p data-p-id="c1235f9d598b503df17186632988f179"strongDisclaimer: I do not own Naruto, since it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am obviously not him. /strong/p
p data-p-id="100d9da85bd1557b6b000ba7d4fa08e7"strongWarning: Foul language yet again. Also poor writing in general cause it's been more than a hot second (more like a hot year) since I've updated this fic. May or may not be some writing gaps for similar reasons. Thank you for your patience./strong/p
p data-p-id="90134083a0d491f38f5f9da7fa0ee7d5"Shikamaru rocked back and forth on his feet, while Sakura and Ino next to him were silently playing that one 10,000 Feet Up in the Alps hand game. They were currently waiting outside of Shizune's office, since as the Konoha High secretary, she handled all meetings within the main office. And they needed to make an appointment (he was starting to get sick of the word) with Tsunade in order to receive whatever other punishments the school decided they needed to suffer after the last fiasco. Although Asuma-sensei had had them suspended from the peer counseling program and other extracurriculars, apparently the entire staff soon found out, and it now became an issue that needed to be talked out with the principal. Shikamaru groaned in defeat; for once, could things not become troublesome?/p
p data-p-id="537d2d6731ceb3f26349683d2c251190""Come in!" Shizune called from her office. Apparently she was done talking on the phone after what felt like 25 minutes. Ino moved to open the door, and they all walked in silently and sat down in old musty chairs that must have been there for the past 13 years (also, why did the offices on campus always seem to have enough chairs to accommodate everyone?)./p
p data-p-id="8ad317068c75ba477ffe1d3188da9087"Shizune didn't look up from her desk, instead opting to type something up on her computer. Shikamaru found himself staring at the nametag on her desk in boredom. Just like every other staff at Konoha High, for some reason, Shizune was known to the students by her first name. However, Shizune was a special case, because her last name was a mystery. The biggest rumor that went around was that Shizune was actually Tsunade's niece, but that didn't settle anything because Tsunade's last name was Senju, and Shikamaru knew some seniors that claimed that Shizune's last name was Kato. Made zero sense, but hey, it's not his problem so who cares?/p
p data-p-id="e23cb6f786ba16c0d9a2ffc18a078ddc"Sakura and Ino shifted in their seats uncomfortably. "Umm, Shizune? When is-" Sakura started. /p
p data-p-id="91f1a6038b16260c5efcc092c1c71d75"Suddenly the door on the side slammed open. It was Tsunade, in all her glory. "You three." Tsunade gestured into her office with her head. "Hurry up, I got shit to do."/p
p data-p-id="6862d31be4dcb625ce3ed2e16b86a459"As the three of them stood up and walked into her office, Shikamaru could've sworn that he heard Shizune mutter something about a drinking party and a guy named Dan(?), but as he stepped, in the door slammed shut again. Weird./p
p data-p-id="6255fb68a77b558d4d4058fc43590e58"Tsunade was in her office chair almost immediately, slowly swinging back in forth while chugging her coffee mug. Or what he assumed was coffee, since he couldn't actually see what she was drinking. (There had been an incident where Naruto tried to get away with hiding alcohol in his water bottle but Iruka had caught him because: a) Naruto had thought rubbing alcohol was drinkable apparently, so the strong smell that the bottle gave off every time he opened the cap caught everyone's attention; b) Naruto was already horrible at being sneaky but the absolutely horrendous face he made every time his tongue touched the ethanol was impossible to ignore. Shikamaru sometimes wondered how Naruto even survived this long to be honest.)/p
p data-p-id="1bcb78ae44b3dd93725d080d97219c49""So," Tsunade started. emOh no/em. "You guys managed to get yourselves in trouble." She set her mug down. Shikamaru peeked into the mug. Looked like normal coffee, but could still be Irish coffee. You can never be too sure. /p
p data-p-id="b35d8ba0fe92efe7a666a56ed632abfe""And in a peer counseling program? As the counselors?" A vein popped out of Tsunade's forehead but her face remained uncharacteristically placid. The contrast in her tone and her face was starting to stress him out. /p
p data-p-id="5e91e20719c99dbadc41c0bfba6b9960""Needless to say, I am very disappointed in all three of you."/p
p data-p-id="05c43ecc5053f987adef71253fcb1831"Sakura hung her head low and Ino nervously looked everywhere but at Tsunade. "I apologize for our behavior, Tsunade-sama, but-," Sakura started. /p
p data-p-id="6121bc07f819a6604c08779d7ededb91""You three are one of the brightest students at Konoha, and yet you decided to retaliate so obviously? I expected better of you!" Tsunade barked back. /p
