Title: Good Friend Chouji
Pairings: Shikamaru x (undecided), Sai x Naruto, Haku x Zabuza, Kiba x Hinata, Neji x Tenten (more will be announced at a later date. Pairings will change.)
Warnings: child abuse, self mutilation, bullying, references to sex/sexual acts, homosexuality, underage drinking, and rape. And stupidity, but that's a given.
Author: Drinking Acid
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If you hadn't figure it out until now, I seriously pity you.
It was a mad dash to the stairs, all of them fighting and clawing their way to the entrance and rushing up the steep incline. There was shouting and hitting, the urge to leave the comfortable basement suddenly becoming the primary thought pattern between the lot of them, followed only by the need to stop Gaara from doing whatever it was he was about to do and fast. Time was of the essence, and there was no moment like the present to be more aware of that fact. Throwing the door open, they shot into the kitchen, causing a loud bang as the door rebounded off the wall (leaving a large doorknob-sized hole in the plaster), coupled by the pounding of their feet on the linoleum floor, and poured into the room in a jumbled frenzy. Without a doubt, they scared the daylights out of the pot smokers, but since none of them were of their concern, they were ignored for the swinging door that would lead them to the living room, the supposed battle ground of Gaara Sabaku.
If it was possible, the living room was far more quiet than the basement had been, the pulse of music unnoticed within the tension that filled the room, holding everything in place. Several of the partygoers looked scared, some looked confused, and others were cheering, tripping over their own feet as they laughed and drowned themselves in beer. A multicolored disco light had been set up and random blotches of light flew around the room, dotting them all in an odd assembly of colors. A few black and orange streamers had been torn, left to hang forlornly on the wall and banister, and some people from the upper level had come down and were lined up on the staircase, staring down at the scene unfolding in the room below.
In the center of the crowd, a large ring (almost like a Colosseum) had been cleared, leaving two people to circle each other like fighting dogs. One was Gaara, as Zetsu had said, and the other was Zaku, dressed as some sort of Egyptian getup (it looked poorly made, much like Naruto's costume). Each of them had a weapon, Gaara clutching Lee's letter opener and Zaku holding a skewer (like the kind used for kabobs). Their group shoved their way to the edge of the ring, bunching up to look over shoulders and watch the fight, varying degrees of worry and curiosity on their faces. Shikamaru managed to get to the front with Naruto, Chouji squeezed in next to him, with Sai and Sasori behind them. Gaara and Zaku continued to circle one another, the black-haired boy lashing out with his skewer at random moments, only to miss and move to doge a blur of attacks from the red-head.
Looking on, it was easy to tell who had the upper hand. He could see from the way Zaku's hand had curled around the skewer until his knuckles turned white, his grip tight and shaking as he tried to attack, while Gaara's grip was loose yet controlled, his piercing eyes never leaving Zaku's form. The way Gaara's face was schooled and impassive while Zaku's was twisted with furry, his whole body shaking with unsuppressed rage, was also a giveaway, and the haphazard way Zaku tried to attack, followed by Gaara's easy dodges, only confirmed it. It wasn't at all hard to tell who was winning.
Naruto, of course, was never one to catch on fast.
"Oi Gaara! What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" screamed the blonde from the sidelines, his face flushed and scared. Gaara pretended not to hear him, his eyes staying fixed on the seething freshman. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"Calm down Naruto, he's not going to loose," he grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets with a sigh. The red-head shot him a look, his pale green eyes wide and calculative.
Though he'd only just met the boy, Shikamaru knew, from the stories he'd heard from Naruto and his troop, that Gaara was no rookie when if came to fighting. The bloody-haired teen may not have the best grade in P.E., but he wasn't a cowered and he wasn't stupid. He knew how to wield a weapon, how to conduct himself in a fight, and how to use psychology against his opponent. Battles could be won even before the first punch was thrown, and if anyone was ever a master at that tactic, it was the youngest Sabaku. Gaara wouldn't loose; but there inlay the problem.
