Shikaku's POV

It was a nice change from the pub, which had unfortunately been destroyed in the invasion. At least the food was good, but the lack of booze was troublesome. He was eating his noodles slowly when voices from outside the protective canopy reached his ears.

"You were right. I'm sorry. Shikamaru did work hard to keep us safe. If he hadn't… we would have been overrun and then Gaara would have gotten away." The girl's voice sounded meek, and perhaps embarrassed or ashamed.

"You don't need to tell me that," another voice replied. This one was hard to work out. It was deeper than the other but not overly masculine. Perhaps just a prepubescent boy. Legs appeared at the bottom of the canopy. One set were uncovered whilst the other was wearing bright orange pants. "No matter how lazy Shikamaru is, if he says he will lay his life on the line for others, he means it. Sakura, you need to trust the other ninjas in the village instead of just your team. Shikamaru and his team saved your life in the Chunin exams, and they didn't have to in the slightest."

The boy pulled back the cloth, stepping into the ramen store. He had bright blond hair, blue eyes and slightly tan skin. For a moment Shikaku thought he was looking at the Fourth Hokage, since the resemblance was astounding, but then he realized it was the Jinchurikki.

"I know, Naruto, I'm sorry." The girl stayed outside the stall, her face revealing itself by Naruto holding the curtain back for her. She had pink hair and a large forehead. "I promise to work on it." She gave a smile and a slight chuckle. "I can't believe Sasuke saved us."

That didn't sound right. His son had told him that Naruto had fought the Sand's weapon. However, he watched the blond wave off his friend, mumbling an agreement to make her walk away.

"I thought you were the one to save us," Teuchi question as Naruto sat one seat away from Shikaku, not even shooting a look at him.

"All the ninja's worked to save the village, but if you are talking about the fight in the forest between the sand thing and the nine-tails, yeah that was me but Sakura was unconscious for it all and thinks Sasuke did it all." Naruto shrugged, not seeming to care too much.

"Well, the first bowl of ramen is on the house, for the one who really did stop that thing.. er guy." Teuchi went to put the ramen on to cook, seeming to know what Naruto would want to eat.

"Thanks, I'm starved."

"What's this about Shikamaru?" Shikaku couldn't help but ask. His son had told him what Naruto had done for everyone. The fight could be seen in the village, what with how big Gaara got and how big that toad was. It was the same one the Fourth had summoned. Then it had turned into the Nine-tails… the civilians had not been easy to calm.

Naruto looked over at him, his blue eyes sweeping over Shikaku's appearance. "Shikamaru didn't tell you?"

"He told me about what you did and how you ended up in hospital because the battle was that intense. I'm surprised you're out already."

"I heal fast." Naruto shrugged. "When we went after Gaara and his siblings we had ninja's following us. We talked over the situation and Shikamaru volunteered to be decoy so the rest of us could go on. He knew it was dangerous… and Sakura doubted he would actually come through but Shikamaru can be reliable when you need him to be."

Shikaku had once asked his son what he thought of Naruto. Shikamaru had responded that he was funny and that he didn't think there was anything wrong with him, nothing to warrant the abuse he was subjugated to. Shikaku had been glad to hear that, especially when he found out his son had defended Naruto in class, even though he barely knew the boy. However, now he was wondering if Shikamaru's thoughts had changed, evolved passed the other ninja just being funny. Perhaps they were allies, or friends. Shikaku also found himself pondering what the blond thought of his son. Those questions could easily be answered though.

"It sounds as though you defended Shikamaru to your friend. Are you friends with him?"

Naruto slurped down noodles, seeming to think over his answer before turning to the Jonin. "I don't know. Shikamaru seems to like getting on my nerves, and his lazy, though you would know that. But I know he will have my back, even if he complains about it first and I hope he knows I'll have his back too. He seems like a pretty good fighter too, but not very motivated. I had to push him into fighting that fan girl."

Shikaku found himself chuckling. "So that had been you?" He had seen his son fall into the arena. Others had commented on his eagerness but Shikaku had known someone pushed him. He just couldn't see who from his seat.

Whilst still shovelling noddles into his mouth Naruto nodded. With a thick swallow he spoke up. "That slacker could have won if he had just tried a bit harder. Who would have thought that he was hiding a brain in that head of his? But Shikamaru is a nice guy and his pretty cool to hang out with... even if he does alternate between sleeping and yelling at me at times. So, yeah, he is my friend. Just don't tell him that."

With a chuckle Shikaku slurped up the last of his noodles. "Well, Shikamaru seems to think highly of you. He told me all about your fight." He pulled out his wallet, beaconing Teuchi over, handing him some money.

