Mmmmmm not very satisfied with this one but I'm sick of re-writing it so wha-la... enjoy.
Naruto's not sure when he went from thinking Sakura had to be his girlfriend to thinking of her being like a sister, a family member. He thinks it probably started when he hit puberty and began noticing other people instead of her. Only it wasn't people, just the ones he knew personally.
Okay that's a lie, it was really just one person that he began to 'notice' in ways that made his face heat up almost constantly, heart race and blood pump to areas he felt too embarrassed to say.
Hell, on his worst days a glance from the person could send goosebumps up his arms and a shiver down his spine.
There was just one problem. That person was Nara Shikamaru, the lazy genius, a boy. Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about that. Boys were supposed to want girls, right? Right?
It was starting to stress him out and make him feel sick worrying and thinking about if it was right or wrong that he felt things for another boy.
It got so bad that eventually his own sensei, Hatake Kakashi, pulled him aside one day and point-blank said, "You know Naruto... Many among the shinobi forces are gay. There isn't anything wrong with being attracted to men.". Naruto had felt immense relief but then dawning horror. "W-what do you mean, Kakashi-sensei! Why tell me that, haha, I know that already!" He had said, voice going up several pitches in panic.
Kakashi had leveled a blank stare at his blonde student and replied "Maa, maa... It's painfully obvious. You're not very subtle in all your staring at him. ". Naruto had frozen up and squeaked out an "Obvious!?", face going pale. Kakashi had just slapped him on the back, hard enough to make him stumble forwards, and replied with " Very... now go confess my cute little student! No one likes a coward!" before shunshin-ing away. Which was rather ironic since Hatake Kakashi is most definitely a coward when it comes to matters of the heart.
Naruto had struggled with wondering if he should do as Kakashi-sensei said and confess or not for a couple of months when something happened that made him realize he couldn't deny confessing any longer or else he'd go crazy.
That reason? Gossip.
Naruto had just been walking through Konoha's Market District, minding his own business, when his enhanced hearing had picked up on some gossiping ladies talking about the new Jounin that was recently promoted. Naruto knew this new Jounin to be Shikamaru and had instantly honed in on the ladies, interested to hear what they had to say. What they said made Naruto's teeth grind.
Their entire conversation was on how 'Eligible' Shikamaru was for marriage and that he'd be such a 'Catch', being the Nara Clan heir and Jounin now. Hearing the ladies gossip and plan on ways to get their daughters (or themselves) to run into Shikamaru and catch his interest had made it hard for Naruto to not run over there and yell at them all. How dare they talk about Shikamaru like that! They had no idea who he really was! All they had to go on were rumors and 'he-said-she-said'! Heck they weren't even Shinobi which meant they had no idea of the hardships Shikamaru had faced!
Naruto had stomped off in a frenzy, thinking about all the things they didn't know. Like what color socks Shikamaru wore, what he looked like sleeping, where his favorite cloud-watching place was, his favorite place to eat, that he named each Nara deer he helped birth, that he only wore his hair down around people he felt comfortable with, that he liked the smell of citrus and pine, that his eyes were in fact more of a reddish brown than chocolate! Those ladies didn't know anything!
Naruto had stopped during his rant and stared at nothing for a few moments, reviewing everything he had said in his head. "Wow, I sound kind of like... Sakura did when she fangirled about Sasuke..." Naruto had mumbled before his eyes widened in horror. "Oh my god, I've turned into a fangi- Fanboy!" He yelled pathetically, gripping his hair and staring down at the ground in slight panic.
It was then Naruto came to the most genius realization, his aversion to confessing had driven him crazy enough to become a fangir- fanboy to make up for not confessing.
"I just need to confess... get everything off my chest and even though he'll reject me it'll put to rest all these feelings and I won't fangi- fanboy anymore. Yeah, that's what I need to do!" Naruto had said and gave a little fist pump at his brilliant idea to deal with his feelings and growing fanboyism.
Naruto had headed to Shikamaru's apartment immediately, as fast as he could so his nerves wouldn't get the best of him. He only spent a couple of seconds staring at the door, pushing back his sudden fear and nausea about what he was going to do. With a gulp Naruto banged on the door and waited.
And waited some more. In fact he waited a quite few minutes before scowling, his nerves forgotten in annoyance at the door not being answered, and banged on the door again this time with a loud "Shikamaru!".
Finally he picked up on some noise coming from inside the apartment, some objects being moved and some very creative, muffled curses as someone made their way to the door.
The door swung inwards and a sleepy, bed-headed Shikamaru peeked around the door, eyes squinting in the bright sunlight that shone that day. "Naruto what... what do you want?" He had asked in between a yawn. Naruto had been speechless for a few moments, his mind preoccupied with examining Shikamaru and having a mild freak-out.
