Yo! My first attempt at fanfiction here! Actually, it's not my first. In middle school I tried, but then my laziness and attention span got the best of me and then I forget what my password was and then I didn't read fanfiction for a year.

So, yeah! This one counts as my first, I guess. I don't think I'll forget about this one as it's been in my head for a little over a month now to the point that I had to actually write it down.

Disclaimer: If Naruto belonged to me, Sasuke wouldn't be so much of an ass, my babies wouldn't be dead, and my face would be on the Hokage Mountain cuz I'm cool like that. But it doesn't, so none these things can happen. Curse you, Kishimoto-sensei!

Warning: This is a SasuNaru fic. Meaning gay mansex and there will be Mpreg later on... maybe... yes. Yes, there will be Mpreg. If you do not like gay mansex, please turn away now or you will just be that unwanted and unhappy reader.

Anyway, enjoy~

Chapter One

We've Come So Far

Looking out at the village from the Hokage Mountain, he took in all the changes and all of the building still changing. Closing his lapis lazuli orbs, he leaned back and let the breeze rouse his usually tense muscles into relaxation as he reminisced the journey into now.

The years after the war were spent in the rebuilding of Konoha and all nations affected. It took a total of three long years, but people were now finally able to smile again. While in the first couple of years, the villagers displayed a trauma for strangers, now everyone displayed a joyful disposition towards visitors and the neighboring villages. Alliances brought everyone closer together and gave closure to the numerous losses. Naruto could proudly say it was the step towards peace that he'd dreamed of. With his eyes still closed, he inhaled the scent of his surroundings and let out a blissful sigh.

"Why do you always seem to know where I am?" Seriously, no matter how much he always changed up his hiding spot, the genius could still find him within the hour.

Shikamaru let out a low chuckle, stepping closer to the blonde. "I need to prepare for when you get in office and start slacking off." With an annoyed huff, he crouched down beside Naruto and stared up at the sky. "Three years, huh?"

"You sound so old."

Pouting, though he'd never admit to it, Shikamaru looked straight into the blonde's eyes accusingly. "You ready to talk to him, yet?" Immediately, the boy tensed up and turned away. Away from the one person who knew him so well. Too well.

"You sound like an old man," was Naruto's cold reply. He was all too aware of who he was that Shikamaru referred to. However, that didn't mean he was about to own up to the crime.

"I believed you've pointed that out already, but changing the topic wont get you out of it." The seemingly apathetic young man had grown so accustomed to being on the receiving end of his friend's attitude. "I get where you're coming from, really, but are you really going to continue this kind of childish and rapidly becoming annoying charade?" Man, caring was so troublesome.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the mini-lecture; he honestly had no idea whether to be offended at the insult or flattered that his normally too-lazy-to-care friend actually cared enough to want to talk about it. Weighing his options for a millisecond in his brain, he surmised that if he wanted to avoid the full lecture, the former was the way to go. "Hey," he let out with a scrunch of his face for added effect. "I am being extremely mature here! And if you want me to continue my wonderful act of maturity, you'd for once drop the subject. Geez, it's a beautiful day—best in three years, in fact—so let's enjoy it. Quietly. Without talking." Hoping that his less than subtle message was received, the blonde gave the brunette an exaggerated smile for emphasis.

And you could always count on good old Shika to catch on. So, the genius stayed quiet and turned his eyes away from the painfully bright smile. Less than five minutes passed before they were both chuckling under their breaths. Gradually, Naruto's laugh got louder and Shikamaru's smile grew wider in reaction. "You really never could stand the quiet for too long." 'Makes it impressive that you've avoided him for this long.

Shikamaru watched as Naruto stood up and made to walk away. "Where ya going?" The blonde made a backhanded wave as he kept walking, "The only reason you took so much trouble to find me was 'cause Tsunade-baa needs me for somethin', right? Catch ya later." With that, the shinobi teleported off, reminding the brunette of the Fourth Hokage more than usual.

Sighing for what could be the hundredth time that day—the thirteenth, to be exact—Shikamaru looked back towards the only thing that could help him sort his thoughts. The clouds. Another failed confrontation. For a boy who used to be so simple-minded and easy to read, he grew up to quite adept at closing his mind and quite stubbornly, too. He took a second to admire his friend's resiliency. Only a second, though, since it was that resiliency that refused to get him his desired result.

Ever since the end of the war, the group had kept a pretty close relationship with each other. They made efforts to hang out together and deal with things as a group. When Neji left, he took with him the distance they kept from each other. The loss of a comrade brought them to the conclusion that losing another was far too great a loss to keep being distant with each other. So, they stuck with each other like a family.

