Ino was perched precariously on a tree branch, braiding friendship bracelets out of dried grass and bits of flowers. As Sakura was busy with her family today, Ino decided spend the time alone and plan out her birthday gift. She was carefully peeling a cosmos stem into three equal segments when a shuriken lodged itself into the trunk of her tree not far from where she sat. Ino let out a startled scream and lost her balance.

She tumbled out of the tree and fell towards the ground, accelerating at a sickening rate. To her surprise, she landed on something soft with a muffled thump. Someone had caught her, or at the very least, braced her fall with their own body. Ino staggered backwards, searching frantically for her saviour so she could thank them. Her eyes fell upon a young, dark-haired boy who looked about her age. Upon closer inspection, she recognized him as a fellow classmate from the Academy. He had two shurikens in his left hand and one in his right. Ino realized that he was blushing slightly. He must have been the one who threw the shuriken that had frightened her and caused her to fall…

"Um, sorry about that." His dark eyes flickered to the shuriken still stuck high above in the tree. His hand reached towards it reflexively.

"Did you catch me?" Ino asked in amazement, dusting herself off.

His eyebrow twitched and he flushed a deeper shade of red. "Yeah…" he muttered.

"Arigatou," Ino said gratefully.

The boy did not reply. Instead, he retracted his hand and asked, "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I could ask the same to you," she responded. He scowled and she held out her half-finished bracelets. "I was making these."

"Up in a tree?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah!" Ino said defensively. "Then what were you doing?"

"Training."

Ino looked confused. She didn't remember Iruka-sensei instructing them to train at all this week. Or perhaps it was for a different class that she didn't take? "What, why? We don't have shuriken-throwing class until –"

He cut her off. "It's not for school."

"Then, why?" Ino asked, genuine curiosity creeping into her voice, despite her attempted façade to appear disinterested.

"I have to be strong…as strong as my brother!" he explained proudly.

"Oh, I see," she mumbled. The boy turned, preparing to leave.

"Wait!" Ino cried, "Who are you?" He halted, looking at Ino curiously.

"We've been classmates at the Academy for a few months now," he paused then said, "I'm…Sasuke."

He started to walk away. "Wait!" Ino said again. "Aren't you going to ask for my name? It's only polite."

Sasuke glanced back at her, his expression amused. "But I already know your name, Ino."

"Oh."

He turned away a third time and Ino watched him vanish into the shadows. She exhaled, rather noisily, and plopped down on the ground. Then she picked up a strip of cosmos and began weaving, lost in thought. As the sun slowly moved across the sky, her fingers became raw and sore. She could hear the sound of panting in the distance, and a metallic whoosh every now and then. She smiled, continuing to braid. At last, Ino tied a final knot and held out the intricately woven fibres at arm's length to examine her masterpiece. There! She was finally done and satisfied with her work. She gathered the precious bracelets and placed them carefully in her pocket. I wonder how Sasuke's training is going.

Without thinking, Ino got up and followed the distant noises to its source. She was fairly certain that it was he who was making all the racket. Sure enough, she didn't have to walk for long before she spied Sasuke in an empty clearing. He was training all right, his breathing was laboured and he had a kunai grasped tightly in his grip. In fact, he was holding it so tightly, his knuckles were turning white. Without a warning, he leapt into the air and slashed his kunai at a nearby tree.

He's as fast as a full fledged ninja! Ino thought enviously. She leaned comfortably against a tree, watching him repeatedly throwing and retrieving his shurikens. His accuracy and speed were remarkable. Ino's eyes could barely follow as he flew nimbly through the air, hurling his weapons at the trees around him. Suddenly, a shuriken whipped through the air and embedded itself mere centimetres above Ino's head.

"I know you're there."

Ino emerged, panting furiously. "You could have killed me!" she spluttered accusingly.

"No I couldn't have," Sasuke assured, "I know my limitations."

Ino muttered angrily under her breath.

"What were you doing, hiding behind that tree?" he asked, pocketing his shuriken.

"Watching you train," Ino grumbled.

"Oh…?"

"And being jealous."

"Oh…"

Ino grinned. "Why do you need to be as strong as your brother, Sasuke-kun? From what it looks like to me, you're plenty strong already."

Sasuke grimaced. "No, I'm still not strong enough."

Ino didn't ask for an explanation. She knew she would never get one at this rate. "Okay, fine."

Sasuke looked pleasantly surprised. Ino was about to say something, but another voice cut her off.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun…!"

Sasuke turned pale when he saw the look on Ino's face.

Ami sauntered into view, flipping her violet bangs with an air of superiority. And to Ino's astonishment, her minions weren't with her. Ami never went anywhere without them, what was up with that?

"I've…got to go," Sasuke muttered under his breath, and he took off in the other direction.

Ino's gaze flickered from the spot where he had been standing to Ami and back again. Uh oh…

Ami bowled her over in her attempt to follow Sasuke. Ino wasn't sure if Ami had even seen her. She probably hadn't, which was most strange.

"Hey, Sasuke! Wait up!" Ami called sweetly, batting her eyelashes. She too, disappeared into the dense forest as she chased after Sasuke, calling out his name. Soon, Ino couldn't hear her voice anymore.

She rubbed her forehead in confusion. What on earth was that all about?!