These are Kishimoto's characters.

Please review :)

The Konoha Tribune, Tuesday, June 11th, 2 years prior

Members of Konoha continue to grieve the unthinkable loss that occurred at the Leaf County Department of Law Enforcement. There have now been 17 confirmed fatalities, many of whom were a part of the prominent Uchiha family. Department Chief Fugaku Uchiha and his wife Mikoto were among those killed in the fire.

Investigators have confirmed that foul play was involved in incapacitating the building's occupants and setting fire to the building. Pathologists established that most of the victims were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, and their cause of death was not likely to be from smoke inhalation or direct contact with fire.

At this time, only one suspect has been identified, and he continues to be at large. Itachi Uchiha, 22, the son of the Department Chief, was the only staff member slated to work that day who did not perish in the fire. Itachi had been working at the department for the previous 10 months since he graduated from college.

His motive remains unknown at this time, though investigators continue to scrutinize every detail of the case. Whether or not he had something to hide remains to be determined. Itachi Uchiha's whereabouts continue to be unknown. If you or anyone you know sees someone matching the description given below, please call 911 immediately. He is considered to be extremely dangerous.

Subday, August 25th, Present day

"Holy shit, my arms are on fire," Ino moaned. Usually, Ino was a whiny drama queen, but tonight, Sakura couldn't help but feel that the blonde's complaints were reasonable. Both girls lay sprawled out on their twin-sized beds in their shared dorm. Both had yet to change out of their cheerleading uniforms or shower after a full day of practice. Classes started the next day, and cheerleaders had been expected to arrive early on campus for a week of cheer "camp," AKA a week of being tortured by the world's most deceptively innocent coach. Kurenai may have looked innocent, with her doe eyes and hands sweetly covering her tiny baby bump. Still, she had worked them into the ground.

"I have to pee, but I can't get up," Sakura groaned. She considered biting the bullet and just getting up, but her body ached at the thought. She had no idea how she could possibly get up and go to class tomorrow.

When the girls heard a knock on their door, they both groaned. Sakura pulled her pillow over her ears in protest. Almost all the girls on their hall were cheerleaders, so she couldn't imagine who would be mobile enough to knock on their door.

"WHAT?" Ino yelled at the door without moving.

"Open up! I've got a surprise for Sakura!" Naruto's voice came through the door.

"Just come in. It's unlocked," Sakura cried at the door. She did not have enough energy for her friend Naruto right now.

As the door creaked open, Sakura begrudgingly pulled the pillow off her head. Naruto had darted through the door and made his way to her bedside before she could even sit up. He grabbed her hand excitedly and pulled her off her bed while Sakura moaned angrily.

"Look who it is!" He gestured wildly to a black-haired boy who had stayed close to the door. Sakura's heart beat faster as her eyes met the boy's dark gaze. His expression was blank, as always.

"Sasuke!" Sakura squealed in surprise. Momentarily forgetting about her aching body, she ran up to him before she could stop herself and threw her arms around his neck. Sakura was instantly reminded of his dislike of physical contact when one of his arms half-heartedly wrapped around her like a robot. "I can't believe you're here," she said, backing away to give him the space he clearly desired.

She inwardly cursed herself for not having showered immediately after practice. She was sure she looked like a cheerleader out of a horror film and smelled like a pair of old gym socks. In contrast, Sasuke looked flawless. Everything messy about him seemed effortless, yet intentional, like he was posing for the album cover of a boy band. He had been like that for as long as she could remember, but age had exacerbated this effect. She had only seen him once or twice since she left public school for KPA at the start of 7th grade.

Naruto was buzzing, "He got the scholarship notice last minute, but it didn't matter because they accepted a late roommate request."

Ino loudly let out a fake cough. "Speaking of roommates…" she started as she slunk over next to her best friend, "You should probably introduce yours' Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Sasuke, this is Ino."

Ino gave him her signature grin. It was practiced and perfected over the last several years. She swept her eyes lasciviously over Sasuke and bit her lip as she let her gaze trail his body. When her eyes returned and met his, she widened her smile. "Nice to meet you, Sasuke." She said with flirtation oozing out of her every pore.

