Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.

Shikamaru woke up.

His alarm clock didn't go off yet.

"What a drag."

/00/

Deidara grounded his teeth as his phone began ringing…again.

What will it take to stop Tobi—that blasted, intolerable fool who has the mind of a toddler—from continuously texting him? Deidara had thrown threats, insults, and even offended his mask, but unfortunately the goof still wanted to have a conversation with him.

Deidara was agitated, probably not so as agitated as Sasori who has to put up with his screams—which were manly—of pain as he pulls quills from his skin. But it wasn't his fault that he had tripped over the animal during his walk on the campus! As he was walking, his phone suddenly buzzed, causing him to jump in surprise and fall upon the porcupine. Deidara placed a mental note to suffocate Tobi later, after checking who had called him at an unforeseen time.

Everybody knew that you weren't supposed to call people at 4:12 AM. But Tobi is an idiot after all, and idiots have a tendency to call others that early.

"Shit, un," Deidara cursed under his breath. "I swear, I am never going to take a job at a camping trip ever again."

"Somehow, I can't see you there being surrounded by children," Sasori stated.

"When you are low on budget, there are desperate risks you'll have to make, un," his friend deadpanned.

Sasori smirked as he watched Deidara pried away a needle that seemed to have dug itself deeper into his flesh. "True," Sasori said, "especially when you are making a risk as to take up the job as student-teachers again."

"What fun," Deidara sarcastically said, rolling his blue eyes.

"At least you had your fun tormenting Sasuke. Itachi must been screaming in envy last year."

"Hell yeah, teasing him in front of girls?"Deidara grinned. "The younger Uchiha must love being the center of the attention, un," he chuckled. "Same goes for the other Uchiha."

Sasori plopped his chin on the palm of his hand, staring apathetically through the window. "I actually pity the two of them, but I pity myself more," he sighed.

Deidara rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, those girls just can't seem to control their loving embrace on you, Sasori."

"I wasn't intending on being narcissistic."

"Yeah, well whatever. While you go on having yourself a pity-spree, I'll keep myself busy avoiding that idiot, un."

Sasori didn't reply, but Deidara didn't care. He was used to the silence of his indifferent friend. At first, when the two had first met, Deidara was rather miffed on how dry and laconic Sasori's replies were, unlike the longer and neutral responses he was much more used to. But after finding out that Sasori was a fellow artist, his respect grew for the man, even though their perspectives on art were totally different.

Inwardly, he grinned seeing how stupid the oh-so intelligent Sasori was. It was obvious that art was an explosion of beauty, not everlasting. What was so amazing about keeping things forever when you could start anew? Eventually looking upon the same creation will become without an interest, but with a flash of a more explosive art, that would spark a greater view. That was true art.

Deidara had unconsciously pulled the quill from his arm, which brought much of his attention after the bolting pain that had ran through his nerves. "Shit, un!"

As for Sasori, well…he was staring at the window again, wondering what it would be like this year.

/00/

Kisame drummed his fingers against his muscled biceps. His frown had faded after reading the name of Suigetsu Hozuki among the list of boys who signed up for the swimming team. How odd. Suigetsu was attending at Konoha Academy?

Kisame shook his head. Oh well, at least with a prodigy like him, the team will prevail no matter how the numbers of swimmers have decreased since last year. And besides, it made his job much easier.

He grinned as he tucked the clipboard in his armpit. Perhaps coaching this year won't be so bad after all.

/00/

Hidan was pissed. He was pissed to oblivion.

How dare they sign him up for working at some fucked up place? This has to be a crime.

The Akatsuki had signed him up to work at a fucking café. The café that had supposedly made him into a waiter. This is a crime!

And why is Itachi going to work there again as well? He's freaking rich, for hell's sake! He could buy a shitload of shit if he wanted to! And Pein? He's going to work as a baker again! What the hell is wrong with those two? Have they had no sense in pride?

Hidan sighed. Well, at least he won't be the only Akatsuki member working alone. And besides, Kakuzu was going to be there too! So it won't be all that bad.

"Hidan, I have been offered to a job that is going to give me more money, so I won't be able to work at the café," said Kakuzu.

Correction, it will be bad. Fucking terrible bad.

/00/

The alarm went off.

Shikamaru's hand reached for the button.

He looked at the time.

He sighed.

"How troublesome," he grumbled.

