It felt like a perfect morning. The sun rose up high, birds chirped merrily, and it wasn't too hot or too cold outside for the first time this summer. It was the perfect day to start the first day of school, and it could have been even better had it not been for Neji. For the first time in my entire life, I was late to school.

Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin and I am ecstatic that he is living with me now, but neither of us are used to sharing. During the night, one of us is hogging the blankets as well as each other's side of the bed, it takes forever for the other to get out of the shower, especially when Neji is washing his hair, and it's a battle just to brush our teeth at the small sink in the bathroom. We were both late to school this morning and Neji almost missed his IQ test.

At Konoha High, it's a requirement for first years and new students to take an IQ test so that the staff knows where to place the student. It's a quick test and the results are obtained within a few minutes after the test has been completed. The test results come back so fast that the staff often has a schedule ready for the students taking the test before homeroom ends.

When I walked my cousin to the testing site, Haku was already waiting for him there. I had to leave immediately after I dropped him off since I was running late and I knew that I was going to hear it from Iruka sensei as soon as I got to class. Lucky me, when I got to class, I was attacked by hugs instead of words as soon as I entered my homeroom.

"You act as though you haven't seen me all summer," I told Sakura and Ino when they finally released me.

"It feels that way," said Sakura.

"Yeah," Ino agreed. "We were too used to seeing you every day for two weeks."

"Well, I'm happy that you missed me," I said, walking over to my desk to sit down. "I missed you guys, too."

Sakura sat down at her desk but Ino leaned against mine.

Ino said "So Neji recovered his memory, huh? How's life at home with him?"

I filled them in on all of the issues we have with sharing and time management. They laughed and said that they were lucky to be only children. During their laughter, Iruka sensei came into the room and told everyone to be quiet and sit down. He went into discussing the rules (that have been said throughout all of my years at Konoha High for the school year) and told us what kind of behavior he expected out of us. He also went into what academics we'll all be attending as he passed out everyone's schedule.

Everything on my schedule looked good. The classes didn't look too hard and I knew most of the teachers teaching the subjects. I just had two problems with it. I had gym the very last period with Might Guy sensei, the fitness teacher that was way too enthused about exercise and youth, and Social Studies with Kakashi Hatake, the school nurse. At the end of the year last school year, the Social Studies teacher retired and principal Tsunade wasn't able to find someone to replace him until Kakashi sensei showed her his degree in that field. Now Kakashi is my Social Studies teacher and a part time school nurse/slayer who wants to kill me.

Most students made sounds of satisfaction when they saw what classes that they'd be attending, and the rest made noises of disapproval. I just wonder who is going to be suffering through my classes with me this year. I'm hoping that Sakura or Ino are in at least three of my classes to keep me company, especially since Kakashi is one of my teachers.

I was looking over my schedule again and again, hoping that if I looked it over enough times Kakashi and Guy would disappear. I got so into my list that when Deidara slammed his hand down on my desk, I jolted and almost screamed.

"Let me see your schedule," he demanded.

"Did you really have to scare me to ask for it?" I asked.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just hand your paper over to me without complaining."

I rolled my eyes at him and handed him my list, taking his in turn. Everything on his schedule was the same as mine, except for gym, and he had woodshop while I had Driver's Ed.

"So we both have Kakashi," Deidara said, still looking at my list as if he could also look it over enough times for Kakashi's name to disappear. "I guess that I'll be cutting a lot this year."

"No you're not." I took my paper back and handed him his own. "We both got to suck it up and go to his class. You're not leaving me alone with him."

"You wouldn't be alone. Naruto has him, too."

"Really? I hope that's just a coincidence."

"I don't think so, Princess. I think everyone knows about us." He gave me a devilish smirk that made me blush before going back to his seat.

During the few minutes we had left before we went off to go to our next class, I looked over Sakura's and Ino's list. The only subjects the three of us had together were Literature with Iruka sensei, lunch, and Driver's Ed. I couldn't help but think that this was done intentionally. Someone wanted to separate me as much as they could from my friends without it seeming suspicious. Every nerve in my body was pointing towards Tsunade, the head slayer in this city, but I wasn't sure. She's not the one who makes the schedule, the counselors are.

