Shikamaru sat awkwardly between Hinata and Naruto, after their recent spat, there was just an uncomfortable air that already gave him an idea of what to expect from their team dynamic.
Naruto sat in stubborn silence, his arms crossed on the table, laying his head down on the makeshift pillow. Still reeling from the tongue-lashing and reprimand from Umino-sensei had given him. Being forced to apologize to one of his biggest antagonists from the academy didn't exactly help. Hinata for her part sat in silence, reading a book, completely and utterly ignoring them as though they weren't even there.
He guessed silence was better than sitting through another shouting match between the two of them. Although this was awkward in its own unique way.
His only hope was that their sensei - Sumaki Shoya, if he remembered correctly - would be able to reign the both of them in before things got ugly.
Unlike Naruto and Hinata, Shikamaru's relationship with both of them was fairly neutral - excluding the pineapple comment from Naruto that still ticked him off - and if their sensei couldn't or simply wouldn't reign them in, that meant he'd have more work on his plate because it'd be up to him to keep them from each other's throats.
Naruto wasn't sleeping, he was thinking. Today was supposed to be a good day, he'd graduated from the academy, sure not with honors or anything of the sort, but he still graduated today. And Hinata had managed to sour his mood entirely about the whole event.
He didn't know what her problem was. While not exactly a 'bully' in the conventional means, that didn't take away from the fact she was up-tight and a general pain in the ass. The academy operated on a meritocracy system, meaning the score board wasn't male or female - it was male and female.
Hinata was the number two of the class, ahead of majority of the guys including Naruto and she was Kunoichi of the Year, and she didn't hold back in letting all the boys know that she was better than them academically or athletically. And he was often the butt of her joke. He didn't mind losing to a girl, but the gloating was what drove him up the wall.
He groaned, thinking of his baa-chan's reaction. She always told him, "Allow negativity to pass over you, like water over a stone."
If she heard about his reaction today, she'd probably smack him upside the head for his behavior.
He closed his eyes, trying not to think about the day.
Hinata was reading her book quietly. It was an intermediate level book on poisons and herbology. During their third year, they were allowed to pick an elective, she chose poisons, herbology and the study of toxins.
She didn't have a real plan behind it honestly, it just seemed interesting at the time. And it turned out to be the right choice because she actually enjoyed and learned a lot about plants, poisons and herbal medicines.
The quiet atmosphere in the classroom while they waited for their sensei was just the perfect time to study and take notes.
She'd began experimenting carefully with more experienced herologist's within her clan, and it was an interesting process to find out the different reactions that mixing a few harmless plants together could create a pasty substance that left rashes, severe itchiness and just general irritation.
Her thoughts slipped to Naruto and Shikamaru, both of them weren't willing to put in that extra effort. Naruto more so than Shikamaru, she'd seen him read if it caught his interest, Naruto? If nobody was sitting on top of him about reading books about Chakra or history, he wouldn't.
The door opened, causing Hinata and Shikamaru to look up. Naruto... Naruto in his quiet thoughts with his closed eyes had actually fallen asleep.
"Genin Nara, Uzumaki and Hyūga, report." He order in a firm, yet polite, tone. Standing at the door waiting for his students to come to him.
Only two people got up and began to walk towards him. Clearly Hyūga Hinata and Nara Shikamaru. Clan children, as much as they tried to hide it, had a very distinct look compared to most kids. The Hyūga had pale, pupil-less eyes, while the Nara carried a perpetually lazy expression.
"Where's your teammate?" He asked.
The two kids looked back, to find their red-head teammate passed out on the table. Hinata tried - and was failing - to hide her smug smirk. She happily pointed out where the fool was. 'Of course the idiot would fall asleep and not respond to sensei's roll-call.' She thought, she expected nothing less from him.
Shikamaru just sighed, as tired as he felt, and as lazy as he was known to be, even he knew not to fall asleep when awaiting somebody's arrival. Especially if said person was your superior.
Shoya closed his eyes, taking a breath before he made his way up the stairs to where the sleeping redhead was seated.
He stared at the sleeping redhead for a good while, watching the peaceful look on his face. His shoulders rose and fell with each steady breath. He looked so content. That piss him off even more.
"Genin Uzumaki." He said once, only to be greeted with a soft snore. Shoya leaned over the table, planting his hands on either side of the desk where Naruto lay sleeping.
"Genin Uzumaki Naruto." Shoya said more firmly this time, trying his best to be patient but he had never needed to repeat himself thrice before, especially to a fucking Genin who just made rank.
