Graduation Day

Sigh. The day had come. Shikamaru had put off thinking about graduating because, well, just thinking about it was troublesome. It meant a change was going to take place in his life and a number of troublesome things would haunt him on a daily basis. It meant people were going to start requiring things of him. It meant they're expectations of him would rise the more he did these things. If he wanted to make enough money to live a normal life he would have to do what needed to be done. He didn't really have a problem with doing the work; it was just the fact that people would expect him to be something that really bothered him. Maybe he could pull it off. Maybe he could life a 'normal' shinobi life.

He chuckled to himself, laughing at his own thoughts, 'a shinobi living a normal life'. The word shinobi itself implied a mystique of an abnormal and difficult nature.

"Nara Shikamaru," he thoughts were interrupted by Mizuki who was standing in the doorway. "You're next."

He opened his eyes and looked towards the door to see Mizuki waving for him to follow. He nodded to him in response as he stood up to follow him. They walked out of the classroom and down the hallway to another classroom. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he stood in front of a table that Iruka was sitting behind. Mizuki went to join Iruka at the table. Iruka looked up from the paper on the table to meet Shikamaru's lethargic gaze.

"Today's exam is the bunshin no jutsu. You need to make three successful clones in order to pass." Iruka said. "You may begin when you're ready." Iruka picked up a pencil that was sitting next to the paper he was looking at earlier and looked as if he was ready to mark Shikamaru's scores.

Shikamaru seemed to be staring blankly off into space. One would have thought that he had pretty much ignored Iruka until his eyebrow perked in thought. Maybe if he did just enough to get by he would be able to live normally, comfortably. He tilted his head to the side as this internal debate dragged on in his mind. He would never know if he never tried. He could always quit later; he reasoned to himself. Might as well give it go. Sigh.

He straightened his stance and removed his hands from his pockets. He brought his hands up to his chest and paused for a second to think clearly about what he was about to do. Then he moved, thinking the seals to himself as he formed them. Tori. I, Ushi, Inu. He held the last seal in front of him as he felt his chakra mixing inside.

"Bunshin no Jutsu." Shikamaru mumbled as he released the technique.

Poof! Poof! Poof! Three clones appeared, two to his right and one to his left. The one far to his right was suppressing a yawn. The one next to him was rubbing a knot out of the back of his neck. Shikamaru just shrugged as he put his hands back in his pockets. The one to his left followed suit as he turned to look at the clouds outside the window.

Iruka began making marks on the paper. After a few seconds, he was satisfied with the marks he wrote down and looked back up at Shikamaru. Shikamaru clasped his hands together in an upward arrow and released the technique. Three tufts of smoke rolled away from him towards the door which let Shikamaru know that there was a slight draft in the room.

Shaking the thought from his head, he looked back at Iruka.

"Yoshi, you passed." Iruka said with a hint of enthusiasm. "Now come here and get your hitai-ite."

Shikamaru stepped forward and eyed the rows. They were all the same. There was no significant difference among them, at least, as far as he could tell. He looked over to Iruka to see if there was a particular one he was supposed to take.

Iruka saw the questioning look on his face. "Just pick one."

Shikamaru pulled his right hand out of his pocket and stretched it towards the table. He wrapped his hand around the closest one to it, lifted it off the table, and let his hand fall to his side. Mizuki stood up and escorted him to the door.

"Congratulations." Muzuki said as he slid the door open. "You may re-join the other students in the classroom." He said pointing down the hall.

Shikamaru nodded and began walking down the hall. When he arrived at the door to the classroom, he paused. He looked down at the hitai-ite in his hand. Not quite sure of what to do with it, he placed it in his pants pocket. Sigh. He reached for the door.

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When they were dismissed, the most excited ones were the first to rush out the academy doors. They were followed shortly thereafter by the pretty excited ones. Then those were followed by the ones that were just plain excited. Then there was Shikamaru who didn't look excited. He was followed by the few who failed and were the complete opposite of excited. There were parents everywhere who were overly excited for their excited children, except for the few whose children did not pass.

Then there was the one kid who didn't have parents. The blonde boy just sat on the sing in the academy yard. Shikamaru thought that the boy looked depressed. Maybe the boy didn't have any talent, but that wasn't for Shikamaru to decide. The sensei's had made their decision.

"There's my boy!" an excited voice called from behind Shikamaru. Shikamaru knew the voice. It was the voice that scolded him daily and haunted his dreams. He turned around and confirmed that it was indeed his mother.

"Well, son, how'd you do." She was joined by his father.

Shikamaru glanced down at his pocket as he pulled out his hitai-ite just enough for his parents to see. His parents followed his gaze to his pocket. Yoshino squealed in joy.

"My baby boy is growing up so fast." Yoshino fawned as she held one hand to her chest and with the other, dried a tear from her eye.

