Another chapter for you guys. If you're reading this chapter then you must be ok with the way I am playing things out. I promise he won't always be that way, but it's not easy to get past something like this. I do plan on making this story have a happy ending.

Warning: This chapter has mature content towards the end.

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Naruto woke up and felt the sun on his face. He sat up, still half asleep and looked around his room. It had been two months since the Naras pretty much forced him to stay with them, and while he felt bad for troubling them, he was also really grateful. At first, he was really nervous about being in the Nara compound, afraid he was inconveniencing Shikaku and Yoshino. He even tried to leave to go back to his apartment several times, but Shikamaru would always stop him, by either standing in front of the door or using his shadow jutsu.

After a couple weeks, he finally accepted that this was his new home, but he still felt like he was invading the Naras' space. No matter how many times the three Naras told him it was fine, he just couldn't get it out of his mind.

He got up and pulled his clothes from the dresser, pulled on the pants, and was about to pull his shirt over his head when he caught his reflection in the mirror. He smiled. He was happy that he had gained enough weight to look healthy, thanks to Yoshino's cooking, and the muscles he now had, thanks to the training Shikaku and Shikamaru did with him every morning, didn't look bad either.

He finished getting dressed and headed to the kitchen to get some breakfast. He had training with his team today, but all he really wanted to do was go wait at the front gate for Shikamaru. The boy had been on a four day mission and was scheduled to get back today.

As he walked down the hall, he heard faint voices coming from where he knew Shikaku's office to be. He made sure to walk as quietly as he could so he didn't disturb whoever was talking, but froze when he happened to hear what the man visiting said.

"Shikaku, how can you allow your son to be with him?" the man said, venom in his voice when he said the word "him."

"My son can be with whoever he wants," Shikaku replied back.

Naruto leaned in a little closer. He knew that he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but this concerned him, so...

"You can't be serious. As the next head of the clan, it is Shikamaru's responsibility to produce an heir. There is no way he can do that with another male," the guy said angrily.

Naruto frowned. He and Shikamaru had officially gotten together last month, and he had never been happier. He felt loved and wanted for the first time in his whole life, and now this man was trying to ruin that.

"Shikamaru is only 16. There is no need to worry about that right now," Shikaku said.

"So you're saying that you too are hoping that this is just some phase he's going through, and that Shikamaru will eventually see reason and find a woman to be with?"

Naruto frowned. Was being with him just a phase? Would Shikamaru really leave him? He thought Shikamaru really loved him...

"That is not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that we will figure something out when the time for him to produce an heir becomes more of a priority. For now, there is no need."

"Are you planning to let him marry that monster?"

Naruto flinched back at the name. He was used to people calling him that, but it still always hurt.

"Get out of my house!" Shikaku yelled. "If you are going to insult my family, then you are no longer welcome here."

Naruto's eyes went wide. 'His family? Shikaku really thinks of me as part of the family?'

"This isn't over, Shikaku. Your son has a responsibility to this clan."

"Get out," Shikaku said, his voice quieter, but the anger was still very prominent.

Naruto quickly backed away from the door as it opened and an elderly Nara man walked through. The man glared at Naruto, but didn't say a word as he walked past the boy. Shikaku walked out of the office, staring at the older man, arms crossed and a frown on his face. Naruto looked down. "I'm sorry," the blonde said quietly.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto," Shikaku said and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Let me worry about the elders of my clan."

Naruto looked up at him, but didn't smile. He was causing more problems, and that's the last thing he wanted to do for the people who have treated him so well. "But I..."

"This is between me and the elders," Shikaku said, then turned and walked back to his office.

Naruto stared at the door for another few seconds then turned to continue to the kitchen, and slumped into his seat when he got there.

"Good morning," Yoshino said happily as she turned around with a plate of food, but frowned when she saw how upset Naruto was. "What's wrong, sweetie?" She sat the plate in front of Naruto and knelt down so she was next to him and placed her arm around him.

Naruto looked up at her. "It's... Nothing," he said as he looked back down.

"Naruto," Yoshino said sternly.

