As Shikamaru was lying down on the floor, surrounded by shogi pieces, he couldn't stop the doubts flying through his head. Countless memories of the time he had spent with Asuma kept surfacing in his mind. The man was as much as a father to him as Shikaku, or at least he had been. It just seemed impossible for the man to be dead, but he was. And it was because of his own naivety, because he had made his plans foolishly. Thinking he knew the enemy simply because he figured out how his jutsu worked? That kind of wishful thinking should have been left behind during his genin days.

He had been trusted fully, and where had that gotten his team? One member dead. Not only had he let Asuma down, but the rest of his current team, and Ino and Choji. What would Choji think now, now that his best friend had let their sensei die?

He had already figured out the guy's plan, so why did he let him walk back in the circle? He was supposed to figure out so many different outcomes, and he had, hundreds, just not this one. Of course Hidan would go back to that weird mark on the ground. It was so simple! And now look where his stupidity had left him. Asuma was dead. The man had taught him practically everything, one of the only cool adults there was, but now he's gone.

And what was his dad doing trying to play shogi with him, basically rubbing it in his face that he hadn't been good enough. Shikamaru couldn't stop the screams and sobs that had escaped his mouth. He hadn't even gone to his funeral, couldn't stand there and see everyone; knowing that he wasn't able to save him.

How stupid was he though? He couldn't do this to himself. After all, he couldn't have left the job to someone else; he didn't trust anyone to do it any better. He knows he's one of the best and now he knows things about Hidan. Sure, he knows nothing about the other guy, but there's always a way to take someone down. And now, he has to do this; even if he has to go around the Hokage.

He looks down at the Shogi pieces, the knight, the sacrificial piece, and then, the King. Realization hits him harder than anything in his entire life. He needs to do this; he can't let Asuma's death be for nothing. And he even knows what he has to do afterward, when he's older, when he's finally that cool adult.

This has to be the most determined he has ever been in his entire lazy life.