Oh my god, it's so hard to find proper names for all these clan people. There will be Yamanakas and Naras and all in this story but there are only so many names that start with Ino- and Shika-
Even in canon there are some that don't but that kind of feels like cheating. If anyone has suggestions I'd be more than happy to hear them.
iluvfairytale: I hate her too, but that kind of came while writing…? She's not actually supposed to be a bad guy, just set in her ways and unequipped to deal with Sakura's needs. This obviously wasn't entirely the last of her either because she still feels she's right.
Hisana is in love.
Aburame Shizuha is a complete and utter weirdo, like almost everyone in her clan. She's quiet but not shy, always trying to quip up in a conversation with what she assumes to be appropriate.
"Sasuke-kun is so cute! I wish he was a little older." – "Uchiha-kun is visually pleasing, but his character is egocentric and overbearing."
"Don't talk like that about him! He might be my boyfriend anyway!" – "Unlikely. Experience has shown that visually pleasing people prefer other, equally visually pleasing, people. Mizuna-san's nose is more than 40 % bigger than is averagely considered attractive."
"Stop that", she finally snapps. "Sasuke is not going to be anyone's boyfriend. You go away, and you, don't get involved in these discussions!"
Situations like these are momentarily uncomfortable, but they have gifted Shizuha with a reputation that keeps even Nara at a distance. For now. But she's grateful for every day the Aburame continues to be 'a drag'.
She glares until the other girl scampers away and then grabs a handful of Shizuha's coat and leads her towards one of the designated sparring areas.
"We're not going to train here."
The girl nods slowly.
"Agreed. Unnecessary exposure to the enemy must be avoided."
Hisana eyes the girl, but between the high collar and her sunglasses there's nothing to read on her face.
"Genin training ground four, tonight. We can discuss our styles and how to work together."
"Acceptable."
Shizuha boasts three styles. The Burning Leaf style, which she confesses to dislike because of the same reasons Naruto does, a weird style called Weaving Wind that consists solely of evasive maneuvers, and the Aburame style. The last of them has Hisana a little envious.
It's an understated style, full of minute but precise movements. During their spar Shizuha keeps incredibly close to her, dodging by only millimeters. It doesn't allow for much strength in her punches, but it gets her so far into Hisana's defense that she can easily reach several of her danger zones; liver, throat and solar plexus.
"No room for powerful hits for either of us," she explains. "We are a ninjutsu clan, in brute strength we are always outclassed. Either we keep so much distance that they can't catch us, or we go in far enough to arrest their momentum."
While this is all very impressive, it poses a problem.
"We're both short range fighters."
Shizuha nods.
"I can attempt to serve as the long range part of our team, but my control over the kikai is tenuous still. I will have to rely on bukijutsu."
The thought doesn't sit well with Hisana. Kunai and shuriken are all well and good, but they are only knifes. Good to kill someone, but not enough to knock someone off your comrade. Of course nobody would be killed during an Academy tournament. She suspects they will not be allowed to use them at all. Her hesitance must show on her face.
Shizuha pushes her glasses up her nose.
"Demonstrate your favored style please, I will analyze."
And so she does.
The girl is strange; awkward, blunt and oftentimes vaguely insulting, but she's also quite brilliant, Hisana thinks. She runs through a series of katas and feels herself relax. The movements are almost meditative and it feels nice not having to solve the problem by herself for once. It should be weird, it occurs to her, to show a stranger her style. Is it because she's not a proper Uchiha? Whatever that might mean?
It didn't feel strange with Naruto and it doesn't feel strange now either. It's nothing that couldn't be gleaned by watching her practice. And they might have to compete in exams, but they are still from the same village. This might be something to ask Genma. Though Shizuha didn't hesitate to her the Aburame style either. Maybe it's a case of 'show me yours and I'll show you mine'? The thought vaguely amuses her.
