Sitting on his bed cross legged, Shikamaru looked at the quest box before him.

Quest Complete : Be a helpful son!

Reward : 100 exp, Increased rep with the Nara

Bonus objective : Impress Kou Nara

Bonus reward : A random skill book

This skill book has been sent into the inventory

"Sent into the inventory" As if on cue another box popped up this time it looked like a digital screen with multiple slots, on the left of these slots were 4 slots that had shikamaru's clothes in it with 3 more slots empty.

When he touched his shirt and removed it, he instantly felt his own shirt disappear. Suddenly having the cold touch his body made him shiver and he instantly equipped the shirt back on.

"Yeah, this is no genjutsu" Shikamaru sighed in relief "There are way too many layers in this genjutsu to be real…" And then Shikamaru looked at the slots on the right and his eyes narrowed at the single filled slot that was in the inventory. The instant he pressed on that slot a book popped out in his hands.

You have acquired the skill book "Guardian Soul"

Would you like to learn it

Y/N

Shikamaru pressed "Y" and he instantly felt a warm aura enveloping him before it disappeared as he felt new knowledge he never knew before entering his mind.

Guardian Soul(Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

MP Required : 40(16 MP per min active)

"Wielded by a paladin who lived a long time ago, her body may have crumbled but her soul did not."

Physical resistance +35% and Max HP +200

Shikamaru took a deep breath and let it activate as the knowledge he just learnt taught him.

He closed his eyes to focus on the feeling.

I could feel myself floating in a deep sea, I tried to move my body but I couldn't as wherever I was floating felt right. Almost as if it was welcoming me

Soon enough, I saw a lone figure across this blue void. A lone figure who's only distinguished features I could make out was the feminine shape and the massive blade he gripped in her hand.

Our eyes met and I felt her lips move.

"Guardian Soul!"

A scream that surrounded my being as I felt myself being pushed out.

Shikamaru's eyes opened wide as he felt his body instantly feel heavier and denser than usual.

He looked at his hands. They felt the same as ever but a lot denser, his entire body felt like it was carrying a great weight in it.

Soon the feeling faded as he was left back to normal.

Shikamaru fell down on his bed again "Who was she…" He felt himself slightly breathing heavily exhausted from using this new skill that he got.

He got up and looked at it again. It's text still unchanged

Activated Skill :

Guardian Soul(Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

MP Required : 40(16 MP per min active)

"Wielded by a paladin who lived a long time ago, her body may have crumbled but her soul did not."

Physical resistance +35% and Max HP +200

Shikamaru closed his hand and felt it to be denser, almost as if he was being engulfed by some kind of barrier around him.

"Yeah, this… is troublesome…" Deactivating his skill, Shikamaru closed his eyes on the bed. "So life…really wants to screw with me…." Feeling the drowsiness overwhelm him he started to slowly slip away "I…just…want a nor…" passing away mid-sentence, Shikamaru had finally fallen asleep.

"SHIKAMARU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE YOU GET LATE FOR YOUR TEAM ASSIGNMENT" I could hear my mother scream for me while I just stared at the screen in front of me.

YOUR HP/MP HAS RECOVERED

"Man I wish yesterday would have been a dream…." I sighed as I made my way downstairs to eat my breakfast.

"-Ahh~! It feels nice to be home" pleasantly surprised my dad was home, looks like he finished whatever work he was doing the previous few days.

"Yo" I raised my hand at him and sat down to eat my breakfast.

"Looks like you are finally getting your teams assigned to you. You remind me exactly of how I used to be when I got my team assigned to me" I just stared at him. Both of us knew he was trying to play the dumb so that he could tease me. He knew the team I was gonna be assigned with, in fact everyone here knows. I just wanna get it over with….

While eating my breakfast I tried to focus my thoughts on this strange ability of mine. It was no longer an illusion that much I knew "Time to see if my father can notice it" think along the thoughts of such I whispered "INVENTORY"

The same game like box appeared in front of me and I glanced at my father who didn't really bother to say, in fact not even acknowledging this box in front of my face "That confirms that I'm the only crazy maniac that can see this"

"What…a draggg…" Sighing to myself I continued eating my food.

I heard a light chuckle coming from my side and saw my mother giggling as my dad looked at my face with an expression that is akin to disappointment. As if the heaven's had blessed our bond we both uttered the same word.

""Troublesome…."" My mother's giggle went into a full blown laugh. A rare occasion where the usual silent breakfast table was filled with a happy atmosphere, her laughter died down and she looked at me with a smile.

