I wrote this in both stress and passion. I might make this monthly. Thoughts?

In all of his adolescent life, Shikamaru could clearly remember the first word he ever uttered. He immediately regretted it.

The memory was like a glass of spring water, he was barely a year old at the time. Held by his father, he watched the man play the game that sealed his fate. Shogi was a time honored Nara tradition, and all were to be at least proficient in it's arts and philosophy.

Shikamaru vividly remembered his mother march down the hallway in the clan head's abode. A deep scowl marred her face as she scolded and nagged the man about going to work. To be fair, even at his age, Shikamaru inherited the trademark intelligence of a Nara. Despite not understanding what his father did, he was proud of the man being relied on by others. He was important, doing an important job.

It was also the reason why he understood even with his underdeveloped brain that important jobs needed as much rest and relaxation as possible. Stress would leave the man cranky, he should know. He was always like that when he couldn't get his naps after milk.

Maybe it was because his father never argued back or protested when his mother was mad for no real reason. Maybe it was the fact that his father eventually agreed and stood up to go back to work even when the creatures with white masks didn't appear to call for him did Shikamaru feel a sudden urge to defend him.

He had no idea what to say back then. The words that his mother kept going on and on with 'mama' and 'papa' wouldn't help at all. He knew what those words meant, he didn't need them in this situation. They wouldn't convey what he thought about the whole situation. When he was given to be held in his mother's arms, Shikamaru's faint hair on the crown of his head was gently ruffled. His eyes widened as much as a baby could do when in front of him appeared a near black void. To his baby mind, it looked like a sheet of water always at the surface of a pond.

Nara Shikaku
Level: ?
Title: Head of the Nara Clan
Title: Jonin Commander
Title: -
Class: Shinobi, Jonin
Rank A

Status:
Title Effect: Nara Clan Head: Conflict with Berserk, Stress, Silence, Slow, Haste
Title Effect: Jonin Commander: Conflict with Fatigue, Stress, Silence, Slow, Haste
Fatigue (Major): 25% Attribute Decrease, 12.50% Ability Effectiveness Decrease, 12.50% Force Sleep
Stress (Moderate): 25% Ability Effectiveness Decrease, 12.50% Berserk, 6.25% HP Loss/Minute
Silence (Minor): Element Deficiency, 15% Chance ability failure
Confuse (Moderate): 12.50% Attribute Decrease, Motor Function Impairment
Slow: Conflict with Haste
Haste: Conflict with Slow

"Troublesome"

Regardless of what the word ment to him, Shikamaru cringed when his mother yelled out not so subtly when he uttered his first word. In his defence, he only said it because of the weird black see-through image. Pudgy fingers moved forward, flailing in a not so successful attempt of removing the thing. They misunderstood him.

Status Update!

Shikaku, Gained Pride (Moderate): Reduce all negative status effects by 1 rank. Silence removed
Yoshino, Gained Pride (Minor): Berserk, Stress, Fatigue Removed

His father, which was Shikaku by what the words somehow conveyed to him smirked ever so slightly. Hands quickly exchanged his body from the mother to the father again. The two adult quickly went off into an argument at least when it came to his mother's own recollection. Shikamaru knew better, he was there. It felt more like a one-sided massacre on his end.

His mother went on and on how he got tainted by the nature of the Nara clan the moment he was handed to his father. The influences of the laid back Shikaku were naturally absorbed like the sponge used to clean dishes after a meal. She went so far as to say if he was so naturally inclined to his dad, why not have some father son bonding?

Shikamaru felt he was in a world of hurt now, he wasn't going to be able to nap anymore and it seemed that his word was so interesting that he was going to be taken to where his father worked, since the old man naturally agreed with a smirk.

Just great.

Sadly however, this lead to the second memory Shikamaru ever remembered vividly. The cold winds of a new season of autumn came through. It was the perfect time for naps, the cold air would be warmed by the suns rays while he would be snuggled into blankets at the open courtyard of their home.

Instead, he was taken not so leisurely to where his father worked. Years laters, he would realize it was the hokage tower, and the old man holding onto an equally small bundle of a baby was the third hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The conversation that the adults had when they greeted each other were too much for him to bother understanding. The only thing in his head at the time were what the black abominations blurred in front of him meant.

Sarutobi Hiruzen
Level: ?
Title: Hokage
Title: Head of the Sarutobi Clan
Title: -
Class: Shinobi
Rank S

Status:
Title Effect: ?
Title Effect: ?
Fatigue (Minor): 12.50% Attribute Decrease, 6.25.% Ability Effectiveness Decrease, 3.125% Force Sleep
Stress (Moderate): 25% Ability Effectiveness Decrease, 12.50% Berserk, 6.25% HP Loss/Minute
Berserk (Minor): ?
Fear (Minor): ?

