While there was a part of Shikamaru that was happy they’d noticed his absence,
another part of him also felt lonely, like a new distance had come with their separation.
If he wanted to be an adult, then he had to stop thinking like a child. They were long out of the Academy. Things weren’t the same as those days when he could while away time playing with his friends till dusk.
The same way Shikamaru was swamped with work from both the Union and his responsibilities in Konoha, Ino and Chouji had struggled through the last war and become fine, reliable chuunin. While they said it was because Shikamaru was so busy, his two friends had just as little free time as he did.