They’d gone through this many times before. Shikamaru let go of the beef, and turned his gaze on the piece next to it. He glanced at Ino, who gave a nod of permission.
“It’s been a while since you invited us out, Shikamaru.” She said.
“Yeah,” Chouji chimed in, “Lately, I haven’t been able to see you unless we set a time to meet like this.”
“Shikamaru’s got his job at the Union and well as being the Hokage’s Support. He’s super busy, Chouji, he can’t always hang out with us anymore.”
“I understand that, but…” Chouji laid his arms on the table, his cheeks puffing out as he pouted.
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.
And yet, they’d come to meet up with him without a word of complaint, simply because he said he wanted to see them.
They were his oldest, closest friends.