Chapter 10

Shanan was growing up so much lately and had reached puberty, which made her feel really awkward. With graduation approaching, her anxiety was at an all time high. She didn't know whose team she would be on and she couldn't stand the thought of being away from the boys. What if she was on a team with people that just didn't understand her? Admittedly, there was only one person she thought she could stand to be around, Rock Lee was always kind. But most others, she was unsure whether or not they would be a good fit as a teammate. And of course, she felt really self-conscious about her appearance lately, but Sasuke still seemed to think the stars shined just for her.

Shanan's feelings for Sasuke were getting complicated. On the one hand, she thought of him almost the same as Naruto, like a little brother. Kind of... but not really. On the other hand, his affection for her hadn't gone at all unnoticed. And as they got older the admiration he received from other girls made more and more sense. Shanan thought he was actually, really handsome. She loved how he would look so grumpy and serious with everyone else, but she got to see him smile and hear him laugh. She really loved his smile. And his eyes, she really loved those too. He was also really sweet to her, no matter what. And, Shanan couldn't help but enjoy the fact that, while he could choose any girl, he chose her and he made it obvious to everyone.

But that admiration was just another reason that Shanan had become such a target for ridicule. No one in her own class dared tease her, many had heard about the cat incident. But when she spent time with the boys at school, the Sasuke fanclub had a whole boatload of insults to throw at her and those girls never held back. They didn't seem to realize how bad it made them look in Sasuke's eyes. And they never understood what they had done to set off not just Sasuke, but Naruto as well. They could certainly dish out the insults and they could take them from Naruto and argue back and forth with him all day, but once Sasuke joined Naruto, they'd act so hurt and innocent. This was the only time that you couldn't tell the boys apart, when they were yelling in Shanan's defense. It made her feel really thankful for them, because lately, she felt too embarrassed to fight back.

She had noticed that while Sasuke had many admirers, Naruto had one admirer. He would never notice this because he was so oblivious to things like that, and was in love with Sakura Haruno for whatever reason. Sakura was pretty, but she was really mean to Naruto, because she loved Sasuke. But Shanan never really grouped her in with the fan girls. Sakura was at least smart enough to not tease Shanan with the others. But anyway, Hinata Hyuga seemed to be really fond of Naruto.

Shanan liked to sit and watch people when everyone else seemed busy. She got to know people without ever even speaking to them. And Hinata was usually watching Naruto from afar. She was really shy and didn't seem to have any friends and she was obviously related to Neji in Shanan's class. He was a quiet and determined boy. Pretty smug, actually. Shanan never spoke to him and he didn't seem to speak to anyone else either, really.

"Hey, Hinata," Shanan yelled out to her while she was hiding behind a tree. The poor girl was so surprised that anyone was saying her name, let alone the fact that anyone even knew it. She turned slowly to look at Shanan. Her whole face was bright red. She had been seen. And not just by anyone, but by someone close to Naruto. She immediately sank down to hide in a bush.

Shanan smiled and waved at her as she peeked out from under the branches. "Come here," she mouthed as she motioned with her hand for Hinata to come out.

Hinata looked around to see if anyone else was watching. When she decided that the coast was clear, she crawled closer to Shanan, face still red, until she was sitting in front of her.

"You're Hinata Hyuga," Shanan said, "I'm Shanan Takagi." She smiled softly at the shy girl.

Hinata refused to make eye contact and her face never changed color. But she finally decided to try and speak. "You- you live with Naruto, don't you?"

Shanan thought for a minute, "Um... kinda. We all have our own apartments, but it might as well be one big one. We mostly hang out at mine, though." She looked over at the boys, who were still going off on a group of girls. Shanan considered stopping them soon.

"It must be nice to not have to do what anybody tells you to," Hinata blurted out quietly, she still hadn't made any eye contact with Shanan, but she did at least look at the ground next to Shanan.

Shanan considered for a moment that they all definitely had more freedom and autonomy than other kids their age and nodded her head in realization. "Yeah... I suppose that's true. We definitely get to make our own decisions. What about your family?"

"Oh..." Hinata slowly moved her eyes to meet Shanan's, but quickly looked away again. "I never get to do that."

Shanan felt bad for her. She didn't usually consider their situation to be at all ideal. But she didn't think she could ever have anyone boss her around all the time either. Maybe she could help Hinata, too. Either way, she decided to be her friend.