"This is too much." Teuchi tried to push the change back into Shikaku's hand but he wouldn't accept it.

"Use it to help pay for Naruto's meal."

The blond looked up from his third bowl at hearing those words. He sucked up the noodles hanging from his mouth before wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "Thanks a lot!"

Shikaku gave a wave as he walked off. His wife was comforting her friend who had lost her husband during the invasion which meant she wouldn't be home for at least another few hours. He could have more time to relax before the inevitable conflict broke out yet again. When he drew closer to his home he found his son sitting on the porch, staring at a shogi board. He looked up when Shikaku sat across from him.

"Do you want to verse me?" Shikamaru asked. When he received a nod he started resetting the board.

"You can make the first move," Shikaku assured. For ten minutes the two simply moved their pieces, not speaking a word to each other. Finally, Shikaku looked at his son. "Have you eaten lunch today?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I had lunch at Choji's. I had to get out of the house. Mum was muttering about a monster." Shikamaru frowned. "Is that why you left too?"

"Your mother and I have a difference of opinion over another ninja and a particular technique they used. It's nothing to concern yourself with." Shikaku moved a piece, trying to box Shikamaru into a corner discretely.

The younger boy studied the board intensely. "You mean Naruto, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm not stupid! People have been mistreating Naruto for years. Dad, why do they treat him like that?" Shikamaru moved out of reach of his father's manoeuvre before looking at Shikaku, waiting for an answer.

"The villagers blame Naruto for something that was out of his control." Shikaku held up a hand when Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something. "No, I will not tell you what. I'm not allowed. Unfortunately though, the villagers have been unkind to Naruto, causing arguments between your mother and I."

"Dad, what have the villagers being doing to Naruto?" When Shikaku tightened his jaw Shikamaru spoke up again. "Naruto is my friend. I have the right to know what my friend has gone through and why my father, a Jonin, hasn't helped him."

Shikaku sighed, realising that Shikamaru wasn't going to let this drop. It was actually surprising that the boy was pushing so hard for information. Usually he was patient, studying the situation to allow him to gather the information in a more subtle way. It seemed almost out of character for him to be so forward and aggressive.

"I will not tell you everything I know about Naruto. It is for him to divulge, but..." Shikaku dropped his head, not able to continue to look at his son. "I did try to help the boy... I should have tried harder when it was most needed though. Majority of the village, citizens and ninjas saw... see Naruto as a..."

"Monster?"

"Yes, a monster. Some of us don't but there is only a few of us, and unfortunately ninjas spend a lot of time out of the village which makes it hard to keep an eye on the boy. What I mean by the fact that I should have tried harder to help him when he needed it the most is that when Naruto got attacked I wasn't able to step in until it was too late."

"Naruto... was attacked?" The shogi board sat abandoned between them as Shikamaru looked at his father with what looked like disbelieve and worry.

"Do you remember the big fight your mother and I had? When you were around seven-eight years old?"

"When you went to stay at the Akimichi house for a couple of weeks?"

Shikaku nodded. "Yeah, your mother kicked me out for a while after that fight. It started because of something that happened to Naruto. See, when he was seven the Third set it up so that Naruto could live on his own, instead of staying at the orphanage. The Hokage set up an account for him that the Hokage put money in each week for Naruto to buy food and clothing and taught him how to live independently. Naruto didn't bother getting his hair cut whilst living on his own. He ended up having long hair, either because he couldn't afford a haircut or he didn't like how short the orphanage cut it. It was actually quite nice looking... however; some of the older boys started mistaking Naruto for a girl."

Shikamaru looked down at the shoji board sharply, as though suddenly remembering it was there. He poked the board absently, not seeming to want to look up.

"Some of the villagers especially didn't like this. I'm not exactly sure why. It may have been because it was Naruto the boys were developing a crush on, or it could be because Naruto is a boy, though I don't know why that should bother them. The heart will go for what it wants, no matter the person's gender or what the parents think."

His son looked up, eyes wide. "So you wouldn't care... if you were one of the parents... whose son thought Naruto was a girl and liked her... well him... Naruto?"

Shikaku frowned at Shikamaru, wondering what had caused his sudden state. "Of course I wouldn't care."

"Even though the village views Naruto as a monster? Which he isn't! He's kind, and loyal, truthful and resilient. There is no way that Naruto is a monster."

