The next couple weeks were a flurry of activity for Naruto and Shikamaru. Naruto spent time training with Jiraiya to learn both sage jutsu and the Rasengan, while Shikamaru started going on missions again along with training with his father on the Nara jutsu. However, Shikadai still refused to go outside or be with anyone but Shikamaru or Naruto, and not even his grandparents could keep the boy without him throwing a fit. This made it difficult for Naruto and Shikamaru to go back to training or missions, as they had to work with each other so that one would be with the boy at all times.

They tried everything they could think of and even tried some of the suggestions from their friends, but Shikadai just wasn't getting over his fear. They finally had to go to Inoichi and get the man to block Shikadai's memories of the incident so that the boy could start living a normal life again. It wasn't a permanent solution, as a trauma equal to what he went through could trigger those memories again, but things could start going back to normal.

Naruto panted as he watched yet another water balloon expand but not burst, and cried out in frustration, throwing the balloon. "I can't get it!" He looked around but didn't see Jiraiya anywhere. "Where is that Pervy Sage?" he yelled. He sat down hard on the ground, leaning back on his hands, and just stared at the sky, watching the clouds go by. He smiled as it reminded him of the times he and Shikamaru cloud watched when they had time together, and it relaxed him.

"Mama!"

Naruto sat up and looked over to see Shikadai running toward him with a wide grin, Yoshino following behind with her own smile. "Hey, baby," the blonde replied as the boy barroled into him.

"How's the training?" Yoshino asked.

"I'm completely stumped. I don't know how to make the balloon pop the way Pervy Sage can, and he's nowhere around to show me!"

Shikadai looked over and saw the basket of balloons, smiled, then picked one up. He squeezed it, then shook it, then threw it at the ground. Water splashed over both him and Naruto and the boy just blinked, lip quivering as he looked up at Naruto. "I broke."

Naruto smiled. "It's ok, Dai. It's supposed to do that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been breaking them all morning."

'Naruto. Let me out,' Kurama said, a bit frustrated. He had been begging Naruto to let him out all morning.

Naruto rolled his eyes and made a hand sign before slamming it on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared, and when it dissipated, a small reddish-orange fox sat there, its nine tails flailing in the air.

"Kurama!" Shikadai cried out and lunged at the fox, wrapping his arms around the fox's neck.

Naruto laughed at Kurama's expression. He never thought Kurama would be such a softie, but when it came to Shikadai, Kurama acted more like a cat than a fox.

'Think that one more time, and I'll scratch your eyes out,' Kurama threatened inside Naruto's head as he glared at the blonde.

Naruto held up his hands, but still laughed. 'Sorry.'

Shikadai grabbed another balloon and showed it to Kurama. He sat down and pushed the balloon like it was a ball at the fox, who in turn, kicked it back to the boy.

Naruto watched the two play with the balloon, then focused on the balloon itself. The balloon suddenly popped, surprising Shikadai, but Naruto's eyes went wide. "I get it!"

"You get what?" Yoshino asked.

Naruto grabbed a balloon and stood up. He placed the balloon in his hand and focused his chakra, used his other hand to pump chakra into the balloon at different angles by moving it around the balloon, then held the balloon between his two hands. The next thing he knew, the balloon exploded. "Yeah!" he cried out as he jumped in the air. "I did it!"

"Great job, kid. I knew you could do it."

Naruto turned and glared at the man. "Where have you been, Pervy Sage. I really could've used your help."

"I was out doing my research," the man said as he walked up to the blonde, then threw a ball at Naruto.

Naruto caught it easily and looked down at it. "A rubber ball?"

"Ball!" Shikadai cried out and stood up. He walked over and tried to crawl up Naruto's legs, reaching for the ball. "Please, mommy?"

Naruto looked down at Shikadai, then up at Jiraiya, who sighed and pulled another ball out of his jacket. He handed it to Shikadai, who thanked the man, then ran back over to Kurama.

"That was the ball I was going to use. I only brought the two just in case you got it, but whatever. The next step is to make that ball explode."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man, then held it out and did exactly what he did with the water balloon, but this time all it did was put a hole in it. "It didn't work."

"Of course not," Jiraiya said, a bit annoyed. "That's why you have to do this step. The first step was rotation, this step is power. You need to increase the volume and density of chakra to get this one to burst."

