'How did it turn out like this?' Ino thought as stood between Chouji and Kankuro, being the only thing keeping them from starting a brawl in the open air café.

Let us back the story up by two days. At this point Yamanaka Ino, treasurer of the Student activities committee, has had to deal with two especially troublesome young men at her high school: Akimichi Chouji, a sophomore like herself and can captain of the school's judo club despite his year; and Sabaku Kankuro, a senior on a special dual school arrangement who is already a licensed artisan in wood crafting. On that note, let us join the lead up to our pervious scene.

"I've told both of you that I haven't made a decision yet on who gets the funding. You'll have to wait until I've talked with Kurenai Sensei." Ino could see that answer did not sit well with either of them.

"You can't be serious Ino." Chouji was more emotional than usual, but his position was understandable, "He's not even in our grade, those funds are meant to be used on a sophomore club."

"The way you guys wrestle it would be fitting to call it a sophomore club, though it would be money wasted." Kankuro's subtle tone had a way of getting under Chouji's skin, but he wasn't often this rude. "Those funds should be used to cover the sophomore portion of the school project."

"You mean your little art exhibit? Nice trick getting the school to pay for your ego trip."

"Says the one who carries an entire pathetic team on his back. More funding won't do anything for your flunkies."

Sensing the air was getting worse; Ino cleared her throat softly and sat up straight. Giving each of them a displeased look silenced their fight. Taking their requests out of the folder she looked them over again.

Chouji wanted to pay for renovations to the school's storage room, as damages a few years back had led to the school taking over half of the Judo club's hall with piles of boxes. On top of that, he wanted help funding a club trip up to a training camp in the mountains over winter break. The renovations would be pricy, but the school's budget didn't have the money for them for another six months.

Kankuro was organizing an incredibly complicated display for the school's cultural festival; a traditional play done with shadow puppets that he had been carving out of wooden frames. He had supplied the wood on his own, paid for the stage with funds from the seniors, gotten lighting and decoration funds from the junior class, but he needed more funds for costuming and various other costs that added up.

The problem was that whenever Ino had figured out which one to support, the other would show up and plead his case to her, bringing her back to where she had started. The indecision was so unlike her, it was starting to get incredibly annoying. Making matters worse, they were starting to team up on her; she had to separate them before they drove her crazy.

"Okay, I'll make my decision over the weekend. Both of you, out now." Without saying another word, they left, giving her a moment to lean back in her chair and relax. From the time on the wall, Ino realized Kurenai would have already gone home to pick up her son from daycare; meeting with her would have to wait until Monday.

Finishing her paperwork, Ino got up and walked the school grounds passing the Judo Club hall and seeing that they were down to 1/3 of the floor space they once had. Chouji was finishing cleaning up as he stepped outside. His judo gi was loose from practice, and the late summer sun shone just right on the building making it one of the hottest buildings in school, between his practice and cleaning routine he had worked up quite a sweat. Ino felt hot seeing his large, muscular frame. She could barely remember the clumsy, chubby kid he used to be when she saw him like this.

When Chouji noticed her he embarrassedly straightened his belt and uniform. "I'm sorry Ino, I didn't notice you there. And, I want to apologize for fighting with Kankuro again. We get worked up."

"I understand Chouji. In fact I'd like to see you sometime this weekend, just the two of us so you can make your case without distraction."

"Great. How about tomorrow at four? I'll pick you up at your house."

"Wait what?" Ino started to complain, "This is not a-"

"It's a date then." Looking at his watch, Chouji's eyes widened as he started to run off. "Sorry Ino, I've got to run, I've got to cover for Kiba at the store tonight. See you tomorrow."

Things did not get any less confusing. While going to pick up her bag from her locker, she passed a room where Kankuro was hard at work looking at cloth patterns, gluing beads and sewing lace and frills onto them. Standing there for a moment she started to see what he was doing. The shadow puppets were wooden frames, which would be fitted with these cloth patterns to give very distinct styles of dress. A finished one hanging in front of a screen was a near perfect depiction of a traditional cheongsam; another cloth pattern seemed to give her an incredibly elegant face. There were at least fifty puppets in various stages of completion.

"I'll be right with you Ino." Kankuro said, not even having looked up from his sewing machine.

"How did you know it was me?" Ino was genuinely surprised, and a little curious.

Pulling the lace from the machine, Kankuro trimmed the thread before putting the piece of imperial regalia down. Picking up a small hammer and bottle of glue, Kankuro motioned for Ino to sit down across from him. Taking a seat, Kankuro bent down and gently grabbed her left ankle as he removed her shoe. "Your shoe has a broken heel that clicks when you walk." In a quick motion he tore off the heel and with a few small nails, removed the inner liner, hammered and glued the shoe together before finding a clamp to put pressure on it. It was the attention to detail that made Kankuro so different from other boys. Maturity seemed to settle on him better than others in his age. There were so many rumors about him that his silence only made more exotic, but once you got past his gruff personality and genius talent it was clear he was a humble craftsman at heart.

"Your shoe is going to need to dry over the weekend. We'll have to get your other pair from the locker." His eyes rested on the shoe for a moment before the two of them realized that her foot had been resting on his leg the entire time. Touching her leg again, Kankuro eased it to the floor, his hands were hard but surprisingly smooth for someone who worked with wood, like the feel of wood after a fine grain of sandpaper had smoothed it.

"Say Kankuro," Ino started to say she wanted to meet him over the weekend but remembered how Chouji had reacted, a different strategy would be needed, "Will you be working here over the weekend?"

"Both days, I still have a lot to finish. I have someone coming in tomorrow to help with the script. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to come in on Sunday to talk more about the funding if that's alright. I could bring you some lunch at noon if that's alright."

"Sounds great Ino." Standing up, he helped her to her feet and walked her to the shoe lockers to get her outside pair. "I'll see you Sunday then Ino; it's a 'date'." Before Ino could turn to tell him different he had disappeared down a hallway.

"What have I gotten myself into?"