Il entend la conversation entre Saï et Sakura et semble être d’accord avec lui. Malgré la défaite des lieutenants d’Orochimaru, la mission est considérée comme un échec dans la mesure où Sasuke n’a pas été ramené à Konoha. Such strategies are often highly elaborate and use multiple layers of misdirection, where he takes small victories just to eliminate extraneous factors, pretends defeat in order to re-position opponents, and engineers conditions that will lead opponents to defeating themselves. ShikaCho (シカチョウ ShikaCho ) is the term used to refer to the romantic relationship between Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. En tant que membre du clan Nara, Shikamaru a une prédisposition pour les techniques de manipulation des ombres (Kage no Jutsu), mais sa vrai puissance vient de ses incroyables talents de tacticien qui lui permettent d’élaborer des plans ingénieux très rapidement. À l'époque Chôji, était exclu des jeux des autres enfants à cause de sa corpulence. Les combats de Shikamaru sont souvent des allégories de parties de shōgi. By then focusing on this vast amount of information – which he usually does by closing his eyes and cupping his fingers – Shikamaru can quickly think ten moves ahead of his opponent(s) and devise over a hundred strategies, from which he instantly picks the most effective. As an Academy student and even during his early career as a genin, Shikamaru is able to get away with this, spending his days sleeping, watching the clouds, or playing games of shōgi and Go. Il est secouru par Temari, arrivée en renfort.

Mission pour récupérer Sasuke[modifier] Shikamaru undergoes a rapid maturity after the death of his teacher, Asuma Sarutobi, whose loss forces Shikamaru to recognise that the world is not safe that he cannot be kept protected from it forever. When used against opponents, they may be able to resist his control, requiring that Shikamaru exert additional effort to keep them bound; when used for whatever reason on allies or others who have been incapacitated, no resistance occurs and the process is accordingly much easier. Son père lui fait cependant remarquer assez brutalement que ce n’est pas parce qu’il cessera d’être un ninja que ses compagnons ne seront plus en danger de mort lors d’une mission et qu’il doit au contraire continuer pour les protéger en tant que chef d’équipe.

He also wears brown pants, a pair of his clan's traditional silver hoop earrings, and wears his blue forehead protector around his left arm. Shikamaru Nara (奈良シカマル, Nara Shikamaru) is a shinobi of Konohagakure's Nara clan.Though lazy by nature, Shikamaru has a rare intellect that consistently allows him to prevail in combat. Whether he is about to go into combat, issuing orders to those who are in combat, or is personally involved in combat himself, Shikamaru's general approach is the same: he remains aware of all actions that allies and opponents make, even things that seem insignificant at the time or that he doesn't yet understand; he keeps track of where everything is located in relation to everything else, even features that lack obvious practical use; he studies the behavior of all combatants, gradually learning how they react in any given situation. His signature move is the Shadow Imitation Technique, which in the anime he learned before even entering the Academy. It is also these qualities that force Shikamaru to move away from his lazy pursuits, as he finds himself volunteering to do work or to sacrifice himself if it will in some way benefit his allies. Shikamaru showed the same lack of enthusiasm for the tests he was given and couldn't be bothered to actually answer the questions, leading to his poor grades. Grâce aux poings américains d’Asuma absorbant le chakra de son utilisateur, il peut créer une variante plus puissante de ses techniques et piéger ses adversaires sans les toucher directement de son ombre.
As a member of the Nara clan, Shikamaru's specialty is in manipulating his own shadow. Leurs noms signifient respectivement « Sanglier », « Papillon » et Shikamaru veut dire « Cerf ». Bien que peu motivé, Shikamaru reste en retrait pour stopper leurs poursuivants. Shikamaru has narrow brown eyes and a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated.
He may still balk at the prospect of the work he must do, but he no longer runs from it, even going so far as to argue in favour of difficult choices if it will guarantee his friends' and village's survival. Shikamaru had very little interest in the class itself, preferring to spend his time sleeping rather than listen to Iruka Umino's lessons. Pourtant, même s'ils ne semblent pas motivés voire peureux, les membres de l'équipe 10 n’hésitent pas à venir en aide à Sakura au prise avec les genin du Son envoyés par Orochimaru. Shikamaru claims that he has always looked up to Sasuke.