theFiller Chapter!! Wootwoot!! So, since the manga has fillers, I've decided to make a "filler chapter" just for the heck of it. But uh, don't worry, the fillers do lead somewhere. Let's pretend this is the closing of one arc and the next arc will start in the next chapter and began revolving around the Chunnin exams a year later. Enjoy!

Chapter 15

It was no later than nor earlier than six in the morning when his alarm began ringing excitedly, bouncing along his bedside table until it toppled over the edge and onto his bed. That only caused the ringing to be louder.

He grunted sleepily and reached out a hand, slapping it down on the poor mechanized machine, silencing it. It wasn't long before another sound, possibly more annoying than the alarm's ringing, echoed from downstairs and into his room.

"Shikamaru!!! Are you up yet?"

Shikamaru rolled over in his bed to look at the ceiling. Troublesome woman. He sighed and lazily dragged his body off the bed, slumping as he made his way into the restroom. An unsteady hand reached out and landed roughly around the faucet, searching a little before finally succeeding in turning the tap, allowing cool water to flow into the sink.

He dunked his head down and splashed water onto his face. The cold liquid, so cold it almost stung, shocked him into being fully awake. "Troublesome", he muttered, reaching for a towel.

His mother's nagging voice reached the restroom and Shikamaru grumbled again.

"I'm coming!" he yelled.

He returned to his room, this time with a bit more speed, and got dressed. A third call of his name signaled that it was really time to hurry it up and Shikamaru finally made his way down the stairs.

"Hurry up, now", his mother greeted, "eat this quickly. The Academy's waiting".

Shikamaru paused and stared at his mom, "I have over half an hour", he replied.

"Yes, well, knowing you, you'd probably need more time".

He couldn't argue with the logic and instead, simply sat down at the table where he was joined shortly by his father. The two males sat across from each other, silently eating while the only female inhabitant of the house rambled on and on about the day ahead of them.

When she finally left, Shikamaru turned to his father and smiled.

"She's charming, isn't she?" came the sarcastic reply.

"Yep".

"So, where are you headed this early?"

"The academy, dad. I'm being trained to be an examiner for the next Chunnin exam", Shikamaru explained.

"I heard it was going to be in the Sand this time".

"Yep".

"That's nice".

"It's far and it's troublesome, but it can't be helped".

They both fell silent. There was no need for Shikaku to ask his son any further questions and Shikamaru had no desire of answering them either. The food was finished, the woman of the house kissed on either cheek, and the door locked as father and son left the house and headed their own ways.

Shikamaru took the longest route to the Academy, taking his time to enjoy the day. It was roughly seven by now; he was almost late, but he didn't worry too much about it. He estimated the distance he had left and calculated that in the end, he probably wouldn't be late.

As he passed by a very familiar part of the village, a high pitch, somewhat preppy voice called out to him.

"Where are you going?" Ino came bounding at him, her shimmering blonde hair bouncing behind her.

"Academy", he replied, slowing his steps so she could walk alongside him.

"For what?" she asked, tilting her head to look at him.

"Chunnin exams. I'm training to be an examiner", he replied.

"You sound like you're not too excited about it", Ino laughed lightly.

"It's troublesome", the reply was all honesty. He really meant it; it wasn't something he would ever choose to do, but in reality, he knew it was something he'd be incredibly adept at.

"Well, what are you doing afterwards? We should go find Chouji and Asuma-sensei and eat out", Ino grinned.

"Sure", Shikamaru agreed, "and why are you suddenly in a good mood?"

"Nothing", Ino smiled.

Shikamaru looked at her strangely, then sighed and turned away. Women were so troublesome. Still, judging from the sparkle in her eye, he could tell Ino was excited about something. Most likely the fact that she'd become a Chunnin. Yeah, that was probably it.

They arrived in front of the Academy and Ino sighed, taking a look around with an expression of nostalgia across her face. Shikamaru glanced at her again and shrugged. Troublesome.

"I miss the Academy", Ino murmured softly.

"Why?" There was no way Shikamaru could relate to the feelings his teammate had. After all, his own days at the Academy were filled with plots to sneak out of class, ways to hide the fact that he was asleep during a lesson, and long lectures from Iruka-sensei about the importance of learning. Those weren't exactly his definition of "fun".

"We were so young back then. So innocent. Everyone was still friends and… and Sasuke was still here", Ino's voice trailed off and she looked self-consciously at the ground, something she rarely did.

