2/2

"If you have too much to deal with, you don't have to help us," George said with a slight guilty wince. "We overheard Harry telling Ron that you've got a lot more on your plate than even someone two years older. What with all that you have going on, we'll be fine if you can't."

That sounded entirely too appealing.

Shikamaru shook his head anyway.

"I'll be fine. Give me a couple of days to scrounge something up," he said. He'd probably have something by then.

He walked away before his common sense (noticeably missing these days) could talk him out of it.

"Think we should have tried harder?" George asked quietly.

"We'll know if he can't handle it," Fred said confidently. "We'll just have to have ears and eyes everywhere to make sure this isn't causing him too much trouble."

Shikamaru sat down at the table with his friends, earning curious looks.

"What did they want?" Ron asked.

"Help with a prank," Shikamaru said vaguely, pulling out a book on partial Transfiguration. Hermione eyed it enviously. Harry took one look at the diagrams and formulas and turned bit pale.

"I don't know how you can understand all of that," he said, looking fascinated in a horrified sort of way. The way someone might have looked at something they found particularly disturbing, but it was just so interesting that they couldn't stop staring at it.

Shikamaru understood his sentiments. He used to look that way when Ino took him shopping with her.

"I don't know where you got it; that version hasn't been seen in at least a decade. It's very valuable and the Hogwarts library doesn't have it. I checked," Hermione said. Priorities - at least someone had them.

"I found it in a second-hand shop, underneath a bunch of books on animal care," Shikamaru answered her unasked question. Useless information; the writers had clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

The heavily annotated book was set aside and out came a roll of parchment. He let out a huff of breath, cracked his neck, and began to write. Neat rows of letters and numbers made their way across the paper, with the occasional diagram or arrow to clarify things.

Shikamaru treated it like a mission with a time limit. He wrote it all in an efficient, personal shorthand that took him the least amount of time to glance over. While one of his hands was occupied with writing down the precise instructions on changing the structure of human anatomy with as little pain as possible, the other dug around in his bag for a different book. He pulled it out. This one was on charming inanimate objects.

The thing about being a genius - even a lazy one - was that his brain was always going. Even in his calmest moments - cloud watching - his brain was analyzing something. Calculations ran through his mind twenty-four-seven, determining the physics behind that object's movements or considering how that process worked. His incredible intelligence meant that he could have more than one full train of thought going at one time. He couldn't stop thinking. This had been incredibly useful during the war since it meant that he could think on various levels simultaneously. Even when asleep, his brain was working, and he almost never went into deep periods of sleep. This also meant that when he crashed, he crashed hard. And he always knew when the inevitable crash was coming. Shikamaru knew that this was all going to come back and bite him in the ass later, but with the pile of important issues on his mind, he also knew that it was pointless to try and sleep or rest for the next few days. He would burn himself out or he would finish his tasks; one or the other with no other option.

Workaholic indeed.

While thinking about Quirrell, his left hand absently turned the pages of two books and his right hand started writing out ideas in neat bullets and lists. Half-formed thoughts transferred from his brain to the pieces of parchment, automatically categorized by subject and importance. He distantly registered that his friends were staring at him in amazement. Hours flew by - he was lucky it was a weekend - and lunch came. He barely had to presence of mind to tell his friends that he wouldn't be going to any meals before diving back into his research.

(In his other life, his friends wouldn't have taken 'no' for an answer, knowing him like they did. Naruto would have dragged him out forcibly, Chouji would have stood by patiently until Shikamaru's own guilt made him give in, Ino would have purposely distracted him with a lengthy one-sided conversation about something or other, Temari-

Well, his newer friends didn't have that experience, and so they didn't try as hard. Much to their later chagrin.)

The trio left, and when they came back sometime later, the table they had been working at was covered in pieces of parchment filled with notes, theories, and plans in various states of dryness.

"Merlin," Ron muttered. Shikamaru didn't acknowledge them.

