~Chapter 10~

Endurance Confirmed

Sasuke walked slowly to the Uchiha complex, passing along villagers who were absorbed in their own little worlds but would still give him the lingering stares. He on the other hand couldn't get the new girl out of his head. The young Uchiha had every intention of sparring with her after having seen her first taijutsu battle, and even more so after the fight with Ino. Yet the girl obviously cared little for fighting back. He was baffled, like everyone else, about her attitude towards their instructor. His eyebrows scrunched up in thought. The sun was now setting.

He stopped in the street, staring down at his clenched fists. He hadn't even noticed before.

It's not like I'm concerned…she's interesting…different, like me…that's it.

He had to reassure himself to calm his nerves. He was thinking too much about her already. It was priority not to become attached to people anymore. He needed a clear and focused mind to obtain his goal. And so, he decided, he would figure out this girl's predicament to ease his thoughts. Then he could move on to what he should be worrying about: his brother.

Kinata was especially tired. She got to class early, having wanted to leave the home while her guardians were still sleep. They had been abnormally chastising last night, complaining about the lack of progress in the police force. Kigetsu had claimed that he'd been robbed of his cash on his spur-of-the-moment stroll. Or so went his lie this time to Mura. She was naïve, Kinata had discovered, to a sickening point. Anything he told her had to be fact. She could never put 2 and 2 together.

The young girl had snuck out for a walk to get away from their intoxicated ranting. Nevertheless, it seemed hopeless to try and avoid the conclusive period of receiving a headache from their endless slurs and misunderstandings. They hadn't let her rest at all last night.

Now she sat in the farthest seat to the upper left, next to one of the vast windows, waiting for the other students to arrive. Iruka-sensei luckily didn't lecture her for her actions on Friday concerning Ino. He'd simply said, "Good morning, Kinata." She had given him a small smile in return, mumbling the same. Her head was still throbbing at the temples from her headache. Kinata closed her eyes, rubbing the sides of her head. The day was sure to be long, slow, and treacherous. That much she could foresee. Her shoulder tingled a bit but she'd always recovered from wounds at a decent rate, most likely due to her bloodline. That much she was grateful for.

Iruka-sensei wrote on the board the lessons in order down the left side. Transformation Jutsu. Replacement Jutsu. Kaishuriken Jutsu. Stamina Level. Underneath the four lessons was the Riddle of the Day. Hinata came in, surprised to see that her friend had chosen a new location for their seating arrangement. Students had no assigned spots, though the two girls would sit up closer. The Hyuga girl scooted in to the right of her, smiling at the seemingly distracted female.

"Hello Kinata." She glanced at Hinata, giving her a quick and forced smile.

"Morning." More students piled in. Usually she would participate in some of the off-handed conversations, today though she kept to herself. The others left her alone, acknowledging how exhausted she appeared. Hinata bit her lip. She was worried but her friend refused to give her any details about the struggles of her life, so Hinata would have to support her while being left in the dark as to what she was even supporting her from.

Soon everyone but Naruto had arrived, which was no surprise. He was normally pulling time-consuming pranks when he was absent from class. Kinata sighed. The Uzumaki boy had a good friendship with her, but he had a mind of being spontaneous and sometimes obnoxious. It had been interesting and fun so far, but troublesome just the same. With her accompanying the infamous "problem-child" she was being labeled as a rebel now too. It was attention she didn't need, especially when she'd told herself to be low-key.

Iruka-sensei went over a question in different terms for a third time. Perhaps it was that she'd begun intensive training in her many younger years, but the repetitive worksheets and explanations were slowly becoming pointless to her. On better days, she had just considered it amusing when her classmates wore puzzling expressions after being handed out the new lesson packets. Besides Shikimaru, Sakura, Atsu, Byakuya, and Sasuke, everyone had usually been stumped when it came to calculating the equations of adjusting chakra and stamina levels. These were topics that Kinata had been going over for a week now in class. When she'd first arrived, the subject was ending and it had been over summoning scrolls.

