I have been getting questions sent to me, some people even in-boxing me so I have decided to answer them… sort of.
Firstly, the reason Naruko is in the filters is because someone looking for a story where Naruto is, or might be, a girl is more likely to look under Naruko. However, I have not changed Naruto's name so no, 'Naruko' is not appearing in this story. This story is about a possible female Naruto.
As for Naruto's gender. Many of you have reviewed asking me to tell you, others have reviewed asking when it will be revealed. I am going to be so kind and answer these questions now. You will find out when Shikamaru does! There are two main reasons for this. The first is that the story is from Shikamaru's or someone close to Shikamaru's POV. All of them except Shikamaru think that Naruto is a boy, and even the lazy genius isn't sure. The second reason for the secrecy is that it is fun!
It should have been obvious that he was up to something. Yet, Shikamaru had let his feelings get the better of him. He had thought that Asuma-Sensei was just trying to help Naruto and since Shikamaru was worried about the blond too he didn't question the situation. When they had seen Naruto staggering around the streets it was clear something wasn't right. He couldn't even remember what direction his apartment was in. Shikamaru had thought that was the only reason that Asuma-Sensei invited Naruto to join them for dinner. Returning from the bathroom, however, made him think his sensei may have had other plans.
He slid into the empty bench, looking around.
"Where did Asuma-Sensei go?"
"To get more drinks," Naruto replied, covering his mouth to try and hide the food that was currently being minced by his teeth.
"Troublesome."
Naruto was nice enough to hand him his plate, allowing him to return to his meal. The silence that descended on them was heavy, weighting on Shikamaru's shoulders. His dinner companion didn't seem to notice. It was rare, even back in the academy, for the two to actually be alone together. Multiple questions sprung through his head, things he wanted to ask the blond. Such as: are you a girl? If so, why are you hiding it? What do you think of me? Where do you put all that food?
He rested his chin on his hand, sighing. Looking over at Naruto, Shikamaru decided to break the silence. "So how's being in a team with Sasuke and Sakura?"
Naruto swallowed the mouth full of food. "Not bad, actually. Sasuke and I tag team really well. We were even able to take one of the seven swordsmen on. He's still annoying and thinks his better than everyone but it turns out our styles complement each other. I'm more close range and long lasting whilst his more mid range and strategy. His chakra is a lot lower than mine too so he lets me do most of the hard hits; though he will say that he does all the fighting."
"You and I would complement each other too then," Shikamaru stated before he could stop himself. He could have banged his head against the table if it wouldn't draw attention and if the table wasn't mostly a hot grill. Naruto was bound to make fun of him.
The blond looked thoughtful before nodding. "I haven't seen much of your fighting but you might be right. Kakashi said that I'm like a giant kunai that you just point in the right direction. That's probably why he prefers to train Sasuke. He always gets all the attention."
Shikamaru thanked the waiter who had placed a jug of water on the table. He reached over and took Naruto's glass, filling it for him. "Truthfully I think you are better off with your new sensei."
"How so?" Naruto put his chopsticks down, giving Shikamaru a confused and slightly hurt look.
"Your new sensei is one of the Sannins, so he is more powerful than Kakashi-Sensei, and on top of that he is a lot like you as a ninja so he will know better how to train you. Not only that but he probably knows jutsus that are better suited for your style. Plus you're the only one he's willing to teach. He hasn't taught anyone since the Fourth Hokage."
Naruto thought over Shikamaru's words before smiling. "You've got a point. Though whenever Pervy-Sage gets annoyed that I'm not getting it… or gets bored he tends to throw me in the river. That's why I wasn't wearing pants when you saw me."
Clearing his throat Shikamaru looked away, only for his eyes to drift back to Naruto as the blond scratched his side, lifting his shirt enough that Shikamaru caught sight of bandages. Does he wear binding bandages or was he injured? That would explain the weird shape to his torso though. The bandages would obscure any male or female features to his chest.
"It's not too bad though. The other day he was so busy researching that he didn't notice me coming up behind him. I tackled him straight through the bushes into the middle of the group of girls who thought he was attacking me. They ended up stomping him. Then I stole his research book." Naruto pulled it out of his back pocket waving it victoriously. "I told him he can get it back after the Chunin exams. Every time he tries to get it back I put it in my pants."
Shikamaru found himself chuckling, enjoying the image of the great Sannin being defeated by a twelve-year-old prankster. The more he thought about that fearsome man being blackmailed by Naruto the more he found himself laughing.
"Does Asuma-Sensei do weird things that annoy you?" Naruto asked, picking up his cup.
He almost said 'tonight' but refrained. He had no clue what Asuma-Sensei was really up to. It was possible he just thought Shikamaru should socialize and that this was the best way to get him to do so. "Not really, though he is always getting me to play random games and solve puzzles. The ones who do weird things would be Choji and Ino."
"How so?"
Smiling, Shikamaru leant forward. "Well, when Choji first learn the Human Boulder, he didn't know how to control his directions since he was spinning so fast. Unfortunately this caused some issues for… everyone. After destroying three trees and a bench he was able to stop himself just as he crashed into Ino. Not only did they go flying into the river but well… Ino can't give her first kiss to Sasuke now."
Naruto snorted before laughing. "I'm surprised that Choji is still alive."
"It took the combined strength of Asuma-Sensei and I to stop her from drowning him after she got over the shock. Now whenever she's annoying me I ask her what it was like to kiss a teammate."
