Chapter 5 – The Losers

Shikamaru was kind of worried about his friend Choji. They would usually meet during lunch to hang out. He was a bit late and was wondering why. Choji was never late for lunch. He wondered where his best friend was. He got his answer in the form of a white puppy. Shikamaru recognized the dog as Akamaru, Kiba's dog. He sat up and looked at the little guy.

"What are you doing here Akamaru?" he asked. The puppy barked but Shikamaru could not understand him. "Why am I talking with a dog?" he said with a sigh. Shikamaru laid back down and watched the clouds. He ignored everything around him, including the white furred puppy that sat right next to him. It did not bother him as he was very quiet and seem to be enjoying the clouds. After a while, Shikamaru sat up and looked at the puppy.

"You know, I'm worried about Choji. You think you can help me find him?" Shikamaru asked. The puppy barked and began to walk. Shikamaru stood up with a grunt and followed him. Akamaru would lead the lazy boy out of the academy. They walked quite a distance and appeared in front of Ichirakus' Ramen. Shikamaru looked at the stand and was a little surprised to see what was going on. Choji and Naruto were eating ramen and it looked like that it was a contest because Kiba was cheering both sides. He looked at the scene with a neutral expression before leaving.

XXX

The next day found Choji running over to Shikamaru's home. He had forgotten about lunch yesterday and figured that he might have been upset. Kiba's dog had told him that Shikamaru had seen the eating contest and he did not look too happy. He entered the home of the Nara. He saw some deer and gave them a wave. He knocked on the door and waited. Shikamaru was the one who answered the door and was surprised to see him.

"Hey Choji, what's up?" Shikamaru asked. Choji took a few breaths before dropping to his knees.

"Shika… sorry… about… yesterday…" Choji gasped out. Shikamaru looked at Choji and brought him into the house. He sat him down and got him some water. Once he drank it, Choji took a breath and faced his best friend. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to ditch you but Naruto told me about the contest that Ichirakus' was having and the prize. I wanted that month of free ramen but I lost to Naruto."

"Come Choji, did you really expect to win? Naruto is mostly ramen." Shikamaru joked.

"Still, you're my best friend and I should have let you know." Choji said.

"It's cool Choji. I was curious as to why you would hang out with Naruto and Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh, Naruto helped me out of a jam a day ago. He even had dinner with my family. I think he hit it off with them. Naruto is not that bad of a guy. Kiba isn't too bad either. I mean, we do skip out a lot with them." Choji said.

"Nah, Naruto and Kiba are too loud and too active. Hanging with them is too troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Well, I think that they are alright. Maybe one day you can see that too." Choji said. "So, you want to go and play with the deer?" Shikamaru shrugged and the two made their way out to the backyard. Unknown to them, Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino Nara, overheard the conversation between the two friends. She suddenly got a smile on her face. Maybe having some active friends might be good for her lazy son. She would need some Intel.

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"Naruto? You want to know about Naruto? I don't know what I can tell you about him. I only meet him that one time." Chiharu said. Yoshino and herself were having brunch with their friends, Ino's mother, Noriko Yamanaka, and Sakura's mother, Mebuki Haruno. When Yoshino mentioned the boy, she was very surprised. "From my one meeting, I do think that he is quite funny. I do think he needs to focus more on his class work and less on ramen. Why do you ask? What are you planning?"

"What makes you think that I'm planning something?" Yoshino asked. The three women looked at her with their looks. "Okay, I thought that if I can get Shikamaru to be friends with Naruto and Kiba, then maybe it might make him a little more active."

"Do you really think that would work? From what Sakura tells me, they are always cutting class together." Mebuki said.

"Really? But Choji had some nice things to say about him that day." Yoshino said with a little disappointment.

"I do believe that Naruto is a nice boy. I do believe that Tsume's influence has helped some. He's still a little wild but it has toned down some." Noriko said.

"Maybe we should consult Tsume about this?" said Chiharu.

"Consult me on what?" Everyone turned to see the feral woman standing by them. Unlike the rest of them, Tsume was not what you would call a housewife. She trained her ass off to reach her position and was damn proud of it. She didn't do the wife things that they did but they still respected the hell out of her.

"Tsume, what are you doing here?" Yoshino asked.

"I was in the neighborhood and I heard my name being called. You need help with something?" Tsume asked.

"Actually, I was wondering if you can tell me about Naruto. I've never met the boy but Chicharu's son speaks quite highly of him." Yoshino said.

"Oh yeah, he did mention that he ate at your home. I was kind of surprised at that. I know what Chōza thinks of the boy. He told me that he saw the looks he gave him and was going to refuse your invitation if it wasn't for young Choji. When he came back fine, I didn't pursue anything. What do you want to know about him?" Tsume asked.

"I was wondering just who he is? I'm also considering making him a friend of my son." Yoshino said. Tsume rubbed the back of her head.

"I don't know. While I can see Naruto getting along with Choji, Shikamaru is a different story. They really are very different. Even with Naruto's hyper activeness, I doubt that they would be more than acquaintances. He respects him though, calls him one smart son of a bitch." Tsume said. Yoshino frowned at that and saw her plan go up in smoke. That's when Tsume remembered something. "Hey, your boy likes the game shogi right?"

"Oh Kami, yes. It's his damn father's fault!" Yoshino growled. Tsume gave her a smile.

"Well then, we might have a way after all."