p data-p-id="2f52a580587fddb50d623ec6005aac0d"Shikamaru blinked. emWait, does this mean-/em/p
p data-p-id="8feec15c5302359e3b4d4f4e99f2204f"Tsunade continued. "Sakura, I know you've been working on your upper body strength, but throwing a book stopper in broad daylight would get you expelled if Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and I were here working on damage control. Be more discreet next time. Maybe something like challenging her to an underground skating race. A lot easier for me to cover up than the stunt you pulled."/p
p data-p-id="018424b0364a91a68153abb0fb6f214e""Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied dejectedly./p
p data-p-id="3e357a3671b0eff123db61aa045ff7bf""And Ino, I've heard that you joined the peer counseling program with the hopes of gaining experience for a future career in psychiatry. You can't treat your patients like that in future, do you understand? If you really want to get revenge, find out how to get her in trouble for that bowling ball of hers instead," Tsunade lectured, albeit she was now playing cat's cradle as she spoke. /p
p data-p-id="ddcbfcd3936c3e0d4c7de9b92ae5a277""And finally Shikamaru... well you're just unlucky I guess." Tsunade scratched her head. "Although you didn't do anything wrong, you need to keep an eye out for these two. You're the only one with a cool head apparently, so make the most of it." /p
p data-p-id="08f678f8e37818dbf22b703935ea3453"Shikamaru was irked by her comment. Quite irked./p
p data-p-id="0e82890a252fa7dd17be905380d214f6""Soooooo, I know you three were semi-justified in your actions this time," Tsunade concluded, "but I cannot let the school district think that there is corruption or favoritism going on here, so as principal of Konoha High, I must hand out some punishments in addition to your suspensions from the peer counseling program./p
p data-p-id="76c623f8a8de7c9b992b861ebdc2cac1""Sakura and Ino, you will serve a two week's worth of detention after school every day. Shikamaru, you will only serve one week." /p
p data-p-id="9e3a5e4c939592a1860de61bd3cc4724"Sakura and Ino immediately stood up in protest. /p
p data-p-id="564327e1d2ef150a78c2055d11c130c4""Wha- that's not-!" /p
p data-p-id="db3786cdc4204e6fefaab891a7d07fbd""Why does he only get one week?!"/p
p data-p-id="cd2c9cf75401b4802a689ad0ea9f82f2"Shikamaru groaned. He was not getting paid enough for this. (Yes, there's no money involved.. but you get it.)/p
p data-p-id="04e6025f5be8d8992bd0ba766911712e"Tsunade just turned her head. "Case closed, now get out."/p
p data-p-id="eea73a96877263d0c26161e14df231c2"Suddenly all three of them found themselves standing in front of Shizune's desk again, with Tsunade's door securely shut. There was definitely something going around Tsunade's office, whether it be ninjutsu or voodoo-/p
p data-p-id="92d4576bc72329e43af9cfe82d33fedc""I can't believe it!" Ino growled. "We're top students and we're serving two weeks of detention?!"/p
p data-p-id="64c6f67498cf9dd8b465e0b1fd86e900"Shikamaru snapped back. "You're lucky to only get two months with the level of violence you guys demonstrated. I'm honestly surprised we didn't get stuck with three months of detention."/p
p data-p-id="1bf105443ec78dca93d64dce85d59f07""Well of course it's easy for you to say that," Ino snarled. "You only have one week and you have nothing to do anyways. Sakura and I have responsibilities with other activities and the fact that we're gonna miss two whole weeks is very detrimental to-"/p
p data-p-id="e3c6ee73f483e2f8f6f7558ec6b878a1""Guys," Sakura stepped in. "As the prides of Konoha High," she spoke wisely, "if we are to be deserving of that title, we must act gracefully and accept whatever shortcomings we may have to face. There is only one important fact that we must find out at this point." /p
p data-p-id="625e60f8bf6f022abb5fe66a82403dc6"Shikamaru and Ino exchanged uncertain looks. "... what."/p
p data-p-id="fa6f4cdd86a6a68a2950b8a9d09d188f"The strangely peaceful look on her face had Shikamaru suspecting that her thoughts were far from peaceful. She declined to answer them, instead turning around. "Shizune," she asked sweetly, "I know you know I will not disclose anything, so do you mind telling me where Fuki will be serving detention and for how long."/p
p data-p-id="21be085f7710180fcd31b27d52e14b24"Shizune raised her eyebrow at them, before sighing in defeat. "Three months with Orochimaru-sensei, but you didn't hear it from me. Now get out, it's late after school." She raised the screen of her computer to completely block her view of them./p
p data-p-id="88b018560793acf20717e9ca6479952d"Sakura turned back to them with a very proud look on her face. "I guess karma finds a way," she said simply./p
p data-p-id="fcfc33eacd9811b485c2a9d0b778eaf1"Ino hid a cackle. "Sometimes I forget you're in the top five of our class." /p
p data-p-id="8f8933607cec3123e2f66c9534b38b60"Sakura looked disgusted at her. "Bish, I'm number 2 in our class."/p