"Shikamaru?" Hermione asked tentatively. His hand didn't pause, but he glanced up. "Um, have you...er, have you done your homework?" Shikamaru nodded briefly and reached for a small stack of parchment in the corner of his table.

"Here. Essays for Potions, History of Magic, and Charms. Drawing and notes for Herbology, a summary of the chapter for Transfiguration, and observations for Astronomy," he said briskly.

"Merlin," Ron said again in amazement. "You did all of this while we were at lunch?"

"No, he can't have. I saw him working on it this morning before breakfast," Hermione reassured him.

"Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?" Harry asked quietly. The other two nodded after glancing at their friend. The three went away, much to Shikamaru's relief. He was nursing a headache and while they meant well, their talking hadn't made it any better. He didn't notice the hours slipping away, internal clock smothered by the buzzing of his mind, and he refused to acknowledge the ache that was growing in his hands. His eyelids started to droop, but he took an Invigoration Draught that gave him a large boost of energy. It was like a wizard's equivalent of coffee. It was also highly addictive, so he only took the potion when necessary. The day turned to night, and his friends took one look at him and left him, deciding he would go to bed when he was ready. But, well, he never did.

He worked through the night, brushing away his fatigue with practiced ease (because it wasn't too bad yet, and this wouldn't be the first or last all-nighter he would have to pull, he knew), and he continued right on until the next day started. Harry and Ron came down for breakfast, exchanged looks, and went up to him.

"Shikamaru?" Harry asked tentatively. Shikamaru barely glanced at him. "It's time for breakfast." Harry frowned as he took in his friend's physical state of disarray.

"I'll be fine," Shikamaru said automatically.

"You need to eat, mate," Ron said with concern.

"I'll be okay," Shikamaru assured him absently. He was almost there with the Partial Transfiguration. "Go on ahead." The two exchanged looks again and went towards the door.

"Don't overwork yourself," Ron said, voice laced with uncertainty. And then the two walked out of the room.

Too late.

His vision tunneled as he refocused on his work.

Work, work, work. Studying, noting, dissecting the theory behind it - trying to improve it, seeing what else it could be applied to. Writing page after page after page of thoughts and half-formed conclusions to look back on later. No time to fully think through the plan, writing it out to come back later, just to get something down. Switching targets. Looking through history; scouring through the book and reading it cover to cover and then again in case something was missed. Write down anything that looked vaguely helpful. Dinner? What was dinner? Sleep? That was okay; he hadn't needed consistent sleep for years now. Ignoring the ache in the back of his mind, ignoring the concerned looks of his friends, politely (or not so politely) brushing off any attempts at conversation.

(No, he really wasn't alright, but his well being wasn't important right now.) Temari was right; he was a workaholic when he got focused.

The darkness crowded around his vision, but he didn't want to depend on the potions so he just bore with it and pushed it away. The ache was spreading to behind his eyes - which, consequently, were probably red and bloodshot from staying up for almost three nights straight. Worry for Harry's safety, (but wait, those prank plans needed to be done two hours ago), plans for persuading Snape to listen to them, back to school work (had to prepare for the 'study' sessions to give the Slytherins a reason to come); Harry, prank, school, Snape, Harry-prank-school-Snape-

Shikamaru's head thudded down on his textbook, his hand still in the process of writing something down (he didn't even know what anymore because everything was on autopilot), and he fell into a deep sleep. He didn't move for the next six hours, breathing light and thready, and his temperature high and his face pale and strained.

…

The common room was quiet. It was early morning and a few minutes before breakfast. No one paid attention to the completely still Gryffindor in the corner that had become a constant presence. No knew why, but the room felt too quiet. No one would realize that they had gotten used to the sound of a scratching quill and the wrinkle of paper as pages turned. Hermione came down first, soon followed by Harry and Ron.

They noticed something was off too.

"Something's up," Ron said with a frown. He turned to his friend in the corner. "Hey, Shika-" he stopped and his face paled.

