Hey guys. So I wanted to try my hand a ShikaNaru story. Anyone that has read my other stories know that I'm a big ShikaTema and AsuShika fan, but I've also really liked the idea of ShikaNaru. If you don't like it, that's fine. To each his own, but I hope you will give this one a chance.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Naruto does not belong to me and neither does any of the other characters... sadly.
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Naruto had a big smile on his face as he walked into the academy building. "Alright! I'm gonna become a shinobi and show everyone what I can do!" he yelled as he threw his hand into the air.
"What's he doing here?"
"My dad said he's a menace and that I should stay away from him."
"Mom told me never to talk to that boy."
The smile on his face slipped a little as he heard the kids around him whispering to each other, and by the time he reached the room he would be studying in, the smile was gone completely. 'Why does no one like me? What did I do to them?'
"Hey, you're in my way."
Naruto looked up and saw a boy with dark hair and pale skin standing behind him with two other boys standing behind that boy. "Oh. Sorry," he said as he stepped to the side. He watched the three boys walk into the classroom. 'Is that some of my classmates?' A smile came back to his face. 'I can make friends here, then I won't be alone anymore.'
He walked into the room and saw that it was already filled with kids. He scanned the room and saw that most of them were already in little groups, and he tried to go up to a few of them and introduce himself, but they all pushed him away. In the end, he found an empty desk at the back of the room and sat down, placing his chin on the desk. 'They're all like the adults. Why does everyone hate me?'
"Alright class, settle down and find your seat," a man with brown hair up in a ponytail and a scar across his nose said. He saw the leaf headband sitting on the man's forehead and the green chunin vest and smiled.
'My sensei is a shinobi,' he thought with excitement. He had been around several shinobi before, since they were always the ones that came after him when he pulled his little pranks, but now he would be learning from one.
"My name is Iruka Umino, and from today I am going to be your academy sensei. I'm going to do a roll call to make sure that everyone is here," Iruka said, then began calling out names.
Naruto paid close attention to the names and which kid associated with it. He wanted to be able to go up to them later and try to make friends with them again. 'I'm not going to give up. I will make friends,' he thought with determination.
He watched the kids raise their hands or stand up when they were called and remembered the few names of the people that he thought might be good friends. "Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka called out, and the boy that he had met before he came into class lifted his hand and called out.
'So, his name is Sasuke. I wonder if he'd be my friend.'
"Sasuke is so cute."
Naruto turned his head to a pink haired girl that was sitting two desks in front of him. She was talking to a short, blonde haired girl.
"Sakura Haruno," Iruka called out.
The pink haired girl stood up and stiffened. "Here, Sensei."
'Sakura,' Naruto thought with a smile, and a blush creeped up on his face. 'She's kind of cute. Maybe I can be friends with her, too.'
He listened and watched as a few more kids called out they were there, finding a few more kids to keep in mind, like Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Choji Akimichi. They were kids that seemed like they kept more to themselves, so maybe they wouldn't mind hanging out with him.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka called out.
Naruto's eyes went wide and he quickly stood up, hitting his knee on the top of the desk. "Oww. Here." The kids laughed at him and he rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. They weren't glaring at him. Sure they were laughing at him, but there wasn't a single glare. His smile got wider. He knew how he was going to make friends. If he could make them laugh and completely forget about what the adults might have told him, then he could make friends.
He sat back down as Iruka called out the last few names and then turned to the blackboard to begin his lesson. Naruto pulled out the notebook that he saw was provided in the desk and began writing, but not notes about the lesson. What he wrote was plans, ideas that would get him some attention and possibly make people laugh. This was going to be the start of a new chapter in his life.
NNNNNNNNNN
Three weeks had passed and Naruto slumped into his chair and rested his chin on his desk. Nothing. Not one person wanted to be his friend. He had joked and made a fool of himself, and while the kids did laugh, not one of them wanted to be his friend. They all did the exact same thing they did on the first day, pushed him away and called him names.
