuza would be the first to throw ninja out under the bus for sloppy kills. It's way to risky." He blinked and turned to Asuna. "If you somehow managed to kill him and get his body to the factory undetected, I would personally serve as your butler for the rest of your life." His face was blank, showing how serious he was in believing that nindogs, even amidst the meat-smell, would smell both the body and the perpetrator.
Now it was Asuma's turn to speak up, providing them some insight into their next mission, as well as helping to clarify Shikamaru's reasoning for his strategy. This was to help them all learn, and if they were going to the Rift they'd have to be briefed on these types of things anyway. Besides, it was fun to imagine that horrible snake as their next target. A lot of the jonin despised him and the government he stood for, considering how corruption so easily seduced and consumed its members. "You have to be careful--in the case of the forest, if his body was to be hidden and then found, one could just assume that the legends of the Haunted Forest were true, and rule out his death as either accidental, or suspicious. If suspicious, Ninja could either claim innocence, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend, or they could pronounce the death as soon as it happened. It's not very hard to believe that government officials are always seeking to get a leg up on each other. Not only that, but the rotation of the ninjas that guard the Rift are knowledge kept and held only by the Kages, the shadow-leaders of the ninja world. For the safety of those investigating, we are all sworn to secrecy. So that means," he looked to his students with a careful eye. "That you are not to talk about this mission to anyone, do you hear? Not every student knows about the Rift and the dangers these types of places possess. It's rare that the Sandaime lets such a green group of genin to go even anywhere near the Rift, and we're on the outer patrol of the forest. That also means we have a lot of ground to cover. Take this responsibility as an honor."
The young Nara nodded, suddenly excitement drumming up in his bones. After all... it was amazing to be able to be entrusted with a mission like this. He couldn't say that he'd been excited for a mission before this, but... he was honestly a little more than ready. B ranked missions and higher meant that they were able to be entrusted with more legitimate ninja business--none of that boring kid-stuff and community service. He understood how important it was to keep a positive public image, but there was a point of breaking that he had (thankfully not yet reached) felt encroaching ever closer, dangerously so, on his psyche. Finally...! Something they could test their skills on that was legitimately challenging!
When Choji spoke to Asuna, Shikamaru was broken out of his thoughts, and the male turned to listen to the exchange, and he watched curiously. What had her so deep in thought? Was she... scared? No that couldn't be it. Yes, Asuna had been kind of a crybaby when they were kids, but he couldn't see that being the case of her worries. Hopefully should be okay, but he eyed her suspiciously as she quickly told Choji she was fine.
"Our mission is set for the weekend--it's going to be Friday-through-Saturday as it will take us at least that long to do a full sweep of our assigned section. Please inform your parents, but you cannot tell them where you're going, considering it is top-secret." Asuma reached into one of the pouch pockets of his jonin vest, producing them their "permission slip" for the mission. Any mission that was far enough away or longer than a day needed an official "Mission Summons" and the 'B' status was sealed in wax on the scroll. Rather than using technology, the ninjas, in this way, were old fashioned. Technology could be stolen and hacked into, but scrolls could be burned, and the summons were required to be burned by the parent/guardian of the students who got them, as confirmation of their consent. Though, they also had to sign, when their students enrolled, that their lives were to be taken in their own hands by becoming ninja. It was a serious manner, and this process was what detered a lot of families with chakra-capable children but no past ninja experience away. They couldn't quite understand the amount of strength and courage attending the academies that was required of both the student and their families.
Ino clung to Asuna, a wide grin on her face. "Ooh~ camping!" she took her summons, as did Choji and Shikamaru. He eyed the scroll before placing it in his kunai pouch, a shrug on his features.
"Ugh with this chick...?" Shikamaru nudged Asuna and pointed to Ino, who was ranting, to no one in particular, considering Choji had long since tuned out and Asuma... was... well, Asuma-sensei. "I just hope the whole thing won't be too troublesome..." Ino's words, of course, consisted of how now that she would have been on a 'B Rank Mission" that her precious Sasuke would have to notice her and acknowledge her skill. Shikamaru scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Or, maybe he'd get envious of you going on a higher ranked mission than he has, and challenge you to a fight like he does Naruto, and that purple haired chick."
 
Shikamaru's challenge sounded interesting and Asuna wondered if she could pull something off like that. She'd have to look into it and try it out, not with an actual person of course, maybe she could make a prop and stuff it with assorted meats and disguise the smell with something more human. Then she'd just have to find a way to convince team eight to go search for the 'dead person' to see if they could find it. Ah but it would end up being too much work and take too much time to pull off and although team eight were all specializing to become tracker nin they weren't exactly Black Ops level, but it was still an interesting thought. "Maybe I'll take you up on that someday," she said softly, meeting the boys serious expression with her own equally serious one. It would be an interesting experiment whether she failed or succeeded. One of these days her curiosity was going to end up with her arrested or worse.

Asuna took the mission summons scroll, feeling its weight, her thumb tracing over the wax as she stared down at the great big B. She wasn't sure if she was ready for something like this or if her old man was ready for this. There were only two kinds of shinobi in his eyes; the 'shinobi' that could be seen around the city keeping the peace and helping out. The ones in the public had their eyes on that always did community service work, that helped little old ladies cross the street or cats from trees. Then there were the ones that the public didn't see, the ones that assassinated people, went undercover to find information, the ones that fought the unseen wars that kept the people safe without them knowing. The only time those shinobi were ever heard of was when their names were carved on the memorial rock. That was what he'd always been afraid of. Maybe there was some kind of mistake? Unlikely, the Sandiame didn't make mistakes like that, he might have been old, but he was wise and some even said all knowing. Her fist clenched around the scroll and permission slip, tucking it away safely, what would her team think if she didn't go? They were all so excited, finally a real mission after slogging after kindergarteners, cleaning up graffiti in the old playground, picking up litter and so on. Most of their missions as genin weren't very exciting, stuck on D rank missions with the occasional C rank if they were lucky that week.

No, she wasn't going to back down, she wasn't going to let the team down, they were going to go on this mission together! She'd find a way to cram in some extra training time and put her heart and soul into it. Would it make up for the past few years of slacking off? No, but she'd feel better knowing where she stood in terms of her ability. Right, she was going to enjoy lunch and slip away to the training grounds for some serious crunching. It had always been her dream to be a great kunoichi, it was about time she started acting like one, even as a part of her whispered that it was too late, trying to coax her back into the safety of the little family shop, not today, not with something so important coming up.

"Yay camping?" Asuna gave a weak cheer as Ino finally let her go, "I should start packing when I get home! We should totally coordinate our outfits for the weekend!" Ino gushed in excitement, too much excitement for Asuna though as the sandy blonde scooted away from her and closer to Shikamaru, "We could tie her to a tree when she sleeps," she whispered to the boy, luckily Ino was much too busy with planning out some fantasy scenario where Sasuke notices her and falls madly in love. "He's got a point you know, Sasuke doesn't like when someone does something better than him. You saw the way he almost blew his top off that one time Shino did better than him in science?" Choji added to Shikamaru's statement making Asuna blink at him, huh, she must have missed that class but she would have loved to have seen that, "Seriously? Did Bug Lord throw down?" she asked blinking curiously, "Hah, no. He just told him off and left, but man, I thought Sasuke was going to explode," Choji chuckled. "It was a fluke, the tests weren't marked correctly and if Hayase-sensei would have remarked the tests, Sasuke would have been at the top as usual!" Ino practically jumped the chubby marshmallow as she rebuked any suggestion of Sasuke not being the perfect god he was.

A thought crossed Asuna's mind and a sly grin tugged at the corners of her lips, her fingers gripped the hem of the Nara boy's sleeve, pulling him closer as she leaned up, "Shika-kun, you've lost your day," she whispered, smugness dripping from her words, "I said a day, you said Saturday, but now a mission has befallen us, so I guess...no day." Pulling away from him with a cheshire smile, she almost forgot her smugness is what had lead to her downfall in the first place, "But hey, maybe a next time will come around."

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Onyx orbs watched as the girl moved before them and a shrug of the shoulders told her to continue. Whatever she had to say couldn't be that bad, right? Sasuke listened though, attentively and patiently, as she spoke. Hopefully his question was vague and broad enough to answer at least a few of the many questions that burned in the back of his mind. A Bijuu, huh? Well yes, he actually knew that and how the ninetails had wreaked havoc in the land before its inevitable defeat. There were similar stories from all over the world of other tailed beasts, but those were the only kind of demons he knew about, what other kind of oni lurked- ah, right, probably the kind that Hanaru originated from as she neither seemed like a Bijuu nor a Junchuuriki, not that he could confirm either of those. He kept his face stoic, but he could not keep his brow from raising slightly or the steel from his eyes as he listened.

There were only so many words one could use, sometimes they fell flat and lacked the proper meaning one desired. Words could have very little meaning, especially when twisted and broken and reformed into lies. One could only ever say so much while the rest was lost in quiet pause and silent gasps. Being a shinobi, it was imperative to learn how to read and how to listen to the words that didn't pass through the lips. The silent truth that was so easily overlooked. The way Hanaru choked on her own trembling words, eyes never meeting his, the slumping of her shoulders and the curl of her tail so close to the ground, it spoke as loudly and as clearly as the words that tumbled from her mouth. The more of her past that unfurled, the more the pieces to the puzzle fell into place. It was so clear now, the disdain and distrust in the ever lingering eyes of the jonin, the fear and wariness of the teachers when she sneezed just a little too loudly. It wasn't what she was that frightened them, though he was sure it was still a factor, it who she was....a killer. This was why she was placed on team seven; team seven who had an ex-ANBU squad leader with a past so muddled and bloody, one who had the skill to take her out at a moments notice. That didn't matter though, she was still a dangerous criminal, one who admitted to leaving no one alive, who treaded on an ocean of blood. Clearly the jonin knew of her and he suspected even some chunin, but this was all kept secret from the student body and obviously from the officials too, like hiding a tree in a forest. Someone must have leaked information regarding her whereabouts, that must be why Mitomori-san was there in the first place and why he was collecting information about her, why he was willing to become physical with the students. Sarutobi, the great Lord Third, had been lying to him.

Sasuke felt his heart stink to the ground. What should he say? What could he say? 'Sorry your life was shit, but hey all is forgiven and you're ok now' that's not how it worked...right?

He was Sasuke Uchiha, son of Fugaku Uchiha, the Chief of the Special Police Force. A police force that he fully intended on joining once he was done with the academy. As an aspiring cadet and as an Uchiha it was his duty to uphold the law, to eradicate the evil in the world. She had answered his question, but at what cost? Not five minutes ago he saw her; saw that stubborn, irritable, arrogant, prideful puplette that could so easily rile him up with just a look. He saw his rival, Hanaru. Now? He wasn't sure anymore. She was a criminal, a murderer, someone who didn't deserve to live after taking so many lives from others! No, she...she wasn't, she couldn't be! Not once in the time he had known her did she ever come off as someone who would do that! Yes, she was strong, but, no it couldn't be! It was though, she admitted to it!

Silence hung in the air, like the night before, clawing at his throat, stealing the breath from his lungs and weighing so heavily on his shoulders, seeping every bit of his strength away. It was like he'd committed some unspoken taboo, like a sin he hadn't even known of, what would his father say when he found out that he had been so foolishly fraternizing with someone like her?

'You're not my son!'
'My son would have known better!'
'A disgrace to the Uchiha name!'
'Why can't you be more like Itachi?'

Itachi...did his brother know of Hanaru? Did he know and do nothing about it?! Their father was practically begging Itachi to come work under him, but his brother stayed with the ANBU. It was still his duty to do something! If he turned her in though, maybe his father would see just how dedicated he was...

'Well done, my son!'
'You've made me proud'
'You'll make a fine officer some day!'

Onyx eyes focused on her face, he didn't know what to do. There was no black or white, just grey, so many shades of grey he didn't know what was right or wrong.
'You are pretty pathetic," he said coldly. 'She's a criminal'. "Instead of standing up for yourself all you do is roll over and let people kick you down like some broken useless puppy begging to be put out of its misery." 'She is still Hanaru'. "Instead of wallowing in your own self pity, why don't you just take a stand?" he leaned on his hands, 'She doesn't deserve to be here', his palms flat on the wooden surface, 'She deserves a chance'. "If you're so tired of running, then don't," his voice had turned warm and soft, but his eyes were still hard. 'You're a disgrace to your family.' He pushed away from the desk, 'He'll be proud of you', stepping closer, "You heard Naruto, so I'm not going to say it." His hand reached out to pat her head, but something stopped him, 'Your father might as well disown you,' his hand hovered just above the tips of her ears for a moment before his hand fell back to his side. "I don't...I just need a little time," he sighed in defeat, turning af if to walk away. He didn't know what the right thing was to do and it was frustrating. He didn't know who he could turn to and ask for advice; his father would shame him to kingdom come, Itachi wasn't there, Kakashi-sensei was hardly around when he needed him and he just didn't really like any of his other teachers, let alone like them enough to talk to about his problems. Naruto? Sakura? Hah! Not in a million years. For a moment he felt a tug at his heartstrings, he never realized just how few people he let close to him and when he needed someone, there was no one there. If monsters like her had no one and someone like him had no one, that had to have some sort of significance in the world.
 
Shikamaru couldn't help but snort at Asuna's reaction to his words--of course she'd take that as a challenge. She could do whatever she wanted, but she had to know the fact of the matter by this point: challenging Shikamaru to anything usually wasn't a good idea. Not that he liked to brag about his abilities or anything, but the lazy Nara boy was confident in his ability to use his wits in every situation to make sure the outcome was exactly as he wanted it to be, and Shikamaru wouldn't have been against setting up rules and perimeters and even getting the help of team eight. Kiba would do it because they were friends, and Hinata and Shino would follow him (the Inuzuka really liked to be the alpha in his pack). "Sure, you can try," he teased back, lightly pushing his elbow into her side, teasingly.
The mission summons were nothing to Shikamaru--in fact, it usually just gave his parents another reason or voice to gripe at him for his lack of enthusiasm towards... well... everything. He sighed as he took his, knowing that, due to how pertinent the information and how and when the Hokage assigned missions that his father was more than likely already aware of its contents. He'd probably end up burning it himself later, rather than handing it over to his parents. The least they were was concerned when he left for more... "challenging" missions, but they'd never taken on something this big before. Choji looked pensive as he took his while Ino celebrated. He could tell Choji was excited too, but nerves were common, and he patted the male's shoulder in reassurance. Nothing needed to be said, Choji grinned and Shikamaru offered him one back--they were like brothers, and had been since they were young. "Thick as thieves" was a term often used for the two, after Shikamaru and Asuna slowly stopped being the "Troublesome Two." They had each other's backs, to say the least, and Shikamaru wasn't going to let Choji worry about some B-Rank mission. They would get through this, all intact and together.
Looking back over to Asuna, Shikamaru couldn't help but blink at the troubled look on her face, after all, concern was etched in her eyebrows. Was she nervous, or scared? The thought of her being scared sent a rock to his gut and his smirk fell into a look of concentration. Just as the dark expression had crossed Asuna's face, it was gone, and he bit his tongue before he thought to ask her if she was alright. She had a lot to worry about--what with being grounded and everything, now this mission as well... it really was a lot to focus on. He wished that there was something more that he could do, but he wasn't about to bend over backwards for her--it wasn't like he was her boyfriend or anything. The thought made him internally wince--so maybe he shouldn't keep doing that. They were just finally friends after years of questioning their relationship, and he wasn't about to ruin it with some dumb, flimsy emotions. Besides, it was just a crush--something small, dumb, replaceable. Crushes would come and go--this one wasn't any different.
Shikamaru chuckled as Ino deflated at the prospect that Sasuke somehow might hate her now, them being given a B-ranked mission and all, and only as genin to boot. "You tell him anything and you're dead!" she growled as she tried to wring out poor Choji like a wet dishrag.
"Actually, it's probably best you all keep this to yourselves," Asuma-sensei nodded, leaning back on a hand as he looked to his students, a thoughtful, and yet amused look upon his features. "The other genin will eventually learn about the rift, but the less they know for now, the better. We don't need anything happening and secrets getting out to the public. This is a shinobi secret that we keep from the general public so that the ideas of demons and monsters don't cause mass panic. You would do well to remember this."
"Yes, sensei..." Shikamaru nodded in understanding. It made sense--civilians had no need to know what it was regardless of the reasoning. It would just make more trouble for the Shinobi trying to keep them all safe. Ino began to ask Asuma-sensei questions, and as she did, Shikamaru felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning to the offender with a bored/blank expression, he was slightly confused to see Asuna's smug grin, until her words jarred his memory. He shook his head. "No, no way you're getting out of it. It just gets post-poned to next Saturday," he stated plainly, crossing his arms over his chest as he shook his head adamantly. "And if you think that you can get out of it, I'll just tell your dad I'm trying to get you out of the house more and then he'll pester you about going." He felt like they were children once more, arguing over the dumbest little things. A smirk played upon his lips as a darker though crossed his mind. "Or... If you don't I could tell him what we were doing at the school late at night." Yes, then he'd be in the doghouse too, but it was worth it!

--------------------

Hanaru... well... she didn't know what she expected his response to be, but it certainly wasn't exactly that. Her hands clenched and unclenched, her claws leaving scored, red crescent dents in each hand--she had pierced the skin, but those would heal within the hour. She didn't expect him to forgive her, she knew that, but his words were confusing, to say the least. Did... did he hate her? She wasn't exactly sure. He was the son of the chief of the Secret Police, of course he'd be conflicted. Her tail flicked in anticipation as he spoke his piece, but her brows furrowed in confusion.
"You make it sound so easy..." she snorted, trying not to become emotional again. She had done far too much crying, recently, and she wasn't about to cry in front of him again. "If I were to do that, I'd be dead. One slip-up. One mistake, that's all it takes." And she wasn't wrong--Sasuke had seen, time after time again how much Mizuki-sensei pushed her buttons, how many times she'd end up destroying training dummies in taijutsu or even taken her anger out on him during their fights. She fought Sasuke as hard as he did because... in his own way... he gave her a reason to live. That realization had her cheeks pink, and she quickly turned away from the onyx-haired male. Dammit it all!
"You can take all the time you need, what do I care?" she growled, her ears flicking at the sound of his hand retreating--had it been near her? She didn't remember. The purple haired half demon wasn't sure of anything that was going on. A quiet voice in her head urged her to share a little bit more, and she bit her lip, her eyes narrowed. "My brother... you asked me if he had hurt me... on the night I received this scar..." her hand reached up to trace the faded edges of the wound. "Was the night I lost my mother. His father wasn't too keen on my mother fraternizing with a demon, or that demon's bastard offspring. I lied to you then... he hurt me deeper than anyone ever could. I was so far gone I bought into the words that had been spit at me my whole life. If I couldn't escape from the monicker of 'monster' then I needed to become it. And because of that I stumbled and lost my childhood... my innocence." Her eyes turned to face him, a darker look of determination sparked within that honeyed amber. "A lot of things died that night, but being able to live... to be here... I regret what I missed, though that doesn't forgive the blood that stains my hands." She bit her lip, before turning and seeking the door of the art classroom once more. "I'm going home," she announced, exhaustion seeping into her bones. She was running away yet again.
 
"You're the one making things hard," Sasuke said clenching his fists, "You were just Hanaru before and now..." he could hear the mocking voice of his father in his head; how he'd never be a good enough son, how he wasn't like Itachi...and the man was right. He wasn't Itachi, he was just Sasuke, the man who tried and tried again for validation but never received it. His brother had cast a deep shadow over him, one he'd been fighting for years to crawl out of but to no avail. Nothing he did was good enough so why was he trying so hard? To impress a man who never had the time of day for him? Sasuke felt lost, he didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to do something. His eyes lingered on her, "I guess you're still just Hanaru."
Maybe it was the wrong choice, but the line between right and wrong was so thin and transparent he honestly hoped he chose the right path. He'd end up losing no matter what he chose. Staying true to the Uchiha way, following behind his clansmen and having a hand in the capture and execution of Hanaru Ikama, that would make for a nice badge on his breast but...then she'd be gone. He didn't want to admit it, he fought against it, but in this brief and tender moment of trust, he could see just how dull it would be without her. None of the students were worthy or challenging opponents, no one could rile him up and make him so angry and flustered at the same time. He would be the one chasing after Naruto again, or worse, finding a challenge elsewhere in the grim alleys hidden from the neon night lights. At least this way, he hoped she'd stay, hoped for another day that he could try to outmatch her, his father won't approve and he knew it. He'd probably end up being disowned by the man and would never make it into the police but there were other options. He was a capable shinobi after all, at least that's what his sensei's have said.