The bell rang for us all to disperse and since Deidara, Naruto, and I had almost identical schedules, we chose to walk to Chemistry together. The desks held three people per table so we sat together. Naruto sat closest to the window, Deidara took the seat nearest to the aisle, and I was forced to sit between them. Our sensei, Ibiki Morino, went over the rules, how careful to be in the lab when working with the chemicals, and passed out our textbooks for us to take home. In the process, the students kept staring at sensei's face. He had deep, vicious scars all over his face and scalp. Ibiki sensei didn't tell us where he got them from no matter how times the kids asked and made them drop the subject.

My first thought was that he had gotten into an accident once upon a time, but Deidara leaned towards Naruto and me to whisper "Ibiki is a slayer."

My eyes widened and they widened even more when Naruto said "I could sense it right away."

"Since when can you do that?" I asked.

"I learned it from Haku after he settled in with Sasuke. Slayers have a distinct smell. They kind of smell like cherries," Naruto said.

"Cherries?" Deidara and I said at the same time. Deidara then said "That's one cherry that I don't want to eat." He shuddered in his seat.

We quickly got off of the slayer topic when Ibiki began walking around the room and started talking about video games. No doubt he heard what we were talking about with those ears of his. He should also already know what Deidara and Naruto are, but I don't know if he knows who I am. If he does, then the three of us have been set up by whoever made our schedules. I don't know what the slayers are planning but whatever it is can't be good if they have eyes on us all of the time everywhere we go. School is supposed to be a safe ground for kids, but it's turning into the enemy's den.

The bell rang once again and we scurried off to the next period without giving Ibiki sensei a second glance. I figured that home economics would be easier to deal with but I was wrong. Again. Our sensei was Yugao Uzuki, a twenty-six year old woman with long, purple hair and brown eyes. Last year she joined our school, and during her first week with us her boyfriend, Hayate Gekko, died. Tsunade gave her time off to recuperate but she didn't return. Now she's back. I didn't find it surprising when Deidara told me that she is also a slayer. My gut told me that she was in with whatever Tsunade and the others had planned because she was fueled by revenge. It was said that Hayate died of illness, but the truth was that he was murdered. The culprit was never found but for all I knew the slayers found the vampire who killed Hayate and took him out.

I'm sure that Yugao sensei returned to school after avenging her boyfriend's death. And one would think that anyone fulfilling their revenge would be at peace after accomplishing their goal. Not Yugao. I found her eyes wandering around the room still thirsty for more bloodshed. Killing the murderer wasn't enough. She wanted more. Yugao was not going to rest until all evil was gone.

Our next class was literature, the period where I met up with my friends again. Sakura and Ino met me at my desk and immediately began talking about their classes. Sakura told me about how easy they were while Ino complained about none of the teachers being hot. In her eyes, they were too old.

"Sit down, everyone," Iruka said. Once the children took their seats, Iruka began to speak again. "We got a new student joining us today. He's a sophomore so treat him nicely and assist him whenever he asks for help." He motioned towards the door. "You can come in now."

The kid walked in and observed the student body. To everyone who didn't know him, he appeared to be only looking at their faces, but I knew that he was reading them. He was checking out what kind of person each student was as he looked from face to face. When his eyes found me, he smiled and said "Hello Hinata."

Before I got the opportunity to wave, Deidara shot up from his seat and said "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Well, Deidara, I took the IQ test and ended up here." Haku fondled with some strands of his dark hair, looking as angelic as he possibly could. "Little did I know that I was going to be placed here with you. I am pleased that Hinata and Naruto are here though."

"Bullshit. You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"I am not at liberty to say. Sorry." Haku shot Deidara an innocent smile. During their conversation, I took notice that a lot of the boys were blushing at Haku's alluring beauty. Regardless that he was male, the boys were entranced by his face. The girls in the room were rolling their eyes at him and whispering things that were obviously about him to their friends. This didn't bother the gypsy though. He seemed to be expecting this.

