Shikamaru Nara

Shikamaru Nara is a major character in the manga/anime series Naruto and a supporting character in its sequel series Boruto. He is the most prominent member of the Konoha 11 apart from Team 7.
He is a shinobi of Konohagakure and a member of the Nara Clan. He is a close friend to Naruto Uzumaki since childhood and is the best friend of Chōji Akimichi. Though lazy by nature, Shikamaru has a rare intellect that consistently allows him to prevail in combat. The responsibilities that these successes leave him with cause him frequent annoyance, but he gladly accepts them so that he may be of service to his fellow members of Team Asuma, and to prove himself to generations of the past and future. 
After Naruto and Hinata got sealed in the Daikokuten by Kawaki and Ada's Omnipotence struck the Shinobi World to frame Boruto Uzumaki of a crime he didn't commit, Shikamaru becomes the unofficial eighth hokage of the Konohagakure. However, despite that being affected by the Omnipotence, he secretly resolves to help Boruto get his life back and stop Kawaki, right after he discovered the truth about what actually happened three years ago. 
He is voiced by Shōtarō Morikubo and Nobutoshi Canna in the Japanese version of the anime, and by Tom Gibis in the English version. 
==Biography==
===Past===
Shikamaru Nara was born on September 22, the only child of Yoshino and Shikaku of the Nara clan. As a child, Shikamaru played with other children of the same age, and at some point he met Chōji Akimichi, who also wanted to play, but they did not let him because they thought he was stupid and would not want to participate. When Shikamaru failed to convince the other children to join in the fun, Chōji decided to leave the game and then went up to the sky to see the clouds. Shikamaru accidentally met Chōji again while sitting in the same place, then they introduced themselves and who they were.
During the Konoha ninja academy, Shikamaru and Chōji sat together in class in a usually friendly manner and did not often spend much time with him. At the academy, Shiksmaru did not feel the general interest in the entire class and preferred to fail in class rather than listen to what Iruka was saying during the lesson.Shikamaru also did not perform well on the tests he received in class, for example by not signing the answers to the questions, this makes his class teacher angry with him, giving him poor grades for being lazy in class.
===Plot===
Once becoming a Chunin, Shikamaru's father teaches him how to use his shadow technique more effectively, by using it to choke an opponent. 
This more interactive capability with his shadow is put to great use over the timeskip, and by Part II, Shikamaru becomes proficient at using multiple shadow-based techniques at once. He is also able to manipulate his shadow to lift from the ground and either grab or throw weapons simply by utilizing an opponent's shadow for the same purpose. 
After he comes into the possession of Asuma's brass knuckles, Shikamaru learns to channel his shadow into them, using them to immobilize opponents by throwing them at an opponent's shadow to capture them and save himself the energy. 
Shikamaru goes to the Chunin Exams without a particular objective, not caring if he becomes a Chunin or not. In the finals he fights Temari, and would've won, but he decided to forfeit. During the invasion of Konoha, Shikamaru helps Naruto and Sakura to find Sasuke by staying behind and creating a diversionary ambush against the Sound Ninja who were pursuing them. 
Even though he forfeited the match, he was still promoted to Chunin, mostly because of his incredible way of thinking displayed throughout it. As a result of his early advance to the rank of Chunin, Shikamaru plays a considerably more active role in the plot than most members of the Konoha 11, albeit more indirectly than the primary cast. 
His first assignment as a Chunin is to assemble a team to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, who has betrayed Konoha in search for Orochimaru to gain greater power. This forces Shikamaru's team to defeat Sasuke's escorts, the Sound Four. While his teammates defeat their enemies, Sasuke is able to escape, despite their best efforts. 
In Part II, Shikamaru is assigned to track down two members of Akatsuki. While he and his team manage to find their targets with relative ease, Akatsuki member Hidan is able to kill Asuma during the course of a battle. After Asuma's funeral, Shikamaru sets out with the surviving members of Team 10 and Kakashi to avenge their sensei. As his team deals with Hidan's partner, Shikamaru is able to defeat Hidan in memory of Asuma, and single-handedly weakens Akatsuki by one member. 
In chapter 649 of the manga, Shikamaru states that when Naruto becomes the next Hokage, Naruto doesn't have a smart brother willing to be his adviser like the first Hokage and there would be no better adviser for Naruto other than him.
Years later, Shikamaru married Temari and had a son named Shikadai.
==Abilities==
*"Shadow Possession" where he extends his shadow to connect to his opponent's shadow. By doing this, he can force their bodies to mirror his movements.
*"Shadow Strangle" where after using his Shadow Possession, he can cause a hand-shaped shadow to reach up the opponent's body and choke them to death. The nearer the user is to his opponent, the stronger the grip. However, those with great strength like Tayuya are able to resist and force the shadow hand off.
*"Shadow Stitching" where he extends tendrils from his shadow that can bind or stab his opponents. He can also use these to snare items and throw them at his opponents.
== Trivia==
*Shikamaru hates fighting, but will not hesitate to fight certain opponents, most notably Hidan, the Akatsuki member who killed his master, Asuma Sarutobi. When the situation calls for it he will put his life on the line for the Hidden Leaf.
*Despite being the smartest of the Konoha 11, Shikamaru did have an F in one subject: classroom attitude. And his other grades were just B's and C's, very average.
*Shikamaru adopted Asuma's habit of smoking after his death, but he is only shown smoking in the Boruto anime. This is likely because Shikamaru is an adult in Boruto but showing him smoke while a teenager wouldn't be kid friendly. In Shippuden, he carries around Asuma's lighter but is never shown smoking.
*Shikamaru was originally planned to be the winner of the Chunin Exams, but the creator ultimately wrote the Chunin Exams to be interrupted by Orochimaru attacking the Hidden Leaf.
*Shikamaru's top position in the Weekly Shōnen Jump popularity polls is 4th place, though he consistently placed in the top 10 until 2011.
*In all of the Ultimate Ninja Storm games starting from Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, putting Shikamaru and Chōji in the same team with just them will result in the label "Eternal Friends".
*The Boruto manga reveals that adult Shikamaru's strongest attribute, Intelligence is 210 (90 the genin average for all attributes) and weakest attribute, Chakra is 100.
*Ever since Shikamaru married Temari, there has been gossip from the Land of Wind that the Nara Clan is unworthy of the unity between the Kazekage Clan even after their marriage.
*Shikamaru is one of the six people (along with Sarada, Sumire, Sasuke, Himawari and Koji Kashin) determined to help Boruto prove his innocence as well as to get his life and his parents, Naruto and Hinata, back.
**Despite being affected by Ada's Omnipotence, he is only helping Boruto secretly because he realized that after hearing Amado's theory of everyone's memories of Boruto and Kawaki had been altered, his memories of "Kawaki as Naruto's son" are completely fake, and he knows that Boruto is the real son of Naruto Uzumaki. Until Chapter 7 of Two Blue Vortex, Shikamaru finally discovers the truth about what actually happened three years ago and secretly aids Boruto.
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