1.
Here's something you may not know about my son Shikamaru, he was born after ten months, one day of gestation. By the end of it, Yoshino wanted to take the damn kid out of herself with a kitchen knife and sake for anaesthetic. The medic nins had check her and the baby, when the nine months came and go; to Yoshino's relief and frustration, the kid was fine, he just seemed a little too comfortable in his watery home. He took his sweet time to get out, and when he did get out, he forgot to cry at all and scared the heck out of us for the few seconds that it took the medics to slap the shortest wail ever out of the sleeping baby.
2.
He was a weird child, my Shikamaru. He didn't really cry much at all, what a silent little thing he turned out to be. Well, he did cry occasionally, as every baby does, being their only means of communicating his needs; but the few times he did cry, it was with one single short wail, albeit a loud one. After that one loud cry he would remain quiet until someone came to tend to his needs, if after a few minutes no one had approach him, he would repeat the same process. It always seemed like he had a short supply of energy.
3.Shikamaru never was much of a talker, so it won't come of a surprise to know that he didn't say his first words until he was about fifteen months old. Yoshino and I had begun to wonder when would the quiet baby say something, we worried the maybe there was a problem of some sort. But his first words came, a lot of them in fact, all put together in a somewhat complex and grammatically correct sentence, and to add humiliation to the surprise, it was a sentence destined to correct me.
4.
It was very confusing to be Shikamaru's parent, especially in the matter of his intellectual development. It was at different times exhilarating and worrying, and poor Yoshino and me jumped from thinking he was a little genius to distressing that he might be… maybe… just a little… mentally challenge. And jumped from one opinion to the other we did for a long time, trough out his academy years, until one day, his ninja sensei confirmed two thing for us; yes, he was a genius, and yes, he was an even bigger loafer.
5.
My dear boy doesn't have the biggest self esteem out there. He's good at recognizing his shortcomings, but tends to underestimate his good qualities. No one would believe how shocked he really was when he was promote to chunnin, or how convince he was that he would mess up his first real mission. After the disaster of the retrieval of Sasuke I managed to talked him into remaining a shinobi, but it took both Yoshino and me weeks to make him stop saying "I knew I'd screw it up" every few hours. He got better with time, or maybe he got better at hiding it, I'd like to think it's the first one.
6.
Everybody knows about Shikamaru's strategic talent, his intelligence and his ability to stay calm under stress; but my boy has other talents, hidden abilities that few people know about. For example, outside of the Nara Clan almost no one knows that he is a fantastic dancer; where does he get it from? I don't know, both my wife and I have two left feet, but our boy; well, he could be a professional if he wanted. And to complete that musical part of himself that he got from thin air, he has a great singing voice, he could had many girls at his beck and call if he serenade a couple. Of course, the dense child only sings in the shower and dances once a year in the Nara spring celebration.
7.
Shikamaru has never talked much about his problems to us, or about his life or anything really; so I knew that my boy had fallen in love for the first time when instead of cursing under his breath, he started humming to himself; the improvise music and reduce whining told us about his happiness. I also knew the day it ended because of the quiet sobbing coming late at night from his bedroom; and it was at that time that I wished I'd being a more involve father, because I didn't have the confidence to just go into that room and hug my suffering child.
8.
Shikamaru trains more that people believe. Every morning and afternoon with me, for example, if neither of us has a mission. He's not a training fanatic like Naruto or Gai's pupil, Lee; but he does train every day, the thing is, he needs to train more than his body. He told me once, that he knew he wasn't the strongest shinobi but that he knew he was one of the smartest, so he needed to train his mind because that was what kept him and everyone else under his command alive. I know the truth of his laziness, but if someone comments on my boy lazing on a meadow, under a tree or in someone's roof, I don't correct them. I don't bother to explain to them that he's training his mind, that laying there with eyes close or fixed on the clouds, he's really imagining battles, and problems, remembering every foreign shinobi he has met and their powers; why explain all that to someone that doesn't really care, it would be troublesome.
9.
My boy is oblivious to certain things, his own qualities are one, and girls that like him are another. He is the most brilliant and perceptive person in this village, he can spot an enemy's weakness in less than five minutes, but when it comes to girls... he is dense. Ok, I admit it, the girls that like my Shikamaru are not the crazy in love mob kind of group, but they are still obvious. They blush when they see him, stare at him from across streets and conference rooms, and sigh when he walks next to them; most of them are left speechless or stuttering if he happens to speak to them, and he doesn't see it. The thing is, those girls won't speak up, and Shikamaru is immune to subtlety, and aggressive women repel him. So, I'm starting to fear that I'll never have grand children.
10.
After he got his revenge on Asuma's death, Shikamaru mature a lot. He doesn't complain so much anymore, he practices more, and you could even say he is enthusiastic about the missions he is given… well, almost enthusiastic. My Shikamaru is becoming an adult, he practically is one already, and when I realize that, in that very moment I realize something more; I am really going to miss my whiny, lazy, cranky, brilliant, silent little boy.
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Story notes: Disclaimer: Not Shikaku, nor Yoshino, or Shikamaru belong to me, neither does any other character of Naruto that could turn up here, they all belong to… they belong to… ok I don't know who, but not me, don't sue, because there is no money involve.
Chapter notes: A group of drabbles, all of them a hundred word…ish. Hope you like it.
Chapter end notes: as you can see, the drabbles are only numerated and not name, they will be in chronological order, I'm uploading all at once, please comment if you like it.