Two days later, Rin was released with Hinari. December second. That was her daughter's birthday. At a whopping six thirty on the dot. She was tired, having not slept in those two days.

There was a knock on the door and Rin sighed. "I'm coming!"

She opened the door and saw Shikamaru.
She released the henge. "Hey Shika." She yawned.

"Naruto? You look terrible. When was the last time you slept?"

Naruto scrunched her brow in thought. "About two days. I've not had the time."

Shikamaru sighed, feeling exasperated. "Go to sleep you troublesome girl. I will watch Hinari."

Naruto looks shocked. "Really? Oh Shika thank you!" She ran to the room where Hinari was sleeping. She carefully lifted Hinari out of her crib, mindful of how fragile she was. She walked back to the living room and show Shikamaru how to hold her, lay her down, and feed her.

"Don't forget changing her diaper and burping her after she eats!" Shikamaru looked slightly overwhelmed at the influx of information. Naruto giggled before going to bed.

Three hours later Naruto woke up, and cautiously snuck into the living room to see if anything was wrong. She smiled as she saw Shikamaru staring down at Hinari with a smile that sent butterflies in her belly. Her heart beat sped up slightly, and she found herself smiling softly at the adoring look in Shikamarus eyes. Silently, she moved and sat next to him. He gave no sign of noticing.

"Hey Shika." He was careful not to jump, but looked very sheepish. "I wasn't paying attention, sorry. It's just.... Hinari. She is beautiful."

Naruto smiled softly once more. Shikamaru felt his. cheeks heat up slightly. He loved that smile.

"You have to go back to the Academy of you want to pass graduation. My mom would be willing to watch Hinari."

Naruto smiled. "That would be amazing. I'm glad I don't have to wear that ugly jumpsuit. And I can let people know I'm a girl. I'll do it slowly, starting with my hair."

Shikamaru examined her hair. It was a bright golden blond with crimson highlights and went barely past her shoulders. She channeled her chakra, and her hair grew longer. When she stopped, her hair touched the couch they were sitting on. If she stood, it would be down to her butt. She pulled it up into a ponytail, the bangs a spiky fringe around her face.

"I like it." Shikamaru said. "But I like it better down." He pouted slightly.

Naruto laughed. She pulled out the leather strip, and her hair fell down, cascading down her back in a glossy waterfall.

She noticed him staring. "What?"

He blushed. "N-Nothing."

Naruto looks at him strangely before shaking her head.

"Come on, let's go. We need to ask Yoshino if she will watch Hinari while we are at the academy." She henged as Rin, and they walk out, an umbrella shared between them to protect Hinari from the sun's rays.

Rin is elated when Yoshino said she would watch after Hinari. Even more so when she said 'Anytime!'.

Now she was walking home, to get ready for the Academy. When she got home, she dropped the henge, and ran to her closet.
She pulled out a deep blue form fitting long sleeved shirt and a sleeveless burnt orange hoodie over it. It was from fitting, and easy to move in. It also had small slots in the sleeves to hide senbon.

She then pulled on some slightly baggy black ANBU styled pants, which she wrapped bandages up the edge, like Kakashi.I

With that done, she grabbed her lunch and ran out the door, nearly ramming into Shikamaru.

"Ne... Slow down Naru, we're not going to be late." She smiled sheepishly.

"Eh, sorry Shika. I was in a bit of a rush, and it's habit to run to the Academy now."

Shikamaru just sighed. "Troublesome. come on let's go, or we will be late."

They walked to the Academy in peaceful silence. That is, until,

"SHIKAMARU! Who is that? Thought you said girls were troublesome!" Ino Yamanaka came flying out of the her families flower shop.

"Troublesome. I said annoying girls are troublesome. And this is Naruto. He grew his hair out. With chakra. He likes it so don't yell at him."

Ino sniffed. "He looks like a girl. I won't tell, if you take back what you said about troublesome girls."

Shikamaru sighed. Naruto looked ready to panic, not wanting people to know so fast, and berating herself for forgetting to pull the hood up.

"I take back what I said about troublesome girls." Ino looked at him shocked before pulling herself back together.

"See!? That's better!" She chirped, running off.
Naruto slipped her hood up, only allowing the spiky fringe to show, fooling people into thinking nothing was wrong and that she just had a change in style.

With no pregnant belly to protect, Naruto could go on an all out offensive, beating everyone hands down.

To everyone else, she had just suddenly got stronger.

"Hn. Dobe, how did you get that strong so fast? You weren't really sick those two weeks were you?"

Naruto rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Ya got me teme! But I'm not showin' ya how I did it!" She shouts, internally cringing at the volume of her voice.

Sasuke tsk'ed and walked away. Shikamaru made his way over, a bruise on his cheek.

"Who were you up against?" She asked.

Shikamaru grimaced. "The bastard who just walked away." His voice is slightly garbled, as his cheek hurt when it moved

Naruto reached into her pocket and pulled out some healing cream. " Hinata-chan gave this to me. It accelerates the healing process exponentially! "

She dabbed two fingers in the small jar and smeared it on his cheek. He sighed as it stopped throbbing. It felt cool, and there was a small tickling sensation.

"If it works so well, then how did she get it?" He asked.

"Easy! She made it. She gave some to me when she saw a bad scrape I had gotten after sparring with Kiba."

Shikamaru felt his eyes widen. "She made this? She must have some very good knowledge on herbs and stuff." He said in awe.

Naruto nodded, and tugged at her hood. She kicked the dirt, a small cloud of dust rising off the ground.

Shikamaru's eyes slid over to her. "What's bothering you Naru?" He asked softly. She had been off all day and it was mildly distracting.

Her face scrunched up before falling into light sadness. "I miss Hinari." She said.
Shikamaru placed his hand on her shoulder, shivering slightly at the electric current that seemed to run through him.

"Academy is almost over. You'll see her soon." He assured.

"Back to class!" Iruka shouted, and the kids made their way back into the classroom. Naruto grasped Shikamaru's hand the pulled him along, good mood restored.

"C'mon lazy ass! We don't wanna be late!"

Shikamaru just groaned as he was dragged back to class.

"Troublesome."