Short Summary: How Naruto changes with Shikamaru there to support him.

Pairings: Naruto / Shikamaru, others tbd.

DISCLAIMER: i do NOT own Naruto =) perhaps the occasional OC^^

Author's Note: Thank you very much to Merlenyn, TigrezzTail, kayna96 & MidnightHunter74 my awesome reviewers, it is always nice to know your thoughts guys and that people that read this story enjoy reading it! =)

Chapter Eight.

"This is ridiculous..." - murmured Inoichi, leafing through the records of the class that graduated not even 6 month ago.

"Keep still, Ino," - growled Shikaku, from his perch behind the man.

This made the blond roll his eyes in amusement: "That nickname became weird when my daughter was born, you know that right?" - but he none the less tried to refrain from moving too much, as he waited for his friend to re-braid his hair.

"Well, to be fair, before you hit your growth spurt you were as pretty as your daughter will be in a few years."

"If you were anyone else, I'd think that was a pick-up line."

"And if I WAS anyone else, it might have been one."

The pair dissolved into peals of carefree laughter, slumping against each other.

As they did, they knocked over one of the piles of documents. Almost as in slow motion, the 2 jonin observed the pile scatter all over the room, which for some reason only made them laugh laughter, holding each other for support.

"This is just our luck..." - Shikaku managed to get out between laughing, his hair tie fell victim to the bedlam around them and the dark brown hair fell down to his shoulders.

"This definitely looks better on you." - quipped Inoichi, ruffling his hair – "Let the younger Shika resemble a pineapple now, you've had your turn."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever." - murmured the dark haired man, as he bent down to pick up a few of the papers that landed all around them.

"Huh...they lowered the minimum required passing grade in the practical aspects and raised the theoretical parts about 2 years ago..." - he showed the document to his partner – "How does this make any sense? We're training shinobi, not scientists!"

Inoichi hummed in agreement: "This is probably one of those things that could be used as evidence."

"So troublesome" – was the only thing that could be heard from the brunet, as he went about gathering the scattered documents.

||After class, Nara compound||

Naruto followed after Shikamaru, all the while making sure to not look at the people they came across, he was not in the mood to be stared at by people with contempt or hatred in their eyes. He knew that they lost a lot, but he was not the reason for that, he knew that now. And that knowledge was liberating.

The boy paid more attention to the nature around them. The tall trees, the animals. The Nara compound was almost on the edge of the village, surrounded by a forest all around. To him it seemed like a haven. No people who were not members of Shikamaru's family, no hateful villagers.

"You're lucky..." - the words were spoken before the blond boy even realized he opened his mouth.

"Eh?" - came the oh so clever response. Shikamaru glanced at his friend and the wistful expression on his face – "Lucky how?" - he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Naruto shrugged, not really knowing how to express all that he felt at that moment, but trying his best: "It feels... nice here..." - he gave the boy beside him a helpless smile – "i could relax here maybe.." - he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck, which Shikamaru had noticed was a nervous habit of his.

"Good thing you can come here whenever you want to then." - he resumed tugging Naruto in the direction of the house, where Yoshino stood leaning against the door frame:

"Hi, boys," - she greeted the two with a smile – "How was the Academy?"

The reactions she got were rather funny. Shikamaru covered his mouth failing to cover a yawn, while Naruto's face was an interesting mix between a painful grimace of horror and confusion.

"That bad, huh?" - she chuckled and ruffled their hair – "What did you study today?"

The boys shared a look, neither one was sure they paid 100% attention. Both went with the decision to do so... but... the classes were just sooo boring.

Naruto was the first one to try and satisfy the woman's curiosity:

"Well. Err... We had target practice... and taijutsu spar..."

"Yeah... and before then we had math, history..." - continues Shikamaru, throwing in the pieces he could remember.

Yoshino nodded: "You don't look too tired though. Both target practice and taijutsu... you must have some endurance kids."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck, while Shikamaru rolled his eyes:

"We only had like...10 throws and 1 spar each. It wasn't that hard. Most of the time we had to just sit and watch the others."

His mom frowned: "That doesn't see like enough. Is it always like that?"

"Yup." - Naruto popped the 'p' at the end. A sudden gust of wind blew his fringe into his eyes and he raked his hand through his hair, pushing the stray tresses out of the way.

The woman hummed thoughtfully: "I'm not sure I like how you are being taught. I will talk to Shikaku about other options when he comes back. And Naruto, how about we trim that hair a bit? I think it's getting a bit long."

This made the boy scowl: "I want it longer..."

