Happy Birthday Shikamaru! And also early birthday to Ino and Shikadai! Though too bad this chapter isn't about their birthdays as the timelines don't match up...

Also, thanks to ohud63 for the review! And, if anyone is curious, here's what I've been up to lately: (on tumblr at xank214782)

post/165587331311/happy-birthday-shikamaru-922-and-ino-923-a

(If that's too confusing, the link is also up on my profile for anyone interested...)

All characters belong to Kishimoto-san.

Chapter 24: New Changes on a Monday

Sunday had passed by as peacefully as Shikamaru wished, save for Naruto taking the gang out to eat ramen twice, with only an hour gap in between. Now, it was Monday, one of Shikamaru's least favorite days of the week (with the rest being Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday), and Shikamaru was tempted to convince his mother to call him in sick, but doing such an action was too troublesome for the lazy boy. Besides, Gaara's five-day suspension started today, and that meant Shikamaru would miss out on a Gaara-free day if he skipped school.

Outside, it was still raining, and Shikamaru wasn't sure how it could rain for four days in a row. Konohagakure would be flooded at this rate, and they would have to change their name to Kirigakure.

"Shikamaru, did you bring your umbrella?"

"Yes," Shikamaru lied, hoping desperately his mother wouldn't bother to check.

There was no response, and Shikamaru sighed in relief. He was off the hook. For now.

Finishing the last of his breakfast, Shikamaru grabbed his backpack and prepared for the dash to Chouji's house.

As he put a hand on the doorknob, there was the sound of light footsteps, and Shikamaru quickly removed his hand, bending down as if he had been tying his shoes.

"You forgot your lunch," Yoshino said, and Shikamaru stood up.

"Oh, thanks," Shikamaru said, accepting the package.

His mother eyed him over. "Why isn't your umbrella out?"

"I was just about to get it," Shikamaru said, hoping he looked convincing. He pointed to his shoes. "I just finished tying up my shoes."

Yoshino nodded, her eyes narrowed. She did not leave, so Shikamaru had no choice but to continue his act. He unslung his backpack from his shoulder, making a show of unzipping it. The pack was now open, and Shikamaru jammed his hand in, pretending to rummage for his absent umbrella.

Yoshino, seemingly satisfied by his act, gave her son a pat, and then left. Shikamaru took his chance to escape, even if it meant braving the rain so soon. But anything was better than confronting his scary mother.

.

Ino, like usual, had already arrived early at Chouji's house. She was seated in front of the television, changing channels rapidly.

"Where's my umbrella, Ino?" Shikamaru demanded, shaking water off of himself.

"Your umbrella?" Ino looked up. "Oh. That's right, your umbrella! I gave it to Temari-chan."

Shikamaru blinked. "You gave it to her?"

Ino nodded innocently, resuming her channel-flipping.

"Wait," said Shikamaru. "Skipping the fact that you just gave it to her without my permission; if she had my umbrella on Friday, then why didn't I see it on Saturday? Why didn't she give it to me then?"

Ino stopped watching the T.V., her eyes fixed intently on Shikamaru. "You were at her place on Saturday?"

"Yeah, didn't e tell you he was going with Naruto to see Gaara that day?" Chouji said from where he was sitting in the dining room.

"I think he did," Ino said thoughtfully. "But weren't you seeing Gaara? How did you meet his sister?"

"Ino," said Shikamaru exasperatedly. "They live in the same place. They're siblings, you know?"

Ino shrugged. "Doesn't mean you had to see her that exact same day at the same time."

"Your logic is nonexistent," Shikamaru muttered. "Great, now I have to go talk to her to get it back."

"You should just let her keep it," Ino said cheerfully. "You don't use an umbrella, anyways."

"My mom will kill me," Shikamaru reminded.

"Not if you told her you lent it to a girl," Ino said slyly.

Shikamaru held up his hands in defeat. "Why must you always interfere in my peaceful life, Ino?"

"Because your life could do with some interrupting," Ino said. "Honestly, you're just plain boring all the time."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I prefer it that way."

.

Shikamaru wasn't too eager to face the Sunagakure demon girl, but he knew he had no choice, not if he didn't want to be killed by his mother.

As he walked to P.E., Shikamaru thought of ways to ask for his umbrella back, without sounding like a fool. Except, this was Temari, who always managed to make him look like a fool regardless.

"I wonder what we're doing today, dattebayo," Naruto said, looking up at the still-raining sky.

"I hope it's not basketball again," Shikamaru muttered. "I hate getting hit with the ball. It hurts."

"Yeah, well, maybe if you caught it instead, you wouldn't be hit in the face with it, dattebayo," Naruto said.

Shikamaru glared at him. "Or, you could tell Sasuke to stop purposely throwing it at me."

"That's because you're the team's weakness," Sasuke replied coolly. "You always stand near the boundary, so it's easy to hit you and have the ball roll out of bounds, which makes the ball ours again."

