Hinata leaned her hips on the counter as she cut vegetables. "Akatsuki?"

Neji poked his finger into the counter to make his point. "They're a 'study group' made of inner-city pity scholarships and lower high-class delinquents whose parents don't watch their behavior." Hinata didn't like how he worded that.

"Itachi-san has one of the jackets." He wasn't considered a delinquent, was he?

"I'm not sure what qualifies you to get in." Neji excused an exception to his crude rules. "Steer clear of them. They aren't known for their grade. They're known for detentions and fights off campus." Was that why her deskmate was bruised? At least, she thought they were bruises. It was hard to tell. He was blue.

"They seem nice enough." Hinata earned herself a look of disappointment.

"I wish you would have been put in my class." Hinata was glad she wasn't. "We don't have many of them."

Hinata slid the vegetables into a bowl and started on the fish. "The one I sit with seems nice."

Neji put his hand on the side of his face, exasperated. "Why did you choose to sit with Kisame Hoshigaki, of all people? Wasn't there any other seat open?"

"That's mean." Hinata scolded. "He's nice." After sharing her lunch. Kisame shared his textbook for their next class since hers hadn't arrived yet.

"Have you seen him?" Hinata paused to hold herself back from a comment. "He is a six-and-a-half-foot shark whose hobby is street fighting, and it shows. I strongly advise you to avoid him."

Hinata set the knife down with a snap. "I will choose my friends." Hinata regretted losing her temper when Neji flinched. "I'm sorry, but you promised not to interfere."

"I just wish you would select better people to befriend." That comment wasn't any better, but she would let it go if the conversation ended here.

The little thing hadn't been scared off yet. She even lit up when he came in. Really? Was she that sweet? Hinata wished him a good morning as he slumped down onto the table and rubbed his eyes.

"Didn't you get enough sleep?" Hinata lowered her head along with her voice. How thoughtful. Itachi simply spoke louder to punish him.

Kisame pressed his face into his arm. "I worked overtime last night."

Hinata's lip pouted out, concerned with more questions, but left him in peace.

Deidara, however, decided to try again, leaning on her desk as soon as he sat down. Hinata hushed him as he prodded her with questions. "Hobbies, hm?"

"Uh…" Hinata seemed unsure. "I guess I cook… sketch…"

Deidara perked up, smacking his neighbor's arm, earning himself a glare. "Sasori and I are in art club. You should join, yeah."

Hinata put her hands up defensively. "I haven't looked into clubs. I'm not sure if I can join any. I'm supposed to go home with Neji-san after classes."

Deidara ignored her comment and discomfort, explaining the club before launching into his usual art spiel. Sasori commented idly, only making Deidara more passionate in countering him. In the end, Hinata made the mistake of letting him put his number in her phone so that he could send her pictures.

She would regret that.

Deidara attempted to drag her to the cafeteria, only excepting no for an answer if she agreed to at least dropping by the art club this week. Itachi joined them, turning Sasori's chair around to sit with them, with Hinata now taking his usual seat. Just as soon as he sat down, he had an amused quirk on his face.

Kisame didn't like that face. "What?"

Itachi nodded his head at Hinata as she slid a family-size bento in front of him. Kisame looked at it and then at the bento that she had yesterday sitting in front of her. Was this one just for him? She made him his own bento?

Hinata shrank into her lunch, trying to act like she wasn't tying herself in knots. Itachi gave him a smug 'told you' smile that made Kisame want to punch him.

Kisame opened it to put her out of her misery. It was a larger version of hers. Released from her turmoil, Hinata mumbled something into her food. "Hmm?"

"Our soy sauce is gluten-free. I thought it was, but I double-checked." Kisame chuckled as he took a bite out of the meal. He was grateful. All he ate when he got home yesterday was a banana and past-date rice that was still in his fridge. This girl was a saint. "What else do you like?"

"You going to keep this up?" Kisame asked with his mouth full.

Hinata frowned at his manners. "It's not healthy to skip lunch."

Kisame chewed more completely to keep her from glaring at him. "Seafood, but no shark fin soup, obviously."

Hinata slid out a notebook with a list. "No gluten, no preservative, no milk." She filled in the new information. "No shark. Yes, seafood." He didn't even need to lean over to see it. She was keeping a running list of him.

