Chapter 1

SHIKAMARU

Shikamaru pushed past the doors and sauntered into the room.

"Well isn't it Mr VP himself," Ino announced sarcastically. "Nice for you to finally join us."

He coolly ignored the shouts and hollers from the other members and made his way across the room to his favourite wall. Leaning against the window, he gestured silently with his hand for the briefing to continue.

Ino rolled her eyes and continued to speak, "As I was saying, the transfers are coming today and we need to be on our best behaviour! This is a big deal for our school…"

He had skimmed the brief on his way here. There were 3 kids coming over from some preppy boarding school out in the middle of nowhere. A jock, an artist and a musician - all of them were academic superstars. And it was up to the student council to show them a good time while they stayed in the college dorms for a semester.

This was a big deal for the college because it would hopefully be the first of many future transfer programmes to be set up. Transfer students would get to enjoy the world-class facilities that Konoha College had to offer. In turn, the college could add to their reputation for a great student life, which translated into higher school fees. All in all a great opportunity for everyone, but it also meant more work for the Student Council.

And if it was one thing that Shikamaru did not enjoy, was more work.

"You could even say we need to impress our Suna-stars…" Ino said, sporting a comical smile.

As Shikamaru expected, her terrible pun was met with collective groans and boos. As Ino furiously defended the joke that she'd spent all night trying to come up with, Shikamaru could only smile. Having grown up with them, he knew them inside out.

Sitting in the back row were Kiba and Shino, the Clubs & Societies Officers, laughing at some dirty picture on Kiba's phone. Kiba was laughing, Shino just appeared embarrassed and disappointed in his friend. The two were opposites in appearance and mannerisms, but they needed each other to function. The only way they can get any work done is when they're paired together, but they made a great pair and they manage to get along well with the student club leaders.

Next to them was Sasuke, the cold reserved genius. Despite his popularity stemming from his good-looks, Sasuke was kind of a grouch. Despite what many believe, it didn't concern Shikamaru too much that Sasuke's family were also hugely controversial politicians nor that Sasuke was the other genius on campus. Sasuke was a competent Public Relations and that was all Shikamaru cared about.

Behind Sasuke was the Secretary, Sakura. To call her a powerhouse would be an understatement. She was the top medical student in her cohort and handpicked protege of world-renown Dr. Tsunade. Unforunately, she was what Ino described as "unlucky and pathetic in romance". Right now, as the first council meeting was running, Sakura was writing Sasuke's name all over her notepad with hearts. Shikamaru couldn't help but scoff. Romance was troublesome. It got in the way of an easy life.

Speaking of, there was Hinata. The Council's Treasurer. Hinata would've made a great fit for Public Relations, better than Sasuke even. She was beautiful and kind and also came from an obscenely rich and successful family dynasty. But she was painfully shy. If she didn't have the biggest, most insane all-consuming unrequited crush on a certain blonde in the room, she might not have even applied for the role. But luckily she did because Shikamaru didn't know who else he'd trust with the Council's finances.

Which brings us to the aforementioned blonde who led the Konoha College Student Council: Naruto Uzumaki. He was the biggest name on campus and one of the best football captains their College had ever seen. And that guy was very likely sleeping in the front row. Despite his phenomenal stamina, the poor kid couldn't sit in a classroom for 5 minutes without dozing off. Shikamaru has been covering for him ever since they were kids, and judging from the way Naruto's head nodded, Shikamaru would have to brief him on what happened in today's meeting... as usual...

Despite their flaws, Shikamaru was glad he could work with his friends. It gave him some relief that they'd never change.

If only things could just stay like this, he thought to himself. Easy. Simple. Predictable.

Nothing lasts forever, Shikamaru.

He tried to list of all the things he had in the bag. He had easy subject, a pretty easy-going schedule and was the VP of the Student Council, which was made up entirely of his childhood best friends. Ignoring the voice at the back of his mind, his eyes moved to look out the window. Despite the fact that there were barely any clouds in the sky, Shikamaru had a great life. He could help but ask inwardly, what more could he want?

You could do so much more, Shikamaru. You need to ask yourself: what do you want from life?

He shook his head, trying to get that voice out of his head.

What did he want from life? He hated that question. Questions like those require a lot of hard work because it led to a lot more questions. And if he started questioning everything now, he might lose track of the moment and wake up stuck behind some desk job until the end - like his dad…

Ino's voice pulled him back to reality, "Shikamaru, thanks so much for volunteering!"

"What?" He asked her.

"Okay, bye everyone! Next meeting we'll discuss the Fall Festival so be ready for that."

"Ino, hold on, what did you volunteer me for?" He pressed again, walking toward her. Everyone else in the room was packing up their stuff to leave. "Ino? This meeting hasn't concluded yet."

Without even looking his way, Ino elbowed Naruto so that he'd wake up," Meeting's over, right Pres?"

Naruto woke up with a snore. "Oh yeah, great meeting. Thanks for leading the meeting, Ino. Everyone just listen to Ino, alright?" Naruto got up to leave, but Ino pushed him back into his seat. "Actually, there was some issue with the Fall Festival budget. You'll need to go over some things with Hinata."

Naruto sat up with a yawn, stretching his arms over his head as he nodded. Ino gathered her things to get out as Hinata sat beside Naruto.

"Hello, Naruto," Hinata said in her usual whisper.

Naruto flashed his million-dollar grin at her, "Hey, Hinata. You look nice today."

Disgusting, Shikamaru thought to himself.

Shikamaru raced out the room before he could hear more of their conversation. He chased after Ino and again questioned her. "Ino, you got to be joking about volunteering right?"

Shikamaru hated the idea of working for free. Ino knew this. Ino knew everything about him. Since they were kids, she was the only one who could see right through him. There was no hiding from Ino Yamanaka, that woman could read minds. And today he was really not in the mood.

"It'll be good for you, Shikamaru," Ino told him plainly, not stopping in her pace. "Show your pretty face around campus, let the College know it's Vice-President cares enough to do his damn job and he's not some lazy guy who just smokes behind buildings."

"Ino..." he moaned.

Ino stopped walking and stood firmly in her place. Her face was serious as she told him,"It'll be good for you, Shikamaru. Trust me."

With a sigh, Shikamaru reluctantly nodded. "Fine."

"Perfect!" she exclaimed, her face broke out in joy. She pushed a file into his arms, "Just a simple tour of the facilities and don't forget to put on a smile!" Ino poked his cheeks playfully.

"Don't ruin this, Shikamaru," she said in a low serious tone. Shikamaru gulped.

Then she turned and skipped away.

Laughter erupted from the meeting room. That was most likely Naruto and Hinata fawning over each other like idiots. Shikamaru could only look dumbly at the file Ino had jammed into his hand. Not like he needed to read through it again... Troublesome…