"Well, Sasuke didn't do much even when he was here", Shikamaru replied.

"It was such a silly crush", Ino didn't seem to hear him, "Sakura and I… It just all seems so childish".

"Well, in case you've forgotten, she's still chasing after him", Shikamaru reminded her, "just in her own way."

"That's right", Ino nodded, "she's improving her medic skills so she can be useful. At least that's what she told me. Then, she plans on trying again".

"Yeah", Shikamaru mumbled. They had made their way down the hallways of the academy, until they reached the room where Shikamaru was supposed to meet several examiners from the previous Chunnin exams as well as "important people" from the Sand.

Ino paused in her steps to look around the halls, taking in the place full of memories while Shikamaru, unaware of his teammate's lagging, walked ahead. He was met with an unexpected sight as Temari of the Sand, complete with her large fan and sarcastic smirk, walked out of the room he was about to enter, saw him with a surprised look on her face, grinned, then dragged him back into the room.

"So, barbeque tonight?" Ino confirmed. She turned to look at where Shikamaru was supposed to be, but only caught sight of another girl tugging him into a room. Her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Who the heck was that?

Well, even when we're both Chunnin, you're still too busy to hang out with me, she thought softly.

Heels turned, Ino walked back out of the Academy, the bounce no longer in her steps.

That very same morning, a few streets away and several hours earlier, a pink-haired kunoichi groggily stumbled out of bed and into the shower. She could barely see in front of her and her head hurt slightly from sleeping too late the night before.

Sakura was still exhausted and she leaned gently on the railing in her shower for support. The hospital had her running around in circles, doing all the lower jobs despite that fact that she was trained personally by the Hokage. Recently, since Tsunade had been preoccupied with overseeing the carving of her face into the Hokage's monument, Sakura had been left alone to fend for herself in the world of medics.

Her days at the hospital were filled with simple jobs, cleaning, gathering supplies, and if she was lucky enough, healing a few minor wounds. She was thoroughly sick of the repetitiveness and wanted to learn more advanced techniques. But, Tsunade was busy and Shizune refused to teach her, stating that she was afraid of messing up Tsunade's plans.

A bit later, Sakura exited the shower and wrapped a towel around her, making her way into her bedroom. Her outfits lay limply on one corner of her bed, ugh, she'd have to get those washed. There was a medic uniform in her closet and she pulled it out, tossing it casually over her. Her short hair needed no caring for; she simply let it dry on it own.

Over the years, Sakura's interest in vanity had died out and now, despite the fact that she was reaching an age where her beauty blossomed, she couldn't care less about how she looked. Sure, boys in the village whistled at her and even some patients in the hospital specifically wanted to be in her care, but she paid them little attention.

Her mind and heart were still faithfully set on Sasuke. The schoolgirl crush she'd had on him had faded away, but she couldn't say the same about her feelings for him. No matter what, they were still there.

Sakura sighed and quickly tied her forehead protector around her head, then grabbed a few personal belongings and rushed out of the house. She would pick up something to eat along the way.

As she made her way along the streets, the first rays of sunlight emerged from behind a vast chain of hills bordering one side of Konoha. The glow reached her body, warming her graciously. Sakura quickened her steps towards the hospital, hoping that if she got there early enough, she might be able to do something interesting today.

No such luck. As Sakura walked into Konoha hospital, swallowing the last of her breakfast she'd bought along the way, a rather grouchy nurse came hurrying towards her, tossing a great pile of used cloths for her to deal with. "And when you're done, come find me in the east wing. I've got more things for you to do", she added.

Sakura inwardly grumbled at the stupid task she was assigned to do, but managed to smile on the outside. There was no use pissing the nurse off; that'd just bring her more trouble. Both Sakura and the nurse were just steps away from exiting the lobby, one person on each side of the room, when a clear voice rang out, calling both of them back.

Never in her life had Sakura been happier to see the Hokage. Tsunade stood at the entrance of the lobby, arms crossed, Shizune standing behind her.

"Sakura, what are you doing with those towels?" she demanded, eyeing the grouchy nurse with a slight glare.

"I- she-" Sakura smiled a little and Inner Sakura cheered wildly as the grouchy nurse was forced to take back the dirty laundry and dispose of them herself. Sakura wasn't much of an elitist, but just this once, she was proud of being the Hokage's apprentice. It made her feel like she had "connections".

