Above the Clouds- Naruto- Nara Shikamaru

[Kuruuri]

( (Since I've spent two days so far re-writing this, I thought I should see what people think of it. ^.^ It's Naruto. Enjoy!) )

Akimichi Chouji munched happily on his bag of chips as he walked on his way to the graduation ceremony for Konoha genin. Little did he know however...someone was watching him.

Lurking in the shadows, you silently cackled to yourself. The young genin had no idea what was coming at him. Chouji continued to walk and you continued to follow until- -

"Chouji-kuuunnn!!!"

"WAGH!!"

Chouji toppled over and you fell with him, you having jumped out and tackled him. You laughed maniacally and helped up a bewildered Chouji.

"Wh-What was that all about?" He asked, picking up his chip bag which now contained crushed chips. He looked depressed now that his favorite food was reduced to almost nothing.

You smiled at him and answered, "It's your wake up call! You looked so lonely and bored, I decided to drop in!!"

Chouji sweat-dropped. You seemed a bit too cheerful to him.

"Th-Thanks?" He exasperatedly said.

You nodded cheerfully and began to prance to the Academy, which was only a block away. Luckily, your dad's store was close by, and you could wake up later because it didn't take much time to get to class.

"Hey..." You began, putting your arms lazily behind your head.

Chouji stuffed a chip in his mouth before directing his gaze at you.

"The scoring for the written exam was out of...200, right?" You asked.

Chouji nodded, still munching chips. "Yesh...Miharu-chawn, haw much dish you get?"

You sadly looked to the ground. This was something you hadn't wanted brought up, but Chouji was your best friend, and he deserved to know. You murmured, "Iruka-sensei told me I made the lowest passing grade...147...One above-" You shuddered. "-Naruto."

Chouji stopped to pat you on the back. He really didn't know how to console you, for he got a 180, which was definitely a lot better.

You turned a corner to find the Academy right before you, the tree with the wooden swing casting a large shadow across its grounds.

"Woah, that was fast." You whispered, stepping in and walking down the hallway to where Iruka-sensei had told you to meet. Just before your hand made contact with the handle, you heard a soft noise that sounded a bit like thunder, only it couldn't have been because it was a clear day.

"What's that?" Chouji asked no one in particular, looking around for the source of the noise. The noise grew louder and louder until Ino and Sakura burst through the door, running at full speed side-by-side. Before you or Chouji had time to react, you two were thrown back as Ino and Sakura threw open the door to the classroom, both entering at the same time, panting heavily when they stopped.

You sat in shock for a moment before shaking your head and standing up, now searching for Chouji. He was a few feet away and had stood up himself, all of his chips scattered across the floor. He let out a sob of mourning, picking up the crushed chips in sadness.

"Eh..hehe...I'll get you some more later...okay?" You asked, sweat-dropping. Chouji had always had a tendency to over-exaggerate in situations.

He immediately perked up, the area around him seeming to sparkle with his smile. He clasped his hands together and jumped up and down, asking, "Can they be Takoyaki?" (Octopus dumpling flavor)

"Uh...sure?" You smiled, the corner of your mouth twitching. Grabbing him by the wrist, you jerked him into the classroom, coming upon a huge mob of girls fighting over who got to sit next to Sasuke. Chouji pushed his way to the front and found a seat, but you decided to look for Shikamaru. It really wasn't that hard, he was right next to you. Walking up to him, you smiled.

"Hey Shika. What's up?" You casually asked, sitting down next to him and folding your arms on top of the desk, slouching forward a bit.

"Nn. Nothing much." He replied, his head resting in his hand. His gaze was over the mob of Sasuke fan girls. It seemed like Naruto had jumped on the desk in front of none other than the Uchiha himself, and they were glaring at each other intensely. The fan girls had taken to shouting for Sasuke to beat up Naruto, and Ino and Sakura were two of them. "They're like a pack of wolves." Shika commented.

You were about to laugh, but you stopped when Naruto's lips crashed onto Sasuke's, both eyes widening. It was quiet for a few moments until Sakura managed to get out, "Naruto...you're going down!" She cracked her knuckles, and Naruto's ass-kicking began.

"Ha, that serves him right." Shikamaru laughed, smirking. "He was the one who made us take that transformation test the other day."