p data-p-id="174a430540e4ce9decbc3810e492dede""As if I'm not tied with you." Ino flipped her hair in response. /p
p data-p-id="59c659d6053d1e2b451631f4efed9d95"Shikamaru frankly did not care about Fuki's detention. Or what Sakura or Ino's ranking was. Instead, the more pressing question here was-/p
p data-p-id="627e975260766351c65ee9f72164bdc9""OUT." Shizune pointed a finger towards the exit./p
p data-p-id="ab56ecc6020c5b61e2c0a48e888b09bf""Right right," Sakura said hurriedly, ushering Ino and him out the door a little more violently than expected. /p
p data-p-id="cbb4e99e40d5fbdae5ad57c8ad3e7857"Shikamaru wanted to facepalm. Did neither Ino nor Sakura realize that they didn't know where their detention was gonna be? Girls are really too troublesome. Because as much as he would dread having detention in Orochimaru-sensei's classroom, there were worse classrooms to be stuck in... He just hoped they were lucky enough to not land in detention with emthat/em teacher./p
p data-p-id="11abd863e99985c61add0f954c190fbe"-/p
p data-p-id="45d9146dac4e854c8d978e0cafc02198"So. /p
p data-p-id="5c31b1b854502baf193b552f426396e1"Apparently luck decided to abandon Shikamaru's entire sophomore year. Because they really did end up in Kakashi-sensei's classroom for detention. Sakura, of course, was elated to see her homeroom teacher, with Ino being indifferent. /p
p data-p-id="0e56c3662c694249485d270616d9a683"But that was because they didn't know the true meaning of having Kakashi-sensei for detention./p
p data-p-id="60ea5c81363a7c0d3f6533f47f69b7f8"Why, you may wonder? Because of Naruto. Naruto, who always somehow landed himself in detention. And the only teachers willing to supervise detention with Naruto were Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, and Jiraiya. But Iruka-sensei usually couldn't supervise detention as the varsity baseball coach, and Jiraiya was unreliable as a person... for many reasons. /p
p data-p-id="c457b61e06e31059052b23083d9b36b3"Which meant Kakashi-sensei almost exclusively supervised all of Naruto's detentions. Detention with Kakashi-sensei equals detention with Naruto. And detention with Naruto equals a complete nightmare. It was only as simple as differential equations. (But differential equations were way more fun, while detention with Naruto was not.)/p
p data-p-id="7dd7c03b198ec9d6426ab039602cffe7"Shikamaru's days of detention with Naruto dated back to kindergarten. Yes, kindergarten. Somehow Naruto managed to stand out even among the wild animals in the classroom back then, and this landed him in detention. Sadly, Naruto also managed to get his friends in trouble too. Guess who his friends were? That's right, Shikamaru and Chouji. (Sasuke never got detention cause he was the teacher's favorite... but now that he thought about it, what kind of teacher gives kindergartners detention?)/p
p data-p-id="ff32f87c935bba4e392455964aed90b9"After kindergarten, Shikamaru figured it'd be safer if he didn't get involved with Naruto's... school activities. His life was already troublesome enough from all the scoldings his mom would give him (not to mention that the first grade teachers now expected him to do rhyming activities and write dumb poems about flowers). /p
p data-p-id="4d6e85d28a4b188443ca1c6b6dc3d37b"But, looking back... he kinda felt bad. He knew how hard it was for Naruto to make friends because he always smelled like ramen and didn't have pristine clothes like all the other kids on the first day of school. /p
p data-p-id="544bd0cd7ac79ac1f2b5d08daa7c4d2f"Shikamaru finally reached Kakashi-sensei's classroom and pulled the door open. At the foot of the entryway was red yarn drawn taut. Shikamaru looked up, and just as he thought, there was a blackboard eraser balanced above the doorframe. Naruto./p
p data-p-id="063db978bfb80cf73aaf5476118aaeb9"He chuckled before taking a step over the yarn. Did Naruto really think anyone would fall for that old trick anymore? (Ever since Naruto had learned the trick from a TV show back in third grade, he'd been pulling that trick on every teacher multiple times a year since then. As one might expect, the trick had 97% fail rate, leading to a very disappointed Naruto and a very annoyed teacher.) /p
p data-p-id="240423e062e69409c572892fc8461738""EYYYYY SHIKAMARU!" A loud voice boomed from the back of the classroom. Naruto stood on top of two desks with a party popper in each hand. "HOW YA DOIN'?!"/p
p data-p-id="41a80f27c610ec40855c73620477b47d"Shikamaru shrugged. "Same old, same old." It seemed that Naruto was the first one in the class. "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"/p
p data-p-id="829946428911a47d20e4955365928c0d"Suddenly Naruto crouched down and held a party popper to his face, imitating a finger as he whispered, "Shhhh we need to be careful. As expected of you, you evaded my elaborate trap, but Kakashi-sensei doesn't know about it yet, and we need to keep it that way so my plan can succeed."/p
