[STARTED ON: 7-22-17 at 9:23 PM]
A/N: First, thanks everyone so much for the favs and follows! It means SO much! I'm happy y'all are enjoying the fic!
Second, This was originally going to be a part of the last installment, but then I realized how HUGE that would have made the document! So, I'll separate the kids' days into installments ;D Nezumi first, then Ahkiro, then Kage. You'll find out more about these kiddos as they go. And, yes, crushes are in store! x3
REVIEW RESPONSE!
MikiLovesShikaTema: AHHH! THANKS! I really appreciate your reviewing, I truly do! You're so so sweet! Individual Time starts NOW, so Baby Shikadai will be fast approaching after these three chapters! ;D I'll make him as paramount as possible in this fic the minute after he's born x3 (Because I love Shikadai, too! Best NNG babe in my opinion ;D) Thanks again for reviewing! You're the best!
Enjoy! (REVIEW PLEASE!)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the franchise or its characters; I only own the OCs.
-\[=]/-
"Will you take pictures of the kids for me?"
"Nani?"
Shikamaru was sitting on the edge of their bed, pulling over his shirt for the day ahead. It was eleven in the morning: his favorite time to wake up. Temari hadn't protested at all to waking up so late. Their unborn child had been kicking her so wildly in her sleep that she could have sworn there was a moon-bounce in her stomach. Any extra sleep that morning was certainly welcome. But now, she was awake, watching her husband get ready for the day ahead.
"I haven't seen what any of them look like yet," she said in a pouty voice. "I just want to know who these kids are, and who I should be expecting on Friday."
He smirked, turning his head toward her.
"You aren't…jealous, are you, Tem?" he teased.
"I am not jealous!" she quickly retaliated. "I just think that, since they're your kids, then by law, they are also my kids."
"I didn't adopt them, or birth them," he laughed. "They're my team."
"It's my team, too, though…isn't it?" she bellowed.
When he got a better look at her face, he exhaled lightly through his nose. She was actually upset that she had been left out of the loop for this one week that he'd gotten to know his pupils. He felt a pang of guilt and sadness in his heart, but he also felt a light flutter of care, compassion, and giddiness. He leaned over the bed, kissed her cheek, and leaned back to softly smile at her.
"Yes, Tem," he clarified. "They're your team, too."
A gentle, happy smile found its way to her lips. After her face changed to that of a satisfied, tender one (one of his favorite faces of hers), he ascended from the bed. He needed to find his pants. It technically wasn't a day off, though it felt like one. He ached to wear his favorite sweatpants—the kind made of fleece, which were actually meant for athletes—but he knew he still had to at least dress like he was a ninja on duty. He grabbed his usual pants and proceeded to tug them on.
"You know," Shikamaru continued, "when I told the kids we weren't going to meet on Saturday, the first thing Nezumi asked was if you and the baby were okay."
Her eyes went so wide that they practically popped out of her head.
"Really?"
"Really."
He looked back at her once he successfully pulled on his trousers. She still had that sweet smile gracing her face, but now a few tears leaked from her eyes. Instantly, he went into panic mode, hopping onto the bed and crawling to her side.
"Are you okay?" he asked, feeling her forehead with his hand. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she giggled lightly, yanking him into a hug. "I love them already."
Now he smiled, gingerly setting his hand on her waist.
"Look at you," she laughed louder, "making me into the crybaby."
-\[=]/-
As promised, Shikamaru met Nezumi at her door at one in the afternoon that Monday. She was inside when he knocked on her door, which flew ajar in a little under a minute. She smiled largely, stating "Right on time, Sensei." Just as she was about to close the door, it was opened even wider, revealing an older woman. She was slightly plump, but only if you looked at her for too long. She was lovely, with pale blue eyes and brown hair.
"Oh," Nezumi nearly stammered. "Shikamaru-Sensei, this is my mother. Kaa-San, this is Shikamaru-Sensei."
"Nice to meet you," they said at the same time as they shook hands.
