So, this is my firs fic and I hope you enjoy!

WARNINGS! This contains yaoi/ slash/ malexmale relationships, okay. So don't read if you don't like that. This also mentions rape, torture and abuse. There are several bad words, mostly the f-word and bad humor. I will warn you before the bad humor begins, so be prepared.

Pairings: past SasuNaru and ShikaNaru.

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto! You no sue me!

Hello… Thinking.

Oh, this is mostly from Shika's POV (I tried…), but it changes sometimes so it can be confusing. ;)

……………………………….

He came every night. He came every night and Shikamaru wondered why.

The first time was about one month ago. Shikamaru was sleeping until someone knocked on his window. Deciding to ignore whoever it was behind the window, he turned his back to it and pulled the blanket over his head. About half a minute later the knocks came again, more urgent this time. Muttering a sleepy 'troublesome' under his breath he got out of bed and went to open the window. A slight breeze blew across Shikamaru's face as he stared at the intruder. Naruto.

„What are you doing here?" Shikamaru muttered, annoyed.

Naruto ignored his question completely and instead asked, „Can I sleep here tonight? I..." He bit his lip and looked at the floor, hoping Shikamaru wouldn't ask why.

„Yeah, sure, whatever. Just let me go to sleep." The lazy boy said, obviously not paying attention to what was going on around him, and walked back to his bed, muttering something about troublesome blondes all the way. Naruto smiled slightly, slipped in through the window and closed it after him. The blonde walked over to Shikamaru's bed, getting under the covers and curling into a ball, falling asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, when Shikamaru woke up, Naruto was already gone and Shikamaru wondered if it was only a dream. But why would I have a dream about Naruto...? So troublesome... thought the lazy boy and decided to stay up later just in case Naruto came back that night.

That night, when Shikamaru finally decided to go to sleep, someone knocked on the window. He got up, opened the window and saw it was Naruto.

„Can I sleep here again tonight?" the blonde asked, not looking at Shikamaru's eyes.

„Why?"

Naruto seemed to hesitate before muttering, „Sasuke threw me out..."

Shikamaru sighed. There were rumours going around, about Naruto and Sasuke being a couple, but Shikamaru had never really believed them. Sasuke didn't seem like the kind of guy to get into a serious relationship with another male. He seemed so obsessed with restoring his clan...

Shikamaru sighed again. Troublesome... he thought, but still said, „Sure, why not."

Naruto smiled and the brunette noticed it seemed... sad. Why would Naruto be sad? he asked himself but shrugged it off. If the troublesome blonde had problems he would tell him. If he wanted to, of course.

A minute later Naruto was curled up next to Shikamaru on the brunette's large-ish bed. Said brunette noticed how the younger boy seemed to favor his left arm while closing the window. He's right handed... Naruto, what happened to you?

A minute later both Shikamaru and Naruto were asleep. The next morning Naruto yet again sneaked out before Shikamaru woke.

A week after Naruto first started sleeping at Shikamaru's place, Sasuke got more violent, throwing the blonde out sooner than usual. So it came as quite a surprise to Shikamaru when one evening Naruto appeared at 9 in the evening instead of the usual 11. Still, the shadow nin didn't ask anything and let Naruto in. The lazy boy observed as Naruto walked over to the bed with a small limp and frowned. He sighed and decided to start a conversation about everything and nothing. Pretty soon, they started talking about bloodlines and Shikamaru was amazed at how much Naruto seemed to know about it.

„ALL bloodlines come from demons, the Tailed ones I mean. The Sharingan, for example, came from Kyuubi no Kitsune. It's an extremely weakened form of Kyuubi's own eyes. The Byakugan evolved from the Sharingan after an Uchicha got banished from his clan and married to a Hyuuga, who had just gotten a weak form of the Byakugan from Shukaku. As a result, the Byakugan we know today came to be." (A/N: that sounds odd, for some reason...)

Shikamaru listened on, extremely interested at Naruto's amount of knowledge on some subjects. Why was he hiding his true intelligence?

„Where did the other bloodlines come from?"

„Well... the Yamanakas got their bloodline from the Four Tailed Owl, the Aburames from the Three Tailed Turtle, how, I honestly don't know. Chouji and his family also got their bloodline from Shukaku. Inuzukas got it from the Seven Tailed wolf..." He paused, seemingly listening to something. Shikamaru blinked. Whaat...?

„Oh, and your family got your bloodline from the Eight Tailed Deer, the one with the Shadow element... Your shadow jutsus can be way stronger than they really are. Traveling through shadows should also be possible, among other things..." He trailed off, staring at nothing.

