Friends and Lovers
by: Foul Fountain of Flies/Night Strider
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't own BMW. I don't own anything
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Chapter III
Detention has never looked this good. Just a few inches away from the chair he's plopped on is a window, an oversized window that invites the full view of the clouds against the purest blue otherwise known as the heaven. The only article that makes a movement in his surrounding is the clock—or its hands—that hangs still just above the door; good that the blinds are drawn, the better to spend his afternoon sightseeing by the beauty of the clouds. Those white puffs of indefinite shapes and sizes, they strafe by so peacefully, so worry-free that they almost bring tears of jealousy to Nara Shikamaru's eyes. They seem to wave their arms at him in farewell. He, in turn, props his chin on his palm, furrows his brows and mutters a soft 'kuso.' Once in a short while he lets out his favorite catchphrase, 'so troublesome' and forces his eyelids up in case sleep takes over him again.
A little earlier he had been caught by Asuma, their Trigonometry teacher, silently snoring on his seat. Face on the concrete table, he had one lifeless arm around his head and one on his lap. The piece of chalk Asuma caused to fly at him didn't rouse him; the second one didn't either. And the third tumbled and echoed down the floor. Shikamaru lay clueless and woozed out. Finally, the patient but well at his limit teacher stood by the sleeping student, his shadow towering above him, and shook him by the shoulder. He had sent Shikamaru to detention without further ado, to which the latter complied without so much as a yawn curtly entailed by a 'yes, Asuma.' So now, here he is, Nara Shikamaru, unable to carry on his sleep extension but nonetheless gratified by the sight of the clouds to which he has free access.
'Damn that surveillance camera.' He tells himself. Partly narcoleptic, partly a bum, Shikamaru slumps supine on the chair, waiting for the hours to tick off until the last knell sounds. He has started dozing off more than a couple of times within one and a half hours. Each time he does so, sure enough, the rude loudspeaker at the upper right corner of the room bursts out in maximum decibels and tells him to stay up. Just as he's getting the best part of his sleep, how troublesome.
The bell rings after sometime or after a long while, Shikamaru already lost count; he has been too busy fighting back the stardust and looking at the clouds. The doorknob creaks and the door opens. It reveals Akamichi Chouji and, blocked by his width, Yamanaka Ino. Oh, his bosom friends. How troublesome all this is.
'You got into detention again, Shikamaru. I bet your pop wouldn't be too happy about this.' Ino starts nagging.
'It's not my pop. It's my mom I'm a bit worried about. Plus, it's not a detention; it's sleep deprivation.' Shikamaru corrects her as he scrambles up from his seat. He takes wangling steps towards the two, obviously still in want of respite after that long bottom-burning. 'Oh man, I can hardly walk.'
'Yeah we can see that. It's too tiresome sitting down, isn't it Shikamaru?' Ino says, her tone dripping with sarcasm. Here she goes again with her henpecking; just the right dose Shikamaru needs.
'Hmmph.' Shikamaru rolls his eyes and does not attempt to get verbally even with her; he's been too used to Ino snapping at him, or at anyone for that matter, like that. It would rather be uncommon if she doesn't act that way, wouldn't it? Then he suddenly remembers. 'Chouji, why weren't you in detention? I saw you eating during the class…'
'I was eating.' Chouji confirms. He's chomping on another bag of chips as if he needs replenishment in the form of calories before he answers the question.
'Then why weren't you punished? Is sleeping in class a heavier offense than eating in class?'
'No.'
'Then what's with the lawlessness?'
'Just that I was hiding behind a book while doing it whereas you were blatantly asleep. You need stealth in horsing around, Shikamaru.' Chouji replies as if to impart a smart advice to a friend. He grins and noisily gobbles up the last of his pathetic chips.
'Huh, you really have no subtlety in breaking the rules, Shikamaru.' Ino chides in and shakes her head mournfully. 'Asuma-sensei is saying you're in danger of flunking majority of the subjects you're taking; Naruto's grades and yours are actually identical. Consider yourself lucky if they let you enroll the next term.'
Shikamaru massages his neck. Damn, she sounds like my mom, he tells himself. The words Ino just released on him don't seem to register at all; he just treats them as though they were some paltry jokes no one has right to take seriously. No expression of concern crosses his face, instead he moves to the corridor and wordlessly commands the two to follow him.