He was enjoying making Naruto laugh and just talking to him in general. Truthfully he hadn't been able to hear the blond laugh before. Usually Naruto sniggered at something, which tended to be something said or done that Iruka-Sensei wasn't happy about. It was good to know that Naruto actually did laugh.
The waiter appeared at the table, giving the two a raised eyebrow before speaking. "Are you both finished with your meal?"
Looking at Naruto, he let the blond answer, who patted his belly with a happy smile. "Yes, thank you."
"I'll be back with the check in just a moment." The waiter gave them one last odd look before walking off.
Naruto took another sip of his water before sighing. "I guess we should find Asuma-Sensei to get him to pay for the food." He grinned. "Thanks for inviting me."
Trying not to blush Shikamaru gave Naruto a bored expression. "Yeah… it was nice to have someone to talk to since Asuma-Sensei decided to go drink."
Shikamaru snatched the check out of the waiter's hand, refusing to look at his face and yet again see that expression. Sliding out of the booth, he waited for Naruto to do the same before walking in the direction of the bar. Naruto put his hands behind his head, smiling.
"Ah, more training tomorrow." The blond sighed. "Hopefully I can master this jutsu before the Chunin exams."
"You don't have much longer though," Shikamaru reminded, slowly walking towards his sensei.
"Yeah, Pervy-Sage said that if I don't get it soon he will take drastic measures."
He smiled, imagining what that would mean for Naruto. From the sounds of it his furniture could end up glued to his roof. When they reached Asuma-Sensei he was surprised to see the Third Hokage smiling at them. He chose not to question why the Hokage was there as he handed Asuma-Sensei the check. It was possible he saw his son when he came in for dinner and decided to join him. The Hokage smiled at them, asking how their training went. Shikamaru answered with a simple 'fine' whilst Naruto complained about not being able to get the jutsu his sensei was teaching him.
"I am sure you will get it eventually," Hokage assured, giving Naruto a kind smile.
"How do you feel, Naruto?" Asuma-Sensei looked concerned but Shikamaru could see that he was holding back a smile.
"A lot better now. Thanks, Asuma-Sensei." The blond smiled, hands still behind his head.
"That's good to hear but I don't want you walking home alone." He looked at his student, his eyes alight. "Shikamaru, walk Naruto home. And no arguing!"
Shikamaru closed his mouth, grumbling to himself before turning and walking out of the barbeque restaurant. He could hear Naruto's footsteps drawing up beside him. Shikamaru didn't say anything to the blond, not particularly wanting to start a conversation. He had wanted to end the night back there, where he could either walk home alone or leave Naruto and walk with Asuma-Sensei. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed himself. On the contrary, he hadn't expected to enjoy himself so much. It was just that the night was starting to feel more and more like a date to him and it was affecting his thoughts. His brain was telling him to run. Unfortunately his body was declaring mutiny.
Naruto didn't seem to mind the silence and was simply walking beside Shikamaru. After he unlocked his front door, Naruto turned to look at the dark haired boy.
"Thanks. Sorry Asuma-Sensei made you walk me home."
"It's alright," Shikamaru muttered, trying to pull his eyes away from Naruto's face. The blonde's eyes were open now and looked brighter than usual.
Naruto suddenly looked concerned and grabbed Shikamaru's shoulders. It was only than that Shikamaru realized that he was leaning forward, towards Naruto. Of course he had thought about… it, but he hadn't planned to actually go through with it. Wasn't he hoping to squish his feelings? Yet he felt disappointed that Naruto stopped him. Especially when he realized that he was only centimeters away from the blond.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, his grip on Shikamaru's shoulders tightening as he straightened the dark haired boy up. "You just started falling."
"Yeah, I just got lost in thought." Shikamaru cleared his throat, looking at Naruto's lips one last time before inwardly scolding himself and turning.
"Night." He walked off, waving over his shoulder when Naruto returned his goodbye.
He scolded himself all the way back to the Nara estate. All he could think was that if he had succeeded, if Naruto hadn't stopped him than he would have been stuck with his feelings. However, his feelings had yet to disappear and instead seemed to get worse. He was beginning to fear that they would never leave.
When he reached his home he didn't say a word to anyone and instead went to his room, lying on his bed with his hands behind his head. He decided to do what Asuma-Sensei always told him to do. Evaluate the situation.
The situation was fairly simple: he had feelings for a girl who dressed like a boy. But there was no inherit issue there. He didn't care how she dressed as long as she was comfortable. It wasn't that she was dumb either or that they had nothing in common since both those things weren't completely true either. There were things that they shared and Naruto had an unusual intelligence, shown in the way she looked at the world. So why was he so against having feelings for her?
His eyes widened and his hands balled into fists behind his head. Her! She! He never referred to Naruto as those things unless he was thinking about how she was hiding her identity and even then it was rare. Shikamaru always referred to Naruto as 'he', even in his mind. There was no point in doing so. Whatever reason Naruto kept her gender a secret wouldn't be affected by Shikamaru referred to the blonde as 'she' in the safety of his own mind.
There was no real reason for Shikamaru to get rid of his feelings unless Naruto did not feel the same or if Naruto was actually interested in girls. Shikamaru had thought that she liked Sakura. Those were the two things he wouldn't know unless he asked the questions to the blond herself. Now he really wished he had followed through earlier. He would have received his answer a lot quicker and at least he would have succeeded in doing something he had thought about more than he would like to admit. It was with that that Shikamaru decided two things. The first was that he was going to refer to Naruto as a female within his mind. The second was that he was going to stop trying to get rid of his feelings. Whether he acted on them was another story.