A/N:
Hello there! My name is Bees! This story is basically a fresh start on a fanfiction I started writing in 2015. The original was posted to a different site, but I decided to scrap it and rejuvenate it here. It'll share some of the same characters but otherwise, it's all different from that original piece, so if you recognize things, you might have read my old fic sometime in the past!

I want to also post a bit of a disclaimer/warning here. I have a tendency to write darker stuff. This being said, I do not write for shock value, only for the movement of the story. I will be posting in the notes before each chapter if there is anything sensitive or could be offensive or triggering to anyone. Please understand that if you cannot handle gore or topics of abuse, then this is not the story for you, you have been warned.

I'm almost done, I'm sorry. This is an AU! I have added an important clan to Konoha and will be focusing on them as well as the canon clans. This story will stray from the original series. If you're not okay with that, then this might not be the story for you, as some parts of this story are very self-indulgent for me.

If you made it through that monster of an Author's note, thank you! If you didn't, that's okay too! This kind of housekeeping thing can be boring to read, just please don't get upset if I introduce something after giving you warnings prior.

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-Shiemi-

"Oi….Shiemi. Are you going to just lay around here all day?"

A young boy with short choppy black hair leaned forward against the counter of a small shop, reaching forward to poke at his sleeping team-mate. He didn't think he would ever understand how exactly she fell asleep the way she did on a consistent basis. It was only eleven in the morning, dammit! Losing his last bit of patience the boy flicked her on the forehead, once for each word.

"Wake! Up!"

Recoiling, Shiemi found herself falling backward onto the ground before her eyes could even open properly. Umph. A pained groan later and the blonde was pushing herself into a sitting position.

"'Toshi- what was that for?"

Her voice was quiet and strained, still out focus from being snapped harshly from her late morning nap. Sitting on the ground another moment her green eyes fluttered open in an attempt to force herself to adjust to the bright light of the sun.

Now standing impatiently under the short curtain of the shop they were in, Hitoshi's eyes darted from her on the ground to the streets outside. "Kuro is gonna be mad at us. We need to go now, okay?" There was an urgency in his voice and he almost looked to be straining himself from jogging in place.

"Someone's energetic today…" Trailing off, the blonde had pushed herself off of the ground and taken a few steps towards him.

His brow furrowed, but he did his best to not snap at her again. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now let's go."

He didn't wait for her this time as he passed through the curtain completely and pushed forward onto the busy streets of Konoha. Turning to his right, Hitoshi started to jog away down the road before jumping up onto the infamous shinobi highway. She could hear his shoes clatter along the rooftops as they went. Despite his more serious seeming demeanor with her previously, he had a poor way with stealth and was often the cause for complaints from some residents for his heavy stepping pattern. They were working on it, of course. With their team and more importantly with their sensei.

Oh, crap.

Shiemi wasn't too used to being on a squad yet and less used to being awake during the daytime. Unfortunately, both of these things had made her forget that they were on a decently strict meeting time for yet another D-Rank mission. No wonder he was in such a hurry. Out of the three genins on squad 22, not one of them wanted to improve more than him.

Falling into step beside Hitoshi, she kept her eyes forward to make sure they wouldn't collide with anyone else on the rooftops. Being quiet was second nature to her by this point. It was something that she was slowly starting to realize was a benefit of being a clan kid and an heir at that. There were things that the other two on her squad would have to be taught that she likely already knew. Which meant a few more opportunities to nap. Looking back up towards the sun, a small frown tugged at Shiemi's lips.

"...Hey, 'Toshi? Weren't we supposed to meet around noon?"

-Hitoshi-

The two young ninjas dropped down into the agreed-upon meeting ground. Shiemi dropped under a tree with minimal effort, a quiet scowl adorning her usually neutral features.

"You tricked me." She spat the words with disdain. "You didn't need to trick me like that- if you really wanted to get here early, you didn't need to wake me up. Now I have less time to catch up on my rest."

Hitoshi's head hung between his knees, huffing in an attempt to catch his breath after how fast he had pushed them to get there. He was crouched with his forearms on his knees for support. He hated lying to people he had to see on an almost daily basis, but when it came to the blonde's sleeping habits he didn't want to take the chance that she would be late and delay the start of their missions or training.

"L-Listen." He took a deep breath in to help mitigate his panting, his head slowly rising up to look at her. "If I left you there, you'd end up being late. If you're late, Kuro gets mad. I get irritated because he's mad. Michiko sensei makes us look for you, and it takes longer for us to get to training."