'Let's go home. I haven't slept very well at all.' He says dismissively with his back on them. Ino sighs in grief, seeing that her friend's fate is about to take a turn for the tragic. If he gets kicked out of Leaf High School now, what crazy school would dare take him in? Evidently, his grades aren't much of a success and his motivation isn't something to speak of. And the worst part of it is, Shikamaru shows no sign of being remotely affected by it. And Chouji, the best friend, why does he always seem so quietly gleeful, like everything's going all smooth and ordinary? Is she the only person who cares in this world? God forbid. Ino taps her forehead, a clear display of frustration, as it becomes lucid that it is so.
They emerge to the parking lot, where Ino's car, a second-hand blue BMW 5 series, has been waiting. She does the two guys the kindness of fetching and dropping them at their homes. As compensation, they partly pay for the gas. Chouji takes the backseat, Shikamaru the shotgun. Ino's hands reluctantly grab the wheel; the thought of Shikamaru being expelled from the school has infiltrated her mind such that she's become too involved with it, more involved than she's inclined to be.
'Hey Shikamaru,' She gives it a peevish start as she turns the ignition. The car zooms off and in just a few seconds they're tossed to the highway. 'You're running out of options as to how to deal with this. You can't run away anymore. I doubt if the student body would have you failing everything this time.'
'What are you saying? Nobody cares if I get failing grades or not.' Shikamaru says promptly.
'Oh,' Ino grins. There's a triumphant air about her. 'Just as predicted. You forgot that they do…well let me refresh you then,' Ino pauses as she turns to the curve with an alert grip at the wheel. Once she's past the U-turn slot she resumes, 'You, Nara Shikamaru, are a candidate for this school year's students' council president. You…'
But Ino need not go further. Shikamaru remembers; he had not the faintest idea what Ino was babbling about a few moments ago but now it's all returning to him quite clearly and thunderously. Early on the semester his classmates nominated him for the position on a whim, without even consulting him. They seemed to fancy the notion of having a lazy bum as a student leader. After all, there is no particular requirement or quota a student must fulfill for him to be eligible for the presidential candidacy; as long as the students deem him worthy, he is free to be nominated. At this, the whole junior batch united against Shikamaru by entering his name among the names of the candidates for office. It wasn't until the principal, two weeks ago, through the loudspeaker hanging on the pole located at the courtyard's center, read aloud the names when Shikamaru learned that he has a 50/50 chance of winning this year's presidential election. No! He remembers, yes, he remembers how his jaw dropped open then; he remembers even the insane cheers of his classmates as they expressed their congratulations; he remembers their malicious grin, his momentary shock, his heart pounding. As for Chouji and Ino, they have never been so seriously hopeful. They actually think he can win! How naïve…
Shikamaru leans back on the seat, breathing deeply, helplessly, and finding it hard to feign indifference. Presidential candidates usually have numerous achievements, he knows that much, and as far as he's aware, his résumé can only contain one thing; 'chess club member', which isn't much to boast of by the way. In truth he only joined the club because being in a club has a twang in it. Nothing more. He is actually good in chess, exceedingly good even, and has in his name a record-breaking so-and-so winning streak. But of course, it doesn't amount to deserving the president's title. He shrinks at the very thought. Who has ever heard of winning the election because of one's talent in chess? No one. He can't be president; unless the school is asking for a disaster to hit its regime, he just can't. Besides, he's only a junior for crying out loud. They should know better than voting for a junior candidate.
'…You, Nara Shikamaru, are going to take on a large responsibility from then on.' Ino rattles on.
And you, Yamanaka Ino, are getting on my nerves huge time. Shikamaru is tempted to say but zips his mouth close. She always thinks she has a point, like she's the only one who has it. Indeed, right now, she has a point.
'Aren't you even worried?'
'That's my line.' Shikamaru replies lazily.
Ino abruptly takes her eyes from the wind shield and looks at him, startled. 'Why is that?'
'For starters, somebody else might be chosen as this year's Homecoming Queen. If that happens, what will you do?' Shikamaru says, grinning in retaliation. He knows where to hit her soft spot, or thought he did…
'It doesn't matter.' Ino frowns and assumes a serious face. 'Now that Sasuke's gone there's no point in being beautiful.'
'I don't see anyone prettier than Ino.' A voice that neither belongs to Ino nor Shikamaru says. Chouji speaks for the first time since they hopped in the vehicle; he's been too busy munching on his chips to take part in the fiery exchange. Ino and Shikamaru suddenly feel uneasy; both have realized that they aren't alone.
'Thank you, Chouji!' Ino cries after a few awkward seconds and winks at Chouji through the front mirror. She then twists her gaze at Shikamaru with a victorious smirk. 'Well, there you have it. I say you should start checking out your opponent; he looks kinda scary.'
Shikamaru scowls in private. Damn, she's pushing him closer and closer to the edge of misogyny. Just when will he stop hating girls?
