(Author's Note: Wretched Yuri: Hi guys, sorry it's taken a couple of days to update, but this is chapter 13. I really hope you guys are liking what I'm doing with this story, and where it's going with character development and so forth. Anyway, I'm going to a house inspection tonight, and tomorrow I'm going shopping with some and we're going to see a movie (The Lone Ranger of course) so I won't be able to update until late tomorrow night or Thursday! Anyway, enjoy this chapter!)

Chapter 13

When their mission was over, Naruto and Shikamaru left, both yawning, with the two foxes in tow. They sat down on a bench in the park, watching the little kids play on the playground. The same playground they'd very happily clambered all over when they were that age.

"So are you really alright with Tsunade-sama's ruling on the partnership. I mean the whole sleeping at each other's house thing." Shikamaru asked her, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the clouds. Naruto put her chin on her hand and watched the kids play with a smile.

"It doesn't really bother me." She answered honestly. "Although that could have more to do with I know being around you 24/7 6 days a week isn't going to annoy me like most other people would if I was partnered to them." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the children. Her hand reached down and gently she scratched first Kusachi, and then Rukia, behind the ears. "What about you? Does it bother you?" He shook his head.

"Nah because I know that besides from making me more sociable and getting me to train more, you're not going to try and change me. Most other people would try and change my lazy ways that don't bother you in the least." He explained, rolling his head around his neck slightly, cracking the kinks in it. "Oh by the way, by being my partner you're now a proctor in the Chunin exams. Tsunade has also signed us up to take the Jounin exams together and then I believe she intends to make us proctors in that exam as well." Naruto nodded.

"That's okay. It should be interesting." She told him before standing and stretching as she glanced at the sun's position. "So who's place tonight? Mine or yours?" She asked him as Kusachi and Rukia stood, shaking out their fur vigorously.

"Yours." Shikamaru said, stretching slightly as he stood up. "We'll swap places each night if that's okay?" She nodded and he reached down to touch his toes. "If it's alright with you, we'll stop off at my place on the way to yours so I can grab some stuff. Tomorrow you'll want to pack enough stuff so that you'll always have clean clothes at mine as well as at yours." She nodded and stretched her arms up above her head, reaching up high on her tiptoes.

"Sure thing. We'll stop off at the pharmacy on the way and I'll grab some shampoo and stuff to put in your spare shower." She told him with a grin. When they entered the pharmacy, it was to find Kiba and Hinata shopping together for some things. The couple winked at them as the two grabbed up the brands of shampoo, conditioner and soap that they used to leave at each other's house.

"Do you remember when we had to do that?" Kiba told Hinata, grinning at Naruto and Shikamaru. Hinata nodded with a smile she was hiding behind her hand.

"Just wait." She informed Shikamaru. "It'll get to the point that when she runs out of shampoo and conditioner she'll just use yours." Naruto chuckled at that. Shikamaru smirked slightly.

"I think it'll be the other way round." Naruto told the girl as she paid for her things. "He's the lazy one in this partnership not me." Shikamaru frowned at her.

"I don't want to smell like a girl." He told her.

"Why not?" She grinned impishly. "I'm sure you've been mistaken for a girl before if you've had your hair down outside of your house." She teased him. He blushed and looked away.

"He has." Kiba muttered to Naruto. "He got hit on by a total of ten men before they realised he was a guy not a girl." Naruto was biting her hand to keep from laughing out loud as her shoulders shook with laughter. Shikamaru just shrugged. He was too lazy to care really. After paying for their things, Naruto and Shikamaru made their way to his place. While he packed a bag of his things, she put her toiletries in the spare bathroom. His place looked a lot like hers, only smaller and had 'bachelor' written all over it. Not physically of course, but there was nothing feminine in the place, except for her area of the house of course. She grinned as she read the 'Naruto's area' signs all over the place. When they got to her place, Shikamaru disappeared into his bedroom and bathroom to unpack his things and change while Naruto made tea. He soon appeared, sniffing appreciatively while dressed in loose pants and a long sleeved shirt. She grinned at him as he sat eagerly at the island bench in the kitchen, his eyes firmly glued on the food she was cooking. She put his tea in front of him, along with a cup of tea before opening the balcony door and letting Kusachi and Rukia out to go hunting again. Dropping down beside him with her plate and cup of tea, they ate in relative quiet. After tea, she did the dishes while he went to his room. Once she was done, she wandered into the study.