"I thought you were checking out the mountain", Sakura said as she followed Tsunade and Shizune out of the hospital.

"I was. But we figured out a better and much quicker solution", Tsunade smiled, "And that leaves me more time to teach you something new. C'mon".

Sakura grinned and followed her.

Between the carvings of the third and forth Hokage's face, there existed a small platform of rock, hanging somewhat dangerously over the side of the mountain. It was large enough for one person to stand comfortably on, or maybe for two, if they were thin enough.

At the moment, Hyuuga Neji stood upon this platform, one hand on the rocky mountain beside him to steady himself, the other hanging loosely at his side. He scanned the area around him with his byakugan, carefully studying the structure of the mountains to make sure he caught all the weak points.

The ones that had already been found were being fixed at that very moment. Several teams had been sent up to add support to certain areas, ensuring a safe carving of the Godaime's face to the monument.

"There's one over there", he announced through the radio, "10 degrees east, 45 degrees north".

"Got it", the reply was interrupted by static.

Neji sighed to himself, then shifted his position to cover his blind spot. For the most part, the mountain seemed steady, but he knew there were small, rather weak areas, and that it was his duty to find them.

My first assignment as a jounin, and I'm stuck here doing this, he thought sarcastically.

When the nurse finally arrived to announce that she was free to leave the hospital, Tenten literally felt a rush of happiness overcome her. Well, actually, that could have just been a rush of wind coming in from the open window, but either way, she was happy.

Her first stop was to find Neji. Ever since she'd gotten the scroll, she'd been dying to try it out. And who better to try it out with than her training partner? With the large scroll hugged tightly to her chest, Tenten approached the enormous Hyuuga compound. She'd been here before, yet every time she approached them massive walls, she felt a cloud of intimidation hovering over her head. There was just something about the place, so elegant, so secretive, so…"wow-ish" that made her feel incredibly small.

Tenten crossed the courtyard and approached the large sliding doors, pausing as she looked around. The place seemed strangely silent that day and she gulped a little before knocking. A servant greeted her with a polite bow and told her that Neji had gone out to do something for the Hokage, leaving Tenten feeling rather disappointed.

Already leaving me for missions? She sighed, thanked the kind lady, then turned to leave the place. As she walked back across the courtyard, Tenten heard a quiet voice call her name, then turned to see Hinata hurrying after her.

"Hey Hinata!" she greeted the shy girl with a smile.

"Hi", Hinata smiled back.

"Do you know where Neji went?" Tenten asked, expecting to hear that he was on some top secret mission.

"He's at the Hokage's monument", the reply surprised her.

"What?"

"Tsunade-sama requested that he help with scouting out the mountain", Hinata answered.

"Oh!" Tenten's face brightened visibly, "Do you know when he'll be done? I can't wait to try out this thing and I need a training partner".

"I'm not sure. But if you'd like, I can help you", Hinata offered.

Tenten looked at the girl and smiled, "Of course! C'mon, let's go". Hinata was not given a chance to say anything before she was dragged out of her home by an overexcited Tenten, who had apparently been locked away in a hospital for one too many days.

They reached a familiar clearing in the middle of a cluster of trees and Tenten set down her scroll, cautiously prying it open. Hinata stood beside her, watching intently as Tenten pulled out a brush and began furiously scrawling onto the cloth-like paper, creating the symbols for various summons.

"Are you ready?" Tenten asked after a moment of silence.

"Ready for what?"

"Well, I thought you wanted to train. Since you and Neji have similar jutsus, this will work out great".

"How do you guys normally train?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Well, I practice my aim and Neji works on his defense. Here, stand in the clearing and try to deflect everything I send at you. You'll get the hang of it".

Hinata agreed and moved into a defensive stance, turning on her byakugan as Tenten disappeared into the trees, her large scroll tucked under one arm. Without warning, she sent out a set of kunais. A simple first attack, just to make sure Hinata caught on to what she was doing.

The metallic weapons were deflected with strikes of Chakra and Tenten beamed. This was going to be fun. She sent out a second wave of weapons and quickly changed her position in the trees, then watched as each metal object fell to the floor after Hinata struck them with her palms.

"Am I doing this right?" she called out.

"Yeah!" Tenten replied. She quickly jumped to a different tree again to hide her location, then sent out more weapons. Hopefully, I'll get to use this soon, she thought, looking at her large scroll.

Hinata deflected every weapon perfectly and Tenten decided she could now test out her new scroll. With one swift movement, she dragged open the end, sending a shower of weapons into the clearing.

