Woot, give it up for another Academy-age story! This one is again centric around Shikamaru, Choji, and Kaida, although there's a bit less Choji in it than I would've liked; I wanted to keep it evenly centered on all three... =/ But to make up for that, let's have him do the disclaimer! 8D

Choji: Yeah, Kaiti owns her glasses, her rubber hamsters, and a few rings - none of them made out of candy. Heh heh...

Me: ...Choji? They don't get the reference yet, since they haven't read the story yet. ^^' Besides, you're supposed to be telling them that I don't own 'something.'

Choji: Rightrightright, so Kaiti doesn't own Naruto! Only her OC: Kaida. Oh, and Taylor (Taichi and Chihaya 4ever) helped Kaiti when she was struggling with how to find an ending to all the chaos! *nodnod* ...Can I have that candy ring now?

Shikamaru sat at a desk in the classroom, resting his chin on his hand as he tuned out Iruka-sensei's teachings. Choji sat next to him, hiding behind a propped-up book as he and Naruto secretly satisfied their growling stomachs.

Shikamaru's attention was on the clock.

Class had started more than an hour ago, and his female friend Kaida had not yet shown up, even though she was almost always on time. Occasionally, she would walk in late at varying times, but she never took anywhere near this long. She must have stayed home sick today, Shikamaru decided.

No sooner had he come to that decision than the classroom door slid roughly open. Iruka-sensei broke off in the middle of a sentence as he looked to see who was at the door.

For that matter, the entire class stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the tardy student.

Kaida Yukiten. But what on earth was she wearing?

Shikamaru decided to start at the top and work his way down, taking in one altered appearance at a time.

Her hair, once red, had now been dyed pink – not a natural pink like Sakura's, but a really bright pink that Shikamaru would bet glowed in the dark. Her hair had also been curled more so than it was normally, and it was split into two pigtails, tied with ribbons. She also wore a sky-blue cap with bright red hearts somehow attached to it on the side.

On Kaida's forehead was a unicorn head. Was that face paint? No, upon closer inspection, Shikamaru decided it was one of those cheap temporary tattoos, the kind that you just add water to and then place onto your skin like a sticker. On one cheek was a rainbow, and the other had a fluffy cloud, both also temporary tattoos.

Her shirt was poofy with frills, and she wore countless candy necklaces roped around her neck, one of which she was currently eating. Her arms were laden with candy bracelets, and each hand bore a few cheap rings. She was also wearing a miniskirt that had been embroidered so much that the material beneath the thread was unidentifiable. Large white lace-up boots with heels (which Shikamaru figured was probably making Kaida uncomfortable) covered most of the rest of the skin on her legs.

Iruka seemed speechless, unable to look beyond her new outfit, so drastically different from her usual simple top and jeans.

Kaida didn't wait for him to say anything about her tardiness. She let the candy necklace drop from her mouth as she beamed at him and said, "Good morning, Iruka-sensei! Sorry I'm late; my mom wanted to make me look cuter than usual this morning." Again without waiting for him to respond, she stalked over to a desk and sat down, sticking her necklace back into her mouth and ignoring the multiple stares and whispers all around her.

Shikamaru recovered from his shock more quickly than anyone else did. He had a feeling, thanks to her comment and behavior, that he knew why she was dressed that way.

Had her mom truly dressed her like that, Kaida wouldn't be sitting in her seat as smugly as she was. Kaida wouldn't lie, though, so her mom must have started it somehow, and then Kaida took matters into her own hands.

He couldn't wait for recess so he could find out for sure.

When recess came, Shikamaru and Choji started to approach their female friend, but other students got to her first, swarming her as they moved out of the classroom towards the outdoors so that Shikamaru couldn't even catch a glimpse of her. He heard snatches of conversation, though.

"Hey, Kaida, the model agency called. They want their outfit of shame back!"

"Oh my gosh, I love that look! Somebody pinch me; no way could Kaida have come up with something that good!"

"WHERE did you get that hat?"

"Are you trying to make some sort of point?"

"Does your mom really think that actually looks good?"

"Can I have some of your jewelry? The edible kind!"

If Kaida verbally responded to any of these comments, Shikamaru couldn't hear. The only thing he heard coming from Kaida was laughter.

She was so enjoying this, even the insults.

"What do you think is going on?" Choji asked Shikamaru. "I can't believe her mom would actually make her wear something that crazy."

Shikamaru agreed. "No, I'm pretty sure Kaida chose that look herself. I wish we could get to her so she could tell us why, though."

He raised an eyebrow when a light bulb seemed to go on above his friend's head.

"Just leave it to me," Choji said confidently.