Gaara would win.
And Zaku would die.
Shikamaru rubbed his temples, glaring out at the boys still circling one another. This was so not good.
"Come on, freak," snarled Zaku, flashing a cocky grin, "show me what'chu got!"
"Bite me, bitch," growled Gaara, his expression never changing (though his eye did twitch. How strange of him to slip up like that).
Zaku hissed, lashing out at the red-head only to get his forearm stabbed as Gaara retaliated. Yelping in pain, he stumbled back, clutching the injured appendage in his free hand. Angry, hateful eyes locked onto his imperturbable opponent, his whole body tense and aggravated.
"Fuck you, tard-head!" Zaku snapped. Gaara kept his gaze hard and steady, his whole figure cool and collected as he shifted into a stance Shikamaru recognized from ninja and samurai movies. Beside him, he felt Naruto stiffen up, and across the ring he finally noticed Kankuro, Lee, Haku, and Zabuza, all of whom (save Zabuza, who simply looked "interested" and Lee who was blinking in a rather clueless manner) looked as pale as sheets (even Kankuro with his make-up on). Something bad was going to happen.
"Hm, what should I do," murmured Gaara, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. His eyes were wide and excited, glassy with delusion. "Should I cut open his liver or his stomach first? Or should I remove his intestines and strangle him with them? Decisions, decisions . . . ."
Zaku's face turned pale and a glimmer of fear sprouted in his eyes. There was a moment were Shikamaru was sure he'd run, but the black-haired teen held his ground, eyeing Gaara with new caution.
"Wh-what the fuck are you spoutin', freak?" sneered Zaku shakily. "Ya god damn psycho! You should be in the fucking nut house! Get the hell outta here!"
Chouji's hand gripped his forearm, the shorter boy shuffling closer to him nervously. His face was pale and frightened, mirrored by the expressions on Kankuro and Haku's faces, both of whom looked as if terrorists had barged in with loaded guns and had started shooting everyone in sight. Beside him, he heard Naruto gasp under his breath. "Oh, fuck no! Don't say that . . . !"
"Oh really?" grinned Gaara, his eyes alight with a very disturbing emotion; Shikamaru felt the distinct urge to run. "Funny you should mention that . . . ."
There was a flash of movement and before he could understand what had happened, Gaara had Zaku pinned to the ground, the letter opener held to the boy's neck and the skewer left discarded several feet away. The blade of the letter opener was pressed forcefully against the boy's neck, Zaku's fingers clawing at Gaara's wrists in a vain attempt to free himself. While he knew the edge was too dull to make a cut (since it was, in fact, a letter opener and not a throat opener), it made the esophagus cave in under it, restricting Zaku's breathing. A strangled gasp emitted from the boy, followed by wicked chuckling from Gaara.
"L-let g-go of m-me!" gasped Zaku, his voice barely heard over the sudden din of voices, scared and excited alike, that had broken out in the room. The smile on Gaara's face grew, becoming more disturbing by the moment as he simple pressed harder.
"No, I don't think I will," replied the freshman nonchalantly. The room became utterly quiet in less than a second, all eyes trained on the small, green-eyed teen. "You see, I think you're a goddamn fucking jackass, and I think anybody who's a goddamn fucking jackass should die and burn in Hell for all eternity." Gaara giggled insanely, leaning in closer to Zaku's face. "That means you have to die, because, if I were to let you live, I'd be a hypocrite, and I loath hypocrites. Get it?"
"Gaara," spoke Kankuro suddenly, stepping towards his little brother. His hands and voice were shaking, as if he wanted to run away but couldn't. The courage he displayed was most certainly suicidal, but Shikamaru respected him for it all the same. "Gaara, please, just let him go. He didn't mean it, okay? He's just stupid. He doesn't realize what he did, so just let him go."
Said boy didn't seem to have heard him, his expression never wavering as he continued to apply pressure to the black-haired boy's neck. "So you see my dilemma? I have to kill you. There's no way out of this, bitch, and trying to escape will just make this all the more fun for me."
