A/N: Okay my first Naruto fic and I hope that everyone likes it. If you read it and it seems too familiar, like someone already wrote it and posted it please just drop me a review and tell me which story it was so that I can try and head in a different direction. Please just don't report me without warning because then I get pissed because I have no idea what I did wrong. Any who on wit da story and PLEASE R&R I beg you. My other fic has 54 hits and only 1 review so I am having trouble deciding where to take it.

PS. I don't own Naruto or any other copyrighted material and never will…until I take over the world (insert mad genius laugh here)

Shadow Master

In the village of Konoha there lived a boy. A boy which everyone hated, for a reason that was beyond his control. Because of a mandate that the Third Hokage implemented the children know nothing of why he is treated so cruelly. All they know is that their parents treat him like trash so they feel that they should to. The reason for this hatred was that the child had the Kyubi sealed into his body. The Kyubi was a terrible Demon of unimaginable power that killed many people including all of the Nara clan except for the container of the Kyubi, the infant Nara Shikamaru. Shikamaru's father sacrificed himself to save the village by sealing the demon in his son. He hoped that Shikamaru would be viewed as a hero to the people for giving his body to contain the vile demon. He was wrong. Shikamaru grew to be like most Naras. He was extremely lazy, but extremely intelligent. No one could beat him in chess, no one. He grew and went to the ninja academy where he was met with glares and snide comments. At first he didn't care because making friends with people that hated him was too troublesome, but isolation like that only leads to depression. He would often listen to music or simply stare at the clouds watching them go by without a care in the world except for why everyone hates him. The only thing that took his mind truly off of the hate was training. Despite being lazy Shikamaru would train constantly hoping to get strong enough so that the village could see him as a person rather than a pile of flesh that happened to look human. The Third took a liking to him, for no person should have to go through what he was going through now. Knowing that training took his mind off of the hatred, he helped him by teaching him the classic Nara clan techniques. These techniques often included the making and manipulation of shadows. The Third was surprised to see how fast he learned the techniques and how much chakra he possessed. The Third was still worried however. The young Nara slipped deeper and deeper into depression until one day he lost his temper. A group of chuunins were walking by on there way home from a bar when the saw Shikamaru. He was on his way to go training even though it was nearing ten at night. The men, in their drunken stupor, decided to pick on the little Nara. After all, what could he do to them; he wasn't even a genin yet.

"Hey shrimp," called the first chuunin as he started making his way toward the Nara.

"Shit," he mumbled under his breath. This wouldn't be the first time that drunken shinobis would want to take out their anger on him. He tried to run, but even though they were drunk, they were not so far gone as to not be able to catch this little kid. They started to punch him and kick him until he screamed out in pain as a strong kick connected with his ribs and probably broke them. That was when he lost it. His anger could not be rivaled at that moment where despite the torture he stood up and fought back. The next punch that was thrown at him was intercepted by a shield of shadow that now covered his arm. All of the chuunins stepped back and looked at the sight before them. This little kid had shadows swirling around him as if they were flames. The one thing that frightened them the most however was his face. His eyes were wide and filled with hate and anger while he was laughing almost hysterically.

"What are you afraid now? Afraid some little kid is gonna swallow you in darkness? COWARDS!" Shikamaru screamed as he formed a hand seal. Shadows leapt forward and attached themselves to the unwary chuunins completing the shadow bind technique. As Shikamaru laughed he formed a different seal. The oldest chuunin, who saw a Nara fight before they were wiped out by the Kyubi, new that that seal coming from a Nara wasn't good news. It was the shadow neck hold. They felt their airways constrict as the shadow hands grabbed their necks. Their only saving grace is that before they were completely suffocated the Third showed up. Seeing what was happening, he immediately intervened by hitting a pressure point on the Nara's neck while he wasn't paying attention. He immediately fell unconscious. The Third picked him up and directed his attention towards the chuunins, "I want all of you in my office tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Too put it lightly you are in deep shit," the Third said with obvious anger and disgust. He took Shikamaru back to his apartment and put him in bed.