"Um, can you introduce yourself to the class and tell us something about yourself, please?" Iruka asked. He was entranced by Haku's face, too, and it was proving difficult for him to hide his attraction. Gross.

Haku bowed to the class and looked at everyone with a friendly smile. "My name is Haku Yuki. I came from Kirigakure five years ago and lived on the outskirts of Konohagakure until recently. I do not know much about public school because I have been home schooled most of my life, so please take care of me."

Iruka fished out the seating chart from his desk and told Haku to sit behind Kiba Inuzuka. I couldn't help but notice that Kiba's face turned beet red when the gypsy sat down and said hello. Unfortunately Haku was sitting five rows away from me at the back of the room so I couldn't ask him how he got placed in a junior leveled class, and I also couldn't ask him about Neji. I had not seen him yet and I worry whether he'll be able to make any friends.

From beside me, Sakura whispered to me "You know the new kid?"

I nodded. "I met him through Sasuke. He's really nice and very intelligent."

Ino leaned in from behind me. "He looks like a girl, a pretty girl. It's only a matter of time before all of these hungry boys snatch him up."

"Haku isn't interested in any of them," I said plainly.

"Yeah? They're all interested in him, especially Kiba." Ino pointed to the other side of the room where the gypsy and Kiba sat.

The two boys were making small talk while all of the other boys were gawking at them. To me, it looked like Kiba was explaining the rules or curriculum to him but then it quickly turned into flirting. Of course, Haku wasn't the one who initiated it, Kiba was. Haku wasn't flirting back with him, he was just listening and responding with simple questions and statements. I thought that he was oblivious to Kiba's attraction until Haku flirted back. Kiba's face turned beet red again and he faced the front of the room to retreat, but Haku didn't let him escape just yet. He continued to flirt until Kiba's face turned so red that it looked like it was about to burst. This made me believe that Haku is a sadist just like a familiar blonde vampire that we all know and, sadly, love.

"Haku doesn't want Kiba, though," I said.

"I can tell. He's just teasing him," Ino said, still watching the two from a distance. "He's a boy after my own heart."

"He isn't anything like you, Ino," Sakura said. "He's just trying to get Kiba to leave him alone."

"It'd be nice if he was. We need a man-whore, too."

"We do not!"

Iruka placed textbooks on each of our desks, putting our conversation at an end. He stared directly at the three of us and asked "You girls didn't hear a word I said up there, did you?" We stared guiltily at our sensei as a response. All he did was sigh and say "I guess there's no point in telling you that you can talk now."

When sensei walked away, I said "I'm going to talk to Haku."

"Okay," Sakura said. "I guess we'll see you at lunch since the period is almost over."

I got up and was making my way over to Haku when Deidara rushed up to me, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me along with him to the expecting gypsy. I stood near Haku while Deidara made himself comfortable on top of Haku's desk. My supernatural friends exchanged similar smirks when Haku lifted his head up from his textbook.

"Can I help you?" Haku asked Deidara.

"In fact, you can. I'm wondering why the hell you're in this class. Are you here to torment me or something?"

"Please," the gypsy said, closing his textbook. "Not everything is about you. But I suppose I can add that to my list of extracurricular activities if that satisfies you." He glanced behind me and then put all of his attention on Deidara. "I came to keep an eye on you, Hinata, Naruto, and Neji. All of your teachers are slayers, excluding Iruka Umino, of course."

"I was suspecting that," Naruto said, coming up from behind me. "What's the reason for it?"

"I was told that they want to keep an eye on you all at all times. I was not told why, but I suspect that they want an excuse to kill you if they catch you doing something wrong. So I want you all to stay close to each other and do not leave the other alone."

Deidara sighed. "I guess that means I can't sleep in study hall anymore."

I gave him a small smile before asking Haku "Have you seen Neji yet?"

"Yes. My last two classes were with him. He is adjusting well with his schedule, and he has caught up with his childhood friends, Rock Lee and Tenten. It was quite an emotional reunion when they recognized him. They talked all period long so I did not get the opportunity to talk to him."

"Good. I was worried about him making friends," I said. "What about his teachers?"

