Chapter I

Real Friends

Disclaimer: What is Kishimoto's is Kishimoto's; I do not claim it. This story is not part of the original one, it's just something I created and its sole purpose is entertainment. Enjoy.

Nara Sub-District, Konohagakure

"I'm leaving…" Shikamaru said, trying to spend as less energy as he could in it.

"Hai!"His mum replied from the kitchen and, as if it was his permission, he then put his shoes on and left home.

He sighed in annoyance as he noticed the sky was totally clean; seems like he wouldn't be able to watch the clouds. There were many valid reasons why he didn't feel like going to the Academy that day, the main one being the fact that it was quite troublesome. His mum had woken him up too early, his bed was too comfy and learning was too toilsome. Seemed like fairly reasonable motives.

Besides, he couldn't avoid falling asleep in class most of the times and, because Iruka-sensei caught him almost as many times as he did it, he usually had to stay after school and listen to his teacher's educational and memorized speeches. Of course this was a shared punishment, because Choji decided he would start the Rebellion by devouring chips during every single lesson, which basically gave him an obligatory entrance card for the said discourses.

His slow pace normally gave him the opportunity to observe people and decide how troublesome they were: this was what he liked to do on his way to the Academy. As he turned to his left, taking a shortcut, he saw a blonde kid inelegantly running in his direction. He was able to recognize him when he passed by: he was also one of the gentlemen that liked to stay for Iruka-sensei's speeches. Though he didn't recall his name, Shikamaru knew that the boy was the number one prankster in Konohagakure and was hated by almost every civilian in the village. People called him the "demon brat", turned their backs on him whenever he passed by and basically wished he just disappeared. On the other end, the kid made sure people didn't forget about him by turning them into targets of caper.

Plus, the mischief-maker kept on missing school whenever he wanted, which everybody seemed to justify with his parents being dead and him not having anyone to tell him what was right or wrong. Not such a fairly reasonable motive, in Shikamaru's opinion.

The blonde had already escaped when an old woman came running as she shook her broom in the air and yelled: "Come back here, you useless brat!" But the brat didn't come back, and the lady was left with her threatening mumbles as she walked back to her store, now totally painted with quite catching colours. It was by realizing how terribly exhausting that lady's task to clean her store would be that he had a feeling that his own day would be troublesome.

Hokage's office

Hiruzen sat behind his desk with a somewhat serious face. A long morning conditioned by eleven towers of paperwork was ahead of him, but that wasn't what was worsening his mood, as he was already used to it. Something else was on his mind, or rather someone. He had received Iruka's report about his Academy class earlier in the morning and it didn't quite correspond to his definition of "pleasant". However, it was expected.

"Uchiha Sasuke continues to be the most brilliant student of the class, his performance in the tasks given being particularly close to perfect; he also seems to count with the support of his teammates, especially the girls.

Haruno Sakura is having a hard time fitting in and is frequently bullied – reality that I am endeavouring to change – but her marks stay prodigious and Sakura is still an honour student.

Ino Yamanaka is a well-behaved and self-assured learner and, even though her marks aren't the highest, she is finely improving."

Until this point, everything was adequate. The Hokage continued with his reading: it didn't change much from student to student, being the majority of them obedient children. He quickly got to the bottom of the page, where his source of concern rested, waiting to be read.

"The three following students are the ones I'm most apprehensive about.

The first one is Akimichi Choji: he is a very kind and caring boy to everyone around him, but I'm afraid his love for food may be put on first plan, which makes him lack on his academic affairs. He spends his time eating – even in classes. Plus, his personality blocks him from sparing with his teammates, which highly reflects on his results.

Nara Shikamaru is the second student who is a source of my anxiety. If I had to choose one word to define him I would say lukewarm. I do think he has great potential, especially being a member and the future head of the Nara clan, but if this potential isn't unleashed, what does it serve for? He simply spends his day sleeping.

Finally, Uzumaki Naruto. What should I say about him, Hokage-sama? He constantly misses classes, he pranks all his teammates – who also neglect him, truth to be told –, he is unmindful of the social formalities… His marks are quite terrible, too."