„Anyway, I'm going to sleep! G'night!" Naruto said, almost too cheerfully. Shikamaru blinked in surprise and looked at the clock on his wall. It's 12... Already? The lazy boy looked over at the younger boy on his bed and thought for the thousandth time that week: What is wrong with that troublesome blonde...? He sighed and decided to think about it some other time, when he wasn't so sleepy.

About a week after the talk about bloodlines, Shikamaru finally decided to ask Naruto why he always came to him. When Naruto did come that evening he looked extremely tired and Shikamaru felt... sad, almost. Still, he decided to ask Naruto, „Why did you come to me?"

The blonde blinked, not expecting the question, and looked at the floor. Slowly and quietly, he started explaining, „You're the only one I can really trust."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru and, seeing the expectant look, continued. „Sakura is out because she's tied to the problem; Ino wouldn't probably let me in, thinking I wanted to prank her or something. Shino, Chouji and Tenten I really don't know well, and Kiba wouldn't probably let me in. Lee is, well... Lee." He chuckled. It sounded oddly hollow, as if he didn't know why exactly he was laughing. „Hinata would faint as soon as she saw me and Neji... I could trust him, but it's too hard to get to the Hyuuga compound. Then... Kakashi-sensei wouldn't really believe me; Ero-sennin, Tsunade-obaa-chan and Iruka-sensei would probably kill Sasuke... And that's all. Besides, I've known you since I was 6... You're my first friend, so I hope I can trust you. Kyuu does ..." the last part was a whisper, obviously not meant for Shikamaru to hear. He did, anyway. Who's Kyuu?

Shikamaru was used to solving puzzles, he was a genius after all (A/N: ego...). But Uzumaki Naruto was a puzzle he just couldn't figure out. Each time he thought he solved it, some new information came in and he had to start from the beginning.

Then it hit him. „Wait... Has Sasuke been... abusing you?" the brunette asked, not really wanting an answer.

„Yes..."Shikamaru flinched. No-one should be that sad, especially Naruto, Konohas cheeriest person.

„What did he do to you?" the older boy was pissed, the angry tone in which he said that simple sentence proved it. Shikamaru himself was surprised at how angry he actually was. Odd...

Naruto flinched and moved slightly away from the angry teen. Shikamaru saw this and sighed. Standing up from the bean bag he was slouched on, he walked over to the blonde and, after hesitating for half a second, hugged him. Naruto froze.

„I just want to help you." Shikamaru murmured quietly. Naruto sighed and relaxed slightly.

„I know." He said it with a silent and sad tone. Shikamaru suddenly had the urge to never let go. What...?

Minutes passed before Naruto answered Shikamaru's question.

„He beats me."

Shikamaru frowned. That wasn't all and he knew it.

„There's more, isn't there."

„... Yes." It was whispered yet Shikamaru could still hear him. Naruto buried his face in Shikamaru's shoulder, shivering slightly, and the older boy could tell it wasn't from the cold. Naruto took a deep breath and continued.

„Every night, after he comes home, he demands me to make him dinner. I always do it because I'm afraid of what he'll do to me if I don't. I rarely eat, because always after dinner he beats me. After that..." Naruto shuddered again and hugged Shikamaru closer. Shikamaru let him.

„... He rapes me." Naruto laughed and Shikamaru almost winced at how hollow it sounded.

„Can you believe it? Each time he tells me how much he loves me, how he would never hurt me, how special I am to him. That sick fuck!" Naruto broke down, laughing and crying at the same time. Shikamaru was shocked. Sure, he expected as much but actually hearing it broke his heart. Naruto... You troublesome blonde! Why didn't you tell anyone? We could help you!

When Shikamaru looked down at the sobbing teen in his arms, he saw he wanted to continue.

„He throws me out after that. The first nights I hid in a tree near the house, just to see what he does after that. You know what I found out? He goes out and finds a bitch to fuck. You know what he tells her? 'I love you'... The most often is Sakura, actually. She's involved with Lee, for Heaven's sake! Some girlfriend..." Naruto frowned, „I haven't seen Ino, Hinata or Tenten there... I'm glad Ino got over he childish crush..." he kept muttering for some time, Shikamaru too shocked to stop him. After a minute or so, Naruto yawned and leaned on Shikamaru, closing his eyes. The older teen saw this as a chance to calm the blonde and pulled him down to lie on the bed they were sitting on, not letting go of him. A few minutes after he pulled the covers on them, Naruto fell asleep, but not before muttering, „I'm lucky to have you as a friend..."