Leaning over, Shikamaru whispered into Chouji's ear: "Get Dosu." His friend left instantly, disappearing into the crowd without question. Turning to Naruto and Sai, he said in a hushed voice, "He's not going to listen to reason, so we're going to have to act fast. Sai, Naruto, you guys need to restrain him and take away that letter opener while I get Zaku out of here, got it?"
Naruto stared blankly at him for a moment, his eyes wide and his mouth open, as if he hadn't heard a word he said. Sai nodded, though, pushing Naruto forward and into the ring. Snapping to attention, the blonde lurched forward, a determined gleam entering his eyes as he and Sai rushed toward Gaara, Shikamaru on their heels, and Kankuro hurrying in from the other side. Sai was the first to reach Gaara, shoving the redhead's shoulders so as to dislodge him while Kankuro wrapped his arms around his brother's chest. As Shikamaru dragged Zaku away, Naruto pried at Gaara's fingers, trying to get at the letter opener— except he couldn't get to it in time.
"LET GO OF ME!" roared Gaara, his face twisting with rage. Naruto yelped as he was thrown off his feet, the red-head thrashing about wildly in Kankuro's hold. At the edge of the crowd appeared Chouji, with Dosu and Kin in toe, both of them in Egyptian costumes (Kin was a princess and Dosu was a mummy) and Shikamaru took that opportunity to get Zaku out of Gaara's line of fire.
"Take him and get him as far away from here as possible before he get's himself disemboweled," he ordered, dumping Zaku's coughing form in Dosu's arms, not bothering to explain further. He grabbed the end of Chouji's scarf, pulling him in a bit closer to the growing fight taking place in the ring. Shikamaru scowled.
"Gaara, c'mon, just give me the letter opener, okay—?"
"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME! LET—!"
"Please! Gaara, just calm down! We don't want to hurt you!"
"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF—!"
"Calm down Gaara, we're just trying to help!" yelled Kankuro over the shouts filling the room. As strong as the junior was, he couldn't hold down his little brother for very long. At least, not as long as he had that damned letter opener. Naruto couldn't seem to pry Gaara's grip loose, but then, hadn't Sai said that Gaara had a grip as strong as a bear trap? Damn, this wasn't good.
"What the fuck is going on?" came a demanding voice. The crowd parted, allowing for three people to come storming through. One was Tenten, her face flushed and angry (dressed as a genie), the next was a boy he didn't recognize (dressed as some sort of martial arts fighter), but from his pale eyes he assumed it was another Hyuuga (seriously, it was as they were a whole separate race with the number of people they had in that family), and the third was a woman he'd only met once in his entire life time— and had hoped never to meet again.
Temari's face was drawn and angry as she stepped into the ring, her pale green eyes flashing with a dangerous light that did not bode well for the occupants of said ring. While he didn't know what she had dressed herself as, the giant fan she was toting was enough to make him nervous. He winced. By gods, he hoped he wouldn't get hit with that thing.
"I said, what the fuck is going on?" snapped Tenten, just before she seemed to realize what the scene before her meant and she proceeded to duck behind the Hyuuga, who simply rolled his eyes. Temari was not so easily deterred.
"What the hell?" she hissed, striding forward to grab the red-head's wrists and hold them at his sides. Kankuro tightened his hold around his brother's chest, breathing hard, while Sai and Naruto retreated, watching the blonde woman trying to sooth their homicidal friend.
"What happened?" she asked calmly.
Gaara's eyes were still wide, his face pinched and angry. "That fucking dick face! You know what that mother fucker was thinkin'? Huh? You know? He was laughing. The goddamned bastard was laughing at me! LAUGHING AT ME! That god damn fucking little shitwad! Fuck, I'm gonna KILL him!"
He started to struggle again, thrashing madly in his brother's arms. Temari held firm, her fingers slowly inching towards Gaara's palm where the letter opener was still clutched. The red-head didn't seem to notice, but he certainly didn't calm down, and the patience of the others around him had finally worn thin.