"From now on, you are a true Ninja. My son is a full blown Ninja" My mother kept telling me, after all I just graduated from the Ninja academy.

"He isn't one yet Yoshino, he still has to pass the team selections" my father said sternly while gulping down more rice in his mouth "~it feels so nice to have actual food~" his face melts with each bite he had.

"Looks like someone hasn't had free time to eat the past few days" I thought to myself.

"Aww shut Shika~! You think something like team selections would stop my SON!" mother puffed her chest out and proclaimed to father while having both her hands pointed at me. My old man snorted after looking at my face.

"What a troublesome family…" A smile crept up my face as I continued to eat my breakfast.

A peaceful morning for the Nara residence.


I made my way to the academy one final time to see my future teammates that will be in my squad. The academy came into view as I reminisced the previous few years in the academy.

Kids join the Konoha academy to train to become Ninja or pursue whatever education field they want to join in the future, it is an all around option for all careers. Though only a very minor population of the graduates become Ninjas as they get weeded out soon enough.

Once a Ninja graduates the academy he gets promoted into the ranks of Genin, the lowest level of ninja. Fresh out of the academy kids who will soon learn the struggles and face the reality of the cruel world outside, that is a topic for another day.

The freshly graduated Genin are then placed in a squad of 3 with a Jonin as their leader, A Jonin is an extremely experienced Ninja. They are known to be the strongest and most qualified ninjas under the kage or the leader of the village.

Entering the academy building I noticed multiple parents, teachers, Corridors seemed to be bustling with people going about their day. The teachers running around with paperwork in their hands, the students running around the building trying to reach their classes on time, the parents sending their kids off in front of the classes. Silently taking the atmosphere in, I made my way to my classroom.

"Today is the last day, I get to enter this building as a student" I would be lying to myself if I said there wasn't a slight childish excitement in me right now, at the end of the day I am just a 12 year old brat who graduated from the academy. It isn't much, but for my lazy ass this was quite troublesome. So I'll indulge myself a little.

Shoving my hands into my pocket I grabbed my forehead protector and tied it around my left arm, seeing my classroom entrancing close by. I tightened it as I walked through the entrance as the eyes of the classroom fell on me. A few students looked at me and waved while the rest went back to doing whatever they were doing. It was quite the rowdy atmosphere.

Glancing through the maze of students I spotted two familiar figures, Choji looked at me and waved his hand in the air, while Ino seemed to be fangirling as usual around a student called Sasuke. Ignoring her, I made my way towards Choji in one of the seats at the back.

"Yo" I lazily waved my hand at him while he grinned happily making room for me to sit on the seat.

"Hello there Shika, how was your morning?" Choji said as munched on some chips he carried along with him. Seeing that the class was getting ever more noisy, I laid my head down as I usually would and acted like I took a nap, Choji continued munching on his chips while making small talk with the rest of the class.

"Alright, now that I made it into class and have nothing to do until class starts, let me try a few things" Instead of whispering out, I thought of the word Inventory.

My inventory popped out without me having to verbally say it. I grabbed a pencil and tried to store it in the inventory. Just as I imagined the pencil disappeared from my hand and appeared inside the inventory slot for items.

"This is a really broken ability…I need to test the limits of what it can store later" I moved the pencil out of my inventory and just rolled it on the table.

I grinded my head for other things I could possibly find in a game… "GOT IT! CHARACTER STATUS"

Name: Shikamaru Nara

Title: The gamer

Level: LV13(5%)

HP: 800/800

CP: 360
MP: 560

STR: 9

DEX: 16

VIT: 8

WIS: 38

INT: 41

LUK: ?

-TITLES-

-SKILLS-

My jaw slightly hung as I saw my entire self being presented to me statistically. I looked at my status screen trying to observe what I'm seeing, I focused on CP and the CP expanded and a new window popped up.

CP - Chakra Points

Chakra is one the living essence of life, a combination of both Physical energy and Mental energy a person possesses. It is also the basic foundation to perform a Jutsu.

Current CP : 360

"I see, if I focus enough I am able to pop up an explanation window for something I don't understand"

Time to see what the re-"KYAAAAA" "THIS JERK!" "SASUKE-SAMA"

I jerked up and looked around me and found Naruto and Sasuke glaring at each other.

