!*!*! ATTENTION ... ATENCIÓN ... સાવધાની !*!*!

Disclaimer: Not one single, itty-bitty, smidgeon of Naruto belongs to me or was created by me. I only own this fanfiction, where my twisted imagination can take over and make Shino into a closet pervert. Ah. Good times.

Shikamaru trudged out of the water behind Naruto. It wasn't that he was following her or anything; it was just that he really didn't like the gleam in Hikari's eyes. Yes, that one definitely preferred people of the female persuasion, especially Naruto, apparently.

Naruto ran the last few steps out of the water and then hugged Hikari, grinning. "I take it that you passed whatever test that Baa-chan set up for you? You're members of the village now?"

Hikari nodded, still blushing as Naruto's close proximity. "Yeah. We passed."

"And now you can finally stop running," Naruto said softly, giving Hikari another squeeze. "You have a home."

Keita hugged Naruto from behind. "And it's all thanks to you, Naruto."

Shikamaru shoved his hand in his pockets to stop himself from pulling them off of Naruto. They were just showing their gratitude. There was nothing sexual about it.

Shota stood off to the side, looking around coolly.

Shikamaru had to admit, he was one of the weirdest kids he'd ever met.

After hugging Hikari and Keita, Naruto swooped down and wrapped her arms around Shota, pressing him close. "Oh! I'm so glad that you guys are staying!"

Shota, after stiffening up at her initial touch, melted into her hug and hugged her back. Grey eyes found Shikamaru's from over Naruto's shoulder, and then Shota smirked at him.

What the…

A moment later, Shota's hands drifted lower until they were resting low on her hips.

Shikamaru's brain was having a hard time processing what he was seeing. No, that wasn't true. He knew what he was seeing. Shota had very clearly smirked at him and then practically groped Naruto. That part was clear enough. What did he get from that? Shota either liked Naruto and wanted him to know that, or, two, Shota didn't like Naruto but knew that Shikamaru liked her and was messing with him. He was really hoping for the second, because, if it was the first, that would mean that another person liked Naruto, which was troublesome to say the least. But Naruto wouldn't really consider Shota, right? He was like three or four years younger than her. That wasn't that much actually… No, now he was just being paranoid now. It was obvious that Naruto thought of Shota as a kid, not a potential romantic interest. There was no reason to worry.

And yet he still was.

Naruto straightened up, although she still kept one arm around Shota, and then looked around at everyone. "I want to introduce three new members of the village. This is Hikari, Keita, and Shota. I… met them on my last mission. Make them feel at home, please?"

Shikamaru noted that she very clearly didn't mention the fact that they had been the assassins that she had been sent to find and capture. Yeah, that probably wouldn't be the best way to introduce them.

People surged forward, friendly smiles on their faces, ready and happy to greet the new arrivals.

Shota seemed to tense as people surrounded him, and Naruto noticed. She guided him out of the crowd, and Shikamaru could hear her saying softly to him, "Not used to crowds of people clambering for your attention?"

The boy shook his head. "No, and I don't like it. I don't need idiots trying to usurp my time when it would be better spend on other things."

Shikamaru shook his head. Weirdest. Kid. Ever. He sounded more like a misanthropic old man than a young teenager.

Naruto frowned slightly at that. "I don't think that's right, but when you say things like that you remind me of someone…" Her face brightened all of the sudden, and she grabbed Shota's hand, hauling him along after her. "Yeah!" she said enthusiastically. "You remind me of the teme!"

Shikamaru followed them leisurely. Well, apparently he wasn't the only one who could see the resemblance between Shota and the Uchiha.

Naruto was dragging Shota over to the dark haired man they were talking about, who was leaning on a tree trunk nearby, being his usual antisocial, brooding self. Sasuke opened his eyes as Naruto approached, glanced at Shota and Naruto, and then merely raised an eyebrow.

Naruto made the introductions. "Sasuke, this is Shota. Shota, this is Sasuke, my best friend."

Sasuke's lips curled into one of the smallest smiles possible, the merest twitch of the lips, but to an experienced eye, it was easy to see that he was pleased by Naruto's description of him. The Uchiha turned his attention to Shota, and the two stared at each other, obviously sizing each other up. Then, simultaneously, they gave a dismissive snort and looked away.