"I...feel sorry for him...in a way." You mumbled, tilting your head to the side. It wasn't a moment later that Iruka walked in, and the fan girls hurried away from the now bruised and beaten heap that was Naruto. Ino, whom was one of the fangirls, walked up to the other side of Shikamaru, sitting down and completely ignoring the nasty look that you were sending her.

"Starting today, you all are going to be real ninjas." Iruka began, acting a bit business-like with his hands behind his back. "But you are still rookie genin. The hard part has just started."

"Is he kidding?" You whispered to no one in particular. To you, just the Academy was hard. Surely, being a genin couldn't be worse.

"Now...You will soon be assigned duties by the village." Iruka continued. "So, today we will be creating three-man teams, and each will have a jounin sensei. However, due to the irregular number of students this year, there will be one team with four genin instead of three. We balanced the teams based on strength."

"What?" You cried, lifting up your head suddenly. "But...ah, forget it."

You weren't really listening while Iruka called out the names. You would hear your name if he called it anyway. Looking at his clipboard, your chuunin teacher called out the next team.

"Now, team 7. Haruno Sakura...Uzumaki Naruto..." Naruto stood up to cheer while Sakura sulked. "...and Uchiha Sasuke." It was Naruto's turn to sulk as Sakura cheered. Sasuke..didn't really react. "Now, team 8. Hyuuga Hinata...Inuzuka Kiba...and Aburame Shino."

Sakura turned around to face Ino, making a peace sign and wearing a triumphant grin on her face. Ino made fists and a vein popped out of he rforehead in her anger.

"How could this happen?!" She shouted.

"Team 9..." Iruka called out, resuming to read the teams.

"Hell yeah, love conquers all!" The Inner Sakura laughed at Ino's rage. Ino's fists began to shake as her anger intensified.
Shikamaru sighed loudly.

"Why do girls like that guy anyway?" He asked, his tone of voice not sounding very interested.

"That's a good question, Shika." You agreed, nodding. You had always found it funny how all the girls, excluding you and Hinata, were infatuated with a boy whose hair looked like a ########## feathers when they were raised. You did admit he was attractive, but he was just...too dark for you, and too secluded.

"You guys don't know what's so great about him?!" Ino asked, looking at you and your best friend, shocked. "Why not? You should!"

"It's simple," Shikamaru smirked. "I'm not a girl, and Miharu actually has common sense."

Ino smiled knowingly and shook her head, saying, "That's why you two aren't popular. I'd really hate to be paired with you guys."

"I'm not exactly looking forward to being with you either, Ino." You replied, grinning right back at her.

"Now, Team 10..." Iruka's voiced sounded throughout the classroom walls. "Yamanaka Ino." Ino looked at him, waiting to hear her other teammates. "Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru smirked widely at Ino, his eyes glinting as he gloated, "What was that about not wanting to be on my team?"

"Fujiwara Miharu."

Ino sulked while she glared at you, her anger only increasing. You on the other hand, glomped Shikamaru, happy to be on his team.

"Err...get off me." He grumbled, pushing you off. You huffed and folded your arms. Shikamaru had never really liked to deal with you, but you thought he would at least be happy you were on the same team.

"And Akimichi Chouji."

"Not the fatass too!" Ino whined, clutching her head and slouching as far forward as she could go.

"Who're you calling a fatass?" You mumbled so she couldn't hear. Shikamaru smiled, but sighed quickly to cover it up.

"That's all the teams for now!" Iruka announced, looking up from his clipboard. "This afternoon we'll introduce our jounin sensei...Take a break for now."

Ino immediately jumped up and grabbed food for the four of you before grabbing Chouji by the scarf and dragging him into the hallway. Sweat-dropping, you stood up.

"Sh-Should we follow them?" You hesitantly asked Shikamaru, whom hadn't moved.

"Yeah, I guess." He answered. Standing up, he put his hands in his pockets and trudged out after Ino, you following suit.

( (Sorry for the longness! Next part'll be up...sometime. XD) )

[i.dont.know]

i liked it!

[Kuruuri]

( (Yay! ^_^ Thank you! Here's some more that I just finished.) )

|~|

You sat on the railing on the edge of the small portion of the roof that Ino had lead you, Shikamaru, and Chouji to, munching on your rice ball and watching Chouji scarf down his whole bento box with interest. It always boggled your mind at how fast he was able to eat.

