What a drag: The best Shikamaru Nara quotes from the Naruto franchise

May 03, 2024

Naruto‘s Shikamaru Nara is the embodiment of why being lazy is not a flaw in and of itself but may in fact be a symptom of great intelligence. He’s not some sort of lazy parasite who uses others to get further along, instead, he’s a man who understands the importance of being idle, of doing nothing but gazing at the clouds leisurely passing by. In her extensive and riveting autobiography, the revered crime novelist Agatha Christie wrote: “I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” This perfectly summarizes Shikamaru’s attitude.

“Sometimes I wish I was a cloud… Just floating along, going wherever the breeze takes me.”

This might be one of the most well-known Shikamaru quotes, and like many of them, it is also said before (or after, in other cases) he gets time to really shine, mainly due to his high IQ and strategic thinking. Life can be troublesome, and this Team 10 member is constantly denouncing this fact with his catchphrase “What a drag…” (“mendokuse” in the original Japanese).

Because life can be a total drag, the young Shikamaru wishes he could be a cloud and not have to worry about anything. This quote comes in the form of an internal monologue in the middle of his fight against Temari, during the final stage of the Chūnin Exams, as the young Leaf ninja is absently staring up at the sky. While it might’ve looked like the Sand Village opponent was going to defeat him, Shikamaru does his usual thinking posture right before applying clever tactics in order to defeat his opponent. When all is said and done, he gives up, much to the crowd’s displeasure. However, his impressive display of intelligence is enough to make him the only contestant who gets promoted to Chūnin. This serves as incontestable proof, to his classmates and the viewers, that Shikamaru is way more than just that one lazy guy.

“For as long as I’ve known him, Sasuke and I haven’t exactly been close buddies, in fact, I don’t really like him at all. All the same, Sasuke’s a ninja belonging to the Hidden Leaf Village. He’s a comrade, and I’ll put my life on the line to help him. I know I usually seem like a pretty lazy guy. But not today. Because now, I’m responsible for your lives too.”

Shikamaru doesn’t play around when it comes to his comrades’ survival. Right before they set off on the high-stakes mission to find Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back, the newly promoted Chūnin says these words to those on the team he’s put together and is leading — Naruto, Choji, Neji, and Kiba. This sentence shows why Shikamaru, while not the strongest fighter, was nevertheless deserving of going up the ninja ranks when none of his classmates did.

This marks Shikamaru’s first mission as a Chūnin and squad leader, and he does not take this responsibility lightly. Even before they set off, Shikamaru thinks of a prudent and strategic formation for them to follow, and afterward, he concludes his speech with these words, reasserting for us and his teammates the kind of guy he truly is.

“Training and reality are two different things. I thought I knew about missions. I thought I knew what it meant to be a shinobi. Now, after this mission, my first as a squad leader, one thing’s clear: I’m just not cut out to be a shinobi.”

Jumping from Episode 110 to 135, the Sasuke recovery mission wasn’t successful, and on top of that, nearly all members of their team were at death’s door, some would surely have died had they not been assisted by the Sand Siblings, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. As a result, Shikamaru feels a crushing amount of guilt, heavy enough to make him question his path in life. Although this is not meant to be an inspiring quote, it nevertheless gives us some insight into the complexity that is Shikamaru’s character and how caring and honorable he is despite his mostly aloof and detached demeanor.

Although Shikamaru’s inner turmoil is the focus of this scene, the true MVP has to be his father, Shikaku, without overlooking the fact that Temari and Tsunade also offer some harsh but helpful words. The three of them, in their own different ways, help Shikamaru get his act together and understand that this failure doesn’t mean he is one himself or that he should throw in the towel. It just means he needs to keep working on getting better.

“Next time, the mission will go perfectly.” Shikamaru’s voice is strained as he makes a promise through the tears and overwhelming emotion he feels. This moment of doubt and vulnerability is paramount to Shikamaru’s continuous growth, and one that should make fans admire him even more rather than finding him weak or pitiable.

“When you curse someone, you dig your own grave. You know why, don’t you, pal? If you curse someone and take them out, you’ll also be defeated in retribution. And that’s why you end up digging your own grave. You cursed my Sensei dead, I can’t let you just keep living, running around free. That’s your grave you’re hanging over.”

