Chapter 1

A Rock and a Tsunad Place

"What are you doing Naruto! Stop fooling around and finish off those guys!"

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself!"

Shikamaru Nara and Naruto Uzumaki are in an intense battle against several Rock jonin. Their current mission is to confirm whether a secret meeting was taking place in a small village boarding the Land of Earth country. It was supposed to be strictly reconnaissance but has since turned into combat. Normally Naruto would be the downfall of any stealthy mission. However this time it appears the enemy were waiting for them. But how did they know the two Leaf Village ninja were coming?

Shikamaru was not the greatest fighter in direct combat. In fact he could barely be considered average. Intelligence and strategy were his greatest weapons. That can only take you so far against multiple jounin class ninja who ambushed you. Naruto was supposed to fill the combat hole for the 2 man team but was not living up to it. With two Rock jonin on Shikimaru at once there was almost no time to execute any plan of attack he could come up with. When attacking one, another other would intervene and vice versa. He was at a disadvantage in this fight.

Naruto dodged a frontal attack from one ninja while another struck him from behind. He had been battling for several minutes and had yet to take out a single of his 3 opponents. Shikamaru kept glancing at Naruto wondering why he wasn't calling forth any clones or using other Ninjutsu. He suddenly realized Naruto hasn't used any Ninjutsu on their mission since it began. Something was terribly wrong.

Shikamaru decided their only chance was to escape. Naruto was beginning to show obvious signs of fatigue which was puzzling since this has only been a 5 minute battle and they have been taking it easy for days while traveling to the target village. Quickly, Shikamaru formulated an exit plan which he thought had a 98 chance of succeeding. Switching himself with a clone he ran between two buildings and setup some traps. A couple explosive tags here and some trip wires there. In no time he was back in the fight and rushing towards Naruto.

"Time to get going Naruto, our mission is over!"

"Wha..." he didn't have time to finish responding before one of the Rock jonin landed a solid punch in his face. Naruto flew backwards into the building behind him and touched the ground on all fours. Before he could stand up again, one opponent was on top of him ready to land a killing blow with a raise kunai knife. Shikamaru raced his shadow along the ground but he was too far out of range. Nothing stood between Naruto and the blade rushing towards his back. Swooping down with his hand, the Rock ninja stabbed the blond haired kid hard near the back of his heart. There was no way he would survive such an attack.

Blood was flying everywhere as the metal weapon easily pierced through the...flower box? As the white smoke vanished, a black and purple mist began hissing out of several smoke bombs scattered on the ground The Rock jonin covered their mouths fearing poison and regrouped several yards away. Their opponents had vanished.

"What the hell happened back there Naruto?" Shikamaru was furious. Not because their mission had been a failure, which was certainly a bad thing. Naruto should have easily been able to defeat those guys. Sure they were 3 jonin, but not spectacular ones. Naruto has taken on more opponents who were much better than that without much difficulty. He has taken down Akatsuki which were more difficult than 50 Rock jonin of the same skill level they had just faced. "Oh man, Tsunade-sama is going to be pissed."

"I...I was just trying to t-test my Taijutsu. Yeah, thats it. I have been training a lot and wanted to see if I could win a battle without any Ninjutsu." Naruto was not his usual confident self. He was stammering a lot when coming up with an explanation. His faced turned a little red at the embarrassment as he realized how pathetic he must have looked. Usually Naruto was the one doing the saving. If it wasn't for Shikamaru's quick thinking he would have been a goner for sure.

"This isn't some game where you can test out different strategies every time you feel like it. Our lives are on the line, our mission is on the line, and now my neck is on the line having to explain this failure to Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru glared at Naruto. What was that on Naruto? Sweat? It couldn't be. There is no way he could be straining himself just walking. Perhaps it is from embarrassment, Shikamaru pondered. He was turning a little red, but that too could also be a sign of exhaustion.