At the end of her demonstration she is in a better mood and a little out of breath. Shizuha is quiet for a moment longer before nodding decisively.
"A suggestion:…"
They try it out against team 7.
"Ok," Sakura says carefully. "You against us? Do you think that's fair?"
"No," says Hisana, in the same tone of voice. "We are only trying this out. This is not about winning or losing."
Shizuha rights her glasses.
"Correct."
"Want me to watch?" Genma offers, scratching the back of his head.
Hisana hesitates.
"…Honesty, while commendable, does not serve the purpose of a ninja," the Aburame reminds her quietly.
"Fine, ok. Tell us if we're on to something."
Boy, are they on to something.
Defeating a team of seven-year-olds is not a big feat, but the way they do it has her almost snickering with glee. The Aburame style, while designed to move with the enemy, sharpens reflexes to such a fine point that they are also able to move with their partner, in a way that the Sharingan will one day allow Hisana.
They stick together closely, to pose the smallest possible target. Hisana herself leads, while Shizuha shadows her closely, hands and feet darting out from under her arms, beside her neck, over her head, blocking and hitting as if she had two pairs of arms and legs; Hisana's body shielding Shizuha, Shizuha's quick hands shielding her. They flatten team 7.
They practice in a moderate tempo against Genma, who thinks them to be hilarious.
"If it looks stupid but works, it isn't stupid," he says. "That doesn't mean I'll ever let you live this down."
They glare at him and decide that the weirdness of the technique is completely irrelevant.
Sasuke is watching them attentively. That's right, she thinks, when we both develop the Sharingan we'll be able to do this too. He'll be able to do this with all of his teammates.
She has a vision of her cousin darting back and forth between Naruto and Sakura, diverting and redirecting punches and projectiles, followed by a rather ridiculous one of Naruto doing this with a bunch of clones, stepping onto each other's feet and randomly bursting into poofs of smoke. She snorts.
There is much amusement to be had at the beginning of their first fight as well.
Akimichi Choumei, a short, fat boy and Yamanaka Inoko, an equally short girl with dark hair instead of the typical Yamanaka blonde, are both full of hot air. Without a Nara they are unable to pin them down. The match barely starts, and it's already obvious.
"Just you wait," Choumei boasts, "we'll flatten you in no time!"
His hand shoot out with such strength that Hisana is sure she could feel it approaching with her eyes closed. But he's also slow. His fist misses her by almost five centimeters; Shizuha doesn't even feel the need to get involved. They duck together, her teammate's forehead pressed against her shoulder. She knows Shizuha's eyes are closed. There is no need to be proactive yet, and it's easier to feel her movements than to try and follow them visually.
The first few times Shizuha just follows her there are jeers about the coward hiding behind her teammate, but then they gain momentum.
The Akimichi-Yamanaka duo is clumsy and awkward still, Choumei trying to protect Inoko, and Inoko too hesitant to use proper violence. Two times she can feel Shizuha following her a beat too slowly, a perfect opening. But Inoko hesitates and by the time Choumei has reacted, Hisana can feel an arm closing around her middle and yanking her out of the way.
The next blunder costs Inoko. Hisana lands a blow against her throat; the girl chokes and is waved out of the fight by Ito-sensei. In the end they simply outlast Choumei. His stamina is surprising for a boy of his weight, but they are too quick for him and land repeatedly blows against his solar plexus, until something cracks. Ito-sensei ends the match when he starts crying.
There is still laughter when they have their second match, but it's significantly quieter. After winning the third and fourth and fifth there is only silence and staring.
Ito-sensei still looks amused but also a little proud. It doesn't even matter, that the Nara-Hyuuga team finally kicks their ass.
"This was enjoyable," Shizuha says, massaging the bruises on her arm, left behind by the Juuken. "There is no shame in our loss."
"No, there isn't," she agrees. The Aburame girl bows to her. "For now I will have to report to father, he is very anxious about our placement. I hope we can continue our friendly relations."