"Unfortunately, they are slayers, too. But his teachers seem to like him more than you three. They believe that there is a chance of him joining their side. Your cousin is a valuable asset so Tsunade does not want him dead."

Not only will I have to keep my guard up at all times, I also have to look out for Neji. This is getting even more complicated. In so many ways, I am starting to regret ever leaving Sunagakure. Things would have definitely been easier over there with Gaara than here.

Haku was going to say more but the bell rang, telling us to go to lunch. He sat with my friends and me since Deidara's and Naruto's table was not optional. The reason: Kiba sat with them and still had his eyes on the young gypsy, as well as a few others at the table. So Haku sat next to me to prevent having to meet their eyes.

"You are so adorable!" Ino blurted at Haku as soon as she got to our table.

"Adorable?" He repeated it as if he had never heard the word before.

"Yeah. You're cute and innocent-looking so if anyone's picking on you, tell me and I'll kick their ass for you."

"O-Okay?"

When Ino began complaining to Sakura about the boys staring at Haku and the girls who were talking about him, the gypsy fixed my friends with his soul-seeing gaze. He only did this for a few seconds until he was satisfied enough to eat.

I let the gypsy swallow the salad that he forked up before asking "So how's your day going so far, Haku?"

"Better than I expected. Since I am an underclassman in all of my classes, the students and teachers give me benefits."

"Are they all boys?" I asked suspiciously.

He thought for a moment. "Yes. Why?"

"Aw!" Ino cooed. "I have to educate him just as I did Hinata."

"No you don't," Sakura said to Ino. "We want him to stay innocent."

"Says who? My education will save his life. In this school, he's a walking piece of meat." Ino's eyes widened when she caught something within her view behind me. She leaned in closer to everyone and said "Dog boy is coming over here."

All of us simultaneously began to eat our meal and not a moment later Kiba Inuzuka sat in the empty seat next to Haku after greeting all of us. They smiled at each other but I could sense how much effort Haku didn't put into his smile. He didn't want Kiba near him. And since Haku is almost all knowing, I was curious as to why Haku didn't want anything to do with Kiba. Does it have something to do with Kiba's past or his thoughts?

"Are you here to flirt again?" Haku asked.

"Only if you want to," he replied in a flirtatious tone.

"I'll pass. What do you need?"

"I know it's kind of sudden, and we don't really know each other, but do you want to hang out after school or something?"

"I'm sorry. You are not my type."

Kiba raised one of his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't understand. Deidara said that you like boys."

In my periphery, I saw my gypsy friend's body twitch in annoyance. Haku told everyone that he wanted to keep his sexual orientation a secret, but Deidara didn't hold him to it. No doubt Haku is going to get him back later.

"Is that so?" Haku asked. His voice sounded kind but I sensed the danger in it right away, which made me shudder.

"Yeah," Kiba shrugged, oblivious to the gypsy's change in mood. "So do you want to?"

My friend went silent as he looked over Kiba. When he finally spoke up, he said "Sorry, I have plans. Maybe next time?"

I expected Kiba to be disappointed, but he smiled and said "I'll hold you to that, you know."

As soon as Kiba walked away, Haku said to himself more than anyone "I believe that high school has just become extremely difficult for me due to undesirable attention."

"Untrue," Ino said. "But now you can get that lovesick puppy to do whatever you ask."

The gypsy furrowed his eyebrows at Ino's comment. He did not respond to her and began to finish his lunch. Me and my friends exchanged glances and ate our food, too.

I began to wonder if the attention was becoming overwhelming for Haku. Everywhere he goes, there are eyes on him. I found Haku beautiful when I first met him, too, but this kind of adoration is ridiculous, annoying, and creepy. The boys at this school behave like they have never seen a pretty girl before (even though Haku is most definitely not a girl). Any girl (or boy, in this case) would be uncomfortable in this situation, but Haku seems to be even more uncomfortable than most. It could be because he has the ability to know someone more than themselves in one glance. And if so, there must be something that Haku really does not like about Kiba.

After lunch, I had to go to Driver's Ed. I went off with Sakura and Ino while Haku went to join Neji in their senior leveled math class. It relieved me that Haku was going to reunite with my cousin because Neji will do an even better job looking out for our gypsy than me. With my cousin around, no one will approach him let alone glance at him.