p data-p-id="6357a677c1ea050bc80765ef17732801"Shikamaru sweat-dropped. He didn't think it mattered how quietly or loudly they talked, Kakashi-sensei wasn't going to-/p
p data-p-id="01e73a2ddfb3aaa2b4565a8116b3d70a"Suddenly the door slid open from behind him and Shikamaru turned around just in time to see the blackboard eraser fall promptly on Kakashi-sensei's head, with the chalk dust poofing into the air in the shape of a cloud before drifting onto Kakashi-sensei's shoulders./p
p data-p-id="e94bb3a958698de8943381d9a08a1901"Naruto pulled the strings on the party poppers and burst into laughter. "BWAHAHAHAHA I GOTCHA KAKASHI-SENSEI!"/p
p data-p-id="f0a18571028821b11296053e21476fa1"Kakashi-sensei only looked mildly entertained. "Well I'm glad you're enjoying your high school life, Naruto," he replied, brushing the chalk dust out of his hair and off his shoulders. "But we're going to need to start detention soon so please get down."/p
p data-p-id="dc2bea84a55236956bdc6bfb762d441a"Naruto wiped a tear from his eye as he turned back to Shikamaru. "Ahhh so funny," he chuckled. "He falls for it every time! Ya know how there was that rumor that Kakashi-sensei was a ninja? Everyone in my homeroom believed it! But I figured I'd show everyone who the real ninja at Konoha High was, and I set up my signature trick, and deja vu! He fell for it!" Naruto exploded into laughter again. /p
p data-p-id="d18b236354fad3ce2b969f8e523446ee"Shikamaru didn't know how he should respond to this. "... I think you mean voila, not deja vu."/p
p data-p-id="1a84cc72591913245714f14460b88554"Naruto blinked, then scratched his head. "Really? I'll remember that! Vwalah. Anyways, you should've seen Sasuke's face! Even he had to acknowledge my prowess as a ninja! I learned prowess from Sakura by the way! She's been helping me a lot since middle school, but recently high school work has gotten harder so I've had to blah blah blah."/p
p data-p-id="26c0f67d4d2d7372c9c970b1eeb4cece"Shikamaru ended up zoning out as Naruto continued telling him about his adventures in keeping his grades above the passing rate, and he struggled to suppress a yawn. Not that Naruto was boring him. He just had trouble staying attentive whenever anyone talked, which often led to his mom hitting him with her slipper for not listening properly. It didn't help that he had trouble sleeping at night in general too. (He once ran on only 5 hours of sleep for an entire week before he collapsed in middle school P.E. during a dodgeball game. Kiba didn't get the hint and kept throwing balls at him, but thankfully his aim was awful. Poor Akamaru, though, always having to go after poorly thrown balls.) /p
p data-p-id="d005ef5f560ecfcb6ec3dd2f91ffd70b"A loud, violent bang sounded behind him, catching both his and Naruto's attention. Kakashi-sensei merely looked up from his... novel... before going back to reading. Three students walked through the doorway, two boys and one girl. The girl seemed older than him, with short blonde hair tied into 4 pigtails and a strong build. One of the boys wore a black hood and seemed to be wearing purple face paint(?), kinda like the painted faces you'd see at the fair. And the last one... he had unkept red hair and wore layers upon layers of clothing, even though the weather was still warm (his top still had short sleeves though so Shikamaru will give him that). He shot a glare up at him and Naruto, and Shikamaru felt chills run up his spine. The boy's ice-blue eyes were surrounded by dark eyebags emphasized with heavy eyeliner. He had never seen anyone with eyes that cold, or even... deadly before./p
p data-p-id="e72fe2c0a098a24f065b5d874946aeac"As the two boys began walking down the desk aisles, the girl instead went over to Kakashi-sensei to hand him a slip. She turned her head slightly and they made eye contact, her sharp green eyes scalding him with intensity. (What was with this group?) /p
p data-p-id="8a7f0048a3efbf0a840296ee8104cb5c"A gust of wind blew into the classroom, even though he was sure the windows were all shut, and the short strands of hair that fluttered across the girl's forehead did nothing to hinder her gaze. Shikamaru couldn't look away./p
p data-p-id="29bfe04e33a2faa0e554dfa0ed994afd"He had a feeling that this is what prey feel like when they're trapped under the claws of their natural predator./p
p data-p-id="b6246cc920dfc70ea3dd6c53e196613a"strongA/N: THE SAND SIBLINGS HAVE ARRIVED! And yes, Naruto speaks fully in exclamation points. /strong/p
p data-p-id="3fa1ae6adcc6d51b848a90a69c03eb07"strongPlease forgive me for the very long wait for chapter 7. I've been really demotivated to write for a long time and schoolwork has been killing me, but I've finally got some inspiration to write so I'll try to churn out as many chapters as I can this summer and for the rest of the year! Constructive criticism is welcome, of course. Thanks for reading as always and please comment/review!/strong/p