Then she turns around and leaves. Weird kid, she thinks a little fondly. Still better than Nara.
"Yeah … that," it comes unexpectedly from behind her, where Nara Shiki is leaning against the door frame, gesturing vaguely with her finger, "I want in on that."
So, disaster postponed, not avoided.
She knows there is some sort of unspoken law that you don't antagonize a Nara, because, no matter how lazy they are, they will doggedly pursue and crush you if you do.
Nara Shiki does not like being told 'no'.
"I have decided," she declares, "that the pros of an association with you outweigh the cons."
"And I want that."
She gestures in the direction where Shizuha vanished not ten minutes ago.
"You want Aburame? You're welcome to her."
She likes the girl, but not that much.
Nara sighs.
"Don't play dumb, Uchiha. What a drag. You know who I'm going to be paired off with come graduation?"
"Officially? With whomever's scores correspond with yours. Unofficially? Probably a Yamanaka and an Akimichi."
"That's right. Inoko's probably not going to make it, but Choumei will. There's Yamanaka Inomaru in Suzume-sensei's class. I know them, we grew up together. They are like my own flesh and blood, but they're also idiots. Who do you think is going to do all the planning, all the thinking and strategizing for the rest of our natural lives and then has to justify herself for it?"
She looks frustrated.
"I want that", she says, repeating the gesture a little more firmly. "The getting it and just doing it."
She flops down on the bench next to Hisana, eyes fixed onto the ceiling, and with an unhappy frown.
"Genin teams aren't forever. I don't want to be the only thinking one forever."
This is so dangerous. But she gets it. It's what makes her actually consider Shizuha's offer of 'friendly relations'. These girls are significantly younger than her, but they are the closest she can get to intellectual equals right now. The thought of keeping that around is … exciting. She feels like she's been living wrapped up in cotton for the past few months; everything is dull and boring. This is not boring and she thinks, maybe, she can keep it.
She's far more reluctant to introduce Shiki to team 7 than she was with Shizuha.
They are both quiet, passive observers, but the Aburame seems to be more familiar with the concept of 'not your business'. She takes note, accepts it, and then files it away until further notice. Shiki takes note and picks it apart until she has all components neatly isolated. She won't say anything either, but things are gradually added and lined up, that, when she decides to comment, it's a fully developed and logical argument that you can't lie your way out of.
The Nara is aware of her own flaws but uninterested in changing them.
She's not pleased that Shizuha receives what appears to be preferential treatment, but she also knows that their relationship is currently on thin ice, and that she'll simply have to deal with it.
Naruto takes to their newest addition with fervor. Apart from a detached comment about the boy's shaky standing in the village, Shizuha has shown no interest in antagonizing him. She calls him by his first name, which, rude, but it makes the blond so happy, that he keeps bothering 'his new friend' for a super ninja technique for the rest of the week. The Aburame takes it in stride and shows him how to balance a kunai on his nose.
Sasuke watches her warily for a while. Hisana wants to make fun of him for thinking every girl is out to get him, but he's not wrong exactly, so she really can't blame him. Once he decides that Shizuha is no danger to his virtue, he accepts her with a casual indifference that only Sasuke can pull off.
When Sasuke relaxes, Sakura does, too. Sizing her up as competition is an exercise in futility, as none of them have any idea what her face actually looks like, and thanks to her baggy clothes Sakura can tell herself that she's at least, probably, slimmer than Shizuha.
She doesn't actually care what Genma thinks, he's still in the doghouse.
And while Hisana is busy carefully introducing her new acquaintance to the wolf pack, so to speak, it's actually the team that decides 'careful' is overrated.
"Look!" Naruto crows, "I brought your friend!"
It's not Shizuha, it's Nara Shiki.
The girl's face mirrors her own; dispassionate dread and helplessness. She wanted to be introduced, but this was probably not what she had in mind.