A/N: So I don't know if I will keep a regular schedule for updating. I am finding that my life just works better with being sporadic. But don't panic if you don't see regular updates. I am sticking with this story, I promise! I just got done with Chiaroscuro and was very disappointed that the story didn't actually get completely written out. The author did a summary of what they were going to write, and left it and I was sooooo saaaaaad! But I swear I will not be doing that here.

I have the beginnings of my side story written up, and I plan on publishing that when I get chapter six up here. This is a second part to random moments before the rest of the kids graduate.

Also, I did edit my first two chapters! Mostly I had issues with spelling and grammar, but I did change the bit in chapter 2 where I said that Shikamaru wasn't tested in taijutsu. That did get changed up a bit. I also rewrote a few small things just to make the flow of the chapter to go better. I started this thing almost five years ago? And I would like to think my writing style has gotten a little better…The rewrites don't need to be read as not a ton changed but they're up if you are curious.

And chapter 5 begins!

"Hey! What are you doing sleeping on a rooftop?"

Shikamaru had felt the chakra signature approaching, and upon surmising that it was Naruto-he'd been shouting across the street at someone a few minute ago-had kept his eyes closed and continued to enjoy the feel of the sun's warmth.

"I asked you a question!"

Shikamaru sighed and realized that his nap was over.

"I was cloud gazing," he said, and he opened his eyes, grimacing at the bright orange of Naruto's outfit.

Did no one ever tell this boy that a ninja ought to be subtle?

"You weren't looking at the clouds though, your eyes were shut!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and then gave one of Kakashi sensei's eye smiles.

The special ones that he reserved for people that were being annoying.

"I was watching the clouds and it was so relaxing and the sun was so warm, I just dozed off. You should try relaxing like that sometime. It's nice."

Naruto blinked, and then with a thoughtful look on his face, shrugged.

"Hi! I'm Naruto. Who are you!"

Shikamaru had never really interacted with the loud boy, but he had seen him a few times at the academy, and it was hard not to know who had painted the entire Hokage monument a myriad of spectacular colors and get away with it. He had been caught, but not as soon as one might think, and Shikamaru had been mildly impressed at the prowess Naruto had shown.

"Shikamaru Nara." No one would ever say that Shikamaru had bad manners, and he reached forward to shake Naruto's hand.

Naruto seemed…shocked? That he would offer a handshake. But the next thing he knew, the orange clad boy had a glowing smile on his face as he pumped Shikamaru's hand up and down vigorously.

Then –

"WAIT! How do you have a forehead protector! Why isn't it on your head? But how did you get one!"

Shikamaru realized the boy had spied the hitai-ate tied around his arm, and he shrugged. "I'm a genin."

Naruto's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"But you're smaller than me!"

Shikamaru chuckled. For some reason, instead of being annoying, Naruto was actually quite entertaining.

"I am. But I graduated early."

The genius was surprised when Naruto's mood did a complete one-eighty.

"Aww man, I wish I could do that. I tried. But I couldn't make the stupid clone."

Shikamaru blinked. Granted, when he had taken his test, he was so nervous about what he'd done that he hadn't really been thinking about what anyone else was doing and who else might be there that day for the test. There had only been the one that he'd taken in the last year. If his calculations were right, there should be another test coming up soon.

Kami, he'd been Kakashi's apprentice for almost a year now.

"You took the test?" he asked.

Naruto's mood went right back up. "You bet! I need to graduate and be an awesome ninja, and someday I'll be the greatest ninja ever and Hokage, and then everyone will have to acknowledge me!"

The impassioned speech surprised Shikamaru, and he narrowed his eyes as he thought of the implications of some of the things the boy had said. Shikamaru hadn't really thought about it before, but Naruto's loudness might actually be him compensating for the fact that no one liked him.

No one liked him.

Why?

It was a puzzle, and Shikamaru wanted to solve it.

"Well, are you going to try again when the next test comes around? It's soon, right?

"You bet I am! It's soon!"

Shikamaru doubted that he could help Naruto out soon enough for him to pass this time either, as he thought the test was in less than a few days now. But perhaps he could help him work in the next year to help?

