A/N- Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? Hope you enjoy. :]


Chapter II - Measured Steps

.~*~.

Shikamaru grumbled for the entire five minutes it took him to drive to school. Who wouldn't be a little testy after waking up to a pre-menopausal woman equipped with a frying pan?

His best friend, Chouji, was waiting for him in front of the building, the ever-present bag of chips clutched in one pudgy hand. "You're late again!" he called out with a smug grin on his face. "What was the hold up this time?"

Shikamaru grunted as he fell into step beside his friend, pushing the front door open. "Just the usual—I woke up with strictly enough energy to throw my alarm clock out the window, fell back asleep and woke up to my extremely pissy mother ushering me out of the house with a few choice cooking utensils," he said, ticking off the events on his fingers as he voiced them. Chouji snorted and shook his head.

The two walked into first period and received the usual glare from their teacher, Iruka. He chewed his lip irritably as they meandered to their seats, showing no particular hurry while the class waited, stifling yawns tiredly.

"Shikamaru, Chouji. I believe that is the fifth tardy for you both this semester. I'd appreciate it if you both stayed after class to see me. Also, I'm sure you remember that food is not allowed in class." Iruka said, maintaining his patient demeanor flawlessly.

Chouji answered with a discontented hmph, stuffing as many chips into his mouth as would fit before reluctantly throwing the rest into the waste basket. Shikamaru was already falling asleep. Iruka fought back the urge to say something un-teacher-like and continued the lecture he had begun before the interruption. The remainder of the hour passed uneventfully—not that anything very eventful ever happened during first period history.

Shikamaru rose from his half-sleep as the bell was ringing and began gathering his things. He headed toward Iruka-sensei s desk, looking effectively unenthusiastic about anything in particular. He could hear Chouji s lumbering footsteps behind him as he stood expectantly in front of Iruka's desk, adjusting the strap on his shoulder bag. Iruka leaned backward in his desk, folding his arms. "I checked my computer, and found that I was wrong. Today was actually the sixth tardy for you both. Shikamaru, I've been letting this slide longer than I'm supposed to because of your immaculate grades. And Chouji, you so many detentions for having food in class that I just didn't bother," He sighed. "but I can't just ignore the fact that school has barely been in session for a month, and you've already exceeded five tardies."

Shikamaru was getting bored. "If you give us an entire lecture about our detentions, we're going to be late for second period as well."

Iruka flushed and sat up quickly. "Of course," he said, handing them each a detention slip. Shikamaru memorized what his said, dropping it in the garbage on his way out.

.~*~.

A sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he walked through the cafeteria, looking for an empty table. There was one left, and he dropped his tray onto it with a clatter.

He was picking at his food—some sort of multicolored mixture that smelled faintly of cheese—when someone set their tray down across from him. Naruto looked up in surprise—who would sit with me?—and saw Kiba Inuzuka. He smiled at Naruto awkwardly, getting a sense of what he was thinking by the look on his face. "Oi, mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," he explained.

Oh. Naruto shook his head. Kiba sat down, staring at his own food for a moment before wrinkling his nose and pushing it away. He put his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands. A few awkward moments passed, both of them not speaking and with nothing to listen to but the dull roar of the cafeteria. All the while, Kiba kept throwing glances at his silent companion, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

Is he really the same Naruto? I've never seen him quiet longer than five minutes, and he actually looks sad. He doesn't seem like the same guy at all. He knew Naruto used to hang around with Sasuke a lot, but could that really be it? When all of his fan girls had thrown a fit at his absence, they were told that he had just transferred to a different school. It wasn't like they couldn't talk anymore.

"Hey, Naruto..." Kiba began hesitantly. Naruto looked up, a thin film of obviously fake curiosity on his face. "Uh, I don t want to sound rude or anything, but, well...what the hell is wrong with you?"

He looked down briefly, blinking his eyes rapidly. His mouth opened a crack, and Kiba could hear him draw a ragged breath. Then his head snapped up, a sickeningly false grin plastered across his face. "What are you talking about, dog-breath? There's nothing wrong with me!" His voice was so enthusiastic; it was kind of scary.

Kiba's expression was humorously bewildered. What the hell?

Naruto looked at him with squinting eyes, leaning forward and poking him with a fork. "Hey, did you choke?" he demanded. Kiba gaped a moment longer, but managed to compose himself a bit

.

He shook his head, waving off the dog-breath comment and the invasive fork out of the kindness of his own heart. The bell rang, barely audible among the sea of conversation. Kiba stood, glad of an opportunity to leave. "Maybe I'll get you to tell me tomorrow," he said, tipping the untouched contents of his tray into a trash can.

Naruto stayed put, his face frustrated. I guess I haven't been good enough at acting.

.~*~.

"Iruka-nii! Iruuuuuukaaaaa!!!!!" Naruto shouted flamboyantly, catching up to his slightly irritated guardian.

He turned around, giving Naruto his usual exasperated glare. "How many times must I tell you? In public, you are to call me Iruka-sensei,"

"Right, anyway, are we heading out now?" Naruto asked impatiently. Iruka shook his head.

"Sorry, Naruto, but I've got detention duty today. I'll be here for another hour, so you'll just have to find something to do until then." Naruto opened his mouth to object, but Iruka gave him a stern look.

When Naruto got home the night before, his guardian had thrown a fit. From now on, Naruto was "not allowed to walk home from school. This is the second time you've tempted me to call in a search party so I just can't trust you to get here before dark!" Naruto rolled his eyes at the memory. He had just turned sixteen, not six. However, he didn't feel like arguing, seeing as he never could win with that man, he just walked beside him in silence.

When the two entered Iruka's classroom, Shikamaru was already there waiting, looking bored. Naruto was surprised to see him. It must have shown on his face, because Shikamaru glanced at him and nodded.

Naruto walked to a desk at the back of the room and pulled out a spiral notebook, hoping the other boy wouldn't say anything about the day before.


A/N- Ugh. Short again, sorry. But at least it's something.