"I... I just... miss Shikamaru," he lied.

Yoshino smiled and kissed the side of his head. "He's supposed to be back from his mission today, right?"

"Yeah," he said, forcing a small smile onto his face, "but I hate waiting. I wish I had my own mission so I wouldn't miss him as much."

Yoshino laughed and stood up. "He'll be home before you know it." She walked back over to the counter and continued with her cleanup she was doing before Naruto walked in.

Naruto sighed as the smile fell from his face, and he looked down at his food before digging in. Once he was finished, he called out a goodbye to Yoshino and ran out the door towards his team's training grounds. The training went by like usual, Sakura wanting nothing to do with him and glaring at him the whole time, Sai calling him "dickless" and giving him that creepy smile, and Kakashi just sighing and reading his pervy book. Once that was over, he raced to the front gate and waited.

Three hours passed and Naruto was now staring up at the sky just watching the clouds pass by overhead. He couldn't get the words of that elder out of his head. He knew that Shikamaru loved him. He felt it; saw it. There was no way what the elder said was true. "Where's Shika?" He sat up and looked toward the gate again. Shikamaru had told him that his team would be getting back around noon, and it was now almost three.

His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he didn't eat lunch, and the two guards on duty looked over at him. "Hehe, sorry," he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

One of the guards shook his head and went back to the paper he was writing on, but the other one just crossed his arms and glared at him.

Naruto looked away to look past the gate, then sighed before he turned and headed home. "I'm back," he called out as he closed the door.

Yoshino peeked around the corner. "Shikamaru isn't with you?"

"No. He never showed up," Naruto replied with a worried frown.

Yoshino also looked a bit worried, but then gave Naruto a warm smile. "He probably just got lazy and dragged the team down."

Naruto chuckled at that. "Yeah." He watched Yoshino disappear back into the kitchen and decided to follow her. "Can I help with dinner?" he asked, but his face went beat red when his stomach growled loudly at the mention of food.

Yoshino laughed. "Sounds like your stomach doesn't want to wait."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to eat with Shika, so I didn't get any lunch."

Yoshino tossed him an apple, which he grabbed out of the air easily. "That should tide you over until dinner's ready, and I would love your help."

Naruto smiled, took a bite of the apple, and moved over to help. He had been helping Yoshino a lot in the kitchen since he moved in, and had learned a lot. He wanted to be able to fix meals for Shikamaru when they...

Naruto frowned as the memory of the elder's words popped back into his mind. 'Will I even be able to be with him? I can't give Shika an heir, so will his clan let me be with him?'

'Shikaku made it very clear to that elder that he has no problem with it.'

'Yeah, but the guy's right. Shikamaru is expected to produce an heir, and if he's with me, then that won't happen.'

'Children can be obtained in other ways than birthing them.'

'You make it sound like children are just a tool you can buy,' he said a bit aggravated. 'A child is special. It shows the love between...'

'A man and woman?'

'Yeah,' he replied a bit sadly.

"Naruto?" Yoshino asked and placed her hand on his shoulder.

Naruto looked up at her. "Huh?"

Yoshino reached up and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Naruto sniffed and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. "I... I'm just worried."

Yoshino gave him an understanding smile. "He's going to be ok. I'm sure he'll be home tomorrow."

Naruto nodded and went back to cutting up the vegetables, then slid them in the large pot that was boiling on the stove.

NNNNNNNNNN

Naruto paced back and forth in his room, chewing on his nails. It had already been five days, and there was not one word about Shikamaru or his team. Shikaku had already asked Tsunade about it, and even requested a team be sent out to search for them, which came back with no results. It was as if they just disappeared.

He stopped next to his window and looked up at the white clouds that floated lazily by. "Where are you, Shika?" He ran out of his room, and out of the house, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the front gate. He panted a bit because of how fast he ran, but slid down the side of the massive gate, just staring out.

"He's back again," one of the guards said.

Naruto glanced over and saw two guards that he's seen before at the guard station.

The second guard crossed his arms. "If he wants to leave, then he should just do it. Wouldn't hurt anyone if he did."

