Distorted Reality

Summary: Death was supposed to be permanent. I never expected to be reborn in this strange world of trained assassins I know absolutely nothing about…

AN: And now for the third installment. My beginning quotes are rather corny, but it is to be expected as I usually pull them out on a whim. Thanks for the great reviews :) And about Sasuke, I know he was once a shy little child, but I decided to make him like that in chapter two because he didn't like being ignored by his brother. That little Sasuke was starved of attention, after all, and didn't want his limited time with his aniki to be wasted.

Chapter 3

A flower needs the gentle nourishment of nature to grow tall, proud and lovely. Likewise, young children need someone to encourage them to bloom with their fullest potential.

The years passed by, and I decided on continuing to practice all aspects of shinobi training. I had decidedly gotten tree-walking as an unconscious, instinctual action whenever I train, and now I could jump from tree to tree in the training grounds. What I was practicing now was the efficiency of my leaps and keeping them soundless.

It wasn't that hard, for I was naturally light of foot, but I wanted to master the stealthy way shinobi moved about, even when travelling through trees, leaping from place to place, as well as managing on water. I fought for perfection of my form and skills, and I regularly trained at another training ground different from what I once used.

Things had changed slowly over time, with some unnerving events I only hear of few and far between. Like the Uchiha Massacre, which makes me feel cold inside whenever I remember the older boy, Itachi, someone who had helped me once- it was like he had gone berserk and insane, though there was something off about the whole matter.

His brother, who I once remembered as being bright, cheerful, and rather naïve, had changed drastically as well. Uchiha Sasuke was well known in school as the angry, distant Uchiha survivor. I had overheard gossip from several amorous admirers of his, and they were ludicrously plenty (I'm referring to the gossip and the population itself).

Other than that, I don't think anything else is worth mentioning.

Then there was my rather surprising, and tentative friendship with Tenten. She had struck up conversations (rather one-sided at first) with me after I had given her quiet, yet insightful advice on controlling her chakra.

She wasn't really popular with the other students as well, but I didn't really understand why. Tenten was bright, quite intelligent and had that sort of pleasant cheerfulness that wasn't at all overbearing. I'm not really sure what she saw in me, as I was quiet and careful with my words. In short, I could get rather boring and bland…

Never one to give up easily, she still persevered to gain my friendship. Whenever we talked, it was rather nice that she didn't expect me to talk much, but I was markedly more talkative when it came to her, though still rather silent on the surface. She had enough to talk about for the both of us, and we were content on it staying that way.

I tried to reciprocate the friendship by helping her along when she had some hardships in the ninja training we had. The curriculum was getting harder and harder for students to pass through, as the years passed, and more and more were dropping out. What used to be a batch of 150 in my year was now reduced to a mere 35.

So far, she was the one I was closest to, and my only friend outside the clan.

Speaking of my clan, Hinata-hime had warmed up to me, and I was pleasantly surprised at her caring personality when it came to everyone else, even branch house members. I continued training her, subtly praising her whenever she progressed, and gently chastising her when she needed it.

She glowed whenever I put in a good word, and my chest clenched a bit at how little could make her so happy.

Neji, however, was a different matter. I did not like to see him needlessly bringing the heiress down, and our already tense tolerance of each other was now almost hostile. His treatments of me and Hinata-hime were almost similar, if not for the fact that he could not get me down at all. I hoped for the best that the heiress would learn to endure him.

Our group of three during lunch and breaks had a tenuous peace in it. Neji would ignore us both blatantly as we ate, isolated from the other students. However, lunch became a more pleasant time when Tenten joined in. She was the one who talked for all of us, though Neji would try his best not to notice her at all. Maybe he was annoyed with her chatter, but I don't think so.

I wondered if he was beginning to feel awkward with people of the opposite gender, outside of his clan. It was an amusing idea to consider.

This decidedly uneventful time passed quickly, until I noticed something quite curious about Hinata-hime. It was all subtle; I noticed but brushed off until she became ten years old.