The new matter of discussion had the whole class (besides the five and Kinata) constantly asking questions and making Iruka-sensei repeat himself. She was hoping that on this day her peers would pay attention. Her aching mind recalled how little patience she would have. Asking her to endure idiotic reactions was just too much. Just as Iruka-sensei moved on from Transformation Jutsu and the levels which referenced it, small swirls of air circled around his head. At first their teacher didn't notice. The force made his ponytail fly up, and some of the classmates began to giggle or snicker. That was when he caught on, more so when the wind blew up his vest.

His face became red. The jutsu quit, and in popped Naruto, the proud culprit, through the bottom window. He knew how to sneak in each of the large windows, and had showed Kinata how to do the same. Said girl was shaking her head at the blonde-haired boy standing next to an infuriated sensei. Oh boy, here we go… On cue, Iruka-sensei yelled at Naruto, sending him to his seat and punished the whole class along with him. He made each of them stand up and on the spot come up with a stationary genjutsu to go against a wind jutsu. It was a tricky problem and had most of the students pausing in embarrassment. The blonde boy gained a lot of glares at the end of it.

Hours into class, Iruka-sensei paused in his lecture, noticing Kinata staring blankly out the window at nothing in particular.

"Kinata?" The room was pretty quiet, but the girl was lost in a daze. Her mind rolled away towards another thought pattern, one concerning her current home and the time it would take to obtain her own shelter. Her living conditions as of now were too tough mentally on her to train properly.

"Kinata!" She jumped a bit at Iruka-sensei's booming voice yelling her name. At this point, most of the students were staring at her curiously.

"Er, yes Sensei?" He dramatically sighed, crossing his hands.

"Are you even paying attention?" She gave him an apologetic look.

"Kind of…well mostly…mm, sorry." She gave him a cheesy grin. He shook his head.

"Hmph. Well Ms. Iwatsuru, as you deem yourself fit to drift off for the day's lesson, I'll assume you must know the riddle as well." Some of her classmates turned to read the riddle, now trying to figure it out for themselves silently. Kinata frowned as their teacher continued. "But, get it wrong, and I'll deduct 40% of everyone's grades."

An eruption of groans and outright complaints immediately ensued. Sakura sat at on of the closest tables to his desk, but she stood up to face him.

"But Iruka-sense, that is sooo unfair! I work hard to have a good grade, and just because Kinata won't listen doesn't mean we don't! 40% is sooo not reasonable!" Her comment had major anxiety in it.

He ignored her however, staring Kinata down while frowning, as Kinata truly looked irritated. Why was he putting her on the spot? Was her attitude on Friday now coming to bite her in the ass? He had tried this once before on her first week of being there, when he'd observed how well she'd understood the strategy uses of summoning. She'd given smooth and accurate results when everyone else really had no clue (besides a few who didn't care to answer). She hadn't even realized how big of a deal it was, and none of her peers really understood the sequential magnitude of her intelligence, but Iruka-sensei had.

"I do NOT want to hear it class! Most of you have been slacking off and I see it more every day. I want you kids to start paying attention. You are the future generation of ninjas! This village will one day rely on what you have learned here as young shinobi. You all must prove your worth when that day comes. And can any of you here say that? No! Because worthy ninjas DON'T slack off!"

Her classmates simultaneously rolled their eyes or gave 'huphed' sighs in response to Iruka-sensei's tirade. Kinata held back the urge to laugh though. It was simply ironic. She could understand their teacher's frustration, as most of them rarely would take their lessons seriously. However, she not only had a great grasp on the majority of their assignments, but she was always tuning in, no matter if it came off looking like she wasn't. Today had been the first when she'd wondered off into her own thoughts.

So now she contemplated her current dilemma. She could assist Iruka-sensei in proving his point….or…she could prove her point to Iruka-sensei. She dropped her gaze from the teacher to her sheets laid out before her. Decisions, decisions. What would mother have me do? Hinata moved restlessly beside her.

