DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. I also do not own Hatsune or baby Asuma—they are Rama-chan's. However, I do own Hana, Masaru, and Chiyoko, so please ask if you're gonna use them, kthx.
A/N: This fanfic was written specifically for the extremely talented Rama-chan on Deviantart. Go to [ramachan. deviantart. com] to see the specifics of the contest and be sure to take a look at her gallery! She has the most amazing ShikaTema fanart and some other Naruto pairings. She does fabulous commissions too! Hope you all enjoy the story, despite the overstuffed fluff and overdone warm feelings. Haha! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, as are any other comments. Please don't flame. Now start reading! ^^
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The First Day Of Summer
"The first day of summer is tomorrow," Temari mentioned as she scooted into bed next to Shikamaru, feeling that familiar warmness they shared before falling fast asleep in each other's arms.
"Oh? And what exactly are you trying to get at, woman?" Shikamaru asked teasingly—he knew very well that Temari didn't bring up things without a reason.
"Nothing" Temari giggled, knowing that Shikamaru knew she was up to something. "I was just thinking it might be a good day to invite your friends and their kids over for a playdate."
"Playdate? As in we'll have four kids at our house at one time?"
"Actually five. You're forgetting that Matsuri is going to drop off our niece in the morning."
"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, trying to show annoyance, but he couldn't help a little tone of happy anticipation from leaking out.
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Matsuri arrived early in the morning, carrying a sleeping bundle on her back. Shikamaru was still asleep, but Temari was up and waiting for her arrival. Temari greeted Matsuri with a small breakfast, which Matsuri was very grateful for. The two girls had become like sisters over night after Matsuri and Gaara were married; Temari had never had a sister and loved having a sister-in-law. It was unfortunate that the Nara's hadn't seen Gaara since baby Asuma was born—he was busy with important Kazekage business, of course—but at least Matsuri and their daughter visited from time to time. Before long, Shikamaru shuffled out of the bedroom, sleep still written on his face, to grab a glass of water. It was time Matsuri headed out and Shikamaru and Temari wished her a safe, successful mission, promising to take good care of their niece while she was away. With one last kiss on her forehead, Matsuri wished her still sleeping daughter farewell and hurried off out of Konoha.
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As soon as Ino heard from Chouji that Shikamaru and Temari had invited them over for a playdate, she was getting their two kids up and dressed, packing snacks to share and sunflowers for Temari, who had a personal attachment to the big, brilliant flowers since the first time Shikamaru had surprised her with them on their 1st official date. Practically the entire village had been spying on the pair at dinner that evening—with Ino leading them, of course.
"Chouji where are the diapers? I just bought more yesterday! And can you check the oven—the muffins should be done about now. Ah! Here's that box of ribbons I was looking for in the shop! Oh, where is my hairbrush? I must look terrible…"
"Sweetheart, we aren't even going over for another hour or two!" Chouji laughed, still smitten with how beautiful his wife looked when she was flustered, despite that he'd known her since they were young. "And you look delicious." He swept his large, protective arms around the skinny blonde from the back and placed soft kisses at the nape of her neck.
That was a little joke between the two of them. Everyone knew that Chouji's favorite thing in the world was food. But when they got married, he made it clear that Ino was by far better than any meal or treat in the world. And of course, his children were more precious than gold, more precious than even Christmas dinner.
Ino giggled. Her laugh drove him happily crazy. "Just go check the oven, you big teddy bear." She was smiling from ear to ear, despite being completely engulfed in preparing for the playdate.
But as every parent knows, bliss is only a temporary state of being.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" A little girl bounded into the room, short blonde hair flying everywhere. She looked a lot like her mom, but her cute chubby cheeks were thanks to the Akimichi side of her lineage. Right now, she wore a big frown on her face that just didn't match with the happy orange and white flower summer dress and single white sandal she was wearing.
"What is it, Hana?"
"Masaru has my sandal!" The little girl whined, giving her foot a small stomp of apparent frustration.
"Oh my. Masaru, where are you? Can I have Hana's sandal, please darling?" Ino loved her children, but sometimes their little fights got really frustrating. It took a lot of practice and patience to not let her temper fly. Chouji, on the other hand, almost never got angry and was often the one to solve these little arguments, however he was busy with the muffins in the kitchen so the responsibility fell on Ino.
