Yesterday was such a drag and today didn't seem like it would be much better. He was standing in his yard looking at his dad who was rummaging around in a bag for something. It wasn't even 7:00 am yet and he was out here training or whatever his dad was having him do.
"Ah, here it is." He said pulling out a couple of pieces of paper.
"What is that." Shikamaru looked at the paper confused.
"It's called chakra paper, well use it to find out your chakra nature," Shikaku explained he then held one piece between two fingers. "To use it you just need to channel your chakra through it." The paper sparked and caught on fire and burned away. "As I'm sure you are aware everyone has one of the five basic elements that they can use to channel chakra. Mine is fire like most shinobi in this village but yours could be any of the five." He handed Shikamaru a piece of paper.
Shikamaru took it and held it in between his fingers just like his dad had done. He then pushed some of his chakra down into the paper as it entered the paper began to crumble and break into dirt and dust. "What does that mean." He looked at his dad
"That means you have an affinity for earth release which is the third most common in Konoha. On top of that, you also can use yin release which most people can't do no matter how much training they have." his dad pulled out a scroll from his bag. "You don't have much chakra and you are still in the academy so I'll give you this." He tossed Shikamaru a scroll.
Shikamaru unraveled it and the title was: Earth-style: Rock Throw. below are instructions on how to do the jutsu. "That is one of the most basic earth-style jutsu I don't know any so I won't be much help here."
"From now on we are either going to work on taijutsu or your chakra control and reserves when you get home. I expect you to learn that jutsu on your own, and I will be checking your progress so you better do it." This was so troublesome Shikamaru sighed and put the scroll in his pocket. "Now it's time for school so hurry up before your late,"
Shikamaru sighed school was such a drag well at least he would be able to sleep through it. He walked slowly through the village, people were walking around going to work or running errands. When he got to the academy kids were running around all over the front.
Shikamaru made his way through the crowd of people and walked up the stairs to his class. He was somewhat early for once there were only a few people there. Sasuke sat in the back corner while Sakura and Ino fought over who got to sit next to him. Hinata sat in the front row looking around bashfully and Shino sat towards the back in the middle. When Shikamaru entered the teacher looked at him surprised.
"Shikamaru you're here early." Iruka sensei exclaimed. A few people turned to look at him in shock.
"Yeah." was all he said in return. He walked back and took his seat. He sat as far from the others as he could. He was in the opposite corner as Sasuke right next to the window.
He sat down and stared into the sky envious. He thought about what his dad had told him. It would probably be better to learn the jutsu as quickly as possible so that he had less training to do in the long run. However, when he finished it his dad might just give him another jutsu to do and he said they were going to work on his chakra reserves that was some of the worst training it was just exhausting yourself over and over again until you got a bigger reserve.
"Hey, Shikamaru." He turned towards the voice and saw Naruto grinning like an idiot right beside him.
"Uh, hey," He mumbled he had seen Naruto last night and they had talked for a while but why was he talking to him now?
"Can I sit here?" He was beaming down at Shikamaru who was confused by the attention.
"Sure," he replied not wanting to cause more trouble than necessary.
He sat down and Shikamaru noticed his gaze drift over to the two girls still fighting.
"Why are all the girls so obsessed with the great Sasuke," Naruto said in a condescending voice.
"Women will always be a mystery to me." Shikamaru sympathized he would never understand why everyone seemed to be obsessed with him sure he was the top of the class in just about everything he was so arrogant and when he wasn't making fun of someone for being weak he was off brooding in a corner or something like he was doing right now.
It seemed as though Ino won as she managed to push Sakura out of the way and claimed her prize the glorious seat next to Sasuke even though he has rarely spoken to either of them they fight over that spot every day.
Naruto turned back to him. "Man, people like us will never get girlfriends when they're all obsessing over him. I should go put him in his place." Shikamaru resisted the urge to face palm not only was Hinata as obsessed with Naruto as the others were with Sasuke he would never in a million years be able to beat him.
"You do that." he sighed and put his head back down on the desk. It seemed that whenever he did that he could feel the world more clearly. He could feel the sun peeking through the window warming his skin. He could feel the rough desk underneath him. He saw the trees sway in the breeze outside and the clouds slide through the air.
The rest of the class began to file in slowly Choji took a seat next to Naruto and the two of them began joking around Shikamaru didn't feel like talking at the moment so he just stayed quiet. He was attempting to drift off to sleep when he was interrupted by a sharp ringing sound.