Yamanaka Ino was a very pretty girl. She had an athletic body, long stunning blond hair, and a face that could make you melt. She was also one of the few people that didn't treat Shikamaru like dirt. She actually thought that he was quite handsome. She never even really noticed him until she found out how much of an insensitive jerk Uchiha Sasuke was. She had had a crush on the young Uchiha until one day she saw him brooding over his lost family and how he wanted to kill his brother for taking everything away from him. When she called out to him to see if he was alright he nearly roasted her with a fire jutsu. She would have understood if it was an accident and he apologized afterward, but he didn't even stop to see if she was okay. He just told her to get lost. She was crushed by this, but eventually realized that she was a fool for even liking him to begin with. She decided to turn her sights elsewhere; forehead girl could have the insensitive prick if she wanted him that bad. She saw her classmate Shikamaru sitting by himself in the back of the class. He had a dark aura about him, but didn't seem as stuck up as the Uchiha. She remembered her parents telling her to stay away from him. When she asked why her parents just said, "Because we said so." It seemed like every one's parents said the same thing. No one seemed to care about him. She didn't know anything about him. There was probably a reason for her parents to say what they did, but she had no idea what that was. Unknown to her Shikamaru also had a hidden crush on her. He believed that she would never go for a lazy demon child anyway. The Hokage told him the other morning what he was and reprimanded the chuunins for their disregard for the laws. They were demoted back to genin and were forbidden from promotion for at least 3 years and were also given heavy fines. Shikamaru finally understood that the people didn't hate him, but rather hated the thing that was inside him. They hated the demon that took so many of their loved ones, but because they couldn't hurt the demon they did the next best thing. They hurt the child carrying him. Shikamaru couldn't understand however how people could be so cruel to him; even if he carried the demon couldn't they see that he wasn't the demon himself. He decided that he would train extra hard today and meditate took take his mind off of all that was bothering him.

After school was out he immediately went to his secluded training are a in the woods. He decided that he would meditate first to clear his mind so that he could focus. As his mind cleared and became empty he heard a voice in the back of his head.

"Boy," said the voice

"Who is that and how am I hearing you inside my head?" asked Shikamaru

"Who do you think it is?" asked the voice

"Kyubi? Is that you? I didn't know that you could speak with me," said Shikamaru

"I can and I am. I have been trying to find way out of this accursed prison, but I recently realized that that is impossible. So, I am going to help you become stronger," said the Kyubi

"Why would you do that? I didn't think you cared about anything or anyone but yourself?" asked Shikamaru rather confused by this.

"I don't, but I do have to good reasons to help you. First is that being stuck in here is really boring and I really need something to do. Second is that if you die, I die and as much as I hate it in here I don't want that to happen. So, I'll help you get stronger so that you don't die too easily. The first thing that I will give you is unrestricted access to my chakra too compliment your already large chakra capacity. With this you should be able to perform much higher level jutsus once you learn higher control and you will also be able to hold the jutsus that you already know for longer. In the future I will teach you different jutsus and even summoning being a powerful creature that has not given in to human aid yet owes me a favor. For now however I think a simple Taijutsu style that happens to be extremely effective especially for you. It is called the shadow fist. You will require a wakazashi for this style to be effective. This you will need to purchase from a local weapon dealer. It shouldn't be too expensive, and don't worry too much about how "troublesome" this will be to learn. Everything that I teach you will be transferred from my mind to yours. In short you will be a master before you even try the style for the first time. You will have to train to keep your skills sharp like any other shinobi, but you won't need to waste time trying to learn a style that can take decades to truly master. When you wake up from this you will know the fighting style and you will see that almost no time has passed in the outside world. Another thing I will be able to do for you is to awaken any latent abilities that lie within your body. The only one that I sense is an eye technique that can possibly rival the Byakugen in terms of power and effectiveness. It will take time for me to unlock, but in time you will have it. That is all for now. Oh and keep this between you, me and people that you really trust and feel would understand your situation," the Kyubi finished his long sermon to the child and allowed him to wake up. An excited Shikamaru left his training area to go to the weapon dealer. He needed to buy the wakazashi. It is a style of short sword often used in combination with a martial art to increase its effectiveness. He was ecstatic when he found that it wasn't too expensive because they were hard to sell being as no one used them any more and preferred the katana. After buying it he went back to the training area to try the style out. He realized that it will be incredibly strong especially for him because it required the manipulation of shadows. He got into stance which required him holding the sword in a reverse manner, meaning that the blade ran up his arm instead of being pointed out toward the target. This was primarily for defensive purposes, but under the right conditions it can be used to give a downward stab or a strong upward slash. He held the bladed arm in front of his face while his other arm extended out in a half palm, also known as a bear or tiger fist depending on the martial art style that you are using. The attacks consisted of using normal punches and kicks with supportive slashes from the sword. What made the style deadly however was the fact that the shadow manipulator could extend his attacks beyond his reach with a shadow fist. So even if you just barely dodge the blow, as the blow goes past an arm of shadow could extend from the side of the users arm to deal a strike before the opponent could recover from the previous dodge. After a while he decided to go home and get something to eat. What he didn't know that hiding in the trees was a very curious Ino watching his every move with an impressed look on her face. She was definitely surprised that the quiet, lazy boy was this strong. She decided that tomorrow she would try to get to know him better.