It was there, though barely noticeable. The slight determination in her gaze now that she fought, some small measure of confidence she tried to maintain even under Neji's cold and callous comments, and the decided brightness in her eyes that dimmed sometimes at Hiashi-sama and Neji, but always gradually returned.

Then, there was how she was now able to be more comfortable at the Academy, trying to work hard to progress. Oh, there were a lot of setbacks due to the sunny boy called Neji, but her performance was getting better to my happiness.

I began to get curious, though, as I realized she acted like someone inspired. Just what was making her even a bit happier? Even I, though I could give her what little happiness I can, had not gotten to affect her that much.

I was not sure if my eyebrows could go any higher as I stared at my charge. Hinata-hime was currently making me look bemused more and more, as I watched her observe someone else with reddened cheeks and warm eyes.

The said person being observed was yelling rather obnoxiously about being Hokage and in all manner of things, boasting much to the irritation of those around to hear. He had blond, spiky hair, and eyes the color of the sky. What made him stand out even more was that bright orange jumpsuit he wore, and he was rather hard not to notice that I was shocked I didn't notice the way the heiress' eyes followed him during lunch earlier.

I then returned my gaze on Hinata-hime, now feeling contemplative. There was something about the boy that made her look at him so intently, and I almost smiled in amusement at it all. That boy, whose name, I assume, was Naruto (Iruka-sensei was yelling at him after a prank), was someone to watch if he was unknowingly able to brighten the heiress like this. He was notorious, actually, for his pranks and unwillingness to ever give up.

Suddenly, a small, compact wooden container was obscuring my vision. I looked up at Hinata-hime, who was standing and now nervously holding it out to me. I raised an eyebrow.

"A-anou, it's an obento, Shizuka-nee." I blinked slowly at her stuttering voice, and then looked at the box. It was rather surprising that Hinata-hime was suddenly like this; because even though she was nice, she was rather shy and never this bold. She only inquired Neji, Tenten and I if we had eaten and worried whenever we didn't for the past years.

I took the container silently, and that was when Tenten came to eat lunch with us. Her eyes widened as she saw what Hinata did, and a teasing smile flitted across her face as she sat with us. "What about me, Hinata?" She stated cheekily.

Hinata-hime smiled gently, before taking out another identical container from her bag of necessities and handing it to Tenten, who grinned at the heiress and thanked her, though still looking rather surprised.

I opened the bento, and was treated to the sight of a beautifully arranged meal, with rice balls with nori, well cooked portions of yakitori and some colorful, steamed vegetables. The arrangement was tastefully done yet still simple, and my eyes warmed slightly as I looked at Hinata-hime.

"Wow, Hinata! Did you cook this up?" Tenten gushed, brown eyes widening as she looked at her own bento. The young heiress blushed and nodded.

She then took out two other containers, and I began to feel apprehensive when I realized she was going to give one to Neji as well. I watched as she timidly began heading to his rather isolated, yet still with us, place under the shade of a tree.

Neji, who looked like he was meditating, opened his eyes as Hinata-hime approached. He eyed her coldly, yet looked rather surprised as she tentatively placed a container in front of him and hurried back to Tenten and me, trying not to look back.

I looked at Neji as he stared at the container. He tried to look disdainful, yet he probably guessed it was far better than the food served at the Academy, which were certainly not this appetizing.

Sharing a meaningful look with Tenten, we muttered 'itadakimasu' and broke apart our chopsticks, Neji trying to look nonchalant. I picked up a piece of grilled chicken, and placed it in my mouth, chewing, and I was surprised yet again. Hinata-hime was a good cook. The meat was flavorful and tender, and I heard Tenten praise the girl's skills and nodded in agreement, giving a tiny smile.

Hinata-hime blushed at the compliments, but then looked worried as she tried to discreetly look over at Neji. I followed her stare and saw Neji hesitantly eat a rice ball, and his brows rise slightly. Tenten, who seemed to never get affected by Neji, asked him, "Well?"

There was fragile silence for a few moments, and I thought poor Hinata-hime beginning to look down, when he grudgingly stated, "It is adequate." I raised an eyebrow at him. How could he say that, when, like me, he had to eat mostly plain rice and fish? We had to learn how to prepare the simplest of meals at a young age, and Hinata-hime's skills were clearly superior.