“If anyone has the perfect plan, it’s him.” Sakura thinks about Shikamaru, demonstrating the faith she has in her comrade. While Sakura has been shown to be mistaken many times, she’s spot on with this thought. Going all the way to Naruto: Shippuden Episode 87, Shikamaru faces Hidan for the second time and by himself. He’s determined to avenge his Sensei, and the Nara clan ninja has the perfect plan to defeat and incapacitate the immortal Akatsuki member. He literally buries him alive, a fate inarguably worse than death. But right before he does, he says these badass words to his no-longer-smiling opponent, while he fiddles with the lighter that used to be Asuma’s.

The words Shikamaru utters right before condemning Hidan to his well-deserved fate are also worthy of mention: “You and your God don’t frighten me. You see, you and I believe in different things. You wanna know what I believe in? The Will of Fire. Right now, the God you should be worried about isn’t your stupid Jashin or anyone else. It’s me. Because I’m the one who’s about to pass judgment.”

This victory must have felt as cathartic to Shikamaru as it did for fans, because, despite having a boisterous and entertainingly deranged personality, Hidan was one of the least sympathetic among the members of the Akatsuki. Moreover, by the end of this arc, Shikamaru has matured even further and finally fully grasped the meaning behind the Leaf Village’s concept of the Will of Fire.

“Having lost my teacher just like you, I understand exactly what you’re going through right now. But whining and sulking won’t make things better. Face it, both of us are way past that point in our lives. Asuma-sensei imparted a lot of knowledge to me. Some lessons were important, some not so much, it didn’t matter. The same for you, right? An infinite number of priceless things. So I think it’s time for us to step up. To stop being students and become teachers. It’s gonna be a drag but we can’t keep complaining. Eventually, you’ll be the one paying for the ramen, and someone will be calling you ‘Naruto-sensei.’ After all, we can’t stay brats forever. Not if we want to become cool shinobi, like the type of shinobi that Asuma and Jiraya both were.”

It should be obvious by this point in the series — Shippuden Episode 153 — that Shikamaru is a great friend. But he proves so once again in the aftermath of Jiraya’s death.

“All right, you’re coming with me, let’s go.” These are the words Shikamaru uses to get a depressed Naruto to go out of his apartment. It’s not a question, and it doesn’t leave room for rebuttal. Shikamaru is not about to allow his friend to be locked inside dwelling in his grief. At this point in time, Shikamaru has been through a similar loss before, so he understands what Naruto needs to witness and hear in order to get his groove back. He takes him to see Kurenai, who’s pregnant with Asuma’s child. He does so to prove to Naruto that life will keep moving on, death and life go hand in hand, and if he wishes to become to the next generation what the Pervy Sage was to him, he needs to step up, accept his grief as part of the process, and honor Jiraya’s memory by keeping on living with his head held high. This pep talk also goes to show how far Shikamaru has come, and how much wiser he’s become since the time we first saw him on screen.

“Even a small power can be helpful, depending on how it’s used. We may not be able to help now, but there might come a time when we will be needed. So don’t take your eyes off the battlefield, in case such a time arrives. Our power could change the course of this war. We can’t afford to relax, and let our guard down even for one second!”

At a later stage during the massive arc that is the Fourth Shinobi World War, a resurrected Madara Uchiha is fighting a resurrected Hashirama Senju. Many members of the Allied Shinobi Forces who are witnessing the battle are becoming overwhelmed by the unbelievable demonstration of sheer power and are thus losing heart. Shikamaru, being the great tactician that he is, is capable of reading the atmosphere and finding the right words to impart to his comrades through Ino’s telepathic link. His words have the desired effect, as people’s posture changes and they go back to staying on their toes.

His motivational speech makes Temari think that Shikamaru could be a great Hokage, and it’s hard to argue with that. However, it is fair to deduce that Shikamaru would find the constant Hokage duties to be a drag. Hence, perhaps he’s better off as he is in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: the highly intelligent advisor to the highly skilled Leaf Village’s figurehead, his good old friend Naruto Uzumaki.

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