A/N: Hey, sorry about the sudden hiatus. Stuff happened. Sorry, I'll post a couple of chapters as an apology. I'll try my best to upload consistently but I'm not sure. So, if y'all are still interested, then...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Adventure time.

The Lethargic Ninja III

Saturday, 12pm.

Bubblegum watched her ceiling's plasterwork for thirty silent minutes, squinting. Waking up on her bed, hugging a pillow with her lab coat still on was jarring. She remembered Pineapple carrying her back. Had woken up halfway up the stairs but was too embarrassed to say anything.

Ugh, he didn't have to. That ding-dong, seriously, treating her like a child.

She sat up, had that 'just woke up' frown marring her face. Sound returned but not much came with it, just the clock ticking and the guards goofing off out her door.

She lifted her fingers, three and one, calculating from where she left off. Her values were off and it affected the serum. Bubblegum ran the math in over and over again in her head, yet, came to nothing.

She sighed. The clock read half-past twelve and sunlight slipped through her blinds. Bubblegum took her calculations with her, in and out of her tub, into her closet, and out of her room right back to the lab where she remained for hours.

This time, she limited her writing to paper as a sane person would. Had wasted thirty minutes peering all over the place for the end of the equation another thirty jotting them down and another thirty cleaning up. She was a lot of things but not mad. Yet. Hopefully never.

Residents, and guards left her greetings, waves and smiles. But after about the fifth 'hi' and sixth 'hello', she opted to shut the door and rid herself of distractions. Light-hearted and welcomed but distractions nonetheless.

Still loved them unconditionally, though.

Got a bit of leeway from that and it upped her workflow. She derived all measurements needed, the only thing left was sodium sorbate.

She cross-checked and opened a drawer under the equation table, a clear vial of the liquid wrapped along with a four-milliliter injector. She really wished the vial came with instructions as she shut the drawer. It would save her a lot of trouble.

At two-thirty, halfway through her fifteenth equation someone knocked.

It got a groan out of her and what's more, the person refused to come in, they just knocked and waited so she had to walk up and open the door.

It was either Princess, Peppermint Butler, or Pineapple. All of which were unlikely. She had Peppermint Butler on supervision duty, Princess was off on weekends and Pineapple was Pineapple.

Surprisingly, it was Princess and... she held a tray of food. The smell of fried potato chips made her drool, made her remember this was the only meal she'd seen all day. Staring at the platter, Bubblegum realized she was hungry, realized she was glad to see Princess.

"Come in."

Princess set the tray by the equation table as Bubblegum shut the door. She tracked the tray.

"Why are you here?"

Princess sat and patted a space at the table, "Come, I'll tell you over lunch."

She was awesome. They picked up forks and took first bites.

"So?" Bubblegum said.

"I can't come visit?"

"Not on a weekend." Bubblegum tilted her head. "What happened?"

"It's the Ice King."

"Ugh, again?"

"He's in the hospital, sent right to ER," she said, "was on-call so I had to rush over. It was annoying."

"Really, what happened?" Bubblegum asked. "Not concerned, just curious."

"Heart complications but he's a bit stable now so here I am."

"I see." She was unsure about the Ice King in her kingdom's hospital but she couldn't have them kick him out. "As long as he isn't causing trouble, I'll allow it, I guess."

"Anyways, how's Shikamaru?"

She envied how Princess could say his name flawlessly. It was as hard as it sounded.

"I haven't seen him at all today."

"Still holed up huh," she said.

Bubblegum nodded. "Maybe he hasn't fully recovered."

She never got around to checking on him despite wanting to numerous times. Never really had the chance.

The doctor shook her head. "No, he's just that distant." Princess forked a chip. "Like he's always thinking about something."

Bubblegum said nothing, knew what she meant but pretended not to, just gave passive nods and such.

"Lazy too. But other than that, he's great," she said, "favorite patient."

She chuckled.

"Also, if you ever need an advisor..."