"Hey, come one. Look at him. He looks worried, not like he wants to leave. I think he's waiting on someone to return."

The second guard scoffed. "Who would want him to be waiting on them?"

"I've heard rumors."

"Rumors?"

"Yeah. That he's with someone. Apparently he's been staying at the Naras' for a couple months now, and I think he somehow forced himself on the kid, Shikamaru."

"What?" the second guard called out, turning his full attention to the first guy.

"Yeah. That's what I've heard, but there's no way Shikaku would be crazy enough to let that happen... Right?"

"Yeah, for sure. No way he'd let his boy be with someone like him," the guy replied and turned a glare back at Naruto.

Naruto looked away from them, a hurt look on his face. 'Shika, please. You have to come back.'

'What will you do if he doesn't?'

'Shut up, Nine Tails! He will come back. He promised he'd come back.'

The nine tails scoffed. 'He's a shinobi. Shinobi die everyday on missions. Just face it...'

'No!,' he screamed at the fox, eyes squeezed shut to keep the tears from falling. 'He's not dead. I know he's not.' He opened his eyes and stared at his hands that were sitting in his lap. 'He said he wouldn't leave me alone again.'

He sat there quietly, just staring at his lap for another fifteen minutes before he sensed someone approaching. He looked up and saw four figures walking toward the gate. His eyes went wide and he stood up, heart beating in his chest. When the figures got closer, the tears did fall from his eyes when he saw Shikamaru walking toward him. 'I told you, you stupid fox.'

He ran towards the figures, who stopped when they saw him running towards them, and he could see a small, but tired smile on Shikamaru's face. He was being supported by Choji, but he ignored that and plowed into Shikamaru, who managed to stay on his feet thanks to Choji.

Naruto sobbed into Shikamaru's shoulder then looked up into his face before smashing his lips over the Nara's. He felt Shikamaru flinch and tremble a bit before he was yanked off the boy and he cringed when he fell on his butt hard.

"You idiot! What do you think you're doing?" Ino snapped.

"Ino, it's fine," Shikamaru said.

Ino ignored him and stepped closer to Naruto. "You don't just go up to someone and kiss them like that! Especially if they were gone longer than expected. Do you even know what happened to him?"

Naruto stared up at the angry blonde, eyes wide. "I..."

"That's enough, Ino," Asuma said, putting a hand on Ino's shoulder and pulling her back a bit.

"But Asuma," Ino said, turning to face the man. "He..."

"If Shikamaru says it's fine, then it's fine. Let's just get him to the hospital and get him checked out."

"Hospital?" Naruto asked quietly.

Asuma turned and put his hand out to help him up, which Naruto accepted. "Shikamaru was captured and tortured by sand shinobi," he explained as he pulled the boy to his feet.

"What?" Naruto asked then turned to look at Shikamaru, who was now looking down at the ground.

"He's been pretty quiet, and he won't tell us exactly what they did to him, but he flinches at any of our touches. The only way Choji has him now is 'cause they did something to his leg and he can't walk without help right now."

Naruto stood there and just stared at Shikamaru.

Asuma placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We need to get him to the hospital to get looked at."

Ino glared at Naruto as she walked toward him, followed by Choji and Shikamaru. Naruto could now see the limp that Shikamaru sported, and guilt washed over him. He looked down, eyes closed and fists clenched, but looked up again when he felt a hand around his wrist.

"I'm fine," Shikamaru said with a small smile. He pushed himself off Choji and wrapped his arms around Naruto, clinging to him tightly. "I'm sorry I worried you," he said in the blonde's ear.

Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend and buried his face in the boy's neck, the tears once again falling. He felt Shikamaru tremble just a bit, but the boy never tried to pull away. He finally pushed Shikamaru back enough to look him in the eyes. "We need to get you to the hospital."

Shikamaru nodded and Naruto helped him back to the village. He could feel someone glaring at him, Ino he bet, but he didn't care at this moment. Shikamaru needed his help, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him from doing so.