The next day at the academy Shikamaru showed up and took his usual seat in the back. The only thing different about him today is he wore his sword horizontally on the back of his waist. No one asked him about it, because no one cared. He was left to his usual aloneness in the back of the class while everyone sat as far away as possible from him. To his great surprise and to everyone else's, when Ino walked in she went straight to the back and sat next to Shikamaru.

"Hey Shikamaru," she said with a little blush and a cheery face.

"Uh… hey what's up," he asked stuttering in a confused state. Thoughts ran through his head like freight trains, 'why is she here? Why is she talking to me like I'm her friend? Does she know what I am? Does she like me?' at this last thought he blushed a little, but she noticed and looked away with her own blush. Just then Iruka, the instructor started the class with a return to basic kunai throwing. Everyone made it painfully obvious that they didn't want to go over this.

"alright if you all think you know this then we will have a test on how well you all can throw," said Iruka now very annoyed.

"How troublesome," was Shikamaru's response. He had nothing to worry about for him. Being the strategist that he was he had practiced throwing weapons constantly and was the best in the class because of this. The reason he practiced so much was that an enemy dodging a flying kunai or shuriken opened themselves up for other attacks that could be even more devastating. Iruka barely heard Shikamaru's comment, but heard it none the less.

"Shikamaru, because you are so enthusiastic you can lead us off," his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Fine," he said. This would be the first time that he actually tried to participate. No one knew what to expect because no one had seen him try to throw before. He picked up the three kunai in one hand and two shuriken in another. In a very lackadaisical manner he crossed his arms and threw all of them at once. Not one missed their mark. Not even the genius Uchiha Sasuke could beat that. With that done and Iruka stunned beyond words he went back to his seat.

"That was brilliant Shikamaru," said Ino encouragingly.

"Thanks," said Shikamaru with a little hesitation.

"Um…Shikamaru. What are you doing after class?" Ino asked very shyly.

"I wasn't really planning on doing anything, why do you ask?" he said. He lied of course, he had planned on training, but he was too interested to hear what Ino wanted. Maybe she liked him. He banished that idea fast. She wouldn't like him, she barely knew him, and besides even if she did when she found out about Kyubi she would just dump him on the floor and spit on him like anyone else had in the past.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later. I have to watch my family's flower shop and it gets boring and lonely. I need some one to talk to," said Ino

"Why me though? Why not ask one of your friends?" he said.

"Because…" she said as she started to blush. 'Why do I feel like this, it's Shikamaru, I barely know him.' "Because I want to get to know you better. You seem really nice and I have no idea why no one hangs around you." She said. This got Shikamaru thinking, 'She wants to get to know me? ME? And why is she blushing so much. Shit, she really does like me.'

