"What do you even want with a cat? We have a herd of deer right outside!"

His mother didn't get it.

"Mom, they don't do anything."

"Shikadai, you don't do anything." She poked his nose for emphasis.

He swatted her hand away, scowling.

She had her hands on her hips. It was over. A valiant effort, but a no-go. The young Nara sighed, he really wanted a house cat.

But at the end of the day, he was his father's son. Observant and lazy, and definitely knew when to surrender, especially when it comes to troublesome women like his mom.

He grumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets, his hands balled into fits. He had a little bit of a temper, mostly around his mother, but wasn't about to act on it.

"I'm going to go see Inojin."

"Alright, then. Hurry back, I'm making dinner soon"

His mother smiled to herself while folding laundry. There was a fish market on the way to the Yamanaka compound that the stray cat population adored, and if her suspicion was right, her son wasn't about to go hang out with any human friends.

"Auntie Ino?"

The new head of the Yamanaka Clan almost dropped her flower arrangements at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Shikadai?"

Shikadai, although taller than Inojin, was still pretty short. He tiptoed for a better view over the counter, bringing up his two hands on the counter for leverage.

"Um Auntie Ino?"

"I think Inojin's with his dad, should I go call him?"

"Actually, it was you I was looking for."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Me?"

"Yes, I was wondering…" He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed about his question. "Does your store have any, um, Nepeta Cataria?"

Ino was baffled, to say the least.

"Catnip? What do you need catnip for, bambi?"

Shikadai grumbled at the dumb nickname.

"It's for the deer."

"The deer?"

"Yeah, you know, our clan deer."

"And what is a deer gonna do with some catnip, Shikadai?"

"err.. it's classified. Clan members only, um, sorry." It was a stupid excuse and he knew it, but he wanted his aunt off his case as soon as possible. "If you don't have it…"

"No, I do. Give me a moment, bambi."

Don't call me bambi! I'm already nine years old, for christ's sake.

His aunt returned moments later with two pots of the plant.

"Is this okay?"

"Yes, it's perfect. Thanks Auntie Ino, charge it to my dad."

He bolted out the door before his aunt asked him more questions, plus he really needed to make a quick stop before he went home.

Ayame and Teuchi were enjoying their weekly trip to the fish market. It was there that they picked up tips and produce, sure, but sometimes they'd put aside their professional life and have some honest father daughter quality time.

"Hey, Dad." He grunted in response. "Isn't that Shikamaru and Temari's kid?"

And it sure was.

Not fifteen yards away was the Nara Clan's heir, carrying two large pots of plants and a small army of cats following him.

"Strange."

The back door creaked loudly as Shikadai slipped into his home. He slipped off his sandals, about to make a beeline for his room, but was cut off by his mom.

"Shikadai?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Why is there dirt all over you?"

Temari wasn't accusing him of anything, she was genuinely confused.

"Inojin and I helped out Auntie Ino." He was getting too good at lying.

His mother's expression softened and she ruffled his hair affectionately.

"That's sweet of you, bambi. Go wash up for dinner, it'll be ready soon." She got out of his way so he could go upstairs. "And call your father down, he needs to see if this mackerel is done!"

She mumbled something about never being able to tell if it's cooked right, but her son already made his way to his room. He had done a lot of work today, and he needed a nap.

But it didn't last long enough. Naps rarely do, Shikadai mused.

"Come on, buddy, mom made mackerel."

"Why should I care." He brattily didn't move from his bed.

"Don't you like Mackerel?"

"No."

"What's got you so moody, Shikadai? Did you not nap today?"

His father knew him all too well.

Later that night, Shikadai was in his room, trying to watch the clouds from his window, but having a difficult time finding a good position.

Electing to give up, he had a better idea. If he craned his neck enough, he could see his mother's garden. A congregation of cats were lazing around the flowers. All according to plan.

Temari awoke in the early hours of the morning to start her day. Her husband hated it, but she liked getting in some training before everyone else was awake. She silently escaped Shikamaru's unconscious hold on her and slipped downstairs to get her morning coffee.

Three hours of training, four cups of coffee and one shower later, she decided to start on some housework before heading down to the hokage's office.

She opted to start with gardening; her favorite chore, especially since moving to Konoha. Sure, the deer sometimes would eat her flowers, but at least they had a chance of blooming here, unlike in Suna.

She grabbed her gloves and some tools and headed out to her garden when she met the surprise of a lifetime.

Cats. Cats everywhere.

Immediately, she felt it. Her eyes puffed and she sniffled. She didn't have anything against cats, but she was very, very allergic to the fur balls.

She knew her little genius brat did this, but how he managed to pull it off was a mystery.

"Shikamaru!" She shrieked, her voice coarser than normal. She stalked back into the house. "Shikamaru, we have a situation!"

He had run downstairs, worried because of the tone in her voice. "Shikadai's in his room, what's wrong?" He looked more confused than ever, seeing his wife's swollen face and discharged garden tools.

"Look outside and see for yourself."

And he did. But, he didn't react how his wife assumed he would. Instead, he couldn't contain himself, he laughed harder than Temari had ever seen her husband laugh before.

"Stop laughing, this is serious!" But even her voice betrayed her, because it really was funny.

"Hold on, honey, I need to get my phone to take a photo of this."

"Shikamaru!" She was laughing, but still peeved. "Look at my face, what am I supposed to do about it!"

He came back into the kitchen with a goofy grin on his face and a phone in his hands for pictures. "Shikadai, get down here! And bring mom's allergy medication while you're at it!"

"Shikamaru, I swear, if my throat closes up-"

"This will never get old." He was in absolute hysterics. "Shikadai!"

"I'm here, I'm here. Yeesh mom, you don't look too good."

"And whose fault is that."

He looked down at his feet. They know.

"I take it you wouldn't let me get a cat because you're allergic to them?"

"Yes, Shikadai." She hissed. But her intended intimidation didn't work when her counterpart was practically on the floor.

"Shikadai, pose with the cats, come on, do it."

He grumbled, but obeyed, figuring he was gonna get in trouble regardless, might as well be in his father's good graces.

"Unbelievable. I tell him we can't get a cat and he adopts every last one in fire country."

"In fairness, I didn't technically disobey you. We don't have a cat, they just came to us."

Through Temari's anger, she was still pretty proud of her kid for being so smart as to concoct this whole situation at the tender age of eight.

"Shikadai, you should become a lawyer." His father said while inspecting the pictures on his phone, making sure he had at least one decent one.

"Pleh, no thank you. Far too troublesome."

"Temari, I'm sorry for laughing. But I can't even be mad, I'm actually impressed. How did you pull this off, kid?"

"I asked Auntie Ino for some catnip and planted it all last night in the garden."

Temari sighed. "I guess your father is right, bambi. I've never seen you show so much enthusiasm for anything in your life. I should probably reward that, hmm?"

Shikadai nodded vigorously.

"Well, alright. Shikadai, you're only punishment will be to get the cats out of here, you can come up with a strategy. I'm just too allergic to have them in our backyard. Daddy will try and take you to the fish market more often though, so you can hang out with the little fur balls. Do we have a deal?"

Shikadai couldn't believe his luck. He thought he was dead, for sure. He had even strategized a thousand different ways to escape her wrath (the only good one was to run to grandma Yoshino's house and hide behind her).

He smiled.

"Deal."