OTOGAKURE NINJA ACADEMY

(Gasp!) Slow(er) Update! Dun dun dun.

I just bought Naruto Ultimate Ninja TWO! So my friend Natalie and I thought it would be fun to stay up all night playing it. I think we crashed at about 5:00 this morning and I woke up at about 8:00 and played the game some more. I did a bunch of other stuff blah blah blah. (Turns out I actually DO have a life :P)

So here is a new chapter now that I got the appropriate amount of sleep (13 hours!) Yay fluffiness. ( 3)

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Chapter Nine

The air was still and stale in the Land of Sound's academy building. Hinata's anticipation built up gradually as Wednesday came and went at a slow pace. She found it extremely hard to concentrate during her taijutsu class that day. The main reason being that the boy she was going to spend the day with training tomorrow sat in front of her.

She admired Kimimaro for just about everything. She was being taken over by the wave of obsessive Kimimaro fan girls. Of course, she perfectly understood why everyone would like him. His green piercing eyes showed beautiful radiance even when he was working up a sweat during his training. She just wanted to run her fingers through his silver locks of hair, she pictured it to be perfectly smooth with no tangles in it whatsoever.

Although Hinata understood something that she knew many of his obsessive fan girls wouldn't realize, and that is that he is a regular person. She didn't like him for his looks alone, and he most likely had his reasons for wanting to be alone, which Hinata granted without difficulty.

And just like that, it's Thursday afternoon.

'Relax Hinata. It's not an actual date! It was just a phrase.' Hinata thought to herself. Her heart begun to beat faster and her palms sweated immensely. Her confidence fell as she thought more to herself. 'It wouldn't be a date. There are so many other girls that like him. He could choose just about anyone. I mea- AH what am I thinking. It's NOT a date obviously!...' Hinata argued with herself in her head and froze to check her reflection in a hanging mirror in her room. 'Then why am I trying so hard to look pretty?'

Hinata flustered continuously with her appearance before she headed out of her room. She kept her head low as she walked passed her uninviting peers through the dark shrouded halls. She slowed down slightly as the stairway came in sight. She was to meet him in the basement, and even inch she advanced closer to him, the more anxious she got.

She was too preoccupied to acknowledge the orange haired member of team five coming her way. An unexpected collision with the large boy woke her up from her nervous trance as it knocked her to the ground. The boy growled angrily and shot a glance at Hinata's direction. Hinata recognized him to be Juugo of Karin and Suigetsu's team. "I'm t-terribly sorry!" Hinata apologized quickly. "Humph" Juugo mumbled as he brushed his shirt off. He didn't give the aggressive reaction that Hinata was expecting. "You are Hinata right?" he asked instead in a lighter tone. "Hai" Hinata replied while helping herself up. "Kimimaro seems to have quite a liking towards you" he said suddenly which made Hinata blush madly. "O-Oh, well I'm actually about to see him now so I should really be g-going" she responded as she dashed away.

Juugo's remark just made Hinata even more nervous as she finished her voyage and walked down the stairs quietly. She was almost attempting to make her footprints as unnoticeable as possible. Of course, a set of deep green eyes immediately took focus on her the second she reached the last step. The silver haired boy was already awaiting her in the middle of the dusty room. Hinata gave him a nervous smile. "G-Good a-afternoon Kaguya-San" she greeted. She could feel hiccups forming from within due to her overwhelming anxiousness.

"Good afternoon Hinata-Chan" he greeted giving her a wicked grin. He gazed over at her sword. "Shall we begin then?" he asked. Hinata nodded and swiftly picked up her unfamiliar katana sword. She sometimes had to remind herself that the sword did in fact belong to her. Kimimaro unleashed another long bone from his shoulder. Hinata was always interested in his amazing ability, but always twitched in bewilderment as she watched him take out the actual bones from his own body.

Hinata drew her sword from its protective sheath. Kimimaro even seemed to have an admiring gleam in his eye as he looked at the well crafted sword. Hinata felt awkward holding such a weapon, and was embarrassed to use it in front of Kimimaro sense she had no experience with a sword. Fortunately, he taught her everything she needed to know, from basics to advanced footwork. Hinata grew in confidence with each swing of the sword, and had fun doing it. Kimimaro was a good teacher, a little tough perhaps, but after a while the two began to lighten up and were able to have more fun with it.

"How about a little duel Hinata-Chan?" Kimimaro suggested. "A duel?" Hinata questioned doubtfully. "Yeah. Why not? I'll go easy on you" Kimimaro said comfortingly. Hinata giggled in an odd demeanor and took an aggressive upper swing at him to which he blocked swiftly. "Well if you're going to play like that…" Kimimaro said in his cold shriveled voice as he took another swing with his bone.

The two aggressively attacked for a long while. Hinata tried keeping up with Kimimaro's quick movements, but was struggling trying to move and block at the same time. She looked as if she was about to fall, causing Kimimaro to seize his attacks momentarily to wait for her to regain her balance. Hinata only laughed though and went in to poke him in his abdominals, but was stopped by several ribs bones piercing through his body.

"Hey! No fair!" Hinata protested calmly. Kimimaro only gleamed at her. "You've learned a lot Hinata-Chan" he said in less unwelcoming tone as if he was impressed with the results of his teaching. "I-I-I suppose I-I've learned from the best?" Hinata said suggestively. "Hn" Kimimaro said smirking slightly. Hinata didn't regain her balance much before she attempted a somewhat playfully stab at him once again. He blocked it with his bone facing horizontally. Hinata stumbled on top of him and landed directly on his crotch as he fell to the floor clumsily.

The slight moan that released from his barely parted lips made Hinata jump and turn a bright red. Her hands bled from skimming across his protruding rib bone and were now placed near the sides of his hips for balance. She slowly got up from her bent over position and offered a bloody hand to help him up silently. He refused any help and got up himself while still in silence. He continued to remain quiet as he snatched her hands suddenly. He examined guiltily at the large cuts imprinted across both hands. He felt responsible for harming his teammate and couldn't have her hurt like this at all, especially since he was the cause.

"Hinata-Chan…" he finally spoke up. Hinata lifted her head slightly to meet his eyes. "Would you like to get something to eat? We'll stop by my room to help heal up your hands" he suggested while still looking closely at her hands. Hinata's face lit up. "Of course I'd love to. This is all to kind of you Kaguya-San" she said with surprisingly no expected stutters in her words.

"Right then let's go then" he said with an odd urgency. He released his grip from one of her hands, but Hinata stopped him from letting go of the other. They both smiled shyly as they walked up the stairs holding entwined hands. Being a ninja is dangerous business and you wouldn't know if you never know if are going to live to see another day. There was a defiance that Hinata's strength has already grown from this trip, but still greatly appreciates these extremely peaceful moments in her life.