Peer Counseling is Too Troublesome

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Italics- Shikamaru's thoughts(unless obviously otherwise)

For the first time in his life, Shikamaru wished the clock's hands would move slower.

He had gotten a text that morning from the school office that read: Hello, Shikamaru Nara. Thank you for joining the Konoha High School Peer Counseling Program. There will be a meeting with your supervisor in the library after school today. Please be there by 2:45.

However, the clock continued to move at its normal pace. If anything, the clock hand seemed to move even faster than usual. In less than 5 minutes, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. He sighed as he got up and left the classroom. Just his luck, the library was on the other side of campus.

As he opened the library door, the sight that greeted him surprised him.

He had expected that only one or two people besides him would sign up, considering that peer counseling was often viewed as lame by students. But instead, there were... 21, 22, 23, 24 students waiting in there. He frowned as he walked in. Were there really that many kids interested in helping other people with issues?

Shikamaru sat down at a table far enough away from everyone else that he wouldn't have to get involved with them, but close enough to not be noticed. He checked his phone for the time. The numbers 3:08 graced his screen, with a picture of aesthetic clouds serving as his lock screen wallpaper. (What else was he supposed to put? A picture of his crush? Not like he had one, but still...)

The library door was suddenly slammed open, causing almost everyone in the room to jump. A man in his early 30's entered the room. It was none other than his homeroom and Pre-Calculus teacher, Asuma-sensei. He set down the pile of papers he had been carrying onto one of the library tables, and turned towards the students.

Everyone's began to take a seat down at the tables as he started speaking. "Hello everyone, thank you for joining the Peer Counseling Program." Some people began to clap, but they immediately stopped when he continued. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, but you may call me Asuma-sensei. For those of you who don't know or have me, I teach Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. But that's enough about me. The Konoha Peer Counseling Program is a program me and a couple of students started about 4 to 5 years ago." Asuma-sensei cleared his throat once before continuing. "The main goal of this program is to help fellow students who may have troubles in their lives, and give them advice and counseling. We also help provide support they may otherwise be too scared to ask for or don't know how. Everyone here is to be a role model for others. This includes showing kindness, respect, diligence, and leadership. Failure in any of these will result in you getting dropped from this program. Bad grades will also result in the same consequences. However, at the end of each semester, you will be given the chance to join this program once again.

"We will now go over appointments. Appointments will be used to actively listen to your peers to offer steady advice and help. These appointments will be during lunch on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and after school on Mondays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, we will go through a 'training' for counseling. We will also occasionally host and/or attend events; the events are listed on this paper here." He picked up the first half of the paper stack and handed it to a platinum blonde sitting by him. "Here, pass it around to everyone."

The platinum blonde stood up and began passing the papers around. When Shikamaru received his, he muttered a thanks and proceeded to look at its contents.

Peer Counseling Program 20XX-20XX Schedule

- Homecoming/September 21