Another Drabble from Shikamaru's POV... I went on a writing spree with these... anyway, enjoy!
Title: Shikamaru's Respect
Summary: Shika was the only one he knew who didn't respect the Uchiha while he was in the village. Someone else already demanded his attention.
Everyone in the village had always respected Sasuke in some way. His level headedness, the way he flawlessly carried out his assignments in school, his confidence; something about him caught everyone's eye.
Only one of his peers seemed to care less about the prodigy. Shikamaru Nara.
Of course, Sasuke had never cared who respected or hated him, as long as they stayed out of his way. He was too caught up in his brooding to care about anything other then gaining power.
That was the reason that Shikamaru didn't like him. He thought that anyone who couldn't just sit back and enjoy the peace around him every once in a while didn't deserve anything but pity. He really disliked anyone who couldn't sit back and relax every once in a while.
Looking back, Naruto had always been the one to catch his attention. He had blamed it on his outrageous clothing for years, but now, he knew what it was.
Naruto had an addictive personality to anyone whom took the time to –or was forced to- get to see it. He was bubbly, protective, outrageous, loud and loved to trash talk.
Most of all, one thing that had caught Shikamaru's attention: Naruto had always been determined to prove himself to everyone around him. He worked so hard to get what he wanted and knew that he deserved; but he always took time to enjoy a good meal with Iruka or to lay around looking at the stars. (He often seen him doing this on the Hokage monument after school or training.) A piece of Shikamaru wanted to be like that; the other piece thought that it was just too troublesome.
During and after the Chunin Exam, that respect grew 10 fold. According to Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto had been the one to defeat Gaara and Shikamaru knew for a fact that the blonde had been near petrified of the Suna shinobi. Despite that, he took on the Sand user to save Sakura and Sasuke – and everyone else for that matter, even though they all treated him rather poorly.
What kind of person would he have to be to do something like that?
After that bastard, Sasuke had abandoned the village, Naruto became the most determined anyone had ever seen him.
He was going to bring Sasuke back.
He had figured that it was something that the boy would just give up after a few weeks of no leads, but he kept going. He refused to give up even though any normal, sane person would have. Heck, if Tsunade hadn't have ordered his to do so, Shikamaru probably never even would have tried.
Standing behind Naruto as Tsunade announced that that in a weeks time, he would become the Rukodaime Hokage (6th Hokage) Naruto bounced around like a lunatic, hugging the rest Konoha Power 12, and cheering. It had been 10 years since Sasuke had left, and he was back again. Naruto hadn't treated him any different, and besides in battle, he was the same as always. Loud and lovable.
And for the first time that he'd admit out loud: He really didn't mind the blondes loud annoying self one bit. In fact, he respected him even more for it.
Thanks for reading!