Art of Genjutsu

Last Day

The morning light streams in through the window, bathing the room is a soft glow. It was nice. I just layed in my bedding on the floor, listening to the soft snores of my friends beside me. Strangely peaceful for my life. I could stay like this for hours.

I hear banging on the door. "Kids, are you up?" I hear Shikamaru's mom yell in the hallway outside. No, enjoying the peacefulness of the morning is not possible in the Nara household, is it? Greeeeaaaaat. . . Yoshino continues, "It's seven o'clock! You should have been up half an hour ago!"

"We're up, Mom!" Shikamaru yells through the door. He doesn't move, or even open his eyes as he damages my ears. He looks kind of dead just laying there.

As I hear footsteps walk away down the hall, I sit up and run a hand through my hair. I just sit and think for a minute, trying to wake myself up more. Choji slowly pulls himself out of his own cocoon, probably because Shikamaru's mom woke him up. He yawns and stretches his arms, before sniffing the air. "Is breakfast ready?" He asks the corpse of the floor.

"Probably," Shikamaru stays completely still, his own voice muffled by his pillow and blanket.

Choji dashes out the door and down the hall faster than I've ever seen him move in my life. I know that Shikamaru's mom makes really good food, but I didn't think food was that good. Don't get me wrong, food is great, but there are very few times that food is made good enough to break the sound barrier.

I pull myself off the floor and begin my slow march down the hall. Shikamaru doesn't do thing when I pass him, even when I poke him in the cheek. When I get to the kitchen, Choji is already eating more than should be humanly possible for an adult man, much less a twelve year old boy. Shikaku is also eating, avoiding the gaze of his wife, who is finishing whatever she's doing at the stove. He gives me a faint smile as a 'good morning.'

I sit down at the table and put some food in my mouth as well. It really doesn't matter what it is, because it's all good. Yoshino brings the last platter over and looks at the people seated around the table. "Where's Shikamaru?" She asks with a dangerous look in her eyes.

I swallow. "He's still sleeping." I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I feel a little revenge is needed. For something. I bet Shikamaru did something to me in the past that needs avenging. I don't think it will matter much if Shikamaru gets mad at me.

Yoshino straightens, her eyebrows narrowing. She turns without a word and walks down the hall to his bedroom. I glance at the other two sitting with me. Shikaku looks down at his food, like he was preparing for some great catastrophe. Choji just continues to eat happily. So lucky. . .

Suddenly, I hear horrible noises coming from Shikamaru's room. It sounds like a monster has been released into a sea of innocent and mute civilians. The noises go on for about a minute, before Shikamaru walks down the hall in his usual lazy way and sits down beside me, noticeably irritated. His mom comes out a second later, not much different than when she went in, like she's constantly irritated. She walks across the kitchen and sits across from her husband.

For a little while, we just eat with minimal conversation. It was kind of awkward. The entire time, I was trying to bring up last night in conversation. Gracefully, you know. It's kind of hard to ask about something you shouldn't have known about. If you do they will know that you were listening in! Of course, it's when Choji went for fifths or sixths, I can't remember which, that he foiled my plans. "So what happened last night? You guys were running around, talking about Naruto and stuff."

I widen my eyes as I stare at him. He heard all that stuff last night? I thought he was asleep! And how did he ask that so effortlessly? Seriously.