This made me wonder. I never expected an heiress could cook so well, when people would expect someone like her to have their meals prepared for them daily. But then, Hinata-hime was not really your usual distant, composed and snobbish princess. She was down to earth, shy, and sweet. I came to the conclusion that it actually suited her.

I was pulled out of my pondering when Tenten tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at her, and she beamed and flicked her eyes over to Hinata-hime. That was then I noticed that the heiress was smiling brightly, even though Neji just grudgingly gave his barest assent to her. Then she suddenly looked across the grounds and stared at a certain loud-mouthed student.

Smirking, I then knew why Hinata suddenly did this. She liked the boy, and his energetic, confident, and determined personality. The girl was probably inspired by that, and decided to try to become just like him, even if only for a little bit. It was gradual, but she was trying to reach out to others more now, and it was good for her. N

Now, about that boy…

The girl was in for some subtle teasing on my part. I had taken a wicked amusement for making my relatives uncomfortable, and though I had a soft spot for the heiress, she was not an exception.

A group of girls were giggling as I stared at them blankly, concealing my amusement. Neji would certainly not be pleased once he hears about this, and I intend to savor every moment of his annoyance once I carry this group's message over to him.

The leader had approached me during class and cheekily said something that made my day. "Please tell Neji-san he looks really beautiful with that luscious hair of dark chocolate and pale, porcelain skin. And oh! His delicate features…" And they added several other rather poetic, flamboyant descriptions. It seemed that several girls had developed an admiration for my stoic, talented cousin.

It was how they worded it that made my eyes light up with mischief, and I replied, in an innocent voice, "Of course, Machiko-san. I would gladly send him your regards." Snickering inwardly, I gleefully planned the way I would tell him how he looked so 'lovely'. This was a golden opportunity to humiliate him… and extremely rare.

I motioned Tenten to come over as she went into the classroom, and she gave me an odd look, probably noticing the almost devilish glint in my eyes. Smirking, I whispered in her ear as she sat. She took one look at Neji across the room, and burst into laughter. I smiled slightly at her mirth, and as she calmed down, she said something that made me snort.

"What makes it even worse is that the description is actually spot on! Look, he could actually make a really pretty girl…" Neji was now looking over at us suspiciously. I glared back, though it was turning out to be more of an evil sneer.

Later, I let Tenten tell it to Neji during taijutsu class, when we were taking a breather, and she stated it so loudly and innocently I knew I had chosen well. The male students around us began snickering, and I don't know whether to smile in triumph or worry as he gave the two of us a look of absolute murder, face pale with mortification. The group of girls began giggling and giving him coy looks and Tenten fell over laughing.

If only Hinata-hime had been here. When we told her about it during lunch break, she had choked on a piece of sushi and I found myself almost hit by broken chopsticks from Neji's direction. I dodged with flair, smirking, and Tenten giggled.

Good times. Even though Neji tried to beat me senseless during our sparring sessions back at the compound, for a week.

A year later, I found myself breezing through the final exams in boredom, especially in taijutsu (They paired me with some unfortunate boy from another class) and kunai throwing (Tenten was the absolute best here). Making a good bunshin and demonstrating a particularly accurate henge that made Iruka-sensei, who had never actually lectured in our class but was the examiner, raise his eyebrows in surprise. I had changed appearance into some popular blonde-haired Yamanaka girl I passed by the halls earlier.

I tried to imitate the way she had flounced with her hands on her hips, but it was rather awkward and I failed quite miserably (Neji had snorted when he thought I wasn't aware). It was something I did not really enjoy, but the teacher's praise made it fine.

All in all, I think we did quite well, and Neji and I passed with flying colors. What I was not happy about, though, was that Neji had gotten the award 'Rookie of The Year' and I didn't really want to get 'Kunoichi of The Year', as it made females seem weak. Tenten had wholeheartedly agreed with me, saying females should be recognized equally with males.

