Shikamaru watched the clouds passing lazily overhead. Being a Chounin was troublesome. He had not had much time to relax recently, he had been too busy with missions. He sighed, thinking of the tiresome things Hokage-samma had asked him to do. Still, at least none of the tasks had been as troublesome as his first mission. He thought back to that desperate struggle, where he had almost lost so many of his friends. Hokage-samma had praised him for bringing everyone back alive, but if those guys hadn't shown up... Definitely too troublesome. He smiled as he remembered the moment that he saw her. He had run out of ideas, almost given up completely, when his opponent was snatched away, and looking round in confusion he had seen her with that confident stance and cocky smile. Hmph, what a troublesome woman. She'll never let me forget that!
"Shikamaru!" Ino's voice echoed over the rooftops.
Gah, what now. Maybe if he kept quite and feigned sleep...
"Shikamaru!" This time the voice was not Ino's, and Shikamaru groaned. If Sakura was looking for him then it could only mean that Hokage-samma wanted him. Too troublesome by far. There would be no escaping from this by feigning sleep. The Hokage could be one scary woman when she got mad. Shikamaru sighed and sat up. It was Chouji who spotted him first, he knew Shikamaru liked this spot to relax and watch clouds so he had no trouble finding him.
"Oi , Chouji, what's Hokage-samma want now?" Shikamaru shaded his eyes and half smiled as he watched his friend approach. Chouji was a good friend, strong and dependable. Not nearly as troublesome as his other teamate Ino. Speaking of Ino, he could see her approaching over the rooftops, having heard Shikamaru's voice no doubt; Sakura followed.
"Hey, Shikamaru, how are the clouds?" Chouji, was eating from one of his ever present bags of potato chips, a big grin on his face.
"Clouds are clouds, they just are." Shikamaru said somewhat grumpily. Shikamaru got lazily to his feet and stretched before yawning loudly. Ino and Sakura both reached the rooftop just as he finished.
"Hokage-samma wants to see you right now. She has an urgent mission for your team." Sakura wasted no time passing on the Hokage's summons. Shikamaru could understand why, he would not want to have Tsunade as his mentor.
"Hai, hai. Lead on." Shikamaru stifled another yawn as he followed them across the rooftops. This was becoming even more troublesome, but there was nothing to do but get it over with.
When they reached the Hokage's office, sakura held open the door to let them in, careful to avoid coming fully into view of the woman seated behind the desk. Shikamaru sighed, that was a bad sign, Tsunade must be really angry.
"Yo." Shikamaru lifted his hand in a lazy greeting.
"I'm going to have to give you the mission I had lined up for Gai's team to do. That number one bakka and his suicidal pupil have both severely injured themselves in training. They were trying to do 20,000 one arm pull-ups with weights strapped to their ankles. He would have to choose the worst time, when all the jounins are on missions and even Chounins are in short supply."
Tsunade had her head in her hands. Looking around, Shikamaru noted a number of broken pieces of furniture, indicating that Tsunade already worked through the worst of her irritation. He should probably still be careful though, how troublesome.
"What's the mission." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, which was stiff.
Sitting back up and taking her hands from her face, Tsunade regarded Shikamaru wearily.
"An important diplomat from the Country of Wind is visiting. His security up to our borders is being handled by the Sand, but he will need an escort of leaf ninjas once he crosses over. Your job is to provide that escort." She sighed. "This is an A-class mission, since it is known that he has been targeted by the Sound, but I have no Jounins on hand to tackle it. I have no choice but to send you."
Hmmf, how troublesome. This was sure to be a pain, his team had barely survived the last brush with the Sound. Still, turning Hokage-samma down would be even more troublesome...gah! This was turning into a bad day. "I guess it can't be helped so I will go. I will need some extra backup though, if the sound are involved."
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. "Of course, take whoever you want. Just take care, we are short handed enough already. If you all die, then the village will loose face." She smiled half-heartedly. Shikamaru understood, as she was only half joking. "Take Sakura with you. She will brief you fully on the way and can act as the teams medical specialist."
Shikamaru left with Chouji and Ino in tow. Sakura who had been eavesdropping outside the door looked cheered by the thought of escaping her mentors clutches, even if only to face certain danger.
He would probably need to take both of Fuzzy Eyebrow's teamates and anyone else who was not currently on a mission. Shikamaru sighed. This was going to be a very troublesome day indeed.