He was sitting at his desk, going over paperwork. Without looking up he pointed at her desk, where he had halved the paperwork and left her share for her to do. Looking at it she sighed and disappeared into her bedroom. Shikamaru leaned back on his chair and pulled the band from his hair, running his fingers through the strands of long brown hair that came to just below his shoulders. He glanced over as Naruto came back into the room. She'd changed out of her normal clothes into baggy pants that she informed him westerners called 'track pants' or 'trackies', a pair of socks and a loose jumper. Her long blonde hair was braided over one shoulder to keep it out of her face as she wrote. She winked at him as she gave him a mug of hot chocolate, blowing gently on her own mug as she curled up on her desk chair. It was nearing winter in Konoha, which meant rain and cool nights. She had discovered to her delight that morning, that her friends had had a start of the art air con system installed in her roof. She turned it on before she came into the room, and before long they were both warm and sleepy, but pushing themselves to finished the paperwork. Tomorrow they were being sent around the entire village on odd jobs. Once the paperwork was done, Naruto took their empty mugs to the kitchen after murmuring good night to Shikamaru.

The next morning, Naruto woke Shikamaru up at five, her hair up in its usual ponytail and with a different set of gear from her everyday gear the he decided must have been her exercise gear. She shook him awake and gave him a mug of hot, strong coffee before waiting impatiently in the lounge room for him to get dressed. Once he was done, she dragged him out for a morning run. Kusachi and Rukia went off to training ground 44 for their breakfast. Shikamaru shivered as he ran alongside her. He knew that he'd soon warm up and that by the time Naruto was finished making him keep up with her training, he would be covered in sweat and exhausted. As fit as he was, he was nowhere near as fit as she was. He didn't mind her getting him to join her in training though. After the failed mission to rescue Sasuke that had been done by him and the other boys and Sakura, he had been taking his training and getting stronger seriously, and if anyone could help to obtain strength it was the woman jogging effortlessly next to him with a loping fox like gait, her breathing deep and even, little clouds of steam escaping her mouth as she breathed. They were on their fifteenth lap when Gai and Kakashi went past in the opposite direction. He and Naruto had started their run at her doorstep, and were working their way around the inside of the village wall, on the outskirts of the village itself, up and over the Hokage monument, down the other side and back around the village in a large continuous circle. He soon stopped shivering. By their 60th lap he sweating, but he didn't complain. Naruto watched him from the corner of her eye as they jogged, wondering if she was pushing him too far. Still it was a treat to see him actually trying. He wasn't slouching for once, but standing tall and straight, his full height shown. He was rather graceful, she noted, never tripping or stumbling, just taking long measured strides as his hands swung by his sides. There was a light sheen of sweat on him and his breathing had changed ever so slightly as he started to tire, but his eyes were determined and he said nothing, just kept pace with her. His long hair was up as usual. At lap 150, they stopped passing Kakashi and Gai. Shikamaru was tired, but he was going to keep up with her if it killed him. Naruto, still watching him, was worried that was what would happen. They soon discovered that Kakashi, Gai, Tsunade and some others had set themselves up on the top of the Yondaime's head on Hokage monument and were playing a card game as they exercised, watching the young woman push Shikamaru through his paces. They were all amazed that Shikamaru was actually still running, and not only that, but that he was putting effort in. They'd all tried to interest Shikamaru in training or exercise at one time or another, and besides the girl running beside him, the only people who had managed with even minimal success had been his father Shikaku and Kakashi. He knew that it was also a good way for everyone watching to judge the young woman's skills. By lap 170, all of the Konoha 12 was gathered to watch the sight, all of their old senseis and Hiruzen Sarutobi was there as well. At lap 200, they stopped when they reached the others.