Spikey, light-brown hair and two tiny sea-green eyes peeked around the corner. Other than his eyes, the little boy was unmistakably his father's son—with that innocent twinkle in his eyes and inherited pudginess, which was nothing but cute at his young age—he was generally an honest and gentle sort of spirit, but at that did not necessarily include interactions with his sister.
"No have. Mommy I no have."
"Sweetie," Ino got down on her knees and took Masaru's hands in hers. "Mommy really wants to have fun today. Do you want to have fun today?" Masaru lowered his eyes and nodded. "Okay then you have to help me find Hana's sandal, even if you don't have it. Can you use your ninja finding skills for me? Please?" Though Ino sounded nice enough, anyone watching the scene would be able to tell that she was taking deliberate breaths to keep her temper in check.
Instantly, Masaru's guilty face turned to a beaming smile. "I can find sandal mommy! I can find!" And he bounded round the corner, disappearing into his sister's bedroom in search of the missing sandal.
"Hana, my flower. Go help your brother find your sandal, please."
"Okay, okay." And Hana trudged off, a bit disappointed that her brother hadn't gotten in trouble, but happy enough that she would soon have her other sandal back.
Ino let out a huge sigh as she joined Chouji in the kitchen and plopped herself onto his waiting lap. "I'm proud of you sugar." He whispered in her ear as he put his great arms around her waist as encouragement.
"Thank you, honeybunches." Ino sighed again, taking pride at her small accomplishment and relief to be in her husband's strong hold. They shared a long, loving kiss, which was, inevitably, interrupted.
"Eww!" Hana—now equipped with both sandals—and Masaru, who were holding hands upon entering the kitchen, both had disgusted faces on. More or less, Masaru was only imitating his sister. He had no idea what was so gross about their parents kissing.
Chouji laughed heartily. "Why don't you go take a shower, cookie? I'll finish packing and we can leave in about an hour or so." Gratefully, Ino agreed and went off to take what she felt was a well-deserved shower, grinning at the sound of Chouji's laughter. His laughter drove her nuts.
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At just about lunchtime, the Akimichi family headed out to the Nara clan's household at the other end of Konoha. Ino holding Hana's hand and carrying Masaru on her left hip while Chouji carried the baskets of food and other things. Villagers smiled as the beautiful family walked along, love radiating from them like rays of sunshine. They would soon reach their destination.
Meanwhile, the Nara's were having an interesting time getting ready for their arrival. Hatsune and Asuma were sitting on the living room floor playing with large colored blocks. Hatsune wore her favorite lavender dress—simple and getting shorter on the little girl than it had been several months ago. Her pigtails bounced lightly as she tilted her head to the side, contemplating which part of her tower needed adjustment. Across from her, Asuma donned a pair of black shorts and white shirt with a circular green symbol that had a single slash through it—the symbol of the Nara clan. His darkening dirty-blonde hair was up in a ponytail, as was tradition for Nara men, and he looked very much more like his father than he had a week ago before getting his first ponytail. He was simply stacking up all the red blocks on top of one another, trying to see how high he could make it before it fell. Normally, their father enjoyed lying back on the couch, his wife either reading or taking a nap in the crook of his arm, while he watched his children grow and play. However, today was not a normal day and Shikamaru found himself in a troublesome situation at the moment.
"Come now Chiyoko, you'll be fine. Come out already, would you? Out of the bedroom now, our guests will be here soon." When it came to the daughter of the Kazekage, Shikamaru was always unsure how to deal with her. He stood in the hallway, scratching his head irritably, mumbling to himself and wondering why this kid perplexed him so much. "Then again," he thought, "she is Gaara's kid. I mean, she's bound to be a little different, right?"
Chiyoko, known as Chi for short, was a rather reserved child with reddish-brown hair and deep, dark eyes the size of quarters. Her quiet nature was not unlike her father's and it was easy to be unnerved by the child's large and questioning eyes. Much like her mother, she was hungry for knowledge, full of questions but she was too afraid to ask for answers out loud. Shikamaru was normally good at reading people and usually good with kids (whether he liked admitting it or not), but this child was a complete mystery to him most of the time. Temari, on the other hand, having grown up with a brother who barely spoke, knew exactly what to say to appease her tense nerves. Thank goodness.
"Chi, come out here. We are going to meet two new friends. One is a loud girl your age and the other is a little boy like Asuma. They want to say hello to you when they get here and I would really love it if you welcomed them with me and Uncle Shika."
