GET READY FOR SOME ACTIONNNNNN. Progression might be slow, but eventually I think it will pick up a bit. Take into consideration that this IS a lighthearted comedy, so even the plotline won't be heart-stopping and seat gripping. Let's not get our hopes up THAT high. This is no epic journey you're in for ^^'

Chapter 7: Shower Intrusion! ::07::

Kiba growled. "Akira-chaaaaan! Get up! You've only got like ten more minutes!"

The continuous loud shouting of my name made me groan and only resolve to ignore them further. I snuggled deeper into my sheets, relishing the warmth of my bed. "Okay, okay!"

"Akira, get up. We have school today. Oi, Akira!" I growled lowly, yanking whoever-it-was-talking's shirt, pulling them down to face level.

"I. AM. TIRED. I. AM. SLEEPING!" I barked, eyes narrowing to a not-so-pretty extent. Shikamaru swallowed, extracting his T-shirt from my iron death-grip as he turned to the other four boys. I fell back onto the bed and gathered the sheets even closer.

"Well?"

"You're being too gentle with her," I heard Gaara mutter, reaching out for my wrist. Grasping it tightly, he yanked me up, making me yelp and cling tightly to him. "Get up. We're not all going to be late just because you don't feel like getting up."

I frowned, and then pulled away from Gaara. Still half asleep, I muttered, "I guess you're right. Though you could've been a little nicer about it."

"We tried 'nice'," Gaara replied dryly, gesturing to Shikamaru and Kiba. "It doesn't go well with you."

Neji and Sasuke both grinned, agreeing completely. I muttered curses that I was sure were incoherent to them. Yanking the washroom door open, I entered with a loud 'bam!' following suit.

"...Maybe you went over the top a little, Sabaku," Shikamaru advised lowly, eyes fixated on the bathroom door.

"Nah," Gaara muttered. "With girls like her, you need to be mean."

"Girls like her? As in you've dealt with someone like Akira before?" Sasuke remarked, onyx eyes flaring with disbelief.

"Let me guess," Neji inputted. "You're talking about your sister, Temari."

Kiba let out a loud snort, as Gaara nodded. "You don't even know the half of it."

-X-

Akira wiped away some sweat from her forehead after the warm-up game, grinning happily. Boy, did she love soccer. While other girls might find joy in being with a boyfriend on a weekend, indulging in sweets, or dressing up to go someplace, she'd rather kick a ball back forth between a wall all day and work on her drills.

Standing on the artificial turf next to rest of the Grade 11s and 12s made her heart pound. This was the Senior team. These were the best of the best in the school, taken that there wasn't some prodigy soccer player in a lower grade; but they were the oldest of all them, anyways, and Akira knew from experience that these guys were not just a few dudes who could kick a ball decently.

Right off the bat, she could tell who the 'beast' players were: in other words, these were the guys who Akira already knew would've gotten on the senior team without checking the list.

There was a friendly, hot-blooded guy name Murakami Shou. What struck Akira about him was that he was Japanese, but he had dyed his hair a dull green. On anyone else, it would've looked strangely unnatural and fake, but he seemed to pull it off flawlessly, with his carefree and loud laughter. He got along with the rest of her roommates really well, so she has guessed that he had also been on the team last year and they already knew each other. From what she knew about him, he played defense last year, and probably would this year too, and his strength was stealing balls (haha), passing, and just general ball handling (HAHA- okay. I'll stop it.). In the game they had just played, Shou posed the most effort for her to avoid. She wouldn't call herself a weak player, but Shou managed to steal the ball away from her several times, as well as obstruct many of her passes, out of nowhere. She found herself laughing at his silly antics, diving and shoving himself in the ball's path to steal it.

