I woke up without opening my eyes. I sighed heavily and reached out to my bedside table. My fingers were feeling around its surface, feeling for a certain object that hid my feelings. That hid my emotions. The ones worth hiding. I felt the dusty surface of my bedside table. I hadn’t been one for cleaning. Especially when it came to my own room. I was one of those people with a creative mind, and a disorganized room. Though my head was screwed on tightly. Therefore, my mind was in the right place. Though my body tended to be in an entirely different universe. Especially upon gazing at a certain individual.

I eventually grasped the cold, smooth edges of my sunglasses. I clenched my fingers tightly around them, surprised that they weren’t covered in moths like they usually had been in the mornings. I sighed deeply and brought them away from the table. Slowly, sitting up, I set them comfortably on my face. I had memorized exactly where they were to sit. Perfectly upon my nose. Same place everyday. I eventually heaved my heavy body upward. A morning ritual, which was not one I could easily forget. And, as I normally would, I resumed my morning duties.

I exited the house, clean and wearing my high-collared, black t-shirt and khaki trench coat open and wearing the hood. Pressed and clean, as usual. I had rows upon rows of the same thing, making it rather easy to get ready in the morning. My dark hair stuck up on end, and my face was shadowed by my hood. Just the way I liked it. Emotionless, placid, incoherent Aburame Shino. I fare welled my father, Shibi, and ran towards inner Konoha.

There she stood. Hair long, dark, shimmering, and straight. Posture, slightly crouched over, shyly. Figure, slim and perfectly made-up. Expression, of course, withdrawn and caring. Yet so beautiful. I paused when I saw her speaking to a certain man. She was holding her hand to her lips, meaning she feared embarrassment. Her cheeks under her huge, kind, lavender eyes were shaded pink. She was speaking to him.

“N-Naruto-kun,” I heard her high, soft, sweet voice call to him as he walked away from her. “Have a good day!”

“Thanks, Hinata!” he exclaimed, turning once more from her to bolt away. “You too! See you later!”

I pursed my lips and glared at him as he ran from her. He was so… He simply had no idea the simple minded went perfectly with his name. He was just so… dense. He ran towards Sakura.

What doesn’t he get? I thought, glaring through my sunglasses (thankful of them hiding what I was really thinking). Why doesn’t he see it? She loves him! Is he BLIND?!

“Oi, Shino!” I heard my name being called from behind myself.

I slowly turned to see my other team-mate running towards me, waving a hand in the air. His dog, Akamaru, galloping beside him, and panting heavily. I shot a swift glance back to Hinata, keeping my hands shoved deeply within my pockets. She sighed heavily and walked towards me, sadly. My shoulders fell when I saw her stand beside me, staring at the ground. Kiba hadn’t noticed as I had. She was always upset after being left from Naruto. She was never satisfied. I didn’t know if he would ever realize…

“What’s on the agenda for today?!” Kiba called up to me as though I was deaf.

I completely ignored him and stared down at Hinata. She was so melancholy yet… so beautiful. So misunderstood. She tried all she could to be noticed by him. She would die to prove herself to that stupid idiot. Why didn’t he care? Why didn’t he notice?

“Hey Shino!!” Kiba called up to me again, louder.

“Hm?” I hummed, looking to him. “Oh. The agenda. Right.”

Rock Lee
“Lee!” my sensei exclaimed, shaking my back and fourth. “Lee! Get up!”

My eyes shot open and I stared up to my brave sensei. He looked down to me, smiling broadly. His toothy grin. How sincere. How amazing. He was definitely an idol to look up to. Without noticing, I sat up quickly and eagerly, smashing Gai-sensei in the nose with my head. He fell over, but I did not notice at all. He bled on my floor, wailing in pain. I looked over the side of my bed, puzzled.

“Sensei, what are you doing down there?” I asked him, furrowing my thick brow. “It is the springtime of our youth! You should not be laying down there!”

He shot an evil glance up to me and slowly sat up. I looked away from him and nodded eagerly. I swung my legs out of bed, kicking him in the face as I did so, sending him back to the floor. Without noticing, I hopped out of bed, heading towards my closet. I pulled open the doors, smiling at my normal, green suit and Chuunin vest. I took them from their hangers and hurried into my bathroom. Every morning was a joy, and I was eager to awaken to a new day. A new day’s challenges waited for me. They called my name. How exciting!

“I will be back, sensei!” I yelled to him as I slammed the bathroom door shut behind me.

He stood up, slowly, holding his head in his hands. He then staggered towards the bathroom, his legs shaking. He was still dizzy from being hit so hard on the head both times. As he was just about to pass the bathroom doorway, I pushed it open quickly, smashing my sensei in the face again and sent him crashing down to the floor. I looked down to him, wearing my battle clothes proudly. I frowned and shook my head slowly when I saw him.

“Perhaps you are the one who should be getting more sleep, sensei,” I said, my hands on my hips.

Soon, my sensei and I vacated from my sleeping quarters and greeted the day in the broad sunshine. My team mates, Tenten and Hyuuga Neji, waited outside for orders from our sensei. Neji had been leaning up against a tree, lazily. Tenten was twirling a kunai around her fingers. I seemed to be the only one awake at such an early morning. They all needed more sleep. I ran to them, awaiting instructions for, hopefully, our next mission.

“Alright,” Gai-sensei said, slowly, rubbing his nose tenderly. “Hokage-sama has requested a special mission for us to attend.”

My heart glowed and rose in my chest. Yosh! This sounded thrilling. A special mission directly from the Hokage. This would be a treat. My eyes glowed and shimmered with anxiety and wonder. Neji even seemed to show sudden curiosity in the whole subject.

“A special mission,” he repeated slowly as though the words felt different within his mouth. “Explain?”

“I’m just getting to that, Neji,” Gai-sensei told him, a hint of frustration within his voice. “Now, a country from the south has been burned to the ground. The entire thing. Many people have died, but more were taken hostage. So-”

“We have to go to the country, look for the hostages, and save them while also killing the criminals?” I finished for him, enthusiastically, my fist in the air.

“Not quite,” my sensei replied. “You, my team, are showing a young lady around Konoha. She’s from the country that was burned, so she’s in a state of trauma, as you can imagine. Just talk to her and show her that there is actually hope for kindness in this world. Afterwards, I would like you to take her back to her country and try to find survivors. We need as many as we can for questioning.

“And this is big… how?” Tenten asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Tenten,” Gai-sensei said, slowly, looking to the ground. “An entire country has been burned to the ground. Do you not think that reviving and avenging this country would not hold any pride for a nation like us? Put it this way. If we save this country, we could become stronger as a nation, and have more allies. Would that not be beneficial?”

“Sensei?” I asked, cutting his lecture off. “Where is this girl?”