"Stop Shikamaru, before you pass out. You don't have to keep up the entire way the first day. If you want to get stronger, we'll do this everyday bit by bit until eventually you're as fit as I am. But you've got to take it nice and slow." She told him, not even out of breath. He was sweating, and had turned slightly red as he panted, trying to get rid of a stitch. He nodded slightly and she grinned.

"Now that you're done jogging for the day, I want 150 push ups, the same amount of sit ups, and lots of stretches okay? I'll be passing by to make sure you're doing them." She told him before she turned and continued jogging. Shikamaru dropped to the ground and started the push ups.

"Who are you and what did you do with Shikamaru?" Ino asked suspiciously. Shikamaru grunted and ignored her, concentrating on the push ups. Naruto would glance at him with a twinkle in her eyes as she passed, moving noticeably quicker, they noticed then she had while with Shikamaru. It became aware to everyone, when she hit her 250th lap that they could all stand to get a bit fitter.

"Why are you so willing to do it when she tells you and not when the rest of us do?" Ino demanded. Shikamaru was up to his sit ups and ignored her again. Chouji rested a hand on his fiancé's shoulder.

"She inspires him to push himself harder and get stronger is why. She inspires all of us to try and improve and Shika's no different. She doesn't yell at him that he needs to get fit and stop being lazy. She has no problems with his laziness. Because of that, he's willing to put more effort in then when you yell at him like a banshee that he's a lazy sod who needs to put the effort in." Chouji explained. Shikamaru grunted slightly as he finished the sit ups, Naruto giving him the thumbs up as she ran past. He grinned in thanks before his eyes widened as she tripped forward. Everyone gasped as she simply let herself fall, one hand hitting the ground and pushing her up into a graceful flip before she somersaulted in mid-air to her feet, still running. He sighed and reached down, touching his toes, before leaning back cracking his back. He set to work on stretching, easing aching muscles that wore sore from the beating he'd just given them.

"If there's anyone who is strong enough to protect themselves and others it's her." He began quietly. "So, who better to learn how to get strong from?" His exercising done, he flopped to his back and put his arms behind his head, his gaze on the sky as it lightened. It was only 6 o'clock. He was amazed that he had just run 200 laps of Konoha, done 150 push ups and sit ups each in an hour. What was more amazing was that Naruto was up to lap 350 in an hour. 50 laps later, she came to a halt beside them all, and put her hands on her knees as she panted, trying to get her breath back.

"It takes you 400 laps of a village to get exhausted?" Tsunade demanded, well aware that not even she was that fit. Naruto nodded.

"Sensei demanded that I had to be able to run an entire day at a steady pace with only minimal breaks." She explained once she'd got her breath back. "It was one of the first things I had to learn to do." She dropped to the ground, going through push ups at a faster rate than Shikamaru, who had rolled on to his stomach to watch her with the others.

"Why do you need to be able to run so far and for so long?" Sasuke asked in surprise, She grunted as she answered, focusing on them and the exercises at the same moment.

"Because at 13 I had no hopes of taking on any of the Akatsuki, so my only option would have been to run away. And as we all know how fast some of the members of that organisation are," She was referring to Uchiha Itachi, who was the fasted member of Akatsuki. "It was necessary. I had to be able to outrun Itachi." They watched the muscles in her arms, muscles that usually didn't stand out too sharply, move under her skin. 350 push ups later she changed over to sit ups, which she did differently to Shikamaru. Whilst he had simply done it the normal way of holding his hands behind his head and using his stomach muscles to pull himself up into a sitting position without moving his legs, she would sit up and touch her left elbow to her right knee, lay flat, sit up, touch her right elbow to her left knee and continue in that pattern of left/right, right/left. She did that for 350 sit ups and then started stretching. She dropped gracefully into sideways splits, leaning to her left and right before swapping to a forward split and leaning forward and backward.

"Naruto stand up." Tsunade ordered. She did so and the older woman walked over to her and lifted up her shirt. They could all see smooth tanned skin over a flat belly. There was a slight 'v' indentation where her hips began. "Tense." Tsunade ordered her. They watched as muscle that hadn't been obvious before, shifted under her skin to form a 6 pack and solidly toned abdominal muscles. Everyone whistled.

