@xshadowrising liked for a starter !!
The Nara regent kept way more memorabilia from her life than what she was ready to admit to anyone. In the rare occasions she had a few hours to herself away from clan duties, meetings and gatherings with the other clan heads, she liked to go through the boxes and check all that past she had managed, somehow, to put behind her.
Nostalgia was an emotion Yoshino had discovered too young. When she was a girl, she frantically tried to shove it down deep, hoping it would die along with every other sentiment and finally liberate her of the pain she was always haunted by.
Nowadays, after taking on so many roles, so many burdens, she relished the few, spare, scattered moments she got to herself to reminesce. Too many, things and people alike, had gone, and while it was predictable, almost expected, of her to grieve all that she had lost due to wars and circumstances, her longing was akin to the gentle, misty sunlight of spring rather than the devastating flash-frosts of winter.
And (although it seemed pointless for Yoshino to remark, given how fundamental he had been for her wellbeing after his father's death) Yoshino had plenty to be grateful for and look forward to in the form of a pony-tailed, scruffy, somewhat withdrawn not-so little fawn.
She hadn't noticed Shikamaru standing in the doorway straight away, but when she dug elbow deep in a particularly large box, she heard a chuckle-sigh coming from the tall figure shadowing her bedroom threshold.
"Hey, instead of being a jackass, come here and help. There might be a few things way more laugh-worthy than your short mom struggling with big boxes," she jokingly told him off, inviting him to come sit next to her on the floor.