Shikamaru stared. They really were like clones of each other. Great. That was all Konoha needed. Another Uchiha. He could barely deal with one of them. And this one might like Naruto in a way that was definitely not familial. So troublesome.

Sasuke was back to staring at Shota. He seemed flabbergasted that the younger boy had actually dismissed him. Onyx eyes narrowed. "Shota you said? And he is…"

"A new ninja," Naruto supplied. "He and his siblings… were sort of the assassins that we were after. But they're okay! They're really nice people, so I asked Takeshi to let me take them back to Konoha. They have a bloodline, too. Hyoton. Like Haku had. Oh, and don't tell anyone else about the whole assassin thing. Okay?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, taking another look at Shota. Shota just glared back and then, quite deliberately, took a step closer to Naruto so that their legs were almost touching as they stood there. Sasuke didn't miss the movement, and the atmosphere suddenly got a little tenser. Naruto, of course, had no clue what was going on.

Shikamaru sighed. She was cute, and nice, and rather wonderful, but she was so oblivious.

"Shota sort of reminded me of you, so I thought you could show him around the village and maybe teach him some basic jutsus. He's too old to go to the academy." She smiled at Shota and bumped him lightly with her hip. "Of course. I'll teach you everything I can!" She turned back to Sasuke, waiting for his answer.

He was glowering. "No. I have better things to do than teach a brat."

Wasn't that very close to what Shota had said earlier?

Shota glared. "As if I'd want a pale, emo, kusojijii like you to teach me."

Naruto clapped her hands over Shota's mouth and Shikamaru tried to stifle his laughter, with only moderate success. He just called him a pale, emo, old fart. He just called an Uchiha that. The look on Sasuke's face was hilarious. It was a mixture between murderous and shock. As he watched. The shock faded into a completely murderous expression.

"What did you say?" he hissed out through clenched teeth.

Naruto was waving the hand that wasn't clamped over Shota's mouth wildly, trying to diffuse the situation. "Sasuke! Stop looking all violent and dark! He's just a kid! Don't you even think about doing anything, Teme. Besides, Shota didn't mean it, did you?" Slowly, she lifted her hand off of his mouth. From her position, Naruto couldn't see the smirk on Shota's face, but Shikamaru could.

She only heard his voice say innocently, "Of course not. I'm so sorry, Saskue."

And Shikamaru just knew he was messing up his name on purpose.

"See, Teme, he apologized."

Sasuke's eye was twitching. "He-" He stopped at the look on Naruto's face. Her blue eyes were wide and sad, her pink lips pouting. Her expression seemed to be saying, "Please be nice? He's new and I want him to feel welcome".

Finally, with a scowl, Sasuke gritted out, "Fine. I'll teach him sometime."

Shikamaru shook his head. Even Sasuke couldn't say no to Naruto's pleading puppy dog face.

A huge, almost blinding smile lit up Naruto's face, and then it morphed into something softer. "Thank you."

"Hn."

"Naruto!" Ino's voice shouted from the middle of the crowd. "Come here!"

Naruto smiled at Sasuke once more, gratefully, and then turned around and walked back to the calling blonde.

Shota looked at both Shikamaru and Sasuke for a moment longer, smirked, and then turned and followed Naruto.

Shikamaru and Sasuke exchanged glances, and then Sasuke said, "That brat is trouble."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru agreed.

They both stared after Shota and Naruto.

"Am I mistaken or is he after Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I don't think you're wrong," Shikamaru said.

"Hn. There's no way in hell that I'm letting him near her."

"I completely agree with you."

The two teen exchanged looks again, and they made a silent truce. While Shikamaru knew Sasuke wasn't too keen on Shikamaru's feelings for Naruto, he also knew that Sasuke now really didn't like Shota, not that he did, either. So, they would make a truce in order to keep Shota away from Naruto, in as far as they could given the fact that Naruto seemed to have taken to him.

As Sasuke started to mutter about impertinent brats, Shikamaru drifted off into his thoughts. Naruto really should have known better. She was one of the few people who got along with Sasuke because she lightened up his dark broodiness. Shota seemed to have the same broodiness going, mixed in with teenaged attitude. Broodiness plus broodiness equaled not getting along. And that was putting it mildly. Very mildly. And he had the feeling that if Sasuke did wind up training Shota, then the younger boy would wind tied up and left in the middle of the training ground. Really, what had Naruto been thinking? She was good hearted, but she really did think too much of people.

