Naruto: I am Nara Shikamaru

"Move aside. Don't block the way, we're going up to the third floor."

Shikamaru stood quietly to the side, watching Sasuke speak coldly, just like in the original storyline. Moments later, a boy in green with thick eyebrows, Rock Lee, made his flashy entrance.

"Whoa, Shikamaru! Look how many people are here!"

Choji gasped in surprise as they entered the exam hall, with Ino also wide-eyed at the crowd of Genin filling the room.

"Come on. Let's just find our seats." Shikamaru said casually, his gaze lingering for a moment on the silver-haired Kabuto as he approached Naruto's group. Then he turned to Ino with a small smile.

"Ino, during the written exam, Choji's in your hands, alright?"

"Got it!" Ino nodded seriously, clearly sensing the tense atmosphere in the room.

Soon after, the examiner Ibiki Morino made his entrance, his scarred, intimidating face immediately silencing the entire room. He began explaining the rules of the written exam in a cold, authoritative voice.

Looking down at the test paper, Shikamaru groaned inwardly.

What the hell is this… projectile motion? Functions? Chemistry too? Damn it…

With just one glance, he dropped his head onto the desk and pretended to nap, all while the scratching of pens echoed all around.

Ibiki's sharp eyes scanned the room, his presence exuding silent pressure that weighed heavily on the Genin. Seeing Naruto's face twisted in anxiety, he smirked slightly. But when he spotted a red-haired kid with black eyes copying answers with one hand while covering the other, eyes hidden beneath, it gave him pause.

What a strange ability…

Glancing up, he noticed a small mirror mounted above, likely part of the trick. He chuckled faintly.

He continued making rounds, observing each Genin closely. When he saw Shikamaru seemingly fast asleep on his desk, Ibiki actually stopped for a moment, puzzled. He saw no signs of cheating, he really seemed to be dozing off.

"Team X, Candidate Y, caught cheating three times. Disqualified!"

"…The other two teammates from that group are also disqualified…"

As announcements of disqualifications rang out, a mysterious gust of wind suddenly blew through the room. It flipped Shikamaru's test paper into the air. Without missing a beat, Shikamaru reached behind him, snatched it back mid-flight, and in that single moment, memorized every single answer from the paper of the Genin behind him, word for word.

Then, acting like he had just woken up, he picked up his pen and casually began answering the questions. Originally, Shikamaru had planned to hand in a blank sheet, after all, he knew the story's plot, but then he remembered this part of the test also evaluated information-gathering skills. If he submitted a blank test, his overall score might suffer, and that could cost him the promotion to Chunin.

The two proctors exchanged glances, unsure. None of them had seen Shikamaru cheat, but they were still confused about that sudden wind…

In the final ten minutes, Ibiki finally introduced the infamous tenth question. Like the others, Shikamaru watched silently, unimpressed, and promptly went back to sleep, this time actually drifting off.

He didn't wake up until Anko Mitarashi crashed through the window in her fishnet outfit, shouting loudly and interrupting his nap. Reluctantly, Shikamaru followed her toward the second stage of the exam: the Forest of Death.

As the exam room emptied, Ibiki went around collecting test papers. One of them caught his eye, someone had handed in a blank sheet. He blinked, then looked down at the name.

Uzumaki Naruto, huh? Interesting kid…

But there was one other paper that truly stood out. He picked it up, compared it to another one, and found the answers to be absolutely identical, every number, every word. Not a single deviation.

Nara Shikamaru… This kid's something else.

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Clutching the Heaven Scroll under his arm, Shikamaru glanced at Ino and Choji and said calmly, "Let's go. Time to enter the Forest of Death."

"Shikamaru, how are we gonna get both scrolls? We need the Earth Scroll too. Which team should we target?" Choji asked while munching on snacks.

"How about Naruto's team? They're probably the weakest, right?"

Choji looked thoughtful as he spoke, but Ino quickly cut him off.

"No way! Sasuke's on that team! He used to be top of our class, it's not gonna be easy!"

"Heh…" Shikamaru chuckled. Then, with quiet confidence, he said, "Relax. Other than three teams, we don't need to worry about anyone."

"Three teams?" Ino and Choji asked at once, clearly curious. With 27 teams participating, they couldn't imagine why Shikamaru sounded so confident.

"That's a secret." Shikamaru replied, smirking. "Just follow my lead and we'll make it through."

In his mind, he had already marked the three teams worth being cautious of: Orochimaru's disguised team, Kabuto's group… and Gaara's team. As for Naruto's group? Shikamaru wasn't worried. Even if Naruto had one of his explosive moments, Shikamaru was confident he could still outwit him.

Unlike the anxious Ino and Choji, Shikamaru walked toward the Forest of Death calm and untroubled, looking forward to what lay ahead.

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A/N: If you're enjoying the story, you can read up to Chapter 32 (28+ chapters ahead of the current one) on my Patreon: patreon.com/vynthor.