"Alright class quiet down, and wake up Shikamaru." Iruka sensei's remark was met with giggling from around the room. Shikamaru raised his head and looked towards the teacher who had turned his back and picked up some chalk. Well, it looks like I won't be able to sleep for a while what a drag.
"Today we will learn about the history of Konoha." Yeah, there was no way he was going to listen to this. Maybe he could sleep without putting his head down as he was thinking he saw Naruto making some gesture. He turned and looked at the boy and he pushed a piece of paper in front of Shikamaru. It was full of horribly written kanji Shikamaru was finally able to make out. Were going to sneak out you in. Sneak out this probably wouldn't end well but why not he turned and nodded to Naruto who smiled along with Choji so he was in on this too. But how are we going to pull this off?
However, it seemed that wasn't his problem because when Iruka sensei opened a drawer in his desk a ball of paint exploded in his face. He looked at Naruto who was already jumping up and he quickly followed grabbing the window and sliding it up as fast as he could. The metal made a loud squeak alerting the teacher but it didn't matter because Shikamaru was already jumping through the window with Naruto and Choji right on his heels.
It felt like he was flying when he jumped he fell three stories but landed easily on the ground and so did Choji. Naruto on the other hand tried to land on his feet but overturned crashing to the ground on his butt. Shikamaru looked up at the window and saw a few other students looking down at them with envy in their eyes and Iruka sensei was glaring down at them still covered in all colors of paint. He was leaning out the window and looked to be debating between jumping and chasing them and staying to make sure no one else escaped.
They didn't stick around long enough to find out, once Naruto was off the ground they ran they didn't know where and they didn't care. They were nearing the other side of the village once they had stopped and they all fell to the ground to catch their breath. Once they had recovered all three of them burst out laughing. It had been a while since Shikamaru had done something like this and he forgot how fun it was.
"So what are we going to do now," Choji asked when they finally caught their breath.
"Well, we can't go home," Shikamaru responded.
"We should go get some ramen," Naruto exclaimed jumping a giant smile back on his face. "I know the best ramen place in the village, follow me," Without waiting for a response Naruto was already running off back into the village.
"How does he have so much energy," He turned to ask Choji but he was long gone following after Naruto the second he mentioned ramen.
"Ah, why not," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath as he got up to follow them.
Shikamaru chased the two through the streets until they finally arrived at a small ramen stand. There were a few stools set up in front of a bar with a curtain covering the front. He pulled back the curtain and took a seat next to Choji. An old man came out to greet them.
"Welcome, oh Naruto shouldn't you be in school right now." The man scolded Naruto, how much did he come here for the man to know his name Shikamaru wondered.
"But the class was so boring today," Naruto wined
"That's no excuse and you even dragged your friends along with you." He gestured to Shikamaru and Choji.
"Dad go easy on him he's our best customer after all." A pretty girl a little older than them said as she came out of the back. Best customer he really did come here all the time.
"Yeah alright so I guess you want the miso ramen again," Naruto nodded eagerly. "So what about you two."
"Do you make Tonkotsu ramen," Choji asked hopefully.
"We make every kind of ramen." the old man's words made Choji start to drool. "Then give me two bowls, please." The chef just chuckled at Choji's words and then turned to Shikamaru.
"And for you."
"Can I just get some Shoyu ramen?" The man smiled at Shikamaru's request. "Sure thing they will be out in just a moment."
"So Shikamaru I heard that your dad is making your training harder," Choji said Shikamaru turned to look at him and sighed. "Yeah, it's such a drag he's making me use weapons and learn elemental Jutsu."
"Woah you get to learn elemental Jutsu," Naruto looked at him in shock.
"Yeah, my dad gave me a scroll for one this morning." Those words seemed to make Naruto even more excited seeing as his grin grew even wider if that was possible.
"Is it some kind of flaming dragon or make explosions, I'm going to be able to control all the elements when I become the Hokage and I'll be able to cause explosions at will?" Naruto began rambling about all the cool jutsu he wanted to master someday.
"So you don't know how elemental jutsu works do you," Shikamaru asked causing the hyper boy to stop mid-sentence.
"What do you mean," He looked slightly disappointed. "I thought shinobi were able to control the elements to make cool flashy Jutsu."
"Well they can," Naruto brightened up again. "But most can only use one element." and he was sad again. He slumped his shoulders and leaned against the counter like he was pouting. Wow, this kid was an idiot how had he not flunked out of the academy yet?
"Wait." Naruto perked up again. Was he bipolar or something it seemed like his emotions switched at the drop of a hat. "You said most can only use one but not all."