With more confidence than before, his hand reached out and rested on her head. It was not to be demeaning and he wasn't looking to belittle her, "You're so troublesome trying to do everything alone. No one's going to do anything, or they'll have to go through m- us...the team," he quickly covered up his mistake, but a blush was crawling from his face and down his neck. She wasn't his to begin with, she wasn't an object that he could own or some girl from a traditionalist family that still practiced marriage contracts and staking claim to possible partners. Ugh, he shouldn't think like that, that just stupid Shizune putting thoughts into his head. He retracted his hand and let it fall to his side, cocking his head to the side as she started again. The room felt even more sullen than before.

Her words were like a hot iron being forced through his chest. It was hard to imagine, he had a brother but he was never anything less than kind and caring towards him. The idea that siblings could be capable of doing such things were unfathomable, yes, he knew all too well of sibling rivalry, but nothing he knew even held a candle to this. He watched as she lightly traced over her scar, it left such a bitter taste in his mouth and a hot burning in his stomach, inching through his body and into his finger tips. It was no wonder she was the way she was, she trusted someone and they betrayed her. For a hot second he could see himself, a mirrored version, if Itachi had betrayed him in such a way. He'd be much like her in his plight for vengeance, to right what his brother had wronged and he was grateful that it wasn't like that at all. What would he do without Itachi in his life, the only person in the world he truly trusted with his whole heart and soul?
The urge to track down the man who'd done this to her was strong, while a small part that he paid no mind to wanted to pull her into him and protect her from the evils of the world so she'd never have to experience it again. "It's not right," he growled through his teeth, his fists clenched by his side, "It doesn't matter what he thought, he had no right!"
The anger in him bubbled up to the surface as in one quick motion he had hit his fist into a table.
"Hanaru, I-" he paused, collecting himself, she'd given him a lot to think over and he hadn't expected any of it, but it also left him feeling conflicted. A hand reached out and wrapped around her arm, stopping her for a moment as he locked eyes with her once more, "..." the words had fled from his tongue leaving him staring at her. HIs grip was soft though, "You don't have to do it alone," he assured her, "I can't think of anything more boring than staying behind here if your dumbass gets in trouble."

Sasuke allowed her to pull away from him, this must have been just as weird for her as it was for him. Her weariness he could understand and the desire she had to skip the afternoon and go home, "You hear Kakashi-sensei, you of all people can't be left alone least the vultures devour you alive," he nodded towards the door, "You're a pain in my ass, but I have a mission to keep an eye on you." Making his way towards the door he cracked it open, looking up and down the hall to make sure no one was there, he nodded back to her with a cocky smirk, "So while you're on school grounds your sadly stuck with me."

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Hubris was a dangerous thing, in the case of Asuna, it clouded her better judgement and made her do stupid things she'd regret later, but it was an oh so tantalizing feeling for about ten seconds as Shikamaru vigorously shook his head in defiance. "No, no you lost it. No rescheduling, you just chose poorly," she said trying to hide her grin behind her hand as she elbowed him in the side. She still had that look of victory when he threatened to tell her father he wanted to get her out of the house. He might have had a better chance if he was a girl as her old man gave just about every guy the evil eye, at least that's what she thought. Him inviting the boy over for dinner and chatting so cheerfully was probably just a nice nod to remembering how they were as children and wanting to see what had become of him. The grin of amusement faltered a bit as his next threat confused her slightly or maybe it was the glint in his eyes, "What? I already told him I went swimming with friends." Yes, she had twisted the truth just a little bit but she couldn't see the harm if he walked up to her old man like: 'Yo, went swimming with yo girl last night, old man!'
Unless he straightened out the slight curve in her story and twisted it a little the other way. Her grin fell away, "That's not fair!" She could only imagine what lurked behind that look in his eyes and her imagination was spewing all kinds of unfiltered thoughts that made her cheeks burn. His thoughts were probably not even anywhere near the hers, which only made it worse! "It's against the rules and the last thing you want is 'the talk' from my old man!" Her face was burning with red hot embarrassment, she'd gotten 'the talk' several times but it always ended up with her father nursing a drink and reminiscing about a time when he use to chase skirts.

'If I'd just kept my mouth shut he would have probably forgotten about it, but no, you just had to rub it in!' Asuna thought, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she looked away for a moment, "If you think walking in on your parents is bad, you really don't want to hear about the shit your dad did. And my dad will tell you about it! In full detail!" Ugh, he was cornering her and her tired brain didn't have the strength to try and outsmart him now to save her skin. She looked at him, "You're not backing down are you? Even if it ends up a horrific nightmare you're not going to let me have this? Ugh, you're so...so..." she yielded in the end, giving the boy's shoulder a shove, "Fine. You win." It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with him, it was that her time was so limited. A normal person could argue that she didn't have to work at the shop, there was a lot of things she didn't have to do but it was her responsibility to do it. Her old man was exceptionally good at hiding the emotional and traumatic rollercoaster of having to deal with the brunt of her mother's condition. There was a time when he'd actually considered closing the business for good as he'd been worn down enough to pick up habits worse than her own occasional smoke. At first she only helped out, but quickly learned the ins and outs so she could take over sometimes and let her father rest. She couldn't provide the emotional support her father needed, so she took on more and more duties around the house and shop, that way her mother would have something to come home to. Now though, it was all to keep herself busy, to keep her mind from wandering too far and too deep.

With a yawn Asuna got up, stretching out her tired limbs, twisting her body this way and that, she wasn't sure how she was going to get through the rest of the day, but she was antsy, "I'm going to the bathroom," she announced, but her intentions were to slip away down to the training grounds. Yes, they had Taijutsu after lunch but, that wasn't what she worried about. Unlike taijutsu that she could work on during the day, ninjutsu wasn't allowed to be practiced outside of designated training grounds. This was to deter damage to the city and to keep the civilians safe and while most large clan compounds had their own special permitted training grounds, Asuna couldn't exactly be practicing her earth release in her bed room. "I'll come too!" Ino said as she got up as well, "I'm a big girl, Ino, I don't need you to hold my hand," Asuna said making the blue eyed kunoichi give her a mischievous look, "Oh, you rather Shika hold your hand~?"

Asuna's eye twitched, "Let's go then," she took Ino's hand and pulled her along towards the rood. Today was not a day for winning it seemed.
"So, you guy's going on a date next Saturday?"
"W-what? No! No one's going on a date with anyone!"
Ino giggled, squeezing the sandy blonde's hand, "Oh, c'mon, you can tell me if it's a date! You were all red!" Asuna was sure they hadn't talked that loudly, but Ino had her ways that after all the years of being dragged along with her, Asuna still couldn't figure out. "I was talking...about my dad, you know how he is," she tried to cover.
"Riiight, sure, you're gonna tell me eventually and I'll be there with all the tips and a really cute outfit at the ready!"
"It's not a date, Ino," Asuna sighed as they made their way down the hall, the chunin and jonin were out and about, probably preparing to rotate shifts before the next classes started.
 
His words had her pausing, her sharpened canines finding her lip as she chewed on it unconsciously out of nerves. What was he going to say? What could he say? She'd heard it all before. The scorn. The hate. The... fear, that others held for her. Of course it wasn't just about what she was, it was about what she had allowed herself to become. She'd been a criminal even before her mother had died, but that moment had pushed her past a point of moral return. She couldn't remember anything but seeing red--a depressive episode had overtaken her life, and the only thing that had seemed to make her feel better had been to drown herself in all sorts of sordid acts. Things that once her head had been pulled from her ass, she wasn't proud of.
"I guess you're still just Hanaru."
... what?
The purple haired half demon turned to look to him in surprise, her golden eyes widening at his revelation. Biting her lip, she let her eyebrows furrow to reflect the confusion she was feeling. What the hell did he mean? She wasn't positive she knew, though his words had her heart pounding so loudly she was almost positive he could hear it. Her ears perked up--they had been flattened against her head, but they lifted to hear him better. To make sure she wasn't just hearing things. Her brain scoffed--there was no way that the Sasuke she knew--the Sasuke she fought with on the daily, the Sasuke that she snapped at, the Sasuke with enough attitude for the whole school, was standing by her after she had just told him everything (well... almost everything). Her lips parted, opening and then closing, pursing together as she struggled to form any sort of intelligent or coherent speech. "W... why...?" was all she found she could say, looking up to him. She looked--and felt--lost. Like she wasn't sure what to do with herself.
Of course, she blink in surprise when he placed his hand on her head, and she looked to him intently, her soft ears flicking his hand. Were his hands warm? Or was that her ears? Cause her ears were probably on fire just as much as her cheeks ewre pink. She sputtered, unsure of what to say as his hand fell to his side. She poured out her soul instead. She'd never been ashamed of being a bastard, but she hated everyone's preconceived notions whenever they saw her--there was no question. It was always 'monster'. "You... y-you don't have to say that..." she mumbled. Did she really think he was... saying things to just say it...? She couldn't be sure what she thought--her brain was swimming. She'd had enough for one day, and announced that she was going home. Though, he stopped her, his hand reaching out and grabbing her arm as he started to speak. She turned to look back at him, golden gaze full of swirling mixed emotions as they were both silent, staring back and forth.
She waited for him to speak, nearly holding her breath. Or maybe she was, honestly she could no longer tell. His hands were... soft. Wait. What? It took everything in her being to force down whatever dumb thoughts were swarming around in her brain. She pulled away lightly. "I'm not asking you to get dragged into my mess, you're the one who asked...!" she finally sputtered out, turning her face away as she did so to hide another blush. Dammit! What the hell was wrong with her face?! She sneered, trying to reign in her emotions or whatever was getting out of hand as he nodded to the door, cracking it open and checking to see how clear the coast was. "... you're... pain... in my ass..." she grumbled under her breath, her words grumbled lowly, but her tail betrayed her as it swayed lazily back and forth, indicating an underlying happiness. Reaching out before they stepped into the hallway, Hanaru, with shaky, uncertain hands and eyes that refused to meet his grabbed his hand. "Sasuke...? Thank... thank you..." she swallowed hard, before quickly letting go of his hand. "B-But if you tell anyone any bit of this encounter you'll be lucky to live to regret it!" she growled, lowly and dangerously, once again hiding herself behind that air of hostility. Stepping into the hallway herself, she rolled her shoulders as if prepping herself to go back into the bullpen. "I-... suppose I could stay for Taijutsu. But then I'm leaving before that jerk can corner me again."
And it wasn't because Sasuke mentioned something about as long as she was on school grounds! B-Baka.

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Shikamaru was more than well-aware of the hell that Mr. Takanashi could raise, just by mere mentioning of a boy being anywhere close to intimate with his daughter in any way, there would be a whole lot of hell to pay. In the long run, would it be worth it? Of course not--there'd be a lot of convincing on Shikamaru's part for him to even let the boy around Asuna again, much less if he was actually considering--... no, Shika, it was just a crush. Let it fizzle out. He pushed such thoughts from his mind. But what would it prove? His point, so therefor Shikamaru felt that was enough to justify his low-key high-key blackmail. "Asuna, you know me--I don't say things just for the hell of it--only if I can back it up too." He smirked, watching her internally struggle between calling his bluff and believing him. Her brows furrowed and he couldn't help but chuckle as she conceded. "Shikamaru infinity, Asuna like... 2," he pretended to tally in the air. Of course, it was a hypothetical number, and he was almost positive that she had beaten him more than twice in the past, but sometimes it was just fun to see her get a little riled up.
Even if she hadn't mentioned it, Shikamaru would have remembered--probably not until the day of, but then the outcome would have been with the same, He still would have gotten his way for them to have a raincheck on that da--excursion. Away from her store; Shikamaru was just doing it so that she'd relax a little bit, and take a break. She worked so incredibly hard, it was one of the things that he admired about her. "So funny, so incredible?" He filled in the blanks for her.
"So sneaky," Choji commented through a mouthful of food, seemingly finally getting over the whole person-meat talk enough to finish his lunch via inhaling like Noo Noo from the fricken teletubbies. Shikamaru blinked, not realizing that the others had been done talking long enough to catch at least the tail-end of his and Asuna's bickering. Shikamaru could only shrug at Choji's words.
"Hey, if it works in getting away from those dusty counters for a breath of fresh air before she buries herself in work again, it works for me," he commented lazily, letting his back fall back onto the concrete of the roof and turned his gaze to the sky. He vaguely saw Asuna get up, and he offered her a wave of goodbye, seemingly not paying attention, but Asuma-sensei noted the way that Shikamaru's pupils dilated slightly at the information, only to relax--his clenched hands included--when Ino announced that she was going with. Good--they should travel in pairs. Mitomori had proven that it defintiely wasn't safe to travel through the halls alone. Not while he was prowling about, anyway. If Ino hadn't volunteered, Shikamaru might have. Although he turned his head and blushed at Ino's words as she meant to tease Asuna (and got a two-fer instead). Of course, this (once again) did not go unnoticed by Asuma-sensei, and he merely smirked as his fingers itched for a light.
No, he would be a good sensei. Besides, if you were smoking on the roof of a building, you were just asking to be caught. There were more clever ways to go for a smoke, such as take his lunch break off campus, but since he'd spent his lunch break with his squad, that wasn't an option. Oh well, he'd have to do without it.
"Stay together," Asuma-sensei called out to the girls as they left the roof, shaking his head. "That Ino..." he mumbled under his breath, before turning and looking to Choji and Shikamaru. "Let's return these trays and then I'll see you all off to your Taijutsu class." His smile was kind and Shikamaru sighed, nodding. It was hard not to like a man like him.
Though they had done just as Asuma-sensei had asked, Shikamaru waited nervously outside of the gymnasium, his eyes narrowed at every ash blonde he managed to see in the crowd. Asuna was fine--she was with Ino. But there was a rock in his gut. He could just see the look on her face when she had returned after her 'chat' with Mitomori, and it made him feel sick to his stomach, or like there was something lodged in his throat. He'd never particularly felt murderous in his life, but let's just say the Rift Plan was devised right then and there, and not on the rooftop.
"Shikamaru, they're fine, stop worrying," Choji complained, shaking his head. "You're making [me nervous!" Shikamaru attempted to appear like his nonchalant, 'Que Sera" self but the slight tapping of an impatiently-waiting foot showed his nerves as loudly as if he had shouted them.
"Tch... this is so troublesome..." he muttered, closing his eyes and trying to relax.
 
"Dusty counters, psh, could friggen eat off them after I got done with em," Asuna grumbled quietly as she and Ino found their way to the bathroom. She'd feel more insulted, but her old man had a tendency to leave things for 'later' at which point she'd already taken care of it. In all honesty, she didn't need the bathroom, it was supposed to be her cover up for pulling a David Copperfield but- "I can't believe you and Shikamaru are going on a date! I mean, I always knew it was going to happen but still!" Ino said as she checked her appearance in the mirror, turning this way and that to make sure she still looked as good as when she left the house. "We're not, Ino. Besides, it'll never happen so you can stop daydreaming about it," Asuna sighed as she opened the faucet and splashed water on her face, missing the odd look of disappointment on the girl's face. "What? Don't say that! I can totally see it happening!"

Asuna stayed quiet, she didn't feel like arguing over her point, 'Ino wouldn't understand', she thought but she wasn't exactly trying to help her understand either as she splashed another handful of water on her face. "If you're feeling self conscious about the way you look, I can give you a makeover that'll make the boys' heads turn!"
"It's not that. I just...I'd make for a terrible girlfriend, can you imagine dating me?" Asuna joked but her face didn't really show her amusement, "Oh come on, Asu, you're not that bad. Your dad is way worse! If he wasn't so strict, I bed you'd have more guys knocking on your door," Ino paused looking the sandy blonde over, "Well, maybe a little eyeliner wouldn't hurt and maybe even-" Asuna deadpanned as Ino rummaged in her kunai pouch, regret edged into her face. "Ino, I don't..want that on my face... No you're not going to shove that pencil in my eye!" Her protests made Ino pout, she didn't understand why the green eyed girl didn't want to touch up, she'd look so pretty! "Fine but- try this on!" she pulled out a tube of glistening pinkish liquid and brought it to Asuna's lips, "Just a little gloss OK?"

"It smells fruity..."

"Yeah it flavou- NO! Don't lick it!"

Ino huffed as she reapplied the gloss, "Don't eat it this time!"

Stepping out of the bathroom, there was an alarming lack of jonin compared to when they had first entered, Asuna shrugged it off as them leaving for their designated posts or something, not really paying too much attention to it as they made their way towards the stairway. "We just have to find a way around your dad," Ino pondered aloud, she'd been over to Asuna's house so many times and had spent so much time around the Takahashi's she considered herself an expert.

"I don't know, I almost died of embarrassment on Shika's behalf when my old man was grilling him at dinner. I don't think I'm OK with having another guy over, so just leave it," Asuna shrugged, it was a crush, nothing would come of it so why bother trying to 'find away around' anything at all? Ino almost tripped on air at her words, "What? Dinner?"

"Yeah...dinner...it's when you eat food...at night?" Asuna didn't like the look Ino was giving her, not one bit, it triggered her flight senses something fierce.

"Your dad... As in, your dad that totally hates guys, not just let Shikamaru --a guy-- into the house but let him have dinner there too?!"

"Uh, yeah? He had to go back to the hospital, so we-" Asuna was cut off by Ino's squealing as she grabbed her by the arms, shaking her violently back and forth, "Asu, this is GROUNDBREAKING!! Do you even realize it?!"

"I-Ino st-hawp," Asuna pleaded and the flaxen haired girl obliged but wrapped her up in a hug instead. "Think about it A-Chan! Your dad doesn't even let Choji in the house unless I'm coming in too, but Shikamaru gets to walk around like he owns the place?" Ino looked like a vibrating chihuahua, only she wasn't angry. Asuna didn't want to look her in the eyes, her cheeks were on fire, "It wasn't like that, he just...probably thought I needed a friend since he was going back to...be with her." It was the only logical thing she could think of and at the time Shikamaru just happened to be the closest friend in proximity. With a hard tug, she pulled herself out of the girl's grasp giving her a painfully serious expression, "And let's be real, Ino, 'Girls are so troublesome'," she put forth her best impression of the Nara, even trying to mimic his posture as they walked, "'Nag, nag, nag, what a drag. We say one thing and you girls go and say something different.' Not exactly a prince charming, so stop trying to find things that aren't there. We're just friends, that's all we are! I don't want anything else!" Asuna bit out venomously, her tiredness was starting to affect her mood and Ino was pushing buttons she didn't want her to push.

Asuna turned down another flight of stairs, "I'm not going to class," her tone was softer this time, she wasn't exactly angry at Ino, but she didn't want to make something of the silly crush and have it destroy the fragile makeshift bandage on their friendship. 'It's best to just let it die' the thought sent an ache through her chest and her walls shook, threatening to crumble. She wasn't going to break! She wasn't going to let her team down, not after seeing their excited faces. Stilling the trembling walls of her mind and steeling herself, she slid silently out of the window and dropped down onto the lawn.


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Ino didn't get a chance to go after her as a large hand closed around her shoulder, "Afternoon, my dear," a voice rumbled from behind her, "You shouldn't be on your own like this, why don't I escort you to your next class and...you can answer some questions for me, hm?"

Mitomori grinned as he felt the girl go rigid under his touch, his fingers were gently caressing her shoulder as he guided her down the hall. He'd seen her with that other brat, the one that has made it so hard for him to gather accurate information from the students, but he'd find a way to get what he wanted. "Are you frightened, sweetheart?" he purred and the blonde shook her head, "That's good then. Tell me, do you know... Sasuke Uchiha?" he was careful, two jonin had already spotted and were silently trailing behind them. "Sasuke? Um, yes, Mitomori-san, I know him," Ino was on guard, the feeling of the man's touch made her skin crawl. He was the kind of man parents meant when they said 'Don't talk to strangers'. "That's wonderful! I've heard he is quite the handsome young man and so very ambitious! Tell me, my dear, would you say that Sasuke is...a good young man? A caring one? A...benevolent boy if you will?"

The one chance Ino had to really brag about her Sasuke and it ended up being a creep that 2anted to know.

"I appreciate honesty, my dear, dishonest people make me...not feel very good and then I make them not feel very good either."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him as he looked back at the two jonin, waving to them as if to say everything was just fine, "Well, I think Sasuke is a very good student and he demonstrates how much he cares for his fellow classmates and team members on a daily basis."

"Oh really? My, what a wonderful boy he is! That must be why so many girls like him, yes?"

Ino didn't answer, this was very suspicious, he never really cared about any other students as he only ever really targeted Naruto.

"Would you say he...has violent tendencies? Does he pick fights a lot?"

