Chapter 17:
A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, as well as everyone who has followed and favorited this story.
Naruto and Sasuke stood at the bridge that Team 7 met at every day. Sakura had yet to arrive, stating a couple days prior that if Kakashi-sensei was going to show up late everyday than she could talk an extra hour and a half to get ready and get some extra sleep.
So, the two boys currently basked in the silence that surrounded them. Naruto sat against the bridge cross-legged, trying to decide how he wanted to annoy his raven-haired teammate that morning.
Glancing over at his teammate, Naruto saw that he was a couple feet away from him leaning on the railing of the bridge, his arms were crossed over his chest and he had his usual brooding look on his face, but Naruto could tell something was different about it that day. The look in his eyes was darker than normal and Naruto could already tell that he would be more focused on his brother and getting stronger than he normally was. That was when Naruto remembered the date and what day it was. Today was the day that Itachi killed his entire family-save his younger brother that was currently standing in front of Naruto.
Debating his options for a few moments, Naruto decided that he should grace his teammate with a few words of wisdom this morning.
"Don't stay so focused on the past." He said, bringing Sasuke out from his thoughts and gaining his attention.
"Hn?" He asked, not bothered by the fact that the blonde had broken his train of thought, letting Naruto know about his teammate being off that day.
"Don't stay to focused on the past." He repeated. "It's good to get closure, but don't forget about the present and the future. Remember the people that care about you, like our team, and all of our friends from the academy. Also remember to think about what you want in the future. Have you ever thought about what you will do after you kill your brother?" Naruto asked his teammate.
"Since when did you get so smart dobe?" Sasuke asked, smirking down at his teammate.
"I've always been smart teme! You just haven't noticed!" Naruto exclaimed, putting his fist to the air and sticking his tongue out at his teammate before bringing his arm back to his side and looking in front of him. "But seriously, don't forget about all of the good things you have around you."
Hearing this, Sasuke continued smirking at his teammate, but Naruto could see the ghost smile forming on his face and the look in his eyes that told Naruto he appreciated what he was saying. "Sure dobe." Was the only response Naruto got, but it was good enough for him.
The ride to the hero agency was something that Naruto hoped would never happen again. Despite taking the train to and from school, Naruto still wasn't very fond of the transportation and took every chance that he could to walk or run places, as the travel on trains made him extremely uneasy and always had him on high alert.
However, because of the current situation that he was in, he had to keep up appearances and endure the train ride, as well as the uncomfortable stares his classmate sent him for the first 30 minutes of the ride before eventually falling asleep.
With his classmate asleep, Naruto took this opportunity to look more closely at his classmate. Not much was known about him, his file only held the basic stuff like his height and weight, and he wasn't known for being the most talkative person in class. In fact, the conversation at the sports festival was the first that he had with his duel-haired classmate. Despite knowing about his home life and quirk, Naruto didn't know anything about him.
Realizing this saddened Naruto. He not only wanted to help the other teen with him homelife, but also his social life. He came to the decision that when he wasn't busy with his mission, he would spend his time trying to befriend the boy.
Shaking his hand and returning to the task at hand, Naruto studied his sleeping classmate. His classmate was someone that looked relaxed but was constantly tense no matter what was going on around him. Naruto was honestly surprised that the boy felt comfortable enough around him to lower his guard enough to fall asleep and looked so relaxed. Either that or the boy sleeping across from him was just that tired. But how someone could ever fall asleep in a car or other mode of transportation was beyond Naruto's understanding. So many things could go wrong and you wouldn't even notice it because you were asleep. You would either wake up to a disaster, or never wake up at all.
This thought process was the exact reason why Naruto was as stiff as a board and constantly scanning the train cart, as well as listening to everything that was happening to make sure that nothing went wrong. Was he perhaps just being a bit paranoid? Yes, you could say that, but Naruto was not taking the risk of having either one of them die that day. Besides, if it tired him out that much, he could always go to bed earlier.
"I have been waiting for you, Shoto. You as well Uzumaki. It seems that you are finally ready to take the path of the mighty than, my son? And any friend of my trusted tactic is always welcome here." This was the first thing that Endeavor said to the two boys as they walked into his office once they had finally arrived at his hero agency. The number two hero was standing behind his desk, arms crossed over his chest with a smug air around him, while Shikamaru stood next to the man, but was also a few steps behind him. He had his hands crossed behind his back as he nodded to the two boys that had come to a stop in front of the desk.
The younger Todoroki, despite looking tense and angry, kept his composure (which did not come as a shock to anyone in the room) and addressed his father. "I have no intention of going down a path you made. I will take my own path." He calmly told the eldest man in the room.
