So I thought the Sora arc was cannon since I asked my mate who read the manga (the one who forbade this story) but he thought I was talking about the Asuma dying arc. Anyway, I like this arc because I feel like there was no reveal to everyone about Naruto, something that the Naruto story would benefit from. Also, my story benefits from it too.
You might be all wondering what your writer does when she's bored and can't find the motivation to write… well today I killed myself by turning myself into the corpse bride. It freaked my cat out until I took off the wig.
He hadn't seen Naruto for almost a week. When she had said she was going to stay in Kakashi-Sensei's hospital room he had thought she was exaggerating. It was his own fault for doubting the unusual behaviour of the blonde. When he finally did see her again she wanted to talk to Asuma-Sensei about wind style abilities. It was a little disheartening but he knew that she needed to train to be able to handle the Akatsuki and Sasuke.
The next time he saw her he was with the entire Team Asuma, getting ready to go on a high ranked mission. Naruto was complaining about having to stop training to go on a low ranked mission. He knew it was to keep her distracted from his own mission that may involve the Akatsuki but truthfully they could have just left her training and she would have been none the wiser.
"Hey, Naruto, how you doing? What's up with your training?" he asked, his heart starting to beat heavily in his throat. He didn't bother to greet the others. He didn't know Naruto's new captain, or Sai, and truthfully he disliked Sakura.
"Suspended on the account of some stupid mission," Naruto griped.
"Ino, are you guys heading out too?" Sakura asked.
"That's right." Ino nodded. "We're all together again."
"Hey, what are you all doing here?"
Shikamaru looked over at Konohamaru's voice, seeing the young boy walking over, holding a cat, with his team.
"Konohamaru." Naruto stepped towards the boy.
"So are you off on another mission, Naruto?"
"Unfortunately." Naruto started to joke with the boy about having to find lost cats whilst also praising him. Konohamaru glowed under Naruto's words.
It surprised Shikamaru to discover that Naruto didn't know Konohamaru and Asuma-Sensei were related. He almost dropped his head into his hands when he discovered that his own teammates hadn't known either. Asuma-Sensei looked uncomfortable with Naruto's attention until the blonde voiced how much she liked the idea of their chakra natures giving them a connection.
Without even thinking to say goodbye the girl ran off, not that Shikamaru was surprised. It relaxed Shikamaru to know that Asuma-Sensei trusted Naruto's captain, Yamato, with Naruto's life. Naruto's status to the village was important, so no matter how the two men saw the blonde, her protection was still important.
The mission Team Asuma went on was highly disheartening. They visited three villages and found all of them demolished, almost everyone person dead. There was no indication that the Akatsuki were behind the attacks but a sense of dread entered Shikamaru. The fact that his superiors had no trouble believing the destruction could be caused by the Akatsuki gave him an indication of just how dangerous they were. Although Naruto was strong and was training to become even stronger, Shikamaru was starting to doubt the blonde's ability to win against them. He had preferred it when Sasuke was the biggest threat to Naruto's safety.
They returned to the village without having engaged in a fight but feeling more beat down than any battle could cause. Asuma-Sensei told them he would report to Lady Tsunade himself, something that made all of them sigh with relief. Shikamaru decided to walk Ino to the hospital where she was going to complete some paperwork. She was shaking. As he walked out of the hospital he saw Naruto walking with Sai, arguing with him. The pale boy had his arm in a sling and his usual neutral expression. Naruto had one hand on Sai's shoulder, but had her body as far away from him as she could.
With a smile Shikamaru went up to Naruto and Sai. When Sai spotted him, he tried to walk closer with a fake smile on his face. Naruto quickly tightened her hold on Sai's shoulder, pulling him back.
"You're not going to try and kiss him too, are you?" Naruto hissed.
"No, he does not look like he needs comforting."
"And you don't look like you need me to walk you the rest of the way to the hospital." Naruto pushed him towards the hospital before smiling at Shikamaru and walking up to him. "Watch him, he gets weird ideas in his head. What are you doing?"