Hinata knew she wasn't fast enough to deflect all of them, and she hadn't figured out how to perfect her own Kaiten, so she quickly avoided the rain of metal, landing roughly on her feet behind a tree.

Tenten watched the scene with wide eyes, then quickly jumped out from the tree and hurried over to the girl. "Shoot! I forgot you couldn't- I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright. You're not used to someone weaker than Neji-nii-san".

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

"It's ok. I already know".

"What are you talking about, Hinata?"

Hinata didn't reply at first, but instead, sat down on the ground and rested against the tree. Tenten followed her example and sat down as well, looking over at the girl beside her. Her eyes had returned to normal and were shifting nervously around, as if she was trying to figure out how to start.

"My father acknowledges Neji's abilities. He wishes Neji were the first-born. His first-born".

"He said that?" Tenten asked, surprised.

"No".

"Then-"

"Neji spoke to him the night of the ceremony. My father is trying to find a way to release the curse seal from Neji and from Hanabi".

"Well, that's a very kind gesture", Tenten said thoughtfully, "and even though I don't know too much about how the Hyuuga clan works, I'm sure its something everyone must be happy about, isn't it?"

"The elders are very strict on the rules. My father must see a lot of potential in him if he wants to help", Hinata paused, then opened her mouth as if to say more, but clamped it shut again.

"I'm sorry", Tenten suddenly understood the position that Hinata was put in. If her younger sister and cousin were receiving this much attention from Hiashi, then it should have been reasonable for Hiashi to give much more care to his eldest daughter. But, he didn't.

"I'm skipping this coming Chunnin exam", Hianta announced suddenly.

"What?"

"I thought about it and I've decided I want to train more. I want to be stronger so I can take the exam the next year and pass".

Tenten was at a loss for words. She hadn't really thought about this option, but now that Hinata mentioned it, it seemed pretty reasonable.

"Well, I hope the best for you", she finally managed.

"Thank you", the reply was no more than a whisper.

The director droned on and on about the rules and regulations, not bothering to chance his monotone voice. He knew he was boring people, and he knew everyone knew that he knew, but he didn't care.

"…And so, after meeting all of the above requirements, the Chunnin examinee will pass the Chunnin selection exams". He finished speaking and a wave of whispers moved over the audience.

"That was a mouthful", Shikamaru sighed. He was sore from sitting in the same chair for such a long time and bored out of his mind. It wasn't like anyone didn't know the basic rules; they just didn't know every single detail by heart. And really, even after the director said everything, it wasn't like they were going to memorize it right away. So why bother?

"At least its over", the voice beside him replied.

"I guess", he looked over at Temari with a lazy gaze; she returned the look.

The room full of people was excused and as they made their way out of the doors, Shikamaru noticed that Temari was pretty much following him.

"What are you doing after this?" He asked not out of care nor curiosity; he supposed he just asked for the heck of it.

"I came alone this time. Gaara's been extremely busy after he became the Kazekage, and Kankuro's been helping him", she sighed, "but I'm still stuck with the whole Chunnin exam stuff".

"So you're a representative then, a diplomat?"

"Sort of".

Shikamaru made no reply. He looked at the girl beside him and felt a tinge of pity poke at him. Pity? She was normally so poised, so sarcastic, so … demanding, almost. And now, to see her alone and looking defeated made him feel bad.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded.

Nope, the same ol' Temari is back, he winced at her harsh tone, then smirked.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

She shrugged in reply.

He looked at her and said, "Well, I know of a great barbeque place…"

The afternoon was slipping away fast; the sun was setting lower and lower in the sky. Time was running out and he had yet to perfect this new jutsu. Chouji sighed and leaned against the tree trunk, pausing to catch his breath before concentrating his chakra again.

"Don't worry, you're doing a lot better than I expected", Asuma spoke up beside him. The jounin was looking a bit worn out as well.

"One more time", Chouji urged. He felt a rush of chakra gather in his arms and move towards his hand. Then, he concentrated. His fingers inflated, followed by his palm, his arms...

"It looks like you've got it!" Asuma grinned, his cigarette moving slightly as his lips curved up.

"Yeah", Chouji huffed.

"You're growing at an incredibly fast rate", Asuma stated proudly, "although, if your father wasn't assigned to that mission, he could help you improve even faster".