That night, Shikamaru didn't fall asleep till dawn. When he woke, Naruto was, as usual, gone.

Ten days passed until Naruto came again and during that time he was extremely edgy, not managing to sleep at night. His friends kept asking him what's wrong, but he just shrugged it off, telling them he was having some troublesome nightmares. His friends seemed to accept it, but most of them still didn't really believe it.

Naruto wasn't seen during those days and Shikamaru came to a conclusion: he was in love with the blonde. All those odd bouts of possessiveness he felt for him made sense, and so did the need to hug him and never let go.

A week after Naruto went missing, teams 10, 8 and team Gai decided to gather up and ask Tsunade where Naruto had disappeared to. The blonde woman didn't know, but sent them to Naruto's apartment. When they got there, Sasuke opened the door and Shikamaru felt his blood boil. That guy looks way too smug...

Sasuke told the search team that Naruto was sick. When they asked to see him, he politely told them to leave. Actually, his correct words were, „Fuck off, he doesn't want to see anybody!" After that came the dramatic slamming of the door which Sasuke seemed to be so fond of. Shikamaru frowned and hoped Naruto was okay.

On the tenth day, when Shikamaru was ready to break into Naruto's apartment and get the blonde out, he appeared behind Shikamaru's window, looking as if he hadn't slept in a month. Shikamaru quickly opened the window and Naruto jumped in, wincing as his left foot hit the ground. He gave Shikamaru a shaky smile before collapsing into the brunettes arms. Said brunette quickly picked him up bridal style and carried him to the bed, noticing how easy it was for him to pick him up. It's not just the ninja training... he probably hasn't been eating properly in months!

On the way to the bed, Naruto muttered, „I broke up with him... ten days ago. He's been torturing me ever since." The teen chuckled again, sadly this time. Then, seemingly running out of energy, he sighed and put his head on Shikamaru's shoulder, closing his eyes.

Shikamaru felt like crying. Naruto... you don't deserve this. You are too good for him. You're too good for anyone.

Laying the blonde down on the bed, he crawled next to him and hugged him gently, too afraid to upset his injuries.

„We should take you to the hospital."

Naruto opened his eyes weakly to glance at Shikamaru before closing them again. „No. They'd just throw me out. I'm not welcomed there. I'm not welcomed anywhere..."

Shikamaru frowned, „You're welcomed here."

Naruto shook his head weakly, „You don't know, do you. You don't know what I am... I'm a demon, Shika, a monster."

Shikamaru looked at the small teen in his arms, confusion in his eyes. „What are you talking about?"

„I'm talking about Kyuubi, Shika. The Yondaime didn't kill him, he sealed him in me. That's why people hate me: I'm a monster."

Suddenly, everything fell in place: the hateful glares, the odd red chakra, Naruto's ability to heal so fast, and his stamina... What Naruto said at the end of the sentence also reached him. I'm a monster...

Shikamaru snarled angrily and Naruto flinched weakly, afraid the older teen was angry at him.

„You're not a monster, Naruto. Those who say so are only idiots, unable to see pass the seal. You are not a monster Naruto, and neither are you a demon. You are Uzumaki Naruto, not Kyuubi. And if you ever call yourself a monster again, I'll hit you, understand?"

Naruto smiled sleepily, „Got it, Shika. And... thank you." With that, the blonde fell asleep, soon followed by Shikamaru.

The next morning, Shikamaru woke up with Naruto in his arms. He smiled and closed his eyes, waiting for Naruto to wake up. Half an hour later, the blonde did so, yawning widely. Shikamaru also opened his eyes, grinning at Naruto.

„So, you want go get some breakfast?"

Naruto chuckled, „Sure, haven't had a good breakfast in a while..."

Shikamaru frowned, but let it go. He pushed himself out of bed and shivered as the cold air hit him. Walking over to the blonde's side of the bed, he smirked at Naruto, who was weakly struggling with the blanket. Shikamaru stepped towards Naruto and pulled him out of bed. He looked the younger boy over and frowned, he needed to get those wounds cleaned. Going towards his desk he opened a drawer and pulled out some bandages and something to clean the wounds with. It took the teen over 40 minutes to clean and bandage all the wounds, after which he also changed the sheets on the bed.

Going over to his closet, he pulled out two pairs of pants and two T-shirts. Throwing Naruto a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt, he turned his back to let the boy dress in peace, at the same time pulling on his own jeans and shirt.

Naruto dressed quickly and tried to stand up. However, his legs were weak and he collapsed, falling to the floor like a ragdoll, „Dammit!"

