It All Started With A Smell

Wild Versus Chaos

As he and Choji walked towards the village's main gate he spotted the distinct blonde hair of Naruto. She was standing next to the giant form of Haruki. Shikamaru tried not to scoff. He knew they weren't together but he still wasn't fond of Haruki. When they drew closer they noticed Riko's tiny little form standing with the other two. The small girl was bouncing around and repeatedly hugging Naruto or grabbing onto her arm.

The two gate guards were watching on with fascination. Shikamaru was aware that a large amount of gossip moved around the village because of those two men. With this knowledge in hand he made sure to watch his behaviour with Naruto around the men. The last thing he needed was for the entire village to know of his feelings for Naruto before the blonde herself knew. Though with how dense she could be that may just happen.

"Hey, it's your lunch friends," Riko exclaimed, pointing at the two. "Hi, Lunch Friends."

"You don't remember their names, do you?" Naruto asked in a deadpanned voice.

"I remember the hot one's name," Riko screeched. "That's the important thing."

"Please tell me you're not saying Kiba is better looking than us," Shikamaru joked making Naruto chuckle.

"No, Hinata," Riko sighed. "Girl after my own heart. She's almost as hot as you, Naruto, but I've seen you naked."

Naruto rolled her eyes. "You stay away from Hinata. Pretty sure she's only interested in boys anyway."

"For her I'd convert."

"Gender isn't religion," Haruki snorted. "We've got to get going. It's been good seeing you again, Naruto. Nice meeting you... Lunch Friends."

"You both suck." Naruto shook her head, only to yelp as Haruki grabbed her and slam his lips onto hers. She gave a muffled yelp as Shikamaru tried to hold in a growl. Haruki held her arms, making it impossible to push him away. The moment he let her go she punched him in the arm.

"Why did you do that? I sensed you earlier!"

"For fun. At least my breath doesn't stink." Haruki laughed.

"Am I that easy to surprise kiss?" Naruto yelled.

"Yes." Shikamaru replied instantly, only to realise what he had said. "I mean, based on what we've seen."

He tried not to groan. If unlucky the gate guards would spread it around the village within the day. Something flickered through Naruto's eyes before a tight smile appeared.

"That's not helpful, Shikamaru. Now get out of here," She waved away her two friends. "I have better things to do than stand here saying goodbye to you two."

Riko gave Naruto another hug before they said goodbye and walked out of the village.

"You know, I don't actually have anything to do today." Naruto threw her head back with a groan. "Not until Kakashi-Sensei gets out of the hospital. He says he has new training for me but won't tell me what it is."

"Well, after we pick up the gate reports we were planning to train. Did you want to join us?" Choji asked, smiling down at the girl.

Naruto shrugged. "Sure."

Shikamaru and Choji took Naruto to the training grounds their team commonly used on the Akamichi property. It was a large, dirt field with a large tree stump off to the side with blood soaked padding for punching. Off to one side was a mass of trees Shikamaru used for shadows. He knew that the open space wasn't the most ideal for Naruto's fighting style, seeing as she appeared to favour studying her opponent before creating a surprised attack. He had been impressed by the way Naruto utilised her shadow clones. She had certainly become a master of them. At the rate she was going she was going to make a name for herself through them, such as 'Naruto: the Shadow Ninja', which actually sounded pretty cool when Shikamaru thought about it. He was distracted for a moment wondering if he should start the title for her. She would probably love it.