uzumaki shira | naruto

Shippuden Act 9

sooooooo
if something seemed inconsistent
from this chapter and the ones
that follow after this, feel free
to point it out!

... anyone want to draw Shira..?

hehe...

... yah, that's too presumptuous of me
XD

but it's surprising people actually
read this when I wrote this
what when I was in seventh grade?

XD

I don't even know what
I'm writing anymore—

enjoy!

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For the past two days, sleep became a foreign concept to Shikamaru. The fact that their sensei was still in critical condition kept him up all night, and despite the exhaustion in that battle, a small flicker of hope rekindled in his eyes.

Was he the slightest bit disillusioned for believing that Shira was on their side this whole time? She mentioned how he knew the answer, yet he couldn't be sure. Maybe she got better in masking her true emotions.

Or maybe Shikamaru still failed to read her passed the mask she always wore.

The Nara couldn't tell which is which. He was drained, first of all. The lack of sleep took its toll on his usual on the spot thinking. If it was any other day, he would be lying down on a rooftop and watching the clouds drift by like they always do.

If it was any other day, he would be playing shogi on his porch with Asuma. Not wasting away his time sitting around and sulking. His former sensei was alive, and that's all that matters.

It bugged him, however, how Shira handled those two— Hidan and Kakuzu— with ease. It was as if she played around with them like toys. She even had the gal to label them as stress relievers.

That woman is strong; there was no doubt about it. It was scary how fast she improved, and even scarier how different she had become after all these years. The Uzumaki woman still held a composed demeanor, yet beneath that pretense, she held a colder and more merciless side to her.

Shikamaru could tell the moment their eyes connected. Just thinking about it gave him the shivers. That troublesome woman... I swear she and Naruto give me the same kind of headache. Better yet, I think they kill off my brain cells one by one. The Nara rubbed both sides of his temple, a froen gracing his lips as he cursed both Uzumaki in his head.

Both had the knack of annoying him by just thinking about them. Rather than famous, maybe the both of them would become infamous for their ability to annoy people even if they're not present.

Amused by his own thought, Shikamaru chuckled to himself. "I must be going crazy."

"SHIKAMARU!"

One second, he was alone in the hallway and the next, Sasuke's face was but a few centimeters away from him. Shikamaru almost let out a girlish shriek, the exhaustion making his senses dull and weak. The Uchiha's appearance made his heart race in surprise.

"Dammit, Sasuke, show up like normal, would you?" But this was ignored when the Uchiha leaned in closer, making him lean back in apprehension. Just what was this idiot doing?