The little girl walked into view in the doorway, clutching a worn-out brown teddy bear with a little red heart patch sewn onto its chest. She wore a crème-colored shawl on top of a plain dark magenta dress robe and black sandals. Her feet shifted around a lot, though her face and hands were calm as could be. It was no wonder Shikamaru had such a hard time reading the child. Chi shuffled with a little hesitation to Shikamaru's side and grabbed onto his pants leg. Shikamaru could do nothing to stop the pink that rushed across his smiling face. Chi did like him, even if he didn't communicate well with her.
"Uncle Shika?"
Slightly startled from the firm tugging on his pants leg, Shikamaru looked down. "Oh, um, what is it Chiyoko?"
"Auntie said to get the door."
After a few seconds of empty blinks, Shikamaru realized that someone was at the door. Well, it helped that Temari's voice rang out from somewhere across the house, once again asking him to answer the door, only this time there was a hint of irritation buzzing in her tone. Shikamaru didn't waste another second. He and Chi made their way to the door, where Hatsune and Asuma were practically jumping with excitement, but they were good kids and knew not to open the door without mommy or daddy.
Shikamaru took a deep breath. The three observant children did the same. "Ready, Chi?" Gaara's daughter nodded firmly, happy that her uncle used her nickname, which he didn't do often. Shikamaru, inspired by Chi's show of courage, opened the door.
"Hello Chou—uhn" Without wasting the time for a complete welcome, Shikamaru's best friend wrapped him in a tight hug. It was either luck or skill or maybe both that Chouji didn't drop any of the things he was carrying. As he released him from his relentless hug, Chouji offered a big, warm smile and nodded. "Shikamaru."
"Chouji."
"SHIKAMARU!" Ino was quick to hug her former teammate as well. Shikamaru smiled. He like Ino a lot better since she became a mother. She was finally growing up. He was just beginning to think that it might have been easier to have married a woman like Ino, much less troublesome than his wife, when Ino started giggling. "Nevermind." He thought "Her laugh would drive me to suicide after a year of it." He chuckled to himself. Temari appeared on his right side and secretly gave him a small pinch on his behind. "Yep, I picked the right woman."
As the adults finished their initial greetings, Temari calmly introduced Chiyoko to Hana and Masaru and their parents. Chiyoko managed a small, honest smile, but before she could say anything, Hana grabbed her hand and the five children ran off, heading for the backdoor to where their picnic was going to be outside.
"Hurry Mommy!" Hana said loudly, pulling Chiyoko along eagerly.
"We want to play!" Hatsune said with a smile in her voice.
"Play! Play!" Echoed Asuma and Masaru.
Ino laughed and answered "Okay, okay we're coming."
After a few nudges from Temari, Shikamaru, in all his lazy-glory, turned and said "Hey Chouji, let me help you with that." Chouji laughed harder than he had in a long time. He didn't have to say anything. Everyone was in on the joke. Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh too. "Shut-up, Chouji."
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The first day of summer turned out to be the perfect weather for a friendly afternoon gathering—it was sunny with plenty of clouds in the sky and light breeze balanced out the heavy humidity. Temari had had little trouble convincing her darling Shikamaru to take a day off and invite his former teammates over for a relaxing playdate for their kids.
The two families had made their way to just inside the edge of the Nara clan forest. The picnic basket and flowers that Chouji had carried over were laid out on one of two blankets that Temari had brought out for them to sit on. Shikamaru was setting up his Shogi set so he and Chouji could play a round or two.
"Hey cupcake, your pretty when you're making sandwiches." Chouji pulled playfully on Ino's ponytail. "Oh?" She replied in a giddy voice, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Is my bonbon hungry?"
"Oy, quit it with the pet names! You two are disgusting." Shikamaru was getting a little impatient for Chouji to make his first Shogi move. Plus, he still found it just plain weird to hear his former teammates talk like that to each other.
Temari frowned. "Why don't you ever call me sweet nicknames, huh?" She jabbed her elbow lightly into his stomach.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Because, troublesome woman, I know you'd kick my ass if I even tried."
Despite herself, Temari smirked and made her voice overly girly. "Is that so?" She leaned in and whispered in his ear. Though Ino tried really hard, she couldn't quite hear what it was she said to him, but the bright pink flush that overtook Shikamaru's face left her imagination something to mull over. The smirk on Temari's face grew into a huge toothy grin. Ah yes. She loved her lazy, stuck up genius.
