Chapter 1: To be liked

All was quiet in the village of the leaf, everyone was recovering from battle, everyone except a rather spunky boy child who was currently at home nursing his wounded pride in the only way he knew how. By training. The little fight him and Sasuke had before this battle was still burning fresh in his mind, he didn't kill the people around him during battle if they weren't a treat, he wasn't like that. However he was more then willing to make an exception to his Ninja way to rid himself, and the rest of the village of a nuisance that was sure to turn to Orichimaru for his power mongering. Naruto sat and held a compact version of the move Jiraiya had taught him in his hand and smiled. He had taken the Resengan, and had at first needed two other clones of himself to keep it in control. However, once he got the move down he let even the pervert hermit think that he still needed the clones for the power up.

He sat for several minutes watching the compact ball spin, turn and thrust, then he began to add layers to it. One layer, two layers, three layers. Finally he was holding a bright spinning ball the size of a soccer ball. It was hard to control, and it attempted to thrash around wildly, but that had never stopped him before. As quickly as possible Naruto formed the seal for fire with his one free hand. With a quick blow the ball became a bomb that could destroy this whole side of the city. Fire surrounded him and his body. He was concentrated, focused, and had complete control over what he was doing.

"Hey Naruto ya home?" there was a slow call and a knock that jolted Naruto almost out of his concentration. As quickly as he could he undid the layers and broke the fire seal.

"Just… uh… Just a second." Naruto said panting with the adrenalin he got from controlling large amounts of Chakara.

He quickly pulled a shirt on because his seal was showing, and opened the door.

"Sh-Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked genuinely surprised by the genin at the door. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

"I came to check on you, the little tussle you and Sasuke had during the battle didn't go unnoticed. In fact, you should have gone to the hospital for the wound that he gave you." Shikamaru said his wise eyes traveling to Naruto's side where Sasuke's Kunai had cut earlier. "feh, but I know how inconvenient the hospital is, they always fuss to much over something small."

"Yeah, they do, and they cost to much." Naruto said motioning Shikamaru inside his home. "I have other things to worry about, like rent, water, heat, and food for myself. I don't need any unnecessary trips to the hospital."

Shikamaru glanced around the small loft apartment. It was clean, minus the scrolls that currently littered the floor, and it was in unusually good repair as compared to the rest of the building.

"So you own this place eh?" Shikamaru said taking a chair turning around and flopping himself into it. "So bothersome to live alone. Why don't you live in the solders apartments like the rest of the chonen and Genin?"

Naruto shut the door and turned around his eyes meeting Shikamaru's in the dim light.

"They wont let me." Naruto said looking down at the floor to his bear feet. "I have lived in this place all my life, first there was no rent or water. But they told me after I graduated the academy I would have to pay rent. Naturally I went to look for other places to stay, but at the solders apartments they refused me, they said that there had been an ordinance against "my type" and that it would be impossible for me to live anywhere then where I live right now."

Shikamaru glanced sidelong Up at Naruto.

"Your type eh?" Shikamaru said leaning his head against his hands. "What? A loud mouthed unruly brat that keeps odd hours?"

"No, No, that's not it." Naruto said, his usually cheerful face crestfallen.

Naruto's earlier rush from his midnight workout had completely left him, and left behind the feeling of being crushed under a two ton weight. He drug his feet along the ground towards the table and grabbed the only other available chair and sat down across from Shikamaru. His mind was debating a thousand things. For once in his life he wanted to open up to somebody, anybody, who would listen, and not be freaked out by his oddly troubling past. Shikamaru watched Naruto and closed his own eyes.

"Well, I am not getting any younger." Shikamaru said cracking one eye open slightly to watch Naruto react. "What's going on Naruto?"

Naruto looked up and decided, that right then and there he just didn't care anymore.

"Shikamaru, promised not to get freaked out or anything?" Naruto said his eyes pleading to his recently found friend.

"Phhff, there really isn't anything that would throw me truly off guard anymore." Shikamaru said again closing his eye.

"Ok," Naruto said his face becoming serious. "You are going to be the first one to know of this generation."

Shikamaru opened his eyes and turned his head towards Naruto.

"Your parents, they have always told you to avoid me yes?" Naruto said his serious eyes catching and holding Shikamaru's.

Shikamaru Nodded slightly.

"Well you see there is a reason for that." Naruto said. "All of the people in this village who were born before the Kitsune Attacked have all been sword to secrecy, about something that happened, and about someone who it happened too. All the texts say the Kitsune was killed by the fourth, and that it killed the fourth in doing so. The texts are Very, very wrong."