"Oh, no," Hermione whispered. "Look at him."

"He looks..." Harry started hesitantly.

"Bloody awful," Ron said flatly. He sighed and shook his head. "I knew we should have told him to take a break."

"He wouldn't listen to us," Hermione said, but she didn't sound convinced of her own words.

"Then we should have forced him," Harry said fiercely. "Clearly he doesn't know his own limits."

"Or he doesn't care," Ron agreed somberly. "I'll be having a word with Fred and George later."

"What about us?" a familiar voice asked. The twins came into the room from their dormitory, fixing their ties.

"Shikamaru," Ron replied. "You asked him for help with your prank, didn't you?"

"So what if we did?" Fred asked. "He said he could manage to help us."

"Shikamaru is an idiot who clearly doesn't know how to limit himself. Look at him," Ron said flatly, jabbing a finger at his friend's still body. Fred and George took a look at Shikamaru and their expressions became sufficiently shocked.

"We asked around; no one's said anything about him being this bad," George said quietly.

"That's because he hasn't left the Gryffindor common room for almost three days," Hermione said tartly. The twins were silent.

…

Shikamaru was aroused by the sound of raised voices. His first thought was to tell whoever it was to shut the hell up because he was trying to sleep, damn it. His second thought was the realization that he had, in fact, fallen asleep.

That wasn't good.

Shodaime; this was why he needed to invest in an alarm clock or something.

Unfortunately, sudden, loud noises and a high strung ninja did not a good match make.

Shikamaru kicked his abused brain into gear and actually listened to what was being yelled.

"-didn't know! How could we?" the very familiar and irate voice of a certain twin exclaimed.

"I don't know, but Shikamaru has enough to think about without your pranks!" Hermione scolded testily. Shikamaru might have been just a little impressed that she could yell at someone two years her senior like that.

"You two are gits, you know that?" Ron said in disgust. "Asking someone who already has sleeping problems to spend even more time awake to help you with your fun?" Shikamaru's eyes snapped open at this last comment.

He should have said something before it got to this point. This was karma for...something.

"He didn't tell us he had insomnia, or whatever the hell it's called!" George said defensively.

"Damn straight I didn't," Shikamaru butted in, wishing for a glass of water so that he didn't sound so croaky. He lifted his head and stifled a groan as the light caused the muffled ache behind his eyes to return full force. He massaged his temples in hopes of getting it to abate.

It didn't. He felt like he had the hangover from hell.

"Shikamaru!" Hermione said in surprise.

"It wasn't important enough to advertise," he continued, ignoring her greeting. He ironed his face with his hands. "Anyway, I got the plans done. I just need to work out the kinks and add a few details. It's not a big deal."

Well, there was no need for them to look so incredulous. Contrary to apparent popular belief, he did know his limits. Now, whether they should have been set so high was another story entirely.

"Yes, it is a big deal!" Hermione said shrilly. "You collapsing from exhaustion isn't good at all!"

"Hermione, calm down," Ron said, though he looked plenty incensed. "Yelling at him won't do anything."

"I do this all the time," Shikamaru said in mild exasperation. Their hearts were in the right place. "It's just life sometimes. CEOs do it, scientists do it; there's just too much to do and something has to give."

"But you aren't an adult," Hermione said. "We're eleven years old - you are eleven years old, and genius or not, you need sleep! A-and food!" She was close to tears, worry apparent on her face. Shikamaru felt a tinge of guilt somewhere in the back of his mind, but he was too busy concentrating on not grimacing at his headache to try and assuage her concerns.

"Shikamaru, mate," Ron said quietly, "you don't have to do this all alone. I know we aren't as smart as you or as advanced in anything, really, but let us help.

Shikamaru sighed; that wasn't the message he'd been trying to send. "It isn't like that. I know that you can help, and it's my problem that's keeping you from doing so. I'm not used to having people intelligent enough around to help, I guess."

Which was mostly true.

