Shadows and Fangs
Well. I suppose it was always inevitable that Kiba and Shikamaru would draw me back some day. I stopped really following Naruto long ago when too many plot points (or lack thereof, in my opinion) started to annoy me. I did (mostly) read through the war though, so I don't think there will be huge discrepancies, but if there are, I hope I've still managed to make it work somehow! But I love Shikamaru and Kiba, and I figured, if I'm not happy with the way the story ended, it's up to me to fix it, right?
So this will be slash – ShikaKiba all the way. Though I'd like to stress right away that there will be no Temari bashing whatsoever; I don't buy the idea of her and Shikamaru one second (never have), but I love her as a character. There will be other couples as well, mostly in compliance with the canon, and others because I felt like it.
And it will be big. I'm usually more a one-shot person, but this one clearly had a mind of its own, and will venture into their lives way down the road.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong solely to their creator, Masashi Kishimoto, and in no way am I making any profit from this beyond my own entertainment – and, I hope, yours.
Time's an abstract concept.
Shikamaru's always thought so. It dragged on forever when you were in a hurry, and then blinked away when you'd rather it didn't. The war had felt like a lifetime, but effectively had only lasted a few days. The days, weeks, and months that followed each felt like an eternity, yet here they were, almost a year later, and they'd learned to live on without the people they'd lost.
Time's a troublesome concept.
Really.
(No, really.)
In Shikamaru's opinion, the Sixth Hokage clearly hadn't grasped as much, because he was the undisputed Champion of Bad Timing. "The chuunin exams. Seriously," he deadpanned as he looked Kakashi in the eyes.
The Copy Nin merely smiled innocently – it was plain as day he was enjoying this, even behind his usual face-mask. "So skeptical, Shikamaru! Why ever?" he asked as he leaned back into his chair.
"Maybe because we're not really in any position to organize said exams right now?" the Nara asked back sarcastically. Oh, of all things, this was really not what he'd thought this summon was about. (Again.)
"And that's why Suna will be taking over as organizers," Shizune cut in, visibly not wanting their dear Sixth to further antagonize the room. She then looked down with a sigh, hands tightening over her clipboard. "Naturally, the war has…well, let's just say that not all previous candidates made it back safely. Many things will need to be revised, but still, as the proctor in charge of the previous exam, we'd like you to liaise with Suna to facilitate the handover," she finished calmly.
Which made perfect sense, he'd be willing to agree, if it weren't for the fact that they were just out of that freaking war. "Don't you think it's too soon? It hasn't even been a year since the war yet. Is now really the time to risk our genins' lives?" he asked them with a frown.
"Do you know what the trick to moving on is, Shikamaru?" Kakashi asked him more seriously as he crossed his hands and leaned his chin on them. "It's moving forward. Our genin are eager to prove their worth to help the village get back on its feet – a sentiment equally shared by their comrades in other villages."
Shikamaru sighed as he held his look. That may have been so, but he was still glad that he wasn't the one who had to make these decisions. "Fine. I'll play along. When do you want me in Suna?"
"Next week should do fine, finish pending assignments as you see necessary," Shizune replied, grabbing a file from the desk and walking over to hand it to him. "These documents detail the past organization, and there's also an updated list of Konoha's candidates. Please assist Suna in any way they deem necessary to ensure a smooth process. We're expecting you'll stay until all preparations are complete, but you'll be the judge of that. Temari will be your contact as before," she finished.
"I figured," Shikamaru replied absently as he frowned at the folder's weight – great, he'd be reading until late, it seemed.
"It goes without saying," Kakashi began once more as soon as he'd tucked the documents under his arm, "that if you can assist the Kazekage in any way during your stay, you are to do so, in honor of our bonds. Naturally, I'm still leaving it up to you – I'll trust your judgment."
"Of course," the shadow-nin replied with a nod – as if he needed to be told!
"Good. As you know, Kiba is over there right now for the exchange program," the Hokage continued. "Likewise, if you require his help and he's not busy, as a Konoha shinobi he's under your command. Sort of." Because even Hatake Kakashi knew that Kiba's temper sometimes got the best of him.
"Of course," Shikamaru repeated with a lazy grin. Well, at least he'd been given complete leeway to do as he saw fit, and he'd never complain about that! And to be honest…some time away from Konoha might not be so bad after all… "Anything else?" he asked for the principle.
"Nothing comes to mind right now," Kakashi replied with a shrug after a moment's thought.
"We'll be sure you to let you know without delay if there is," Shizune quickly added more tactfully, her look towards her superior promising him much pain to come for not taking things seriously, as usual – salted tea or stale biscuits, according to the rumors that floated about.
