Tenten's POV (Nara Head Residence - Hidden Leaf Village)
The group from their destination decided, and the grumpy Shikamaru was surprisingly game for once. The three rushed over to the Nara district. Being shinobi made travel even across their huge village a secret task. It helped when one could simply leap from roof to roof.
They landed on the roof of a modest two-story home. It was the head of the house of the Nara, but the clan was not one of great wealth or with a particular care of materialistic matters. On the home's roof was a grizzled-looking man smoking a cigarette on his lonesome. He looked identical to Shikamaru except for his facial hair, sharper features, and two old scars. Unlike his son, Tenten found the man had more style, wearing a mesh shirt and stylized furred vest. The man calmly regarded them with eyes that shined with an incredible amount of intelligence. So much so that Sai and Tenten couldn't help but tense themselves as the man's gaze landed on them. Danzo had warned them both of this man. He was powerful, a genius of unheard-of levels, and as the Jounin Commander of the Leaf, nearly as influential as Danzo himself. Shikaku Nara.
"Shikamaru? I assume these are your teammates?" the man said casually. Despite his tone, Tenten was quite certain he had scanned them each critically. She was almost certain he had decided they weren't true threats. Your mother will be overjoyed. She's driving me batty wondering about them."
"Aye," Shikamaru replied with a roll of his eyes. "An impromptu visit."
"Without permission?"
"One, I pay rent; two, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Shikamaru asked with a small smile.
"Touche, don't say a word to anyone, and I'll allow this, especially not to your mother. She doesn't know I'm home," Shikaku said.
"Fine, but toss me one," Shikamaru replied. His father sighed as he tossed over a cigarette and a lighter. Shikamaru toked on it lightly as Tenten and Sai stared incredulously at him. "What?"
"You're a smoker?" Tenten asked, half surprised and a little disgusted. The idea of doing something so harmful for mere minor mental relief seemed odd to her. Clearly, Sai felt much the same way about the way he stared at him.
"We're literal soldiers in a line of work that is likely, I stress, to get us killed," Shikamaru replied with a roll of his eyes as his father nodded, the man likely having said the same once or twice himself. "I think some coping mechanisms are part of surviving. Add that to my father and our own sensei smoking, and yeah, I have a smoke every now and then."
Tenten and Sai looked at each other. Socializing and fitting in were part of their mission. So… "Can we try?" Sai asked Tenten hesitantly, nodding.
"Already lost one here," Shikaku complained; luckily, Shikamaru rolled his eyes, took a heavy puff, and tossed it over to Tenten first. The woman looked at the stinky, smoking, paper-like thing with distaste, but her curiosity peaked. "You simply breathe it in; I'd go for a smaller hit and be sure not to swallow it by accident."
Tenten rolled her eyes and inhaled. Instantly, her mouth was filled with a pungent and gross taste. She unintentionally exhaled a little from her nose, and her eyes watered as smoke wafted up from it. Tenten then hacked and coughed as the smoke overwhelmed her. Shikamaru walked over and patted her back as she bent over and heaved for air. Meanwhile, Sai looked at the discarded cigarette and pointedly did not pick it up.
From there, the group descended into the home proper. Shikamaru's mother, it turned out, was very different from her son and husband. Yoshino Nara had married into the clan, having met Shikaku when she had become Chunin. The woman was friendly, affectionate, and passionate—an odd difference from her enigmatic son and husband but one Tenten found oddly fitting.
The woman played an excellent host, politely asking them questions and telling stories, bringing refreshments and various snacks to them, and even forcing Shikamaru to be a good host as well.
Though the woman was kind enough to her son to leave them be. Oddly, given how much Shikamaru liked to complain about the woman, Tenten found her an angel. As she did, Tenten and Sai watched as Shikamaru lazily wandered over into an entertainment room. Instead of TVs or game systems, however, the room held bookshelves and a huge and lavish Shogi Board. Tenten and Sai curiously settled around the board as Shikamaru walked into the other half of the room, cracking open a mini fridge and tossing their beers.
"If we're doing this, we're really kicking back." Shikamaru insisted as he cracked his own open and settled at one player's side of the board. "Wanted alone time, but suppose some team bonding isn't that much of a drag."