Ino could see her team off in the distance, Shikamaru and Choji were waiting outside the gym, taking a look back, the two jonin were still tailing them, probably to keep the man from doing something to her, "I uh, no, I wouldn't say that, but you see-"

"I see a peaceful young man who doesn't pick fights. I'd expect that from chief Fugaku's son," he cut off anything else she wanted to say, taking only what he needed from her answer, "Yet he's been in and out of the nurses office so much in the last three months. Why is that?"

"What? No, he and Hanaru just-"

"Hanaru you say? My, my, that does make sense, don't you agree? So what you're saying is that Hanaru has been hurting students?"

"What? N-no! I didn't s-" Ino's eyes grew wide as his questions quickly turned into accusations, his grip becoming tighter on her.

"So all these injuries in his file didn't happen after Hanaru was admitted to this school? And the ones before were not the work of Naruto Uzumaki? Are you lying to me then?"

"No, I'm not but their fights-"

"So then your answer is yes, Hanaru has been causing bodily harm to students who are otherwise peaceful." He stated simply as Ino pulled herself away from him, stumbling a little before he caught her arm, "Oh! Don't fall and hurt yourself!" he exclaimed loudly, as he walked him to the two tense members of team ten, "And we have arrived! I enjoyed our time, my dear, we must talk again sometime," he made a show of taking her hands and kissing them in a gentlemanly manner to show the jonin that the girl was safe and not harmed in any way, "Enjoy your class, my dear. Hm? And what's with that look my boy?" he eyed Shikamaru and while his voice sounded curious and joyful, his face was twisted, eyes challenging him to step out of line, "Ah! I know that face, you must be Shikaku's boy! You look just like your father, do send him my regards. Your lady friend is such a pleasant little thing, if I was but ten years younger I'd steal her from you," he joked pushing Ino towards him, but his face clearly stated otherwise. "Ta-ta now my sweet children, I hear your class is under way."

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Sasuke did his best to ignore how soft and warm those kitty ears of Hanaru's were, not wanting to squeal and sound like one of his fangirls, but he absolutely wanted to touch them again at some point. All he needed now was to think up an excuse to touch 'em ag- Aghem! Not that he wants to touch them again! "I'm not the one who's in the mess and trying to take on the world by themselves either," he retorted, almost feeling like a child again, arguing 'no you' with Naruto again. The sudden feeling of her hand had his gaze locked on her fingers wrapped so gingerly around his. He stared, blatantly, his mind going blank as he tried to process the warmth spreading up his arm and into his body all while his heart tried to leap out of his chest. "Sure," was all he was able to say, giving her hand a light squeeze as if to test if it really was there and the confirmation of its existence making the tips of his ears burn. Stop it! Why was his body acting out against him, it's not like he's ever had this kind of reaction when Sakura or Ino grabbed at him! And no! It's not because he 'likes' her, that would be ridiculous! Maybe he needed to get a stronger vitamin boost, clearly the one he took that morning had worn off. "Tch, whatever," he pulled back his hand, hearing Hanaru change her mind about leaving right that instant, as girls did; changing their minds at a drop of a hat like it was nothing, something he didn't understand and he was sure it was one of those life mysteries that most men would never understand.

As they stepped out of the classroom, a pair of jonin passed by them, giving the duo a questioning look but they said nothing as they made their way to their posts. Slowly the students outside were disbursing, taking back their trays as teachers herded them into groups to be escorted towards their classes. "They you guys are!" Naruto called out waving to them, "Did you get it?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blond for a moment as he tried to remember what they had used as an excuse to slip away from the group in the first place. "Yeah it's fine," he said, waving them off hoping to satisfy his curiosity, what they had discussed was their business and he wasn't going to go telling the rest of the school about it. There was a reason why the teachers kept the information to themselves after all. "So uh, what took you guys so long?" Naruto asked, folding his arms behind his head and giving them a lopsided grin, "You, ah, guys had a nice talk or something?" he asked, placing emphasis on the something part making Sasuke quirk his eye at him, "I don't know what you're trying to insinuate, but it's none of your business." His words made Naruto grin and shimmy up to Hanaru, "Ne, were you two secretly, y'know-?" he jabbed her lightly with his elbow and made a kissy face as the Uchiha stalked off, "You can totally tell me~"

"Don't be dumb, Naruto, Sasuke would never sneak off and do perverted things like you!" Sakura scolded, pulling him by the ear, clearly not amused by his question, "My Sasuke is too much of a gentleman!"

The dark haired boy in question didn't say anything, he wasn't going to entertain Naruto and he wasn't going to correct Sakura either. He'd done it before and it was a lot more hassle than it was worth. Shoving his hands in his pockets he opted to ignore all of them instead, but his eyes were flitting this way and that, searching for the man in the suit. He understood a little better now, of the true purpose behind the inspection, he no doubt knew of Hanaru's murky past. The order for traveling in groups and having the increased patrols also made more sense, it was less about the students being harassed and more about what would happen if he was to 'interview' Hanaru and if things turned sour. If she lost control then the school wouldn't have a leg to stand on and Mitomori-san would be holding all of the cards. This way much more delicate than he had first anticipated.

"I'm not a pervert! Sasuke's always pretending to be so cool, I bet he's the biggest pervert on campus!" Naruto huffed, just because he sometimes peeped on the girls while in the bathhouse or sometimes buys magazines that may or may not feature girls in bikinis, did not mean that he was a pervert! "Right, Ha-Chan? Is he?" the blond teased as he hurried over to Hanaru's other side, away from the bristling pinkette who looked like she was about ready to murder him. "Oh no! Don't you dare!" she warned, it was unfathomable that Sasuke was anything else but a decent gentleman, and even if he wasn't, he'd ever be that way with a girl other than her right? She did consider herself his biggest fan and she was on his team long before Hanaru was! She was simply the best choice for him!

"I'm nothing like you, Naruto. I actually have class," Sasuke said over his shoulder, "I'd at least take her out on a nice date before even suggesting anything even close to that," he narrowed his eyes at the blond, "I doubt you'd even be able to find yourself a date." He didn't want to brag (yes he did), but he knew he could get just about any girl to go on a date with him and if he batted his eyelashes just right he'd get a kiss too before the date had even ended. "That's only because half of the girls in this school are drooling at your feet. I could totally get a date! Hanaru-chan would go on a date with me if I asked, right?" Naruto elbowed her softly, a mischievous grin on his face, "And we'd have a way better time than you!"

"Tch, no you wouldn't" Sasuke huffed as they neared the gym, his eyes momentarily scanning over the two boys standing outside. He noticed how the Nara boy glanced at all the passing blondes and it became rather apparent what he was waiting for. "At least I don't lose my teammates after every class," he muttered under his breath as he passed them, he wished he could lose them though, but it was like he had some hidden tracking device on his body as they always ended up finding him.
 
Shikamaru and Choji stood outside of the gym as they waited for Asuna and Ino. Normally they wouldn't bother to wait for their female teammates--they could take care of themselves, and it wasn't like they were helpless. Choji stuffed his face into the third bag of chips from lunch and Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the look his friend was giving him. After all, it was like Choji was able to see into his soul.
"I'm sure Asuna is fine, you don't need to keep pacing like that," Choji finally mumbled through his chips. Shikamaru froze, mid-strut, and the male turned to look at Choji with an unamused expression.
"I'm worried about both of them...!" Shikamaru growled. "Of course I wouldn't normally be like this, but with that asshole on the prowl who knows what he's been doing to students all day? Especially since Ino is the self-proclaimed president of the Sasuke fanclub." Dammit. What was so different about today? Normally the man chased after Naruto like his own shadow, only to disappear and not return untilt he next year. But now it seemd like he was rather interested in the Uchiha. It honestly made him wonder if the male was only curious as to how to pick up teenage chicks, but that thought made him snicker internally just about as much as it made him sick to his stomach.
"Relax, man..." Choji sighed, crumpling his chip bag and stuffing it in his pocket. "Geez, I never thought that I'd be the one who would have to tell you that."
Shikamaru sighed, opening his mouth for some smartass remark, but he swallowed it upon seeing two familiar blondes walking towards them down the hallway. His muscles became rigid as he scanned the area for an ash blonde, but when he couldn't find her, his teeth ground together in his mouth. "Hey Ino, we were waiting for you," Shikamaru stated, taking a mental deep breath and pointing towards the classroom. "Hurry, before Gai-sensei counts you late already. You know how hyperactive he is about attendance." Even as he spoke, his gaze never left Mitomori's, eyes narrowing in anger. He wanted to ask Ino where Asuna was, but he wasn't about to do so in front of the creep himself.
"Yeah, sure. I tell the old man." Shikamaru caught Ino as she was shoved towards him rather roughly, his glare continuing to follow Mitomori as he began to walk away. "Tch, bastard..." Shikamaru growled, not caring whether or not the man heard it. If he wanted a fight, Shikamaru would give it to him. And then wouldn't his father have a field day.
"Ino, are you alright...?" Choji asked as they stepped into the classroom, keeping their voices down as Gai-sensei began ranting about youth for the millionth time this semester. "That guy is bad news."
"You're telling me...!" Ino huffed, crossing her arms as a troubled look appeared on her face. "He kept asking about Sasuke, and his fights with Hanaru. He didn't seem to think Sasuke was in the wrong though, so that I don't mind, but he wasn't letting me finish! He was jumping to conclusions, and just seemed to want whatever I said to fit into his agenda. I don't really like Hanaru but he was sounding like he thought she was some sort of... bloodthirsty villain!"
Shikamaru frowned. It was clear to him that Hanaru wasn't exactly like the rest of them, what with her seemingly-endless chakra and the otherworldly strength, but he didn't really interract with the girl. She was just as annoying as Sasuke was but with a different kind of energy. Still, they were all rookies together, so that meant they should probably look out for each other, right? "Where's Asuna? Is she alright? I swear if that asshole did something...!" he couldn't even finish his sentence, his words trailing off in a growl.

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Oblivious to Sasuke's frivilous internal conflict, Hanaru was far too preoccupied in her own. Her cheeks felt red--she... she had just literally just poured out her entire tragic backstory to her rival... and instead of mocking her, or pushing her away... he had... accepted her? In his own, weird, Sasuke-sort-of-way, he had been a slight comfort and she nodded as he had taken his hand away from hers. Suddenly rather self-conscious about her actions, she wrung her wrist as though she had hurt it, as if it had been acting of its own, independent will rather than in response to her inner-most feelings. She would squash those down for as long as humanely (or even demonically) possible. But... she had appreciated his words, al the same. He was an interesting individual. He was hard to read due to the constant expression of apathetic distaste for the world that he wore, unlike Naruto who wore everything on his sleeves. She couldn't believe they were cut from the same cloth, though once upon a time Hanaru had been that innocent and naive as well.
Well... as innocent and naive as Naruto could get, of course.
Speaking of the devil, when Sasuke and Hanaru finally arrived at the classroom, Hanaru glared at the Jonin that gave them an odd look, though she did nothing as Naruto called out to them, running up. Hanaru had almost forgotten her own excuse, before nodding. "Yep, let's get moving, shorty." Ah, yes, Naruto was the shortest in the squad, and Hanaru loved to tease him for it. Especially when he was being kind of an ass, like right in this moment. "What are you insinuating, Naruto?" Hanaru asked, a tired expression on her face. They were all exhausted after last night (Sakura got a nice nap though, so she was faring better than the rest of them), and for once, the purplette didn't mind Sakura's usual intrusion to defend 'her Sasuke,' though she didn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. At least this way the blonde knucklehead wouldn't bother trying to press them for any further details, as long as his crush was picking on him.
When the topics shifted slightly, though, Hanaru couldn't help but snort as Naruto asked her for clarification. Merely because that seemed like so-the opposite of Sasuke that imagining the black haired male peeking on changing girls maliciously and intentionally was the most hilarious mental image she'd received all day. "Tch, Naruto don't use me as a shield, I thought you wanted to be close to Sakura," Hanaru chose, rather than picking a side. "Ooh! class~" she mocked, raising her hands in the air. "Big deal--like teenage girls have that much to offer anyway." Yikes, haha. Something was getting on her nerves and she wasn't quite sure what it was, so her natural response, of course, was to let the cactus walls get placed back up--insult everyone around her. Make sure they knew to leave her alone. It was a defense mechanism that was long standing and had been in use since she was very little. Besides, Naruto and Sasuke were just arguing because that's what they did, right? She'd need to put an end to this, she was already starting to get a migraine.
"The day I go on an actual date with the intention of being romantically involved with the individual I'm going with better be the day Sasuke gets down on one knee." Hanaru joked. Oh. Oops, did she just say that out loud? Trying to force down whatever blush was on her cheeks, she was quick to put up a hand as Sakura gave an incredulous, angry, gasp, not allowing her to speak. "RELAX! I said it because it's never going to happen--l-like Kakashi-sensei being on time." Oh, ouch. Why did that hurt for some reason? Hanaru didn't have time to question herself on an emotional spectrum. She'd felt way too many things today that she had never wanted to feel again--that she had worked hard to shove out of her life. Instead of sticking around, she sped up to hurry into the matt-covered gym before the rest of them.
 
Sasuke felt his the tips of his ears burn, even if Hanaru meant it as a joke, her words had him freezing mid step. Him and her...in a serious relationship...so serious he'd marry her?! "Those paint fumes must have gotten to you," he said quickly, his voice cracking ever so slightly making him clear his throat. Yes, the paint fumes, that must have been it or the paint thinners, he had heard that some people liked to sniff that stuff and that it got them messed up in the head. They must have just spent too much time in the closed off art room and breathed it in. Logic. So caught up trying to rationalize the way her joke made him feel, Sasuke barely noticed as Sakura quickly attached herself to his arm.
"Yeah, well, Sasuke has better taste," the pinkette said only to realize afterwards how it all came out, "Not that you're not attractive or anything, you're just, not Sasuke's type! That's all!"
"Ouch, Sakura," Naruto grumbled, clutching at his chest, "Even I felt that!"
"I don't have a type! I'm not looking for any kind of relationship, not with you or anyone else." At Sasuke's words Sakura let him go and Naruto slapped his other hand over his chest dramatically.
"I've told you how many times, but no one listens. I'm just here to learn," the raven haired prodigy took a few steps away from the group, even to his own ears he sounded heartless, but it wasn't like anyone really caught his attention. Well, maybe- No, that was absurd, Hanaru was just a rival. Speaking of, "Fight me," he said without thinking, turning to her. He liked picking his sparring partners early on but instead of asking like a normal person, he was very straight forward, almost demanding. The last thing he wanted was for his sparring partner to think that they were going to go easy and slap at each other like he'd seen some pairs do, no, in two simple words he was very clear with what he wanted, no 'Oopsie-doopsie-poopsie, I stepped on your footsie' he wanted to really lay into them. Hanaru was just the most logical choice for a partner! If he'd chosen another girl, she'd probably be giggling and fawning more than fighting and the guys? Pfft, just the thought was enough to make him chuckle.

"GOOD AFTERNOON MY WONDERFUL STUDENTS!" Gai shouted before all the students had even finished filing into the gym, but his shine wasn't nearly as bright as it normally was. "We're going to do something a little different today, so listen up!" The way his eyes locked with Sasuke's, the boy felt that this was directed right at him, "We will not be doing hand to hand with partners today! I know, I know, it's terrible! How will you learn and make the best of your youth?!" Cue an eye roll as Sasuke immediately felt like the class had turned into a waste of time. It was Taijutsu class, this was the class everyone got to use to take out their frustrations! Not beating each other up felt so...pointless.
"You will be fighting against the training dummies for today! After we do some hot blooded warm ups!"
Some whispers broke out, sure there were days that they practiced against the dummies, but Gai-sensei like to have one week of practice and honing skills on the dummies and one week of letting the students spar against each other. Most though, were more concerned with Gai-sensei's 'Hot Blooded Warm-Ups', the man couldn't do anything normal and the students feared that the whole class would turn into a 'warm up' where they had to try and run laps on their hands.
If he wasn't trying to keep up his apathetic visage, Sasuke would have groaned loudly and sighed in disappointment, but he kept the urge to stomp his feet at bay. There was probably a very good reason for the shift in the agenda so suddenly and without warning and he would bet his left kidney it had to do with Mitomori-san.
"Even when he's not around he's got everyone by the balls," he huffed crossing his arms, with what Hanaru had told him earlier, he found himself actually agreeing with Gai-sensei's choice. He could only picture the high profile man walking into a gym filled with sweaty teens sparring while he and Hanaru tried to beat the ever loving heck out of each other. He'd probably have a field day with that.

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"You'll what?" Ino tried to tease, but having been so delicately 'escorted' by Mitomori-san didn't really leave her in the best of moods, "She left, said she wasn't coming to class. I didn't get to even ask her where she was going before that jerk showed up!" she huffed crossing her arms. "I'm sure she's fine, maybe she went to the infirmary? I know she said she didn't need to, but...maybe?" Choji tried to offer as they stepped into the gym, "She wouldn't tell us if she was really hurt, I mean, she doesn't really say much usually about stuff like that." Even he wasn't blind, while he wasn't as close to her as Shikamaru had been once and he wasn't trying to force his company on her like Ino, he could see the hurt that she tried to hide. It was pretty obvious, but even when they asked she'd never opened up about it. Maybe she was the same with physical pain too?
"I don't think so, we were having a pretty nice little chat, I even got her to try some lip gloss- but then she ate it."
Choji snorted, "Pfft, really? Asu-chan, with makeup on her face? I'd have to see it to believe it!"
"And she told me something interesting...about how you were over for dinner Shika and how her dad didn't throw you out at first sight!" Ino's confidence wavered a little as she remembered Asuna's excuse as her father thinking she 'needed a friend'. She'd learned to give the girl a day or two before prodding about her family and how everyone was doing and for a moment she imagined the worst case scenario for things to be at a point where her father allowed a boy over because she 'needed a friend'.
"What? No way! Shikamaru, dude, you're my hero. I can't even get in unless Ino's there too!"

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"ALRIGHT! LET'S START OFF WITH 100 LAPS AROUND THE GYM!!" The entire class erupted in a collective groan.
"FINE, 50! NOW GO MY STUDENTS AND BURST FORTH WITH THE YOUTHFULNESS OF SPRINGTIME!!"
"Ugh, I'm going to burst with something if I run 50 laps." Sasuke heard someone mutter, there was no way they were going to run all those laps right after they had lunch. He started in a leisurely jog, he was too tired to actually break out into a sprint, maybe he'd do a few before taking on the dummy. He wasn't a quitter and he didn't like half assing his school work, but Gai-sensei could not be serious. "This is a waste of time. I get why, but still...it's annoying," he muttered hearing a thundering of footsteps behind him. The boy didn't have to turn around to know that his entire fanbase was hot on his heels eyeing him as if he were a perfectly grilled Filet Mignon, not that they would even appreciate such a fine dish. What else did girls like? Chocolate? Were they eyeing him as if he was a solid chocolate sprinkled with gold dust? Whatever. It really didn't matter, but the feeling of eyes on his rear made him pick up his pace into a more serious jog, which didn't deter them at all.
"This sucks! I'm too tired to run laps!" Naruto whined from next to Hanaru as they too started on their assigned task, "And all the girls are after him too..." he glared slightly before a mischievous grin broke out on his face, "Ha-chan, Ha-chan, let's really give him something to run from!" he snickered as he checked around to make sure Gai-sensei wasn't watching him.
Picking up speed, Naruto ran up behind the gaggle of girls, passing them and with a loud SMACK he passed the Uchiha who almost tripped over his own feet as he grabbed at his butt looking confused as Naruto ran past him. "Naruto!" His eyes narrowed but he couldn't hide the blush on his face. No one, and that means no one, had ever had the audacity to pat him like that and he wasn't sure if he wanted to shrug it off or take off after the blond. "You better hurry up or I'll do it again!" Naruto called over his shoulder, which was enough to spark some life into the Uchiha as he took off after the boy.

What started off as something playful and harmless, quickly devolved into a game of 'outrun' thanks to Gai-sensei catching on and deciding to assign a point system. Left and right the students were trying to overtake each other and tap the person they passed, whether on the shoulder or arm. Even Hanaru had received a love tap on her back at some point.
"THE LAST 10 STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO DO ANOTHER 50 LAPS!!" And just like that, it was no longer a game but a cut throat race to not have to run more laps.