He was going to do it, he was going to confess. Sucking in a deep breath Naruto lunged forward, hands grabbing onto Shikamaru's shoulders.
"ILIKEYOUIHAVEFORALONGTIMEWILLYOUGOOUTWITHMEPLEASE!?" Naruto screeched into his face all in one breath. Shikamaru, now wide awake from the screech, had stared at Naruto in confusion with wide eyes. "What..." He had breathed out before his eyes narrowed and he came back to his senses.
"Why?" Shikamaru had finally asked, tone flat. Naruto blinked "I... uh- I like you and I have for a long time a-and... I know you said you weren't really interested in dating but... IreallyreallylikeyoualotpleasegooutwithmeI'msorry!" Naruto said in a rush of panic again.
They had stared at eachother for several long moments before Shikamaru rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "What a drag..." The Nara had mumbled before fixing Naruto with an intense stare that made a shiver go down Naruto's spine and his face reddened at how his thoughts went down a very dirty road.
"Okay. I'll go out with you... as troublesome as it is." Shikamaru grumbled, his gaze and stance relaxing as he apparently found whatever he was looking for in Naruto's eyes.
"R-really?! YES, 'TTEBAYO!" Naruto had done a victory fistpump and little dance at Shikamaru's agreement, all while Shikamaru watched on with a tired, yet slightly amused look in his eyes.
"Yes, really. Now let me go back to sleep or do you have anything else you want to yell in my face about?" The Nara had questioned with a raised eyebrow and sarcastic drawl. Naruto had blushed slightly in embarrassment about what he said before suddenly straightening up.
"Wait wait! Since we're boyfriends now-"
"Since about twelve seconds ago..."
"Does that mean I can kiss you?!" Naruto had asked, eyes sparkling and his heart doing little jumps at the thought of giving a kiss to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru stared back at him blankly before sighing and giving a slight nod. Naruto grinned widely and leaned in. As his face inched into Shikamaru's, his grin wobbled nervously. He'd never kissed someone (that thing with Sasuke in the Academy did not happen and Naruto would pummel anyone who said it did.) and was starting to panic. Shikamaru must have seen it in his eyes or something because he rolled his own and placed his hands on Naruto's cheeks, pulling him forward the rest of the way to press their lips together.
It was simple, sweet and perfect. Naruto felt bliss and giddiness when his lips met Shikamaru's. They were soft, very soft, and fit just right against his. It was over way too quickly in Naruto's mind but he was just so happy it happened that he couldn't find it in himself to complain.
"There, we kissed... can I go to back to bed now?" Shikamaru grumbled, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he scratched at them in a slight show of nerves.
Before Naruto could think, he said "Can I come with you?" and his face turned red immediately, beginning to panic. He had screwed everything up, Shikamaru was going to hate him for asking to sleep with him! Not that Naruto was asking to sleep with him, he just wanted to stay near Shikamaru.
But surprisingly Shikamaru had just mumbled a 'troublesome' before grabbing Naruto's hand and dragging him into the bedroom. "Sure, just don't snore, kick me or hog the blankets and we're good." He said and then proceeded to collapse onto his bed and wiggle under the blankets.
When Naruto made no move to follow Shikamaru turned towards him with a raised brow.
"Naruto... It's okay, get in." He said with exasperation, he was tired dammit and did not have time for silly blonde's who had chosen the worst day possible to confess to him. His new Jounin duties had been exhausting for the generally lazy shinobi and he wanted to sleep. So Shikamaru tugged a side of the covers down, patted the spot beside him and demanded "Bed. Now.", before rolling over and snuggling his blankets.
Naruto had stared for another moment before grinning widely and leaping onto the bed, tugging his shoes and jacket off ont he way before wiggling under the covers and ignoring Shikamaru's grumblings about blonde earthquakes. He stared at Shikamaru's back and wondered if it'd be crossing a line to snuggle up to him.
"Troublesome... I can hear you thinking, stop it." Shikamaru said irritably. Naruto mumbled a sorry and attempted to do just that... but he really wanted to hold Shikamaru. Once again Shikamaru seemed to know what Naruto was thinking and wiggled backwards until he his back was pressed against Naruto's chest. Naruto tensed up and blinked at the back of Shikamaru's head in slight confusion.
Shikamaru's hand abruptly found his and dragged his whole arm over so he covered Shikamaru. "There... now go to sleep." He heard Shikamaru say somewhat sleepily, already beginning to fall asleep. Naruto stared at his arm over Shikamaru's body and then back at Shikamaru's head before smiling softly and nuzzling his face into Shikamaru's hair.
He fell asleep soon after that, lulled into it by the warmth and smell of Shikamaru, happiness still coursing through his body.
Edited; 11/18/2015
Fixed some spelling errors and made sentences flow better.