Pairings: Shikaku/Kiba (Yes. It happens here.)

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His mother and Shikaku hit it off immediately.

This was really good, seeing how it meant that Shikaku's attention was off of Kiba and wholly invested on someone else.

Akamaru, Kiba, and Shikamaru all piled into the back seats of Tsume Inuzuka's much too big, much too high tech (its inner system confused Kiba most of the time so his mother barely ever used it for those very reasons), and gas guzzling truck. Both Nara's luggage had been left in the back, strapped down tight to keep it from tumbling around and scratching the truck's bed. And Shikaku had been left to take the passenger chair, seeing how it had a special cover on it that had been placed over the chair by Tsume after Akamaru and Kiba had left to fetch the Nara's.

Shikamaru had made a point of wanting to keep his father's suit as pristine and dog hair-free as possible. So Kiba had delivered in the best, most infuriating way he could think of to piss Shikamaru off yet keep within the guidelines he'd been given.

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"I only keep you around because you offer entertainment."

"Oh, we can both agree on that, then. I keep you around for that too."

Banter with Shikamaru was good. It was normal.

Fawning over Shikamaru's father was not normal. And he was sure that none of his friends would approve of it. So it was not good.

But the guy was so hot it should have been illegal.

As they rode to their house, Kiba managed to make a point of picking on Shikamaru and trying to get information out of him just to be able to ignore the way Shikaku's deep tone wanted him to do things that were completely inappropriate when he was stuck inside a limited and somewhat tight space with both his childhood best friend and his mother.

Apparently, Shikamaru's time in Hollywood had done nothing at all to change him. Living his life nearer to the fast lanes of the rich and famous; living in the one place Kiba had always dreamt of living and thriving in; had not changed the lazy Nara at all. He'd kept the same boring routine he'd used for the better part of half of his life now and barely tried to do anything amazing. Not even an internship at his father's practice had made him try anything new.

"Yeah… I never thought I'd say this… But I can't wait to go back to university. Anything to get away from my dad."

"Watch that mouth, boy." Kiba's mother suddenly growled from the front seat, making Kiba roll his eyes. "You know how I feel about bad mouthing family in front of me."

"Which is the exact same way you feel about being slow and lazy; ma, we get it, Shikamaru's not your favorite friend of mine."

"Shut that trap before I shut it for you!"

Kiba laughed as Shikamaru huffed with a shake of his head. But he committed the biggest mistake in his life… He allowed his eyes to stray towards the passenger's side of the long chair… And he found Shikaku looking back at him and Shikamaru with this look of pure unadulterated, unbelievably adorable confusion that Kiba's heart stuttered.

Thankfully, his mother was around to nag him back into his senses.

"Why don't you go ahead and tell your guests the plans for today?" Then she turned to look at Shikaku for a moment, although she kept one eye on the road ahead of her… Kiba had never been able to understand how she had that talent. But, then again, she had raised him and Hana as a single mother while also doing her best to 'raise-but-not' Naruto… It must have been a supernatural talent she had been born with.

"My son decided to try his hand out as a tour guide with you two. Seeing how he's most probably going to do that job in the future when he finally realizes his dreams should stay as dreams, I thought it would be a good idea to allow him to drive you two around."

Oh, mom… I love you too… If only you weren't such a bitch whenever there were other people around.

Shikamaru and Kiba were already accustomed to Tsume's much too harsh way of expressing herself, so neither was actually bothered by her words. They both knew that she fully supported Kiba's dreams of going to tinsel town and actually try to act. But he really hoped that Shikaku didn't consider his mom a bitch because of her harsh words… She could be pretty tough, but she actually cared. Unfortunately, not many people were able to understand the unique characteristics that made up his mother's kind of, sometimes, pretty shitty personality.

"You won't be saying that when I refuse to buy you that house by the beach side you've always wanted after I strike it big!" Kiba smirked over at his mother, causing her to turn a mockingly annoyed glare towards him.

She only turned half of her face towards him, but that one eye was more than enough for Kiba to know that his mother knew better than to believe he would never buy her the dream home she'd always wanted after he actually had the money to get it for her.

"You're lucky you're my kid, brat."

"Love you too, ma!"

