Kiko

My hand hits the practice board again – I can feel the skin break and it starts to bleed. My breathing comes in gasps and the only reason I keep going is so that Father will look at me. To see my skill. I hear his staff hit the wood of the floor.

"Kiko – that is enough for today. You have already excelled far beyond Hinata's skill, but you need to keep training. Be here tomorrow at 7 sharp." With that, he leaves the room. I wait until I can't hear his staff anymore and then I make to bandage my hands.

My callouses have already formed from my rigorous training, but most of the time I'm pushed harder than the time before and my skin breaks again. I never give it time to heal – I don't have time to give it. I start to walk out of the room and I notice Hinata sitting against the wall next to the room. Her head is buried in her arms and I realize she must have heard what Father said.

I lean down, hugging her and burying my head into her shoulder. Don't be upset at me… I beg in my mind.

"I'm sorry, Hinata…" I say softly. She pushes herself off the floor and walks away, leaving me kneeling. I look down and stare at my bandaged hands. All I want is Father to approve of me. But if he does, then I'll hurt Hinata and she won't approve of me. But which is more important?

"I'm sorry, Hinata." I whisper. I'm sorry.

Caneru

I stand behind her, staring at her perfect face as she brushes her hair. She notices me still lingering in her room after I returned the clothes Mom washed for her. "Gosh, Caneru, why don't you get lost?" Ino asks, not caring that I might want to say anything.

She gets up and brushes past me, grabbing my arm as she goes. She drags me out with her, closing the door behind her. "Stay out," she tells me as she walks past me. I vaguely hear her tell Mom that she's going to the market. I stay firm by her door.

Once I hear her leave, I sneak back in. She'd kill me if she knew what I did while she was away. She'd also be disgusted. I go to her desk and stroke the brush she was just using. I pick it up, imagining I had her face and that my hair was as silky as hers. I imagine that I could go down into my living room wearing a skirt and no one would find it weird.

I wish that I could talk to Ino about it – Ino only cares about the physical. She would disown me if I was me. I wish that I could tell Ino and she would help me. I wish that Ino would care about me – not just Caneru, her brother, but me, her hidden sister.

I wish I wasn't afraid to be called a girl boy. And I wish that Ino would stick by me if I did do as I want. But I know Ino wouldn't – and I just want her to be my sister still. So I'll stay Caneru – her brother.

Mueski

I see Shikamaru lounging around outside, in the soft grass. He's just lying there – just soaking up the sun. Doing something while doing nothing. Typical Shikamaru. I go over to him and sit down next to him. I'm careful not to lie down – it wouldn't be dignified for a girl to lay like that.

"Hey, Shikamaru," I say, to alert him I'm here.

"What are you doing here?" he says. I can tell his irritated that I interrupted his laziness – but he'd be irritated at anyone. I'm no special case.

"Is it illegal to talk to my big brother?" I ask, sarcastically. I bite back at him in response to the snap he took at me.

"No, I mean, shouldn't you be crying over a dead flower or something?" He questions shrewdly. He overestimates how kind-hearted I am.

"I don't cry over dead flowers." I say tersely.

"You cry over everything. You cry over a baby being born."

"That was once – and it was because it was adorable and magical!"

He shoves himself off his back and sits up to see my face. He meets my stare dead on. "You think too much with your heart. You cried when a friend started hating you. You care too much – which, when you get old enough, will be the death of you." He looks at me seriously. "You'll love someone too much you won't be able to kill – you won't be able to fight. You're too weak."

I'm silent. I hate it when Shikamaru calls me weak – which he does on a regular basis. He lies back down and says, "It's the truth and you know it." He goes back to sun bathing.

I get up quietly and walk away. I don't want him to see my tears – my weak, weak tears.

Nursanli

"Hey, what are you doing, Nursanli?" Kiba comes jogging up to me, my feet dangling off my swing. "Wanna practice?" Practice means that Kiba is going to beat me down so that way he can be stronger. I knew all of Kiba's gimmicks and ways to say things while saying other things.

He was good at tricking people – which is why he had Akamaru, who yipped excitedly from Kiba's head. His and Akamaru's trick is to confuse who is the real human. It's a perfect ploy.

"Not really." I say, boredly. I just want to sit on the swing and relax. I'm not really like the rest of my family – excited all the time and ready for anything physical. I'm the one who'd rather sit and read than go for a jog. Kiba jokes I'll get fat.

"You're strange." He says giving me a strange look. He jogs off – knowing he won't get to 'practice' today. I know I'm strange.

So what?