As we received our hitai-ate, I suddenly began to feel overwhelmed by a somber feeling. It was now final, and we were gennin, now considered adults in ninja society. I knew being a shinobi was dangerous, and it excited me a bit. Now we were no longer children (am I?), and we had to do our best to serve the village. And, to Neji and I, our clan.

I wondered what would happen now to Hinata-hime, who was now eleven years old and graduating next year. Now that Neji and I were obliged to accept missions, we could not always be with her.

Tenten put her hand on my shoulder, and I looked at her. She gave a gentle smile, and had already donned her forehead protector, covering her forehead. I smirked slightly, and did the same with mine; taking off the white strip of cloth I used to cover the seal on my forehead.

Now all we had to do was to wait for our teams to be assigned. It was scheduled tomorrow, though we would not immediately go on missions for a week; we had to take care of our id registration and some other paperwork like health certificates, teacher's final observations and team recommendations.

Hiashi-sama gave Neji and me a long, measuring look as we reported before him. I had wanted to question whether we still had to guard Hinata-hime full time, but he seemed to have preternatural intuition as he looked at me.

He had quietly stated that we no longer had to follow his daughter's every move, as his daughter now had to learn to be by herself. He knew Hinata-hime was now better at the Academy; though still far behind Neji and I, and had said he had gotten another, older Hyuuga to train her for a year. It was still our duty to protect her in times of emergency when we were in the vicinity, though.

I had a feeling I was going to miss the girl.

As we were dismissed, I was surprised that my parents were waiting for me at the branch house. My mother looked at me, face solemn, and my father nodded and they led me back to my room. There were some surprising things laid out on my small table.

My mother had given me her old clothes when she was a gennin. I appreciated them, because I certainly didn't have money yet to buy shinobi gear (in the Academy, I usually wore hand-me-downs from my cousins). That would change once I go on missions, though a sizeable part of my earnings would go to clan funds.

It was simple, the set of attires she gave me. Black mesh undershirts, cream-colored kimono shirts made of firm material and black ninja pants that had to be bandaged by the ankles creating a roomy effect around the legs. They were for everyday use, and were typical of the Hyuuga clan to have a traditional accent.

Kaa-san was silent as I stared down at the clothes, and when I turned to her, I tried for a small smile. It only came out as a twitch of the lips, and I felt awkward standing with my parents in their room.

I was never really close to them.

Then my father handed me a kunai pouch, and a set of decent kunai. I took them, and was silent as I looked up at him. He put a hand on my shoulder, and I was pretty sure now my parents were trying their best to help my transition to 'adulthood'.

Dinner was a calm, quiet affair with them, but for once, I tried not to feel antagonizing towards my father.

I sat with Tenten and Neji, who was dragged reluctantly, as we waited for our teams to be announced. The seconds ticked by, and though I was trying to conceal it; I was anticipating for my own team.

Gennin teams were usually composed of two males and one female, and I wasn't sure how to react to the boys in my class. After all, I was quite resented for beating them so easily and I was ignored dutifully whenever they could. I wasn't keen on getting put down by other people, and I don't intend to let them walk all over me.

If anything, I would be more than happy to do that to them.

I raised an eyebrow as Neji and Tenten were placed on the same team, with their third member, the now loud and exuberant Rock Lee proclaiming about youthfulness and a lot of other flowery words. He was now very different from the one who used to look dejected about not being able to use chakra, and his clothing had also changed… interestingly. I had seen him with a jounin who was known as the taijutsu master of the village… Maito Gai.

Supposedly, from what I observed, the jounin had taken Lee-san under his wing even when the boy was still an academy student. Lee-san had been eternally grateful for the man's help and had taken to… emulating his appearance and behavior quite accurately. The two were an interesting pair, to say the least.

I saw the logic behind putting together Neji, Tenten, and Lee-san. With Maito Gai, they would probably form a team focusing on taijutsu, with Tenten adding her weapons specialty to the mix. My friend, I had learned, loved learning to wield so many different weapons to count, and was quite adept with all of them. She really had a talent for it.

Neji was frowning at the selection for his team, but he was hardly ever happy these days we tried to ignore him. I gave Tenten my own quiet encouragement with a nod as she and Neji started to head for Lee-san. She looked a bit hesitantly at Lee-san, but tried to make the best of it with her optimism.