"Ugh! Why is this so difficult?"

Yoshino chuckled. "You should see the training Shikamaru's going through. He still hasn't gotten the first step of his first jutsu down, and the summoning deer isn't making it easy on him either."

Naruto smiled. "So I'm learning faster than Shika?"

"I'm actually impressed with how fast you're catching on. It took your dad years to make the Rasengan," Jiraiya said.

"Years?" Naruto dropped and laid down on the ground as he groaned.

"Hey. You're making a lot faster progress. I'm confident you'll get it in less time," Jiraiya said.

Naruto threw his hand over his eyes, groaning again. He laid there like that until he felt something heavy on his chest, then peeked out under his arm to see Shikadai grinning at him. "Mommy, no sleep."

Naruto smiled and reached over to ruffle Shikadai's hair. "I'm not asleep. I'm just taking a small break."

"Play?" the boy asked as he held up the ball.

Naruto sat up. "Sure. I can play with you for a few minutes."

After tossing the ball back and forth for a while, the two ran around the small clearing, Naruto chasing the boy. Shikadai squealed with delight as he ran from his mother, and when Naruto caught him, he tickled the boy.

Kurama just curled up next to the tree where Yoshino and Jiraiya were watching the two with a smile. The two adults talked every once in a while, but it was soon time for Naruto to go back to his training. Yoshino took Shikadai back to her home, and Naruto decided to practice on his sage jutsu for a little while, now that Jiraiya was watching over his training again.

Sage jutsu was dangerous to practice alone, because if he took in too much nature energy, which is what sage mode used, and moved at all, then he could turn into a stone frog if he wasn't snapped out of it. By the time noon rolled around, all Naruto did was leave with a headache with how much Jiraiya had to hit him on the head.

"Why don't we go get some ramen?" Jiraiya suggested.

Naruto smiled as he scratched Kurama behind the ear, said fox resting on his shoulder. "Really?"

"Yeah. You've earned it."

"All right! Let's go to Ichiraku's."

"If that's where you want to go."

"It's the best ramen place in the village." He loved Ichiraku's. Teuchi, the owner, was really nice to him. He really wished he had known about the place when he was younger, then maybe he wouldn't have staved as much as he did, but sadly, he only learned about it when Shikamaru suggested it on one of their first dates.

When they got to Ichiraku's, they saw Hinata sitting at the bar already.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto greeted.

Hinata slurped up her noodles, holding her hand under her chin as some of the broth dripped, then turned to look at the blonde. "Naruto. Hey."

Naruto sat down, Kurama jumping on the seat next to him, and Jiraiya taking the seat next to the fox. He and Jiraiya ordered their ramen, then turned to Hinata. "How ya been? I haven't seen you in a while."

Hinata smiled. "Good. My team has been on quite a few missions lately."

"What kind of missions have you been going on?"

Hinata frowned a bit and looked at her ramen, dipping the spoon into the broth and stirring it around a bit. "Well, since we're enemies with the sand village again, we've been sent to the border a lot to deal with them."

Naruto tensed a bit, but tried to relax. Like Shikaku had mentioned, he and Tsunade had talked with the Kazekage about the kidnapping, but it didn't turn out so well. The Kazekage, who they learned was Temari's father, claimed that Shikadai belonged in the sand village, and that the leaf had no reason to keep the boy from them. This obviously didn't fly with Shikaku or Tsunade, and they couldn't find a reasonable enough compromise and the Kazekage broke off their alliance, making them enemies once again.

Naruto glared at the counter, fist clenched in his lap. "If they try to take my son again, I'll kill them all," Naruto said.

'Same,' the fox said as his tails whipped around in the air. 'No one touches our kit.'

Naruto smiled and reached over to scratch the fox's ear again. He was really grateful to have Kurama on his side.

"I promise, Naruto. I'll do everything I can to help you keep Shikadai safe."

Naruto turned to her. "Thanks, Hinata. That means a lot."

Teuchi sat Naruto and Jiraiya's orders in front of them, and Naruto beamed at the man. "Thanks," he said, then dug into his food.

"I wondered if you were here."

Naruto turned, noodles hanging out of his mouth, and saw Shikamaru peeking under the cloth of the entrance. He slurped up the noodles and smiled. "Shika, you're back."