Sasuke glared from the side. He was sitting at the same table as the two girls, on the right of Hinata. He had been in an abnormally bad mood, wanting to be as far away as possible from Sakura. He could not handle her today. He had realized upon waking that the morning was the anniversary of his clan's slaughter. And now he stared at Kinata who was trying to decide something. His day was only getting worse. He held back a growl. Tch, just great. He thought sarcastically. When she gets it wrong I'll have to put in even more time, or do some extra work towards the Replacement Jutsu. It'll take at the very least another whole week to maintain my grade again. He frowned. Why was he forced to be with idiotic colleagues? Albeit he didn't get the riddle himself, needless to say though, it wasn't his problem. She looked ready to reply but hesitated.

"Wait. That doesn't seem fair. I'm only punished for my answer?" Iruka-sensei looked taken back. She continued, "I suggest that you give my classmates extra credit to compensate the 40% deduction if I answer the riddle correctly. Otherwise, I don't even feel motivated to answer at all." She shrugged at his stunned and irked expression. Most of the students were grinning, and Sasuke had to hold back a smirk. Maybe she wasn't an idiot.

"Motivation? Ugh, fine! I'll give 40 points in extra credit to the whole class, IF Kinata can answer thoroughly." He crossed his hands defiantly. "Now enough stalling. I need an answer."

Kinata sighed. She dropped her head on her left hand that stood up to support it. Headache…go away. Not that begging in her mind would help the pain. She looked back up to the board, squinting her eyes, then back down to her piece of paper.

Today's Riddle

Why is there need for a replacement jutsu to better the odds of defeating your opponent?

Opponent: *Battle of 6 minutes Max You:

Average Chakra Level- 100% Chakra Level, 100% Stamina Level Average Chakra Level- 100% Chakra Level, 100% Stamina Level

Attacks In Order: Attacks In Order:

Frontal Assault Jutsu, Defensive Forefront Jutsu,

Base Kick, Low Block

Re-assemble Formation, -Impact Hit to the Ribs-

Transformation Jutsu, Offensive Back-turn Jutsu

Defensive Forefront Jutsu 180-turn Kick Spin

Level 2 Summoning, Level 2 Summoning

High Kick, Upper Block

Ending with Kaishuriken Jutsu Replacement Jutsu?

Sakura was pouting, cursing the new girl. Her parents would be so angry at her if her grades went down! She couldn't help feeling giddy about how dumb she'd look in front of Sasuke. He had chosen to come in last minute and sit up at their table in the far back. He was being really mean too. She felt a brewing jealousy for the pretty new girl. She had really long hair – just what Sasuke liked. She was good at taijutsu – just like Sasuke. And she didn't even go after the super cute Uchiha boy – something Sasuke preferred. Sakura's fists clenched, her inner voice growling to go after the girl somehow. She needed that new girl out of the picture! And this was a good start.

Shikamaru frowned. He sat in the back in the middle row, and had a good view of Kinata. There is no way she can come up with an answer. There's no possible aversion to even use the replacement jutsu. The riddle makes no sense… The girl finally opened her mouth.

"It's a trick question." This brought everyone's attention back to her, some surprised, others were curious. Iruka-sensei remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Kinata was now staring down at her worksheet. She let out another sigh, picking up her pen, while trying to ignore the throbbing in her temples. She wished she could just sleep the day away.

"Well, let's see. An average chakra level means an equally accurate count for stamina level. If one runs out, so does the other. That's basic. Given this information, I guess it's safe to say that considering the opponents five very different jutsu-based attacks in under 6 minutes, which is impressive in itself, that would have alone used up 87% of the opponent's chakra, and of course thus his stamina. However, 3 additional attacks that are solely based on stamina were emitted too. Taking that into account, the enemy would have used up 87% chakra, but also 96% of stamina, and this is all before the last attack. The Kaishuriken jutsu needs at least 20% chakra for correct distribution, and if the opponent was to try and attack me, he'd be dead. I wouldn't even need the Replacement Jutsu." She was now bored, doodling stick figures on her worksheet, kind of illustrating this to herself (though Hinata and Sasuke could see it too). She stared back up to her gaping sensei.