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​
Quietly, Asuna made her way across the grassy courtyard, looking for an empty classroom. She wasn't going to make it all the way around to the training grounds out in the open like that. Finding a classroom she slipped through the open window, the bags sitting neatly next to the desks meant that she needed to hurry as the class wouldn't be empty for too long. Her half baked plan was to get to the swimming pool, since it was autumn, it wasn't being used as much and she had a 50/50 chance of it being empty. If it was she could slip out of the back door and make her way to the forested area. Getting out was easy really, she didn't exactly stand out and by now she had a regular escape route that rarely failed her. The problem? The increased patrols. They didn't enter 'inspection mode' often enough for her to have figured out where to and where not to go and her previous attempts were fruitless as the patrol areas seemed more random. There were too many flaws for her to properly predict and plan for, but it wasn't going to stop her. She needed to do this.

The trip was nerve wracking to say the least as she'd almost walked into a group of jonin and at one point, actually did walk into Ebizu, the little juniors' teacher, but the old 'I left my pass in the bathroom' was enough to buy her some time. For how long though, she wasn't sure, which made it all the more important for her to get out of dodge before he went looking for her. At least fortune was in her favor as the pool house was empty, but on the other hand, the gate outside was locked and her body felt lethargic and heavy as the adrenaline ebbed away. FIne, it's fine, she'd climbed that fence a hundred times, once more couldn't hurt! Unfortunately her luck was starting to run out.
Reaching the top of the fence and preparing to drop down, Asuna lost her hold and tumbled down onto the concrete with a loud THUD.
"Ow F-Flying fidget spinning frisbees!" the sandy blonde hissed holding her elbow. There was no pain quite like the pain of hitting ones funny bone, but while elbow dropping the concrete floor? She rolled around on her back cradling her arm, riddled with the prickling sensation and numbness, trying to not shout any profanities at the sky.

"Not exactly what I expected," a voice said above her, "What do you think you're doing out of class, Asuna?"
Wonderful, not only did she have to deal with the pain in her arm, but the shame of having Kurenai-sensei leaning over her, "Kurenai-sensei...I um, h-how did you-?"
"I found Ebizu waiting for a student that sounded awfully familiar outside of the girls' bathroom, but there was no one there when I checked."
Asuna could hear the disappointment in her voice, opting to glare at the traitorous fence as she rubbed her arm furiously. "I was...going to the training field," there was no point in lying to the woman as whatever she said would end up with her squad leader and he wasn't an idiot.
"You know you can't be out here on your own."
Sitting up, the blonde leaned against the face, keeping her eyes down, "I...wanted to practice a little. I've been missing some classes and just...wanted to make up a little."
"There's allocated training time and extra classes for that. By skipping your current class, you're falling even more behind."
Asuna hated that everything the older woman said was true. For a brief moment green met red as Kurenai knelt down beside her, "I was surprised to see you in class today. You can tell me if something's wrong...is it something at home?"
She didn't like this, Asuna didn't like when other people tried to poke their noses in her business and after what felt like an eternity of silence she gave the woman a soulless stare, "No, it's not 'something at home'," a little bit of it was though, "I have a mission, I can't talk about it. So don't bother asking. I'm just..." her brow furrowed as she looked up at the overcast sky, "I don't know if I'm ready. I'm confident in my taijutsu, but not in my ninjutsu. I just want to brush up and...make sure I don't end up killing the team."
 
Hanaru rolled her eyes at Sakura's words, although they stung a little more than usual and she wondered silently why that was. However, she didn't dwell on it for too long--her brain was hurting and she had done (what felt like) enough thinking and feeling for her lifetime. If she never had another original thought, well... let's just say then it'd be too soon. The purple haired female snickered at Sasuke as he shrugged Sakura off, quickly getting over whatever weird funk she was in. Maybe she was coming down with something...? But that was impossible--as a half demon, she rarely got sick. And even when she did, she knew immediately because it was usually real bad. And violent... very violent. So, that left the question: what the heck was wrong with her?
When Sasuke point-blank told her to fight him, Hanaru raised a careful eyebrow. After all, hadn't he just remembered how Mitomori was going around asking his fanclub things. "I'm sure that's not that wise right now," she muttered, an ear flicking as an annoyed look crossed her features. "I'll fight with Naruto today." That made sense, keep the two dangers with each other.
"HAH! Take that Sasuke!" Naruto grinned widely, running over to the female before she sidestepped his outstretched arms so he tripped and fell on the ground. He had a momentary pout before a look of horror crossed his features. "W-Wait a second, Ha-chan, please go easy on me!" Tch, those crocodile tears wouldn't get her this time.
"In your dreams, fox-boy, now stand up before I 'help' you." The blonde shivered in nervous fear, and he quickly scrabbled to a standing position, only to breathe a deep sigh of relief as Gai-sensei announced that they weren't going to be sparring with partners. "You got off easy this time," she grinned at Naruto, causing the knucklehead to gulp. It made sense, considering they didn't want any students messing up and hurting each other and putting the school in a bad light. And then there was the whole Sasuke/Hanaru usually got carried away, part.
Hanaru had no problem with running laps, though she wasn't about to put that much effort into doing so. That being said, as soon as Naruto slapped Sasuke's butt, she couldn't help herself and laughed quite loudly, holding a clawed hand over her mouth as she jogged. Her stamina was otherworldly, and so she kept an even pace, not caring if she was lapped by anyone. The first slap, Hanaru only glared at Naruto, but after Gai-sensei declared a point system, she knew she'd have to actually try to win over Sasuke in some regard.
Hearing Naruto come up behind her again, she turned her head as she ran, watching his intense expression. "Don't you dare--" and there he was running past her, her butt stinging. "NARUTOOOO!!" She growled loudly, her face on fire. Kicking it into high gear, she nearly effortlessly passed those around her as the blonde shrieked for his life, now having both an angry Sasuke and an angry Hanaru running after him. For good measure, Hanaru also flicked Sasuke's ear as she smoked him. "Keep up, duckbutt!"

----------

Shikamaru glared at Ino. "So what? We were and have been friends for a really long time. I don't need to justify how I spend time to you," shrugging, he blew her off, not willing to get into it at the moment with the blonde. "No 'thank you' for getting that creep to go away? Geeze... what a troublesome woman," Shikamaru scoffed, turning his head away and crossing his arms over his chest. He vaguely listened to Ino and Choji surmise where Asuna was going. He remembered the look on the girl's face whent they had received their summon scrolls for their missions. If he was more of a betting man (and sometimes he was, it truly depended on his mood) then he would have bet that Asuna was going to try and train up before their next missoin. Although... even he could tell that by leaving class, especially taijutsu with Gai-sensei, she wasn't really helping herself.
"She's probably fine--let's just go to class," he muttered, turning ail and walking in. Although... despite his words, and thoughts, Shikamaru couldn't help but groan as Gai-mentioned fighting training dummies and running laps. Really? Talk about lame. Now he really wished he had skipped today and had taken whatever punishment that was coming to him by Kakashi-sensei. "Great... what a bother." His mood only soured the longer they were stuck in class. Shikamaru jogged casually, even as it became a point system--at some point Choji had bowled some students over, and he nimbly jumped over them.
Gai-sensei, of course, was cheering everyone on from the sidelines, and--where did he get fans with his face on them?--as they neared the last couple of laps, Shikamaru was doing fine on points, but he couldn't care if he was ahead or behind. "Leave it to that knucklehead to rile up Gai-sensei and turn everything into way more effort than it needed to be. Shikamaru tagged another kid he remembered from grade school but couldn't remember the name of, and he was right in the middle of the pack.
"Alright, one more lap to go!" Gai-sensei shouted, his grin looking as though it could blind anyone who looked at him too closely.
"This is so annoying..." he mumbled, rolling his eyes as Gai-sensei continued to yell out more things that were honestly blending into the background. Asuna was right to have slipped out.

-----------

Kurenai smiled softly at Asuna, and she knew that despite the girl's frustration, she was acting the way that she was out of worry. "Asuna, if you're so concerned, why don't you talk to Asuma-kun I-I mean," she blushed lightly. "Asuma-sensei about it! I'm sure he would be more than willing to give you some extra training should you ask it of him." Her red gaze softened, and she smiled at the blonde. "What is it in particular that you'd like to brush up upon? Is there anything that I can help you with?" Kurenai wasn't exactly her squad leader, but she was willing to train Asuna should she ask. She did hear a lot about them from Asuma. He really adored these kids. "As long as you're with me, you won't get into too much trouble. That being said, you're going to have to promise me to stay in class and get caught up. It's okay to ask for help when you need it. It doesn't mean that you're incapable, instruction is necessary to move forward."
 
Asuna narrowed her eyes slightly as she turned her gaze away from the woman, her motherly gaze made the girls stomach knot. It was easy to say she could just jump into extra lessons, but in practice it felt almost impossible. "Sure, I'll talk to him." Her words weren't very convincing though, not that she had any intention to do it anyway, "I also can't make promises like that." Kurenai frowned a little, she as well as some of the other teachers were vaguely aware of her situation, but even when they tried to reach out and help her, the girl stubbornly turned them all down. While some had given up trying, others like Iruka, only grew more persistent, going so far as to try and bypass the blonde's consent and take the matter up with her parents directly which was a feat all in itself.
"Asuna, you-"
"I'm not a seer or soothsayer or whatever. I can't look at the birds and predict what tomorrow's going to be like. I can't promise to be here, maybe something happens, maybe it doesn't...maybe I'll grow extra arms and turn into Spider-Girl," her joke fell flat like most, but she was also being serious. A sharp pang in her chest served as a reminder that she'd already broken her promise to Shikamaru and it hadn't even been a full day since then.
"I understand, but...is it because you can't or you don't want to?" It was a rhetorical question, but Kurenai knew she'd struck a nerve as she watched the girl's passive face contort into a series of emotions, but she didn't say anything as she stood up, rubbing her arm and trying to shake out the pain. "You don't have to be out here," Asuna spoke with her back to the older woman, "Either I'm out here with you or you're going back to class and I'll be adding to your detention."
Not fair, not fair, the blonde chanted in her mind, well, she was dumb enough to get caught, but there was a reason she wanted to do this alone, "I- you- but- just don't-" she stumbled over her words, her cheeks growing red with shame as she conceded.

Kurenai, at first, attributed her nervousness to having to practice with someone other than Asuma, but after watching for 10 minutes as she struggled with the right order of her hand seals, it was apparent that she didn't want anyone to really know just how far behind she was. It was concerning to say the least and a little confusing as Asuma had praised the girl's earth release before and had even considered trying to talk her father into signing her up for an exchange program with the Iwagakure Academy to further her ninjutsu style training. Not that he had mustered up the courage to do so yet.
Asuna was frustrated, she knew the seals, but her brain kept confusing them and sending mixed messages when she had to do them. Lack of sleep was really putting her at a disadvantage, but she was determined to do it even with the added pressure of having Kurenai-sensei watching her silently. It wasn't so hard, Tora-U-I-Inu, a simple series of hand seals for a simple wall, but no, once she actually tried making the seals her brain would go Tori-I-I-Inu and she'd fumble. It wasn't like the damn seals even looked the same!
"Damnit, c'mon!" Asuna glared down at her hands, bringing them up to bite at her fingers in frustration.
"Relax, Asuna, no need to-"
"No! I got it!"
It took her a few more attempts before she could bring her mind and body into unison, but once she did, there was no stopping her. It started off simple, a short but sturdy wall, it didn't take too much chakra and Asuna could gauge herself on whether she was using too much or too little of her resources. It didn't take long for her to move onto more refined jutsu and Kurenai could feel some of her earlier concerns slowly melt away.

"Good, you're doing quite well!" Kurenai called out, "But your opponent won't stand around waiting for you. How about you show me how you use your technique when you're facing a moving target?" She smiled taking a kunai from her pouch, the girl had some potential. Asuna wasn't exactly thrilled at the challenge, her body was already being forced into overdrive. The afternoon ticked by, a steady rumbling in the sky warning of an eventual downpour.
Kurenai was used to the Taijutsu style of her own team, Kiba and Hinata respectively, focusing more on hand usage, and while using one's legs wasn't anything strange, Asuna's style was something peculiar. She used her legs almost exclusively, it came off as stiff and predictable, but the girls hands never stopped moving, creating seal after seal after seal. Not every series of hand seals actually lead to a jutsu, but that made it hard to predict when she actually was readying a jutsu. Her ninjutsu and taijutsu seemed to blend seamlessly, even if she still made mistakes. Asuna might not have been the best at offence, but she could force distance between herself and her opponent and deliver a devastating blow if they dared to close that gap.
The training ground was a mess, earth was forced up into spikes and walls, uneven terraces and ripped apart in rifts and craters. If she wasn't so tired, Asuna might have enjoyed it a lot more, but she was running low on chakra, her movements were slow, her body ready to sink to the ground and there was hardly any force behind her blows, not even her ditch attempt effort to switch up combat styles. "That's enough, let's leave some of the training grounds intact for the other students," Kurenai smiled as Asuna huffed and puffed, "I'll admit I was worried at first but, I think you'll be just fine, maybe even better if you attended classes more."
"No I...I’m not...," Asuna heaved as she tried to catch her breath. It bothered her somewhat as Kurenai hardly broke a sweat, even when she gave it her all she felt like the older kunoichi was just being nice and entertaining her and that she wasn't nearly as good as her praises suggested. She couldn’t give up now, it had only been a couple of hours! She had to cram in as much practice as she could in the short amount of time she had. There was still detention, then home and there was no way she was going to risk sneaking out to use the training grounds tonight. Her legs were already two jelly noodles.

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Off on the sideline, cheering on his students and praising their youthful vigor, was Gai. His hand fans were waving as he danced around shouting words of encouragement. Look at them go, his students were making him so proud he could feel tears prickling his eyes and he only cheered louder.
Sasuke wasn't listening to a single word that green bean of a clown way yelling, he had a sting in his rump and a look to kill in his eyes as he focused only on Naruto. When he caught him, he was going to wring the blond's neck! As he rounded the gym and passed by the other students he tapped their arms as if actually touching them would give him some sort of disease. Naruto was either laughing or crying, he wasn't sure, but the blond was enjoying this much more than anyone else. At least that's what he thought as a round spinning meatball rolled right past him, knocking several students over. It was that fat kid that was with the slacker guy. He jumped over the fallen students, his eyes never letting the blond out of sight. It was stupid, but at least the running was good for stamina training, he told himself, though he'd much rather have been honing his fighting skills.
A flick on the ear made him turn his head slightly. Hanaru? Where did she come from? Easily she overtook him, and if that didn't ruffle his feathers, the fact that she was targeting Naruto too really had him pumping his legs. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he tapped her on the shoulder, overtaking her again, "He started this and I will finish it!"
She picked up pace again, giving his ear a flick and just like that it was on like Donkey Kong. He ran faster, tapping her shoulder harder. She would overtake him. He pushed harder, nearly shoving her out of the way, but again she overtook him again and again. Naruto was terrified by this point, he was running as fast as his legs could carry him but the hounds of hell were gaining on him. "If I said I was sorry would you not kill me?!" he screamed over his shoulder, but he was no longer Sasuke's main focus. His attention was back on the purplette, determined to not fall behind and let her finish before him!

It was quite the sight to see as Naruto ran screaming for his life with Hanaru and Sasuke were hot on his tail, though Sasuke was more interested in fighting Hanaru as they ran. Gai had been informed of the inspectors target and his odd behavior, he had to change up his training to keep those two out of each others hair, but they evidently couldn't. He should have been more concerned, but they were hot blooded rivals! "FIIINAAL LAAAP!! AND THEY'RE NECK IN NECK! WHO WILL BE OUR CHAMPION?!!" he was honestly considering having more healthy competition between his students as he hasn't seen them this lively since the day he let them use real weapons instead of the bamboo practice ones!
Sasuke was increasingly frustrated, he was at his top speed and while yes, he would be over taking Naruto any minute now, he wouldn't be able to overtake Hanaru! She had monstrous stamina that he wouldn't be able to beat. Not fairly at least. Gai had somehow constructed a finish line, when Sasuke didn't know, but if he couldn't beat Hanaru, then neither of them were going to cross it! Purposefully he slowed down, moving to run behind her and he took a moment to send a silent prayer hoping his Uchiha ancestors would forgive him. "HANARU!" he yelled out, bursting into a full sprint, picking her up mid stride and hoisting her onto his shoulders. His arms locked around her legs so she wouldn't kick him as he pushed forward, grabbing hold of Naruto's jacket mere meters in front of the finish line, bringing the boy to the ground and throwing Hanaru from his shoulders...if only she hadn't locked her legs around him. Sasuke found victory slipping from his grasp as he was pulled down to the ground too. He could still make it! The finishing line was right in front of him! If he just reached out he cou-
SMACK
"WINNER!! KIBA INUZUKA!"

Sasuke could only watch as time slowed down around him. Kiba had slapped his hand out of the way as he had passed him, scoring an easy victory for himself. He didn't win. He wasn't first. He wasn't the best. He might have outdone Hanaru for the moment, but he still lost, not to who but to some basic student like dog boy! Even his ego felt that defeat as more and more students passed them. "Naruto..." he said through gritted teeth before a mighty loud SLAP echoed through the gym, "Don't ever touch me again, Loser."
He stood up, pulling Hanaru to her feet, then stalked off to tend to his wounded pride, "Enjoy it while you can," he bit out in Kiba's direction. "Hey man, it was a good run, but it's not my fault you fell over your own feet!" Kiba chuckled, his chest was puffed out and Sasuke wished they could spar against each other. All he wanted was to knock that cocky grin off of the dog boy's face and remind him who the top dog was. With a 'tch' he found himself a training dummy in the farthest corner of the gym to take out his frustrations on. The poor hadn't signed up for this, it had a cousin in the fashion industry, but such was the silent life of the training poor wooden dummy. For the rest of gym class, Sasuke made it a point to ignore everyone.
Even as Gai called for them all to hit the showers before the class ended, Sasuke was keeping to himself, his entire body language read 'Don't touch me' as he opted out of the semi playful banter that erupted in the boys' changing rooms.
"I-I think there's a mark! I-is there one?" Naruto asked, craning his neck to see behind him. "Even if there was, and I'm not saying you deserved it, but...you totally deserved it!" Choji sighed sitting on a bench to try and catch his breath. "Aw, c'mon! You all looked like a bunch of zombies! I just wanted to liven things up a little!" Naruto objected. "Yeah, it was a pretty good idea, but you must feel like a total idiot since yours truly dominated the competition!" Kiba nudged him with his elbow teasingly. As they started to bicker about the outcome of their training session, Sasuke finished up his shower nice and quick, before anyone could use up all the hot water.

The incident played over and over in his mind as he tried to think up a way that he could have won in the race. He hated not being the best, so of course he was looking at it from ever angle to find out where he could improve. Even as he made his way to their last class for the day his mind was swarming and Sakura hadn't shown up to disrupt his thoughts as usual. Looking around the sea of students he spotted her talking to Ino with a worried look on her face. Psh, probably some girly thing, he shook his head as his eyes trailed over the others, looking around for a head of purple hair. He couldn't find her. Coming to a complete halt he looked turned, sweeping his gaze over the students again and again, was she still at the gym? He would have seen her if she was on her way to class. Turning on his heel he walked back, keeping his eyes open but she was nowhere in sight.
 
Kurenai looked over the training grounds once more before her fond smile turned back to Asuna. "I'm sure you could, but you don't want to completely exhaust yourself. Your chakra will grow with time, dedication, and practice. This also includes the process of resting so that you have the chance to be at your best again." She laid a gentle hand on Asuna's shoulder as she nodded. "The last thing you want to do is train tll you either pass out on your feet or throw up. Then you'll be of no use to your teammates, and you've defeated the purpose of your training, right?" Say what you might about Kurenai, but she was good with kids--of any age, so that meant the jonin males that ran around like children more than half the time. She did know what she was talking about, and hopefully Asuna could recognize that. "Did you want to go to the infirmary to rest? I'll walk you there," Kurenai offered (or more or less told), a gentle hand on Asuna's shoulder as she noted how the blonde's legs looked like they were ready to cave in.

