A Shadow's Touch

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D/C: I own nothing.

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It's rather easy to point out a typical Nara male. They appear to be lazy, unmotivated, weak, passive towards women (especially the domineering ones), and always muttering their typical catchphrase 'What a drag,' or more commonly, 'Troublesome.' Those would be the first characteristics that anyone would point out to you, and if you were a foreigner, their wise words would be the first things to come to mind upon seeing one.

Those are the first things that come to mind when seeing them, but what many know of—though they ignore it until they're in Death's chokehold—is their massive intellect and a unique set of ninjutsu for manipulating shadows to their will. Obviously, it's an easy thing to forget, given their reputation for laziness and lack of motivation to accomplish anything.

Money, power, recognition, and other typical motivators are all lost on them, but the number one thing that everyone should avoid doing to a Nara ever is hurting someone whom they hold dearly, for then, they devise a plan to annihilate anyone and everyone who stands in their way to their ultimate goal- protection.

The moment a Nara sets their sights on something to protect, Death's chokehold is a hard thing to escape.

-.-

"Your son holds such promise, Nara-sama."

Shikaku sat in front of his son's teacher with a bored expression. He discreetly glanced down at his son, Shikamaru, sitting in a seat next to him and trying to imitate his expression. If they were alone, he would've laughed and teased his son for his attempt at imitating his father.

"…with this progress, young Shikamaru should be able to graduate in less than a year." the teacher finished with a wide smile.

"Go wait outside, Shikamaru." Shikaku said in a deceptively breezy tone.

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open from his imitation of boredom, surprised at the sudden interruption before he quickly ran out of the teacher's office as if his mother had just threatened to take away his dessert. The teacher blinked in surprise at the young Nara's reaction and looked askance at Shikaku for an answer.

Shikaku sat still, mentally counting down in his head. The teacher could sense that Shikaku was stalling, but he couldn't tell if it were to calm himself down or if he was just biding for time.

"Listen…" Shikaku began.

-.-

"I just don't get why they hate me so much." Naruto muttered under his breath as he pushed himself back and forth on the wooden swing that was attached to the tree in front of the Academy. "Why does everyone hate me?"

"Not everyone hates you—I just find you rather annoying."

Naruto's head snapped up towards the newcomer, confused expression in place, which quickly turned into annoyance. It was none other than Nara Shikamaru, the Academy instructors' new rising star and unclaimed prodigy of their class. The kid was a freaking genius, both on paper and in a fight… As well as the only kid who ever stood up for him.

"I know~" Naruto chirped, grinning at the young Nara to hide his discomfort.

Shikamaru grimaced. "You should stop smiling when you don't mean it. Everybody's just going to keep calling you stupid for that, and then I'd have to keep getting you out of those fights, which is just plain troublesome."

Immediately, Naruto's expression turned downcast. "Thanks for sticking up for me today."

Shikamaru shrugged as he sat down to lean against the tree trunk and shaking leaves from the branches. Next, to Shikamaru, Naruto got a leaf in his mouth, and he spluttered, disgusted at the taste of the leaf.

"You're annoying, but that doesn't mean that others can treat you like that even if you are wrong…a lot of the time."

"So says you, Mr. Know-It-All!" Naruto snorted.

"And don't you forget it." Shikamaru chimed back.

Naruto stayed quiet. Shikamaru appreciated the silence, but at the same time, it bothered him. He always had something to say, no matter how useless and mundane it was.

"Everybody's saying that you're strong enough to graduate in less than a year." Naruto whispered as he stopped swinging to stare down at Shikamaru.

"It's just a bunch of troublesome teachers who want to get rid of me." Shikamaru sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky in boredom.

"You didn't deny it…" Naruto trailed off.

Shikamaru took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "It would be too troublesome if I graduated early because then, I would end up in a team with two older kids who are not from the Akimichi and Yamanaka clans."

"But wouldn't it be awesome to leave the Academy early?" Naruto asked, taken aback at Shikamaru's reply.

"And give me more work to do?" Shikamaru asked, closing his eyes in irritation. "That'd be too troublesome."

"What would your parents think of it though?"

"Genetics." Shikamaru said without missing a beat.

"What's that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Shikamaru, time to go." Shikaku called out as he walked out of the Academy.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto." Shikamaru yawned and stood up, slowly strolling towards his father.

