I lifted my head up to look at the thing that had jumped lightly down at my chest. It was fuzzy and red. I recognized the creature instantly. I dropped my head back down and sighed. I don't know what Shika got from cloud watching, but being under the warm sun letting my sore muscles relax was fairly nice.

"Hey Mister Cranberry," I made myself mutter out a greeting, "Where is Chiya?"

As I asked the spider I stretched out my senses. Aburame were easy to point out, their kikaichu buzzed with life, but if Chiyako was around she was out of my range.

"Kunoichi class then?" The spider twitched on me and I took that as a yes.

Spiders weren't a problem for me. I had my past life to thank for that. There had been a roommate that had kept odd pets. Mostly snakes but he had a few spiders. The memory was foggy, but I recalled enough to know how to handle them. It also amused me to think how mom and Kako would freak out. Probably not openly, but they would surely stiffen up.

I laid there for a while until I figured it was time that kunoichi classes would be over. I cradled the spider in an arm, this small body made it seem so much larger then if I had been an adult.

"Shikamasa-kun," I glanced up at Iruka, he was carrying a stack of papers, "I didn't know you were still here."

I grunted and lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "I'm heading home now."

Iruka's lips cracked into a smile, "So it seems."

His eyes flickered to my arm, maybe he had worried something was wrong but then he caught a glimpse of the spider. He licked his lips a little nervously, clearly he wasn't too found of the creatures. Too bad Chiyako was also in his class, he drew the short end of the stick there.

"Hey Sensei, can students still graduate early?" I hadn't heard of anything like it since the last war had ended. I had a feeling that there were only exceptions if they were in need of soldiers and had a prodigy in the making.

"No, not anymore. You in some kind of rush?" He asked his expression wry. I realized that I was unintentionally following him.

"I was just curious," I responded with another half shrug. "See you tomorrow Sensei."

"Right, be careful Shikamasa."

I grunted and turned down the hallway. Once again I extended out my senses this time I managed to track down the kunoichi class. They were starting to disperse. The chunin teacher frowned down at me. Perhaps because most boys that came around were looking for trouble.

I caught Chiyako's eye, she had been with a group of girls. Classmates. She had looked a little uncomfortable and looked visibly relieved when she noticed me. Shyly she excused herself. I handed off her pet and muttered a quick goodbye while she thanked me for looking after him.

I stopped by the market before heading home. It was still fairly early in the day. I was digging in my pocket, checking out my funds. I just barely had enough for some fruit, yet not as much as I had hoped. Maybe I could pester Shikamaru for some money, do some of his chores for him… As long as mom didn't find out.

"Yo Shika-chibi!" Naruto's voice pulled me into reality.

I glanced around the crowd before spotting the vibrant orange jacket.

"Hey Naruto-nii," I greeted not all too fond of my new nickname. Still there was no stopping Naruto Uzumaki.

The blond suddenly gave me a dopey smile. I didn't realize why, not until he muttered happily 'Naruto-nii'. I had made a mistake, now there was no way I would get away with calling him anything else.

Naruto gave himself a small shake and then beamed at me, brighter than the sun.

"Guess what Shika-chibi!"

"No," I instantly replied and carefully picked out some strawberries. The woman at the stand was wearing a tight smile, her eyes turned wary whenever she looked in Naruto's direction. There were a lot of stupid people in the world, yet at least this woman knew better than to say anything.

"What?" Naruto gaped as if he expected my reaction to be different. "You really aren't that cute are you?"

"Can't you see I'm busy nii-chan?" I stated as I payed for the red fruit. As much as I wanted to bite into on, I held back. These were for the deer, it was one of their favorite treats.

That dopey smile of his returned for a breif moment, but he wasn't going to let himself get distracted. Not again.

"I'm taking the chunin exams! Isn't that awesome?" He had started walking with me toward the Nara compound so he immediately noticed when I froze in my tracks. My heart fluttered as a wave of panic gripped my stomach.

Naruto squinted at me, his blue eyes looking me over carefully as if he could see what was wrong. He flinched when I turned my sharp gaze on him.

"You better protect her." My voice came out a small squeak.

"What?" Naruto gave a small laugh and put his hands behind his head, "Oh yeah, of course I will! You can count on me Shika-chibi!"

I wasn't impressed and I could still feel the rising bile in my throat.

"If anything happen to her-" I tired to swallow down the images, "-I'm going to punch you in the face!"

He blinked at me, any false bravado he had used sliding away. Then he surprised me.

"Yeah, yeah alright… I'll give ya a free hit."

I kind of wanted to punch him right now.

"Naruto-nii," I said instead deciding it was best to think of something else, "Do you want to feed the deer with me?"

"Uh…sure?" He flashed another one of his bright sunny smiles.

"Some will eat from your hands," I informed him, though really they didn't just eat anything from your hand. You had to bribe them with sweet treats like fruit. Still not all were brave enough to come so near, the skittish ones would still hold back even if they too wanted some goodies.

I wouldn't say that any of the deer were domestic, some were just friendlier than others. In my past life I had known domesticated deer. The memory made me smile. There were plenty of deer who would venture straight into the heart of the city. My garden had been destroyed the first time I had attempted one. Then I just started the upkeep so I could see the family of deer every once in a while.

Naruto found the whole experience hilarious. His laughter startled plenty of the deer and I was pushed further into the circle of doe that were circling me. They all recognized the bag I carried, or maybe they just smelled that the source was inside the bag. Either way I couldn't escape and Naruto had already given away the berries I had managed to hand off to him.

"I can barely see your head Shika-chibi," Naruto bubbled with more laughter.

I slipped under a doe, it wasn't the safest thing to do but it was my only option. Then I tossed the remaining strawberries to the deer keeping their distance. Plenty of the group tried to follow the through but they didn't make it in time.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" I asked the blond.

We had Naruto and Sasuke, and sometimes Kakashi, for dinner far more often than not. It was actually pretty fun, especially when I could play shogi against Naruto and actually win. I never won any games against my family. Mom didn't really play, at least she didn't anymore. The last time she had, she had lost against me. It had been a big moment for me, but I think it was just further discouragement for herself.

"Would that be alright?" Naruto asked scratching at his cheek.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Shikako surprised us, she looked very amused.

"O-okay than," Naruto decided, still slightly flustered.

AN: As to answer the question, no Shikako doesn't know that Masa is reincarnated. I've written scenes and situations where he tells her, but nothing that seems like an actual situation that would happen so far. The reason she doesn't know right now is because by the time he was remembering his previous life Shikako was in school. If he ever revealed anything telling she just hadn't been around to witness it. And now there is a far less chance of him telling her, mainly because she's so busy trying to fix the world. Is he just too afraid? Probably because Shikako would totally pull a Shikamaru and make sure that her little brother was safe. That would probably mean making sure he couldn't become a ninja so Masa wouldn't make the sacrifices she does.

and really i think the only reason Masa knows about Shikako is probably because he caught her singing a tone or maybe she quoted something that made him just stop and stare at her. He probably had a mini panic attack as he realized why Shikako was so motivated which probably in turn just made him want to grow up faster... *shrugs* at least that's one of my many theories.

Oh and last chapter i might've said he doesn't have friends. well he has people he's friendly towards but no one he hangs out with.