Nara Shikamaru; 4 Years Later

Age 16

-A Bajillion-

I hated waking up early in the morning but I had a bajillion things I had to do.

Whoa.

I knew I was tired when I started making up numbers.

I quickly walked to my office. It's so unfortunate that I have an office in the Hokage's administration building and I'm only sixteen. I went by the room where a bunch of chuunins and jounins were waiting. Why were they already here? I still had to pass out the chuunin vests…

I entered my office and closed the door behind me.

I had to make this quick.

Luckily, there was only one vest on my desk.

Why didn't the Hokage just do this herself?

Let's see…the one getting the vest would be…Tenten. Oh, I knew who she was. Well… I didn't KNOW her… I just knew she existed.

After I gave the vest to Tenten, I had to announce the nominated chuunins to enter the jounin exam, as well as the nominated jounins to enter the ANBU exam. AND THEN I had to work out the Consolidation stuff.

I figured Tenten was already waiting outside so I poked my head out to see someone standing there. I wasn't sure if it was her…

"Tenten?" I tried.

"Oh, hi Shikamaru!" she said with a wave. I guess it WAS her.

"Sorry, but I have to make this short." I said. "I've got a hundred other things to do today." At least I didn't use the word 'bajillion'. "Congratulations." I handed her the vest and she glowed with pride.

"Thanks so much!" she exclaimed. "Don't worry about it being short, though! I've got a hundred—"

I thought she was finished, though, and I accidentally left before she DID finish. I wasn't going to let it bother me though because I had a lot to do.

I grabbed the list of nominated ninjas on my way out, only being able to look them over for a bit before folding it in half and hurrying out the door. When I was half way there, I bumped into the Hokage.

"Why, hello Shikamaru." She said. "It's about time you showed up!"

"You could have started without me." I said.

"YOU have the list." She reminded me.

I held it up. "I guess." I said. "Let's get this over with."

"My thoughts exactly."

The Hokage opened up the door and the two of us went in. The room was packed with a lot of the jounins and chuunins of the village. Some of them had skill that was laughable and were crazy to think they deserved to be promoted, but I wasn't about to go around sharing that sort of information with them. It was just a simple reading of the list and then off to work on MORE things.

I cleared my throat and room immediately fell silent.

"The following jounins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of special jounin or ANBU." I read. "Atemo Naku, Dehou Dai, Detarame Futokutei, Guukan Iikagen, Junjo Fudou…"

Up to that point, it was pretty normal.

But then I saw a name that had been added at the end of the list. Not in my handwriting.

"…Nara Shikamaru…"

I looked at the Hokage but she only grinned and nodded.

How troublesome. How dare she put my name on the list even though I hadn't entered my name to be promoted…

But it was no time to think about that now. I had a room of eager chuunins who were now waiting to hear their names.

"The following chuunins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of the jounin." I read. "Kakuritsu Hensuu, Manbun Manpitsu, Mekura Uchi, Rangeki Ranhen, Sei Fairu, Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino, Mi Boshi."

That was the end of the list.

I folded the paper and looked out at the few excited expressions and the many disappointed ones.

"Thank you." I said. "If you have not been chosen to compete in the upcoming exams, then don't be discouraged because you have plenty of chances to succeed. And, just because you have been nominated, doesn't mean that you are a new rank."

"You are all dismissed!" the Hokage finished it up.

The group pretty much immediately dispersed after the Hokage commanded it.

"That wasn't TOO bad!" said the Hokage.

"I guess." I said.

She was still grinning. I was ready to voice my negative opinion of how she had put my name down and embarrassed me in front of everyone, but Lee suddenly came out of nowhere.

"Good morning Miss Hokage and Shikamaru!" Lee said,

"At ease." Said the Hokage in a mocking tone.

"Um…I'm going to look stupid…but I missed the end of the list…" Lee said. "Am I nominated?"

I don't remember. I read off those names without really thinking. I looked at the list a few times.

"No, sorry." I answered. "If you have not been chosen to compete in the upcoming exams, then don't be discouraged because you have plenty of chances to succeed. And, just because you have been nominated, doesn't mean that you are a new rank."

"Oh." Said Lee.

He continued to stand there.

"Okay…thanks though!" he said as he frolicked off. It probably didn't bother him all that much.

"Well, Shikamaru?" said the Hokage.

"I have work to do." I said. I could tell she WANTED me to be annoyed about how she had entered my name and I wasn't going to give her the satisfactory of knowing I was embarrassed.

So I left the room and went to my office.

It wasn't long before the Hokage came in.

"Shikamaru!" she said. "Aren't you going to thank me for nominating you to become apart of ANBU?"

"I don't want to be in ANBU." I said.

"You would make a FINE addition!" said the Hokage. "With your smarts, you could be the leader in no time!"

"I don't want to be." I said. "Besides, I didn't enter my name to be nominated."