Kisame and Hidan pushed past him suddenly, almost knocking him clear into Chouji, followed closely by Deidara and Sasori, joined by Zabuza from across the ring. The three giants surrounded Gaara, each taking a limb to hold still, and Zabuza pulled Kankuro away so as to take his place. Temari focused on the letter opener, grunting as she tried to uncurl the boy's fingers. Gaara was putting up one hell of a fight.
"LET ME THE FUCK GO, YOU DICKWADS! LET THE FUCK GO OF ME! LET GO LET GO LET GO LET GO LET GO LET GO LET GO LET—!"
"Gaara, let go!" ordered Temari, her voice firm.
"NO!"
"Gaara—!"
"I said NO!" Gaara gave a might jerk, breaking free from Kisame's hands. The blue skinned man blinked in shock, caught off guard, before grabbing him back.
But not before he got the chance to stab somebody.
"FUCK!" Hidan snarled, letting go to clutch his arm in pain. Temari clawed at her little brother's hand, prying the fingers away long enough to snatch the device out of his reach. Without thinking about it, Shikamaru stepped forward and grabbed the letter opener out of her hand, his other hand still gripping Chouji's scarf, before he sprinted to the front door. Gaara gave a furious roar, breaking away momentarily to chase after him.
"GIVE IT BACK!"
The front door was flung open and he raced out, Chouji and Gaara at his heels, shoving the letter opener into his jacket pocket.
"Got a spoon?" he panted, turning his head slightly to glance at Chouji as they raced off the porch and onto the lawn. A white plastic spoon was pressed to his hand and he about faced, pulling Chouji's scarf so as to lead him around behind him. Gaara stopped dead in front of the Nara, his breathing ragged and his eyes alight with excitement.
"Want your blade?" he asked coolly. Gaara sneered, advancing on him. Quickly, he chucked the spoon out into the drive way, watching it fade into the darkness. "Then go get it."
Gaara took off after the spoon, snarling obscenities into the air. Temari, Naruto, Sai, Kankuro, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Hinata, Haku, Sasuke (when did he join in?), Kisame, Hidan, Zabuza, Deidara, Sasori, Zetsu and the orange-masked boy came pouring out after him, pooling onto the lawn as they tried to figure out where the dangerous red-head had gone.
"Where is he? Where is he?" demanded Temari, her eyes flashing. Shikamaru pointed.
"He went to get his blade."
Temari's eyes widened and suddenly her hands had wrapped around his throat, her face thunderous to the point of god-like furry. He really, really wished he hadn't just said that.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she hissed, shaking his neck and causing his head to nod forcibly.
"That's not what I meant," he growled out, shoving her away. "I'm not stupid." He rubbed his throat with one hand, the other diving into his pockets to retrieve the letter opener. Calmly, he dropped it in her hands. "I threw a spoon."
"SHIKAMARU!"
Scowling, he turned to look as a furious Gaara with the plastic spoon clutched painfully tight in his hand stumbled toward him—
Wait, stumbled?
He looked closer, realizing that the teen wasn't walking quite right, as if he couldn't keep his balance, and though his face was angry, his eyes were no longer bright with hate, but glassy and fogged over. Temari blinked at her brother, she too having noticed the odd change, and pushed the blade back into his hands, moving to grab hold of the wobbly red-head. Kankuro followed suit, his brow furrowed, and they both held him up, keeping the boy on his feet.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Kankuro quizzically. Gaara blinked hard, his eyes trying to focus.
"He can't even walk a strait line, yeah!" declared Deidara, blue eyes wide with interest.
"Maybe he's sick," suggested Naruto with his face and voice concerned. He pressed the back of his hand against Gaara's forehead; said boy went cross-eyed trying to focus on the "cereal killer's" hand.
"Yeah, sick in the head," grumbled Kiba. Haku cuffed him on the back of the head, sending the werewolf a heated look.
"Don't be a jackass, Kiba," snapped the sophomore.
