Disclaimer: The usual, own nothing but the plot…

Chapter 9: Heating Up, Cooling Down and Tutoring

It was the first week of October, and you could say life was back to normal. Well, whatever normal was. There weren't any definite rules for 'normal', especially living with a female teenager who was probably the only one of her kind to wake up 2 hours early for school.

'I need to get a life…' she thought sadly, waltzing down the stairs and to the fridge to pull out something edible to eat. Her microwave privileges were finally returned. Not that she dared use the infernal machine. So instead she pulled out the butter and took out a piece of bread from the breadbox and placed it in the toaster. She made extra-sure that it wouldn't burn.

Thankfully there were no small appliance malfunctions today. So like most mornings, she slipped silently out of the house, before running back inside to get a jacket. Someone forgot it was already October outside. Now with a light red jacket with a single thick, white stripe across the chest. She took a slow pace and shivered. What exactly was wrong with girls wearing pants? Didn't those people who came up with uniforms live in a place where it could get cold? Hello, tights or knee-high socks didn't cut it when wind was around.

She stopped by the gate of the Hyuuga estate. The lone house sat on its huge chunk of land; no motion inside it whatsoever. What were the chances, Hinata didn't get to school until it was necessary and Neji was usually even up before she was. Not that they talked much anyway. Okay, so maybe on the occasion when they were alone…which was like never…so that was that.

The only company she had was the crunching sound her shoes made against the road. School walks in the mornings were usually this quiet, but she was starting to get used to it. Several minutes that she was positive were hours later, she came across the 'secret way' that the Hyuuga had shown her on the very first day. She'd almost forgotten it was there.

With nothing better to do, Sakura made her way slowly, brushing some branches and long strands of grass out of the way. It was messing up her hair slightly, and she half regretted coming this way. Her pale face displayed a frown. What if she'd gotten lost? They'd never find her in a patch of bushes in some remote area near the streets. She'd be on 'Amber Alert' forever! Either that or she was paranoid. Now which was more likely?

Turns out she never actually had to worry about that in the first place. The sound of rushing water was a relief. Then the bridge was in view. Finally stepping onto its wooden surface, she bushed off any stray leaves from her pink hair. She smoothed out the skirt, and leaned on the edge of the railing.

It really was peaceful here. The fresh smell of water particles in the air was all over. She inhaled the crisp air deeply. Yes, it sure was perfect here. She'd rather ditch class and stay here all day.

A shiver ran down her spine. Okay, so maybe not…it would get really cold. She sighed; this was a great place to think. Think about everything. Think about nothing. It was just…well…nice. Then Sakura got an odd feeling. It was vaguely familiar too. Left, right, back…there was no one. She chewed on her lip. Call her paranoid but something was there. Uneasily, she turned back into gazing out to the river.

"Wound up pretty tightly, neh?" a voice spoke, scaring the wits out of the pink-haired female. She had to look back…and up to find the source.

"Please…" she managed to get out, clutching her heart, "don't do that Neji-kun. You scared me half to death…"

He hopped down from the tree and landed on the wood. "You're here early," he commented, changing the subject. He joined her on leaning on the rail.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," she said leaving out the part that she normally got up at that hour anyway. Then only the water was heard. She rubbed her hands together, as they were turning slightly red from the cold. "So cold…" she thought out loud.

"Just wait. It'll get a lot colder then this. It's actually nice out today," the Hyuuga said indifferently, white eyes fixed ahead of him. He was quite talkative today.

"Well…well…I get cold easily!" she defended. It turns out that it wasn't the best defense the world had ever seen. "See, they're really cold." She placed the back of her hand against his cheek. She realized he probably didn't appreciate the contact too much, but it was the only way to get her point across.

Neji inwardly flinched. Those hands were cold, but like he'd really say that aloud. "Uh…huh…" and then sort of stood there, watching her shiver. She was even wearing a jacket…how was she cold, exactly? And here he was simply in the uniform sweater, and was perfectly fine. Through the corner of his eye, he observed one cold hand placed over the other, in hopes that they'd magically become warm. He unzipped the sweater and extended his hand with it to Sakura.