p data-p-id="100d9da85bd1557b6b000ba7d4fa08e7"strongWarning: Foul language yet again. Also poor writing in general cause it's been more than a hot second (more like a hot year) since I've updated this fic. May or may not be some writing gaps for similar reasons. Thank you for your patience./strong/p
p data-p-id="90134083a0d491f38f5f9da7fa0ee7d5"Shikamaru rocked back and forth on his feet, while Sakura and Ino next to him were silently playing that one 10,000 Feet Up in the Alps hand game. They were currently waiting outside of Shizune's office, since as the Konoha High secretary, she handled all meetings within the main office. And they needed to make an appointment (he was starting to get sick of the word) with Tsunade in order to receive whatever other punishments the school decided they needed to suffer after the last fiasco. Although Asuma-sensei had had them suspended from the peer counseling program and other extracurriculars, apparently the entire staff soon found out, and it now became an issue that needed to be talked out with the principal. Shikamaru groaned in defeat; for once, could things not become troublesome?/p
p data-p-id="537d2d6731ceb3f26349683d2c251190""Come in!" Shizune called from her office. Apparently she was done talking on the phone after what felt like 25 minutes. Ino moved to open the door, and they all walked in silently and sat down in old musty chairs that must have been there for the past 13 years (also, why did the offices on campus always seem to have enough chairs to accommodate everyone?)./p
p data-p-id="8ad317068c75ba477ffe1d3188da9087"Shizune didn't look up from her desk, instead opting to type something up on her computer. Shikamaru found himself staring at the nametag on her desk in boredom. Just like every other staff at Konoha High, for some reason, Shizune was known to the students by her first name. However, Shizune was a special case, because her last name was a mystery. The biggest rumor that went around was that Shizune was actually Tsunade's niece, but that didn't settle anything because Tsunade's last name was Senju, and Shikamaru knew some seniors that claimed that Shizune's last name was Kato. Made zero sense, but hey, it's not his problem so who cares?/p
p data-p-id="e23cb6f786ba16c0d9a2ffc18a078ddc"Sakura and Ino shifted in their seats uncomfortably. "Umm, Shizune? When is-" Sakura started. /p
p data-p-id="91f1a6038b16260c5efcc092c1c71d75"Suddenly the door on the side slammed open. It was Tsunade, in all her glory. "You three." Tsunade gestured into her office with her head. "Hurry up, I got shit to do."/p
p data-p-id="6862d31be4dcb625ce3ed2e16b86a459"As the three of them stood up and walked into her office, Shikamaru could've sworn that he heard Shizune mutter something about a drinking party and a guy named Dan(?), but as he stepped, in the door slammed shut again. Weird./p
p data-p-id="6255fb68a77b558d4d4058fc43590e58"Tsunade was in her office chair almost immediately, slowly swinging back in forth while chugging her coffee mug. Or what he assumed was coffee, since he couldn't actually see what she was drinking. (There had been an incident where Naruto tried to get away with hiding alcohol in his water bottle but Iruka had caught him because: a) Naruto had thought rubbing alcohol was drinkable apparently, so the strong smell that the bottle gave off every time he opened the cap caught everyone's attention; b) Naruto was already horrible at being sneaky but the absolutely horrendous face he made every time his tongue touched the ethanol was impossible to ignore. Shikamaru sometimes wondered how Naruto even survived this long to be honest.)/p
p data-p-id="1bcb78ae44b3dd93725d080d97219c49""So," Tsunade started. emOh no/em. "You guys managed to get yourselves in trouble." She set her mug down. Shikamaru peeked into the mug. Looked like normal coffee, but could still be Irish coffee. You can never be too sure. /p
p data-p-id="b35d8ba0fe92efe7a666a56ed632abfe""And in a peer counseling program? As the counselors?" A vein popped out of Tsunade's forehead but her face remained uncharacteristically placid. The contrast in her tone and her face was starting to stress him out. /p
p data-p-id="5e91e20719c99dbadc41c0bfba6b9960""Needless to say, I am very disappointed in all three of you."/p
p data-p-id="05c43ecc5053f987adef71253fcb1831"Sakura hung her head low and Ino nervously looked everywhere but at Tsunade. "I apologize for our behavior, Tsunade-sama, but-," Sakura started. /p
p data-p-id="6121bc07f819a6604c08779d7ededb91""You three are one of the brightest students at Konoha, and yet you decided to retaliate so obviously? I expected better of you!" Tsunade barked back. /p
p data-p-id="2f52a580587fddb50d623ec6005aac0d"Shikamaru blinked. emWait, does this mean-/em/p