Where on earth did this sudden acts of kindness feeling come from? Shikamaru wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't normally so…benevolent.

But as he was starting to learn, Naruto had quit the magnetic personality.

"Well, if you'd like to spar with me once in a while, I can try to help you work on some stuff, and maybe help you study?"

Naruto froze, and his eyes went wide. Shikamaru was shocked to see tears well in them.

"Y-you would want to help me? You'd want to spar? Like we were friends or something?"

Yep, that was it. Even though he was younger than the loud boy, Shikamaru was definitely going to adopt Naruto.

The nagging feeling that this boy shouldn't be this lonely and so emotional at the slightest bit of interest was really bothering him.

Determined now, Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, like friends. And after, you can come to my place for supper, unless you have plans?"

Naruto smiled, tears streaming down his face now. He gave Shikamaru a thumbs up. "I don't have plans, and I would love to come to your place for supper!"

Shikamaru thought perhaps he was a little nuts in the sudden invite, but maybe it was finally Kakashi rubbing off on him. Crazy tended to spread sometimes.

But in all his eight years, Shikamaru had never had to think about being lonely. He had Chouji and Ino if he really needed a friend, even if they weren't that close especially since he'd graduated. He had his parents, and now Kakashi and his dogs, and Iruka-sensei had stayed in touch with him…

Who did Naruto have?

"Me," he said out loud.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Maa, never mind," the genius replied, waving a hand. "By the way…why do you wear so much orange?"

Naruto looked affronted. "It's a cool color!"

Shikamaru raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It happens to be one of the loudest things you could possibly wear. If you want to be a successful shinobi, you ought to wear something a lot less…bright."

Naruto looked surprised. There was a flicker of something else, but the Nara decided that it was too much to think about now.

"You just don't have any cool clothes like me!"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Troublesome. C'mon, I'll take you to training ground three. It's where I normally train with my sensei."

"Wow! You have a sensei? What is he like?" Naruto fell into step with Shikamaru as they climbed down the roof and into the road.

"Diabolical," Shikamaru responded with a deadpan. But his mind raced.

What on earth did he just get himself involved in?

Shikaku raised an eyebrow in surprise when his son walked in the door with a loud, orange, obnoxious kid.

The Kyubbi kid, actually.

Shikaku was intelligent enough to know that Naruto was not the demon he housed, but he knew that the majority of Konoha were idiots when it came to that bit of knowledge.

Still, he had never really thought about interacting with the child before.

And here was Shikamaru, asking his dad if it was alright if Naruto stayed for supper.

Shikaku eyed the yellow haired kid skeptically, and then he smiled.

"Of course!" he said, and then hurried into the kitchen to give Yoshino a heads up.

Yoshino understood the idea of a container for the demon rather than the demon itself as well, and upon the quick realization that Naruto lived on his own immediately went into mother hen mode.

"Naruto dear, go ahead and wash up for supper. Shikamaru will tell you where you can go."

Naruto didn't look like he was the type to normally wash up before food. Probably ever.

Suddenly, Shikamaru showing up with the wayward child was not so confusing after all.

It had been only a few minutes since he'd stepped foot in their house, but already Yoshino was tearing up. "That poor boy! Could you imagine living under the veil of hate so many have for him? And on his own?"

"Maa, I have a feeling we are going to have him around a bit more, right?"

Yoshino got a determined look in her eye and Shikaku realized there was no going back at all on this now. "You bet your ass he's gonna be here a lot!"

It was a few minutes into the meal that Shikamaru made a comment about Naruto's abominable outfit.

"I said it was a cool color!" Naruto wailed, and then realized where he was at and quickly ducked his head, almost in fear. But Shikaku's wife always knew what to say and she chuckled.

"Orange is a very cool color. But if one wants to be a successful shinobi, then one should wear things that help them blend into their environment. Orange is not a very common natural color unless you are planning on hiding in the sunset. Perhaps you have something else that you can wear? At least once you're a shinobi?"

Shikaku thought that his wife's use of "once you're a shinobi" was quite the clever little add on, as it showed subtle support for the boy.

But instead of looking encouraged, Naruto seemed to shrink into his chair. He looked…ashamed…

Shikamaru noticed too, and his eyebrows knit together in concern.