"I'm just sayin'," growled the boy, rubbing his head. Shino shifted beside his friend, looking over at the Sabaku's.
"Is he taking any medication?" asked the bug boy in a level tone. Temari blinked, looking over at Shino uncertainly. Kankuro was the one who answered him.
"Yeah, he is."
"Then it's probably just the medication reacting with alcohol," reasoned the black-haired teen. Naruto stared at him in shock, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Gaara doesn't drink!"
"Yeah, I was with him almost the whole time and he didn't have any alcohol," vouched Sasuke, raising his hand as if he were in a court room.
"Then how does one get drunk without actually drinking?" wondered Lee aloud, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Haku turned to Sasuke.
"What did he drink tonight?" he asked. The Uchiha blinked, thinking back over the night.
"Let's see, there was some water bottles that we got, but then they got spilt, and so we got some punch, and then we managed to snag some unopened Pepsi bottles."
"Well, that explains that, yeah," mumbled Deidara grumpily, "the Pepsi is what made him sick, yeah." Sasori sighed.
"Don't be stupid, Deidara."
"I'm not stupid, yeah!"
"Of course not."
"That's right, yeah!" Sasori rolled his eyes.
"Cut it out, we've got a serious problem here," snapped Haku, his voice cutting through their argument easily. The two quieted, but not before the blonde stuck his tongue out at the geisha.
"Haku's right," agreed Kankuro, still holding his brother up. The younger boy looked pale and sedated, his eyes unfocused. Shikamaru felt worry creep into his mind, adding to the thoughts whirling through his head. "The water and Pepsi couldn't have been spiked because they were unopened," he looked quickly to Sasuke, "right?"
"Right," concurred Sasuke.
"So that means the only thing it could have been would be the punch," stated Kisame, looking between Kankuro and Sasuke.
"Who would be so un-youthful as to spike the punch?" wailed Lee, his already wide eyes becoming bigger still. Slowly, almost like a scene out of a suspence film, everyone turned to look at Kiba, who stood shuffling his feet guiltily.
"Um, sorry?" he said uncertainly, dark eyes darting around at all of them. Kankuro and Temari looked pissed. Seriously pissed. So pissed that even Orochimaru would've run away at the look on their faces.
"You WHAT?" they screamed together, causing a few house lights down the street to blink on and for Gaara and Hinata to jump about a foot in the air. Kiba shrunk back under their heated glares, his body shaking with barely suppressed fear. Shikamaru sighed. This night was far too troublesome.
"That was also why Misters Sakon and Ukon kissed Miss Hinata," piped in the orange-masked boy, his voice drawing the Sabaku sibling's attention.
"Who the hell are you?" barked Temari, her eyes hardening. Tobi bowed graciously at her, taking her hand to plant a soft kiss on it. The girl blushed, stammering slightly.
"I am Tobi, a friend of Mister Zetsu," he told her.
"Zetsu?" cried Kankuro, blinking in surprise. The bicolored flytrap shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tilting his head curiously to the side.
"Hmm . . . you look familiar . . . . . . what? No, no this is the older one . . . . . Yes, that's right . . . . . . oh, something like can— can— can—"
"Kankuro?" supplied Deidara, looking up at the taller man. Zetsu nodded, exhaling softly.
"Yes."
"Wow I haven't seen you since—!"
Kankuro was cut off as Temari slapped her hand over his mouth, hissing at him to shut up. The group stared at them, expressions morphing into several different emotions. Kiba, Hinata, Lee, Hidan, Deidara, Kisame and Sasuke all looked thoroughly surprised, unaware as to what was so important that needed to be kept under wraps (well, Sasuke sort of looked surprised; he wasn't big on the whole "emotion" thing. All he really did was raise an eyebrow). From behind him, Chouji shifted and with a glance over his shoulder he knew that his friend was just as clueless as the others. Naruto seemed nervous, and Zabuza, Sai, Sasori, Zetsu and Tobi expressed no emotion whatsoever (of course, Tobi could've been squinting quizzically at them and no one would know it, since his mask pretty much hid any reaction he might have had).
