It All Started With A Smell

Illogical

He hadn't seen Naruto for almost a week. When she had said she was going to stay in Kakashi-Sensei's hospital room he had thought she was exaggerating. It was his own fault for doubting the unusual behaviour of the blonde. When he finally did see her again she wanted to talk to Asuma-Sensei about wind style abilities. It was a little disheartening but he knew that she needed to train to be able to handle the Akatsuki and Sasuke.

The next time he saw her he was with the entire Team Asuma, getting ready to go on a high ranked mission. Naruto was complaining about having to stop training to go on a low ranked mission. He knew it was to keep her distracted from his own mission that may involve the Akatsuki but truthfully they could have just left her training and she would have been none the wiser.

"Hey, Naruto, how you doing? What's up with your training?" He asked, his heart starting to beat heavily in his throat. He didn't bother to greet the others. He didn't know Naruto's new captain, or Sai, and truthfully he disliked Sakura.

"Suspended on the account of some stupid mission," Naruto griped.

"Ino, are you guys heading out too?" Sakura asked.

"That's right." Ino nodded. "We're all together again."

"Hey, what are you all doing here?"

Shikamaru looked over at Konohamaru's voice, seeing the young boy walking over, holding a cat, with his team.

"Konohamaru." Naruto stepped towards the boy.

"So are you off on another mission, Naruto?"

"Unfortunately." Naruto started to joke with the boy about having to find lost cats whilst also praising him. Konohamaru glowed under Naruto's words.

It surprised Shikamaru to discover that Naruto didn't know Konohamaru and Asuma-Sensei were related. He almost dropped his head into his hands when he discovered that his own teammates hadn't known either. Asuma-Sensei looked uncomfortable with Naruto's attention until the blonde voiced how much she liked the idea of their chakra natures giving them a connection.

Without even thinking to say goodbye the girl ran off, not that Shikamaru was surprised. It relaxed Shikamaru to know that Asuma-Sensei trusted Naruto's captain, Yamato, with Naruto's life. Naruto's status to the village was important, so no matter how the two men saw the blonde, her protection was still important.

The mission Team Asuma went on was highly disheartening. They visited three villages and found all of them demolished, almost everyone person dead. There was no indication that the Akatsuki were behind the attacks but a sense of dread entered Shikamaru. The fact that his superiors had no trouble believing the destruction could be caused by the Akatsuki gave him an indication of just how dangerous they were. Although Naruto was strong and was training to become even stronger, Shikamaru was starting to doubt the blonde's ability to win against them. He had preferred it when Sasuke was the biggest threat to Naruto's safety.

They returned to the village without having engaged in a fight but feeling more beat down than any battle could cause. Asuma-Sensei told them he would report to Lady Tsunade himself, something that made all of them sigh with relief. Shikamaru decided to walk Ino to the hospital where she was going to complete some paperwork. She was shaking. As he walked out of the hospital he saw Naruto walking with Sai, arguing with him. The pale boy had his arm in a sling and his usual neutral expression. Naruto had one hand on Sai's shoulder, but had her body as far away from him as she could.

With a smile Shikamaru went up to Naruto and Sai. When Sai spotted him, he tried to walk closer with a fake smile on his face. Naruto quickly tightened her hold on Sai's shoulder, pulling him back.