*Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing, except for the story idea.*

This story takes place sometime in the future when both Naruto and Shika are 18.

'Italics within single quotation marks' are thoughts.

Things That Go 'Clank' in the Night
Chapter 1: Clank

Grey clouds loomed over the village of Konoha. This wasn't surprising, considering that the monsoon season was in full swing throughout the Country of Fire. The weather forecast had predicted that the upcoming storm would be the worst one so far, and most likely the worst one for the entire season. Everyone was busy bringing in their laundry, shuttering their windows, or otherwise preparing for the storm. Everyone that is, except for one Naruto Uzumaki.

Presently, said ninja was staring moodily out of his window. He hated storms. They brought back unpleasant memories from his childhood. Come to think of it, a lot of his fears stemmed from his childhood experiences. Pushing that train of thought aside, he went to double-check his preparations.

'Windows closed and shuttered…check.'

'Emergency ramen rations stocked up…check.'

'Brought in the cat…wait a second…I don't have a cat!'

Shaking his head, a small smile briefly graced his features before it was replaced with a frown as a bolt of lightning arced across the rapidly darkening sky.

Shikamaru blinked as a raindrop landed on his nose. 'Of all the days I had to choose to move out, I had to choose today. And of all the times I had to think it was too troublesome to check the weather forecast, it had to be today as well!' Thankfully, the moving company had moved the rest of his belongings to his new place earlier in the day, and the box which he was carrying contained the last of his possessions that he had to bring over. Speeding up his walking pace, he continued his walk to the apartment complex he was moving into.

By the time he made it into the apartment complex's foyer, he was soaked from head to toe, and the rain was coming down in torrents. 'At least the stuff is mostly dry…now, to find my apartment. What was the unit number again…02-05? 05-02?' Running a hand through his hair, he shuddered when water dripped off the end of his limp ponytail and down his back. He decided to check out both apartments, starting with the one on the lower floor. After all, it would be troublesome if he went up additional flights of stairs for nothing.

Fortunately for him, the first apartment that he went to turned out to be the right one. Stepping inside, he quickly surveyed his new home. 'Kind of run-down, but that's to be expected, considering the low rental charges. At least the owner assured me that regular maintenance was done. More importantly, there are no parents here to bug me!' Setting down the box he was carrying, he saw that the rain was coming into the living room through the open window, and the boxes closest to that window were being liberally doused with rainwater.

"Damn!" the exclamation sounded through the apartment as Shikamaru ran over to the window and slid it shut, locking it for good measure. Turning to examine the damage, he prayed that none of his more valuable scrolls were among the boxes' contents. He let out a breath of relief as he realized that the wet boxes only contained clothes. This was soon followed by a groan of annoyance as he realized that most of his clothes were wet. Grabbing a towel from an opened box nearby, he wrung it out and began to dry himself off as best as he could, while rummaging through the other boxes for a dry change of clothes.

Rain pounded against the windows of the apartment complex. Inside his brightly-lit flat, Naruto tried to distract himself by watching TV. This strategy worked most of the time, except for the occasional loud thunderclap, which would cause him to flinch inside his self-made nest of blankets on the couch. The storm outside had been raging for hours already, and it probably wouldn't stop anytime soon. Naruto couldn't really estimate the time from his surroundings, seeing as the sky had been dark since afternoon. However, he noticed that the display on his DVD player read 21:45.

'Wow, it's that late already? Time for a quick snack, then I'll turn in early tonight!'

With that thought, he hopped off his couch…and crashed onto the floor. "Stupid blankets," he muttered as he untangled his feet. Finally free from the masses of cloth, he made his way to the kitchen, where he began preparing a cup of instant ramen. Just as he was about to pour the hot water into the cup, he was temporarily blinded by a bright flash, followed by a loud crack which left his ears ringing. Yelping in shock, he reflexively closed his eyes and brought his hands up to cover his ears, sending the kettle full of hot water clattering across the floor. When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was that the house was dark.

'D…don't tell me t…that that caused a b…blackout!??'

Ramen was the furthest thing from Naruto's mind as he jumped over the steaming puddle of water and ran to his bedroom. He dived onto his bed, huddling in between the sheets. Thunderstorms, were bearable, so long as the surroundings were brightly lit. But now that the electricity to his house was cut, all his lights were not working. Closing his eyes tight, he tried to think of pleasant things that had nothing to do with storms.

CLANK.

Naruto sat up with a start. Had he imagined that noise?

CLANK.

There it was again! That was definitely real.

CLANK.