His best friend, Miyamoto Hikari, was a strikingly handsome guy with long black hair with brown streaks. His hair was layered from the top of his head to the middle of his neck, where the strands became even-lengthen and long. He was one of those guys who could pull off the long hair without it looking disgusting or feminine, reminding Akira of Neji. She didn't know much about him yet, but he seemed to contrast with Shou with the fact that he barely talked as much as his best friend did. He was assigned Winger - an outside forward, which fit him very well, since this was usually the fastest and best dribblers player on the team, responsible for providing teammates with accurate passes so they can shoot at the goal. Hikari was strikingly fast, with 100 meter dash times nearing the 10-second mark. Needless to say, Akira had an immense amount of respect for him: he could probably dribble a soccer ball to class and still make it to class faster than someone who was running in the halls.

The third that she knew of so far was a cute foreigner, with blonde hair and blue eyes, much like that Naruto kid she saw met the other day. His hair was much longer, and his eyes a different kind of blue, as they were more dull and greyish. He always had a serene look or calmness on his face, as if he was always deep in thought or having a revelation... She didn't know his name yet, because he apparently wasn't on the team any of the years before. Still, despite his appearance, as Gai was reading out the assigned positions given, he was given 'Attacking midfielder'. From what she remembered about him during the game, he was as aggressive and skilled with dribbling and handling the soccer ball as he looked passive.

The rest of her roommates were assigned the following:

Sasuke was given Central Midfielder, most responsible for creating opportunities for the offensive players. He was basically one of the leaders of the team, immensely ticking off Neji and many of the guys in her room. Akira simply chuckled, too giddy and anticipating of what she would be assigned...

Neji's name was the next one she recognized, and he was given Central Defender, the player who guards the area directly in front of the goal, also known as the team's strongest defensive player. She gave Neji a grin, and he smirked back at her faintly.

Kiba and Gaara came next, right after one another. Kiba was assigned Midfield General, which was really just another title for Central Midfielder. He and Sasuke exchanged a glance at each other, and being in between the feud, I could feel the competition brewing. I laughed, blocking both of their eyes with my hands, and they smirked, knocking my hand away.

Gaara was given Stopper, in charge of defending the best scorer or attacker on the opposing team. Akira thought this fit ironically well. If a guy like Gaara were guarding her on the other team, she'd feel intimidated, too. How could you not?

Shikamaru was rewarded with the responsibility of goalkeeper, and Akira slapped him hard on the back, making him flinch, but smirk at the same time. He muttered a mere, "Troublesome..." but Akira could tell how satisfied he was with his assigned position.

"Maybe I should have double-checked the team list," Akira muttered, earning the gaze of her roomies. The list wasn't arranged in any order whatsoever, and she had no idea when her name would come up. She found it cynical how she was probably the most anticipating and nervous of all her roommates, and yet her name was the very last to be called out of all of them!

"Hayashi Akira," Gai announced. Akira sucked in her breath, praying that she wouldn't be given a defensive posi-

"Central Forward."

"YESSS!" she blurted, leaping up into the air and pumping a fist up.

"Hayashi Akira, your youthfulness inspires me!" Gai praised truthfully and Akira replied with a cheeky grin, slowly lowering her hand as the rest of her teammates stared at her in confusion. Except for 5 guys, who had smirks on their lips, and chuckled at her excitement, finding it to be contagious.

"You guys... are the best of the school: the senior team of the Konoha's Youthful Male Academy! Anko and I would usually be your coach together..." he continued dramatically, making sure to pose periodically and make Akira gag. "But I must fulfill my dream of becoming a Vice-principal!"

Akira wiped off her sweat with a towel as a few guys gathered to listen and say goodbye to Gai–sensei. She was leaping up and down, still overjoyed. Central Forward! The STRIKER! That was the team's best scoring player! She had been assigned the exact same position back at her old school, but... but she knew that the players on this team weren't to be messed around with. They were talented, and much more skilled with the soccer ball than any of her teammates had been. Yet, she had been assigned the vital scoring threat from their team! Yes! YES!

She dashed off, running until her legs burned with as much pain as she was ecstatic.

"GREAT JOB, MY WONDROUS, YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!" Gai cheered. "Now, please go take your showers!"

Shikamaru bristled lightly. "Akira, are you-?"

