Shinobi Days

Ch. 8 These Feelings

"Naruto. You in here?"

"A-Ah yeah! Come in!" Shikamaru opened the door, balancing a stack of papers in his hand as he saw the blond tidying up his workspace. As the blond sat back down Naruto gave him a large smile before his eyes widened at the sight of the 5 feet of paper.

"Gah! More paper work! I just finished the last stack!" Smirking, Shikamaru put the stack in front of the blond who groaned as pushed his face into his crossed arms.

"Don't worry, most of these have already been checked. Just need to sign them, even if it is a bit troublesome." Naruto picked up his pen, grabbing a piece of paper and speed reading through it before signing it. Shikamaru shook his head as the blond went into work mode, and walked next to the blond.

He ruffled the sunshine locks, his fingers threading through the soft strands, making Naruto blush and look up at the smirking Nara. The shadow nin leaned down and placed a quick kiss on the blond's plump lips, making Naruto smile gently.

"Thanks Shika."

"No problem Naru." The blond continued his work with a smile on his face.

"You know, Kakashi could have warned us beforehand that he was going on a mission. I was planning to go to the Academy and drop by Iruka-sensei's class." Currently, Kakashi was the 6th Hokage after Tsunade had retired. Their old sensei was training the blond shinobi so he could take over in a few years, but he had wanted to take a break. He did what every Hokage did when they wanted to take a quick breather from paperwork.

High tail it out if Konoha and leave a note that they'll be back in a day or so.

"Ne, ne Shika. I'm hungry." He loved the blond, faults and all. Loved him more than he knew himself, but that ramen obsession would always amaze him.

"Miso ramen?"

"No...I want mackerel cooked with miso!"

"M-Mackerel?" This was surprising. Sure they ate mackerel before, it being Shikamaru's favorite food, but the blond had never outwardly expressed his liking of the food. This was a first.

"A-Are you okay Naru?"

"Yes I'm fine. Just super hungry. Can you please get me some mackerel!" Nodding he left the office and went on his way to one of the closest take-out places nearby.

"Thank you for your business, Nara-san." He bowed back to the woman respectfully before leaving with the plastic bag at hand. His head in thought as he walked to the tower.

"Naruto's been acting strange. Just this morning he was puking his guts out. Maybe he got a stomach flu...I wouldn't put it past him knowing that freakish ramen obsession." But Naruto didn't get sick. He's never been sick a day in his life. That made the shadow-nin user pause.

"Could it be the Kyūbi making him sick?" It was a thought. But it blossomed into all sorts of mixed emotions. Worry. Fear. And most of all, hate. Hate for the fox. Couldn't it just leave the blond alone. All the pain and suffering we're caused by the being living inside the blond. Naruto tended to avoid the subject but he knew that he was scared. Scared to talk about the demon inside him. He lifted his fingers to his ears, playing with his grey piercing.

"What is it Nara-san." A ANBU with a Monkey mask and dark brown hair appeared in front of him, a bow to greet him.

"Find Tsunade-sama or Sakura. Just tell them it's for Naruto."

"Naruto-senpai? Is he alright?" Shikamaru clicked his tongue, worry etched in his face.

"Just a feeling but I prefer to address it then to not do anything." The ANBU nodded before leaving to do what was asked of him.