There was no need for further reading: he knew the rest already. The boy was indeed causing several problems, the last being a case of vandalism. He had tried talking to him countless times, verifying that it didn't seem to work, as the brat continued to prank mercilessly. So what could he-

"Is there a problem, Hokage-sama? You seem troubled." Mizuki leaned on the doorframe, a mischievous smirk on his face.

"I thought I had told Kameko I didn't want to be bothered." He replied dryly. Though he deeply trusted all his fellow ninjas, Mizuki had always aroused a little feeling of untrustworthiness on him. The silver haired young man walked to the centre of the office with his hands on his pockets.

"Oh, I'm profoundly sorry. I didn't see anyone on my way here…" Was he even trying to sound sincere? "Well, now that I am here, please allow me to expose my request."

"Go on." The Hokage took out a pile of papers which he immediately started to sign.

"I would like to be appointed the leader of a team, this year." Hiruzen paralysed for a second there. "I would even say I have preferences in what relates to my future students. That kid… Naruto. Yes, that's it. The little foxy child. I think I am the most suitable person for the job."

Was he seriously asking what he thought he was asking? Ever since his childhood, Mizuki had spent his life contesting about everything, as he seemed to think he was constantly being wronged in comparison with the rest of his mates, especially regarding Iruka. This often resulted in a lack of teamwork experience by him. How could a man with such behaviours teach kids that cooperation was one of the most important aspect in being a ninja?

"I'm sorry, Mizuki-san. I'm afraid the team leaders have already been chosen." It was a half-lie. He wasn't sure yet, but he already had an idea of who they were.

"I see… Well, I won't take more of your time, then." The Hokage's reply to his appeal had been somewhat expected. "Damn…" The silver haired thought as he walked to the door. "The old man is hard go around. What am I thinking? He is the Hokage, after all… This shouldn't be a problem though. I'll just have to go with Plan B!"

The Hokage sighed in relief when the young man left his office, not as happy as he was when he entered. However, he couldn't rest assured yet. He didn't know why Mizuki had asked for such a job title but, knowing him, he should have a pretty good reason. He would have to keep an eye on him. Focusing once again on his paper pile, he switched pens and got to work.

In the evening, somewhere near Ichiraku's Ramen

Man, it had been a troublesome day… Iruka-sensei had been especially focused on him that day, which meant he hadn't had the chance to sleep the whole time. Plus, the afternoon had been filled with physical training, such as endurance, aiming and, finally, spars. These were the worst. He wasn't properly the best in class. The girls always cheered up for Sasuke in their squeaky and maddening way, which meant that whenever the people sparing were not Sasuke, they would either totally ignore the fight by sighing and yawning or they would boo – this was what happened most of the times. Today, his sparing mate had been Choji. He couldn't really complain because his friend was so compassionate that he hadn't been able to lay a single hit on him. The bad part was that, because of that, Ino decided that he would have to walk her home – he didn't understand either, but what choice did he have?

So there he was, walking alongside with a troublesome girl, listening to her tedious speech about how handsome Sasuke was and how he should be more like him. Oh, and those clothes were so unfashionable… Seriously, someday she would take him shopping! Did he see that man there, sitting on that roof with Naruto?

She grabbed his arm and pushed him against a wall. Few people were walking around there, mainly given the fact that, when the sun started to set down, the civilians tended to go home and stay there. The two kids stayed very quiet, their back against the cold surface.

"What are we doing?" Shikamaru whispered. He had an idea though.

"Listening. So shut up." Ino whispered back, confirming his guess. The Jinchuuriki and a silver haired ninja were having a pretty emotional conversation, which easily caught Ino's attention but wasn't Shikamaru's type of show, really.

"I don't understand, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto said. His voice was trembling a little bit, so he could be crying. "Even Iruka-sensei looks at me as he hated me. Why? I know I pranked him a few times, but… The graduation exams are close. I need to train more to master as many jutsus as I can, Mizuki-sensei! I won't fail again. Can you help me?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun. And I know just how you can do it! You see, there is something called the Scroll of Seals. It's in the Hokage Residence. If you can get it and learn one technique in its interior, you are assured to graduate."

