Turmanarmo: Welcome back to my story, sorry it is a bit latter than I was hoping for you see I meant to type it Saturday night but my brother decided randomly at 2 AM shortly after I got off work to force me to help him with making a homemade apple pie because he felt like making pie at 2 AM needless to say…

Sakura: LIAR

Turmanarmo: But, But, it's true, I really was up till like 4 making pie and then the next day I got distracted by the others living in my house and by the mini blizzard thing we were having here in Nebraska and then I got sucked into our Sunday night community meal/Bible study thing and so I didn't actually sit down to start typing until like 11 PM

Sakura: Sure, sure. Next I suppose you will expect me to believe it was something nice like 70°F the day before.

Turmanarmo: Yeah, how did you know that, you don't even live in my world.

Sakura: Oh never mind, just get on with presenting your story so you can stop putting my friend through so much pain, honestly he has been through enough crap in his life with the way he was treated, he doesn't need you to make him relive it nine times.

Turmanarmo: Fine, fine, I will get on with it, thanks for the three new reviews. Hopefully this answers your questions yoai's of Naruto (did you intentionally spell that wrong, I just noticed that). Oh and CressidaRene, since your last review got longer last time just like my last chapter, I am expecting an extra-long review out of you this time since my chapter length increased again :P Anyways, Sakura on with the Disclaimer.

Sakura: Ahem, Turmanarmo does not own any of us or the Manga/Anime that we are from so to support us you should support the official release of our story. Though I suppose you can read this fan fiction stuff too if you want seeing as it is so popular, though if you are on here to read that perverted hentai crap you are going to get it.

Turmanarmo: Okay, before any of us die, goodbye Sakura, thanks for your services, and to all of you readers, please enjoy the story.

Naruto answered the door and was surprised to find Shikamaru standing there, but before Naruto could speak he heard Shikamaru state, "I know it's troublesome but Kakashi-sensei came to my door this morning and told me you had something to tell me about, so what is it that was so important that I had to make the troublesome walk down to your place."

Naruto stuttered out a "come in" before he moved aside and closed the door as he watched his lazy friend walk over and plop down on his couch and so he decided to grab a chair and sit across from his friend.

They sat there in a somewhat awkward silence until Shikamaru stated the obvious, "Look I know I like being lazy but I could just as easily sit in silence out on a hill watching clouds or something so why don't you tell me what was important enough that your otherwise lazy sensei decided to come over to my house and send me here to talk about."

As Naruto looked up he sighed before saying, "I guess I should start, I think I get why Kakashi sent you over, since he knew I would never feel comfortable enough about this to actually seek you out for this conversation."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow at this wondering what could be so troublesome that had Naruto acting, well, so un-Naruto. Not that he hadn't seen Naruto depressed before, there was obviously the time when Sasuke left and there was all the times while they were in school when Naruto thought no-one was looking. Now that he thought about it, what had made Naruto like that back in school, at the time he hadn't really cared too much since Naruto wasn't one of his friends at the time and so he had only assumed that was how the kid acted because he was an orphan and everyone seemed to be mean to him, even many of the adults.

"Shikamaru."

Which also brought up another strange thing, sure Naruto was a prankster but why were all the adults always mean to him, and if he really thought about it he realized that Naruto had only started seriously pranking once he got a little older, possibly because it was easier to set them up with his training in the Shinobi arts from the academy. So why did he remember everyone from the kids to the adults still being mean to him earlier than that.

"Shikamaru?"

And on top of that, he also remembered how his own parents and some of the other clan heir's parents acted around the child. Most of them were never mean to him but many of them simply ignored the child like he wasn't there and his dad was really no different, the one-time Naruto was brought up in their house his mom seemed slightly annoyed and his dad simply told him to come to his own conclusions about the boy.

"Shikamaru!"

So what was it that made all of them so mad at him? "HEY LAZY ASS PAY ATTENTION."

Shikamaru looked up to see Naruto with a red face huffing across from him as he shouted obscenities about good for nothing lazy friends ignoring him like his lazy sensei.

Shikamaru chuckled a bit before becoming serious again, "Sorry Naruto, I got side tracked on a tangent in my head and was focused on that for a bit."

