This Was No Ordinary Emotion

Shikaku smiled faintly and rested his right hand on Shikamaru's head, pressing down lightly as he spoke in a meaningful tone. Though father and son had never really talked things through in depth, they understood each other better than anyone. Shikaku could still guess at some of his son's thoughts and plans. He didn't need to ask outright for confirmation; a few words or actions were enough to let him piece things together. And, of course, Shikaku's intelligence and experience far surpassed Shikamaru's. He didn't think his son's idea was wrong.

It was simply a little too naive.

Or perhaps too wishful.

Shikamaru was looking at things only from his own perspective, analyzing them from Konoha's point of view.

That had led him to what seemed like a fair and correct path for Naruto and Neji. But in reality, any outsider with a reasonably sharp mind could see that his idea wouldn't work.

This wasn't to say Shikamaru had suddenly run out of brains or lost his mind. His perspective was simply limited. With his starting point already restricting his view, and his experience and insight still lacking, could anyone really expect him to come up with a flawless plan?

That was clearly unrealistic.

After all, he was truly no more than a fifteen-year-old boy.

In the original story, after Asuma was killed, Shikamaru seemed perfectly rational, but in truth he had nearly let his anger blind him. He planned to hunt down Hidan and Kakuzu, two members of the Akatsuki, relying on the three members of Team 10 alone. That made it clear that, for all his intelligence, Shikamaru still had the immature, impulsive streak of a young man.

Shikaku could naturally understand his son's thinking.

He simply hoped that, on that basis,

his son would think things through