Restoration: Book 1/3

Chapter 14

Over the next few days, Tenten's odd behavior continued.

It's not that the brunette had been standoffish before, but something definitely caused a change, and she suddenly wanted to know everything about me. Not only that, but she did such a lousy job acting naturally when I finally asked her what her deal was. There's obviously something going on, and she's not hiding it very well.

Regardless of her reasons, I couldn't see the harm in being genuine with her, at least for the most part. I can't tell her about my relation to Masumi or Dr. Uchiha, but I can answer other questions about myself.

As the days passed, Sakura was slowly becoming less stoic, and she seemed to start accepting that her sister was dead. It seemed hard for her to talk to anyone at all, not even Ino.

Her bruised face started healing, but the psychological damage from being so brutally beaten by Gaara continued to affect her deeply. She couldn't make eye contact with anyone and even noticeably shrank away when any guys came too close.

I worried about how she handled her mental training since she was partnered with a male, Sasuke. The quieter twin rarely drew attention to himself, so it was hard to judge his character accurately. As far as I'm aware, he barely even looks her way, so I wonder how they make their M.A.T. training work.

Speaking of Sasuke, he and his brother Sai share a last name with Madara. This fact initially had me very skeptical of them, but Ino also noticed and asked about it. Sai explained that they're distant cousins who've never met before, so it's like they're not family at all. The doctor hadn't even greeted them individually to acknowledge the fact.

On the topic of other partnerships in Group B, I also worried for Matsuri. Her partner was Gaara: The same one who beat Sakura up without hesitance and still hadn't tried to apologize. If his actions in person are anything to judge by, their training must be highly stressful. Even so, Matsuri didn't offer a single complaint and silently went along with us like usual.

She was one of the quietest of everyone participating in The Program, but I've been able to figure her out a little. Even with her strong aversion to attention, she's been quietly thriving in the background. Just as Matsuri's the quietest, she's also the smallest in stature. Rather than let that get her down, the brunette has been training for speed and precision rather than strength. She even held her own when she and Tenten sparred during week two.

"Focus, Hinata!"

I was drawn out of my thoughts by Orochimaru's serpentine voice.

We'd started learning how to use various weapons in our physical training. I'm not very good with any of it yet, but I can already manage with a handgun, so I'll probably be pretty good by the time The Program ends. Tenten, however, excelled with it all. She was proficient with knives, tonfa, swords, guns, and anything else we were asked to try. She hadn't been lying when she admitted to being a weapon instructor in her everyday life.

I sparred with Neji more seriously to appease the doctor watching us. The wooden poles we were fighting with smacked against each other as we exchanged attempts.

The tall young man remained as stoic as ever, his jaw clenched as he focused on our spar. For the first time, I actually looked at his face, and for a fraction of a moment, something about him seemed familiar. He took advantage of my being distracted to gain the upper hand and threw me down onto the mats in defeat.

Matsuri approached and offered me a hand in silence. Usually, we'd all be practicing, but since Karin was in our group and was no longer here, we had to take turns.

Once I was back on my feet, I wiped some sweat from my brow and glanced over at Neji, who was unsuspectingly drinking out of his water bottle.

What was that just now? He reminded me of someone, but I couldn't pinpoint who it was.