Naruto arrived home through his window, the sun setting after a tiring day.

His house was a mess, ramen cups everywhere and pictures from himself, illustrated on the walls of the apartment.

Each one was some form of stick figures surrounding him, with speech bubbles saying things like, "We love you Naruto!" and "You're so awesome Hokage-sama!"

He saw a list in the middle of his picture wall, with unlike his other papers, very neat writing.

It wasn't crinkled or anything, and Naruto saw it as one of his most prized possessions.

It hadn't been touched since he made it back on his first day of the academy. Somewhere along the way he had lost interest in the academy, after realizing being a student doesn't earn the same respect.

For it being one of his most prized possessions he had he didn't even remember much of what he wrote on there, largely because he didn't finish it. Hi

A sense of attraction drew him towards the wall as he looked over the list.

1. Get good grades and make Jiji proud!

He chuckled at that one, though it sounded more like a depressed grunt. He hadn't seen anything higher than a D his entire academy run, and the Hokage was too busy for him now.

That's why his pranks had started to become more frequent.

The last he had seen of him was two months ago, where he had gotten a lecture on improving his grades, and how "a Hokage doesn't fail in any aspect and must do his best to protect the village."

2. Graduate as rookie of the year, and become a genin!

He grimaced at this one. The last two years he was bottom of the class.

He wasn't even sure if he would qualify for gennin.

Usually he'd say he was going to become Hokage in no time.

But something about this small apartment made him feel like the walls were closing in.

Like he was lonely and there was no one he needed to yell at to grab their attention. No certain way that he needed to act. Just the cold hard truth, himself.

3. BE HOKAGE

The last one had been right after talking to the Sandaime, and when he decided to become Hokage. In fact he recalled being a lot different before that certain talk.

"Gaghg! What am I saying?!" He asked himself out loud, clutching his head with his hands. He shook his furiously.

"I can't let them get to me! No stopping until I become Hokage, and show all of you that I'm not like you think I am!"

And as he kept back out of the window to his next pranking destination, he thought silently, 'but what if...'

A few hours ago...

"Ino, I already told you, all I did was tell him what he needed to hear. Now, leave me alone so I can rest."

Moments after Naruto had left the store, Shikamaru had escaped from the store and by extension, Ino's nagging questions.

"He was going to pound you into bits and you know it! Naruto only gets angry when you insult him, and you usually avoid all types of conflict. Last time I'm going to ask! What. Did. You. Do."

In all honesty, Shikamaru didn't know either. He had managed to find a tree to sleep under after escaping, but the image of Naruto's fist raised, always entered his mind once he closed his eyes.

Why did everyone have to be so troublesome? Including his own brain!

He sighed. The sooner he told her the sooner she would stop nagging. Honestly, he didn't know why he was friends with her.

"I just told Naruto the real reason nobody likes him...he's annoying and actually acts worse than Sasuke. He forces everyone to pay attention to him by pranking them, but gets upset whenever we have bad opinions about him. Talk about hypocritical."

Suddenly Ino went quiet and he felt the world might have been ending in that moment.

He saw her face which held a look he knew all too well.

She wanted to say something about what she might know, but wanted to keep it a secret. It made her feel better when people asked her, before actually telling them. That way the blame couldn't fully be placed on her, in her mind.

Guessing from the face she was making, he was pretty sure it wasn't about his Sasuke-comparison comment.

He usually didn't give in to the girl, but something inside peeked his interest. And he had a feeling it was the eyes Naruto had shown before running away.

"Why does everyone look at me like that?! I'm not some lost cause! I will show you how good I am! And you'll all regret not realizing it sooner! Both of you!"

And what had he meant by them looking at him a certain way? Why was he interested in Naruto, now of all times?

Shikamaru gave in. "What dot yo know Ino?" His bored tone didn't change at all, but his interest was peaked and he was paying close attention to what she would blurt out.

"It's just...My dad had told me something strange about Naruto. Nothing bad of course! But he said something really really vague and super cryptic. I came home complaining about Naruto and suddenly he got super defensive. He said Naruto has had a burden his entire life and he's much stronger than any of us would think. I didn't know what he meant but..."

"So you're saying there's a reason he acts the way he does. And why would your dad know or care about people being upset with Naruto?"

They sat in silence. Shikamaru unconsciously putting his hands together like he did when coming up with a plan, and Ino just had a confused and searching expression on her face.

Then they heard the loud sound of pots banging together. The neighborhood call for children to come inside before dark.