Asuma split off with them to head to the hokage's office to report in, saying that he would be by as soon as he was done to check on him, while the other two followed Naruto and Shikamaru to the hospital.

"What happened?" Naruto asked carefully as they walked.

Shikamaru looked away from him and didn't respond.

"I told you that he won't tell us what happened to him," Ino said. "What makes you think he'd tell you?"

Naruto looked back at Ino, then back at Shikamaru with a sad look, but didn't say anything else.

They were silent the rest of the way, and when they got to the hospital, a nurse took them to a room and examined Shikamaru. Another nurse came in and checked on the other two, but they explained that Shikamaru was the only one captured, so they were fine. Naruto just stood next to Shikamaru's bed, hand clenched in the other boy's hand, and listened to everything.

The door soon opened, and Lady Tsunade and Asuma walked in. "How is he?" Tsunade asked the nurse, who was currently healing Shikamaru's leg.

The nurse stopped her jutsu and turned to the older woman. "His left leg has some muscle damage and several deep cuts, but nothing life threatening, ma'am."

Tsunade nodded and took over the healing, the nurse leaving the room. She looked up at Shikamaru, who looked to be half asleep. "Shikamaru, what all did they do to you?"

Naruto felt Shikamaru squeeze his hand tighter and the boy looked away. "Th-they tortured me for information."

"Did they get anything?"

Shikamaru shook his head, still not looking at her.

Naruto looked from his boyfriend to Tsunade, who now had her eyes narrowed. "I want everything, Nara," she said sternly.

Shikamaru just closed his eyes, and the grip on Naruto's hand got even tighter. "Th-they asked me questions, but when I wouldn't answer, they hit me. Then they cut up my leg so that I wouldn't get away."

"What else?" Tsunade pushed.

Naruto gave her a small glare. 'What else? What does she mean? Isn't that enough?'

"Th-they..." Shikamaru started. The trembling was back. "When they couldn't get anything from me, they... r-raped me."

Naruto gasped.

"Dang. No wonder he flinched at our touches," Ino said.

"How many?"

"T-three," Shikamaru got out.

"Male or female?"

"B-both. T-two males, one female."

Naruto bristled at what he said. He wanted to hunt down those sand jerks and kill them all, but then he saw a tear fall down Shikamaru's face. He wanted to reach up and wipe it away, but now he was afraid to touch him, and the anger vanished. He had to stay calm for Shikamaru's sake.

"How long was he in their hands, Asuma?" Tsunade asked.

Asuma stepped closer. "Three days, ma'am. We were lucky enough to find him that quickly."

"I see," Tsunade said, deactivated her chakra, and turned to Asuma. "I'd like a full report on my desk as soon as possible."

Asuma stiffened to attention. "Yes, ma'am."

"We'll let him rest for now. One of you needs to go and inform Shikaku and Yoshino that he's back," she continued.

"I'll do that," Asuma said, then looked down at Shikamaru sadly before turning and leaving the room, Ino and Choji doing the same, although Ino gave one final glare to Naruto as well.

Tsunade turned back to the two boys. "Naruto, you can stay, but let him rest."

"Yes, ma'am," Naruto replied.

Tsunade looked shocked at his answer, probably because he didn't call her granny or something, but then she nodded and left as well, leaving him alone with Shikamaru.

Shikamaru was still not looking at him. A few more tears had escaped Shikamaru's eyes, but now he looked like he was sleeping.

Naruto looked down to stare at their entwined fingers.

'There's nothing you could've done to prevent this.'

'Yeah, I know, but...' He looked back up at Shikamaru, who was frowning in his sleep. 'He's done so much for me these past two months. I just wish...'

'What's done is done. Now all you can do is help him like he helped you.'

Naruto sat there a bit stunned. 'Why have you been so nice to me lately? It's not normal for you to try and comfort me like this.'

'I'm doing no such thing, brat,' the fox said angrily. 'Don't get the wrong idea.'

Naruto smiled. 'Thanks, Nine Tails.' He heard the fox huff, but didn't say anything else, so he just watched Shikamaru sleep, rubbing his thumb over Shikamaru's hand.

