Trust || Narushika

Naruto?

After they had surprisingly passed the tricky test, the four genins were in the forest beside the training grounds, just lousing after their sensei left them to cool off. "Hey, be quiet! I'm trying to show you something cool!" Naruto shouted before he went on to poke Shikamaru endlessly "see! He doesn't get angry!" he continued loudly, chuckling as his best friend just mumbled something inaudibly before rolling over onto his side.

"Naruto, why don't you be quiet?!" Sakura screeched, like the hypocrite she is, as she punched the poor boy in his head, resulting in a loud whine from him "Sasuke is clearly annoyed by your stupid nonsense, so be quiet!" she said, not quite finished as Naruto muttered a quiet "Sorry, Sakura" while rubbing his head, where he had been punched, in a playful manner " I guess your parents never taught monsters how to shut up when they're supposed to" the pink-haired girl commented obnoxiously, huffing as she went to sit beside Sasuke, not noticing the way Naruto tensed up and the smile that he was sporting, momentarily falling after she turned away.

Before Sasuke or Sakura could turn back around to wonder why Naruto was suddenly quiet, a loud groan pierced through the silence "mother wants me home early to help with dinner so let's go, Naruto" Shikamaru suddenly said, standing up and dragging the uncharacteristically quiet blonde along with him, leaving the other two genins confused as they left. Once they left the forest and walked onto the streets, Shikamaru noticed that people had suddenly started to mumble things and throw glares his way, also ushering their children behind them protectively. Huh? What's going on? Some people even went inside their houses or into stores, this never happened when he was by himself. That meant it had to be someone else, obviously not him- Naruto, it had to be Naruto, but why? Before he could even question him, the blonde was already hugging him goodbye and walking off. Looking up, he realised that they had reached the Nara compound "bye, Naruto!" he said, raising his voice a little so the blonde could hear him, before he walked into the compound.

What he said had been a lie, he noticed the sudden change in atmosphere once Sakura had muttered those words and decided that it was best if he dragged the blonde away from the area. Mumbling a lazy greeting, Shikamaru took off his shoes before entering the house and noticed that the table had already been set up for dinner and his parents were waiting for him so he sat down opposite the both of them.  Dinner was quiet for a while before Shikamaru decided to speak up "hey, dad, why do people avoid Naruto like he's the plague? They give him weird looks too- but, he hasn't done anything wrong so, why?" he asked, hoping his smart father had an answer for him.

"What do you think of Naruto, son?" his father asked in return, dismissing his son's other questions, looking up at him, waiting for an answer since the young boy was contemplating over what he should say.

"Naruto, he's- I don't know what to say, he special, he's such a bright guy and I don't know how we're friends- best friends," he said, correcting himself before continuing, "but I still believe that he hasn't done anything wrong, the only wrong think I can think of- is him getting me out of my bed at ungodly hours in the morning" Shikamaru said absentmindedly, telling the truth as he looked back at his father.

"He shouldn't know himself, but if he does- then he will tell you in his own time, just follow your heart and do what you think is right" his father advised, completely avoiding the questions that were thrown at him previously.

With a nod, the young boy piped up again "I have another question" he stated, waiting for his father to give him the go ahead before he went and asked "are Naruto's parents sick or something? He never talks about them and was quiet when they were mentioned"

"Son..." his father paused, not knowing if he should answer or not, looking at his wife to make sure "Naruto... he doesn't know who his parents are, they both died when he was born- I cannot tell you who they are because it is confidential for his own safety, but the young boy is an orphan and has been for the whole of his life, the Hokage was able to secure a small apartment for him since no orphanages wanted him" his father answered, sighing when he finished.

Shikamaru nodded in response, taking all of this information in, deciding that he shouldn't ask his father anymore questions because he doesn't want to ruin the mood at the table. But, what he had now realised, was why he had never seen Naruto's house before, it was almost as if the blonde did this on purpose. After the little walk today, Shikamaru also realised why his best friend would always want to go to school together super early and go home by himself. It was because there were many villagers outside after school and there were hardly any in the morning- and if they were, it would most likely be shop owners trying to set up their stores so they wouldn't be focused on anyone in the streets. It all made sense now, Naruto didn't want him to see how other people viewed him.

Once he finished his meal, Shikamaru put his dishes in the sink before going up to his room- in all honesty, he didn't care at all about how people viewed Naruto, the blonde is practically his only friend anyways, why would he turn his back on such an amazing person just because others don't like him? That's it- tomorrow, he's going to make them leave later than they usually do and he's going to walk home with the blonde, he was going to get to the bottom of this.