He turned around, eyes scoping the turf. Akira was nowhere to be seen.

-X- An Hour Later –X-

"Oh, man, fiiinally!" Akira chirped quietly, watching as the last of the guys filtered out of the showers. "Though I do question my sanity for doing this..."

Making sure the coast was clear; she hefted her gym bag onto her shoulder and tip-toed to the showers. To her utter relief, it was completely empty, just as she had predicted. Stopping in her tracks, she looked down at the floor where there was a bunch of hair shavings.

"...Ew."

She avoided the nasty display of revolt as she walked toward the benches. She halted upon spotting the next level up of horrific sights: A few large toenail clippings sitting atop a dirty shirt on the floor.

"... Eww."

I think I feel something coming up... Akira clamped two hands over her mouth for good measure and hauled her bag down on a bench so that she could strip, listening intently for sounds of guys. She had locked the front door just in case, but the backdoor wasn't one that could be locked from the inside. Standing in nude with a towel wrapped around herself, she walked over to the showers.

And then she saw it: A few small puddles of thick white liquid.

That... better not be what I THINK it is... She gulped. There were a few long hairs floating in it, and the liquid looked clumpy and smelled absolutely acrid, resembling expired milk.

"...OH FLIP, THAT'S NASTY!" Letting out a sound close to a squeal, she darted to the shower heads and hung her towel on a hook. Turning the knob frantically to indulge in hot water bliss, Akira moaned. A silly grin spread onto her lips as she sighed thankfully.

"This feels waaay too good..." she breathed, shampooing up her hair and cleaning off her body. After several minutes, she had rinsed her hair of shampoo. She considered the possibility of conditioner but concluded that the shorter amount of time she spent exposed like that, the better. Just as she was about to reach for the nob, cold water blasted out of the shower head and Akira screamed in alarm, jumping away.

"Holy cripplin'- what the hell was that?" she whispered harshly. She cautiously put a hand back in, but the water remained cold. Did they turn off the hot water already? She reached out and managed to avoid the cold water while turning the knob tightly to stop the stream of water. She reached for her towel and began to dry herself off, goosebumps appearing on her skin. The sound of the front door knob jiggling made her glance up in alarm.

Wh-what? No one's supposed to be here! She stared at the knob the entire time it shook, until the person on the other side gave up and left. She sighed, congratulating herself for being smart enough to lock it. Still, she hurried to put on her clothes. Akira had her pants on, and had just finished tying down her chest straps when she heard the back door to the changeroom swing open.

SH*T! She cursed in her mind, eyes widening in distress. She poked her head out of her T-shirt and got her arms through the sleeves just as a woman poked her head around the side of the locker.

"Huh?"

Sh*t.

Akira knew her. She was Mitarashi Anko: head of the PE department, and also the main coach for the boys' soccer team (Gai was only an assistant). Due to her extreme laziness, she hadn't shown up for the tryouts, or the practice, so Akira had never really seen her up close, but there was no way to mistake that violet, spiky pony-tail for anyone else.

"Oh, sorry, maggot! Wanted to turn off the hot water shower valve for the night, but somebody was still showering and squealed from the cold water! Guess that was you, huh?" she smirked, and eyed Akira up and down, making Akira stand on her toes.

"Er... yeah. Something came up, so I could only shower now, and..." Akira inched her way to the door, circling around the suspicious dark-haired woman. Anko's eyes followed Akira's form to the door, and then she noticed bandages hanging out. "Uh... I'll just be going, Coach Anko..."

"Hey, twerp, are ya injured?" she called after Akira, who had already disappeared around the door. Anko scoffed and shrugged, suddenly catching sight of the puddle of white liquid, filled with mysterious black hairs.

"Boys," she grumbled, walking out the back door to lock it from the outside.

-X- In the Dorm hallways –X-

"That," Akira breathed, her back against the wall, "was close."

"What was?" She whirled around towards the monotonous voice in surprise, to find Gaara in a blank tank. After clearing her throat, she laughed nervously.

