Work Text:
The Rookie Nine enjoyed meeting up when they could from time to time, especially since Naruto had come back from his three-year training trip with Jiraiya. Sometimes their sensei’s would also be present, sometimes not. Tonight, everyone huddled into Ichiraku’s and snacked on ramen as they chattered.
Let it be said, that Shikamaru is a genius for a reason, and while he may not always understand why people feel some way, he is generally good at knowing that they are feeling something. This is why, Shikamaru immediately noticed with confusion the fact that Naruto was seated at the end of the group, next to Sai of all people. He was chattering still, almost too much, and his smile was still there but it seemed forced. Teuchi and Ayame seemed to be worried, though they masked it well, they would shoot glances at the sunshine boy when they didn’t think anyone was watching. Their movements seemed more stiff than usual and their muscles appeared tensed, as though they were waiting for something.
For the life of him, Shikamaru couldn’t figure out what had them on edge. It was just the end of October’s first week and all things considered, things were pretty normal. Nothing overly special was happening until the Kyuubi Festival in a few days.
And oh.
Oh.
It was at that time that Shikamaru realized, for all his genius, he was an absolute idiot.
Just managing to keep himself from smacking his head in frustration, the Nara Heir glanced at all their friends and sensei. It seemed that most of them had no clue that anything was bothering Naruto, continuing on like everything was fine. When Shikamaru’s eyes met Kakashi’s, he knew that at least Naruto’s sensei knew. The man inclined his head and walked out of the shop, Shikamaru following behind with no one commenting.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you picked up on it, Shikamaru-kun. You are a genius.” The silver-haired jounin said lightly.
Leaning against the stand, Shikamaru shrugged, “I guess, what should we do about it?”
“Well, we is a stretch, but I’m sure Naruto wouldn’t mind having you for company. I don’t believe he leaves his apartment that night.” Kakashi replied with a shrug.
Immediately, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes on the man, “You mean to tell me that his sensei isn’t going to be there for him on probably the worst night of the year for him?”
It was silent for a moment as the accusation in Shikamaru’s words hung thickly around them. Eventually, Kakashi sighed, “I can’t that night. It’s selfish, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be that good of company.”
With a roll of his eyes, Shikamaru huffed, “Whatever. Let’s get back, they’ll worry.”
~*~*~*~
Three days had passed since the meet-up and the Kyuubi festival was drawing ever nearer. Shikamaru was thankfully not sent on a mission during that time and neither was Naruto, meaning that the Nara could keep watch on the blonde. After three days of observations, Shikamaru discovered a few things that pissed him off to no end.
1. The villagers were idiots, and despite all that Naruto, the personification of sunshine that he was, did for the village, many of them still held the Kyuubi attack against him. It seemed to get progressively worse as the festival drew near.
2. Naruto, for how much it seems like things don’t phase him, gets phased very, very easily. The biting remarks of passing villagers muttered under their breath, or the obvious overcharging a few business owners were doing always left the boy rubbing his stomach and his smile faltering.
3. Naruto also seemed to have some serious trust issues, which Shikamaru noticed when they hung out either alone or with friends. As the festival drew closer, Naruto tried to keep as much physical and emotional distance from everyone as possible. His body was always tensed for an attack and things meant in a teasing manner would hurt him when they hadn’t before.
By the time the festival had rolled around, Shikamaru was ready to murder just about everyone with his terrifying shadows and suffer through his mother if it meant that she would dote on Naruto. The day before the festival, Ino had marched up to him at the end of team practice and glared, “Your mom said that you weren’t going to the festival! Why?”
“None of your business, Ino-chan,” Shikamaru grumbled, ignoring Asuma’s and Choji’s interested looks.
The blonde sputtered, making her look like an affronted little dog in Shikamaru’s opinion. “What do you mean, none of my business? Shikamaru, you always go! It's a tradition! Especially considering all the clan members that we all lost that day, we must honor them and the Yondaime. Especially since you'll be a clan-head.”
“I never said I won’t be honoring everyone. I plan to visit the memorial stone in the morning. I just said I won’t be celebrating, I’m going to be honoring someone else’s sacrifice during that time.” Shikamaru grumbled, knowing that if he lied, Ino would know, but also not inclined to tell her his complete reasoning. Naruto got more nervous with loud noises and groups of people. Ino, for all her well-meaning, would insist that they drag Naruto out to the festival with them (which would end in disaster) or that the Rookie Nine all squeeze into his apartment with him (which would make him more nervous than anything).
At his explanation, Ino scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, “Oh, who’s sacrifice? Do you want company?”