"Well yeah, the strongest shinobi like the Hokage are usually able to use more than one of the nature releases."
"Well, then it looks like I'm just going to have to master as many as I can." Naruto declared looking more serious than Shikamaru had ever seen him.
"So anyway what's your nature release Shikamaru," Choji asked him once Naruto was done with his outburst.
"I have Earth Release." He told Choji.
"So does that mean you can cause earthquakes and make statues out of stone?" Naruto asked.
"No right now I can't do anything, and I've never heard of anyone being able to do those things," Shikamaru responded. "That's so boring."
Their conversation was interrupted by the man coming back with their food. "Here you go please enjoy." He said placing their bowls in front of them. They all said their thanks and began eating. Shikamaru was stirring his ramen to mix the flavors. Once he was satisfied he picked up a few noodles and tried them. Wow, this was the best ramen he had ever had no wonder Naruto liked it here so much.
"Another please," Naruto said from beside him. He looked over and Naruto's bowl was empty and the man was already handing him another bowl. He ate even faster than Choji he was still only halfway through his first bowl. By the time Shikamaru had finished his first bowl, Naruto had eaten four and Choji had three. Shikamaru pulled some ryo from his pocket and placed it on the counter.
"Well I'll see you guys later," he said standing up.
"You're leaving already you've only had one bowl," Naruto asked.
"One is enough for me and believe it or not I'm going to train," this shocked both Naruto and Choji judging by the looks on their faces.
"You're going to train. Who are you and what have you done with Shikamaru," Choji said in disbelief.
"haha," Shikamaru mocked "My dad is making me learn a new jutsu and it will just be easier if I get it out of the way rather than procrastinate,"
"Yeah I guess that makes sense but it's still strange to see you willingly put effort into something," Shikamaru smiled at him. "Yeah usually," The truth was his dad's words had motivated him. He was weak he had one of the lowest scores in his class and was falling behind the others. So he bid his farewell and went to look for a place to train.
Why didn't Sasuke like her? She had done all she could to try and win his attention but he still never showed any interest in her. Right now she was stuck sitting next to Ino who had stolen her spot next to Sasuke, the stupid pig. But she didn't have time to dwell on that the lesson was starting.
"Alright class quiet down, and wake up Shikamaru," the class erupted in giggles how was that lazy idiot already asleep? He raised his head grogally and sent the teacher a glare.
"Today we will be learning about the history of Konoha," this was met with a few groans. History lessons were always the worst even for people like Sakura who studied and liked class.
The teacher walked over and opened a drawer on his desk. As it slid open something shot out and covered Iruka Sensai's face. Was that paint it was probably that idiot Naruto again. Her suspicion was proved right when the window was thrown open and Shikamaru, Naruto, and Choji jumped out. Why did they even come here they had some of the lowest scores in the class and were always doing something to interrupt it and ruin it for everyone else. Choji was always munching loudly on a bag of chips, Shikamaru slept all the time and made the teacher stop the lecture to yell at him and Naruto was by far the worst he was always yelling or pulling some kind of prank it's like he needed attention all the time.
Iruka sensei ran over to the window along with a few other curious students but Sakura didn't bother she couldn't care less about those idiots. "Lucky bastards," She heard Kiba mutter in front of her.
"Danm brats," Iruka sensei cursed walking back up to the front.
"Let's just ignore that we will continue with the lesson," More grones the lesson was extremely boring today even Sakura found herself dozing off a few times. But class finally ended and Sakura hurried out the doors. She moved through the streets quickly and eventually made it to one of the training grounds. It was never used for some reason the grass was overgrown with flowers blooming throughout and the forest was thick with vines and brush.
She started to return to her favorite spot when she heard a voice she recognized. She quickly got down and moved closer. "Earth-style: rock throw jutsu"
Yeah, that was Shikamaru what was he doing? She sneaked closer and closer until she could see him through the trees. He was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Was he training? That was surprising, to say the least. She watched as he made some hand signs and then yelled. "Earth-style: rock throw jutsu" He punched the air and a rock shot out of the ground and slammed into a nearby tree causing some damage to it.
Maybe Shikamaru was stronger than she thought. Well, whatever this spot is taken guess she had to find another. Sakura backed up quietly hoping that Shikamaru didn't know she was there. She made her way back to the village. What was she going to do now? Well, maybe she just had to go home although she didn't want to deal with her parents right now. But she didn't have any other options.