Naruto frowned, processing the information. "Hey, that's not fair! Isn't that cheating, dattebayo?"

"It's not," Sasuke said smugly. "You're the one stupid enough to pick him for your team."

The three boys entered the boy's locker room to get changed, and were received with a view of Gaara standing there, wearing his P.E. shirt and sweats, with a sweater over it.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled, running towards the boy, who looked like he had been expecting Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," Gaara answered, somewhat shyly.

Naruto grinned. "What're you doing here, dattebayo? Aren't you on suspension or something?"

"Things got adjusted," Gaara explained. "I'll be doing three days this week, and two days next, instead of five in a row. My father understands that I must be punished, but he doesn't want it to interfere with my education. Or that's what he told Tsunade-sama on Saturday."

"Well, either way, I'm glad you're here, dattebayo," Naruto said. "Let's be on a team today! We can beat everyone with just the two of us!"

Gaara nodded and Naruto skipped away to his locker to get his clothes.

"He's unusually enthusiastic today," Shikamaru said, sighing. He hadn't expected a reply, but one came nonetheless.

"Unfortunately."

Shikamaru looked at the other boy. Sasuke was staring at Gaara, a deep scowl ruining his handsome face. Shikamaru wondered what was going on between the two of them. Whatever it was, Shikamaru didn't want to find out.

.

As it turned out, instead of basketball, they were playing volleyball, which was a slight improvement. Shikamaru was sure getting hit with a volleyball would still hurt a lot. He would have preferred a sport like badminton. That way, he could just hold the racket to his face and hopefully deflect incoming birdies aimed at him.

Instead of letting his students choose the teams they wanted, Guy, who had been secretly assessing his students' athletic abilities the previous week, split his students up for them.

Naruto ended up on a team with Gaara, which Naruto was more than excited about as he shouted "Yes!" and jumped up into the air. Sasuke ended up on a team with Tenten, while Shikamaru got placed onto Neji's team along with Kankuro. To Shikamaru's relief, Temari wasn't in his group, though she was with Lee and Hinata.

The games began, with Naruto's team versus Sasuke's, while Neji's faced off against Lee's.

Shikamaru ducked instinctively as Temari, whose team had won first serve, served the ball at him. Neji looked like he was going to murder Shikamaru as he glared at the younger boy.

"Sorry," Shikamaru said sheepishly.

Neji sighed, disgusted, murmuring something unpleasant under his breath.

As the game continued, it became clear to everyone, most especially Temari, that Shikamaru was useless at volleyball.

As Shikamaru avoided yet another ball, Guy walked over, shouting.

"Come on, Nara-kun!" Guy encouraged, and Shikamaru winced at the volume. "Get a move on! Show some spirit, boy! You can't let a girl beat you, now can you?"

The last sentence seemed to do the trick as Shikamaru groaned aloud. Guy-sensei had a point. He was a man, as he often reminded himself, and, as such, couldn't let a girl-majority team beat his boy-majority team, even if the girls in question (mostly just Temari) weren't exactly his ideal model of a girl. Still, he couldn't really hurt a girl either…

"Look out, old man!" someone warned, and Shikamaru snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see Temari serve the ball again, and watch the ball sail towards him.

Damn, does Temari have good aim, Shikamaru thought in awe, before remembering his perilous situation.

Neji made to intercept the ball, but Shikamaru was determined this time. He wasn't going to let Temari, of all people, defeat him in a simple game of volleyball.

Neji blinked, checking his eyesight, as Shikamaru, in an act so out of character, received the ball, hitting it forcefully back to the other side.

"Well, I guess someone isn't so bad, after all," Neji noted, returning his focus to the game.

Shikamaru shrugged, not really listening. His attention was fixed on a single person across the court. He smirked at her shocked expression.

"Old men can play games, too, you know," Shikamaru called out. "Even better, we've got experience on our side."

.

In the end, Lee's team won, but it had been a close game the last few rounds, with Shikamaru being the most aggressive anyone had ever seen. Naruto and Kankuro had paused their playing, and had ended up staring at Shikamaru like he was some bizarre alien from space.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, wiping his sweat with his shirt as Guy called an end to the class.

Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it.

Kankuro answered for him. "What the hell was that, Nara? Not that I didn't appreciate the effort to win for our team, but that was so weird!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "What do you mean? All I did was play."

"Yeah, exactly!" said Naruto, who had managed to find his voice again. "I mean, I always knew you were good at sports and stuff, but you never move during P.E.! You're like some stature, or something, and you're always like 'Oh, man, this is so troublesome', dattebayo!"

"I don't say 'dattebayo'," Shikamaru said. "And, anyways, Guy-sensei is right. I can't have a girl beat me, now can I?"

"You really are a sexist jerk," Temari said, hitting Shikamaru on the back of the head. "But, I must say, not a bad game, Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru rubbed his head. "Guess I'm not such a lazy old man, huh?"

"You're still an old man," Temari confirmed, smirking. "But less lazy now."

