For Nara, school tends to be easy.
For Nara twins, school is hilariously easy.
For Nara twins in which half of the set is reincarnated with an entire adult experience, it’s almost disgusting how easy school is.
Still, at least Shikako pretends to pay attention. Shikamaru doesn’t even bother.
Then again, she knows even without their telepathy he’d be the kind of student to sleep in class.
In his defense, it’s the kind of day for it–warm but not sweltering, Iruka-sensei’s lecture just the right level of monotonous–and she’d be tempted to do the same if she wouldn’t also feel guilty about it immediately.
As it is, she can still reap the benefits, enjoying the secondhand nap from her twin. The way their bond becomes a little muddled; not blocked off, but slower and stickier, like sweets being stretched apart or the slow drip of honey. The contents of her brother’s dreams flutter to her, fat friendly bumblebees with pollen on their fuzzy legs, and she wonders what’s filtering back to him from her end.
The topic of today’s class is Fire Country geography, political system, and civics–redundant for any clan kid but especially so for one part of the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance. Her book, thankfully, is more interesting.
For her, at least. She’s sure her classmates don’t find the Analysis of Theoretical and Experimental Ninjutsu by Tobirama Senju particularly interesting. Or much of anyone else in the village, actually.
According to the check out card on the front cover, the last time this book was borrowed was before she was born.
Still, maybe the fun parts are flowing to Shikamaru. The exciting possibilities of new jutsu, of flying on wind currents or bending light around oneself–superpowers in a world of shinobi.
She hopes so. Shikamaru deserves to be a child while he can.
—
It only happened the once, when both of them were coming off of an awful cold, heads still muzzy but no longer feverish and ill. They woke up, got dressed, went to school.
It didn’t become apparent until kunoichi class that something might be… off.
“Shikamaru?” Sakura asks oddly hesitant. She’s still somewhat shy and soft spoken, but Shikako thought, as friends, they’d progressed beyond that.
Confused, Shikako turns around looking for her brother.
Ino yanks her sleeve before she can embarrass herself further, “Shikako?”
“Yeah…” she says slowly, skeptically. Pranking isn’t really how the three of them get along, and she’s not exactly seeing the humor of this prank besides.
The sudden realization of what is going on makes her glance at her hands, but that doesn’t tell her much.
Thankfully, Sakura pulls out a little pocket mirror from her bag.
In the reflection, Shikamaru looks back.
‘Ah,’ the both of them think, and the sense-feeling of stopping mid stride flashes to Shikako from her body.
“I know this happens with Yamanaka twins,” Ino says, “But I didn’t know it happened to Nara twins, too.”
“Hmm,” Shikako responds noncommittally, absolutely bewildered.
“You’ll go back to normal after you both sleep for a bit,” Ino says matter of fact, doling out her expertise benignly. “At least,” she adds a little sheepishly, “that’s what Dad told Minako-oba when my cousins switched for a day.”
Sakura, far less hesitant now that she knows it’s Shikako–albeit in Shikamaru’s body–asks, “Should we tell Suzume-sensei that you’ll be absent today?”
Both of them consider it and Shikamaru–still in Shikako’s body–shrugs.
“No,” Shikako says, shrugging Shikamaru’s shoulders as well, “I can learn like this, too. I’ll just tell her what happened so we don’t get in trouble.”
Which is how the twins–and everyone else in kunoichi class, for that matter–learn that Shikamaru is absolutely tone deaf.
~
A/N: Second section for @donapoetrypassion who wanted Shikamaru going to kunoichi lessons 😀
JackSGreyson Says 