Sasuke coming back and with a determination to do great things helped a lot too. Gone was the brooding teen that only longed for revenge, now replaced with a sort-of brooding young adult that trusted them and had a Sasuke-like openness to the idea of friendship between them. It gave them the hope they needed that bonds couldn't be broken. In addition, it raised their respect for Naruto for never giving up and seeing the greatness in people. After all, it was through his persistence that the message finally got across to Sasuke. Even when they had all given up.

He still harbored some hatred for Konoha, and after what he went through, it wasn't unfounded. It was obvious, however, that he was trying to move past that. He knew beside him was the generation that carried change with it. Also obvious, though only to those who knew him, was Sasuke's reason for the effort being put in trying so hard in the first place. Sure, the whole changing Konoha to be better was fifty percent of the reason, but there was most definitely another.

Nobody was stupid to Sasuke's saddened and bewildered glances whenever the one who he wanted to bond the most with turned the other way. Ever since he came back, Naruto has kept his distance and wouldn't so much as say a word to Sasuke unless absolutely necessary. That's a feat in itself for a guy like Naruto, thought an honestly impressed Shikamaru. In groups, he manages to play it off like he really is involving everyone. But, that's exactly what he's doing; involving all parties so he doesn't have to focus on just one.

For the first year, it was obvious to all how much it irritated the raven and he didn't even try to mask it. Kiba and Akamaru would cringe at the killer intent seeping out of him. He would try countless ways to confront the blonde about it, but to no avail. The response always ended the same way. Naruto's usually bright blue eyes would fog up in that cold way they did when he was shutting you out, he would quickly avert them, and then he'd fire the brightest smile he had and laugh it off before walking away to mingle with others.

No one wanted to be on the receiving end of those eyes. To have someone as forgiving and trusting as Naruto shutting you out with that stare, those eyes made you feel like the scum of the earth. Sakura would know.

Konoha's only natural pinkette made the mistake of fearlessly scolding Naruto for being so unreasonable to Sasuke. Midrant, he voice died out when Naruto eyes clouded.

"I love you, Sakura. I really do, but this isn't really any of yours or anybody's business," was all he said before flashing a small, forced smile and changing the topic to a lighter one.

Right at that moment was when everyone who witnessed it discovered that, with Naruto, there were levels of trust he placed. Considered the life he lead, it was obvious why he had them. Their knowledge of Naruto's logic still did nothing to shield the hurt that he had yet to put them in the amount of trust they put him in.

After the realization that she was being unreasonable for yet another Sasuke-related topic as if now that Sasuke's back she has reverted to her old mentality, Sakura sobered up a bit and never brought it up again. It was obvious she couldn't intimidate him into doing what she says, and her Sasuke-is-always-right mentality had gotten the best of her when her friend needed her to trust him the most. Choosing to keep things as casual as Naruto was trying to make them, she just kept her mouth shut and felt relieved that he still kept his playful attitude towards her.

The cold shoulder did nothing to stop Sasuke, though. If anything, it amplified his resolve to find out what he exactly happened. During their group outings, he would comment on things to the group that would rouse an indirect response. The gang immediately got the hint and went on to doing what they could for the raven to help him talk to the person they knew mattered the most, though Naruto's responses weren't to Sasuke.

It still bothered Sasuke that he had to go through such great lengths to talk to the blonde, and Shikamaru honestly expected him to have given up by now considering how uncaring the Uchiha is to most things, but that just shows how much Naruto's presence matters in his life. He actually had given up last year for the whole year, then suddenly started this indirectly-speak-to-him plan. It was anyone's guess that he just wanted any form of contact with the blonde that he could get.

Shikamaru was aware of why Naruto was so adamant on keeping the quiet game going, but he still felt that the problem could be fixed. He promised to never tell a soul, and promises to the blonde were taken to the grave, so he made it his reluctantly procured mission to persuade Naruto to come out of his shell. It didn't help, however, that this was Konoha's #1 Most Unpredictable Ninja we were talking about and he always found new ways to avoid the topic.

On the other hand, it was obvious to the genius how much the topic hurt his usually happy-go-lucky friend. He vowed three years ago to always be there for him, so he tried not to push the blonde into anything that was too much for him. But, the shinobi was strong, and Shikamaru would always be by Naruto's side no matter what.

Noticing, he'd been there for an hour already, the brunette huffed and stood up, muttering, "Well, there's still another chance during the BBQ tonight." With that, he headed towards the Hokage tower where he knew the Hokage would chew his head off for slacking off.

So there you have it! What did you think? Any constructive criticism is welcome as long as it's not a flame. I'm looking for a Beta, so anyone who's willing can PM me.

R&R please.

Peace out.