p data-p-id="8feec15c5302359e3b4d4f4e99f2204f"Tsunade continued. "Sakura, I know you've been working on your upper body strength, but throwing a book stopper in broad daylight would get you expelled if Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and I were here working on damage control. Be more discreet next time. Maybe something like challenging her to an underground skating race. A lot easier for me to cover up than the stunt you pulled."/p
p data-p-id="018424b0364a91a68153abb0fb6f214e""Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura replied dejectedly./p
p data-p-id="3e357a3671b0eff123db61aa045ff7bf""And Ino, I've heard that you joined the peer counseling program with the hopes of gaining experience for a future career in psychiatry. You can't treat your patients like that in future, do you understand? If you really want to get revenge, find out how to get her in trouble for that bowling ball of hers instead," Tsunade lectured, albeit she was now playing cat's cradle as she spoke. /p
p data-p-id="ddcbfcd3936c3e0d4c7de9b92ae5a277""And finally Shikamaru... well you're just unlucky I guess." Tsunade scratched her head. "Although you didn't do anything wrong, you need to keep an eye out for these two. You're the only one with a cool head apparently, so make the most of it." /p
p data-p-id="08f678f8e37818dbf22b703935ea3453"Shikamaru was irked by her comment. Quite irked./p
p data-p-id="0e82890a252fa7dd17be905380d214f6""Soooooo, I know you three were semi-justified in your actions this time," Tsunade concluded, "but I cannot let the school district think that there is corruption or favoritism going on here, so as principal of Konoha High, I must hand out some punishments in addition to your suspensions from the peer counseling program./p
p data-p-id="76c623f8a8de7c9b992b861ebdc2cac1""Sakura and Ino, you will serve a two week's worth of detention after school every day. Shikamaru, you will only serve one week." /p
p data-p-id="9e3a5e4c939592a1860de61bd3cc4724"Sakura and Ino immediately stood up in protest. /p
p data-p-id="564327e1d2ef150a78c2055d11c130c4""Wha- that's not-!" /p
p data-p-id="db3786cdc4204e6fefaab891a7d07fbd""Why does he only get one week?!"/p
p data-p-id="cd2c9cf75401b4802a689ad0ea9f82f2"Shikamaru groaned. He was not getting paid enough for this. (Yes, there's no money involved.. but you get it.)/p
p data-p-id="04e6025f5be8d8992bd0ba766911712e"Tsunade just turned her head. "Case closed, now get out."/p
p data-p-id="eea73a96877263d0c26161e14df231c2"Suddenly all three of them found themselves standing in front of Shizune's desk again, with Tsunade's door securely shut. There was definitely something going around Tsunade's office, whether it be ninjutsu or voodoo-/p
p data-p-id="92d4576bc72329e43af9cfe82d33fedc""I can't believe it!" Ino growled. "We're top students and we're serving two weeks of detention?!"/p
p data-p-id="64c6f67498cf9dd8b465e0b1fd86e900"Shikamaru snapped back. "You're lucky to only get two months with the level of violence you guys demonstrated. I'm honestly surprised we didn't get stuck with three months of detention."/p
p data-p-id="1bf105443ec78dca93d64dce85d59f07""Well of course it's easy for you to say that," Ino snarled. "You only have one week and you have nothing to do anyways. Sakura and I have responsibilities with other activities and the fact that we're gonna miss two whole weeks is very detrimental to-"/p
p data-p-id="e3c6ee73f483e2f8f6f7558ec6b878a1""Guys," Sakura stepped in. "As the prides of Konoha High," she spoke wisely, "if we are to be deserving of that title, we must act gracefully and accept whatever shortcomings we may have to face. There is only one important fact that we must find out at this point." /p
p data-p-id="625e60f8bf6f022abb5fe66a82403dc6"Shikamaru and Ino exchanged uncertain looks. "... what."/p
p data-p-id="fa6f4cdd86a6a68a2950b8a9d09d188f"The strangely peaceful look on her face had Shikamaru suspecting that her thoughts were far from peaceful. She declined to answer them, instead turning around. "Shizune," she asked sweetly, "I know you know I will not disclose anything, so do you mind telling me where Fuki will be serving detention and for how long."/p
p data-p-id="21be085f7710180fcd31b27d52e14b24"Shizune raised her eyebrow at them, before sighing in defeat. "Three months with Orochimaru-sensei, but you didn't hear it from me. Now get out, it's late after school." She raised the screen of her computer to completely block her view of them./p
p data-p-id="88b018560793acf20717e9ca6479952d"Sakura turned back to them with a very proud look on her face. "I guess karma finds a way," she said simply./p
p data-p-id="fcfc33eacd9811b485c2a9d0b778eaf1"Ino hid a cackle. "Sometimes I forget you're in the top five of our class." /p
p data-p-id="8f8933607cec3123e2f66c9534b38b60"Sakura looked disgusted at her. "Bish, I'm number 2 in our class."/p
p data-p-id="174a430540e4ce9decbc3810e492dede""As if I'm not tied with you." Ino flipped her hair in response. /p