What could it possibly be? Naruto tried not to think about all the stories that the villagers had told him when he was younger. Most of the stories involved vengeful spirits that appeared during dark, stormy nights, and ate blonde fox-boys for supper. He knew that the stories were untrue, and the villagers merely wanted to scare him. But he had been young and impressionable, and those experiences left him with lasting memories, and a healthy fear of the supernatural…not to mention dark, stormy nights like this one.

Poking his head out of the blankets, Naruto noticed that the noise had stopped. His relief was soon replaced by dread as he heard knocking on his front door.

'Maybe it'll go away if I ignore it,' he thought. Unfortunately for him, the knocking grew more insistent. After another few minutes, a voice called, "Is anyone home?"

Out in the common corridor, Shikamaru was getting even more annoyed. Nothing seemed to go well for him that day. He had been caught in the rain, and most of his clothes were wet. That explained his current attire of too-tight jeans and a t-shirt which had a picture of a smirking, anthromorphized deer on the front. The deer was holding a rose in between its teeth, and a speech bubble containing the words "BE MY DEER?" [1] completed the shirt's design. To top it all off, his pillows and bed-sheets were somehow lost in the moving process. Right now, he was standing at his new neighbour's door, hoping that whoever lived there would be kind enough to lend him some stuff so that he could sleep in comfort for the night. Sure, it was troublesome to ask, but it would be way more troublesome to spend the night tossing and turning in bed. So, he opted for the lesser of two evils. After several minutes of knocking and calling, he was about to give up when the door slowly opened, revealing blonde spikes and a familiar face.

Before Shikamaru could voice his surprise, Naruto grabbed his hand and dragged him into the apartment, slamming the door shut and latching the deadbolt. Seeing Shikamaru's arched brow, Naruto grinned nervously and said, "You never know who will be lurking outside at this hour…no offense to you, of course. Some luck, huh? Of all the buildings on this street, lightning had to strike this one. When did you live here? Nice clothes, by the way. Oh. Did you want anything?" Luckily, Shikamaru was used to Ino's incessant babbling, and was able to understand what Naruto was saying.

"Well," he replied, "I just moved in today, into the flat next door. It's mainly to get away from my parents. As for my clothes, they're the only dry ones I have left. And I was wondering if you could lend me some sheets, and a pillow…and slightly more comfortable sleeping clothes, if it's not too much to ask."

Naruto smiled. "Sure, my closet's in there. Just help yourself to the clothes. I'll grab the sheets." Having a familiar presence around him was comforting. Looking in his linen drawer, he pulled out a free-size bed-sheet. Stepping back into his room, he saw that Shikamaru had exchanged his jeans for a pair of baggy sweatpants, but had kept the deer shirt on. Grabbing one of the spare pillows that lay haphazardly on his bed, Naruto handed it to Shikamaru, along with the sheets.

"Return them any time…just wash them before you send them back. Who knows what'll stains they'll get while they're with you?" A mischevious grin appeared on Naruto's face.

"I'll be off then," Shikamaru chose to ignore that last comment as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Sure…wouldn't want you to miss out on your sleep."

"Thanks again, Naruto."

"No problem."

"Well, bye," the words had barely left Naruto's mouth when another resounding crash of thunder caused him to jump violently. Picking up on his friend's reaction, Shikamaru asked, "Hey Naruto, are you all right?" The other teen forced a smile and answered, "I'm fine! What could possibly be wrong!?"

"Well, if you say that…" Shikamaru made to close the door and go back to his flat, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Um…actually Shika, you're welcome to stay over if you want. That way, you wouldn't have to wash the sheets…" Naruto trailed off. Recognizing the subtle plea under the statement, Shikamaru smiled, "I hope I'm not imposing, then."

Naruto could have jumped for joy when he realized that he would have company for the night. "Oh no, not at all. Make yourself at home!" the expression of sheer relief that spread across his face was obvious. Shikamaru's lip twitched in amusement as he made his way to the bedroom. "Since you've extended the offer, I'll do just that," he replied, before settling down on the bed. "Hey!" Naruto half-yelled, "Then where will I sleep?" "That's up to you, but there's plenty of room here…" Shikamaru patted the space next to him. "Never mind, I'll sleep on the couch," Naruto replied as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Stupid Shika, stealing my bed," he grumbled under his breath. "I thought that he would have the decency to take the couch. But, I did tell him to make himself at home after all…" Sighing, he flopped down onto the piece of furniture and got as comfortable as he possibly could. Spending the night away from the comfort of his own bed wouldn't be that bad. After all, he'd had far worse sleeping conditions while on missions. He'd be fine so long as no more weird stuff happened. As soon as that thought had finished forming, a sound rang out through the apartment.

