A/N: Just a re-upload of a chapter where I had a few finally problems with grammar and such. Nothing major for anyone whose already read it...

When the Academies first came into creation nearly two centuries ago, it became quickly apparent that children born with these unique and special Abilities required a different upbringing in comparison to the otherwise normal children. It was never a matter of which children deserved better, or for that matter which were thought to be better. The Council in charge of each Academy agreed to their creation for one unanimous reason; the insurance that these children would grow to be productive, fruitful and at the core law-abiding citizens. There was always an underlining fear that these children, if left unwatched, could grow into powerful beings that would one day turn against humanity.

While some countries sought to simply eradicate the problem, the majority saw the truth behind the potential such powerful beings held. With the cooperation of the largest Families at the time, the Academies were constructed as a means of nurturing these children. Part of the agreement put into place with the Families insured that the children would remain with them until they reached a mature age, at which point they would relocate to the Academy their Family was associated with, spending the next five to ten years of their life in 'training'.

While training their abilities has always been an obvious goal for Academy teachers, they also undertook the far more difficult task of training personalities. Problematic students often found themselves being held back, undergoing courses that would eventually weed out any character traits that could pose as potential threats in the future. The Academies true goal is to never graduate a student that could one day turn against society.

With these ideas in mind, certain events throughout the year were created in order to monitor and help evaluate which individual students have progressed. The Training Camp is one of the oldest and longest standing traditions of evaluating students, and while it has changed dramatically over the years, to this day it remains as a final test for students. Taking place at the end of each term, it provides a student with three chances a year in which they might potentially rise in rank, getting one step closer to graduation.

For nearly the entire history of Konoha Academy, the Training Camp was held in the same place and conducted in the exact same way; it was only twenty odd years ago that things changed dramatically. Originally, students would be relocated for two weeks into forestry owned by the Academy, where they would team up into partnerships and spend their time sparring, training and also learning from each other. The last two days were always put aside for an all out Sports Event, in which each team would compete against everyone. Despite how it sounded however, the event was purely for fun, for points were given not to whom won the events, but over the oddest of situations such as who laughed the most or who pranked the most. Apparently, each Sports Event held unique rules, which were never revealed until afterwards.

In the end however, something happened that forced the Academy to forever terminate the use of the Sports Event. The teachers were sworn into secrecy, the students eventually all graduated and no records remain that can reveal a single thing. Whatever it was that forced two fun-filled days to become a thing of the past is, apparently, a secret no one is willing to reveal. The following year plans began for a facility to be built that would house the Training Camp from that point on. Over the year's it has been frequently renovated, to the point that it reminds most of the students of some sort of space age military training camp, which in a sense, is exactly what it is.

"This Facility is twice as large as the campus grounds, housing specialized rooms that allow students to call forth their power at whatever level they desire without fear of harming their environment. Constantly monitored, we teachers also find that we can now keep a watchful eye on our students without directly interfering, allowing your teams to truly be alone throughout the days. Though you will be alone, you need not fear any type of severe bodily harm coming your way.

"Training leads to injuries, for you new students where this is your first experience of the Training Camp, get used to that fact. Sparring matches back at campus are nothing compared to what you will be going through over the next two weeks with your partner. You'll be training together, and against each other at points. While we will be watching and will interfere should anything overly dangerous take place, we will not swoop in and protect your behinds from simple and otherwise avoidable attacks. We don't coddle you here. Remember, this is your final evaluation, the point in which to show us how far you've come in the past four months, and just what you're worth."

Like every other term end, this was about the time Sasuke started tuning the teachers out. It was thanks to the unique structure of the Academy that allowed students to enter at the start of any term, which meant that come time for the end of term evaluation there was always at least one student that required an orientation; this was already his eighth time coming here for Training Camp however. There was little else for him to learn from paying attention, so instead of sticking around he walked over to where their luggage was being pulled out of the bus along with most of the other students.

While there were definitely enough training rooms for everyone, they were also open to be picked by students at a first come first serve basis. He knew which rooms would best serve them the next two weeks and he also knew which to avoid. Not wanting to chance getting stuck in such rooms as the aqua training facilities; it would do neither of them any good, Sasuke wasted no time in hurrying along.

