Fun Fact: Akimichi Clan is one of the noble clans in Konoha, alongside with the Aburame, the Hyuuga, and the Uchiha Clan. The Yamanaka clan is not included and even the Senju clan is not either. I don't know what Kishimoto was thinking when he let that information out :(

Chapter 5: Comrades

Shikamaru was glad. He was so glad that he didn't say 'troublesome' for the entire day. He managed to not graduate early, even though he was moved to a class that was full of students that were two years older than him. He didn't complain because he would be with Chouji, and his calculation was correct when he answered the test with the accuracy of 80% right answers. His goal, once he thought of Chouji, was to be in the same class as him.

Let it be known that he and Chouji entered the Academy at a different age. Everyone can enter their children at any time, even in peacetime. The decision was entirely up to the parents or the guardian. Once the parents entered their children, it was up to the teachers to see if they were ready or not to be in the Academy, with the help of academy entrance tests.

Unfortunately, Shikamaru was lazy. His parents thought it would be best to wait until he was six, the standard age to enter. Chouji was four when he entered (Shikamaru still can't wrap his head around that one. How could Chouza-san entered his child at that age was beyond him) and that made Chouji a target at bullying, especially with his rather large build.

When Shikamaru 'saved' Chouji from the bullies and befriended him, he was disappointed, to say the least. His first friend was in a different class, and that brought out a new level of laziness to Shikamaru for days. He moped about it, and the reason was somehow known to his mother. At first, he didn't want to take the test because he assumed they were a graduation test, out of laziness, but then he remembered Chouji and decided to save himself from his mother's wrath because he would waste her efforts if he didn't at least try to move up a few grades.

That was how he was in front of a new class with an uninterested look on his face.

"I'm Nara Shikamaru," he introduced himself. He briefly enjoyed the irritated expression of his teacher when he purposely let out a big yawn. "Nice to meet you all."

With a chorus of 'nice to meet you too' from his new classmates, he was off to find his own seat. Of course, he chose the seat beside Chouji, where else would he sit next to? It was empty, so he didn't need to 'coax' someone to sit somewhere else.

Tashiro, the homeroom teacher, shook his head at his new student's behavior. It was rude for Nara Shikamaru to choose his own seat, but he let it go for the sake of saving his face. After all, he didn't want to be near the 'Kyuubi' brat, that was seated beside the honorable Akimichi Chouji, and somehow lost his composure in front of the two clan heirs.

"Okay, let's begin, class. Open the page 88 about elemental natures..."

Tsunade felt her patience was running thin since her patient just won't stop moving and talking even after being told not to for so many times.

For someone nicknamed Shunshin no Shisui and feared across the five elemental countries (including Hi no Kuni), he surprisingly had a little phobia about hospital, and medics in general (something about the boy's father died of an illness in the hospital a few years back, but Tsunade couldn't care less, her parents were dead in the battlefield, and that was worse in Tsunade's opinion).

"Shut up and stay still!" Tsunade growled out as she gripped the boy's shoulders tightly, her eyes giving a menacing glare, obviously didn't have the patience for the boy's antics anymore.

Feeling an impending death was near if he didn't obey (he felt an incredible pain from the way Tsunade griped his shoulders, and certainly felt the glare even though his eyes were closed), Shisui relented as he shut his mouth tightly and stopped moving, albeit rigidly. He was only ramblings anyway.

Tsunade's eyebrow twitched when she heard Shizune and Naruto giggling in the background at Shisui's antics.

It had been almost 2 months since Danzō's downfall. With the help of Jiraiya, Hiruzen managed to defeat Danzō without falling to Shisui's Kotoamatsukami that was in Danzō's possession at the time. They planned to ambush, not to confront; something Hiruzen had learned from his past confrontation with Orochimaru).

Of course, Jiraiya's return to the village was a secret the entire time to not tip off Danzou and made him passive in his activities just because Jiraiya was there in the village. Danzou was always cautious whenever Jiraiya was in close proximity because of a particular accident related to Orochimaru (Jiraiya blamed Danzou for his teammate/best friend's betrayal). Jiraiya was always eager if he found even the slightest bit of evidence of Danzou's dirty works, so Danzou was always being extra careful whenever he was around.

Unfortunately, they didn't manage to recover Shisui's right eye that was stolen by Danzō. They had speculated that Danzō had made sure to destroy that along with his own body when one of the ANBU (Itachi) 'accidentally' cut off Danzou's arms simultaneously before he could do anything (when they recovered the right arm that the ANBU had cut off, they were horrified with its rather unpleasant appearance).

(Itachi considered himself as a pacifist, but even he couldn't resist to put down the one who almost cornered his best friend to his death, a village elder with the village's 'best interest' or not).

"It's done," Tsunade announced after she took off the bandages around Shisui's eyes. "It seems to be a success. Congratulations, now you have a pair of working eyes, Uchiha brat." Tsunade's eyebrow was twitching when she said those lines. She had had enough of looking at blood. Yes, her phobia was mostly cured, but it doesn't mean she was comfortable enough to perform a surgery.