Then, something interrupted his thoughts. It was Naruto yelling, "Hentai!" at the top of her lungs, followed by the sharp sound of a slap.

Both Shikamaru and Sasuke took off at a run towards the sound. They pushed through the crowd… only to see Kakashi standing in front of a furious, blushing Naruto.

"You hentai!" she screeched, taking a threatening step towards him. "Just because I'm a girl does not give you the right to grope me, pervert!"

Kakashi held up his hands in front of him in a placating gesture, although it was clear to see he was grinning behind his mask. "Now, now, Naruto-chan, what can you expect me to do when I discover that one of my favorite students a beautiful female? And when you're wearing that? Good choice, by the way."

His complements, if they would be called that, were not calming Naruto in the least. In fact, if anything, they seemed to be riling her up. "I swear, Kakashi sensei, if you grope me one more time, I am going to take a pair of chop sticks and shove them up your-"

Kakashi interrupted. "Ah, Naruto-chan, you shouldn't talk like that. You're a young lady." He got a glare in return for that.

Sasuke looked back and forth between Naruto and Kakashi. "Naruto, what did he do?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's Kakashi sensei we're talking about," Sakura pointed out.

Sasuke actually growled at that and advanced on Kakashi. But he wasn't alone, Shikamaru was on his right, and Neji was on his left.

Kakashi laughed nervously and backed up, only to run into someone.

Anko stood behind him, grinning widely and dressed in her usual tan overcoat and mesh body suit. "Going somewhere, Kakashi? Why, when it looks like these three boys are so eager to talk to you."

Shikamaru almost grinned at Anko's words. She just wanted to see Kakashi faced with three righteously pissed off teens. Sasuke was glaring at him. Shikamaru was already thinking about eight different ways he could restrain Kakashi in a potential painful ways that wouldn't leave permanent marks. Really, he just wanted to smack Kakashi upside the head, or possibly maim him a bit, for even daring to touch his Naruto. Wait… his Naruto? He really needed to get his hormones, infatuation, and possible feelings of possession and love under control. She wasn't his. But that didn't mean that he was okay, in any sense of the word, with Kakashi touching her. He was practically twice her age, wasn't he? And he a complete pervert.

On Sasuke's other side, Neji stared at Kakashi coolly. "I don't believe it's appropriate to behave that way towards Naruto. In fact, I would say that it's definitely not appropriate. Kakashi, if you insist on treating Naruto that way, I will be forced to… educate you in the manner."

Shikamaru got the message in the painfully proper words. I am going to beat the crap out of you if you grope her again. That's what he really meant.

Behind Kakashi, Anko was outright laughing at the position the silver-haired man was in. Plus, she was still blocking his path of retreat, quite purposefully.

Kakashi took a quick look at his surroundings, gave a lazy flick of his fingers in a salute goodbye, and then vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Anko snorted. "Coward."

Shikamaru glanced back at Naruto.

For some reason, she was frowning at them. "Why did you do that?"

The three very confused males exchanged glances, but it was Shikamaru who voiced the question. "Did what?"

"You know! Stood up for me and got all… weird."

Shikamaru stood, uncomprehending, for a moment, it clicked. She didn't get why they had gotten protective of her, that they were trying to protect her curvaceous figure from Kakashi's grasping hands, among other things. Why? Because she still basically had the mentality of a guy.

Then, Sakura and Ino rolled their eyes and whispered something in Naruto's ear.

Naruto's eyes widened and then her cheeks turned pink. She glanced up at them through dark lashes. "Oh… Thank you for… Um… defending my honor like that."

Shikamaru swallowed. Standing there in the bathing suit, blushing, and looking beautiful, feminine, and shy, Naruto was breathtaking. Several intakes of breath told him that he wasn't the only one of that opinion.

Sasuke walked over to be and fondly tugged on one of her pigtails. "Dobe."

"Don't call me Dobe, Teme!"

Shikamaru watching the interaction with interest. "Careful, Uchiha, your emotions are showing." That earned him a glare.