They weren't the most normal people when it came to expressing how much they loved and appreciated each other. But Kiba already knew the exact house he would buy his mother once he had the money for it. Just like he knew the perfect necklace he'd get for Hana. They weren't normal, yeah, but he loved his family. And he would never trade them for anything.


Hosting Shikaku Nara was about as easy as taking care of Akamaru. The guy was low maintenance, could eat just about anything, and didn't really care if things didn't go his way. So, in reality, Shikaku Nara was nothing like what his son had informed Kiba.

Eventually, Kiba would call Shikamaru out on the way he had been lied to. But until he had enough proof to shit on Shikamaru with, the young male would bide his time in wait. Soon enough, he would be able to strike Shikamaru where it hurt. Soon enough, he would be able to call him out on all the bull shit he had tried to feed Kiba.

Until then, though, he would lie in wait like a spring coiled and acquiring enough tension to be able to perform an amazingly breath taking jump of great proportions.

Still, having Shikaku around for the weeks he was supposed to be in Florida for his business was actually one of the most pleasant things Kiba faced in the summer.

Waking up every morning to see Shikaku Nara's smiling face was like a treat in and of itself. Especially on the mornings when he was able to wake up before Shikaku got dressed. Those were the best mornings because they were the mornings where he was met with the vast, beautiful, incredibly built frame that composed Shikaku's body.

He wasn't completely certain, but he thought that Shikaku must have known something about his ogling. Because there was no way that one man could move so slow during the mornings. At least, not slow enough to allow his half-naked body to be seen by his son's best friend.

His house was a moderately sized yet comfortable abode that held four rooms, two bathrooms, and the standard living areas. The rooms were all in the back of the house, connected by a long hallway that opened up in its very middle to lead into a huge kitchen and the rest of the spacious house. It wasn't anywhere near as big as the houses that belonged to other friends, but Kiba knew that it was good enough for a family like his.

Whenever he left his room in the mornings to head into the kitchen, he found himself having to forcibly pass by Shikaku's room. So, when it was still pretty early and his door had not been closed, the young man was able to peek inside and see the beautiful man that was called Shikaku Nara.

Seriously. It should have been outright illegal for someone to be so handsome.

"Hey, runt, what are your plans for today?"

Kiba was not allowed to look into Shikaku's life this morning. His sister accompanied him out of his room and into the kitchen, meaning that he had to show some semblance of respect to the man they were housing.

It took all of his self control to not snap at Hana and tell her to go back to his room so he could catch a bit of Shikaku skin before he had to properly begin his day.

As they passed by Shikaku's room- which was actually the normal guest room-, Kiba couldn't help but notice that the door was closed for the first time since the man had begun to stay with him and his family.

Shame.

Shikaku skin could make Kiba's shittiest day become great.

"No idea." The young man murmured with a soft shrug of his shoulders, "There's an audition for a comedic extra downtown. I was thinking of forcing Shika to accompany me there."

Hana pursed her lips, undoubtedly still apprehensive over the career choice her little brother had decided on. But she didn't tell him that he would waste his time doing chasing after a childhood dream. Instead, she reminded him that tonight their mother wanted to force the Nara's into a proper family meal rather than the rushed ones they had been having for the past week.

"So you want me to drag Shika back here before dinner time?" Kiba asked to make sure he had understood her reason for telling him such a thing.

Hana nodded, walked towards the coffee maker, and began to prepare coffee for the household.

Kiba did his best to help by going straight for the refrigerator. He could help Hana by making breakfast. Or by at least pulling out the ingredients that would be necessary for her to make everyone's breakfast.

But, hey, Shikaku just walked out of the hallway right now. And he looked mighty fine wearing a simple pair of jeans and a dark button up shirt.

His teachers had always told him they would not have been surprised if he had a mild-to-sever case of ADHD…

"Good morning, Mr. Nara." Kiba smiled over at him, forgetting all about trying to be helpful as soon as the older man's breathtaking brown eyes connected with his own.

"Good morning, Kiba." The man's smile was breathtaking. Just like his eyes.

Holy shit, did he forget how to breathe?!

"You can call me Shikaku, you know." If the man noticed his sudden loss of all coordination in breathing or not, Kiba did not want to know. "I'm free today. Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do to pass the day?"

A stupid, amazing, retarded, genius idea popped into Kiba's mind the second Shikaku asked him this.