"I can't thank you enough for caring for my daughter," Nezumi's mom admirably said. "Would you like to come back for dinner?"
"Would you?" Nezumi repeated.
"That would be great," Shikamaru replied. "Arigatou Gozaimasu, Yasen-San."
"Daijobu," she replied with a grin. "Have fun!"
Nezumi's mother closed the door as they exited the compound. Nezumi seemed to be doing well thus far. Shikamaru took note that, when one-on-one, Nezumi wasn't as quiet. Although, that probably had to do with his being in her presence for a week or so now. Even so, that was also good; it meant she was growing closer to her sensei. Perhaps she was close with the boys, too? Shikamaru shook his head from his thoughts, deciding that he needed to ask Nezumi what the agenda was for the day.
"Oh, right," she replied, taken aback a little. "I totally forgot that I'm planning the day."
"Yes ma'am," he jokily smiled. "Whatever you say goes until after dinnertime."
She nodded her head slowly, moving her face from his to the road ahead. She hadn't a clue where she wanted to take him, nor what she wanted to do. This, ultimately, caused her to make those anxiety-induced muscle contortions appear once again. This was when Shikamaru became nervous. Now he realized that her social anxiety was driven by her not knowing what to do. In an instant, he felt bad for her; he didn't want her to stress herself over something so trivial.
"What are your favorite things to do?" he attempted to help. "We can decide what to do from there."
Gradually, her brain activity went from overdrive to a normal rate—as indicated by her muscles becoming less tight—and he could breathe a little easier. She looked up at him once again, looking nowhere near as anxious as she had before. She seemed to have an idea, but wanted to run it by him.
"Do you want a list?" she inquired. "Or just one thing…?"
She had no idea how to ask this. He smirked in response to her words.
"A list would be good," he affirmed with a nod. "We have about five hours to burn, so fill them up with whatever you'd like."
Happiness bubbled in him when he saw her smile return. It was absolutely glowing.
"I like to"—she held up a hand to count her activities on her fingers—"scrapbook, stargaze and skygaze, bake, and fly kites."
"That's a good list," he admired, which earned a sparkly grin from his student. "Which do you want to do first?"
-\[=]/-
"Do you make a new kite every time you fly them?" Shikamaru queried.
After a few moments of planning the day out, they decided they would break the list down to an order that complied with the way their day would end. As they had to be home by six for supper, they decided that baking would be the last thing they did; that way, Nezumi's mother wouldn't have to worry about making desert. Scrapbooking would come before baking, because all the supplies already resided at her house. For now, skygazing and flying kites would be first on their list. Shikamaru explained that he'd woken up only two hours ago, so skygazing could wait if she wanted it to. Nezumi agreed, and so they went onward to create their kites.
"Ano…" she thought aloud as she colored her kite. "Sometimes, but not all the time. I love making them more than flying them, but if I'm really impressed with one that I've already made, sometimes I prefer to fly that specific kite."
"Very cool," he grinned.
Shikamaru had never made a kite before; not once. Nezumi showed him all the proper materials for building one, which colored him impressed. He watched as she effortlessly showed him how to line the sticks just so (which was harder than it appeared…at least for him it was), how she attached the kite string to the body, and how easily she fastened the tail. He assumed the process would be easier, considering he'd seen it done about ten or fifteen different times,* but he learned that seeing it get done versus actually getting it done were two very different things.
"How long have you been doing this?" he questioned, writing his name delicately across the back of his kite.
"Since my father joined the ANBU," she answered quietly without any hesitation or spite. "He and I used to play a lot when I was little, but since he has more responsibilities—like keeping the Village safe—it's been just me and my mom most days."
Shikamaru kept his face from falling, though his heart sank. He knew Hiro Yasen was an enormous deal in the ANBU (he was positive that he was a commander, actually), but he didn't know he didn't have much time to spend with his family due to it. However, it didn't seem to bother his daughter. Nezumi didn't even flinch at mentioning it.
"Does your dad know about your kites?" Shikamaru asked.