"You make me feel so inferior." Sasuke informed her with a slight pout. Naruto shrugged, a sad look crossing her face.

"I don't do this to make people feel bad about their own bodies, or feel that they have to push themselves to death to keep up you know," She added looking pointedly at Shikamaru. "I do it because sensei told me to."

"What kind of training did he have you doing?" Kakashi asked curiously. She thought for a moment.

"Every kind of training he could think of." She explained. "He even cut down on his peeping and book writing." Everyone blinked. Jiraiya had taken her training seriously, it seemed. Naruto stretched lightly as Tsunade let go of her shirt, everyone noticing the slight ripple of muscle under her skin now that they were looking for it. She looked soft and delicate, but was in fact strong. She cracked her neck before nudging Shikamaru with her foot.

"Come on you. Time for some breakfast I think." She bowed to the others as Shikamaru got to his feet before taking a few steps back and taking a running leap off of the edge of the monument, her whoop for joy echoing across the village. Shikamaru followed her, shaking his head as he muttered about troublesome women.

"Oi Shika! Don't forget about lunch today!" Chouji called after him. Shikamaru waved a hand to show he'd heard and understood as he followed his partner across rooftops while she flipped, cartwheeled and somersaulted her way back to her apartment. Everyone on top of the head shook their head at Naruto's antics before going separate ways, all of them thinking about how they could improve in their training. Kakashi and Gai shared a look before they went back to their morning jog with renewed determination. Shikamaru took a shower while Naruto cooked breakfast. He discovered, as he was sitting at the island bench while she cooked pancakes, that even when she was covered in sweat from a morning run, that she still smelt nice. He also discovered why Naruto could always eat so much. He ate more that morning that he though he ever had in one meal in his entire life. She had chuckled at his face expression.

"No wonder you're always so hungry if you were always training." He commented through a full mouth. She nodded. She had cooked a mountain of pancakes, expecting him to be hungry, and she was right.

"You'll find that you'll eat a lot more if you train with me." She told him honestly, covering her pancakes in butter. He shrugged.

"That's okay. I'd really like to train with you if you're alright with that."

"Why? Why train with me? I kept in touch every once in a while over the three years as you know, and I can remember more than a few letters I got from different people, who whinged about your lack of motivation towards training." She said, pointing her fork at him. He had been surprised to find that she had western style eating utensils. As for her keeping in touch, he did know. He'd kept every single one of her letters. They were at the back of the top drawer in his bedside table. Not even Temari had ever read them or seen them. For some reason they were something he'd kept to himself. He shrugged.

"I trained with my Otousan and with Kakashi over the three years. But as for why train with you, because if I train with you, I know I'm going to get stronger. No offense to any of our friends, or anyone else in the village, but if I want to get strong, my best bet for managing it is with you." He told her bluntly, waving his fork back at her. She smiled at that. If you took her out of the picture, then Sakura was the strongest of the Konoha 12, with Neji and Sasuke following in at a close second and Lee in third. But all of them would admit that the blonde girl blew them all out of the water.

(A/N: It has come to my attention that it may appear as though Naruto is unfairly strong or powerful. I don't think she is, as I've mentioned before. I think considering as she had been learning to fight and protect herself since she was three, her strength and power is accurate for her. You've also got to remember that she's always getting very seriously injured and healing it away within minutes thanks to Kyuubi, hinting to the enhancements he has done to her body, meaning she has a greater capability for getting stronger than everyone else.)

After breakfast, Naruto left the dishes to Shikamaru while she showered and changed. He let Kusachi and Rukia in and got the paperwork from the study, leaving it in the kitchen so he wouldn't forget it before taking a nap on the couch. Naruto flicked his nose gently to wake him up as she leant on the back of the couch. Yawning, he stood and went to the kitchen, grabbing the paperwork as Naruto turned off the air-con before they left, locking the door behind them. Kusachi and Rukia, both in their armour again, stayed close to Naruto's heels as they passed through the village.

(Author's Note: Wretched Yuri: There you go, that is chapter thirteen. I really do hope you guys are enjoying this story! Until next time, enjoy! P.S. I would love to get some reviews from you guys telling me what you think about the story and what I'm doing with it? Please? )