Sakura, Ino, and I got to Driver's Ed and, obviously, sat near each other. The room filled up quickly and not too long after the students filled the seats, the teacher waltzed in to greet us with a bright smile. She told us that her name was Shizune. She and Kakashi took turns in the nurse's office in between periods when one had to teach a class.

Shizune sensei came off as a kind, warm person. Had it not been for Haku, I would not have known that she was also a slayer. But I think that I would have figured it out even without Haku's knowledge. Shizune proudly announced to the class that she was well acquainted with Tsunade and they knew each other through her uncle, Dan Kato. The student body was impressed that she knew Tsunade since the principal hardly spoke to anyone, and they wanted to hear more out of curiosity. Shizune didn't say much though because, unlike any other teacher on our first day, she wanted to teach us something.

All period, Shizune had us reading from the textbook and expected us to hand in a full paged report based on what we knew and didn't know about driving. If we didn't finish it then it was homework, which I did not mind, but Ino was grumbling under her breath about how the first day was supposed to be relaxing and homework was going to screw up her night.

Our sensei lifted her head in our direction a few times while Ino was complaining. Ino was speaking low enough for only Sakura and me to hear, but, with Shizune's slayer ears, she was able to hear every word as if she were next to us. A chill ran up my spine when she glanced at me several times during her eavesdropping. Every time she looked at me, the kindness faded from her eyes and I could see how she really saw me. She hated me, and I felt as though she wanted me to know that she could her us, that she wanted me to know what she was capable of. Oddly enough, I was not intimidated like she wanted me to be. I don't know where the sudden confidence came from, but I shot the same expression back and she actually faltered, taking her hateful eyes off of me. I guess in order for me to make it through this slayer thing I need to fight back. It's a plan, but it'll be difficult for my next class.

I reunited with Deidara and Naruto for Social Studies, Kakashi sensei's class. He greeted the students at the door with kind eyes and worksheets ready to be handed out to each kid entering the room. What caught me off guard was that sensei smiled at me and my friends despite knowing who we were. He even gave us the privilege of sitting near each other when he announced our assigned seats. I would like to say that he was planning something but I had no proof. I even got the sense that he was happy to see us when he saw us.

My friends and I did not get the chance to talk once seated. Kakashi sensei spoke immediately when all the students found their new seats. He said that a new student will be joining us. I had a feeling as to who the student was going to be, and when Kakashi brought him into the room, I was right (for once).

Haku introduced himself to the math class, and to no surprise at all, he got the same stares from the kids like in Literature. But, unlike Iruka sensei, Kakashi sensei wasn't staring at Haku as if he was some god (or goddess) sent from heaven. He wasn't even fazed by his otherworldly beauty. He treated him just like any other sensible person would and told him where to sit. Amazingly, Haku's seat was right in front of mine and next to Deidara. My friend sat in front of me with a large smile on his stunning face before he turned the smile into a cocky smirk just for Deidara. I instantly knew that he had something planned for him after telling Kiba, and more than likely others, that he was homosexual.

"On the worksheets that I passed out to you as you all came in is a questionnaire," Kakashi sensei told everyone, who were barely paying attention due the grogginess that they were feeling because it was near the end of the day. "There are no right or wrong answers on this. This is only going to tell me about yourselves so that I get to know you all a bit more." Sensei glanced at the clock and added "You have approximately twenty minutes before the period ends. Get it done and hand it in before then."

I looked over the questionnaire and was baffled that it was legit. I expected sensei to create a sheet with subliminal meaning, but as I looked it over and over and over again, I found nothing suspicious. Is this actually a real attempt to get to know us better? If so, should I answer all of the questions on the sheet and put myself at risk for him to find a weakness? After all, even though I did not find any subliminal meaning or feel suspicious about this, it doesn't mean that there isn't something going on? What if-

"Everyone," Haku said. "You are overthinking this. Relax. There is nothing wrong with this questionnaire."