"Oh sorry, what were you thinking about Shikamaru?"

"First, don't think that I don't realize you are trying to avoid talking about whatever thing you seem so weirded out by, and second, I was just realizing that there were some strange things going on during my childhood that involved you but I dismissed them at the time because I didn't really know you that well but now that we are friends, they don't make much sense and are slightly bothering me, though if I think about it even if it has gotten better over the years it is still there somewhat."

Naruto looked slightly confused before he realized what Shikamaru might be thinking about, "W-what are you t-talking about s-Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked up again before saying, "Hmm, what has you so nervous again all of a sudden, I was just thinking about how the way the villagers treated you as a child made no sense now that I know you better and it seems a bit strange how they still largely ignore you even now except those of us in the three teams from our year, Guy-sensei's team, our sensei, and of course Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama. Thinking about it again, the only person I remember being outright nice to you as a kid besides Iruka-sensei after he got over being mad at you all the time when you first started was Sandaime-sama, which is weird, why would the Hokage take such an interest in you, Sasuke was an orphan too at that point and I never saw the Hokage walking around the village with him like I saw you every once and a while"

Shikamaru looked even more confused especially once he looked up and saw Naruto going from being as white as a sheet to sighing forlornly, "Yeah Hokage-Jiji was always the best even though he didn't have much time for me since he was the Hokage; that was part of the reason I started playing some of my pranks. Since I had no parents Jiji would be the one I was taken to when I was caught, though once Iruka got over his fear of me he would scold me sometimes too."

Shikamaru sighed again, "Jiji, I forgot you called him that, seriously how is it that the people you are the most disrespectful to like you the most, you call your Shishou a perverted sage, you call the previous Hokage an old man, and you call the current one an old lady. And what do you mean Iruka-sensei got over his 'fear' of you, what is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto muttered a quick 'crap' before he sighed, "Honestly Shikamaru you are too smart, I guess that and the other thing you were talking about will make more sense after I tell you what I have to say, but first, I need to ask you a question, what do you know about the bijuu."

"Bijuu? Well I know that there were nine of them and most of them were captured by the first Hokage if the stories we were told as children were true. Hmm, well according to that one short section on them in the textbooks they are beings made entirely out of chakra but outside of that not much. None of them have been seen since the Kyuubi attack fifteen years ago, though that Gaara kid did somehow manage to transform into what several older Shinobi called the Ichibi. Though that doesn't make sense since Gaara seems to be a rather nice person and even became Kazekage and they would never let a demon become a Kage if they are even half as demonic as they are in the fairy tales about them. Though thinking about it Gaara was a bit scary before you fought … him … during. Naruto, are you alright?"

Naruto was torn as he sat across from Shikamaru, Shikamaru was probably only a few minutes from connecting the dots on his own and when he heard Shikamaru talk about whether or not Gaara was the Ichibi Naruto started to get a bit upset, even if Shikamaru was seemingly trying to disprove that in his mind it struck home to what some of the meaner villagers always called him as a child so without noticing Shikamaru had just stopped and was looking at him concerned Naruto blurted out, "We are not demons!"

Now Shikamaru was seriously confused, "What do you mean, I know Gaara isn't a demon Naruto, like I said, if he were would he be half as nice as he is now, I was just wondering how he did that transformation into one is all." Then Shikamaru stopped in his tracks before he questioned, "Wait, what do you mean 'We'?"

Naruto panicked a bit before he started pulling his hair, "Gah, talking to you is so hard, you talk in circles and for every tiny thing I say you connect a ton of the dots to the ending, if you had told me yesterday that when I had this conversation I wouldn't have to explain half of these things I barely understand myself I would have been relieved, but now I am just getting frustrated, and as to the 'we' thing, it relates to the first thing you were talking about since many of the villagers called me a demon or demon-brat as a kid and hearing you call Gaara a demon, even indirectly made me mad. Also, before you ask the questions I know you will, yes this has to do with what I am talking about, and yes it will make sense when I am done."

Naruto sighed as he saw Shikamaru's confused face morph into one of acceptance as Naruto continued, "Anyways, as you pointed out the Bijuu are made entirely of chakra and, without rabbit trailing," here he glared at his friend as he shrugged back, "what do you know about chakra conservation?"