Kurama jumped onto the counter so that Shikamaru could sit in that seat, but he got a bit of a glare from Teuchi, so he jumped over to Naruto's shoulder and laid down on it.

"Yeah. Mom said you hadn't returned from your training yet. Shikadai was down for a nap, so I figured I'd come find you," the Nara replied as he sat down.

Naruto leaned over and kissed the man. "I'm glad you did. I finally made the water balloon burst."

"That's great. So you can do the Rasengan now?"

"No," Naruto pouted. "Apparently that was only the first step. Now I have to make a rubber ball burst."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I'm sure you'll get it in no time," he said, then ordered his own bowl of ramen.

"I hope so."

"How's sage mode going?"

"Slow. I just can't seem to figure that one out."

"Why not use your shadow clones?"

Naruto blinked. "My shadow clones? What good would that do?"

"Your clones gain experience just like you do, and since they're a part of you, any experience they gain, you'll gain once you dispel the jutsu."

Naruto's eyes were wide. "Really?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Just don't make too many of them, because if one of your clones turns into a stone frog, then so will you. I can't watch tons of Narutos all at once."

Naruto gulped. "Right. Got it."

Once everyone was done eating, Naruto said goodbye to Hinata, Teuchi, and Jiraiya, Kurama decided to end the summoning, and then the two boyfriends walked back to the Nara compound hand in hand. Shikaku was home by the time they got there, and Shikamaru decided to work on his new jutsu while Shikadai was still asleep. Naruto opted to watch his training, and was really impressed with what the man was doing.

Shikamaru first summoned one of the deer, and it turned out that this particular deer, Taro, was really strict. He was getting on to Shikamaru more than Shikaku was. Shikamaru was trying to make a small sphere with his shadow, which once mastered, could be used as a type of shield. This required a massive amount of chakra and concentration because he had to make the shadow into a solid object, and that was apparently a lot harder than one might think.

It was about an hour into the training when Shikadai came running up to them. "Daddy!"

Shikamaru released his jutsu, sweat running down his brow, sat down on the ground, and smiled, holding out his hands for the boy to run into. "Hey, little fawn."

"Missed you," Shikadai said as he stared up at his father.

"I missed you too."

"So, this is the young master then?" Taro asked as he walked over to them.

"Yeah. This is Shikadai," Shikamaru said.

Taro stuck his nose in the boy's face, sniffing the boy all over.

Shikadai cringed away from the proding nose, pushing the deer away. "No, deer."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Shikadai, this is Taro. He's one of my summoning deer. He's a little different from the deer we have in the forest."

"Hmph. Don't compare me to those common deer," Taro said as he straightened back up.

"And a lot moodier than them too," Shikamaru added.

"Why you... I will not be insulted by you, boy," Taro yelled, stomping a hoof on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Shikamaru sighed out then yawned. "Look, I think that's all I can do for now. My chakra's just about out."

"And this is why we don't get anywhere," Taro said. "You need to increase your chakra reserves."

"Do you know how?" Shikaku asked.

Taro looked up at the older Nara looking a bit offended. "Of course I do."

"Then why haven't you brought it up before?" Shikamaru asked, a bit annoyed.

"Because you weren't ready for it. Still not sure if you are yet, but we'll get nowhere if we keep you at this level. Next session we'll focus on that. Be ready, because increasing your chakra reserves in this way is extremely dangerous," Taro warned.

Naruto stood up and walked over to them, worry on his face. "Dangerous?"

"I think you should explain," Shikaku said, narrowing his eyes at the deer.

Taro sighed. "For a Nara, the way to increase their chakra reserves is by increasing their yin release. For that, you'll need to absorb more shadows. That will require you to enter the shadow realm, and that is where it gets dangerous. A person can get lost in the shadow realm, never to come out again."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Shika, I don't think that's a good idea."

"If he doesn't do this, then he will never be at the level required to fully master these new jutsu," Taro said.

"So that's why these jutsu haven't been practiced in years," Shikaku said. "The risk to the shinobi is too great."

"Yes, but I also haven't seen a shinobi like Shikamaru in years either. I truly believe that he may actually be able to do it."

