After almost a week of hellish torture, the M. T retreat was finally coming to an end. In two weeks, the Summer Tournaments would start. In two weeks, the battle with Nana Mizuki would start.

Naruto was scared if he was being honest with himself but his courage overrode his fear. Mizuki would be apprehended and they would find out who hired him against Naruto's parents. Or so he hoped. Things could go very wrong and things could go smoothly well. He could only pray that the latter be the case.

It was the last night of the musical retreat. Everyone was as sad to go home as they were anxious about the upcoming competitions. Hinata's eyes were wide open despite the time being past midnight. She just could not sleep.

Her father's instructions replayed in her head over and over again. She was supposed to be the best ballerina in her set and represent KSA as their prima ballerina in the upcoming competition but here she was, without a single solo in the dance.

Second year dancer, Nii Yugito, was their prima ballerina, she had been the prima since the last one graduated KSA and Hinata was supposed to take that spot from her. That was what her father had been training her for. She was supposed to hand the baton to Hanabi when she entered highschool.

But here she was, a perfect town spokesman B. They were dancing the Sleeping Beauty by Peter Tchaikovsky. Yugito-senpai was the female lead and Utakata-senpai, the male. Even Ino and Hanabi had a solo but her? She was the posse.

Not that there was anything bad in being among the nameless dancers that made the main ones shine, but in her father's eyes it was very disdainful. Hinata feared her father. What would be his reaction when he found out her role in the dance? Her only redeeming grace was in the individual ballet competition that followed the day after the interschool one.

Hinata stood up from her sleeping bag carefully and silently, so as not to wake anybody, and tiptoed to her luggage to fetch her practice gear. She had to dance well not because of her father but because of Neji and Hanabi.

The last time she selfishly went against him, they were both hurt even when they had nothing to do with her defiance. She had to do well not to drag them down with her. Even if she was part of the posse in the group competition, she had to be perfect in the individuals.

The sound of her slippers thudding against the floor and her mindless dance step repetitions were the only thing heard from the room Hinata occupied. She kept messing up her steps and starting all over until she was very tired and sweaty. Still she didn't stop.

Hinata exhaled and began her routine again. Her toes hurt from exertion and her thighs trembled but she was not quitting until she got it right. Unfortunately, even if she hadn't given up her body clearly had enough because she was suddenly falling during a pirouette.

A strong grip on either of her arms kept her from colliding head first onto the floor. Instead she was braced by somebody's chest. "I saw this coming from a hundred miles away." The deep voice resonated through the chest and through her body as Hinata flushed red and scrambled to get off the person.

Struggle as she might, she was not released as the person just held her tighter. "U-uhm... Sasuke-kun?" She squirmed.

"Easy now. You don't want to get a dizzy spell, especially not after the amount of pirouettes you've done." At that, Hinata relaxed. When the raven was sure that she would not fall if he released her, he let go.

"Thank y-you."

"Hn. What are you doing? You're clearly exhausted and your slippers aren't properly tied." Sasuke scolded her for her carelessness.

Hinata looked down at her ballet slippers with an embarrassed flush. She was such a klutz! "How long have you been watching me?" She asked the raven softly who had sat on the floor Indian style.

"A while." Sasuke admitted. He had woken up to take a walk when Naruto, whose sleeping bag was unfortunately beside him, kicked him on the stomach. The lights of the dance room were on, which was curious because he didn't think KSA kept the electricity running after lights out. He went to check who was dancing and saw Hinata. "Sit." There was no room for suggestion in his words so she reluctantly sat.

Hinata startled when Sasuke took her leg and slipped her dance shoe off. "Uh...!" But Sasuke didn't allow her to remove her leg from his grip so she allowed him to remove her slippers. Her toes were red and stiff from exertion, much so that she winced at the sight.

"What happened to taking breaks uh?" Sasuke asked rhetorically, pointing at her feet. "You're a dancer. If you lose your legs, you lose your life. That aside, why are you even dancing at this time of the day?"

Hinata almost smiled at Sasuke's harping. It reminded her of the days she spent being a part of EsDee. The raven was always the voice of reason when the others took their 'I'd never give up!' thing too far, forcing them to take breaks and rehydrate.

"I thought you'd be playing the piano for this summer recital." Hinata said instead of answering his question. Sasuke gasps but soon covers it up with an indifferent shrug.

"Hn. A miracle happened and Uchiha-sama finally gave me consent to do what I want."

"That's nice. I wish it could happen to me too." Hinata says wistfully as she hugs her knees. Her father wanted the best for her, she understood that, but he was overbearing with his demands.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. She had no idea what went down before his father softened on both him and Itachi but she didn't need to. Though his father still wanted his sons to be perfect, he was giving them more breathing space than before.

When he watched Hinata trying so hard to get her routine right, Sasuke wondered if that was how he looked like when he was trying that hard to get his chords right in the piano. Did he look that frustrated and wrought with self harming determination? He guessed so. The only difference between them was that Hinata didn't take her frustrations out on other people while he did. She took it out on herself.