"Um sure why not," he answered. Upon hearing that Ino's face lit up like she could never be happier.

After classes were over Shikamaru and Ino walked down to the flower shop. Ino's mom leaves for lunch and Ino reopens the shop after school and closes up when she leaves to go home. After Ino reopened the shop they both walked in. They sat and chatted until a customer came in. It was an older lady that needed a cane to help her walk. She eyed Shikamaru with definite hate in her eyes. Ino saw this, but didn't know what to make of it. In spite of himself Shikamaru decided that he would help the old lady in any way he could. When she got her order which was rather bulky and would be hard for her to carry Shikamaru stepped up.

"Let me help you with that," he said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Stay away from me you inhuman monster," the old lady screamed at him, while trying to struggle away from him with the bulky load. Despite being beaten and mocked for what he was, this had to hurt the worst. That this sweet old lady with all her years of wisdom could say such things, she was just like everyone else. She however didn't stop there.

"You should also stick to your own kind and not try to corrupt a sweet little girl like Ino with your ways. Be gone, when Ino's father finds out about this maybe he will kill you and we can all be happy," she concluded. Ino was in shock, as she had no idea what was going on. The one thing that broke her out of her trance was Shikamaru's face, a face that she thought was very handsome. His face was scrunched as if he was in pain, and a single tear rolled down his face. He raced to the door and was gone before Ino could say anything. The old woman turned to Ino.

"You awt to know better than to hang around the likes of him. Its better off this way, if we're lucky he may even kill himself in grief," the old woman finished as she walked out. As soon as the old woman was out of the store, however, Ino locked up and went to look for Shikamaru. She got lucky when she found him in the clearing where he trained. He was on his knees with his head down rocking lightly back and forth. As Ino approached she called out to him.

"Shikamaru?" she said with genuine care in her voice. Shikamaru missed this caring tone however jumping up at the sound of his name drawing his blade and getting into stance. Ino had a puzzled look on her face.

"Did you come here to mock me too? Or maybe you just want a piece of me like every one else? You want to beat me until I've felt all the pain I can possibly feel and then kill me so I will no longer be a danger to anyone? What, which one?" Shikamaru asked angrily tears rolling down his face.

"Shikamaru, I don't know what's going on. Why does every one want this to happen to you? You are a nice guy and… I think I like you. Maybe more than just a friend. I want to help you," she said as her own tears started forming in her eyes. Shikamaru eyes widened at this. He didn't expect this kind of treatment. All of a sudden he felt really bad for accusing her of being just like everyone else. He felt sick to his stomach. He fell to his knees again dropping the short sword. Ino walked up to him and got down on her knees in front of him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Shikamaru's heart instantly became lighter. No one has ever done that for him before and he was almost 14. He returned the hug and when they broke he looked into her beautiful eyes. He saw that they had tears in them too.

"What are you crying for?" he asked. "It wasn't you that those words from the old woman hurt."

"No, but you are sad and I care about you so that makes me sad, also when I first got here you assumed I was like everyone else," Ino responded

"I'm sorry about what I said I was just upset. I was also afraid. You are the only friend I really have and it hurt me to think that you may become like them if you knew," he said holding her shoulders.

"Knew what? Shikamaru all I know is that you are a good person. You can tell me anything and I won't think of you any differently," she answered him with utmost sincerity.

"I…I…I have the Kyubi sealed within my body. Everyone hates me because they think that I am the monster rather than just its container," he said looking down at the ground.

"Shikamaru, I… don't know what to say…," she said with awe on her face.

"Just don't yell at me to get away from you or say that I'm a monster or anything like that…please," he begged looking directly at her.

