"Ridiculous effort,"

Naruto Uzumaki didn't even flinch. It wasn't his first taste of undisguised scorn from his teachers. If he'd counted just how many he'd been through, he'd have lost count ages ago. Starting from fucking first grade.

He reached over and slid the six-page paper towards him until he was could see the red markings on the cover sheet: C, C…D.

But of course.

"Maybe if you were a little more studious, you would've achieved better marks,"

Naruto glanced lazily at Neji Hyuuga, he was sitting beside him. The brown haired boy was wearing a smile that exuded nothing but smug confidence. Naruto didn't have to look at his cover sheet to know that he probably topped the class.

"You know me as well as anyone to know I hate studying," Naruto retorted.

Neji closed his eyes and chuckled. Naruto wondered how Neji could be so effortlessly … cool. He watched as Neji folded his arms on top of his paper, realizing for the umpteenth time that the Hyuuga was meticulous in just about everything he did. He could probably pee in a perfect circle he thought. I bet my apartment that when I ask him to pee with a radius of 2.51 centimetres, he can do it.

"So when it's our final assessment…," Neji said slowly. He smiled again at Naruto, indicating that it was a sentence left unfinished for the purpose of an answer. Naruto shifted a little in his seat, making it creak loudly. "I guess I'd do some studying,"

"Some? That's generous," Neji raised a perfect eyebrow. Naruto wondered if he removed stray hairs with tweezers so that they'd look like that.

Then again Naruto thought, fiddling with the corners of his exam paper. He's a Hyuuga. He was born perfect.

"Yeah,"

Neji rolled his eyes. He was the only one who could tell he was, though, since his eyes were the same uniform colour the whole way. But he was rolling his eyes due to Uzumaki's lack of effort into schoolwork. He'd admit that he studied excessively, but at least he studied. Unlike someone. And given Naruto's short response, he knew their conversation was over.

Neanderthal, Neji thought.

When Neji returned home, he didn't bother telling his uncle what he'd gotten at school. Hinata would probably tell him anyway. He avoided talking to anyone as much as possible and waited for the bang of the door to tell him that Hinata had returned. Every day, he rushed out of school so he didn't have to walk with her. She walked so damn slow it irritated him to no end.

Sometimes you should learn to slow down a voice inside him said. Then maybe you'll learn something new.

"I've learnt many new things without slowing down," Neji said angrily under his breath as he poured himself some water and downed it quickly. He rinsed it quickly and was about to return to his room to unwind a little before some quiet afternoon training when someone knocked at his door.

He opened it. It was Kiba.

"Say it," Neji said. Rudely.

Kiba, as usual, had his hood up and the fur that fringed it was tickling his cheeks. Akamaru barked in what Neji supposed was a hello.

"Dunno," Kiba lifted and dropped one shoulder in a lazy shrug. "Just wanted to hang out with someone. And Shino's shit,"
"Shit?" Neji repeated.

"Yeah he never does nothing," Kiba said.

Neji and Kiba had hung out before: more often outdoors than in. They'd never really done anything except perform each other's jutsu and asked for a commentary. Otherwise, they never really did anything friendly. Their relationship was more of a friendly acquaintance: they offered advice, comments but nothing personal. Secrets and the like were out of bounds.

Neji smiled. "Of course. It's Shino. You're not meant to expect anything,"

"I guess. Wanna go to the park?"

Neji nodded at the odd request. The park…he hadn't been there since he was, what, five? Six? Of course he passed it every day when he went to school and back but other than that he had nothing to do with the park. He wondered why Kiba wanted to go there of all places.

Play with Akamaru?

"So my test results were crap," Kiba said as they walked. Akamaru was running ahead. "My mum's gonna kill me. My sister is gonna pay me out...," Kiba paused and looked at Neji, who was looking dead ahead, practically unblinking. "…and of course you get top marks. Without trying,"

"I do try," Neji replied readily. "I study,"

"I study too," Kiba said. "You don't have to. You're naturally smart. Asshole," he gave Neji a friendly punch.

Neji smiled and stepped into the park. "So what are we doing?"

"Nothing much," Kiba said, shrugging that lazy shrug again. Neji could instantly tell from this that something was definitely up. Kiba Inuzuka never had nothing planned. Neji didn't need a nose like a dog's to smell that.

He decided not to say anything about it. It was most likely something extremely immature and stupid, given Kiba's rambunctious and impulsive nature, and also something that Neji would walk out of unscathed. He didn't need to be worried.

A few moments passed. The park was silent. Then Kiba grabbed Neji's wrist. On impulse, Neji was about to pull back when Kiba put a finger to his lips. It became apparent that he'd heard something Neji hadn't.

Neji fought back the question what? But he knew better. He let Kiba lead him around the park, winding through the stuff that was scattered around it.

For once in his life Neji was completely lost and had no idea what was going on. He was about to start thinking about what could be happening when Kiba stopped and turned to Neji. Akamaru was panting quietly at Neji's heel.

"Stay here. And use your Byakugan,"

Before Neji could say anything, Kiba had walked off. He sighed loudly, crossed his arms, and activated his Byakugan. He suddenly saw everything, three sixty degrees. He didn't need to, but he did. He saw Kiba's form. His eyes strayed beyond that. Kiba had his jacket off. It was lying behind him.

Neji narrowed his eyes at the figure standing in Kiba's path.

What the fuck?