"It is important." Tenten pointed out. "We're going to be a team for a while, so we must get along."
"I also would rather befriend you, Pineapple." Sai chimed in
"We both would… wait." Tenten said with a snicker.
"Pineapple? Again?" Shikamaru asked with a raised brow.
"Yep."
"I thought you agreed it was a bad fit?"
" I did not, as I pointed out earlier. Your hair." Sai offered simply as if it explained everything. Tenten openly burst out in laughter as she realized what Sai was doing on purpose.
"Childish mockery, not even accurate." Shikamaru complained slightly annoyed as he touched his ponytail defensively.
"It looks similar to the top of a pineapple, therefore I dub you Pineapple." Sai explained as if talking to a toddler. "My studies suggest nicknames help people further their bonds by building familiarity. It also suggests these should be somewhat demeaning in nature, teasing is also part of a healthy friendship."
"So what's Tenten's again?" Shikamaru asked with feigned ignorance as he smiled at Tenten as he turned it on her.
"Sai I have known each other forever we're past nick-" Tenten attempted but was interrupted as Sai replied.
"Panda." Sai replied with a giant smile. It took a lot of patience for Tenten to not throttle her long time coworker. He had never dared call her that before. On one hand it suggested he was getting more used to this all, studying and trying this hard meant the chances of him recovering from Danzo's scarring were higher. Therefore her mission was going well, on the other Tenten would murder him if he said-
"What a drag." Shikamaru complained as Tenten reigned in her own laughter. "Alright whatever, stop reading those books and get on the other side. This Pineapple is going to see just how good you are at Shogi. And Panda,"
"Don't you dare start." Tenten warned gravely.
"You should get some rest." Shikamaru replied, ignoring her tension. "I've noticed it since yesterday, you're exhausted. If you're gonna be here anyway, and since I need to avenge my honor against Sai via Shogi you're gonna have a little bit. When we're done I'll wake you up and kick your ass in Shogi too."
Tenten's initial reaction was to say no. She needed to make this team work, Danzo was expecting it, and Hiruzen required her to do so but turned them against Danzo. It was why she had been doing her best, to impress in training, to befriend Shikamaru and ignore his attitude, to deal with the daft Sai. But with Shikamaru's suggestion she realized just how strained her mind was. She had been training, both inside and out of Root, meeting with Danzo, and meeting with Hiruzen for a full week now. Doubtless Shikamaru didn't know all that, but even he could tell she was at her wits end. In fact at the end of this Tenten wouldn't even be done, she'd meet with both her leaders later to discuss today.
It surprised her the lazy man had noticed, yet alone offered to aid her. Shikamaru seemed like the type to not bother with such, in fact he probably would deny concern if she questioned it. Even now the lazy Nara did his best to seem disinterested, but she could see a slight gleam of concern in his eyes. Tenten was touched, she didn't think Shikamaru even liked her before this yet alone cared. So as Sai and Shikamaru set in the board and began a lazy discussion about what literature Sai was getting into, Tenten settled down on the floor, before she could rest her head Shikamaru tossed her a cushion and Sai offered a smile.
"Suppose I'll just lay down a bit." Tenten offered. "But I don't need a nap, just a little worn out."
"Whatever Panda." Shikamaru replied with a shrug. Sai merely offered a thumbs up.
Tenten smiled back as her teammates began the game in earnest. Sai used a risky and sacrificial style, using pieces and gambits to gain advantage on the board, utilizing all resources to dominate the middle. The Root didn't play many games, but strategy ones like Shogi were allowed. But Shikamaru, as expected of a genius, adapted well. He reacted to each ploy calmly, navigating his way out of any traps and slowly using Sai's tactics to outlast him.
All the while the two chatted as if barely thinking. Shikamaru grilled Sai with a barrage of questions, though Sai with a godly poker face and odd speaking style answered each with relative ease. It seemed clear Shikamaru was suspicious but didn't realize how grave their differences were. Tenten was happy about that, because for the first time this team felt like it could really work. Maybe Shikamaru could even be trusted…
However as Shikamaru duly won the first game and they set up a second Tenten's exhaustion overwhelmed her. Her eyelids slowly grew heavier each second. She started to let her mind wonder and as she fell asleep she swore she saw a smug smile from Sai and Shikamaru.