It was a sound argument, though she didn't feel that way. The latest she ever was to a meet-up was ten minutes and even then it was entirely her fault. She was busier than them most of the day so when she got to catch up on sleep, Shiemi took it. Disgruntled and not wanting to push the conversation further, the blonde closed her eyes. Slouching back against the tree she focused on falling back asleep, not finding the task very hard.

Hitoshi dropped his head down, falling backward into the grass. There wasn't much he could really do about his situation. The way he saw it, he was placed on a team with a lazy clan kid, an insufferable pessimist, and a sensei that seemed to coddle them. Sure, he had tried reaching out to the more troubling of the team but it was starting to turn for the worst. They just… were way too much work for him to approach alone.

Kuro was a nightmare. The kind of recurring one that lingered and left you in a cold sweat. Any and every little thing could set him off. Ill-tempered and ready to rip apart anyone that would dare breathe in his direction. The only good thing he could really give the guy credit for is that he got things done without hesitation and usually was able to complete something when directed. He respected those in authority. Though if Hitoshi had to guess, once Kuro was on the same level or above their previous teachers he would start to respect them a little less. 'Good thing that won't be for a while at least…' He thought to himself.

His eyes opened, jack o' lantern orange searching the sky above. The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky, which meant the others should be there soon. He exhaled a long deep breath, his eyelids fluttering closed again as he turned inward towards his thoughts.

Then there was her. He wasn't sure if she was arrogant or just socially stupid. Possibly both? Shiemi, while quieter and easier to deal with, was a pain to keep awake. Sure, she was able to perform what they were taught easily, it was like she lacked the fighting spirit he and the other students had. Did she even want to be a ninja? She had to have, right? There's no way she would have passed any of the tests if she didn't want to be a ninja. However, with how much she slept, it was a wonder to him that she even graduated from the academy. His brows furrowed, eyes once more opening towards the sky.

'Actually, come to think of it…'

He didn't remember going to any classes with Shiemi or remember seeing her in the joint training that was mandatory for each class. She just sort of appeared the day they were assigned their teams. He didn't really recognize her, but a few other clan kids seemed to at least know her name.

He could feel the grass tickle the side of his face as he turned to look at her. She had pulled her legs up into her short lilac kimono, making her look more like a light purple blob with a blonde wig placed over it. She should probably break that type of sleeping habit- wouldn't it be hard to get out of? What if they were attacked? Unlikely, sure, they were in the village but what if she fell asleep like that on a mission?

'Wonder if I can point that out without her getting mad at me- she's already irritated as is…'

A rock was thrown into his side, causing him to wince. Looking up at the sky it was clear that it was around three minutes from noon.

"Oi! You think you're better than me because you're here first?!"

Neither one of them had said anything, nor did they move to reply.

'Not like Shiemi's awake enough to react anyway. She probably didn't hear him.' Kicking his legs up, Hitoshi pulled himself into a sitting position to get a better view of the field. Storming towards them was a white-haired boy with a wild look in his eyes and yet another rock in his hands.

He should probably warn Shiemi or catch the rock before it could hit her but he was morbidly curious about just how deep a sleeper she was. She could sleep through yelling- that much he knew, but could she get hit and not stir?

He had his answer sooner than he expected. The rock that Kuro had been holding whistled through the air past him as it made its way to Shiemi's head. With a sickening crack, it struck the target, embedding into her skull.

That's what they both thought at first.

He had just embedded a rock into their team-mate's skull.

With a quiet poof, the image of Shiemi dissipated into smoke. As it cleared it brought the tree she had been laying against into view. If he squinted, he could make out Kuro's rock roughly an inch into the trunk of the tree.

"Where did she…?" He mumbled to himself, trying to figure out where she substituted herself to- looking up to see the girl draped over one of the more sturdy branches the tree had to offer. Asleep. He felt like he could scream. There's no way she put herself there in her sleep. Would it even be possible to fall back asleep that fast?

A frustrated shout sounded a few feet behind Hitoshi, who was now considering himself lucky that Kuro hadn't thrown the first rock as hard as the one now embedded under layers of the bark.

"You like showing off, huh, Aihara?!"

Backing away from the tree, Hitoshi made sure to give Kuro a wide berth. There was no point in putting himself into a fight that wasn't his.