Shikamaru had pulled Naruto into his arms in the middle of the street. He buried his face in her neck and tried to calm the anxiety that was filling him.
"Are you okay, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he held her tighter. "People are staring, just so you know."
"Let them!" He took a shattering breath. "I just…"
"It's alright." Naruto hugged him back, rubbing his back to calm him down.
"Talk to me," Shikamaru muttered.
"About what?"
"Anything."
"Okay, well, my team has to look after some guy named Sora. My training is going well, though I nearly collapse the other day from lack of food, so I'm going to have to remember to eat more. There are a lot of nice clouds in the sky today. You should make sure to take some time to look at them. You'll like that."
The more Naruto talked the more Shikamaru's heart rate lowered until it reached its regular pace. Finally he pulled his head out of the grove of Naruto's neck. He pulled back and kissed her on the cheek, only to notice Sai walking back towards them.
"The wait was too long. They will see me after we talk to Lady Tsunade," Sai explained.
"I'll let you go. I want to wash this horrible day off me anyway." Shikamaru accepted the hug Naruto gave him before dropping his arms to his side.
He was thankful to find he had the house to himself. After his shower he took the time to read before meeting up with Choji to look at getting some lunch. They were walking down a flight of stairs, heading to the shopping district when they noticed Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru, standing with a stranger.
The moment Choji and he drew attention to themselves the new comer called Choji fat. Naruto tried to pacify the situation with little luck. Shikamaru felt sorry for her but short of the guy apologising there was nothing that could stop Choji from attacking him. The stranger clearly wanted to fight though and kept egging on Choji and Kiba. When they started brawling Naruto sighed, clearly torn between letting the kid learn a lesson and protecting him. Finally she jumped the fence and tried to stop the fight with little luck.
It was only when Asuma-Sensei joined Shikamaru and Lee had jumped into the fight that the two dark haired men decided to end the fight themselves. Whilst Asuma-Sensei blocked the attacks between Naruto and the new kid, Shikamaru grabbed Lee, Kiba, and Akamaru in Kiba form, with his Shadow Possession. Unfortunately they forgot to stop Choji, who came barrelling at Shikamaru's face. Although he trained with Choji often he hadn't been on the receiving end of one of his attacks. He had a new found appreciation for his friend's strength as his behind hit the pavement but all the same he wasn't too thrilled with it all. Those who participated in the fight were rewarded with a bump to the head from Asuma-Sensei before he decided they should all go get barbeque. Shikamaru was a little preoccupied trying to fix the bent railing that Choji had damaged.
When they got to the barbeque place Shikamaru discovered that the antagonistic stranger's name was Sora, and he was part of Team Kakashi for his own safety. Naruto didn't seem too thrilled to be stuck babysitting someone who clearly liked picking fights but she was going to follow her orders. It caught Shikamaru's attention that Asuma-Sensei cut Sora off when he started to mention his father. He knew his sensei well enough to know he had done that on purpose but chose to keep it to himself. Eventually Kiba asked about how Sora came to be on Team Kakashi.
Naruto gave a brief explanation about how people had attacked them and they had brought Sora to the village for his safety. Under her breath the blonde muttered how it was hardly safer with the way he acted. Shikamaru couldn't help but snigger at that, getting a glare off Sora who clearly didn't know what he was laughing at.
"Oh, Kiba, I can now tell you I've been kissed by a female." Naruto grinned down the table at the male. "She was an enemy who tried to take my chakra through a kiss."
"And how was that?" Kiba laughed.
"I can honestly say that it was disgusting and I'm sticking to men, thanks."
Shikamaru laughed along with the other boys, minus Asuma-Sensei and Sora who looked confused.
"So, counting Sasuke," Naruto groaned at Kiba's words, "how many people have you kissed?"
"Or been kissed by?" Choji added, not wanting Naruto to squirm out of the answer.
Naruto shyly held up four fingers. That didn't surprise Shikamaru. Adding the woman Naruto mentioned he knew who each person was.