XXX

Shikamaru knew that something was up. His mother was up to something and he did not like it. It started when she was in a happy mood. She did not berate him and she did not nag him. She just kept smiling and cooking. He did not know what was going to happen but it could only spell doom. That's when his father heard the door and went to get it. A few moments later, Kiba, Naruto, Hana and Tsume entered the living room. Yoshino was happy to see them.

"Tsume, I so glad you could make it." Yoshino cheered.

"Yeah, it's been so long since the academy. I hope you don't mind, I brought Naruto along because he had nothing to do." Tsume said. Naruto looked at her with a bit of fear. He did have something to do but Tsume gave him a harsh ultimatum that he could not refuse.

"Well, lunch is almost ready. Shikamaru, why don't you take Naruto and Kiba out to the back? In fact, why don't you show them how to play that shogi game you have out?" Yoshino said. Shikamaru just sighed and made his way to the back with the two boys. As they walked, Shikamaru looked at them.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"You got us. Naruto and I were going to hang out near the forest when mom forced us into these nice clothes and told us that we were coming to lunch at your house." Kiba explained. They reached the back area and they saw the board.

"Oh hey, I know this game. It's pretty boring." Naruto said.

"You know how to play?" Shikamaru asked.

"Only how the pieces move." Naruto answered. Shikamaru sighed and sat on the other side of the board. He invited Naruto to join him. Naruto sat down across from him and looked at the board.

"You want to play for while? My mom is a pretty slow cook and we can play until Choji comes. I'll show you where we keep the deer." Shikamaru said. Naruto shrugged and the two started their game. In the first ten minutes of play, Naruto had already lost three times. Kiba was not making anything easy as he laughed at the blond. Naruto kept demanding another game, only frustrating Shikamaru. However, after his fifth lost, Shikamaru began to have a harder time dominating Naruto. While he did not really like Naruto's style of shogi, he was getting caught in a lot of feints and traps left by Naruto. His quick movements and various plans were starting to get on his nerves. It also did not help that Naruto kept rushing him.

When Choji came around, he was surprised that they were on their seventh game and Shikamaru was having a very hard time. How in the hell did Naruto outflank his king? If he moved any of his important pieces to stop the flank, Naruto silver general could cause some damage. Any move that had to be made would have to be carefully thought out. Shikamaru stared hard at the board.

"Ha, what now smart guy? No matter what you do, I'm taking that king." Naruto cheered. Shikamaru gave him a look and focused on the board. He gave it a very careful look and made a move. As soon as he did, Naruto made his move. Shikamaru made another move and Naruto did as well. On Shikamaru's third move, he took the game. Naruto was shocked. "No way! There's no way that you could have escaped!"

"Actually, it was his only move." A voice said. They all turned to see, Shikamaru's father, Shikaku. He had a smirk on his face as he looked at his son. "That was some very poor playing Shikamaru. You allowed yourself to fall for some traps and he tricked you like five times. If you didn't figure it out, Naruto would have won in eight more moves."

"He isn't playing real shogi. Shogi isn't so fast paced." Shikamaru complained.

"Says you but Naruto has been getting better with each lost while you played the same way. Sure, it might not be your style of shogi but he would have defeated you if given time. In truth, he played quite well for a novice. Anyway, lunch is ready." He said. The four boys stood up and made their way to the table to eat. Shikamaru paused and looked back at the board. He stared at it for a while before going to eat.

XXX

Yoshino was cleaning up while Shikaku sat at the table. He turned to his wife and gave her a smirk.

"I believe that your plan worked." Shikaku said.

"Plan? What plan?" Yoshino asked.

"Don't play coy Yoshino, it isn't you. You could have just asked Shikamaru to hang out with Naruto and Kiba if you pressured him some. You know that he would do anything to avoid being nagged by you." Shikaku said.

"I take offense to everything you just said." Yoshino said angrily. She then gave Shikaku a look. "Well, how do you know that it worked?"

"I think that I will keep that a secret for now. Think of it as payback for your plan." Shikaku said. Yoshino steamed but did nothing to her husband. She would think about a suitable punishment later for him. Still, if her husband said that he plan worked, what did she care? She was happy and hoped that Naruto could bring a bit of activity in her son's life.

XXX

During lunch, Naruto and Kiba were hanging out with Akamaru. That's when Shikamaru and Choji came into view. Naruto noticed that Shikamaru had with him a shogi board. Curious, Naruto looked at Shikamaru.

"What's up guys?" Naruto asked. Shikamaru placed the board down and faced him.

"Let's play again. If you can beat me, I'll buy the first bowl of ramen for you." Shikamaru said.

"Seriously?!" Naruto asked excitedly. Naruto faced the board and cracked his knuckles. The two began to play the game of shogi. Everyone who passed by the four could only watch as Naruto acted frustrated with each lost. Everyone had a comment about the four but only one word was said among them.

"What is that 'loser' doing?"

"When did those 'losers' start hanging out together?"

"Look at those 'losers'."

The four ignored them and continued to hang out. It was the start of a life time friendship that would never end. A bond that would never break for as long as they lived.

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Authors' Notes – Well, that's it. I'm glad about how this chapter went. I like the change and I'm glad that I did the re-write like this. Now, I can focus on getting the story going now that this is out of the way. As I keep going, I'm going to do a lot of things differently. So look out for the new chapters. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.