Published: 06-11-21
Edited: 23-05-22
[Day-Month-Year]
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Last chapter was almost 3700 words, damn, that's my record
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[[Edit] Never mind, one of my other book's chapters has 4700 , I'm dumb, 1IQ
('ō - ō)]
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If you find any mistakes, please, bother to tell me)
I adore reading comments, so feel free to make stupid jokes :)
Enjoy!
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Naruto was walking through the streets with hands in his pockets, looking at the ground. He just went where his feet dragged him. Expectingly, the villagers he was passing by hid their children behind them and glared at the boy like always. But he didn't notice. He was too deep in his thoughts. "-That means if the Nine-tailed fox is sealed inside of me, is that the reason why the villagers hate me 'ttebayo? Ii e, ii e, the real question is.. Are they scared of the fox inside me or me, the container?-" that question made him stop in his tracks. Did they hate HIM or the fox? He couldn't tell. That's when an idea came up in his mind. What about going to Jiji-the-Hokage? The fox said something about Jiji and not trusting him. He surely knows what this is about, right? Then why didn't he tell him. Why. Was the old man really lying to him all the time? Did Kyuubi speak the truth? Naruto needed to find out, so he got an energy boost to come out of nowhere and ran off to the Hokage tower, not noticing anything in front, but focusing only on his own thoughts and questions.
While running he bumped into someone, so he rubbed his forehead, apologised and tried to run off again, but the figure he crashed into grabbed him by the shoulder and wouldn't let him go.
"-I'm screwed,-" Naruto thought as he looked up at the man in front of him, who was about three times taller than himself. The boy gulped. A drop of sweat ran down his cheek. Naruto yelped as he was suddenly dragged into an alleyway that just happened to be nearby. he was pinned to the wall by the huge man, who held an aggressive position, ready to hit the small boy. Naruto groaned at the harsh motion, but managed to spot two other guys, one of which had a Leaf headband and was spinning a kunai on his index finger.
"-Uh oh...-"
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POV
SHIKAMARU AND CHOJI
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Shikamaru and Choji were walking down the street, talking about the upcoming three years in the academy and overall their future when a Naruto zoomed past them with great speed leaving a small gust of wind to hit the two boys. Choji held tighter on the crisps he was eating, while Shikamaru was a bit stunned at the speed of the other boy. They both turned around to see that a man put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and dragged him to the alleyway nearby.
Shikamaru, being five-year-old, couldn't possibly do anything, but he took action. His gut told him this was not good, so he told Choji to wait for him at the candy store they were heading to and waved him a 'see you later'. By the time he said bye to his friend, Naruto was already pinned to a wall by one of the three men he spotted in the alleyway. Shikamaru tensed and tried to think of something to help, but he was just five, he couldn't actually go and fight them with his own strength—he didn't know any jutsu except the one his dad showed him! And even that jutsu wasn't doing great yet. He started panicking. Why? He didn't even know the boy in trouble. He sighed, put his hands together and laced his fingers with a nervous expression, taking the famous tactical thinking pose for the first time in his life. He focused on what he needed to do and on what he could do right now. Save the boy, with hopefully no injuries, don't get hit yourself, deal with it quickly and efficiently. Preferably, no combat. Those were the main rules he was currently basing his plan off of.
After a few seconds of staying in one place he made it up. There would be no need in fighting since he is from the Nara clan and his dad is a Jounin commander AND leader of the clan: that ninja will be suspended if his dad finds out about this. And the ninja must have passed the academy exams a prt of which is reiterating everything you must know about the village and the clans residing in it. Plus, he probably already met his dad at some point. There was no mistake. But what to do about the two civilians? Let's hope their ninja buddy tells them not to engage and leave. Otherwise, plan B.
So Shikamaru stepped in action.
"Oi, you three! What are you doing!" the three men turned to see the Nara glaring at them. The guy with the Leaf headband recognised the young Nara's face and immediately stepped back.
"-Bingo!-"
The other two, however, didn't, and so they started mocking the kid:
"What are you doing here, punk? This is not your business, so if you don't want to get caught up in this then I advise you to leave. We just need this kid."