CLANK.

.

.

.

CLANK.

All rational thought left Naruto's mind as he ran into his bedroom, and, for the second time that night, dived onto the bed. Only problem was that something – or rather someone – was already occupying it, as evidenced by the muffled "Oof!" that escaped Shikamaru. "What the hell? I was about to drift off, too," Shikamaru frowned as he suppressed a yawn, eyeing the quivering mass currently on top of him. The panicked blonde whispered, "Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what? I told you, I was almost asleep before you jumped on me."

CLANK.

"THAT!!"

Nudging Naruto off of him, Shikamaru sat up. Extending his senses throughout the apartment, he detected no other signs of life, except for the two occupants of the bedroom. This piece of information was supposed to calm Naruto down, but oddly enough, it only served to agitate him even more.

"If humans aren't responsible for making that noise, then that must mean that spirits are at work!" Naruto all but shrieked as he dove under the covers. Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru pulled the blanket back and said, "Look here, Naruto. Spirits don't exist. I've been messing with shadows and dark stuff for practically all of my life, and I've never seen anything of that sort. There's a logical explanation for the noise, like the plumbing system. Old pipes make weird noises, you know. If it makes you feel any better, we'll have someone come and check them tomorrow. Right now, I want to sleep."

It took a couple of minutes for Naruto to absorb the information and examine the argument for flaws. Finding none, he said, "Well, all right. Can I sleep with you tonight?" Seeing the teasing smirk forming on Shikamaru's face, he continued, "That's not what I meant! I wanted to ask if you would mind sharing the bed tonight."

"You don't even have to ask. This is your house, after all." Shikamaru replied, turning to face the wall.

"Oh, right." Naruto lay down on the bed, trying his best to sleep. After a few minutes, Shikamaru felt his shoulder being shaken.

"Hey Shika? Would it be all right with you if…I…ifIhuggedyoutosleep? I'llunderstandifyousayno,butI'dthoughtIwouldsleepbetter… Youknowwhat? ForgetIevensaidanything…" Naruto's babbling had gotten worse. For once, Shikamaru felt grateful that Ino was in his team. Turning back to face his bed-mate, he reached out and pulled Naruto towards him, draping his limbs over the smaller ninja.

"There, is that better?" Feeling a nod against his shoulder, Shikamaru closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of Naruto's hair. He thought that it would be troublesome to ask the next question, but his concern for his friend won out over his reluctance to get involved in potentially bothersome situations. Convincing himself that it was the right thing to do, he spoke, "Why are you so afraid of storms, anyway?"

Naruto's jaw clenched as he looked up at Shikamaru. Seeing that the taller ninja's expression was neutral, he started to tell his story. "When I was a kid, some villagers would make scary noises outside my apartment whenever there was a storm. Then, they would tell me that storm demons, angry spirits and other such entities made those noises, and that the reason they did that was because they wanted to eat me for what I did. As a kid, that would always scare me senseless. Of course, I had no idea what they were talking about at that time, so I always thought it was something horrible that I did, but didn't remember. Now, I know what they're referring to, and I know that it wasn't my fault. [2] Still, it doesn't make the memories any less traumatic…or the storms any easier to bear."

Shikamaru's response to the tale was to tighten his arms around Naruto, and to place a kiss on the top of his head. "I'll be here for you, regardless of the weather." Naruto smiled. He wasn't exactly sure what Shikamaru meant by those words, but he figured that there would be plenty of opportunities to ask him about it in the future. But for now, sleep took top priority. Hearing Shikamaru's soft snores, Naruto was lulled to sleep, now unafraid of the storm outside.

[1]: This is, of course, a bad pun on "Be my dear?". Not the most grammatically correct phrasing, but I figure most readers will get it. Do let me know if you have better suggestions!

[2]: The horrible deed obviously refers to the Kyuubi attack. Poor Naruto…

Notes: I got tired of seeing female Naruto paired up with Shikamaru, so I decided to write something where both of them are male. Something feels kind of off, though…it's like their relationship isn't as deep as I'd like it to be. I'll probably need another chapter to change that. I doubt this story will progress beyond 2 or 3 chapters, considering I'm reluctant to start any big writing projects now.

As for story details, my plumbing has always been quiet, so I have no idea whether pipes are actually capable of making that noise. Please pardon any inaccuracies and/or inconsistencies, and think of them as artistic license. Let me know if you spot any mistakes!

So, what did you think? Review if you liked it! =)