"Hai," she responded giddily. "I show him every new kite I make when he gets home. It's sort of childish, but he loves coming home to see what I've made."
Now he found his grin again. At least her father wasn't ignorant of her existence. It was one thing to be away all the time—sometimes, that could not be helped—but it was an entirely different situation to be away, then have a chance to spend time with your family, and totally blow it off. At least Hiro Yasen was a kind father who loved coming home to his family, gave his daughter positive encouragement, and lavished in seeing what she'd done that day.
"It's not childish," Shikamaru insisted. "It's really nice that your dad is interested in what you do while he works."
She blushingly smiled at her sensei. She returned a marker to its spot before pulling out a new one and going to work again. He glanced at her artwork, which he found incredible. It was simple, but lovely. Nezumi made busy designs on the back of her kite, complete with spirals, flower designs, stars, birds, her clan emblem, and a rainbow in the top right corner. She saw him staring at her piece, causing her to go a bit pink in the cheeks, though her eyes sparkled.
"You have a real gift, Nezumi," he commented.
"A-Arigatou," she stuttered, not expecting him to be so engrossed in her picture.
"There's a lot of orange," he observed. "Is that your favorite color?"
She nodded in response.
He finally felt like he was getting somewhere with these kids.
-\[=]/-
After watching their kites soar in the sky, the two moved on to skygazing. Their kite- making and flying lasted a good hour and a half, leaving them a decent amount of time to watch the clouds and enjoy the sun. Shikamaru had to admit, Nezumi was moving up the ranks as his favorite (as if he even had one), and it was because she was as fascinated with watching the clouds roll through the air as he was. On their way to a clearing, they were met by Ahkiro and a boy Shikamaru had never met before. The two were carrying stacks of paper.
"Shikamaru-Sensei! Nezumi!" Ahkiro called out.
"Ohayo Ahkiro," they replied gladly.
The blond made a beeline for them, with the other boy in tow. As they approached, Nezumi became a bit nervous. Her muscles began contorting, but not as harshly as last time. Shikamaru quirked a brow at her. This reaction would have been similar to her other spells had it not included some shaking of the knees. He also detected a light blush gracing her cheeks. For a second, he thought she needed to be taken to the hospital. However, when he looked at Ahkiro, the blond seemed to notice the same thing, and he only met the situation with a sly smirk.
"Hoshi, you remember Nezumi, right?" Ahkiro questioned his companion.
The boy in question—now known as Hoshi—was a bit taller than Ahkiro, but not by much. He had orange hair, which was shaggy like Kage's, but shorter, and he had a small puffball of a ponytail at the base of his head. His eyes were light brown, and they seemed to brighten when they saw Nezumi. He grinned from behind his stack of papers and binders.
"Nezumi! How have you been?" he inquired in a soft voice. "I haven't seen you since graduation day."
"I've been good," she replied without stammering, though there was a definite quake to her words. "How have you been, Hoshi-Kun?"
Woah, Shikamaru thought, going wide-eyed. She used the suffix? She never uses suffixes. That's when he noticed Ahkiro winking at the maroon-haired girl, and the elder of the four finally put two and two together. Ohhh… he thought with a grin that now mirrored Ahkiro's. Now I see. Nezumi had a crush on this boy. From the looks of Hoshi, though, he didn't seem to comprehend that she had feelings for him.
"I've been good, too," he responded. "So you and Ahkiro are on a team, huh?" he stopped to look in Shikamaru's direction. "Is this your sensei?"
"Hai," Nezumi answered.
She was about to introduce him, but Shikamaru beat her to the punch; he couldn't watch her suffer anymore.
"Shikamaru Nara," he said with an extended hand. "Are you one of Sakura's pupils?"
"I am," he confirmed with a nod and a handshake. "I'm Hoshi Kokkaku. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too," Shikamaru replied.
After shooting Nezumi a knowing glance, to which she seemed confused as to how to answer, Ahkiro respired. He shifted the weight of his load to one arm before turning to Hoshi.
