Chapter 1
Hikaru had woken with the rising sun since his days as an infant. Everyday, his father would walk out the front door, on some kind of business, constantly busy, never enough time to kiss his wife goodbye, or even mutter a farewell to his son. Everyday it had woken Hikaru up, and everyday he would stand in his doorway, watching his mother stand in the doorway to their home, watching the back of the man she had fallen in love with shrink as he walked away from his family. For years this would be his morning ritual, it would always take a minute or two for his mother to realize that her son was up and about, and then she'd instruct him into the bathroom to clean up for breakfast. It had been the same for years, but today was different. As Nageshima Hitori got up to make his way out the door, to head down to the Shinobi Academy to prepare for his class, he met his son, Nageshima Hikaru standing in front of the door. Hikaru was father's spitting image, with his large, muscular frame, his facial features that made him look years older than he was, his raven black hair and his almost constantly unhappy expression, he was, without a doubt, Hitori in his early teenage years. Except for his eyes. Hikaru had inherited his mother's, breath taking, sky blue, chestnut shaped eyes that seemed to hypnotize you. Stopping in front of his son, Hitori's mouth dropped into a frown and his eyebrow raised, he was asking a question with not a word. "Will you be there" Hikaru whispered, his sky blue eyes staring into the depths of blackness that composed his father's. Hitori's frown only grew deeper as he attempted to decipher what exactly his son was asking him. It was only when he opened his mouth to ask did it dawn on him that Hikaru was going to partake in the yearly genin exam that very day. Cursing himself for his own forgetfulness, Hitori searched for the right words to tell his son that he would have to miss it, as he was expected to accompany a class of first year Shinobi on a field trip. As if he had read his father's mind, Hikaru nodded solemnly, his face displaying nothing but acceptance, not a happy acceptance but an understanding of the situation. "Hikaru..." Hitori began, his voice quavering with emotion as he watched his son walk right past him, his eyes glazing over the mountain of a man Hitori was as he made his way towards the bathroom. Hikaru slammed the bathroom door behind him in response. Sighing, Hitori opened the front door, and stepped outside, his face contorted into one of sorrow. "First you lose your wife...now your son" he whispered "You just keep losing people you love Hitori" he scolded himself before he began to make his way towards the center of the village.
"WHAT!" Hikaru roared, his shock being too much to properly contain. "Nageshima-Kun!" the Genin Examiner responded sharply, his voice clearly laced with agitation. "Please contain all further outbursts. And, to reiterate, what I said was, you" at that point the examiner pointed at Hikaru "Will be partnered with Yamada-San" he ended his statement by pointing out the green haired young lady once more. With an expression of barely contained fury, Hikaru moved through the crowd of other Genin hopefuls until he stood face to face with the tiny Yamada Chou, staring down into the depths of her black eyes. Hikaru could not claim that she was not attractive. She had developed slower than her classmates, Hikaru estimated her height to be somewhere around 62 inches with a rather unimpressive figure for a 13 year old girl. However, with her long green hair tied in a ponytail and her constant smile, which showed off a pair of dimples that were utterly adorable, Chou definitely had her charms. "Sorry you got me Nageshima-Kun" the girl whispered, her perpetually happy expression replaced with another that Hikaru couldn't decipher, but made him feel uncomfortable. For a few moments, the air between them was heavy with guilt from both parties, but, with no more stomach for such an environment, Hikaru swallowed his pride and set his sights on fixing what he was sure was his own fault. "Chou. I didn't mean it like that. I meant...I'm not..." Hikaru, much to his own chagrin, found he was unable to apply words to the regret that he was feeling. Reaching out, Chou touched Hikaru's forearm, and within an instant, Hikaru understood that she grasped what he had been trying to say, and his understanding of that simple fact seemed to make his heart pound almost violently within his ribcage. Then something happened. Without an attempt from either of the adolescents, the air seemed heavy again. However, this time, the air was heavy with something else, something neither Hikaru or Chou had ever felt before was hanging in the air. It made Hikaru feel short of breath, it wiped his mind blank and it made his heart flutter in a fashion that reminded him of the descriptions he had read in his Mother's old books. Both of them pitched forwards, oblivious to the fact that the rest of the class had left the room, only aware of the fact that the other was nearby. The feeling of Chou's lips on his own seemed to snap Hikaru out of his strange trance and he backed away from her, his arm held in the crook of his arm as he stared with a look that was disturbingly similar to terror on his face. Chou looked at him, her lip trembling as she stared up at Hikaru. Neither spoke, neither moved, they could only stare at each other, one feeling hurt at what she thought was rejection, the other terrified that he had lost the control he had fought so hard to keep over himself. Finally, after numerous minutes, one of their classmates poked his head into the doorway and shouted out "Come on Nageshima-Kun, Yamada-Chan, it's almost your turn to take the exam".