His eyes drifted over the kids in front of him sadly. 'Why won't they give me a chance? Do they really hate me just like the adults do? Why? What did I do to make everyone hate me?' His eyes landed on the boy with dark hair up in a spiky ponytail, Shikamaru. He sat up, just staring at the boy. 'He's one I haven't actually approached. Maybe he'd be my friend. Him and that fat boy... Choji?... They don't seem to have very many people around them. Maybe they wouldn't mind...'
A loud bang made him jump and he looked up to see Sasuke glaring down at him. "Hey, loser, why are you even here?"
Naruto blinked up at the boy. "Huh? What do you mean? I'm just waiting for Iruka Sensei like the rest of you."
Sasuke's glare intensified and he leaned in closer to the blonde, making said blonde back up in his seat a bit. "I meant, why are you even alive? No one likes you, and you'll never become a shinobi." Sasuke stood back up and crossed his arms. "Just go die," he said, then turned and walked away.
The two boys that always seemed to follow Sasuke around laughed, calling out "Yeah, just go die, fox boy," or "You don't deserve to live after what you did."
Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes, but he glared at the three boys. "Jerk!" He glanced around and saw that some of the kids were looking at him, most with their own glares, but then he locked eyes with Shikamaru. He stared into those brown eyes, lost for a moment, but then turned his head and smacked his forehead on his desk, eyes closed, and tears dripping onto the smooth surface.
He sat there, the boys' words going through his head, and felt the pain of all these years overwhelming him again, but then suddenly opened his eyes. 'Wait. One of the boys called me fox boy.' He looked up and scanned the room until he found the boy next to Sasuke, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt. 'What did he mean by that?' He looked down and tried to think if anyone else had said something similar.
"Get out of here. No one wants a demon fox like you around."
"That boy, why would the Hokage ever let a demon like him live?"
"Stupid fox. Why does he think he belongs here?"
He blinked. That boy wasn't the only one that's called him a fox before. He wasn't a fox, so why would people call him that?
Iruka came in and began class, but Naruto just sat there in his own thoughts. It didn't make any sense to him why people would call him something he wasn't. Were they hiding something from him? He looked down at his hand. 'Am I some kind of monster? Is that why people don't like me?'
The rest of the day went on pretty normally, Iruka getting on to him for not paying attention, his few pranks and jokes to try and get people to like him, and his lonely lunches out by the big tree with the single swing, but today was different. Today he had more to think about, and everything he came up with only made his head hurt with more questions.
When the day was finally done, he slowly walked back to his apartment, hands in his pocket and head down. He stumbled over more and more of his thoughts, getting frustrated at all the unanswered questions he now had until he heard a small scream. He looked up and saw several kids playing on the park playground equipment. He smiled and ran over to one of the slides, but someone pulled him by the back of his shirt and threw him back so he fell on his butt.
"Hey, it's my turn to go on the slide," a small, brown haired boy said.
"Yeah, wait your turn," a blonde girl said.
"Sorry," Naruto said quietly as he looked down. There was no one on the slide a few seconds ago.
Suddenly, there was a hand in his face. "Those guys are just jerks. They were running around playing tag."
Naruto looked up at the boy in front of him. "Sh-Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru gave him a small smile. "Yeah. Come on, you can come watch the clouds with me."
Naruto stared up at the boy. He had no idea what was going on. No one ever talked that kindly to him. He looked back at the hand Shikamaru held out to him and hesitantly put his own hand in the boy's.
Shikamaru helped Naruto up and the smile never left his face. "You're Naruto, right?"
Naruto stared at his now empty hand, a smile on his face. "Yeah." He looked up at Shikamaru with a wide grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
"Come on. It's quieter over there," Shikamaru said as he pointed to a grassy area just off the playground.
