Nara Shikamaru

Sooner or later, he'll probably have to kick the habit. It's a thought that crosses Shikamaru's mind every time he steps out for a cigarette. It's an expensive habit to keep up in a city that isn't half as accepting as Konoha was, though he can't say that he disagrees with the social attitude towards tobacco. He's read plenty of literature on the topic, plenty of studies on how negatively smoking can impact one's respiratory system, even when only picking up lingering smoke from a neighbor or friend. There are plenty of reasons to stop smoking, and far few to continue, but the one reason why he picked up cigarettes in the first place remains the reason why he continues to smoke today.

Because it's the only connection he keeps with his late mentor.

"Couldn't you have had some other habit?" Shikamaru asks absentmindedly, tapping his cigarette until the hanging ash falls to the ground. "Something like long walks on the beach, or a couple of beers... something less troublesome than this."

He grins as he exhales, because he knows it was never Asuma's intent to drive Shikamaru to smoke to begin with. Were Asuma still alive, he'd tell Shikamaru to cut it out.

But he's not.

It's not a bad day, all things considered. And so Shikamaru hangs outside of the building a little longer than he probably should, knowing that he'll have paperwork to fill out and file late into the night. It's not like he has a family to return to, anyway.

His brow raises when he notices Jerry coming out for his own break, and that's when Shikamaru knows he must have been hanging outside for hours already.

"Yo," he greets, raising a hand.