I expected as much. Shikamaru was glancing up at the nondescript building in front of him, old men and women moving around his still form to enter through the front door.

"Young man, are you lost?" one little old lady said, throwing him a concerned look.

"No, I'm fine. But thank you for the concern..."

Eventually, the stream of elderly citizens stopped, and Shikamaru sighed. Let's get this over with. Bracing himself subconsciously, Shikamaru pushed the double doors open, revealing a large hall filled with tables and seat cushions. Almost all of them were occupied by a hunched old man or a toothless old lady.

The Nara possessed the only dark head of hair in the whole room, and he was very much aware of it.

Cursing up a storm in his head, Shikamaru managed a strained smile as the club organizer approached him and shook his hand, the action surprisingly hearty for a man who was clearly over the age of seventy.

"You must be here for the tournament, Nara-san!"

"How did you—?"

The old man chuckled, his eyes seemingly opening a little bit wider. "I would recognize a Nara from a mile away. Before the Great Migration, the entirety of this club was practically run by the clan. Why, when I was a boy..."

Shikamaru listened. He listened to the stories of his ancestors, all of them shogi champions, and the stories of the few non-Nara players that had ended up marrying into the Nara family because of their shared love for the board game.

"My name is Shigeru Tomoya, but you may call me Shigeru-oji! Let it be known that times have changed since your forefathers' reign of power. While most of us play only for leisure, there are also many here who stake their money on their games." Shigeru barked out an exuberant laugh. "For retired old geezers, we rake in a pretty good income!"

"Income?' Shikamaru felt himself smile. "From... shogi?"

Memories of his mother telling him that he could never sustain himself from playing shogi filled his brain, and he wasn't sure how to feel about proving her wrong.

"So what say you?" prompted Shigeru, placing a wrinkly hand on Shikamaru's back and leading him to an empty table. "Are you up for a game?" His eyes gleamed craftily. "Or perhaps five? Six?"

"Seven," Shikamaru decided, sitting down in front of the shogi board. "Who's my opponent?"

Shigeru grinned. "I have the perfect opponent for you..." He turned his head to the front of the room, where there was a single unopened door. "AI WEI!" he bellowed, cupping his hands around his mouth. "FRESH MEAT!"

Fresh meat? A bead of sweat trickled down his neck, and Shikamaru closed his eyes, a muscle on his cheek twitching. Who's my opponent—a dog?

The door opened, and a little girl with mussed red hair trotted out, looking disgruntled. "Another victim?"

"Not only that," Shigeru said, patting her head as she went over to them, the scowl on her face never changing. "A Nara victim."

Shikamaru wanted to tell them both to please refrain from further referring to me as a victim, but Ai Wei had already sat down and was staring intently at him, her fingers steepled.

Confident brat.

"Well then, Nara-san..." Ai Wei showed her clenched fist to him, then opened it to reveal furigoma resting in her palm. "Let's play."

An hour and a half later, Shikamaru was the victor, if only barely. Despite her young age, Ai Wei was good; her confidence was not baseless. But in the end... Shikamaru was still better, his experience coming through. "You know, you're not half-bad... for a xiangqi player."

Her eyes lit up, no longer looking displeased at losing. "You can tell?" she said eagerly, leaning across the table.

"Your name was the first indication," Shikamaru told her. "'Ai Wei' is Chinese. The language of the old Uzushiogakure people, before their country was absorbed into Konohagakure. And on top of that, the way you play is reminiscent of the styles of old players my... father used to look up to. Xiangqi players."

"You're pretty bright, Nara-san. Can we play again? I haven't even used half the stuff I learned... And I'm going to get back the ryo that I owe you!" She pointed at him in challenge, and Shikamaru yawned, the gesture not entirely fake.

"I almost forgot that you're a troublesome kid... But bring it on."

Fatso,

That Nara kid of yours is probably going to be living in the shogi hall by the time Ai Wei is done with him. He told me himself he's probably going to give up that job offer from you just to play shogi full-time.

Sorry about that, but you know those Naras.

Akimichi Fatso looked up from the letter he had received from his good friend Shigeru. "Choji?"

His nephew glanced up from the table he was working at. "Yeah, oji-san?"

"Shikamaru just quit." The fat man scratched his head. "Who am I going to replace him with...?"

Choji chuckled. "Technically, he hadn't even started working here yet, so there wasn't any quitting involved. He told me that he wasn't interested in working at the gazette anyway, but... he also said that someone else would probably appreciate the job more than him."

"And who would that be?"

So Choji told him.

A/N: Last update for a while, for real.