Chapter Text
They’d gone to the academy the day after graduating and officially becoming Genin. Why? Well, for their teams and Genin-sensei, of course!
But, even with the reasonably reasoning, Shikamaru couldn’t help but drag his feet as his mother Yoshino gushed to his father about the new generation of InoShikaCho.
Not to mention, they had picked a new, more secure method of picking people for teams. Apparently, it had to do with their subconscious. What they do/pick without knowing it. You know, like how when you get attacked or scared you put your arms in front of your face? Yeah, something like that. Shikamaru hopes that aren’t planning to scare the shit out of them then see who they run to. He’s fairly certain he can’t be put in a team if he clocks whoever scares him in the face.
He sighs and lets go of that thought, they’d probably do something more clean and simple. Maybe a test to see who’s personality fit whose best? Or seeing who had similar fighting styles? Possibly.
Once they arrived at the academy, Yoshino immediately shuffled them inside. Parents crossed the hallways as they stood with their kids. Most of the kids are the excited ones, Shikamaru, Shino, and a few others being the only outliers.
He looked over everyone in the room before his eyes landed on Naruto who stood next to Iruka-sensei. He raised an eyebrow at this. Was Iruka-sensei Naruto’s father or something?
Shikamaru shrugged it off for the mean time, instead deciding to inspect his classmates’ parents. He knew a good few of them. His eyes landed on Sasuke and he quickly averted his gaze. Geez, he was glaring at everyone here!
Before anything else could happen, Iruka called the crowd to attention and they quieted quickly. He cleared his throat before speaking.
“Welcome, everyone! As you know, today the Genin will be finding their teams!” The kids cheered, as did a few parents. Shikamaru hoped they wouldn’t be foolish enough to simply let them choose their own partners.
“As you all also know, we’re meaning to test out a new method of teaming Genin!” The anticipation was really getting to Shikamaru and Shikaku who looked all around the room for a trace of what the method could be. Iruka held up a small bag of pills and no one was prepared for what happened next.
“SOLDIER PILLS?!” Naruto exclaimed, Shikamaru didn’t have the time to be surprised before he perched over and burst into laughter, Kiba doing the same. Shikaku chortled and coughed heartily when he caught the Sandaime’s gaze.
Iruka glared at Naruto.
“No, Naruto, these aren’t Soldier Pills, we would never give that to Genin.” He scolded the boy quietly before continuing to speak.
“These are Subconscious Pills. They put you in a certain state of mind where you feel you are in danger and or in need of assistance. In short, they make you gravitate to whoever you deem someone safe and trustworthy. This is how we will decide your teams.” It seemed a bit faulty but it would be interesting. Shikamaru prayed that he wouldn’t gravitate to his parents, he would never live it down.
“Each student will take a pill, then the parents will leave the room.” Iruka looked around as if he expected questions, but none came. He smiled and clapped his hands together.
“Alright! Parents, please exit the room and we’ll start handing the pills out!” The parents shuffled out slowly, Yoshino kissing Shikamaru all over his head and face before leaving. The Nara heir rubbed his face with his forearm while mumbling.
“Ah— mendōkuse..” He muttered, holding out his hand to take the pill from Iruka. Once he got it, he inspected it for a bit before squinting his eyes and popping it in his mouth. Almost immediately, his vision felt hazy and he felt himself stretch out his arms although the hadn’t meant to. He then popped his back before groaning.
“Now that we’ve handed out the pill, they will begin to feel the effects shortly as the fear and panic kicks—“ Shikamaru’s vision blurred and he froze, he could hear the others have similar reactions, some more drastic than others. While Ino grabbed Sakura and dragged her near Sasuke, the two girls held into each other fiercely, both trying to stand tall.
Kiba ran to Shino and as kids raced around the room, Shikamaru look notice in Naruto as he slowly started walking. Naruto did nothing, standing there with his eyes glazed over as he shook in fear. He could see Sasuke starting toward the same as he was. Choji ran to Shikamaru as he walked toward Naruto quickly. Sasuke snarled and neared his teeth at them as he reached Naruto, grabbing his wrist. Shikamaru’s mouth pulled back into a frown as he wrapped his arms around Naruto’s waist and snagged him away. Sasuke’s eyes darkened and Naruto clung to Shikamaru. He could hear the parents ohh-ing and ahh-ing outside the door.
Choji grabbed Naruto’s leg and they began to squabble over Naruto, but that was short lived after Naruto latched onto Shikamaru. Sasuke looked at the blonde in slight disbelief while Shikamaru grinned. His head went fuzzier as cotton sprung in his ears. He swayed on his feet and noticed that everyone was on the floor, passed out. He wondered for a brief moment why he wasn’t before he fell forward with Naruto in his arms.
Iruka cleared his throat as he opened the door, looking at all the students sprawled out. This had been quite… interesting , to say the least. They certainly didn’t expect a good amount of what happened.
Shikaku and Yoshino stared at Shikamaru in surprise. He trusted the Uzumaki boy enough to fight with Sasuke? As well as Choji? Instead of InoShikaCho, they got ShikaChoNaru and HinInoSaku. They didn’t know how to feel about this. Hisashi felt disappointed that Hinata confided with the two most frantic fan girls of the class.
Shikaku looked over the students again and hummed before looking at Yoshino.
“You owe me, amor. I told you this generation of InoShikaCho wouldn’t work out.” Yoshino crossed her and turned her head away.
“They would’ve! Sometimes you just need to adapt, not work with someone you’ve liked for who knows how long!” Shikaku raised an eyebrow at the wording.
“You implying that Shikamaru has a crush on Naruto?” She froze for a second as if she was in thought before slowly narrowing her eyes. If Shikaku didn’t know that her wife was capable of loving anyone, regardless of gender, he would’ve been worried.
“Possibly. I’ve never seen him get… you know,” Yoshino shrugged, Shikaku looked at Naruto who was under Shikamaru before nodding.
“The Naruto boy definitely triggered the infatuation. Whether permanent or temporary.” Yoshino nodded in agreement.