Yoshino raised an eyebrow at that: "That's fine, but your fringe is not supposed to cover half of your face you know."

||Haruno Residense||

After leaving the hospital, Kizashi spent the night at the bar and the next morning back at the hospital. Now it was around 5 to 6 PM and he couldn't postpone it anymore. He needed to go confront his wife. He strode down the street, paying little attention to the surroundings, at least not more than any other alert shinobi off-duty. His home was on the smaller side compared to the shinobi clan compounds, but he's never had a problem with it, unlike Mebuki, who constantly complained about how she wanted more space to decorate and so on. Kizashi, however, preferred to save up the money he earned so that his princess would have some sort of inheritance when she grew up. And now... Now his baby girl was at the hospital for almost 24 hours and they had no idea when she would wake up. And for this he blamed the none sense his wife had been poisoning her with.

The irate man pushed the front door open and strode in. He found his spouse sitting in their bedroom, staring at a newspaper, where the story of what happened to their daughter was on the front page. The woman was angry, but that suited him just fine. If she was angry, she was more likely to be straightforward about things for once.

"Well!" - he snapped right of the bat, banging the bedroom door closed behind him – "Anything you want to tell me?"

She flinched at the sound of his voice: "Don't talk to me like that!"

That was certainly not the right way to talk to a very angry man for sure. Kizashi growled deep in his throat and swept a random vase off the table, enjoying the sight of it shattering into tiny pieces:

"You almost killed my daughter, you stupid bitch! How else do you expect to be treated?!"

"I did no such thing!" - there came the righteous indignation, but in his state it only annoyed the male even more. He banged his fist again the wall, leaving an imprint on the too pink paint:

"Yeah? You did no such thing. You only didn't feed her and sent her to bath straight after Academy." - the usually calm and gentle man now resembled a raging beast, his Inner relishing in being let out for a change – "We have had this conversation almost every time i'm home. She's training to be a kunoichi of this village, she spends a lot of energy, she needs healthy food to stay healthy. So how dare you sit there and look like you did no wrong! You didn't even visit her, you stupid cow."

"And why should I?" - at this Kizashi froze and stared at the woman he married, not really believing what he just heard – "My daughter was a gentle little girl who liked ribbons and cute dresses. And then one day she started running around with them shinobi kids and got her head full of bullshit how she wanted to be a ninja like her daddy! I don't know what you did to her, but you did it! I've been trying so hard to fix her!"

"There is nothing wrong with her!" - his hand connected with her face before he even realized he raised his hand... and sent Mebuki tumbling off the bed.

'Oops' – was the only thing his Inner self had time to think, as the Outer took back control and stood still, observing the crumbled form of his wife.

||Konoha General Hospital||

One Haruno Sakura was a very popular young woman that day. In her room stood the Hokage, flanked by 2 ANBU guards wearing the Dog and Rabbit masks. Also present were Seiya Hiwamari, the doctor in charge of the case and the person that brought it to the attention of the authorities. Slightly behind her was the Hyuuga patriarch Hiashi and his heiress Hinata as well as the wife of the Yamanaka Inoichi, with her young daughter Ino, standing by the bed, looking sadly at her friend turned rival.

"Thank you very much for coming." - said Hiwamari-san, biting her lip nervously. It was the first time she was so close to so many strong shinobi, healthy ones at least.

"By all means, Seiya-sensei." - responded the elderly leader with a kind smile that worked wonders at making people feel at ease around him – "What can you tell us about this case?"

The doctor bit her lip and and with her father's permission brought Hinata to sit with Ino at the bedside before returning. She sighed and looked at the patient's card before speaking quietly so as not to be overheard by the children:

"As for the circumstances I only know what her father, Haruno Kizashi, has told me. He was resting after coming back from a mission and was woken up by his wife yelling for Sakura here to get out of the bath. He went to investigate and rescued the patient who was submerged in the water. Upon arrival at the hospital we had to restart her heart. After all the tests and exams were administered I can only say that the girl likely passed out due to exhaustion and malnutrition."

Ino's mother frowned deeply:

"Are you saying she was abused by her parents?"

The doctor shook her head, making her short wavy green hair tumble around. There was an earnest convicted look in her wide purple eyes:

"No! No, I'm not accusing Kizashi-san of anything."

The Hyuuga patriarch arched an eyebrow:

"And yet you do not mention the girl's mother."

The only reply he got was an uncertain shrug: "It's not really my place to judge, that's why i brought this to your attention. What I do know however, is that the girl's been here for almost a whole day and the mother hasn't come to visit at all. Now, medically speaking, there is no reason Sakura should be like this. Therefore the only other possibility is psychological."