Despite the fact they would be here for two weeks and that the facility was fully stocked with individual suites for sleeping quarters, as well as a cafeteria and laundry service, it was still essentially a camp, a fancy upscale camp. That was the reason why all of Sasuke's belongings fit into a single large duffle bag, which he grabbed by the strap and flung onto his shoulder. Most of the guys had come prepared much as he had, yet he could already tell the girls, once again, had come with far too much luggage. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed Hinata reaching for a suitcase; last term she came with only a large carry on bag. He only noticed because she was one of the few girls without much in terms of luggage, yet now it appeared she had at least twice as much, though he supposed the blonde at her side was a good indicator as to why. Ino Yamanaka was many things, including a fashion fanatic who liked to force her opinions onto others, even her friends. Although Hinata had avoided her for some time, it appeared even Hyuga sensibilities could not withstand Yamanaka pigheadedness.

Suppressing a sigh, Sasuke proceeded to Hinata's side. It was during the ride over that he came to recall a rather crucial matter to their partnership. In the past, in order to avoid discomforts with room arrangements people were given the option to choose separate partners to room with. As of this term, due to certain rule breaking individuals last term, things had entirely changed and everyone was now forced to room with their partner. It was a fact he'd forgotten until today, and from the nervous blush that crept onto Hinata's face, he was assuming she'd also been reminded. Without waiting for a response on her part, he spoke first.

"Why don't you go pick out our quarters while I get our training room. I'm going to aim for one of the rooms by the north-west side, try to get quarters close by." In the end he was ordering, not asking, and while he barely stuck around to see her acknowledge him with a swift nod, he knew she'd do her best. The shy Hyuga always tried her best to please.

Thirteen minutes later he opened the door to their picked out sleeping quarters, slightly pleased at how everything worked out. Given his higher rank, he often spent weekends here to train, so he had easily found his way to the better training rooms. He hadn't run, Uchiha's do not run for just any reason, however he did make good time and get his first pick. As it turned out, Hinata managed to acquire a room that was barely a two-minute walk away, and the west-side cafeteria was only an extra five minutes walk. All around, he felt they'd both picked well. Of course he had had to text her, having acquired her number earlier on the bus ride, to find out the room number.

Approaching one of three doors in their quarters, he took note of the fact Hinata had already picked a bedroom out, One door was shut so he could not accidentally walk in on her while the other two remained open; one led into their shared bathroom while the other was for the second bedroom.

Some quarters were more stocked than others, having separate bedrooms and bathrooms with the inclusion of a tub, such as the room they would now be sharing. Others were arranged more like studio rooms with the beds left out in the open, and while he didn't necessarily mind those when he was alone, or with a fellow male student, the enclosed space was personally welcomed especially this time around. When he'd made the choice to pick her as his partner he'd somehow forgotten the little tidbit where they shared rooms; was that why everyone was making such a big deal over the male/female partnerships?

A slight shake of his head and Sasuke set his bag down, immediately unzipping it and going about unpacking. While he hadn't brought much, it would still be a two-week stay, and he preferred not to live out of a duffle bag for the entirety of their stay. His room accommodated him well enough, with a twin bed, a chest of drawers, a bedside table, a small trunk at the end of his bed and even a small window with a view of the grounds. While there was no closet, he had to agree there was hardly any need for that much storage space. Everything he had fit well into the chest of drawers or the trunk.

Over all, unpacking took him a little over five minutes.

Walking back into the common room area, he instantly frowned toward Hinata's bedroom. Was she still unpacking? Straining his hearing, he caught what sounded like rustling of clothes. With the amount of luggage she'd brought, he supposed it was possible for her to take longer.

Repressing a sigh, Sasuke turned to the couch and fell back as he picked up a remote and decided to channel surf; perhaps he could catch a sports event of some sort while waiting on her….

Nearly thirty minutes later, his patience was worn thin. There was no way it would take her nearly an hour to unpack, so why hadn't she come out yet? Didn't she know they had things to go over on the first day? Resisting the urge to glare at her door, he tried instead to be polite, as polite as Sasuke Uchiha ever was.

"Hinata?" Calling from the couch, he did at least mute the television so as to insure they could hear each other, and waited for a response. He hated repeating himself, especially when no reply came. "Hi-na-ta!" Taking the time to raise his voice slightly and emphasis every syllable of her name, he honestly hoped for her sake she didn't continue to test him.

This time he received a response, or at least he thought he did as he could have sworn he heard an "Eep!" coming from behind the door. After a moment of silence, a dreadfully long moment in his opinion where he contemplated throwing the remote at her door in order to garner more reaction, the door finally opened. He could barely make out her face through the tiny creak of space she'd provided, yet it was at least enough so that he could hear her when she finally answered him.

"Y-y-yes?"