Uzumaki Naruto
Level: 1
Title: ?
Title: ?
Title: -
Class: ?
Rank ? (?)

Status:
Title Effect: ?
Title Effect: ?
Poison: ?
Stress: ?
Curse: ?
Fear: ?

There was one obvious thing Shikamaru would always deny, even years later to his friends and family. That one thing was curiosity; While one would ignore it or let sleeping dogs lie, Shikamaru was different. Anything that peaked his curiosity enough would nag at him, and this was a challenge. This Shikamaru knew even before he could read.

Why did the baby in front of him have a so many more of those weird squiggly marks than any other person he looked at? Besides that, the words that were usually on adults like his father earlier were everywhere on the baby. Other kids that he met before whenever his mom would bring him in the middle of naps never had these things. What was the whole Rank ? (?) thing too?

He didn't like this. Not one bit.

Idly, he could easily hear tidbits of the conversation from the two adults. The hushed words barely registered but he only feel a sudden wrongness from it… somehow.

"You're not the first clan asking to take Naruto under their wing."

"We should honor both the Yondaime and his wife's sacrifice, let alone Naruto's."

"I know… but I cannot allow Naruto to be taken in under any person or house. It can be seen as a political move internally."

Whatever they were saying, Shikamaru stopped from pulling the effort to hear more. A ruffling of cloth was heard in his child ears that broke his thoughts. A head emerged from the bundle and out came the brightest color he had ever seen on a person. It was blinding, like the sun shined at a midday naptime. Big sky blue eyes opened up, widened when the baby got a look at his own dark brown orbs.

Somehow he could tell they looked at him in apprehension. The mouth curled together in a ugly visage that reminded him of the cries that other babies would do, personally he never cried. With quick thinking for one his age, Shikamaru raised up an arm, pudgy fingers landed on top of the other baby's head.

The hushed noise around him went silent. A tension so fragile that the wind hitting the windows could break it into tiny pieces encompassed everyone but the two babies. He ignored it all, focused on the other baby that was about to cry. No way was he going to witness something so troublesome like a baby crying. Logically he chose the option with the least amount of effort in the long run.

Naruto or what both the black glass thing and the adults said it named, widened their eye's even more. Shikamaru never knew eyes could go that big. Naruto's gaze stopped at his own face a tad too long than he could feel comfortable. It was only by a stroke of luck that the other baby's gaze left him to a shiny little object held in his hand.

It was a little trinket thing made of a shiny stuff that both his mother and father gave him to hold onto. Branches that were inside a circle. They looked alot like those things that were on top of the head of deers. Antlers if he remembered his mother cooed it to him weeks ago.

Oh no.

Shikamaru could tell when a baby liked something another one had. Their eyes would sparkle and stare at it for hours on end. A flash of unease grew from his heart. The baby wanted his shiny!

As if the other could sense his unease, Naruto looked up at him. He couldn't hold back when big doe eyes looked at him with the same sparkle that the other saw in the trinket. It wasn't much that he could do, The adults were oddly quiet and he already made the first move for contact by touching the other baby on the head. He never did that with any of the other babies that he met.

Tentatively, he put in even more effort by forcing the hand with the trinket towards Naruto. The shiny antlers dangled off of his palm when he heard a sigh from the adult. Whatever they were doing, he ignored them. It wasn't his fault! This baby was just so persuasive.

It took a few moments of him having to leave the trinket between the two. Slowly, Naruto reach out with a hand and grabbed it, he let go and went back to trying to get comfortable again.

Status Update!

Hiruzen, Gained Pride (Moderate): All Status Debuffs Reduced by 1, Fatigue, Berserk, Fear Removed
Shikaku, Gained Pride (Major): All Status Debuffs Removed
Naruto, ?
ANBU Protective Detail, Gained Respect (?): ?

"It looks like the start of a beautiful relationship. Don't you think so, Shikaku?" He could only stare while those words went in one ear and out the other, stupefied at the blazing smile Naruto had when he gave the trinket over. This was not what he was hoping for.

Missions Accepted!

Open Secret
A Kit in the Wilderness
The Forest Sanctuary
Of Yin and Yang

Years later, Naruto still wore the deer bracelet he gave away, Even during the training with Jiraiya. Not that Naruto needed training, He was Naruto's teacher.