Emerald eyes gazed rather surprisingly toward the male standing next to her. He wasn't even looking away. She took it reluctantly, muttering a 'thank you'. She placed it back wards, so that the sleeves were still over her arms, but the back was across her front. The sleeves were too long for her, and folded past her hands. At least it was warm. "Ah…warmness…"

"Why do you have it on backwards?" he asked uncaringly, with a slightly strange look as to how she had decided to wear the jacket.

"Well it won't fit the right way," she shrugged, "and it keeps my hands warm this way."

"You certainly are very strange."

"I know." She sighed happily. "Aren't you cold?"

"No."

"Oh, okay then." She sounded like a kid. He found it kind of…cute. However, hell would freeze over before Hyuuga Neji actually used a word like that. "Um…Neji-kun, we should get going now…to school I mean."

He nodded, and led the way out. Just before reaching the school grounds, he stopped. "Um, why'd you stop?" she piped up.

"Sweater."

"Oh, right," she handed it to him, "thanks again for letting me use it." He slipped it on and zipped it back up, like it hadn't been removed in the first place. "Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea now, would you," she teased playfully.

He didn't take it so lightly. "Right. I'll see you again in class, Sakura." With that he took his leave before her.

'A man of many words,' she thought dryly, and set out from the forest path. 'But he was nicer than usual, lending me his sweater…and all.' Her cheeks felt slightly warmer. 'He was so warm…well…his sweater was. It's close enough…' but better keep that little bit a secret between her and…herself.

Day 3, meaning her spare period was first. She'd finally memorized the basic layout of the school, and was no longer late for class because of it. On most spares, she would wander until she'd found her lovely conversation piece, who always seemed to be somewhere different. It made it difficult to talk with him, even though he never actually wanted to talk. He found it quite annoying actually. She'd asked him once, and never stopped bugging him since. She was such a great friend.

Like he was any better though. He could be equally as annoying as she could. All that silence and crap like that…oh, how she loathed it with a passion! Did he know how much more popular he would be if he actually opened up his shell once in awhile? Not that he wasn't doing a good job using his regular tactics.

She wandered down the third floor. Yes, he was avoiding her again. That is, until she found him in the stairwell, with a copy of The Ring manga open. More gore…how typical. "Neh, Sasuke-kun. Won't you read a normal book for once?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Hn, what's it to you?" he asked coldly, not removing the onyx orbs from the page.

"Nothing. I was just thinking how much more thoughts you'd have in your head if you read something else other then nonsense blood and things of murder." She slumped beside him. The Uchiha boy didn't say anything in return. "See, read something like this," she pulled out a thick novel. "There's killing in this book, but also things like adventure, betrayal, and so forth."

"Well then good for you," he replied, not tearing his eyes from the pages.

She sighed, "You aren't listening are you? Can we talk about something other then books then?"

"Sure," he responded, but that didn't mean he was going to put the captivating comic down.

"Humph, some gentleman you are. Has anyone compared you to anyone, like Neji-kun before? He's so polite, and kind. Maybe it wouldn't kill to be like him for once."

"Very fond of him, are you?"

"Why, are you jealous?"

"Maybe."

That had surprised her a little. Then it dawned on her, this was 'Sasuke-sarcasm-while-reading-manga'. "You don't care the least, do you?"

"Not a bit."

Well, at least she'd managed to spark up a conversation with him, which was her main goal. She snatched the book from his hands, annoyed. Her green eyes glared into his. "Will you listen to me, please?"

He stood up, rather angrily, and grabbed the comic back. "No," and hit her lightly over the head with it, "idiot." And then made his exit.

'Jerk,' she thought of why he left, then the bell rang. Oh, rampaging students rushing to their next class. And she was sitting in the stairwell. Stupid guy, leaving her to be trampled. Oh, he would pay later.