"Can I have my umbrella back?" Shikamaru blurted out abruptly before he lost the courage to ask.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Sure. I was going to give it back to you during lunch, anyways."

"Oh. Right."

"What, did you think I meant to keep it permanently?"

"No," Shikamaru denied, though he had thought of that.

Temari rolled her eyes, walking towards the girls' locker room. "Get changed, old man."

.

Fourth period was much more bearable now that Shikamaru was somewhat back on speaking terms with Temari. He no longer tried to avoid her, though somewhere in the back of his mind, he worried that Temari would bring up the past incident again, just to mess with him. But maybe Ino was right: people didn't dwell on such things.

By lunch, the rain had stopped, and the sky had started to clear. Shikamaru could see hints of blue sky, and rays of yellow sunshine peeking through. The ground was still damp so that Shikamaru couldn't retreat to his hideout, not that he had planned on going there in the first place. It was a Monday, which meant Shikamaru and his friends were eating lunch together. This time, it was on the roof of the English building.

By the time Shikamaru got there, all of his friends, save Naruto, had arrived. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were huddled together on top of a blanket (Shikamaru wondered just which one of the girls had thought to bring a blanket to school; no doubt it had been Ino), talking. Kiba and Shino were sitting on their textbooks, with Kiba cramming to finish what looked like homework, while Shino was on his phone. Sasuke sat to the side, directly sitting on the floor, while Chouji stood up to stand next to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru chose to stand by the edge of the roof, peering up at the sky.

"Anything interesting?" Chouji asked and Shikamaru shrugged.

"Not much," Shikamaru said. "Just the clouds."

"Well, look down there," Chouji said, nodding his head in the direction below.

Shikamaru followed his gaze, and spotted a familiar orange-and-blue outfitted freshman walking with a red one.

"I guess he's a part of this group now, whether we like it or not," Chouji said.

Shikamaru nodded. "I'll never know what Naruto thinks of such people, but he would never make a bad choice, at least not concerning us."

"Just as long as Gaara-san doesn't eat my food," Chouji said, and Shikamaru put a comforting hand on his friend's back.

"I won't let him."

.

The door to the roof opened, and Naruto popped out. "Sorry I'm late, dattebayo!"

Gaara gave a hesitant, guarded wave from behind the blue-eyed boy.

"Oh, hello, Gaara-san." Sakura was the first to greet the newcomer, with the others following after.

"We always meet on Mondays," Naruto explained. "It's a nice way to start off the week, dattebayo."

"Thank you for having me here," Gaara said.

"Nonsense!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're a part of this group now! There's no need to thank us, dattebayo!"

Gaara nodded slowly, not entirely convinced that he belonged in the group, but no one objected. It seemed Naruto was like their leader. Gaara wondered how Naruto had risen to such a rank. Watching the blond boy walking around, talking to his friends—even if it was arguing with them—Gaara couldn't help but feel a little defeated. He wanted to be like Naruto; he knew that, but he didn't exactly know how. How did he make people trust him…?

Naruto was talking to Shino now, though the former looked a tad bit bored as Shino talked to him about something that sounded like some sort of flying bug. However, Naruto replied to everything Shino said, and Gaara wondered if that was the first step to forming bonds: communication.

Gaara decided to try it out. The young Kazekage heir made his way over to the two boys he knew who would not overreact to his presence.

Clearing his throat, Gaara began his objective.

"Hello, Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun."

Both boys spun around, giving their own greetings.

"How are you liking Konohagakure?" Chouji asked politely.

"It is very…peaceful," Gaara began. "The people here seem to enjoy themselves."

Chouji nodded in agreement. "I suppose it does seem that way, especially in the school. The rest of the city isn't one-hundred-percent cheerful, but at least you can enjoy the festival while you're here."

"The festival?"

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "Konohagakure is famous for its annual festivals. We've got one for Halloween, one for Christmas, one for Valentine's—which is a stupid idea, by the way—one for spring, and one for summer."

"The responsibilities for each festival are different each time," Shikamaru continued. "For the Halloween Festival, Konoha High is in charge. Usually, though, the city oversees most festivals."

"What do you mean you are in charge?" Gaara asked. The only celebrations he remembered back in his junior high were events like dances, but no festivals.

"It just means we're in charge of it," Chouji said. "Like, food, and games, and entertainment, and all that. You know how we have our elective classes? Well, those classes are also in charge of the Halloween Festival. So, like, my club will be doing some sort of food booth."

"And I'm pretty sure the fight club does some type of game," Shikamaru added. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei and Guy-sensei will talk about it when the time comes. We also do the Valentine's Day one, though with our homeroom classes, and not our clubs."

"I see." Gaara nodded his thanks. He tried to think of something else to say, but seeing the cautious looks on the two boys, he decided not to bother them any longer. Gaara was patient, though; he had to be, if he wanted people to trust him again. It was going to take a long time, but Gaara was fine with it. After all, it hadn't taken just one day for him to grow his intimidating reputation.