Anko pushed past Shikamaru and Neji to stand in front of Naruto. She looked her up and down. "So the rumors are true…"

Those darn rumors again. Really, with ninjas spreading it, everyone probably knew.

She took a bite of dango off one of the two sticks she was holding, and nodded thoughtfully before abruptly holding out a stick with a dango on it, saying, "Want one?"

Shikamaru frowned. Anko was offering to share her dango? That was weird. And unusual. And unprecedented. What was going on? Of course, with Anko, it was hard to figure out what she was going to do or why she did it.

Even Naruto seemed a little confused. "Umm… Thanks…" she said hesitantly, accepting the dango cautiously, as if Anko was going to stab her with the stick at any moment. It wouldn't be the first time. And now Anko was just watching her. Naruto looked at the dango suspiciously. "You didn't poison it, did you?"

"Are you insinuating something?" Anko asked, eyes narrowing.

"No! No! I'm not." She took a bite of the dango. "See?" Naruto took another bite of the dango, and a drop of syrup fell onto the smooth, tanned skin of her chest, sliding down the valley between her breasts. Naruto carelessly wiped it away, and then licked it off her fingers, glistening pink tongue sliding over tanned skin. She took another bite of dango, this time managing to get some of it by the corner of her mouth.

Then, Anko leaned forward and licked the bit of dango away. She pulled back, smirking. Naruto's face was bright red from confusion and embarrassment, and she seemed to be at a loss for words, an extremely rare occurrence.

Meanwhile, almost everyone present was in various states of discomposure and arousal. Hinata and Neji both had nose bleeds; Shino was on the ground, most likely passed out. Sasuke looked flustered. Both Ino and Sakura were pink cheeked, and Hikaru was practically drooling. Shikamaru quickly tried to calm himself before a certain part of his anatomy made itself known.

What the heck was Anko doing?

Anko seemed amused at the reactions of the people around her, actually laughing when Kiba held a towel over his groin to block the view. Then, she sidled up to a still flabbergasted Naruto, flinging a friendly arm over the blonde's shoulders. "So, now that you're a girl, have you given any thought to learning the art of seduction?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened, and now even his brain was sputtering. The images his mind was generating when Anko said it like that, in a purposely sultry voice, was not helping his control over his body.

"Seduction?" Naruto asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Yup. Seduction. Look at you with that body. It would be a shame if you didn't use it to your advantage. I mean, I'm distracted, and I'm not even a guy."

Naruto glanced over at Shikamaru and Sasuke and then back to Anko. "Right… Thanks, I think."

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Anko prompted. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Do you want me to teach you?"

"Well, I-"

"Good. I'll meet you tomorrow at your house."

Shikamaru was pretty sure that Naruto hadn't agreed to anything, but apparently Anko had already decided. And it usually wasn't a good idea to go against her. One, because she wasn't the sanest person in the world. Two, she was stubborn, and, three sadistic. Those were not the best combinations in the world, especially when they were Anko. She actually reminded him a little bit of Naruto, if Naruto was deranged.

Sasuke frowned down at Anko. "I don't think Naruto agreed to anything." It was obvious that the Uchiha didn't approve of Naruto learning how to seduce.

Shikamaru couldn't say that he didn't disagree with Sasuke, unless Naruto wanted to practice the seduction techniques on him. That was something he was okay with. Kami, he really needed to focus.

Anko didn't seem fazed at all by Sasuke's comment. "Yes, she did. You just didn't hear it."

"Naruto is not going to learn seduction," Sasuke said bluntly while Naruto looked back and forth between the two.

Anko tilted her head to the side and asked him, "So, how long has it been?"

A flash of confusion crossed Sasuke's face before settling back into his usual stoic mask. "How long has what been?"

"How long have you had a pole shoved up your-"

"Okay!" Ino said loudly, pale blue eyes wide. "So, I think the barbeque is ready. Who's hungry?"

Shikamaru snorted quietly. Well, that was one way to diffuse the situation. Sasuke still looked like he wanted to disembowel Anko, and Anko seemed to be enjoying baiting him.