"If the opponent had back-up, I guess then it'd be wise to set up the Replacement Jutsu, because I'd have plenty of chakra and stamina left. It would be best to set up a decoy for the fact that over 70% of my levels have already been used up. Better safe than sorry." She'd gone back to coloring in the trees on her simple drawing, uncomfortable with her teacher's amazed stare and the classmates own astonished looks. Kinata frowned when she got no response for a good minute, forcing her to look back up. He was blinking up at her, unable to say anything. Had she really appeared that ignorant?

"Um…am I right?" Iruka-sensei snapped out of it, scratching his back in a somewhat apologetic, confused way.

"Err, yes. Well done, Kinata. Thank you…for listening to the lessons. That was my mistake, but at least try to make a better effort in focusing your thoughts in class. I know at your age how easy it is to get distracted." He, against his will, had to make an apology since she clearly had to have heard him throughout the day's lesson to have realized the trick question in the riddle which was all based on calculating the stamina level correctly. She gave him a small nod.

After Kinata went back to doodling, their teacher sighed, congratulating the class for earning an extra 40 points. Naruto was so ecstatic that he jumped out of his seat with a fist pump, claiming his friend to be a genius. The others were chattering on about how cool it was that they'd receive a better grade for doing nothing. Hinata whispered a 'thank Kinata,' to which Kinata smiled in response.

Iruka-sensei knew that Kinata was only a B student, mostly due to the fact that she would at times miss turning in worksheets or would daze off and forget to finish a quiz. It irritated him that this girl had so much potential yet he was having to pull it out of her. He couldn't wrap his head around why someone would ever want to be average when they were clearly gifted. It was a waste of talent. He'd just have to work on that though, much like he did with Naruto. He turned around to finish up with the last lesson, shaking his head. No wonder the two had become friends.

When the bell rang ten minutes after, Kinata got down quickly while avoiding conversations, giving them sorry glances and curt nods to their 'Thanks' and 'Good job' comments. But Sakura stepped in the doorway, blocking her and everyone else. The pink-haired girl had her arms crossed, standing in the middle with a frown on her face.

"How did you know the answer? Did you cheat or something? Come on, don't be sneaky about it!" Kinata glared at the girl before her. It was the first time anyone had seen her do that, and Sakura flinched from the icy stare.

"I didn't cheat. I thought about it, because I have a brain. Now please move. I promised my mother that I'd meet her right after class ended." Her abrupt tone had even some of the guys grinning. She was attractive when she displayed such a cool attitude. Sakura bit her lip but moved to the side. Kinata was the first one to walk out, and once outside she ran.

Sasuke had watched the incident, now even more intrigued with Kinata. She'd done the impossible, making his disastrous day a little better. Not only had she answered the riddle correctly and earned them all a better grade, she'd also put Sakura in her place, his most annoying 'fangirl.' He wanted to walk out with her to ask her just how she'd figured out the trick question, but he wasn't able to as a few of the other pushed ahead of him to follow after her. She was becoming more popular and didn't even acknowledge it. She was even friends with the dope Naruto. Of course this girl eluded his understanding, and that was why (he reasoned) it was his job to figure her out.

Kinata walked outside of Konoha's borders. Her headache was finally going away. She jumped to a tree branch, letting small amounts of chakra seep to her feet to stabilize her balance. The sunset was a dark red and purple, as the yellow and orange hues disappeared beyond the horizon. It was a warm night.

She stood on the branch for a minute, letting the breeze do what it wished to her, whipping it around in all directions. She felt calm and almost happy, staring out at the beautiful scene. Her mother always would grab her just before the twilight to watch over the peaceful setting just like this one.

"Mother?" Orihime's eyes glanced down at her daughter, who was sitting on her lap, holding the long sleeves of her mother's kimono around her. She gave a raise of her eyebrow towards her oldest daughter. It was a common practice now to watch the rare nights when the sky would cast such bold colors, and every time Kinata had been awed and in silence, listening to her mother sing.

"Hm?" Kinata scooted away. She was staring now sadly as the sun slowly made its way down, leaving only purple and black.

"Why are all sunsets not like that?" Her mother smiled gently, grabbing her daughter's chin to kiss her forehead.