"You don't have to try so hard, you know?"

"What?"

"Hn." Sasuke really wasn't good at talking so he wasn't sure if he could voice his feelings right. Still he tried. "You're trying too hard to get a result. That often leads to blindsiding yourself from seeing important things all around you. I know from firsthand experience. I almost lost my brother and myself because of it."

The memory of seeing Itachi lying on his bed with an empty bottle of aspirin pills and a note still thrummed bitterly at the back of his mind. Sometimes he even wondered if the peace his family had right now was temporary. But he could push the bitter thoughts aside and talk about it now as opposed to before when he just bottled up the toxic feelings.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't try to impress Hyuga the great. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't try so hard to be what you're not. It's not like you could be anything other than yourself anyway. You can't do the things you can't no matter how hard you try. It's like telling a fish to walk."

Hinata's eyes were clouded over with consideration for his words. It was clear that she took them the wrong way. Dammit. He wasn't trying to get her to give up completely!

"But you know what you can do?" Sasuke continued talking. "You can get help. Yeah you can't do some things no matter what but that does not apply to when you have people to help. The Great Wall of Chiba must've looked like an impossible feat back then but with help from many people, we have one of the wonders of the the world."

The raven cringed internally at how Naruto-like that just sounded but it did the job of bringing the light back into Hinata's eyes. That was good because his mouth was already hurting.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. I feel better now." Hinata laughed softly. Her exhaustion was beginning to catch up to her but she wanted to try her routine one more time before she went to bed.

"Icouldhelp." It was so low, Hinata almost didn't hear it but she did and her jaw dropped. Was Sasuke really offering help?! The same one she thought she knew?! "Don't look at me like I ate your pet. I have your routine down to the part where you keep failing."

"But you have your presentation to prepare for, I couldn't..." Hinata was cut off.

"You can just think of me as a practice bar while I give support. Do you underestimate me?"

"N-no!" She quickly denied.

"Good. It's settled then." Sasuke finalised.

"Sasuke-kun..."

"Don't make me regret the first time I choose to help anybody." Sasuke mumbled and Hinata giggled.

"Thank you. If you don't mind, I want to run my routine...just once, I promise!" She added upon the scalding look Sasuke shot her. The other sighed and agreed reluctantly.

Unknown to the two, a pair of green eyes watched them dance on with barely concealed envy. Unable to take the sight in, Sakura stormed away from the dance room to the sleeping area where she tried so hard to push down her bitterness. She had wanted to ask Sasuke to help but decided against it when she found that he was not dancing ballet for the summer competition.

When did Sasuke become so close with Hinata? She had been trying her best to get his attention for years and Hinata did it without even trying. How did she do that? Why wouldn't Sasuke talk to her?

Sakura really tried not to let her thoughts progress so bitterly but she couldn't help herself. She wanted Sasuke to talk to her too, dammit. Beyond courtesy greetings and necessary word exchanges, she wanted Sasuke to talk to her.

Xxx melody xxX

Early into the year, a series of preliminary competitions were held at local communities and potential students were shortlisted for the Summer Tournaments. These competitions focused on the following areas: piano, strings, opera and ballet. Among these were the piano competition that Sasuke failed and the violin recital that Neji passed (refer to Symphony).

During the Summer Tournament, the preliminary qualifiers would compete with opponents from other schools after which they would be shortlisted for the finals which are held during winter. For categories such as freestyle dance and other genres of music, the Summer Tournament marks the beginning of their competitive journey for highschool awards.

For such categories, the ST is split into two sections; the prelims and the qualifiers. The prelims are held a week prior to the main event and just like in auditions, performers are given a short time to present their skills to judges who select those that are eligible for the qualifiers.

Competitors are then judged based on their performance in the qualifiers for the Winter Finals.

Today was the day. Naruto wasn't anxious, weirdly. He was just doing what he loved; what his parents loved. 'Listen Naruto, people are not going to come because they want to see you dance.' Kakashi had told him frankly during a private dance session. 'They want to see Namizaze, the kid who murdered his parents. You are going to use that to your advantage, enthrall them with your dance and story.'

Naruto was not just dancing to qualify for the finals that was coming up during the winter, he was dancing to lure people to himself. To call on everyone that labeled him as a murderer and tell them that they were wrong. To announce to them and the real murderer that he was going to get justice for his parents.

The thought of everything thrilled him, really. He was at the waiting room with Sasuke, Kiba and Shino, his fellow competitors, but something worried him. A lot. The other members of the former EsDee were also worried about the same thing.

Neji was at the back seat in the audience with sunshades specifically because he didn't want a certain girl to see him. He would never admit it out loud but he came to see Tenten's . Really, anyone that knew the girl would know how much she lived for dancing.

She often gloated that she was good, the best even, but Neji had yet to actually see her dance. He caught a few glimpses at dance class when they were taught fox trot and waltz but that was it. He was not here to cheer her on, who said that?! He was just curious is all!