Naruto put a calming hand on Sasuke's arm, which was rather surprising, since Naruto wasn't really the calming sort, and looked at the dango wielding woman in front of her. "Anko, while I appreciate your offer…" Shikamaru could tell that she was trying to phrase the fact she didn't want to learn how to seduce in a way that wouldn't make Anko go bat-shit on her. "I don't think it's necessary for me to learn it."

"Yes, it is." Pupil-less brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or do you just not want to be taught by me?"

"What? No! I didn't say that! I-"

Once again, Ino intervened. "I think it's a good idea. Naruto totally needs to get in touch with her femininity and learning how to use her wile would help." She looked to Choji for support. "Don't you think it's a good idea?"

"Yes, dear." He was so whipped.

Next, Ino turned to Sakura. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Sakura tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear, and then, carefully avoiding looking at Naruto, said, "I think that it would be a good idea."

The look of horror on Naruto's face was almost comic. Almost. "Sakura, you're supposed to be on my side," Naruto whimpered, looking completely and utterly betrayed.

"Sorry, Naruto, but I think it would be a good idea if you got in touch with your feminine side," Sakura said with a shrug.

Naruto groaned and leaned into the closest person, who just happened to be Shikamaru. Resting her forehead on his shoulder, she grumbled, "Why are all of the girls against me? It's it enough that I let them dress me like this? I'm wearing makeup for Kami's sake! And Kyuu-chan is laughing. She thinks it's funny!" She looked up at him. "You think I'm feminine enough, don't you?"

"Definitely," he responded automatically. His eyes flickered downwards; Her pink, glistening lips were close to his. If he just lowered his head a little… He started to lower his lips to hers, but, before he could, a loud voice yelled, "Whoa!"

Shikamaru cursed inwardly. The universe was obviously conspiring against him.

Everyone turned towards the person who had exclaimed. Familiar spiky brown hair and an overlong scarf met their sight. Konohamaru stood there, Moegi and Udon flanking him, as usual. They were all staring, open mouthed, at Naruto. Udon took off his glasses and polished them before replacing them and going back to staring at Naruto.

"Boss, is that really you?" Konohamaru asked, eyes wide.

Before Naruto could answer, Moegi put her hands on her hips and stalked closer to Naruto. "This better not be one of your perverted henges!"

Naruto scratched her head and chuckled nervously, trademark grin coming out. "No, it's not a henge, Moegi."

"So, you're actually a girl?" Konohamaru asked.

"Yes…"

"Well... at least you're hot."

Shikamaru blinked. Konohamaru was taking it very well.

He turned to Moegi and Udon. "Can we still call her boss?"

Udon nodded. "I think so. It's a gender neutral term, isn't it?"

That was what they were concerned with? Well, it was better than freaking out over Naruto's sudden switch of gender. In fact, they seemed to be taking it better than anyone. Maybe hanging out with Naruto so much and emulating him… her, when they were young had something to do with it. They just didn't know weird when it was staring them in the face anymore. He shook his head. The situation was just so… And, as if the deity watching over all of the happenings in Shikamaru's life had been listening, the situation got even odder.

Ino gave Naruto a sudden hug. "See? Isn't this nice? Everyone knows that you're a hot chick and they're all okay with it!" Then, when she pulled away from the hug, her bracelet got caught on the string from Naruto's bikini top, untying the string holding the top up.

It almost seemed to happen in slow motion. The orange ties slithered down, and then the very fabric that was covering Naruto's ample chest started to fall away, showing more and more tanned skin. But then there was a faint buzzing, and Naruto's breasts were covered, no longer in danger of flashing everyone present. But they were covered by… what looked suspiciously like Shino's kikaichū.

And Naruto didn't seem bothered by that fact in the least. She merely flashed a smile at Shino, who was looking pink cheeked and no longer passed out on the ground, and said, "Thanks, Shino," not appearing put off in the least that she was basically wearing a bra made out of bugs.

Shikamaru looked around. Was he the only one who found this mildly disturbing? Judging from the other people's expressions, they found it somewhat disconcerting, too.

He heard Kiba mutter, "This is like some really weird type of porn."

He couldn't have said it better himself.

Then, suddenly, Anko, now finished with her dango, declared, "I've changed my mind. We're going to start your training immediately!"