Shikamaru turned over and sighed. He seemed to be doing that alot lately. He walked over to Naruto, pulled him up and wrapped an arm around his waist. The blonde blushed, but after several complaints („I'm not a baby!") put his own arm around Shikamaru's shoulders.

Shikamaru frowned, Naruto's limp was worse than ever! Seeing his frown, Naruto smiled reassuringly, „I'll be fine, Kyuubi will heal it in no time."

The older teen frowned again but decided to let it go. After managing to go down the stairs, which took longer than it should have, Naruto and Shikamaru finally reached the kitchen. Walking there they saw Shikamaru's mother cooking pancakes and humming a tune. She looked towards the doorway and smiled.

„Good morning, Shikamaru-kun. Who's your friend?"

„Good morning, mother. This is Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto, this is my mom." He sounded very unenthusiastic.

Naruto smiled shyly, „Hello, Mrs. Nara."

She laughed lightly, „Oh, please, Naruto-kun, call me Yoshino." Naruto muttered a small okay and Shikamaru gently lowered him into a chair, frowning (again) as the younger boy winced.

(Warning, bad humor ahead! Read at your own risk.)

Yoshino stared at Naruto for a while, making him slightly uncomfortable, before smiling and saying, „You look tired, dear. Rough night?"

Naruto blushed and Shikamaru choked on air next to him, managing to gasp out, „Mom!" Yoshino smirked, obviously enjoying teasing her son. She turned around and continued making pancakes while starting a conversation with the two boys. Naruto and Yoshino soon discovered that they had lots of hobbies in common and started talking about the right amount of sunshine for some plant or other, Shikamaru wasn't really paying attention.

„Troublesome women..." he whispered under his breath. Naruto heard it and frowned. With a light tone, as if talking about the weather, he told him, „Say it again, Shika, and I'll hit you."

Shikamaru eeped slightly and muttered, „Yes, Naruto." Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned... Too true. Troublesome blonde... He thought fondly.

Yoshino smirked again and, without turning around, said, „Boy, Shikamaru-kun, he has you whipped."

Naruto blushed again and Shikamaru banged his head against the table, saying something about troublesome evil women and their evil evilness. Naruto's blush turned slightly darker, realizing Shikamaru had meant him too. After about a minute of silence, Naruto and Yoshino resumed their conversation, Shikamaru's mother teasing her son and Naruto every few minutes. By the time the pancakes were ready, Shikamaru and Naruto were both extremely embarassed, trying not to look at each other. And even while they were eating, Yoshino didn't stop the torment on the two boys.

After breakfast Shikamaru dragged Naruto towards the Hokage tower using one of the less used roads, hoping none of their friends would see them. They were in luck and half an hour later, they were standing behind the door to Tsunade's office. Naruto took a deep breath and pushed open the doors, limping in while leaning heavily on Shikamaru.

Tsunade didn't even look up when the door opened, instead yelling out, „I'm working, Shizune so leave me alone!"

Naruto pouted. „You know, I think I should be offended. Everyone's calling me a woman today!"

Tsunade's head snapped up so quickly, Naruto and Shikamaru were amazed that she hadn't broken her neck. She jumped up from the chair and a second later she was next to Naruto.

„Where were you for these last ten days, you moron? You friends were worried sick! Hell, I was worried sick!" She hugged Naruto tightly, as if wanting to make sure he was real.

Shikamaru had stepped away the moment Tsunade jumped up from the chair and was therefore safe from her crushing grip. He smirked at the slightly blueish boy being suffocated by the Hokage and sighed. Troublesome women... I'm saying that a lot lately. Wonder why.

„Tsunade-obaa-chan... You're crushing me!" The choking boy finally managed to gasp out. The woman loosened her grip but didn't let go. After holding onto her adopted little brother for some more time, she let go and stepped away. Naruto was steady for a second before his legs gave out. Shikamaru shot forward to catch the boy and hugged him to his chest. Tsunade frowned.

„Naruto, what happened?" She asked in a deadly calm voice. After getting no answer, Tsunade barked out, „Naruto, dammit, you're hurt! Take of your shirt!"

The blonde boy flinched slightly but still pulled off his shirt, Shikamaru helping slightly. Tsunade's eyes widened as she saw the multitude of bandages around his torso, all stained with red, and his thinness. She wanted to blame someone and the nearest person was Shikamaru.

„You!" She yelled, pointing at the poor boy trying to hide behind Naruto. „What did you do to my little brother?!"

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but before he had a chance to defend himself, Naruto yelled, „It wasn't him!"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she stared at the end of a long gash. „Then who? Who hurt you, Naruto?!"