"You don't HAVE to enter your name in order to be nominated." Said the Hokage. "The Hokage, that's me, can decide when someone is ready and just make the decision on the fly!"

"I still didn't enter my name though." I said.

"Oh stop whining, Shikamaru." The Hokage said, irritated that I was not reacting in the way she had predicted. "You should have seen your face!"

I heard someone approach outside the door. It sounded a lot like Chouji. "You could have at least told me beforehand." I said, trying not to sound distracted.

"That would have taken all the fun out of it." the Hokage laughed.

I never should have said that. That's what she WANTED me to say.

"Well, I have some important matters to attend to." The Hokage said after clearing her throat. "You can take the rest of the day off."

Did she NOT hear me when I told her I had work to do? Besides, she was the one who put ME in charge with Consolidation this year. "I can't." I reminded her. "I'm swamped in Consolidation that you put off to the last second and then dropped on me."

"I've got other things to do!" the Hokage said, not responding to my comment at all and just opening up the door.

I sat down with a sigh and pulled the papers out to begin work.

The Hokage left, and Chouji poked his head in. I knew it was Chouji.

"I thought that was you, Chouji." I said.

I didn't see much of Chouji anymore. He's still a genin so he didn't get assigned missions often. And, since I spent all my time sitting around in my office and sending people on missions then I certainly didn't get to see him a lot.

"So you knew I was listening to your conversation?" Chouji asked.

Well, I knew he had been there, but I didn't think he was listening to the conversation.

"Nope." I said truthfully. "You just told me."

"Shikamaru, you're so smart!" Chouji complimented me.

I heard that so much these days that it pretty much went in one ear and out the other.

"So um…you're working on Consolidation?" Chouji said, leaning over to get a glimpse of what I was working on. Technically, it's supposed to be confidential but it's only CHOUJI…I mean… what's he going to do?

"Yeah." I answered. "For the kids a year older than us. Don't worry, you still have another year."

"Shikamaru… I've been thinking a lot lately…" Chouji said, sounding nervous. "…About Consolidation…"

"Don't worry about it." I said, sensing that the thought of leaving for a year wasn't exactly thrilling him. "It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I would think it would be more painful for the teachers than the students."

"How so?" Chouji asked.

I finished writing up a letter to one kid who's got to go up into the mountains. I folded up the paper and put it inside my desk, figuring I'd send it out later. "It's a year of training with a couple of kids who think they're all that and a bag of chips." I replied.

"Yeah…"

"A full year. I mean, you ARE aware of course that they've recently changed the rules so there's no returning home after six months? Just a straight year of training."

"So I've heard…" Chouji said.

I personally thought that it was a lousy idea. "Wasn't MY decision." I said.

"So uh…I heard you got nominated for the special jounin exam!" Chouji said, sounding excited.

"There is no special jounin exam." I explained. I guess it was okay for him not to know something like this. "There's an ANBU exam. You can become a special jounin just when the Hokage decides you're trustworthy, or you can take the ANBU exam."

"Oh, I know you'll become a special jounin, Shikamaru!" Chouji said.

Chouji was being rather agreeable. He usually is nice like this, but it was a little suspicious. I put my pen down and decided to look at Chouji and demand straight out that he had to tell me the REAL reason he came here.

"Chouji, you didn't come here just to make small talk." I said.

"Yeah…I guess…" Chouji said. "There's no pulling anything over YOUR eyes, Shikamaru!"

He laughed a little, but I wanted him to say whatever he was going to say so I could get back to work.

Yeah…that sounded pretty good. Maybe I should just say it. "Chouji, say whatever you've come here to say because I have a lot to work on. Consolidation is just in another week and we still don't have a teacher to do it."

"Shikamaru…I've been thinking about my being a ninja."

"Uh huh."

"And…I just don't think it's my thing. You and Ino are both really great ninjas, but I'm staying the same. In fact, I'm getting worse!"

Chouji, Chouji…

I picked up my pen and started writing again. Was I trying to distract myself? What was I going to say to him? What could I possibly say to him? I could decide Chouji's potential future just by what I said to him.

He stood up. He probably thought I wasn't going to answer.

"Chouji." I said before he left. "Is this about Consolidation next year?"

Chouji nodded.

"Don't worry about Consolidation." I said. "It's not as bad as everyone says. You'll be with people you know, I can tell you that much." Those people most likely being Naruto, Hinata and Kiba… unless, of course, they suddenly became really really good out of nowhere.

"Yeah but—"

"I don't think you should quit being a ninja." I said, figuring I'd be straight with him. "You've got an advanced bloodline, which means you're automatically a step above everyone else. If Ino and I can become great ninjas without advanced bloodlines then you'll be fine. All you have to do is apply yourself."

"You're right!" Chouji smiled. "Shikamaru! You're so smart!"

Well, Chouji. I'm just sorry I can't do a little more.