A Heart Made of Stone.

The clock tickes an eternal beat. I glance at it for the tenth time since entering this exhausting meeting, which started promptly an hour and twenty minutes ago. I don't want to be here. I don't want to sit here and try and compromise with these idiots' plans. I dislike half the people in the room, especially Cathy, who presently sits three seats down and across from me, biting her pencil with her rotting teeth. She is so annoying and rude to people, full of disdain and arrogance.

To be honest, those people are intimidating, if stupid. And they bicker more than the elders. Ha. Try telling that to them, and they would gut you as clean as if they were gutting a fish.

"Shut up," the Hokage orders. "Everyone, shut up!"

I cast my eyes down when hers are on the verge of meeting mine. I am angry with her. She forced me into coming to this meeting, when she knew I definitely did not want to come. Sure, I'm her apprentice. But does that mean I have to be a part of the political chaos that is her duty to control?

No.

Maybe...

According to her, however, the answer is a strict yes.

I am only seventeen, for Kami's sake! Sure, I've been a Chunin since I was twelve, but that doesn't matter. One can express exemplary skills in physical combat and medical knowledge, and be a total novice in politics. Which is exactly my case, but she seems to think otherwise.

"What do you think...Haiden?"

I gulp, and I swear the noise my throat makes turns heads, Shikamaru's in particular.

Tsunade raises a brow, and whispers something to Sakura, who's mouth turns up slightly in a smile.

"Come on," Cathy whines. "Why do you ask for her advise, Lady Tsunade?" I glare at the bitch, with her nasty red curls and pale face. I swear, the audacity of the woman!

Cathy directs her attention towards me next. "Are you sure little Haiden can handle this?" The question is condescending and her lip puckers out when she emphasizes the word "little".

She only acts this way because we're the same age and she's already a Jonin…While I'm not. Big deal, the only reason I'm not is because I haven't taken the Jonin exams. Tsunade doesn't want me to yet.

Oh, but Cathy is a "big, strong Jonin" and thinks she is capable of saving the world!

I roll me eyes. Yeah, like she of all people could handle this, and she is trying to tell me that I can't. What a bunch of crap. She is as smart as a slug. "Well, if you really want to hear what I have to say Lady Hokage...I think that you're all wrong."

People give me weird looks. Besides Shikamaru, who looks at me with hesitation but continues to remain silent, as he has been for the entire meeting.

"Explain yourself," Tsunade says with curiosity.

I stand up and walk over to the giant map that hangs on the wall behind the Hokage's head. Oh, where did this confidence come from?

"What everyone has basically been saying for the last thirty minutes is that all of Hidden Stone is in on this invasion, and that they have been housing their armies in Bird country."

People nod their heads impatiently, so I continue. "Quite frankly, neither of these 'facts' don't exactly make sense. For one, how do we know that it is all of Hidden Stone? We haven't taken the time to go in for some concrete evidence, and neither has Suna (although this is their war we're helping to fight, but that's besides the point.) Sure, we found traces of their supposed army - some camps, and scraps of clothing - but that doesn't quite cover it. We haven't sighted anything since then. Nothing. So what does that tell us?"

I stop, letting everyone put it together in their heads. Yes, the army isn't there. Obviously it wouldn't be if we haven't found any traces of it anywhere in Bird country.

"But what if they are concealing themselves?" A woman with short brown hair asks.

"Good question," I say. What if they really are concealing themselves? "There's always a possibility we've overlooked something. But in most cases when you conceal large objects or massive amounts of ninja, you tend to leave a trail of chakra. It could be a slight line of it, or a largely noticeable trail. That all depends on the ninja wielding the jutsu."

"So," Shikamaru grins, "We need to send in some ninja to test the area of chakra signatures."

I nod. "Exactly!"

The Hokage gives me an adulated stare. "Nice work, I knew I could count on you, Haiden."

Cathy scoffs. I swear, if given the chance I would stab her.

"Sakura will be in charge of a team to investigate Bird country," Tsunade continues. It makes sense to send out Sakura. She is an expert with chakra.

Kakashi catches my attention. "Now what was the other part of your point? If I recall correctly there was two things."

"Oh! Right, I almost forgot." How embarrassing... "Now I'm not exactly positive on this next theory I have."

Shikamaru looks almost as proud as Tsunade. It would suck if I was wrong on this. My next idea isn't as logical as the first, however.

"Suna has been ambushed by the army, yes?"

"You're right," Tsunade says, tapping her long nails on the table. I hate when she does that. It reminds me of my long dead Aunt, Heo. She was the craziest person I ever met, and also a drunk like Tsunade. She had long nails, and this cackling laugh that sent shivers down you're spine. But she was funny, and spontaneous, and had this glint in her eye that made you wonder at first what drug she was taking, and then realize that her drug was life itself.

I tune back into reality when Cathy tosses a balled up sheet of paper at me. Who let her in here anyways? I scowl at her before continuing with my idea.

"And if the report I read was right, Suna ninja wrote that the uniform the Stone ninja wore was, ah, different?"

"Correct, but what are you getting at?" Kakashi asks.

"I think I understand what you're saying," Shikamaru says, rising slowly from the table. I internally giggle at the sight of his lean and toned body moving at the pace of an elder.

He speaks, and all eyes dart to him. "The uniforms of the Hidden Stone militia don't match up with the ones of the army who ambushed Suna. But that army wore forehead protectors embellished with Stone insignia."

Thank you Shikamaru. Someone here understands! I smile. "Right, right! And that means that they have to come from Stone, but are doing this ambushing on the sly, like underground. So is there a possibility that it's a clan?"

"Yes," Tsunade says. "Very good you two. Very good indeed."