/00/

Jiraiya nearly jumped out of surprise when Obito had slammed the door open.

"Sorry! There was this old lady who kept nagging at me to help her with her groceries! A-and, so, yeah! I'm not late, am I?" Obito rambled. "Oh, hey Jiraiya! W-where's…the headmaster?"

Jiraiya snorted humorously. Obito always drifts off whenever he is doing an errand. Then he finally wakes up and would panic about being late. He's been like that ever since Jiraiya had first met him, which was when he was a freshman attending at Konoha Academy.

It was obvious that Obito was lying. Whenever he lies, he starts rambling. His antics never ceased to amuse the older man. Then Jiraiya noted that his cheeks were flushed, probably due to running all the way up here. Of course.

"Tsunade's not here at the moment. Can I take a message?" he replied with a smile.

"Oh, all righty then. Uh. So, Jiraiya, how about Hinata gets her schedule, eh?" Obito said, pulling out a grin that was definitely too exaggerated. Jiraiya would have laughed at that.

He looked at the girl, who was panting—probably from the dash. She looked exactly what the photo had to offer. She wore no trace of makeup, jewelry, or even a cute little hair clip to add to her dark hair. She was rather plain, yet at the same time she was adorable, even if she was wearing such a thick jacket.

"Ah, yes!" Jiraiya said, smiling brightly. He walked over to Tsunade's desk to retrieve the paper. "Here ya go, Miss Hyuuga. I do hope you would have a wonderful year here at Konoha Academy."

Literally.

Hinata smiled shyly. "Th-thank you, um…"

"Oh! Call me Jiraiya! Jiraiya!" the old man said.

"Thank you, Mr. Jiraiya." Hinata then gave a gracious bow.

Jiraiya chuckled, scratching his cheek. "It's nothing. Now then! You better get ready! You wouldn't want your new roommate stealing the top bunk from you!" And who wouldn't want to sleep at the top bunk?

Literally.

Hinata nodded, thanking him again, and then followed Obito and Tobi out of the room. Once they were out, Jiraiya couldn't help but giggle.

/00/

Shikamaru stretched his limbs, releasing a groan of content. He yawned and lazily rubbed his stomach.

"Shikamaru! Hurry up and get ready!" his mother screeched from the kitchen. "You don't want to be late like your lazy father!"

"Women," he grumbled.

/00/

"Are you sure that you don't want us to show you the way?" Obito asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I-I'm sure. I want t-to find my dorm o-on my own," she said. "You t-two have done enough f-for me. I really a-appreciate your generosity."

"You're welcome, new girl!" Tobi exclaimed, tackling the Hyuuga into yet another suffocating hug. Hinata's eyes bulged with shock, her arms flying out in the air for freedom.

"Come on, Tobi! Don't kill her," Obito laughed, finding Hinata's expression hysterical.

"Tobi would never do such a horrible thing! Maybe to Deidara because Tobi loves him so much that Tobi would kill him with love, but never to new girl!" Tobi shouted. His arms squeezed Hinata even more tightly.

"All right, all right. I'm sure that you love Hinata very much, but you have to let her go."

Tobi pouted. "Okay." Once he dropped Hinata, she landed on her bottom with an "Oof!" Obito didn't bother hiding a chuckle.

Once Hinata's breathing rate had calmed down, she departed from her ushers. They informed her that whenever she needed assistance, they would be at the headmaster's office. Since they had led her there already, Hinata felt confident that she wouldn't get lost when going there.

She opened the folded schedule and observed what was written. There was a map to direct her where her new dorm would be. It wasn't that far and she could walk all the way to there while carrying her luggage, likely not to get too exhausted.

Hinata had a queasy feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right. Perhaps it was because she wasn't used to having roommates. That might be it. But she also felt worried. She was worrying about how her roommates would think about her.

Hinata was never a social person, unlike the fearless Kiba and Akamaru. It wasn't that she didn't like company, she was just shy. Really shy. Sometimes she would think of what to say, but end up making the other person wait too long and think that she was ignoring him or her on purpose. Hinata didn't want to worry about what to say anymore. She just wanted to say things naturally. And besides, that cold persona would belong to Shino.

This school was probably the only hope for Hinata to achieve her goals. Not only did she want to communicate better, but also prove to her father and cousin. Now, she was going to be unstoppable of reaching out and grabbing the things she had desired for the longest time.

