*snore*
"Shikamaru..."
*zzz*
"Shikamaru, this isn't the time to be sleeping in class!" Iruka shouted, throwing his chalk at him as if it were a kunai. It smacked him square in the forehead, causing him to wake up from his peaceful slumber. He grumbled a few incoherent profanities under his breath, rubbing the red mark on his forehead from the impact of the chalk.
"Hey, what was that for? I was having a good nap." he muttered with a yawn.
Iruka glared at him. "Which is precisely why I did it in the first place. I won't allow you to sleep in this classroom and treat it like it's your bedroom. You can sleep at home!" he chastised. A stress mark appeared on his forehead when he saw Shikamaru wasn't even looking in his direction. He was staring out at the window watching the clouds float by.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Yeah, just tuning you out." he murmured under his breath, yawning briefly. Some of the students had overheard his little comment and they began to giggle quietly, whilst Iruka was fuming.
"Alright that's it! Detention afterschool!"
He merely rolled his eyes and his eyes failed to leave the clouds until he heard the door suddenly burst open, revealing a girl leaning against the doorframe while trying to catch her breath. "Sorry, I'm...late. I got lost...trying to...look for...the classroom." she managed to say as she panted.
He raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar student, but turned his head back to the window, not really caring about who she was or what the hell she was doing here. She already seemed like a troublesome girl in his eyes just by looking at her.
Iruka turned around and smiled at the silver-haired girl with grey eyes. "Oh, you must be the new student then right?"
She nodded putting on a smile, quickly bowing before Iruka-sensei. "Y-yes, that's me."
"I'll be your instructor for this class, Iruka-sensei. Would mind introducing yourself to the class then? Maybe even tell them a little bit about yourself to clear up any questions the class might have for you."
"Nope, not at all." She quickly headed to the center of the classroom, trying to ignore all the stares she was getting from her new classmates. She figured being the newbie; everyone would bombard her with tons of questions.
"My name's Kaede Himawari and I just moved in here from the Land of Greens. I'm currently staying with the Yamanaka family and I'm hoping to learn as much as I can to get prepared for becoming a great medical-ninja." Iruka merely smiled in reply with a nod.
"Alright Kaede-chan, have a seat anywhere you'd like." Kaede scans the back of the room and her eyes finally take sight of the familiar blonde she was supposed to walk to school with this morning. She takes the empty seat next to her before shooting her trademark scowl in her direction.
"Why didn't you wake me up this morning Ino? You were supposed to show me around and it took me forever just to locate which classroom I'm supposed to come to." Kaede pouts.
"Sorry, but I had to leave the house early to try to snag a seat next to Sasuke-kun today. But Ms. Billboard Brow ends up getting here before me and gets to sit next to him! Can you believe her? Trying to steal my man away from me like that, what a cow!" she flared, clenching her fists.
"Mind holding the conversation until after class ladies?" Iruka scolded.
"Sorry sensei," they apologized in unison.
"Oi, Ino-chan. I didn't get much of a chance to look around Konoha since I've been so busy unpacking everything. Do you think you could show me around a little today? My sense of direction around here is pretty useless around here."
"I can't, Mom's making me go grocery shopping for tonight's dinner."
"Great, who's supposed to show me around now?"
"I dunno, ask someone else I guess. Look, I'll meet you back at the house later alright?"
Before Kaede could get another word in, Ino rushed out the classroom and she sighed in defeat. Minutes later, as Kaede began to gather her things, the classroom quickly cleared out. She found herself standing in an vacant empty classroom. If you count out the sleeping boy with his head laying down on the desk, snoring softly.
Kaede sighed under her breath, her shoulders sagging slightly in defeat. "Well, what've I got to lose if I ask him? Might as well." She cautiously walked over to him, gently poking him a couple of times to wake him from his peaceful slumber. Just before she could wake him up from his peaceful slumber, the door slid open and Iruka walked in carrying a handful of papers. She quickly stepped back from him, laughing sheepishly.
"H-Hi Iruka-sensei, I was just...leaving."
"Oh I see. Did you need something?"
"W-well the thing is, Ino was supposed to show me around Konoha today since I haven't gotten a tour of the place yet. And she ditched me so I'm not sure who else to ask at this point. Well, maybe that guy over there, but probably not if he's too occupied to catch up on his sleep." she said with a meek shrug.
Iruka looked over at Shikamaru and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation. "That Shikamaru..." Suddenly, his eyes lit up when a sudden thought came to mind.
"Oh, I don't think he'll mind showing you around."
"Um, you sure?" she asked a bit skeptical. "Because I can just find someone else, it's not that big of a deal."
"Nope, this'll be his personal assignment for the day. Shikamaru!" Seconds later, his head came up off his desk when he heard his name practically reverberate through his ears.
"I need you to give Kaede-chan here a nice tour of Konoha."
"Huh, why do I gotta do it?"
"Well the way I see it, you've got two choices. You can either show her around Konoha as part of your punishment or I assign you a eight-hundred word essay on why you shouldn't fall asleep in my class." The thought of even picking up a pencil sounded so tiring to him, too much work.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, such a drag." he complained as he walked through the village with Kaede at his side.
