See, that was exactly the type of news Shikamaru didn't need to hear in passing conversation. If he'd been drawn from a couple weeks prior, he'd be in a very, very bothersome position right now. It was just Sai's way, so he couldn't hold it against the ninja for not understanding that a person might not want to first learn about the death of a person close to them in that sort of manner, but he still wrinkled his nose in disapproval. Luckily, he'd already added a 'don't ask' to the note he'd written for an alternate self. If only other people could grasp the concept.
"I'm from about the same time," he said, glancing to Sai. "I don't remember Konohamaru, though." A few days had passed since the battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, but it was the last thing he'd done that Kakashi would know about.
Time to get the rest out of the way, then. "Kakashi. If I vanish from here and another version of me shows up later, it'd help a lot if you'd give him--me--this." He produced the folded paper he'd hastily scrawled during dinner. "They're just notes, but it'll save me a lot of work." Kakashi was the one he could best trust to do the task. Naruto might forget, and Sakura could refuse based on what he needed to record about Sasuke. Even if Kakashi didn't agree with something he'd written, he'd understand that Shikamaru was only skipping to conclusions he'd eventually come to anyway.
"I don't see any advantage in knowing about the future," he continued, choosing his words a little more carefully (and hopefully more successfully) than he had at breakfast. "I need to worry about this place now, and it'd be a hassle to waste time thinking about things I can't change." He kept his voice level and professional, hoping that Kakashi would consider it a strategic decision rather than an emotional defense. "So it would be best if you didn't tell me about anything that happens, no matter how insignificant it seems. The same goes double for any version from an earlier time." If it hadn't been for the last two weeks, Shikamaru wouldn't have known enough to make the request on his own, and he briefly looked over to Sai, hopefully indicating exactly what it was he needed not to know about. He'd grown a lot, but that wouldn't have been possible if he'd had to work with cold facts instead of experience.
He didn't expect Kakashi to make the same kind of slip that Sakura had, and as someone unaffected by emotion, Sai probably wouldn't understand the necessity at all. Still, he made it a point to learn from his mistakes, so Shikamaru phrased the request as unambiguously and firmly as he could without blatantly overstepping his rank.
Re: M18
"I'm from about the same time," he said, glancing to Sai. "I don't remember Konohamaru, though." A few days had passed since the battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, but it was the last thing he'd done that Kakashi would know about.
Time to get the rest out of the way, then. "Kakashi. If I vanish from here and another version of me shows up later, it'd help a lot if you'd give him--me--this." He produced the folded paper he'd hastily scrawled during dinner. "They're just notes, but it'll save me a lot of work." Kakashi was the one he could best trust to do the task. Naruto might forget, and Sakura could refuse based on what he needed to record about Sasuke. Even if Kakashi didn't agree with something he'd written, he'd understand that Shikamaru was only skipping to conclusions he'd eventually come to anyway.
"I don't see any advantage in knowing about the future," he continued, choosing his words a little more carefully (and hopefully more successfully) than he had at breakfast. "I need to worry about this place now, and it'd be a hassle to waste time thinking about things I can't change." He kept his voice level and professional, hoping that Kakashi would consider it a strategic decision rather than an emotional defense. "So it would be best if you didn't tell me about anything that happens, no matter how insignificant it seems. The same goes double for any version from an earlier time." If it hadn't been for the last two weeks, Shikamaru wouldn't have known enough to make the request on his own, and he briefly looked over to Sai, hopefully indicating exactly what it was he needed not to know about. He'd grown a lot, but that wouldn't have been possible if he'd had to work with cold facts instead of experience.
He didn't expect Kakashi to make the same kind of slip that Sakura had, and as someone unaffected by emotion, Sai probably wouldn't understand the necessity at all. Still, he made it a point to learn from his mistakes, so Shikamaru phrased the request as unambiguously and firmly as he could without blatantly overstepping his rank.