The Nara just nodded at them and turned to leave, already going over the necessary preparations in his mind. He let out a sigh as he walked out of the building and looked up into the sunny July sky. They just had to decide on the desert village of all places to hold an exam in the summer, didn't they? Sadistic bunch. He already dreaded the heat. This couldn't get more troublesome
"Shikamaru! Wait up!" Shizune's voice called from above.
Frowning, he looked up and saw her at a window, waving an arm. "What is it?" he called back.
"I actually forgot the applicants' files – I'd pulled them out to double-check them earlier!" she admitted sheepishly. "Catch!" she said as she dropped another folder on his head.
He caught it easily but complained for the principle, frowning at her. "You're a public danger!" he informed her.
"Have a nice trip!" Shizune called back cheerfully before slamming the window shut.
Shikamaru sighed as he looked at the new reading materials – the stack wasn't as thick as the previous one, but still of consequence. He was forced to correct himself.
It could always get more troublesome.
While he wouldn't exactly call himself an expert, Shikamaru had made the trip to Suna a few times already by that point, so he wasn't overly worried about the journey itself. After he'd left Konoha, he got to the Hidden Sand in the late morning of the fourth day – so he'd taken his time on the way, who was going to tell on him?
"You're late," Temari declared mercilessly as she greeted him at the gate, arms crossed over her chest. "We were expecting you yesterday."
"I had to slow down after I nearly twisted an ankle in my eagerness to get here quickly," he drawled sarcastically as he stopped in front of her, holding her look.
"What happened to your hair?" she asked instead of rising to the bait, cocking her head to the side as she took in the now short strands.
"Casualty of war," the Nara informed her with a pained sigh.
"You're a madman," Temari declared with much finality in her voice before turning and motioning for him to follow her. "But I guess it's good to see you again," she conceded easily.
"Thanks, I guess," Shikamaru replied lazily as he fell in steps with her. "How's the village?" he wondered as he looked around, nodding at a few shinobi he recognized from the war.
"Considering what we've been through, I think we can't complain," Temari replied honestly as she stretched her arms behind her back. "Besides, at least we don't have to worry about reconstruction," she added as she turned to him with a frown. "How's Konoha?"
"Growing faster than ever – practically rebuilt and even expanding," the Nara replied with a small smile. "The Sixth Hokage's very good at one thing, and that's pumping people up!" he grudgingly admitted. "Besides, Naruto's helping to keep our spirits up!"
"Oh, of that I have no doubt," the Suna kunoichi declared with a smirk. "I think this exam is a good thing too, though. Getting our lives back to how they were before the war is the best way to put it behind us," she added seriously as she looked back at him.
Shikamaru shrugged at this. "I wasn't too convinced at first, honestly," he admitted. "But Kakashi said something similar, and well…in the end I'm forced to agree with you two on that account."
Temari chuckled, gloating as she was so prone to when someone admitted she was right – which happened often, but still. "Well, let's get you settled, and then we can get right to it!"
"Any chance to grab something to eat somewhere along the way?" he wondered as he looked at the time – almost noon, time for lunch after all.
"You were late," she simply reminded him with a huff.
He played along and sighed at this, although he knew that she wouldn't let him starve to death – if only because it would reflect badly on the village, and that wouldn't do. "Where will I be staying?" he then asked half-curiously.
"In the guest quarters off the main street; it's really a stone's throw from the Kazekage's building," she replied matter-of-factly as they took a left turn onto said street. "I hope you don't mind, you'll be sharing with the mutt – well, just the kitchen and living-room area, really," she informed him.
Shikamaru frowned at this for a second before the information clicked. "I'm assuming you mean Kiba? How have things been with him?"
Temari rolled her eyes playfully and chuckled before shrugging helplessly. "He's a lost cause! It's not entirely his fault though, he just fell in with the wrong crowd," she informed him factually.
"'Wrong crowd'?" the Nara repeated with a raised eyebrow. "What – or should I say who – qualifies as the 'wrong crowd' in Suna?"
"Kankuro, who else?" Temari replied with a frown as though it were obvious.
Shikamaru had to chuckle at that. "Of course," he agreed mockingly. Not adding anything more, he followed her into a building and up two flights of stairs, then down a corridor to a sturdy-looking door. She reached for the handle but it swung open before she touched it, and there stood Kiba – and Akamaru – grinning at them. He was wearing the standard Shinobi Alliance uniform and flak jacket, and he was a bit more tanned than before but all in all he was the same as when he'd left Konoha. The most striking difference, really, was that his forehead protector had Suna's hourglass on it instead of Konoha's leaf – and for a second it was strangely disconcerting.
"I knew that smell was familiar!" the Inuzuka declared loudly as was his habit – Akamaru barking his agreement – and Temari sighed wearily, visibly having given up on him ever greeting people at a normal volume. "Hey Temari! How's it been going, Shikamaru?"
"Eh, same as usual, there isn't much to tell," the Nara replied with an easy shrug.