"See you later, Shikamaru!" Naruto called out, waving sadly as he watched Shikaku and Shikamaru walk off.

Naruto saw Shikaku whisper something to Shikamaru, and the young Nara turned around, to call out to the blond. "We're going to get some food before we head home—want to come with us?"

Naruto looked at Shikaku hesitantly. He had met the man a couple times before but had never actually spoken to him. Normally, it would be Shikaku muttering something to his son, who then passed on the message to Naruto. There was something off about the man, and that set Naruto on an edge. He just couldn't put a finger on it, but maybe it was the fact he never scowled, yelled or glared at him. He'd encouraged his own child to play with Naruto, rather than to bully or isolate him.

"My dad's paying." Shikamaru called out. He hesitated a little before adding. "And it's ramen."

"Ramen!"

-.-

"I didn't know that smart-mouthing, showing off and picking fights were qualifications for early graduation." Shikaku mused as he strolled along, carrying Shikamaru on his shoulders. The two had just dropped off Naruto at the orphanage, much to their chagrin. They both knew that Naruto wasn't exactly well-liked there. Shikamaru buried his face in his father's hair and mumbled incoherently. "What was that?"

"They keep picking on Naruto." Shikamaru muttered, his brows furrowed in thought. "All of them, even the stinky teacher."

"Shikamaru…" Shikaku let out a bothered sigh.

"Well, it's true." Shikamaru said, defending himself. "The teacher smells like boiled eggs."

Shikaku couldn't help but snort; his son never did like boiled eggs. "You were protecting your friend, I get it, but did you have to do it in such a manner?"

"I know, I know, Dad." Shikamaru mumbled. "I get that Naruto can be troublesome at times, but…"

"People are just afraid of what they do not understand, Shikamaru." Shikaku said quietly.

Shikamaru stared down at his father, expecting him to elaborate. After several minutes of silence, he looked back up and decided to drop it…for the time being. "Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Would you be mad if I flunked on purpose?"

"…How would you explain that to your mother?"

"Easy. I'll blame you because she'll blame you for the fact that I find everything so troublesome."

"Since when did you decide to copy me?"

"I'm four dad, I am far past that stage in my life."

"Brat."

"I know."

-.-

"A prodigy, eh?" Inoichi muttered into his drink. He, Choza, and Shikaku sat in the far back of a dimly lit bar, drinking and talking.

"Oh, the irony of things." Choza said in a deep voice as he nodded sagely.

"Why did you put him in the Academy at such an early age? Kids his age are out playing ninja, or in a Nara's case, being lazy and watching the clouds." Inoichi remarked, shaking his head at the predicament. "I'm planning on entering Ino into the Academy when she turns eight."

"I plan to have Choji enter once he is six since he has been officially announced to be the next head of the Akimichi Clan." Choza said as he swished his drink around. "But… I'm worried that he won't be able to make any friends…"

"Bring your kids to the park tomorrow in the afternoon. I believe that it's time to introduce them to each other." Shikaku replied, looking between the two. "I'll probably be bringing Shikamaru's friend too."

"The young Uzumaki child." Choza murmured as if he didn't want to be overheard. His statement was caught between a polite inquiry and a blunt remark.

"Believe it or not, Naruto's the reason why everyone believes that Shikamaru is a prodigy." Shikaku muttered just loud enough for only his friends to hear. "What they see as prodigy material is actually the brat sticking up for the kid. They want to separate them in fear that Shikamaru is in danger of Naruto."

What are you going to do? The unasked question lingered in the air, shared between Choza and Inoichi.

"Shikamaru made friends with Naruto even after he saw others scorn him and he stuck by him ever since then. He's young, but he already has the mind of a more experienced Nara, so it won't be long before he finds out and sees what it actually is."

"Do you believe your son is a prodigy?" Choza asked looking down at his friend.

"Nope." Shikaku disagreed languidly. "Just wait, that's going to change in due time. Now, if I can get him to stop getting into fights…"

"Didn't you get into plenty of fights while we were in the Academy?"

"Remember that one time when Shikaku had his arm dislocated by Tsume?" Choza reminisced with a chuckle.

"Or how about the time…" Inoichi began to recount of another memory.

Shikaku silently rested his head against the table in annoyance. 'What have you gotten me into, Shikamaru… Why couldn't you just say that everything was a drag from the beginning…'

To be continued…

R/R