Shikamaru gulped. He had read about the Scroll of Seals in his dad's documents before and he knew the First Hokage had sealed it for a fairly reasonable motive. He felt a drop of sweat down his head as he wished he hadn't listened to that conversation. Ino noticed his sudden change of humour and deduced something wasn't right. They quickly got out of there, as soundlessly as they could, and they hurriedly arrived at Ino's home, heavily breathing. However, she demanded a more accurate explanation before she could let him go.

"Listen, Ino: we'll fake we didn't hear any of that."

"Why…? What was that Scroll of Seals… that the man was talking about?"

"It basically contains techniques, but some of them are really dangerous, so Hashirama-sama sealed it... It's supposed to be a really big deal… If Naruto steals it, even if he doesn't know what he's coping with, things will grow dim."

Ino clenched her fists in determination, and Shikamaru knew what was coming – he didn't like it. "We have to help him!" Her eyes widened and she leaned forward, expecting an answer that, either positive or negative, probably wouldn't change her course of action.

"You do realize we have close to no chance of succeeding." She nodded, confirming his fears. He sighed. Would that day ever end? "Fine. But let's be quick."

At night, in the Third Training Ground

Naruto sat down in the grass, distancing exactly the same expanse between the two forests on the sides. He had noticed that the memorial stone was shinier than ever with the moon reflecting its white surface on the obscure kunai-shaped monument. Everything was silent, with the exception of the sparkling water of the stream rapidly running downriver, as it was lamming from something it didn't want to see happening. He laid the big scroll on the floor, sighing as he thought he had a long night of study ahead of him. Unrolling the sacred document, his chin fell wide open with the sight of so many techniques. It surely was impressing.

"Naruto…" He slightly jumped in surprise: he thought he was alone! Where had that whisper come from? He looked around, still not knowing if he should be annoyed that someone had interrupted his training session or excited that he could share his newfound source of knowledge.

"Naruto, close that scroll!" He heard again. Shikamaru? The pineapple head was ineffectively hiding behind a tree.

It was while he was still looking at the drowsy boy and trying to figure out why he was both hiding and telling him what to do that Ino came running from the other side, barely giving the Jinchuuriki time to react and, grabbing the scroll with her right arm and closing it during her foot race, she headed straight towards the Nara boy. The blonde didn't understand why they were doing such a thing, but because people were constantly making his life harder, it wasn't much of a surprise. He quickly got up to his feet and gave the persecution a start, jumping through the forest, from branch to branch, as a feeling of revolt increased, making his heartbeat speed up.

As he tried to focus on not losing sight of the two little thieves that were constantly exiting and entering his line of sight, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about how unfair his live was. He was simply trying to study. What was wrong with that? They were probably doing this just to pick on him, which was quite surprising because, for all he knew, Shikamaru wasn't the type of guy that enjoying moving and Ino… She barely ever looked at him. Why would she start pranking him now? He eventually concluded that there must have been some reason behind their acts – other than just the wonderful delight of a good practical joke. This drove him to relax a little bit, but he couldn't get a hold of his curiosity now.

Sooner or later, the three youngsters arrived at the housing zone of the village, being the aim of many distressed looks from several citizens who were stolen their relaxation. Ino and Shikamaru immediately headed their separate ways down through the streets so they wouldn't be noticed by their chaser. Now what? Ino had the scroll, right? He straightaway jumped to the floor below and followed the sound of the exclamations by the stupefied people along the streets. She most likely didn't know the village as well as him, because she soon arrived at a dead end. Plus, truth to be told, he wouldn't have caught her without the help of some shortcuts that only a few people were aware of.

She turned around and faced Naruto with a confident smirk on her face: the scroll was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't believe he had been so easily fooled! By this time, even if he went to chase after Shikamaru, he would never catch him. He didn't even know where the Nara had gone with his beloved scroll…

"Naruto," Ino sat down on the floor, cross-legged and a bit more serious now. "there is something you need to know." Even though Shikamaru had been the only one to understand what Mizuki was planning without needing a clarification, she was intending to act as she had also perceived it immediately. After all, Naruto didn't need to know she had required an explanation from an addle-head boy like the Nara. "You probably don't know, but the Scroll of Seals isn't just any common scroll."

