The Guardian Angel (Naruto Fan fiction)

36.

Manami's POV

There are only 3 words that come to mind at this current moment. Their. Teamwork. Sucks. They keep bickering and fighting over the pettiest things!

Naruto keeps fighting with Sasuke and Kiba about who's better. Naruto would say himself, Sasuke would deny it. Kiba would suggest himself and Akamaru and Shino would deny it. Kiba would argue and defend himself. They lost focus.

Ino keeps belittling Sakura, pissing her off. Instead of focusing, they're arguing about who's better for Sasuke and I'm seriously tempted to say neither of them and point out their flaws so they'll shut up.

The sand siblings are just standing there watching the whole scene as if they were the only sane ones. Which is obviously not true.

Either way, all of them have lost focus and now I have to take care of it. Which I did.

"ALRIGHT LISTEN UP YOU IDIOTS!!! IF YOU GUYS DON'T SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS, I'M GOING TO GET TENSHI AND AKUMA TO HELP ME TIE YOU ALL UP AND EAT IN FRONT OF YOU AS YOU STARVE!! AM I CLEAR!?!?" I screamed.

That definitely got their attention. And their reactions were priceless. I wish I could have recorded it.

"Didn't I say that this practice was about teamwork? Where the hell did teamwork show in all of this? Do you want to get beat up? Cause I will not hesitate to do so. Now c'mon! Teamwork people! Teamwork!" I stressed.

"Uhhh, Manami-chan? What exactly do you want us to do?" Sakura asked me. I face palmed. "You mean to tell me, that none of you listened to a word I said when I explained the rules!?" I asked incredulously.

They all wore embarrassed expressions except Gaara and Shino. "She asked for us to spar in the pairs she assigned. Why? Because we'd have to learn to trust your partner and use teamwork to take down the other pair." Shino said.

I smiled at him gratefully and agreed. "Yes, Shino-kun is right! How you missed my instructions is beyond me but now you know. So get to it!!" I told them.

"Uhhh, but Manami-chan!! What were the teams again? I don't remember... Believe it!" Naruto asked, everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

I sighed pitifully and slumped in disappointment. "Naruto and Hinata Vs. Kankuro and Ino. Kiba and Temari Vs. Sasuke and Sakura. And lastly Shikamaru and Gaara Vs. Chōji and I. Why? Because Manami said so and she knows best at this point so don't question it" Shino, once again, said in behalf of saving me the trouble of repeating myself.

I sighed in relief and walked up to him. "You have no idea how much I love you right now Shino. Thank you." I said giving him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "You're a real life saver."

He nodded but stayed quiet, neither of us noticing Shikamaru's glare that everyone but us had sensed. I thought nothing of it and moved on. "He's right. Now, I want no excuses. These pairs were picked in specific due to some reasons I won't explain. Just do as I say. Now remember, this is a trust and teamwork exercise. I'm judging so you better put your differences and feelings aside or you'll fail and we'll continue until you all pass. Get it? Got it? Good." I announced.

Once they were in position, I went to give the signal when Hinata passed out. I sighed. I walked up to her and shook her awake. When she opened her eyes I chastised her a little bit.

"Hinata-chan, this is why I chose him as your partner. The day you acknowledge your true strength, will be the day that you will improve. You need to ignore the fact that he is your crush and worry about yourself for once. When you gain your self confidence, when you learn to love yourself, that will be the day he will notice you. Ok?" I told her quietly.

"B-but M-man-nami-ch-chan, I-I-I c-can't!" She said. I shook my head. "Not with that kind of mentality you can't. Just ask yourself this, do you want to always watch him succeed? Or do you want to succeed and for once have him watch you do so?" I asked her.

She stayed quiet, blushing, and looked thoughtful. "Keep that in mind for when the time comes." I told her.

I walked back to where I was and noticed that everyone was watching. No one knew what I said, but they saw the interaction between us. Nosy people.

"Wanna take pictures? They last longer! Are you all ready? Go!"

And it started. So far, Kankuro and Ino were beating Naruto and Hinata who were trying to work together without Hinata fainting. Kiba and Temari were winning against Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke acting like a freaking ass thinking he's all that and a bag of chips. And lastly, Shikamaru and Gaara were, as I expected, losing to Chōji and Shino due to Gaara having trust issues and isn't used to teamwork quite yet.

After a good 2 hours I called the matches. Winners were Kankuro and Ino, Sasuke and Sakura, and lastly Shikamaru and Gaara.

"Ok! That's it for today! Great job guys! We'll keep this up for a while. We'll meet like this again after the chūnin exams. For now, I want to reward you all for the hard work. So take the weekend off. Monday meet up the BBQ place. I'm paying."

It was like magic. At the sound of training again they groaned but at the mention of food they all hollered in anticipation. When I said I was paying however, they went hysterical.

I had to laugh at that. "Alright guys, go home." I said. Everyone started walking away except Shikamaru. I looked at him questioningly.

"Just thought I'd walk you home. We live together remember? So what do you say?" Shikamaru said offering me his arm.

I took his arm smiling. "I say let's." And we walked home. On the way Shikamaru got me ice cream.

"I figured you liked this kind of stuff." He said. I mentally laughed at that. I just smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Shika. That's really sweet of you."

Narrator's POV

Unbeknownst to the two of them, all of this was being seen by a certain Aburame who was just passing by and happened to see this heartbreaking scene.

He had already let her go for her own happiness as that is the only thing he ever truly wished for. But, that doesn't mean seeing her with another guy won't hurt.

As Shino walked away with his heart broken, he didn't notice Manami noticing him, wondering about the words she had heard him tell her when she was unconscious after the 2nd part of the exams.

Did he really like her? Did he seriously give her up because he wanted her happy? His biggest fear was not being able to keep her happy? It was crazy!

She had to admit to herself that she cared for him as well, but as much as she cared for Shikamaru? She didn't know but she was going to find out. Hopefully she'll find out soon before she makes a mistake that will forever make an impact in her life.