Can't Help Myself 2.0

.1

Konoha village.

The streets was busy with people. Merchants promoting their products, kids running around, friends shopping, couples romancing. A typical day here in the village.

Walking amongst the citizens was a boy who wishes to sleep at this very moment. Yawning behind his hand as he walked down the dirt road, Shikamaru was currently on his way to the Hokage's tower.

He had been summoned by Tsunade and was unsure of what the reasoning is. He was playing a round of shogi with Asuna when a messenger suddenly appeared in his backyard.

Quietly, he continues his way downwards, observing the streets around him as he strolls his way.

"Hm~ the weather seems a little dull today, it's gonna be one of those days" he mumbles to himself, staring at the sky above him before his vision of it was blocked by a ceiling. He tilted his head downwards, now facing forward as he made his way to Tsunade's office.

Stopping in front of her door, he rubbed the back his neck to ease it up a bit, releasing a low groan before knocking on the door with his other hand. "Hokage-sama, I have arrived."

Hearing a faint "Come in", he turned the door knob and walked inside.

Tsunade placed down her pen, giving her attention to the lazy genius and nodded at him.

"Thank you for coming Shikamaru"

"Of course" Shikamaru simply answered, straightening himself as he stood in front of Tsunade.

"I have a small task that I need you to do for me. It might seem a little random but I need you to bring Naruto to me. Little brat has been avoiding me and I need inform him of something. Do what you can, drag him if needed" Tsunade briefly said, laying her back against the chair and rested her arms under her chest.

"Afterwards I'll send you some documents to give to your father"

Shikamaru could only tilt his head to the side a bit but nodded anyways at the request. "Yes Hokage-sama"

It's been a minute since he encountered the energetic boy.

He bowed his head before walking out of the tower, eyes now scanning around for any signs of his blond friend. Simply finding him might be a little tricky, Naruto is constantly in motion. Searching up high and down low, to his favorite spots, and even near the riversides. No signs of Naruto so far.

It's a little weird that Naruo has been avoiding the Hokage, knowing he's very driven to missions and being assigned to them. Could it perhaps be a different matter?

He could feel his shoulders deflating the longer he searched, thinking tiredly to himself.

"Where could he be... he could be anywhere-"

"Ow!"

His thought was cut short when he heard a faint noise coming from one of the bushes. Shikamaru perked up a bit at the familiar voice and started walking towards that direction of where it came from. Falling from a tree, sounds like something Naruto would do.

The sounds of hissing and groaning filled Shikamaru's ears as he bent down to look over at the whiskered face covered in leaves.

"Silly boy, that's why you watch where you're going" Shikamaru teasingly said, watching Naruto rub his back while his eyebrows scrunched together in pain.

"Shush it Shikamaru! Don't wanna hear it 'ttebayo"

What a knucklehead.

Never a dull moment with Naruto around, Shikamaru found it quite amusing.

Shikamaru sighed out quietly, a small smile featured on his face as he squatted to Naruto's level, offering a hand to help him out. However, his smile was instantly wiped away once he got a closer look at his friend.

He looked more worn out than usual, dirt marks on his clothes where his arms and legs are, some visible bruises beginning to develop on his tan skin as well. Naruto even looked out of breath, as if he was running from something.

Shikamaru quickly looked around, seeing if there was someone or something around them that could be a potential threat. Seeing that everything seemed clear, he paid back attention to Naruto with his arm stretched out again.

"What happened to you?" he questioned, carefully grabbing onto his right arm for further inspection.

Naruto reacted instantly, pulling his arm away from Shikamaru's grasp and cradled it against his chest. His reaction was as if he had been burnt. Shikamaru stared at him, perplexed at the reaction. Missing his short panicked looked, Naruto let's out a forced laugh.

"I was- uhm- training! Yes, training on the- uh trees! Yeah! That's it so no need for the curiosity"

Shikamaru squinted his eyes, staring into Naruto's shaky ones.

"You know, you've always been a bad liar" Shikamaru comments lowly, watching Naruto's whole demeanor fall apart at the words spoken.

Silence filled the two for a few moments before Naruto's loud laughter erupted out of nowhere. Shikamaru flinched at the sudden volume, eyes widening in shock.

"Anyways!! I really need to get going now so if you'll excuse me~" Naruto sing-songed, pushing himself off the ground, dusting his dirtied up pants and standing up straight.

Actually, it was more crooked than straight with the way he was resting on one leg.

Shikamaru noticed how Naruto's eyebrows were scrunching together even more once he stood up, very noticeably in pain. Following after him, Shikamaru stood up too and taking a step to the side to block Naruto's way. He pointed a finger at the short boy and poked his chest.

"No can do, Hokage-sama sent me here to get you. It's okay not to tell me what happened but come with me so that she can patch you up. Come on, you can lean on me" Shikamaru reached his hand to grab onto Naruto's but, yet again, Naruto immediately pulled his hand away.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru mumbled in a warning tone.

Naruto's eyes were frantically looking around, smile now wavering.

"Listen Shikamaru, I really need to go. I promise to visit Baa-chan later so tell her that but I can't stay right here for long. Buh-bye!" Naruto quickly said before running away from the area.

"Wait- ah" Shikamaru tried to reach out for him but stopped himself seeing how fast Naruto was running.

Okay, that was a bit strange.

He rubbed his face with both of his hands, standing at his spot for a few more moments before making his way back to the Hokage's tower. His mind was flooded with Naruto's injuries, mind scrambling around on all of the possibilities that could lead up to such thing to happen.

Troublesome boy.

How could Naruto think he'd just leave him alone after seeing him in such a state?

The quicker he reports to Tsunade, the faster he'll find Naruto again and drag him to get medical treatment before his injuries get infected.

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