He frowned, staring at them all with sharp, clear eyes. There was something off here, and he knew that it wasn't something appropriate for a mixed audience, so the disclosure of important information was pretty much shot. For a moment he was tempted to move his hands into his "thinking seal" (that's what Asuma called it, since he only used it when he was concocting a brilliant plan to get out of troublesome point in chess), but he kept his hands at his sides, realizing abruptly that he was still clutching Chouji's scarf. He let it go, but his hand felt colder now, and he scowled at not having kept hold of the warm fabric.
"Ha ha, well anyway," laughed Temari, trying vainly to break the tension, "I think it's time for this night to end. Kankuro, I'm gonna take Gaara home, m'kay?"
"Oh sure, yeah, I'll go with you," agreed Kankuro instantly, moving with Temari as they carried Gaara to the older girl's PT Cruiser. "Hey, we'll see you guys on Monday?" he called over his shoulder.
"See ya then!" replied Naruto, waving.
They were all left standing in the middle of Tenten's lawn, bathed in the light of the beaming jack-'o'-lanterns, gazing back and forth between each other. For a moment all was quiet, the only sounds coming from the loud pound of music from inside the house and the whoops and cheers of the people still partying. A crash sounded from within, followed by a deafening shriek, and Kiba let out a giggle, cupping a hand over his mouth to stifle it.
Haku sighed, flipping his hair in a business-like manner before addressing them all.
"So who's ridding with who?"
"Did ya hear, did ya hear?" chorused Naruto excitedly. Shikamaru groaned, sliding down in his chair as he reached for some of Chouji's chips. When Naruto was born, they should've put a sticker on him saying: "WARNING: If kept in contact with for long periods of time, you will be subjected to never-lasting peace, ringing ears, raw nerves, and a continuously lowering IQ." Seriously, it should be a mandatory procedure by now.
They were sitting in history class on a perfectly good Monday morning (ha, that was a laugh), waiting for Kakashi to show up. The other students were all talking as they usually did, Kiba had goaded Shino into helping him mess with the TV, and from the corner of his eye he could see Sakura and Ino talking animatedly with the other girls, blushes and giggles the primary language between them. Shikamaru had (miraculously) been on time that morning and hadn't missed Anko's announcement about grades getting handed out later in the week, nor her lecture on what would happen to them if they didn't pass.
Oh joy.
After the party on Saturday, his weekend had been a total humdinger, full of sleeping, eating, cloud watching and —wait for it— working. Gee, spending weekends with him was a roller coaster ride, wasn't it? Oh great, he was being cynical again. Well, at least Chouji didn't mind hanging out with him and sitting through his daily activities (consisting of nothing but lying down), so it couldn't be that bad. But then, Chouji was too nice a person to simply tell someone that they were as exciting as a dry roasted peanut. No matter how true it was.
"What, Naruto?" asked Chouji politely. Naruto grinned wildly, jumping up and down in his seat.
"A new student is transferring in and they say that he's really famous!" gossiped the blonde, his eyes glowing brightly. He raised an eyebrow, swallowing his food.
"Where'd you hear this?"
"Sakura," Naruto said, as if this answered everything.
"So it's immediately believed to be true?" he questioned skeptically. The blonde scowled.
"She wouldn't lie," he pouted. Chouji coughed, his face going red as he just barely escaped choking on a mouthful of chips. Shikamaru snorted, eyeing his energetic friend critically.
"Sure she wouldn't." Naruto didn't catch the sarcasm.
"Besides, even that guy —what's his name?— Deidara said so. I ran into him this morning on my way to my locker an—!"
"Wait, do mean "run into" as in "noticed and decided to talk to" or as in "ran strait into and fell flat on your ass"?" Naruto stuck his tongue out, huffing indignantly.
"The second one."
"I thought so."
