Dear Diary,

I'm thinking of telling Shika my little secret. I mean, we've been friends for almost a month. The only thing is, I'm scared. Will he reject me? Think I'm a freak? Or had he already figured out that I'm a guy. That's a big possibility. And what if he hasn't? That might mean he doesn't care enough to find out, because he's smart enough to. But it also might be that in just an amazing actor. Either way, I hope he would still be my friend. I don't want to lose him... so, maybe I shouldn't tell? That way we would always be friends... but I hate keeping secrets! Argh, so frustrating! You know what? I'll just see if anything that relates to my problem comes up. If it does, I'll tell him. If not, I won't. Yeah, that sounds like a good enough plan to me! Or maybe...

-Uzumaki Naruto

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"Naru! Over here!"

'Who's that? It doesn't sound like Shika...' I looked around for whoever called out my name. My eye's landed on the boy who was waving his hands wildly. He was that dog kid… Kiba? Yeah. Well, I should see who was calling me…

"HEY! Over here! Don't look past me!"

'It's that person again… they're on that side of the room...' Once again my eyes landed on the Kiba kid.

"Yea, me! Now come over!"

'So he was the one shouting at me… wonder why. If he wants to fight I'll just leave. I mean, he's weak and still challenges everyone. Plus, I don't like losing on purpose... well, let's just get this over with.

"Yea? What do you want Kiba?" I asked, waiting for him to challenge me.

"Um…" he said, fidgeting. Isn't he wanting to fight me? Why's he so nervous? "Do you… ya know… wanna hang out sometime?" Oooookaaay... Wasn't expecting that…

"Umm… sure! Like… today?" Kiba smiled at me looking… relieved? Yea, I think that's the word. His nervousness was entirely gone as well.

"Yea! That's great!" He said, still smiling widely. Wonder how long he's wanted to be my friend... or maybe he's just joking around with me. Yeah, that's probably it.

"Is it alright if Shika-kun comes to? I had promised to hang out with him..." yeah... total lie. I just don't trust Kiba yet. Besides, now he looks a little unhappy.

"Sure. That works..." is he pouting? Haha! Take that! That's what you get for trying to play me!

"Well then, I'm gonna go tell Shika about the change in plans. We had been planning on cloud watching." I said, walking away from the boy. Now, I just have to find Shika and convince him this isn't too troublesome...

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"No."

"Why?"

"I don't like him. He smells of dog." Naru looked at him blankly.

"Really? That's it?"

"It's good enough. Besides, he's too troublesome."

"That's what you said about me, remember? You could become friends with him! At least try it this one time! Besides, I wasn't sure if he was just joking with me so if you want me to risk it by myself…" Shikamaru seemed to freeze all movement - which is surprising considering how little he moves normally.

"...Fine. When and where?" Naru smiled in triumph before telling 'her' friend all the information.

"Alright. I'll be there. Now, let me sleep."

"Hehe, you're such a good friend! Night Shika, and thanks!" Naru said cutely before skipping out of the room. Once Shikamaru was sure Naru was gone he lifted his head and looked at the closed door.

'Why is she afraid to make friends? And why would someone be joking? She also only has me as a friend. Well, she's kinda friends with Choji also, but they aren't close. Ugh, Naru, you're so troublesome. But you're worth it.' A rare smile found its place on the lazy Nara's face before disappearing as the boy put his head down to sleep.

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We join up with the three after school has ended and they're going to play. There is one happy blond, one annoyed Nara and one disappointed Mutt lover. Why? Well, Naru challenged them to a race and whoever lost would have to buy dinner for the other two. So, do you want to know what happened? Naru ran of - beating the other two by long shot. Kiba got in second - much to his disappointment. His mentality was that he was an Inuzuka. He should be faster than the Uzumaki!

Now, with that said, who do you think lost? Shikamaru. He was too lazy to run. Actually, he was too lazy to even walk fast. No, wait, not even normal speed. Darn Nara.

