I do not own Naruto.

CHAPTER ONE: Stadium Seating

The sounds kept him up at night. This was a problem. For a man who valued sleep more than anything. Being kept awake by the sounds that had been the soundtrack to his youth was a haunting curse. Every time he closed his eyes he'd hear it. Steady and crisp. The sound of gloved fists striking bags suspended from a roof. The sounds of bells ringing to relieve one from hell. Only to return them a short while later. The sounds of crowds cheering for more blood. And if he listened close enough. He could still hear the sound of sweat hitting the floor. The music of boxing had been keeping him up for the last two years.

For the Nineteen years Shikamaru Nara had existed he had learned to be certain of a few things. He knew that sleep was the answer to problems that could not be solved. Women were the most difficult thing one could encounter. And that hard work only led to more responsibility. Boredom fit him well. Apathy looked good on him, depression, not so much. All the seasons had come and gone twice since the last time he had slept well. The sounds only got louder and louder with time.

This morning was like most. Shikamaru slams the snooze button on his alarm for the fourth time. It quits it's blaring for another five minutes. By the ninth time he has hit the snooze button he finally decides to shut it off.

Shikamaru takes baths. At a young age he decide it was too troublesome to stay standing while cleaning himself if he got the same results while lying down. After getting dressed he heads downstairs. Stepping quietly on the steps in hopes to not alert his presence, also like most mornings the stair gods do not want to show him any mercy. They screech louder with each descending step.

He waited for his mothers yell telling him to get to his housework. Living with his parents still embarrassed him, but the last two years had drained him of any hope of a normal life. There was one thing that was off about this morning. His mothers yell did come but it was different than any other day.

"Shikamaru! Get down here now! You have a visitor!" his mother yells. His eyebrows perk up with curiosity as to who is waiting for him downstairs. He follows the direction of his mother's voice to the kitchen.

"You've gotten fat Shikamaru," a familiar voice says through a mouthful of food. "Almost as big as me." a huge man sitting at his table stuffs his mouth full of food. "Chouji? What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asks. A few moments pass before Chouji speaks again "Get dressed, we're going somewhere." Shikamaru's mother shoots him a glare telling him to do as his friend says.

Half an hour later Chouji leads Shikamaru through city streets. After a few moments Shikamaru pieced together where they were heading. How could he forget the familiar paths?

Konoha Stadium.

He hadn't been here since that night.

"I can see you've figured it out." Chouji says through the side of his mouth. "Don't be angry at me. Your parents are making me do this; we both know this has to happen." Shikamaru crosses his arms in defeat. He knew there was no point in arguing. "Who's fighting tonight?" Chouji doesn't answer.

He had forgotten how uncomfortable stadium seats were. He glared down at the ring. It had been so long since he had laid eyes on one. He has so much hatred for a square of canvas and some ropes.

Music started playing. A fit man with dark brown hair enters the stadium. He makes his slow walk towards the ring. Shikamaru can tell by the way he moves he is the challenger. There is no confidence in his step. Shikamaru knows this man is here to lose. And to collect a massive check for doing so. The announcer speaks up. "Now entering the ring. Weighing in at One Hundred Twenty Four pounds. With a record of twelve wins. Zero loses. And One Draw. Shino "Black Widow" Aburame!" a roar emanates from the crowd. Shino pumps his fist in appreciation. Popping his mouth guard in to place." the crowd soon quiets down.

Suddenly an even louder cheer explodes from the stands. It takes Shikamaru a few moments to notice the champion has entered. And to no intro music. He is mid thought wondering who the current champion is when cameras zoom in on his face and he can see his identity clearly on the screens. "Now entering the ring. Weighing in at One Hundred Twenty Five pounds. With a record of twenty two wins. Zero loses. And Zero draws. The Featherweight Champion of Japan. Defending his title for the ninth time. Hidan!"The crowd goes wild. Shikamaru's shoulders tense up. Chouji sees his reaction and quickly clamps a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

The round begins.

Hidan shows no mercy. He gives the crowd the bloodbath they've been waiting for. By the end of the first round. They are carrying Shino out on a stretcher. Hidan smirks in to a camera. The same smirk he had that night two years ago. Shikamaru glares in a rage.

A beautiful woman enters the ring along with Hidan's managers and trainers. She wraps her tanned arms around his neck. The cameras surround them as they share a deep kiss and smile at each other. Shikamaru shudders at the thought of a woman actually willing to touch that monster let alone kiss him.

By the time Hidan leaves the ring and by the time all the memories this place keeps haunt him Shikamaru is in tears.

"Chouji why did you bring me here?" he asks quietly.

"There's someone you need to meet."

Shikamaru lights a cigarette in remembrance. His mind thinking back to that night. He wanted to cry. Right there on that sidewalk. He missed him so much.

Asuma had taught him everything. Shikamaru's father Shikaku was always gone he was a top tier boxer at that time. Asuma was there, he taught Shikamaru everything: stance, guard, jabs, straights, hooks, uppercuts, crosses, and counters. It took five years, but Asuma worked hard and turned Shikamaru from a scrawny boy in to a boxer. He also trained Chouji. Everything Asuma had to offer he put in to them in his free time when he wasn't boxing. He was slowly making his way up in the boxing world. And he had a title shot finally, there was one fight left before he could go for the Japanese featherweight title. They said it was a stepping stone fight. One he would easily win. Fate played a cruel game that night. It was Asuma's last time in the ring. In the eighth round Hidan hit after the bell rang. With his arms dropped Asuma took the blow straight with no chance of guarding, Asuma went down. And he never got back up. The crushing blow left him brain dead. Two days later they terminated life support. Shikamaru hung up his gloves that day.

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his trance. "Sorry I'm late." a feminine voice spoke. When Shikamaru finally noticed her he was at a loss for words. A tall woman with dark curling waterfalls for hair and blood colored eyes stood before him. Bouncing a baby in her arms.

"Kurenai!" he exclaims. She smiles at him. Steps close to him and wraps an arm around him. Shikamaru felt strange. An angled hug between his late teacher's wife and a baby.

After she pulls away Kurenai faces the baby toward him. "Shikamaru, I'd like to introduce you to Asuma's son. After all he's named after you." The words she spoke rang in his head before he could comprehend them.

This was Asuma's son. This was his legacy. Shikamaru did the math. Asuma was killed before he was born. This child would grow up without a father because of Hidan.

Something in Shikamaru snapped at that moment. It all was made clear to him.

He faced his large friend and spoke.

"I'll see you at the gym tomorrow."

Chouji smiled as his friend walked away. He was glad the plan worked. It was good to see his best friend alive for the first time in the last two years. He hoped he would be able to stay like this.