Shikamaru sighed contentedly and lay back on the smooth grass, looking up at the clouds. Of course, this was no different from all the other times he looked up at clouds, just relaxing and putting away all the cares he had for another day.

He was about about to drift to sleep, when a sudden thud and vibration of the ground shook him awake. He looked up see his teammate and best friend, Chouji Akimichi, sit crosslegged on the ground, munching on some chips.

"Anything interesting?" he mumbled between handfuls

Shikamaru shook his head. "Same old, same old."

Chouji smiled. "That's good."

The young Nara smirked both he and Chouji lay back down on the grass. Both boys liked routine. One of the traits they both shared.

The chunnin and genin watched the clouds in companionable silence, as always, when Chouji felt a question prick the back of his head. He rose back up.

"Hey, Shika?"

Shikamaru lazily opened an eyelid. "Hn?"

Chouji knew that this was his way of saying "I'd rather not be bothered right now, but ask anyway."

"We're both ninjas right?"

Normally anyone would scoff at such an obvious question, but Shikamaru knew his friend was probably leading to something deeper, so he decided to sit up to show that he was actually paying attention.

"Yeah."

Chouji continued. "And we've known each other for quite a while, haven't we?"

"Sure."

Chouji looked up at the clouds in thought. "So why aren't we rivals?"

Shikamaru blinked questionably. "Isn't that obvious?"

Chouji shrugged a little. "Well yeah, I knew we were best friends when we were little and all that, but so were Sakura and Ino, and Naruto and Sasuke. What made us different from them?"

Shikamaru looked at the sky thoughfully for a moment. "Well think about it. If we were rivals we'd always be competing for something, and if one of us won that competition, we'd just find something else to compete about, and it would be an endess and pointless cycle."

Chouji nodded. "Now that I think of it, it also seems kinda straining on the emotions as well."

Shikamaru raised a questioning eyebrow.

Chouji knew that expression too well. It was Shikamaru's There's-something-rather-questionable-about-what-you-just-said look. He had to elaborate. "Well... I mean look at Sasuke and Naruto. It seems that they despise each other one minute, and then they're sacrificing their own hide for one another the next. It must be frustrating for both of them, not being abe to decide if they're each others friend or enemy. And they put themselves through this just because they want to prove that they are the stronger one of the two."

Shikamaru closed his eyes in understanding. "Going back to us, there's really no reason we should be rivals. I really couldn't care less who's stronger out of both of us."

"And it's not like we're competing for something." Added Chouji.

"It would just be too troublesome." Both ninjas said simultaneously.

Akimichi and Nara both caught each others glance and began to laugh at the absurdity of the whole conversation. They both fell back on the grass and exhaled.

"Besides," started Shikamaru. "If we were rivals, who'd keep me company while I do absolutely nothing?"

"And who'd come with me to the restaurant even when Asuma-sensei's too busy and Ino's on her latest Lose-weight-impress-Sasuke-even-though-he-woudn't-notice-her-if-Tsunade-sama-ran-her-over-with-a-ramen-truck plan?"

Shikamaru smirked. "I do pity her. When will she take the hint that Sasuke is not interested? She really should get over this superficial crush and find someone she likes for his personality and intelligence."

"Like... you, perhaps?" Chouji asked with mock-innocence.

Shikamaru snorted. "Old-lady Tsunade would run me over with your ramen truck before I would even CONSIDER Ino."

Chouji chuckled and looked back up at the clouds. After a few moments he pointed to the sky and said "That cloud looks like a marshmallow."

"They ALL look like marshmallows, Chou." the young Nara replied. "Which just reminds me that I haven't eaten all day." he eyed Chouji's half-eaten bag of chips.

Chouji sighed and reluctanty pushed the bag towards his friend. He had two more bags in his pack, but then again, it was always hard for him to part with food.

And all was right with the world to those two boys, until they heard the distinct clatter of a disgruntled hokage driving a rather large vehicle.

END