Second Time's The Charm

Chapter 2

It was a quiet morning in Konoha. The sun was just starting to rise and the birds have just started chirping. Many of the citizens have yet to get out of bed, while the local merchants are organizing their goods, getting ready for the morning market rush. All in all, it was a peaceful morning in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"SHIKAKU! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT OF BED!"

The matriarch of the Nara Clan was running around the kitchen, getting ready for the morning. She had a lot to get done in a short amount of time. The deer needed to be fed and managed, breakfast needed to be cooked, the table set, and everything double checked before she sent her family on its way for the day. Of course, she had to do this all herself. Her husband was as about as helpful as a sack of potatoes. No, a sack of potatoes would be more useful, as she could use some for breakfast.

She could always ask her daughter, as she was so diligent in her work and could complete a task with no complaint. Her daughter was the apple of her eye. No, this was her and Shikamaru's first day of the academy, she wouldn't put additional work on her little Kanoko.

With a smile, Yoshino continued on making breakfast for her family while going over again in her head what her two children would need for their first day.

Upstairs, the two said children were waking up. Well, Kanoko was waking up. She stretched a little before getting out of bed and making her way to the bathroom across the hall. She was a morning person, like her mother, and only looked slightly tired as she fished around the mirror cabinet for her toothbrush. As she started to brush her teeth, she took a look at her appearance. Her dark brown hair was mess. She still struggled with having long hair. She would have prefer to keep it at the length she had in her past life, but her mother loved her hair, always saying how happy she was that Kanoko took after her, more than her father. In an effort to appease her, Kanoko kept growing it and it now reached a couple inches past her shoulders.

Kanoko started to brush her hair and then wrapped it up into a bun with a few loose strands of hair sticking out like spikes. She had no bangs and only two loose pieces of hair curling out from behind her ears to frame her face, much like her mother's hair.

After finishing in the bathroom, she walked back to her room. Kanoko's father, Nara Shikaku, was the head of the Nara Clan as well as the Jounin Commander and had both the wealth and power to back up those claims. As such, Kanoko lived in a fairly large house, in the Nara forest lands, away from other families. However, even though the house was large enough to fit three families, Kanoko and Shikamaru shared a room. This started when they were young, as Yoshino wanted her children to be close by if they needed her and Shikaku found it too troublesome to travel to from room to room to care for his heirs. Getting out of bed was difficult enough.

This of course, was supposed to be temporary until they grew old enough to share the same room. Kanoko was overjoyed when she was moved to her own room. Shikamaru, for as lazy as he is, latches on like a koala bear at night. No amount of kicking, hitting, elbowing, pillows, or blankets stopped him. And he hadn't outgrown his drooling yet either. To say Kanoko was happy when she was given her own bed would be an understatement.

Her happiness was short lived, however.

Flashback

Kanoko had laid down in her new room and bed a while ago and was just starting to fall asleep. She never felt so relaxed before. "Who knew having another person taking up valuable sleeping space could be stressful." She thought with her eyes closed.

Kanoko opened an eye when she heard her door open slightly. A small amount of light came in, enough to make out a small form at the door.

"Shikamaru, go back to bed." She grumbled out.