It All Started With A Smell

Chapter 2: Naruto Uzumaki

Asuma's POV:

His team had adapted to working together quickly. At first, he had been worried. He had a student obsessed over looks and boys, a student obsessed with food, and a student who seemed to only like being asleep. It hadn't looked good for them but then he had them train against him. He had given them ten minutes to strategies, away from his line of sight, and then they either attacked him or he went after them. Before the time was up, he found himself being maneuvered into traps after traps. He was able to get out of them, but that was beside the point. Three twelve-year-olds were able to work together to put their sensei on the back-step. After the fourth training session, when Shikamaru had wondered off to nap, Asuma had asked his other two students how they had managed to come up with a plan so quickly that worked so well. He was even bleeding!

It was a surprise to hear the name of the lazy ninja come out of their mouths. He had asked them to repeat themselves at first. When he had confirmed that he had heard Choji and Ino correctly, he had sent them to train together whilst he went in search of Shikamaru. He hadn't noticed the dark-haired boy disappear at first but Choji was able to point him in the right direction. The boy was sitting at the base of a tree, leaning against the wood, looking out at a field in front of him. The look on Shikamaru's face made Asuma pause. Normally the boy looked bored but at that moment it looked as though he had came across a puzzle that had to be solved; only, he didn't know the correct answer.

Following Shikamaru's line of sight, Asuma noticed the people sitting in the clearing, having a picnic. He tried to not chock on his own saliva. He had not expected to see Kakashi Hatake having a picnic with three children. Asuma especially didn't expect the copy-ninja to look so happy whilst doing so. Nevertheless, there he was, sitting with a girl with pink hair and two boys. The girl was giving the dark-haired boy doe eyes, which the dark-haired boy ignored, and the blonde was talking with Kakashi happily. Even from a distance, Asuma could see that the blonde had a bit of food on his face, and that Kakashi was amused at something.

"I thought you would be sleeping."

Shikamaru jumped, looking around with an almost guilty expression on his face. Clearly he had not noticed his sensei standing next to him, having been too busy watching Kakashi's team. He quickly calmed down, a bored look coming over his face as he turned back to face the training area in front of them. "I was going to lie over there but Team Seven is there. Last thing I wanted was for Ino to come looking for me to yell at me about something and to see Sasuke. She's extra annoying around him."

Asuma turned his eyes back onto Kakashi's team, looking more closely at the two boys. "Which one is Sasuke?" When Shikamaru looked at him in surprise Asuma shrugged. "I don't pay much attention to gossip so I'm not too sure who he is."

"Don't say that to Ino. He's the one with the dark-hair in the shape of a duck's butt." Shikamaru lazily pointed, which did little, since at that point the two boys started arguing, moving closer as though their angry postures and scrunched up faces weren't doing well enough to convey their hostility.

His description was enough for Asuma and made him chuckle. He turned his eyes back onto Shikamaru, who had closed his eyes and leant his head back. "I've been thinking I have a couple of puzzles and games you might like. I'll bring one around tomorrow afternoon."

Shikamaru shrugged, slowly rising to his feet and brushing dirt off his pants. "Alright, I'll let mum know." He walked towards the training grounds they had been using, putting his back towards Kakashi's team. "May as well find somewhere else to relax."

/ / / / /

Shikamaru was easily the laziest genius he had ever met. There was little to motivate the boy. But, Asuma had to admit, when it came to missions, the boy was reliable. It had gotten to the point that Asuma would ask Shikamaru to come up with the battle plan, and suggest things to improve it after the young boy had outlined his ideas. There was no doubt that Shikamaru would become one of the greatest strategists the village had ever seen... if he could be bothered.