better left unsaid

Chapter 38: The Curse of Talent

After Naruto hashed out how to accurately summon something better than tadpoles the day after learning the jutsu for summoning, he went over to Shikamaru's house to find the Nara boy still a little banged up with bandages still adorning his torso, but fortunately he was in good enough condition to go walk with Naruto to check on Chouji, as their rotund friend had run aground of some foul luck in his own right during his last mission.

It was good to know that there were others around that weren't receiving the full blessing of Kami's bounty as well… in a sort of sick way.

Regardless, Naruto and Shikamaru were walking through the streets towards the hospital. It wasn't because Chouji was still in bad condition at all. As a matter of fact Chouji was more or less cleared to go home by this point. The reason he was in the hospital was because when he did go home he was given a big meal by his family and overate to the point of landing himself back into the hospital again.

The sun was looking like it was beginning to set on the early fall day in Konoha as the two walked through the streets and the normally bustling paths had the populace dwindling as the people returned to their own homes for the evening. It was Shikamaru's kind of time of day if he were to be honest with himself.

Naruto had his new goggles down over his eyes to protect them from the blinding sunset directly in his face and Shikamaru just had his eyes closed altogether. Hey, Naruto could see for him. Why use his eyes when Naruto had a perfectly good pair already working for them both?

"So…" Naruto said, acting nonchalant despite what he wanted to say.

"So…" Shikamaru sounded as if he was being put under duress just by being forced to speak. Why say anything Naruto? It was cool just walking down the street and staring at the back of his own eyelids. Hey, maybe he'd get a seeing-eye dog. He liked not having to look at things and waste brainpower scrutinizing everything on the roads.

When Shikamaru didn't say anything further, Naruto took it upon himself to proceed with the conversation, "So… are you taking the job to go train as a guard?" He asked, actually getting Shikamaru to crack an eye to look over at him, "…I'm asking you 'cuz I am. I'm going. Ero-sensei convinced me."

Shikamaru nodded and sighed tiredly, "Well at least that means I didn't make the decision to go too for nothing. Because if you weren't going I wasn't going to go. Someone's got to try to make sure you don't get nabbed by some crazy criminals that want your fuzzy little indigestion problem… even if it is the single most troublesome thing I've ever agreed to."

That really meant a lot to Naruto. Usually people tried to distance themselves from him because of his little problem. It was rare to find people that actually wanted to watch his back because of it. He could count the number of standup people that would do such a thing on one hand, "Thanks Shika. That's really cool of you."

"Whatever. Don't thank me yet. You're the one telling Ino."

"What?" Naruto replied with an owlish blinking of his eyes before reality set in on just what that implied, "No! Fuck that, you tell Ino-chan."

"Make a clone and tell her. You don't even have to be there for it."

"You make a clone and tell her then 'Mr I-have-clones-and-didn't-think-to-tell-anyone-about-it.'"

"I can only make one."

"You only need one!"

The bickering between the two continued all the way into the hospital until they found the staff in a tizzy. Both boys looked around confusedly and went to the main desk to try and get some attention, "Um, excuse me." Naruto asked the woman behind the counter, "Could you tell us where Akimichi Chouji's room is?"