This time, he did sigh. Heavily. Her reaction confirmed his growing fear about the whole situation, and calmly he looked away from her bedroom door for a moment, shutting his eyes and counting backwards from one hundred.

She must have forgotten about the new rule about the bedroom accommodations, and as such was now in a state of well…fear? Utter shyness? Being angry with the girl that was obviously at wits end over sharing such closed quarters with a male wasn't exactly the best way to go about calming her out of her bedroom, and he really did need to speak with her.

He made it to 84 by the time he felt himself calm enough to speak and opened his eyes, so that he could glance toward her doorway, hoping she hadn't retreated within just yet. Thankfully, her door was still opened perhaps by an inch, her eyes, or eye as far as he could see, glued onto the floor.

"You forgot about the new rule as well didn't you?" His simple statement must have caught her by surprise, because her eye quickly lifted to meet his in shock, and as if confirming something, she opened her door enough to at least fully peek her head out.

"I wasn't thinking about this when I requested you to be my partner. I…" Pausing, he let the words hang on the tip of his tongue for a moment, hating the taste it would bring to admit he, in all his perfection, forgot something as simple as a new rooming rule. And yet she was staring right at him now and even as he thought it he knew she knew as well. Was that a tiny smile playing over her lips? Wait, was she laughing at him now? Well, at least not physically, but there was definitely mirth in her eyes as she kept on staring, so he grunted and looked away, embarrassed by the sudden realization that despite his typical gruff nature toward females, he couldn't go about lying to her.

She was going to be more trouble then he originally ever thought.

"You were saying Sasuke?" Her voice came out so confidently, yet that wasn't why his eyes swivelled back in her direction. There was definitely a hint of something in her words, yet whether she was merely amused by some newfound knowledge, or she was attempting to taunt him, he couldn't figure out. His eyes narrowed either way.

"You know exactly what I was going to say." So he looked away, again, this time unable to handle the smile that played on her face. Apparently, as frustrating as the past minute had just been for him, she must have found something else in them because the door creaked open more and she fully stepped out of her bedroom. Well finally, progress.

"You really shouldn't be worried anyways. They're monitoring us, remember? I can't exactly do anything to you if the teachers are keeping an eye on us." Unmuting the television, he lowered the volume enough so that they could still easily converse; yet he could continue paying attention to the tennis match. Nothing else was currently on.

"W-what? But they wouldn't be watching our rooms! That's…they can't do that!" Now he did arch a brow and peered toward her, catching her flustered face, which was slowly turning into the shade of a tomato as her hands were pressed to her cheeks. Did she honestly think that's what he meant? He couldn't resist a tiny smirk slipping onto his face. Adorable.

"They're monitoring this room, not our bedrooms Hinata. The only ones unlucky to have their sleeping video taped are the ones stuck with the studio rooms. Bedrooms and bathrooms are completely off-limits; it's not like they have enough of a death wish to spy on us, what with the type of people they'd be upsetting. Could you imagine what would happen if your pink-haired friend found out something like that?" She gave a tiny giggle as if considering the thought, and slowly let out a relieved sigh.

Oddly, Sasuke began to wonder since when he talked so much. There were only two other people that ever got him talking and both were the biggest annoyances of his life. Naruto he could definitely do without; most of the time anyways, since he could reluctantly admit the guy was at least a worthy distraction. His brother though…forget about that one there.

"Well, why don't you sit? We should go over our schedule before lunch." With a glance her way, he noticed her giving a tiny nod and her slow eventual walk toward the couch. Apparently, excess furniture wasn't a luxury even in their quarters, however at least the couch was a typical three-seater, and he had positioned himself at the far right side in order to rest idly against one of the armrests. After walking around behind the couch, she settled down on her own corner. Eying the single space between them with obvious anxiety, he could already tell this was going to be a trying two weeks. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about her invading his personal space, as she seemed hell bent on staying as far away from it as possible. That was a plus, certainly….

~XDXDXDXD~

"We weren't expecting you until the new term. This is quite…unexpected."

"Hmm, will it be a problem?"

"Wha…ah, no no of course not. Kakashi can show you to your room…"

"Unless things have changed so much in the last decade, I remember my way around."

"Hahaha…I wasn't…I mean I didn't…what I'm trying to say is…"

"Ah Iruka, I think Naruto was calling for you, grumbling about getting a smaller room or some such."

"What…that Naruto, of course he's bound to get a smaller room, he's not on a team! Ah…excuse me."

…

…

"Did you really have to scare him so much?"