Naruto checked the entrance to the backroom once again. What was wrong? Sasuke had told him to forget about it and Kiba assured him that everything would turn out but they only made him more nervous.

"Well well, if it isn't the group of sour losers." In addition to his already souring mood, they just had to arrive and make it worse. The sound five. Kidomaru, if Naruto still remembered his name correctly, was at the upfront this time. His sneer and ego was the size of the sun simply because the EsDee lost at the Dance Battle.

"Sasuke bailed out on you last time. I wonder if he would do the same for your group dance this time." One of the twins, the one that liked to use dark blue goth make up, Sakon...? Naruto didn't know, sneered.

"Don't talk like I'm not right in front of you. You should be worried about your school since it's a new one. We'd pulverize you." Sasuke bit back.

"Where's the chick in your group? Too afraid to dance?" The other twin, the one that used black goth themes, Ukon, asked mockingly.

"She's dancing ballet, and I should ask about the girl in your team. Is she what, too afraid of competition?" Kiba shot back in defense for his old team.

"She's playing the flute, and I was asking about the other one, the one that likes to mouth off." At that, everyone in the EsDee fell silent. That was what was bothering them all day; where was Tenten?!

"Oh? What's this? After all her bragging and putting on airs she's not here?! Pah! What a loser." Jirobo, the big one, taunted and his mates laughed their asses off.

Naruto made to attack but was held back by Shino. "Fighting them is no good. That's because you would get disqualified if you do." The boy calmly told his friend.

"He's right so chill, you two." Sasuke was also holding Kiba back from throwing a punch. Fortunately the two hotheads calmed down.

"Heh. Watch us, KSA, especially you, Sasuke. We'll win this competition by having the best scores overall and beat you again at the Winter Finals." Kidomaru bragged.

"Get ready to cry lots, KSA. We'd show you that your school is not all there." Ukon taunted.

"A silver trophy is not that bad, eh?" Sakon also dropped his parting words to the boys as the Sound Five left.

"I want to punch them so bad!" Naruto growled after they had left.

"I'd take the twins! Their stupid makeup pisses me off!" Kiba yelled in aggravation.

"You would be hitting nobody, Dumb and Dumber. Just focus on your dance routine." Sasuke had to hit the both of them on the upside of their heads to snap them out of their angry thoughts but he was unaware that Shino was also quite upset. When the insect lover voiced his thoughts, he was baffled.

"To be honest, I also want to hit them. That's because they underestimate us and mock us."

"A-ah?!" Sasuke exclaimed very uncharacteristically. "You just said not to pick a fight!"

"I wouldn't. But I would beat them in this Summer Qualifiers and beat them again in the Winter Finals." Shino declared.

"That's what I want to hear from you boys!" A new voice addition startled them a bit.

"Kakashi-sensei!" They all exclaimed except Sasuke who called Kakashi without honorifics like the spoilt rich brat he was but the silver haired teacher didn't mind.

"I'm also here." Iruka popped out from behind the dance teacher. He was obviously here to cheer his boys on as their class teacher.

"Me too." Kurenai walked towards them with an encouraging smile. She was also here as the genius class teacher. The first years were the only ones in the school dancing freestyle so it was easier to meet everybody and encourage them.

"Dance like no one's watching or dance like you're in your room in your underwear, any one that works best for you." Sasuke kept back an eye roll at Kakashi's words while Naruto and Kiba took it serious. Idiots.

"Wait, where's Tenten? The event would start soon and she would be late for the drawing of lots!" Iruka was the first among the teachers to notice the girl's absence. He became instantly worried that she would come late and get a bad deal with her lot, or worse, she would not be able to perform well because of the anxiety of being late.

"Have you tried calling her number?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes but it's switched off." Kiba replied.

"Maa maa, it would do no good to be worried. Let's give her some minutes and if she's not here by then, we would take action." Kakashi reasoned and everyone agreed.

Neji wondered when Tenten was going to get her turn. Naruto's performance had shunned the audience into silence as his story drew them in. At first there were murmurs about what the murderer was doing in the competition but the noise reduced as Naruto danced. He really looked like Namikaze Minato out there and even Neji was impressed.

He knew just how good of a dancer Shino was since they were classmates since elementary school but he was still amazed by his performance. Kiba was unexpectedly soft and calm in his sorrowful dance but Neji would never admit it to his face that it moved him.

Sasuke's performance received the loudest cheers of all because the raven was just that good. Neji didn't cheer, he wasn't uncultured like the rest of the crowd who whopped and blew vuvuzelas like the noise makers they were.

The only person left from their school in this section of the summer tournament was Tenten and her turn had not come up yet. Neji waited for her performance but it never came up, even after the competition was announced over and the judges began compiling their results.

"No way..." Naruto gasped as the realisation settled.

"Tenten missed the competition?!" It was unbelievable that the girl who was never interested in anything if it wasn't dance related flunked the qualifiers. Kiba was worried for Tenten as he was very confused. The teachers went to her house but they didn't find her there. She wasn't found anywhere.

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