Shikamaru watched from a safe distance back as Choji dropped an ice cube down one kid's back. The kid yelled in protest and punched the guy next to him. The second guy pushed the first one back, knocking him into four other kids and creating a domino effect. Soon enough, an all-out war was going on within the group as they burst outside. Kaida was among those fighting, but Shikamaru managed to pull her away when she came close enough to him. Although she did do her best to break away.

"Hey, let go, that jerk that hit me needs to be taught a lesson!" she shouted.

Shikamaru smirked. Kaida may be able to change her look, but she would never truly change.

Finally she seemed to realize who it was that wouldn't let go of her arm, and she calmed down enough to follow him and Choji. The three soon found themselves far enough away from most of the other kids so that they could talk comfortably.

Kaida was beaming again. "So? What do you guys think? Pretty cool, huh? I mean – cute."

"Maybe you went a little overboard," Choji mumbled hesitantly.

Kaida's grin grew even bigger. "I know, right? You're the first to get it, Choji!"

"Huh?" Choji asked in confusion.

"Why don't you tell us what happened," Shikamaru suggested.

Kaida laughed. "You got it!"

~Earlier that morning~

"No, Mom, that hurts!"

"I haven't even touched you yet!"

"It hurts inside that you would even consider doing something so horrifying!"

"Oh, come on, dear, it'll be fine, you'll see!"

Kaida fled to the opposite side of her room, clinging with all she was worth to her normal outfit, and tilting her head away from her mother to keep her precious red locks away from those... those... ribbons!

Kaida's mom held up the slightly-frilled shirt and ribbons. "I promise, after wearing these for a few minutes, you'll forget all about them, and you'll look so much cuter."

"But I'll look like a girly girl! Everyone knows girls can't be ninja if they're cute! That's why Ino will fail the Academy before ever becoming a genin!"

"You're not a ninja yet either, Kaida, and it's wrong to talk that way about your classmate," her mother said sternly. "Now hold still and just let me tie your hair up in a couple of pigtails."

"That very word should be banned! Who wants their hair to be compared with a pig?"

But in the end, Kaida's mom had her way, and Kaida made her way to school wearing frills and ribbons. The glower on her face made up for any cuteness factor the slightly altered clothes might have given her, however.

Kaida stopped at a store's window to scrutinize her reflection. She didn't pay much attention to her appearance on average, but she did know one thing: she was a tomboy training to become a ninja, and girly outfits were out of place on her. Okay, so maybe that was two things. Anyways, she did not want to be associated with any of those girls who always made sure to dress for compliments.

Suddenly, Kaida's gaze slipped past her reflection into the shop itself. She blinked, realizing what was in there.

An idea began to form.

If her mom wanted her to look cute, she would have her wish.

Kaida would dress herself up to put girls like Ino to shame.

~Back to recess~

Choji gaped.

Shikamaru smirked.

Kaida chewed on one of her bracelets as she continued. "So I walked in and blew my allowance on all this stuff – temporary tattoos, temporary hair dye, candy jewelry, fake gem jewelry, the most craziest outfits I could find... I do like the hat, though. Maybe I'll keep wearing it when I get this other junk off. Anyways, I snuck back home and put all this on, then hurried to school."

She offered Choji one of her candy decorations as she quietly waited for a response.

"Think they let guys wear jewelry, too?" was naturally what Choji first came up with to say.

"Never seen it happen before," Shikamaru shrugged. Then he narrowed his eyes at Kaida. "So. You're making your point loud and clear. Now what?"

She looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You're not about to tell me you didn't think this through, are you?"

Silence. Then: "No!"

"What do you think your mom will do when she finds out about this?" Shikamaru pressed.

More silence.

"Okay, fine, so I didn't think it through. But I don't know. What would you do?"

"I don't know; parenting is such a drag."

"I'd say it's fine as long as you shared some of your necklaces!" Choji volunteered.

Kaida grinned again. "Yeah, Shikamaru worries too much! It'll go great!"

The next day, Shikamaru was half horrified and half amused when a couple of their classmates showed up the next day dressed similarly to Kaida's getup. Even Choji had done it to some extent: he had gotten himself some of that candy jewelry.

And then Shikamaru's reaction intensified when Kaida walked through the door (on time, at least) dressed even crazier than the day before. She had added pictures in marker to her boots and extra frills and ribbons to the rest of her, not to mention the ring pops now decorating her fingers.

This time, though, Kaida's expression was that of defiant pride.

Obviously, her parents hadn't appreciated her rebellion, which gave Kaida the incentive to try harder in making her own point. But it didn't seem that she was enjoying it anymore.

Shikamaru made no comment this time, reassuring himself that it would all blow over in a couple of days.

Too bad it just got worse.

Each day, Kaida's outfits just got crazier. More and more of their classmates started dressing up in that ridiculous fashion. It really started catching on when some of the more popular girls (and even a couple of the boys) gave in and admitted they liked the style. Then it spread beyond their class to the other Academy students.