"Nothing..." Hurrying back into the room, she held the door open for Gaara. When the two entered, the boys in the room glanced at them, aware of the time.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke interrogated. She hopped onto her bunk, placing her dirty clothes in her laundry basket, making sure to not reveal any underwear exposure.

"Showering."

"This late?"

"Would you rather me shower with the rest of you sweaty pigs, then?" she retorted, giving him a smirk, unknowing of how flustered the very thought made her roommates. He coughed and muttered an inaudible 'that's... not what I mean...' but went back to whatever he was doing.

"What?" Akira asked, suddenly aware of Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru all watching her strangely. Neji was in the room's bathroom doing whatever, while Gaara merely rested on his bed with his eyes closed.

"What?" she repeated after no reply.

"Your bandages are loose, that's what," Kiba stated plainly. Sasuke and Shikamaru rolled their eyes when Akira looked down and scrambled to hide them in her shirt.

"Someone better not have seen that," Sasuke said, perhaps a bit too angrily than he had wanted. Akira's eyes widened. Had Anko seen it? Or did it fall out after she had left?

Even... Even if she had seen them, someone like bandages doesn't automatically label me a girl... She gulped, nodding to herself in thought. That's right. I'm not exposed YET... right?

Right on cue, Neji came out of the washroom, a towel draped over his shoulder and hair wet, wearing a white sleeveless top and long blue Shorts. Akira got up, brushing past him to enter the washroom. A heavy 'click' sound enforced that the door was locked. The quiet rustling of clothes through the door, causing the five boys to embarrassingly avert their gazes from each other.

After all, it was awkward to have a girl changing merely a few meters from them.

-X-

I hurtled down the steps to the gym, excitement fueling my every pace. With the number of tests and assignments starting to pile, I needed to let off some stress and I was excited for the day's practice. Throwing open the double doors, my wide grin faltered and my feet were brought to a staggering halt.

Anko gave me a cheeky grin. She was in a blue Adidas tracksuit, a whistle dangling from her chest. "Hey, it's you! Senior soccer, eh?"

I flinched, sucking in an abrupt breath at the sight of her familiar purple, spiky ponytail. Offering a shaky smile, I nodded and walked towards the change rooms. Don't worry. Even if Anko had seen something, she can't-

"I saw those bandages of yours danglin' out yesterday, and I'm not stupid. I know what you're hiding, and you're just outta luck!" I stopped walking, my back turned towards her. I was lucky that her or no one could see the look of horror on my features. "I'm not gonna make you sit out, y'maggot! It's your fault for not telling me or Gai. But I'm not letting you back out now. Just because of this secret of yours, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you. Get in there and change, maggie!"

My legs carried me deep into the change room, where no guys had entered yet. I made her way to a washroom stall, closing the door behind her and leaning against it for support.

Does she know? Her words were too broad.. and she didn't say anything to actually LABEL me a girl, yet, but... what if... I cursed. Given the possibility that Anko knew I was a girl, would she be so cool about it? At the same time, maybe she was just joking around and was going to report me soon...

With a sigh, I decided that it was futile to think about it. If she didn't know, then I was thinking too much, and if she DID know... then whether she told or not was not something I could control. I might have gotten lucky with my roommates, but an adult - a teacher, no less, was a different matter. I wasn't about to bribe her, and begging her when I wasn't sure if she knew or not wasn't on the top of my priority list...

I began to change into the School's PE strip, throwing my casual clothes into a bag. Coming out of the stall meekly, I secured my belongings in a locker close by the door so I wouldn't have to go deep into the change room to retrieve it afterward. I had carefully deducted that it would be awfully suspicious to never appear in the change rooms, especially with the rest of the team learning of my existence and presence, so it made sense to be seen 'coming out' at least. I sat down on the bench as guys began piling in, and brought my legs up beside me to tie my shoelaces.

"...Akira?" I glanced up and smirked devilishly at Shikamaru, who was following both Kiba and Sasuke. Just a few seconds later, Neji entered, with Gaara lagging behind a bit. They all stared at me in confusion.