Naruto stared at Shikamaru pleadingly and, after sighing, the older boy helped Naruto to a chair and sat in it, pulling the blonde boy to sit on his lap. Naruto blushed, but didn't complain. Tsunade frowned but nodded at Naruto to start talking. The blonde boy took a deep breath and told Tsunade everything.

He talked for about 20 minutes, pausing several times to either shiver or breathe in deeply. Each time he did that, Shikamaru just hugged him closer and whispered soothing words to calm him down. When the young boy finally finished, he had tears streaming down his cheeks, as did Tsunade. Shikamaru seemed unaffected yet Naruto could feel he was by how tightly he was hugging him.

Tsunade took a hesitant step towards Naruto before breathing in deeply and taking the necessary strides to reach the two boys. She reached towards the young blonde and wiped a few tears off his cheeks.

„Naruto-kun... Why didn't you tell us before?" Her tone was sad and slightly angry, at herself or Sasuke, the two teens couldn't really tell.

Naruto buried his face into Shikamaru's shoulder and murmured quietly, „I was afraid..."

„Afraid of what?" She looked confused.

„I... don't really know. Sasuke, maybe, or everyone else... I just was."

Tsunade growled quietly and started muttering something under her breath. „That little... SHIZUNE! Get in here!" she yelled, loud enough for it to be heard all around Konoha. The people of Konoha ignored it: the Hokage could be heard screaming at least once a day.

Not a second later Shizune scrambled into the room, looking slightly out of breath. Before she had a chance to ask what was wrong, Tsunade yelled again, „Get me Uchiha Sasuke, NOW!"

Shizune only nodded and poofed out of the room to go find the last Uchiha as fast as she could. If Tsunade was that pissed it was better to do whatever the Hell she wanted. Last time an ANBU angered her she had punched the poor man so hard he was in a coma for a week. Shizune shuddered as she remembered the incident, hoping the older woman wouldn't get that violent ever again.

While Shizune was out searching for Sasuke, Tsunade had started taking pictures of Naruto's wounds for the lawsuit against the last Uchiha and, at the same time, healing them. About ten minutes later, when Naruto's most serious wounds were healed thanks to Tsunade and Kyuubi, Shizune returned with Sasuke, the boy looking slightly confused.

However, as soon as the dark haired boy saw the half-healed Naruto, his confused expression turned into a smirk.

„Did you get into a fight again?" he asked in a fake caring tone. Both Tsunade and Shikamaru had to stop themselves from hitting the smug teen. Shizune, who had been on her way out, gasped as she saw Naruto and ran to him, healing the rest of the wounds. Naruto smiled at her thankfully and closed his eyes, obviously tired.

„Uchiha, do you know what Naruto told me about his wounds?"

Sasuke looked slightly thoughtful. „Did he tell you I had been beating him for the last month or so, raping him and then throwing him out to have sex with some random woman, most often Sakura?" When Tsunade only nodded angrily he continued, „Naruto, what have I told you about lying to people?! And then getting into a fight, honestly! You could have been killed!" It was said gently, almost as if Sasuke cared. Naruto whimpered.

„I'm not lying." He whispered, eyes still closed. Shikamaru, having heard the whimper, walked over to the chair and pulled Naruto to sit on his lap again. The younger boy smiled weakly and dropped his head on the brunettes shoulder, seemingly asleep. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke, who was glaring at him and Naruto, and sighed. The troublesome idiot.

Sasuke growled. „Hands off Naruto, Nara. He's mine."

Shikamaru stared into Sasuke's eyes before replying calmly, „Naruto tells us he's not. He said he broke up with you ten days ago."

Sasuke snarled and turned around to face Tsunade. „Hokage-sama, they're lying! I would never hurt Naruto! I love him and he loves me! He told me so! We would never break up and I would never cheat on him!" he yelled, eyes blazing.

„Then prove it. Let me cast a truth jutsu on you." Tsunade said calmly, with an evil little smirk on her face. Sasuke looked confused.

„A what? There is no such thing!"

„Actually, yes there is. It's a forbidden jutsu, so I'm not surprised you don't know about it. Basically, it's a jutsu that takes massive amounts of chakra from both the caster and the, oh, let's say, 'victim', and you can only ask about two or three questions until it wears off. It's not used in interrogations because the amount of chakra needed often kills the 'victim' and you don't get much information from it anyway." She grinned evilly. „Yet, it's perfectly suited for solving our current problem. So, Uchiha, do you agree?"

Sasuke froze. What to do? He thought for a moment. Then smirked.