Despite being told off by his son, the man just scoffed, his smug air not wavering for a second. "Oh well, you both should get ready. We're going out." He told the pair.
"Where?" Shoto asked his father, surprised by the fact that they would be patrolling at all. Naruto was honestly starting to feel a little left out and the two family members had probably forgotten about the two shinobi in the room.
"I'll show you what a real hero is." The man said, smirking down at the boy in front of him.
"To elaborate," Shikamaru said, walking forward to stand next to the hero, startling the two fire users in the room and reminding them of his presence. "is that while you both are his it is our job to make sure that you get a better understanding of what it means to be a hero and what the duties of a hero are. Because it is your first day here and because of the long train ride, we thought that we would start off with something that would not only give you an opportunity to stretch your legs, but also be something that heroes are typically seen doing. Starting off with patrolling the surrounding area is a good opportunity for us to slowly introduce to you what it means to be a hero because it is something expected. Throughout the rest of your week-long stay here, we will also show you the more difficult stuff that you usually don't see heroes doing but starting off simple seemed to be the best way to go." Shikamaru told the two boys, slightly glaring at the hero in the room towards the end of his explanation, as if to tell him to stop focusing on his goal and actually do his job as someone who is meant to be educating interns.
And with that, Naruto and Shoto left to change and patrol with Endeavor.
Naruto was currently standing in the shower, trying to physically wash away the awkwardness that had settled over the three males during the patrol. Endeavor kept on trying to "show off" to Shoto and lead him down "the path of the mighty". Shikamaru was not there to keep the man in check, so both boys were forced to listen to him. Todoroki would occasionally say an off-hand comment to try and get the man to stop but nothing worked as he continued his tangent no matter what happened
Naruto had never had a stronger urge to kill himself then he did in that moment.
Additionally, while Naruto was allowed to see Shikamaru, they didn't get the chance to talk at all that day further adding to the boys frustrations.
Looking down at his body, Naruto realized that if he continued to scrub his body with soap his skin would start of peel, so he turned off the water and dried himself off, getting ready for bed while grumbling to himself about how he didn't see enough of Shikamaru that day.
No physical training that day happened either, so when Naruto made it to his new room for the week and threw himself on the bed, he debated on what he should do to burn out all of his energy. Or rather, what he could do that would tire him out without drawing any attention to himself. This is why is mood was instantly lifted when he felt Shikamaru's chakra just a second before his door was opened and his boyfriend strutted into the room in all of his glory.
He looked around the room for a brief second before spotting Naruto on the bed and smirking at him before saying "follow me" in a tone that suggested his boyfriend had something planned for them. Smiling to himself, Naruto scrambled out of the bed and jogged to catch up to his boyfriend.
As if trying to tease him, Shikamaru glanced at Naruto over his shoulder and smirked at him yet again before also picking up his pace to a jog. Naruto, not one to be one-upped was about to pick up his speed before remembering that he was still at the Endeavor agency and couldn't make too much noise or run at his full speed. The next time Shikamaru looked back, he was met with the scowling face of his boyfriend.
The two continued through the various hallways of the Endeavor Agency before coming to a currently unused training room on one of the lower-level floors. Thinking that Shikamaru brought them down there to spar, Naruto began to ger excited at the idea of getting rid of some of his energy and pushing himself. This thought was shut down by Shikamaru instructing him to sit down as soon as they entered the room.
"You brought me all the way here…just to sit on the floor with you?" Naruto slowly asked his boyfriend, not believing what he was hearing.
"Naruto, you know I love you, but your chakra control has been shit since day one. And that's me saying it nicely. When we were actively taking missions in the village that challenged us, it was fine because you would practice every day and got it under control. But let's face it both of us have started to lose our touch since coming here. I know that you have been skipping out on your daily chakra exercises since coming here." He said in a matter-of-fact tone, adding the last part of his statement before Naruto could finish opening his mouth to complain.
"We're both rusty and we need to burn off some built-up energy but we can't spar in a way that would use up our energy, the building wouldn't be here anymore knowing you. So, we will do the next best thing which is sit here and focus on our chakra, letting it into the floor and meeting in the middle so we can touch up on our control and burn off some energy. Sound good?" Shikamaru continued, looking at his boyfriend to approve of the plan that he had just set out for the pair.
"Yeah, sounds good." Naruto sighed, shoulders slumping in disappointment once he realized that Shikamaru left no room for arguing or sparing.