p data-p-id="59c659d6053d1e2b451631f4efed9d95"Shikamaru frankly did not care about Fuki's detention. Or what Sakura or Ino's ranking was. Instead, the more pressing question here was-/p
p data-p-id="627e975260766351c65ee9f72164bdc9""OUT." Shizune pointed a finger towards the exit./p
p data-p-id="ab56ecc6020c5b61e2c0a48e888b09bf""Right right," Sakura said hurriedly, ushering Ino and him out the door a little more violently than expected. /p
p data-p-id="cbb4e99e40d5fbdae5ad57c8ad3e7857"Shikamaru wanted to facepalm. Did neither Ino nor Sakura realize that they didn't know where their detention was gonna be? Girls are really too troublesome. Because as much as he would dread having detention in Orochimaru-sensei's classroom, there were worse classrooms to be stuck in... He just hoped they were lucky enough to not land in detention with emthat/em teacher./p
p data-p-id="11abd863e99985c61add0f954c190fbe"-/p
p data-p-id="45d9146dac4e854c8d978e0cafc02198"So. /p
p data-p-id="5c31b1b854502baf193b552f426396e1"Apparently luck decided to abandon Shikamaru's entire sophomore year. Because they really did end up in Kakashi-sensei's classroom for detention. Sakura, of course, was elated to see her homeroom teacher, with Ino being indifferent. /p
p data-p-id="0e56c3662c694249485d270616d9a683"But that was because they didn't know the true meaning of having Kakashi-sensei for detention./p
p data-p-id="60ea5c81363a7c0d3f6533f47f69b7f8"Why, you may wonder? Because of Naruto. Naruto, who always somehow landed himself in detention. And the only teachers willing to supervise detention with Naruto were Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, and Jiraiya. But Iruka-sensei usually couldn't supervise detention as the varsity baseball coach, and Jiraiya was unreliable as a person... for many reasons. /p
p data-p-id="c457b61e06e31059052b23083d9b36b3"Which meant Kakashi-sensei almost exclusively supervised all of Naruto's detentions. Detention with Kakashi-sensei equals detention with Naruto. And detention with Naruto equals a complete nightmare. It was only as simple as differential equations. (But differential equations were way more fun, while detention with Naruto was not.)/p
p data-p-id="7dd7c03b198ec9d6426ab039602cffe7"Shikamaru's days of detention with Naruto dated back to kindergarten. Yes, kindergarten. Somehow Naruto managed to stand out even among the wild animals in the classroom back then, and this landed him in detention. Sadly, Naruto also managed to get his friends in trouble too. Guess who his friends were? That's right, Shikamaru and Chouji. (Sasuke never got detention cause he was the teacher's favorite... but now that he thought about it, what kind of teacher gives kindergartners detention?)/p
p data-p-id="ff32f87c935bba4e392455964aed90b9"After kindergarten, Shikamaru figured it'd be safer if he didn't get involved with Naruto's... school activities. His life was already troublesome enough from all the scoldings his mom would give him (not to mention that the first grade teachers now expected him to do rhyming activities and write dumb poems about flowers). /p
p data-p-id="4d6e85d28a4b188443ca1c6b6dc3d37b"But, looking back... he kinda felt bad. He knew how hard it was for Naruto to make friends because he always smelled like ramen and didn't have pristine clothes like all the other kids on the first day of school. /p
p data-p-id="544bd0cd7ac79ac1f2b5d08daa7c4d2f"Shikamaru finally reached Kakashi-sensei's classroom and pulled the door open. At the foot of the entryway was red yarn drawn taut. Shikamaru looked up, and just as he thought, there was a blackboard eraser balanced above the doorframe. Naruto./p
p data-p-id="063db978bfb80cf73aaf5476118aaeb9"He chuckled before taking a step over the yarn. Did Naruto really think anyone would fall for that old trick anymore? (Ever since Naruto had learned the trick from a TV show back in third grade, he'd been pulling that trick on every teacher multiple times a year since then. As one might expect, the trick had 97% fail rate, leading to a very disappointed Naruto and a very annoyed teacher.) /p
p data-p-id="240423e062e69409c572892fc8461738""EYYYYY SHIKAMARU!" A loud voice boomed from the back of the classroom. Naruto stood on top of two desks with a party popper in each hand. "HOW YA DOIN'?!"/p
p data-p-id="41a80f27c610ec40855c73620477b47d"Shikamaru shrugged. "Same old, same old." It seemed that Naruto was the first one in the class. "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"/p
p data-p-id="829946428911a47d20e4955365928c0d"Suddenly Naruto crouched down and held a party popper to his face, imitating a finger as he whispered, "Shhhh we need to be careful. As expected of you, you evaded my elaborate trap, but Kakashi-sensei doesn't know about it yet, and we need to keep it that way so my plan can succeed."/p