"Really?" Shikamaru asked. Taro nodded. Shikamaru stood up, handed Shikadai to Naruto, then turned to the deer. "Let's do it then."

"But didn't you just say that you were almost out of chakra?" Naruto asked, holding Shikadai a little tighter.

Shikadai looked at his mother then over at his father, a worried look on his face. He was clearly feeling Naruto's distress about this.

Shikamaru smiled, placed a hand on the back of Shikadai's head, then looked at Naruto. "Well, if I'll be increasing my reserves, then technically I won't be running out."

"You will be taking a greater risk if you do it with low reserves to start off with, but it is still possible," Taro said.

Naruto placed his hand in Shikamaru's and held it tightly. "Maybe we should talk about this."

Shikamaru placed his free hand on Naruto's cheek and moved a little closer, placing his forehead on Naruto's. "I'll be fine. It'll be over before you know it."

Naruto still didn't feel very sure about this, and happened to see Shikaku out of the corner of his eye. The man looked a bit worried, but since he hadn't said anything, he must not be too worried. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Just be careful."

Shikamaru smiled, gave Naruto a quick kiss, then turned back to Taro. "What do I need to do?"

"First, you're going to need to make the shadow that you'll use as the portal to the shadow realm. Expand the shadow out in front of you like a small pool."

Naruto stepped back, still holding Shikadai tightly, who had his arms wrapped around Naruto's neck now. Shikaku walked over and joined them.

Shikamaru nodded, then raised his hands to form a hand sign. His shadow spread out and formed a small pool in front of him.

"Good. Now, focus more of your chakra into the shadow."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and the shadow seemed to glow a bit, but it was a darker glow.

Taro walked over to the shadow and stuck his hoof into it. "Good. Now, step forward and merge with the shadow."

"Merge?" Shikamaru asked as he opened his eyes.

"Yes. Just concentrate. Let your body become one with the shadow."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Be careful, Shika."

Taro glared at the blonde, but Shikamaru just looked over and gave him a small smile, then turned back. He took a deep breath, then stepped into the shadow. At first it didn't seem like it worked, but then Shikamaru slowly started to sink into the shadow.

"Shika," Naruto said and started to walk toward him, but Shikaku stopped him by placing his hand on the man's arm. Naruto looked over at Shikaku, who also looked concerned, then back at Shikamaru. He felt Shikadai tighten his arms a little more, so he rubbed the boy's back, trying to calm both of them down.

"This feels weird," Shikamaru said as he continued to sink into the shadow.

"You'll get used to it," Taro said, then walked into the shadow, quickly disappearing.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and then quickly sank the rest of the way into the shadow.

Naruto and Shikaku quickly walked up to the shadow and looked down, but didn't see anything. "Do you think he's ok?" Naruto asked, worry clearly in his voice.

"I'm sure he's fine. I do remember reading that it was possible to travel by shadow. Maybe this is the first step to that," Shikaku said.

Naruto looked up at the man and could tell that he was worried about his son, then looked back at the shadow. 'Please be ok.'

Twenty minutes had passed and they hadn't seen or heard from Shikamaru. Naruto was now sitting on the ground watching Shikadai play with a small daisy he found in the grass. He had constantly been looking up at the shadow, and Shikaku, who hadn't moved away from the shadow, must have noticed this.

"Naruto, you need to calm down."

"But he's been in there for a while now. What if he's stuck? That deer did say that Shikamaru could get lost in there."

Shikaku didn't reply, only looked down at the shadow, concerned.

Shikadai looked from his mother, to his grandfather, then back at his mother. "Mommy?" he asked, fear creeping into the boy's voice.

Naruto pulled Shikadai into his arms. He tried to take a deep breath to calm himself down, if only for Shikadai's sake.

Suddenly, a hand popped out of the shadow, Shikaku immediately grabbed and pulled it.

Naruto sat Shikadai on the ground. "Stay here," he said, then quickly walked up to the shadow as Shikamaru's head emerged from the shadow, gasping as if he couldn't breathe. He helped Shikaku pull Shikamaru from the shadow, then knelt down next to the man, grabbing his boyfriend's hand. "Shika?"

Shikadai ran up to them and knelt down next to his father too. "Daddy?" he asked, apparently afraid at the way Shikamaru was acting.

Shikamaru laid there, trying to catch his breath.