They walked over and laid down on the grass, and Shikamaru started telling him about the different clouds and pointing out different shapes. Naruto just laid there, eyes wide with wonder. He had never done something like this before, never really thought cloud watching would be any fun, but Shikamaru talked about it like it was the best thing in the world, and he found himself happy. He turned his head and smiled. "Thanks."
Shikamaru looked at him confused. "For what? Telling you about the clouds?"
"Yeah, and for being nice to me. No one's ever nice to me."
Shikamaru frowned. "You haven't done anything wrong, have you?"
Naruto looked back to the sky. "I don't know what I did to make everyone so mad at me. I thought the academy would be different, that I would be able to find friends that would try and get to know me, but they all just glare at me and call me names." His mind went back to that morning.
"No one likes you, and you'll never become a shinobi. Just go die."
Naruto turned on his side so that his back was to Shikamaru. "Maybe it would be better if I just died," he said quietly.
"That's just stupid."
Naruto looked back at Shikamaru and flinched when he saw the boy sitting up and glaring down at him. 'He's just like the others,' he thought as tears filled his eyes.
"Why would you think things would be better if you died? That's just stupid," Shikamaru said.
Naruto sat up and stared at Shikamaru completely confused. "B-but no one..."
"Who cares what other people think? You shouldn't let people tell you how to live your life," Shikamaru interrupted.
No one had ever talked to him like this before. Yeah, Shikamaru was mad, but not for the same reason everyone else was. The boy was mad because he was putting himself down.
"You should just live the life you want to. If you don't like it, then change it so that you do."
A warm feeling welled up inside him. This boy was different. He actually cared, was trying to help him. "W-why would..."
"Shikamaru, time to go."
Shikamaru and Naruto both looked over and saw a man who looked very similar to Shikamaru with two scars on the side of his face.
"Ok, dad," Shikamaru called out, then stood up. He reached down and gave Naruto his hand.
Naruto stared at the hand again, but then took it and was helped off the ground. He looked over to Shikamaru's dad and noticed he had... a smile. The man actually smiled in his direction.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, ok," Shikamaru said, bringing Naruto's attention back to the boy.
"Uh, ok," Naruto replied. He was very confused. He watched Shikamaru run over to his dad, who placed his arm around Shikamaru's shoulders, and they disappeared out of the park. He walked over to the entrance of the park and saw them walking down the street, the feeling of loneliness washing over him again.
He looked back at the park, then walked off toward his home. He didn't feel like playing there anymore, and now he was struggling with even more thoughts than he was before. He didn't even realize when he made it to his apartment until he was reaching up to unlock the door, then froze, a sudden thought going through his mind. "Did I just make a friend?"
He opened the door with a wide grin on his face and walked in. He jumped up in the air after he closed the door. "I made a friend!" He jumped around and laughed happily. For once, in the three weeks since the academy started, he was excited to go to school.
NNNNNNNNNN
The next day, Naruto shuffled his way to his desk, then slumped down into his chair and sat his chin on top of the desk. He had stayed up way too late last night. He just couldn't sleep. The thought of finally having a friend kept him awake until late in the night. He scanned the room from his position, but didn't see Shikamaru anywhere. He closed his eyes. 'Calm down. It wasn't a dream. He really was nice to you.'
He felt someone sit down next to him and shot up, turning to see Shikamaru and Choji sitting down in the seat next to him. A wide grin spread across his face. "Hey!"
Shikamaru flinched. "You are way too loud in the morning," the boy said.
Naruto's smile faltered. "Sorry."
"Morning, Naruto," Choji said around a mouthful of food.
"Here."
Naruto looked down and saw that Shikamaru was holding out a small, wrapped package. He looked back up. "What's this?"
Shikamaru yawned. "Mom made too much for breakfast, so I asked her if I could bring some with me. I don't really want it, so you can have it."
"B-but, isn't this your lunch?" Naruto asked, looking back at the package. His stomach growled quietly, and the scent that was coming from the package made his mouth water.