"I bet you're just too lazy to tell," Kiba said off-handedly, clearly knowing him too well. "Hey, what happened to your hair?" he then asked with a frown.
"Casualty of war," Temari deadpanned, much to her friend's amusement.
Kiba frowned at this, looking between them dubiously. "Okay, I get it – don't ask about the hair! Sheesh, talk about touchy!" he muttered to his nin-dog. "Anyway. They told me you'd be bunking around, so make yourself at home," he said as he waved his arm about, stepping aside to let them in.
Shikamaru's first impression was that the place seemed quite neat, for having such an inhabitant, but then he figured Temari's critical glance around the room had something to do with it.
Kiba became more serious however as he turned to the Suna shinobi. "Temari, have you heard whether Maki's on her way to the village yet? I was assigned to her unit and told to be on stand-by for deployment orders, but the last report I received yesterday stated that she was still at the north-eastern border," he said as he absently cracked his shoulder.
Temari frowned at this, looking up as she thought about it. "I haven't received any information on that today, but she was supposed to be back last night according to the roster. Did you check at the gate?" she asked him.
"First thing this morning," was his reply.
"And you're positive she's not in the village?"
"Yep," he confirmed as he tapped his nose.
She nodded back, by then trusting his skills on the matter. "Hopefully, she's just been delayed by sandstorms. I'll ask at the tower just in case," she said finally.
"Thanks!" Kiba replied brightly, pausing as he noticed Shikamaru watching their exchange with a strange expression on his face – was it amusement or surprise? (Both, maybe?) "What?" he asked defensively.
"Nothing," the Nara replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. It wasn't everyday he got to witness Kiba being all serious and deferential after all.
This mission possibly just got less troublesome.
"Just stay away from the second drawer in the fridge, those are Akamaru's bones, okay?" the Inuzuka informed him seriously as Akamaru barked happily.
Shikamaru didn't even bother arguing the uselessness of that warning.
Despite them effectively sharing quarters, Shikamaru didn't see Kiba for the next few days. Temari had informed him he'd been deployed to a border patrol, and inwardly he was relieved that the program was obviously a success since they trusted a Konoha shinobi with assisting them on something as important – visibly, that forehead protector wasn't all for show.
It was Gaara who had pitched the idea to the other Kage shortly after the end of the war, to build on the good rapport some shinobi had developed within their divisions. An exchange program for shinobi: the opportunity to learn from each other more openly, he called it. The suggestion was met with much doubt and even suspicion, as could be expected (particularly from Kumo), and the Kazekage had therefore offered to hold a six months trial in Suna to show his good faith.
Kakashi, backed by Tsunade, had readily agreed to the idea, seeing the potential to strengthen the ties between their villages and being keenly aware that of the alliance, only Konoha and Suna could really trust each for such a program, at least yet. He'd called for volunteers, carefully reviewing each applicant, finally deciding on offering Suna the opportunity to work with something they didn't specialize in themselves: an olfactory-based tracker. They'd all been surprised that Kiba had volunteered in the first place, but he'd been really excited at the prospect and had visibly been able to convince both Konoha and Suna that he'd be up to the task. The sixth months mark had come quickly, and both sides had agreed to prolong it to a year, with Suna sending a chakra-thread specialist to Konoha to further develop the program and establish a complete procedure – and indeed, now that Shikamaru thought back on the few times he'd seen her from a distance, she'd been sporting the Leaf's symbol on her protector.
"Was it hard to get used to?" Shikamaru wondered interestedly as he looked at Kiba's discarded protector where it lay on the table, his eyes studying the hourglass shape. His fellow Konoha shinobi had returned from mission earlier that day, and so they'd finally managed to have dinner together.
Kiba frowned in confusion before following his look and shrugging. "Not really. When I first started I kept mine – at a point we even wondered if I should wear the 'shinobi' one from the war, but that was dropped. But then after a couple of months, Gaara called me to his office and just handed me this one, saying 'we've got you working like a shinobi of the Sand, the least we can do is acknowledge you as one'," he recalled with a pleased grin before chuckling. "I think Kankuro and Temari almost cried!"
"I have no doubts," the Nara drawled. "It's become standard procedure, I take it? I noticed your Suna counterpart in Konoha has our protector as well," he informed him.
"I'd heard – it is better like that. I mean, people only need to take a good look to realize I'm not really from here," the tracker tempered as he raised a hand distractedly. "But I really felt like I was sticking out before! And I can't deny it's flattering!" he added with a bright grin, Akamaru barking his agreement.
"It is," Shikamaru agreed as he chuckled at their antics, shaking his head as he thought about it. "Growing up, I'd have never thought that a program like this would be possible," he admitted after a short moment.
