Chapter 16: Summer Breeze

One time, while drinking with his old man, Asuma heard Hiruzen make an offhanded comment of how Kakashi had the potential to become Hokage.

Perhaps that's what might have started it all. From then forward, Kakashi annoyed him. And his eerie aura of staged aloofness pissed Asuma so bad. The silver haired Jounin was no doubt his father's favorite. So when they stood there before the third Hokage, Asuma decided to also take a step forward and petition team 10, partly because Kakashi had also petition his team 7.

That may have been too childish and brash on Asuma's part. But what aided in making his decision was that he had placed his faith on Ino's forceful ability to keep Shikamaru's laziness in check. And if things flows well and don't get clogged along the way, then Shikamaru's intelligence would become known after the Chūnin exam; leading to a much expected promotion for the lazy guy. Asuma smirked at his plan.

Kurenai was still fresh in her title of Jounin since she had earned that title at the beginning of the year. Yet she felt like she had the guts to petition her team. After all, Kakashi was petitioning his fresh genins, which implied that it wasn't uncommon. So she thought it wouldn't be weird if she also stepped forward as well to give her oath that she believed that her genins had a shot at it. She was proud to say that her team managed to complete their trainings and were taught skills essential for Chūnin exam survival.

Kurenai believed Team 8 had the advantage since they each had come from respected clans whose ability held a natural benefit over those ninja of normal upbringings. It was sad to admit, but true. Which is why she was convinced they were fit to face off against other genins, regardless of their age and prowess. Because their secret weapon, which wasn't so secret, yet a bit overrated-teamwork!

The Chūnin exams starts on the 1st of July. They all had one week to prepare.

Hinata wordlessly interrupted her father with her presence. She stood before the bookshelf which was located in his study room, and strolled around trying to find the book titles written on the note which had been ripped out of her notepad. Her father watched her, curiously, and eventually got up from behind his desk and offered his help. When she handed the note with sloppy handwriting which no doubt belong to someone close to Hinata's age, Hiashi's eyes widen momentarily.

"These are adult books." Her father commented, as he moved about effortlessly to find the books written on the list. "You may want to keep a dictionary close by." Book after book, Hiashi kept passing them over to Hinata until eventually a stack of five books rested on her arms.

"Thank you, father." Hinata said, with a genuine smile. Which after she strolled back to her room.

Upon entering her room, Hinata walked over to her desk where she laid the stack of books. The urge to swim inside the pages was strong. Her mind chanted to her: Read. Read. Read.

She read over the words very carefully. While in the action of turning to the twenty-third page, her mind immediately conjured up jumbled and meaningless images. They surfaced as if they had very little weight to it. She was trying to make sense, and organized the images in hopes that it would have some sort of meaning.

Asuma's lighter, it had the same symbol as the sash he wore around his waist. The kanji for fire. That day, when Kurenai tried to politely kick her out of her apartment, Asuma's distinctive lighter rested on the table, next to the two cup of tea. Right away, a sensation of hopelessness and frustration flooded her very being after interpreting what that memory meant.

'I couldn't see what was before me.'

Hinata turned back to the pages of the book, while imprinting a new knowledge inside her head.

She had to pause and pay close attention to things.

The book hinted that she should actively do this every day. The goal was to gradually notice the smaller details that would hint that something is out of place. She bookmarked the page before shutting the book close.

As far as Kiba was concerned, he felt ready for the Chūnin exams. Without wording it, Shino also demonstrated a willingness to participate in the exam. It was Hinata who stared stupidly at the Chūnin exam form. She thought she had a realistic view of the situation-she wasn't ready for this!

She missed everything of importance that Kurenai sensei explained. And only nodded once she went back to paying attention, in time to hear the last part of Kurenai's inspirational talk.

"…And you guys are ready! Make me proud, and study hard!"

There was an explosion of excitement coming from Kiba and Akamaru, whose noise level snapped Hinata out of her thoughts. Shino scowled in annoyance, since the source of noise surprised him, therefore causing his bugs inside his body to go haywire for a few moments until he got them to calm down.

Eventually, they were dismissed. Kiba wheeled around and marched off with Akamaru, to go home and share the news with his family. Shino followed a similar path. The only two left were Kurenai and Hinata.

"Let's go have some tea at my place, Hinata." Kurenai said. "Maybe we can talk about the Chūnin exam, and any doubts you may have." Truthfully, she wanted to get to the heart of Hinata's sadness. But she invited her genin students under the pretense that they might just talk about the exam.