Kisame popped the end of a rice ball into his mouth. "I don't mind, but you don't need to take all the effort."

"I make three bentos already. What's one more?" The third one was probably the same size as the other three combined. Didn't that make it double the work?

Itachi didn't hide his smile. His assumption was right. Kisame had a new little friend.

Itachi still had that annoying smile on his face. Annoying bastard. "Yeah, yeah. You were right." Kisame relented. "She's an angel. Bit of a mouse, though."

"It's certainly interesting to watch you two. I've never seen you so speechless." Itachi teased, picking up his bag.

"I'm not used to receiving gifts." Kisame pushed his chair in. "That's your thing."

"I'm sure you enjoyed it much more than I do." Itachi headed for the door.

Kisame rolled his neck. "What are we doing in PE today?" He got enough physical activity. He didn't need someone he could easily lift to tell him to run around the track.

Itachi didn't look up from his assignment. "Volleyball, I believe."

Great, another sport people expected him to be good at. Couldn't they play dodgeball? He sucked at that. Too big of a target. "Are you any good at volleyball?" Hinata didn't respond. She was looking at her phone with a frown on her lips. "Hinata?" Kisame asked louder.

Hinata jumped, turning her attention to him. "Huh?" She placed her phone face down on the desk as her cheeks turned red.

"Are you any good at volleyball?" Kisame put his head in his hand, not hiding his smile.

Hinata face changed, guarded, uncomfortable as she hesitated to answer. "Why?"

Did volleyball scare her? What kind of reaction was that? "Itachi thinks that's what we're doing in PE today."

Hinata looked down, looking paler than usual. "I won't be participating in PE." Interesting, but with the look on her face, he wasn't going to ask. Hinata tugged her skirt down below her knees. "I'm still recovering from an accident last year." Her eyes flickered to her umbrella. It still hadn't rained.

"I'm always picked first for teams," Kisame grumbled, continuing the conversation like she hadn't said anything.

The tension released from her shoulders. "Why?"

"He's tall, aggressive, and overly competitive," Itachi answered.

"Hey." Kisame snapped at him, but it brought a smile back to Hinata's face.

Hinata settled on the bleachers with her homework. It was nice to be out of the classroom, the sun was warm, and the breeze was nice as long as it didn't blow her papers away.

The two classes took classes like PE together, so Kisame and Neji stood on opposite sides of the net. Neji was taller than she was, and he was still a foot shorter than Kisame. That couldn't be fair. She used to be quite good at volleyball, but that was back when she could jump.

Kisame's PE t-shirt reveals the sheer amount of bruises, bandages, and old scars that made a tragic map across his skin. It also showed the deep muscle definition in his arms and shoulders. How did he maintain that level of muscle mass, eating the way he did? Hinata slid out her notebook. She needed to remember to add more protein to his lunch.

Hinata rested her pen cap against her lip as she looked back at him. Kisame lifted the front of his shirt to wipe sweat from his face, revealing more damage on his back. Neji mentioned he got into fights but did he win all of them?

Kisame being a weekend brawler didn't really fit with the image she had of him. Kisame was massive, and that could be intimidating, but he was always lowering himself like he was trying to look harmless. He held his pen and flipped pages like he was afraid he might break them. When he was gentle with everything, almost to the point, it inconvenienced him.

Hinata chewed on her lip as she wrote down a few meals that would be filling and high in protein. Maybe could add more ferments to promote his immune system, but would the smell bother him?

"Hinata-sama?" Neji held out a water bottle. "You look upset."

Hinata glanced back at the class. They were taking a break. "I'm fine." Kisame was giving Hidan an annoyed look as he spoke to him. Hidan was grinning, with his whole shirt off, wiping his face off with it. Kisame put a hand on his shoulder and shoved, knocking him back entirely with not much force. Hidan tumbled but started laughing, making Kisame's face sourer. Maybe he wasn't gentle with everybody.

Neji followed her line of sight. "You aren't going to heed my warnings, are you?"

"You're not going to approve of everyone I make friends with." Hinata nodded toward his team. "You're being called…"

Neji looked back at Lee as everyone started returning to position. "Be careful, Hinata-sama."