---------

Once Taijutsu class was over, Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head. He was going to shower and then check the training fields--he couldn't get that concentrated look out of his head. The one that Asuna had while accepting that summons scroll. Biting his lip, he wondered where she would have run off to while he rinsed off. He had been perfectly in the middle of the pack during their race, just like he had wished, but he couldn't help but feel a little bummed that Asuna had missed it. She would have found the exercise annoying, but ultimate she probably would have laughed at the classes' anticts. Her nose would scrunch slightly and--gee he needed to get some help.
"What, lamenting your loss?" Kiba teased, smacking his shoulder. Shikamaru groaned, rolling his eyes at the brunette.
"The only reason you won was because Hanaru and Sasuke were too busy trying to kill Naruto and/or each other. Unlike you, I was exactly where I knew I would be. You lucked out, dog boy," Shikamaru grumbled, pulling his shirt back over his head and glaring at Kiba.
"Geez, what crawled under your skin today?" Kiba asked, throwing his hands up in a gesture of 'truce'.
"If your team wasn't so intent on scaring Naruto last night, I might have actually gotten some sleep, of course I'm cranky." Shikamaru wasn't having any of Kiba's teasing today. Normal he took it like water running off of Sasuke's hair, but he really wasn't in the mood today. Thankfully, Kiba took that as excuse enough and shrugged, letting him go without another word.
Shikamaru and Choji walked out of the showers, and the black haired male pointed to Ino as she walked out of the girl's locker room with Sakura hot on her tail. "Choji, stick with Ino. I'll be back."
"What, why do I have to...?" Choji whined, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Maybe you should stick with Ino and I'll go look for Asuna-chan." Shikamaru shot him a look that said "please?" and he caved, nodding. "Fine--you're lucky we're friends."
"I owe you one, Choji," the Nara smirked, lightly shoving his shoulder as he smiled. Choji grumbled a response but Shikamaru was already gone, jogging down the hallway, and heading directly towards the training grounds. It didn't take him that long, but honestly, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Shikamaru was panting lightly from his sprint, and he saw Asuna standing with Kurenai in the middle of it all.
"Woah, what happened here...?" Shikamaru mumbled as he approached, trying to play it off as though he had just happened to be strolling by. "I just came to pick up my other teammate and walked into a war zone."
Kurenai blinked at his appearance, a smile appearing on her lips as he approached. "Asuna-chan and I were just doing some training, I thought I'd excuse her from Taijutsu to brush up on some Ninjutsu practice. But it's a good thing you arrived--she's a little tired, can you make sure she gets to Tsunade-sama for a check-up and some rest?"
"Uh, sure thing..." Shikamaru looked his teammate over. Aside from being tired, she looked relatively fine. "But what about--" Shikamaru looked to where Kurenai was but she had already disappeared. "What...?" Ninjas were ridiculous. "Well, are you alright? You missed a huge race in Taijutsu class. It was fun to watch Sasuke lose. Naruto also got the shit beaten out of him."

----------

Hanaru had drowned out Gai-sensei a long time ago, she definitely wasn't paying attention to him or anyone else other than Naruto and Sasuke as she ran alongside her colleagues. "What do you think I'm doing? Kicking your ass!" she grinned, feeling a little bit more like herself now that there was competition thrown into the mix. They were neck and neck, running back and forth, each pass and each shove getting more intense than the last as they continued on until the final lap. Hanaru, putting more speed into her stride, ran forward, only to yelp in surprise as she felt hands snag her her waist and suddenly she was flipped over Sasuke's shoulders, her hair thrown in her face as she struggled against him. As Sasuke grabbed for Naruto, Hanaru locked her legs around Sasuke, him throwing her being his own downfall. They both tumbled to the ground, and Hanaru groaned in mild pain as they observed Kiba take the steal from under the three of their noses (Naruto, of course, was holding his as when Sasuke had snagged him he fell flat on his face).
Hanaru was about to get up herself when a hand was thrown out to him after one of the loudest slaps she'd ever heard, coming nearly face to face with Sasuke before he slipped away, doing his best to ignore Kiba. The purplette turned her attention towards Naruto and she snickered, looking at his red cheek--it looked like he'd gotten 5-stared. "You deserve that, you know. I'd give you a matching one on the other side, if I weren't so concerned I'd knock you unconscious."
"Aw c'mon Ha-chan, you love me! R-Right...?" Her silence scared Naruto, and he blinked owlishly up at her void expression from the floor. "Right?!"
"Yes, Naruto!" the happiest, brightest smile she'd ever had appeared on her face, and Naruto felt like he had forgotten how to breathe. Somehow this seemingly innocent and sweet smile from someone usually so prickly and distant was even scarier than her anger. She didn't smack him but she gave him a solid bonk on his head. "The next time you touch my ass you die, got it?!"
"Y-yes ma'am!!" Jiraiya would have been proud, at any rate.
Hanaru spent the rest of class on her own, beating up a training dummy, even as Gai-sensei called for everyone to hit the showers as class was coming to a close. Hanaru never showered with the rest of the girls, she always waited for them to be done and then she went in. This was mostly due to to the face that she didn't want to expose herself to the others in any way, shape, or form--especially considering if someone thought her arms were bad, her back was worse off in terms of scars.
Once the girls had started to leave, Hanaru slipped into the showers to rinse off, walking out of the girl's locker room, only to find exactly who she didn't want to see waiting for her once more. "Oh, joy." Her voice was flat--she was, of course, on edge, and her eyes traced the hallway--she could probably give him the slip should the need arise, her "flight" instincts flaring up as she tried not to appear alarmed. "Finished accosting teenage girls? I'm surprised no one has called CPS yet."
 
"You say that like it's a bad thing," a grin spit onto the man's face as he gazed over the rims of his glasses. Aku's eyes were piercing and cold, but a calculated and cruel spark flickered within them, dancing back and forth as he tilted his head backwards to look down on Hanaru even more. "I'm surprised that you haven't been properly dealt with, but that's alright," he stepped forward, narrowing the distance between them, "That can easily be fixed, my dear." A gloved hand trailed down the side of her face without truly touching her skin, but coupled with his deep rolling voice and that insane look in his eye, it was enough to make just about anyone's skin crawl. "I'm so glad we can finally have a little chat without the old man's hounds sniffing about," his hand rested on her shoulder as he circled her, "I've been hearing things about you, more and more students are coming forward and speaking against you," there was amusement in his voice as his hand ghosted across her shoulders and rested firmly on the back of her neck. "It must be so nice to be able to forget all the bad things you've done and walk around like you actually belong here. You and I both know that vile things like you have no place in our society. All you're good for is murder, ne, None?"

He had been waiting, patiently at that, for this moment. Sarutobi thought he could get one over him by trying to hide this half breed without him knowing, just who did that old fool think he was?!

"What would a half bred demon spawn like you even be able to bring to the table, hm? All the heads of the people you've killed? The blood on your hands," his hand clasped around the back of her neck roughly, his fingertips digging into her flesh as his other hand gripped her by the jaw, "I can still smell it on you." He inhaled deeply to prove his point before forcing her to look at him. "You can try and justify what you've done, but I simply can't have someone like you running around. I wouldn't want you to do to all these bright shining faces as you did your dear old mummy now, would we?"

Releasing the girl with a sinister smirk upon his features he adjusted his glasses and slowly circled her like a bird of prey, "Was mummy a bad guy too? Did she not love you enough?" his lips turned into a pout as his tone changed to a more demeaning one as if talking to a toddler, "Aw, poor baby." A hand reached out grasping her tail, tugging at it as he came to stand in front of her again, "Just what kind of monster kills their own mother?" he brought a gloved hand up as if he was contemplating the answer, "Ah yes, you did!" Pulling her tail up he tickled her nose with the tip. He was the cat and she was his little mouse and while the jonin were all so concerned about keeping the students at bay as they scurried to their next class, he would take his time to play with his little mouse. "Why was it again? Because mommy wanted to protect...her son...from you," he raised his eyebrows in question, but he was stating it as a fact, trying to push as many buttons as he could. If she lashed out at him he'd have won, not only against her but against Hiruzen as well. The city would be in an uproar, nay, the entire country! "Tell me my dear, if you could do it once, wouldn't you agree that you could do it again? An accident is an accident but in the end, you're the one who killed her, so what's to say you won't kill again?"

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As he walked, a well practiced look of utter disinterest was resting on his features, but Sasuke's eyes flicked back and forth over the crowd. Jonin and chunin who didn't have classes were lined up against the wall, ushering the students along and despite their words and warnings such as "No talking in the halls", "Stop running!", "Just because you can walk on the ceiling doesn't mean you are allowed to! Get down right now!" they all still cluttered the halls. Huh, so that's how those footprints got up there. His ears stayed perked, tuning into conversations here and there, hoping to catch anything on either the purplette or the whereabouts of Mitomori-san.
Most of what he heard though wasn't relevant. He didn't care about who liked who or who wanted to copy homework and he absolutely didn't care about hearing a set of students plans to goof off after class. There were slivers of information though, not much and they were barely whispers.

"Did you hear? Mitomori-san..."
"That happened to me too..."
"...and I said..."
"...he's only looking out for us..."

"Do you think it's true?"
"...why that girl?"
It wasn't much to go by, hardly anything really, but it made him feel uneasy all the same. It felt off, what he couldn't say, but he knew something was very wrong. "Oi, Hanaru, have you seen her?" he called out to a short girl he recognized from class. There were a lot of students who he didn't bother to commit to memory, their names and faces all so vague and forgettable. The girl quickly turned to him, her face lit up immediately and Sasuke had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes, "S-Sasuke-kun! H-hi!" she squeaked out as she blushed. "That purple haired girl, cat ears, did she leave the gym with the rest of you?" he asked more firmly, his onyx eyes studying the girl as she stammered out a "I think so." Tch, that wasn't useful at all.

Hanaru was so dead set on slipping out of it, she could have possibly used the chaos of the changing classes to do just that. The girl had asked him something, but he didn't catch what she had said as he quickly walked away, moving against the flow of bodies. If she wanted to leave she could have hopped out of a window while no one was looking, but what if she'd gotten caught? It's a laughable idea, but there were increased patrols and there were some high ranking jonin among them. She would have left with the group, that was the most logical thing to do especially since they didn't know whether Mitomori was still hanging around and the last thing she'd want was to be caught alone by him! His pace quickened, Kakashi might not have given him the direct order that she was his responsibility, but that's the way he saw it. He was supposed to have waited and at least made sure she either got off of campus or reached her next class. Some team leader he turned out to be.

As he neared the gym he couldn't help but notice the sudden lack of life. It made sense that there were no students but where were the patrols? Even as he gazed outside there was no one around. That feeling of something being wrong only intensified as he heard talking and laughing coming from the gym, it was a male's voice and it sure as shit wasn't Gai.

"...dear old mummy now, would we?"

His hand stopped, resting on the door as he could hear him...he could hear Aku MItomori on the other side. He caught her. She was cornered. 'Move. Do something!' his mind screamed at him, his body on the other hand wouldn't obey. He could hear it, he could hear everything and the debate of whether or not he had made the right choice flared up once more. He had to do something!

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It wasn't that she didn't like the older kunoichi, on the contrary she actually respected the woman with her whole heart. She was patient and just had this motherly way about her...but that also made Asuna's heart clench and threaten to break. She had that same look in her eyes as her own mother had and it left a heavy lump in her throat...or maybe that lump was actually her lungs as she tried to catch her breath. She needed to work on her stamina, yeah that's it, tiny stamina! The blonde only nodded, trying to avoid Kurenai's gaze like a small child that knew they had done something bad. What a dumb feeling. As Shikamaru strolled up to them, Asuna tilted her head in slight confusion, "H-Hey...?"

How did he know she was out there? She couldn't remember saying anything to Ino? The slight pressure on her shoulder disappeared along with the kunoichi it had belonged to, leaving her alone with the boy. Even with the training ground looking like a mess, standing there trembling as her muscles spasmed in her nearly numb limbs, Asuna felt like she hadn't really reached the goal she had set for herself. "Y-yeah, need to practice more," she mumbled feeling the burn in her arms, her body felt like lead trying to balance on two noodles. "A race huh? No fighting today? That's lame," she gave the boy an unimpressed look as they walked -well, more like zombie-shuffle-stumbled- back to the school, her grip on his hand soft as she couldn't muster enough strength to properly take a hold of it. The unimpressed look faded away to amusement as Shikamaru told her more about their rather interesting class and hearing that Sasuke had lost had her biting at her lip to keep from laughing not that it was working, "HAH! AH, I wish I could have been there. Running laps? No, that's lame but Sasuke's face must have been priceless!"

Once her laughter died down though, a silence fell over them, it wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't a comfortable silence either. Asuna kept her distance as they walked, even more so once they entered the building as she pulled her hand from his. Unlike Shikamaru who smelled like soap and body spray, she could smell the dirt and sweat on herself and it made her self conscious like when her grandmother made her try on some dresses for a distant cousin's wedding and made her parade around the clothing store. It felt like everyone was staring at her, even though no one even noticed. It was one of those things that bothered her way more than it probably did anyone else, but it wasn't the only thing that was bothering her, "How'd you know?" she asked blankly, yet there was curiosity and maybe even a hint of guilt behind her eyes, "Thought you'd figure I just went home."

"Oh! A fresh face!" Shizune called out as she spotted the duo, it sounded like she was expecting someone else to come through the door. "Are you alright? You look pretty beat up," she said looking the sandy blonde over, "What did you do to your arm?" Asuna blinked at her then looked down, her elbow looked like she'd try to paint with it, "I fell," it sounded so basic but that was the short of it. "I-I'm fine though!" Asuna said, bringing up her shaky arms and making stiff gestures, "Do you have a super medicine? Something that'll give you lots of energy and keep you awake and give you infinite stamina? Like a steroid but better?" At first Shizune laughed at the absurd request but quickly stopped as Asuna stared back at her unblinking, "I- what? Why don't you sit down?"
Shizune motioned to the small examination room and she could feel her stomach drop through the floor, "It's alright, it's just a quick look."
 
Hanaru hissed--and not like, a human pretending to hiss like a cat, but an animalistic sound that showed her anger and distaste. "Shut up, you don't know me," she growled, clenching and unclenching her hands as she did her best not to lash out at something. That was her issue. Self-control and restraint. Thankfully she'd been doing a good job working on such skills at the academy, but Aku Mitomori was certainly pushing her already testy patience, and he knew exactly what he was doing. 'Think... think...! Literally any excuse to get out of here...!' It echoed in her brain like a broken record, and she was frozen as his hand trailed around to the base of her neck. Another low hiss left her lips at his derogatory comments, her glare trained on the floor. She didn't want to look him in the eye, but she had to in order to glare at him. His grip seized her neck and her chin, forcing her head to tip in his direction. She trembled in his grip, and whether it was in fear or anger, Hanaru couldn't tell the difference between them as they blended together in her mindspace.
"Shut up.... shut up!" she growled, her ears pinning to her head as she froze ata his words. Forced to look into his eyes, she struggled in his grip, surprised at how... weak she felt. Hanaru was used to tossing people around, so why... why was she so terrified of this man? Well, for starters he knew just what buttons to press. He teased her maliciously, grabbing her tail. She yelped as he tugged at it, glaring at him darkly. "Let. Go. Now." Her voice was low and dripping with anger. And yet... she couldn't touch him.
If not for the sake of her... teammates. Then for the old man.
He saw good in her--even when nobody else wanted to. Therefor she would protect his students and his school to the best of her abilities.
"How... how did you get this information...? It's not even accurate...!" she growled. Sure, there was truth in there, and it fucking hurt, but by choosing to focus on another aspect, she was actively choosing to avoid the topic he was trying to coax her into in order to rile her up again. However, the more he hyper-focused on her life's biggest guilt and shame, she broke down steadily. "You don't know what you're talking about...! Shut up, shut up!" Hanaru didn't want to hear it, her nose scrunching up in disgust as he tickled her with her own tail tip, the appendage writhing in his grip.. "She was protecting me! From them. From the world! Their actions are what killed her!" No. It was her. And she knew, but she didn't want to say it. If she spent every waking hour focused on it, it would consume her, and then she would truly die, the beast known as None replacing the girl, Hanaru. A mortally wounded beast latched out at anything. If anything she was only confirming her savagery. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, a twinge of vulnerability that she never wanted this bastard, or really anyone, to see. "It won't happen again. I won't let it." That beast... that monster was not her. Hanaru had read stories of individuals wanting to become fully human or fully demon while only being half, but if that's what a full demon did, she wanted nothing to do with it. "If I go berserk, Kakashi-sensei has been ordered to kill me. That's the failsafe," she told him, which was the truth, that was a part of the agreement of allowing such an infamous criminal to join their ranks. "Now, let go of my tail...!" she acknowledged the appendege still in his hands as held on, trapped in place by his grip. By now her hands were bleeding, having punctured through the palms from gripping them so tightly with her clawed fists. She was stuck.

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Shikamaru nodded as Kurenai had all but disappeared. "Practice, more like terraforming. The training grounds have never looked more... festive," he joked lightly, allowing her to lean on him if she so desired, but knowing her stubbornness that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He wondered silently why all women were so stubborn. Well... except for Hinata. She was a rare exception, but every other woman he knew was stubborn to the core, and he looked to the ash blonde beside him out of the corner of his eyes. Asuna herself was incredibly problematic. Granted, that was sort of like calling the kettle black, considering how closed off he was as well. She was trying to train without them... granted, the race was a little fun to observe, though he hated participating. "Yeah, it pretty much devolved into a slap fest. Sasuke was too busy trying to beat up Hanaru and Naruto that he lost to Kiba. Imagine that." The Nara snorted, shaking his head with a grin. "It was amazing--I wish I'd gotten a picture of the look on his face. It was glorious. I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel in his face.
As they made their silent shuffle towards the infirmary, Shikamaru wondered if he might have participated if Asuna was in the race. Probably not, though, unless she made a bet for it. One that enticed him enough to get his ass in gear and go chasing after individuals. It would have been fun, if not for the teasing he would have to endure from mainly Kiba and Ino. Hearing her question, Shikamaru could merely offer her a shrug, their hands still connected as she looked to him. Shikamaru kept his gaze ahead, set on his goal, the lazy boy's eyes having more bags than usual considering their late night. "A hunch, I guess," he finally responded after mulling it over, knowing even before her questions were asked that he might need to be a little bit more specific. "Well, you were staring at the scroll Asuma-sensei gave to us like it had started talking to you."
Finally turned his head slightly so he could look down at her (Shikamaru was a bit taller), he offered her another shrug. "So I thought about where you might go to be alone. Considering we were just on the rooftop and you and Ino had been in the girl's bathroom, it meant that you had to be elsewhere. So I was actually on my way to check out the pool to see if you'd gone there,' considering all the times she may have snuck in there, it was kind of becoming her pseudo-secret location. "And then I saw all the dust and the ground all broken up, and here you were." There weren't a lot of genin that could do successful earth release like Asuna could. One needed to be as sturdy as the material itelf in order to properly control the earth, and Asuna certainly had that going for her.
Thankfully, it hadn't been a long trip to the infirmary. If it had been any other number of hallways, or even stairs, Shikamaru might have just thrown Asuna over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and ran, ignoring her wrath. Instead of something like that, they walked through the doors of the infirmary only to be greeted by Shizune. As she glanced Asuna over, Shikamaru waited, leaning against one of the walls and listening. "It's called rest, Asuna," Shikamaru finally spoke up at her ridiculous request, a sly smirk playing upon his lips. "I get it all the time during classes. It's nice, you should try it sometime."
He chose to ignore the glare that Shizune sent his way. "I'll have Tsunade-sama check your chakra levels and vitals when she gets back from her lunch," the secretary nodded as they all slid over to an examining room. "For now, please try and relax, she should be back shortly." She looked to Shikamaru and opened her mouth, as if contemplating whether or not to trying and send him back to class, or to reprimand him for sticking around in general. However, this was a fight she wouldn't win, and thankfully realizing this, Shizine instead turned back to work on the paperwork she was refiling back into the cabinet after it had been seemingly scanned through.
 
"Sleep is for the weak," Asuna said, glancing at Shikamaru, "No one has time for that," while not exactly true as the girl tried to keep a somewhat normal sleep pattern most of the time, sometimes it... just varied from night to night. She chewed on her lip, the artificial fruity flavor long gone by now, "If I had your brains I'd probably sleep through classes too," she mused, already imagining how she'd have found faster alternatives to life that left time chasing her instead of the other way around. It was mostly an attempt to keep her mind busy, the need to distract herself was higher than usual as she looked around the presine sterile room. With the roller-coaster that was her mother's health and the uncertainty that came with it, a subtle disdain for medical rooms had rooted itself in her mind. She could almost hear the heart monitor even though there wasn't one that she could see. Staring up at the ceiling, she was the complete opposite of relaxed, sitting stiffly and kicking her leg to the rhythm of the ticking clock on the wall. Having already been pushed past its exhaustion level, her body was fighting to switch off against her mind that was trying to stay awake and alert. In the end they came to a compromise as Asuna closed her eyes, somehow convinced that as long as she swung her leg to the sound of the clock she wouldn't fall asleep. There was still some semblance of awareness but it became diluted and almost surreal. She could hear Shizune shuffling somewhere far away and feel Ton-Ton's snout nudging her leg, at least that's what she thought it was, and the ticking clock was ticking slower and slower and growing more distant. From the creeping darkness, so soft and lulling, it almost felt like someone was calling her name. The soft tick tick tick had turned into a slow beep...beep...beep.