"Naruto, what's up?"

Naruto said something quietly, and Shikamaru, who was always fidgeting a little, stilled completely. A look that Shikaku was not used to seeing on his son's face was now quite clear.

Anger.

"Naruto, what is wrong?" he asked. The boy looked up, the shame in the eyes clear.

"I can't buy anything else. No one will let me. This was all they would sell me when I went for clothes. And it was so expensive. I have to wash it and wait for it to dry before I go out again because it's all I have to wear besides my underthings."

Shikaku understood then.

So did Yoshino.

"Oh, really? That's quite the shame. Because I know some very good tailors that I think could use some new clientele." His wife spoke with a smile on her face, but he could feel the angry tension rolling off of her.

"Um, that's okay. Not many people like me in their shops. I don't think that your tailors would like me either."

"Oh, they'll like you."

The murderous look in his wife's eye made Shikaku nearly run for the door. He was afraid of what his wife would do if she pulled out a kunai. Good thing they didn't allow weapons in the dining room.

But the table knife could be quite the weapon too if she wanted it to be…

Shikaku sweat dropped.

"Well then, looks like we're going to go shopping soon," he said, hoping to curb the dangerous attitude radiating off his wife.

Yoshino turned to him and grinned.

"Yes, we are."

Kakashi met Shikamaru at the bridge early the next morning. He was unaware of the visit his sensei's son had made to the Nara's the evening before, but upon seeing the tension in his cute student's posture when they met, he soon had the story.

Kakashi was filled with several different emotions. Guilt was one of the strongest. He'd gotten so embroiled in the Anbu, and he hadn't been there for Naruto, and it was something that he greatly regretted.

"…so now we are going to go shopping when you and I are done for the day. It's so troublesome, but I am actually looking forward to my mother telling the shopkeepers where they can shove their prejudices."

"Careful with your language there."

"Shinobi," Shikamaru said, pointed at himself.

"You're eight."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Then he paused. "Kashi-sensei…"

Kakashi paused. Shikamaru only reverted to the shortened version of his name when he was trying to manipulate something from him, or when he was worried about something.

And by worried, he meant scared.

And by the look on his face, it was closer to the latter.

"What's up?"

Shikamaru hesitated. "I don't know. I just feel…"

Kakashi waited patiently. Shikamaru had been like this before. He sometimes had a hard time voicing difficult thoughts and feelings, but he always knew exactly what he was feeling and he wasn't one to like the prompting and assumptions of others when he was trying to find the right words.

"I feel like someone is watching me. But I can't find them. I don't know where they are. But I feel eyes on me. All the time. Even at home. And I don't know why. I'm not…being stupid and paranoid, am I?"

Of all the things his student might have said, that was not what Kakashi had expected.

But if Shikamaru thought he was being watched, there was a good chance it was actually happening.

He thought for a second. "No, you're not. A good shinobi is always aware of their surroundings, and if you think someone is there, there is a pretty good chance that they are."

Shikamaru looked at him with an open and vulnerable expression. "But who? And why?"

Kakashi was pretty sure he knew who.

"It's okay, I have an idea. I'll let you know later if it's true."

Shikamaru looked at him, suddenly skeptical and worried but now for another reason. "You're not going to go look for trouble, are you?"

Kakashi laughed unconvincingly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Who, me?"

Shikamaru shook his head.

Hours later after another successful D rank and some training, Kakashi bid his student farewell. As Shikamaru walked away, he watched, and extended his awareness out. It had been a while since he was this alert inside the village, but perhaps he'd become complacent.

And there.

Right there.

Exactly what he thought it was.

Kakashi moved faster than the blink of an eye, appearing in front of the Root Anbu, kunai held at the figure's throat, the other hand keeping the Anbu from drawing their weapon.

"I'm here on orders," said the Root member.

"I know. And I want you to tell Danzo that if he so much as looks at Shikamaru that I will rip his heart out myself."

And with that, Kakashi shunshined away.

I am debating doing another small fic with Danzo and Shikamaru, but am not sure yet. But that was the other side story I was debating writing after the last chapter's incident.

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