"Hey," I answered casually, brushing past them. I bit back the baffled looks on their faces. "I'll see you guys outside!"

-X-

"Faster!" cackled Anko as the guys (and one girl) lapped around the field, struggling to even out their breathing. Eight laps for a warm-up just sucked.

Shikamaru was jogging leisurely by Akira's side, unable to escape his concern for her. She looked much more pale than usual and it wasn't from the warm-up, was it? They had only run five laps so far, which was nearly nothing for this sports freak. Was she just having a bad day, or was she on - OH.

"Hey, Shikamaru... I've been think- SHIKA!" Akira stopped running to attend to the pineapple head doubling over. He was clutching his nose desperately, trying to stop the blood from gushing out-

He scowled. That only reminded him of it even more!

"A-Are you okay?" Akira sputtered, patting his back. "Anko-Sensei! Shikamaru-kun has a nosebleed!"

"What a perverted kid. Having a nosebleed while running laps? Does he find the field sexually arousing or something? Geez..." Anko muttered, giving Akira a quick 'go' gesture, resembling more of a 'shoo'.

Akira nodded, guiding Shikamaru off the track. "Come on, let's get you to the Nurse's-"

"I can go myself, Hayashi." Akira stopped cold in her tracks from his harsh tone, watching Shikamaru as he stomped off. She sighed, sending him hopeful thoughts as she began to jog again.

"Eww! There's blood on the track! Who's on their period?" a bunch of guys jested on the running track as they ran past the point where Shikamaru's nose had started to bleed. Shikamaru gulped harder, hopelessly trying to rid his mind of bloody thoughts.

And I was gonna tell him what was worrying me too... She caught her thoughts and blushed, grumbling to herself. Hey, he's not your therapist, Hayashi! You're leaving soon, anyways...

"You look down," came a voice. Akira glanced up in surprised. She hadn't even noticed Neji jog up beside her.

Obviously, his remark wasn't about the direction she just happened to be staring in. She forced out a small smile and nodded. "Yeah... I have some things on my mind..."

"I see." Akira focused on her paces instead of the Hyuuga's presence. Besides, she hadn't really talked to him alone before, and ever since he discovered that she was a girl... he had almost gone out of his way to avoid her. Well, not like she had anything to say to him anyways-

... Ahh.

"So, uh... N-Neji-kun..." she stammered, struggling to find the proper words. He gave a small 'hm?', and she was painfully aware of his lavender orbs focused intently on her.

"I... uhh..." Neji raised a brow as she picked up pace, the light jog increasing into quick, long strides. He furrowed his eyebrows and quickened his pace, too, determined to keep up with her.

"Just say it already, Akira," Neji cut in, amusement dancing in his eyes. It was so unlike her to be flustered...

"Er... actually... I-I have something to uhh... " Again, her paces increased in speed. Neji caught up adequately, but was beginning to feel the strenuous tug of his legs shouting at him. Her eyes were cast down, and her thoughts muddling her surroundings.

"Akira," he said, "you're speeding up."

She gasped, suddenly aware of her labored breathing and rapid steps. Controlling her paces and not wasting energy was something she always pummeled into her morals. She cursed herself for letting go of her control so easily and began to slow down, going back to a light jog. Her breathing was heavily labored at the point of seven laps, and trying to break out into a sprint was something she didn't push herself to do regularly.

"Calm down. You should know better." She blushed, finding her control losing grip once again.

"A-Actually... I-I..." Suddenly, Neji held an arm out in front of her, making Akira yelp. She couldn't help it. Neji wasn't too scary usually, but his piercing lavender eyes were creeping her out! Plus he was using them to glare her down and that seriously didn't make anything better.

"Don't push yourself to strain your breath like that. You're not using your arms to your advantage, and your paces are too short. You're going to tire yourself if you keep doing this." He warned, making Akira blush harder. His eyes softened and his arm lowered.

"It might just be me, Akira, but you're awfully awkward around me right now," Neji challenged, causing a red blush to blossom from Akira's cheeks. Her paces struggled to quicken, but she held fast to her control, ignoring the grievous burning of her throat and lungs.