"Hmm, did you have to save him so quickly?"

"…I forgot how much you enjoy that. So, should I tell him you're here? I'm sure he'll be jumping with joy once he knows."

"Kakashi…don't spoil all my fun. He'll know soon enough."

"Heh, can't say I wouldn't mind watching him get twitchy. From what I hear he's rather…terrified of you."

"Oh? I'm surprised he admitted to such a thing."

"Not on purpose. It has something to do with mixing vodka and whiskey, and nearly having his stomach pumped. Before it grew that dangerous however, he was quite talkative, and your name came up…often."

"Hmm…I assure you, everything he grumbled about was most likely true."

"Heh, I never doubted it for a second. I'm not nearly as old as some like to think I am, I clearly remember your first years with the Bureau."

"Ah yes, such pleasant memories."

"For you…I'm sure your victims would think less fondly of those moments."

"A shame…and yet they are all stronger for it."

"Really, the way you train people is absurd. Try not to use it too often here; remember they're still young."

"I never give more than can be taken."

"Ah, ha-ha-ha…So, they'll be coming next term? I was hoping to avoid certain confrontations."

"As was the President, but it could not be postponed any longer. We can only remain vigilant and insure nothing goes wrong."

"Which is why you showed up before hand to get any practical jokes out of your system?"

"…I do not joke about."

"Tell that to Sasuke, he seems adamant you're sole purpose is to make his life a living hell."

"Humph, my brother needs to appreciate my consideration for his well being more."

"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way. Well, since you don't tease him, at all, I suppose you could care less about who his partner is this time around, a partner he specifically requested."

…

"Is there something special about this partner?"

"Well, her power is a bit unique, I'll admit."

"…my little brother requested a female partner? And I was under the impression partners were now forced to share quarters."

"That they are."

"…Might I inquire as to who this female is?"

"Ah, a cute little thing, rather shy around males no less. Never knew the kid had it in him. Goes by the name Hinata Hyuga."

"A Hyuga hmm…wait, Hinata? That name has been mentioned at the Bureau before…."

"It ought to have been, she inherited the rather unique Hyuga ability to mind read."

"Hmm, yes. They can't wait to get their hands on her; I hear her father is overly protective however. For her sake, I hope it's enough to keep her out of some of the Bureau's darker clutches."

"The Hyuga's hardly ever let go of any of their own, ever, and their Princess is a rather unique case at that. She has her own personal Knight along for the ride."

"Indeed…what has my foolish little brother gotten himself into now…?"

~XDXDXDXD~

Standing in line for their lunch, Sasuke felt a sudden chill along his spine, yet resisted the urge to shiver. The feeling that came along with it however turned his usual apathetic face into a slow glower. He only ever got that feeling when one of two people were involved, and since it was highly improbable for one, his eyes quickly scanned over the room in search of a particular blond haired criminal. Naruto had to be up to something.

"Hey bastard, stop glaring so much! You're wilting the flowers!" That obnoxious voice caused his eye to twitch, just once, before Sasuke turned his attention behind him, toward the obvious cause of his recent distress.

"What are you planning moron, and don't feign innocence. I can read you like a book….a picture book that is." A smirk to accompany the words seemed to cause the blond to remain speechless for a moment, as he attempted to figure out just what he'd said. Anger quickly followed along.

"Wha-, hey! Who you calling simple? And I'll have you know not all picture books are simple to read! Some have no words at all and you have to figure out what's going on with your imagination."

"So you're a simplistic buffoon with an over active imagination, point taken." Turning away from the blond, Sasuke decided to let the matter drop for now as he noticed the line had moved and it was now his turn to request a meal. Behind him Naruto continued arguing, yet Sasuke refused to acknowledge the moron. There were times he enjoyed egging Naruto on; at others it was far more satisfying to simply ignore his roommate. Both resulted in a rather upset blond, and an internally amused Sasuke.

As for just what Naruto was planning, Sasuke was fairly certain he'd find out soon enough as Naruto hardly had patience enough to hold himself back for long. He was already beginning to feel the next two weeks would be…eventful.

Another chill ran along his spine and Sasuke swivelled around to scan his eyes over the entire cafeteria. This time the feeling belonged more to caution, and even danger. As his eyes narrowed and scanned the place, he couldn't pinpoint anything that could elicit such a feeling. A feeling of dread began sinking into his gut. It had to be his imagination; there…there was no way he was here.

After all, who in their right mind would let Itachi near a bunch of teenagers…right?