„I accept." There's no way it'll actually work.

Tsunade nodded and did a few handseals, muttering something under her breath. Sasuke scowled when it didn't do anything, but didn't comment on the odd behavior of their current Hokage. He stared as he saw the blonde woman walk closer to him, doing multiple handseals and chanting something under her breath. When she was right in front of Sasuke, she stopped and put her hands on his shoulders. The boy felt an odd tingling sensation wash over him and frowned.

Tsunade took another deep breath and asked, „Have you ever intentionally abused Uzumaki Naruto by beating and raping him?"

Sasuke wanted to say no, he really did.

„Yes."

„Have you ever had sex with someone else while you two were dating?"

„Yes." He growled in frustration. DAMMIT!

„Who were they?"

„Haruno Sakura, and some random sluts." DAMN IT!

Tsunade exhaled and pulled her hands off Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke himself felt suddenly extremely tired, like someone had sucked out all of his chakra. He collapsed on the floor and saw Tsunade being helped into her chair by Shizune.

„Uchiha Sasuke, you are proven guilty of abusing and raping Uzumaki Naruto. Your punishment shall be decided later. ANBU!" she yelled out the last part, exhaustion clearly heard in her voice. The two ANBU guards behind the door stepped in and bowed, waiting for further commands.

„Take Uchiha Sasuke to a holding cell and make sure he can't get out." She gasped out, feeling dizziness overwhelm her. The two ANBU guards nodded and dragged Sasuke away. Literally dragged. He was too tired to walk and the guards had heard everything that went on in the office so they felt no compassion for the kid.

As soon as the three were out of the room, Tsunade made a handseal, stopping the microphone she had activated earlier. The blonde woman looked towards Shikamaru and a sleeping Naruto and, with a gentle smile, said, „Shikamaru-kun, take care of him until he is better." Then, after seeing Shikamaru nod, looked at Shizune and told her, „Shizune, you're in charge while I'm unconcious, so don't screw up. Now, get me to a bed."

Shizune dragged Tsunade away and Shikamaru gently picked Naruto up bridal style, making some handseals and poofing away. He reappeared in front of his house and walked in, seeing his mother cleaning in the hallway.

„Oh, hi, Shikamaru-kun. What happened to Naruto-kun?" she asked quietly. Shikamaru sighed.

„He hasn't been sleeping well these past days. I'll just put him to bed and then we'll talk, okay?"

Yoshino nodded and Shikamaru walked past her up the stairs into his room. Pulling off Naruto's shoes he laid him down on the bed and pulled the blanket over him. After hesitating for a moment, the brunette gently kissed his forehead and left the room. He never saw Naruto opening his eyes briefly and smiling.

Shikamaru walked down to the living room and slouched on one of the couches, his mother already sitting in the other one. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. Man, I'm tired.

„So, what is Naruto-kun doing at our home? What happened to him?" Yoshino asked, slightly worried. Shikamaru sighed again.

„He first came here about a month ago, asking if he could sleep here. I was extremely sleepy at the time and said yes. When I woke up, he was already gone. The next evening he came again and I found out he was in an abusive relationship, his boyfriend having thrown him out. So he started coming here every night for two weeks, but ten days ago he just... disappeared. Some of our friends and I went to his boyfriends apartment and asked him what was wrong with Naruto. He told us Naruto was sick and slammed the door shut." Shikamaru stopped and took a sip of the tea his mother placed in front of him.

„So, yesterday night I was about to go and see him when he just appeared behind my window. He... You know what happened to Kyuubi, right? The truth, I mean." Yoshino was slightly startled about the change of topic.

„What has that got to do with Naruto-kun?" she asked, truly confused.

„Please, just answer."

Yoshino thought for a moment. „Well... I know that it attacked on the 10. of October, 17 years ago, and Yondaime-sama sealed it into a newborn, sacrificing himself, but I don't know who the child was."

„Hmh... Well, the Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto, he told me yesterday." Shikamaru said calmly, waiting for his mother's reaction. She just frowned slightly, but nodded. Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief, glad that she accepted Naruto.

„Anyway, after waking up today, I bandaged Naruto's wounds and we came down for breakfast where you so effortlessly embarassed us." Yoshino looked slightly guilty but motioned for her son to continue.

„After that I dragged Naruto to see the Hokage, who is a friend of Naruto's. We told her what happened between Naruto and his boyfriend, she got angry and called him to her office. They talked for a while, the boyfriend denying everything and..." Yoshino interrupted.

„What's his name?"

„What? The boyfriends?" Seeing her nod, Shikamaru scowled and growled our, „Uchiha Sasuke."

