The Endgame

In chess, the endgame is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. The endgame tends to have different characteristics from the middlegame, and the players have correspondingly different strategic concerns. In particular, pawns become more important as endgames often revolve around attempting to promote a pawn. The king, which has to be protected in the middlegame owing to the threat of checkmate, becomes a strong piece in the endgame. It can be brought to the center of the board and be a useful attacking piece.** Wikipedia

Chapter Fifty

Few things are as psychologically brutal as chess. - Garry Kasparov

Interlude

Shikamaru watched as the grass in his hand drifted off on the light breeze. It was carried down the hill and then lost in the streets below. The smoke from Asuma's cigarette blew over him, making him cough.

"That stuff'll kill you, you know," Shikamaru said.

Asuma blew a ring of smoke, musing, "Too hard to kick the habit."

The Nara boy snorted. "Then why did you even start?"

Asuma took the cigarette from his mouth and considered it for a second. He turned to his student and raised an eyebrow. "It was the first in a long line of attempts to rebel against my father."

The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow. "I thought the Hokage smoked too."

Asuma shrugged, taking another puff from the cigarette. "Not my best attempt."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Is that why you joined the Twelve Guardian Shinobi? To rebel against your father? The Daimyo keeps sending me requests to join."

Asuma nodded. "I was fifteen, wild, growing my hair long; Kurenai was getting serious with some jerk in ANBU. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn't plan to be there long: maybe for a couple months, just to make my old man sweat. But I ended up staying for a couple years."

"Why'd you stay so long?"

Asuma blew a cloud of smoke out in front of them. "Chiriku became my mentor. He made me a better shinobi. After I'd been gone for a while, it didn't make sense to return until I'd made something of myself. Couldn't come back the same bratty teenager."

Shikamaru leaned back in the grass. "Hard to imagine you as a bratty teenager."

Asuma snorted. "I was one of the worst, believe me. You should consider it, Shika. You don't need to worry, I'm sure Ino will wait for you."

"I—I—" Shikamaru stuttered, blushing bright red. "That's not the reason I don't want to go."

Asuma let out a hearty laugh. "I can read you like a book, kid."

Nara Shikamaru

Uchiha Sasuke was standing with his friends Uzumaki Karin and Hozuki Suigetsu. His hand was grasping Hyuga Hinata's tightly. Shikamaru had never seen that particular expression on the Uchiha's face before: joy, complete, and utter joy.

That bastard Sasuke had soared to the highest heights of heaven and he had sunk to the deepest pits of hell.

Sasuke and Hinata exchanged a smile and then Karin went on to speaking to them about something or other. He was too far away from them to hear the conversation, but he could easily guess.

All the while, he had been so focused on capturing the enemy's King that he hadn't noticed they'd taken his Queen. What a poor chessmaster he was.

He stiffened at her hand on his arm and her soft voice at his side. "Shikamaru?" He shrugged off her arm and turned to glare at her. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Please, Shikamaru," she begged. "Please talk to me. I can –"

"Explain?" he interrupted.

"I—I—" she began.

He crossed his arms over his chest. Raising an eyebrow, he demanded, "Explain what? Explain how it is that you're four months pregnant with another man's child? Explain why you've been lying to me for so many months? "

"Shika," she pleaded. "You know that I didn't want to sleep with—"

He snorted. "I thought you said that you loved him, that he was good to you, that he was beautiful and romantic and gentle. Was that a lie too?"

Ino wrapped her arms around herself. Her lower lip trembled. "I was trying to make the most out of a bad situation. He was good to me. He reminded me of you, Shika."

He rolled his eyes. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Shika—"

"Ino, it's bad enough that you slept with another man and are carrying his child, but you stole my memories and deceived me for months."

"I was forced—"

"I'm sick of your excuses," he snarled.

"I didn't –" she began.

"I can't look at you anymore," he said finally. He turned and walked away from her.

She ran after him, grabbing his arm. "Shikamaru, I know you don't believe me, but I do love you."

He shook her off. "I'm leaving. I can't stay in Konoha while you're there."

She reeled back almost as if he'd struck her. "Where will you go?"

He shrugged. "Maybe I'll finally accept the Daimyo's offer to join the Twelve Guardian Ninjas."

"Please, Shika," she begged. "Please don't leave me. I love you."

"Goodbye, Yamanaka Ino."

Interlude

Shikamaru picked the pieces off the board and put them back into the cloth bag while his sensei examined the board. "I still don't get how you did that," Asuma muttered to himself.

Shikamaru shrugged. "You're afraid to attack with your king during the endgame, Asuma. He's a strong piece, you should use him."

Asuma frowned at his king in his hand. "I do play much more conservatively than you do."

Shikamaru remarked, "The king doesn't always need to be protected. He can be a valuable weapon during the endgame."

Asuma handed his student the pieces by his side of the board. "So have you figured out what the king is yet, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru dropped the pawns, rooks, bishops, and knights into the bag. "Well you said that it's not Konoha. I'm not sure what else would make sense."

Asuma smiled at his student as he handed over his queen. "You'll understand some day. You're still too young."

Shikamaru huffed in annoyance. "I wish you would just tell me."

Asuma laughed. "It's something you need to figure out on your own, Shika."

Shikamaru looked down at the last two pieces on his side of the board. It was his queen and king. He ran his finger over the delicately carved wood. As he put the last pieces away, his mind wandered. He at least knew who his queen was: his boisterous, brave, bratty, beautiful, bossy teammate Yamanaka Ino.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.