Disclaimer: Do you really think I would be writing stories about these characters if I already owned them? -.-
The anime/manga series 'Naruto' along with all of its characters belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing.
''Haruno, Namine..'' Shikamaru said in an uninterested voice as he made it half way down the list of names, not looking up from his clipboard when the red headed girl from earlier piped up from her seat, saying that she was here.
''Hyuuga, Hiroshi'' Shikamaru read, glancing up over his clipboard to see the number one rookie of his class reply that he was present. The brunette had an impassive look on his face as he sat up straight in his seat, his arms crossed causing the Nara to wonder if Neji was ever like that when he was younger. His brown eyes flicked from his student to the prodigy in the back of his room, noting how their postures were similar before turning his attention back to his list of names as Neji's eyes found his.
Shikamaru sighed as he got to the next name, mentally preparing himself for a loud response. ''..Inuzuka, Youji'' he said in monotone, not at all surprised when said student loudly shouted, ''HERE SENSEI!'' followed by a bark from the only animal in the room, Stubba, who was sprawled out on the floor next to her master, blocking the walkway between desks.
The Nara twitched as he looked at the dog with distaste as she started to drool on his clean floor. He stared at the overly fat animal for a few more moments before reading off the names of the other students, looking up when he finally reached the last name, his brown orbs immediately finding the boy.
''Yamanaka, Damien'' the teacher said softly, receiving a ''Here..'' in response from the academy student as he moved his blonde hair away from his face with his fingers, staring out of the window from his seat, clearly not wanting to be here.
Shikamaru checked his name off, setting the clipboard and his pen down afterwords. He looked up at his students, finally explaining to the confused children why their was a jounin in the back of the classroom. The class all nodded and some even said hi to the Hyuuga, receiving an awkward hello back in response.
Shikamaru let them have their greeting before refocusing their attention on himself, not caring that he now had an audience watching him. He'd spent most of his career with people looking at him, whether it for advice, battle strategy or simply because they wanted to. He didn't care then. And he certainly doesn't care now. Not even if one of the people staring at him was Neji Hyuuga...
'Whatever...' The Nara thought to himself before turning around and reaching for a piece of chalk that was on the dust tray of the chalkboard, instructing his students to take out their scrolls and copy what he was doing on the board, all the while conscious of the fact that every single person in the room wasn't looking at him anymore...all except for one.
Violet colored eyes flicked from the Nara at the front of the room to the clock on the wall next to the only door providing an exit out of the classroom. 'Come ooonnnn...' Youji Inuzuka thought to himself as he continued staring at the clock, not bothering to take notes. 'We're already 2 minutes late for lunch! What the hell? He ALWAYS does this!'
The young dog tamer passed a look at his animal, who was panting and drooling on the floor, hoping in vain that maybe she could make his sensei dismiss the class for lunch faster. But unfortunately for him, Stubba didn't have any control over Shikamaru, so that plan was out.
The aqua haired boy glared at his sensei, who had his back turned to the class, instructing his students to draw the diagram he was putting up on the board.
The Inuzuka looked at the clock one last time. 'What the frip sensei! Now its 3 minutes! I can't take this anymore.' he thought angrily, pulling out a kunai from his pouch on his right leg, hurling it at his sensei in a fit of anger.
Shikamaru immediately sensed the attack coming but remained still, the poorly aimed kunai whipping past his head and striking the chalkboard about 8 inches away from his right cheek, the students gasping and Neji remaining impassive as the ninja weapon pierced a hole in the chalkboard, cracking it in the process.
The Nara stayed still for a few moments, a vein throbbing at his temple in annoyance. The genius turned around slowly, a completely pissed off expression written on his face as he hissed ''Who..threw..that?''
Twenty five sets of eyes, Stubba's included, pointedly looked at the only Inuzuka in the room, who was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. ''I...uh..'' he stuttered, looking down at his dog, coming up with an idea instantly ''Stubba is hungry!'' he exclaimed, pointing at his ninja hound, causing some of the kids in the room to snicker.
''I see..'' Shikamaru responded, ''Well then...Stubba and the rest of the class are dismissed for lunch. But you, Youji... You stay here and fix my board.'' he said, students rushing out of the room as soon as he was done with his sentence.
Youji ran a hand through his aqua colored locks and looked down at his faithful companion ''Well, Stubb-Hey!'' he yelled, noticing his dog rushing after the rest of the class to go get food. ''Stubba! You traitor!''
The rest of the day went without interruption. Neji observed quietly from the back of the room as the hours slowly ticked by, only moving from his spot when it was time for a lunch break.