"Listen, now that we're on the same team," Ino said, breaking the silence that had fallen over your team. She was sitting on the left hand railing, and Shikamaru was sitting on the ground at a break in the rail, eating a rice ball as well. Chouji was sitting on the ground a few feet behind him. "...you guys will follow my orders."

"Fine, fine." Shikamaru said, glaring at her. 'Arguing with her is a pain in the butt anyway.'

"Okay. Sure." You chided before taking another small bite out of your rice ball. You didn't really mind listening to Ino. It wasn't like you had anything to say or plan out.

"Let's go out and eat meat sometime!" Chouji happily suggested. Ino sighed and slapped her forehead while you giggled. Chouji had always been thinking about food and fun instead of work and training. It was actually kind of cute, in a way.

Shikamaru looked up from eating to see none other than Naruto, whom was edging along the wall of the building adjacent to the one your team was on top of. Sasuke was standing in a nearby window, eating his own rice ball, not noticing the blonde planning his downfall.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru whispered.

"Huh?" Ino asked, turning around to look at the two boys.

Naruto got less than a foot away from Sasuke before jumping into the window, punching Sasuke to the ground which caused you and Ino to gasp. The wooden window sill slammed shut, and you were no longer able to see what was going on.

"It's you, isn't it, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice shouted, you just barely being able to hear it.

"Stop resisting!" Naruto's voice shouted back.

"Naruto, I'll make you pay I you injure Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried, holding up a clenched fist at the building her crush was in. There were many loud thuds and other various noises heard before it was silent once more.

"What happened?" You whispered, leaning forward to get a better look.

As if to answer you, the window sill opened up once more and out hopped Sasuke, a small smirk on his face. You sighed, shaking your head. Poor Naruto had no idea what he had been up against.

"So, Naruto failed." Shikamaru bluntly stated.

"Of course." Ino boasted. "As if Naruto could compete with my Sasuke-kun."

After you all had finished your lunches, you walked back down to the classroom to wait for your jounin sensei. Taking a seat at a desk when you walked in, you folded your hands on your stomach and you slouched down in your chair. Shikamaru sat next to you, leaning forward and resting his head in his hand. Chouji stood by the desk and was still finishing his large bento box, while Ino impatiently tapped her foot. When about half the class was gone, you were beginning to lose your patience.

"How long is this guy going to take? I mean, really!" You cried, sitting up and throwing your arms in the air.

As if God himself had heard you, a man appeared at the doorway, calling out for Team 10.

"Well, that took long enough." Ino said, folding her arms before walking up to the man. He was tall and had a short beard and brown hair, a bit like the Sandaime hokage. He was smoking a cigarette, which only made him look more intimidating to you.

"C'mon..." Shikamaru muttered, grabbing your wrist and pulling you over to him. Chouji quickly dashed after the rest of his team.


You ended up in one of the many roofs of the Academy that had a small bench, just the right size for your whole team. Shikamaru was the first to sit, followed by Ino. You sat next to her, leaning back against the wall lazily, and Chouji sat on the other end, for once, not having his chips out. Your sensei puffed with his cigarette, and the smoke drifted over the four of you, causing you all to cough.

"Oh! Sorry, my bad." He laughed, pulling the death-stick out of his mouth and smiling a bit. "I'm Sarutobi Asuma, in charge of your team starting today. I'll be strict on you guys so be prepared!"

None of you spoke, but you felt your eyes watering from the remaining smoke, Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji's watering along with yours.

"Don't suddenly start crying!" Asuma shouted, sounding shocked. "All I said was I'm going to be strict on you guys."

"It's the smoke that's getting in our eyes!!" You cried, literally, holding your hands over your mouth and nose."

"Geez, you guys really are weak." Asuma mumbled, placing the cigarette back in his mouth. "So! You guys should get to know each other, right?"

"I want to go first!!" Ino squealed, clapping her hands together girlishly. "I'm Yamanaka Ino! And-"

'No duh.'

"-I like Sasuke-kun more than anything else!"

You giggled through your hands at Ino. She was acting so much like Sakura, her eternal rival. They both cared about Sasuke in their looks. It was really entertaining to watch them swoon and argue over him.

"I'll just get this over with," Shikamaru muttered. "I'm Nara Shikamaru and I like to sleep and play shogi."

'That was pretty much self-explanatory.' You thought, pulling your knees up in front of you and resting your chin in between them.