"To make this moment more precious."

Kinata clenched her eyes shut. Damn memories. She didn't want to ruin the moment. She already felt frustrated with herself. She glared at her hands. Everyone had been shocked by her answer in class today. Kinata had allowed her emotions to override her usually practical side and now Iruka-sensei would be expecting higher standards from her. She couldn't remain obscure and go unnoticed if she met those expectations. If any of her superiors were to become curious and research her background, they would discover the false ID. It would be a disaster afterwards.

Not only her, but her guardians would be in serious danger again. No matter how cruel they could be at times, Kinata could not be responsible for their deaths. She was already liable for a whole village, her own clan, her mother and her little sister. She felt a tear drop after realizing the list. Kinata let out a pathetic growl.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me?" She took a moment to listen to the echo of her words in the wind.

She was given such incredible powers, yet the one thing she'd been told had only mattered in life was absent in hers.

Was there anyone who could say they loved her? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. The faded images of her mother and Rin passed through her mind. She shook her head, and jumped down from the tree.

"Enough with the pitiful moment," She mumbled to herself. It was shameful to feel sorry for herself. And she did have those that loved her; they were just now in her memories.

Sasuke hadn't intended on following her, but when he'd caught a glimpse of her dark brunette strands in the streets not even 20 minutes from leaving the academy, he'd unconsciously backtracked her footsteps to where she was heading. It was the street leading to the gates of Konoha. He pondered over why she would want to leave the safety of the village, but then he gave up. He barely knew anything about her. Typically the details of his classmates meant little to him. However, with the recent events over this girl changing it too was changing his situation. He waited secretly around a corner, knowing she'd have to come back and pass his way. After awhile she did.

Kinata made her way to the training grounds at the left corner of the village. He almost smirked. Few of the other girls in his class even cared to physically practice and if so it was to keep up their figure. They had their priorities set on their wardrobe, their hair accessories, the males (especially himself) and their diets. It was nice to see at least one female had the right mindset.

Kinata went straight towards the wooden dummies, reaching for a sai knife. This surprised Sasuke. He'd never trained with those weapons, and felt the suspicion rising again. It seemed she hadn't noticed him so he decided, to keep up his conspicuous spying, that he'd train too. He moved a ways down, so that there were two guys in between them. The boys were chuunin level and sparring. Sasuke mechanically began throwing his kunai at the circled targets rather than the dummies. When he glanced over to Kinata, he froze. She was attacking the four dummies in her area with a precise and deadly passion.

Her movements were fluid, and only twice did she miss. Sasuke was impressed but more cautious of what exactly he was doing. Maybe she was a spy, and he was getting involved in something that was more than he could take on. Should he alert one of jounin, or better yet the Hokage? Sasuke continued inspecting her moves, his eyes barely able to keep up with her adverse knowledge of taijutsu. It was borderline intimidating. Suddenly, in the middle of retrieving one of her sai knives, she kneeled down, breathing hard.

Kinata sprung up, startling Sasuke, though he hid it by throwing a kunai, trying to focus on not being obvious. She pulled out the sai and took off quickly to the fence to leave. Sasuke stood still, cursing her immediate departure. He ran over to his kunai to tug at them fiercely, baffled by her actions. Had she noticed him? Did he – a ninja in training – seriously just blow his cover with a classmate? He casually made it to the fence, darting his eyes to catch a glimpse of her. Nothing. He frowned, and on a whim he turned towards the park (or what was considered one, consisting of one huge swing set, a pond, and four benches).

He almost smirked at his luck and intuition. Kinata was sitting on a boulder by the pond. She had her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly, lost in thought. Sasuke kept his distance, lying down to lean his back up against a tree.

They stayed there for a half hour, much to Sasuke's annoyance. She once had stood up, only to sit on a swing, where she carelessly let it pull her through the air. Sasuke kept looking back to her. Her hair really was long and with the most natural of waves. It was entrancing to see in the forced wind. The breeze brushed passed Sasuke's body, which was pleasingly warm. He recalled what she'd told Sakura before exiting class.

