Disclaimer: The real Naruto does not belong to me but Kishimoto…

Last Time

"Tomorrow you're both going to learn our clan's jutsu and learn to become ninja's!"

Shikamaru looked to the ground and mumbled something that only he could hear. "This is going to be so troublesome!"

1 Year Later

"Naruto, Shikamaru wake up! You guys have to go train!" Yoshina yelled.

"Troublesome women." Naruto and Shikamaru mumbled simultaneously.

Over the years Naruto began taking in some of the Nara traits. He no longer bounced with excitement and yelled what he said. He was more relaxed and thought things over instead of rushing into things.

"I heard that!" Yoshina yelled up smirking. She knew that every time she left their room they would say something along the lines of troublesome even though she never did hear them.

Half an hour later the two young boys sluggishly made their way to the kitchen where a meal sat prepared. And it was their favorites. Shikamaru always had toast, because it was too troublesome to make anything else, and Naruto always had ramen. Ever since the day he had tried it he had fallen in love and ate it at least once a day.

The Nara family sat in silence as they ate their first meal of the day. As soon as they were done eating Shikaku motioned to the young boys to go outside and he followed them as they left.

"Alright boys, since I have taught you all of the basic academy ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu we will begin the Nara jutsu training.

The two boys groaned like they were bored, but Shikaku new better. He could tell by the sound of groan they made if they were happy or when they were bored. And this groan was a happy one. Shikaku remembered the day his father taught him the family shadow techniques. It was one of the best days of his life (just a little better then when he got married).

"Alright troublesome offspring's of mine the first jutsu I am going to teach you is called the Shadow Possession jutsu. There are many rules to this jutsu. Number one, if there is no shadow, there is no jutsu.

Naruto and Shikamaru both nodded there head to signify they understood.

"OK, so here are the handsigns!" Shikaku showed Naruto and Shikamaru the handsigns to use the jutsu and made sure that they memorized it before he would let them try and perform it.

"Um dad… What are they other rules?" Naruto asked

"There are none! Who told you there was more?" Shikaku replied while looking around.

Shikamaru and Naruto both fell to the ground. Sometimes they wondered how there dad could be so smart and yet so stupid.

Shikaku laughed to himself. He loved messing with his kids. He had been doing it for years. One time he told Naruto some riddles and Naruto stayed up all night trying to figure them out.

Flashback

Naruto sat in his bed thinking about the riddle his father had told him. He was practically squeezing his brain trying to figure it out. He asked so many people he could walk through the streets and tell if someone was smart or not.

"What is broken every time its spoken?" Naruto repeated to himself every 2 minutes.

The next morning Naruto walked down to the living room where his father sat.

"Dad.. I figured it out!" Naruto yelled in his fathers face.

Shikaku sighed "what did you figure out?"

"I figured out the answer to the riddle you gave me!"

Shikaku looked at him like he was going insane. "what riddle?"

Naruto's eyes widened until they were as large as a dinner plate.. He stayed up all night trying to figure out this stupid riddle and his dad didn't even remember telling it to him.

"The riddle you told me yesterday! Don't tell me you forgot?" Naruto asked.

Shikaku looked worriedly at his son. "I didn't tell you a riddle yesterday!

Naruto stared at Shikaku for a minute and then screamed and ran out the door yelling to everyone in earshot that he was going insane. It took Yoshino 4 hours to calm him down and another 3 hours to convince him he wasn't going crazy. All in all it was a really good day for Shikaku!

Flashback End

"Ok.. so are you two ready to try out that new jutsu?" Shikaku said in a boring tone.

Both Shikamaru and Naruto nodded their heads and started making the appropriate handsigns for the jutsu.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" they both yelled in unison.

From both of their feet came a sliver of darkness and reached out and tried to connect with Shikaku's shadow.

Naruto's shadow however stopped few feet and then receded back to him. Shikamaru's shadow kept going and soon attached to Shikaku and controlled him. A couple seconds later Shikamaru's let go of the jutsu and his shadow came back to him as well.

"How come Shika's worked and mine didn't? Naruto complained.

Shikaku thought to himself before explaining what he thought the most logical explanation could be "well it could be that since you aren't of Nara blood it will be harder for you to master the shadow based jutsu!"

"Well then I guess I'll have to work twice as hard now!" Naruto yelled with partial excitement and partial boredom.

After a couple hours of training Naruto and Shikamaru went inside to eat their lunch. While eating Naruto explained to Yoshino that he was having trouble with shadow manipulation. After lunch was over Shikamaru went to his room to have his afternoon nap. As Naruto was heading up to his room to take his nap as well Shikaku called to him.

"Naruto... meet me outside in 10 minutes."

Naruto had no idea why he said 10 minutes because it only took him around ten seconds to walk out the back door. But when he got outside he realized why. Shikau was taking his afternoon nap as well. Seeing as his father wasnt going to wake up Naruto layed down to see if he could catch a few z's too.

10 Minutes Later (Of Course)

"OK Naruto there is one more thing that I should have told you before you attempted shadow manipulation. That being, shadows are living things. They are remnants of ourselves and they have feeling just like any other beings. That being said shadows are also an element though not as popular as fire, wind, water, earth and lightning. It is also a lot harder to use and not everyone has the ability to use such element.

"So I might not be able to even use the clans jutsu then?" Naruto sadly said.

"Maybe.. maybe not. But there is a way to find out." Shikaku held up a piece of paper "this is special paper that will be able to tell what kind of element is your strongest. All you have to do is channel some of your chakra into it and if it reacts to it then you can find out what type of affinity you have. Wind cuts, fire burns, waters wet, earth crumbles, lightning crackles, light is brightness and shadows are dark. Those are all of the elements. But few have the honor of having light as their affinity. And shadow is also one of those that are rare. But shadow affinities are more likely.

Shikaku then handed Naruto the piece of paper he was holding. Naruto took it and then started to channel his chakra into it. After a few seconds the piece of paper split down the middle. Just as Shikaku was about to announce his affinity the paper started to change colors. One half of the split paper was turning black and the other half was turning white.

Shikaku looked at the piece of paper then at Naruto with wide eyes.

We have to report this to the hokage right away!

A/N Sorry it took so long but I had a lot of stuff to do lately. I am also sorry it is so short.