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As the adults chatted happily away, their little ones played earnestly and noisily at the edge of the Nara clan's forest. The three little girls crowded around a sandbox, a gift from Uncle Gaara for Hatsune's 5th birthday. Gaara's daughter, Chiyoko sat in the sandbox, obviously feeling more at home in the sand, and busied herself with a Kunoichi Barbie, dressed in a short black dress and green Konoha jounin vest. Ino and Chouji's first born, Hana, was pouting and complaining to Hatsune, wondering why she had to play with the stupid Ninja Ken doll. She was too pretty to play with Ken dolls, after all.
"Because Chi will cry if she doesn't have a Barbie and we will get in trouble if she cries." Hatsune, who was more bossy than usual because of Hana's strong personality and Hatsune's own innate stubborness, explained with the firmness why she and Chi had Barbie's. "Besides, I have to have a Barbie because they are my dolls."
"But Ken's are so weak!" Hana whined. "Can't I play with the Kunoichi now?"
"No! We haven't even battled yet!" There was no way Hatsune was going to give up her favorite doll that easily.
"Now, Barbie 1 and Barbie 2! Use your special jitsu's on Ken!" Hatsune made whooshing noises and made her Barbie use a leaf like she had seen her mother use her giant war fan. Chi picked up sand and tossed it at Hana's Ken.
"Noooo! You are toooooooo powerful for me! I am weak!" Hana cried dramatically and after a few more attacks from the powerful Kunoichi's, Ken suddenly went flying through the air, landing directly in the middle of a great training session going on between the little boys: Asuma and Masaru.
Needless to say, the two-year-olds were not happy at the interruption, especially during their serious ninja training. "Hey!" They protested loudly. Earlier, they had run from tree to tree, taking turns chasing one another and trying to tag the other with a plastic kunai. Masaru had suggested a spinning contest after that, which he won by default. (Asuma wasn't known to like spinning as much as most little kids).
As it turned out, they had been in the middle of a small spar using their plastic kunai, yelling "I got you!" and "Hi-yah!" every now and then when they were able to get past the other's defense and nip a shoulder or poke a stomach. Masaru was also terribly ticklish, and once Asuma would get a good poke session started, Masaru would soon be rolling with laughter and yell for a time out. Just after one of these time outs, the two had begun a new round of sparring, only to be hindered by one flying, defeated Ninja Ken doll.
"Stop it Hatsune!" Asuma shouted, giant frown adorning the child's face, ponytail giving his face a sterner look than he might have had without it.
"Barbie's win!" Hatsune jumped up and stuck her tongue out at Asuma, showing off in front of Hana. It was actually very unlike Hatsune to be so rude, but whenever she was around Hana, her gentle spirit was pushed behind a bit bossier than normal exterior.
While the siblings were arguing, Chiyoko ran over to the boys and, without bothering to ask, scooped up the Ninja Ken doll and went to sit on the blanket by her Auntie to play with both the Ken and Barbie dolls she had. The boys didn't care, instead, Asuma glared over at Hatsune, who was making faces and sticking out her tongue at him. Masaru, whose name meant "victory," took advantage of the distraction and jabbed at Asuma with his plastic kunai and shouted, "Masaru wins! Asuma lose!" And he happily bounced to his father Chouji, who picked him up and tossed him lightly into the air. "That's my boy. Daddy is so proud of you!" All of the adults got a good laugh out of the whole little scene, but never had they laughed so hard as they did after what little Asuma did next. Asuma, who was obviously not amused, plopped himself on the grass in an annoyed fashion and, though he wasn't an extremely talkative child, said in an exhausted tone, "How twoublesome."
And so ended the perfect first day of summer, with only many more summer days to come for the next generation of ninjas.
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Notes:
Temari + Shikamaru Nara=Hatsune [5] and Asuma [2]
Gaara + Matsuri Sabaku=Chiyoko [5] "thousand generations child", also named for Chiyo baa-san who used a forbidden jitsu to save Gaara's life
Ino + Chouji Akimichi= Hana [5] "flower" (Ino runs a flower shop) and Masaru [2] "victory" (the backstory is that he was a hard pregnancy for Ino and was born premature, but he was strong and fought his little battle for life and won, hence "victory")