Chapter 8: Shikamaru is a genius?
Her face was bare. Her long untamed dark hair was spread on a white fluffy pillow, and her slender framed was covered with white sheets. Kurenai glanced towards the man that she loved. And watched his movement as his tanned upper body got covered by a dark navy long sleeve turtle neck ninja shirt. Asuma slowly walked towards his ninja headband, which had been thrown to the floor last night during their passionate encountered as he had welcomed her back. He picked it up and fastened it on around his forehead. He turned to Kurenai Yūhi and sat next to her on the bed. He let out a yawn which made her laugh. The man never seems to sleep well, or so he claims.
"What are your plans for the day?" She asked. But what she was really asking was: Will I be able to see you again today?
"Go home I guess, shower, then get dress and show up at Shikaku's doorsteps." He replied. "His kid, Shikamaru, is the most unmotivated, laziest kid I've ever met. So I'm gonna have a talk with Shikaku and see if I could learn anything about his kid."
"But Shikamaru is your student. Haven't you been able to learn about his likes and dislikes by now?" Kurenai asked.
"The little grunt loves to brush me off with sarcastic remarks and smartass comments." He replied. "Sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't like me."
"How could that be possible?" Kurenai said and laughed, clearly amused by his situation.
"I dunno."
Asuma leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead before he said his goodbyes. Sometimes the hardest thing in life is parting from someone you love so much. But then again it could be that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
When Shikaku Nara opened the gate's door to the mansion, only to see Asuma standing there, he knew it wasn't something good. He invited his son's teacher inside. And over tea and light snacks, he finally told Asuma to stop beating around the bush and to tell him if his son, Shikamaru was in trouble or not. Yoshino definitely wasn't going to like this.
"Not in trouble, per say." Asuma said. "He's just having a hard time opening up to me and being a team player. He ignores my instruction during training, and likes to go off on his own and take naps."
Shikaku brought up a dumpling to his mouth, and chewed it slowly, while deep in thought. He then let out a sigh.
"That's most bothersome indeed." Shikaku commented. "I don't understand why Shikamaru's behaving like a rebel. Ino and Chouji are his childhood friends. I would've thought things would be going more smoothly. So what can I do for you, Asuma?"
"Since I don't know much about Shikamaru, I was hoping you could tell me some of his likes." Asuma said.
"My son loves to play games." Shikaku said, as he recalled a time Shikamaru got in trouble when he helped Naruto pulled a prank on Iruka sensei. "I'm thinking you can get him interested and motivated by offering him a reward he can't turn down. A few rounds of Shogi, or a whole day off."
"A whole day off?!" Asuma rubbed his temple, clearly frustrated.
The door to the guest room slid open and Shikamaru poked his head inside.
"I thought I heard Asuma's voice." Shikamaru said dryly, as he made a movement to walk away once his curiosity had been satisfied.
"Not so fast Shikamaru, come back here." Shikaku called out.
The young genin let out a groan as he strolled back inside the guest room and took a seat next to his father, on the tatami floor.
"What is it dad?" He asked, annoyed.
"Asuma dropped by to play a few rounds of Shogi with you." Shikaku lied. Shikamaru's eyes widen as he turned to his teacher, with a suspicious look on his face.
"Why would you do that?" Shikamaru asked Asuma.
"Because I'm your teacher, damn it. And I want to get to know my students better." Asuma replied. "And it's Asuma-sensei to you, Shikamaru." Asuma grunted out.
Shikaku made a motion to stand, as he said he had to go to work soon. He then turned to Shikamaru and asked him to take Asuma to the room where the Shogi board was already set up. And then disappeared outside the guest room.
For all the interest Asuma showed, Shikamaru merely looked uninterested. During their first turn, they both chose to move a pawn forward. It was the next turn that had Asuma raising an eyebrow in interest when Shikamaru moved an Iron General in front of an Iron King; Shikamaru had wanted to try out a strategy which he had been thinking of.
Asuma paused to think, wishing the game was taking place at the porch so he could smoke. Oh, what the hell, it was too early in the game to be cautious. Maybe Shikamaru was just bluffing and didn't know what he was doing. So Asuma moved another pawn forward prompting the young boy to scoff.
Damn, maybe Shikamaru knew what he was doing, Asuma thought, as he watched the young genin move the Iron General with confidence, and placed it on the square behind the pawn which Shikamaru had moved on the first round.
A grin appeared on Asuma's face, as he mirrored Shikamaru's tactic.
"No fair!" Shikamaru's sudden outburst made Asuma throw his head back as he laughed. He had finally seen Shikamaru taken interest in something. And it was a good feeling to have witnessed this.
Thirty-five turns later, Asuma found himself backed into a corner. He pictured if this went down in real life, he would've been standing at the Hokage tower, watching the village and everything around him crumbled, as an unknown enemy rushed in with his army to capture his friends and beloved one. No, this couldn't be, Asuma wasn't about to lose his empire to a 12 year old genin. He had to believe in himself! Yet, Asuma lost on the next turn.
"Hah!" Shikamaru said, quite arrogantly. "And here I thought I wasn't good at all. But then again, the only adult I've ever faced was my father. His wins had me thinking I wasn't good." He said smugly. "Guess I found something I'm better at than you, Asuma-sensei." Shikamaru couldn't wait to rub it on Hinata's face. Wait, why was he thinking this? Maybe because he wanted to peel away the layers and expose her to the fact that Asuma was human; everyone had their strengths and weakness.
Asuma rubbed the back of his head while feeling embarrassed over his loss. He was starting to believe that there was a hidden genius inside of the young genin. He had learned to play Shogi from his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage. And the third Hokage was able to go head to head, in Shogi, with Shikaku Nara. Shikaku Nara was the best, while the third Hokage was the second best. Asuma had prided himself on being the third best thing in this whole village; until now.
There was still a possibility that Shikamaru's win had been some sort of fluke. Asuma would have to spend a whole afternoon observing Shikamaru in order to find out if he had any of Shikaku's wits.
"Well Shikamaru, that was fun, I'll see you tomorrow at the training ground." Asuma said, while standing up.
"So you're running away?" Shikamaru's question earned a glare from the older man.
"Of course I'm not running away. I just got other things to do." Asuma explained. "But if I see improvement on your hand-to-hand combat by the end of this week, then I promise we'll spend a whole afternoon playing games."
"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered to himself. "But whatever. I'll do it."
"Alright, that's the spirits." Asuma grinned.
Asuma got to spend the rest of the day with Kurenai. It didn't matter that she was busy writing a mission report. He was at her apartment, keeping himself occupied with a book as sank back on the couch. He constantly peered over at her form. She was on a chair, in front of the dining table, looking ever so focused as her hand never stopped writing. He would interrupt her focus on purpose by sighing loudly, until eventually it forced her to take a break and keep him entertained. It was small moments like these he enjoyed, getting in each other's way from completing their work. Asuma did this on purpose because the third Hokage was his father, and he didn't like it when his father would send Kurenai on missions outside the village. Oh well, nothing he could do about that.