Thawing an Icy Heart

Immortality is Overrated.

The two of them soon left Kurenai's apartment, with Taka turning to face Shikamaru. Eyes narrowing themselves at the pineapple head. "You know who killed him, don't you?" Taka stated bluntly, noticing how Shikamaru's body went slightly rigid at the very thought of who killed his Sensei. "I do, they're an immortal duo, and members of the Akatsuki as well."

The Akatsuki again? They were beginning to be thorns in his side at this point, and he needed to remove them permanently from the field. "Akatsuki...those guys again." Not just Akatsuki but supposedly immortal as well? That would definitely prove to be a problem, but if there was anyone who could figure out a way to beat them, it was Shikamaru. "Well then, we better put our brains together huh?"

Shikamaru looked at Taka rather confused, was Taka insinuating what he thought he was insinuating? "You. You want to help me get these two?" That got a chuckle out of Taka, as he placed a hand upon the Pineapple heads shoulder, and squeezed it tightly. "Contrary to popular believe, I don't hold grudges and besides. I really wanna prove how overrated immortality is anyway."

That got a loud laugh from Shikamaru, and he gave the Yuki boy a nod. "Well then we better get planning, and if you two want in on this plan, you better come out of hiding." Of course Shikamaru would notice, especially if he had noticed too. As out of the shadows, came both Chōji and Ino, both approaching the two of them.

"We need this. We need to avenge our Sensei, it's what he would want us to do." Ino spoke softly, with Chōji nodding his head in acknowledgement. But before Shikamaru could say anything, Taka shook his head at the two of them. "It isn't what he would want, not by a long shot. He'd want you to live your life, and become the Shinobi he knows you're capable of being. That's what he would want, and I know Shikamaru would agree with me." Taka took a deep breath and exhaled out loud, before narrowing his eyes at the two of them. "Listen, I'm not going to stop you from coming with us. But you mustn't throw your life away, because you'd be spitting on Asuma's legacy if you do. If we're gonna do this, you need to follow the plan we come up with. It's the only way any of us, are gonna survive these guys."

Once Taka had finished the InoShikaCho trio all looked at him with a look of acknowledgement, and nodded their heads toward him. "Alright, let's head to somewhere more private, where we can discuss this without disturbance and since I don't have any family in my apartment, I'd say we do it there. Do you all agree with me?" The trio nodded again, and Taka nodded in return. "Alright, let's head over there. I can't wait to show the world, how overrated immortality really is!"