Naruto jerked awake as the table he'd been lying on was violently kicked. He looked up, startled and prepared to fight whichever asshole - he was greeted by the face of a stern looking, clearly elder shinobi, who had a scar running vertically down from his top lip to his bottom lip, all the way to his chin.
"Genin Uzumaki, I can tell you and I aren't going to get along well if this is our start. Get the fuck down these steps and meet with your teammates." Shoya growled lowly.
'Fuck me...' Naruto thought, as he trudged down the steps to meet his teammates, 'Could today get any worse?' He got scolded by Umino-sensei - one of the more kind senseis in the academy, he was forced to apologize to Hinata which deserved it's own tier as a form of torture, and now? Now he made a bad impression with his new sensei, who'd be responsible for his training for the next year or two.
Hinata's smirking face pissed him off. She looked so stuck up. Hand on hip, hip cocked out and a smug, shit-eating grin that screamed, "Couldn't be me."
Shikamaru's blank, half-lidded gaze made it impossible to tell what he thought. Half-asleep? Irritated? Naruto couldn't say.
'That's somehow worse.' Naruto let out a breath as he followed his teammates outside of the classroom.
"Alright, follow me." Sumaki-sensei said, locking eyes with Naruto.
Naruto, unconsciously, turned his head, averting his gaze. 'I get it, you hate me already' He thought, he got the point already that he made a bad impression by falling asleep, but now he just felt even more awkward and embarrassed than he did before with his sensei eyeing him up and down with that pensive look on his face.
Shoya turned his back and began walking. Not once turning back to see if they were following him.
"My name is Sumaki Shoya, you may call me sensei, Sumaki-sensei or Jōnin-Sumaki. I am twenty-seven years old. I despise Iwagakure nō Sato. I like swords and sitting by the river. Next spring will be my eleventh year as a Jōnin." He introduced himself, opening the door and exiting the building - holding the door open for his Genin to follow through.
"First to last, introduce yourselves." He ordered. They all looked at one another briefly.
Hinata spoke, her voice not loud but clear.
"My name is Hyūga Hinata, heiress to the Hyūga clan. I am fourteen years old. I dislike incompetence and wasted talent. I like learning and reading. This is my first day as a Genin." She said, finishing confidently. She copied and pasted the exact way Sumaki-sensei introduced himself, so he shouldn't have anything to complain about.
Shoya crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he gave a nod at her introduction. "Not bad, by the book."
Shikamaru figured it out that Sumaki-sensei meant who was first through the door. Why else would he only ask the question after they've all exited in a specific order.
"My name is Nara Shikamaru, heir to the Nara clan. I am fourteen years old. I don't dislike anything inparticular. I like naps, cloud-gazing and playing shogi. This is my first day as a Genin."
Shoya gave a long-suffering sigh, "Okay, honest at least." This one was lazy, expected but annoying to deal with.
Naruto spoke next, being the only person not to speak about himself.
"Ah-" Shoya held up his hand, "Quiet."
Naruto had his mouth opened, already prepared to introduce himself and was forced to bite his tongue.
"Tomorrow. Oh-five-hundred hours. Midori District, Fourth Street, house number eleven." He said in a short, clipped tone. "Be on time, or don't come at all. Dismissed."
Naruto tried to chime in, he never introduced himself, he never even got to say a word. But before he even got to say anything, his mouth was shut by the simple look his sensei gave him.
Shikamaru felt awkward, even more so than when he was stuck between Hinata and Naruto. Because now it was their sensei who was glaring and talking down to Naruto. 'Glad I didn't fall asleep.' He thought, it was clear from this interaction alone how Sumaki-sensei was going to treat Naruto. People who start behind the line will get treated like they're behind the line.
Hinata was on cloud nine. Finally. Somebody else could see what she saw. A lazy, incompetent fool who got bored easily and fell asleep during class. At least now, she wasn't the only one who saw it.
Shoya looked down at Naruto, with Naruto only standing 4'9, the height difference was big. His face tense, eyes narrowed as he stared at the teenager.
"I said dismissed."
Despite legally qualifying as adults under shinobi law, they were still teenagers, being rebellious and wanting to speak out of turn was in their nature. So he'd nip that in the bud with a swift and harsh judgement.
"I don't like repeating myself, Genin. So make sure to clean your ears tonight before I clean them myself." He said, tone flat but warning. Naruto's jaw clenched, clearly wanting to say something, but he'd be damned accepting backchat.
Shikamaru reached out, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto turned, seeing the tight expression on Shikamaru's face, as he shook his head, Naruto knew to back down and bite his tongue.
Naruto shook Shikamaru's hand off him, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away. Shikamaru and Hinata soon following, each heading off in different directions.
Shoya let out a breath, "Teenagers." he shook his head, hands on his hip.