Part 2
Shikamaru stood under an old oak tree, the oldest in the entire forest. Chouji stood by his side as they faced the ten eager hopefuls. Even Deidara had shown up, skulking out of the shadows a few minutes before. It was precisely 12 noon.
"Listen up!" Chouji bellowed, between bites of a sandwich. "We're going to give you the dormitory arrangements! You'll all be in pairs."
The boys all groaned, the girls all looked hopefully at their friends, and they all turned excitedly to look at Shikamaru.
"Does that mean you two will be sharing?" called out Temari. At Chouji's nod, the faces of all the contestants dropped a little. They all wanted to share a room with Shikamaru.
"First up! Pair one is Ino and Sakura!"
The blonde turned to her old friend, and both smiled at each other, before turning away, each hiding a secret sneer.
"Pair two is Neji and Hinata!"
Neji stiffened slightly, but did not stop watching Shikamaru. Hinata looked anxiously at her cousin and back again, fiddling with a bit of loose thread on her jumper in a nervous way.
"Pair three, Gaara and Temari!"
The Sand siblings, used to sharing a room in their childhood, merely shrugged and nodded in acceptance.
"Pair four, Naruto and… (are you sure, Shikamaru? Really? Alright…) Naruto and Deidara!"
Naruto glared at the Akatsuki member, obviously remembering the time Deidara had tried to blow him and his friends up. Deidara simply flicked his hair back over one shoulder, smiling in a flirty way at Shikamaru.
"Last of all, Sai and Tenten. Now, you have one hour to settle into your new rooms. Please return back here in exactly ONE HOUR – no exceptions!"
When all of the contestants had disappeared into the craftily-hidden tree houses, Shikamaru looked round at his friend with a smirk.
"You're good at all this troublesome business, Chouji."
"Huh, thanks." His team-mate replied. "I think I'm losing weight, though…"
Group OneIno and Sakura, having unpacked the few essentials they had brought, sat on their beds, pretending not to be aware of each other. Sakura was painting her nails, while Ino brushed her long, blonde hair.
"You'll never detract attention from that big ugly forehead of yours by painting your nails, you know." Said Ino in an innocent tone of voice.
"Well, it doesn't matter," replied Sakura sweetly. "Shikamaru has spent too long around you to actually like you, Ino-pig."
Ino made a 'hmph' noise, and turned back to her mirror. Secretly, as soon as they were sure the other one had turned away, both girls smiled to themselves.
Group Two
Hinata watched her older cousin nervously, too afraid to unpack, thinking she would almost certainly have to leave straight away.
"Why are you staring at me?" Neji asked her, the first thing he had said to her all day.
"N-neji-san, I was j-just-"
"Oh, be quiet. Can't you even stop stuttering for a minute? Don't do that blush thing! Why do you have to be so damn cute?"
"W-what?"
"With the Hyuuga looks, and a blush like that, Shikamaru will snap you up." Neji sighed angrily. "Can't you control yourself?"
Hinata stared at him, unsure whether to be complimented or threatened.
Group Three
Gaara idly made shapes with his sand while Temari tried in vain to find somewhere to put her fan. The room was too small, so eventually she gave up, climbed halfway down the tree, and roped it to the trunk. When she got back, Gaara was waiting for her with a strange look on his face.
"Temari… do you think Kankurou will be alright looking after my duties while I'm away?"
"Of course, Gaara! Our nii-san is perfectly capable. Why do you ask?"
"It's just… I keep getting this feeling… I don't think I locked the door to the vault…"
Temari laughed and shook her head. Taking a moment to realise how different this new Gaara was, she smiled in true appreciation of how her brother had changed.
Group Four
Naruto sat glaring at Deidara.
Deidara was making little birds out of clay.
Naruto glared at the little birds.
"You better not blow them up!" He said angrily.
Deidara smiled.
Naruto glared at the smile.