"Oh no, they're missing. Lady Tsunade's going to flip," Shizune muttered as she quickly checked the files she'd finished organizing again, but what she was looking for just wasn't there. Their visitor earlier that morning that so rudely barged in and started demanding access to the students' records must have slipped away with them after making such a mess of things. Remembering that there were actually people in the infirmary, she quickly turned to Shikamaru with an awkward laugh, "Hah, yes, wouldn't you like to sit down instead? I'm sure Lady Tsunade will be here any minute now!"
Quickly clapping her hands together, she motioned for the boy to take a seat. She was about to ask the blonde girl if everything was alright, but found her having dozed off, her leg twitching every now and again as she stood on the brink of a far off world, "Well, I guess she won't be needing that super drug anymore." It wasn't too odd to find students zonked out on one of the beds from fatigue, especially from chakra training as they learned to try and control it. The more the shinobi trainees pushed though, the more dangerous it could be as chakra itself was in fact a life source for all living things and without it death was imminent. Walking over she tried to assist the girl in laying down, but the moment she touched her, the blonde jerked, her eyes wide and staring distantly at the assistant. She looked confused, clearly still trying to come to her senses as her eyes scanned around for something and either she didn't find it or she had regained enough consciousness to realize where she was. "Ai! Relax it's ok!" Shizune had a bit of a start, her arms were raised up defensively, "You nodded off there, you must be really tired. Why don't you lay down?"
"No, I can't! I can't...sleep here," Asuna said as she hopped off of the table, missing poor little Ton-Ton by a hair as she hobbled off, every muscle groaning as she took to walking circles around the rooms. It wasn't out of stubborness, she really couldn't fall asleep. The light doze she took was enough to let loose terrible thoughts, a slew of 'ifs', 'what ifs' and 'maybes', thoughts about her mother, worst case scenarios and even the image of herself in that position. If she wasn't trying to play nice for her old man after their fall out, she'd have been long gone and in her own bed or anywhere else that was safe to sleep. "I guess the table is a little uncomfortable, but we have some open beds," Shizune tried to offer but it went ignored having registered her ‘I can’t sleep here’ as ‘I can’t sleep here on the table’.

Tsunade entered not too long after, "What did you do this time?" she asked with a sigh, already battling a headache as most of her lunch was spent in the headmaster's office. Students that arrived looking the way the girl did usually overdid things and were trying to get right back into training without rest, like Gai's pupil; Rock Lee, and they were always so pigheaded about it too. Asuna only shuffled awkwardly under the woman's gaze, not trusting herself to not say something that might set her off and luckily Shizune answered before the medical nin had to ask again, "Ninjutsu training, I think."
"You reckless damn kids, all of you. I swear, one of these days...well don't just stand there, I need to examine you to make sure you didn't end up severing something," she waved the girl off back to the examination room before turning to the boy, "And you, don't you have a class to go to?"
"He can stay," Asuna mumbled quietly, "I'm ok if he...stays, y'know with the whole buddy system," she said feeling like she was five and the shame bubbling up for relying on him again to muster up some courage. It wasn't what she wanted to say but 'For the love of our glorious leader Lord Sarutobi, don't leave me alone with these people, I don't want to die!' would probably have offended the highly skilled, trained and experienced medic. There wasn't much arguing, it was a direct order from the headmaster for the students to move in groups after all. While Tsunade examined the seemingly placid blonde, poking and prodding every now and again, Shizune had retrieved her file, checking to make sure she didn't have any allergies or a record of health problems. "You must be really close friends, huh?" she peered over the file at Shikamaru.

"Well, nothing's broken at least," Tsunade said as she finished up, but there was a deep scowl on her face, "However..." Asuna barely had a chance to blink as she was bonked on the head repeatedly, "JUST WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?! You can't keep pushing yourself like this or you'll end up hospitalized or worse! Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to try and go beyond what you're physically capable of?" She had the girl by the arm, dragging her off as she kept scolding, "You're well on your way to the final stages of burnout and if you don't start doing something about it now, your body will shut down on you!"
Asuna didn't agree as she was manhandled to a bed, sure she had a little stress that she combated with another kind of stress, but she didn't think she was on her way to burnout. Staying up all night and training really hard? Psh, she could fix that with a good night's sleep...right after she finished her chores! It just looked worse than it was, that's all, she was fine!
"You kids are so irresponsible, now lay down or I'll knock you out, you hear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
No ma'am. There was no way she was going to sleep in the infirmary, even if she tried really hard, but she kept it to herself as she watched the older woman walk off. That's fine, she'd just wait for the medic and her assistant to leave the room and she'll sne- "And to make sure you don't try anything funny," Tsunade said as she returned with Ton-Ton in her arms, plopping the pig on the foot of the bed with a loud "OINK!"
“Ton-Ton will keep an eye on you.”
Asuna stared at the pig, was this some twisted joke? “Uh...what’s shakin’ bacon?”

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"Don't know you? My dear, everyone and their mother knows about you!" Aku laughed haughtily, anyone else would have been too terrified to try and rile up the monstrous beast but he was hoping for her to lose control. He had the status and the political power to bend those around him to his will; all he lacked was the physical power to take control of the shinobi community. They were all so deeply rooted in traditions and their 'ninja ways', following their leader as if he was some sort of divine figure. He wanted that. As powerful as he was, there were still those in his following that doubted him and more still that just couldn't seem to be persuaded over to his side. If he had the shinobi community under him, if he could get them to follow him like they did that old man, no one would dare oppose him! He would have it all and the nations would know what true terror was! "Accurate or not, if a man like myself were to take that to the papers of how such a violent child ripped her mother to pieces in cold blood while she was only trying to protect her only son, now a fugitive being hidden and catered for amongst poor innocent children... " he sneered, as he toyed with her tail, "The media would certainly tear this school apart if the families don't take action first. Hm, one can always tell who is a parent in the room you know. They're willing to do whatever it takes to save their own precious babies. And things will only go downhill from there."
Without any actual evidence of her having turned savage again, he didn't have much of a leg to stand on though. The council that oversaw the shinobi and their integration with the civilians would want to investigate should he bring this to their attention and if he couldn't come forward with anything from the get go, he feared that they would take too long and Sarutobi would slip from his grasp again. The man was always ahead of him but if he could just get her to unleash the beast that she was deep down, ohohoho there would be no covering that up. It would be the push he needed to get his foot into the door and after that, everything would be a cakewalk.

"Won't let it happen again? But my dear, you're oh so close," he released her tail, but his hand found her head instead, altering between between being gentle and tugging at the tips of her ears, "I have so many eyewitness accounts to your violent behavior and how the teachers all just stand by allowing you to mercilessly hurt others." Thanks to his informant he knew which students to ask who, for the most part, all agreed that the half demon was violent and always fighting with another student, some of them weren't as cooperative but he got what he wanted from them. He tilted his head as she mentioned Kakashi and he stepped away from her, bringing his hand up and over his eyes as he looked around the gym. "Oh Kakashi! Kakashi Hatake, where are you Scarecrow? Shouldn't you be watching your students?" he sang out into the empty room, his voice bouncing off of the walls, "Oh, there he is!" he pointed out a broom that was leaning against the wall, "But I'm afraid he has no arms. And the other jonin are all so worried about their sweet students that they're looking the other way. You don't really think I'd just do what I did to the Takanashi girl in the open did you?"
It wasn’t exactly what he had planned, but the girl wasn’t being very helpful, he was to have his informant raise the alarm which would cover him should suspicion arise,but sadly the wrong chunin had caught him and it made things difficult, but he was going to play it off as having been part of his plan from the very start, "Now your dear sensei is running around and has all but abandoned you." Taking a step closer, he leaned over Hanaru a gloved finger poking her nose, "Just like everyone else," he swung his hand out and motioned to the empty room, "Look at all these people who came because they care...oh dear, I guess it's just me."
He did care, perhaps not for the girl herself but he cared about what he could achieve if he molded her just right, turned her into a pawn in his little game but first he would have to chip away at her. "I know you must think of me as a bad man, but I really haven't done anything wrong, I am just showing you the truth. No one even bothered to wait for you as they all ran off to ten to their own happy little lives. They left you behind, they’ll always leave you behind. Just like your father, your brother, your mentor and most certainly just like your mother...no one would even miss you."

A loud explosion rattled the room. The large and heavy gym doors were sent from their hinges as smoke poured in.. Aku almost bit his tongue in surprise as he stared at the entrance, who would dare to interrupt him? The patrol in the area were supposed to be off checking a false alarm and the bratty students were supposed to be in class! His eye twitched in annoyance as he adjusted his glasses and from the black smoke two glowing red orbs appeared followed by the form of a boy, "Why don't you leave the girls alone and pick on someone your own size?"
Sasuke walked through what was left of the doors, the tomoe swirling in his eyes, locking into the tall suited man. He could see him more clearly than he ever had in his life. He knew every breath the man would take before he even took it, every move before he could make it, his eyes stared right through him as he watched the man like a hawk.
Mitomori relaxed somewhat as a smile crossed his features and a chuckle escaped from his throat. Clapping his hands together he extended them back towards the boy, "Ah, the little police boy! Welcome, my boy, welcome indeed!"
Sasuke only glared at him, he did not like the nickname and he did not like that sing song tone the man was using especially not after the things he had said to his teammate, "Why don't you leave her alone," he growled out, practically bristling as the adrenaline burst through his body, ready to fight for his life if it came it it. Aku stalked forward, his hands folded behind his back. Confidence oozed from every pore as he held himself high, towering over the boy, "Why, little police boy, aren't you a brave one? We were just having a lovely conversation, nothing for you te be prying into," he cocked his head to the side as his hand rested firmly on the styled black nest that was Sasuke's head and he pushed down, "What darling eyes you have, police boy, not nearly as frightening as Evil Eye Fugaku, but where is this person of my own size, hm? All I see is that thing, a little police boy and myself, or did you mean I should fight you instead?" Aku smirked as he put more pressure on the boy’s head, his fingers digging into his scalp, "What are you going to do, hit me? You're welcome to try!" Sasuke grit his teeth, he knew he couldn’t hit the man or else he’d have his father’s wrath come down on him, but he had to do something! He couldn’t just stand by and let him push Hanaru around, he had made a promise!

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​
Kakashi was running, there was a report stating that Mitomori had been spotted with one of his students heading out to the forested area of the training grounds. He feared the for the worst when he had heard it and along with a small team they headed out to investigate, but once they were there they found nothing. It wasn't until after they had arrived that the message came through that three other reports similar to the one they were responding to had all come through, all different students, all in different areas and all happening at the same time. The alarm bells went off in his head, this was a diversion and it didn't take the Sandaime long to process the information and deduct which students from which teams and which jonin were investigating. The enemy was craftier than he had let on and now Kakashi was rushing back towards the school. In and around the gymnasium, the patrols had been diverted or disbanded and reallocated by fake reports. He had to get there as fast as he could, there could be nothing or there could be trouble and he'd rather know that his own students were safe as they had been on the man's radar since day one.
 
"I can kick your ass and I'm stronger than you," Shikamaru pointed out blatantly, a blank expression on his face as he stared at the difficult female. Was it really that hard to accept help in a situation like this? He tried to put himself in the blonde's shoes but for the life of him, all he could think was that it was only creating more problems by arguing, so she might as well have accepted the help. Granted, if their positions had switched, and Shikamaru was the one who had needed the help, it wouldn't have been without some grumbling. His expression softened, however, at her comment about his abilities. He realized then and there that it was probably all she could do to pay attention and then study hard in her small moments of free time. He sighed, turning his head and look anywhere but the Takanashi female. The last thing he wanted to do was come accross as pretentious or something.
He stood in silence, pondering these things, and what he might actually say to Asuna that would maybe... patch up any misunderstandings. What could he do in all honesty, though? He sucked at small talk, usually, just because he didn't put enough energy or effort into conversations in general. And he really didn't care to either. The Nara was about as apathetic as they came, so trying to figure out why he felt slightly guilty was a mystery and a challenge to him. For all of his brains, he couldn't for the life of him seem to realize that he cared about Asuna far beyond some little childish crush, but he wasn't smart enough to realize it.
He listened to Shizune's mumbling, his head turning as he watched the woman fumble through some files. She couldn't find some records or something? It was a little too convenient to be coincidence that this was also the day that Aku Mitomori was on the school grounds--he definitely had something to do with it. 'What the hell could he do with files from the school nurse's office...?' If he was lucky, he would never have to find out. Honestly, if Shikamaru never saw that man ever again, it would be too soon. "I'm fine, I'd prefer to stand right now," Shikamaru told the woman, shaking his head at her idea of sitting down. Yes, Tsunade would be here shortly, and he hoped that she would have some sort of idea as to what information was gone and why it was taken. Mitomori was usually pretty invested in being Naruto's shadow so now that he had also taken an interest in Hanaru as well... well, Shikamaru didn't have all the answers, and in fact he knew next to nothing about the female, but whatever Mitomori was planning wasn't good.
He was abruptly brought out of his musings when Asuna jerked away from Shizune, and he immediately moved to be at her side, his gaze traveling her figure up and down, as if trying to deduce what was wrong. His eyes narrowed as he silently offered her help, but mostly by being present. Asuna was stubborn, and terribly proud, so he knew that if she really needed him she'd ask. That being said, he was content to just... be there for her. Ever since she had been accosted in the hallway earlier, he couldn't help but be particularly worried. She had said what had happened, and still he wasn't quite sure that she had spilled the whole story.
"Tsunade..." Shikamaru greeted with a slight nod of his head, being particularly informal in a way that had the poor lady ticked off to begin with. This time, Shikamaru stood outside of the examination room, not wishing to be in the way. Though, when Asuna vouched for him, Shikamaru's quiet, contemplative gaze turned to her, his lips pursing slightly before nodding. "Yeah I guess," he answered Shizune, turning his head away from the woman as a light pink blush flashed across his cheeks. "We can't split up anyway. Not with that creep wandering about. He already accosted her once, like hell I'm gonna let it happen again."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed significantly upon hearing this information, turning back to exam Asuna further than just the chakra drainage, but the results were the same regardless. When she was moved to the bed and Ton-Ton was placed in her lap, Shikamaru followed with a smirk, his arms crossed over his chest as he grinned, only to get clocked by the blonde woman upside the head. Wincing and groaning, he glared at her with the same amount of intensity that she had. "And you! Stop slacking off. You're smart, use that brain for once." Shikamaru bit back a smart retort, choosing this battle wisely. After all, Tsunade's ungodly strength was something he'd rather not be on the receiving end of. "Take care of your teammates, mou..." she grumbled, leaving them be, and Shikamaru sighed, sitting down in the chair beside the bed Asuna currently laid in.
The silence was heavy, and awkward, if not for the shuffling and the quiet oinking of Ton-Ton, Shikamaru might have felt the need to dip. That being said... he didn't mind being here rather than in Mizuki-sensei's class. That was for certain. "So, uh..." Shikamaru mumbled, refusing to look at Asuna. "You should probably listen to what the old hag has to say. Just... y'know... taking care of yourself." His gaze finally slid back over to her as he sighed. "And if you need tutoring or anything in any of the classes, don't just... struggle on your own. You can ask me for help." He blushed lightly, looking away again. "So rely on your teammates more, got it?" Or was he trying to tell her to just rely on the Nara boy more in general? Even he couldn't exactly figure out his intentions.

----------------------

It took everything within her and then some in order to keep her cool, and Hanaru could feel her sanity slipping slowly and she didn't want to snap. Not now. Not in front of him. She'd be dead--it would seal her fate, all of her will to live would be stolen from her whether she wanted to die or not. "Y-You can't, you don't have that kind of authority," she mumbled, turning her head away from him as he played with her tail, her whole body rigid in distaste as he made fun of her and teased her about her person... her upbringing, and her decisions. Her actions haunted her, no matter what she did. When he started tugging at her ears and gently rubbing them, her face burned in a humiliated shade of embarrassment, and the female hissed lightly as she felt blood drip from her hands from her own nails puncturing her.
The emptiness in the room was deafening, and her ears fell flat against her head, her frame becoming small as he laughed at her loneliness. At just how utterly alone she was. And would always be, it seemed. "Stop... please..." rather than aggressive, her voice cracked, as she deflated. "No more..."
Her gaze vaguely followed his finger as he poked her nose. She hated how physical he felt the need to be, but she couldn't do anything to stop him from doing so. After all, what was she supposed to do? Bite his finger off? The thought was tempting, but at this moment in time, she just wanted to curl into a ball and disappear. The gymnasium was empty, and so was her list of people she could turn to, it seemed. Her heart was heavy as he spoke. Was he still speaking? She almost couldn't hear him anymore. Hanaru turned and looked to him blankly, having no more tears she could cry anymore. She felt heavy, like her body was made of lead. "Their lives should be happy..." she finally murmured. "They deserve an untroubled existence. They've done nothing to warrant the same isolation that I have." It almost sounded like she was agreeing with him, and in some ways, she was. "I don't care if I'm left behind... I don't care if I'm forgotten.... the legacy I leave behind is one I wish to bleach. Why the hell else am I spending my time here...?!" her voice cracked again, but instead of continuing on her self-pity rant, an explosion sounded in front of them.
"S... Sasuke...?" Hanaru sucked in a breath, her expression troubled as she looked to the male. His Sharingan was activated and he looked pissed. Yes, they were rivals, pushing each other to reach stronger heights, but why... why did he always seem to show up when she needed him? Why was he always the one she somehow spilled her secrets to? Why did her heart beat faster at his appearance? These were all things she couldn't answer. "Leave him alone," Hanaru growled, some of that spark and fiery attitude returning back to her person at the sight of Aku's taunting shifting onto the Uchiha prodigy. "He has nothing to do with this," Hanaru growled, walking over. Her tail flicked angrily behind her back as she made to stand between Sasuke and the man, glaring up at him. Her gaze turned back towards Sasuke briefly, and her amber eyes softened slightly--it was such a minute change that he might have missed it, but her eyes said 'thank you' so much better and more often than her lips did.
"So, what's your goal here...?" Hanaru growled, turning back to the male. "To kill me? Do you just want me gone? Because you can do whatever you want with me, I don't care, but you can't touch the Sandaime's hard work, or any of these students...!" Where did all this confidence come from? Her lip lifted in a snarl as she unclenched her hands, blood dripping from her fingernails lightly. She had friends. Maybe their relationships were estranged and weird. Hanaru wasn't exactly the easiest person to get to know, and she was aware of this. "Harass me. Tug on my tail, my hears. Call me useless. Tell me the truths that I'm already painfully aware of, but do not harass anyone else."
 
"Oh look at you, my dear! Bristling like a wild beast," Aku looked very pleased as something sparked Hanaru back to life and his gaze found the raven haired boy again, "Is this why you're so angry? You don't like me playing with your toys?" he released the boy, but didn't dare turn his back on him. Sasuke growled, squaring his shoulders, his father would have his hide if he did anything to the politician but hopefully he would understand, because Sasuke wasn't going to let him get away with what he's done. "Why don't you shut up and crawl back into your hole?" he spat, moving out from behind Hanaru. His neck hurt from trying for fight back against the pressure that was being placed on his head, if he hadn't been training his whole life it would have probably hurt more as it felt like the man was trying to push his spine into his head. He kept his eyes on the suited man as he took a few steps back, if he didn't know better he'd think Mitomori was trying to retreat, but the man didn't look phased at all as he stood tall, smiling menacingly at them.
"Because my work isn't done, my little police boy~"
"SHUT UP! Don't call me that!" Sasuke was ready to charge at him and take him to the floor, Aku might have been a tall man but he was lanky and the Uchiha was positive he could easily fold the man in two. Aku chuckled to himself as he pushed his glasses up, enjoying how his words stirred something in the lad.
"Gone, well, not entirely, you still have quite the part to play in my little pantomime. Unfortunately you haven't rehearsed your lines very well."
Sasuke couldn't understand the man or what he wanted, he flitted between trying to be funny and theatrical to letting out his twisted sadistic mannerism as he was now pacing up in small circles. "I might want your beastly halfbreed girlfriend dead, but do I look like the kind of man that would sully his own hands with something so...dirty?" Aku had his arms open, inviting them to try something, "And I don't mean blood. You might be happy with, 'getting down and dirty' as you kids say, with that thing that's barely human, but one day you'll see the error of your way."