Sakura was used to Ino putting on a show. She had literally watched Ino rehearse that smile in the mirror. It didn't mean she didn't want to slap that admittedly kind-of-sexy grin off her face, though.

Instead, she settled for taking a deep breath and another subtle eye roll. Sasuke's face remained unchanged, but he gave Ino a slight nod in recognition.

"I can't believe you're here. You guys are roommates?" Sakura asked, trying very hard to move the conversation away from Ino's femme fatale act. She knew Sasuke wouldn't appreciate the small talk. Still, anxiety fueled her need to keep the conversation moving quickly. Sakura had never mastered the art form of interacting with Sasuke Uchiha, but most of their discussions in the past few years had been particularly negative experiences. Fortunately, Naruto was usually there to break any tension.

"Yes! Can you believe that? The dynamic duo is back in action!"

Sasuke groaned and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Idiot, if you ever call us the dynamic duo again, I'm moving out." Naruto's grin seemed to widen as if energized by the other boy's negativity.

Sakura again felt the urge to shift the conversation, "So, what classes do you guys have?"

They all started pulling out their phones to check their schedules. Sakura already knew she had 4th-period biology with Ino. It turned out she had classes with the boys too. Math with Sasuke and English literature with both Sasuke and Naruto.

"Ooh, I hear you guys are in for a treat with Mr. Gai," Ino noted with a hint of sarcasm as she pointed to their English teacher.

Sakura had heard rumors too. "He's the swim coach, too, isn't he?"

"Swimming," Ino nodded slowly, "synchronized swimming…."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

Naruto laughed, "you should totally join, bastard. You'd look great in one of those bonnets."

"Are you on the football team, too, Sasuke?" Ino asked the now frowning Uchiha.

"It's too late at this point to try out. The team's been practicing all Summer."

"Kakashi's the coach, though. Can't he do something?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"I'm pretty sure Kakashi pulling strings for me would be frowned upon," Sasuke mumbled, shrugging.

"You have to do something," Ino stated imperatively, "you can't go a full semester of high school without something athletic for college applications."

Sasuke's brows furrowed slightly. Sakura could guess what he was thinking. She had been baffled by the intensity of KPA students and their transcripts when she had first moved from public school. Ino had gone to KPA since preschool, so she didn't know how ridiculous she sounded to someone new like Sasuke. Regardless, he continued to look unbothered.

"I'll just try out for cross country."

Sakura glanced down at her phone, "it's ten minutes to curfew." She sighed. Boys were not allowed in the girls' dorms after 9 pm, and she knew the rules would be enforced strictly during the first week of school.

Sasuke and Naruto stayed for a few more minutes before Sakura was successfully able to push Naruto into the hallway. She was not getting in trouble the first week of school.

"Holy hell," Ino sputtered after the boys left the room. "You never mentioned he looks like that."

"I've hardly even mentioned him, Ino," Sakura defended—and she really hadn't. Everyone in Konoha knew who the young Uchiha orphan was. His family's name had been in the paper relentlessly since the fire. Sakura had mentioned his name once, and Ino pressed her for as many details as possible.

Sakura hadn't really wanted to give them, and she honestly didn't know much beyond the articles in the paper. Sasuke Uchiha was a closed book, and he made it clear the last person he'd open up to was her.

Her heart hurt when she thought of him. He had changed so much since the time when they could have maybe qualified as friends.

She knew their friendship had always been a bit one-sided. He tolerated her, and she tried not to swoon every time he spoke to her.

Sasuke had always been quiet, aloof, and arrogant, but there had been more to him before the fire. In grade school, he had been playful. He gave smiles that weren't smirks. After the fire, he wasn't just quiet; he was withdrawn. He wasn't just aloof; he was unapproachable. He wasn't just arrogant; he was cruel.

Most of the time, Sasuke ignored her and the rest of their classmates. There had been a few times when he lived with Naruto, and she had come over that they had spoken. Aside from a few of those moments, Sakura hadn't seen much of Sasuke. She left For KPA, and it had been over two years since they'd spoken more than a few words to each other.