"One question," Kakashi says, for once averting his eyes from his silly porn. "What does Stone's Kage know of this?"

Silence.

The clock ticks its eternal beat, and I swear Tsunade taps her nails in rhythm with it just to aggravate me. "That most certainly will be looked into. And Shizune, get me a list of every clan in Stone presently. Meeting dismissed!"

Everyone files out of the room, some with laughter, others with anger. Cathy, in particular, was very angry. "Well I guess you just showed them, didn't you?" She hisses at me as I walk out.

I ignore her. She slings her arm around my shoulders. "You think you're just the smartest damn thing that ever stepped foot in Kohona, don't you?"

"Shove off," I mutter, trying to reign in my temper. "Mind your own business."

I push away from her and increase my pace, but she clings to me like a leech. "Oh Haiden, you're offering to buy lunch? Such a sweetheart you are!"

Funny. People around us start looking at me in appreciation, actually believing her. And I think she notices because her face begins flaming almost as much as her greasy red hair. She groans in frustration and is about to spit some vulgar phrase out at me, but I cut her off. "Hey, it's no problem, really. Just give me the money and I'll meet up with you at training ground eight. Lunch will be so fun!"

She has no choice. People are watching. So she gives up the cash, and I leave to go find some food. There's always a great Tempura vendor near some ramen shops by my apartment that no one hardly gives notice to, but has the best Tempura in Kohona. I walk there and spend all the money Cathy gave to me, and then go and sit on a bench to eat my food.

"That was a nasty trick you pulled."

I swallow my food. "Well, she's a nasty person. I couldn't resist."

Shikamaru takes a seat next to me.

"Ah, what a drag... Do you still want to play some Shogi tonight?"

"Nah, old man. I got training. Maybe some other time." I finish the last of my food. I smile at him, and stand up to leave.

Shikamaru mutters about how twenty isn't old. And it's not, but I just like to mess with him.

I go to a training field - Not eight, because then I would have to face Cathy. I don't feel like dealing with her right now - and start warming up by stretching and running laps. I like to run, because it's a good workout and helps me keep a clear head. I began to only focus on how air enters my body and swirls around in my lungs before leaving me again, and the only noise I hear is my feet pounding into the earth.

I love the feeling it gives me. Running is like an adrenaline rush. My feet pound into the earth. My legs tighten, the muscles working in overdrive. The stamina running brings to me is exhilarating.

I am just beginning my thirty- third lap when Rock Lee finds me. "Keep going young Chunin, do not give up!"

Kami, he does this every time he sees me training. What. The. Hell.

Hearing his voice makes me lose focus, and I stumble over a rock, just barely catching myself as I plummet into the brown dirt. "Lee! Go mess with someone of your own rank!"

He walks over to me. My body had just begun to break out in a sweat, and he noticed. "Nice work, Haiden. I guess you didn't need my training after all. You got it down all by yourself." Lee tried to convince me two years ago to train with him, but I declined. I don't know exactly why I did. Maybe I just wanted to work by myself for a while.

I think it mostly involved Heo's death. She raised me since I was six, and was like a mother to me. She trained me, and helped me become a chunin. We were just beginning my training to become jonin, when she went on a mission and never came back. Right, that happens. We are ninja, for Kami's sake. That kind of stuff occurs all the time. Honestly though, it's one thing to hear about ninja dying in battle, and another to have one of those ninja be your relative or friend. It cuts you where no one can reach out to heal.

I was fourteen when she passed away. I stopped everything then. Training, going out with friends, even eating. Nothing made any sense and nothing mattered. I was numb. Then Tsunade found me, and drove me back to living. She pushed me harder than anyone I ever trained with. She made me forget my pain. She made me a great ninja, teaching me Medical juts, chakra control, and even how to hold my liquor.

"How many more laps are you planning to run? I shall run with you!" I snap out of my mind, slowly drifting back to reality. Lee looks so hopeful that I can't decline his offer.

We jog in silence for awhile. I am building up the courage to ask him a question.

"Lee..."

He isn't sweating yet, because he just started to run, but I was. "What is it, young Chunin?"

"For one, I just wanted to ask if you would...train me...in Tai Jutsu..." Why on earth was it so hard to ask?

He stops, and I keep going without realizing it at first. Turning around, I see that he is wide-eyed and speechless. After collecting himself - just barely - he sputters, "why of course! I - I would be honored to train you!"

I smile. Yes! "When do we start?"

"Today!" He jumps in the air, ecstatic over my permission after two years of saying no. "But first, we must continue our warm up. And then, we train!"

We continue to jog. "Oh, and two: I hate, hate, HATE when you call me 'young chunin'''.

I'm not a young chunin. I'm not even young. Seventeen is old. I've been a chunin for six years, long past due on taking my exams to become a Jonin. I just couldn't do it. Not yet. I need more time to hone and sharpen all of my skills, just like Heo told me to do. You only become the best when you have mastered everything. And I intend to be the best Jonin possible. If I'm the best then I won't put my Jonin team in danger, or myself for that matter.

"Sorry, young chun -"

He sees my glare.

"uh, young Haiden."

Eh, good enough, I guess. I smile a little bit.

We finish our warm up and then he begins teaching me breathing exercises. Breathing, like I didn't already know how to do that.

"It's to get your mind focused and relaxed. No one can use Tai Jutsu if they don't have a clear mind. And if you want to become good, this is the way. Trust me young Haiden," is asll he says before he closed his eyes and take deep breaths.

But hey, it's all good with me. I could breath for hours. It actually is relaxing. In, out. In, out. In, out -

"You little fucker! I'll kick your motherfucking ass all the way to Akatsuki, you bitch!"

Oops. Looks like Cathy caught up to me. Hehe.

Time for some damage control.