It had started a few days earlier. He had been at the training grounds. There wasn't any particular reason he was there. He just needed to release some stress…..and to get away from his mother. She was up to her usual tricks. He had gotten home from his usual activities…..mainly cloud watching. He knew what to expect but he still hated hearing it. The old bat had been on his case for weeks. He hadn't been home for more than a few minutes when she started. She began badgering him about getting a girlfriend….again.
"You're 25 years old now Shikamaru, when are you going to get a nice girl and settle down?" Ms. Nara started.
"C'mon already mom, I just got home. Can't I just relax for a bit?"
"This coming from a man who spends most of his days staring at the sky."
"I was busy thinking."
"What about?"
"Stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
The argument continued in this manner for at least 15 minutes. She tried many times to get him to go out on a date with one of her friends daughters. She had tried this before. She had tried to push Temari and Tenten on him. Temari was the sister of the Kazekage, and Tenten was known to have a thing with Neji. He really couldn't tell which was worse. Both Neji and Gaara could really put him in some pain and he wasn't willing to cross either of them. None of the village women really caught his eye either. She had gone as far as to try to get him alone with Ino Yamanaka. Sure Ino was his teammate, and not to mention she was gorgeous. But she was known to sleep around….a lot. Plus she was vain, whiney, selfish, and had an expensive taste that Shikamaru knew he could not contain. He was a simple guy. He never bought anything he didn't need and he was straight forward to the point of being rude.
"Well then….why don't you go out with Sakura Haruno? I know for a fact that she's available."
"That's enough mom. Man, what a drag," he complained as he walked out of the house again. With no particular direction in mind he roamed the forests on the outskirts of the village.