"What?"

"An advisor, it's like—"

"I know what it is," said Bubblegum. "What does it have to do with him?"

"You could ask, is what I mean." Princess took another bite. "He was a king's advisor before he crashed your door."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he told me."

Bubblegum opened her mouth but no words left. "Huh..." she said. "Pineapple would probably refuse to work for..." she paused. "To work."

"Silly, I don't mean ask like; ask to hire him," she said. "You could just ask for advice is all."

Bubblegum chortled. She raised a hand to her mouth, waving the other in silent apology. Princess sighed.

It was funny, straight up odd hearing that. The idea that someone could advise her, Bonibel Bubblegum, like an older sibling of sorts. It sounded so foreign, so fictitious, so... impossible. A human, no less.

Bubblegum doubted he'd give anything they previously paid him for away for free, anyway. Plus, "how do you know it's the truth?"

"Ah, that's something I can't explain," Princess said, twirled her fork, and shrugged. "But he always seems to know what he's talking about."

Pineapple being an advisor was nothing short of ridiculous but Bubblegum never thought Princess could vouch for someone this much. She set her fork down and hoped the chance came up but until then, she'd try to keep an open mind about it.

But before that. "Did he tell you what kingdom?"

"I don't think he enjoys that topic."

Despite how much she knew of Ooo, the symbol he had on his shirts had her stumped. Never seen it before. At first, she waved it off but after it recurred the second and third time, she assumed it was relevant in some way.

"What do you think?" Bubblegum asked.

"Thought he was from the cloud kingdom."

"What gave you that idea?"

"You said he fell from the sky." She nervously answered. "Plus, he's cloud-watching every time I see him."

Well, it was sound reasoning.

"He said he wasn't, though," said Princess.

"Have you tried asking?"

Princess set down her fork, nodding. "Either cuts me off or changes the topic."

That defensive, huh. Something was up with him and she was eager to find out.

"How's the serum coming along?" Princess grabbed a glass of water for both of them.

Arching a brow at the doctor's odd question. She drank from her glass, a bit suspicious. "You're not gonna yell?"

Princess gave a quizzical hum.

"I've been working on it a lot."

"Oh, that. Of course not." The doctor smiled. "I don't mind anymore. I... understand now. I mean, I still wish you wouldn't but...yeah."

Bubblegum's eyes almost popped right out of her head. She always got an earful from the doctor but today Princess dropped the matter. She didn't know what happened to cause the doctor to have a change of heart but, boy, was she glad about it.

She was a bit curious. "Was it Peppermint Butler?"

"Trade secret." Princess chuckled. "Now, come, tell me how far you've gotten."

Bubblegum eagerly did. Cherished any opportunity to nerd out about science with anyone. Heck, they didn't even need to listen, just existing in the same proximity while she rambled about bio-chem was more than enough.

She told Princess everything. Showed her the calculations, the equations, her discoveries, formulae, every single thing. For about an hour. The only reason Bubblegum stopped her rambling was because it was four-forty, evening, and she guessed Princess had to go home.

Princess took some time to catch her breath, chuckling at her child-like enthusiasm.

"I'm close, I can feel it," Bubblegum said. "I just need the exact measurement and it'll be good to go."

The doctor smiled, looking up at her marker board inked all over with equations. Even had a few sticky notes plastered up the board, each neatly arranged so she never lost track of anything. "This... is amazing." She went over the equations again. "Really," she added.

Bubblegum couldn't stop the proud smile that crept up her face. It was one thing hearing that from scholars, professors and scientists, it was another hearing it from a friend.

"It'll be even more so when it's done." Bubblegum slammed a fist on her palm.

"I'm sure it will." Princess smiled as she grabbed her things. "Don't work too hard now. I'll check on lazy bones before I leave, take care."

Bubblegum chuckled and nodded as Princess shut the door, taking the empty tray with her. With new found enthusiasm, she turned to her equations, ready to get back at it.