"What about the other kids at your orphanage?" Hermione asked. Fred and George exchanged surprised looks.

"You're an orphan?" they asked in shock. Shikamaru tilted his head back so that he was looking at the ceiling. This wasn't really a conversation he wanted to have while functioning with so little sleep. Or, well, he would have liked to avoid it altogether, really.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Harry asked, from somewhere to Shikamaru's right.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru told the ceiling flatly.

"He never told us," George said in a strange voice. Shikamaru let out a large breath through his nose and then he lowered his head until his eyes locked with Fred's. The Weasley was both surprised and a little...hurt?

Damn. It.

"It wasn't on purpose," Shikamaru said sincerely. "It just never came up." And he didn't much like to talk about it. There wasn't a whole lot to talk about. Nothing good, anyway.

"Right." Fred looked unconvinced.

Well. How did he fix this?

"Do you like it there?" George asked suddenly.

"What?" Shikamaru asked in confusion, his brain struggling to keep up with the conversation. Invigorating Draughts were great temporary measures; the after effects were not so nice.

"Do you like it there?" George repeated. "I just thought that if you didn't like it, then you probably wouldn't have much cause to bring it up."

George was offering him a way out and Shikamaru appreciated it. He was being offered a chance to help explain his lack of explanation. And yet...he was reluctant to impart to his friends what his home situation was really like. Harry had told a bit of his life at the Dursley house (all refused to call it 'home'), and what little was given made the boy's friends swell up in righteous anger. (A cupboard? Seriously? How had nobody noticed that? Then again, no one had noticed Shikamaru's 'room' either...)

But while Harry might have needed the reassurance that nothing was wrong with him just because his relatives were grade-A assholes, Shikamaru was an adult that had no such insecurities. He knew it was on the adults of the orphanage. He didn't want pity or sympathy. (Neither helped anyone during the war, and neither would help now.) So, he resorted to telling half-truths to keep them satisfied, while also ensuring their innocence stuck around for a little longer.

Harry might have known a bit more than the other two, but for all of Hermione's intelligence, she was still quite naïve. Her blatant trust in adults proved that. Ron was sheltered by his family, and the Dursleys (terrible excuses for human beings that they were) didn't seem to be the type of people to expose Harry to the depravity and evil that the world could provide if only to keep those influences away from their own son. Shikamaru was under no such illusions and had long since resolved to keep his friends on the lighter side of things rather than that large gray area that he now resided in. Still, he had to play the relatively innocent child...

"I don't hate it," he said finally. "It isn't the best, but it's something. Better than the streets, right?" Sometimes he wasn't so sure of that. It was probably best not to tell them that tidbit though.

"That isn't a very high standard," Hermione noted.

"Yeah, well, I don't have high expectations," Shikamaru said. Not of that place, not anymore. There was a bit of an awkward silence, during which Shikamaru struggled to marshal his thoughts into a semi-coherent train.

"Why didn't you tell us you were so busy?" Fred asked finally. "We wouldn't have asked you to help. George and I know you have a lot of stuff going on, but we didn't think it would get so…" He gestured to the chaos that was Shikamaru's work.

Shikamaru debated what to say. His neglect of basic human needs was biting him in the rear right on time. The hunger was making him feel light-headed, his throat was drier than Suna, and his headache was just getting worse every moment. He needed a couple days of sleep, food, water, and a couple of headache pills. Or, assuming wizards had none, some sort of potion. Madam Pomfrey probably had something.

"I thought I could handle it better than I did," he said truthfully. Who knew that planning a prank - even such an elaborate one - could be so much work? He had a whole new respect for Naruto now - and Fred and George. Or was it George and Fred? He had heard something about Gred and Forge too, maybe. (Or he had imagined it in a temporary state of delirium.) Perhaps Forge and Gred?

His hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. And...he was off track. This was what happened when he got no sleep. His mind snagged on random tangents and focused on the most obscure things. It was very irritating.