"I wouldn't do that Shikamaru. Those people are fools. If only they knew what kind of person you really are then maybe they would leave you alone. This has only increased my respect for you. You have dealt with so much pain and loneliness that most people never experience in a lifetime. I never want to see your face sad again. My parents are just like everyone else. They told me to stay away from you," she said

"Why are you here then? Shouldn't you listen to your parents?" Shikamaru asked

"I never listen to my parents because they are always too overprotective. And this time is no exception," she said as she leaned forward and gave Shikamaru a kiss on the lips. No tongues were involved, but it was the first time Shikamaru was ever kissed by a girl.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me I…" she was cut off by Shikamaru's own kiss. When they broke apart Shikamaru whispered something into her ear.

"Thank you, I'm glad my first kiss ever was with you," he said. Ino was stunned to say the least. 'His first kiss ever. What about parents,' she then remembered that he had no family, no one to take care of him, and no one to love him.

"I'm glad too," she said. It was starting to get dark out and Ino needed to get home. "I have to get home, its getting late.

"Yeah I'm gonna stick around and meditate for awhile," the young Nara answered

"Ok I guess I'll see you at the graduation tomorrow," said Ino

"Yeah see you then," said Shikamaru. She left him alone to meditate. As his mind cleared a familiar voice could be heard in his head.

"That really was touching," said Kyubi

"What do you mean?" asked Shikamaru

"Kid as much as I don't like it we share everything and that includes feelings and thoughts," Kyubi stated. "So you really like her don't you and don't lie because I already know the answer?"

"Then why are you asking?" asked an annoyed Shikamaru

"Humor me," commanded the Kyubi

"Fine I do. I think that I am actually falling for her. She is the only person other than the Third that even cares that I exist," said Shikamaru

"Good, now how about I teach you an elemental jutsu. I'm thinking electricity would do nicely. Now this is a simple, crude, but extremely powerful jutsu, because its damage is based on how much power that you put into it," the Kyubi said as the knowledge of the jutsu flowed into his mind. Its name was bolt and the Kyubi was right it could be very powerful.

"Try it out and then go get some sleep," the Kyubi ordered. Shikamaru had no objections. He formed the required seals and held his hand out. He pumped a moderate amount of chakra into his hand and let loose. A bolt of lightning erupted from his hand and struck a tree. What happened was exactly what happens when a real lightning bolt hits a tree. It exploded from the flash boiling water and lit fire. Shikamaru smiled and made his way home. When he got there he saw someone crying next to his door. It was dark already, but he could tell that it was Ino. He walked up to her and she looked up at him.

"Ino what happened?" Shikamaru asked in a concerned voice.

"My dad told me never to talk to you again. He said that you were a monster and that you can't be trusted. I told him that he was wrong and that you were really a nice person that nobody ever gave a chance. He said that I have no idea what I was messing with. I told him that you told me everything. He only yelled at me more for defending you even after knowing the truth. I said that he was just stubborn and didn't give people the chance that they deserved. And then he…and then he hit me across the face with the back of his hand. I didn't know where else to go so I came here knowing that you would be back sometime or other," she said in between sobs. "Can I stay here at least for tonight so that I won't have to go home?"

"Sure you can," said Shikamaru embracing her in a very affectionate way. At that moment a loud voice was heard.

"Get away from my daughter you monster," said Ino's enraged father

"No, right now you are a bigger threat to her than I am. You hit your own daughter because she defended someone she cared about. I will not let you hurt the ONLY person that I care about," he said drawing his short sword and getting into his shadow fist stance. Ino's father only laughed.

"Do you really think that you can beat me? I'm a jounin and you aren't even a genin yet. I'll wipe you up like the shit that you are," growled Ino's Father as he charged the pair. Shikamaru pushed Ino behind him and prepared to defend. The jounin threw a punch that could best most chuunin. However being a master in the shadow fist allowed him to move competently. He dodged every punch and then decided to defend. Before he knew it, Ino's father punched the blade of the weapon cutting his fist deep. As he tried to pull away a shadow hand grabbed his wrist. He froze not knowing what to do. He had never seen this style of fighting. Before he could do anything Shikamaru kicked him hard in the face using shadows to increase the power of his kick by making his leg as hard as steel. He tumbled backward howling with pain. Blood now dripped from his broken face and sliced hand.