"Anyway, as I was saying," continued Naruto, glaring at him, "Sakura said he's supposed to be one of those prodigy kids that gets, like, all the first prizes at the science fairs and spelling bees and shit like that. That's kinda stupid, but she and Lee say that he's also really good at sports and that he's gonna be playing basketball when he gets here."
"Why are you so excited about this?"
Naruto sighed in exasperation, giving him an impatient look. "Because, he's the one that's gonna get us to the nationals this year! Don't you want our team to win?"
"Honestly? I don't care." The blonde threw his hands up in frustration.
"Jeeze! The one day Gaara has to be absent!" he complained, turning back around in his seat to glare moodily at the chalk board. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, grabbing a few more chips from Chouji. What a day indeed. It was odd for Gaara to miss a school day, since he was well aware (no matter how much the green-eyed teen tried to hide it) that his father was a complete hardass when it came to grades. For the man to let Gaara miss school was unorthodox and totally off script, making him highly suspicious of the whole ordeal. Especially since neither Kankuro or Temari had shown up either. Something wasn't quite right.
Sasuke wasn't here either, which was odd but not improbable. The raven-haired teen had ditched on several occasions, so for him to miss today wasn't so big a deal. Kiba was certainly making up for any lack of noise or criticism, anyway. Seriously, had he chugged an entire bowl of sugar this morning? Or maybe he'd just eaten some Coco Puffs. Both options were exactly the same thing and yet totally believable.
Naruto spun around suddenly, his eyes wide with a sudden realization. "Oh crap! I forgot to do my homework!" A hopeful look was sent his way, and Shikamaru had to suppress a groan as the blonde leaned over onto his desk.
"Hey, Shikamaru? Can I borrow your math homework?"
"I don't do homework," he stated dully. Naruto's jaw dropped, his face painted thickly in disbelief.
"Seriously?" he yelped, aghast. He nodded, taking another handful of chips. The blonde turned helplessly to Chouji, a pleading look sliding onto his face. "Chouji? Would you be a good friend and let me see your homework?"
Damn that Naruto; he said the magic words. A guilty look crossed Chouji's face, his brows furrowing in worry as he chewed. Chouji was resolutely convinced that he wasn't good at school work, careful not to let anyone see his scores; not even him, which irked him a little (weren't they friends? He shouldn't worry about criticism). This, of course, was another attribute gained from his inferiority complex, one which he was solidly convinced he needed to get rid of. Along with the complex itself, but that would take longer, and it was better to fix these things one step at a time.
"Um, I-I'm not that good at math, so . . . I don't think my homework will do you any good . . . ." Naruto sighed, deflating slightly. Chouji's guilty look intensified and Shikamaru repressed a glare.
"Why don't you ask Shino? He always does his homework," he suggested tightly. Naruto's face brightened and he leapt out of his seat, trotting over to the bug-boy with a pencil and paper clutched in his hands. Chouji looked after him, his eyes squinted in concern (guilt) and his hand moving faster to put food in his mouth (stop eating, Chouji, stop eating).
"I hope he isn't mad at me . . . ." Shikamaru glanced over at him, trying not to look as angry as he felt.
"Don't worry Chouji. This isn't your fault." His friend sent a small smile at him and he smiled back, reaching for more chips just as the class room door was thrown open.
"Ah, hello class. Sorry, on my way over I saw a dairy cow crossing the intersection, so I just had to—"
"LIAR!" screamed Naruto and Sakura, both of them leaping up to point accusingly at their history teacher. The silver-haired man eyed them critically, his one visible eye half-lidded in mild amusement.
"Haruno, Uzumaki, I think you two need more homework."
Shikamaru laughed into his arms as Naruto and Sakura started to roar objections at the wily teacher, laying his head down for a much needed nap.
Mondays were such a bore.
"Ahem, ahem," coughed Hayate, trying poorly to gain the class's attention. Shikamaru kept his head down, half listening to what his math teacher was saying. He needed to save his energy for work after school (since it was Tuesday and all), which was much more important than studying a subject he already knew a shit load about. Besides, Hayate didn't mind. The perpetually sick teacher didn't much care for what he did in class so long as he got good grades on his tests.