--
Neji clenches his fist. He's facing the stolid wall of the corridor. Plastered on it, on top of one another like a collage, are small-sized campaign posters. Some read 'vote for Hyuuga as president', some for someone named Nara Shikamaru. So this is his opponent. Neji didn't bother to hear his name when it was announced; he wouldn't even bless it with his acknowledgement. In fact he never planned to find out who he is…until now. The reason being, he knows no one with that name, least of all among his batch mates. Is he some new guy or something? What new guy is brazen enough to run against him, or to ever think of doing so? He mercilessly strips the poster off the wall and tucks it inside his pocket.
He will find out who he is. And show him.
When he arrives at the cafeteria Tenten and Lee are already there, their things spread on the round table. Neji plunks himself between them, unaware of his own facial expression.
'Hey, why the taut face?' Lee says.
Neji almost jumps from the stool. Suddenly, he learns that he has been gritting his teeth all along because right now his jaws are surely aching.
'Someone made your day?' Lee goes on.
'In a manner of speaking.' Neji replies, struggling to keep his cool. Without waiting for Lee to speak again, he turns to Tenten. 'I need you to research a certain person for me.' He tells her and pulls out a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket.
Tenten takes it obsequiously and un-rumples it. Soon as she's done taking a quick glance at the paper, she and Lee trade vague looks.
'What?' Neji glowers.
'I know him, this Nara guy. I mean, I've already done some investigation on him. I knew you wouldn't be interested in finding out who your opponent is but I thought, for convenience, maybe I could do something.' Tenten says. Neji marks the nervousness and the unevenness in her tone. It seems that there's something she wants to hide from him. 'Anyway, I looked up his records at the Counselor's Office and…' She trails.
'And?'
'I found out that he's a member of the chess club.'
'And?'
'His grades…his grades are barely scraping by, pretty pitiful.' Tenten says shakily. She seems to hesitate between smiling and looking scared; as an outcome, her face is all twitched up.
'So,' Neji says, rests his elbows on the table and clasps both his hands. 'He probably just got nominated to spite me, to insult me. I didn't know I've gathered as much enemies before.'
'There's more.' Tenten suddenly cracks. She pauses for a while but then looks pleadingly at Lee as if asking for him to rescue her. She can't continue, not with Neji gaining this much complacence. Lee nods at her.
'Well, you see, er—Neji, you know that the school's guidance counselor conducts annual IQ tests on each year level in the first few weeks of the school year, right?' Lee takes over.
'Yes, I know.'
'Well, just for clarification, what's your IQ this year?'
'If you're doing this for your benefit, Lee, I will have none of this. I---'
'No, calm down Neji. Just answer the question.'
Tenten swerves her gaze to the other direction as though she dreads to witness what's to come next. In her desperation, she fishes out one of her textbooks from her bag and makes an impression of reading frantically. Every once in a while, she elicits a low murmur of assent to express how engrossed she is in what she's doing. Both Neji and Lee ignore her.
'159; the same with one MENSA member.' Neji says contritely.
'And I presume it's gotten higher since your freshman and junior years, am I right?'
'Yes, it has. What's the point of this question?' Neji is getting impatient.
'Well, the thing is, Neji, this Nara Shikamaru---'
Lee is interrupted by a tiny squeal which seems to jerk itself up from Tenten's throat. She is sweating abnormally now.
'Are you alright?' Neji asks.
'I…I gotta go to the washroom. I'll see you later. Bye.' Tenten says, hastily gathers her things up and stalks off.
'What's wrong with her?' Neji asks Lee.
'That's what you're about to find out, Neji.' Lee explains. 'You see, Tenten learned that this Nara Shikamaru is a super genius with an IQ of over 200. That's the long and short of it. That's why she's getting it all mixed up. She's upset, I guess, but worse than her being upset is her incredulity. I don't think she's willing to believe that there's someone smarter than you. '
There is silence, one so enormous and black Lee can't even find words or ways to enliven the conversation again. Neji remains still, not quite looking at Lee or at anything around them. He seems numb and lost inside him. He feels something tighten around his heart, something ready to explode, while all the while aware of his sinking self-confidence.
'There must be some mistake.' He says quite honestly the only thing he can say.
'Neji, I wish there could have been. But you see, the test he took last year, as a freshman, states that he has an IQ of 200; this year, it says 204. And he's beaten a school record by winning more chess matches than all the team members combined, all in outstandingly short time.' Lee recites all this very swiftly. 'So…what do you say?'
Neji straightens himself up and leaves Lee to search for what to say.
TBC
A/N: I plan to write about Team Kakashi next time. That's all. Thanks.