Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I KNOW I KNOW! I fell off the face of the earth. But life is a thing that happened and I wasn't in a head space to be trying to be creative. But I am back and my sister is going to be on my back about actually keeping up with this so you should all thank her.

Alright, here we go again – back to No Thanks Necessary!

No Thanks Necessary

Chapter 13

Kiba didn't believe it when it first happened.

Because out of all of the people in the house…Shikamaru would have been the last one that he expected to pull some sort of prank like this.

And on Naruto of all people.

But there it was nonetheless.

Naruto stood just outside the Nara boy's window, having attempted to pull himself up on the ledge and allow himself inside to awaken the boy who had barricaded his door, had his blonde hair plastered to his face, dripping water and shivering just a bit in the chilly morning wind of early fall.

Shikamaru had apparently rigged the ledge with a wire that had remained unnoticed until now. The wire pulled out a loose plank in the underside of the roof that hung just over the boy's window, freeing the cascades of water balloons from within to crash onto Naruto's unsuspecting head.

Kiba has seen the momentary look of betrayed shock on the blonde's face before it was covered over with the ever present grin and belly aching laugh that rang hollow across the lawn.

Shikamaru had never done anything to Naruto. Everyone else had, even Chouji would snicker at the blonde, but Shikamaru never did anything.

Shikamaru was the one person in Naruto's life who just accepted the boy and let him be.

But now…that was gone.

So Kiba shuddered at the hollow gaze that had been glimpsed even if it had been shuttled away quickly enough.

Kiba didn't know what to do. It was such a foreign concept to him that he froze on the lawn for a moment. But Naruto had helped him, had helped him and gotten beat up because of it. Now Kiba could help Naruto with something. So Kiba ran up to Naruto and they started plotting revenge.

The Nara house had become an adolescent warzone.

Several times a day crashes and yelps and muttered curses could be heard clanging through the house, followed quickly by the irritated yells of Yoshino Nara, or a deeply heaved sigh from Shikaku. But no punishment seemed to matter. For once, Shikamaru wasn't being idle either and swiftly retaliated for everything that was thrown his way with increasing intensity.

School held no safe zone either.

Homework would be shredded, textbook pages glued together, even the old standby of whoopee cushions were utilized to great amusement and embarrassment.

Finally, an enraged Iruka Umino had had enough. With the trio of eight year olds bound in a huddle, he gathered them up and stomped off to the Nara compound, muttering dangerously under his breath so that even Naruto and Kiba were failing to squirm in attempt to free themselves.

He made quite a spectacle and thanks to the gossip mill of Konoha, word had reached the Nara head well before they had reached his door, where he was waiting with a heavy frown on his face, arms crossed across his chest and eyes narrowed, studying them like they were an intricate puzzle or a shougi board.

Yoshino Nara stood next to her husband, an expression on her face like she had tried to swallow a lemon, disappointment in her eyes and Kiba was fairly certain that the wooden spoon in her hand was splintering from the force of her grip.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei," Shikaku grumbled as their bound forms were deposited roughly on the ground at the base of the steps into the house. "We'll take it from here."

Iruka's lips had compressed to a white line and he nodded tersely and offered a slight bow to the jounin before turning and leaving the property, without looking back.

The trio sat, still bound by rather tight ropes, and waited for their lecture and punishment or whatever was going to rain down on them from the cross couple looming over them.

"Enough." Shikaku finally growled. "We've all had it up to here with your nonsense you three." He announced with his hand jutting out level with the top of his spiked hair.

"I'm so disappointed in all of you," Yoshino said quietly. Kiba ducked his head, while Shikamaru scowled darkly staring off into the woods and Naruto sniffled, trying to hold back tears. That reaction surprised Kiba, because Naruto almost never cried, not even when the older kids tracked him down in the street and beat him bloody. And it wasn't like this was the first time he was in trouble for pranks or anything. He wanted to ask the blonde why, but the glares being aimed at them from above told him that if he tried to speak even worse things would happen. "I don't know why you are behaving like this, but it needs to stop. You three are friends." She stressed the word, as though it was a foreign word to them whose meaning they have forgotten. "Why are you attacking each other?"

Kiba clamped his mouth shut, as did the other two. He wouldn't be a rat. But more importantly, he didn't even know what to say, he didn't really know the answer. And he doubted that the other two did either.

"You three are spending the weekend watching after the herd." Shikaku announced. "There is a doe that should be birthing soon that no one has seen in a few days. You three are going to find her." He sliced through their bindings with a blade that none of them had seen him retrieve and turned around without another word.

Yoshino sighed, "Pack up what you will need for the weekend, you won't come back until Sunday for supper."

An hour later the boys had packed up what they thought that they would need without a word. Sulking, they had slipped through the high grass of the back meadow, Naruto glancing back and whispering an "I'm sorry," in a hitching breath.

It was Friday night, meaning that they would be stuck in the woods for likely two nights looking for this stupid deer. Kiba kicked out at a stray stick, watching it shoot up to smack into a branch hanging over their heads only to careen down onto Naruto's head, sending the short child to the ground with a humph.

Naruto pushed himself up and Kiba couldn't stop himself. He snickered at the slightly baffled, partly pouty, covered in dirt and old leaves, appearance that his friend was now sporting.

"Argh!" With that as a battle cry Naruto leapt at Kiba, tackling the Inuzuka to the ground, scattering the items in the boy's pack as the poorly secured top flew open. Kiba immediately struck back, rolling so that Naruto was on his back in the dirt and the Inuzuka was suspended above him.

He pulled back a clenched hand to swing at the thrashing blonde when a dirt clod collided with the side of his head and crumbled away.

"Would you two STOP!" Shikamaru stomped a foot petulantly before turning around and crashing through the underbrush.

Naruto and Kiba just stared after him, giving time for the moment to pass and the pair to forget that they had been fighting about anything at all. Naruto helped Kiba collect his scattered belongings before they took off after the Nara who looked rather annoyed when Kiba's nose led them directly to the perturbed Nara heir.

Shikamaru stomped off through the trees, shoulder hitched up tight near his ears and grumbling under his breath. Two sets of curious eyes followed after him.

"What is his problem?" Kiba griped smacking a stick against a tree as they passed. "It's like he is suddenly Sasuke's twin or something."

Naruto nodded his agreement and scowled at Shikamaru's back. "He's become a huge jerk!"

Kiba wacked his stick hard enough to break some bark off of the tree and snap the instrument made a sharp sound that echoed throughout the relative quiet of the trees and it finally clicked in that they were alone in the woods. There were none of the sounds of town, of people calling out to their neighbors, children laughing as they played with their friends, dogs barking, or cart wheels creaking as they rolled through the streets. There was nothing but wind slicing through the trees, insects buzzing, and the aggravated stomp of Shikamaru's feet through the underbrush.

The two friends shared a glance before high-tailing it after their fellow traveler. Even if he was being annoying, he knew these woods and it would be better to travel with him than try and figure where they were going on their own.

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And again - sorry about the long hiatus!