"Well... don't just stand there, being troublesome..." he said, as he moved out of the way to let you in.2

Harsh... he meant it too, which was the worst part.3

You silently walked in, ever so lightly and gently letting your eyes linger in his.4

Nothing.5

So, as you passed him you brushed your arm against his and felt that same bored, depressed, monotone-like feeling.6

"Excuse me," you pardoned politely. He simply shrugged.7

He closed to door behind you and motioned at you to follow him. You two walked in a silence. It was neither 'uncomfortable-awkward' or 'happy-lovey-dovey'.8

'He called me troublesome... but he hardly knows me!' you whimpered in your mind, 'what did I do wrong...?'9

"Here," Shikamaru's voice cut through your thoughts as your head snapped up from the floor, he was turned to the left towards a door.10

He slid the door open and walked through... it was facing outdoors... it was a very large meadow. It lead out of the village, now you understood why it was at the far edge. You could see the wall that led around it. It was about 50 yards away which tells you how large it was. So, assuming that it's the same width from wall-to-wall it was about 150ftX150ft.11

Shikamaru walked forward a few feet, crouched down by a little pond, that was about 20ftX20ft, and looked at the huge-almost-one-foot-long fish swim happily.12

There were about 5 of them, all different colour combination's.13

He motioned you over again and you sat by him. He swiveled on the pad of his foot and sank down, cross legged, facing you.14

"We will start training tomorrow, at 5:00 AM-" he began but you cut in, "all of which Ino has told me..."15

"Ok..." he wasn't surprised at this, or at least, his tone didn't say he otherwise.16

"Another reason I wanted you here," he pressed the matter on, not taking his eyes off of the ginormous fish , "is because I need to know your pros and cons," Shikamaru finished off as he looked up at you with a quick smirk that you were watching the pond, mesmerized by the fish.17

You saw him smirk in your peripheral vision and heard the word "Attention Deficit" cross his mind as you looked up slowly.18

"Well..." you said slowly, "I am very fast, I can use a technique called Go Kouyou, En Shou Tame Za[1], I am skilled in using weapons of every sort, preferably my swords that are at home..." he stopped you mid sentence, "you have control over the elements?"19

"Yes... Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit. Though, I don't know what Spirit does... I can't call it yet. I am also a healer," you added proudly.20

"This is good... you will be very useful to our team...onto a lighter topic," Shikamaru changed subjects, "have you ever played shougi?[2]"21

"N-No..." you stuttered.22

He pulled out a game board that had brown and lighter brown checkered pattern on it. He began setting the pieces up on it, one on each dark brown for three rows. Your pieces were white, and his were brown. The wood of the board and the pieces both felt natural, and smooth. Not glassy and fake. It was a good feel. You'd remember it. Your first real memory with Shikamaru.23

Shikamaru began the explanation of the game, "the pieces can only move diagonally. The purpose is to collect all of your opponent's pieces. You must stay on the darker brown colour. Once you get to the back row, that's called a king. When you get a King you will flip the piece over," he flipped one of yours to show you ,and you hadn't noticed, but there was the kanji[3] for King engraved in intricate, smooth, and precise details.24

He flipped the piece over and continued, "you can only move towards your opponent but the kings can move diagonally backwards or forwards. It doesn't matter as long as it is diagonally," he drew a breath, "don't worry if you do not beat me. This is simply to see how far you can succeed," he smirked at you.25

You nodded, studying the board.26

+~*^*~+~*^*~+~*^*~+~*^*~+~*^*~+27

[1] Go Kouyou, En Shou Tame - Five Elements, I call to thee.28

[2] Ok, I know Shougi is like Japanese Chess, but I don't know a lot about chess so we'll pretend it's checkers.29

[3] kanji - Japanese symbol.