And to top it all of! They were going to Ichiraku. For ramen. With an Uzumaki.

'Now I have to pay for the mutt as well. This stinks! I mean, Naru's bad enough - eating all that stuff with her bottomless pit she calls a stomach! Sorry dad, you're gonna be broke soon.' Shikamaru thought to himself while Naru asked Kiba where his pet was. While Kiba talked about having to leave Akamaru home for some reason, Shikamaru went back to thinking.

'And I don't like that boy. Too close to Naru.' He paused for a moment. 'And now I'm becoming an overprotective brother. Tck, troublesome.' He went back to observing the two interacting and noticed something off about Kiba. 'He's more bullheaded than normal… is he trying to show off?' Kiba was showing how high he could jump without chakra to Naru. 'Yep. He's showing off. Wait… I've seen Inuzuka do stuff like this before… mainly the males though.' He thought for a moment more before blushing and getting just a tad angry. 'HE LIKES HER! IM GONNAKILL THAT BASTARD!' He paused again. 'Why would I do that? Huh...' He was pulled out of his weird thoughts by Naru jumping round in front of him. He came back into focus right once she brought her face really close to his - staring intently.

"Are you alright? You zoned out again…" She gasped. "Were you sleepwalking? Wow… that's so cool!" She squealed in excitement before pestering him to tell her how. Shikamaru didn't deny it and instead answered with a question.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Iruka-sensei won't get mad at me for sleeping in class as much! I've already got the 'sleep with your eyes open' thing down…" Naru trailed off. Then Kiba spoke up.

"Hey, are we gonna eat or what? Lets go you guys!" Shikamaru blinked owlishly.

'What was that? Did Kiba feel left out? Is he… jealous?' Shikamaru felt a sly smirk creep its way on to his face before he put a stop to it. 'How can I make him feel more jealous? It should keep him away from Naru for a while...' The little genius put his mind to work, figuring out the best way to go about it. In the end he just put an arm over Naru's shoulders and walked into the stand. Not that impressive, but it did it's job.

Well, it made Kiba a little mad, but it also made him draw Naru's attention to him. He sat next to her.

"Hey, Naru, what do you think of Echo for a name?" Two sets of confused eyes fell on him - though one of them was only confused for a moment.

"Um… it's fine. Why?"

"Can I make that your nickname? I heard somewhere that it's good to give your friends nicknames if you want them to be friends for a long time and, since one meaning of Naru is Echo, that could be good. What do you think?" Naru sat there confused for a moment longer before smiling.

"Okay!" She said cutely. Kiba blushed just a little. Naru - whose eyes were closed - didn't see it, but Shika did. He waged a silent war with the dog lover when he finally caught the boy's eye. It was accepted.

Neither of them knew what was going on in their beloved blonde's mind.

'Okay, what should I do? Well, it seems like Kiba isn't trying to pull one over on me, though Shika-kun suspects him of something… I wonder what that is. But it doesn't matter right now. Though it might explain why Shika put his arm over me. It seemed like he was being protective. That reminds me, should I tell him my secret? He should know… I do trust him. I'll tell him when we go home. I'll ask him to come with me for just a minute or ask him to walk me home before inviting him inside. I can't really tell him anywhere else. I don't trust anyone on the street and I already put silencing seals around my room so we can talk in there… okay! So today I tell him!' Naruto was grinning to himself in his mind when something or someone tapped his shoulder. It was Ayame.

"Hey Naru-chan! Haven't seen you in a while! What's up? And who are these two boys? Are you… ya know?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows when she paused. Naruto looked at her confused, not noticing the blushes forming on both boy's cheeks.

"Well, this is Shika-kun and Kiba. Shika's been my friend for a while - I hadn't told you yet? - and I just became friends with Kiba. And what was with your eyebrows? They acted funny… are you sick?" Ayame sighed at the little blonde's innocence.

