The moment that 12 year old Shikamaru woke up that morning, he knew it was going to be a troublesome day. The sun pierced through his bedroom window, almost blinding him as he tried to open his eyes. That's right, today's officially our first day as genin. The day before, Shikamaru and the rest of team 10 passed their sensei's test; a disturbingly easy exam in which they had to capture Asuma sensei for a full ten seconds. Between his mastery of the shadow-binding technique, Ino's ability to enter sensei's mind, and Chōji's determination to earn a free barbecue dinner (which Asuma sensei wisely bribed them with if they were to win), it was quite simple to capture the jonin level ninja.

Shikamaru sighed, resigning himself to a day full of troublesome D Rank missions. He was especially not looking forward to Ino's screeching once she found out that D Rank's were more than just a horror story from her father, and that yes indeed, she would have to complete them also. Changing into his usual outfit, he strapped a kunai holster to his leg before leaving to meet his team at their assigned training ground.

Arriving at his destination, he realized he was the first one there, so he promptly dropped onto the soft grass and started to watch the clouds. As he observed the gentle moving, he began to think about his fellow teammates.

Asuma sensei was the only unknown, a man he had only been acquainted with for a single day. Yet Shikamaru wasn't a genius for nothing. Asuma sensei, while seemingly lazy with a plethora of vices, his love of horrible smelling cigarettes being the most obvious, was obviously a very strong ninja. His hunched over back and lethargic walk was calculated and precise, ready to turn into a proper fighting stance in a moments notice. His eyes, while squinted up and deceptively uncaring, were taking in all of his surroundings, carefully analyzing both the environment, and his new students. After the exam he made them do, which they passed frightfully easily, he made them do a series of drills: from running laps, to Taijutsu stances, to basic hand-signs. When all of that was over, he instructed Ino and Chōji to practice spars, while he took Shikamaru alone to challenge him to a game of shogi. That single game told Shikamaru all he needed to know about his sensei. The fact that he pulled Shikamaru alone to test him in a game of strategy, led the young Nara to believe that his sensei knew exactly who planned the entire capture during the exam. Asuma played the game carefully, making slow yet calculating moves, in an attempt to get a feel for Shikamaru's playing style. The Nara beat him quickly and ruthlessly, just wanting to get it over with so he can go back to cloud watching. Asuma sensei, while shocked at his easy defeat, took his loss well, and vowed to beat him the following day. Shikamaru decided that while troublesome, his sensei could have been a lot worse, such as the sensei for Team 8; a beautiful, but determined young woman wanting to make a name for herself as a new jonin.

Chōji, a pleasantly large boy, has been his friend since the start of the academy. He was kind, thoughtful, and with the proper guidance could turn out to be a wonderful ninja. His clan abilities were the perfect support tool, and Shikamaru had no doubt that he would make a capable fighter, with the right motivation of course. As long as Shikamaru bribed him correctly, alternating between offering him food and reprieve from Ino's "I Love Sasuke" rants, he could coast through being a genin by not doing a single thing.

The only hurdle on his team that stopped him from truly being relaxed, is the blond haired menace: Ino. She was loud, annoying, and overall the most troublesome individual he had ever had the displeasure of knowing. When she wasn't forcing his "lazy ass to get up and do something", she was screeching like a banshee about her love for Sasuke. He would much rather have preferred a less troublesome female teammate, one who wasn't a complete fangirl. Someone like Hinata maybe. While she was utterly shy, and incapable of completing a sentence without stuttering, at least she wasn't obsessed over the Uchiha like the rest of his classmates were. Hell, even Naruto, the loudmouth blond who somehow took his title of dead last would have made a better alternative, she actually tried to be a capable ninja.

With that, the Nara's thoughts turned to the orange covered knucklehead. She was beyond troublesome, a prankster of her own right, and quite possibly, the worst student he has ever seen. Yet she passed the ninja exam when no one else believed she would. In a word, she was unpredictable. A complete enigma, and despite all the thought Shikamaru put in, she was almost impossible to solve. Almost. Shikamaru had no doubt that someday he would solve the puzzle that is the Uzumaki, not that he planned to spend enough time around the blond in order to observe her.

His thoughts on his fellow academy graduate were broken with the arrival of his team. "Come on Shikamaru! We are ninja now! Get your lazy ass up, it's time for our first mission!" Troublesome indeed.