The clock ticked louder than usual, as stress hung over the last period language class. They were all hunched over their test papers, scribbling down whatever looked right. 'Jeez, I should have studied harder,' thought a rather strained Ino. Leave it to her teacher to create a 5-paged test on simply 1 unit.

"2 minutes left," called Asuma, looking at his watch. The sound of racing pencils increased dramatically.

'Oh crap, I still have 2 questions left,' she bit her lip nervously. She jotted down two answers just before time ran out.

"Pencils down!"

There were some groans among the students, Ino among them. "I didn't even have time to look over my work. Neh, Shikamaru, you finished, right?" her blue eyes wandered behind her, where the dark haired male lay face down on his desk. "Shikamaru!" her voice was angrier this time, jolting him from his slumber. He gazed up lazily, waiting for her usual wrath. "Please tell me you finished." No answer. "You…what…I don't get it…"

Asuma walked by, collecting the papers and dismissing the students after that. "Test please, Ino." The blonde handed it to him. She rose slowly from her seat, gazing back to what her teacher would say to him. This wouldn't end pretty. He gazed at his student's empty paper. "Shikamaru, care to explain this?"

"No, not really. There isn't anything to explain."

Ino slapped her forehead; he was asking for a death sentence. "Do you just not care about this class?" his teacher asked calmer then expected. His student shrugged. "How do you plan on graduating, exactly?"

"I'll pull it off."

"And what about your future? How are you going to get a decent job if you don't clean up your act?" Asuma asked sternly.

He shrugged again. "Sensei is right, Shikamaru," Ino slammed her hand down on his desk, making him sit up straight rather then slumped over. "It isn't a joke anymore. Take things seriously sometimes."

"How troublesome…" he scratched the back of his head, Ino growling about how little threat her statement had made.

"I bet all you need is some motivation," his teacher said, seeing the slight bond between the two. "Ino, I'm giving you the task of tutoring Shikamaru here."

The two gave him both strange looks. "Tutor him? He could tutor me!" she said in a slight laugh, "Sensei, as his previous teacher you have to know how smart this kid is. I mean…I'd like to call myself intelligent and all, but really now!" Her classmate sighed; this was something new. Ino sticking up for him…in a way.

"I understand that," Asuma replied, "but not as a study sort of thing. I'm assuming with you around, he gets more productive. With anyone actually. I just trust you to do the best job with him." They were talking about the lazy teen as if he weren't even there, or like a toy of some sort. "I'll leave you two at that." He took the blank test away, and walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" he asked lazily, collecting his things.

"You…" oh dear, there was the wrath. She was going to blow. "See what you've made me commit to? Now he expects great results from you and we know that's not going to happen until the exams come around! How could you get me into this? How?" her fists were clenched with rage.

"No one told you to stick around," he sighed standing up, "you just happened to be there." He brushed past her, zipping up the sweater of his uniform. Just before stepping out the door, "Hey," it mad the blonde snap out of her murderous thoughts, "thanks." With that he left her standing there.

She was utterly confused. "Neh, Shikamaru!" she ran slightly to catch up to him, "thanks for what?" He didn't say anything else and continued walking down the hall. "Weird," she said, then noticed her favorite person walking towards her, on his way to his locker. "Sasuke-kun!" she chirped happily, all previous concerns for the other momentarily gone.

AN: Finally, I got to work with some pairings here! Probably not too many of the ones you anticipated, but hey, -laughs evilly-. I realized once I wrote the slight SakuNeji part, that I really had nothing more to write, so there comes her weird relations with Sasuke and the Shikamaru and Ino thing. Don't ask me how I come up with these things…
Are people losing interest in this fic? (I mean, is it going to slowly for everyone?), I've noticed a big lack in reviews lately, so I was wondering…(maybe I'm just paranoid…) HUGE thanks goes out to those who reviewed though! Sorry for the short chapter, since I'm busy with some camps and all. (Yep, I wrote this mostly on lunch breaks…haha!)
Anyway, on a somewhat positive note, I can say next chapter is split into 3 parts. No, it's not because it'll be super-long, rather…oh well, you'll see.