Shikamaru Nara

**Shikamaru Nara**is a member of Konohagakure's Nara Clan and a member of Team Asuma. He is also a member of the current Ino-Shika-Cho generation, alongside Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi, and the Hidden Leaf representative of the newly formed Shinobi Union, as well as it's head representative and chief organizer.

## Physical Appearance

To further emphasize his personality, Shikamaru is regularly seen with a lazy or irritated expression. He is a fairy tall, slim young man with shoulder-length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and narrow brown eyes. He also wears a pair of stud earrings given by Asuma Sarutobi, which acts as a symbol of Team Asuma.

Shikamaru wears a green flak jacket, along with a black long-sleeved shirt paired with matching pants and black sandals, and green lined mesh armor on his wrists and ankles. He wears the metal part of his forehead protector on the left side of the shirt, which is sewed on. He is also equipped with a chunin's tanto, horizontally strapped onto the back of his flak jacket via a brown strap and a light-brown utility belt for special occasions.

## Personality

Shikamaru is a relaxed, yet unenthusiastic and apathetic individual who likes to watch clouds and sleep when ever he feels like it. He preferred not to get involved in "*troublesome*" activities, pretending to be busy to avoid responsibility. He also does not like fighting, deeming it, as he does to most things, "troublesome". He is fully aware of this side of his personality. Due to his laziness and sometimes cowardice, Shikamaru commonly uses his word phrase "*What a drag*".

However, when duty calls, Shikamaru has a strong moral compass and sense of commitment towards his comrades. Even though, by his own testimony, he lacks bravery, he will sacrifice himself and face almost certain death, for the sake of his friends and/or villagers without a second though. Because of his raw leadership skills, he was the first genin from the Rookie Nine to become a chunin. The weight of the decisions he must make as a chunin and, thus, team leader have caused Shikamaru to mature rapidly. This was most evident after the death of Asuma. He vowed to protect and later mentor Asuma's child, so that the child could grow up to be a "cool adult" like Asuma. Shikamaru's sense of duty and commitment to the future of his village is also reflected in his willingness to enforce the Hidden Leaf 11's recent decision to stop Sasuke Uchiha at all costs, even in the face of potential objections on behalf of the original members of Team Seven, in order to prevent the Hidden Leaf from getting caught in a devastating war between the nations. He also resolved to be Naruto's advisor because he never wanted Naruto to suffer the same loneliness he suffered in his childhood again.

Chōji Akimichi is Shikamaru's best friend. He respects and trusts him. He said that if he had to fight Choji in the Chunin Exams, he would give up. After he left Choji to fight Jirobo, he told the rest of the team that Choji is stronger than anyone else in this team.

Shikamaru enjoys playing thinking and role-playing games, that older men are usually into, such as shogi and Go, something Asuma even points out.

Shikamaru's most distinctive character trait is that he considers most women bossy and "troublesome", particularly Temari, his mother and Ino. He usually defines them as aggressive, demanding, and sometimes even scary. Given his mother's tyrannical personality, this isn't too surprising. However, his father shares the exact same attitude, even though he married Yoshino in the first place. When Shikamaru questioned his father about why he would marry such a domineering woman, his father responded that even the toughest woman will show her gentle side to the man she loves. Nevertheless, Shikamaru is generally courteous to women, doing them favors and avoiding fights with them. He feels that men, like him, should be the ones protecting them and not the other way around. Despite the latter point, he almost exclusively fought against women during his youth in the Naruto series, albeit because of the circumstances that were mostly out of his control.

Shikamaru has also shown a little devious side. When he gets food for Choji while he's in the hospital during the Chunin Exams, the nurse tells him that Choji has indigestion and that he can't have food. So, Shikamaru goes to Naruto's room to give him the food. When Naruto tells Shikamaru he wants to eat it in front of Choji to annoy him, Shikamaru states "That is so mean… I like it."

## Abilities

**Genius Intellect**: Shikamaru's greatest trait despite his adolescent age and low grades in the academy (mainly due to his laziness), is his mental capabilities. Stemming from his naturally calm nature and rare loss of composure, Shikamaru is surprisingly astute for his age, well-aware of his surroundings and able to see through most deceptions and from that can make accurate choices during intense moments. From these traits, Shikamaru can easily focus on all data acquired to quickly and effectively analyze the situation to discern how handle it, anticipate enemy actions, and quickly form effective plans. Once completely focused (seen from his habit of closing his eyes and cupping his fingers) he can quickly think ten moves ahead of his opponent and devise over a hundred strategies plus chose the best one from them. Realizing his potential, Asuma tested Shikamaru (disguising it as games to keep Shikamaru focused) to discover the young Nara member is an astonishing genius with an IQ of over 200. In the *Naruto* anime, Sakura Haruno once stated that Shikamaru was the smartest person in the Land of Fire.