Naruto Uzumaki was more excited than ever! She was finally a ninja! Pretty soon, she would learn all sorts of cool ninjutsu, like being able to shoot fire or make it rain lightning! With a hop, she locked the door of her apartment, and made her way down the stairs. After making a stop at Ichiraku Ramen for breakfast, she continued her way towards training field 7, where her team was meant to meet for their first ever mission.

As she walked towards the designated area, she thought about her team. Kakashi sensei was really weird, but also super powerful. Naruto could learn a lot of cool jutsu from him. Sakura was also on her team, a girl that Naruto has tried for years to befriend. Now that they were on the same team, they were sure to become close. And then there was the bastard: Sasuke Uchiha. The stupid teme had more arrogance then she had orange clothing, and that was an understatement. Whatever, soon Naruto would become so powerful, that she will easily beat her greatest rival. From then, everyone would be forced to recognize her as the strongest ninja ever, and give her the Hokage hat that she so desperately craved. Yes, she decided, it was a full thought out plan- a plan that was sure to succeed.

The rest of the day had Team 10 doing pointless missions, such as walking dogs, pulling weeds, and capturing a demon cat. When all of that troublesome work was done, Asuma sensei had them run though some practice drills. Making two solid clones, which Shikamaru learned was a jonin level technique, he split the three apart for one-on-one training. Ino and Chōji each went with a clone, presumably to work on Taijutsu again, while the real Asuma sensei stayed behind with him.

Pulling out a shogi board, Asuma gestured for Shikamaru to sit up from his position and join him. The Nara approached the board with a groan, annoyed that his cloud watching was once more interrupted. At least he wasn't forced to run through spars, he tried to keep physical exertion to a bare minimum. However, he was curious as to why he was not being trained with his fellow teammates. His damned curious mind wouldn't let it go, so with his usual bored drawl, he asked, "Why am I not being forced to spar with Chōji and Ino? Surely I could benefit from the same training." Now this was not asked because Shikamaru had any intention to exert physical maneuvers, oh no, on the contrary, he wanted to avoid such forms of exercise for as long as possible.

Asuma chuckled, a deep rumbling in his throat that the Nara was sure was damaged from excessive smoke by now. "You have a gifted mind Shikamaru. I might as well train your strengths, rather than waste time attempting to get you to do things that you obviously have no intention of doing."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered. His sensei was right, of course. If he made him train in Taijutsu, the Nara had a plan that would force Chōji to do all of the labor, while he could rest and watch the clouds. By making him play shogi instead, Asuma was guaranteeing that Shikamaru at least did some type of Shinobi training. It was all just such a drag.

This time, the Nara dragged out the game, making simple mistakes that would force him to fall behind, only to pull off an amazing strategy that will once again put him leagues ahead of his sensei. He was running proverbial circles around Asuma, giving him false hope, only to snatch it away. Creating holes in his defense which his sensei could take advantage of, only to lead him into a hidden trap. It was nothing short of brilliance.

To a curious onlooker, it would seem as if the two were evenly matched, no one being ahead of the other for long periods of time. However, to the two men who were playing, it was obvious as to who ruled the game. Shikamaru did this, not to purposely drag out the match, as he was quite ready to go home and sleep, but to get a feel for his sensei's playing style. The Nara Clan always believed that you can tell everything about your opponent, by how they played shogi. The match only confirmed everything that Shikamaru observed about the man a previous day. Asuma sensei was observant, which was troublesome since now the Nara will not be able to get away with everything that he originally planned. Annoying.

Naruto was extremely ticked off. First, her damn sensei was 4 hours late to meet. Then, she had to deal with the pointlessness now known as D Rank missions. She thought being a real Shinobi meant going on super cool missions, like saving a princess or defeating an army of rogue pirates. Instead, she was forced to walk cranky old ladies down the street, and babysit snot nosed kids. Sasuke was absolutely no help during these missions, turning his nose at even the possibility of helping the elderly, or dealing with smelly infants. Sakura was no better, having gotten tired after their first mission.

By the end of the day, Naruto wanted nothing more then a bowl of hot ramen, her impressive stamina spent after making so many clones to help the missions. Trudging her way towards Ichiraku, she made sure to count the money in her trusty wallet gama-chan. A few bowls and a full belly later, Naruto happily made her way home, excited for the following day.

