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“Hey! Asuma-Sensei what is…” You trail off from behind the camera, seemingly reading something on your hand as the camera dips before quickly coming back up with a bashful chuckle, “Your favorite color?””Thats- That’s the question you’re settling on?” He laughs, but before you could protest he hums, turning away from the screen and back out to the blue sky before him. “Red.” “Red?” You echo. “Well no actually- that makes sense.” Asuma coughs, waving the sudden burst of smoke away. “What are you interviewing me for anyway? Shikamaru give you a hard time with his or something?” The camera shifts slightly, “Arn’t I supposed to be asking you questions?””Touché.” He tilts his cigarette. The camera clips to a new angle, this time facing the Sarutobi as he leans back on the old park bench with a lazy grin. “My younger days as a Shinobi huh?” Asuma glanced at something past the camera and then returned his gaze.“I’m not that old ya’know.”You snicker, “Yeah sure whatever. How about-“ Suddenly the tv is flashed by the dark green of the grass below it, incoherent grumbling until you bring it back up with a ‘never mind’.“How do you do you feel about being a shinobi currently?”He shrugs, “I enjoy it. Weird as it sounds I never thought about not being a ninja.” A beat of silence blankets the conversation. The sun hitting the Jonin’s Leaf headband and blinding the camera while his vauge form hunches over to light a new cigarette.“I’m proud of it even. Protecting the village, our community. Strengthening it in some ways too.” He takes a drag, smiling wildly at the scenery past the screen. “You said ‘Weird as it sounds’ earlier in reference to you currently being a Ninja, did you ever express that you wanted to pursue another occupation even if you didn’t mean it?””Yeah I guess you wouldn’t know,” He scratched his head. The camera perks up.“I wasnt a particularly easy kid to say the least- The Third wanted what was best for me and that included pushing me to achieve that for myself. Just- at the time I felt like he wanted too much. That I wasn’t capable of reaching his standards.” “But,” he continued. “Now it’s clear as day that it wasn’t my dad who failed me, I was failing myself before I even got to the starting line.”You hum in acknowledgment, “Wait- Is that why you’re so insistent on pushing Shikamaru and Choji?” “Huh,” He took another drag out of his cigarette, “Never thought about it that way. Yeah, I suppose so.” The camera faces the grass again but this time successfully clipping into another segment. It starts as Asuma opens his mouth- “Need a new start?” What?Shikadai blinks, jolting back as the screen catches up with the audio.Ah- A commercial cut into the recording. “The Land of Water welcomes y-you…”Cheesy editing paste bright oceanic views on the screen before the television hisses and turns black.A minute past until the eerie beep sounds and the fuzzy screen lights up to signal the end of the tape.
Asuma-Sensei…that was his dad’s teacher but…
Who was the kid recording?
The boy rubs his tired eyes, “There’s gotta be more to that tape.” He mumbled. Pulling the box of VHS tapes closer to him as he sifts through the pile- Freezing suddenly, his eyes catching the start of a familiar name. His body puppeteering his impulse, bringing the new tape up and forgetting the old one.Shikadai flips it over in his hands, squinting to read the title in the dark room. “Woah…”’Nara Shikamaru: Can’t Catch a Break’
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Shikadai’s eyes widen as he takes in the scenery. That- That’s my backyard?The camera zooms in and out, adjusting to the figure before it.Shikamaru.Lazily stretched out on his side, practically sprawled across the wooden deck that opens up to the forest clearing ahead. “This is such a drag, ya’ know?”“Wah wah wah.” The view shifts.He scoffs at the mockery but still refuses to sit up or even face the camera.You simply shuffle over and sit beside him.“Alright—what’s your favorite color?”Shikamaru rolls onto his back, closing his eyes. “Hm…”A breeze blows through, sweeping leaves onto the deck. A stray promptly slaps Shikamaru in the face.Before the perpetrator can escape—before the broad leaf flutters past him—Shikamaru catches it.“Green.”“Green?”He raises a brow at the camera. “Aren’t you interviewing me?”“Well, yeah, but like—that’s kinda lame. It’s like saying Naruto’s favorite color is orange because he has an orange jacket.”A silence falls. His brows furrow. “Isn’t it?”…The camera clips out.Black flashes across the screen before revealing the young ninja again, this time sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor. He slouches slightly, his dark eyes practically dissecting the camera—or the person behind it.“Okay, so you like green.”You push forwards. “Recently, despite your adamant refusal to take on leadership roles, you’ve found yourself in those positions almost all the time. Is this something you’ve pursued, or were you cast into it because of your abilities?”Shikamaru scratches the back of his head and looks off in thought. “Pursued it?” he repeats.“Too troublesome if I had any say in it. But... as much of a drag as it is,” he sighs, facing the screen. “I have a responsibility to serve the Hokage as a Leaf ninja.”The camera tilts slightly.“So—are you content with your current standing?”He leans back. “Yeah.”…“You’re hard to interview.”“You’re bad at asking questions.”“I had a list.”He raises an eyebrow.“It’d be boring for the viewers if I asked everyone the exact same questions.”“What viewers?”“Ouch. It’s fine. Just say that—”“Never mind.” He groans, drawing his hand up to support his slouching posture as he interrupts your dramatic spiel.You lean over, snatching a handful of leaves in protest.“Hey, wait—” The Nara’s dark eyes flash with recognition.But despite the easy revenge in the making, the wind turns against you. As you toss the leaves, they swing back, slapping the camera with a blanket of dark green.…“SPAHAHA—” You cackle. “That was so lame!” You set the camera down with a hearty thunk on the deck.“Oh man!” He joins in, throwing his head back.“-Zink-“The screen returns to black.Shikadai returns to his reflection.He notices how it mirrored his furrowed brows and the downturned circle formation his hands naturally fell into throughout the video. Because, truly—wholeheartedly—out of pure curiosity...Who were you?