'Now please move. I promised my mother that I'd meet her right after class ended.' Had Kinata really left Konoha to see her mother? Or had she met an enemy shinobi of the leaf village to deliver whatever Intel she was gaining being on the inside? Sasuke's face scrunched up in thought.

Something beyond this tugged at him. Kinata would come to class bruised or cut up. Sometimes that would happen to his peers that actually trained. However, after the consistency of her wounds, Iruka-sensei had even questioned her. Sasuke had known as of late that they were self-inflicted. He sighed in frustration. She was a mystery. He wasn't fond of being left in the dark.

Kinata stood up. It was becoming late. Sasuke tensed, as he eyed her. She was heading now in the direction of the Ninja Academy. He followed again, drifting back through the crowd of people. His eyes were locked on the twenty-ish feet ahead figure of Kinata's back. He glared when she'd taken a corner down a random alley. Perhaps this time she really had picked up on his presence. He leaped up the side of the building that was on the corner of the alley she'd chosen, heading to the side to look over. She hadn't gone far, and he was surprised at what he saw.

Kinata was leaning in the corner of a huge dumpster and a brick wall. Her head was tucked in the center of her folded up knees. It was the same position when they'd been at the park. It was as if she was trying to sleep there. Sasuke's eyes narrowed even more.

Does she even have a home? He felt his stomach drop. Had he gotten this all wrong? There were a few occurrences in class where she'd came in appearing tired and distracted, but for the most part she'd seemed easy-going and polite. The only time she hadn't was today, when Sakura had stood in her way. Kinata smiled a lot too, having laughed repeatedly at Naruto's lame jokes. It wasn't something a homeless person would do. It irked Sasuke that she was taken with the blonde idiot. She rarely spared him a glance, more so because Naruto didn't like him. Sasuke didn't care, but it pissed him off that she'd kept her distance from him because of that.

There had been only one time she'd really acknowledged him. It was from a test, in which he got a perfect score and she'd missed two. One answer was wrong and the other blank.

"Good job, Sasuke." Her voice left no room for a reply, as she turned to look at her own grade. Iruka-sensei sat satisfied in his chair. Ino was teasing Naruto for his terrible score. The blonde boy's face burned red from the public humiliation but he had pulled a rather embarrassing stunt on their teacher again. This was the payback. They acted a lot like siblings at times.

Sasuke had simply nodded at her compliment. Their seating had been random. Hinata hadn't shown up and Kinata had come in late, like Sasuke did. In fact, they had met at the entrance to the building by chance. There was a table closest in the front completely empty. Kinata had chosen the one nearest to the door on the far right. Sasuke had chosen the one on the far left, leaving the middle open. They'd ignored each other for the first hour until they'd been forced to interact. Their instructor had asked to exchange the quiz with those at your table to grade. Kinata had sighed softly, but the raven-haired boy had caught on. He had kept from glaring at her.

"Good job, Sasuke…" It was three simple words. But her words had been sincere and impressed. The last known Uchiha prodigy was praised everyday with way more. Yet her flattery had left an irritating but nice impact in his mind. He had actually felt his ego boost.

Afterwards, she'd gone back to ignoring him.

It had happened only once. Sasuke stared down at the girl against the dumpster. She'd gotten to him from one moment, and Sasuke's mind had latched onto it. Sasuke had been unused to her genuine appraisal and thoughtfulness. He figured it was why he couldn't forget those three words. He'd shrugged it thus to the back of his head.

Nonetheless, he was now crouching over the side of the building, remembering her happy expression. She wasn't smiling now. She was alone.

He leaned back, pulling out some thin wire. He secured a few sections in the lines with hooks, looping it loosely around his hand. He set an improvised timer on the middle hook, and then lowered it smoothly so that the lowest hook was above the side of the dumpster. Kinata didn't move as he secured it to the top of the roof.

When she would wake up and leave, the timer would click off. It would tell him just how long she would stay there. Sasuke left the building, heading home. He wasn't exactly sure what to believe until he could have sudden solid proof that the girl didn't have a home.