p data-p-id="6357a677c1ea050bc80765ef17732801"Shikamaru sweat-dropped. He didn't think it mattered how quietly or loudly they talked, Kakashi-sensei wasn't going to-/p
p data-p-id="01e73a2ddfb3aaa2b4565a8116b3d70a"Suddenly the door slid open from behind him and Shikamaru turned around just in time to see the blackboard eraser fall promptly on Kakashi-sensei's head, with the chalk dust poofing into the air in the shape of a cloud before drifting onto Kakashi-sensei's shoulders./p
p data-p-id="e94bb3a958698de8943381d9a08a1901"Naruto pulled the strings on the party poppers and burst into laughter. "BWAHAHAHAHA I GOTCHA KAKASHI-SENSEI!"/p
p data-p-id="f0a18571028821b11296053e21476fa1"Kakashi-sensei only looked mildly entertained. "Well I'm glad you're enjoying your high school life, Naruto," he replied, brushing the chalk dust out of his hair and off his shoulders. "But we're going to need to start detention soon so please get down."/p
p data-p-id="dc2bea84a55236956bdc6bfb762d441a"Naruto wiped a tear from his eye as he turned back to Shikamaru. "Ahhh so funny," he chuckled. "He falls for it every time! Ya know how there was that rumor that Kakashi-sensei was a ninja? Everyone in my homeroom believed it! But I figured I'd show everyone who the real ninja at Konoha High was, and I set up my signature trick, and deja vu! He fell for it!" Naruto exploded into laughter again. /p
p data-p-id="d18b236354fad3ce2b969f8e523446ee"Shikamaru didn't know how he should respond to this. "... I think you mean voila, not deja vu."/p
p data-p-id="1a84cc72591913245714f14460b88554"Naruto blinked, then scratched his head. "Really? I'll remember that! Vwalah. Anyways, you should've seen Sasuke's face! Even he had to acknowledge my prowess as a ninja! I learned prowess from Sakura by the way! She's been helping me a lot since middle school, but recently high school work has gotten harder so I've had to blah blah blah."/p
p data-p-id="26c0f67d4d2d7372c9c970b1eeb4cece"Shikamaru ended up zoning out as Naruto continued telling him about his adventures in keeping his grades above the passing rate, and he struggled to suppress a yawn. Not that Naruto was boring him. He just had trouble staying attentive whenever anyone talked, which often led to his mom hitting him with her slipper for not listening properly. It didn't help that he had trouble sleeping at night in general too. (He once ran on only 5 hours of sleep for an entire week before he collapsed in middle school P.E. during a dodgeball game. Kiba didn't get the hint and kept throwing balls at him, but thankfully his aim was awful. Poor Akamaru, though, always having to go after poorly thrown balls.) /p
p data-p-id="d005ef5f560ecfcb6ec3dd2f91ffd70b"A loud, violent bang sounded behind him, catching both his and Naruto's attention. Kakashi-sensei merely looked up from his... novel... before going back to reading. Three students walked through the doorway, two boys and one girl. The girl seemed older than him, with short blonde hair tied into 4 pigtails and a strong build. One of the boys wore a black hood and seemed to be wearing purple face paint(?), kinda like the painted faces you'd see at the fair. And the last one... he had unkept red hair and wore layers upon layers of clothing, even though the weather was still warm (his top still had short sleeves though so Shikamaru will give him that). He shot a glare up at him and Naruto, and Shikamaru felt chills run up his spine. The boy's ice-blue eyes were surrounded by dark eyebags emphasized with heavy eyeliner. He had never seen anyone with eyes that cold, or even... deadly before./p
p data-p-id="e72fe2c0a098a24f065b5d874946aeac"As the two boys began walking down the desk aisles, the girl instead went over to Kakashi-sensei to hand him a slip. She turned her head slightly and they made eye contact, her sharp green eyes scalding him with intensity. (What was with this group?) /p
p data-p-id="8a7f0048a3efbf0a840296ee8104cb5c"A gust of wind blew into the classroom, even though he was sure the windows were all shut, and the short strands of hair that fluttered across the girl's forehead did nothing to hinder her gaze. Shikamaru couldn't look away./p
p data-p-id="29bfe04e33a2faa0e554dfa0ed994afd"He had a feeling that this is what prey feel like when they're trapped under the claws of their natural predator./p
p data-p-id="b6246cc920dfc70ea3dd6c53e196613a"strongA/N: THE SAND SIBLINGS HAVE ARRIVED! And yes, Naruto speaks fully in exclamation points. /strong/p
p data-p-id="3fa1ae6adcc6d51b848a90a69c03eb07"strongPlease forgive me for the very long wait for chapter 7. I've been really demotivated to write for a long time and schoolwork has been killing me, but I've finally got some inspiration to write so I'll try to churn out as many chapters as I can this summer and for the rest of the year! Constructive criticism is welcome, of course. Thanks for reading as always and please comment/review!/strong/p