Together, the three academy students made their way to the Nara compound, Shikamaru in the lead. His head was tilted forward as his mind still tugged on the strange encounter with Haru. Sasuke walked silently beside Naruto, also deep in thought. The silence was unnerving for Naruto, who had seldom spent time with others in comfortable silence. The absence of sound was usually characteristic of those rare quiet moments when Naruto stopped showboating and was forced to accept that he was alone. However, that was not why he felt uneasy, or at least it wasn't all of it. Though the thought of broaching the subject made him more nervous than approaching Iruka when he was furious. However, Naruto was no coward!

"Shikamaru '" Naruto said, pulling the Nara to a stop by tugging his arm. Shikamaru turned toward him and raised his eyebrows in question. Sasuke huffed at being stopped but turned to look at Naruto anyway.