"How many of them have you kissed more than once?" Kiba asked, looking far too amused at the blonde's blushing face. She dropped two fingers.
"Was one of them Sasuke?" Choji asked, grinning around Shikamaru.
Naruto groaned loudly, making Asuma-Sensei smile, before falling back onto the floor. "Bite me!"
"Now, now, I'm not your type," Choji teased, making Naruto give a soft scream.
"You were at one point."
"SHIKAMARU!" Naruto sat up sharply, pushing the laughing boy over. She buried her head in her hands. "To answer your earlier question, no, I haven't kissed Sasuke more than that one accident! And the woman only kissed me once."
Shikamaru frowned, realising the math didn't work out. Haruki had kissed Naruto multiple times but he was the other person who had kissed Naruto and he had only done so once. Unless she was counting the times he had kissed her on the cheek. He couldn't exactly ask her in front of everyone so instead decided to enjoy the conversation where Naruto taunted Choji and Kiba for not having kissed as many people and Lee innocently asked them how many people they had kissed. This caused both boys to turn red. Unfortunately, Shikamaru's sniggers drew his friends' attentions.
"What about you, Shikamaru?" Lee asked loudly.
In response Shikamaru put a piece of barbequed meat into his mouth and held up one finger. Unlike the other two he did not turn red. "What about you, Lee?"
"Oh, uh," he scratched his cheek, "a gentleman never tells."
"APARENTLY A GENTLEMAN CAN ASK OTHERS THOUGH!" Kiba yelled, getting into Lee's face.
"You're just mad that I've kissed more girls than you have and I don't even like them," taunted Naruto.
It was Kiba's turn to groan as the others laughed.
/ / / / / / /
Over the years he had seen almost every emotion that Naruto had. She wasn't known for keeping a stoic expression so he had easily learnt what she was feeling based on her face and body language. What he saw now scared him. He had never seen her so tense. Her shoulders were pulled back, her fists clenching and unclenching, and her face wasn't screwed up into its usual angry expression but instead was hard and cold. He stopped walking to study the situation he was about to enter.
Naruto was glaring at Sora, who was talking to Captain Yamato. He could see Sakura and Ino standing off from the three, chatting to each other. With a deep breath, Shikamaru walked up to Naruto, speaking before he was within hitting distance encase he surprised her.
"Naruto, can I talk to you?"
The blonde gave a small sigh of relief before nodding and walking away from her two teammates. Once they were out of earshot Shikamaru stopped.
"What's wrong?"
It looked as though Naruto was trying to fight against the tirade of words in her head but lost.
"I want to strangle him! I can't stand to be around him and every minute I have to spend with him makes it worse." Naruto clenched her hands as though choking an invisible man.
"Is Sora still getting into fights?" Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets with a sigh.
"No. He's actually been good lately. I don't know why I feel like ripping his head off, but I do."
The anger Naruto felt looked painful. Her throat sounded constricted and torn as she growled with rage.
"I just need time away, so I can breath, but I keep getting stuck with babysitting," Naruto ranted, throwing her hands up in frustration. "But Sakura is working at the hospital and people need her, where as I'd just be training and I can do some of my training with Sora there so I'm the only one who can do it because I'm not needed elsewhere. But he's driving me nuts and I can't stop it."
"Oh-kay," Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's shoulders. "Breath! I'll deal with this. Stay here."
He walked over to where Sakura and Ino had joined Captain Yamato and Sora. With a clearing of his throat he drew the attention of the two girls.
"Sakura," he started with a smile, "What are you doing right now?"
"Um, nothing," the pinkette answered, looking confusing.
"Excellent. You can look after Sora while Naruto takes a break." Before she could reply he turned around, grabbing Naruto's hand as he jogged passed, pulling her along behind him. He heard her give a laugh, which just made him smile. He didn't stop until they reached the Nara Estate, since Sakura could hardly follow and demand Naruto leave on Shikamaru's property.
They ended up decided to play Shogi on the porch, once Shikamaru assured Naruto that Sakura had the time to look after Sora. The game ended up being equal parts frustrating and amusing for the dark haired boy. Whilst Naruto knew the rules of Shogi now, she often chose to ignore them.