And then Shikamaru really realized it had gone too far when he noticed a couple genin start wearing similar outfits.

He knew the adults were pulling out every trick in the book to get their children to stop, but he also knew only a few had any success.

Finally, Shikamaru decided it was past time to take matters into his own hands. His plan had only two parts, but hopefully it would be enough. Phase one: Get the girl who started it all to resolve the problem that had triggered it all.

He made his attack one day after the last class let out, resigning himself to his mother's troublesome scoldings for not coming straight home.

"Hey, Kaida, can we talk?"

Maybe not the most subtle way of broaching a topic she was sure not to like, but it was effective, at least. Kaida ended her conversation with three other people instantly and followed Shikamaru to a place of relative privacy.

"What?" she asked, her tone cold.

Shikamaru knew she hadn't been able to overlook the fact that he was one of the only two people in their entire class that hadn't followed her example (but Sasuke didn't happen to be a best friend whom she expected to support her in everything).

"I think you should stop this."

Shikamaru had originally intended their conversation to somewhat beat around the bush; he had wanted her to think she was deciding to end it on her own. But looking at her now, he realized she would just get mad at him for not being straightforward.

Not that straightforwardness managed to keep her temper completely at bay.

"Not a chance! Shikamaru, I thought you were my friend!"

"You know I'm still your friend."

"Then why?"

"It's gotten out of control."

"So what? They all like it; it makes them happy!"

"All except you."

She looked ready to deny it, but apparently Shikamaru had struck home.

"Fine. So I hate the look I created. So what?"

"You know it's more than that."

Her face flushed in anger, and Shikamaru spoke quickly before she could totally lose her temper.

"I know your parents aren't happy, and that makes you unhappy. Not because they don't like your dressing up, but because it all started when you and your mom both did something you knew the other wouldn't like. Then you each tried punishing the other for not understanding."

The anger in Kaida's expression started draining away, replaced by sadness, and a longing to undo it all.

"I think you should offer to stop this craziness and just wear the original outfit your mom wanted you to wear," Shikamaru said quietly.

Kaida pouted. "But why?" This time she finally looked as though she wanted to hear the answer.

"I think if your mom regrets all of this as much as you do, she'll tell you you don't have to wear it after all."

She looked thoughtful. "Think so? Wait, but I thought you said parenting was a drag."

"Doesn't mean I don't pay attention to it anyways."

She thought for a moment longer, then grinned and shrugged. "Well, it's not like it can make anything worse." She gave Shikamaru a quick hug, awkward because of the outrageous poofiness of her shirt, whispered a "thank you," and turned to go.

"One more thing," Shikamaru said quickly. It was time for phase two now, and it was a big enough project that he would need help.

"Yeah?" she asked, waiting.

"After you sort things out with your parents, will you help me suggest to the other parents who have kids that followed you to threaten not to feed their kids unless they agreed to give up this latest trend?"

Her grin spread, then she giggled, then she laughed so hard she literally fell into the grass – the boots had probably helped in unbalancing her.

"Wow, I'm glad you talked to me before my parents! You're evil, Shikamaru!" she said when her laughter finally subsided into giggles again.

He offered her his hand. "Careful. An evil person might want to make you pay for that."

She accepted his help to her feet. "Sorry I said we weren't still friends. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me."

"S'okay. Friends sometimes have to disagree. It keeps life interesting."

"Got that right!"

The next day, the majority of the Academy students slumped into school in their normal outfits. Even Choji was no longer swathed in candy jewelry, although Shikamaru suspected it was just because the boy had run out of money for it, since Shikamaru and Kaida's multiple visits to parents' houses hadn't included any trips to the Akimichi clan.

The only surprise that morning was when Kaida bounded into the classroom. Her usual cheer was back, her insane trend-setting clothes were gone, and her temporary hair dye had been washed out. However, she was wearing a slightly-frilled purple shirt and ribbons along with her normal jeans.

"Sorry," Shikamaru said immediately when she made her way over to her two friends. "I really didn't think your mom would go through with it."

"Oh, she didn't," Kaida said cheerfully. "But I did. Everything went just like you said, Shikamaru, but after all the junk I wore these last two weeks, I figure one day of this won't kill me. Hopefully tomorrow, though, both me and the rest of the Academy will be back to normal."

It was too bad 'normal' was such a relative word, Shikamaru thought dryly as Iruka-sensei walked in and started the day's lessons.

Even so, it wasn't like it was a bad thing. No, like Shikamaru had said the day before, it just kept life interesting.

So, as per usual, I wanna know any and all thoughts you readers have! Drop me a review real fast before you go, please~! n_n~