"That's right! You tell him, Yan!" the second guy cheered on the man who held Naruto by the collar. Speaking of Naruto, he was rather relieved to see someone come in clutch, otherwise... He didn't know what could have happened here. He was looking around trying to find an opening to escape and he did. When the Nara came in, the guy's grip on his collar weakened because of the distraction, so he managed to carefully take out his shirt from the man's grasp and quietly blend in with the shadows. The guy with the Leaf headband noticed him leaving, but didn't say a word to his companions. Shikamaru noticed it as well and smirked at the now bare wall, to which the small blonde was pinned just a few seconds ago. Shikamaru didn't expect Naruto to slip out that well but to come in clutch with his clan's position to get their hands off of him. It wasn't fair, yes, but the thing they were doing was, in fact, a bit illegal. Seeing the others look at the place where Naruto was supposed to be at, the guy who was holding Naruto turned back to face the brick wall instead of the boy he was holding onto. He cursed under his breath and turned to the Nara.
"Okay, kid, now you're getting it!"
The guy in the headband gulped and interrupted 'Yan' in a shaky voice:
"H-Hey, Yan, don't hurt that kid-"
The third man quickly realised what their ninja friend meant and also took a step back from the Nara. Yan, however, didn't really understand why his friends weren't cheering him on, so he took Shikamaru by the collar as well, threatening to beat him up here and now. The Nara grinned.
"Go ahead, beat me up. But my father, the leader of the Nara clan would be really disappointed in a 'kind' villager like you disobeying the rules, don't you think?"
The man still didn't believe it and continued threatening the kid, tightening the grip on the boy's collar:
"Stop bluffing, kiddo! Nothing is saving you from me!"
The ninja friend suddenly interrupted him:
"Hey, hey! Yan, he is not bluffing! He is the Nara clan's heir! We need to get out of here right now!"
The man suddenly let him go and stumbled back in fear for his future. He called for the others and they left in a hurry, not daring to lock eyes with Shikamaru. This wasn't such a fair game, but if it saves someone from harm, you should use everything you have in your arsenal, whether on the battlefield or in normal life. Shikamaru sighed in relief:
"-No plan B, phew-"
He then proceeded to spare a glance in the shadows as he saw a pair of baby blue eyes staring back at him.
Naruto stepped out with a toothy grin, completely forgetting about the empty, hurtful feeling in his chest.
"Arigato, dattebayo! You really saved me there!" the boy said with nervousness and held out a hand:
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Glad to meet'cha!"
Shikamaru smiled and accepted the handshake:
"My name is Nara Shikamaru. *sigh* This is such a drag, but I need to go to my friend. He's waiting, wanna tag along?"
Naruto thought for a second but shook his head. Shikamaru gave him a confused look and let go of Naruto's hand. Then the Nara finally remembered that when he saw Naruto, the boy ran past them with great speed, probably heading somewhere. Shikamaru nodded with a hum, shoved his hands in his pockets and left with a smile:
"See you later."
Naruto showed Shikamaru's back a toothy grin and slowly watched him disappear in the busy crowd. His smile faded and his face changed to a neutral expression, his eyes showing less emotion than usual.
"...-We just need this kid-..."
Their motives were becoming clearer by every second. But one question still remained. Which one do they really hate? So he sighed and once again ran off to the Hokage tower.
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After around 3 minutes of running through the streets, that were getting more crowded by second, Naruto finally reached the entrance to the Hokage tower. The blonde was panting, but quickly calmed down and entered the building. Surprisingly, the ninja guarding the place and the person at the info desk didn't stop the boy. But he didn't really pay attention and made his way up the stairs and straight to the Hokage's office.
Naruto burst through the door and startled the Hokage quite a bit. The man was calmly drinking tea when the youngster burst in his room. The former choked on his drink and accidentally spat some of it out. He then went into a coughing fit. Naruto didn't expect such an outcome so he felt regret for his action, which, unexpectedly, vanished quite fast. He proceeded to close the door.
"Jiji, I have a few questions for you."
Hiruzen stopped recovering and put his tea cup back on his working table, which was stocked with a bunch of paperwork:
"And they might be?.."
"What happened on the day of my birth and what do I have to do with the Kyuubi?"
Hiruzen looked at the boy in shock, which he was trying to hide very hard, but failed miserably.
