Be prepared for another chapter filled with angst!

*** I sadly still do not own Naruto!

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Only a Shadow can Reach into the Darkness

Chapter 3: Glass

Naruto slowly pulled himself from his bed. He needed to clean his clothes before he went out today. There would be no mistaking the scent of his blood, especially if he had the misfortune of running into Kiba.

Making his way across the room, he stripped off the old garments and slid into the bathroom. Naruto turned on the shower and quickly cleaned himself in the warm water. Happy with his own hygiene, the blonde placed the plug in the drain to fill up the tub for his clothes. He couldn't afford a washing machine.

As it filled with water, Naruto scanned over the cracked surface. "It's a miracle this thing hasn't exploded or killed me from toxic mold," Naruto thought to himself. "I bet Shikamaru doesn't wash his clothes in a dilapidated tub; I mean, he always smells so nice… Wait, why am I even thinking about that guy! This is getting ridiculous."

In fact, Naruto always thought about Shikamaru after he saw him. At first, he believed it was admiration. He had known how smart the brunette was long before others found out. Now though, he had started to feel butterflies in his stomach and attempted to avoid the lazy nin whenever possible.

"Damnit kit! Eat something now! I'd bet anything the shinobi 'you definitely don't like' noticed your lack of adequate fat." Boomed Kyuubi's voice.

Naruto obeyed, but couldn't help but question why it would even matter. He didn't want anyone knowing how broken he was, but he doubted anyone would really care. Sure, he had Tsunade, Jiraiya, Iruka, Kakashi and maybe some of the rookie nine, but they hadn't even noticed him falling apart before them. How much could they really care?

Sighing, he ate quickly and headed to the training grounds. He wanted to be alone, but a very small part of him hoped Shikamaru would be there. "Maybe he will touch my shoulder again…"

It was late again. To his team, it appeared Shikamaru had wasted the whole day staring at the sky, but Asuma knew better. Something was bothering the young ninja, and he was trying desperately to find the solution.

Asuma walked over and placed his hand on Shikamaru's head roughly, startling him from his thoughts. "What was that for?" he growled.

"You know Shikamaru, you are certainly brilliant" Asuma stated while messing up the younger brunette's hair, "but sometimes sitting around thinking won't get you the answers that you need." Seeing his pupil's eyes widen, hopefully in understanding, Asuma turned to leave.

"I've got some… errands… to run. Come and see me tomorrow if you need something" he called back over his shoulder. Shikamaru could see the blush on his face and knew exactly what kind of 'errands' his sensei had in mind.

"Kurenai-sensei," he thought, "I wonder if I get the same look Asuma does when I think about getting close to Naruto."

"Kuso, he saw me" Naruto thought as he watched Shikamaru jog over to him. "Something must be wrong. I've never seen him run unless he is practically being forced to on a mission."

"What's up Shika? Everything alright?" the blonde asked.

"Naruto, I need to ask you something important. Here, let's go over there so we are out of everyone's way."

Naruto inwardly gulped but followed Shikamaru, cursing himself for not being able to come up with an excuse to leave. When they reached the edge of the street Naruto had his back to a building and eyed Shikamaru warily. He felt like a trapped animal.

Shikamaru looked around nervously, and leaned forward. "Naruto, I need to know. Why does everyone-" CRASH! A small fight had broken out in the street and one of the instigators had flown right into Shikamaru.

Caught off guard, Shikamaru's body collided with the blondes. Instinctively, his arms flew up to the wall in front of him, one landing by Naruto's head and the other between the boy's arm and torso. But even that couldn't stop the momentum.

Pale lips covered tan ones for just a moment before parting. Shikamaru's senses returned to him and he felt warm hands gripping his slender frame. One on his hip and the other on his chest. He glanced down and noticed how close the two were. The only room between them came from Naruto's delicate hand.

Without thinking he roughly pushed himself away from Naruto, wiping his mouth with his arm. He frantically looked around to see if anyone else had noticed the incident.

Seeing his reaction to the kiss, Naruto's mind went blank. He could vaguely hear the Fox calling out to him, urging him to keep his cool. He couldn't though.

"I disgust him and he doesn't even know me. If this is how he feels, then what would he think of the real me… a broken demon cage" Naruto thought bitterly.

"That's not true, kit. You don't know what he is thinking. This all happened very fast… He is probably just acting out of shock…"Kyuubi tried to calm the boy, but he knew it was falling on deaf ears. The blonde had been able to rationalize and hide his feelings for the Nara from him for quite some time, but after last night, Kyuubi knew his kit was devastated.

Shikamaru finally looked up towards his friend. Naruto hadn't moved at all since the 'kiss'. The ache in his chest stung when he realized how he had just behaved. He stepped forward again and attempted to make eye contact with the frozen blonde.

When Naruto still didn't move, he willed himself to look into the boy's eyes. His heart stopped- "those eyes… I've never seen eyes like that."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, his once lively blue eyes looked like glass, as if there had been cracks running through them and were now on the verge of shattering completely. The brunette searched his face. There was no emotion to be found, none but the deep sadness of those empty angelic orifices.

"Naruto, I-" He started while shaking his head frantically. But before he could finish, before he could even extend his arm to caress the scarred tan cheek, Naruto had gone.

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I hope you enjoyed! Please Please Please Review!

I know I'm late joining the Naruto Fanfiction game but I hope there are still avid readers out there!