"Nah, mom packed me something else for lunch," Shikamaru said as he held up what Naruto assumed was a wrapped bento box before stuffing it into his desk.
"If you don't want it, I'll take it," Choji said, a bit of saliva running down the boy's mouth as he stared at it.
"You already ate yours, Choji," Shikamaru berated the boy.
Naruto smiled as he took the package. "Thanks." He opened the wrapping and saw a sandwich with eggs, bacon, and cheese between two slices of toast, and his mouth watered even more. He never got to eat stuff like this. He quickly took a bite and closed his eyes. "Mmmm," he said as he savored the food, but then quickly ate the rest. "Wow, your mom's a good cook."
"I guess," Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms over his desk and laid his chin on them.
As he pushed the cloth wrapping back towards Shikamaru, he watched the boy talk with Choji about something and smiled. Both of them were acknowledging him. Neither one glared at him or talked down at him. They actively went out of their way to sit by him. Tears welled up in his eyes again, but this time for a different reason. He was happy.
"Naruto? You ok?" Choji asked.
Naruto wiped at his eyes and gave the two worried looking boys a wide smile. "Yeah. I'm great."
Over the next couple weeks, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji continued to hang out. They sat together in classes, ate together at lunch, and even hung out after school. Naruto had never been happier in his life, and the only thing that ruined it all was that he still had to go home to an empty house, but even that wasn't as bad anymore. He had friends now, and he looked forward to seeing them, so while the loneliness at home still bothered him, he wasn't truly alone anymore.
Time went by and they eventually graduated from the academy and became genin. Naruto was afraid he wasn't actually going to make it because he kept failing the graduation exam, but eventually he did and was able to sit next to Shikamaru and Choji as they waited for Iruka to tell them which team they'd be on.
He was upset that he wasn't on Shikamaru and Choji's team, but they promised that they'd still hang out with him, so it was ok. He really wasn't happy when he found out he was going to be placed on the same team as that jerk Sasuke, but guessed it evened out since he was on a team with Sakura.
Even though Sasuke ended up just like him, alone and with no one to love him because someone killed his entire clan, Sasuke never accepted Naruto. The two would constantly fight and yell at each other, Sakura taking Sasuke's side every time, and Kakashi would just sigh and call all of them idiots. Naruto never really felt accepted by his teammates, so he always ended up spending more time with Shikamaru and his team.
As the years went on, things seemed to get even worse for Naruto. He found out why people hated him, learned that the nine-tailed fox was sealed away inside him, and that everyone in the village looked at him like he was the demon fox. All the names he was called made since after that, and he had hoped that improving his shinobi skills would show everyone that he wasn't the demon fox they all thought he was, but everyone continued to glare and yell at him, kicking him out of their shops and refusing to serve him.
He never really got to know other kids his age, mostly because they were on different teams, but also because they always gave him those same glares. The only team he really felt safe around anymore was Shikamaru's, but then he was afraid to be around them too much. Ino hated him and always yelled at him, complaining that he was the reason Sakura always came to her and complained. Shikamaru would always defend him, and Choji too on occasion, but he didn't want to cause trouble for his friends either.
Shikamaru would invite him to hang out every once in a while, but after he became a chunin, that became less and less a thing too. Lately, whenever he would invite him out, he would always be with Ino and Choji, and one look from Ino would cause him to decline and run. Even though he had two friends, he felt like they too were drifting away from him. He was and probably always would be alone, no matter what.
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Well, there's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I have made it a personal rule not to post anymore stories without having them finished because I always feel bad if I just stop writing because I lose motivation, but I already have several chapters written for this story and even though it's not finished yet, I have realized that most of the stories in the later chapters are more like stand alones that follow the main story... That may sound a little confusing, but I hope you get what I mean.
I will spread out the chapters that I do have written so that I can have a little more time to work on the future chapters, but if you have any suggestions for a short side story involving ShikaNaru, let me know and I might try and make it a chapter.
See you in the next chapter :D