It wasn't long before Shikaku and Yoshino showed up, but when they saw him sleeping, they just found their own chairs to sit by the bed, and the three struck up a quiet conversation, Naruto explaining what Shikamaru told them.

NNNNNNNNNN

It took almost three weeks, but Shikamaru was finally starting to return to normal. Naruto made sure to stay by his side, even skipping out on training, so that he could help Shikamaru. The Nara was a bit annoyed at this, but at the same time, Naruto could tell that he appreciated it. He was a bit nervous to get too close to his boyfriend, but Shikamaru finally told him that getting closer would help him the most.

Naruto smiled into the kiss he was receiving at the moment.

Shikamaru pulled back, a small smile on his own face. "What?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy I can help you."

"Troublesome blonde," Shikamaru said, but then dipped his head back down to resume the kiss.

*Mature Scene*

They were currently out in the backyard of the Nara compound. It started off as just a cloud watching session, but then Naruto must have gotten a little too close, because Shikamaru started kissing him. Now the shadow user was on top of the blonde, one hand playing with the blonde's nipple under his shirt, while carefully grinding into him.

"Shika," Naruto moaned out as he broke off the kiss.

Shikamaru kissed down Naruto's neck and used his free hand to push the blonde's shirt up, exposing the well toned chest and perky nipples. He smiled as he sat up to drink in the blonde's body, then leaned down again to capture the neglected nipple in his mouth.

Naruto hissed as he arched his body, his hand reaching around to bury his fingers in the dark locks on his boyfriend's head. He panted as he looked down and watched as the Nara devoured his body, and a shiver ran up his body when Shikamaru's eyes locked with his. He closed his eyes and let the pleasure that coursed through his body wash over him.

Naruto was surprised when Shikamaru started making bolder moves on him the past week. The first few days after he came home, the dark haired boy seemed to avoid Naruto, which hurt, but then one day, Shikamaru just came out of nowhere and kissed him. He could feel the tremble in Shikamaru's lips when he did, but the Nara seemed determined to push through it.

From that day, Shikamaru would push himself more and more on the blonde. Naruto questioned Shikamaru about it after one particularly heavy make out session, and Shikamaru just told him that he didn't want to be afraid to be with him.

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as he felt Shikamaru undoing his pants. "W-wait, Shika..."

Shikamaru looked up at him. "You don't want to?" he asked as he stopped his actions.

Naruto blushed. "I-it's not that I don't want to, it's just... Are you sure you want to?" Shikamaru had finally opened up to him about what those sand shinobi did to him, and figured that that's the reason Shikamaru never took things further than just touching above the waist. Shikamaru even stopped him from palming his boyfriend's erection, saying that he wasn't ready for that yet.

Shikamaru looked down and took a deep, shaky breath. "I need to get past this." He looked back up and Naruto saw the determined look in his eyes. "I want to get past this. With you."

Naruto sat up and cupped Shikamaru's face, giving him a gentle kiss. "Please don't push yourself too far."

Shikamaru smiled and finished undoing the blonde's pants and slowly pulled Naruto's siff cock out. He took another shaky breath as he wrapped his hand around it.

Naruto shivered at the feeling of his boyfriend's hand around his shaft, but made sure to watch Shikamaru's face. As much as he wanted this, he wanted to make sure that Shikamaru didn't push himself too much. He wanted him to feel just as good as he did.

Shikamaru slowly raised his hand up the shaft, then down it, starting a slow but steady pace. He looked up when Naruto moaned and locked eyes with the blonde before leaning forward and capturing the boy's lips.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Shikamaru's neck, moaning into the kiss as Shikamaru's pace on his shaft got quicker. Soon he was moaning like crazy into Shikamaru's mouth, both boys making sure to stay connected so as to not get too loud. Even if there was no one else home at the moment, they weren't sure who might walk by.

"Sh-Shika," Naruto moaned out in a loud whisper as he finally broke off the kiss.

Shikamaru just watched Naruto as he continued to pump the boy's shaft, which made the blonde blush. "You're so beautiful, Naruto."

