A young Gaara is hated by his father and isolated by his siblings, who play in the sandbox with Gaara until their father separates them. During dinner, Gaara asks his uncle about his mother and how to feel happy. His uncle replies that the moon makes him feel better when he is sad, and Gaara agrees that the moon makes him feel happy. A young Shikamaru is bored in class lectures and wants to sleep but is punished along with Naruto and Choji by Iruka for interrupting class. They bond as they stand in the hallway and later hang out after school. Shikamaru criticises Naruto for defending Hinata from bullies and the boys later laugh at Ino for getting rejected by Sasuke.

Instead of returning to the Hidden Leaf, Sasuke sets out with Chino and Nowaki to investigate the cause of the exploding humans.

The super-secret mission to find Naruto and Hinata a wedding gift proves to be difficult for Shikamaru. Choji has found the perfect gift, which adds to Shikamaru's panic. But then Choji mentions something in passing and Shikamaru gets an idea. All he needs now is to enlist Temari's help!