Shortly after the first day of school, Kakashi divided the class into groups of three and assigned them all long-term research topics. Hinata, Naruto, and Shikamaru had been put in the same team, much to Hinata's delight. Naruto, however, was disappointed that he would not be in the same group as Sakura and that she was instead in a team with Sasuke Uchiha—the academy hottie—and Ino. That group was not going to get any work done. Hinata's group had read the prompt for their project:

Discuss the economic and sociopolitical factors that led to the fall of the Soviet Union as well as the implications of the USSR's fall for the United States. Include at least one primary source and four secondary sources in your bibliography. Your report must include either a book discussion and/or interview.

Naruto mentioned that they should do the interview instead, especially since one of his coworkers had lived in the Soviet Union, so they could also get their primary source out of the way—like killing two birds with one stone. Shikamaru had argued that interviewing a woman was a terrible idea, since they tend to go on and on about their feelings and life stories that it'll just take too damn long. Naruto then complained that Shikamaru always complained too much. Shikamaru retorted that listening to Naruto's prepubescent voice is troublesome. The two boys ended up deciding not to worry about it right away, since the deadline for the first draft of the book discussion and the interview transcript would not be due for quite some time.

It was a warm Friday evening in September when Naruto had already left class for work. Hinata nervously approached Shikamaru with the day's date in mind.

"Um…Shikamaru?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…I know Naruto wanted to do the interview, but the deadline for the first draft of the book discussion is in two days and—"

"Shit…" Shikamaru sighed and muttered another obscenity as he fished out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Naruto's home number.

"He's not picking up," Shikamaru snapped his phone shut, "I think he might be at work. Let's just go get him."

"Okay!"

Hinata and Shikamaru quickly got in Shikamaru's Lexus I350 and drove across the bridge to the shipping yard. Shikamaru parked the car in a red zone and left the key in the ignition, instructing Hinata to move the car if the police came. Hinata had no time to protest that she could not drive.

Shikamaru approached a man wearing a yellow helmet and asked where Naruto Uzumaki was. The man pointed in the direction of a large metal crane. As Shikamaru headed toward the crane, the man suddenly remembered procedure and asked,

"Excuse me, sir! Do you have permission to be here?"

"Don't worry about it."

As he approached the crane, he saw Naruto carrying boxes and chatting with a rather scrappy-looking blonde girl wearing a flannel shirt and carrying even more boxes then Naruto.

"Hey! Hey! Naruto!" Naruto and the girl turned around. The girl looked annoyed.

"Shikamaru, why are you—WHOA!" Naruto started to run, "Shikamaru, are you OK?" Apparently Shikamaru had tripped on a metal beam and had injured his shin during his fall."

"Why you little—Gahhh!" Shikamaru winced and clutched his leg.

"Come on, we need to get you to the locker room. If they see you lying here, I could get fired."

Shikamaru almost forgot his aching shin when he realized that the girl was reaching down to carry him.

"Absolutely not. No self-respecting man lets a woman carry him."

"Nonsense, imbecile." He could not place her mild accent at first, but then he realized that she must be the Soviet coworker Naruto was talking about. She roughly picked him up and carried him bridal style.

"This is humiliating. Please put me down, NOW."

"Shut up, idiot. Put your arm around me so you don't bounce."

"Ugh, whatever," Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he complied. A shrill ring interrupted his thoughts.

"Whoa, Shikamaru, you have a cell phone??"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and snapped open his phone, "Hinata? What? You can't drive? Naruto, hurry go up and to the front and take the car around, a cop's coming."

"Roger!" Naruto dashed toward the exit.

When Naruto got in the car, he was greeted by a flustered Hinata.

"Um…Naruto I'm so sorry! I didn't get a chance to tell Shikamaru I don't know how to drive."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto grinned as he turned the engine on and put the car into reverse. He looked back, pressing his hand against the cushion of the passenger seat. Hinata turned a few shades darker and her imagination ran wild. It kind of looked like he was putting his hand on her shoulder, like they were on a date, like they were going to a fancy dinner or a movie, and maybe afterward he would kiss her and—

"Stupid Shikamaru. Why did he park in red when there's free parking just around the corner?"

"Oh...um…he probably didn't want to walk too far."

"Lazy bastard," Naruto parallel parked the car in the tight spot, bumping the sedan behind. When they both got out of the car, Naruto jovially pushed Hinata's shoulders from behind.

"Lets go let's go let's go!"

"Yes!" Hinata broke into a sprint toward the shipyard.