Naruto's blush got deeper with those words. That was the first time anyone had called him beautiful. He closed his eyes, getting lost in the feeling of the warm hand pumping him. "Ah! I'm... I'm gonna..." He couldn't even finish his words as he felt the warm sperm launch from his dick, his eyes closed and his hands gripping Shikamaru's shoulders tightly. "Ah!"

When he opened his eyes again, all he saw was Shikamaru's smug grin, and again, his face got hotter, sure his face was now the same color as a tomato. "D-don't look at me like that. It's embarrassing," he said as he turned away from the boy.

Shikamaru turned the blonde's head back toward him and kissed him, which made Naruto completely forget about his embarrassment and wrap his arms around the boy's neck again. They broke apart when they ran out of breath and Naruto finally looked down to see that his cum was splattered across Shikamaru's shirt. "Crap! I'm sorry," he said as he started wiping the sticky substance off his boyfriend's shirt.

Shikamaru laughed. "Why? I made you do it."

Naruto's face went red again and he couldn't meet his boyfriend's eyes until Shikamaru raised his chin and forced him to. "A-are you ok?"

Shikamaru smiled. "Yeah. It helped to watch your face."

Naruto jerked his head out of Shikamaru's grasp, and looked down once more, only to see the massive bulge in Shikamaru's pants. He looked up and carefully chose his next words. "C-can I help you now?"

Shikamaru looked down, his face now going red. "Uh, s-sure."

Naruto frowned at his hesitancy and lifted Shikamaru's head back up. "Shika, I don't want to push you if you're not ready for it."

"I'm sure," Shikamaru said, relaxing a bit as he stared into Naruto's eyes. "As long as it's you, I should be fine."

Naruto studied Shikamaru for another few seconds before he lowered his hand and gaze down to Shikamaru's pants, slowly undoing it and exposing the hard rod beneath it. He wrapped his hand around Shikamaru's shaft, and looked up when Shikamaru hissed. "You ok?"

Shikamaru had his eyes closed and his breathing was a bit fast, but he nodded. "Y-yeah."

Naruto looked back down and focused his attention on Shikamaru's dick, pumping his hand slowly up and down the shaft. He could feel his own member starting to get hard again, but ignored it in favor of keeping his full attention to pleasuring his boyfriend. When Shikamaru started squirming, and moaned out his name, Naruto took a deep breath and shifted himself so that his face was really close to the hard rod in his hand.

"N-Naruto, what are you..." Shikamaru began, but moaned out and closed his eyes when Naruto put the tip of his member in his mouth.

Naruto looked up and watched Shikamaru carefully as he ran his tongue over the head of Shikamaru's dick, and when he saw nothing but pleasure, he closed his eyes and sucked more of the hard rod into his mouth.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru cried out and gripped the blonde's hair tightly in one hand, falling back a bit to lean on his other hand to give Naruto more room.

Naruto bobbed his head up and down Shikamaru's shaft, running his tongue across the veins that ran along the dick, going further and further down until he felt something tickling his nose. He was really surprised when he opened his eyes to see that he had taken Shikamaru's whole 9 inch dick in his mouth without much of a struggle, but then closed them again to focus on what he was doing.

Shikamaru was moaning and pulling on Naruto's hair as the blonde bobbed his head, and soon he couldn't keep his hips still and started thrusting in and out in time to Naruto's bobs.

Naruto was caught by surprise and gagged just a bit when Shikamaru thrust his dick down further into his throat, but adjusted quickly.

"N-Naru...to," Shikamaru moaned out, then pushed Naruto's head as far onto his dick as possible as he released himself.

Naruto's eyes went wide when his mouth filled with the hot cum, but he tried to swallow as much of it as he could. When he sat up, he coughed a bit and wiped at the cum that had run down his chin.

"Crap! I'm sorry, Naruto," Shikamaru said, a blush very apparent on his face, as he leaned forward to wipe at Naruto's chin. "I..."

Naruto laughed and grabbed Shikamaru's hands and put them down. "It's fine, Shikamaru. It's payback for cumming on your shirt."