It wasn't greed. Definitely not greed. It was the hope of change. That's what had motivated Hinata.

"Self-confidence," she whispered.

/00/

Shikamaru squinted down at his breakfast.

"Well, aren't you going to eat or not?" his mother huffed.

He picked up the horribly burnt toast and set it back down. He stared at his very fried egg—more like frazzled eggs, actually. He poked at the bacon pieces that were drenched in oil, and to make it all up the bacon pieces were topped off with sour-cream. He then scrutinized the normal-looking boiled eggs that had been sitting innocently next to the black toast.

Innocent boiled eggs.

"I hate boiled eggs," he grumbled.

/00/

Hinata gasped.

"Th-this is huge!"

The dorm was large indeed. It was more like a little house than a dorm where she would have to live with other girls. Hinata wondered how many girls would be sharing the dorm.

She looked at her schedule. It specifically told her that she was assigned to the first room. Hinata brightened. She had the first room! Could this indicate luck? If so, then she must be very lucky!

Then she wondered what her roommate would be. Would she be mean? Nice? Peculiar? Or maybe just as shy as herself? Hinata prayed that her roommate and she would become good friends throughout the year, no matter who the roommate would be. Oh how she hoped.

She opened the door and found her room to be smaller than she had expected. Despite the large space of the dorm with the exception of the rooms, the rooms were, well…cramped. The bunk beds were pushed to the side while there was only one desk and chair. Not to mention the door of the closet.

Hinata frowned. How was she able to study when there is only one desk? Did the headmaster think that they were able to take turns using it? Hinata's frown soon evaporated, now turning into a thoughtful expression. Maybe she, her roommate, and the other girls could crowd at the living room and study together. That would be a nice idea!

She smiled and tossed her bag at the lower bunk. She never did like the top bunk anyway.

/00/

"Well son, this is goodbye," Shikamaru's father said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Sure is, Dad," Shikamaru muttered.

"Yes. Leaving your mother and me alone for yet another year," he said with a smile. "How could you do this to me, son?"

"Be sure to write, Shikamaru!" his mother hollered, causing people to stare at her oddly.

"Women," the father and son grumbled simultaneously.

/00/

Kisame grinned.

"I have a feeling that this year is going to be awesome," he declared happily.

The man walked into the weaponry store.

/00/

"There!" Hinata said with cheerfulness. She was finally done! Since she had came early, she decided to set the bed sheets for her and her new roommate, unpack her items and placed them away in the drawers that were inside the closet, made sure that her teddy bear was poised cutely on top of the window sill, and she even fluffed the pillow of her roommate's.

She was surprised to see the new uniforms that were neatly placed in the fourth drawer. They had white button-down shirts, navy ties, and black pants. These looked like male uniforms rather than female ones. She would have expected the girls to wear skirts instead of pants; perhaps they had made a mistake. Hinata should talk to her guides about that.

Looking at her watch, it was about time for lunch. She decided to go to the headmaster's office to ask Obito and Tobi if she could go out to eat and if they would like to join her.

As she ventured outside, something had attacked her. "New girl!"

"Ack!"

Tobi had his arms wounded around Hinata's waist and brought her tightly against his chest. Hinata, once again, couldn't breathe.

Tobi was smiling like a little boy who had received something amazing for Christmas. And to Tobi, it was amazing. He could no longer just sit around in the office doing nothing! He had to go see his newly made—or forced—friend before Naruto, the sly blonde sleaze who had tried to take away his friend, could snatch her away. Tobi would never allow that to happen!

"T-Tobi! Mr. Tobi! Please stop!" Hinata frantically cried, worried that she would faint from lack of oxygen.

"Oh! Sorry, new girl!" Tobi settled Hinata down and patted her on the head with enthusiasm. "Tobi wanted to see new girl so badly! Tobi is happy now!"

Hinata blushed. She was not used to being liked in such a way. She felt…really happy. "I-I wanted t-t see Mr. T-Tobi too," Hinata admitted.

"Yay!" Tobi cheered. "But new girl, don't call Tobi Mr. Tobi. Makes Tobi feel like an old Tobi." Tobi pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

Hinata smiled. "O-okay then. But, um…y-you can call me Hinata."

"Tobi has a better idea!" Tobi suddenly grabbed Hinata by her shoulders and looked at her intently in the eyes. Hinata wasn't sure how to react; she only hoped that she wasn't blushing too much.

