Nara Shikamaru

Appearance
Shikamaru stands at about 5'7" with a slender build. He has black eyes and black hair that he keeps pulled back in a high, thick ponytail. He has a relatively plain face, narrow eyes, and pierced ears. Unlike the rest of his graduating class, Shikamaru actually chooses to wear the standard-issue Chuunin flak jacket, altering the uniform only with a little netting and the displacement of his forehead protector (which is attatched near the shoulder of his left sleeve).

Abilities
Shikamaru is quite the average ninja so far as strength, speed, and stamina go. Even slightly subpar in comparison to some of his graduating class, but what truly sets him apart is his prodigious intelligence. An IQ tested at over 200 makes him a genius at strategy with advanced problem-solving skills.

The Nara clan's skill-set includes various jutsus involving the use of shadows, making them perfect for espionage. The most basic of these jutsus can manipulate another person into copying the users movements, and more complicated versions of it can enable to user to preform physical attacks with the shadows themselves. The Nara family is also famous for the deer they keep, as well as the medicines that can be manufactured from their antlers.

Personality
Nara Shikamaru is known, first and foremost, for his impressive intelligence. Unfortunately, he's also known to be unforgivably lazy. When he was young he'd often shirk responsibilities and obligations, almost bitter that so much more should be expected of him simply because of that silly test Asuma had tricked him into taking. He got away with putting forth as little effort as possible in most things he did, that is, until the Sasuke-retrieval mission. Leading his team on an essentially hopeless mission and having them all return barely alive had a profound impact on Shikamaru. It was then that he decided, whether he liked it or not, he had a duty to push aside his cowardice and help protect his friends and his village to the best of his ability from those who might threaten it. After all, if he didn't do it, his friends and loved ones would only continue to go on missions and put themselves in danger. At least by providing the village with his own unique skill-set, he could guarantee than none of his friends would be lost because of something he had the power to prevent.

The death of Sarutobi Asuma a few years later turned Shikamaru's world upside-down and shoved the boy head-first into adulthood. Up until then he'd had a rather narrow view of life, wanting nothing more for himself than to eventually marry, maybe have some kids, and hopefully die a peaceful death whenever his time should come. Asuma's death forced Shikamaru to see where he really stood in the world: a (practically) grown man who could no longer depend on his elders to make sure things worked out all right. He took it upon himself to avenge Asuma, and later declared it his responsibility to look after the child his teacher left behind. In Konoha children are the future, and Shikamaru grasps this concept whole-heartedly. Shikamaru's world is a very logical place, one where outcomes can be easily predicted and control is key. He's incredibly mature for his age and usually calm in times of stress, but can have some difficulty coping when a situation evolves beyond his control. He still retains many of the lazy habits from his younger days, using cloud-gazing and afternoon naps as a sort of escape from the normal stresses of everyday life. He's a very honest person, sometimes to the point of verging on rude, but it's really too troublesome to lie. He can be somewhat difficult to get along with if you're not used to his particular brand of sarcasm and frankness, but he's lucky in that (so far) he's managed to surround himself with friends who can deal with and make up for his shortcomings. He's not particularly good a dealing with his own emotions or the emotions of those around him, but he makes an honest effort to understand those he might consider friends.

History
Shikamaru graduated from the Academy at the age of twelve and was placed in Genin team number ten, pairing him with long-time friends Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji, under the supervision of Jounin Sarutobi Asuma. His team, in spite of the Nara's extreme sloth, progressed normally as all Konoha ninja do, until the time came for the Chuunin exams. Shikamaru was the only participant to pass (the decision based entirely on his intellect and use of strategy) and gain Chuunin-level status. As the only Genin to be promoted, it fell to Shikamaru to lead a team of his peers on mission to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin. The mission was a failure and nearly resulted in the deaths of most of the teammates. This failure became an inspiration that Shikamaru would use in the future, determined to never fail again.

After the time-skip Shikamaru took on more responsibilities, such as those of a Chuunin examiner. When Akatsuki started to become more of a threat, he was sent (along with Sarutobi Asuma, Hagane Kotetsu, and Kamizuki Izumo) on a mission that ended with a confrontation with Hidan and Kakuzu and resulted in Asuma's death. Shikamaru took Asuma's death very hard, but he did manage to work through his grief enough to form a working plan in his mind to bring Asuma's killers to justice. With his old Genin team (plus Hatake Kakashi), he launched an offensive against the two immortals, assisting in the defeat of Kakuzu and taking out Hidan all on his own. Since then he's remained in the village, working in the administration

Notable relationships include a very close friendship with Akimichi Chouji, whom he's known since before their Academy days, and Yamanaka Ino, a "troublesome woman" but all-around dependable teammate. His mother, Yoshino, is a civilian. She's a caring woman and a good mother, but can be strict (almost fearsome) when it comes to the men in her life. His relationship with his father, Shikaku, is a decent one. Neither of them are very talkative people and Shikaku can seem abrasive, but they understand each other and get along as well as any father and teen-aged son can.

Facility Facts

 * Shikamaru has been in the Facility since it's start.
 * He's formed an odd team with Tsunade, Kakashi and Obito (Obito has since been terminated). Tsunade is their unspoken leader, but outsiders occasionally assume that Shikamaru is in charge.
 * Until recently, of all the Naruto cast present, Shikamaru was the closest to the current manga canon timeline. He prefers not to share information of the future with those who have yet to live it if he can help it, and he has outright lied to keep the news of Konoha's destruction a secret.
 * He has a close relationship with Kouichi Aizawa from Nabari no Ou.
 * During Week 12 (Personality Switch week), Shikamaru was killed as the result of a Facility wide vote.
 * During Week 22, Shikamaru was offered a chance to obtain an item from home. He chose Asuma's chakra blades.
 * Week 26 (Flesh Eating Bacteria Week) and Week 27 (Loveless/Canon Swap Week) were some of the hardest weeks Shikamaru had faced up to that time. He lived through Week 26 only to watch a large percentage of the facility die, including Tsunade. This was then followed with most of his support system either going catatonic or forgetting him completely as part of the Canon Swap. This led to a partial breakdown, but he recovered quickly when his team was returned to him.
 * During Week 32 (Evil Twin Week in Manhattan), Shikamaru was kidnapped by Allen Walker's evil twin and held captive and tortured underground for almost a week.
 * Shikamaru has been constantly on-edge since Week 33 brought with it the first appearance of Hidan (and the kidnapping of Ino which resulted in Hidan-chunks strewn about Manhattan). With both of his teams present (Team Asuma and Team Tsunade), he's very concerned that Hidan will use those he cares about to get to him.
 * During Week 36 (Evil vs. Good Week), Shikamaru was murdered by Hidan, but not before being forced to watch Ino, Chouji, and Kouichi die right in front of him first.