Shikamaru Shinden Chapter 18

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your patience! I have a few things I’d like to say before we get started!

1. Please check my FAQ

2. If you’d like to, I have a Kofi. I’m not gonna demand donations, especially not for this, but if you’d like a sketch or just to say thanks, please consider it :)

3. Please support the official release by purchasing a copy of Shikamaru Shinden from CD-Japan! If it wasn’t for all of our efforts last time, we’d have never gotten an English release for the Hiden story!

4. If you have any questions at all, please ask me in my ask box.

5. I do not and never will own any property relating to Naruto. The series is owned by Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo, and the novel is written by Takashi Yano. I repeat I own nothing!

6. Please do not repost or release this translation anywhere!

7. If there is to be an official English release, I will take this one down.

CHAPTER 18

“Let’s do something special,”

Even outside the venue, you could hear Naruto’s voice clearly.

Shikamaru stood outside near an ashtray, puffing on a cigarette. He wasn’t very good in these kinds of situations in the first place. If someone had asked to be honest about it, he’d just say he’d done what he’d needed to do.

Your temperament doesn’t usually change when you get older. As the Hokage’s assistant, whether he was out on the field or not. He was always a troublesome kind of guy. His younger self, with cold eyes and a cold heart, was the one who judged the current Shikamaru.

The Hokage’s job was to make light, and Shikamaru would work with Sasuke to be the shadows, a job they would share.

“Everyone should desire a peaceful future. But is tomorrow’s future a peaceful one?”

Even in front of the Daimyo, Naruto was able to speak in his uncanny manner. He was going to be okay. Shikamaru thought this from his heart.

Pretending to be his normal self, his words had lost their meaning. But Naruto was Naruto, he would always believe in others.

“Our children sit at our table, they laugh and go to school. Mornings like that are good, happy ones. Even for a ninja it’s the same. Every day is different and irreplaceable. Shinobi who have fought in the last war know this the most,”

Under the command of the Five Kage, not only the Five Great Nations but also ninja of smaller villages had united together. Everyone was a father or mother, parent or child. Many families unknown to Shikamaru were sacrificed to that war. He knew the feelings of those who had waited for their families to come back, and how they had grieved.

He was a parent now. The amount of tragedy that was born in that war, it still felt real.

If Temari and Shikadai ever heard that Shikamaru had died during a war, how would they react? If he learned that Shikadai had died during a battle, what kind of things would he do? Just the thought made his hair stand on end and his forehead sweat. His stomach felt sick as well.

Even imagining it was unbearable.

He lit a second cigarette to calm his nerves. Naruto’s speech continued.

“They say that Shinobi are only recognized by his efforts in battle, but it’s not like that. Because of war, we seek peace. Shinobi are ones who endure and don’t give up. Even if they were sunk deep in the sand, shinobi always look forward to the light and fight for peace,”

Everyone was listening silently.

The boy who had failed Academy had made it big. Shikamaru was proud of Naruto from the bottom of his heart. A Hokage from his generation, it was a welcome change. It was nice.

Shikamaru looked up at the sky. A white cloud was floating along.

How was his family?

He wanted to see them.