Shikamaru just stared at him then smiled. "That felt amazing."

Naruto blushed again himself, but returned the smile. "Didn't taste too bad either."

Shikamaru turned his head away, the blush going deeper. "Idiot."

Naruto just laughed again and leaned forward to wrap his arms around Shikamaru's neck again, turning the Nara's head back toward him so he could capture the boy's lips once more.

*Mature Scene End*

They made out for another minute before breaking apart, panting and staring into each other's eyes. "We should probably go get cleaned up before mom gets home," Shikamaru finally said.

"Yeah."

They put themselves back in their pants and quickly made their way into the house and to the bathroom where they washed themselves off, Shikamaru making sure to rinse off his shirt before throwing it in the dirty laundry, then headed back to Shikamaru's room.

They both laid down on the bed, exhausted from what they just did, and Naruto laid his head on Shikamaru's chest, just listening to Shikamaru's heartbeat. "I love you, Shikamaru." He had never actually said that to Shikamaru before. Yeah, Shikamaru confessed to him before he started living here, but he never had the courage to say it back.

"I love you too."

Naruto smiled, the arm he had around Shikamaru's torso holding just a little tighter, and sighed contentedly as he closed his eyes. He was happy. Shikamaru loved him back. They were going to be together for a while.

"As the next head of the clan, it is Shikamaru's responsibility to produce an heir. There is no way he can do that with another male."

Naruto opened his eyes and frowned at the memory of what the elder Nara said to Shikaku. He looked up and saw that Shikamaru had his eyes closed and was probably already asleep. "Shika?"

"Hmm?" Shikamaru replied, not bothering to open his eyes.

Naruto looked down again and fiddled with Shikamaru's shirt. "Are you sure we can even be together?"

"What are you talking about? We are together, remember? You're my boyfriend, and no one is going to say otherwise."

"Yeah, but... will you have to break up with me to find some woman to marry?"

Shikamaru reached down and raised Naruto's face to look at him. "I don't want to be with some woman, Naruto. I told you, I love you, and that's not going to change."

Naruto sat up enough so that he was now looking down on Shikamaru. "Yeah, I know that, but... we can't have kids."

Shikamaru blinked at him. "Kids? Where the heck did that come from?"

Naruto sat up completely, his back to the boy. "I overheard an elder from your clan talking with Shikaku a while back. He said it's your responsibility to produce an heir, but... you can't do that with me."

Shikamaru turned Naruto's head a bit forcefully and Naruto stared into the angry eyes of the boy he loved. "I don't care about that. I love you, Naruto, and I will not let them get between us for something as trivial as that."

Naruto pushed Shikamaru's hand away, also getting a bit angry and turned so he wasn't straining to look back. "It's not trivial, Shikamaru. You're the next head of the clan. You will need to eventually produce an heir to be the next clan head after you. I'm a male. I can't have kids, so therefore, being with me will only hurt you and your clan."

"Stop it!"

Naruto's eyes went wide at Shikamaru's raised voice.

"Stop doing this," Shikamaru said a little quieter. "Stop trying to make it out that you can never be happy. You have every right to be happy as I do. So what if you can't have kids. We'll figure it out down the road when it becomes necessary."

Naruto looked down. "That's what your father said."

"Then trust him," Shikamaru said, raising Naruto's head again, then kissed him. "Stop worrying about what the future will hold. Focus on the here and now. You're happy, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then focus on that. You have spent your whole life unhappy, so just dwell in the happiness you have now. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, or what will happen in five years, but all we do know is that we are together now, and we're happy."

Naruto leaned in and laid his head under Shikamaru's chin, wrapping his arms around the boy's chest. "I love you, Shikamaru, and I want to be happy with you."

"Then just focus on that. Don't worry about what the elders of my clan say. We'll figure something out on the kid situation when it comes down to it."

Naruto nodded, but the frown remained on his face. 'Will that really be ok though?'

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Already looking up a bit. Let me know how you're liking it so far by leaving a comment below.

See you in the next chapter.