Naruto had fun today he got to hang out with Shikamaru and Choji they may even be his friends. It was the first time he had gone out to eat with someone aside from the Hokage or sometimes Iruka sensei. But now that it was over he was alone again Shikamaru had gone to train for some reason and Choji had spent a little more time with him and then went off to do something else.
He was slowly walking back to his apartment today was fun but it would be difficult to ever do it again. Iruka sensei would be more vigilant from now on. So it was back to boring lectures for a while. He turned the corner and saw his building it was pretty old and run down but it was still kinda nice the people were alright they just seemed never to be around when he left or got home. He walked up the old stairs to the top floor they creaked under his feet every time he took a step. He finally reached his floor and walked across the wooden hall to the last door.
He definitely had the best room in this building it was on the top floor corner so he had two windows. He slid the key in and tried to turn it. Ir moved about halfway before stopping suddenly. "Not again," he muttered under his breath.
Naruto forced the key back and tried to pull out but it wouldn't budge. He began violently jiggling it up and down until it finally slid out. "well let's try this again,"
He shoved the key back in and turned it. There was a soft click as it fell into place. Bingo he smiled turning the handle and walking in. The room was dark the lights were off and the shades drawn. He flicked the light switch and the bulbs flickered on revealing his messy room. Man, he needed to clean this place. His bed was a mess there was trash and dirty dishes thrown about and he had left the faucet on.
He closed the door and walked over to the sink. There were even more dishes inside getting soaked in water. He turned off the faucet and then looked around again. Something smelled off it was getting a little funky in here. He went over to his windows and opened them to let some fresh air in. A gentle breeze flowed in taking the smell with it. Naruto walked over to the window and looked out. The sun was almost setting already it met the horizon and painted the sky a beautiful pink and orange
As he took in the view his stomach began to rumble, he must have not had enough ramen. He went to his pantry and pulled open the door. He had three shelves lined with instant ramen. He grabbed a cup and hurried over to the sink to fill it. He poured the water into the cup and put it in the microwave. Waiting was so hard especially when he had to watch the cup spin in circles. It felt like an eternity before the beeping rang out. He quickly threw open the door and snatched the cup out. The hot food burnt his hand through the plastic but Naruto found that he didn't care. He picked up his chopsticks and walked over to his window.
Naruto jumped out the window and landed on the fire escape. The old rusty metal creaked beneath him but he sat done nonetheless placing his ramen in front of him. Naruto quickly slurped up the noodles as he looked out over the peaceful city. Maybe Shikamaru and Choji would be his friends they didn't seem to treat him differently and were surprisingly fun to hang out with. Alright, he decided they were going to be my friends no matter what.
Man, this was going to be troublesome. He had lost track of time training and now the sun was setting and his dad had been adamant about being home right after school. But it was his mom that he was really worried about she would be furious about him staying out late without telling her and even more so when she found out he skipped.
He sprinted through the village trying to get home as fast as he could. He flew past people left and right. Why did he choose a place so far away? He was only running for a few minutes but they seemed to stretch into hours for Shikamaru. Until he finally arrived at his front door the simple sliding door seemed so daunting from what waited behind it. The only thing that could light a fire under him was his mom's rage.
He took a moment to build up his courage and slid open the door. Nothing did she not hear him that was good now he just had to get to his room quietly.
"So where were you," His dad's voice rang out from the living room. Right, he was here too well she was bound to come now. But she didn't was she not home or something?
"Your mother is out with some friends so you can come inside," Well at least she wouldn't be yelling at him. But he still had to deal with his dad. He slid off his shoes and tossed them over to the rest and they fell messily to the ground.
He shuffled into the living room and his dad was lounging on the couch with his eyes closed. "I told you to be home right after school, where were you."
"I was training actually," he said hoping to prevent himself from getting into trouble. But his dad didn't move. "I learned that jutsu," hopefully that would work. It made his dad open one eye and look at him. "Alright show me," his dad slid his feet off the coffee table, stood, and began following Shikamaru out the door.
They went to the backyard and his dad took a seat on the porch and gestured to Shikamaru to begin. He took a deep breath and focused his chakra throughout his body. He quickly made the hand signs and then shouted. "Earth-style: Rock throw," He punched forward and a rock shot out of the ground and slammed into a tree in front of him. It didn't do too much but there was visible damage. He looked back at his dad hopefully.
His dad gave him a nod. "very impressive, not many people could learn that in a day without any prior elemental training," Shikamaru smiled "But we are still going to train today," his smile was gone as fast as it appeared.