Naruto, Deidara, and I exchanged looks. It was weird how we were all feeling the same way and thinking the same things.

"I really hate when you do that psychic crap," Deidara told Haku.

"And I really despise that you deny that you hate what I can do, Deidara," Haku replied.

The blonde vampire opened his mouth to make another comment but Naruto took his opportunity to speak as soon as Deidara drew a breath. "Are you sure about that, Haku? Kakashi is a slayer, too after all."

"But he is not an enemy." All of us gave him confused stares and waited for him to continue. "He and Zabuza are close friends. I met him once before and he is not a bad man. Kakashi is not like the other slayers."

"Are you sure about that?" Naruto asked, still sounding skeptical.

"The fact that a water nymph and a slayer are friends alone should be enough proof, especially in Zabuza's case. Zabuza's clan was killed by vampires and he wanted nothing to do with anything remotely close to undead. However, knowing that slayers are part vampire, Zabuza and Kakashi befriended almost immediately after meeting."

I glanced at Kakashi from across the room. From behind his newspaper and coffee mug, he met my eyes and nodded at me. It may be true that Kakashi is friends with a water nymph, but I think that Deidara was the one who brought the change in him. When Anko, the witch that wanted to destroy all humanity, stabbed me almost to death, Deidara took me to Kakashi in fear of a hospital asking too many questions. Sensei saw the panic on Deidara's face when he brought me to the infirmary and it sparked a change in him. Growing up, Kakashi was taught that vampires are evil and aren't capable of love, but after what he saw and listened to what Deidara told him, Kakashi began questioning the laws fed to him as a young boy. Looking into my sensei's eyes, I can see that he is on our side now.

Still staring at Kakashi, I told Haku, "I believe you. I think we can trust him."

Haku smiled. "You're so understanding, Hinata." The gypsy stared at Deidara, looking him over as he said "Butterflies are swarming in your stomach, old one. I guess that you haven't gotten over her after all."

I felt myself blushing as my head snapped in the direction of Deidara. His face turned red, too, but it was redder than mine. Butterflies began to swarm in my stomach, and I'm sure he heard my heart beating, but he chose to ignore it, just like I expected him to. He wouldn't even look at me.

Covering up his embarrassment, Deidara said "Don't make me eat you. I never had gypsy before."

"I doubt that you could." He gave Deidara a mischievous smile that I found too adorable to be called conniving or evil. "I'm too powerful for you and not only that, you aren't even thinking about eating me. Instead, thoughts about Hinata are running through your mind."

The blonde vampire glared at Haku. His lips twitched upward as he opened his mouth to spit out a nasty comment, but Kakashi interrupted.

"You four need to get to work," Kakashi called from the front of the room. "You have fifteen minutes left."

We dropped our conversation and got to writing. My friends and I completed the questionnaire not too long before the bell rang and I left the class feeling much better about Social Studies. The school may be the enemy's den, but there are a few safe places here. I've always felt safe in Iruka sensei's room and Kakashi's class just became another.

Haku left us because he had to return to Neji (which relieved Deidara). My next class was math with Aoi Rokusho. He was a man with green spiky hair that came just above his shoulders and he had purple eyes with long eyelashes. I heard that Aoi had left Konohagakure to live in Amegakure for a while, but, just like Yugao, he came back this year, although, I don't know why Aoi suddenly decided to come back here. It's a little suspicious.

Anyway, Aoi sensei gave us worksheets as soon as everyone settled down and he taught us a bit of basic algebra. I assumed that he wanted to go easy on us since it was the first day of school, but he kind of messed that up when he told everyone that the worksheet was homework. Deidara instantly cursed under his breath and, as a response, Aoi sensei snapped his head in my friend's direction saying "No cursing in my class."

I was taken aback that he actually revealed his excellent hearing abilities. If he assumed that we didn't know that he was a slayer, we do now. If sensei was willing to take a risk like that in front of everyone, then who knows what else he'd do. Something tells me that he won't be afraid to hunt one of us down in public if he had to (or wanted to).

