"C'mon, Shikamaru, help a guy out."
He opened one eye lazily, not even moving from his reclined position, "Not a chance."
Naruto pouted, pacing in front of the two ninja in front of him restlessly, "Hey, Chouji," he pleaded, "Help me out here!"
Akimichi Chouji frowned around his mouth full of chips, "Hmmm, you shouldn't force some one to do something they don't want to," he said solemnly.
What? "Eh?" Naruto asked intelligently, eyes narrowed, "You two are just lazy!"
"Tch," Nara Shikamaru rolled to his side, "Move out of the way, you're blocking my view."
Screwing up his nose, Naruto looked up at the bright blue sky, puffy clouds slowly drifting by. A few birds took flight, startled by some Academy students, "What's there to look at?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Of course I don't!"
"Exactly."
Peeved, Naruto huffed and sat down on the hot rooftop, "Well, I won't leave until you agree to help me out," he crossed his arms.
"Fine then," Shikamaru yawned.
The three of them sat there, the world passing them by. Customers came and went from the shop across the street, the tiny bell ringing every time the door opened. An ice cream cart pushed by an extremely wrinkled man went by, trailed by a group of kids.
Chouji went through another bag of chips, the repetitive crunch, crunch, crunch...
...was driving him crazy, "Is this all you two do all day!?" Naruto jumped up, restlessly pacing again, "How can you stand it?"
"Shut up," Shikamaru muttered, "The Academy is short staffed, so this is my only day off this week."
"Then you should help me out!"
"Yeah, I'll get right on that."
Lazy bastard, "You just spent two weeks in Suna!"
"That wasn't a vacation."
"Sure it wasn't," Naruto smirked, waggling his eyebrows, "You went to do 'official business', right?"
Chouji coughed, choking on his chips.
"You're such a pain," Shikamaru slapped his friend on the back, "It was an official mission from Hokage-sama."
"So that's the only reason you went?"
"Of course," he sighed, "Women are too troublesome. If you just do as they say then they leave you alone."
"I knew it!" Naruto pointed his finger accusingly, "You bat for the other team!"
"Moron," Shikamaru rolled his eyes and lay back down.
Disappointed at the lack of response to his goading, Naruto pouted, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Just this one little favor!"
"No."
"Please, Shikamaru-sama?" Naruto asked, the smoke drifting from the transformation, "For me? Please-Owww!" he rubbed the back of his head, "What did you do that for?"
"Moron," Shikamaru rolled his eyes and lay back down, a blushing Chouji seemingly very interested in his bag of chips.
Gahh!! Why can't they just help me out? Naruto thought in exasperation, nearly ready to start pulling his hair, ask for just one little thing...
"Maybe we should help out," Chouji said, "He keeps on asking."
An ally! "Yeah!"
"He'll just keep on asking."
Naruto pumped his fist, "Yeah!"
"You know how annoying that'll be."
"Yeah-wait!" Naruto put his hands on his hips, "What do you mean by that?"
"Calm down," Shikamaru put himself between the angry ninja and his smirking friend, "We'll help."
"Really?" he smiled, suddenly in a good mood.
"If it'll get you shut up."
"All right!" Naruto cheered, doing a very energetic happy dance.
Shikamaru sighed again, flopping back onto the wooden bench, "Now leave us alone. You're worse than any female."
Adrenaline pumping and nerves tingling, Naruto had to backpedal hastily, "What? Not now?"
"No, not now."
"Why not now?"
"Because-" Shikamaru stopped himself, "-Just go."
Naruto blew a raspberry, "You suck."
"We're helping right? Stop complaining."
"Later then?"
"Yeah," he lazily waved a hand.
Nearly skipping down the rickety fire escape stairs, Naruto beamed. This was perfect! Now Chouji and Shikamaru would help out, and he would find that bastard Sasuke, and he would become Hokage! All right!
That last part must have come out as a shout because people in the street stopped and looked at him. Whoops, "Sorry!" he rubbed the back of his head, deciding to tone it down a notch.
"Naruto-kun?"
"Eh?" he turned around towards the shop, "Oh hey, Hinata-chan! You doin' some shopping?"
The girl blushed and held the plastic bag behind her, "Yes, just a few things before my mission tomorrow."
"Another mission?" he asked, "You've been on a lot lately."
She nodded, "It's good experience."
"Yeah, I bet you'll make jounin soon," he said, inwardly still peeved about just recently making chuunin himself.
"That's not it," she muttered.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing," Hinata smiled, "You seemed in a good mood."
Oh yeah, "Today's been great!" Naruto shouted, his excitement renewed, "It couldn't get any better!" he paused, a thoughtful expression briefly flashing across his face, "Well it could..."
She looked at him intently with her pale eyes, unnerving him a bit, "What is it?"
He smiled, standing tall his mouth already watering, ramen... "Let's go, Hinata-chan! I can't wait!" he grabbed her hand.
Naruto didn't make it a single step before he heard a loud thump.
Disclaimer: Nope, isn't mine.
A/N: Naruto is fun to write, he can get away with everything. A few notes:
Just what is Shikamaru and Chouji going to help out with?
What was Shikamaru doing in Suna?
What has Hinata been training for?
As always, thanks for reading!