Chapter 20 – Shikamaru's Chapter (Part 2)

School trips were such a drag. Everyone being forced to travel together in a crowded bus only to go to some zoo and stay overnight at the same place without beds was not my idea fun. Man, I wished I were a cloud. Clouds didn't have do anything but float lazily in the sky. If I were a cloud I won't have to hear Ino giggling all over the lame compliments Sai gave her or sit beside Kiba Inuzuka or not see Temari…Having a girlfriend was a drag sometimes but making out with my girl made the effort worth it…most of the time. But Temari wasn't on this trip and so it wasn't really worth any of my effort or time. I wished I had gotten sick like Choji. If Choji were on the trip it would have been better but he had to get sick. Man…

"Alright, students, we are here!" Anko-sensei stood at the front of the bus smiling. I looked down from the clouds to see we had indeed arrived at zoo.

"Come on kids!" Anko-sensei encouraged us to all get up and out. I waited for everyone else to get off before I finally did.

"Okay, now that everyone is off, we have to pair everyone up with a buddy," Anko-sensei continued.

Buddy system was such a drag. Anko-sensei started calling out names of who was to be with who. Ino practically shattered my eardrum with her happy squeal when she was paired with Sai. Most friends were paired up like Shino and Kiba, Iyashi and Hosei, and Ami and Fuki. If Choji had come I knew we would have been paired together.

"Hinata Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki," Anko-sensei called out that pair. Hinata blushed like she always did whenever she was around Naruto.

"Due to us missing a student, our numbers are uneven. So one group will have three people. Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara," Anko-sensei finished. Great. I was stuck with Mr. "Personality" and the love struck pinkette…what a drag.

"You all can go explore the zoo but we are all to meet at the bird sanctuary at noon! Have fun!" Anko-sensei sent us off. I found Sasuke and Sakura. She was smiling in her situation while Sasuke looked like he wanted to be far from the zoo like myself.

"Where do you guys want to go?" Sakura asked cheerfully.

"Hn," Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't care," I offered my opinion.

"How about we go see the lions and tigers?" She suggested. We nodded and followed her. Sakura was a nice girl even though she talked a lot. She would ask about Temari or talk about how "cute" the animals were. It wasn't until we went into the reptile house that Sakura went silent. I observed how she kept her eyes focused on the floor instead of the animals behind the glass. Sasuke wandered off towards the glass enclosures that held snakes but I stayed near Sakura. She obviously had an aversion to snakes.

"We can sit outside if you want," I told her.

"But don't you want to look at the animals?"

"I'm not really into reptiles," I responded rather honestly.

"Okay," She headed for the front door.

"Sasuke, Sakura and I will wait for you outside," I called to him. He nodded. Sakura and I sat down on a bench across from the building.

"I really hate snakes," She shivered. I merely sighed and looked up to the sky. The clouds just floated by so calmly.

"Do you like cloud watching, Shikamaru?" Sakura suddenly asked.

"Yeah."

"Is it really that fun?"

"It's just relaxing."

"Maybe I'll try it," Sakura smiled and looked up to the sky. We sat in silence and it was nice. I looked over at Sakura once and she seemed very relaxed.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura and I both looked from the sky when we heard the Karin girl's voice. She had found Sasuke and was trying to latch onto his arm. Sakura was gritting her teeth as she glared at the redhead.

"Sasuke-kun, want to go with me to the lions," She was smacking away on something.

"Back off, Karin," I heard Sasuke said and slip his arm out of her grip. He came towards us.

"Let's head to the bird sanctuary," Sasuke said when we got to us. It was about time to go meet everyone else. We made it to the bird sanctuary about the time everyone else did. We all had lunch at the cafeteria near the sanctuary then we were introduced to a special guide who took us through the sanctuary to show us the birds. She took us around to see how certain animals were washed, fed, etc. We spent hours touring and interacting with the more docile creatures. When dinner came around we were told that we would have to complete certain activities involving what we learned in touring the zoo. We got into our groups to complete the activities. Sakura took the lead on everything since she seemed to have paid the most attention to everything. Sasuke barely voiced any answers like myself but we managed to get all the answers right.

After dinner, we were supposed to have night tour to see their newest and yet to be seen exhibit on gorillas. It had begun to rain which caused most girls to whine about their hair getting ruined but Sakura didn't much to my pleasure. If she had been a whiner this trip would have been a bigger drag.

While we were watching the gorillas, Sakura slipped away to use the bathroom. We were to leave but Sakura was still not out of the bathroom. Sasuke and I were told to wait for Sakura. We waited and waited but she didn't come out.

"Someone should go get her," I suggested as Sasuke and I waited. We stared at each other since neither of us wanted to invade the ladies' restroom.

"I'll go then," I caved. I knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sakura," I called to her.

"Umm…who is it?" She asked.

"Shikamaru," I replied. She cracked the door open. Her eyes were red as if from crying.

"What's wrong?"

Sakura opened the door further. She looked fine besides her crying face. I did not understand what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" I asked again. She started sniffling and turned around to show her hair. There was a big wad of gum in her hair. How it got there I did not know but it was huge.

"I can't get it out," She started crying. Crying women were such a drag. Why did I have to take care of her?

"Can't you just cut it?" I asked.

"Cut it!" It was as if I had asked her to cut if her hand.

"I can't cut it. Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair," She stroked her long hair.

"Then you just got to keep the gum," I reasoned. She frowned.

"Do you have any scissors?" She asked.

"No, but I have a pocket knife," I pulled the knife out.

"Cut it please," She sniffled.

"Just the gum clump?"

"No! I'll look ridiculous. Make sure it is even," She turned her back to me so I could cut. I felt bad that I had to cut her hair. It was down to her waist and the gum was near her shoulders.

"Ready?"

"Yes," She whimpered. Her hair was so fine that it was easy to cut. She cried as I cut. Why were girls so attached to their hair? It would grow back.

"Thank you, Shikamaru," She turned around when I finished. I threw her hair away and we exited the bathroom only to see Sasuke standing there. He looked very shocked.

"Your hair…" was all Sasuke said. Sakura only began to cry and ran back into the bathroom.

"What happened to her hair?" Sasuke asked me.

"I cut it."

"Why?" He looked enraged.

"There was gum in it so she asked me to cut it," I related the events. Sasuke sighed and went to the door.

"Sakura," He knocked on the door. She didn't respond. Sasuke sighed and kept knocking.

"Sakura!" Sasuke finally went into the bathroom.

"Don't look at me!" Sakura covered her head.

"Stop being annoying," He growled and got Sakura up from the bathroom floor she was sitting on.

"It doesn't look bad, Sakura. Now let's go," Sasuke grabbed her wrist tightly and began pulling her out. I followed them. Sakura kept sniffling till finally she was out of tears and we were near the group and where we were supposed to sleep. When we rejoined our class all stared at Sakura. Everyone asked what happened. I felt the burden to tell the truth and all were very consoling to her. Ino and Anko-sensei took her away. I heard everyone talking about the situation but I observed while watching the girls that one was smirking in pleasure. Karin. She had been smacking earlier. Probably on gum. She put it Sakura's hair. What a bitch. I almost wanted to go yell at her but that required effort and when I saw Sasuke pull her away I knew it was taken care of.