Smokescreen
She hides behind a wall of smoke.
Slim fingers light a cigarette, clear blue eyes which have seen their first murder watch the flame flicker in the darkness.
He hides in the shadows.
A thin lips press firmly down on the mouth of a bottle of sake, dark hair that has been kept up far too long tumbles over his back.
Chouji doesn't hide. In fact, he doesn't do anything anymore. He doesn't know what to do.
They're broken.
But nobody needs to know that.
And so they hide. Ino behind smoke, Shikamaru in shadow, and Chouji watches and brings them back to reality.
Do they even count as a team anymore? They hardly talk. Words mean nothing.
They don't say anything when Ino begins avoiding the sunlight.
And they don't say anything when Shikamaru starts smoking.
So they don't say anything when Chouji can't face even his family.
Because nothing's been right since Asuma-sensei died.
You can choose to be blind, but you can't hide.