"I'm Akimichi Chouji! I love food more than anything else, and nobody can steal the last bite away from me!" Chouji's last comment had made you laugh. He had always made that clear to anyone he met, not caring what they thought. That was one of the things you admired about him.

"Hey! Miharu!" Ino whispered, nudging your side.

"Hm? Oh!" You realized it was your turn. You thought a moment before introducing yourself. "My name is Fujiwara Miharu! The things I like the most are Chouji-kun and Shika! I've known them longer than anyone and they've always been so kind to me!" You motioned to them happily. Chouji smiled at you and Shikamaru had his head turned, evidently not paying attention, or just turning his head because he was embarrassed at what you had said.

"You guys all seem different. It's interesting how that works." Asuma chuckled, flicking his cigarette butt into a nearby trash can. "About our missions...you guys have to do something kind of a test."

"But...I thought the test at the Academy was our confirmation of becoming genin!" Ino shouted frantically. Her face looked extremely distressed. "Shouldn't we immediately start missions?"

"Yeah!" You agreed with Ino, sitting up from leaning against the wall. "We did tons of training back at the Academy!"

"Ah...whatever. You guys just meet me at the 34th training ground at 9AM, got it?" Asuma asked, a bit annoyed at your and Ino's outbursts. "And...you really shouldn't eat breakfast...just to warn you."

At this Chouji looked infuriated.

"But-But-! I've never gone without eating breakfast!! Ever!!!" He cried flailing his arms around, whacking you in the head. Growling, you clutched the spot where he hit you and then put your arm around his head over mouth, holding your other arm.

"Just give it a rest, Chouji! You'll be fine." You sighed, your eye twitching.

"Right! See you all tomorrow then!" Asuma waved before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Staring after him in amazement, you let go of Chouji, your arms going limp at your sides.

"Cool." You said after a moment, causing Shikamaru and Ino to sweat-drop.

"Uh, yeah. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Ino happily sang, waving at the rest of her team before walking back down stairs and out of the Academy.

"She's not that bad." You said when she was out of earshot, placing your hands on your hips. Truthfully, Ino could be really annoying at times, and disrespectful. But when she was nice, she could be a lot of fun.

"Feh, whatever." Shikamaru muttered, walking towards the staircase. You grabbed Chouji up from the bench and locked arms with him, happily prancing after Shikamaru and back to your home.

[Kaelia]

Yay! Another Naru Fic. I'm so glad to see one of these besides my own XD

[Kuruuri]

Oh-ho. X3 I have plenty more, Kaelia-chan. This one seemed to not sucks as bad because I decided to rewrite it. ^.^;

[Kaelia]

I have a really old Gaara fic, but I can't seem to finish the darn thing XD

[i.dont.know]

i have an idea,but i have so many stories in the internet that i can't update them all. but yours is really good dude.

[aangluver123]

ya it really is

[Kuruuri]

{{You guys make me feel so loved. T_T Here's more! I'm trying to get myself worked up about all of my stories because I am getting a typewriter for Christmas, and I have been DYING to get one forever. I promise I will work harder when I get it. ^_^}}

The sound of your alarm clock filled your ears as it set off at its designated time: 8:30AM. You slammed your hand on the snooze button and slowly got yourself out of bed and dressed, managing to leave your house at 8:45. As you stepped out of your house, Shikamaru just happened to walk out of his at the same time. Luckily, your and Shikamaru's houses were only one house apart.

He widely yawned and stretched, stopping mid-stretch upon seeing you. You waved happily, the sight of your best friend awakening you.

"Hey." He said when you walked up next to him.

"Hi Shika." You replied, smiling. He nodded lazily at you as he began to make his way to the training grounds, you catching up to him. "So, how's your dad?" You asked, trying to think up a way to make conversation.

"Eh, he's all right. Still a pain in the ass." Shikamaru replied, rolling his eyes at the thought. His dad was kind, but he was always badgering him about women and his jutsu. One of the women, or girls, being you. Shikamaru had never really thought of you that way until a few days ago when his dad had brought up the topic. It was kind of stupid, actually.

~*~

"Hey, Shikamaru." Nara Shikaku said to his son from across the breakfast table. He had been dying to ask his son this for a while, and he was determined to get an answer.

"What?" Shikamaru irritably asked, looking up from taking a bite of his scrambled eggs. His dad always said something that pissed him off, and he really wasn't in the mood.