"He'll be fine."

Naruto looked over and saw the deer calmly walking out of the shadow, and the shadow shrunk until it disappeared. He turned his attention back to Shikamaru. "Shika?" he asked again.

Shikamaru was breathing a little easier now, and tried to sit up. Shikaku and Naruto both helped the man sit up. "I... I'm ok." He placed his arm around Shikadai when the boy grabbed onto him.

"You don't look ok," Naruto said. "You looked like you couldn't breathe."

Shikamaru looked up at Naruto and gave him a small smile. "It was just a shock to my system returning from the shadow realm. It's definitely a lot different down there. It was completely black, white, and gray, no color at all, and the power I felt... It was overwhelming."

"Were you able to absorb the shadows to increase your chakra reserves?" Shikaku asked.

"I think so. Like I said, it was a bit overwhelming down there."

"It was a good first try," Taro said. "A few more times, and he'll have double the amount of chakra than he did before."

"A few more times?" Naruto asked, not liking the idea at all.

"Will he increase his chakra every time he goes down there?" Shikaku asked.

"No. Only if he meditates and allows the shadows to be absorbed. He'll get used to being down there after a few more times, then he'll be able to control if he absorbs the shadows or not."

"So he wasn't controlling that this time?" the older Nara asked.

"No. As Shikamaru said, the shadows overwhelm whoever goes down there, which makes it very hard to control them. The more shadows he absorbs, the more control he will gain."

Shikamaru leaned into Naruto, which scared the blonde. "Shika?" Shikamaru had his eyes closed and he was still breathing a bit heavy.

"Daddy?" the boy cried out, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm just... tired," the shadow user said.

"Take him inside to rest. When he wakes up, he will feel better," Taro said, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shikaku and Naruto helped Shikamaru into the house, Shikadai making it a little hard for Naruto as the boy insisted on clinging to his leg, and laid him on the couch. Yoshino walked in, worry on her face.

"Is he ok?" she asked as she walked over.

"Mima, daddy sleep," Shikadai said as Naruto reached down and picked the boy up.

Naruto stared down at Shikamaru, who was indeed already fast asleep.

"He'll be fine once he gets some rest," Shikaku said.

Naruto looked up at the man and saw that he wrapped his arm around Yoshino's waist, trying to comfort the woman.

"Mommy, daddy wake up?" Shikadai asked, the tears still shimmering in the boy's eyes.

Naruto gave the boy a small smile and kissed his forehead. "Of course he will. Your daddy's just tired." He closed his eyes. He had to believe his own words.

Shikadai helped Naruto to get Shikamaru's current situation out of his head by playing and talking with him. The boy had him help build a tower out of blocks, read to him, and Yoshino chipped in by bringing in cookies that she had made earlier in the day.

After a few hours, Shikamaru finally stirred, and Naruto quickly got to his side, Shikadai running up to the couch too. "Hey," Naruto said, a smile on his face.

Shikamaru gave him a small smile in return. "Hey."

"Daddy wake up!" Shikadai said happily.

Shikamaru looked down and placed his hand behind the boy's head. "Yeah, I did, little fawn."

"How are you feeling?" Shikaku asked, who had been sitting in the chair reading some reports.

Yoshino stood up from the floor, where she had been sitting with Naruto and Shikadai, and walked over to the couch.

Shikamaru sat up slowly and swung his legs around so his feet were on the floor. Shikadai immediately climbed up on his lap and laid his head on the man's chest, and Naruto sat down next to him. "Ok. A little sore though."

Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "How so? I didn't think the training was that strenuous."

"Not sure," Shikamaru said as he rubbed his neck and tilted his head both ways. "My body just feels stiff."

"Well, at least you can take it easy tomorrow," Yoshino said.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I have another mission tomorrow."

"Again?" Naruto asked.

"I think it might be better if you asked Tsunade for the day off tomorrow. We don't know what kind of effect increasing your chakra reserves will have on your body yet," Shikaku said.

Shikamaru nodded. "I'll go talk to her."

Naruto frowned. "I just wish I didn't have to go on my mission tomorrow."

"Naruto, it's your first mission in one and a half years. You can't just skip out on it," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"No buts. You're going on your mission. You've been looking forward to it since Lady Tsunade approved your reinstatement."