The exercise went better than expected, Shikamaru making little to no mistakes throughout the entire exercise (the smug bastard) while Naruto, despite having more of a rough start, quickly fell back into the routine of things and got his chakra under control. The boys did this exercise for about an hour and a half before stopping. Shikamaru was almost out of chakra and Naruto had been straining from not letting to much go while also holding back Kurama's chakra.
Both boys took a minute to rest before making their way to the doors. Before opening the doors, the pair shared a brief, but soft and passionate kiss before parting and making their way to their respective bedrooms (Naruto would be staying at the agency because of the internship along with Todoroki. Endeavor would also be staying because he was in charge of the two and Shikamaru because he always helped the hero out and was roped into observing the two boys and helping them improve in various aspects).
The next morning consisted of Naruto trying to shove a bagel down his throat as both he and Todoroki made their way to the father of the latter's office. Arriving at 6:30 A.M. on the dot, Naruto politely knocked on the door before hearing a muffled "Come in." from the number two hero. Opening the door, both boys were greeted with the sight of Endeavor doing paperwork while Shikamaru sat by an opening window finishing off the last of his cigarette.
"Shoto, I am sure you are wondering how I will lead you down the path of the great today!" Was the first thing out of the number two heroes mouth as soon as Todoroki and Naruto shut the door and stood in front of his desk.
"Endeavor, please, do remember that Naruto is also here so you should be focusing on both of them, not just one. Additionally, try not to assume what your son is thinking." Shikamaru lazily reprimanded from his position by the window.
"Ah, yes, well, never mind that." Endeavor said, brushing off his employee. "While a great hero must always be prepared for the unexpected, I will tell you boys the plan for the day since this is an internship. Today, I will be testing both your battle skills and quirk abilities with the help of Shikamaru over here." The hero continued, pointing over to the other male that had now put out his cigarette and was making his way over to the desk.
"We will go outside, where you both will spar with each other so I can see more of how I can lead you both down the path of the great from where you currently stand. Once the fight is over, we will both work with you in the areas that we see fit for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, is when you will finally get a further glimpse into the world of the great!"
"Please Endeavor, try not to get to worked up about the future. Take this internship one day at a time. Would you like to start heading down to the battle grounds?" Shikamaru told the number two hero, calming him down while also putting his mind back on task.
"Yes, it is finally time for us to get you two to improve!" Endeavor exclaimed, getting out of his chair and motioning for the others to follow him out the door.
'Well, at least he remembered that Shika and I were here this time.' Naruto thought to himself, before sharing a look with Shikamaru, were the others eyes told him that today certainly would be a long day. Sighing to himself, Naruto followed the two Todoroki's out the door.
Naruto leaned against one of the many walls of earth he had just created in his recent fight against Todoroki. The entire fight lasted less than five minutes, but it seemed to be enough for Shikamaru and Endeavor as they both stood off to the side quietly talking to each other.
The only rules set during the fight were to not knock the other out (and not killing the other was implied considering it was illegal here) which was why there was no true 'winner' to the fight. Todoroki mainly spent the time attacking with his fire side, which Naruto had to applaud, and Naruto spent his time using earth or air attacks to dodge the attacks. When Todoroki did try to catch Naruto off guard by using an ice attack, Naruto would simply punch the ice to destroy it and rush towards Todoroki to try and force him into hand-to-hand combat as opposed to long-ranged attacks which Todoroki was known to use.
Eventually, Todoroki would get the advantage over Naruto (read: Naruto would allow Todoroki to get the advantage over him once Todoroki noticed one of the MANY openings he left on himself) and the cycle would continue until Shikamaru and Endeavor told them to stop and take a breather.
Todoroki, on the other hand, was laying with his back down to the ground, panting heavily. Probably overheating from the fire he used during the fight along with the heat coming from the sky above. This time, however, Todoroki was wearing the proper clothing so he was-thankfully-still fully clothed and didn't have half of his shirt burned off.
He did appear to be using his other side to cool himself down, if the grass beginning to frost around him was anything to go by.
"Shoto!" Endeavor boomed, walking towards the two boys with Shikamaru beside him, effectively gaining the attention of both boys. "it appears that you will begin with me first! I will teach you the proper way to control and use your flames! Later you will join Shikamaru to work on your close-hand combat. Naruto," He said, surprising Naruto as he was sure the man would conveniently 'forget' that he was there. "You will begin with Shikamaru and work on various battle techniques that you can use, Shikamaru said something about noticing opportunities that you didn't take. After that you will join me for control training. Shikamaru again brought up something about your walls being too high and that was because of your energy output." Endeavor finished, motioning for his son to follow him as they walked a little ways away were they could still see each other, but there was enough space that they couldn't hear each other.