Sasuke was raised to respect this man, to fear him because of the political power he had. The teachers were always firm and strict about being polite and to think before they spoke and acted in his presence, to have that school pride and put their best foot forward, but today...he would throw that all away. He had had enough, Hanaru was his teammate, his rival, and he wasn't going to sit by while this smartly dressed pansy tried to break her down. His body moved, closing the gap with alarming speed as his fist came up. He thought himself very proficient when it came to using the Eye of Insight, granted, his Eye of Hypnotism still needed work, but for now it was enough.
The Uchiha's eyes grew wide in surprise as his fist made contact with the man's nose, he was aiming for his jaw as he could see the man's muscles tense and ready to dodge away, but no...he moved himself right into the attack. Was he really nothing more than a madman?!
"Congratulations, little police boy, seems like you do have a pair. I didn't think you'd have it in you," Aku said wiping his bloody nose. It might not have been Hanaru that attacked him like he wanted, but this would do nicely. "Now, I believe since you hit first, I can call this self defence..."
"Wha-" Sasuke was forced to swallow his words as the man drove his fist right into the boy's stomach. Nothing about Aku would even suggest that the man had any form of physical power, he was tall and lanky and from the chakra Sasuke's Sharingan could see, he had no more chakra than a normal civilian had. His blow, however, had enough bite to lift the Uchiha off of his feet.

"Now, why don't you learn to mind your own damn business, hm?" Aku asked as Sasuke was forced down to his knees, coughing and gasping as his body forcefully ejected the contents of his stomach. His eyes snapped up to Hanaru, "Are you just going to stand there? Or shall I just-?" he didn't finish his sentence as he placed a pristine shoe on Sasuke's head.
"MITOMORI! What do you think you're doing to my students?"
Aku's smirk fell from his face completely as the silver haired scarecrow and several jonin entered through the door. Tch, what was with these persistent dogs? No one was supposed to have come to the girl's rescue! Someone was going to lose something once he was finished here, he was promised that no jonin would be around. His informant had done so much information gathering, that fool was going to see a very ugly side of him. "Kakashi, what a surprise. This was self defence you know," he said smiling forcefully at the man.
"Save your story for when Lord Sarutobi," one of the jonin growled as they surrounded the trio. Kakashi had moved to pull Sasuke up to his feet and gather up his students. Damnit, he should have gotten here sooner!

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Asuna sat staring at the pig in her lap, on one hand she wanted to yeet the animal off the bed but on the other hand a pig in pearls was actually cute and as she had an owner that took good care of her, she wouldn't have to worry about getting attached and having to take responsibility for her. Cautiously she reached out and gently touched Ton-Ton's head, almost as if she expected the pig to bite her arm off, but Ton-Ton didn't pay much attention as the girl pet her. "I guess...I could use a little tutoring," she said, but she didn't look at Shikamaru. She wasn't dumb, but she was barely passing her classes on her late night cramming sessions. There were entire sections of the coursework that was gibberish and even her father raised his hands up in surrender when she asked him what it meant. "But you're not the first to offer," she turned to look at Shikamaru, "It's just...time...y'know. I can take extra classes too but...time, there just isn't enough," if she didn't have to sleep again ever in her life then yes, she'd have all the time. She was fully invested in petting and scratching TonTon by now, being a lot more open with her affection than with the stray cat.
Laying back, she stared at the ceiling, listening to the clock in the other room. She tried to close her eyes, but like a genjutsu attacking the olfactory system, that other worldly feeling of dread washed over her and the tick...tick...tick turned once more to a beep...beep...beep. "I can't sleep here," she sighed sitting up again, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on them as her hand reached blindly beside her for his, but that only seemed to make it worse. "I can't even touch you without it feeling like her," she pulled her hand away as if his touch burned, burying it in her mess of a mane.

"I've been in the hospital with her so much, I can't stand the smell of this," she motioned vaguely to the room. It wasn't his business and it wasn't really something she wanted to share, but she was tired enough to not really care. "I'm not being stubborn about it, I just really can't sleep here," turning her head to look at him, "I've...fallen asleep watching my mother...holding her hand. When I close my eyes I can hear the vitals monitor." Closing her eyes she beeped in rhythm with the clock in the other room, "She relapsed. I don't know how, but she pulled the wires off and it flatlined," she looked at him silently, she wasn't sure what she wanted him to do about it, it wasn't like there was anything he could do to begin with. "I punched the doctor in the face," her brows furrowed but her lips tugged up into a smile as she chuckled dryly, "Do you think Tsunade would throw me out if I punched her in the face?" Not even in her wildest dreams would she do that, but she was trying to funny and failing. "Would you...believe me if I told you...I'm scared?" her fingers were playing lazily with his, trying to keep herself from nodding off as her body became more heavy.
It was pathetic, for so many years she held herself high, staying strong and forging her own way with blood and sweat. She wasn't really strong, but she was plenty strong enough for her own sake to get through each day without wavering. So why now, why did it all have to come down now? It didn't feel like a single day had passed since she was Crybaby Asu-chan, even after she was sure she'd grown out of it. For some reason, the boy beside her made her soft and feel like she had when they were little, like she couldn't be brave and strong and capable like the other kids, that she needed him there over her shoulder to not feel scared.
"Shika, don't leave me behind, ok?"

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"Are you sure, Shizune?" Tsunade sat back in her chair, arms crossed on the table.
"I'm positive, the files were there this morning, but after he rifled through here they're just gone."
They kept their voices down, but Tsunade was ready to burst out and scream in frustration, "It's no coincidence, but what could he possibly want with those files? Do you know who's files he took?"
"I'm going to run through a list of our all of the students to find out who's is gone, but off the top of my head there's several juniors' files missing, maybe four or five, we have some seniors-"
"Did he take Naruto's file?" The older women brought her folded hands up to her chin, "What about Hanaru? Did he find her's?" She was pretty sure they had done a good job of hiding her file in particular, but she was worried. "No, they're files are still here, I looked for them first, but...Sasuke Uchiha's file is missing."
This was all very strange, she'd understand if he took Naruto or Hanaru's files, but he didn't, "Why would he want the Uchiha's file but not Naruto?" it just didn't add up. "Shizune, I want a full list of every student who's file is missing and I want it before the day is over! That man is up to something, we need to let Hiruzen know as soon as possible!"
 
She snarled wildly at the male as he moved against Sasuke rather than Hanaru, though the female gasped when Mitomori continued to soil her name. "You ass..!" There was honestly nothing else that she could say against him, but the least she could do was call him names back. 'Getting down and dirty'...? Was he honestly suggestion what she thought he was suggesting? She didn't know whether to blush, cuss him out, or vomit. All were viable options as she glared at him. "Sasuke!" she cried out, wanting to warn the male--he couldn't attack him, no matter what he said! That's what he wanted. The silence was deafening as he challenged Sasuke, only for the events to happen in the blink of an eye. Sasuke punched Aku Mitomori, and the male responded with a devastating stomach punch that had her wincing as Sasuke vomited on the floor. "You'll pay..!" Hanaru saw red. She rushed forward with a growl, the blood on her hands dripping to the floor, and melting it like acid. Thankfully, before she could reach him, Kakashi's voice halted her in her tracks, and she shook her head, snapping herself out of the state she was in.
Ignoring Aku, she slipped over to Sasuke, worry actually filling her gaze as she pulled his arm up and over her shoulder without question, helping support him. He hadn't been ready for the punch, and that shit hurt no matter who you were, if you weren't prepared for such a thing. Even if you were prepared, despite being a seemingly frail and weak human, Mitomori hid a lot of strength. At least enough to do some form of damage. "Self defense my ass! Cornering students. Harassing them...!" She didn't mention everything that he had done to her. Pulling her tail, her ears--her poor ears were sore from his rough handling--all of the garbage he spouted. That was unimportant. "He taunted Sasuke just to get him to hit him. Scum...!"
"Take him to Lord Hiruzen," Kakashi's singular eye narrowed, his expression (or at least, what they could see of it) hard and concentrated. The Jonin nodded, escorting the official out of the gym, though Hanaru could feel his glare and his smirk follow her even as he was lead out the door. "look at all these people who came because they care...oh dear, I guess it's just me." His words echoed around in her head. If Sasuke wasn't there... would any of them have cared? Certainly not the jonin escorting Mitomori out, but maybe Kakashi...? Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at the male, Kakashi's gaze leaving the closed doors as he turned to offer them a grin portrayed only in his happy, close-eyed gaze. "Well, I suppose you two have had an eventful day."
"This is exactly the reason..." Hanaru spat out, her gaze darkening. "Exactly why I didn't want you here, or why I didn't want to tell you who I was." Kakashi's gaze snapped between the two, clearly understanding by her words what had really transpired in the art room earlier when they had left the group. He said nothing and let Hanaru speak. "Just by knowing... and knowing me... you're in danger. I can't look after all of your weak asses." This hurt. What she was saying was hurting her in the process. It hurt so bad, almost as if Mitomori had punched her in the gut. She silently passed Sasuke off to Kakashi-sensei, turning and facing away from them. "With Mitomori gone, I'm going home." She began to walk out of the gym, her hands, covered in blood that was no longer burning, came up to her ears, to try to rub them soothingly, but she only winced in pain that left her growling. "You heard what he said--you were listening in for a little bit, right?" Her whole posture deflated slightly, her shoulders sinking. "I'm a murderer. I killed my own mother. A true bakemono. You'd better leave me alone if you know what's good for you. I don't need you, and you're in. My. Way." And with a flick of her tail and another wince, she was gone.
Kakashi let the silence in the gym linger for a moment. Surely Sasuke had a lot of things going on through his mind. Letting out a sigh, the scarecrow looked down at Sasuke. "Do you need to see Tsunade-sama?" it was a harmless question. "She could probably give you some salve for the pain at least." He offered the dark haired male a grin. "Females have such a unique... weird way of showing their concern most of the time." Knowing that Sasuke probably didn't need a lecture at the moment didn't deter the male from speaking. "Do you know about half demons, Sasuke? There used to be more back when the spirit world and our world coexisted, though they were still looked down upon. It is said that when beaten to near death, a half demon's demonic chakra takes over, and in an act of self-preservation lashes out at anyone close. In short, they lose control over their bodies. Whatever cruelties made in that state... well, I can't say I can put the blame on that half demon, ne?" Kakashi hadn't been sure what to think about Hanaru when she first came to the academy. She was rude, arrogant, and aggressive. Someone he wouldn't have hesitated to kill if the Sandaime had sanctioned it. But instead he was asked to observe--to nurture... and what he observed was a child who was frightened and truly, utterly alone in the world. He felt that pain--the pain of loneliness. Of somehow feeling responsible for the death of the person who was your sole reason to live. "Hanaru is trying so hard to shy away from the light because she doesn't think she deserves it," Kakashi opened his eye questioningly as he looked to his student. "You're around her the most out of anyone. Do you think she deserves redemption, Sasuke?" He smiled again. "It's not an easy question. You don't have to answer me now. Just food for thought, I suppose."

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Shikamaru nodded in silent understanding. "If you need help, you've got it," he stated quietly, as if it was something that she should have just, known. His gaze on her was one of mild annoyance, but not for the way she was acting. Shikamaru was more-so annoyed at the fact that Asuna might have thought, in some form or another, that he thought she was dumb. He understood where her priorities had been placed. He might not have known before they were on a team together, but once they were and her constant disappearances to run her family's shop became more apparent, he knew. "Don't stress about it. We can practice during your shifts at the shop. I'll even help clean if it means you'll focus on your school work," Shikamaru sighed, turning his head to watch Ton-Ton as the pig snuffled through Asuna's shirt, as if looking for food. "You're far from dumb. Just... preoccupied." He knew. He understood.
The matter of hospitals, however, was something they didn't share in common, though she didn't need to say much for him to understand the conversation. 'Trauma'... that's what it was. She would probably suffer with hospital visits for the rest of her life. Shikamaru kissed his teeth as she sat up and distractedly pulled her hand away from reaching out to his. "Makes sense. Antiseptic doesn't exactly smell the greatest," he tried to joke, but it fell flat, not even being able to muster a smile for her. The topic of Mrs. Takanashi was so heavy that Shikamaru didn't quite know what to say. He'd had grandparents in hospitals, as well as clan members, but it always felt so... distant. Like going was a formality being from the son of the head of the main branch. But with Asuna's situation, it was her mom. He couldn't even begin how that made her feel. When was the last time she'd seen her mom smile? Or she'd been told that she was loved? That thought alone was enough to tightly grip his heart in a fist and squeeze, so he couldn't even imagine what Asuna had to have been feeling this whole time.
Shikamaru might not have liked his parents very much right now, but he knew they loved him. He'd do anything to keep both of them out of the hospital. "Tsunade's face would break your hand, that lady's tough as nails and as old as Jiraiya," Shikamaru pointed out blankly, his advice clear in his words. Tsunade, regardless of how annoying the old bat was, was not to be trifled with. Her joke fell flat too, but he didn't care, too distracted by the feeling of her surprisingly soft fingers playing with his own lazily, absentmindedly. His gaze softened. "Yeah..." he murmured quietly. "You have every right to be, too. Being scared is... very human." It was the only response he could think of. "To keep living like a robot. To push everything down and away until you became numb to everything... it's impossible. And even if it were possible, then that must be a depraved and... sad existence." He paused, before he grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze at her plea. His dark gaze turned to her, his brow furrowed slightly in his seriousness. "I won't leave you behind." His expression, so as to not worry her too much, broke out into his signature lazy smirk. "Besides, I quite like my slacker-buddy Asu-chan," the name the school used to refer to them. The "slacker duo." It didn't really bother him too much. Words were words, and they only hurt if you gave them that meaning. "Means we're partners in crime, so I think you're stuck with me."
"Really? That bastard... I don't like this at all, what's he planning?" Tsunade's voice could be heard as a visiting jonin stopped in to relay to her what happened. "Are they alright, at least? Damned demon brat is more trouble than she's worth. I hope Hiruzen knows what he's doing."
"What do you suppose that's all about...?" Shikamaru glanced at Asuna out of the corner of his eye, his face turned towards the doorway to the other room where Tsunade and Shizune's offices were. What they were saying didn't quite make sense. Shikamaru felt like he had the pieces, just not in the right order. Or maybe he did. He needed confirmation.

-----------------

Hanaru's stomach churned as she briskly walked back towards the front gates of the school, her heart was pounding though it felt heavy. She was... tired. Mentally and physically exhausted. She made her way outside with little resistance, stopping by the gate to breathe. She was hyperventilating. Was this what a panic attack was? She had no idea. Wheezing, she clutched her chest with a hiss. Why...? Why did it hurt so badly?!
 
Asuna could feel her heart clench, all those little bottles she stuffed her emotions into rattling and threatening to spill over. The only thing that made her so averse to asking for help, was knowing that the other person would end up having to go out of their way for her sake. It made her feel selfish. There wasn't anything wrong with being a little selfish once in a while, many custard cups had disappeared in the storage room because she wasn't in the sharing mood. This was different though, everyone had their own issues and problems, their own lives and things that needed their time and attention and by asking for their help, she was ultimately asking them to give up their time to bend to hers because she couldn't balance out her own life. A part of her wondered why he was so willing to throw away his own precious time. No one did anything without expecting something in return, it might have been a cynical way of thinking but that's the way life worked. Shikamaru sounded too sincere and she couldn't think of anything worth gaining from it. Maybe there was something a little more to the shattered pieces of the past that they were trying to put together, after just a few hours they were breaking and entering like two delinquents and acting like the past several years of separation hadn't happened. Her head was already pounding so she didn't want to think about it too deeply, much rather preferring the latter option for now until her gut said her otherwise. "Thanks," she mustered up a smile, "It means...a lot." Opening up was hard and somewhere between her brain and mouth her words got lost and replaced by one's that didn't have the same impact as they should have. It didn't mean a lot, it meant the world. Asuna knew she wasn't the easiest person to be around, she'd been actively shutting down relationships and shutting people out and while most took the hint and left her alone, there were a few that probably deserved medals for patience and persistence who were sticking it out.

Though her apathetic face was riddled with tiredness, her eyes were filled with a deep adoration for the dark haired boy, even if he was technically considered a young man by now, to her he was still the same little boy. He wasn't afraid of having an unpopular opinion or going against the grain, so to speak. While they all disliked Naruto because their parents told them to, Shikamaru had included him in their little playgroup until everyone forgot why they disliked him in the first place. When she didn't want to play princesses with the girls and the boys weren't too keen on letting her play pirates with them, he was the one who wandered off and joined in her weird game that she was playing alone. Choji was probably one of the most teased kids back in the day because he was on the heavier side of chubby, Shikamaru was the only one who didn't pick on him and look where they were now, friends so close you needed a wedge to separate them. For a brief moment, Asuna wondered how things would have been if things had been different. It was only later in life that she accepted that other people's opinions didn't matter, the teasing was nothing more than words, what if she'd realized that sooner, where would they have been now? There wasn't really a point in worrying about something that couldn't be changed, what was done was done, it was the past and there was no going back. All she could do now was to move forward.

A jonin came rushing in, much like Tsunade and Shizune, he had kept his voice low, but whatever he had to say probably wasn't good. Silence fell over the duo as a loud bang echoed through the infirmary, most likely Tsunade hitting something out of frustration. They listened, the medic's voice carried through the closed door. Asuna's mouth felt dry. It felt like her neck was on fire where Mitomori's fingers had been. Sitting up straight, legs crossed, she glanced in the direction of Tsunade's office. If she hadn't said anything this wouldn't have happened or it would have, she still felt somehow responsible. Withholding information wasn't the same as lying, right?
"Mitomori-san, there's something not right with him," she said quietly, looking suspiciously at the pig as if she was going to tell on her. There was no point in trying to make up if Shikamaru was the only one actually putting in any effort. In two days it felt like he'd done more than anything she'd done for anyone else in years. The least she could do was to not rebuild their shaky relationship on secrets. Turning away from Ton-Ton, she moved to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning close to him, "It wasn't my first interview, but there was something seriously wrong with him. More so than usual. He wasn't just asking about Naruto and that Hanaru girl," a part of Asuna was screaming at her to stop, it wasn't his business to know and she'd already talked to Asuma, so there was no reason to bring any of it up again.

"He, uh, asked a lot of questions, weird questions, about the school. Why they let students fail, if the system is just so flawed they were willing to abandon those who struggled. The competency of the teachers, I-" her hand came up and rested on her shoulder, her eyes focused on anything but the boy as she fought with herself, "The way he put it, it sounded like the there was some sort of bias, like the teachers were purposefully allowing failing students to go drop off the radar. He threw out other names, I didn't know any of them." She was biting at her lip, "I... might have thrown Sasuke under the bus? I didn't know what to say about Hanaru. I might have held a little grudge, but I-... I'm the one who told him to check the medical records..." it was something she thought she could sweep under the rug and never have to face again. It's not even something she told Asuma. "He only switched his focus away from Hanaru after that, he made her sound like the devil incarnate. He was manic, cussing out Lord Sarutobi for his traitorous acts or some shit like that," then again, she was being choked at this point so it was possible that she might have hallucinated half of what she thought she remembered. "He sounded so desperate for answers, he wouldn't even let me finish talking, putting words in my mouth. I think he's looking for something..."

SLAM
The loud noise made her jump as Tsunade emerged from her office with the jonin in toll. Shizune had a clipboard to her chest as the older woman left hastily, "What are you doing? Didn't you hear Lady Tsunade? You should be resting!" she called out looking pointedly at the slacker duo. Asuna chewed on her lip as she silently stared the assistent down, before pulling her legs back onto the bed, watching as Shizune turned to busy herself with the filing cabinet.


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"Cornering you? My dear, look at this spacious open room!" Mitomori waved with one hand as the other fished a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing his nose, smirking behind the fabric as Kakashi ordered for his removal. He didn't exactly get what he wanted but if he played his cards just right, it would end up being just as good. "Honestly, these students of yours have no manners," he said quite cheerily despite being hit in the face. The jonin ignored him, everything they said could be used against them. Passing several classes who were all in full session, they made their way down the long maze of hallways until they reached a heavyset pair of doors with intricate designs carved in the deep brown wood. One of the jonin moved to knock at the door, opening it for the official as a "Enter" sounded from the other side. The elderly man, better known as Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat behind a large desk. "Mitomori-san," he said curtly, but his eyes were piercing as he watched the man enter the room in long elegant strides. "In the flesh, Sarutobi-sama," Aku removed his long tailed jacket, hanging it over the back of the chair in front of the headmaster's desk, "And how are you on this fine afternoon? You still haven't choked on that pipe I see." Hiruzen's gaze hardened, "You say that like you weren't in here just a few hours ago, Mitomori-san. I hear you've been busy."
The two men locked eyes, Aku's smirk never faltering, "What can I say, you've really let things go since my last visit. Perhaps I should have more surprise visits, maybe I'll even catch you with your pants down next time, hm?"