The blond kunoichi twirled a lock of long blond hair around her finger, humming thoughtfully:

"Well, there are many talented people in our clan. If it a mind-related issue, than we will do our best to try. But wouldn't it be best to consult Tsunade-sama first?"

The Sandaime sighed deeply: "I have sent word to Jiraya, if he can track her, he will do his best. After all Sakura-san is just a child, not even a genin yet. Until she wakes however, I would like to take all the steps to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

"What do you mean to do, Hokage-sama?" - inquired Hiashi, sunlight playing on his long dark chocolate brown hair.

The old man's strong burning gaze looked around the people assembled in the room:

"As we speak Inoichi and Shikaku are at the Academy, checking the documentation. I will ask them to bring the files of the graduating class to begin with. We will set up one on one meetings for the children with the Yamanaka. Should there be anything that indicates neglect or abuse, we will have to discuss it with the shinobi council and figure out what to do. I have little doubt that our shinobi clans know how to treat children as children and not only as small ninja. However, the civilian-born students and especially orphans will need to be watched closely."

"What of the Uchiha?" - asked Hiashi passively.

"What of him?" - returned the Hokage.

The patented Hyuuga stare that he got was unnerving to say the least, Sarutobi wasn't sure why he was on the receiving end of it... until the younger man sighed and continued his thought:

"A just turned 12 year old living alone in the compound where every single member of his clan was murdered by his older brother..."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room. That was not something they wanted to remember. Even the ANBU looked uncomfortable, though it was not easy to tell, not with those masks covering the whole face.

Seiya-san, who was leaning against the wall listening to the discussion around her, looked between the people busy with looking awkwardly at each other. She cleared her throat, bringing attention back to the small woman in customary white healer robes.

"While that is all fine and indeed admirable. It does not help Sakura-san. If indeed Senju-sama can be found and reasoned with, that would be amazing. However. Before looking for ghosts where there might not be any, would you deal with the very real situation this girl is in?!"

With a quick glance at the Hokage, Yamanaka Minako offered the doctor a sheepish smile:

"We do understand that, Seiya-sensei, however until Tsunade-sama returns, or we get word that she refused to do so, there is very little we can do. I promise, I will personally go to the Haruno family later today and speak with both of them to find out all the detail of the incident. However, we have to also look at the big picture – that there is a possibility that this is not an isolated event." - she came up to the shorter green-haired woman and took her hand between her own - "We were not diligent enough when the civilian council pushed through the changes to the Academy curriculum. As a result we now have to have to do a LOT of work to make sure that we cover all the possible options. It will be lucky if Sakura-chan is the only victim of such... ignorance when it comes to differences of raising shinobi and civilian children... but we can't afford to just hope for the best."

Studying the face of the Yamanaka woman, the doctor decided that she seemed earnest and honest enough, she worried her lower lip between her teeth:

"I see your point. SO long as you do your best in regards to Sakura, I have no room to object."

While the adults were having their hushed conversation, Ino and Hinata perched on the edge of the bed, next to each other. Both girls were staring at Sakura worriedly.

"Poor Sakura..." - murmured Hinata, brushing stray pink hairs out of her classmate's face.

"Mhm..." - murmured Ino, holding her friend's hand.

Hinata glanced at her in slight confusion, according to their behavior in class, they weren't all that close... and yet it seemed like Ino cared a great deal about Sakura's well-being:

"This might be none of my business, but..." - she started carefully, looking at the young blond - "Did you two have a fight?"

Ino blinked at the sudden question, and even more so at the unexpected lack of stuttering that she was used to associating with Hyuuga Hinata:

"No," - she smiled sadly - "not really. I guess... we both liked Sasuke... and ..." - she shrugged, trailing off.

Hinata frowned: "what is it that everyone sees in him anyway?"

Ino paused thoughtfully, trying to figure out what to say. She knew she liked him a lot, wanted to prove she was strong enough that he would notice her and not think that she was weak or annoying... but at the end of it, she was just a barely 12 year old girl that didn't always.. or ever really, think too deeply about things before making up her mind.

Chapter End note: again random pause, wanna decide if Ino's reason's for liking Sasuke are gonna be along the likes of : "Kyaaaa he so cool!" or if there is actually more to it. Seeing how it was enough to motivate to get better, i'm thinking the second lol. Again sorry for what happened to Sakura, this seriously wasn't due to disliking her, but the way it was going, she was stuck in a bad place and this is how i decided to go about fixing it lel