Title: Shadow
Author: Simply Kelp
Pairing: not focused on any one ship, but there may be background ones.
Rating: pg
Summary: Shikamaru discovers that he has two shadows now: his own, and Konohamaru. Little vignettes about the evolution of their friendship.
Disclaimer: It doesn't say "Masashi Kishimoto" on my underwear, that must mean that I don't own Naruto... merde.
A/N: I want to thank aa for the review (and subsequent boost to my self-esteem). These are all going to be rahter short; they are more like assorted snapshots than an actual story...
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Shogi
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With the Chuunin Exams coming up soon, Team Ebisu had been training harder than ever. On Saturdays, even. Today Konohamaru, and Udon had managed to convince Ebisu to let them out early. Udon had restrained, and silenced Moegi- who wanted to continue into the middle of the night-, while Konohamaru had used his charming, and persuasive speech skills to plead shamelessly for their freedom.
Konohamaru wandered from the training grounds to the adjacent park. His mother wasn't expecting him home until seven; that left three hours that he could do... something. Anything would be better than doing chores. As he looked for a good spot to nap, a lone figure caught Konohamaru's attention.
Shikamaru was sitting on the grass, glaring at a shogi board. Konohamaru remembered once watching him, and Asuma playing shogi; it was really boring.
As Konohamaru approached, Shikamaru sighed. "I wish I could find someone to play shogi with," he muttered. Konohamaru didn't think that Shikamaru was talking to him, but he inched closer all the same.
Even with Konohamaru casting a big shadow over Shikamaru, the other boy continued staring resolutely at the game board. "The Old Man played," Konohamaru said. "He tried to teach me, but I'm not very good."
Finally Shikamaru looked up. His expression was impassive. "I'm tired of playing my dad; we're too alike," he explained, though Konohamaru got the impression that he was still talking to the empty space around Konohamaru's ankles.
"You could always teach me," Konohamaru suggested, trying not to sound too hopeful.
Shikamaru sighed. "That would be too troublesome."
With a frown, Konohamaru left. Making sure he was an adequate distance from Shikamaru, Konohamaru flung himself onto the grass. He closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep. He didn't want to play shogi anyway.
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Poor Konohamaru-kun, how he suffers. Thank you so much for reading, and I would really, really, really love it if you reviewed!