"Well, I'm going downtown later today for an audition. If you'd like, you could come with and you could see some of the sights." As he spoke, Kiba could not help but question just how truly intelligent he was.

Shikaku Nara was Shikamaru Nara's father. Shikaku Nara being Shikamaru Nara's father meant that he was supposed to be off limits for Shikamaru Nara's best friend. And, seeing how Kiba Inuzuka was Shikamaru Nara's best friend, this meant that Shikaku Nara was supposed to be off limits for him.

But… Well… What could be the harm in Shikaku coming along to see the sights as Kiba waited for a proper audition for the small time television show?

"I thought you were going to force Shikamaru with you." Hana's voice suddenly sent a stab of 'Holy shit what have I done?' through Kiba.

Luckily, he didn't have to answer.

"Inoichi sent word that Ino and Chouji would be coming around in an hour or so to pick Shikamaru up. Apparently, he forgot to inform them about his return to his home and they are eager to make him pay."

"Oh, Shika… Such a lazy boy…" Hana shook her head, shoved Kiba out of the way of the refrigerator's door, and smiled at Shikaku, "Is there anything specific you'd like for breakfast?"

"I'll eat anything."

… … … Kiba should really get his mind out of the gutter…

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind showing me around?"

"Not at all!"

The answer had left him before his mind had even fully caught up with the question Shikaku had asked. But, seeing how the man smiled at him in such a way that made him forget how to breathe once again, Kiba guessed he had said the right thing.


His audition had gone about as well as it could have gone. The casting director had loved him, but the producer had not been as stoked about his skills as the man. So he had been told that, once they had reached a decision, they would call him.

Kiba wasn't the smartest person in the world. He knew that. But he was smart enough to know that receiving a phone call with good news from these people was nearly impossible.

This wasn't the first audition where he'd done his best but it had not been good enough. And, just like it wasn't his first, he knew it wouldn't be his last. Life was filled with ups and downs. No matter how many times he failed, he knew that eventually he'd be able to find success. He just needed to bide his time, hone his skills, and not lose hope.

After he had explained to Shikaku just what it was that he had been auditioning for- "little show from here; it's like Law and Order with Rawhide- wait, you don't know Rawhide?; well, it's a show about cowboys… now that I think about it, just why are they filming a show about cowboys here?; it would make a lot more sense for it to be a show about criminal surfers…"-, they had gone over to a small outlet near where the auditions had been held.

Kiba had window shopped and regretted not having any actual cash. Shikaku had merely browsed and murmured random questions to keep the conversation alive between them.

Quite frankly, Kiba liked walking around with Shikaku. They didn't know each other, but that was pretty normal, seeing how they had only met about a week ago. But being together didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward. They both did their best to speak and learn about each other, and Kiba counted that as a victory in his book.

Shikaku must have liked him to some degree to try and talk to him!

When lunchtime rolled around, they stopped in a restaurant. If it had been up to Kiba, they would have just hit the food court and he would have bought the cheapest daily special he could find. But Shikaku had insisted on eating properly and when Kiba had told him he didn't have much money, the man had offered to pay for him.

So now Kiba found himself in a quaint and rather calm restaurant, surrounded by the soft chatter of other patrons, the minute clanking of utensils in use, and the faint sizzling of the grill inside of the kitchen being used. He had allowed Shikaku to order everything, seeing how he really wasn't all that sure of exactly what he should order when the man was paying for him. So now they were just waiting for the waiter to come back with their food.

"My son told me that you were a rather talkative and unique individual."

Kiba's heart plummeted into his feet as soon as he heard this.

"But, I must say… I cannot find a reason as to why he would consider you annoying other than him being a rather melodramatic individual."

Shikaku's face was kind and soft, his smile so open that Kiba couldn't help but smile back.

"Shikamaru is pretty dramatic."

"That he is." Shikaku nodded, breathed in, and looked him directly in the eyes, "I won't beat around the bush, Kiba. I find you endearing. I know you're interested in me. Would you like to see where a relationship between us might go?"

The thought of 'This is Shikamaru's father! No! Stop! Abort mission! Put your hormones under con- Oi! Get that dick back in yo pants, this ain't right!' didn't come fast enough to stop him from jumping eagerly into a relationship with his best friend's father.

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