After TenTen safely escorted Neji to his next class, honors advanced algebra, without any sign of Lee, Neji finally let his guard down. He found his desk and sat down, looking around the room for anyone he knew. TenTen wasn't in this class, she was in regular advanced algebra, so he didn't recognize anyone. Until a green shirt flashed in the corner of his eye, causing him to fall out of his desk.

"Gaah! No! No more green!" he begged, covering his sensitive eyes as he rolled on the ground.

"…" Hinata gave him an odd look. Neji hadn't had any problems with her shirt, a faded green polo, that morning. She shrugged and sat down next to Shikamaru, who looked up as she sat down.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked. Hinata gave him a questioning look. He pointed a finger at her face, which was still glowing red from the unofficially dubbed "bathroom incident". Hinata blushed harder and was thankful for their teacher's interruption, which distracted Shikamaru just enough to prevent her from needing to answer him.

"Listen up! My name is Mr. Ibiki Morino, and today we are going to start with a test. It will be worth points and will be the first entry in your grade book," the large man in front of the room continued as the class reacted with a mixture of shock and dread, "This test consists of fifteen questions, all things you are expected to know. This is a very advanced course for juniors, so you few sophomores in here will have to work extra hard." He gave Hinata a very pointed look before she ducked her head down to look at her test before flinching.

Sin cos what now? Hinata's eyes widened. She didn't know any of these terms! She looked at the first question and only knew every other word. All the words she did know were the ones like 'what', 'is', 'the', 'of', and 'a'. What the heck is a cycloid? Or a parameterization? She skipped to the next question, which was slightly easier. The area of a perfect hexagon? I think I learned that last year… Hinata continued to write down answers to the problems she could solve, and took wild guesses on the ones she didn't.

"If any of those problems were exceptionally difficult for you, I would suggest you either be prepared to work extra hard in this class or think about dropping down to a lower math class while you still can," Ibiki said as he collected the tests, "I'll have scores posted online tonight so you can see how you did."

The bell rang. A third of the students who left the room were green (Neji included, to his horror), one or two girls were in tears, a good fourth were red faced and sweating, and almost everyone else appeared similarly traumatized. The only two who weren't were Shikamaru, who looked ready to fall asleep, and Sasuke Uchiha, another one of the only four sophomores in the class.

"Next is…" Shikamaru glanced at his schedule, "Band. You coming?"

"Um, I-I wanted to talk with Mr. Morino," Hinata stuttered out. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Why does his voice seem odd to me? Shikamaru wondered again.

"The band room is on the first floor, the first room on the right in the music department. Think you can find it Hisoka?" he asked. Hinata nodded before ducking back into the class.

"M-Mr. Morino?" For once Hinata's stuttering had less to do with keeping her voice from cracking and more with being nervous. Ibiki was a scary guy after all. "I," Hinata gulped, "I was wondering ho-how I d-did on my test."

Ibiki looked up from the tests he was correcting and shuffled through them, pulling out one with "Hisoka Hyuuga" written on it. Hinata began to panic at the amount of red ink covering the page.

"Hisoka," Ibiki said, holding up her test, "you got seven out of fifteen correct." Less than half! An F! Hinata felt like crying.

"P-please Mr. Morino I," her voice shot up, she gulped to deepen it again, "could I p-please come in, in after sch-school to get s-some extra help? I c-could come in t-tomorrow morn—" Ibiki cut her off.

"You did better than the majority of the class."

Hinata was stunned.

Ibiki continued, "that test was meant as a general test of skill level. It was graded for completion, not accuracy. The average student at this level really should only get three right. The questions were purposely difficult to measure how much you could figure out on your own. "

"B-but you said—" Hinata was cut off again.

"If anyone drops out of my class it will be because they lack self confidence and proper work ethic, two things far more important to your success in this room than natural skill."

Hinata was silent, but jumped in shock when the bell rang, announcing the beginning of the next period. "Relax, Hisoka, I'll write you a pass," Ibiki assured her. She visibly relaxed. "Oh, and Hisoka?" Ibiki called out to her as she walked out the door, pass in hand, "If you do ever need help in my class, feel free to stop by after school."

oOoOo

Hinata stood at the entrance to the band room with a certain degree of fear, reminded all too much of the cafeteria at Suna. She'd found the band room without any problems, but she was worried by the amount of chaos taking place within it.