Damn Uchiha brat for having Hokage as a goal. She couldn't help but remember Nawaki and Dan when she looked at the boy, declaring he was going to become Hokage to protect Konoha and his clan, when she asked why would he want to do the surgery when there's a chance it could be a fluke and she had warned him to not have high hope. The boy simply smiled as he stated that he trusted Naruto, who made him choose the goal of Hokage, to not fail.

Tsunade sincerely hoped that those two would not end like her and Dan.

Shisui winced at the pain in his eyes but decided not to complain about it. It was Naruto who made a seal that contained his yang and yin chakra and somehow made a pair of eyes out of thin air with the help of Naruto's high ratio of yang chakra, but Tsunade was the one who made it work.

So, yes, he was grateful enough not to say any Senju-related jokes in front of this almost fifty-year-old woman. However tempted he was because when in pain―Shisui was one of those who liked to joke around to ignore it― he still had the common sense to not say anything stupid in front of the Senju woman that could crush a mountain with a single punch.

Noticing that the Uchiha was still on the bed, Tsunade said, "Now, hush, go get your crying friend out of here."

Shisui opened his eyes only to see a crying but laughing Naruto in his line of sight.

"Someday, there will be someone by your side who will cry and laugh for you... or with you, whichever you prefer. Just be patient until that day comes, Shisui."

With a relieved smile, he walked towards the exit with Naruto in tow.

Naruto, who dragged Shisui to the hospital (with her chakra chains to not let him use Shunshin), sent a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) to attend the academy (a trick she had learned from Itachi-san) because she had to attend Shisui's appointment. No way she was going to skip Tashiro's class and have a repeat performance of the last year incident where she had almost failed the mandatory Genjutsu class because of, in her opinion, her negligence.

She was restless because today was the day that Shisui would receive the eyeball that she had made a while back. She didn't know if it will work like a normal eye or not, but she had high hope. Tsunade was the one who examined the eye and transplanted it. For good measure, she pleaded the woman to make it work and even bribed the woman with money (she went overboard there, but when it came to Shisui, common sense and logic were easily thrown out the window).

It seemed that she worried over nothing as Shisui was fine and he could see perfectly with both eyes again.

As they chatted on the way to a training ground, Naruto thought about the Uchiha and how happy she was that things went down nicely with both the village and the Uchiha. Evidently, some of the peaceful ones, like Itachi-san, went from constantly on the edge to tranquility after Jii-chan announced to the village that he would choose an Uchiha for the next Hokage.

The Uchiha had been, mostly, calm for a few months now when Hiruzen decided to hold a meeting with them and he let out a hint that he considered an Uchiha to become his successor, though he didn't give a name, he promised the clan that if they worked together, no blood would spill between the clan and the village.

It was a subtle hint about how he knew of the coup so maybe they would stop. Yes, it risked the village's safety, but Hiruzen thought it was worth it when he saw several Uchiha 'adults' (a genin or above was considered an adult) went pale and a few even did a perfect imitation of a fish out of water.

With Hiruzen announcing to the village that an Uchiha ANBU had defeated Danzou, the Uchiha clan can finally rest as the Hokage blamed Danzou for the Kyuubi's Attack. Basically, Hiruzen reluctantly made Danzou the scapegoat for everything that went wrong within the village, like the now shitty academy curriculum for example (indirectly Danzou's), the almost-war-with Kirigakure (Danzou's work in some way), the failed Kumo's peace delegation (it was really Danzou's), etc.

The village's doubt about the Uchiha was gone like it didn't exist in the first place. With one of the clan members had managed to defeat someone who was a powerful shinobi and politician, the almost 40 years long doubt and distrust the village had since the Nidaime's reign, was replaced with respect and a bit fear as a few clans felt the Uchiha was given too much power, with the KMPF and one of the Uchiha as Godaime candidate and all (they suspected it to be Uchiha Itachi, even though he was the heir, still 12, and a chuunin, and a few suspected Uchiha Shisui, because the boy was honest to god too famous to ignore with the bingo books, marked him as almost S-ranked shinobi at 14, and he was already a jōnin, albeit a new one).

It was unfortunate that when one problem was solved, a new problem surfaced.

Like, the revealed rottenness of Konoha's Root.

Naruto offered a spare room in her apartment to Shisui a few months ago, when Naruto turned ten in October. It was only made official because Shisui kept dropping by ever since three years ago. An exasperated and fed-up Itachi, who frequently had to fetch Shisui from her apartment in order to get some training with his friend, was the one who actually suggested it. Since Naruto was a genin in April, she could live with someone else that wasn't her guardian.

Shisui was an orphan who lived by himself since he was eleven, so when a fellow orphan offered him a room and homemade food (Naruto's cooking was more edible than his), he went for it in an instant. Shisui still uses his mission money for utilities and fast food, but he still pitches in for monthly groceries.