Yoshino blinked. He sounds angry... Wait a minute!

„Shikamaru-kun, are you... Are you in love with Naruto?" she asked, slightly hesitant. Shikamaru, who had been glaring at the floor, thinking of ways to kill a certain Uchiha, snapped out of his daze and blushed slightly.

„Yeah..." he whispered, his mother barely hearing him. She frowned.

„Why are you so sad?"

Shikamaru blinked: where had that come from? Then he sighed. I guess I am a bit sad...

„I'm afraid he'll hate me when he finds out..."

Yoshino smiled, „Nonsense! He came to you, didn't he? He trusts you."

„I know... I just don't want to break that trust." Shikamaru was staring at the ground, looking like someone just kicked his puppy. His mother frowned again and, after seeing her son yawn, said, „Go take a nap, you look tired. I'll wake you and Naruto-kun up for dinner, okay?"

Shikamaru just nodded sleepily and went up the stairs, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A few hours later, when Yoshino went to Shikamaru's room to wake him and Naruto up for dinner, she saw something that made her inner fangirl squeal: Shikamaru and Naruto were curled up on the bed, Shikamaru's arms possessively around Naruto. The blonde himself was half on top of the brunette and seemed to be smiling slightly. Yoshino almost ran out of the room to go find a camera, and when she did, took several pictures at different angles. When she saw Shikamaru stir and open his eyes, she quickly hid the camera in one of her pockets.

„Hi, dear, have a nice nap?"

Shikamaru blinked sleepily and stared at her for a few seconds before muttering, „Yeah... Dinner's ready?"

She nodded and left the room as soon as she was sure Shikamaru wouldn't fall asleep again (it happened quite often, actually). As soon as she was out, Yoshino giggled and smirked. Blackmail...

Shikamaru looked down at Naruto and sighed, he didn't want to wake him up, the blonde looked so peaceful. Still, he shook the younger teen slightly and raised an eyebrow when he muttered something about rainbows and polar bears. Odd... I won't even try to understand him. I might get a headache, God how I hate headaches.

He shook Naruto again, slightly harder this time, and smiled as the boy opened his eyes slightly and murmured sleepily, „Shika...? What time is it?"

„Dinner time. Come on, get up, you need to eat. You are way too thin."

Naruto scowled and hid his face in Shikamaru's neck. „Don' wanna. Sleepy."

Shikamaru simply chuckled slightly, the action making Naruto shake.

„Trust me, I'd rather sleep too, but aren't you hungry?"

„No." The blonde answered petulantly, really not wanting to get up. However, his stomach had other plans and growled loudly as soon as Naruto finished his denial. He opened his eyes and smiled sheepishly.

„Okay, so maybe I'm slightly hungry..." Shikamaru laughed again and Naruto sat up, pouting.

„Shut up."

Shikamaru smirked, sitting up himself. He stretched slightly and stood up, pulling Naruto with him. Naruto eeped and stumbled slightly, almost falling. He glared at the older boy and started walking towards the door, almost collapsing after two steps. Shikamaru, however, managed to catch him before he hit the ground, pulling him closer to himself and wrapping one arm around his waist. Naruto blushed slightly and chuckled nervously.

„Guess we still have slight chakra exhaustion. Ah well, it'll go over in a day or two."

Shikamaru frowned. „We?!

The blonde smiled, „Yeah, Kyuubi and I. We had to use a lot of chakra to heal our wounds. But, the wounds are gone and now the only thing we have to worry about is the chakra exhaustion."

„You can talk to it?"

Naruto frowned. „Kyuubi's offended, he does have a gender, ya'know. But yeah, I can talk to the annoying fox. I can also draw on his chakra during battle or whenever I need it. A blessing and a curse." He chuckled slightly.

„Still, I'm glad I have him. He's the only one who's always there..."

Shikamaru scowled, but still smiled at the blonde, „I'll be here for you too."

Naruto grinned, „Thanks, Shika!"

During their conversation they had almost reached the kitchen. After a few seconds they were seated behind the table, plates full of food (AN: I wrote fuud...) in front of them courtesy of Yoshino. They were soon eating, a conversation between the three of them.

About 5 minutes after the start of dinner, the back door (in the kitchen) slammed open and a slightly slurred voice yelled out, „I'M HOME!"

Shikamaru and Yoshino groaned. He's drunk... Damn. Those were basically the thoughts that ran through two minds. The third one was just confused. Whaa...?

Shikamaru's father, Shikaku, walked into the room they were eating at with a big smile. However, as soon as he saw Naruto, his eyes narrowed.