People scrambled to find and set up their instruments, some of them appeared to have forgotten how to get them ready to play over the summer. She watched as a robust student eyed his French horn with confusion, as if trying to figure out where the sound came out. Other students were attempting to tune their instruments, causing a wall of off-key screeches, honks and clashes that made Hinata wince.

She spotted Neji hiding behind a stack of folders, his oboe in hand. Curious as to why he was cowering in a corner, she walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked in her normal voice, confident that no one would hear her in the corner over all the commotion. Neji looked up and flinched at the sight of her green shirt before registering her voice.

"Remember Lee? From this morning?" he whispered. Hinata nodded, confused. "Don't ever tell him where I am. He, he kept talking about youth, and the French teacher, and the symbols and, and, and oh dear GOD the GREEN!" he cried out before realizing his mistake and covering his mouth with both hands.

"Is that the joyful voice of the youthful Neji that I hear?"

Hinata could only stare in shock as Lee dragged a sobbing Neji away to hear his "serenade of youth" played on Lee's very own—very green—tuba.

"I didn't know tubas came in green," Hinata murmured to herself.

"Oi! Hisoka! Over here!" Hinata turned to see Kiba gesturing excitedly with his saxophone. Shino stood nearby with what appeared to be a piccolo. Hinata grabbed her flute before heading over to sit next to them.

"So I heard that lazy butt Shikamaru is showing you around, huh?" Hinata nodded. "Ha! So that's why he got out of bed this morning. Usually he doesn't start coming to school for another week, when his mom officially kicks him out of bed."

"I'd take offense to that if I wasn't so, so," Shikamaru yawned, "so tired." Hinata hadn't noticed him sleeping on the drum set behind them. How can he sleep in this noise? Hinata wondered.

"Damn you're lazy Shika. Hey, does anyone know when the conductor is supposed to show up? It's been like, thirty minutes or something," Kiba asked.

"It's only been twenty-four. He's not coming today anyway; he's sick. We aren't playing our instruments either," Shikamaru muttered, still appearing to be quite asleep on the snare drum.

"WE DON'T NEED OUR INSTRUMENTS?!" Kiba yelled, drawing attention from everyone in the room. There was complete silence as the sentence sank in.

Shikamaru looked up.

"Yeah. Didn't anyone else read his note? No one?" He looked around at the frozen faces and sighed, pointing to the front of the room. "So troublesome," he muttered.

As one, the class turned their heads to the front of the room. A single yellow post-it note was on the whiteboard. Kiba walked over to read it.

"'Hey class, I'm not coming today—sad face—I have the flu. Enjoy your free day—happy face—from the desk of Asuma Sarutobi.'" Kiba paused, glancing at the sax he'd spent ten minutes preparing to play. "Well shit."

oOoOo

After things calmed down in the band room, Hinata spent most of her time hanging out with Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Shikamaru's friend Chouji, who played the French horn. She'd looked for Neji, but it seemed that despite not needing to play his instrument, Lee felt a calling to keep practicing his serenade of youth, which bore a striking resemblance to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

When the bell rang, she walked with them all to their next class, Honors English. Apparently they all shared this class.

"Hey dog-boy!" a voice called as they entered the class, "You're in honors?"

Hinata turned and immediately recognized the blond from the bathroom. The thought of his…activities…made her blush furiously in embarrassment.

"Naruto! Why is that so surprising?" Kiba questioned indignantly, "Anyway, we missed'ya this morning! Where were you in band, it was a free day," Kiba called from across the room. He dashed over to Naruto, dragging his group, including a bright red Hinata, with him.

"So Kiba, who's the new guy?" Naruto looked at Hinata, curioius as to why she was blushing. Mentally, Hinata panicked.

He's looking at me! He's looking at me! Did he see me before? What if he recognizes me and thinks I'm some disgusting voyeur! And then he'd sue me and I'd go to jail and then I'd have to go to a girl's jail and then I'd have to wear a dress and then people would find out my real gender and then they'd tease me and then—

Hinata's mind was in overdrive. She didn't even stop to consider how ridiculously implausible her thoughts were.