"Tobi knows!" Tobi exclaimed. "Tobi will call new girl Bunny because Bunny looks like a bunny!"

"O-oh…k-kay?"

"Only because Bunny is so cute!"

Hinata flustered.

"U-um, thank you, Tobi. And I-I think that you are…really cool."

Tobi's eyes widened. "Does Bunny really think so?"

Hinata nodded. "Y-yes."

"Yay! Tobi is so happy! Bunny is way better than Deidara!"Tobi hugged her again, but this time it was gentle. Hinata thought of Tobi as a very huggy person, but not that she minded. She wasn't often embraced as a young child yet always wanted to know the feeling. She was now glad that she had finally met Tobi.

Tobi was also happy, but probably even happier than Hinata was. Never in his life was he called "cool". The girls usually told him that he was cute and funny, but never "cool". Never like his brothers and cousins. They were always "cool", and Tobi wanted to be "cool" too. He tried doing what they did, but it never worked out. He then tried to act childish and idiotic, just to gain attention. Now here he was, being called cool.

Tobi sniffled and brought his orange mask over his face, hiding away. He wasn't sure why he was sniffling tears. Was he overjoyed? Strange, he never felt that kind of emotion before. But it felt nice.

"Tobi?" Hinata said. "A-ah, c-can you let g-go of me, please?"

As asked, Tobi unwounded his arms around the small girl. Hinata blinked when she saw Tobi wearing his mask and wondered why he had pulled the thing over his face. Not that she minded, in fact, she thought the swirly design was rather adorable.

"Ah! Tobi almost forgot!" Tobi cried. He opened his backpack and shoved several wrapped riceballs into Hinata's arms. Hinata jumped in surprise as a few balls had tumbled out of her hold.

"Tobi wanted to eat with Bunny, but Tobi realized that Tobi couldn't eat with Tobi's mask on," Tobi said.

"Then…c-couldn't you take off y-your mask?" Hinata asked.

"No because Tobi doesn't want to!"

"Oh. T-then you're not hungry?"

"Tobi is very hungry!"

Hinata's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Did Tobi want to eat or does he not want to eat? Is he saying that he cannot eat with his mask on but doesn't want to take the mask off? But he's hungry, isn't he? So he should take his mask off! But he said that he doesn't want to take it off…

Tobi watched as the young girl expression became more and more addled. It was as if she was thinking about something in a complicated manner. As much as Tobi found her facial expressions to be funny, he didn't like to stand around and do nothing.

"Tobi thinks that Bunny should share Tobi's food with Bunny's roommates," Tobi announced.

"A-are you sure?"

Tobi vigorously nodded.

Hinata looked down at the riceballs, her eyes now widened with bewilderment. They were large, shaped into different geometric shapes, and were many. Hinata wasn't even sure that everyone could finish all of these, or find them to be appetizing at all.

"I don't think we'll be able t-to finish all o-of t-these," Hinata admitted.

"What?" Tobi cried. "But Tobi made them with all Tobi's heart and soul!"

She blinked. "Y-you made these?"

Tobi nodded again.

Curious, Hinata bent down to settle the other riceballs on the ground and unwrapped one, which happened to take the shape of a pentagonal prism. Taking a small bite, Hinata chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and then looked up at the man. "It tastes yummy," she said.

Behind the mask, Tobi had broken into a large smile."Yay!"

He lowered and swiped a cylinder riceball. He pushed his mask up and unwrapped the food before eagerly taking a bite. Hinata giggled to herself as she watched the man's face had beamed proudly of his deliciously made food.

"Y-you actually ate it, a-after all," Hinata said softly, smiling.

"Tobi is actually very hungry," Tobi sheepishly admitted.

"H-how about your b-brother?" she asked curiously.

"Oh! Obito already ate one of Tobi's riceballs in the office. Obito always likes eating Tobi's food!" he exclaimed happily. Tobi then took another enormous bite of his riceball, leaving the morsel to look nothing like a cylinder at all.

"Y-you are a good c-cook," Hinata agreed.

"Thank you, Bunny! Tobi is very happy now!"

Hinata smiled again, feeling happy as well that she is now friendly acquainted with her guide. At first, she was worried that she would have to endure awkward tensions between her guides because she wasn't out-going at all. But she was relieved now that Tobi had came along. In fact, perhaps they were more than acquaintances, but possibly friends. Like Shino and Kiba!