"Umm… Anko, I don't think-" And, once again, Naruto didn't get to say what she wanted to, because Anko dragged her off, leaving everyone staring after them.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Did that just happen?"

"Yes…" The raven-haired man looked very much like he wanted to stab someone. "And I thought the Dobe was troublesome when she was a he."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Shikamaru muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Konohamaru looked back and forth at everyone. "What did we miss?"

"Anko is going to teach Naruto how to seduce men…"

Brown eyes widened and then Konohamaru turned around and ran after Anko and Naruto. "I've got to see this!" Moegi and Udon followed, hot on his heels.

Hikari and her brother's exchanged glances. "Is Konoha always like this?"

"Pretty much," came the chorused answer.

Shikamaru shook his head and turned to wade back into the water. After seeing a more than partially naked Naruto, not to mention her licking the syrup, and everything else, he needed a cold shower. But the lake would do for now. He dove under the water, letting the cold wash over him, and opened his eyes, staring up through the water to the sky overhead.

The last half hour had had more stuff packed into it than his usual week. That must be because of Naruto. And, oddly enough, he didn't mind. He sighed, bubbles floating up through the water.

But, seriously, Anko teaching Naruto to flirt? It was not going to end well. And that wasn't even considering the fact that he didn't want Naruto flirting with another other guys. And he knew Anko. Whatever she taught Naruto, there was going to be dango and sadism involved. Probably some screaming and minor maiming as well.

He broke the surface of the water and starting to swim back to shore.

Call him overly protective, but he really didn't trust Anko and Naruto together. It wouldn't hurt to go over to Naruto's house and check up on them… Kami. Love really was troublesome.

First off, here's a new chapter for you all. Secondly, I want to apologize for how long it took to get this chapter us. I've was battling with the dreaded monster know as Writer's Block, and I've only recently defeated it. It put up a good fight, though... Feel free to think I'm insane. Anyway, several more characters made their appearance, didn't they? And in the next chapter, another person is going to appear. Another very perverted person. In fact, I think he could be called a super-pervert. Anyway, sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Ja ne,

Rumer Hasit

xbamsod: Once again, I do apologize to the extremely late update. And, yes, Shikamaru's sixth sense was definitely right. Things got just plain weird. And Shino... I don't really know what to say about him. Anyway, thank you for reviewing this story. I appreciate it.

the . stories . live . on: I feel sorry for Shikamaru, too... but not to the point where I'm going to start writing the story so that everything goes easy for him. Where would the fun in that be? I rather like torturing my characters. Muahahaha... I mean... Poor, Shikamaru. And thank you very much for your comment on how I treat Naruto's sudden gender switch. I do try to take the changes there would be into account, and I appreciate that you noticed that.

Rika-chan24: Thank you. I'm very glad that you liked my story and thought it was funny. Hopefully, it made you laugh. ^_^

NatalieNamikaze2006: Thank you, thank you, and thank you. You're review made me smile. Shikamaru tried to make a move on Naruto in this one... but he got interrupted. Again. And as for Sasuke being the over-protective brother. I think it suits him, too. It's going to cause some trouble, though... Hilarious trouble.

Kanberry: Ah. I really do like your reviews. Short and sweet.

ComicGeek: Yes! My story gave you a nosebleed? That is so... awesome! I take it that means that you enjoyed the chapter. *wriggles eyebrows suggestively*. Ang, yes, Shikamaru is a lucky, lucky man. Or, he will be, if he ever gets around to actually making a move on her. Maybe next time.

9tailedokami16x: I'm glad you think that the chapter was funny. I hope you like this one as well.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles: Bloody brilliant, you say? What a compliment. Oh, and one more thing... Your pen name is just pure awesome.

MegamiTenshiHime: You love it! Yes! That's exactly what I like to hear. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when people say that. Like I've eaten a chocolate puppy. No, wait... That didn't come out right. The Sasuke-father moment was quite fun to write, by the way.

harlequin320: Glad you find Shikamaru's internal ramblings fun to read. I like writing them. So, I'm glad you thought the last chapter was a good one, I will keep up the good work, and I do apologize for not updating sooner, but I hope you enjoy this.

librarycat9: Hmm... Kidnapping Naruto with shadows and locking her in a tower. Watch it. I think that just gave Shikamaru ideas. ^_^ Thank you for reviewing.