"How're things between you and young Miharu-chan going?" His father asked, grinning almost evilly.

"Fine. Why?" His son raised an eyebrow at his father's tone of voice. It already didn't have a good sound to it.

"I was just wondering." Shikaku casually replied, tilting back a bit in his chair. "You guys have been friends for a while now, I was just thinking it was time for you two to...well, you know, go out or something."

At the time, Shikamaru had been drinking a cup of water, and he was now choking on it, his coughing sounding as though someone had ripped out his lungs.

"Wh-What?" He sputtered. Why hadn't he expected this in the first place? It was always typical of his dad to say something like that. Especially after such a long period of time. "W-We don't think of each other like that, Dad. Lay off." Shikamaru had a bit of trouble trying to rid his face of the light pink blush on his cheeks.

"Whatever you say, Shikamaru." Shikaku smiled knowingly before returning to reading the daily newspaper, a new piece of information he could use to his advantage now spinning through his mind.

~*~

"Hey, look Shika! We're here!" You chimed, grabbing Shikamaru's upper arm and pointing at the gates to the 34th training zone. It was a large forest containing a small river and various animals. It was the perfect place for low-leveled ninja like your team to train. Shikamaru sighed.

"Why do I have a feeling this is going to turn into a troublesome situation?" He mumbled, opening the gates and walking in after you.

You and Shikamaru walked about ten more feet over a hill to find Ino, Chouji, and Asuma already waiting for you, all of them sitting around casually. Ino was trying to convince Chouji to go on a diet, for he was edging away from her and stroking his bag of chips lovingly.

"Hey guuuyyysss~!!!" You called out, cupping your hand around your mouth and waving with the other.

Asuma and Ino turned around to see you and Shikamaru walking towards them, Chouji waving at you and you smiling and waving back.

"Right! Now we're set!" Asuma declared when you and Shikamaru reached them. He was holding two small bells, and there was an alarm clock set on a stone nearby.

"What's all this?" Shikamaru asked, pointing at the clock. You nodded and tilted your head to the side, pondering the same thing.

"I was getting to that." Asuma mumbled, emitting smoke from a cigarette he had placed in his mouth. These kids could be so annoying to him sometimes. "Well, now you guys have to take a test, like I said yesterday. The test will be-" The jounin held up two silver bells. "-take these bells from me. And don't hold back. You all are weak. Only the strength of you four combined could even be a little challenge to me. Come with the intent to kill."

"Pshh. The intent to kill? This guy can't be that strong." You whispered to Shikamaru who only sighed knowingly and shook his head, not wanting to explain anything to you. He already knew the key to the test, and what Asuma was getting at. To him, it wasn't hard at all to figure things out. But he knew you were slower, so he didn't respond.

"Umm...okay. When do we start?" Ino hesitantly asked, seemingly eager to start the survival training that Asuma had explained. Sure, she didn't understand the point very well, but she was willing to do what she was told.

"Uh, right around now, I would say. You guys have until about 11." Asuma replied, looking around casually. Spazzing out, you scrambled into the bushes, being led quickly by Shikamaru. However, on the way in you had fallen over a small stone that only someone like you could have tripped over, and landed on top of Shikamaru himself. It took your mind a moment to register what had happened.

"Um..." You quietly began, not being able to hide the small blush that had crept across your cheeks. It wasn't every day that you were laying on top of your best friend.

Shikamaru just lazily stared at you, as if it were too troublesome to even ask you to get up. For a moment, he remained quiet. Then, he asked, "Am I that comfortable?"

"S-Sorry." You mumbled, crouching low and crawling off of the Nara. He didn't even sit back up. He just laid there, staring up at the clouds through the leaves of the trees overhead.

"Hey, Shika? Hellooo?" You asked, poking his face. He swatted your hand away and grunted, sitting up. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I don't even know how we got to be friends anyway." Shikamaru whispered to himself, pushing the leaves of the bush aside to get a good look at Asuma. He was still standing in the same spot, still smoking the same cigarette, with the same smug look on his face. Sighing a bit loudly for someone who was supposed to be hiding, Shikamaru shook his head.

"So troublesome." He muttered, turning to you. "Listen Miharu. All we have to do is get someone to distract Asuma and then we can all go in and snatch all of the bells at once."

"But there are only two!!" You cried, also taking a look at the bells on Asuma's belt.

[aangluver123]

yes only 2.... (((great story)))