It All Started With A Smell

One Shot - Facing The Cold In The Forest

Scene mentioned in chapter 37. Deserving.

"Are you sure there are rogue ninjas in the south forest?" A boy whispered, looking at his smug looking friend.

"Yeah, my uncle said they are in the bingo book." The leader of the little group looked around before grinning. "Come on, we can get rid of that nuisance."

A small, blonde boy walked up to them, flinching under their gaze before smiling. "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

"Oh, we were just talking about going to play in the south forest." The boy smiled, looking at his friends so that they would nod along. "Did you want to join us?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Naruto grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Alright, but we have to go have dinner first. So we'll meet you in the forest in an hour. If you get there early, just wait around for us. Or yell out, we might just be looking for you." With that, the group left Naruto in the street, looking giddy. Net moment, Naruto ran off.

Shikamaru sighed, looking down at the street from the bridge. He knew the blonde had recently joined his class, and honestly he wasn't a fan of him. He was loud, brightly coloured, and something about him gave Shikamaru a headache. It reminded him of times when his dad was working on a complex puzzle far above Shikamaru's skills that he couldn't work out. Even so, he didn't understand why people were so mean to him. Truthfully he was actually kind of funny. Until he had joined the class, Shikamaru had never seen Iruka-Sensei's face turn so red and puffy. Naruto certainly didn't deserve to be hurt or killed.

Thinking over the situation, Shikamaru went to find someone who could help him. His father was on a mission with his Uncle Choza and Uncle Inoichi, so they were out of the question. He knew he needed a ninja, not just a regular adult. One of the Uchiha police might be able to help, but they were sometimes a bit brutal. His father had said that distrust between them and the Leaf villagers breed more distrust. Unfortunately, Shikamaru needed someone who would help him stop Naruto from going to the forest. He stumbled upon a ninja with white, spiky hair and dead eyes, but chose to keep looking. The man honestly scared him and Shikamaru may have squeaked at the mere sight of him. He finally found Iruka-Sensei, who was exiting a take away shop. He told his teacher what had happened and who the boys were, biting back a word that his mother would ground him for when he realised he had taken almost an hour to find someone.

Iruka-Sensei dropped his food, stammering out that he would find someone to help handle the rogue ninjas and set out to find Naruto. He told Shikamaru to go to the classroom and wait for Iruka-Sensei to return and write up a report. He started making his way to the academy. However, he found himself entering the south forest with a shutter. It was becoming dark, long shadows stretching across the ground. Rubbing his arms, that were starting to feel numb with cold, he looked around for Naruto. After wondering around for a few minutes, he found Naruto curled up against a tree trunk, shivering. He flinched when Shikamaru walked up to him. He crawled away, looking nothing like the loudmouth that he knew from class.

"It's okay," Shikamaru said softly. He sat down next to the blonde, trying to share some warmth. "Iruka-Sensei is looking for us. We should head back to the academy so he can find us. It'll be nice there."

Naruto sniffled before shifting, showing Shikamaru his swollen, purple, ankle. He whimpered at the movement of his leg. "It hurts. I had to run from some men."

"They are rogue ninjas. You're lucky you got away." Shikamaru took Naruto's calf, looking at the ankle. He made sure to be gentle as he inspected the injury. It was hard to tell if it was sprained or broken. Either way, the boy couldn't walk on it. With a sigh, Shikamaru put Naruto's leg down slowly before wrapping his arm around Naruto's shoulders, pulling him close. The blonde tensed in his arms, his shoulder digging into his side. "We're both cold, that's why I... um... have my arm around you."

Naruto stayed rigid. After an extended silence, Naruto whispered in a timid voice, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because I heard those guys telling you to come here. They were trying to hurt you. You don't deserve that."

"But you could have gotten hurt coming here."

"So?"

When Naruto started shaking violently, Shikamaru held him tighter. Their arms had paled, turning blue. He had never realised how small the blonde boy was before. As Shikamaru rubbed his arm to try and give him some warmth he had to be careful to not use too much pressure. The last thing he wanted was to break the boy's arm. He was small enough that Shikamaru could probably pick him up but he was scared about dropping Naruto and having him shatter.

"There you are!" Iruka-Sensei exclaimed, only to notice Shikamaru tucked in tight between a tree root and Naruto. "What are you doing here, Shikamaru?"

Apparently Shikamaru's shrug was not the right answer. Iruka-Sensei clenched his jaw. He scanned over Naruto before noticing his ankle. He scooped the blonde up, giving Shikamaru a frown. Their teacher was fighting so hard to stop himself from yelling that his face turned purple. He took them to the hospital where a Healer that seemed to know Naruto came over, wrapping them both in thick blankets before seeing to the blonde's ankle. The young healer, who barely looked seventeen, waited until Iruka-Sensei had marched off to see how the rogue ninjas had been dealt with before chuckling.

"He looks like an eggplant."

The two eight year olds laughed, their shivering having subsided. Once Naruto's ankle was wrapped, the Healer went and got them hot chocolates.

"I pinched some marshmallows for you two." He winked at Naruto who giggled.

"Thanks, Eiji."

"No problem, kid. You two stay here and warm up. We have to make sure you don't get sick."

/ / / / /

Three days later it was all over the school that the four boys that tricked Naruto were expelled from the academy. Shikamaru was happy to hear that Iruka-Sensei hadn't gone easy on them after what they had done. The rogue ninjas had put one of the ninjas Iruka-Sensei sent after them in the hospital. Naruto wouldn't have stood a chance.

Shikamaru was walking home, glad that Naruto was back at school, his ankle looking fine. The dark-haired boy stopped when he noticed the four boys walking towards him. Unfortunately he was in a remote street on the way home, so there was no one around to help him. It was clear from the way they held themselves that they had tracked him down to fight. It shouldn't have surprised him that somehow they had found out who had talk on them. Things like that never truly stayed a secret.

He fought back the best he could but all four boys were older, bigger, and stronger than he was. He blacked one boy's eye but one was able to grab him from behind, pinning his arms and allowing their leader to punch Shikamaru in the stomach repeatedly. When he was winded they threw him to the ground, kicking him repeatedly. The largest of the group stomped down on Shikamaru's arm. The Nara boy felt his arm crack, pain exploding through the limp. He gave a yell, only for the sound to echo back at him in another voice. Through tears, Shikamaru looked up to see his cousin punch one of the boys in the jaw, dropping him to the ground.

"Get the hell away from my cousin!" Ryota scared off the boys before turning to Shikamaru, noticing how the younger Nara cradled his arm. "Are you alright?"

"I think my arm is broken."

Slowly, Ryota helped Shikamaru to his feet, getting him to the hospital. The whole time Ryota grumbled about the boys, telling Shikamaru that he would find them and beat them up for what they had done. Although Shikamaru told him to forget about it, it was clear that he wasn't going to do so. When Ryota asked what had caused the boys to attack, the younger boy waved him off, not wanting to explain everything that had happened. The broken arm was worth it if it meant the tiny boy in his class wasn't dead. After all, he did make Shikamaru laugh.