By this time, the blonde was already sitting face to face with her, absorbing everything she was saying, which pleased the girl immensely. However, it also surprised her. For all she knew (that wasn't much), the boy was really active, but he was now acting calm and serene.

She then went on with the discourse, passing through the great importance of the scroll and how it was against the Law to just take it, the fact that Mizuki had fooled him – which, in the beginning, the Jinchuuriki refused to accept, as that would mean that he had been tricked twice that day, already – and, finally, adding the logic conclusion that could be taken from all that: Mizuki wanted the scroll for himself, which obviously made of him a traitor.

"Where is Shikamaru?" Ino had explained practically everything, so there wasn't much more he could ask besides that.

"Somewhere." Oh yes, that was clarifying. "Putting the scroll on its place before you get in trouble, baka!" She got up and walked away, disappearing into the busy streets, between the citizens, and leaving Naruto to his own thoughts.

Later on that night, at Ichiraku's Ramen

The smell of hot ramen was one of the best, in Naruto's opinion. No… the smell of Ichiraku's hot ramen was one of the best! He was still mentally debating over what had happened earlier that day. Ino and Shikamaru had saved him from one of the worst things he'd ever done! Why…? Maybe they were going to use that against him, like blackmail or something… He was seriously expecting anything. Was he overreacting? No one had ever done anything like that for him… And that bastard Mizuki had still gotten away with it! They couldn't denounce him without referring this whole incident. And they couldn't refer this whole incident… Dammit!

"Oyasumi!" He looked back to see Iruka-sensei entering the stall and sitting next to him. Taking out a couple of chopsticks, Naruto went for the first and very awaited bite of his ramen bowl. "Hi Naruto. I knew I would find you here!" His teacher said with a big smile on his face. "One bowl for me, please!"

Naruto had to admit he was getting quite nervous about his sensei's presence there, now. This was not a good time. He had come there to be alone for a bit and the brown-haired ninja had still been able to find him. Thinking it over, maybe Ichiraku's Ramen could have been a bad choice, since he went there to eat pretty much all the time… But still, it was so late, already… Had Iruka-sensei gone there on purpose just to talk to him? Maybe their encounter there hadn't been just a random coincidence… He didn't want to be the one to screw up the plan Ino and Shikamaru had so strenuously executed. No. He had to keep calm, or his teacher would see right through him. He was telling himself «Calm down» for the seventeenth time already when he was awakened by the ninja's voice again.

"So, Naruto… Is everything OK?" Iruka-sensei received his own bowl of ramen and began eating.

"H-hai! Everything's fine. It's fine." Chikusho! He was too tense. He had to get out of there. Now. He hurriedly and clumsily finished his ramen. "Arigato, Teuchi-san! Sayona-" His teacher grabbed his left arm the moment he got out of his chair and was preparing to leave.

"Listen." Iruka looked him eyes in the eyes. The blonde had never seen him more serious. "I don't know if you meant it or not, but I can assure you everything is fine. Mizuki has been punished." Naruto's eyes widened. It was no longer necessary for Iruka to hold his arm, as he wasn't going anywhere before he got an explanation. How had his sensei discovered about it?

"He tried to take advantage of you" He continued. "but Ino and Shikamaru saved you. Plus, Hokage-sama seemed to be already expecting it, as he immediately unmasked the whole situation. You've some real friends in those two kids, you know?"

That last phrase hit him like a gunshot. Real… friends? He stared at the ground below him thinking about those two words and, with a "Tch…", a couple of happiness tears slipped down his cheeks. Iruka-sensei instinctively involved his student in an affectionate hug.

"Are you up for another bowl? It's on me."

After-chapter annotation: this is my first Fanfiction, so I'm sorry for any inaccuracies I may have committed! As you probably already figured, the story will be mainly focused on Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino, because I started wondering how the story would change if Naruto was closer to other characters… Also, I know I messed a little bit with time, here, as I put the Mizuki incident before the graduation exams (I just felt it would make more sense given the new circumstances). Anyway, reviews would be much appreciated!

Also, I wanted to thank Tellemicus Sundance for all the help!