"You shouldn't move your Gold General there," Shikamaru advised.
"Why not?"
"It's not logical."
"That's the perfect reason to do it."
Shikamaru frowned at the grinning blonde. "How so?"
"The illogical thing is the best strategy, cause no one sees it coming."
"That doesn't work in Shogi."
"Why not? You said it's to learn battle strategies. In battle I find the illogical solution is the best one, so I'm moving my general here."
Shikamaru grabbed her wrist, rolling his eyes at her. "There are rules in Shogi."
Naruto pushed herself up so she was on her hands and knees. "But it's more fun my way. You've been at your most fun when you were being I-log-i-cal!" Naruto moved her hips with each syllable, reminding Shikamaru of a puppy.
When she went to put her general down again Shikamaru smirked, getting a wickedly illogical idea in his head. Before he could second guess himself he tackled Naruto, making them both roll off the porch and onto the ground. They landed next to each other, Naruto's arm ending up under Shikamaru's ribs in a painful manner. Nevertheless they were both laughing. Shikamaru rolled so he could flop onto the girl's body, his back pressed against her torso. He let his weight go dead, making Naruto groan under the pressure.
"Get off me! You're heavy."
"I'm not heavy, I'm illogical," Shikamaru taunted as Naruto tried to push him off and failed.
"You're crushing me!" she yelled.
He moved so that his head was next to Naruto's. "You might finally be flat chested enough to be honest with Sakura." When Naruto started to scowl he licked her cheek, making her squeal with shock.
"What the hell, Shikamaru?"
"You did say I was most fun when I was being illogical."
"Shikamaru, are you home?" His mother's voice rang from inside the house, making the two ninja freeze.
Shikamaru quickly rolled off Naruto, crouching behind the porch ledge and putting his finger to his lips. Once Naruto was on her feet in a similar position to the Chunin he grabbed her hand and ran as quickly and quietly as he could towards the Nara forest at the back of his estate. Once they were hidden in the trees Shikamaru sighed with relief. He was still holding Naruto's hand, who was looking around. Something had caught her eye deeper in the forest. Before Shikamaru could warn her about the Nara forest she took off with an excited look on her face, her hand slipping from Shikamaru's grasp.
"NO!" He took chase, hoping none of the deer would attack before he had a chance to reach the blonde. He spotted what Naruto was after and his heart dropped to his knees. "Brefew, don't-"
Naruto reached the large Stag, stopping short of touching him. She looked like an eager child as she held out her hand to pat his snout. If Shikamaru didn't reach her in time it would be disastrous.
"Naruto, step back!" he yelled as he jumped over a tree root.
"Why?" Naruto looked over her shoulder at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru's eyes widened when Brefew walked closer to Naruto. His heart stopped and he stumbled. He watched as Brefew pushed Naruto's cheek with his nose, getting the girl's attention before walking in front of her, allowing her to see his stature. Naruto held out her hand, patting his side as he passed. Straightening up, the Nara watched in shock as the stag let Naruto gawk and pat him.
"Why were you so worried, Shikamaru?"
"This particular forest belongs to the Nara clan. No one outside our clan can enter here alone and wonder around. If they do they will be attacked. Even some people married to a Nara member can't come in here alone. When you ran off I thought you'd be attacked, especially by Brefew." Shikamaru glared at the Stag who was still prancing around Naruto, showing off. The stag stood taller than Naruto, with his black horns making him look even taller.
"Why would he attack me? He seems so friendly." Naruto rubbed his neck, watching as he lifted his head to give her better access.
"Well the Nara deer are a little different to other deer. The stags stay with the group and don't really fight. As long as the males all acknowledge who is strongest they are happy. Brefew is the strongest male, and therefore the most aggressive to outsiders. I guess I was close enough that he didn't attack you. Don't come in here without me from now on though."
Brefew shook his head before running off in an arc, clearly showing Naruto his speed.