"Well, to be honest, it's still a work in progress," Kiba tempered as he leaned to the side to make sure Akamaru was enjoying his meal – Shikamaru was certain the dog was: Kiba put more care in preparing his partner's food than even an Akimichi! "It's going really well here because it's Suna, and Kakashi and I both know Gaara won't let anyone murder me in my sleep, and Gaara knows Kakashi will do the same," he stated as he returned to his own meal, satisfied.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this. "So the other villages…?" he questioned, trailing off.
Kiba hummed thoughtfully as he chewed on some cartilage – which made the Nara cringe, because how anyone enjoyed that crunchy-jerky feel under their teeth was a mystery to him. "Kiri's eager to prove they've changed – but let's face it, no one really trusts them yet. Even I'd think about it twice before volunteering. And seriously, Iwa's already proved in the past that they weren't above frying their allies even in times of peace, so sending them a giftwrapped bargaining chip is out of the question, at least for now – although from what I've heard, the Tsuchikage is quite fond of Gaara, so Iwa and Suna might be able to set it up sooner," he listed as he ticked off the villages on his fingers. "So out of the Alliance, that leaves Kumo, and despite our mixed history, I'd say they're our second best bet after Suna."
"Why do you figure?" Shikamaru asked him, smirking lazily as this was a side of Kiba he'd never really known – they hadn't worked together that often after all in the end.
"Naruto," Kiba replied pragmatically. "B won't go against Naruto, and that means that Kumo won't go against Konoha, at least as long as those two are alive. We just shouldn't send them a Hyuuga or they'll wet their pants!" he added with a huff, sharing a snicker with Akamaru.
His friend chuckled at this, having to concede the point. "You've really thought about it," he mused.
"Of course!" the Inuzuka said with a frown. "I didn't volunteer for this lightly, you know!" he argued with a huff. "As good as our relationship with Suna may be, it's still risky. It's obvious bloodline users shouldn't participate yet, but just because someone couldn't grab my nose from my corpse and have themselves an awesome tracker, it doesn't mean they wouldn't learn anything from picking me apart! It's a gamble either way!" Akamaru whined his dislike of this gloomy theory, and his master automatically reached a hand to scratch him behind his ear reassuringly.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this – he'd obviously really thought it through then. "Well, it's good to know you're doing well here, at any rate," he offered earnestly.
Kiba dismissed it with his usual wide grin, cocking his head to the side curiously. "So what'd I miss? Any juicy piece of gossip to share?" he wondered.
"I hate gossip," the Nara deadpanned with a frown.
"Too troublesome?" Kiba teased easily, chuckling at his friend's shrug. "Hinata and Shino wrote to me a few times so I know they're doing great. I even got a letter from Kurenai with a drawing from Mirai," he added happily as he pointed towards the drawing he'd pinned to the fridge.
Shikamaru followed his gaze and tilted his head sideways as he looked at it. "What is it?" he wondered despite himself.
Akamaru barked and Kiba looked at him as though he was seriously missing the point. "It's Akamaru, obviously," he replied.
"Ah, yes, now that you mention it, if I look at it upside down and close one eye, it does look like Akamaru," Shikamaru drawled, grinning at his friend's laugh.
"Still better than Sai's drawings," Kiba muttered as he took one last fond look at the colorful scribble.
"Oh!" Shikamaru realized as suddenly he knew what to tell Kiba to shock him. "Speaking of Sai – he and Ino are together now – I don't know that it qualifies as 'gossip', really, but it's notable enough…"
The Inuzuka's eyes widened comically and he nearly choked on his food. "Sai? And Ino? Oh I have got to see this!" he said in amusement as he grinned widely just thinking of the potential comical situations such a couple could spark. "Is it as much fun to watch as I think it is?"
"Painfully so," Shikamaru confirmed with a heavy sigh. "But they seem happy so far," he tempered.
"Well, that's all that matters then," Kiba readily agreed with a warm grin. He then smiled to himself as though thinking about something else – someone, maybe, Shikamaru wondered – and cocked his head to the side. "So what're your plans for tomorrow?" he asked curiously.
Shikamaru looked up as he thought about it. "Well, Temari has some business with the council, but I was going to head to up to the office anyway to speak with the other proctors. You?" he then asked, interested to know what they had him doing aside from border patrols.
"My schedule's been mostly cleared during your stay in case you need me for anything," Kiba replied with a shrug, echoing what Kakashi had said. "But every Friday afternoon Akamaru and I have a play-date at the academy if we're not on a mission, so you'll have to make do without us then!" he informed him with a toothy grin, the nin-dog wagging his tail happily at the prospect.
"Trying to recruit the Sand's youth into the Inuzuka clan?" the shadow-nin drawled teasingly.
"Shh, don't ruin my evil master-plan!" Kiba protested playfully.
The Nara just held his hands up in apology and they returned to their meals.
Yeah, perhaps being in Suna for some time really wouldn't be so troublesome after all.
TBC
...Am I the only ShikaKiba fan still out there?