"-How does he know? Did some ninja tell him? That figure needs to be suspended and taken care of immediately—-"
"I'm waiting, Jiji."
Hiruzen shook his head:
"Who told you such foolish things? The Kyuubi is no more and not a threat to the village anymore. The only thing you have in connection with the Kyuubi is the day of your birth—the day when it attacked our village."
"Then what is the drawing on my stomach?"
Hiruzen was legit sweating. He somehow made up an answer for the first questions, but this? There was no way out of this, but the Hokage decided to defend the secret until the very end:
"You saw something on your stomach? Then show it to me."
Naruto stood there with an angry expression, but when Hiruzen asked him to show him the seal, the boy smirked in victory. Surely, after the encounter with the Kyuubi itself the seal would remain on his stomach... Right? Wrong. It wasn't there anymore. His jaw almost hit the ground in shock, while Hiruzen secretly sighed in relief and calmed down.
"See, there's nothing to worry about. Stop pranking me Naruto, I have paperwork to fight."
Naruto looked at the man in disbelief and betrayal. He shed a tear, but turned away in time before the Hokage could notice it and ran out of the office. He was too young to understand that it was for his own 'protection.' But, anyway, his childish brain couldn't ever understand it.
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1 YEAR LATER,
SPRING
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Shikamaru and Naruto started hanging out since the incident in the alley. When Naruto is alone with Shikamaru, his energetic side is nowhere to be seen. He is quiet, smart and observant. His IQ wasn't as high as the Nara's, but he was quite clever for his age, he just didn't show it. He likes spending time with Shikamaru—he isn't mean, but friendly and kind. Shikamaru also likes Naruto's company—he isn't 'such a drag' like the others, excluding Choji, and is very cool and creative. They've found best friends in each other. Choji was also happy to greet a new 'member,' who wouldn't be making fun of him, to the friend group. They've been hanging out together quite a lot and were planning to meet up tomorrow. But Shikamaru and Naruto also liked spending time alone with each other. Before you ask—no, Choji is Shikamaru's friend and Naruto isn't replacing him, it's just that Shikamaru was trying to help Naruto get over all the tense atmosphere he had in the village around him everyday, and Choji wasn't on it.
Shikamaru was currently sitting under a tree, above him our yellow haired boy, his left leg swinging off the tree branch he was laying on. Both had their eyes closed, probably relaxing in the nice weather. Choji wasn't present though. Probably some clan business, as he always says. But Naruto was sure he was onto them. They were most definitely stockpiling on food, the blonde was sure.
But Choji was missing out on such great weather! Soft breeze hitting the leaves and the two kids' hair, making the place more lively, some sun rays passing through the foliage of the tree. They have been laying there for a solid hour now, sometimes bringing up short conversations about things that randomly come up in their minds. Now was one of those times. Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He tilted his head to the side a little and raised his left hand in front of him, reaching for nothingness as the sun rays made their way through the protective cover of leaves.
"Hey, Shikamaru, why do you think the villagers treat me the way they do?" the boy asked in an curious tone, interested in what Shikamaru would reply with, since he hadn't brought that theme up, but knew that Shikamaru noticed their behaviour.
Shikamaru sighed:
"I don't know. I asked my dad the same thing and he just said you were... special. Ugh, that is such a drag."
Naruto eyes barely narrowed in disappointment. He put his hand back on his stomach with a quiet sigh. The boy lowered his head and hid his expression behind his spiky blonde hair as the sun stopped gifting the boy it's warmth, disappearing behind the clouds.
After a heavy silence, Shikamaru finally commented.
"I want you to be happy. I want you to laugh a lot. I don't know what exactly I'll be able to do for you, but I'll always be by your side..."
A small 'e?' escaped Naruto's mouth. It then shifted into a small fond smile. He didn't know why, but he was happy to find the Nara by his side. Naruto swung his leg back and fourth and continued playing with his imagination.
