"What a coincidence. I never thought I'd run into you here."
"It is quite a coincidence."
When Habara saw Yoshino and Shikamaru, he walked over with a smile still on his face. Yoshino merely shrugged slightly, looking neither welcoming nor resistant.
Habara had long grown accustomed to her attitude. Besides, his attention was currently focused on Shikamaru.
In the original work, aside from distinctive main characters like Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, there were all kinds of supporting characters people loved as well.
Nara Shikamaru was one of the characters Habara liked more. In fact, the kid looked somewhat similar to Jiraiya.
They both seemed utterly unreliable in everyday life, yet at crucial moments, they were truly the people one could rely on most.
That somewhat contradictory personality gave them an unparalleled charm. Not to mention, Shikamaru's future achievements were enough to leave people dumbfounded.
Not only did the kid marry the Kazekage's older sister, but he himself also rose to become the Minister of the Department of Government Affairs, effectively inheriting his father's position.
Of course, those were all matters of the future. Habara did not know exactly what the future would become, and what concerned him more was the present.
Habara remembered that Shikamaru had been among the earliest people to acknowledge Naruto. The kid had a good relationship with Naruto.
And Habara was truly interested in Naruto now—or rather, he had a few ideas about the Nine-Tails inside him.
"What kind of look is that?" Nara Yoshino noticed the way Habara was looking at Shikamaru, and she found it baffling. "You're going to scare my little brother staring at him like that."
"Sorry, I was thinking about something." Habara quickly came back to his senses, then smiled. "Something interesting."
"Inexplicable." Yoshino rolled her eyes, then smacked Shikamaru on