Thrusting her hand into her pocket to look for her key, she walked into her apartment building, only to trip over a suitcase. What the…

In the lobby of the building, lay two run down orange suitcases… suitcases that she recognized as her own. "Oh no… no no no." Running past the bags, she sprinted up the stairs to her apartment. Jamming her key into the lock, she realized it wouldn't fit. Someone had changed her lock. Slamming her fists on the door, she screamed in frustration.

"What in Kami's name is that racket!" A rickety old voice screamed. Turning to face the voice, Naruto practically yelled at her landlord, an elderly lady that was never fond of the blond jinchuriki.

"What the heck you old bat! Why did you change the lock? And why is my stuff in the lobby!"

The elder woman smirked terribly, "You are a ninja now, are you not? Therefor, in the eyes of the law, you are an adult, so Konoha is no longer obligated to cover your rent under the orphaned child laws. If you don't pay rent, you get kicked out, that's how it works."

"But I just became an adult yesterday!" Naruto screeched.

"And that's when rent was due. So, can you pay it or not?" The landlord asked, knowing quite well that the blond could not afford to keep the apartment.

Thinking hard, Naruto realized with a start that the old bat was right. The rent was in fact due the day before, and as a ninja of Konoha, she was no longer covered by the state. She also knew that there was no way she had enough to cover her rent. She had yet to get payed for her missions, and even if she did, they would barely cover basic living expenses; such as food and clothing. "No… I can't pay it." She spit out.

"Then get the hell out of my building, so that I can find someone who actually can."

Resigned to her fate, Naruto picked up her two cases, and left the building.

After the tiring day, Shikamaru was happy to go home. He was ready to plop down onto his bed, and sleep away his troubles and fatigue. As he slowly made his way towards his clan complex, he saw a small blur of orange in the corner of his sight. Turning, he realized it was Konoha's number 1 prankster, Naruto Uzumaki.

What the hell is she doing out here at this time of night? She was dragging behind her two beat-up orange suitcases. He could practically hear her teeth chattering from the cold. He should ignore her, he was going to ignore her honestly, but his damn curiosity once more got the best of him.

"Naruto. What are you doing?" He asked with a bored expression.

"Oh! Hey Shikamaru. Hehe, didn't see you there." She said nervously, her hand scratching the back of head.

"I see that. But what are you doing? And why do you have suitcases?" He asked once more, his suspicion growing with each passing second.

Naruto considered lying to the shadow user, and she would have, if it were anyone else asking her. But Shikamaru was always smarter then everyone. She noticed it early in the academy, while he was lazy and didn't care, there was no doubt that he was a genius, not that anyone else noticed it. Most people only saw him at a surface level, but Naruto knew through personal experience just how intelligent the Nara was; after all, he was the only one who noticed that she was illiterate. It was only thanks to his intervention that she was able to get the help she needed. The point was, he would easily see through her lie. She wasn't exactly skilled at deception.

Sighing, Naruto replied, "I couldn't pay the rent, so the old bat kicked me out." Despite only giving him a minimal answer, she could practically see as the young genius connected the dots.

She's an adult by law now, so Konoha is no longer responsible for paying her rent. By why kick her out so fast, she only became an adult yesterday? People have always treated her differently, calling her names and ignoring her. I wonder why… I'm missing something here. No matter, I shall find out soon enough.

"So where are you staying?" Shikamaru almost cursed himself for asking, he never could leave well enough alone.

Naruto shrugged, "There's a pretty nice bench a few blocks ahead. It should do for now."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, realizing exactly how grave her situation was. He quickly scrolled though everything he knew about the blond; she had no friends to speak of, no family, no one to put her up until she made enough money to afford her own place. He knew the words that were going to come out of his mouth next. I shouldn't have to do this. Come on Shikamaru, she's obviously fine sleeping on a bench. You have no obligation to her… but what if something happens to her? She's a damn ninja, she's fine on her own. But it's cold out, could you live with yourself if she got sick? Damn conscious.

Sighing, Shikamaru approached her, and took one of the bags from her hand, "There's no way I'm leaving you to sleep in the streets. You can stay with me, you damn troublesome blond."

He had never seen anyone smile that wide before, tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes. Damn me and my troublesome conscious.