Naruto Primer: Future Shikamaru

The Sixth Hokage

Shikamaru's twentieth birthday was in only a week.  It's not like he was excited or anything, but it was still invigorating to finally be out of his teens.  He tried to think of the first thing he would do as a twenty-year-old.  Probably quit being a ninja.  He was tired of being a ninja.

You see, Shikamaru became a chuunin when he was only twelve years old, but you all knew that.  He never knew what made him do it, but he took the jounin exam when he was fourteen.  Maybe it was the Asuma, maybe it was Chouji, maybe it was Ino, maybe it was his parents.  For whatever reason, he took the exam… and much to his dismay, passed.  So, while most of his friends hardly qualified for the chuunin position, he was a jounin.

But that was all in the past.  Now was the point in time of his life that he had to make a decision where to go.  Should he continue being a ninja?  Should he marry?

There was a sudden knock at the door.  Shikamaru looked up from his gazing out the window and sighed slightly, walking towards the door.  He opened it to see Chouji, clad in his chuunin vest that he had received just two years before.  "Hey, Chouji." Shikamaru said.

"Didn't you hear?" said Chouji.  "The fifth Hokage… she just announced it.  She's retiring."

"Really?" said Shikamaru.  "What now?  Who's going to take her place as the Sixth?"

"You're going to flip when you hear this!" said Chouji with a grin.

Shikamaru waited for Chouji to finish.  Then he looked upon Chouji's face.  Shikamaru took a step backwards and then groaned.  "That is so troublesome…" he said, looking the opposite of happy.

"Come on, Shikamaru!" said Chouji, grabbing Shikamaru's arm and dragging him outside.  "Everyone's already at my house waiting to congratulate you!"

"Chouji—" Shikamaru started, sounding very whiny but, since Chouji was now an adult, he was now very large meaning he had an easy time transporting Shikamaru to his house.  He opened the door and all his childhood friends, some of them genins, most of them chuunins and the occasional genins, were there with balloons and party poppers.

"CONGRATULATIONS SHIKAMARU!!" everyone yelled.

"Shikamaru, I KNEW you'd do well!" said Asuma as he ran up to Shikamaru and noggied him.

"How's it feel to be Hokage, Shikamaru?" said Ino happily. 

When did Ino become a jounin, Shikamaru wondered.

"What is your first order of business Mr. Hokage sir?" asked Kiba, saluting Shikamaru in a slightly mocking, slightly playful manner.

"My son!" said Shikato, wiping a tear from his eye.  "The Hokage!"

"SPEECH!!" yelled a voice from the crowd.  "SPEECH!!"  Pretty soon, the people started chanting 'SPEECH, SPEECH, SPEECH!!' until they cheered and then silenced themselves.

Shikamaru stood awestruck for a moment.

"Well?" said Chouji, nudging Shikamaru slightly.

"Um…" said Shikamaru.  "Er…when I first heard the news—"

"YEAH SHIKAMARU!!" screamed someone.

"Uh, thanks." Shikamaru said awkward.  "When I first heard the news from Chouji, I initially decided that I was going to decline the offer." The crowd 'aww'ed.

"Thought it over, didja?" said Asuma.

"Yes." Shikamaru said.  "And I've decided that I still have to politely decline the responsibility of Hokage."

Shikamaru abruptly turned, opened the door, stepped out and then shut it.  After a moment's pause, Shikamaru began to slowly walk away from the house.  No one exited the house to pursue him, so Shikamaru decided to go on a walk in order to reflect.

Somehow, he found himself on the ledge overlooking the faces of the past Hokage carved into the side of the mountain.  Why would the Fifth do something so stupid as announce SHIKAMARU to be her successor?  There were plenty of other jounins who were more skilled than he was.  In fact, there were plenty of other CHUUNINS who surpassed him.  This was the last thing that Shikamaru needed… he didn't need to be Hokage… he didn't need the responsibility…

Taking on this job completely shot down his plans for the future and now, as an almost twenty year old, he was the last person who anyone would expect to succeed, especially to become Hokage.

He moaned to himself as he leaned on the railing.

There was no way he'd ever ever ever EVER become Hokage, no matter what anyone said.