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked his interest perked. "And it revolved around you I assume?"

"Yes it does." Naruto Continued. "The Kitsune was immortal, it is a Kami, It can't be killed. Well The fourth figured this out. In turn he figured out that the only way to stop a Kami was to seal it into something it could not escape from. In turn the fourth offered up his body, and performed a sealing Jitsu on the Kyubi and himself, and bound the fox to himself. He used the same move the third did to take Orichimaru's arms. The move is designed to take the life of the person and feed their soul to the death god. However, the Kitsune could not be killed and the death good in turn took away all the memories of the fourth, all his jitsu, and turned him into a baby. The Kitsune was sealed inside of the infant. In order to not cause chaos in the town, the third said the fourth had died sealing the Kitsune into a child. The child was given a new name. Uzimaki Naruto."

"The town was sworn into silence, No one was to tell the younger generations who the Kitsune Child was. However that didn't stop them from excluding me from everything."

"Your telling me that you have a Demon sealed inside of you that no one knows about except the people who lived through the attacks?" Shikamaru said his voice remaining level. "Sounds pretty far fetched."

"Yeah it does doesn't it." Naruto said a slight grin making it's way to his face. "But like you said, nothing is impossible."

"True enough," Shikamaru said waving his hand. "Continue."
"Ok, well, I grew up, and everyone was mean to me….."

Naruto Reviled his story to Shikamaru, his past, his recent battles, and his knowledge.

"…And the sad thing about this is I didn't even know myself what I had inside of me till Iruka explained it to me." Naruto said sticking his hands behind his head and looking up to the ceiling. "It really wouldn't have been so bad if I had known then I would have understood. But the whole entire village knew that I didn't know and still treated me like shit. They still do, even though it was me who saved the whole of the village from Garaa."

"Well," Shikamaru said leaning back in his chair. "That is one giant complicated mess you have there."

"It hurt me so badly, It still does Shika." Naruto said fighting back tears. "I give and have gave my all for this village, I loved it so much, but no one looks at the good, they only look at the bad, at the Demon, and I really am not a demon. I never was!"

"I know that," Shikamaru said. "Sakura knows that, Lee knows that, Iruka knows that. All the people that matter know you're a good person."

"They know me as a good person, but all of them have those spikes, drilled into them by their parents and the village, that I am not to be trusted." Naruto said a tear running down his cheek. "No one here has gotten to know me for who I am, they all came in with a pre screened view of me, and it is really stupidly though to shake. Isn't it?"

Shikamaru momentarily gawked at Naruto. He had listened to his parents initially about keeping away from Naruto. They had told him he was a lair, and a trouble maker, and that he would cause bad things to happen. In fact he had taken that to heart till right before the Ninja exams had started. He only within this past month really got to know the boy, and had found out that he really wasn't the lying trouble maker his parents made him out to be.

"Yes, yes it was tough to shake the image." Shikamaru said. "But I know better now."

"Ok, Now for part two of the story." Naruto said wiping the tear off his chin and going stony faced. "I don't want to be here anymore. I want to find a place where I fit in, where no one has preconceived views of who I am. I don't want to have to deal with Sasuke coming after me again. Sure I could have my guts spilled all over the ground and still recover from it, but you know, It is only going to be so long before the village blames the current happenings on me, and I sure as hell don't want to be here when that happens."

"I agree with you there." Shikamaru said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The rumors have already been going. So what is your plan?"

"I am going to leave. The next time Sasuke attacks me, and attacks me without reason I am leaving. But not before I scare the shit out of the village." Naruto said an evil grin plastered across his face. "They want the Kitsune, they will get as much of his as I have within reach right now."
"Gah, you are troublesome Naruto." Shikamaru said standing up. "But I guess that's what makes you who you are."

"Shika?" Naruto asked his voice just barley above a whisper. "Don't tell anyone, I am going to have Anbu after me soon enough as is and I don't want word of this reaching Sakura or Hinata."

"I have my duties," Shikamaru said his eyes glancing down at Naruto as Naruto's widened in fear. "However, this does not interfere with my duties, and if anybody asks, I fell asleep at your table because I overused my Chakara in battle."

Shikamaru's feet only made a soft shuffling noise as he headed for the door. So much had been put on his plate all at once it was rather difficult

"Hey Shikamaru?" Naruto said his voice unusually quiet.

"Yeah Naruto?"

"Thank you."