Irritation: the state of feeling annoyed, impatient, or angry. Angry like an Uchiha. Uchihas...Sasuke had been the literal Last Uchiha for less than a year. Maybe. When had Itachi died? But wait, Sasuke married Sakura and therefore started to rebuild his clan, which was part of his goal...right? Or had that only been killing Itachi? Hmm. He'd have to ask Naruto-

Shikamaru violently wrenched himself from those thoughts, feeling a little sick. He couldn't ask Naruto because he wasn't in the Elemental Nations anymore. No Naruto, or brooding Uchiha, or Ino, or Temari… No Shikadai either. No family. Friends, sure, but he didn't want to replace his old family with a new one; it wouldn't be fair to anyone. Though honestly, the chances of him getting a new family were slim since he lived in an orphanage that disliked and distrusted him - and the feelings were completely mutual. He wondered how they were doing, his family.

Were they looking for him? Or maybe they were frozen in time while he was here. Perhaps his original dimension had restarted without him in it. Team Ten would get someone else...how would that even work? Temari would probably remain single for life, but that wasn't right because she had always wanted a family. He...just wouldn't be a part of it. Neither would Shikadai. Or maybe his parents had a different child that would take his place.

Or maybe he was existing in two places at once. The idea made his headache worse.

That was about when he noticed that his friends were looking at him with even greater concern. ...had he said that out loud?

Well, judging by their half confused expression, at least he'd said it all in Japanese. There was that. Hmm...Japanese…

This was ridiculous. He couldn't focus for two seconds!

"Can we question him later? He looks ready to drop," Harry said hesitantly.

Excellent idea, Harry. Shikamaru was very amenable to the idea of sleeping.

"Nearly three days without sleep would do that," Hermione agreed with a nod.

"I'm right here," Shikamaru muttered. They ignored him like the brats they were. (3)

"I think we can cover for him in class," Ron said thoughtfully. "We can take notes for him, and the only people who might make a big deal out of it would be Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Binns doesn't notice much, and I can't see Flitwick being hung up on it."

"Alright," Hermione said briskly. "You-" she pointed a finger at Shikamaru, "go to sleep. And we-" she indicated the trio, "will take notes for you and turn in your homework. But for today only!" she added hastily, raising a finger and waving it. Shikamaru shook his head. Of course. But, a fond look entered his eyes and a faint smile touched his lips.

"Alright, you troublesome girl," he said agreeably. He stood up to go and do exactly what she had told him to - and nearly fell over as a wave of exhaustion swept over him. He stumbled back and probably would have tripped over his chair or something similarly ridiculous, but two pairs of strong arms secured themselves around his shoulders and arms.

That was...mildly embarrassing.

"Oi, can't have you going all princess-y on us," George mocked lightly.

"That's right," Fred agreed. "We can't have you sleeping before you actually get to bed. People would talk. They'd say that you're a lazy lie-about who doesn't put forth nearly enough effort."

Well. They wouldn't be wrong, per say...

"Actually, I'm pretty sure they say that anyway," George said thoughtfully as they guided Shikamaru up the stairs. The other first years followed at a distance, carefully watching their mutual friend.

"Well, then this would reinforce it all. Would hate to prove them right," Fred declared cheerfully.

Shikamaru listened to their light-hearted banter in a sort of haze and felt immeasurable relief when he was placed on his bed. His body relaxed instantly, and he might have made an embarrassing noise of contentment, but he was too out of it to care.

He drifted off to one of the twins chuckling and saying fondly, "Alright, let's leave our little overachiever to his rest." He'd never been happier to fall asleep.

Best of all: he didn't even have any dreams.

Potions:

Invigoration Potion: Gives drinker boost of energy.

Ninjutsu (Techniques):

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone technique): Creates copies of the user, splits chakra in half for each clone and transmits memories of the clone to the user after it dispels. B-rank, hand seals are Clone seal or Tiger seal. (Mentioned).

