Author's note: Gah! Another late-ish update. Sorry guys, life is getting crazy. My family is trying to sell our house right now, and I just started college prep studies. I might have to cut back and update every other week if this keeps up. I like to keep a cushion between the current posted chapter, and what I'm writing at the time. It makes editing and revising easier if I don't have to go back and change posted chapter. I will do my best to keep up, but if my schedule stays like it is, I wont be able to. Sorry! Thanks for all of your reviews and the follows and favorites!
The three genin sat in the restaurant for several hours, letting the conversation ebb and flow. By the time Shikamaru announced that he had to be getting back home, both Naruto and Shino were talked out. The Nara had been observing Naruto, and had seen the boy let go and engage in their talk, and then gradually recede back into his shell. Shino had just gotten more quiet.
It was a bit awkward to part ways, both clan children feeling a sudden sympathy for the orphaned boy. They both had people waiting for them, parents and other family to greet them and share a smile or nod with.
Shino wondered how Naruto would react to visiting his home. Shibi and his mother had always been very supportive of him, knowing that Aburame often were ostracized because of their kikaichu. Being labeled as creepy and weird was expected at this point. Shino had always had them to come back to, to be comforted and encouraged. It seemed that Naruto didn't have that. Shino had seen the same emotions in the eyes of the villagers that he had occasionally seen directed at him in much weaker glares.
Why would Naruto, who as far as he knew, was nothing but another Kyuubi orphan, be so despised? The boy wasn't from a clan, he had no family, and he had never done anything to warrant such treatment. Sure, he was sometimes loud, pranked people and didn't do so well in school. None of those things could possibly be the cause of such malice. Kiba Inuzuka was wont to act very similarly, and the dog boy was only lightly chastised. Shino also wasn't so sure that his impressions of Naruto were accurate. This day had showed many things that contradicted the previous ideas he'd had. During their talk, Naruto had said several things that had caught Shino's attention. He'd mentioned scrolls and study more than once. Shino knew that very few books or scrolls could be accessed before one was at least a genin. The Aburame recalled how poorly the other had done in all of the school tests, up until the exam. Logically, it shouldn't have been possible for Naruto to find books to study before now, or for him to have such a sudden spike in ability.
Why did this happen? The only explanation would be because the blond had been deceiving everyone. How long? Why? To what extent? Shino rarely found others around him to be interesting, choosing to focus on his colony and training normally, but he was caught up in the web that seemed to wrap around his team. He would be looking for answers, and he would would not let it rest until he knew. Why? Because, logically, he should pursue this interest he had in the effort to make at least one or two true friends.
Naruto was only too happy to return home, to his quiet, dark apartment. He had unexpectedly said much more than he thought he would be able to force out. He would have thank Iruka for his advice. He'd made it through an entire day of interacting, and speaking up more than once without too much trouble. His limit had been passed by after a while though. If Shikamaru hadn't decided to call it a day, Naruto would have. Naruto had decided that he liked his team, at least those two anyway.
He had noticed that he had been placed in the center, the place most protected, and both of them had taken note of his discomfort and silently shifted things to help. Shikamaru had helped him order, Shino had moved the conversation off of Naruto and onto himself. He knew that both of the had noticed some of Naruto's more… revealing reactions. The blond wasn't really sure why he didn't want the to find out the full extent of his misery.
He'd told them some of it already. But the thought of ether boy seeing his tiny, rundown apartment, or knowing the whole story behind his hidden personality made him even more reticent. It was dumb, but he would much rather have Ibiki know, and mock him for it. The blond boy forced himself to go to sleep rather than dwelling on the day though.
As he drifted off to sleep, Naruto couldn't help wondering if he would be able to understand what a family was like. Both clan children would go back to a home, family. He had never really wondered too much about it, but the sudden closeness with the two other genin made him curious and wistful. Shivering, he rolled himself into his blankets and closed his eyes.
"I'm back!" Shikamaru called as he slid the front door closed. Yoshino, his mother, poked her head out of the kitchen.
"You're very late, I expected you back several hours ago." The spoon in her hand was waved in his direction. "I hope you weren't just taking a nap…" Shikamaru quickly shook his head.
"No, I was out with my team." She frowned at him.
"Hmph, your father is in his office. You should see him before you go to bed. You've eaten?" He nodded, glad to have avoided his mother's wrath. Troublesome woman… Always bugging me… He slipped off to see his dad, both to escape Yoshino and to ask about his team. Shikaku was lounging in front of his Go board when Shikamaru found him. He looked up from the board.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Shikamaru flopped down on the cushion next to his father and huffed.
