The blind Uchiha Shikamaru FF

Chapter 44

During the first chunin exam, Hinari was promoted one rank by Tsunade. Hinari had thanked the Senju several times, who threw her out of the office on edge to avoid hearing any more. However, Tsunade had to smile a little at this. As an Uchiha, Hinari really was a special case.

Hinari was running around Konoha as she had no missions at the moment. Since her friends would be away for a few days, she had no idea what she could do during that time. "Fancy a game of shogi?" she was asked, which made Hinari lift her head and smile. "Hello sensei Asuma. Why do you ask?"

Asuma looked at the girl with a laugh. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me sensei? Besides, I saw from your furrowed brow that you don't know what to do."

Caught off guard, Hinari looked at her counterpart and finally had to laugh a little herself. She liked Asuma and could well understand why Shikamaru was a good companion. "But I'm not good at shogi." Yes, Hinari sucked at it, even though she had practiced with him and Shikamaru many times. Even when she was still blind, she was allowed to learn this game. "I bet you've improved." The brown-haired man smiled, so Hinari finally agreed.

Not far from them, they sat down at a small snack bar and ordered tea, dangos and the shogi board. It was not usual to be given a board, which was why Asuma had chosen the dango snack bar. He came here often, and not just as an adult. Even back then as a genin and chunin, he was here, just like Anko and his sweetheart Kurenai.

When everything was on the table, Asuma set up the game pieces to make it a little easier for Hinari. Even though she was an intelligent girl, she had a little pea brain when it came to things like this. If shogi was a battlefield where you had to kill pieces, it would certainly be easier for herself than trying to defeat them with different strategies. Shogi was like a chess game in which tactics were required. Hinari never thought twice when it came to fighting. She followed her heart, just like Naruto did, only Hinari was smarter than the Uzumaki. Although she had learned from Shisui and Itachi, she wasn't the best tactician in that respect.

After a quick sip of tea, Hinari looked at the board. Since she wanted to make the first move, she thought about how she was going to defeat Asuma beforehand. Although, even then she would lose against him. Asuma waited patiently until Hinari made her move. He had noticed that she had learned to think first and then play.

She tried to understand the shogi, which pleased Asuma. He would never have thought that Hinari would be so enthusiastic about something like this. After about five minutes, Hinari placed the first stone on a new spot and sipped her tea. Asuma only looked at her train for a few seconds and immediately moved his stone to a new place. Hinari hated it when her opponents were always so quick. Shikamaru was even faster, which always annoyed her.

However, since Hinari had already planned her moves, she moved the next stone forward. While Asuma took a dango, he made his move again and looked at the Uchiha. "Tell me, Hinari, who is the king?" he asked and received a questioning look. "Is that supposed to be a distraction?" Laughing, the Sarutobi shook his head. "No, I just want to know who you think the king is."

While Hinari thought about it, she made her move and stared at the stone with the word king on it. What could Asuma possibly mean by that? He wouldn't just ask such a question if it was that simple. Asuma realized that Hinari was thinking about it. For a moment, he had thought that she would just say something. Oddly enough, she thought carefully about such things. Soon he would ask Shikamaru the same question and hoped that the Nara would know the right answer right away.

Hinari got this kind of thinking from her brother and Itachi. Both were very profound when it came to Konoha or the war. "Hm, I don't think that means the Hokage, anyway." Hinari pondered and continued to make her moves. "The Hokage can protect himself, otherwise he would always have to be protected, just like a king."

Asuma smiled slightly. So she was already on the right track. But did she find the right answer? Just as Hinari had the army of soldiers in mind and opened her mouth, she closed it again. Before her eyes, she saw Itachi, who had killed every Uchiha except for Sasuke and herself. He hadn't killed them because he loved them both, but for another reason. And it was precisely this reason that Hinari would now give as an answer.

Slowly, she raised her head and smiled. "The children are the kings. They need our protection and are the future of all the villages. If we fall, the children will take over our work. They are the ones we must protect and who will eventually start a family themselves." Asuma looked at Hinari and began to smile. So she had understood what it was all about. She didn't know how she came to that conclusion, but he was happy that she felt that way about the future and the children.

"Shogi against Asuma?" asked Shikamaru, who had just come from the exam and was walking past the snack bar. Hinari looked at the Nara with a smile. "Yes, Asuma invited me because you were all at the exam." For a brief moment, Shikamaru looked at the shogi board and laughed slightly. "But you've lost again."

Shocked, Hinari looked at the board and then at Asuma. "That can't be true!"