Naruto sighed. "Ok."

They spent another hour at the Nara compound before Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shikadai said their goodbyes, stopped by Lady Tsunade's office to talk to her, then headed home.

NNNNNNNNNN

The next day, Naruto dropped Shikadai off with Yoshino, figuring it would be best for Shikamaru to get some rest without the boy being there, then headed to the front gate.

Kakashi and Sai showed up a few minutes after they arrived, Kakashi talking with Jiraiya. "Pervy Sage? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he walked up to the men.

"I'm heading out for a while. Tsunade wants me to check on something she heard about the Akatsuki," Jiraiya said.

"What? You're leaving?" Naruto whined, then crossed his arms and glared at the man. "You better come back, Pervy Sage. You still gotta help me with my Rasengan and sage mode."

Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's head, a large smile on his face. "Don't worry. I will."

"I've talked to Jiraiya about your training, Naruto. He told me the basics of what you're doing, so I can help you while he's away," Kakashi said. He held out his hand and grabbed his wrist with the other, and a small blue orb formed.

Naruto lowered his arms and stared wide-eyed at the ball of chakra. "You learned it already?"

"Well, he is called the Copy Ninja," Jiraiya said.

The Rasengan disappeared and Kakashi smiled at him behind his mask. "It'll make it easier to help you with your training."

Naruto crossed his arms again and pouted. "That's not fair, Kakashi Sensei."

"Complaining about something stupid again, Naruto," Sakura said as she walked up to them.

Naruto frowned at the pinkette. He still couldn't figure out why Sakura hated him so much.

"Alright, that's enough, Sakura," Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sakura both looked at him a bit shocked. Kakashi had never really stood up for him before.

"Why are you getting mad at me, Sensei?" Sakura complained.

"It's been one and a half years since the four of us worked together. Let's not start off our mission by arguing," Kakashi sighed out. "You need to be nicer to him, Sakura."

"What do you have against Naruto anyway?" Sai suddenly asked.

Sakura just looked between the two, then crossed her arms and walked away. "Let's just get this mission over with."

Naruto just stood there. He wasn't sure what to make of this. Was Sai also standing up for him?

"Hey, dickless. Long time no see," Sai said, hand raised, and that creepy grin on his face.

Naruto groaned. There it was. "Will you stop calling me that?"

"I'm sorry. Does it offend you?" Sai asked. He genuinely looked like he was confused.

"Yes."

Sai pulled a small book out of his weapon's pouch and opened it. "But I thought nicknames were a way of showing friendship," he asked, hand on his chin as he studied something.

"You also have to be careful about which nicknames you give," Kakashi told the boy. "Some may not be the best options."

Sai closed the book and looked up at the man with a smile. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind." He then turned to Naruto. "I'll try and come up with a different nickname for you."

"Just call me Naruto," the blonde replied.

"Very well, Naruto," Sai replied.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Naruto," Jiraiya said and walked to the entrance.

"Hey, Pervy Sage," Naruto called out as he ran to catch up.

Jiraiya stopped and looked at the blonde. "What is it..." His eyes went wide when Naruto slammed into him and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Please be careful out there," Naruto said as he tightened his grip just a little. He may not have liked Jiraiya when they first met, and they may not be blood related, but Jiraiya was the only one he had left of his first family. Yeah, he was only a godfather to him, but he kind of saw Jiraiya as the grandfather he never had.

Jiraiya put his hand on the back of Naruto's head. "I will, kid."

Naruto stepped away from the man, a smile on his face. "When you get back, I'll have mastered the Rasengan and sage mode."

Jiraiya laughed. "I have no doubt that you will." He walked away, hand raised in the air.

Naruto just watched the man go, then turned around and punched his hand with his fist. "Alright. Let's head out!" he exclaimed.

Sai and Kakashi walked toward him, Sai with a big grin on his face, and Kakashi also smiling behind his mask. Sakura groaned, but said nothing, just walked out the gate, the boys following. Team 7 was back and on their way.

--------------------------

I really hope the way I got Shikadai back to normal was ok. I'm not exactly sure how that kind of situation would be resolved since I don't have a kid myself and haven't actually been around a kid in that kind of situation. I didn't want him to stay that way, and I just felt this was the best way I could think of. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one.