"I...I'm sorry. Hey but you did great getting us out of there like that. You have to give me pointers in your escape techniques when we get home." Naruto sunk his head down between his shoulders as they continued their journey home...on foot. Naruto said he was too weak after that last battle to tree-hop home. Shikamaru tried to get more answers from him but was not getting very far at all. Naruto would deflect any questioning and constantly change the subject. It was also highly unusual for Naruto to request training from him. In fact it is the first time he ever has.

A village that only took them 3 days to reach was now taking 10 to return from. Naruto had to walk nearly the entire way. Shikamaru even considered carrying him at one point but that would have been troublesome. Who knows if Naruto would have even agreed to it in the first place. Plus they would be a prime target for attack from enemy ninja. They might think Naruto is wounded in some way. Who was he kidding, Naruto is injured in some way but he doesn't know how. Since the beginning of the mission Naruto has not been himself at all. He kept complaining about Shikamaru moving too quickly and requested frequent breaks. He woke up later and went to bed earlier. This is not that Naruto of a few years ago.

"Failure?!?!?" Tsunade yelled as she slammed her fist down on the desk. A faint, but definite cracking sound could be heard as it almost yielded to her anger. The main desk has taken a lot of abuse over the years from the short tempered Hokage. The administration even keeps a backup now for she breaks them so often.

"They ambushed us almost the moment we arrived. It was as if they knew we were coming. I suspect there never was any secret meeting of commanders taking place at the village." Shikamaru was trying his best to debrief the mission without getting on her bad side. But that is almost impossible when a failed mission is presented before her.

"This doesn't make any sense. It is the second time we have been lured into a trap. And why did you have to retreat from 5 mediocre joni?. Naruto should have been able to take care of them." She turned her attention to the boy who had not yet said a word since he entered her office. He was not very eager to offer up an explanation apparently. She could tell right away the mission failed. If it had succeeded, Naruto would have announced it before even walking through the office door.

"W...Well y-you see I-I..." At one of the very few times in his life, Naruto had a complete loss of words. There was no way he could cover up this failure, he thought. They are going to find out for sure this time. He gulped.

"Naruto claims, "Shikamaru interjected, trying to speed things up, "he was testing out a new battle strategy which involved using only Taijutsu to fight. I managed to get our hides out of there after it was clear we had no chance at winning. On the way home Naruto said he was too weak from our small skirmish for standard travel by using trees, so we had to walk." Shikamaru glanced at Naruto who was standing stiff as a board. There was clearly something wrong and Naruto would not let the Hokage know. He had to paint a clear picture for her of what happened on the mission.

Tsunade sat back in her chair, crossing her fingers, trying to assess the situation Shikamaru presented her with. It was puzzling that Naruto would be exhausted after such a mission. Her keen observation skills noticed Naruto was barely shaking as he stood there and was trying his best to avoid eye contact. But what was he afraid of? Her temper scared a lot of people but not Naruto. Even on failed missions he never acted as he was right now.

"I want a full medical checkup to find out what is wrong. Naruto you are to report to the hospital and have an examination. I want..." Tsunade was cut off before she could finish speaking.

"S..Sure thing boss. I will go to the hospital first thing in the morning." Naruto took that as his cue to get out of there and bolted for the door. It was curious how he called Tsunade the boss instead of old hag as he usually did. His slip up only made her worry more.

"Not tomorrow, NOW!" Tsunade yelled but he was already gone. She turned to Shikamaru who was standing there now shaking as Naruto was. But this time she knew why. "I am assigning you a new mission immediately. You are to take Naruto by any means necessary to the hospital and make sure he has his examination. Even if you have to tie him up and drag him. Recruit anyone you want in the village. I want the report by morning or sooner if it is something serious."

"B...But I just got back from a mission and you saw how exhausting it was. Just look at Naruto, I need some..." He didn't have time to finish. Tsunade grabbed the closest book and hurled it like a kunai at his head. Shikamaru ducked and ran for the door even faster than Naruto had. This is such a pain, he thought. Why does Naruto cause so much trouble and he gets stuck picking up the mess.