"Just knock." I scolded myself, my hand shaking as it moved closer to the door. My shoulders ached from my backpack and the two duffle bags slung over opposite shoulders. All my worldly belongings were inside. "She's going to be nice." My roommate-to-be was on the other side of the door. I knew little about her beside name, age, grade, and hometown.

After I had accepted the full scholarship to Konoha Boarding School, the packet had come in the mail a few days later with my room number and the instructions on how to get there. Father was as excited and proud of me as he was willing to express. The full scholarship had a catch; I had to be willing to tutor three students that were called "difficult cases." The scholarship included room and board as well as books, so turning it down would have been ridiculous of me. That doesn't mean I was happy to abandon my high school and all the friends I had there. Father made it very clear that turning this down was not an option.

"Just do it." I muttered to myself. My shoulders burned and I couldn't wait to set my things down and get unpacked. Before I could change my mind and run away to never be found again, I knocked. The lock turned and a very pretty girl with chocolate-brown hair was behind it.

"You must be Hinata!" She beamed at me and pulled me into a hug. "I'm Tenten, it's so nice to meet you!" She pulled the two heavy duffle bags off my shoulders, seeming to take the weight with ease. "Let me help you with those; you look exhausted." She seemed like a whirling dervish of a person. She's the opposite of me. I thought, my stomach twisting anxiously. What if she doesn't like me?

I followed her into the dorm we would be sharing. The packet had described it a bit but I wasn't expecting it to be nearly this nice. The door opened into a spacious living room with more seating than mine back home had. The two couches looked big and squishy. One was tan and the other was black. The coffee table in the center was cherry oak and looked expensive. Across from it, the squishy carpet turned into hardwood floors. The counter extended from the wall with a huge space behind it. There was a sink across from it with enough counter space.

I followed Tenten down the short hall where there were two doors on the left side and one on the right. She turned, opening the door on the right side. "This is your room." She set my bags on the bare bed. A desk, closet, dresser, and bed comprised the room in a deep mahogany. The room felt spacious yet homey. "The bathroom is right across the hall, and my room is next to it. I'll leave you to get settled." She gave me yet another hug before skipping out of my room, gently closing the door behind her.

My desk was pushed up against a large window. I leaned over it and saw that our room overlooked a courtyard with benches as well as plenty of grassy spaces. I opened the window using the crank knob, closing my eyes when a breeze came through and ruffled my hair. "Maybe this won't be so bad."

Almost as soon as I had finished unpacking, my phone chimed from an email.

To: Hyuuga, Hinata

From: Principal Tsunade

Subject: Meeting

Hello Hinata,

I assume that you are settling in well. At your earliest convenience, please have Tenten show you the way to my office. I would like to discuss your schedule for this semester.

Thank you,

Principal Tsunade

I stifled a groan. There was nothing more that I wanted than to curl up with the book I was reading. But I was expecting to be busy until I got into the swing of things. My phone was shoved back into my pocket as I walked out into the living room. Tenten was flipping through channels, lazily sprawled out on the couch.

"T-Tenten?" She grinned at me, sitting up.

"All settled in?" I nodded, smiling at her.

"Pr-incipal Tsunade asked to se-see me." I showed her the email on my phone.

"That's convenient, actually." She got up off the couch, grabbing her shoes from where they were tossed next to her. "The food in the dining hall is way better than anything I could ever cook and that's right next to her office."

"I'm here to see Principal Tsunade." I whispered to the office assistance behind the desk. She looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. "Principal Tsunade." I said with a little more determination. I desperately wanted Tenten for support in this strange new environment. She was waiting in the hall, saying that Shizune, the office assistant, didn't like people hovering.

"And you are?"

"Hinata Hyuuga." The name seems to mean something to her. I get a pitying look as she gets up to open the office door behind her.

"You can go on in." She says sitting back down at her desk. The huge, menacing door looms in front of me. I compose myself and try to keep my hand from shaking before I opened the door. The office was carpeted and very official looking. The principal's desk felt miles away, though it must have just been a few yards away from the door. It was longer than the bed back in my dorm. It was also covered in papers. A haggardly looking woman with blonde hair and a rather…generous…chest sat behind it with a pen in hand. The walls were covered in shelves and those shelves were filled with binders. They had last names of people I assumed to be students on them. She wasn't looking up when I got close to her desk so I coughed, making her jump.

"Ah, Hinata." She stood, offering her hand to me. "It's nice to finally meet you. Your records speak wonders but I always prefer meeting the student as well. Please, have a seat." She gestured to the pair of seats across from her desk. I took a seat. My bag leaned against my chair's leg and my hands were anxiously placed in my lap. She huffed out a short breath, blowing the hair in her face back into place. "Thank you so much for accepting our offer." She smiled, but still seemed a bit frazzled.

"It's an honor." I said to my hands. She nodded, shuffling some papers around before finding three vanilla files stacked on top of each other and passing them to me.

"These are the files of the students you will be working with over this semester. I would suggest that you look them over before classes start on Monday. Inside were pictures, samples of grades, previous transcripts, notes from teachers, and even a juvenile detention record in one case. I see where the warning of "difficult cases" came from. I thought, already wondering how I could politely tell her there was no way in you-know-where that I could tutor these students. I couldn't get the words out of my mouth so I nodded, smiled, and put the folders in my bag to look at once I got back to my room. She looked satisfied that I hadn't run screaming.

"You will be meeting with Hidan and Kisame on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an hour each and Deidara on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour and a half. Because you will be logging nine hours a week, we would like to pay you for your efforts." She slid a piece of paper across the desk with a contract to work on it. At the bottom of the page is a number big enough to make my eyes go wide. That would be more money than I'd ever had in my bank account at one point before this.

"Principal Tsunade, I cannot accept this!" I was so shocked that I didn't stutter.

"You're completely right." She said and took the paper back, clicking her pen confidently. The principal added a zero to the number then smiled. "I'm sorry that I insulted you, Hinata. You will be paid bi-monthly, is that okay?"