Peer Counseling is Too Troublesome

Chapter 6

Sakura knocked on the door and through the window Asuma-sensei made a motion with his hand beckoning them in. Ino eyes lit up when she saw Sakura and him come in, but she was obviously still letting off steam.

"Asuma-sensei, I brought Fuki here along with Shikamaru," Sakura announced, her face masked with a calm expression.

Shikamaru closed the door behind them as Asuma-sensei nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Here, take a seat, all of you." They all took a seat begrudgingly, although the office now a bit cramped from having so many people in it at once.

Once Asuma-sensei was seated back at his own desk, he started, "So, let's discuss what happened, from start to finish."

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED!" Ino and Fuki both shrilled simultaneously. They turned to glare at each other.

"Stop, none of us are going to get angry here." Asuma-sensei held up his hand. "We are going to have a calm discussion, try to see each other's perspectives, and figure out a solution or compromise. Is that understood?"

"Yes..."

"Yepp."

"Pssh." Sakura and Ino glared at Fuki. She looked away indignantly.

"Yeah..."

"Alright then, let's get started. Shikamaru? Sakura? Ino?" Asuma-sensei looked at them. "Although I do not approve how this situation turned out, I want you to learn from this. Both as a chance to become better leaders in the program and as a chance to experience how to stay calm and work through a solution as peer counselors on this campus. I know you are great kids, but sometimes a bit misguided, so while you will have to face consequences, I will do my best to help you in any way I can."

"And Fuki," he nodded towards her. "I am sorry that you had to deal with such an experience at your appointment today." She smirked and turned to look at the rest of them haughtily. "However, how you treated your peer counselors was unacceptable. In order for peer counseling to be effective, both sides need to respect the other. Because you led Shikamaru and Ino here to feel disrespected, I believe that this created many misunderstandings and caused a disagreement to escalate into the fight it became.

Of course, I have only heard Ino's side of the story, and as much as I believe Ino to be telling the truth, I also believe her perspective may be biased. So," he folded his hands on top of the desk and looked all four of them straight in the eye. "One by one, I want you to tell me what exactly happened."

Shikamaru gulped. Uh oh.

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"UGHHHH" Ino heaved as she shoved her pencil pouch and the rest of the papers they had left back at the table into her backpack. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT."

Shikamaru tiredly turned to look at her. "Can't believe what? The fact that we narrowly avoided getting expelled? The fact that we're lucky to only be suspended from the program? Or the fact that we missed Hibachi and Kota's appointments cause you guys were too busy screaming at Asuma-sensei and Fuki?" he asked sarcastically.

"I can't believe it either," Sakura snarled. "And no, Shikamaru, don't be snarky. It's seriously unfair that she only gets suspended from being on the bowling team AND we have to pay her medical bills because we knocked out one tooth. I mean, all of us here actually want to do well in school and get into Konoha University, and the fact that we're the ones getting suspended from sports and clubs PLUS detention is just.... UGHHH SHANNAROOO!!!" She started punching the air as if to relieve her irritation.

"Well maybe, if you care so much about your extracurriculars, you shouldn't have chucked a metal book stopper at someone just because they cussed someone out," Shikamaru retorted. He was honestly relieved that he wouldn't have to go back to the peer counseling program for a while, but he wasn't sure if dealing with these two drama queens, when he didn't even do anything, was worth it. (Although, maybe he could use this chance to just quit altogether.)

"Shikamaru, just stop," Ino snapped. "We get that you think anything involving us is troublesome, but you don't have to go so far as to defend that bi- Fuki, so just stop."

Shikamaru pinched his nose bridge for what felt like the hundredth time today(although he had probably only done it two or three times, that was more than enough). In times like these, it was just better to apologize; if he didn't, who knows how troublesome their friendship would end up becoming. "Listen, Ino, and Sakura, I guess." He looked over at Sakura. "You both know I find a lot of things to be troublesome in general. Life as a whole is troublesome. So while I do find this situation VERY troublesome, I do not think you guys are both troublesome. And you're right, we did get the short end of the stick, and I apologize for the way I've reacted." He looked over at Ino.

But, you can't deny that this could've easily been avoided, and the fact that you're letting yourselves get so worked up over someone like Fuki, who's probably gonna end up working at your local Kaminari Burger, just shows that a situation like today's is gonna happen again in the future.

So, I'm sorry that I didn't take your feelings into consideration but I felt frustrated about this situation and you guys seriously need to get control of your anger issues." Shikamaru let out a big sigh he had been holding in. He closed his eyes and waited to get slappe-

"Well, you sure suck at apologizing." He opened his eyes to see Ino smirking at him, albeit not without a few tears pricking her eyes.

Sakura let out a small laugh. "Yeah, who says so much in an apology, too? You really do have a habit of talking too much at the wrong times." Her smile disappeared and her eyes became downcast. "But you're right..."

"Yeah," Ino agreed. "I... I don't regret the things I said to Fuki, if given the chance, I'd say it again."

"I'd throw a book stopper at her again!" Sakura chimed in.

Ino giggled, while Shikamaru blanched. "Yessss. But Shikamaru... we're sorry too for being so immature... we'll try to be more careful from now on... uhhh truce?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Is it really a truce if we've forgiven each other?"

"Hey, we haven't completely forgiven you, y'know," Sakura teased, poking his cheek.

"Alright, alright, whatever. Truce," Shikamaru raised his hands in mock defeat. Girls are complicated but whatever.

"Really, though," Sakura frowned. "I can't believe we're getting suspended from extracurriculars for the next month!! I mean, Shikamaru, you probably don't care since you weren't too enthusiastic about the KHS Peer Counseling Program, BUT Ino and I are really busy with studies, sports, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH."

Shikamaru started zoning out after Sakura started talking a hundred miles per hour. He usually didn't mind how quickly she talked because he never had trouble keeping up and he didn't have to wait for her to say whatever she was talking about, but in these cases, the conversation wasn't worth listening to.

"OMG SAKURA I AGREE. MAKE SURE TO LET ME AIM A BOOK STOPPER AT HER NEXT TIME, TOO!!" Ino squealed into his ear all of a sudden.

"WILL DO. ALSO, I'M GONNA MAKE SURE I HIT HER IN THE FOREHEAD THIS TIME SO SHE KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A BIG FOREHEAD!" Sakura punched the air excitedly.

He stared in horror at Ino and Sakura. Were these two girls the same ones that wanted to become a psychiatrist and a doctor??

"Hey, Sakura," Ino giggled, rubbing her hands together evilly. "I got just the plan to take down Fuki without anyone ever finding out."

Shikamaru groaned. Not again.

A/N: WHAT, A NEW CHAPTER SO SOON?! Haha I'm feeling very motivated apparently, but here's the new chapter y'all. At this pace, I might even be able to write a seventh chapter within the next week!! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please vote/comment if you liked it!! Any feedback or constructive criticism is always welcome!! Thank you again for reading this ridiculous fanfic of mine lol. (Let's also all agree that violence is never the answer, except when someone eats the last slice of cake you were saving for yourself. Then they're asking for war.)