"Oh yeah, this is Hisoka, he's pretty cool," Hinata faintly heard Kiba introduce her, "He lives near me and—Hisoka? HISOKA!"

Shikamaru caught her as she fell. The massive rush of blood to her face combined with her overloaded brain had caused her to faint.

"Troublesome," he muttered before taking Hinata to the nurse's office.

oOoOo

Neji felt like crying for the umpteenth time that day as Lee towed him to psychology. In the classroom, he checked the seating chart and was relieved to see he'd be sitting next to TenTen, and, more importantly, away from Lee.

TenTen felt obligated to comfort Neji, knowing firsthand how traumatizing Lee's youthfulness could be until one built up a tolerance. Of course, this didn't stop her from reveling in the Neji torture. After sobbing on TenTen's desk for twenty minutes (during which TenTen braided his hair) something occurred to Neji.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to have a teacher here or something?" He asked TenTen.

"I guess he's late," TenTen shrugged. Most of the class was chatting, not particularly concerned about their education. Five minutes later, a masked man walked through the door.

"Hello class. My name is Kakashi, and this is psychology one. Next semester you will be learning about economics. Any questions?" That had to be the shortest syllabus Neji had ever heard. A few students had raised their hands. Kakashi called on TenTen.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Several other hands went down, indicating that this was the question they'd wanted to ask.

"To study the effects of facial features on socialization and trust, one of the subjects we might study this semester."

Might? Neji wondered. A student in the front row didn't bother raising his hand.

"So we'll see your face next semester, during economics?" he asked.

"Hell no." Several students were shocked that a teacher was swearing. Neji raised his hand.

"Yes?" Kakashi called on him.

"Mr. Kakashi—"

"Just Kakashi please," Kakashi interrupted.

"Oh. Um, Kakashi, why were you late?" Neji asked.

"Well, you see," Kakashi began, "my rosebush died."

"Your… rosebush?" Neji couldn't see how that could make him late.

"Yes," Kakashi nodded, "Shame, really. I'd hoped no embers would land on it."

"Embers?" Neji was still confused.

Kakashi nodded solemnly. "From the fire."

"Wait, what fi—" Neji was interrupted.

"Of course, once the garage roof was burning I should've known there was no hope." Neji's eyes widened.

"How did your garage—"

"Oh, it was an accident, the car had some faulty wiring. A spark caused the fire. The car was a deathtrap really."

TenTen jumped in at this point, "So why were you driving it?"

"Oh, I wasn't in the car. Pakkun was trying to start it."

"Pakkun?" She asked again.

"My dog," Kakashi explained.

"Your dog was driving the car?" Neji asked in disbelief.

Kakashi scratched his head. "Well, he had a good reason—"

TenTen remembered something. "You said the car was in the garage, and the garage caught on fire… Ohmigod is Pakkun okay?!"

"Oh yes, he's fine. Just some singed fur, don't worry about him. My father on the other hand…"

"Was he in the car?" The boy in front asked with a raised eyebrow. At his point the entire class was intrigued.

"Of course! Pakkun was going to drive him to the hospital!" Kakashi chirped.

"Your father needed to go to the hospital?"

"Uh huh," Kakashi nodded, "He broke his ankle in the explosion…"

"EXPLOSION!?"

oOoOo

"Are you sure you're okay Hisoka?" Shikamaru asked as they waited outside the nurse's office. The door was locked, and the sign on the front read "out to lunch".

Hinata nodded, still a bit flushed and embarrassed about her fainting episode.

"C'mon then. It's too late in the hour to go back to English, we'll just skip ahead to fifth hour before—"

The bell rang, interrupting him.

"Crap! Hisoka, over here!" He pulled them both into a small alcove as a low rumbling made itself heard. In the hallways doors were flung open, and hordes of students stampeded towards the commons. People raced obsessively to be in front, tripping their opponents and shoving them aside. At least four people broke fingers after being forced into the walls, and one poor soul was trampled by a good third of the crowd. Backpacks burst as people clawed at them, dragging their wearers back. Hinata covered her mouth as she watched a huge teen scramble to be ahead of everyone else, stepping on others with total disregard in a hurried frenzy when—

He stopped, and waited calmly with everyone else in the slow moving lunch line.