Turning back to his boyfriend, who was beginning to light another cigarette, Naruto asked, "How many times did you have to remind him that he also had to train me?"
"Seven." Was the immediate response from Shikamaru as he blew some smoke from out of his mouth.
"He didn't even pay attention to me during the fight, did he?" Naruto asked, sighing in exasperation.
Shikamaru snorted upon hearing Naruto's question. "Of course not, why do you think he kept saying that I said stuff?"
"Ok so this strategy stuff, are we fighting or just talking about it?"
"Just talking about it for the time being. I know you were trying to down your skill, but even than you still left way to many openings. Todoroki noticed most of them, he was just hesitant to use them. I want to see if we can come up with a stance that will leave you with less openings while still not revealing to much. And one that you can actually use in a fight, mist styles that heroes here won't work with the way that we've been trained so it will be a little thinking outside of the box today. If we have enough time, we can put some of our theories to test. But if we run out of time, we can always try it another day." Shikamaru told Naruto, moving to sit down and motioning for Naruto to do the same.
Once the latter had done as he asked, Shikamaru produced a legal pad and pencil before he and Naruto began brainstorming.
It wasn't long before trouble between the two Todoroki's reached its peak. Maybe an hour and a half at best. Small arguments had erupted between the father and son since they had started training, but nothing to the scale where Naruto and Shikamaru felt the need to step in. But then they heard Endeavor yell, "SHOTO NO! YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO WHAT I SAY! YOU AREN'T IMPROVING QUICKLY ENOUGH!" The two boys looked over abruptly to see Endeavor kicking his son in the knees, forcing the teen into the earth, face first.
Glancing at each other, the two shinobi had a quick conversation with their eyes before they were making their way to the hero.
"Endeavor, I do believe that is enough." Shikamaru calmly said as he walked with his hands in his pockets to stand between the father and son, and hopefully get the former to take a couple of steps back. Naruto had walked over to the younger Todoroki, offering him a hand up, which was taken after a moment of hesitation from the boy, and Naruto began to quickly scan him over for any injuries.
"No, if he is to improve than there is no time for breaks, he simply needs to learn to listen to me." Endeavor angrily said, glaring down at his employee.
"I understand your frustration Endeavor, but I am afraid that I do not agree with your logic. If you want to improve to your best self, you cannot push yourself beyond repair. I do agree that you should push yourself past your limits, but it should be done in a way that will not permanently damage you. You also need to know when you are going too far beyond your limits and need to take a break. You are expecting too much from your son to quickly. And please, do remember that he has used a limited amount of his fire side over the years. His body needs the chance to get used to the amount of power coming from that side of his quirk as he has never used it to this extent before. You can't expect him to use it as well as his other side in such a limited amount of time. Remember that it has taken him years to be as skilled with his ice and it might be the same amount of time with his fire." Shikamaru calmly explained to his boss, meeting his gaze and not breaking under it. Naruto could actually see the fire in Shikamaru's eyes letting him know that he was just as angry as him, and his gaze actually started to have Endeavor sweat a little bit.
Rather than let Endeavor make another comment, Naruto decided that he was going to step in. "You do know that child abuse, which is what Shikamaru and I have just witnessed, is illegal correct? And something like that definitely wouldn't look good for a hero." Naruto began, smirking up at the older man. "And neglecting another intern is also something that wouldn't look good for a hero, especially one that has claimed the number two spot. I wonder what the media would think if they caught wind of this? Maybe they should start with trying to figure out why Todoroki has that scare on his face. How they never questioned it before is beyond me." Naruto continued, as Endeavor began to switch his weight from one foot to another, a classic sign of someone being nervous.
"I actually have a couple theories for that one. Especially since it was around the same time that your wife got admitted to a psychiatric facility correct?" Shikamaru said, backing up Naruto's claims.
Clearing his throat, Endeavor took a moment to collect himself and had an air of false confidence around him as he spoke. "You two wouldn't do that. Many people would lose their jobs if that happened. So many wouldn't be able to provide for their families. And besides, no one would believe your claims.
"I may only be a student here for a week, but being a hero in training has to give me some credit, right? Besides, I am sure that there are many employees here that would be happy to back me up and come forward with their own claims." Naruto said, a smug look on his face.
"And as someone who is constantly around you and helping you, I am sure that my claims would pull their own weight. Besides, if your hero license was removed, all of your sidekicks are given the option to step up and take over the agency." Shikamaru told him. "So, as someone who is literally paid to help you with everything, I suggest that you go inside your office and calm yourself down. Maybe do some of your remaining paperwork while you are up there. I can handle everything down here. And don't worry, we won't report you now, but you should take a good look in the mirror and consider fixing some of your many problems." Shikamaru continued.