"Well that's simple, it can't be created … or … destroyed, but wait…"

"STOP, I said no rabbit trailing, yes I know, since it can't be destroyed, how did the Yondaime manage to destroy the Kyuubi, well the simple answer is he didn't because it would be futile, if he 'destroyed' the Kyuubi all that would have happened would be it dispersed and eventually it would reform and attack again, at least that is what Ero-sennin said. Now back to that story, it is true that the Yondaime 'defeated' the tailed beast that day at the cost of his life. To defeat his enemy he had to utilize a branch of the Shinobi arts that Jiji and Ero-sennin said he excelled at, which was fuinjutsu."

Shikamaru looked shocked by this, "So Yondaime-sama managed to seal away something as strong as the Kyuubi while it was likely attacking him, that is impressive, no wonder all the adults who were alive for the attack seem to respect him so much. And no wonder he is the Hokage you admire so much and wish to surpass. Though, why do you know all this when we don't, and what is wrong with putting this info in the textbooks instead of lying about it, it's not like they have to tell us where the scroll or whatever container he used is located if they are afraid of other villages knowing about its location, so why lie about it?"

Naruto huffed as he said, "I thought I said to stop rabbit trailing Shikamaru, though I suppose given how smart you are that would be like asking Bushy Brows to stop talking about youth. Anyways, yeah you are right for the most part about the Yondaime being amazing (mutter) even if he did pick me (mutter)" "What was that Naruto?" "Nothing, anyways the thing you are wrong about is what he sealed it inside, sure most things can be sealed inside something simple like a scroll but based on what I was told something with as much power as a Bijuu would be impossible to fit inside such a limited container. Apparently there are a few specially designed objects that can at least temporarily store such a massive chakra, but with something as powerful as the Kyuubi there would be no way it would be permanent so a 'better' container is needed."

"The best way for this to be done is for the Bijuu to be contained in something with Chakra coils, so a living organism and it is even better if it is human since our chakra coils have the most room for growth compared to all living things except maybe summons who are probably similar. Anyways, to minimize the strain on the coils of the person it is best if they are a child so there coils have time to grow and adapt to the huge amounts of demonic chakra that is within them."

Shikamaru blinked a few times at this and sighed as he connected where this was likely going so he decided to let Naruto continue so as not to upset him and possibly stop him before he could say it out loud, "Now, 'conveniently' there was a kid who just so happened to be born on that day and just so happened to be orphaned by said beast so the teme decided to put the Bijuu inside this kid."

Naruto shuddered as Shikamaru snorted silently at the teme remark, since even if he was Naruto's favorite Hokage, he did deserve that for sealing a demon inside his friend. "Well, I suppose there is no point in not saying it now, I was that kid Shikamaru, I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and I am sure this explains why all the villagers hated me as a kid and yes, Gaara is also a Jinchuuriki, as he contains the Ichibi. I will understand if you don't trust me anymore and if you don't want to have anything to do with me, just please don't tell the others."

Naruto glanced up as Shikamaru Snorted loudly as he said, "Honestly Naruto, I would be laughing at that comment right now if this whole thing weren't so troublesome. I know the rest of the village hasn't been a good example, and we weren't always the nicest to you when we were younger, but did you seriously believe I would stop being friends with you or even hate you over something like this. If it weren't so sad and probably based in some Pavlovian impulse I would be insulted."

"Pave-what?"

"Never mind, Can I see your seal?"

Naruto gasped, "My seal, why would you want to see that?"

Shikamaru looked at him for a second before stating, "Well I may not have any experience with Fuinjutsu but it would still be cool to see this masterpiece that can apparently contain a several story tall Kitsune made of demonic chakra within your scrawny body"

Shikamaru smirked as his plan to distract Naruto from his depression worked as he fumed over the scrawny comment before saying, "Well, can I or what?"

Naruto sighed before pulling off his jacket and shirt and channeling some chakra to make the seal appear on his stomach. As Shikamaru saw it appear he whistled as he looked up and said, "That looks incredibly intricate, if I didn't know that you can write these seals with chakra I would wonder how he could have drawn all of those symbols accurately while fighting the Kyuubi."