Group 5
"So, Tenten," said Sai happily, "What's your special technique? I've never seen you fight before!"
"Weaponry is my style," Tenten said, a mischievous glint in one eye. "What to see?"
"Sure!" grinned Sai. A mere second later, he looked down to find himself surrounded by quivering kunais, all of which had missed him by millimetres.
"… You're pretty good…" he said, thankful she had no reason to dislike him.
Shikamaru watched with a smug smile as his potential girlfriends and boyfriends climbed down the rope ladders to the meeting place. Chouji couldn't help but feel that he was enjoying things far too much. He hadn't called anything troublesome in an unusually long time.
"Right, for the first challenge, what Shikamaru is looking for in a partner is someone who knows him well and has shared their past with him. So, you all have to tell him your fondest memory of a time you shared. Tomorrow, one person will have to leave here, so you have to put your best effort in!" The ever-hungry ninja told the waiting contestants. "You have to go in group order. First up, Ino."
Ino walked up to Shikamaru and sat down next to him.
"Well," She began, "We've been team-mates for so long that there are a lot of memories. The best ones were times like eating together as a celebration, fighting together, and seeing each other every morning. But, I think my favourite memory is the time when we all went down to the river last summer and messed about under the waterfall, and drifted downstream together watching the clouds."
Shikamaru nodded, impressed. Ino was right – that day had been one of the best of his life.
Next up was Sakura, who shot Ino a dirty look as they crossed paths.
"Shikamaru… there is only one memory I could consider as the best. That's when I was helping treat Team Shikamaru after you tried to rescue Sasuke, and you were so relieved that everyone was alright that you cried. Then you came and spoke to me about Sasuke… that's my favourite memory of you."
Hinata approached nervously, and blushed from the moment he laid eyes on her until the moment she left.
"Sh-shikamaru-kun, I think my b-best memory of you is w-watching you accept Chuunin status, b-because you fought so cleverly you r-really deserved it…"
Neji, much more outgoing than his cousin, placed one hand over Shikamaru's as he spoke.
"I don't know about this memory being good, but its one I treasure… it's when I finally saw you after we tried to rescue Sasuke. I was so relieved that you were alright, even though I was hurt, it made me very happy to see you."
Gaara looked deep into Shikamaru's brown eyes with his turquoise ones.
"I don't have a best memory of you… I want to make one, because none of the ones I have are good enough. You're better than all of them."
Temari smiled at him and cupped his chin with one graceful hand.
"I always remember when Naruto asked if we were on a date, because I wanted the answer to be yes. That, and the time when I had to stop you getting killed…"
Naruto rushed up eagerly, grinning at his friend.
"Shikamaru! Listen up! My best memory is all the times we fought together! But especially when you helped me try to rescue Sasuke!"
Deidara sauntered up, his hair swishing in the breeze.
"Shikamaru… my best memory is last week when I saw you having a shower… that was heavenly, un? You've got such a nice body, un…" As he spoke, Deidara leaned closer and laid one hand on his chest. Then, with a careless chuckle, he walked away. Shikamaru was slightly scared that Deidara had been watching him in the shower… and, strangely, attracted to him even more because of it. Shaking his head in an effort to clear his mind, he watched the next contestant approach.
Tenten's answer was simple.
"Every day I spend with you outdoes the last."
Finally, Sai gave him a bright and genuine smile.
"My favourite memory is the time I first met you! We were with Kakashi-sensei in hospital and you came to visit!! I thought you were really hot!!!"
"O… kay…" said Shikamaru, backing away a little from Sai's too-wide grin. This guy, he thought, is even worse than a girl.
"Alright everyone! That's it for today… now go get some food and some rest. We'll see you back here at 9 am sharp, to tell you who isn't going to make it to the next round!" Chouji shouted, brushing crumbs off his shirt.
"Maybe I picked some really strange and troublesome people here, un? I mean, uh, … ahem." Shikamaru remarked quietly.