"Uhh... Well, um... There's this thing..."

"Well?" Neji was becoming curious as his prodigy brain added a few things up. He smirked. For Akira being such a calm and collected girl, she was a complete mess when a guy neared her personal space or teased her. A sadistic jerk would have found it strangely... pleasing.

(Basically, Neji's a sadistic jerk.)

Akira collected her scrambled thoughts together and blurted in one breath, "You see, I was wondering if you'd be willing to go out... with a friend of mine!"

Neji blinked and for the first time in a long while (excluding when he found out Akira was a girl,) surprise etched onto his features. "You mean...?"

"My... f-friend," she sputtered, her loss of breath starting to make her feel a bit woozy. This was just as nerve-wracking as asking him out for herself! Tenten owed her one so badly. "I think she, uh, likes you, and uh..."

"..." Neji frowned. So wait, she was trying to set him up... with her friend?

"Look, I know you don't like me or whatever, but please. Please... It would really mean a lot to me. And I guarantee that you won't regret it: Tenten's awesome," Akira said as they closed in on their last two hundred meters. She wasn't very good at asking for favors, probably because she had rarely had to do so before entering the Boys' Academy, but she was going out of her way to make her friend happy. As much as Neji appreciated the good intention, he wasn't about to do something he didn't want to without any payment.

"If I go on this date... Would you owe me one?" Akira glanced up at him, staring into his lavender orbs. She broke out into a smile, knowing this meant that he was giving in.

"One favor in exchange for one date with Tenten?" she thought aloud, shrugging as she pumped a fist into the air. "Sounds good!"

He cracked a smile at her energetic behavior, barely tired from the eight laps. She was really something.

"Sounds good."

After a minute or so where more than half the guys on the team had gathered in, Anko cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted, "The five of you! Hurry up!"

The five guys remaining on the track eventually finished their eight laps. Anko began speaking. "For those of you who aren't new to our Konoha High's Soccer Team, there's a certain place we go to after the first several weeks of practices: Boot Camp!"

The sweaty, exhausted boys suddenly started smiling widely, high-fiving each other and laughing. Akira raised a brow.

"Boot Camp...?" Akira whispered, solely to her, but Sasuke caught it.

"In the tenth grade, you start to go to Soccer Boot Camp, and every year after as long as you're still on the team," he explained. "Improves endurance, and it's also the preliminary games."

Akira nodded comprehensibly as Anko cackled, "Alrighty, permission forms are outside the office, if ya don't hand 'em, you're not going, and I'm going to whip your ass off the team!"

"Bring it on," Akira breathed, breaking out into a grin.

"Hey, Hayashi-kun, wanna be in my cabin?" The 'Cute Foreigner', who Akira still failed to know the name of, hung an arm around her shoulders. Being so close, she could make out the musky scent of his deodorant. She nearly blushed when she found the sweat dripping down the side of his face surprisingly stomach churning.

Clearing her throat, she blurted, "Uhh... Sure! We'll see-"

"I call the top bunk off of our Striker!" Hikari shouted as he ran to fetch the soccer balls, flashing Akira brilliant grin.

"WHAT? HEY, THAT'S CHEAP, I WANT A TOP BU-!" As soon as she caught the glare Neji was giving her, she cleared her throat.

"Careful who's in your cabin, Akira." Biting her lip, she nodded and jogged over to the pile of soccer balls, eager to escape his death daggers.

"Overprotective, Hyuuga?" Shou commented offhandedly when Akira was out of hearing range.

"Want to actually do something, Shou, you lazy-ass?" Hikari interrupted, tossing a soccer ball at Shou.

"Shaddup, tool," Shou snorted, dribbling the ball onto the turf.

"Overprotective, Hyuuga?" Kiba repeated teasingly, showing he had heard the brief conversation. Neji glowered at him.

"Jealous, Inuzuka?"

"Don't change the topic."