Rather than say anything more to embarrass himself, Endeavor made the smart decision and turned around to walk back into the building.
Turning to face both of the interns, Shikamaru swallowed a sigh and got to work with both of the boys.
The day actually turned out to be rather productive after that. Shikamaru had Naruto doing some more chakra control exercises while he worked with Todoroki on trying to control the size of his flames, rather than attacks like his father was doing. A couple hours later, the boys shifted gears and Todoroki worked on his hand-to-hand combat while Naruto tried out some of the stances that he and Shikamaru had already brainstormed.
A few hours after that, the boys spared again to test out all of the things they had learned that day. The fight ended when Todoroki caught Naruto 'off-guard' and captured him in his ice.
Then, the trio headed inside for food and showers before heading to their respective rooms.
Currently, Naruto was cuddling with Shikamaru, his back to Shikamaru's chest as Shikamaru slouched against the wall behind Naruto's bed. Both were cooling down from an intense makeout session that they both had to stop before they got to carried away. Getting caught having sex wouldn't look the best for either of them, especially with everything that had happened earlier in the day.
Naruto cooled down by texting his fellow classmates to see how their internships were going. Kirishima seemed to have a lot of fun while Izuku didn't know what to think of the hero he was with. And Bakugou was just complaining in all caps inside a group chat between him, Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Ashido, so everything seemed normal with him.
Shikamaru elected to rest his head on Naruto's shoulder and read the messages between classmates, occasionally letting his eyes droop.
A knock at the door brought both of the boys eyes from the phone screen. "Naruto? It's me, Todoroki. May I come in?" A voice, which was quickly identified as Todoroki's said.
Sharing a brief look with Shikamaru, Naruto called out, "Yeah you're all good! Doors open!"
Immediately after he said this, the door opened and closed, and Todoroki was standing awkwardly in Naruto's doorway.
"Hello," He began. "I was hoping to talk with you and Shikamaru." Todoroki said, no emotion in his voice but Naruto could tell that the boy was embarrassed.
Tapping Shikamaru twice on the knee, both boys scooted back so they were sitting upright, and Naruto motioned for Todoroki to sit on the bed were new space was just created.
Taking the hint, Todoroki made his way over to the bed and sat down facing the two boys but didn't say anything. Instead, they looked at his lap and played with his hands, trying to figure out what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it.
"I know we said we wouldn't, but we will tell someone if you want us to." Shikamaru said, bringing Todoroki out of his thoughts and causing the boy to lift his head and look at the other two in the room. He looked surprised to see that it was Shikamaru who spoke instead of Naruto, but relaxed once he saw the small smiles, they were sending his way.
Biting his lip, Todoroki glanced down at his hands again before looking back at them. "I appreciate the offer, but I need him to get stronger as much as I hate to admit it. I do still refuse to go down the path he plans to create for me though, I will carve my own path." Todoroki said with a determined look in his eyes.
Shikamaru nodded along with Naruto upon hearing this statement. "Very mature of you Todoroki, but just remember that we are always here to help." Shikamaru told the duel-haired boy.
"I will and thank you for today. Please, let me know if you ever need help with anything in the future." Todoroki said, but remained seated on the bed and made no move to get up.
Before the boy had the chance to say anything, Naruto stood up and started talking. He had a feeling that his classmate wanted to talk to him in private. "Alright, well I'm afraid I need to kick you out Shikamaru. I need to talk to Todoroki in private and you were falling asleep before anyway."
Keeping a lazy expression on his face, Shikamaru shot his boyfriend a confused look in his eyes as he stood up. Sending his own message with his eyes that promised an explanation later, Shikamaru nodded at Naruto and made his way to the door, reminding the two boys to not stay up to late before shutting the door behind him.
A few seconds Naruto turned back to Todoroki, who was staring up at him from his spot on the bed. "So," Naruto began, "is there something more that you wanted to talk about? You've been sending me some looks for the past couple of days.
A/N: And now the real chapter 17 is here! I'm so sorry about the delay for the chapter, I was having a very hard time writing the chapter. A special thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and sent me all of their ideas! But what did y'all think of this chapter? What did you think about the dynamic around the four boys? What did you think about Naruto and Shikamaru talking to Endeavor? Do you think Todoroki suspects anything about the relationship between Naruto and Shikamaru? What do you think Naruto and Todoroki will talk about? And what do you think will happen during the Stain attack?