Disclaimer: Hi there..this is the first time in a while that I have written a new story and I really hope that you guys enjoy it. The oneshot is set when the rookie nine are 20 and it only features Naruto and Shikamaru in an interesting realtionship. Naruto is the Rokudaime and Shikamaru is his lover, although everything is well and good Shikamaru has a habit that has been apart of him since a yound age that bothers the young hokage. I don't own Naruto, but if I did Shikamaru would be paired with every guy in the series at somepoint..


With a small sigh he lied back on the ground and watched as the soft clouds floated by, images of all the events in his life just passed before him. He now was 20, it had been 8 years since he had graduated the academy, 8 years since his forfiet of his chunnin exam had made him the only one to become a chunnin out of all of the villages, and 8 years since he met that one person that changed everything for him. That one person that made him see things much differently in life, that one person that now with their constant presense around him, made him realize how much he needed that person. That one person was his sensei, the one that with simple puzzles tricked him into showing him that he was the brightest ninja in the village. After that day, Asuma was the only one who was able to look into his tactical mind, and was basically trusted with leading his two other teammates, Ino and Choji.

Shikamaru had found that one person that he would trust with anything, although he wouldn't show it ever back then and with that has no other chance to show his sensei. He sighed again and sat up sticking a cigarette into his mouth, he knows that he picked up a bad habit years ago, but he couldn't help it. The tobacco filled stick that he had now lighten was his only way of honoring the soul of the one person that actually meant something to him. He saw Asuma as an uncle, the one person who came through for him when he needed it and that one person that actually made him work and taught him so much.

Letting out a cloud of smoke he laid back down on the soft lush grass of the forest and brought his focus back on to the sky above him. So this is what his life as a ninja brought him, the loss of the one person that he actually allowed close to him, and with that loss a habit that he thought was just unhealthy and disgusting. He let out a small chuckle and took the cigarette from his mouth, this right here was why he didn't want to work as hard as the others and was content with having the lowest marks and being classified as a loser, just like a certain blonde, who was now the hokage of the village.

He looked at the tree away from the clouds above him, now how did that one happen, why did his thoughts go from his sensei all the way to him. "Naruto," Shikamaru said slowly and then he laughed at how since he met Asuma, was the day that he started seeing Naruto in a new light. Ever since the Chunnin exam, he had developed a new kind of relationship with Naruto and slowly began to see Naruto as something very different from a loser and idiot, but rather someone strong and possibly far more intelligent then most people would give the blonde credit for. He soon realized what was it that Iruka saw in the blonde, and eventually everyone else saw something different in Naruto, rather than seeing the demon locked inside of him they saw a young man that with his words and actions brought a new side to the most horrific things on the face of the earth. Shikamaru saw how Naruto was with Gaara, and he watched as Naruto's open attempt at friendship with Gaara made the sand demon in the redhead die down, and made Gaara more accessible and human.

Suddenly the taste of his cigarette tasted bitter and Shikamaru cringed at what he tasted and threw the butt away, and looked back up to the sky. "Damn it," he muttered as he got up from the ground, the sky had turned dark it was now night time, "he has got to be worried by now."

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"Where have you been," the agitated voice asked has Shikamaru asked as he reached the top step of tower. This caused a small smile to cross the shadow-nin's face, all because he knew that he along with a certain Uchiha, were the only ones who would ever get a reaction like that from the Hokage of the village. Somehow, years ago Shikamaru had found a new place in Naruto's life, and heart, and that is why he constantly went out to the middle of the forest to think. How did the laziest and smart-assiest ninja in all of Konoha possibly manage to capute the heart of Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime of the village?

He slowly entered the room that contained Naruto and saw that his blonde lover was looking out the window, and he let out a small chuckle. "So I am guessing that you were worried, eh Uzumaki," he asked because both he and Naruto knew that the hokage knew where he was. "And yet, you claim that I am one of the best ninjas in the village, behind you of course," he said as he closed in on Naruto from behind and hugged him slowly. "Beside, I don't go any further than the forest without your permission, and that is just to think. Unless there is something wrong with me doing that?" Slowly Shikamaru began to kiss at Naruto's neck and taking in mind the small gasp that escaped the blondes lips and he stopped.

"Is there something wrong with me going out to the forest to think?"

"No, no..except that I fear that people from rival villages that know about our realtionship, and then there is Temari of course," Naruto said nervously and chuckled a bit. "But that doesn't matter anymore, you're back now."

Shikamaru laughed a bit and hugged Naruto a little tighter than before, if only Naruto knew that it was moments like this that would send him out to the forest to think...

End