The Calm Before The Storm

It starts with ramen

"Hey, Shikamaru, you want some ramen too?" Naruto smiled while starting to boil the water. It was rather nice of him to ask since it was a limited edition ramen and his favorite food, Naruto thought.

"Uh... Well sure, I guess" Shikamaru who was sitting by the table answered in his typical calm way. It was only the second day for him living with a friend instead of his parents so they were both still only getting used to it. Incidents, like the one in the morning, were bound to happen in the beginning, so it couldn't hurt getting to know each other's living habits a bit better.

Naruto's smile morphed into a full-fledged grin after hearing the muted answer. He had really come to appreciate the other ninja's calm and intelligent demeanor over the years.

"You know, when I was little right after I became a genin Kakashi asked all of us in our team to tell our likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. Back then I said that I really like ramen, but I hate having to wait the three minutes before I can eat it." Naruto chuckled at the memory.

"Heh", Shikamaru softly smiled, "I guess you haven't changed that much then." He could almost see a younger and significantly smaller Naruto answering enthusiastically in his mind's eye, when he concentrated on the image. Shikamaru also knew with absolute certainty, just as he knew that Chouji would always eat the last piece of chips, what Naruto had answered to the other questions. Heck, everyone in Konoha knew about Naruto's dream of becoming the Hokage and making everyone recognize him. Additionally, he couldn't help thinking it was somehow so very pure that his only dislike would have been something so trivial where most people might have even named someone. Ino had actually said Naruto. Though he was sure she didn't feel that way anymore if she ever really even did. Women could be so troublesome.

"Whaat? You meanie! I've gotten a lot stronger! And taller!" Naruto yelled jokingly.

"Sides one answer would be different", he continued with a more subdued but somehow no less intense version of his smile.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"What I hate most is seeing my important people get hurt." Naruto answered seriously while holding eye-contact his blue eyes blazing with that inner fire Shikamaru had become familiar with.

"Ah." Shikamaru lowered his head. He just couldn't look directly into those eyes, that seemed to almost burn with Naruto's deep passion. It was a paradox to Shikamaru how the color blue was usually associated with cold but in Naruto's eyes it only looked warm and at times hot as fire. They were eyes that promised to protect every single person that Naruto had deemed important enough no matter the cost. Eyes of pure determination. Shikamaru had always had a weak spot for the color blue and those eyes were just. So. Blue. Bluer than the sky he so loved. And sometimes when Shikamaru looked directly into them they even seemed vaster than the sky. He knew, his favorite hobby being what it was, that he had to be careful, since given half a chance he would be perfectly content to stare into those depths of blue for as long as possible. Which probably wouldn't be very long considering staring at your friends eyes for no apparent reason would be considered strange. Maybe even creepy. Though this was Naruto...

"What do you hate the most then?" Naruto started eating his ramen with gusto and handed Shikamaru a cup too.

"Oh", Shikamaru awakened from his musings, "Aah, well... the same as you though... I also dislike many other things like waking up too early, too much social interaction, especially with women when they just keep talking about nothing in particular and... Well - cold showers."

"Eheh, right, sorry about that." Naruto smiled happily as he listened to Shikamaru's answer. It was somehow very much like him.

They continued eating together in a comfortable silence though Naruto managed to somehow be loud with just his presence even without making conversation. The strange part was that it didn't bother Shikamaru in the slightest.

"Why do you look so happy?" Shikamaru abruptly asked after a while when his curiosity finally got the better of him. No one should look that happy just eating ramen after such a long day.

Naruto was a bit surprised by the sudden question. Without really thinking about it he answered casually honest as usual, "Hmm, well... I guess it's because now I have someone to eat with", looking thoughtful. "And that makes me happy", he continued feeling his grin only grow. He felt warm.

Shikamaru could only stare in wonder and mild disbelief at Naruto's happy expression. The boy's smile seemed bright enough to actually light up the room which was ridiculous. In the end he wasn't sure if it was that larger than life grin or the answer itself that caused the small pang in his chest. Maybe both. Probably both. And all of a sudden he was seeing images of Naruto aged fifteen, twelve, seven and as young as four all in that tiny excuse for an apartment, all eating cup ramen.

All eating alone.

And it was heartbreaking. Someone so full of life and light should never have to be alone.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, "You look like you saw a ghost or something." Shikamaru looked a bit pale and he hadn't said anything in a while. It was already starting to worry Naruto when Shikamaru finally seemed to come to his senses.

"It... it's nothing. I just..." Shikamaru collected his shell-shocked pieces back together and tried for a convincing smile, "I'm just rather tired really." He then ate the rest of his noodles Naruto having finished his a lot earlier.

"Oh, you should have just said so. We should go to sleep then since it's getting pretty late!" Naruto answered with his usual way of simply declaring things.

"Yeah", Shikamaru answered almost dazedly. Will he ever stop smiling..?

---

They were standing before their rooms after they had brushed their teeth and Naruto was just about to go into his room to retire for the day when he heard Shikamaru's voice which made him stop in his tracks.

"Goodnight, Naruto."

"O-oh... goodnight." Naruto replied almost uncertainly after a moment of stunned silence. Huh.

"What?"

"What, what?"

"...you're making a weird face."

"Eheh..." Naruto laughed and raised his hand to his neck slightly embarrassed, "it's just... That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me."

"..."

Again. That pang. This time he could thankfully concentrate a bit more to the seemingly truly happy Naruto before him rather than the painfully vivid image of a tiny blue-eyed boy with sadness - loneliness - in his eyes. "Well, you're going to hear it many more times then, I guess", he finally said lamely trying to shake the haunting images off his mind.

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction in surprise at the answer. Then the grin was back full force. "Yeah", Naruto breathed out the uncharacteristically quiet reply his voice low and full of thanks, "I guess so."