(1): Yeah, what Neville's relatives did to him - pushing him out a window - is seriously messed up. As in, his relatives could get jail time for that if they were muggles.

(2): Firstly, I have no idea where this scene came from, to be honest. It was supposed to be light-hearted. Ha. But in all seriousness, I think this was a conversation - or part of one - that Shikamaru needed to have.

He was never abused or mistreated in his original life, so chances of him identifying such passive-aggressiveness as abuse were slim, even with his great intellect. The fact is though; he is being neglected almost to the point of them starving him. I think that he needed to get a clue, but that it wouldn't happen by himself - he's only human - and voilà, that's where Lupin came in. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this angsty thing that wrote itself.

(3): I always thought Shikamaru's propensity to sound like a crotchety old man was hilarious.

Guest Reviews (Bottom to Top):

Allison: Hopefully I'll get that error with my re-write! Sorry about the mistake! And I am very glad that you enjoyed the recommendation. Thank you so much for your two reviews!

Guest: Yes, Shikamaru sees himself apart from the Golden Trio. I believe that it is more age and the fact that he still considers The Elemental Nations to be his home that keeps the four of them separate. Shikamaru isn't really one for confidence issues unless he fails in something, so the fact that he is an adult in a child's body helps with the distinction. Thank you for the thought-provoking review!

A/N:

IMPORTANT FOR LATER PLOT! READ!

Someone brought something up, and I actually really like the idea. They were like, 'Will Lupin adopt Shikamaru?', and I'm like '…wow, never thought about it, but yeah, why not?' (Thank AlcatrazPrsnr for the idea). So anyway, if the adoption doesn't happen, there will be some sort of parental/child relationship there, in spite of Shikamaru's mental age. Shikamaru is an adult in a child's body, but sometimes he has childish impulses and stuff, the consequences of de-aging, in this story anyway. You should see what I mean in later chapters. And the whole Lupin thing won't happen for a few books, but I have it all planned out. By the way, I'm doing all seven Harry Potter book in one story, so we're in this for the long haul, hope you don't mind!

Thanks for everything, and please leave a review on your way out.

Recommendations:

Because Roses Are Not Always Red – DarkLux: A nicely done set of one shot where Kakashi is mute, and Obito and Rin are alive. It isn't in chronological order and tends to skip around, but it is still quite enjoyable. Both humor and angst are present, and yes, Team Seven is there. Rated M, sorry again! (I was surprised and didn't realize the rating until I typed this recommendation out, but there isn't anything sexual, so far.)

A Decade and a Half Ago – VoldemortCan'tStopTheRock: A one-shot about Harry's primary school's fifteen-year reunion. Dudley is there and is nice, and Harry gets to be awesome. A nice read, if a too short, but still rather longer than your average one shot. Rated K+, and is just something light-hearted.

Chasing Dragons – Jedi Goat: Another one shot, this time about the Weasley twins and Percy! Brotherly comforts when they were all still children. Please read, it's adorable and I feel that it hasn't had enough recognition. Hardly anyone does Percy and his brothers, and I love Ron, but this is something new. Rated K+ and is quite fluffy �� like that purple unicorn from Despicable Me.

Changes to Chapter 5 (Sorry if I miss some details, but I'm focusing on the larger things for those of you who care):

Ron is not on a sugar high, and Shikamaru meets with Zabini, Bulstrode, and Nott to discuss what they owe him after he saved them. He meets Snape after this meeting.

Shikamaru suspects that the Quirrell situation goes high up in Hogwarts. He isn't wrong.

Hagrid's place will actually be a base-of-operations.

Shikamaru doesn't tell Harry, Hermione, and Ron about his meeting with the other three houses. He meets with these people. Slytherin: Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Milicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis. Ravenclaw: Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Marcus Belby. Hufflepuff: Cedric Diggory, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones. Gryffindor: Percy Weasley, Neville Longbottom. The group will investigate Quirrell and self-teach themselves to compensate for what he isn't teaching them.