Hinata shot Shikamaru a questioning look, but Shikamaru was too distracted to notice it.

Hisoka's hair, Shikamaru thought, smells really nice. Almost like… lavender! And just a hint of vanilla.

Hinata waved a hand in front of Shikamaru's face, which was currently sporting a dazed look. He focused on the hand and snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um, sorry. That was the lunch rush for A lunch. Lunch rushes last about two minutes while all the idiots try to get their food first. There's three lunches: A, B, and C," Shikamaru began explaining, "Your class is assigned a lunch based on which pod, or section of the school, your fifth hour class is in. Pod A goes to A lunch, and so on. We have C lunch, so we won't eat until after our fifth hour class, honors world history and geography."

Hinata nodded. Shikamaru had started walking during his explanation and they soon reached their class. Because honors English and social studies classes were planned together, everyone in honors English was also in honors geography. Hinata fiercely avoided looking at Naruto as Kiba and Shino asked if she was alright. Suddenly there was a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, you're Hisoka, from my first hour, right?" Hinata looked at the blond girl for a few moments before recognizing her as the one who was fighting with Sakura, the pink-haired girl, over paint colors. Hinata nodded. "Well I'm Ino. I was thinking I'd get to know you a bit better, so come sit at my lunch table, okay?" She winked.

Hinata's eyes widened. Was this girl flirting with her?

"Um, s-sure," she stuttered out.

"Cool! Just follow Shika, he knows where we sit!" Ino chirped before going over to gossip with Sakura.

"Nice job, Hisoka! You got Ino Yamanaka, the prettiest girl at KHS, to ask you out!" Kiba slapped her on the back, almost knocking the wind out of her.

"Sh-she just asked me to sit with her at lunch!" Hinata defended indignantly as a light blush dusted her cheeks.

"Oh don't be so shy, I bet all the girls at your old school thought you were a cutie!" Kiba teased. Technically this was true, since there were no girls at her old school.

"'Sides Kiba, everyone knows Ino can't hold a candle to my precious Sakura in feminine beaut—OW! Damn it Ino, stop throwing crap at my head."

"That was me, Naruto!" Sakura yelled back, "Insulting my best friend won't make me go out with you!"

Naruto winced as he rubbed the bump on his head. "What if I complemented your throwing arm?"

Hinata was blushing again, though now it was because she was embarrassed about fainting in front of Naruto rather than the bathroom incident. There was a fraction of her blush that could certainly be attributed to that. Not to mention the part that wondered why he was flirting with a girl.

Needless to say, she was very grateful when the teacher entered, twenty-five minutes late, and everyone found their desks.

"Hello class, I'm Kakashi, and this year you will be learning about different countries and their histories. Any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand but asked his question without bothering to wait for Kakashi to call on him.

"What's with the mask?"

"It's a demonstration for when I teach you guys about ninjas," Kakashi answered.

"Sweet! We're learning about NINJAS?" Naruto exclaimed.

"No. Any more questions?"

"But, you just said… Damn it you're confusing!" Naruto cried out.

"Please don't swear in my class Naruto." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Hey! How did you know my name? And if we aren't learning about ninjas can we see your face?"

"Hell no."

"You—you just, but you said—I mean, you just swore!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi as he babbled unintelligibly.

"I'm exempt. Naruto isn't allowed to ask any more questions, but does anyone else want to ask something?"

"Uhm, Mr. Kakashi?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Just Kakashi. Do you have a question?" he corrected.

"Er, Kakashi then. Why were you so late?"

Under Kakashi's mask, where no one could see it, a sadistic smirk was spawned.

"Well, you see," Kakashi began, "my rosebush died…"

oOoOo

AN: Whoot! Chapter three! I officially added ShikaHina to the story's description, I'm glad everyone's looking forward to it. Next chapter: more ShikaHina, more Gai, more Gaara, and more Neji torture! :D Thank you everyone for your reviews, they're AWESOME! They're so awesome, you should review right now, just to be a part of the awesomeness, what do you say?