Living Out A Prophecy

Chapter 16

Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the clouds, his arms lazily crossed behind his head in his usual position. Before they could make their presence known, Shikamaru turned his head to find Ino and Chouji looking at him. Their heads were barely seen over the steps leading to the building's roof.

"What is it?" he drawled and looked back to the sky, clouds flitting by without a care in the world.

"You seem more bored than normal Shikamaru, depressed even..." Ino said as she made her way up the rest of the steps as she shook her head.

Shikamaru shrugged as Chouji sat down beside him.

"Shouldn't you be training right now?" He asked his best friend as he munched on a bag of chips.

Shikamaru cringed. "Don't remind me!" He muttered. "Asuma sensei's been working me to the bone and my mother is just smothering me ever since she found out I moved on to the finals."

Chouji let out a hardy laugh as Ino scoffed.

"Be happier you dunce! You've made it to the next round! The finals!" she yelled as she pointed at him angrily.

Shikamaru sighed and shrugged. "You sound just like my mother...how troublesome..."

Still, he smiled, until the sun was blotted out by a shape that looked an awful lot like Asuma.

"SHI-KA-MA-RU!"

Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes as Chouji started laughing and Ino heaved out a bigger sigh. "Just my luck..." Shikamaru muttered.

Sure enough, when Shikamaru opened his eyes, Asuma was standing over him. He didn't seem angry to the young one, but he didn't seem too pleased either.

"What are you doing?! Shouldn't you be training?" Asuma asked.

"Awe! Give me a break Asuma sensei! You've been working me to the bone lately, you know?" Shikamaru asked the jounin. "It's so troublesome! Not my style at all..."

Asuma and Ino both sighed and shook their heads. He lacked any motivation whatsoever. It didn't help that his team had been working him until he was exhausted and had no chakra left. Today was the last day before the tournament began after all.

Ino then looked up at Asuma. "He so unmotivated it's sad."

Asuma chuckled in agreement as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Yeah, but it's him..."

Ino watched from the side as Asuma made Shikamaru practice using certain methods to outsmart his opponent, Chouji being the volunteer opponent under Asuma's guidance. After just a few rounds Shikamaru sat down in defiance, tired having to train day after day.

"Come on guys! Haven't I done this enough?" he asked as he crossed his arms with a frown.

Asuma sighed and raised his face to the sky in defeat. "Fine! You can rest for a little."

Shikamaru let out an exhausted victory sigh and laid back on the cool grass. The clouds above had formed into what seemed to be a flower causing Shikamaru to frown as he thought back to a girl with the same flower branded on her clothes. Ino caught the change in his mood seamlessly and followed his gaze just to frown and glance back to him. The girl had left an imprint on the boy's mind, one anybody could see.

"How long are you gonna be worried about her?" she asked him.

Shikamaru turned his head to look at her and gave a lazy smile. "Honestly, I'm not worried about Nao, Ino," he spoke then turned back to the clouds with his eyes closed. "I think she'll be just fine. I just pity the person that pisses her off."