Kurenai laid down two cups filled chai tea with honey on the table. She sat down across Hinata, while cupping her chin with one hand, elbow resting over the table, while peering over to the window. The tea remained untouched, steeping. Hinata played around with the tea bag, swirling it inside the cup and watching its movement. Then she caught herself doing what she normally does, which was not pay attention.

'This is how I missed the details last time.' Hinata thought to herself.

She straightened her back and sighed as she stared at the older woman. She had disliked Kurenai for the last two weeks. But she woke up today thinking that it was enough, and that this had to stop.

"Kurenai-sensei…I've been feeling down lately b-because my heart's been broken." Hinata said. Kurenai paused so that she could make sure that she had heard the young girl correctly.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Kurenai said, kindheartedly. "I waited around, hoping that whatever is troubling you would go away. I didn't know it was a matter of the heart. Hinata, you're a lovable person, you know. So even if it hurts now, know that this was a gift. I can see that it ended painfully, but from pain comes wisdom. There's always a lesson to be learned from that."

"Yeah…there was." Hinata admitted.

"Tell me, was it one of the boys from Team 10? I notice you've always been eager to spend time with them after practice." Kurenai said. There was a titter of nervous laughter coming from Hinata.

"N-No." Hinata said.

The older woman shook her head with a smile. She felt like she hit the mark with her guess, but she wasn't going to tell Hinata that her answer didn't convince her.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But I just hope you get better." Kurenai said, her tone of voice portrayed understanding.

The doorbell ringing spooked her soul. Hinata flinched and her head snapped towards Kurenai, as if asking if she was expecting someone.

"That's probably Asuma. I'm surprised he didn't use the window." Kurenai said, while grabbing her tea in hand, and disappearing out of the room to answer the door.

The freezing hands, the numbing feelings. They've returned. Without as much as even touching her tea, Hinata stood up and joined Kurenai by the door. She avoided looking at Asuma and pretended to focus on Shikamaru, whose eyes lingered on her as they always did.

"Are you interested in taking the exam?" Asuma asked her. "I hope you decide to take it. I believe in you have potential to go far." He said.

"Y-Yes, I am!" Hinata said, while looking at Asuma for the first time in a long time.

She bit the inside of her bottom lip, while calling herself pathetic, for coming to such quick decision about taking the exam just because Asuma said those words. She needed to run away, to get away from there! But didn't know how to go about it. It was rude to leave Kurenai without as much of a sip from the tea she made for her. Her brain was being overworked with thoughts of what decision she should make, that she didn't stop to pay attention to the boy next to Asuma.

"Hey, did you get to read any of the books I recommended yesterday?" Shikamaru asked.

She finally looked at him. Like really looked at him. Shikamaru had dark color under his eyes which one gets from lack of sleep. But that's not what she was concerned about at that moment. Shikamaru, at the time, was the rope she needed to escape.

"Yes I did. I read one chapter of a book, but it was a really d-difficult read." Hinata said, while smiling nervously and walking towards him. She swiftly put on her shoes, and locked arms with him while pulling him towards the door. "W-Would you like to t-talk about it?" She asked him, even though her actions made him feel like he didn't have a choice but to agree.

Shikamaru turned his head to Asuma as he was walking outside of the door. "Sensei, guess we'll play Shogi another time."

"B-Bye Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata said over her shoulder.

Asuma and Kurenai stared at the spot where their two students were a few moments. They laughed, almost in sync.

Once outside, Hinata let go of his arm. He stood in his familiar posture of hands tucked inside his pockets. He didn't mention anything about knowing that she used him as an escape; since nothing good would come from telling her that he knew about her broken heart. He hated how he was eager to be there for her in a blink of an eye.

"W-Where would you like to go?" She finally asked. Hinata felt like she had to follow through with her word, or else she'll have to give the truth away.

"Anywhere is fine." He replied.

As they walked, the summer sun almost evaporated his drive to want to hang out with her. There was a change in her mood upon walking past an ice cream stand. It doesn't escape his notice how big and bright her smile glowed after getting an ice cream cone, with two big scoops of some colorful flavor. She got one for him as well, probably out of guilt, but he wasn't sure.

Shikamaru suddenly paused on his track, as they were on their way to the park.

It's not like it should matter, but why did it feel important to define what this was? Did he considered this a date? He looked down the road which led to her. She had already found some place to sit, and she was almost finished with her ice cream. She waved at him with one hand as though she was making sure he didn't lose her. Believing that it would reach her, he smiled like he normally does.

Minutes passed of superficial words before it shifted into something of interest.

