A/N: ayyy, in honour of Temari's birthday on August 23rd I'm starting a cliché High school AU, cos what kind of a fan fiction writer would I be if I didn't have at LEAST one of them.
I'm still continuing Trial and Error at the same time as this, I can multitask.
Please enjoy, fave, follow and review, (or not) :)
naruto isn't mine:(
First impressions
This was troublesome. No, it was beyond troublesome. It was the worst.
Kakashi-Sensei gave him a stern look as Shikamaru let out a loud sigh, which he quickly masked by yawning. Glancing out the window, he saw a perfect sky with puffy white clouds. What a waste of a lovely day.
He looked around the classroom at the five other students who were being lectured on their failing grades.
"Ino," Kakashi-Sensei began.
"Your participation and cooperation has been exemplary, but your exam grades are bringing down your average, which is why you need extra credits. Same goes for you two," he added, looking at Kiba and Naruto who were kicking each other under the table for fun.
"Sai, you however haven't handed up a single piece of work that hasn't been doodled on, and your behaviour can only be marked as anti-social."
Sai looked blankly at Kakashi-sensei, a small smile plastered to his face in the same creepy expression he always wore.
"Tenten, your grades and participation are always average or above, but you have missed a lot of school lately due to your injury and your absence has brought down your grade."
Kakashi rounded on Shikamaru .
"You just haven't bothered all year and you need extra credits if you want to move up to the next grade"
Shikamaru shrugged and said nothing.
" We are proposing an exchange program in which you will regularly correspond with students who are in a... Similar predicament in another school."
Shikamaru groaned. No way in hell was he going to have a 'penpal'.
"You will correspond through letters and then go on a 'visit' during the school year. If you refuse, you will have to repeat the year. Do I make myself clear?"
A few grumbles resonated around the room.
"Good. Now fill out these forms."
OoOoO
"BULLSHIT!"
"Temari, please return to your seat," Baki-Sensei sighed.
"I AM NOT WRITING LITTLE NOTES TO SOME FOREIGN KIDS AND THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I'M LETTING ANYONE INTO MY HOME!"
"So you wish to repeat the school year?"
Temari paused, realising that she certainly did NOT want to do that.
"You've lost a lot of credits due to your antisocial behaviour, and you've gotten into too many fights this year. You'd do well to accept this opportunity that you've been given"
Temari grumbled and sank back down into her seat.
"Whatever."
Baki nodded and turned back to the other five students in front of him.
"We received the questionnaires from the students at Konoha-High and you will be given the same one. I have been put in charge of pairing you accordingly."
He glanced down at the page in front of him and continued, frowning.
"We originally intended to partner you up according to gender, but there isn't the same amount of girls and boys, meaning that one of you girls is going to be paired up with a boy,"
Temari rolled her eyes as she heard Matsuri and Yukata giggle loudly to her left.
This was so tedious. She looked down at the questionnaire in front of her, filled with meaningless and generic questions.
"Name, age, favourite colour/pastime etc."
She scribbled down her answers and folded the page into a paper fan while she waited for the others to finish up.
"Temari?"
"Hn?" She turned to Daimaru who was seated close to her, his goofy grin wide as always.
"I hope we make some friends during this program,"
Temari snorted.
"I'd sooner die,"
Daimaru laughed and put his arm around her waist.
" Don't die on me," he mumbled into her ear.
She held back a second snort.
Why am I dating this idiot again?
OoOoO
Sighing, Baki looked at the pages in front of him. He didn't want to cause any problems for any of the students, but he pitied whoever would be paired up with Temari.
He decided that she should be the girl who was paired up with the extra boy since she lived with her two brothers. They could look after the poor soul.
He flicked through all the questionnaires.
He paired the girl named Tenten up with Matsuri, they both seemed interested in sports and competition. The other girl, Ino, was put with Yukata, their curly neat writing almost identical.
The next file he read was one written by a boy named Kiba. Seeing the similar cockiness between his and Kankuro's, he decided to pair them off.