"Show off," Shikamaru muttered, making Naruto laugh. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask: why did you tell the guys that you've kissed two people more than once. As one of those guys I know personally that I've only kissed you once."
"That you don't remember," Naruto cheekily replied. "Like I said, you're more fun when you're illogical."
"I see." Shikamaru walked closer to Naruto before putting a hand at the back of her head and kissing her. The force made her stumble back into a tree, causing them to laugh and break the kiss. "That did not turn out the way I wanted."
"Probably cause you always ask when you are illogical and want a kiss," Naruto muttered back.
"Can I have a kiss?" Shikamaru asked before putting his lips against hers. He could feel her smile. Wrapping his free arm around her waist he pulled her closer. Although he couldn't remember their second kiss he failed to care at that moment. Naruto's hands gripped his shoulders, helping to close the gap in their heights.
He could easily ignore the way that the tree bark scratched against his arm if it meant he could have his arm wrapped around Naruto, and he could ignore the way Naruto's forehead protector bumped against his skin if it meant he could kiss Naruto. There was, however, something he couldn't ignore. With a frustrated grunt Shikamaru pulled back to glare at Brefew who pushed against his head again with his nose.
"It looks like I have some competition," Shikamaru muttered before looking back at Naruto.
She was staring at Shikamaru's collarbone, biting her lip. Her eyes were clouded over as she mumbled under her breath. "I shouldn't be doing this. It'll just hurt."
He assumed he had heard wrong, or she was talking about biting her lip, since he couldn't see how she would get hurt. Pushing Brefew away, Shikamaru turned his attention back to Naruto, building his courage. "Naruto, I… well for a while I've…" He felt as though a wall had came down, blocking him from that one string of words that was so critical for him to say. He couldn't understand what was stopping him. He didn't feel afraid about saying them but there was definitely a mental block.
Instead of trying and failing again, he kissed her. "If you want to get away again, I'm sure Brefew would like to see you." He took her hand and led her out of the forest, Brefew walking beside them until they reached the edge.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing?"
Shikamaru nearly jumped at his father's voice, making him look over at the older Nara.
"Hiding from mum." He shrugged.
"Thanks for helping me take time away from looking after Sora." Naruto scratched the back of her head, blushing lightly.
Shikamaru cleared his throat, realising why she was blushing. "No problem, anytime." He chose to not analyse how that might sound before turning to his father. "Were you looking for me?"
"Yes, I would like to talk about your last mission, if you and Naruto are… done." Shikaku looked between the two, making his son fidget.
The last thing he needed was his father studying them and realising exactly how Shikamaru and Naruto had used Naruto's break.
"I should go find Sakura and take over looking after Sora. She probably has work to do." Naruto gave them both a smile and ran off.
"Even if she doesn't she'll dump Sora on Naruto anyway," Shikamaru grumbled. Looking at his father who had a raised eyebrow, he sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he had to talk about the horrible mission the day before.
/ / / / / / /
It made sense that Sora's presence had the ability to make Naruto's blood boil. No doubt the Nine-Tails in Naruto could sense his chakra in Sora and probably had aggressive feelings towards its use. Or perhaps Sora's emotions affected Naruto's on some level. It was hard for Shikamaru to tell.
They had followed Akamaru's nose and the light that appeared to a section of the forest. The forest had been cleared of trees in a twenty metre radius around Sora. The boy was almost unrecognisable when they had arrived. His face was deformed and he was covered in red chakra that had pointy ears and a tail. They could see Naruto was trying to talk Sora down with little result. When the boy tried to strike at her Shikamaru acted, getting him in a Shadow Possession. Once Choji had a hold of Sora though, the boy started talking, asking Naruto about the Nine-Tails inside her.
Shikamaru heard the gasp from Ino and could see the look of horror that appeared on Choji's face. He wanted to stop Sora from talking, but it was too late.
Naruto answered his question about how she had friends, admitting to how lonely she had been as a child and how she drew attention to herself to be noticed.