Sasuke observed in silence as the conversations broke out, and the taunts began. The guys on their soccer team were no amateurs when it came to winning: these were the same guys who had achieved Gold and Silver standings in the National games. They weren't guys who were easily impressed, but they knew a good soccer player when they saw one.

Akira was the team's Striker. If they hadn't been giving her all their attention before, they surely would now.

"Uchiha!" The Onyx top nearly let the ball whizz past him before, but managed to have his reflexes kick in and stop the ball at his foot. He glanced up Akira, a cheeky grin on her face. She had seen him zoning out, and gave him a head tilt in place of a silent 'what's wrong?'

He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, eyes downcast as he kicked the ball onto the field. She shrugged and dribbled the ball out into the turf, eyes scanning her spread out roommates. Humming, she wondered if they would specially request to share a room with her during the boot camp, just for her sake.

...Naaah. That'd be kinda creepy.

-X-

"I don't need you guys to room with me for Camp!" Akira whimpered for the 4th time. Everyone was in the room, and Shikamaru soon caught up with the Boot Camp news when he got back mid-soccer practice. Immediately he proposed to room with her and just how life would have it, the other 5 overheard and decided that is was either 'all of them, or none of them'.

And it sure as heck wasn't going to be the latter.

"I'll be fine: I won't be as unlucky as I was with you guys..." The nonchalant expression on their face made the blood rise in her own. She blurted, "DO YOU WANT THEM THINKING WE'RE HAVING SOME BEST FRIEND PORN GROUP GOING ON BETWEEN THE SIX OF US?"

Gaara didn't even spare her a glance. "You're thinking too much."

"You guys are thinking too much; I know everyone on the team is nice! I know who to look out for and stuff... like... that..." They finally responded with a roll of their eyes, or a sarcastic 'oh, really?' look. Her nostrils flared as imaginary steam came out her ears. "Dude, I want to make friends with the other guys too!"

"I thought you came here for the soccer," Neji riposted, "or was I mistaken?"

"I did. But... Ahh, this is so stupid! Just let me have some social freedom?" she grumbled. "You guys are acting like my parents!"

"We just don't want you to get kicked out, Akira," Kiba murmured, immaturely outlining circles around his anklebone.

She heaved a sigh and pouted a bit as she pondered. They were right... Maybe I won't be as lucky next time and if my cover gets blown, I'll have to say goodbye to this school, and probably get kicked out of my own for my actions!

Growling, she leaped off her bed and landed with her feet on the hardwood floor. "Fine!"

They all glanced over at her, curious as to what she was about to say. "Don't say I didn't try, though! You guys are stuck together even during the one opportunity you have to be free from each other's clutches!" She opened the washroom door and turned around to face everyone. "Oh, and just for revenge, I'm making Neji sleep across from Sasuke during Camp! So that every morning, you get to see HIS face! Gaara is going to have to keep his bloody shirt on at all times, because I don't want to see his abs all up in my face all day. Kiba has to stop calling me Akira-chan," Kiba opened his mouth to protest, but one sharp look from Akira made him fall back and whimper like a puppy, "and Shikamaru... I don't know. I'm pretty sure I piss you off as it is. If zombies ever chase us, I'm tripping you."

"But more importantly," she cackled. "You're all just going to have to deal with a troublesome woman on her pissed off menstruation cycle, ALL. WEEK. LONG."

Slamming the door behind her, Kiba, Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru looked at the door bewildered, before sighing and going back to what they were doing, less energetic and more distracted. Gaara simply rolled his eyes and continued with the reading of his book.

Kiba whispered, "I think Akira-chan's on her time of the - OWW!"

They all stared at the bar of soap that had been hurled at Kiba, hitting him directly in the side of his head.

"The shower door is next," snapped the voice from inside the washroom. The door slammed shut again, making the members of the room wince. Kiba didn't dare speak again until the sink was turned on, justifying that his whispers wouldn't be heard.

"... Is it weird that I still like her when she's angry?"

None of the boys knew the answer to his question.

(They were all wondering the same thing. )

End Chapter.