“Ne, Shikamaru. Watashi no koto, oboete iru?”
Hey, Shikamaru. Remember me?
I doubt you do.
Last I saw you was twelve years ago. You were five years old, and I was seven.
That was the day I told you I was going to start school at the Academy and that I can’t come visit anymore. That pout and the long face of yours that followed—tsk, unforgettable.
Do you still have that hand-carved wooden deer I made for you as a parting gift? I know it’s jagged and ugly—you don’t have to like it, but I hope you find it in your heart to keep it.
You know, my childhood wasn’t great, but thanks to you, I’ve got fond memories to hold on to.
Remember how your clan forest was our playground—we spent so much time in it that we could map it because we knew it by heart. You’d help me forage for herbs and berries, I’d help you with deer duties. We’d secretly practise our hiden—you and your shadow manipulation, me and my purification jutsu.
Then there was that little grass patch where the forest opened up to the sky—that was where we would doze off while watching the clouds adrift until our dads come to chase us home.
Cloud watching. Yeah, you taught me the weird beauty of that.
I tell you, it’s such a big contrast to being confined to a basement medical research lab because it’s like living in an underground dungeon. Sure, I’m a mad scientist and I love what I’m doing, but I do look forward to be deployed for search-and-rescue missions, so I can be outdoors and seek calm in the clouds again.
Those were the days.
So many years passed, and it’s only now—during the war that I finally catch a glimpse of you.
As a medical-nin, watching you from the field medical base during the mass briefing, I’m nothing short of amazed. I mean, look at you! No longer that bratty, annoying kid from the past, but instead a division commander, a field strategist—a commendable leader in your own right.
My heart feels full and I’m proud of you, Shikamaru.
After all of this is over—if we survive, let’s go out for a drink or something, just to catch up. It’s been so long, and I do miss you, my dear friend.
You once said that I was the troublesome big sister you never had.
I hope the next time we meet, you’d remember me, and that feeling never changed.
@kagemaneking