"That's the point… how could you have not led with the fact that he's an adonis!!" Ino squealed. "He's not super friendly, though…."

"No, he's not someone I would categorize as warm." Sakura laughed.

"I guess he's pretty fucked up from what happened to him," Ino said

"He's not fucked up, Ino. What happened to him is fucked up."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Remind me to never again befriend someone whose parents are shrinks."

Monday, August 26th, Present day

Tenten had one more class before lunch. She had already attended math, French, and chemistry and was beginning to get antsy for a break. All her teachers had thoroughly read through their respective syllabuses going through objective after objective. Her planner was already looking full, and a feeling of overwhelm had started to fill her.

Tenten didn't know what to expect from her fourth-period ethics class. The bell had rung three minutes ago, and the professor still hadn't shown up. Students were murmuring, and she overheard the whispers of the students nearby.

"My brother says Mr. Hatake is always late."

"Yeah, but I've heard you get detention if you're a second later than him."

"He's always late to football practice too. He's cool, though."

Finally, after several more minutes of waiting, a silver-haired man, clutching an orange book, walked into the room.

"Sorry guys, I got stuck in traffic…."

"Don't you walk here?" A boy in the front row accused.

The man coughed and looked away from the boy. "Anyways… I'm Kakashi. I'll be teaching Ethics this year."

The man began diving into the attendance policy. Tenten forced herself to take notes on the syllabus even though she was ready to mentally check out for lunch.

"For most of this class, you will work in teams. You can see on the second page I have already assigned these teams."

Tenten flipped the syllabus page to see who she was paired with. Given she was completely new to the school, she didn't recognize either name.

"Throughout the year, we will cover various controversial topics grounded in ethics and morality. For each topic, your group will be assigned a pro or con argument to debate. You will have a week to prepare for each debate, and then each team will go up against another team in front of the class. You will be graded on your ability to argue your assigned perspective, regardless of your true opinion. Many of you will likely find this uncomfortable. The second part of each topic will be performed individually. You will be writing essays where you are to reflect on your true opinion and how it has changed or stayed the same after what you've learned in class. You will be graded on your persuasiveness and ability to reason, not your opinions. For the first topic, we will have a rather innocuous topic, but these ethical dilemmas will become more serious after that."

Tenten looked at the syllabus and scanned the topics they would be debating. Every few months, there was a different theme. September was an introduction to debate with inane topics starting with the KPA uniforms. October moved into Ethics in Healthcare, then Ethics and the Legal System, Ethics and Religion. Tenten was excited about the class. She was always keen on a good argument.

"For now, you all can split into your teams and get to know each other and your first topic."

Tenten looked around the room, feeling completely awkward. She didn't want to call out the names, but she had no clue who to look for. She was relieved when she heard and slightly nasally voice exclaim, "you must be Tenten!" She looked over her should to see a boy grinning ear to ear with a devastatingly out-of-style bowl cut.

"Yeah, I am. How did you know?" Tenten gave a friendly smile back.

"You are the only person I do not recognize. You must be new here?"

As she was about to answer, another student walked up to them with a stern look. He greeted Lee with a firm nod and then looked at Tenten with a piercing gaze, "Neji Hyuuga," he stated. She was instantly thankful for the other boy's warm smile, given this boy had none.

"Tenten," she smiled at him despite his stark expression. She looked down at her syllabus and glanced back up at the first boy, "and I take it you're Rock?"

"His smile widened. Yes, I am Rock Lee. Most people just call me Lee. We will be the winning team every time. I am sure of it!" Tenten suppressed a laugh. She could tell this boy was odd, but perhaps endearingly so.

Neji cleared his throat and pulled his syllabus out of his binder.

"It looks like we're pro uniforms." He announced, all business.

"Easy enough," Tenten nodded. She didn't feel very passionate either way. "I've always kind of liked wearing a uniform."

"I think it's a direct attack on the expression of our individuality as youths!" Lee exclaimed louder than necessary.

"Sometimes our individual choices make others uncomfortable, Lee." Neji began dryly, "Like when an individual chooses to wear a green spandex unitard to class on spirit day."