Naruto shrugged and said, "Ero-Sennin said it was called the Eight Trigrams Seal and it is actually two Four Symbols Seals overlapping which allows Kyuubi to be completely held within me but I can still use his chakra. For example whenever I get injured apparently the Kyuubi chakra that floats around in me normally is what heals me faster. I like to think of it as my way of extracting rent from him since he won't let me use his chakra without trying to control my mind by messing with my emotions."

Shikamaru snorted again as he said, "Only you Naruto, would think that the being that was trapped inside of you against both of your wills should pay you rent. Anyways, we have been inside way too long having this troublesome discussion, so I am going to go lay on a hill and watch some clouds after I go grab some lunch, do you want to come with me."

Naruto laughed as he agreed and followed his friend to Yakiniku Q despite Naruto's insistence that Ramen was better than grilled meat but he had fun anyway. As they lounged on a hill Naruto was smiling like an idiot and when Shikamaru asked him what was making him so happy Naruto responded, "Well I just have never been so happy to be wrong in my life."

At Shikamaru's questioning look Naruto continued, "Well yesterday Baachan, Ero-sennin, and Kakashi-Sensei more or less ordered me to tell all of my friends about Kyuubi due to the threat from Akatsuki and I didn't believe them when they insisted you guys wouldn't hold it against me. Plus I sort of stormed out of her office when they wouldn't listen to me. Now I feel so much happier knowing that you know about it and still actually want to be around me so even though I am still worried about the others a bit, I feel much better about it, I just need to decide who I am going to tell next, should I tell the rest of your teammates to keep you from accidently blabbing."

Naruto smirked over at his friend as he snorted and put on a face like he was hurt by that insinuation. "Or should I go with another one of my genius logical friends like Shino or Neji, because I am not sure if I am quite ready to see how Ino or Hinata will react to this."

Shikamaru looked over and smirked as he said, "Well you should definitely either have someone else tell Hinata or tell her by letter if you don't want her to faint repeatedly during your conversation, or at least when you do talk to her try not to get to close to her, even when she does faint."

Naruto's cry of indignation was interrupted by Shikamaru commenting, "Or you could just tell Ino now and save yourself the time because before a day has passed everyone in the village that didn't know will, though even she might be able to hold her tongue for something this important, troublesome woman."

They both remained quiet for a few moments before they burst out laughing and by the time that they were done Naruto was crying from how hard he was laughing at Ino's expense since even though he knew she would never tell any Shinobi secrets or intentionally harm a friend by revealing anything this important, she was still unofficially known as Konoha's kunoichi gossip queen and could be relied upon to know something about everyone in the village given her side job at her family flower shop where she overheard all sorts of conversations.

Naruto sighed happily as he thought about how tomorrow was going to go and who he should talk to next. Neither of them noticed Kakashi sitting in a tree nearby fondly watching his precious student and just starting to read his famous 'literature' now that he was sure everything had turned out okay. Honestly the main reason he was even there was to see that look of joy that Naruto had right now and he couldn't wait to see how happy Naruto would be once he realized that none of his friends would betray his trust.

Story is 3179 words long this time, honestly Shikamaru just wouldn't stop rabbit trailing, despite the fact that I am worried they may be ooc, I was surprised at how easily the lines kept writing themselves, I only had to stop every once and a while when a line decided to go nowhere useful.

Anyways, no cliffy this time and if you want you can suggest who you think should be next in a review since I actually have not plotted out the order for them yet, honestly I only decided to do Shikamaru when I was writing the last paragraph of last chapter so take that as you will. Also I now understand why people like shortening his name to Shika in a lot of stories where he is a main character, writing his name out fully so many times got really old really fast, which is strange cause his name isn't that much longer than many of the other characters.

But anyways enough of my winy little rant, please tell me in a review whether this went well, anyone was too ooc, or anything like that since I don't want this story to fall into that category of poorly written reveal stories since several of the few reveal stories on this site fall into that category (or they are bashing fics, which 99% of the time make them feel this way to me, even when it is bashing Sasuke, who is easily one of my least favorite characters in Naruto).