"And that is the exact reason I would have no problem with you being in love with Naruto." At the look on Shikamaru's face Shikaku clarified. "In the scenario you presented me." He couldn't understand the look on his son's face. It looked like a mixture of surprise, guilt, relief and panic. He could tell by the way Shikamaru relaxed after he clarified that he shouldn't push the subject. Shikamaru had never kept anything from him before unless he simply deemed it unimportant. If this was something worth mentioning than he would do so when ready.

"Back to the point I was making. Many of the villagers did not like that Naruto was getting positive attention from their sons. It wasn't a large quantity of boys who were starting to like Naruto but they were unconsciously encouraging others to be nice to Naruto, even friends with him. One night, I was coming back from the bar, passing by the building Naruto lives in when I heard a commotion. Some of the villagers had broken into his house, destroyed most of his property..."

Shikaku took a deep breath, staring at the shogi board. He remembered storming into the apartment, finding villagers with bats and metal pipes hitting the walls, the old, moth eaten couch, the refrigerator, cupboards. He remembered hearing the high pitched scream as a little figure scrambled under the bed as it's mattress was being cut open by a kitchen knife. The villagers had looked like savage animals and Naruto... It was hard to see Naruto as the container of the Nine-Tails when the childish face of said container was covered in pure fear.

"Dad, what happened to Naruto?" Shikamaru pulled his father from his thoughts. "Did they just attack his property?"

"No." Shikaku heaved a sigh. "No, they didn't. I incapacitated the intruders and had to coerce Naruto out from under his bed. He was bleeding. The villagers had made a point of ripping out Naruto's hair. Rather brutally. His head was bleeding and he was crying... I looked at him and I couldn't help but picture you. Naruto is your age. If anyone ever did that to you I would kill them. I nearly did kill them, but Naruto needed attention at that moment."

"Why do you think you should have done more?"

"Because I had noticed that the villagers were getting worse. The Hokage said he was working on dealing with them so I just left it at that. Even now I'm conflicted about what to do. If I stand up for Naruto and try to shelter him the moment I'm not there the villagers will get worse but if I don't step in when the villagers start to move past simple cold shoulders and comments Naruto gets hurt. I've never been able to find a balance, especially when there are so few of us willing to stand up for him against the rest of the village. After getting Naruto patched up I gave him half of my pay check for three weeks so that he could replace everything. I helped repair the damages to his walls and cupboards too."

"That's why mum kicked you out, isn't it? Because she doesn't like Naruto... she sees him as a monster." Shikamaru seemed to deflate, his shoulders sagging so deeply that he was almost touching the shogi board with his nose. "Troublesome."

"Shikamaru, you are a ninja. If your mother does not agree with your friendship with Naruto, simply ignore her. It is your choice who you become friends with." Reaching over, he put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Yeah... thanks, Dad." Shikamaru sat up, his eyes becoming unfocused as his fingers connecting as he retreated into his mind.

There was no doubt to Shikaku that Shikamaru would eventually find out what Naruto was. He just prayed that when that time came he had raised his son right. It would be a test of character for Shikamaru if he could look passed the monster that Naruto kept caged within him and still be his friend. Shikaku did notice that Shikamaru acknowledged their friendship much more liberally than Naruto did. He hoped that his son did the right thing by his friend.

"You know," Shikaku started when Shikamaru surfaced, looking disappointed. Obviously he had not reached an answer about why Naruto was viewed as a monster. "Naruto likes you."

"What?" Shikamaru yelped. "What did he say? I mean, to make you think that?"

The young boy seemed oddly flustered as he almost rambled questions. Shikaku smiled.

"He mainly complained about you." That made Shikamaru huff. "But he obviously thinks highly of you. He seems like he would be a very loyal friend."

Shikamaru looked up at his father with a serious and determined look on his face. "You don't need to stand up for Naruto anymore. I will, and I won't have to find a balance, because I'm not going to stand in front of him like a shield and I won't stand back and let him defend himself. What he needs is: people willing to stand with him, people who will show the village that he is a caring person. Thank you for looking after him the best you could when he was younger but now he has friends and it's our turn." Shikamaru returned to staring at the shogi board. "It's your turn, isn't it?"

"Yes, I believe so." He studied the board carefully before moving a piece, hearing his son hum in thought on how to counter it.

I had a person message me a while ago about whether there would be a Shikaku-Naruto scene and this is the one I told you I had in the works. Hope you all like it. I wanted to look into what Naruto could have faced in the village growing up and whether anyone defended him. Hope you like. Also, based on the reviews about Naruto's gender I can say half of you will be disappointed... mainly cause the fan base seems pretty split 50-50. R and R!