"All right...how about this. You asks your dad tonight and I'll ask mine. If my dad knows something about Naruto, then I know your dad knows just as much if not more."

After all Shikaku Nara is the head Jonin, and sure to know more about the village than everyone other than the Hokage.

Shikamaru nodded as the two walked home for the day.

Dinner time in the Nara household...

"Hey, dad?" Shikamaru asked, shocking everyone at the table. At dinner time he rarely even came. Yoshino had made it a priority that everyone ate together at least once a week, but she unfortunately didn't make talking a priority. Just no shogi and no Ninja talk.

Again, very unlike him he asked his question before even waiting for a response. "I was wondering...do you know anything about that blonde kid Naruto?"

Shikaku knew what type of question he was asking him, but he didn't yet know why, so he went deeper into the question.

"Yes, I know him quite well actually. You see he's quite, eh...well acquainted with the Hokages office and strangely, the chair...hm, what made you ask that son?"

For the first time, Yoshino was quite in an interaction with her son and husband.

They were so closed off in their two separate worlds at times, and so homage might actually see a bonding moment here, and it would be because of her dinner. She was mentally throwing a parade.

"Well..." Shikamaru didn't usually get stumped up, but this was like a quite regular verbal interaction with father and son. He didn't know how to approach this.

"Me and Ino were talking about him and why he acts the way he does. We were just thinking... maybe he's misunderstood? Do you know why people look at him the way they do?"

Shikamaru caught himself...he was definitely being suspicious, but surprisingly his dad didn't catch it.

Or maybe he did, but just didn't say anything to him about it.

"Well. There isn't much I can tell you. Naruto was orphaned from a young age... He always has wanted to become Hokage and he wants attention as a result of years of neglect and no parents. He takes out his aggression by pranking villagers and it's a form of unhealthy therapy for him."

Shikamaru nodded. The usual, and he knew it was all his dad was required and allowed to say. He knew that Shikamaru knew this already, so there would be no reason to repeat it.

Unless he were trying to tell him something.

"To be honest, his ramblings on becoming Hokage aren't unfamiliar around here. In fact I wouldn't underestimate him at all. After all, The fox never dies."

The next morning...

Everyone showed up to school on time today, everything went the usual, Ino and Sakura raced, Naruto was berated by Sakura, Iruka yelled, Sasuke brooded.

But everything to Shikamaru was clearly different.

It was obvious Konoha had secrets hidden, if Naruto, the most open person in the village, had confusion surrounding him.

If his father has to deliver an obviously cryptic message, at their own dinner table.

He hadn't failed to notice his fathers purposefully emphasized sentence. "After all the fox never dies?" What was more cryptic than that? But Shikamaru went on with his day like usual.

The academy seemed like a fraud now. A cover, a way for most people to act before they returned home to their true selves.

But it seemed things were definitely not going to remain the same. And this was the last school day it would even appear so.

Sakura walked out of class, eager to catch up to Sasuke. She had shamefully allowed herself to be distracted by Sasuke's fan girls.

She couldn't believe being obsessed with a boy. Her situation with the Uchiha was totally different! What Sasuke and her both shared was true love.

Just then, a hand touched her shoulder, and she turned around to find Naruto, once again smiling at her.

"Hey Sakura-Chan! I was just wondering if..."

"Get off Naruto! Honestly, I thought I told you off yesterday! Now let me go before I miss-"

She turned around to find Sasuke no where in sight. She deadpanned. '

If I had just gotten the chance to talk to him, I for sure would have made him like me! There's only once person to blame...!'

"Narutooo!" Before she could even say anything else, she was once again cut off by a

"Yo."

The voice came from beyond Naruto. The blonde turned just enough to give Sakura room to see who it was.

"Shikamaru? What do you want?" Asked the pink haired girl.

"Nothin' much really. I just think it's amusing how you're so obsessed with Sasuke. Honestly, so shallow.

That fired her up. "What did you just say?" Her fist was raised at the boy menacingly.

"You honestly think he likes you after two years? Laughable. It's been two years, and he hasn't even said your name. At least Naruto tries. You just ignore him and chase after a brooding black, black haired tragedy child."

Sakura went from surprised, to furious, to surprised in his entire sentence. Instead of flustering herself more, she left the scene an.

Naruto was frozen before looking at Shikamaru. They exchanged no words, just simultaneously nodded at each other. They acknowledged each other.

A/N I'm sooo tired. Stayed up super late to write this. Please feedback what you don't like.