“Nah, the person’s still alive, they just don’t attend the festival. Too painful, I think. But I think it’s best for the least amount of people there as possible, Ino. Thanks anyway.” Shikamaru explained, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
The team was silent for a minute and Shikamaru took the time to analyze them. Asuma knew exactly what was going on, his eyes gleaming with pride. Choji seemed to have respect in his posture, but Shikamaru wasn’t sure if that was because he knew who Shikamaru was talking about or because he respected the idea in general. Ino looked completely closed off, and Shikamaru realized while he was reading them, she was reading him.
Most people see Ino and write her off as a boy-obsessed girl, with no thoughts of her own or strength to speak of. While it’s true that Ino is very in touch with her sexuality and is proud of that, she was raised by a clan of mind readers and psychologists. Outside of Shikamaru, Ino is the best person in their generation when it comes to reading micro gestures and putting pieces together, especially when she’s hyper-focused on it. It's what made her so insanely popular as a child, her ability to glance at a person and know what made them tick having grown with her and turned into a well-honed weapon, it can either heal someone or it can tear them down to the size of an ant. It was because of this that made Shikamaru so certain that she knew exactly who he was talking about and had probably gone through the last few days to see his reasoning for keeping this quiet. When she came to the same conclusion, she smiled softly and nodded, “You know Shikamaru-kun, you really are a good person.” Then she left, nothing else and no arguments made.
Choji grinned at Shikamaru and pulled out a bag of chips, handing them over, “Give this to him when you visit tomorrow, yeah?” Then he left too.
“You’re a good guy, kid. Make sure he isn’t alone, yeah?” And with that, Asuma left too, leaving Shikamaru alone on the training field before he made his way home as well, already planning for the next day.
Collapsing into the bed, Shikamaru sighed heavily, “Maa, it's such a drag, but Naruto shouldn’t look so dim.”
~*~*~*~
The morning of the Kyuubi festival saw Shikamaru in his mourning black placing flowers first at the Nara memorial stone, and next at the main one, where a number of people were gathered, talking to loved ones and remembering the many that were slaughtered that day. Shikamaru placed his bouquet down and spoke with a few shinobi he recognized or villagers that he was generally friendly with before making it back to his house.
Going to Naruto’s apartment in mourning black would be the height of stupidity and while Shikamaru may not have a ton of social graces, he knew that this wasn’t something that would help the boy not feel guilty. In fact, the reminder that Shikamaru’s clan had lost people in the attack would just send Naruto spiraling in a pit of self-loathing and guilt, which would do nothing for anyone. So instead, Shikamaru dressed in a more casual version of his uniform before he took to the rooftops towards the red light district.
People had already started filling the streets, talking together and sharing stories or buying food, unified in the tragedy that had occurred. Shikamaru could understand it, the community, and the reasoning, but it was somehow more bitter and unpleasant when he realized that even still, this was at the cost of a person’s happiness who wasn’t even a day old when the Kyuubi attacked. Landing outside the apartment’s lobby, Shikamaru walked in and took the stairs, noting with a huff that the elevator was out of order. The apartment building was shabby and a few unsavory people were wandering the halls, leaving a bitter taste in Shikamaru’s mouth.
How long had Naruto been living here? And why was he still here?
Eventually, Shikamaru came to Naruto’s floor and found the boy talking with a gorgeous-looking woman in the doorway of his apartment. “An’ ya’ll be fine today? Yer sure? I can call in.”
The blonde shook his head and smiled, “Nah, I’ll be fine, dattebayo! Go and make some money, Nee-san!”
After only a moment more of hesitation, the woman nodded and hugged Naruto tightly, “Alright then, I’ll be headin' out. Ya know where I’ll be, come get me if somethin' happens.”
“I’m a shinobi, nee-san, I don’t need babysitters.”
“Ya survive off of instant ramen, yer argument is invalid.”
“She’s not wrong, Naruto-kun.” Shikamaru spoke up, appearing behind the woman and leaning on the wall across from Naruto’s door, “I don’t think I’ve seen you eat vegetables that weren’t in ramen before.”
“Shikamaru-kun, why are you being so mean and siding with her on this, dattebayo.” Naruto whined playfully, but there was a tightness around his eyes that betrayed his wariness.
“I have to go, see ya Ruto-kun!” And with that, the woman walked away, not before shooting Shikamaru a warning glare that promised horrible things if he dared to hurt Naruto. Truth be told, Shikamaru found himself more than passingly interested in how many people in the building protected Naruto despite what they may or may not know.
It was something for another time though, for now, Shikamaru fixed his gaze on a shifting blonde and sighed. “Troublesome. I came to hang out with you and brought stuff with me. Can I come in?”
