10.1.2018

Shikamaru

Nara Shikamaru readied himself for yet another day at the academy, which would most likely be yet another day of being given work that he found too easy, but all the while still too 'troublesome' to actually do.

He was somewhat early today, his mother's nagging ensuring that he wouldn't be late—although he hardly ever was, even though it wouldn't particularly bother him if that were the case. It was more so he didn't get an earful, which was far more troublesome than having to get out of bed. He mostly slept in class anyway.

He walked into the classroom, only to find his desk was currently being occupied by a group of girls. There weren't any properly allocated seats, but most people had seats they generally went to sit in, and most people stuck to them. Well, except for the odd few, as demonstrated by the girls who took over where he and Choji usually sat.

A sigh escaped him. He already knew that Choji wouldn't be in today, as he was ill, for what reason Shikamaru could only imagine, so he simply went to find a seat that wasn't occupied elsewhere. Catching no sight of Kiba either, he decided to sit in the seat next to the ever brooding Uchiha Sasuke. Shikamaru didn't exactly have issue with Sasuke, he just wasn't particularly fond of his attitude toward, well, anyone but himself. He could understood why he was so reclusive—having your entire clan slaughtered could most likely do that to a person—but, to Shikamaru, that didn't excuse how he kind of acted as if he was superior to everyone around him. But Sasuke's reserved nature would serve him well today, as it meant he could sleep without being bothered, even if he may become subject to judgement from the raven haired boy.

When he took his seat, he noticed the Uchiha's eyes acknowledge him for a moment, but, other than that, there wasn't much of a response. He laid his head down on the desk, allowing himself just a few more minutes of rest.

"Good morning, Class!" Iruka chirped, his usual upbeat mood apparent. Shikamaru looked up from his desk, his few minutes of bliss over before they had even began. How his sensei managed to stay forever positive while dealing with a class of eleven year olds, Shikamaru didn't know. He respected him for it though. He definitely wouldn't have been able to manage were he in Iruka's place.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei." The class drawled back in the same usual monotonous tune. Their sensei released a slight sigh, a smile still remaining on his face.

"As you all should know from last week, after lunch today we'll be doing sparring practise, as well as kunai and shuriken training." Iruka paused for a moment, allowing the mix of cheers and groans that filled the classroom to pass. "However, this morning, we're going to be doing a bit of a history lesson on the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and what the village was like in the time of his rule. Make sure you're taking notes as I go along, because there'll be a quiz on this next week. Now, as the name implies, and as most of you know already, he was the First Hokage's brother. He took the mantle of Hokage after his brother's death. Some of you might not know that he was also our current Hokage's sensei, and was in charge of his three-man team…"

Shikamaru began to zone out. Most of what his sensei was saying was common knowledge which he already knew—his clan subjected him to enough history lessons already. It wasn't interesting enough to keep his attention, and he knew enough to do decently on the quiz. If he even could be bothered to attempt it, that was.

His attention was, however, caught by Iruka's sudden rise in volume.

"Naruto! Why're you late?" He bellowed.

Shikamaru's eyes landed on the blonde who nonchalantly strolled into the classroom, hands in her pockets, mask covering her face. He didn't fail to notice how the Uchiha subtly sprung up in his seat at the mention of her name, or how intently he seemed to be watching her—as if her mere presence was surprising. Well, then again, Naruto was in the day before, and the day before that, and for her to attend for 3 days in a row was rather rare. But, even so, he hadn't expected Sasuke to seem so interested in the fact she was there.

Weird.

Before she was given the chance to speak, another person opened the door. Stood behind her was a man, seemingly about the same age as their teacher. Although, it was hard to tell with the fact he was wearing his own mask, which covered more of his face than Naruto's. That possibly explained her own usage of a mask, but he had no idea what relation he had to her. The man's hair was silver, spiky, and he wore the usual Konoha ninja attire. Either a chunin or a jounin, Shikamaru gathered.

He looked back at Sasuke, who looked focused on both Naruto and the man who was with her.

The man rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and let out a chuckle. "Sorry. That'd be my fault. There was a cat stuck in a tree and it was harder than anticipated to rescue. I didn't realise she would be late. Apologies."

"Ah, I—I see. It's alright, Kakashi-san. Naruto,"—Iruka gestured to the seats—"if you would."

Naruto looked back at Kakashi, who seemingly smiled at her, if he could tell from the crease that formed on the side of his one visible eye, and waved before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

He couldn't tell what her expression was. She returned her gaze back to the class in front of her, and began scanning the room for an empty seat.

Shikamaru suddenly realised that there were in fact only two available seats in the classroom—and the whole non-appointed seating plan had been thrown off. One of the seats was next to a pair of girls who, a year prior, had an incident with the Uzumaki, which led the two to being rather scared of her, as well as a temporary suspension for Naruto. The other seat, however, was next to him.

He watched as Naruto walked up to the desk of the girls, dragging her nails across it as she walked past. The girls remained frozen, leant away from Naruto, watching her every move. But, she didn't sit in that seat, instead choosing the one next to Shikamaru. He couldn't help but be amused.

He didn't mind that she decided to sit next to him. Shikamaru didn't dislike Naruto; on the contrary, actually. He couldn't quite figure out why parents told their kids to stay away from her. His never did, but he knew some of his classmates were told just that. "Stay away from that child."

This was mostly in the first year at the academy. He remembers getting looks from some of the adults when they were younger merely from the fact they were playing together. He never understood it then, he still didn't understand it now.

Even if Naruto had grown up to be somewhat intimidating.

She never was when she was younger. She was loud, energetic, borderlining irritating at times, and forever smiling. She was happy, but then she didn't attend for a month or so, and her entire persona changed when she came back.

Instead of wanting to hang out with Choji, him and Kiba, she stopped talking to them. She practically stopped talking to everyone. He still wanted to know why, but they never asked again after the first time. In a childish anger, Kiba had stormed up to Naruto after two weeks of being ignored and dismissed by her. After asking her why she never talked to them anymore, she gave a response Shikamaru still to this day was trying to decipher.

"I don't want to play anymore."

He couldn't figure out why.

Shikamaru hated not being able to solve something.

Unbeknownst to the Nara, the Uchiha next to him buzzed with anticipated.

I know it's a bit of a short chapter, I'm sorry! I just didn't want to write more than necessary. The next chapter should be up soonish. I have a lot of work right now but I wanted to get this chapter out fairly quickly.

Reviews are always appreciated!