"Students," tired the man again, looking around the room with disinterest, "can I have your attention?"
One of the better students, Takeshi, managed to gain the class's attention ("Hey, shut the hell up, ya bastards!") and managed to gain a quiet room in which their teacher could speak. Blearily, he looked up at the man, watching as Hayate blinked at them in a surprised manner before remembering his announcement.
"Ahem, well, yeah, so I have an announcement to make," he paused, as if waiting for someone to butt in. When no one moved to speak, he continued. "Our new transfer student has arrived and will be joining us for the rest of the year (cough cough). Please come in now." The last sentence was addressed to the door, which was opened to reveal their new classmate.
Shikamaru almost fell clean out of his seat.
Holy shit, it's Sasuke! was the first thought that ran through his head, followed closely by, Since when did Sasuke have bags under his eyes? He stared numbly at the new boy, trying to kickstart his mind, which seemed to have frozen up on him for no reason whatsoever. Once started, he looked closer, and found that this new student wasn't, in fact, Sasuke, but someone extremely similar to him. Like a much taller twin. Or an older twin.
Or a brother.
Didn't one of Naruto's troop say something about Sasuke having a brother? It did sound familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd heard it, and he honestly couldn't say if it were true or not. The Uchiha family was pretty big, after all, and it wouldn't be that farfetched to have two similar-looking cousins in the same generation. In fact, that was probably the case.
"This is Itachi Uchiha, and he'll be joining our class for the rest of the year," continued Hayate, coughing horribly before going on. "Uh, you can sit, um . . . ah, how about (cough, cough) behind Nara? He's the one with the pony tail." Itachi smiled slightly, his too-pale face hardly moving with the effort. His eyes were really, really dark, rivaling Sasuke's own obsidian orbs, and he felt like he shouldn't be looking strait at them. Likes staring into the eyes of a basilisk or a roc. But he didn't.
He just kept staring.
Like a complete and total idiot.
Boy, did he feel stupid.
"Hello," greeted Itachi softly dropping his bag next to his seat before moving to sit behind him. "What's your name?" He hesitated, unsure as to whether or not he should answer.
"Shikamaru Nara. Welcome to Honors Trig. Now good night." He buried his head in his arms, not caring whether or not that sounded as lame to the Sasuke lookalike as it did to him. There was something off about him, a feeling set out of place (almost like Zetsu, but not as powerful), but he couldn't pinpoint it exactly yet, so he let it go, breathing out slowly as he settling in for his nap. Hayate's voice droned on in the back of his senses, starting in on his lecture fairly quickly. The man's voice was joined by the squeak of marker on the dry-erase board, and he was moments from falling totally asleep when something poked him in the back of the neck.
There was a long moment where he didn't react at all, just blinking down at the surface of his desk, before his snapped his head up and whirled around to face Itachi. The older teen was smirking at him, holding a pencil in his hand absently. He glared for a moment, debating whether or not he should snap at him, before turning around and resting his head back on the desk.
Except he was poked again.
In the ear.
"Okay, what do you want?" he huffed, twisting in his seat to land narrow eyes on an all too amused Uchiha. Said boy just smiled, tilting his head to the side.
"You shouldn't sleep in class."
He stared at him, blinking one or twice as he processed what this Sasuke clone had said to him.
"That's IT?"
This was one seriously bad joke.
Itachi laughed, leaning forward to rest on his elbows. He was smirking, as if he found this all so very hilarious and entertaining. Shikamaru could feel himself bristling again, that feeling of bad luck washing over him at the close proximity of the older student.
"Yes, that's it. But I would like it if you would pay attention." He said it like he had no choice, as if there was no way Shikamaru would do otherwise. As if it were already decided that he would obey and pay attention in class. The Nara frowned, leveling Itachi with a firm glare.
"Too freakin' bad."
And he turned back around to sleep soundly through the whole math period undisturbed.
To be continued . . . .