Aoi Rokusho watched me and my friends until we left the room after the bell rang. On the way out, Deidara matched his hateful glare until we were out of his view. Sure, being watched the entire period was a bit nerve wracking, but all feelings of nervousness were replaced with fear and anxiety when I headed to my last class alone, gym.

I was separated from everyone when I parted ways with Deidara and Naruto. Of course, Deidara suggested cutting with him to avoid Guy sensei and his sadistic ways of getting in shape by using the power of youth. I had to decline on his offer even though I really wanted to cut for the first time in my life. Deidara and Naruto were worried about me because they weren't going to be with me. And I couldn't help but to worry about myself as I took off my school uniform in the girls' locker room and put on my gym clothes. If Guy sensei wasn't going to kill me then the horrid exercises sure will. Either way I was going to die before, during, or after.

Groaning, I exited the locker room to enter the gymnasium. I lined up next to a few girls, who had left the locker room a couple of minutes prior to when I left, and waited for Guy sensei to make his appearance. While standing, I couldn't help but to fidget nervously with my fingers. I let my eyes wander around the gymnasium and noticed that boys were also with us too. This was something new. Last year boys and girls were separated because too many of them were hooking up in the bathroom (Ino was one of those people). Now everyone has been merged together as one large class. Just great.

I waited only a few minutes for sensei to appear before I got impatient and began to wander around the gym. No one paid much attention to me (too busy talking to their friends) so I meandered over to the boys' side of the gym. I noticed right away that it was quieter over here than on the girls' side and I soon found out why. All eyes were looking in one direction, so I went in that direction to find Haku sitting against the wall, texting on his phone.

I sighed heavily, relieved that there was someone here that I could talk to, and I walked over to him. I reached him and, without looking up, Haku said "You found me quick just like I anticipated, Hinata."

Smiling, I sat beside him. "Who are you texting?"

"Zabuza," he sighed. "He worries about me going to public school and has been texting me consistently."

"Well, he knows that you're okay now, so you can stop messaging him now if you want. You can't have your phone out in school anyway. He's going to get you in trouble and Guy sensei doesn't have a problem with making up excuses to keep you after school to do insane laps around the gym."

Haku shuddered. "You're right. I should stop." As he put his iPhone away in his gym shorts, he said "About time you joined us, Neji. You took longer than a girl in there."

I looked towards the boys' locker room to see Neji rushing up to us, his long hair bouncing with each step. "Sorry I took so long. I didn't want to leave you out here by yourself with everyone." My cousin sat beside me, smiling. "Haku said that you would be here, too."

"Really? He didn't say anything to me." I shot my gypsy friend a glare that faltered immediately when my eyes landed on his face. He was so cute and innocent-looking that it was impossible to be mad at him (even though I wasn't). "What's wrong?"

"What Guy has in mind could be detrimental to our health."

"What does he have in mind?" I asked.

"You'll see. Neji will have no problem with it since he is a slayer, but you and I will have some difficulty."

"Well, if it's too much, you can sit out, right?" Neji said.

"No," I said. "Guy always forces the kids to go until the end, if not, more."

Just then, Guy sensei appeared out of nowhere at the center of the gymnasium. It took me a while to get past his bowl cut hairstyle and his incredibly bushy eyebrows to meet his dark eyes. He was happy to be here, happy to see everyone, and happy to get everyone in shape by encouraging us with the raw power of youth. It was when he made his sudden appearance that I didn't want to get up to join the rest of the students huddling around our enthusiastic sensei.

"Come on," Neji told me and Haku as he stood up from the floor.

Reluctantly, me and Haku followed Neji to join everyone else. Meanwhile, Guy sensei was telling us that we were going to do some light exercises by starting off with seven laps around the gym. Next, we were going to do some weight lifting and we had to complete over twenty-five reps on each type of machine before going onto the final step, wall sits for the remainder of the period. If the laps don't kill me then the weight lifting will. I don't think I'll make it to the wall sits.

Neji was the first one to finish the laps, without breaking a sweat, which impressed sensei. I did… okay. I got through four laps without slowing down or collapsing which was a great improvement from last year. Haku didn't do so well. He got through two laps and slowed down considerably. I cut my pace back to meet him and give him support when I noticed how pale he was looking. It's obvious once you meet a gypsy that they aren't very deft in physical activity, but I didn't expect them to be this bad at it. Haku had no color in his skin and was breathing heavily as if he was having an asthma attack.