* **Master Strategist and Tactician**: Well-noted for his strategic and tactical skills, he is most commonly seen winning in games requiring a methodical approach like shogi, having never lost to Asuma. Stemming from his naturally calm nature and rare loss of composure, Shikamaru is surprisingly astute for his age, well-aware of his surroundings and able to see through most deceptions and from that can make accurate choices during intense moments. From these traits, Shikamaru can easily focus on all data acquired to quickly and effectively analyse the situation to discern how handle it, anticipate enemy actions, and quickly form effective plans. Once completely focused (seen from his habit of closing his eyes and cupping his fingers) he can quickly think ten moves ahead of his opponent and devise over a hundred strategies plus chose the best one from them. Likewise, he is highly adaptable, regularly able to out-think his opponents, even manipulate them into a pre-set trap with various misdirections. Shikamaru is very resourceful, able to easily adjust or switch his plan and use the most random of tools to his advantage to minimise injuries to himself or allies if not avoid a direct fight completely.

**Nara Clan Techniques**: Shikamaru's primary battle tactics involves using his clan's secret techniques of shadow manipulation. His signature move is the Shadow Possession Jutsu. Even while child who just started in the Academy, he was already proficient enough in this technique to subdue three Anbu, a considered a prodigy by Ino (although he was noted too inexperienced to consider its weakness). Later, he learned the various more advanced techniques including to physically harm enemies by means of shadow hands and tendrils. The later can also He also has the ability to simultaneously use all of his techniques in astonishing co-ordination. Using his technique on his teammates, Shikamaru can effectively protect them from their own blind-spots or personal weakness brought about their own techniques, such Ino's unconscious body after she used the Mind Transfer Jutsu. Similarly, Shikamaru can also use his shadow techniques to pick up and throw objects like explosive tags, and attach them to a trapped opponent. He can also use the Shadow Grab Jutsu, which is strong enough to grab and manipulate heavy objects, even lifting them in the air. In battle he is able to simultaneously use all of these techniques in astonishing co-ordination. Shikamaru later inherited Asuma's Chakra Blades after his death. After much training, he learned how to flow chakra into them and use them in tandem with his clan's abilities. Using their ability to instead become the origin of their techniques, he developed Shadow Possession Shuriken Jutsu. This allows him to "pin" his opponent's shadow to the ground, without connecting his own shadow, giving him far greater range, flexibility, and freedom of movement. Using his technique on his team-mates, Shikamaru can effectively protect them from their own blindspots or personal weakness brought about by their own techniques, such as Ino's unconscious body after she uses the Mind Transfer Technique.

**Nature Transformation**: Shikamaru has shown some skill with Earth Style nature transformation, having been able to create earth walls after being taught the hand-seals by Kitsuchi.

**Kenjutsu Practitioner**: Though not quite his style, Shikamaru is gifted in kenjutsu. At one point, Shikamaru started carrying a tantō, and appears to be competent in swordplay as seen when he attacked Hidan, leaving a gash in the side of his target's neck.

**Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant**: Even though it is not his preferred fighting style, Shikamaru is a capable close-range combatant and most often uses it as a method to employ the use of his shadow, seen when he attacked Hidan with a punch that came as such a shock to the latter that he could not evade Shikamaru's secondary, shadow attack.

**Enhanced Speed and Reflexes**: Shikamaru is quick and agile, able to dodge when he senses an attack coming when others aren't looking.

**Enhanced Endurance**:

**High Chakra Power**: As a member of the Nara Clan and a an experience lieutenant-class ninja, Shikamaru boasts a high level of chakra energy.

## Relationships

### Family

* Shikaku Nara (Father, deceased)
* Yoshino Nara (Mother)

### Friends/Allies

* Hidden Leaf 11
	+ Chōji Akimichi (Best friend and childhood classmate, also teammate)
	+ Ino Yamanaka (Best friend and teammate)
	+ Naruto Uzumaki (Childhood classmate and Best friend)
	+ Sakura Haruno
	+ Sai
	+ Rock Lee
	+ Neji Hyūga
	+ Tenten
	+ Kiba Inuzuka
		- Akamaru
	+ Shino Aburame
	+ Hinata Hyūga
* Asuma Sarutobi (Sensei, Deceased)
* Sasuke Uchiha
* Kakashi Hatake
* Yamato
* Might Guy
* The Fifth Hokage: Tsunade
* Shizune
* The Fifth Kazekage: Gaara
* Kankurō
* Temari (Best friend, love interest and ex-rival)
* Darui
* Cee
* Uryū Ishida

### Enemies

* Ryuha Armament Alliance
	+ Sho Uchiha
	+ Ryuzen
* Madara Uchiha
* Obito Uchiha
* The Ten-Tails
* The Akatsuki
	+ Kakuzu
	+ Hidan
* Orochimaru
* The Sound Five
* Hidden Sound Village
* Sasuke Uchiha (formerly)

## Quotes

* *You've been playing into my hands the whole time.*
* (To Hidan)