Shisui couldn't help but feeling like they had just avoided a disaster since the whole discovery about Danzō-is-an-eye-stealer-creep thing a few years ago. If it wasn't for Naruto, he wouldn't be here, in Naruto's apartment, eating breakfast prepared by Naruto, relaxing while reading a book about chakra theory.

It was almost like they were a married couple or something.

'Bad thoughts!' Shisui abruptly stopped that train of thoughts. They were eight years apart in age, how could he even think about marriage between them so easily? Shisui's shoulders sagged as he put down the book and sipped his cup of hot chocolate to clear his mind. It had worked only because it was too damn hot that his tongue was burning for a second.

After Shisui was done with his breakfast, which was just a simple tamago kake gohan (raw egg on top of hot rice with soy sauce) and miso soup, Naruto came out of the bathroom. As soon as she smelled the sweet smell of chocolate, she frowned and walked to him with arms crossed.

"Shisui! I said no sugar in the morning!" she scolded him and unceremoniously snatched the mug in his hand and gulped down the hot chocolate herself.

"You're drinking it yourself!" Shisui protested, his hand in the air. His daily chocolate intake was cut down ever since he started living here. It was just not possible for him to not drink it every day.

"I have a good metabolism!" Naruto countered with a no-nonsense air around her as she began to eat her breakfast, which was different than Shisui's; a toast with a sunny-side-up and generous amount of black pepper sprinkled on top. It was a new cuisine that was brought over to Konoha from the rich Kumogakure that Naruto had started to try on this year.

Shisui exhaled deeply, instantly regretting the day when he decided to teach Naruto about nutrients and whatnot. Before he taught her, the girl's breakfast consisted of cup ramen, while lunch and dinner were Ichiraku ramen (Ichiraku Ramen is healthy but there is no variety), for almost every day. He didn't know that it would backfire on himself like this. He needed his sugar in the morning, dammit.

Well, he can always find Itachi and drag the boy to the nearest Japanese sweets shop later when Naruto was out.

Once Naruto was finished with her breakfast, Shisui started a conversation to fill the silence.

"So, tell me about your teammates."

Naruto sighed as she grumbled, "One is your asshole cousin and the other one is a lazy sloth."

"That's not really nice, Naruto."

Naruto glared when she heard his chiding tone but she kept silent as she stood on her opinion. Uchiha Sasuke was an asshole, that was a fact. Nara Shikamaru... he was a typical lazy Nara but not an asshole, so she opted to call him 'sloth' because he walked like one.

She almost call Shisui 'girly sissy eyelashes' for his long eyelashes and Itachi 'old lady face' but that had been put to stop when Shisui kept silence whenever she called him that, and Itachi always responded with 'whiskers' (something she detested because it reminded her of the mischievous cat, Tora, who she once chased after because she painted the Hokage Tower a neon orange because she was tired of blowing the fishes in her attempts of learning iryoujutsu).

She finally had learned her lesson to not call someone with a nickname without their's permission. She didn't like it whenever Itachi called her 'whiskers' and she didn't exactly want Shisui to ignore her because she didn't have a clue it was unacceptable to call someone with a nickname without his/her permission.

But one day, Sasuke called her 'usuratonkachi' because of that bloody one time when he had moved up to her class and took her seat.

Ever since that day, Sasuke was an asshole in her opinion.

As for Shikamaru... it was because the sloth never even bothered to talk to her. Not even once. Even Chouji sometimes strike a conversation with her. So, Shikamaru earned that nickname.

"Your jōnin instructor is Kakashi-san, right?" Shisui snickered at his own inside joke. "Sucks to be you, Naruto."

Naruto clicked her tongue and proceeded to dump all the dishes in the sink and gestured Shisui to wash all that as she stomped out of the apartment, not wanting to be a victim of Shisui's good mood. She could see it if she was there any longer Shisui would keep on and on about her and her life in general.

Though she wouldn't admit it to him yet, Shisui's presence in her life made her keep going strong even with the glares and whispers the villagers still does whenever she's out on the street.

To be Continued!

Author's Note: Phew! It took a long time to write this because I feel I'm not good at writing. But heh, I've tried. That matters, right?

To clarify, Naruto is 10 and Shisui is 18 at the end of the chapter. Naruto graduated with Sasuke, Chouji, and Shikamaru at the age of 10 (same as Minato). Team 7 consists of Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi. Itachi is 15 and a jōnin.

Usuratonkachi: Sasuke comes from a noble clan, he wouldn't be saying an insult like 'aho/baka' casually. This is a polite way of saying 'slow-witted'. Literal meaning is 'thin hammer'. Thin hammer is useless to hammer something down, isn't it?

Now, the Naruto fandom seems to believe that 'teme' is an insult... no, it's not. It's like 'kisama' and 'onore'. Yep. It's a rude way to say 'you'. But... Tobirama uses 'kisama' in the manga, and in his case, it's polite because it's an honorific language. Japanese likes confusing learners, it seems. ( T.T.)

See ya next chapter!

-Tonegawa Rie