"Ino get over here now so that we can go home Now!" her father yelled. Ino just shrunk behind Shikamaru and squeaked to him to make her father go away.

"She is afraid of you, and she has reason to. If she wants to stay I will protect her even from her own family. Now leave before you really get hurt," said Shikamaru with a blank and serious expression.

"How dare you threaten me," he said as he forced his hands to make a weird seal that Shikamaru knew was one of his mind techniques. Shikamaru managed to form the seals for his bolt technique just before the older Yamanaka could use his technique a low powered bolt of lightning hit him in the chest. It was more than enough to knock him out and cause erratic heart beat. Not wanting to kill him the Nara gave Ino his keys and told her that she could wait inside while he brought her father to the Konoha Hospital for emergency treatment. He returned a half hour later to find that she fell asleep on his bed waiting for him. He walked in and pulled the covers over her and grabbed a spare blanket from the closet. He threw his shirt on the floor and fell asleep on the couch.

Ino woke up and was scared for a minute not knowing where she was or how she got into this bed. She looked over and found the Nara child half naked and asleep on the couch, the blanket on the floor next to his shirt. She stared for a little while, while she pieced together what happened. After she remembered what happened last night she felt very relieved to be in the company of such a strong and caring individual. She devised a sneaky way to wake him up. She would kiss him. She walked over to him and bent over him. She looked at his face as he quietly snoozed away. She moved in and placed her lips on his. He woke up too this situation and jumped out of sheer surprise.

"Ino, you scared the life out of me," he said gasping for air from the fright.

"That's what you get for sleeping in now come on or we will be late for the graduation exam," she said rushing the lazy child.

"Calm down we have…shit…we have ten minutes to be at the academy," he said in response. He quickly put on his shirt grabbed Ino's wrist and they both ran to the academy.

They both graduated and were put on a team with Hyuuga Hinata. Their sensei was supposed to be Hatake Kakashi, and he was late. When he finally arrived, two hours late, they went up onto the roof of the academy. Kakashi sat them down and decided to start the conversation.

"Okay so I will be your Jounin instructor Hatake Kakashi. I want you to tell me a little about yourselves," he said. "Lets start with you Nara Shikamaru."

"…zzz…"

"(Sigh) I'll go Kakashi-sensei. My name is Yamanaka Ino. I like The Lazy One next to me and right now I dislike my father," at this Kakashi's one visible eye widened for he was a good friend of Ino's Father. He already read the report and knew that Shikamaru was the one responsible for putting him in the hospital. Ino's father was no pushover and even he "Sharingan Kakashi" had a tough time fighting him. Hinata went on being shy and fainted at the thought of saying that she likes Naruto-kun. Ino finally got annoyed when Kakashi left and Shikamaru was still asleep. Little did she know he was getting a great gift from Kyubi. He unlocked Shikamaru's doujutsu, the shadow sight. It was a combination of the Hyuuga Byakagen and the Uchiha Sharingan. While one is supposed to access its power gradually, the Kyubi completely unlocked its abilities. It could see through objects just as well as the byakagen, and it had the same near 360 degree sight range. It could not however see the inner coils system thus making it useless for gentle fist combat. It could also predict moves just as well as a fully matured sharingan, and the higher stages, which Shikamaru already possessed, could use genjutsu identical to those of the Mengekyou Sharingan. It could not however copy techniques at all. The greatest thing about these eyes was that even with all of these attributes; it would not drain chakra because of his own rapid recovery rate. That was not all. Shikamaru was also given the summoning contract for two different summons. The first was just a simple weapon summon. He could use this to summon spare kunai or shuriken or swords and whatnot. The second and greater of the two was a creature summon contract for dragons. The strongest of them was Bahumat the great dragon lord. He awoke to being poked in the ribs by Ino. She explained what he missed and how they had to be up early tomorrow for a test. Shikamaru acknowledged her and turned to leave when she spoke up again.

"Umm Shikamaru, I was wondering if I could stay at your place for a little longer. I don't want to go home yet," Ino asked blushing and turning away to try and hide it.