Maito Gai then made a dramatic entrance that made me scoff slightly, and I tried to ignore the ecstatic shouts of "YOUTH!", "GAI-SENSEI!" and "LEE!" I could have sworn I saw Neji develop a tick in his right eye. Tenten simply sighed as they proceeded out of the room with their sensei.

I looked over as I heard my name being called out, and calmly headed over to my own teammates. They were both male, as I had expected, and both didn't look very happy to be put on a team with a 'prodigy', and a girl at that.

One had short, light brown hair and blue eyes that were narrowed at me as he frowned with displeasure. He was named Gen Miyato. He was from a civilian family. The other had black hair and brown eyes, and though he wasn't as hostile as the other boy, he still looked unhappy to be saddled with one of the 'snobbish Hyuuga cousins'. He was Daichi Nakai. From one of the many shinobi clans in Konoha I don't really know much about, because they weren't as deeply rooted and well known as the main clans.

A tense silence ensued as I sat down with them and ignored them, quite nicely, if I may say so myself. Our jounin sensei then walked in to get us. He looked rather average, with black hair, dark eyes and tanned skin. But then again, being a ninja means you have to be able to deceive, right? His name was Asuka Mokume.

He took one good look at our duly united team, sighed and rolled his eyes. I raised an eyebrow at that, but he just motioned for us to come with him. We followed after him to the training grounds. We passed by a rather amusing spectacle of Team Gai, and I waved at an exasperated Tenten and Neji.

Well, at least they're united in their grief.

My new teammates looked fascinated as they stared at the two green-spandex clad shinobi. Asuka-sensei just sighed, rolled his eyes (is this a habit I'm sensing?) and led us to another training ground.

I sat on the ground listening to sensei introduce himself, and all such pleasantries. He said, rather bored, he expects us to listen well to him and train well. Then he looked at me, and said, "Well, a Hyuuga is it? Why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Looking over at my teammates, I nodded and quietly stated my name. I tried not to linger over much of my personality, only giving a few hints about my likes and dislikes, such as reading, training, and… well, training? I suddenly had an epiphany that I never really had much of a social life as I said that. If not for Tenten and Hinata-hime, I probably would have spent my entire time keeping to myself. Neji didn't really make for a good companion as all that we did was train and infuriate me.

"My dislikes are…" I paused, and then continued, "People belittling me." My teammates rolled their eyes at that. Asuka-sensei suddenly looked thoughtful, and asked me what my dream was.

This made me silent for a moment. What was my dream? I had never really thought much about what I wanted, only living by the day, training, getting stronger and watching after Hinata-hime. My eyes suddenly narrowed, and I gave an uncertain answer.

"… To get as strong as possible, and protect… what is worth protecting." My team was silent after that, and they were staring at me, because it was rather unusual for me to look so uncertain.

I gave my teammates a flat look, before calmly asking them to introduce themselves as well.

Gen scoffed slightly and I tried not to roll my eyes. He then cleared his throat and said, "My name is Gen Miyato. My likes are fighting and beating people," this time, I was the one who almost scoffed, "and my dislikes are arrogant, snobbish people like the Hyuuga."

The mulish look he gave me was most delightful that I knew I would not be bored for some time. It was amusing, how blatantly he stated his dislike for me and it showed when sensei's eyes widened. Then the boy went and stated, "My dream is to be a famous ninja one day."

I smirked slightly, and he glared at me. My smirk widened.

Daichi, who seemed to be falling into the role of reluctant mediator, sighed and cut in, "I'm Daichi Nakai. My likes are practicing my genjutsu and tending to plants," – hmm, is he a genjutsu type? – "my dislikes are being underestimated and needless conflict." Definitely a mediator, then.

Our sensei eyed us once more before saying, "Well, why don't we get started, then?"

He had us begin showing our abilities. Gen gracefully volunteered to go first, before sneering at me and demonstrating some basic elemental ninjutsu from the Academy textbooks. He was actually decent at it, and I nodded at him as he went back to sit. He looked surprised, before scowling and sitting down, looking away.