Aquilon: Hm? You're thanking me for responding to your review? No need to do that. Thank you for actually reviewing and telling me what you think in the first place. And I understand what you're saying about Naruto's mindset, and how it might still be male. In fact, I think she probably does still think like a male. But, from Naruto's character, to me at least, it does seem like she'd care more about who a person was than their gender, per se. Moving onto Neji. Yes, I do think he's interested in Naruto, and I think she'd have at least some feelings towards him as well. Poor Shikamaru. He really needs to up his game. And I'm glad you approved of my method to remove Sasuke from the romantic equation. I really didn't want this to turn into a SasuNaru story. And he fits into the big brother role, I think. So, overall, thank you for everything you had to say. I liked reading it.

OrangeLamb: Thank you. I'm glad that you thought that the last chapter was great, and I can only hope that you like this one as well.

bhennen: Well, this story is going to go on for quite a bit further. I'm not saying that the story is going to double, but I have quite a few more chapters planned.

BBBBGarden Golden: Mm. You looooove the story? That's very nice to hear. And I didn't know that Shota meant that, but I do now. How informative.

Nero Strauss: Ta da! Let's welcome Anko! Shino... well, he made some sort of a move. I think he's a closet pervert. And as for Neji... Yes, I think he likes Naruto. Shoot. How did I forget about Gaara and Temari, though? I shall have to think about it. Thank you for the ideas and comments.

Anie6142: Yes... Well, hopefully Shikamaru's powerful brain will keep him from going insane under all of the weird and crazy things that always happens when Naruto's present. As for Hikari molesting Naruto in her sleep. Maybe Naruto should sleep with one eye open. Keita doesn't seem all that interested, and I'm not sure if Shota really likes Naruto, or if he just likes messing with Sasuke and Shikamaru.

VampiricBloOdyRose: Shikamaru did try to make another move in this chapter, but, sadly, he was interrupted by Konohamaru. I think he needs to be bolder about the whole thing. And maybe Sakura will help him... Or she might just muck things up. You never know.

Prodigy of War: Amazing? Well, thank you. It feels nice to have my story called that particular adjective. I am sorry that this chapter took so long to post up, though. I'm still getting over the Writer's block... But, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.

Mystia Katsuragi: I do keep making Shikamaru's life more and more troublesome, don't I? It's rather amusing. And, no, I swear I haven't forgotten about this story. It's just the darned Writer's Block.

animeboylover: Congratulations on getting into that college of the arts. I wish you luck on that. And I'm glad that you like how it turned out that Neji was interested in Naruto and Sasuke was the protective familial type. I completely agree with you. Way too many SasuNaru fics.

Shinigami's-Neko-Gaki: Plum torture indeed. I shudder to even think of a shopping trip with Ino and Sakura. Which is exactly why I had Naruto go with them. I'm just evil like that. And I don't think that people think that Shikamaru and Naruto are dating... Or some of them might, but I'm pretty sure any guy going after Naruto isn't going to care. Poor Shikamaru.

anon: Ah, well thank you very much. It's nice to know that you look forward to my chapters. I hope you enjoyed this one.

Rumer Hasit Fan D: The biggest grin formed on my face when I read your review. I was ecstatic to hear that my story made your crappy day marginally better. I mean, I'm just glad that you enjoyed it and gave you an evening of pleasurable reading. I do hope that you enjoy this chapter, too, and, hopefully, it won't be as long until my next post. Oh... and one more thing. I rather like your pen name. ^_^

Nerd4ever243: Friggin' awesome? I think I rather like that description. I think I could feel my ego growing with every positive comment I read in your review. So, just... Thank you.

Zlatka: Gasp! You don't like Shikamaru? Well, you're entitled to your own opinion... even if you're wrong. Just joking. And you wanted to know what Shino could do with his bugs, right? Well, there was a little big of his bugs in here.

Slytherin's Pimp: You know, you are right about that. Shikamaru does need to man up. I think I have something in mind...

gor not gore: Thank you very much. I enjoy writing about Shikamaru as a... erm.. Horny teenager, and you obviously enjoy reading it, so it's all good. And there's no need to thank me for posting this story. I want to thank you for reading it and taking the time to review. So, thank you.