Shikamaru sighed. Here he was trying to take his long awaited nap in the field he always went to and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
The Nara genius wracked his brains trying to figure out what it was. Had he forgotten to weed his parent's garden this morning? No, he distinctly remembered doing it; it had taken ages to get the dirt out from under his fingernails. He hated doing it but his mother would have a go at him if he didn't and honestly the woman scared the hell out of him.
He sighed again. This was so troublesome. He'd never be able to get to sleep at this rate and he prided himself on being able to doze off anytime and anyplace. He decided to take a walk around the village. Maybe he'd be able to figure out exactly what was wrong as it was driving him completely insane. All he wanted to do was to go to sleep for crying out loud (not that he'd ever do that).
Shikamaru forced himself up and wandered into the village, hands dug deeply in his pockets, a bored look on his face.
All around him villagers were chatting merrily. The lively atmosphere of the place was enough to make any person who was feeling down instantly brighten up.
"Shikamaru!" he turned around and was instantly face to face with team Gai.
"Shikamaru my youthful friend, how are you this bright morning," shouted Lee, wearing his usual eye-blinding green spandex and chunin vest. Suddenly he was hit over the head with a resounding `thump' by a brown haired girl with her hair up in two buns.
"Lee, you idiot, why are you stopping us to talk to Shikamaru, no offence Shikamaru, we're going to be late for our mission!"
"My apologies Tenten, but it is better to enjoy the flames of our youth with as many of our youthful friends as possible," Lee argued.
Shikamaru absentmindedly contemplated on the chances of Lee actually being able to win an argument against Tenten. The female weapons expert could be as vicious as a wild animal, especially considering how little patience she had with her teammates. He soon came to the conclusion that Lee's chances were lower than zero. Hell, even Shikamaru doubted he'd be able to win a verbal match against this girl, not that he's ever have an argument with her, seeing how troublesome it would be.
The Nara was broken out of his train of thought by Lee's ever present yelling. Tenten was dragging him away by his ear, ignoring his protests. Neji, who Shikamaru had almost forgotten about by now, nodded to him and walked after his teammates, sighing irritably.
Shikamaru yawned and continued in the direction he'd originally been heading. He glanced around him trying to remember why he's even bothered leaving his usual cloud watching/napping spot in his favourite field. Oh yeah, the feeling that something was wrong. He'd been momentarily distracted by team Gai for a few minutes but now that annoying sensation was back and it was stronger than ever.
Now what to do about it? He knew by now that he wouldn't be able to get to sleep until he'd found out exactly what it was that was wrong. However, that itself was a problem. Was he just supposed to wander around the entire village until he found the source of the problem? That in itself was almost enough to make the brunette growl in irritation. Almost. Actually growling would just be a waste of breath.
As Shikamaru neared Ichiraku ramen shop he overheard two familiar voices discussing a certain Uchiha Sasuke.