"We better get these to the Rokudaime, Hoshi," Ahkiro interrupted, then faced his teammates. "See you soon, Nezumi. I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei."
"One-o'-clock sharp," Shikamaru said, "don't forget me."
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Ahkiro called as he walked away.
"Sayonara!" Hoshi said, trailing the blond.
The second Hoshi turned around, Nezumi's face totally cleared of blush, her knees kept from quivering, and she looked much less faint. She and Shikamaru watched the two boys walk off; Hoshi laughing at something Ahkiro said, and Ahkiro looking pleased with himself. Shikamaru turned his full attention to Nezumi, silently relieved that it was just a crush and not a heart-attack.
"Ready to watch some clouds, Nezumi?"
That seemed to snap her out of her daze. She swiveled her head around to face her sensei. He was shocked by the look of definite fear and panic in her eyes. Her adrenaline must have been in the middle of rush hour during their short-lived interaction with Hoshi. Once she realized that she was in a safe space now (just her and her sensei headed off to gaze at the sky), she let out a shaky exhale, and breathed in any confidence that was dangling in the air. She erected herself, facing Shikamaru.
"Please don't tell Kage." she pleaded, ignoring Shikamaru's question.
The two began to walk toward the clearing, implying that she was indeed ready to watch some clouds. Her sensei cocked his other eyebrow, totally confused.
"Why don't you want Kage to know?" he inquired. "Does he like you or something?"
"No, no," she answered quickly, her breath finally caught up with her heartrate. "I feel like he'd just let it slip at some point. Either that, or I wouldn't hear the end of it."
That didn't really faze him. He didn't peg Kage as a narc, but who knew, really? Nezumi seemed very adamant abut his not knowing, so as far as Shikamaru was concerned, his lips were sealed.
"Got it," he agreed, nodding his head slowly. "I won't say a word."
-\[=]/-
As they watched clouds tumble along their merry way, Nezumi and Shikamaru felt at peace. No longer was her heart racing, or his brain blinking. They could serenely enjoy their quiet activity, filled with questions directed at one another. Though it was a hushed time of day, they preferred to chatter, lest it get awkward.
"How long have you liked Hoshi?" Shikamaru genuinely asked.
"Ano…" she replied cautiously. "I suppose…two years? He's always been very nice to me. And his goals are admirable."
"Yeah?"
"Mhm," she answered softly, as though she were daydreaming as she spoke. "He lives with his grandparents, so he wants to be a great ninja to honor them. He also wants to become a medic."
"It's a good thing Sakura is his sensei then," Shikamaru commented.
"He was really happy when they announced that he was in Sakura's squad."
He nodded in response. Anyone aspiring to be a medic would kill for a close spot to Sakura Uchiha. She was the best-known medic of Konoha, directly tailing behind Tsunade herself. For Hoshi to have such an incredible opportunity…. That boy must have been so elated at the very idea of being near that woman.
"Have you and your wife thought of any names for the baby yet?"
The question snapped him out of his thoughts and plunged him deeply into new ones. He and Temari had had this conversations about a hundred times within the past few weeks. He couldn't even estimate how many times they talked about it throughout the duration of the pregnancy. He also had "help" from friends and family who offered names, but none of them were very good.
"We want something that starts with Shika," he began, "considering it's a family tradition."
She nodded.
"We're still debating over the whole name."
"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"A boy," he grinned. "I'll have a son."
-\[=]/-
While they got to work on scrapbooking, Shikamaru looked at the family portrait on the wall. It was the first time he'd ever seen Hiro Yasen's face. Nezumi hair color came from her father, who had maroon, wavy locks and a low-faded undercut. His eyes were rough, yet gentle (much like Shikamaru's), and were a light gray.
When Nezumi pulled out a nearly-blank scrapbook, Shikamaru became intrigued. He'd heard of people doing this before, but didn't know anyone who actually did it. It seemed like such a large investment of time to him. However, he supposed with Nezumi's dad constantly out of the house, the free time just supplied her with more opportunities to develop hobbies. He leaned forward to get a better view of the book she pulled out.