"It's ok. Ino said I shouldn't just rely on others to help me", Chouji replied as watched his arms return to their normal size. He had been practicing a new jutsu; expanding just one part of his body instead of his entire mass. So far, he'd managed to enlarge parts of his body, but at a rather slow rate. And, sometimes, he didn't enlarge the parts evenly.

"That's enough for today", Asuma decided. Chouji nodded in agreement.

"Asuma-sensei?"

"Hn?"

"We are going to a barbeque tonight, aren't we?"

"Heh, of course. Ino said she already talked to Shikamaru about it".

"She must be happy that she's become a Chunnin", Chouji thought aloud.

"You can become one too. Work hard, Chouji".

"Yeah. Work hard, then eat hard, right?"

They laughed at the shared joke, then fell into silence, walking alongside the grass as they took the path into the center of the village. They were greeted by an impatient looking Ino, who was slightly angry that neither they nor Shikamaru had shown up on time.

"You guys have no sense of responsibility", she reprimanded them, tugging anxiously at her hair.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Chouji asked, looking around.

"He's late", Ino tapped her foot.

"C'mon now, I'm sure he knows where we're meeting, so let's just go first", Asuma raised a hand in an attempt to stop any further arguing. It worked.

The trio made their way into the barbeque restaurant they frequently visited and the waiter smiled at them, recognizing the familiar faces. "Four?" he didn't really need to ask; it was always the four of them.

They were led to the same table they sat at each time, beside the window that allowed them to look out into the streets. Chouji took the window seat and Asuma sat beside him. Ino sat down and looked at the empty space beside her, suddenly missing Shikamaru's presences.

"He'll be here. He's just a lazy ass sometimes", Chouji assured her. Moments later, the small bell hanging from the doorframe tinkled and Ino's head snapped up, her expression becoming that of a surprised one as she watched Shikamaru walk in with some girl who looked vaguely familiar.

What was her name? Te…Tema-something…Temari? Of the Sand.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Chouji waved a hand and his teammate walked towards them with Temari trailing awkwardly behind him. She looked like she felt extremely out of place, as if she were intruding on some important meeting.

"Hey guys. Uh, can we get a larger table?" Shikamaru motioned to Temari with a tilt of his head and Asuma took the hint, standing up so that the group could move to a table for five.

They were placed at a new table, with Temari sitting between Shikamaru and Ino on one side and Asuma and Chouji on the other. The barbeque was served, and like always, Chouji was the first to dig in.

"Something wrong?" Asuma saw the grimace on Ino's face.

She shook her head and looked down at her food, then stuck it in her mouth. She could barely taste it.

When Tenten and Hinata reached the front of the Hyuuga Estate, it was dark. The night air was warm, with an occasional cool breeze flowing through the air. A few stars twinkled merrily in the sky, but most of them were unseen due to the lit street lamps.

They paused and Hinata turned to her companion, "Do you want to come in?"

"Uh, it's ok. I'll just head home. Thanks", Tenten quickly smiled, then turned to walk away when a voice called out her name.

"Hinata-sama", Neji nodded to his cousin, hinting that he wanted alone time with his teammate.

"Hey", Tenten turned back to greet him.

"You've been released from the hospital", he commented as Hinata disappeared inside the house.

"Yeah, I came to look for you, but you were doing something".

"Scouting out the mountain. The fifth's face will be carved in tomorrow", Neji replied.

"Sounds neat", Tenten looked around.

"So, what did you do all day?" Neji didn't really have it in him to genuinely care what someone else spent their day doing, but he felt like asking nevertheless.

"Hinata and I tested out the new scroll I got", Tenten's features brightened as she remembered the large scroll she was holding.

"Hn", Neji nodded in an approving manner.

"We-uh- didn't actually do much training. She can't do the Kaiten as well as you, so we ended up just talking".

"About what?"

"She told me what your uncle is trying to do, Neji. I had no idea all of this was so important to you, to her, to everyone".

He shrugged, not seeming to care. It was as if her words had no effect on him, but Tenten knew better. Neji was just that type of person- unable to show what he really thought. But she could tell her words affected him.

"In the end, I still have to rely on others to improve myself", he sounded like he despised the idea.

"Your uncle only wants to help you. That should be a good thing, Neji".

"I know".

"But it's against everything you've known, isn't it? Your hatred for the main house, your father's death".

He didn't reply, but the acknowledgement was implied.

QUESTION- what kind of mission would you like to see and who would you like to see go on the mission?