I've been noticing that Shikamaru-chibi has gotten much better at not giving away his intentions- his plans are still entirely predictable, but they're also much better overall. Still. Shikamaru-chibi is a three year old boy. And he's made a mistake.

I will now show him just how much of a mistake he's made.

When I place my black stone, his ears go bright, violent red. Got you, little fawn.

"Thank you."

"Shikaku-sama?"

"For doing this- you haven't needed to come down and fight the sheep for months, and you didn't have to play with him so often."

"Children thrive best in environments that are structured and stable. I can't exactly offer him a stable environment- but I know how structure works. I come to the Nara premises on the assumption that there will be sheep for me to pummel; I play a game with Shikamaru-chibi as a respite from punching the overwhelming amounts of stupid out of my clan's irrepressible rams. And you, Shikaku-sama, cultivate particularly delicious varieties of mushroom in fields near your house- not so near as to make the rams that come to eat the mushrooms a danger to Shikamaru-chibi, yet not so far as to make the task of checking on the fields more troublesome than any number of other mildly troublesome things you do every day."

"Troublesome."

"Hmhm. Shikamaru-chibi? Are you alright?"

"Yes!"

"Hm. Do you want to-?"

"No. I will play until the end!"

"Alright."

He's going to lose by a mere two points. I'm not entirely sure why Akimichi-sama and Yamanka-sama are here too, watching me play Shikamaru-chibi. The tea is nice. Yoshino-san makes lovely jasmine.

Shikamaru-chibi did indeed lose by two points. He's now slumped on his side, groaning.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!"

"Hmmm?"

"…yes…"

"Hmhm. Your mistake was in joseki."

He finds it not long after I point it out. Shikaku-sama is staring intently at the goban, looking stumped, then increasingly astonished. Yamanka-sama's face is odd- it's like his eyebrows are trying to hide in his hair. Akimichi-sama is grinning.

I drink my tea and discuss the game with Shikamaru-chibi. He looks so proud of his two-point loss- I hardly have the heart to tell him he'd have lost so badly against either of my sisters he'd have lost all joy in the game, even now. I'll have to start moving him towards visualizing the board and playing blind soon.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Agreeing to back me as a potential jonin."

"Ah. Well. Far be it to deny Konoha such an interesting mind. It'll be interesting to see if your Go skills translate to the battlefield."

"Hmm. You do realize that my sisters have soundly defeated me every time we play, right?"

"What, both of them?"

"Oh yes. We usually try to get draws in all three games, but it's hard to do simultaneously."

"…I have no chance of beating you, do I?"

"There's a reason I give you a ten stone handicap, Shika-chibi."

Shikamaru-chibi has the most adorable pout. Shikaku-sama looks a little… odd. I don't know what that expression is, exactly- did he not realize I always give his son such a huge advantage every game? Akimichi-sama is now guffawing. Yamanka-sama has his head in his hands, and his shoulders are shaking.

"I've been to your house though- you do not have gobans at all."

"Well, no. We usually play the games in our heads, and put them down on gokifu to tally the points up- I've yet to draw with both my sister's at the same time. Or beat them, for that matter."

"Do you think… do you think- nevermind."

"Don't worry, Shika-chibi. When I think you're ready, I'll let you get beat like a drum by my sisters too- honestly, after the exams, if I advance or not, I'll bring them over and you can play against all three of us."

"At once?"

"If you want."

The gleeful anticipation on Shikamaru-chibi's face is even cuter than his pout. It's an interesting counterpoint to the guffaws, cackling, and despairing groans coming from the three adult men on the inner porch- since the weather's gotten so nice- but fall in Konoha is always nice- Shikamaru-chibi and I have been playing on the outer porch. It's really nice- the sun falls softly, here, somehow.

We finish discussing the game, and then I have to punch the stupid out of no less than ten fully grown, but still moronic, rams. In between the actions of putting them on my shoulders and saying goodbye to Shikamaru-chibi, the three men on the inner porch have stopped making strange noises and are now staring at me strangely.

I'm not sure why. Men are strange, strange beasts.