I was then asked to go after him, and my lips twitched as I stood before them asked Asuka-sensei if I could have him defend from my Gentle Fist. He looked at me apprehensively, before nodding and I proceeded to give him a decent fight.

I had actually caught him off-guard a lot of times and had come near to being able to strike his points, but he used substitution, and he did the hand seals quite fast that I knew he had experience in fights like this. He was holding back, but at least I did well.

What surprised him was I did not at all activate the Byakugan, and I just shook my head and stated I just memorized easily-accessed points and maneuvers. We Hyuuga don't really have to use Byakugan all the time when we fight, and it's not good for the eyesight to overuse it.

Later, when Daichi did his part, I learned that our team was something rather all-around, like a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. We could change into a defense team, heavy attack, or tracking. With Daichi as our genjutsu type, I for taijutsu, and Gen for ninjutsu, we formed something called a nin-gen-tai team. Asuka-sensei was a rounded type, not specializing on just one ninja art.

However, I don't intend on furthering only my taijutsu training, and I asked Asuka-sensei if I could learn a few elemental ninjutsu from him. Gen had again glared at me at that, but sensei actually approved, and told us he would have to test us all for our elemental type.

Asuka-sensei gave us tips and pointers that were helpful, and as he concluded our time, he said something that made my teammates groan.

Teamwork drills, anyone? I'm not sure whether to look forward for tomorrow or get annoyed at my teammates.

Later, as I headed to the Hokage Tower in the afternoon to finish my papers, I stopped by the weapons shop in the commercial part of Konoha. Tenten was usually there in her free time, to help her adoptive father with the weapon sales.

Tenten grinned at me as I entered the shop looking for her, and we went together to the Tower, making idle chat.

"So how was your team?" She asked. I sighed lightly and shook my head before making a short summary of what our team did.

"We… introduced ourselves to each other and… demonstrated our ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu… my team was alright."

Tenten laughed as she heard the awkward undertone to my voice. Then she launched into a quite animated and humorous story of how her morning spent with her team went.

I shook my head as I heard of Neji and Lee-san's youthful 'rivalry'. My cousin had probably gotten a headache from Lee's fervor to compete with him and all those loud proclamations. Then I smirked at Tenten's annoyance of having to jog around the village courtesy of Gai-sensei.

This reminded me I should up the intensity of my training more. Running laps around the village could help, as well as upping the number of exercises I did in the dojo back at the compound. Tenten gave me a look that said she thought I was planning to kill myself by training as I told her.

I scoffed.

Well, I thought, as I looked over at the papers in the Tower, signing where I should and writing what was required, this is rather dull. But it had to be done. I looked over to see Tenten sighing as she went through her own registration.

It was easy, though, and I easily finished the papers and handed them over to the Chunin in charge of the registration. I waited for Tenten to finish shortly.

As we went out of the tower, I nodded goodbye to Tenten as we headed in opposite directions for home.

Back at the compound, I did well on my decision to beat myself again and again over training again. It was really exhausting, with Neji to add and I tiredly nodded at him as we were done, going to the kitchen for a few rice balls and tea.

I headed over to the bathrooms of the branch house compartment, bringing a towel, soap, shampoo and change of clothes. And a toothbrush and toothpaste. After I cleaned up, it felt like my head was stuffed with cotton and I headed as quickly as I could back to my room. That was interesting, I tiredly mused as I slipped into between the covers of my futon.

I wished I had seen Hinata-hime. There was a bit of worry on my part for her, now that Hiashi-sama had another trainer for her. When she graduates from the Academy, maybe I could see more of her. Now she was hardly free, with the clan bearing down on her shoulders.

For the best, I hoped she would hold strong under them. I hoped her inspiration from Uzumaki-san would last. I hoped she was in good hands.

Maybe she would reach out more to the other students in her class, and it would be a great help for her to have some friends other than me, and Tenten.

AN: And Shizuka is now a gennin. It is rather worrying for Hinata, though. She had improved under Shizuka, but now she has a new trainer. It's going to be a long year for the Hyuuga cousins, especially for the two girls.