After he left the sand shinobi at the gate, Shikamaru turned around to face his work day. He entered the Hokage building and was soon to be summoned. Despite the fact, that he did a good job, he found himself lectured by Tsunade, that there was much more for him to do. "That sounds like an awful lot of work!" He started to complain, only to find himself in another scolding. "You don't only have to learn how to execute missions. There is a lot more to fulfilling your role as shinobi. You have to gather experience in various fields of political interest too. I observed you were getting along quite well with the sand allies during your missions, so from now on you will also be involved in the field of diplomatic activities. I already have the perfect mission for you." She paused and took in the look on the shadow nins face. As she expected he didn't complain, she knew very well how to catch his attention. Diplomacy was in the end a tactical game, just like his beloved shogi.
"You know that the village hidden in the sand has copied our tutoring system. Of course they are lacking the practical experience, so they asked us to support them." Shikamaru lifted a hand to his neck. "But ma'am, there are better qualified instructors in the leaf. In fact I'm not qualified at all. I don't have any experience in being an instructor!" – "You are right, as always", Tsunade smiled. "That's why I assigned this mission to Iruka and Kurenai sensei. As you are helping out in the school anyway, you are going to support them. This way you will be collecting experience in instruction and diplomacy at the same time." Shikamaru's mouth fell open. "A double work?" He suddenly felt very weak. "Well, well, don't pull such a face. You'll be leaving after the finals in school are over and Iruka and Kurenai will be free. And now go and report to the school."
With hanging shoulders Shikamaru trotted out of the room. After the finals, that meant during the summer holiday, when it was hottest. He stopped dead. Suna already lied in a desert. Suddenly he was convinced that Tsunade-sama planned for him to die on this mission.