"Sure, you can stay at my place for as long as you need," he said returning her a smile. "I have to run some errands, but I will be back in about an hour," he said flinging her his keys. "I'll see you then."

He ran off to go get some food and to buy Ino a birthday gift being that her birthday was tomorrow and he only found out yesterday. He went for the gift first. He ended up buying her a simple silver necklace that wasn't that expensive, he would have gotten something better but he was short on funds and still needed to purchase food. When he got back he saw two people pounding on his door and yelling they were obviously members of the Yamanaka clan.

"Open up Ino we know you are in there. When your father gets his hands on you he is going to…" he was cut off by Shikamaru, "he is going to die if he lays one finger on Ino." His rage had already activated his shadow sight. His iris and pupil went grey and had black veins coursing through the cornea. It was truly a frightening sight to witness. They could see his rage at the fact that they would threaten her like this.

"This is none of your business Nara Shikamaru. This is a Yamanaka clan affair and you would be wise not to interfere," said the stronger of the two who was obviously of jounin caliber. The younger one seemed to be his son who appeared to be an early chuunin.

"This became my business when she came to me for help. In addition to the fact that I have fallen in love with her and would give my life to protect her from any harm," said Shikamaru. Ino who was listening through the door heard everything that was said.

"As if we would believe that a demon like you could love," spat the jounin. If you insist on getting in our way, then we will have to take care of you."

"You wish that you could beat me. Ino's father was stronger than you two combined and I beat him without taking a scratch, and I was holding back. The only reason I'm a genin is because I haven't taken the chuunin or jounin exams yet," stated the young Nara proudly. "I am the pride of the Nara clan. The strongest since my ancestor first received these eyes. You don't stand a chance against me." The leader gave a very angered look and said that Shikamaru would pay for trying to interfere. He went to the door and knocked. When there was no answer he called out to Ino.

"Ino it's me open up. C'mon they're gone now," he said pleading to her to open the door. She eventually cracked it and upon seeing Shikamaru opened the door to let him in.

"Shikamaru, um I heard what you said out there about how you feel about me," Ino said shyly.

"You should know that I meant every word. I am in love with you, or at least I think I am. I'm sort of new to the whole concept of love," Shikamaru replied to a now very happy Ino. She sat down next to him on his couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"So do you want to wait till tomorrow or do you want to open your present today instead. The only reason I ask is that I don't know how long the test tomorrow is going to be?" Shikamaru asked

"You got me a present? Oh that is so sweet of you. You really shouldn't have. I know how tight your money situation is, but sure I'd love to open it now," she said as Shikamaru pulled out a skinny box and handed it to her. She opened it and yelped with glee.

"Oh thank you. It's beautiful," she said as she inched closer to Shikamaru. "You know, I feel the same way as you. I'm falling for you." She kissed him and this time tongues were involved. Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close deepening the kiss while she wrapped her arms around his neck. They lied down on the couch and eventually fell asleep in each others arms. They woke up at the time when they were supposed to show up at the training area. By the time they got everything ready and got there they were an hour late.

"Kakashi is going to be so mad at us for being this late," whined Ino.

"Relax, I'm willing to bet that he isn't even there yet. He was two hours late yesterday. And by the way Happy Birthday," said Shikamaru with a smile. They got there, said hi to Hinata and waited for another hour until Kakashi finally showed up. He explained the bell exercise and told the team that those that could not take a bell from him would fail and go back to the academy. However there were only two bells. Shikamaru realized what this kind of exercise was before he even started it. It was all about teamwork. He knew that he could take a bell from Kakashi without a problem, but the bell wasn't the point. He signaled to Ino and Hinata to follow him when the task began. They got the picture. They met in the woods about 1 min after the start. He explained to the girls what the exercise was and his plan to accomplish that.