"Oh c'mon, it's not that big of a deal. Would you rather be working on a mindless essay for Iruka-sensei?"
She flashed a cheesy grin when he sighed in defeat, shaking his head in annoyance. "I rest my case."
He showed her a few places around the village, briefly explaining about them or a little background here and there. Overall, they didn't talk much during the trip, it almost seemed a bit awkward.
"So you do anything for fun around here?" she asked placing her hands on the back of her head as they walked down the road. He merely shrugged, staring up at the clouds.
"I suppose, but I doubt you'd call it fun. You'd probably just end up being bored to death."
"Humor me..."
"Cloud watching, sleeping, and a little Shogi here and there." Shikamaru shrugged carelessly.
She stared at him in disbelief. Was this guy serious? "That sounds like kind of stuff you'd do if you were an old man." She said half-jokingly.
"So?"
A low rumble rose from Kaede's belly and she laughed nervously, while his eyebrow twitched. "I'm hungry,"
"And...?"
"Know any good places to eat around here?" Kaede smiled sheepishly.
"Mmm, not bad. Not bad at all." she concluded as she slurped up her noodles from her bowl of miso ramen. She looked over at Shikamaru who was busy finishing up his own bowl of ramen.
"So, why're you staying with Ino?"
"Huh?"
"You mentioned that you're staying with the Yamanaka family earlier in class today?"
"Oh yeah, that. My parents were on pretty good terms with their family and I made a deal with my parents that if I was going to become a medical ninja in the Leaf Village, I'd have to stay with the Yamanaka family till I'm old enough to be out on my own."
"Oh,"
"Why do you ask?"
He shrugs in a bored fashion. "No reason, just wondering."
She inwardly sighs under her breath. 'Another short conversation, maybe this wasn't the best idea. He doesn't seem to want to be here anymore than I do.'
"You know we don't have to-" Kaede was cut off midsentence.
"Oi, three bowls of Pork Ramen over here!" A boy with spiky blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit suddenly walked in Ichiraku Ramen and took the next empty seat which was right next to Kaede.
"Great, it's the loud-mouth. Like I need to deal with him at a time like this." Shikamaru murmured under his breath followed by a groan.
"Hey, whatcha' doing here Shikamaru? I didn't expect that you'd be here." Naruto greeted him with his usual cheeky grin.
"Eating a bowl of ramen, what's it look like I'm doing Naruto?"
'And I guess he doesn't think much of this Naruto.' she thought staring at the annoyed expression plastered on his face.
"Geez, just askin' no need to be so hostile about it." He pouted.
Kaede shrugs to herself and continues eating her ramen, until she finds Naruto staring at her.
"Um, it's not polite to stare." she said looking away a bit uncomfortable.
He blushed faintly and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice you look a little familiar. Have I seen you around before?" he asks.
"You seriously can't be that dense can you Naruto? She just transferred to our class today. Kaede Himawari, ring any bells?" Shikamaru reminded.
"O-oh yeah, you're the new girl right? My names Naruto Uzumaki, remember it because someday I'm gonna be Hokage!" he exclaimed jabbing his thumb in his chest proudly.
'Frankly, I'm more surprised that Shikamaru even knew my first and last name.' Kaede thought.
"Nice to meet you Naruto."
"Wait..." He stares between the both of them a few times, his lips curving into a devious, yet sly looking smile.
"So, are you guys on...like a date?" he held up his pinky finger, snickering under his breath.
Shikamaru nearly choked on ramen hearing that and Kaede couldn't help but get a little flustered. She stared at him when he was beginning turning a faint shade of pink as well, shooting a glare at him. "N-No! You idiot, don't make such quick assumptions! We were just-"
"Actually we were just leaving. C'mon Shikamaru, later Naruto!" she stood up from her chair putting some money on the table and grabbing his wrist.
"Wait hold on a sec!" Shikamaru said trying to pull his wrist from her grip. She simply waved Naruto off and ignored Shikamaru's protests before practically dragging him away. Once they were far enough, she let go of his wrist and he sighed tiredly, thankful that she didn't cut off his circulation.
"What was that about?" Shikamaru asks, rubbing his wrist.
"You wanted to leave right? I can tell you didn't want to deal with him so I figured that was the best time to." Kaede shrugged.
"Yeah, but he's probably gonna think we're dating or something if you didn't deny it!"
"Well who cares what he thinks. We're not going out or anything so that's all that matters right?"
"Fine, if you say so."
"Okay, onward then Maru-Maru!" she pointed her index finger down the road and started walking off, leaving him standing there.
"Wait, did you just call me Maru-Maru? What kind of nickname is that?" he raised an eyebrow as if questioning her sanity.
"It's my nickname for you, your name it too troublesome to remember so I made it shorter."
"Man, you're really are something else aren't you?" he said with a sigh.
"Guess so!" she said with a cheeky grin.
'Maybe this guy isn't so bad after all, he may even be a fun person to tease and push his buttons once in a while.' she thought laughing under her breath.
"What're you laughing at?"
"Oh, nothing." She smiled innocently.
