Chapter 34: Let's Go
"Naruto, I'm leaving."
The blonde looked up from the pavement, Shikamaru was clutching his shoulders, they were in the school parking lot now. Sasuke was just inside. The thought drove him crazy.
"Naruto, focus." Shikamaru urged, gripping his friends attention again. Naruto watched as he reached into his front pocket and pulled out a set of keys, they jingled in the air and Naruto realized the car they were standing by was Shikamaru's step dads. Mariko waved from inside, she was strapped in a car seat surrounded by a few bags, clutching her hybrid stuffed animal. "I'm leaving, do you want to come with me?"
"But..." Naruto gestured toward the vehicle, "This is your step-dad's car?"
"So, screw him." Shikamaru shook his head, lifting up his shirt to reveal a cocktail of fresh bruises burning there, "He went after me again, but this time was worse. He got pissed off when he found Mariko hiding in a closet upstairs and smacked her, I lost my temper and beat him up."
Naruto stared at his friends pleading eyes, he wanted to leave. The apartment, the people, Sasuke, everything. He wanted a new start.
"I can't stay anymore, I need to go before he wakes up from his drunken stupor and starts looking for us. I'm tired of living this way!" Shikamaru gripped his shoulders again, "I know that you're just as tired of the bullshit around here as I am! All this shit with Suigetsu which doesn't make any damn sense, and Sasuke, its stupid shit. So are you coming or not?"
Naruto nodded, taking one last look around him. Could he really just disappear, just like that? "I just...want to make one stop before I do."
"Alright, then let's go."