Summary: Kakashi, Iruka, Itachi, Shikamaru and Kiba are having an apartment together. Five boys with no adult supervision means Party to no end - right?

A/N: My first fanfiction in English so please don't kill me if it's bad :) Oh, and a big thank you to Melantha Raphaelis for the alert!

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot. All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

"You are making a big mistake!", the black-clad figure yelled, eyes wide with panic.

"Sorry, but I decide for myself, if my decisions are mistakes or not. This time the only mistake has been made by you when you attacked my village!" The young man said calmly and walked towards the man, sword drawn.

"I'm not scared of you." replied his enemy through gritted teeth and the man smirked in response.

"Then why are your shaking like a little child at night?" Now the ninja grinned openly and with that, he charged his prey. His sword-

Shikamaru looked up from his book. It was one of his favorites and he had read it already a dozen times.

He turned his gaze towards his door. Maybe he was getting paranoid after reading all those ninja-novels but he was sure that he heard someone knock. But that couldn't be because not one of his house-mates knocked... ever. Besides, he was the only one awake because he was eager to finish the book – besides the fact that it was already 3AM. The others had gone to bed at least two hours ago. Shikamaru just lowered his eyes back onto the pages when he heard it again. And this time he was sure of it. There had been a knocking-sound. As clear as day. He raised an eyebrow, laid the book onto his nightstand and stood from his bed towards the door. If this is one of Kiba's idiotic pranks, he thought, I'm gonna kill him with my damn bare hands.

With this thought he opened the door, ready to jump aside if needed.

But it wasn't the Inuzuka or one of the other guys. It was the boy Iruka had brought home earlier that day. What was his name? Erm... oh, yeah: Naruto. But why would the little one come to his room in the middle of the night?

"Yeah?" He shot the boy a questioning look and held the door open for him to come inside. Naruto stepped in but didn't say anything. He just looked onto the ground, head bend down.

Shikamaru closed the door and turned towards the blonde.

"What's up kid? Does something bother you?" He got down on one knee to look the five-year-old directly in the eye. Usually he wasn't the type for this emotional stuff but he couldn't turn the boy down. I mean, he wouldn't come to him at three in the morning for no reason, right?

Naruto looked up and Shikamaru saw a strange look in his eyes. Almost like he was scared. But why could that be?

"This is all so new. And the bedroom is so big and kinda dark, and I saw light under your door and-" Naruto's face turned beet-red and he lowered his glance back to the floor of the older boy's room.

Shikamaru wasn't good with kids. Especially not this young. But he remembered darkly that Iruka had told him, that kids could get frightened very easily when they attended a new school, moved into another house slash apartment slash neighborhood. The young man sighed inwardly. Shit. Now the kid was scared and came to him to get comforted. Great. I don't even know how. Think Nara, or else Iruka's gonna kick your ass when he wakes up. Iruka! Yeah, of course! He had told him what to do in those situations!

Shikamaru's lips twitched and he ruffled the boy's hair.

"M'k, wanna sleep with me t'night, kid?" The boy looked him directly in the eye and fidgeted with the hem of the PJ's, Kakashi had changed him into before he tucked him in.

"I'm not scared!" The blonde pouted but looked hopefully towards the Nara's bed.

"I know." Shikamaru said with a serious expression, smirking inwardly. "But I only live here for two weeks so sometimes I get a little scared at night. I won't be scared if you could keep me company tonight, though..." He shot the kid a pleading look.

"You don't have to be scared", the boy puffed his chest out. "I'll protect you." With that, he climbed onto Shika's bed and snuggled into the sheets. As Shikamaru laid down, Naruto snuggled close to him. "So you won't be scared." The little one explained. Shikamaru gave him a grateful smile and soon both boys were overtaken by deep slumber.

Shikamaru's last thought before his eyes went shut: With this kid life's gonna be troublesome. But troublesome doesn't necessarily have to mean bad.

So... We survived the first night! Reviews are love, so if you love either me or the story... :) Tell me what you'd like to see in the next chapters!

See ya!