Meanwhile Kakashi was reading Icha Icha Paradise when the two girls attacked. He praised them for working together and just figured that Shikamaru was one to fight alone. It wasn't until he realized that he couldn't move that he had a problem. The girls walked up to him and took the bells without any resistance. Kakashi glanced down and saw a shadow leading into the woods. That was when it hit him. This was the shadow bind technique, and it was a strong one at that. He was then released and the young Nara showed himself. Kakashi was surprised at how smart and strong he was. According to the charts he was given, Shikamaru got the lowest grades in the class. Kakashi decided to figure that out another day.

"Congratulations you all pass," said Kakashi while Shikamaru just smirked.

"So I was right, it was all about working as a team. Even if I got the bells from you on my own we would have failed because we didn't work together," said Shikamaru

"Yep," said Kakashi with a smile. "We will have our first mission tomorrow so get some rest, but before you go Shikamaru, I want to spar with you to see how strong you really are."

"Fine by me, even if it is troublesome I can tell you won't let me leave until we do this," said Shikamaru drawing his short sword and getting into stance.

'A wakazashi? I haven't seen one of those used in a long time,' thought Kakashi as he got into his own stance. They faced off for about 30 seconds without anyone moving. It was high noon so the shadow master would have trouble making shadows, but that didn't seem to faze him as he charged. When he was feet away from Kakashi he disappeared in a whisp of dark black smoke. He reappeared behind Kakashi being just too slow to hit him as Kakashi jumped forward. Kakashi recognized the ability for what it was almost immeadiately after it was performed. It was "Shadow Blend." The user of the technique turns his body into a shadow and moves along the ground almost invisibly. At the right time they reappear and attack their opponent. This was a very high level skill, possibly more advanced than some kinjutsus because of its requirement to manipulate the body's structure in such a way. This kid was truly something.

"Not bad, you dodged it," said Shikamaru. He then jumped into the air while putting his sword back into its sheath. He formed a set of hand seals and summoned two large shuriken out of thin air. He tossed both at Kakashi. With Kakashi's attention focused on the two shuriken heading his way he didn't have time to realize what seals Shikamaru was forming now. All of a sudden the two shuriken became ten. The Shadow shuriken technique is, while known to very many people, still an advanced and deadly skill. As the shuriken collided with Kakashi he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and was replaced by a now very destroyed log. Shikamaru was stunned that he didn't see this coming. He had no idea where Kakashi was so he activated his Shadow Sight to view the surrounding area. He saw Kakashi hiding in a tree nearby trying to analyze the situation. He got an idea to flush him out. He formed the seals for the bolt technique and aimed it at the base of the tree that Kakashi was in. The tree exploded sending a stunned Kakashi flying. Shikamaru already knew he used a replacement thanks to his eyes. Kakashi landed safely some distance away. He lifted his forehead protector to reveal his sharingan. Shikamaru decided too try something else that would almost assure his victory. He wanted this to end now. He raised his hand to his mouth and bit his thumb. Kakashi's eyes widened considerably seeing what he was trying to do. He made a mad dash to try and stop the technique, but arrived too late.

"Kyuichose No Jutsu!" Shouted Shikamaru. A giant cloud of smoke appeared and out of it a dragon with red scales appeared out of it (A/N: European style dragon, not oriental). Shikamaru was standing on its shoulder with his arms crossed gazing down at Kakashi with a grin on his face.

"Give up," said Shikamaru calmly. "You no longer stand a chance of beating me. We may have been equal before in terms of skill before, but it was over the second my summoning succeeded." Kakashi knew he was right, but hated to admit that his student defeated him like this. Granted it was a cheap shot to bring this creature into an even fight, but that's what a shinobi does. Deception and the ability to create an unfair advantage is the true skill of being a shinobi, and this kid was better than almost anyone.

"You're right I concede," said Kakashi. "We have our Missions starting tomorrow you should get some rest." And with that he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

A/N: so how did you like chapter 1? It is longer than I am used to but I just couldn't stop. I will probably start the next chapter as soon as possible. Please review so I know that at least some people like it. Flames are welcome too, just make sure it's a constructive criticism type of flame. It is just plain rude and obnoxious to say things like "It sucks" and such without a reason.