"You passed." Shikaku said as if he was surprised that his son actually tried to pass.

Shikamaru just shrugged and shoved the hitai-ite back in his pocket. He turned his head and looked at his classmates who were celebrating with their parents. A hand struck the back of his head.

"Baka! You should be happy that you graduated." Yoshino snapped at her son. Shikamaru was amazed at how fast she could change emotions. And just like that, she was happy again.

"Ooo, I'm gonna make a special dinner tonight in celebration." Yoshino giggled in joy as her mind raced through her 'special' recipies. "I'm going to the market to pick stuff for dinner. You boys go home and get the house ready. It's a celebration!"

Yoshino hugged her son much to his chagrin and kissed her husband before heading off to the market. Shikamaru began looking around again.

Shikaku coughed. "Let's go, son. I've got something to teach you."

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Shikamaru stood in front of the mirror in the living room. He studied himself intently. He turned his head from one side to the other checking his reflection from the corners of his eyes. He tilted his head in a look of curiosity then looked down at the hitai-ite in his hands. Slowly, he raised it up to his forehead and pulled the straps around his head. When his hands reached the back of head he frowned in disappointment. His ponytail was in the way.

He tried to tie the straps under the ponytail, but the hitai-ite just slid down over her eyes. He frowned again. He thought about putting it around his neck, but he had seen women do that and he was no woman. Sigh.

"Shikamaru, yo," Shikaku mumbled as he walked up behind his son. "Outside."

Shikaku turned and walked towards the side door. Shikamaru's focus returned to his reflection in the mirror. He saw the questioning looking on his own face and shrugged. He turned towards the door his father walked through and started to make his way, but stopped. He walked back to the mirror and looked at himself again. He wrapped the Hitai-ite around his left bicep and looked again. He gave a small smirk before turning towards the door once again.

Outside, Shikaku stood in the yard, gazing up at the sky. Shikamaru walked out and stood in front of him. After a moment, Shikaku looked down at his son.

"Now that you're officially a ninja, I can tell about our clan secret."

This piqued Shikamaru's interest. His clan had a secret. Was it something interesting? Was it something evil? Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at thought and Shikaku took it as a cue to continue.

"Our clan has a secret technique that has been handed down from generation to generation for over a hundred years."

Shikamaru let a small smirk slip. His father was going to teach him a secret technique that was known only to his clan. Shikaku gave a small smirk back.

"It's called Kage Shibari. It's a technique that allows the user to bind the target with his shadow." Shikaku said as he stood up straight and pointed the index and middle fingers of his left hand towards the sky. Shikamaru watched as his father's darkened and began to wiggle. It then shot out in a straight line towards him. Then he felt his body get rigid. Shikamaru tried to move, but couldn't.

"Kage Shibari no Jutsu" Shikaku said as he raised his arms above his head causing Shikamaru to do the same. Shikamaru felt his body move against his control and it scared him. Shikaku could see the frightened look in his son's eyes. He returned his arms to his side forcing Shikamaru to do the same. Then both men squatted down and Shikaku looked his son in his eyes and tilted his head to make him look at the ground. Both men watched as Shikaku's shadow returned to him.

Shikamaru felt as though life had returned to him. He started moving parts of his body to make sure he had control of his own body. He lost his balance and almost fell, but caught himself by dropping one knee to the ground.

"The hand seals are: Inu, I, Tatsu, Mi, Hitsuji, Tori, and Ne. Practice it enough and you can do it with just the Ne. When you get the feel for it you can do it by molding the chakra without seals. That's how we keep it a secret." Shikaku told his son in a quiet whisper. "Now you try."

Shikamaru formed the seals in order calling them out in his head. When he finished held the first two fingers of his left hand up and wrapped his right hand around them. He could feel his chakra mixing. When he felt like it was enough, he focused on his shadow and imagined it extending from him.

He watched as his shadow darkened and slowly creep away from him towards his father. When it connected with his father's shadow, it felt like a physical reaction in his body as if the shadow was an extension of him. Shikamaru pulled his hands apart, but his shadow stayed connected. His father stood up with him.

A small smirk played across Shikamaru's face. He lifted his hands above his head which forcing his father to do the same. He pointed his hands towards his head and spread his feet apart.

"Tou-san, you have no idea how funny you look right now." Shikamaru laughed.

"Yes, I do. Cause I'm looking at the same thing." Shikaku chuckled in retort.

Shikamaru smirked again. Shikamaru felt his shadow return to him and he returned to his normal slump. His father let his hands fall to his side.

"If it causes the target to mimic the user than why don't they call it kage mane." Shikamaru asked inquisitively.

Shikaku groaned as he massaged his temples with his fingers. "That's just what they've always called it."

Shikamaru thought to himself for a moment.

"Well, from now on I'm going to call it kage mane."