"Hinata, Shikamaru's in the locker room!" Naruto called after the stumbling girl. Heh, she's kinda weird sometimes.

Several minutes after Naruto arrived at the locker room, a disoriented Hinata appeared.

"Hey Hinata, we're actually about halfway done with the interview."

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I was trying to find the locker room!"

"Don't worry about it. One person conducting it would have sufficed. This dolt here just made it more troublesome."

"Hey, at least this dolt didn't need a girl to carry him!"

Temari, seemingly unaffected by the two boys, introduced herself to Hinata, who did the same and thanked Temari for her time.

"You are most welcome. You all can repay me by driving me home."

"But my leg still hurts."

"Shut up crybaby, you didn't even sprain or fracture it. Oh hey, can I drive your car to Temari's? Oh and Temari, can you make that us that soup that you made yesterday?"

"Borscht? Your friends might not like it."

"I don't really care what Shikamaru likes, but Hinata will, right?"

Hinata could only whimper in delight. Today would be the first time she would be spending this much time with Naruto.

When they arrived at Temari's apartment complex, Hinata had quietly warned Shikamaru about the possibility of his car being stolen or broken into since the sidewalk was littered with broken glass, but he assured her that his troublesome mother made him get the comprehensive insurance policy so whatever. The group entered the yellow-gray apartment complex and walked up the stairs. Hinata tried not to notice the hallway's stench, which was reminiscent of a concoction of sweat, urine, and vomit. To their pleasant surprise, however, Temari's apartment was very clean and rather cozy. It contained a single bedroom that her two brothers used to share. The elder brother Kankuro, however, was studying theatre at Julliard, so the youngest sibling Gaara had the room to himself. Temari slept in the small living room on a pile of neatly folded blankets. The unit had no dining table but there were stools next to the counter creating a small, cheap bar. Worn, old photographs of various people, buildings, and sceneries were either taped or tacked onto the walls. Overall, Hinata liked the apartment. It was the antithesis of her spacious, sterile, and rather inhospitable mansion.

Shikamaru finished the interview in the kitchen while Temari cooked borscht and prepared sauerkraut. She had hastily tied a pack of ice to Shikamaru's leg, and to his surprise, it worked wonders. In the meantime, Naruto was "helping" Hinata type up the book report. More accurately, he was being amazed by her new laptop (it had Windows 95!) and was distracting her by playing Hover! and losing miserably. She was happy that he was so impressed when she was able to win easily. It took a lot of energy to stay focused when he was looking over her shoulder with his breath hot on her cheek.

"Umm, Naruto? If you'd like, umm, you can borrow it over the weekend?"

"What?! Are you serious? Are you sure?"

"Sure, Naruto. I hope you like it."

"Wow, thanks! Hinata, you're the best! I'll give it back to you Monday!" Naruto grinned and gave Hinata a brief bear hug. After he let go, she had to pull out her still moist handkerchief and dabbed her upper lip and forehead. This was turning out to be a wonderful day.

After Shikamaru was done marking his notes, he told them all that he was well enough to take them home. The three of them left after thanking Temari. Hinata was the first to be dropped off. After she entered her room, she leaned against her door and sighed dreamily. Then a wave of dread washed over her. "My assignments are on the laptop."

Sasuke Uchiha sat on the balcony of his family's $10 million home and watched the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. He carefully thought about how ironic it was that the things other people envied him for were making him miserable. People were stupid. They thought that he was lucky because he was rich, handsome, and intelligent, neglecting to understand that all three of these qualities cursed him. Why don't they understand that you don't own your money? Your money owns you. Possessions tie you down and make you miserable. They keep you from living the life you were meant to live. Being poor was a blessing.Happiness is relative. It cannot be bought. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. At least they have something to live for—something to strive for in order to fulfill their meaningless little lives. At least they have hope.His intelligence was a burden. Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance meant not seeing the futility of every endeavor, not seeing people and their pathetic attempts at greatness, at world peace, at finding true love. It meant not seeing piles and piles of human waste as far as the eye can see. They don't know what it's like to be thinking all the time, to see the world in a way they could never begin to fathom, to see reality rear its ugly head everywhere I look but they don't see.He cursed his flawless skin and chiseled features for the unwanted attention they brought him. He then thought about Sakura and Ino, his new group mates. Those stupid whores only see a shell. They are shallow and filthy like a pack of used car salesmen from the slums. I will make them pay. I will make them pay for not having the decency to realize that they can never understand me.