My second little-kid fic involving Kaida, Choji, and Shikamaru - yay! ^^ I came up with the idea when I couldn't sleep last night. A line from Ed and Winry 4ever's story Falling For You kept repeating in my head, and I started wondering what kinds of shenanigans in particular they pulled at school. xD It's just so much fun playing with them when they're still at the Academy. No major cares; innocence is bliss. x3
Anyways, they're probably about ten years old here, maybe still nine. It's not much/any longer than a year, if even, after my first story involving these three (Day One). Enjoy! n_n
Choji barely stifled a yawn, passed on to him from Kaida, who sat next to him. On the other side of her, Shikamaru seemed to already be asleep, though every so often he would open his eyes slightly and look around.
They were in the middle of a boring class lecture. Iruka-sensei stood at the front of the classroom, just teaching away as if the students were actually listening; but a quick glance around showed Choji that only Sakura sat erect and attentive.
Kaida took out her notebook and started writing something on it, then casually tilted it for Shikamaru to see. He glanced at it and nodded ever so slightly. When Kaida tilted it Choji's way, he could see one word printed boldly enough that he only had to glance at the paper to know what it said.
Now?
Choji grinned, and when he was sure Iruka was paying attention elsewhere, he also nodded. It was time to end this boring class lesson.
Barely had Choji responded than Kaida jumped up on her chair and started screaming at the top of her lungs, pointing frantically at the floor. She moved her arm as if to follow the imaginary thing that had scared her.
Iruka jumped, startled, and stared at her, along with the rest of the class.
"Kaida, what's wrong?" Iruka-sensei had to shout to be heard above Kaida's screams.
"Aaaaaahhh!" was Kaida's only response.
"What is it?" Iruka yelled again.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
Choji was afraid Kaida would give herself a sore throat if she didn't stop soon, so he jumped up from his seat and beamed, staring at the floor where Kaida was pointing. "Mouse!"
As Choji dove for the imaginary mouse, the rest of the class panicked. Most of the girls jumped onto their chairs or desks and started screaming even louder than Kaida, while the boys rushed to Choji, trying to get a look at the mouse. Iruka was unsuccessfully trying to calm everyone down.
No one noticed when Kaida calmly stepped down from her chair and left the classroom with Shikamaru. No one noticed when Choji detached himself from the crowd of excited boys and left with his two friends.
Once safely out of sight and, for a while, out of reach, Kaida burst into uncontrollable laughter. "That... was... AWESOME!" she gasped, somewhat hoarsely, when she could finally catch her breath.
Shikamaru smirked. "A ninja must see through deception," he said, quoting one of the shinobi rules. "Guess not many of them will make good ninjas."
Choji grinned. "Even Iruka-sensei was twisting around everywhere trying to see the 'mouse'. Getting everyone to calm down seemed to be second on his to-do list. How do girls learn to scream like that? Even when you're faking it, you nearly made me lose my hearing, and you sounded really scared."
"So, that's what all the screaming was about."
Choji nearly fell forward he jumped so badly. He twisted around to see who had spoken, and came face-to-face with Mizuki-sensei. All three students sweatdropped. Choji gulped. Kaida had a smiling-but-nervous expression on her face that said 'whoops'. And Shikamaru lightly kicked the ground.
"I was down the hall getting ready to deliver some papers to Iruka, when someone started screaming. That was you, wasn't it, Kaida?" Mizuki asked.
"I saw a mouse." Kaida's voice was barely a whisper.
"Well, you certainly created quite a stir. And how convenient that the mouse gave you a reason to leave."
"We were afraid she would hurt herself, screaming and jumping up and down like that, so Choji and I brought her here," Shikamaru put in.
Mizuki gave them a smile that seemed to have a dangerous edge, similar to when Iruka was trying to smile but was about to give them a week of detention. "Well, I'm sure by now that the 'mouse' has been captured. You can see for yourself that there's no mouse there – when you stay after class for detention."
How had Choji known that was coming?
The three friends followed their sensei back to class mostly in silence, though there was one time the silence was broken.
"Sorry, guys," Kaida whispered. "I'll tell Iruka-sensei it was all my fault. Maybe he'll let you two go."
Shikamaru snorted. "You think we're going to let you take all the credit?"
Choji suspected Kaida had to smother a grin or even a chuckle at Shikamaru's response. "Well, you may have come up with the plan, but it was me that made it happen."
"And how do you think you'll explain me shouting over your screams that it was a mouse?" Choji whispered back.
"I'll think of something."
Shikamaru half-smiled and shook his head. "We're in this entire thing together, remember?"
Choji nodded his support. "If we're all to blame, we all share the blame. If one of us is to blame, we still all share the blame."
Kaida gave up, grinning. "All for one and one for all," she agreed as they reached the door to their classroom. "You two are the best friends anyone could ever, ever, ever ask for!"
Whee~ ^^ Haha, I wanted to have them get away with it - little kids getting the better of any adults. But maybe I'll come up with another escape plan later on that's better, and they can laugh about it outside of detention. xP
Review, please! 8D