She only hoped that Obito, who was becoming to be less than awkward, and her new roommates would become her friends as well. That way, her stay at Konoha Academy would suffice to be blissful.

Tobi had finished eating his riceball and sighed with satisfaction. With his legs stretched out before him, he gazed up at the clouds that were drifting as fast as a slug. He wondered how Shikamaru would find cloud-watching to be so entertaining. All he could see were white puffs taking up space in the blue sky. They were just as exciting as watching food decay into repulsive rubble. Well, Tobi did like it how the clouds took form of a rabbit, and that instantly recalled him of Hinata.

His eyes fell upon the girl, who was still eating her riceball, but in a way that looked like as if she was savoring each taste. Tobi, unsure if that could be true, scrutinized Hinata. No, she wasn't savoring the taste, but merely absent-mindedly taking bites as her pale eyes observed the clouds as well. Then he took notice of her skin that was also pale—almost the color of a penguin's tummy, her dark hair made her head look like an octopus head, her round cheeks chewing like a chipmunk, her nose as cute as a baby baboon, her eyes widening with shock…

Apparently Hinata had taken notice of Tobi's staring because her shoulders became tensed and her cheeks were slightly red. "I-Is there something o-on my face, T-Tobi?" she asked nervously.

"No," Tobi said. "Tobi was wondering…that if Bunny likes cloud-watching." Which was a lie, of course, but he couldn't tell her his real reasons.

"O-oh." Hinata fidgeted. "Well, I-I suppose…I-It's peaceful a-and it's nice…I l-like it."

Tobi pouted. "But Tobi thinks that it's boring!"

Hinata just smiled in response.

/00/

"Kankuro, get out of bed!"

"Dammit, woman! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Well sleep once you get in the car! We can't risk being late!"

The bedraggled boy cursed under his breath, now in a sitting position and staring impatiently at his elder sister. "And what are we going to be late for, exactly?" he snorted.

"One, you and Gaara are going to Konoha Academy. Two, my new college is ANBU, which is close to your new school," Temari answered irritably. "Now get up, you pig-butt!"

"Hey! My butt is not a pig!"

"It will be if you keep on sleeping like this! Now hurry up and get dressed, fatty-crabby!"

"Shut up with the jokes, bitch!"

Temari rolled her eyes, but exited out of her younger brother's room, muttering to herself about how idiotic brothers were and so forth.

Gaara, who was in the room next door, awoke with a jolt. He was still not adjusted to his siblings' morning uproars, nor was he amused. He found them to be incredibly loud and annoying, and had the tendencies of giving him a possible case of migraines.

"Muttering, grumbling," Gaara murmured. As he was about to pull the covers over his head, he paused, recalling the words that Temari had screeched at Kankuro earlier.

Konoha Academy? When did that happen? What happened to going to Suna Academy?

"Konoha…" Gaara rubbed his chin and had a thoughtful expression. "That's where Naruto is…"

The boy shrugged. He swung his legs over the sheets and blanket, and walked over to the bathroom.

/00/

Shikamaru yawned.

He looked out at the window. Nothing but the sky. And no clouds.

"I'm bored," he grumbled.

/00/

Naruto slung his bag over his shoulder. Now he had his schedule, he can get to his new dorm, claim the top-bunk before anyone else can, and grab some lunch with Obito and Tobi. Or maybe Tobi had made yet another of his peculiar dishes. Like those geometric riceballs he was so keen on making.

Naruto snorted in remembrance of Tobi's last dish, which happened to be ramen, but not quite so. Naruto was always one who would chow on ramen while savoring each bite of the heavenly noodles; however, Tobi's version of ramen was absolutely disgusting. Not that he had eaten it, anyway. With one uneasy look of it, and Naruto fled the room.

Naruto blinked out of his thoughts as he saw a familiar black-haired fellow within a couple meters radius. He grinned and ran up to greet his friend, or semi-friend.

"Hey, Sai!" Naruto called. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Hello Naruto," Sai said, smiling with warmth instead of imposing one. "Good to see you."

Naruto's grin grew. Sai had improved ever since he and Sai were roommates when Naruto was a freshman. It was extremely complicated having a sophomore roommate who was entirely infuriating. Sai was like a robot programmed to be a fake bastard; and boy—was he ever one!