"The literature I've been reading speaks of motives and basically encourages me to ask question-more like t-to question everything." Hinata said. "And to pay attention to details…" Her words were like persuasive rays of hope, since he had been wavering on his decision to act. So he took the time to assess the situation, as he was sitting next to her on the bench.

"So going by what you said, does that mean you're going to start questioning the motives behind the action of others?" Shikamaru asked.

"It is part of the exercise on becoming more perceptive, s-so yes." Hinata said.

He scoffed. "Then what would drive a lazy guy like myself to be out here with you?" He asked. His question momentarily surprised her because she didn't think to question his motive.

"U-Um…you wanted to give our teachers some time alone?" Hinata said as though she wasn't sure of her response.

"That's too much work, I would've just stolen the couch for a nap and that would be equivalent to giving them alone time." He replied.

"B-Because we're friends?" Hinata said, while still trying to answer his question about his motive behind joining her.

Shikamaru paused, and rubbed his chin, as if contemplating the nature of their friendship for the first time. He searched for the perfect words. But in the end, he felt like he watched his chance fade away. It was strange, it's not that he wanted to hide himself at all. But confessing his feelings with the intention of getting something in return was not possible at the moment; because of her broken heart.

And he didn't want their so-called friendship to vanish with the summer breeze over something like this. Much to his dismay, he was forced to bend the truth a little.

"Yeah. Because we're friends." He repeated her words back to her as conformation that she was right. He wasn't going to let his honesty ruin everything.

He yawned as the breeze picked up prompting the leaves to rustle loud enough for Hinata's attention to be stolen away. She glanced up, staring at the tree above, but that didn't stop her from seeing Shikamaru shifting closer to her from the corner of her eyes.

She turned her head and watched as he shifted his position, and brought his leg to rest on the bench, as his head rested on her lap. He lay on his side, facing the world, or the passing strangers whom would occasionally walk by.

For reasons she didn't understand, she was at ease with the situation. Perhaps it may have been the fact that Shikamaru had gotten her used to physical contact, though that hadn't been his intention at all. Whether it was their shoulder brushing, their hand briefly touching as she helped him up, or simply sitting next to him as he took a nap. Those small things had amounted to her building up some sort of tolerance when it came to physical contact. She almost didn't question it. Until,

"Hey, what do you make of my motive right now?" He asked. Shikamaru already decided that he didn't want to let truth ruin everything. But he was like a kid with a desire to let his secret just burst out of his mouth. He wondered if the overwhelming feelings he felt, or the heart-pounding against his chest would eventually cease. It didn't help that his nose was assaulted with a flowery scent which no doubt belonged to her.

She giggled a response that sounded like,

"You want to sleep and I-I'm being turned into a pillow." She stared at her friend whose head rested on her lap. Shikamaru's cheeks were red, and she figured it was probably from the summer heat.

"Aa." He replied, more as an acknowledgement. She was wrong, but also right. Of course he was sleepy. Last night, Asuma showed up by his house and handed him the Chūnin exam form for him to fill up. He got only 4 hours of sleep thinking about his decision of taking the exam. "It sure beats lying on the grass." He said while trying to carefully maneuver his way out of the awkwardness he felt over being welcomed on her physical space.

He could feel his face still burning. Shikamaru almost felt guilty for being so happy right now.

"By the way...A-Are you planning on t-taking the exam?" She glanced down briefly only to see that his eyes were closed. But he still answered her.

"Hn." He grunted out. "Asuma-sensei told me that if I don't participate, my whole team won't be able to take the exam. It's a group thing. It's so troublesome that I'm being forced into it. Wish I had known so I didn't waste my time thinking about my decision."

"Oh…" She said, disappointed because that means that she would've let her team down if she were to chose not to participate. She wondered if Kurenai sensei had informed them about that, but she had been too distracted to listen at the time. "Shikamaru, Let's do our best." She said as her hand lightly touched his shoulder as a way to reassure the two.

But she left her hand resting there.

"Hn." He was having a hard time trying to take a nap, feeling as though his heart would implode at any second.

She leaned her head back to watch the tree above them once more. She believed it was her imagination-it probably was-but Hinata thought she caught a glimpse of a golden hue of hair disappearing, almost as if someone with blonde hair had been watching them.

With Shikamaru pretending to be asleep, she was left alone with the voice inside her head. Her voice instructed her to watch the people walking by, and to study their body language so that one day she'll become more adept at reading people.

Harrison's Wool: My question to you guys is if my story is going alright. I think I'll be writing a few parts about the Chuunin exams for fun. Mainly because I want to have more interaction between team 8 and team 10.