„YOU!" He yelled, obviously angry at something.

Oh no, Kyuubi... Naruto's eyes widened and he shrank slightly in his chair.

Warning, more bad humor!

Shikaku continued, „You took my leprechauns, didn't you?"

Naruto froze and sweatdropped. What... the... Hell? Shikamaru and Yoshino had closed their eyes as soon as Shikaku said the word 'leprechauns', both obviously very embarrassed.

„Well? Answer me!"

Naruto shook his head slightly. „No, sir, I didn't take your, err, leprechauns."

„Call me Shikaku," he said before the rest of the sentence registered in his brain.

„Oh... Do you know who did?" he asked, sounding sad.

Naruto twitched slightly. „No, I don't, sorry."

„Hmph..." he sat heavily into the only available chair. „Those guys kicked my puppy."

Shikamaru and Yoshino stared at the drunken man. No... way... in... Hell.

Naruto decided to continue. „I'm sure you'll get them someday. I've always wanted a puppy, but Iruka-sensei wouldn't let me." Naruto pouted slightly and the only two sane people in the room decided to stare at him instead.

„Yeah, I know what you mean. I always wanted a puppy too, but Daddy wouldn't let me get one, said I was too irresponsible. Hmph, I'm not irresponsible, I just... don't care about rules as much as They say I should."

Naruto sighed. „Yeah, I know what you mean..."

The two resumed their (slightly insane) conversation, the topic moving from pets to foxes to deer to rainbows to God knows what else. Shikamaru and Yoshino simply stared at the two less than sane men, mouths slightly open. They're... No way. No WAY!

After about 5 minutes of simply listening to Shikaku and Naruto argue about the best way to cook a potato („Boiled, not fried!") Shikamaru and his mother decided to try eating again. They weren't too successful, choking every now and again thanks to something either Shikaku or Naruto said. Yet, it seemed as if the two talking men didn't have any problem eating without choking.

I can't believe them... Thought both Shikamaru and Yoshino as they heard Shikaku comment on the mole-people and Naruto agreeing with him, saying The Man kept it all hidden.

As soon as he saw Naruto yawn, about halfway through a discussion about colors, Shikaku frowned and said, „You look tired. You should probably go to sleep."

Shikamaru sighed, relieved, and dragged Naruto up the stairs to his room, flinching slightly when he heard his father yell, „We'll continue this tomorrow, okay!" Naruto simply said okay back and Shikamaru groaned. Damn... He's drunk, but not that drunk, he'll probably remember this tomorrow... Dammit, why can't I have a normal family instead of this troublesome one? So, yeah, he was whining in his head, but honestly, he had every right to!

The brunette sighed and, after escorting Naruto to the bathroom and going there himself, dragged the younger teen to his room and almost fell on the bed, exhausted. He pulled the blanket over himself and Naruto, who was laying half on top of the brunette. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.

But before he could fall asleep, Naruto interrupted him.

„Shika?" Shikamaru 'hm'-ed and opened one eye, looking down at the blonde. Naruto blushed slightly before reaching up and kissing him briefly on the lips. He pulled away quickly and hid his face in Shikamaru's chest, clutching his shirt. Shikamaru looked down at the blonde boy, slightly surprised, before grinning. Well, I definitely wasn't expecting that...

He kissed Naruto on the top of his head and hugged him tighter, soon falling asleep with a smile on his face, mirrored by Naruto.

……………………….

The next morning, during breakfast, after hearing Naruto growl at Shikamaru and Shikamaru eeping and quickly apologizing, Shikaku commented lightly, „He sure does have you whipped, doesn't he Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru felt like killing something. Maybe he should kick his father's imaginary puppy...

………………………..

Aaand… over! You're glad it's over, aren't ya? Ehh…

It came out longer than I expected (almost 15 pages in Word…) but for my first fic… Anyway, review people! REVIEW! If you don't, Yoshino will never upload those pictures she took on the Internet. You wouldn't want that, do you? HUH, DO YOU?

Ahem… I'm thinking about writing a sequel or something similar to it, so I want you, the Readers, to tell me if I should. The ideas are:

A: A second chapter, everyone finding out what happened to Naruto and Sasuke's punishment, maybe something else…

B: The story from Naruto's POV, more of his thoughts than anything.

Or C: Both of 'em!

So, yeah, review and tell me what, if anything, you'd like and I will write. I am a SLAVE to the keyboard, a SLAVE to my OWN IDEAS! A SLAVE, I tells ya!

Sorry, insanity. REVIEW!