''Damn kid..'' Shikamaru sighed as he ran his hand over his chalkboard, feeling the hole that was slightly smaller than it was before, but still noticeable from a distance. 'Just great...now I need a new one. What a drag...these things aren't exactly cheap. Man, I hate my job...'
''It's not that bad..'' came a smooth voice from behind Shikamaru as a pale hand came to rest on the cracked chalkboard as well as he came up beside the Nara ''It won't be that hard to fix..''
''Yea but paying for it is the problem...'' Shikamaru muttered. ''I'm most likely going to have to pay for it out of my own pocket. The academy isn't exactly rich right now..'' he said, taking his hand off of the black surface before their fingers had a chance to touch.
''What would you estimate the price as?'' Neji asked, turning to face the brunette.
''Probably around a hundred dollars...'' the sensei sighed out before turning his attention to the Hyuuga genius ''Neji..I still want you to observe. One day just isn't enough...especially with these brats..'' Shikamaru said, refering to his students
''Hmph...I had a feeling you would say that. Very well...'' The Hyuuga responded before taking his leave, Shikamaru watching him as he went. The Nara stayed for a few minutes longer, putting his things back into his desk lazily before leaving, locking his classroom for the night as he did so.
''I don't see what the problem is.. You're teaching job is stable and almost all of your students are passing. Whats the big deal with having Neji sit in for a few days?'' Tsunade questioned as she looked at the Konoha Chuunin, arms crossed as she looked him over.
Shikamaru sighed. ''It's just more work for me in the end..'' he complained, shrugging. The Hokage shook her head at him, leaning back in her chair.
''All I need from you is a report, Shikamaru.'' she said, becoming slightly irritated.
''I know that..but you could have at least have given me a warning before sticking him with me.'' the brunette responded.
The fifth hokage's eyebrow twitched at this. ''Nara Shikamaru.. Do not question me.'' She snapped ''I am the hokage of this village. Learn some respect.'' she scolded, not leaving him any more room to complain
''Your students will graduate next week. Neji will be out of your life after that. Deal with it until then'' she said, Shikamaru not really liking the sound of Neji being ''out of his life''. He ignored the feeling as he nodded
''Troublesome..''
The next day, Shikamaru arrived at the academy on time, having fixed the stupid alarm clock the night before. He wasn't at all surprised when he found that his door was ajar, the same as it was yesterday.
The Nara sighed and grabbed onto the door handle, 'Here we go..' he thought to himself before opening the door, catching the sight of Neji once again leaning against his desk, but this time having his violet eyes concentrated on the blackboard instead of Shikamaru.
''You're not early this time..'' Neji commented, still not looking at the sensei.
''Yea well, I wasn't gonna miss out on any more sleep than I have too.'' Shikamaru replied in a bored tone.
Neji chuckled at this, nearly stopping the other boy's heart for a second. ''That sounds just like you I suppose..'' he said and Shikamaru shrugged.
''There's nothing wrong with getting a little extra shut eye..'' he said, walking over to the Hyuuga
''By the way.. The Hokage told me that you wanted a genin team. But she didn't explain why.'' he said, stopping about a foot away from Neji ''Any particular reason you want to babysit a bunch of kids?'' Shikamaru asked, curious.
''I have my reasons..'' Neji simply responded.
The Nara genius looked at him for a few moments before sighing. ''Fine. I won't push you. I don't even push myself most of the time anyway, so why bother doing it to somebody else?'' Shikamaru said, going behind Neji and sitting in the chair by his desk as the room quickly became silent.
''So..did you tell anyone that you're getting a genin team yet?'' Shikamaru asked, not liking the silence that had enveloped the room.
''Yes actually'' Neji said, moving away from the desk. ''I ran into TenTen on my way home yesterday and I told her. She seemed...surprised to say the least.''
''It's probably because she would never expect someone like you to want to spend time with kids..'' Shikamaru said, smirking as he sat back in his chair.
''I will admit that I am not fond with the idea of spending time with children either. But as I said before, I have my reasons.''
''Yea yea..'' Shikamaru said as a few of the students starting showing up for school.
The two shinobi talked for a few more minutes before it was time to get class started, Neji moving to the back of the room as Shikamaru went to the front, telling the students to quiet down and listen.
The Nara caught himself staring at the only Jounin a few times through out the day but didn't seem to mind that his eyes had a way of gravitating towards the long haired ninja. He was just happy that there wasn't so much tension between them anymore...
Review Please :3 Let me know what you thought. Reviews make me write better and give me confidence too! X]
and zomg, next chapter there is gonna have some more bonding and some shikaneji fluff XD
catch ya later