That left Gaara, Daimaru and Temari from his group. He flicked through the last three questionnaires from the Konoha students. Seeing an ambitious streak in Naruto's "hopes for the future" section, he put him with Gaara, who had a near-identical answer.
He read through the last two, and decided to put the lazy-sounding boy with Daimaru, the two would get on well, and the one named Sai with Temari. He nearly put the files away when he noticed a little flower drawn on Sai's Hell no. Temari would kill the poor boy for drawing flowers. He quickly swapped Sai's page with the other one, glancing briefly at the name.
Nara Shikamaru.
Good luck to you, boy he thought, before packing away the stack of pages and going home.
The boy was going to need it.
OoOoO
Shikamaru looked down at the sheet of paper that was placed in front of him, then back up at Kakashi with a single raised eyebrow, waiting for the teacher to elaborate.
"Your pen pal." The man said, before moving on to Ino and handing her her own page.
Shikamaru sighed and looked at the page. He'd only handed up his own sheet a few days ago, and now he was expected to find out about his pen pal. What a drag.
He ran his eyes across the page and came to a halt at the first line.
Name: SABAKU NO TEMARI
"Sir, there's been a problem," he said, lazily raising his arm "I've been paired with a girl."
"Ah yes, the number of girls in the Suna group was higher than the number of girls in our group, so we had to pair one of them up with a boy," Kakashi explained as he handed the final sheet to Naruto, who punched his fist in the air the moment he saw his pen pal's name
"ALRIGHT!" He exclaimed, " I know this guy!" And he proceeded to rant about summer camp where he met the boy he was to write to.
Shikamaru continued reading his own sheet, muttering under his breath.
"Mendokuse..."
Age: 18
Birthday: August 23rd
Favourite colour: Purple
Hobbies: Reading, Skipping school, NOT HAVING A PEN PAL, eating, Baki-sensei I know you're reading this I hate you, cooking, archery.
I lovewhen...: I don't have a pen pal
I hate when...: I have to have a pen pal.
Ambition: NOT having a pen pal. Not having people doubt me. Get through school without a pen pal.
Shikamaru snorted at the girl's lack of enthusiasm for this program. He shared her sentiments. The entire thing was extremely troublesome. That's where the similarities ended though. She seemed too troublesome to be likeable. Her ambition included not being doubted. He'd gladly live his life being doubted by people rather than relied on by them. Being relied on meant responsibility, and responsibilities were troublesome. He sighed and glanced over the crumpled page once more, wondering what she would think reading his.
OoOoO
"Tell me you're kidding"
"Temari, stop causing problems."
"WHY AM I THE ONE WHO'S PAIRED WITH A BOY?!"
"Because reasons,"
She glared at her sensei and looked down at the page she'd been given, deciphering the lazy scrawl that decorated it.
She looked around at her two brothers, both of whom seemed delighted with their allocated pen pal. Great.
Gaara was excitedly reading his and she thought she heard him say 'Naruto' which instantly made her feel better. Ever since his return from summer camp, he'd been talking about this Naruto kid non-stop. His friendship with the Konohan really helped him with his anxiety and depression and she was glad he'd meet him again. It also meant that she'd get to meet the guy.
Daimaru also seemed pleased with his partner, saying that his hobbies were pleasant.
Yukata and Matsuri were excitedly planning shopping trips with their own partners.
Temari on the other hand was the only one who seemed dissatisfied with the arrangements.
Name: NARA SHIKAMARU
Age: 15
Birthday: September 22nd
Favourite colour: Green
Hobbies: Sleeping, cloud gazing, relaxing
I love when...: I can relax
I hate when...: My naps are interrupted
Ambition: Average life. Nothing troublesome. Not amazing, not too boring. Average.
She wanted to rip up the page (or the kid, either option would be satisfying).
Why had she been paired with a lazy little punk?!
Infuriated, she turned to Kankuro and demanded they swap.
"No can do sis," he chuckled. "This Kiba kid is mine," and he turned back to finish reading 'Kiba's' questionnaire.
She was disgusted. She was stuck with someone whom she had nothing in common with at all. In fact, they seemed like complete opposites. Great.
It was going to be a looooooong year