Shikamaru wished he could say that Naruto was able to talk Sora down, but the boy started to lose control again, showing them just how powerful even part of the Nine-Tails could be. The chakra enveloping him burnt Choji's hands, making him release Sora. Ino couldn't take control of Sora's mind and broke the jutsu with a terrified scream. Shikamaru's chakra eventually ran out.
He was helpless as he watched Naruto meet the force of the three tailed Sora head on and get pushed back. She stood back up and went to enter battle again, only for Captain Yamato to hit Sora with a barrage that was of little use. The power of the Nine-Tails was terrifying, made worse by watching Naruto constantly struggle to pull Sora back. Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had to fight like this within her own mind against the real beast. Shikamaru tried to stop Sora, only to feel how inferior he was to Sora's current strength. They all tried to fight and were thrown back repeatedly, as Naruto watched on.
When the rest of them could no longer fight Naruto came forward, nursing her arm and talking in a weak voice. Sora attacked her, making her summon Shadow Clones but with no luck. Finally Naruto simply grabbed Sora's shoulders, even as the chakra burnt her, and yelled at him. Dread pooled in Shikamaru's stomach as Captain Yamato yelled for Naruto to move back. The chakra surrounding Sora spread onto Naruto, forcing a transformation that Captain Yamato could not stop.
Naruto didn't transform the same way Sora did. Her fang teeth grew, her hair became more unruly, her eyes turned red, and claws grew but she still looked like Naruto. Shikamaru watched, mortified, as Naruto tried to fight Sora and the Nine-Tails inside herself. Her skin started peeling away and to gain control Naruto stabbed herself in the leg. Every part of him wanted to run in and help her, but he knew he would just be a liability. He had to trust she could do it. And he was right.
He admired her resolve as the red chakra disappeared and only a burnt looking Naruto was left. It was almost all for nothing when Sakura ran into heal Naruto minutes later and Naruto had to block her from Sora's attack. Shikamaru had been worried about being a liability whilst Sakura's actions nearly cost her teammate her life.
They were forced to hide in the forest, not able to see the fight. If they ventured any closer in their state they might be killed or get Naruto injured. Instead they were forced to sit and wait. He could tell that Lee and Kiba wanted to help Naruto fight but whenever they mentioned 'that thing' a shadow came over their faces. He could not tell what they thought of the Nine-Tails being in someone, or even if they had fully come to terms with it.
When they had gathered strength they ventured to the tree line, only to see Sora's body start to reject the Nine-Tail's chakra. Shikamaru wasn't sure what actually happened, which was a first for him. The chakra left Sora, taking on the appearance of the Nine-Tail's head before disappearing completely. They cautiously climbed down into the crater the two were in and assured Sora that he was their friend, they all even laughed at Naruto teasing Sia. However, Shikamaru could see the guarded looks they all sent Naruto's way. Thankfully the girl was too injured to notice.
Sora and Naruto were taken to the hospital with Sia shortly before Lady Tsunade found them all for a report. Captain Yamato, Shikamaru and Asuma-Sensei did all the talking as the others stood back. Kiba glared at the ground, Choji and Lee were frowning, Sakura had went with her teammates, and Ino was biting her thumb nail, which she only did when she was both angry and scared.
"Very well, thank you," Lady Tsunade said when they were done, turning to walk away.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Kiba snapped, marching forward. "I want answers! What the hell happened out there with Naruto?!"
"We have a right to know," added Choji with a growl.
Lady Tsunade sighed heavily. "Come to my office if you can't wait and I'll explain everything."
Shikamaru wished he could put his fingers in his ears and block everything out. He wished he could go back to before his friends knew about Naruto, but he couldn't. Now he was going to have to watch as they fully came to terms with the information they were given and would have to see how they handled it. Naruto might not have as many friends as she did before starting tomorrow. He was going to make sure that her side was heard though, that they knew she was no different than the girl they went to school with. He just hoped his words didn't fall on deaf ears.
Hope you all like. I think fallout from everyone finding out makes a bit more sense. Hope you all liked the illogical Shikamaru. R and R.