"Oi, Shikamaru, you going to make a move?" Asuma was well acquainted with Shikamaru's ability to plan his moves for quite a long time, but now the young jonin was staring off into space.
"Ah," Shikamaru played the final move of their game. "Sorry, long night" Now standing he shifted his gaze to the window.
"I see. Well, good game." Asuma turned to leave, pausing briefly "Shikamaru, if you ever need to talk…" his voice trailed off.
Neither one of them particularly good with words, Shikamaru nodded curtly and Asuma left. Drifting back into thought, Shikamaru became lost in the web of his feelings. Well this is troublesome, he thought to himself. "Oh well. Nothing's going to be settled sitting here." And with those words he was up and out of the house. "Asuma-sensei!" His old mentor was only a few paces ahead of him as he called. "I…I need someone to talk to"
"I could tell" The bearded man lit a cigarette and offered one to Shikamaru. "So,"
"Asuma-sensei, its normal to have…feelings…for someone, right?" Asuma smiled as he took a long drag.
"Women trouble?" he replied, laughing slightly.
"Not, uh, exactly" Shikamaru replied, turning a crimson red.
"Oh. Uh. Girl trouble?" coughing as he tried to recover his composure. Shikamaru's face turned a deeper shade of red as he stared straight into the ground.
"Boy trouble, actually" Asuma tried desperately to hide the embarrassment on his face while Shikamaru squeezed his eyes shut so tightly he forced a few tears out. "Sensei, I think I like another boy".
Drawing deeply, Asuma looked into the sky as he tried to find the words to say. Finally he looked at the crying kid in front of him and cocked a smile. "Well, who is it?" Wiping his face, Shikamaru looked up into his mentor's eyes.
"So I'm not a freak?"
"Of course not" The taller of the two swung his arm around the shorter and they started ambling towards the downtown of the village.