A/N: Would you look at that, I can actually make a quick update XD Hope you like it

Disclaimer: I only own Hitori

After Kakashi refused to train me, in favor of training Sasuke I might add, I found myself walking to a training ground in the woods. There I met with Kurenai. I bowed, "Thank you for agreeing to train me Kurenai sensei."

She laughed, "You don't have to be so polite. You're a bright young girl so I'm delighted." I raised my head and smiled as she continued to talk, "Shino will be joining us, too. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Just as I said that Shino emerged quietly from the trees. I held my hand out to him, "Guess we'll be training together." He just stared at my hand so I withdrew. So much for being polite… Normally I wouldn't be so formal with anyone but Kakashi said I should at least try so I did.

After seeing our awkward exchange Kurenai decided to explain how she wanted us to train. From morning til afternoon I would have training with Shino like Kurenai originally said, but in the evening Shino's father would train him personally which is when Kurenai could train me one-on-one as well.

While with Shino I mostly sparred and the fights were entirely silent for a quite a while. In fact it took him three days to say anything. "Your observation skills are excellent." Naturally I beamed at the praise, but my smile vanished when he added, "But you forget them too easily in a fight." It's true that I was angry with him, but I also knew he was right. Normally I could easily spot genjutsu, but when fighting with Zaku I had completely forgotten about his female companion. Then when watching Lee I forgot about Zaku.

Still I couldn't let the comment go, "You have no fighting strength without your bugs." Not the best comeback, but true.

Whether or not he was offended I couldn't be sure, but we spent the rest of the spar pointing out each other's weaknesses. When we finally stopped for lunch we had something that resembled a conversation although most of it was about bugs because it's Shino's favorite topic. Then we sparred for another hour before Shino left to train with his father.

From then I trained personally with Kurenai. I learned on the first day why Kakashi had asked Kurenai to train me, she was a genjutsu specialist. There are five different ways people use genjutsu. Sight is one of the most common ones because then the opponent looks at you is caught in the genjutsu. Sound tends to involve a musical instrument and specific songs. Taste and smell tend to be ones more commonly used in interrogation or espionage missions. Then, one of the rarest forms, is touch. It is so rare because most genjutsu users specialize in the mind and fight from afar. However, with my hands on fighting style we decided that it would make the most sense.

While training with Kurenai I discovered another reason why it was so rare. Genjutsu is a specific kind of jutsu and requires considerable of concentration. My close combat fighting style required a lot of thinking on my feet which is much harder while trying to maintain my chakra in the perfect way that will give the illusion I wanted it to. Trying to learn to incorporate this into my fighting style took its toll but despite the strain it put on my body I stayed up after training to do my normal research.

With my busy schedule I completely lost track of what was going on with the rest of team 7. Instead I had to satisfy any needs for human interaction with Kurenai and Shino. It was somewhat harder trying to talk to Shino because it seemed the only thing he was interested in was bugs. After much pestering, however, I concluded he actually did care about people; he just wasn't sure how to interact with them.

He truly cared for his teammates to the point where sometimes I think I learned more about them than Shino himself. Before I knew it I was laughing at Shino while he was complaining about Kiba's ways of practicing with Akamaru. After I was introduced to many of his bugs. It was strange to me that he cared so much about them to give each of them a name but I decided that it was just like him.

It was a lot of work, but by the end of the month I had perfected my genjutsu so we decided to take the day before the exams off. Surprisingly, after learning that I have no family of my own, Shino invited me to have dinner with his family. His mother was delighted that he had any friends over while his father, much like Shino himself, was silent. It was Shino's mother that carried the conversation but she was good at making it sound natural so I assumed she was used to it. Sometime during dinner I realized that it was the closest I'd been to a family dinner since Orochimaru. For once it didn't make me angry. Shino was the first friend I had that still had a family and it made me happy to see that there were still good things in life, so I giggled as Shino's mom told Shino and his dad that they shouldn't wear their jackets at the table.

I thanked them for the meal then left for the library. For the past month I had been studying genjutsu to help with my jutsu, but this time I wanted to study other techniques that I had seen the genins use. Though for once in my life I left the library early to get a good nights sleep. I was ready for the final exams.

A/N: I've been wanting to do this chapter for a while. I mean, come on, both Shino and genjutsu are under-appreciated so here they are in the same chapter :D As such, Hitori is a genjutsu type and she is friends with Shino so he will show up more, too. Please review, I truly love your reviews even if they're simple.