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3 DAYS LATER
1AM
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Shikamaru was laying in his room, under his blanket, looking at the ceiling deep in thoughts. Suddenly, he heard the window to the right of him open and the first thing he could process was that Naruto snuck in his room. Through the window. At 1AM. Naruto waved him as a greeting and tried to carefully slip in the Nara's room, but failed and dropped down to the floor, making a loud, and I mean loud thump that could be heard from outside of Shikamaru's room, where some ninja were patrolling the surroundings. The Nara panicked and told Naruto to hide under his blanket, the other, panicking as well, obliged and quickly jumped under the covers. Shikamaru walked a few feet away, laid on the ground and started rubbing his back, faking pain. The ninja who happened to be passing by the room slid the door open with a kunai ready, but found the owner of the room laying on the floor in 'pain'. The guy asked what happened to receive a classic 'I sleep-walked and hit the wall' answer from the Nara. The guard asked if he could do anything to help, but Shikamaru politely declined and thanked the man. The ninja nodded, slid the the door closed and left.
The Nara sighed in relief and looked at his covers in anger and confusion evident in his eys as Naruto peeked his head out. Shikamaru started whisper-shouting with crazy gestures:
"What the HELL are you doing in my room?! How did you get past all the ninja around this place?!"
Naruto huffed and completely got out of the Nara's blanket with a nervous smile:
"Uhh... Hi?"
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After a solid 13 minutes, Naruto finally managed to drag Shikamaru out of his room and past the security. It seems that Naruto just wanted to hang out. At 1AM. Great. But Shikamaru didn't argue as long as no one else found out about this. So he went along with it. Naruto finally stopped dragging the Nara by his hand. Shikamaru whistled in amazement: they were standing before a field with a bunch of blue and white glowing flowers. The moon was shining bright in the clear sky, fireflies were buzzing and having a great time, just like Naruto and Shikamaru. Just as Shikamaru stopped analysing his surroundings, Naruto dragged him towards the middle of the medium sized field and plopped on the ground with a laugh, taking Shikamaru down with him. The Nara yelped at the contact with the ground, but the quiet pain disappeared almost immediately as he looked around. This was such an amazing place. He loved it, so he closed his eyes right as the chilly breeze came by.
"How do you like it here?"
"I like it a lot. This was such a drag, but completely worth it..."
The two laid there in silence for a few minutes, each of them enjoying their surroundings.
"Hey, Shikamaru... You know that are actually the third... No, second person who accepted me. But you are different from the first ones 'ttebayo. You are my very-very best friend, don't you forget that!"
Shikamaru turned looked at him in surprise, which was quickly swapped with happiness for Naruto. The Nara was glad that he could give Naruto the happiness he was searching all his life for.
"Shikamaru, can I trust you?"
The Nara's expression shifted to one of confusion:
"What do you mean?"
Naruto hasn't stopped looking at the sky even once per this talk.
"Can you keep a secret?"
Shikamaru also turned to look at the stars.
"Yeah, why?"
Naruto finally switched his pose to sitting and broke his gaze over the sky, looking at Shikamaru:
"Please do not tell this to anyone. But I think I know the reason why the villagers hate me."
Shikamaru also sat up and stared into Naruto's baby blue eyes with great interest.
"You promise you won't hate me 'ttebayo?"
The Nara gave out a chuckle:
"I mean, if you are a serial killer and didn't know it, then I can't promise anything. But I can promise that I won't make blind assumptions"
"Well... The thing is... The Kyuubi is sealed inside of me. I spoke with it over a year ago, and it hasn't come in contact since then. Please don't hate me—"
"And why should I hate you? You are not the Kyuubi, right? It is inside you, but hasn't taken over your body. You are you, and no one can change that."
Naruto looked at the other in shock, but smiled, tears finally leaking out of his eyes. He leaned forward and wrapped Shikamaru in a tight hug.
"Thank.. Thank y-you... Thank you..."
The Nara sighed and accepted the gesture. He was slowly patting the yellow haired boy on the back, who was quietly crying on his shoulder.
"I'm your very-very best friend, right? I'll always be there for you..."
After a few minutes of sobbing and hugs, Naruto gave Shikamaru a toothy grin and ran off with a loud 'bye'. Shikamaru waved Naruto a 'bye' as well. The Nara sat on the gress for a moment until it hit him.
"Naruto, how am I getting back in my room! Dammit, you little—"
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Rumours say that Shikamaru didn't find the way back in his room...
And no, they're just good friends.