Since you were kids, you’ve been stuck together. The people around the village watched you grow up together, Shikamaru was always so reserved, while you were bubbly and honestly— probably more liked than him by neighbors. Not that he minded, he could never work around people the way you did— he didn’t have the energy for all that. You and Shikamaru would often walk around the village, talking about trivial— mostly nothing things that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. You usually stayed in one place though— either the roof of the Nara compound or under a lucky tree nobody else really knew about.

You were both aware of each other’s capabilities, how his skill was in his battle intellect while you were a good leader and knew how to get through people. You worked so incredibly well together, despite not being on the same teams.

You two were under the lucky tree again, he was smoking a cigarette— he probably had his third one since they had sat down for the shade. He scratches the back of his neck, the cicadas of the summer were so loud that he picked one up and threw it in the air— prompting it and its friends to fly to some other nearby tree. He sighs, the smoke leaving his mouth like a dust cloud as he watches the clouds move further away. “What a drag..” he murmured those three words far too often, he wouldn’t be him without them anyway. Shikamaru flicks your forehead with his free hand. “Wake up, dummy. What, trying to get back the braincells you’ve lost?”