Naruto nodded mutely and stood aside, shutting the door after Shikamaru entered the shabby apartment. “Thanks for coming by Shikamaru-kun, but, uh, I don’t really attend the festival so I’m sorry if you were hoping to go out and enjoy it together.”
“I know that Naruto-kun, I figured we could stay in and watch some movies and eat food together. If you’d like.”
For a moment, it was silent, then, “Why?”
“Well, people in general suck, but you suck less.” Shikamaru shrugged, sliding into one of Naruto’s chairs.
Blue eyes snapped to brown in shock, “But- Shikamaru, you know about the…”
“Yeah, I know about the Kyuubi, what about him? Does he have a strange obsession with Ramen too? Cause I was going to make something else for dinner but if he is the reason why you only eat ramen I’m sure I can figure it out.”
“No! No, that’s not… why don’t you… I-”
Shikamaru sighed, he was going to have to tell Naruto what was in his head, what a drag. “Maa, Naruto-kun. I know what you’re asking and no, I don’t hold the fact that the Kyuubi was sealed inside you when you were barely a day old against you. Nor do I blame you for the actions of a massive, ancient demon. You’re nothing more than the jailor, what it did wasn’t your fault and the villagers are wrong to treat you like it was.”
You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet in that apartment, then Naruto sniffled and Shikamaru realized in horror that he would have to deal with a crying Naruto now. “I- no one’s ever said that to me.”
“I figured. I’m sure it’s hard to leave the apartment anytime near today, with all the villagers taking their anger out on you. It was probably worse when you were a kid, which is disgusting. The point is, Naruto-kun, that this festival is meant to celebrate and honor the sacrifices made in the village when the Kyuubi attacked. Honoring those who died is important, but honoring those who lived is almost more so. No one’s ever honored your sacrifice, I doubt you have, but you gave up your childhood, your rights to be treated decently, your family, and your ability to lead a normal life so that the village wasn’t destroyed that night. You’ve continued to bear the burden of the Kyuubi long after everyone else paid their dues. So, I’m here to spend time with you and let you know that I see you and that it’s okay to feel hurt and upset over it.”
The dam broke and just like that, Naruto was clutching tightly onto Shikamaru as he sobbed into the teen’s chest, releasing the emotions that he never could before lest a villager find out and ridicule him for it. Despite his inexperience with dealing with these things, Shikamaru sucked it up and stayed holding Naruto for an hour and a half, listening as he rambled on about everything that had happened to him until the boy passed out. Gently, Shikamaru picked Naruto up and laid him on the small beat-up couch he had. While the blonde ball of sunshine slept, Shikamaru got started on making lunch, wincing at the almost horrifying state that Naruto’s kitchen was in.
By the time Naruto was awake, Shikamaru had finished making up some tempura and served them both a plate, walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down. “Thanks, Shikamaru-kun.”
“It’s whatever.”
After a minute of silence, where Naruto filled his mouth with any food he could find, he finally spoke up, “You said you had movies?”
Shikamaru’s lip twitched and he nodded, pulling out a storage scroll and unsealing a collection of action movies and a number of snacks that had appeared on the table this morning. Probably from his mother and father, though he noticed a bag or two more of Choji’s favorite chips and a few drinks and mochi flavors that Ino adored and assumed that they had stopped by and left some things for Shikamaru’s self-imposed hang out day with Naruto as well.
It seemed, Naruto had picked up on it when he saw the items, glancing at Shikamaru with an intense look. “They figured out that I would be coming by yesterday when they found out I wasn’t attending the festival. Despite how they seem sometimes, Ino and Choji are surprisingly observant. We didn’t want to overwhelm you this year with a bunch of people coming by, but maybe next year they can come too.” Shikamaru explained.
For a moment, the brunette was worried Naruto would start bawling again, but instead, the blonde grinned and nodded before placing the first movie of an action series in and opening a bag of chips and a drink.
For the rest of the night, the pair snacked, watched movies, and even played a few rounds of Shogi before Naruto declared that Shikamaru was impossible to beat and launched into some roughhousing before Shikamaru got up to make dinner. Naruto followed him to the kitchen like a confused puppy when Shikamaru pulled out some meat and vegetables before getting to work on Katsudon, explaining to Naruto what he was doing and how to make it himself.
It was late into the night, both boys sprawled in a cocoon of blankets and pillows on the floor as the final movie in the series played softly, when Naruto finally said what was on his mind. “Thank you, for seeing me Shikamaru. This was nice.”
“This is only what you deserve, Naruto.”
If Kakashi stopped by around three in the morning on October 11 to find both boys passed out and cuddled together in front of the tv that someone had shut off, food, games, and movies spread out around the apartment and smiled? Well, that was really no one’s business then was it.