Disrespectful. If there was ever a word Sarutobi would describe this man before him as, that would be it. He pranced around and demanded respect, but couldn't even show it to those around him. "I cannot deny you inspections, but with your conduct today? I won't let this slide, Mitomori-san, your superiors will hear of it," Hiruzen knew the man was going to be out to cause trouble out of spite, but he didn't think the man would actually go so far as to assault students on the school grounds and have the audacity to sit there and pretend like nothing happened.
"Ah, ah, ah, Hiruzen, where is your proof, hm?" Aku smirked as he tapped his file on the table, flipping it open and peering over his glasses, "I believe I have a very solid case against you and the incompetence of your teachers, your flawed system. Wouldn't the city just be rattled to the bone when they hear of the violent behaviour that is encouraged by your system?"

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​
The pain in Sasuke's abdomen was making it hard to breathe, he wasn't ready, he didn't expect the man to duck right into his punch like that and retaliate to boot. There was something off about his punch though, it wasn't like any untrained civilian, no, it was like something he'd expect from Hanaru or Kakashi, someone who was trained and knew what they were doing. What he had done was idiotic though, he knew it, there would be severe consequences to what he had done. It was all that stupid weird feeling that had been plaguing him for the past whiles fault, that's the only reason he could think of going against his very nature. Aku had just made him so angry, all that shit he was talking, that look on Hanaru's face...like during detention. He swore he wouldn't let anyone make her cry again, but he failed, when it really mattered he couldn't move his body. He leaned against her as she helped him up, his heart pounding faster and faster in his chest, damn this stupid feeling, Flu, virus- whatever it was!
"I'm not weak, you're the weak one!" he hissed, one hand clenched his stomach. The pain was nothing though compared to the sting in Hanaru's words. "You're the one who can't stand up for yourself, so someone had to!" He hadn't lost any of the fight inside him, but knowing that his rival of all people thought he was weak...that was a low blow. How dare she, though? He was the top student in the school before her, he was the strongest! Every ounce of free time went into training so he could keep that number one position, "You're just going to run away? Is that all you can do?!" his anger and hurt made him lash out at her, even if he didn't mean what he was saying, it was redirected at the purplette who was retreating out of the gym.

She didn't turn to fight him back and for some reason that filled him with an odd mixture of emotion that he hadn't felt before. He pulled away from Kakashi, shakily standing on his own two feet, 'I'm not weak, damnit!' he thought to himself, "No! I don't need to see Tsunade, I'm fine!" Kakashi raised his hands slightly at Sasuke's hostility. The boy wasn't looking at him as he spoke, but the tensing of his shoulders and the slight tilting of his head meant that he had the boy's attention and despite his stubbornness, he was actually listening to the older man.
Sasuke listened intently, he didn't know much about demons besides for the tailed beasts like the one inside Naruto, but even then his knowledge was limited. It wasn't like there was a demonology class that taught them any of it, the closest they got was modern history and even that only touched on the subject of the ninetailed fox. Kakashi's question was a complicated one, leave it to the silver haired jonin to laden him with a topic as heavy as redemption after giving them the run around for the whole night.
"Whatever. You can't expect forgiveness if you're not willing to forgive yourself," Sasuke grumbled as he walked away, every step making pain explode in his abdomen. He'd endure. He'd endure. The pain was nothing! He wasn't some weak little sop who was going to curl up and cry in a corner! 'Damnit, Hanaru' he thought, 'Damnit, Hanaru!' his thought was stuck on repeat, his free hand clenched into a fist, "I DON'T NEED YOU TO SAVE ME, DAMNIT!" he finally screamed out in frustration.

Kakashi watched as the boy slowly made his way out of the room, he'd offer his assistance, but he knew better. Sasuke had a lot of pride in himself so accepting help was normally a feat on it's own, but now with a wounded pride it would be almost impossible. He'd only ever witness Naruto being able to help the boy when he was like this, granted, Naruto would also manhandle him until he finally gave up, only to come back later to give the blond a piece of his mind. His words were surprising, honestly Kakashi didn't think Sasuke had something like that up his sleeve. 'It's not as easy as you think, Sasuke,' he thought to himself, knowing that seeking forgiveness from others was easier than forgiving oneself, especially when hurting a loved one was involved...
 
She might not have thought that her thanks was very well worded. Asuna's words had always been... well, simple. Not that it meant that she wasn't well spoken--but eloquence didn't give the same amount of... emotion... into everything. As far as the young Nara was concerned, that smile and that thank you was all he was ever going to need. It was the simple, undeniable truth that somewhere along the line, even when they weren't talking because of stupid societal boundaries that were invisible and yet so decisive, that he had began to fall for the ash-blonde haired girl. Before he knew it he was caught, like a mouse in a trap, and yet... he really didn't mind it all that much. The only times he hated these feelings that welled up in his chest were when a) Kiba was teasing him about it (Shikamaru could handle Ino more than him) and b) when he was trying to be sincere to Asuna and it felt like his stomach needed immediate emptying. Other than that, it was kind of liberating, to know that he had some semblance of feelings toward the girl. At least that seemed to explain why their separation had only seemed to make him more moody. Choji noticed it--of course he did, they were best friends, but when they were by themselves earlier he had mentioned how much... happier Shikamaru seemed. In general. It had taken someone else to have noticed it first, but honestly Choji was right. He was happier. "Don't mention it," he blushed lightly, sticking out his bottom lip in a slight pout as he scratched his cheek and turned his head.
Oh, and moments like these, where he felt like a complete dork. That wasn't the greatest, but he was hoping he'd get over it soon. It was so funny though--there were plenty of cute kunoichi--hell, he even lived in a district that had plenty of cute civilian girls but they just didn't seem to twist his chest the same way Asuna did. The way she always seemed to do, the more he thought about it. Sure, when they were little he'd tease her for being a crybaby, but she could boss him around pretty good--there was something about her face that he found he just couldn't say no to. Now, when they were kids he had less of a backbone and now he wasn't about to let her get away with anything too drastic, but a lot of their "schemes" were a lot more innocent as children. Frog hunting was a favorite.
Shikamaru's attention was pulled by the mutterings of Tsunade, Shizune, and the jonin that had come in to report. When Asuna sat up, he turned to berate her for pushing Tsunade's patience if she were to see her, but the words died on his lips as Asuna began to speak more of Mitomori. The more Shikamaru heard, the stronger the desire to punch the man grew. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, and he leaned back in his chair. His arms went to cross over his chest and he pondered her words silently. "I mean... you didn't exactly do anything wrong. He's a government official, so technically he should have the school's best interest at heart." That was a lie and they both know it, and after a couple more seconds of thought, Shikamaru's dark gaze returned to Asuna's face with a contemplative him. "Honestly that asshole deserves a good run-over every once and a while, considering how he looks down on everyone." He shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned, you got him off of your back before he could do anything worse than bruise your neck, which still pisses me off." His eyes narrowed as his gaze seemed to go, if it could, beyond the walls of the infirmary, seeking out his chakra trace like a Hyuuga. "I don't know what he's after cause I'm missing some important pieces, but it sounds to me like he's digging up dirt to use against that Hanaru-chick and the old man. There's just some connection I'm missing." It wasn't often that he was stumped, and he hated the feeling, but the honest answer was that Shikamaru clearly did not have all of the pieces to this puzzle. Some had been tossed on the floor, or seemingly thrown out the window just out of spite.
The loud noise also startled Shikamaru out of his musings and his far off look, jumping lightly as he turned to look at Shizune who more or less reinforced Tsunade's "caring" advice. Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle lightly as Asuna glared at the dark haired woman before finally laying down, Ton-Ton snuffling happily on her stomach before doing some turns and sitting down, looking ready for a nap. "Listen, I know you can't sleep here, but do try and actually rest," Shikamaru grinned down at her, subconsciously wishing to change the subject on her so she would stop thinking everything was her fault. It clearly wasn't, she just needed a little help seeing that. "Just doing nothing is giving your body enough time to recuperate and settle down. I'm no medical nin but that's gotta be helpful for your body." Leaning back, he promised himself he wouldn't fall asleep on her--not here, anyway. "Once Tsunade says you're alright enough to leave I'll walk you home."

---------------

Panicking? Yes. Breathing? Barely. She felt sore. Far more sore than she should be for some dumb government official tugging on her demonic features. "This... is the worst...!" she grumbled, clutching her chest. Why did leaving on such an awful note hurt so badly? It had never really bothered her before--then she would just spout the meanest shit she could think of just to get away. Now...? It hurt her just as much as the intent of the insult. And with Sasuke too. Clearly there was something wrong with her. She wasn't about to try and figure it out, however. It was just another dumb emotion that she would take and chuck as far into the back of her mind as it would allow. Sasuke's words, however, stung. "You're just going to run away? Is that all you can do?!" But he didn't understand! He couldn't understand! The thought nearly ripped a growl from her throat in response. How could a spoiled brat like him know what it was like to be constantly on the run? To be hunted like an animal? To be called a monster until you've simply had to accept that it's true?
"Are you going to class, or not?" a calm voice started her out of her internal debate, pausing in cussing out Sasuke in her head to turn with wide eyes towards a woman in her mid-to-late 20s, and she looked like she could be a Hyuuga, though... the way that her eyes failed to track Hanaru's movement told the half demon that she was blind. "Just because I can't see you doesn't mean that I can't feel you moving around. Isn't it kind of dangerous for someone in your position to be skipping class?"
"What do you care?" she bristled defensively, her walls sliding back into place, slowly but surely. "Leave me alone."
"Okay," and she began to walk off. Hanaru blinked in shock. A jonin that actually listened to her? What was going on...? The woman was quick to disappear, and the purplette couldn't help but wonder who that was.

---------------

When Sasuke returned to the class, Sakura (of course) was the first to notice. "Hey, Sasuke! Mizuki-sensei stepped out for a bit so we've got some time to review materials. Come and sit with me!"
"No, he's clearly going to sit with me, Billboard-Brow," Ino growled, glaring at the pink haired female before batting her eyelashes at the Uchiha prodigy. Sakura tugged on her ponytail lightly in retaliation, and pretty soon both were glaring at each other, both at each other's throats as they threw insults back and forth. Poor Choji, who was stuck in between their desks, looked absolutely miserable, melting into his seat under all of their yelling.
"Did you find her?" Naruto appeared next to Sasuke, his boundless energy turning into concern as he failed to spot the purple haired female behind him. "Is she okay? What's going on?" He had so many questions and he turned to look at Sasuke's form, and how he was slightly hunched and quite frankly, didn't look too good. "Crap, don't tell me Mitomori-san got to you too?" He began to fret, looking at all corners of the room and then the door repeatedly. "But if he got to you then that means he could be torturing poor Ha-chan at any moment! We gotta go save her!"
 
Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he looked around, "C'mon! We have to go and get her, you don't know what he's like!" his franticness was starting to seep through. He had always thought of MItomori being a weird old dude, but having been singled out and targeted for so many years he knew exactly just what a weird old dude he could really be. While he never really tried too much, except for pushing at Naruto's buttons, the thing that was probably the weirdest was the man's obsession with being physical with the people he talked to; from lightly placing a hand on his shoulder to gripping at the back of his neck a little forcefully. The red flags, and possibly what made Naruto so afraid now, was sometimes it almost felt affectionate and intimate, but the kind one would bestow upon a pet. Just the thought of him being that way towards Hanaru sent chills down his spine.

Sasuke slapped his hand away, glaring pointedly at the blond, "Don't touch me!" he barked, making Naruto look at him in confusion, "But, Sasuke!"
"Don't bother, he got us," the raven haired boy felt his insides churn as a look of horror crossed his face, but before he could say anything Sasuke spoke up again, "She's going home. Kakashi had him taken to the third."
He pushed past the blond, walking past the bickering duo to the furthest in the back of the room. The pain was eating at him, not the physical pain, but this strange stabbing pain in his chest. Never had Hanaru's words ever had much of an effect on him, aside from riling him up every now and then, but her insults never hurt. Her rejection hurt more than anything he'd ever felt physically. A part of him wanted to run out and find her, tackle her to the ground and fight her, but she had made her feelings clear. He was in her way. The other part of him latched onto what Kakashi had said, it was the better him that tried to reason out her actions. How would he have felt if he had killed his family?

Sakura and Ino visibly deflated as the boy took to the seat in the back corner of the classroom, brooding by himself. He didn't look so good, pale and in pain, growling and snapping at anyone who tried to talk to him. He'd taken to leaning on his arms, his head hanging low as he glared at the desk under him as if it had said something bad about his mother.
"What do you think happened?" Sakura asked looking back at the boy, concern etched into her face, "You don't think Mitomori-san?" she couldn't even finish her sentence, dreading the possibility of what could have happened to have upset the boy so much.
Naruto had taken a seat next to Sakura temporarily as he tried to understand what Sasuke had meant and what that meant for Hanaru. It was eating at his insides, was she hurt? How badly? Why didn't she go to see Tsunade? Did Tsunade send her home? Why wasn't he there when she needed him? Could he have even done something to stop the man? "I think...I'm going to go," he finally decided, he couldn't take not knowing what had happened and Sasuke wasn't going to tell him any time soon. "Naruto, you can't just-" Sakura started but the blond was up and on his way out before she could chastise him.

Sasuke only watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto ran out of the classroom before he snapped his eyes away. He didn't care what the blond did, he could run after Hanaru all he liked, it's not like he cared that they were close. His tongue kissed the back of his teeth, he might have told himself that he didn't care but, there was a quiet voice in the back of his mind echoing that he did care and that the reason it was hurting so much was because of that. He hated the thought, he cursed it, but he also couldn't deny it when he thought about it. Some part of him had come to care for the purple cactus in a way that he never thought possible. There was no lack of attractive girls or strong kunoichi and there was certainly not a shortage of girls who found him attractive, but he had pushed away and repressed any thought of girls in general as it would interfere with his training and somehow he'd actually bonded with one that drove him up the walls. That was the danger though, of caring for someone, they could hurt you like no one else could.

For the rest of the day he kept to himself, mostly brooding and debating with himself, denying that he thought of Hanaru as anything more than just a rival and that she felt the same. Even as he served his detention with that weird guy with the glasses and the bugs, he kept away and to himself, hardly focusing on the task at hand.

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Gloved hands rested leisurely on the black folder on the kage's desk, Aku leering at the old man from over his glasses, "I don't know what you're so upset about. Is it because you thought you could get away with hiding another one of those things?" he asked casually as Hiruzen smoked his pipe. "My study has shown an increase in violence among the students ever since you brought that criminal in."
Hiruzen's eyebrow raised, "Is that so? Are you sure you aren't confusing it with roughhousing? Play fights are a common occurrence as it helps develop and hone in their skills."
There was a loud knock on the heavy set doors that drew their attention before they were thrown open. Tsunade walked in, fuming as she looked at the well clad man, "Explain to me what you were doing in my records?"
Aku's smirk faltered, he did not like the way the woman was addressing him, "Gathering evidence for my study of course. I have the right to look through them, you know."
"But you weren't just looking through them, you practically threw them out on the ground! My assistant has been cleaning up your mess for most of the morning!"
"They were out of order. It was such a headache to look at," Aku rubbed the bridge of his nose as he turned back to Hiruzen, "Honestly, if that's what the assistant calls 'orderly' you should really consider hiring someone that actually knows how the alphabet works."

The chuckle in his throat didn't have a chance to bubble out before Tsunade's fist came down on the chair beside him, splintering the wood almost instantly. Sarutobi tried to hide his amused smile as Aku jolted in his seat, "Tsunade, calm yourself," he said looking over at her in warning, "HIruzen-sensei, after this man has made a mess of the infirmary, not one but several student records have gone missing! Those are confidential documents and I demand them to be returned!" Tsunade leaned over the desk as she spoke, one finger pointing accusingly at Aku who looked shocked. His hands came up to his chest in defence, "My lady, I don't have your documents! What would I do with them anyway? How dare you accuse me of theft!" he said turning his own finger at the woman, "Honestly, just because your little assistant misplaced your files-"
"Don't talk about Shizune like that! She is one of the hardest working assistants I've had to date!"
Aku frowned, lowering his arms as he leaned back in his seat, one leg crossed the other, "You can search me if you want, I'll consent, but I have nothing of yours," he said calmly before his smirk returned, "Maybe you never had those files to begin with, just as a certain student isn't on your records, hm?"

"We were going to have her admitted to the system after having proved that we have her under control," Hizuen said, "I knew the council wouldn't have approved if I couldn't prove that there was some good in Ikama. It's been three months now and there have been no incidents to date." He spoke confidently, though Tsunade's news was rather perplexing. There was no doubt in his mind that there was a high chance that the official did take the files, but if he was so willing for them to search him, that only meant he no longer had them. What he had done with them he wasn't sure, but if they couldn't catch him red handed then he couldn't do much. One thing was clear though, there was a spy in his ranks. Someone was not only leaking information but helping the man. Several reports from several different shinobi had them chasing shadows, leaving Mitomori to slip around in their blind spots.
"That's what you say, but oh how I've learned that what you say and what you do, old man, is not the same thing," Aku rose from his seat, "Things in your school are far worse than I feared. Honestly, I blame myself, I should have stepped in sooner."
Hiruzen frowned deeply, "What are you saying, Mitomori-san?"
"My negligence has gone on for far too long! I'll be coming around as often as I can spare," Aku was being theatrical again, acting as if the school's situation was all because he didn't show face enough, "I'll have to have a word with the council about this, be sure to keep an eye out for my invitation."

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With Ton-Ton curled in her lap, Asuna didn't have much of a choice but to stay put. "You don't have to do that," she said as she felt her cheeks heat up, "but thanks." It would have been nice to have someone other than Ino to talk to on the way home and for some reason she couldn't fight back the goofy, yet tired, smile on her face. 'He's just being a good friend,' she told herself, but that didn't stop the fluttering sensation in her stomach. Silently she tried to fight off sleep, not being able to deny the fact that her life long admiration for the boy had developed into a crush. Whether it was because of proximity, raging teen hormones or whether the feeling was always there but hiding under the surface, she couldn't tell. What she did know was that she hadn't felt so happy in a long time, not that she was ever unhappy, this was just a more constant feeling. She'd shrugged it all off earlier as nothing more than chemical reactions, which she was still sure it was, but she was going to ride the high while it lasted.The sea of unknowing that was reality would come crashing down eventually, but until then, even if it was just for a moment, Asuna would give in and be happy.

TIme felt like it had come to a crawl, maybe because Asuna kept nodding, but once the bell rang she was eagerly eyeing Shizune hoping she'd get let off the hook. The short haired woman on the other hand only glared in warning to stay put. They heard Tsunade before they saw her as she was angrily talking to someone down the hall before she finally entered the infirmary, "Have you finished that report, Shizune?!" she barked, clearly frustrated, making her assistant nod quickly and hand over the papers she had been working on. Shifting awkwardly on the bed, Asuna quietly called out, "Can I leave now?" The scowl from the medic almost made her regret opening her mouth. The older woman approached her and gave her a quick examination, "You'll live, but no more training today. Any more stress on your muscles and you'll end up tearing them, do you understand?" Asuna nodded, a little disappointed, but she understood. Carefully moving the sleeping Ton-Ton off of her lap, she maneuvered herself out of the bed, every fibre of her being screaming for her to stop but of course she wasn't going to listen to her body. She still had detention to serve and she'd rather suffer through it than extend it well into next week.

Reporting in, she found herself working with Sakura, who was already hard at work cleaning up the blackboard. Most of detention breezed by with Asuna grumbling and cussing out whoever was on cleaning duty that morning as they had 'half assed' everything. That bossy side of her reared its head as she and Sakura had a five minute argument because of the pinkette's sub par cleaning skills until she all but threw out Sakura.
"Can't believe she called me uptight,' Asuna muttered more to herself as she and Shikamaru finally left the school grounds in the late afternoon. The clouds had turned darker, rumbling threateningly above. One or two cold droplets had escaped the thundering clouds, but the thunder god was still just lamenting to the world below. A cool draft had picked up, it was neither strong nor very remarkable, but still made the fallen leaves dance across the ground.
Asuna walked close beside Shikamaru, her hand engulfed in his, "I'll be up for the early morning session, show them how it's done," she said blankly staring down the street. Grace alone was keeping her on her feet. She didn't voice it out loud, but she hoped that things would turn out alright after the inspection. There was a knot of dread in her stomach, why, she wasn't sure, but it was there. Things had just been a little too weird with Mitomori that day.
 
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