But after learning that the older male was an orphan, sent to an institution where he hardly ever made friends, and didn't even know how to make friends or to be true to himself, Naruto felt guilty of ever swishing Sai's toothbrush into toilet water. He felt even worse when he heard Sai gagging while brushing his teeth.

Sai did do better on his personality and opened up to people more, but he was still an irritating imposter. The only person who could abide his mockery was no other than Ino. Of course Ino. After all, when Naruto had introduced Sai to everyone, Naruto had advised Sai not to say anything insulting—which didn't exactly helped him at all, and when Ino attempted to make a friendly chat with him, the words that he said were "Yes, I am in the sophomore year and it is my first year as well. How about you, beautiful?" Naruto also couldn't forget when Sakura fumed in rage at that. Apparently, Sai had called her "Ugly" when they first met. Much to dismay.

"So, dick—Naruto, how was your summer?" Sai said, his smile returning back to its usual fallacy.

"Getting better, Sai," Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, my summer was terrible! Granny wouldn't let me sleep a wink with her constant squabbles! And the Pervy Sage forced me to read one of his boring books again!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah…" Naruto sighed. "Well, what about you? Did anything fun unlike mine?"

"Oh yes. An old colleague of mine had given me a book about female behavior and what resorts them into such violence. It proved to be very interesting, and might help me stop Ugly throwing punches at me as well."

"Ya know, Sai, if you just stop calling Sakura that, then she would stop beating the daylights outta ya," Naruto sighed again.

Sai blinked confusingly. "But Ugly punches you too, and you just call her by her other name."

"You mean her real name, Sai," Naruto grumbled. "And…she just punches me because…"

"Yes?" encouraged Sai.

"Never mind." Naruto turned his gaze away. Sometimes, it could be so difficult talking to Sai. It could be his naivety that would unease the boy, or that he could be making fun of him all this time. Naruto didn't know, but he didn't want to know either. It was simpler knowing that Sai was not used knowing what angered people or what made people smile. "So what dorm did you get? I got the one that we used to have two years ago."

Sai smiled, but this time it nearly appeared to be genuine. "So have I."

"That's great! Well, I'll feel bad for you if you have to share a room with a wimp," snickered Naruto. "Like what had happened last year!"

"You mean Hiroku? That person accused me of homosexuality."

"Yeah, and it's still funny! Well, to me, that is." Naruto scratched his head, and then asked another question. "So what room you get?"

Sai retrieved his schedule from his pocket and read, "First."

"I got fourth, and I do hope that I don't end up with Sasuke again," Naruto said. "The bastard never stopped his complaining!"

"I don't blame him," Sai happily said.

Naruto disregarded the comment. Everybody has been saying the same thing, practically. "Anyway Sai, you better not screw up this year! People are still kind of suspicious of whether or not you're gay."

"I assure you that I will not disturb my new roommate." Sai smiled.

"Sure," came Naruto's sardonic reply.

The two boys walked to their new—or old—dorm while continuing their conversation.

/00/

Shikamaru's nap was disturbed when the attendant informed him that his flight had landed. When he exited out of his transportation and went out to search for his bags, he noticed a familiar face. Shikamaru smiled and went over to his long-time friend.

"Hey, Chouji," he called.

"Ah! Shikamaru! Haven't seen you since last month. Doing well?" the heavier of the two said.

"I was, until my mom practically poisoned me with her dishes again."

Chouji chuckled in response.

As the two fished out their belongings, they ventured outside to find a bus to ride. Chouji then told Shikamaru about how his vacation went: apparently, he had lost weight due to his food storage being raided by bears while he was camping with his father. After finishing his humorous tale, he questioned the lazier of the two how his vacation went.

"You know the usual: slept, ate, being nagged here and there," Shikamaru idly replied, stifling a yawn. Then he caught Chouji looking rather eager and nervous; a frantic combo which he has not often seen upon the boy. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you jumpy for?"

"Huh? Oh, I was wondering how this year is going to be. What do you think?"

Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought, and then let out a sigh. "It'll be a drag, I'm sure."

Author's RANT: Argh! I'm such a stupid person! ARGH. In this chapter, I intended on making Hinata meet with her new roommates already, but decided to save that for the third chapter. PLEASE forgive me and have patience! THANK YOU!