"Huh? I thought Naruto failed his exam" I saw his forehead protector "Looks like he passed after all" that is in fact interesting, did Iruka-sensei hold a re-examination for him or was there something that happened that I'm missing out on. I decided to save that thought for later when I witnessed a scene that would forever be engraved into my mind.

Naruto and Sasuke were glaring at each other eye to eye when a student in front desk pushed Naruto leading to probably one of the funniest things I've witnessed my entire time.

Kiss

Naruto and Sasuke ended up kissing each other leading to an entire noisy mess that accompanied it.

"hahaha…That's what you get for trying to make a ruckus" I could hear Choji falling over on the seat and holding his sides as he laughed loudly. Muttering Troublesome under my breath I decided to actually take a na-"EVERYONE QUIET DOWN"

"Or maybe not…UGH!" Regretting my decision to not nap earlier, I heard Iruka-sensei enter the classroom and shut everyone up. While everyone got an earful from him "Including me… why can't he not scream for once… I'm trying to sleep here"

Entering the class he started to give a speech for all the students that graduated and congratulated us for making it this far.

"I will now be announcing all the team arrangements"

"Team 1 : Yusha Kari, Mitsuga Oreri, Otori Oreri and you will be lead by the Jonin Katsu"

I dozed off until without a care in the world and kept an earful for my name.

"Team 4…"

"Team 6…"

"Team 10 Shikamaru Nara"

My ears perked up as I yawned and looked up at the teacher.

"Choji Akimichi"

Choji cheered and looked at me.

"Ino Yamanaka"

Ino's face that already looked dejected turned even more dejected as purple haze eroded out of her body.

On one side I see Choji's ever excited face and on the other I see Ino's depressed face… "Troublesome…" Ino glares at me as I avert my eyes back on the bench.

"You will be led by the Jonin Asuma Sarutobi" The name rings a few bells, Sarutobi being a surname of the Sarutobi clan that the current Hokage belongs too.

"That concludes the team announcement, your Teachers should arrive soon enough, I hope you will all be proud of whatever path you choose from now on" Iruka smiled at us and left the classroom and soon other students followed until it was just a few students in the classrom "I guess, I'll miss hearing his screaming voice too" I grumbled internally before turning towards Choji who grabbed my sleeve.

"Aren't we lucky to end up together" he told me while being giddy towards himself with a mouthful of crumbs "This wasn't totally planned and we were TOTALLY LUCKY" I internally screamed but happily nodded my head in front of Choji.

"Are you an idiot! it was bound to happen considering the relationship our clans have! Because of that I'm now stuck with… With 'This Big Boned Bastard' who doesn't even have a half-decent face" Ino definitely looks pissed off, Choji looks terrified looking at the woman in front of him. I avert my eyes and slowly act like I'm napping.

"Shikamaru NARA, don't even try fake napping in front of me… why did I have to end up in the squad with you good for nothing…ah~ if only it was Sasuke, if only it was SASUKE Instead! that forehead pig Sakura ended up with him! Hmph" she is definitely mad, I look at Choji who looks sad munching on god knows where it came from Chip packet in his hand. While I 100% know that Ino doesn't mean any of the things she just said, seeing Choji depressed still makes me sad "oh well… Nothing I can do abo-"

Optional Quest : ACT LIKE A F-R-I-E-N-D

- Help your friend Choji, who feels sad.

- Bonus objective : Make Ino apologize

Reward : 50 EXP, Choji is able to output 2.5x during the test

Failure : Possibility of failing the test, decreased REP with Choji, Ino, Asuma

I looked at the quest once, I looked at it again, is this game mocking me!?

"what…a….DRAG!" I slammed the desk as I stood up starting both my teammates along with the rest of the class. "This just got a lot more troublesome…" I massaged my forehead ignoring all the stares I was getting as I sat back down "...a whole lot more troublesome…"

AND CUT

It's been generations since I worked on this fanfiction, I wanted to say for anyone who has read this all that time ago and returned to read it again. I wholeheartedly thank you.

I'm working on my other fanfiction called "Esper of the Zero" And I have been slowly writing it because I don't work on it. But I also felt the need to work on this fanfiction too. I wanted a few cool ideas for moves or skills Shikamaru could learn or have in the future. If anyone has any recommendations please do drop 'em in the comments.

I think I'll try to upload this a bit more frequently until it gets to at least till chuunin arc after which. The story will take a drastic detour from the main timeline before going back to the main timeline so I hope you guys can stick around with me until then.

See y'all

Signing out Ichinaruko