"No, I'm not sick. Anyways, four Miso Ramens for now?" She asked, getting a nod in confirmation before turning to lazier of the two boys. "And for you?"

"One pork ramen." He drawled out. She turned to the one with face paint.

"Beef." He said quickly before glaring at Shikamaru. Ayame saw this and guessed on what was happening. Her guess was partially right - Kiba liking Naru and was jealous of Shikamaru and Shikamaru trying to keep him away from Naru - but was wrong on the other part - Shikamaru liking Naru and trying to keep them apart because he likes Naru. She smiled.

"I'll be right back. Have fuuuun~" She said in a sing-songy voice and confusing Naruto greatly - though he just brushed it off with her being weird. The other two boys understood what she meant and blushed more than before. Naruto say anything and just wondered to herself if there was a sickness going around. It was all very awkward for the two blushing boys. They looked at anything but people, trying to distract themselves. They failed. Miserably. Kiba was thinking about what he and Naru could do in private while Shikamaru was thinking about what Kiba might do to Naru before he could stop it. In the end he just shut his brain down and waited for the meal to come.

"Shika-kun, will you walk me home?" Naruto asked/whined. Kiba had went on his own before she started asking this question over and over. This was her fourth time asking and Shikamaru still hadn't answered. "Shi-"

"Fine."

"Eh? Yay!" He cheered and started dancing around - dancing meaning jumping - before grabbing onto Shikamaru and running to his apartment.

They reached the apartment - which is two miles away - in 4 minutes. Don't ask how. Just know that at some point Shikamaru stopped feeling the ground under his feet and was flying behind Naruto as Naruto ran. The only thing people saw was a little trail of dirt behind them.

"Shika-kun, will you come inside for a bit?" Naruto asked once they reached the door. Shikamaru sighed and nodded okay while Naruto opened the door into his home. He also sent out an undetectable pulse of chakra to deactivate all the seals he had around the entrance to his house so that Shikamaru could enter without getting electrocuted or anything else just as unpleasant.

They walked in and Naruto headed straight to his room. Right once Shikamaru fully entered he closed the door and pulsed his chakra again - reactivating everything including his silencing seals. Then he grew serious.

"Shikamaru, there's a secret I want you to know. Now, I have debated telling you for about a month so I really hope my trust is well placed. Also, if this gets out I'll be in big trouble and might even be thrown out of Konoha - though that's the worse case scenario. Ya see… I'm a… ya know… boy.

Shikamaru looked shocked. "What? No way! I don't believe you! Oh, are you trying to pull one on me?" Then he started laughing. "Hah, you're funny Naru. Now, what is it really?" He said after finally calming down. Naruto looked a little angry.

"No, I'm actually a boy! Want me to prove it?" He asked. Shikamaru blushed and paused to decide. On one hand he would see a girl without pants which is a big no-no and on the other hand he might be proven wrong and his friend actually is a boy. Either way, he didn't like his choices. Then Naruto said something that basically proved it then and there.

"If I was a girl, would I really say that?"

'No.' Shikamaru decided. "Fine. I believe you. Now, why would you get in so much trouble if it got out?" He asked.

"Well, that's something I actually can't tell you. Not because I don't want to, but it's truly against the rules to tell someone." 'Well, for most people that is. I already know I'm an exception but I'm not ready to share all my secrets.' Naruto thought. "Oh, and my name's Naruto." He finished. It was quiet for a moment before Shikamaru broke the silence.

"Alright then. Well, I'm going home for now… I'll see you tomorrow." He said. Then he was gone. And that was when Naruto started panicking.

'How's he going to react to me tomorrow? Are we still friends? Will he hate me for keeping that a secret for so long? Is he going to tell everyone? Wait, no. This is Shika. Even if he hated me he still wouldn't tell. Either being lazy or something else, I know he wouldn't. Just… I hope he's still my friend.' Naruto thought to himself before going to get ready for bed. 'It'll be better in the morning.' Was his final thought before drifting off to sleep.