ANYWAYS, the King in both games is a useless piece that must be protected. Naruto's not useless and doesn't need protection from Shikamaru. It makes no sense for Asuma to tell Shikamaru to protect Naruto when Naruto has 2 Jounin and a Sanin protecting him.

Hey! Shikamaru... You know that guy who can kick your butt? You need to go protect him.

Yeah... that makes A LOT OF SENSE.

Anyways, despite the wikipedia referrence... It has been told in the manga and anime that the fourth wanted people to think of Naruto as a hero for sealing the demon within him, but the stupid villagers only saw him as a demon and outcast him despite his wishes. The third made the rule not to tell the younger generations so they wouldn't do the same. So the jerk villagers just told their children to outcast him for no reason. I've always thought THIS was a much more compelling story to turn someone to evil than Sasuke's, but oh well...