I put my hand on his back and asked "Do you need to sit down?"

Unable to speak, he nodded instead.

I was going to find Guy, but he noticed that we had stopped running and made his way over to us. He was going to yell at us to keep moving but Haku's poor appearance stopped him in his tracks.

"What is going on here?" Guy sensei asked.

"My friend is having…" I stumbled on my words for only a second to make up an excuse for Haku, "asthma trouble."

"This isn't good. Maybe you should go to the nurse."

I looked at the gypsy and he shook his head at Guy sensei's suggestion.

I made up another excuse. "He doesn't have an inhaler, so there isn't anything that the nurse can do for him. Besides, I think that my friend would like to sit here to watch all of the youthful students inspire him to do better next time."

I saw a glint of happiness in his eyes at the word "youth." Hopefully this will get him to excuse Haku.

Guy sensei straightened his body as he crossed his arms. "Alright. He can sit out, but I want seven laps next time I see you. Are we clear?"

Sensei tried to sound serious, but the elation he was feeling for believing the lie I cooked up for Haku wanting to watch the class workout was clouding over his disappointment in him. I didn't worry though. With a face like Haku's, sensei will be submitting to anything that the gypsy complains about.

After Haku sat down, I ran the rest of my laps without complications. I joined Neji in the weight lifting room, but not too long after I found a machine to use, my cousin left the room to do his wall sits. Before he left, he told me that he was going to sit near Haku so that he was certain that he was fine. This didn't bother me at all, I just hated that I was going to be alone again. Sure, Guy sensei seems harmless, but the only one who could confirm whether he was harmless or not was Haku. I was surrounded by other kids, but I still felt alone without my friends.

With much difficulty, and perspiration, I finished the weights and began the wall sits. To my luck, I only had to sit for two minutes before sensei called us to go back into the locker rooms to shower and go home. But right before I entered the locker room, I saw Guy sensei approach Haku. I wasn't worried because the gypsy can hold his own, especially since he knows how slayers operate better than anyone in the world, and went to the showers.

I reentered the gymnasium to find Guy, Neji, and Haku (who was still in his gym attire) in the middle of the floor. As soon as Neji saw me, he pulled me aside to fill me in. My jaw dropped at what he told me.

"Guy sensei is going to make Haku finish the exercise," my cousin said. I opened my mouth to protest but his next words stopped me. Again. "Because of his 'asthma', he can take as long as he likes and he doesn't have to do twenty-five reps on all of the machines or wall sits."

"Well, that's good. I guess I'll stay here until he finishes," I said.

"That's what I was planning."

So we sat in a spot where we wouldn't be in the way. But watching our gypsy was still painful even though he could go at his own pace. We ended up staying at the school longer than I would have wanted, and we were finally able to leave at sunset. Despite how poorly Haku did, Guy was still impressed by his determination, which relieved me, and I was beginning to believe that Guy was also a good guy.

Neji, Haku, and I exited the school and chose to take a shortcut to the church to drop off Haku. Sasuke was sure to be worried about him since we were gone for so long, and since none of us bothered to contact him. On the bright side, there were many shortcuts in Konohagakure, so Sasuke would see him soon. The down side, all of the shortcuts were through alleyways and it was getting dark fast.

There aren't many crimes in Konohagakure so I wasn't hesitant at all to walk through an alleyway in the dark because I did it often even before I met Sasuke. And with a strong guy like Neji, no one would even dare to approach us. However, when we were five blocks away from our destination, I felt something wrong. And Neji felt it, too.

My cousin put his arms out in front of us and said "Wait. Something's coming."

At the same time I took a step forward, Neji wrapped his arms around both my and Haku's waist to pull us several feet back away from danger all in under a second. It took me a moment to get my spinning head together from that unexpectedly fast movement. But when I did, my heart shot up to my throat and I froze.

My cousin broke the shock that Haku and I was feeling by saying "Vampires."