"Ibiki? You really thought that Morino Ibiki would be a good sensei?" He leveled an unimpressed look at his father. The clan head only shrugged.
"It makes sense. And every now and then, something unexpected is good." Shikamaru had to admit that was a valid point. Before he found a suitable replay, Shikaku was talking again.
"So how did you like your team? I know it's not Ino and Choji, but…" He trailed off. Shikamaru thought for a moment.
"They are good. Shino is a solid genin and he is capable of much more given some time." Shikaku nodded, having thought the same about the Aburame boy. "Naruto though," The adult felt a thread of worry. He'd hoped that his son would accept the blond boy, so very much like Shikaku remembered them… "He's a mystery. I don't know what to make of him yet." The worry eased slightly.
"How so?" The Nara clan head wanted to see what his progeny would come up with. Shikamaru was highly intelligent, and he'd yet to stop surprising his father.
"Things don't match up around him. At school, he always seemed to be just another loud, inattentive kid who didn't care to behave. He reminded me of Kiba. But then when I thought about it, I could recall all kinds of things that contradicted that. He was quiet, and sometimes no one even saw him around. He knew things that the rest of the class didn't, and then you saw what happened at the exam." The young Nara shrugged. "It doesn't make sense. There is no way that Naruto advanced that rapidly, but he never once showed that kind of experience and skill during class." Shikaku nodded slowly. He had to chose his words carefully from here on out.
"I too, wondered how much he really knows and does. It says something that it took Inoichi and Ibiki and I together to notice something was up during the first test. Naruto could be curbing his results, like someone else we know, to avoid attention. He does seem a bit nervous at times." The boy scowled at the hint to his own academy performance.
"Yeah… And he also seems to be targeted by the village for some reason. Everyone glared at him today." Shikamaru noted the slight flinch and frown from his father at this. Testing, he probed a bit more. "He also seems to be exhibiting some signs of abuse." Shikaku jerked up, his eyes lit with an unnamed emotion.
"What?" Shikamaru was caught off guard by the venom in that single word. He slouched down more and examined the Go board.
"He did it when he first started the Academy, flinched and shied away from any kind of touch. He did it again tonight, flinched when I got close to him." Shikaku closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath. He couldn't believe this, he'd thought the boy was just avoiding being targeted for being 'dangerous', not avoiding physical harm so constantly. He would have to talk to Ibiki, and the Hokage. Any kind of treatment that endangered a child was not acceptable. He stood, ignoring the calculating look his son was giving him.
"Be… kind to Naruto, Shika. Not many people are. He has much more connection to this village than most would understand." He left Shikamaru with a pensive thought that he really wouldn't be able to laze around with his team. Ibiki would be working them hard, no doubt, and something was going on around Naruto. It was something that Shikamaru had the nagging feeling that he had to find out about. His gut told him it would cement the three genin together with unbreakable bonds.
When Shikaku stormed in to the Hokage tower, face like thunder, Sarutobi's secretary expected declarations of war any time. The Nara clan and Shikaku in particular were widely known for their lazy attitudes and laid back mindsets. For the Jonin Commander and clan head to be this worked up, surely something catastrophic had occurred. Sarutobi knew him enough to tell that this wasn't a village matter.
"Shikaku, I was just sitting down to have some tea. Please join me." He waved the other man into his office calmly and activated the privacy seals. Shikaku sat and glared slightly at the cup of tea he was offered.
"Hokage-sama, something has come to my attention." The older man raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Naruto Uzumaki is on a team with my son." Sarutobi nodded.
"Yes, with the Aburame heir, under Ibiki." The implied question hung in the air.
"Shikamaru came to me with some questions and concerns regarding the boy." The Hokage hummed, understanding the thunderous look the jonin wore. Shikaku had a vested interest in Naruto.
"What was the matter?" Shikaku visibly drew his emotion in check.
"Shikamaru noted signs of… some suspicious lack of comfort Uzumaki has with physical contact." The Hokage read between the lines and frowned.
"I see." He slowly mumbled. "That is indeed something to be worried about. You are sure that your son correctly noted Naruto's reaction?" Shikaku nodded.
"I also noticed something off during the exam." Sarutobi stood up. THe Nara mirrored his movement.
"I will look in to this situation." Grim faced, the leader of the village promised. Shikaku bowed slightly and left. He knew that Sarutobi had a soft spot for the Uzumaki boy. He'd do what he could without causing a fuss.