Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-33286580-20191201221454

Long Post...

This is something that has been one of my major question points everytime i reread the series.

The Nanadaime Hokage and his advisor by all means are real friends. but at what point did the friendship was forged?

If one rereads the pre time skip Naruto, one will clearly notice that neither Naruto nor Shikamaru have great opinions of one another.

Shikamaru came into the picture at the Chunin Exams. Their first interaction clearly showed how negatively they thought of each other. the boxes to introduce the rookie9 from Naruto's perspective actually insulted Shikamaru and Shikamaru's expression told how annoyed he felt of Naruto.

Fast forward to the FOrest of Death and we see how Shikamaru sees Naruto and his team as easy picking all because of Naruto. and when u see how he and Choji treat Naruto after the fight with Oto trio we can see how little he thinks of Naruto.

Even during the preliminary Shikamaru thinks Kiba can easily defeat Naruto.

This to me is first turning point for both Naruto and Shikamaru at their outlook of the other. it does not make them friends though.

Shikamaru visited Naruto in the hospital. Yes. but he himself answers him why. he wasnt there to check on him. he just happened to be there and came out of pity because no one would visit Naruto (a hellishly true statement).

Fast forward to the Sasuke rescue arc and we clearly can tell that Shikamaru's first pick was Choji. he probably wouldnt have considered picking Naruto for the team if Tsunade hadnt told him to do so. we can even see that Naruto at the beginning cared little about Shikamaru's leadership (not even Kiba).

At that point Shikamaru makes his position on Sasuke. they are not friends, he only is doing so because they are ninja of the same village and thus comrades. a sentiment i think he probably shares about every rookie9 and team Gai other than his teammates.

again at the end of the arc Shikamaru went to see Naruto when Tsunade told him to. he probably would have to learn about the mission directly from Naruto, but it is less of friendship and more of duty.

then a breif period happens before Naruto leaves with Jiraiya. we know nothing of it. but those anime fillers dont put any importance on their friendship either.

Naruto finally returns from his trip and he briefly meets Shikamaru. their viewpoint of one another has changed, but it is more respect than friendship i would say.

Same around when Naruto asked Shikamaru to join Team 7 to go meet Sasori's spy.

Around the Immortal duo arc i feel the change happening.

to me they probably started becoming real friends after the said arc. Naruto's help to avenge Asuma made Shikamaru think of him in a better light and he probably started spending more time with him. 