Tenten raised a brow and looked between the two boys. Neji was clearly implying Lee had worn that previously, but Tenten couldn't imagine any self-respecting teenage boy would actually do that.

"Was it a costume?" Tenten asks curiously.

"Our school colors are green. I was simply bringing school spirit!"

"A green shirt would have done just fine," Neji mumbled under his breath. Tenten giggled lightly, "I suppose individual expression will be a counterargument we'll need to address."

The three began to list the pros they wanted to stress and the cons they would need to prepare counterarguments for. Neji clearly had a penchant for the structure and cohesion that uniforms lent to the school day. Lee, in contrast, felt that they "stifled freedom."

"Tenten, why did you say you like uniforms?" Neji asked, trying to come up with more speaking points.

"Honestly, just the convenience. It's nice not to have to put an outfit together in the morning."

Neji leaned back in his chair. It seemed her personal reasons for enjoying uniforms weren't compelling enough for his notes. "I take it you wore uniforms at your old school?"

"Yeah," Tenten looked down at her pleated skirt, "we wore khaki instead of plaid, though."

They slowly started putting their items away into their bag, knowing the bell would be ringing soon.

"What school?" He questioned.

"Suna," Tenten said with a bit of hesitance. She was surprised the no-nonsense boy would bother with small talk.

"Oh, cool. I've been there for an away game. The campus seemed nice."

"Football?" Tenten questioned?

When Neji nodded, Tenten gave him a longer look. She hadn't pegged him as a football player. He certainly looked athletic enough to be one, but he seemed so serious and even a little nerdy."

"I'm surprised you had a home game there. It's usually too hot for people who aren't used to it... I'm kind of surprised you play in general." Tenten winced as she said that hoping it didn't sound offensive.

Neji smirked, "I don't strike you as captain of the football team?"

"You're not actually captain, are you? You're just a Sophomore."

Neji chuckled, "No, I play linebacker. I'd honestly rather just work out at the gym, but team sports look better on college apps."

"What? They're way more fun than the gym" Tenten smiled and turned toward Lee, politely trying to include him in the conversation, "Do you play anything, Lee?"

"I am involved in many physical activities, Tenten. A feeble body weakens the mind. I am drawn to the water. I'm part of the swim team as well as synchronized swimming and diving." Lee beamed.

Tenten couldn't help but glance over at Neji to see what his reaction to this would be. He clearly already knew this and was used to Lee's mannerisms, though, as his expression remained neutral.

Their conversation was interrupted when the bell finally rang for lunch. The students of Kakashi Hatake's class quickly made their way toward the door. "Nice to meet you both," Tenten smiled before leaving to meet her roommate for lunch.

Hinata fidgeted nervously, silently tapping her pointer fingers together. She was in her last class for the day and simultaneously prayed it would both end and drag on forever.

Hinata had debated scheduling this appointment for over a year now. Her logical, reasonable mind told her it was past time. Unfortunately, she had a rather nasty alter ego—the part of herself that was entirely driven by anxiety and suppressed trauma.

For a long time, she had a valid excuse for procrastinating the appointment. Any therapist would be obligated to report her situation if she was in danger. She couldn't have a therapist blowing up her life.

Now things were different, though. Hinata was no longer in danger. She hadn't been for a while now and had finally convinced herself she was ready to talk to someone. Unfortunately, the most qualified someone in town just happened to be the mother of one of her classmates. Dr. Haruno was a renowned, experienced psychotherapist, and her doctorate research had predominately focused on adolescent trauma. She was the perfect candidate. Hinata knew that her secrets would be safe with Dr. Haruno. Good ethics and HIPAA would prevent her from sharing anything with her daughter. Still, even the remote possibility of her secret being divulged was enough to make Hinata doubt her decision to open up.

When the last bell rang and Hinata gathered her things, she realized she had started shaking. She quickly darted away from the other students. She didn't have many friends, but she didn't have enemies either. If someone noticed her freaking out, they might be thoughtful enough to ask if she was okay. She certainly couldn't have that.

Thanks for reading :) I always love feedback!