"I've barely started this one," Nezumi said. "This is the Team Ten scrapbook."
She slid it toward Shikamaru, who opened it to the first page. There was a picture of Nezumi, Kage and Ahkiro, which was obviously taken with a cell phone. Nezumi's knees were bent inward and her hands were folded in front of her, though her back was erect and her chin was tilted upward. She smiled, though it was clear she was nervous. Kage had a hand in his pocket, posed in a very lackadaisical stance; he sported a lazy smile. Ahkiro stood straight, looking tall, with his hands akimbo. He had the biggest grin of all.
"Nekomi took that one for us," Nezumi informed him.
The page had construction paper cut in a zig-zag pattern around the photo, as well as the date scribed in eloquent handwriting. There were some spirals around the page, and just the tiniest hint of glitter. "Graduation Day!" was written at the top. The next page featured an image familiar to Shikamaru. It was their team photo, which was issued to each of the squad members. Nezumi approached this page the same as the last one; date, glitter, construction paper, cute designs, and "Team Shikamaru!" written atop the page. The latter of the items melted his heart. The next page was blank.
"I don't have any other pictures of us, but I'd like to do a third page," she expressed, sounding a bit flummoxed and disappointed.
That was when Shikamaru remembered something very important. A promise he'd made to Temari that very morning. …Even though it wasn't really a promise per se. It was more like a genuine request. Even so, he knew that if he didn't follow through on it, he'd be punched so hard in the gut that six ribs would fall out of his butt. Readily, he yanked his cell phone from his pants pocket and showed it to Nezumi.
"Could we take a selfie?" he proposed. "Then you could print it out?"
Her eyes twinkled, and she nodded vigorously, which delighted Shikamaru. Killing two birds with one stone, he thought. He held up the camera, switched the perspective, and got a stellar photo of he and Nezumi grinning. After he took it, he texted it to Nezumi, who then printed it from her phone. Meanwhile, Shikamaru sent the image to his dear wife, who wasted no time at all replying to the message.
Temari: *heart emoji**heart emoji**heart emoji*
Temari: Is that Nezumi? She's too cuuuutee!
Temari: You aren't lookin so bad yourself~
He smirked, shooting her a quick "gtg love you" before putting his phone away. Ordinarily, he would have flirted with her, but he had already declared this to be Nezumi's day, and texting while she shared her interests with him would have been rude. Thus, with the phone stored safely in his pocket, he continued learning the art of scrapbooking.
-\[=]/-
Once Nezumi's mother cleared the kitchen, she allowed her daughter and Shikamaru to take over. Nezumi opted to bake something simple: a chocolate cake. After adding all the necessary ingredients to the mixer, Nezumi and Shikamaru had a few seconds to talk while the concoction was being whisked together.
"Did your mom teach you to bake?"
"No," she replied with a shake of her head, "Tou-San did."
"She's a little daddy's girl," her mother said, peeking in the room for a split second.
Shikamaru turned to her, then back to Nezumi, who looked a bit sheepish, but she wasn't embarrassed. She definitely didn't deny her mother's accusation. He liked the idea of someone being unembarrassed about their love for their parents. He hoped so hard that his son would feel that way. Shikamaru was very aware that disliking your parents often plagued teenagers—he himself was constantly embarrassed by his mother as a child—but he didn't want his son to feel that way.
Once the batter was ready, they laid it into the pan and popped it in the oven. After they closed the over door, Shikamaru's phone beeped. He didn't reach for it, which baffled Nezumi. If it were her, she would have reached for her phone in a heartbeat after it signaled.
"You're not going to answer it?" she queried.
"Nah," he shrugged. "It's just my wife responding to something I sent earlier. I already know what it is."
She nodded her head slowly, absorbing his words. He smirked at her interest in his response to the cellular. He never thought there was much of an age gap between his generation and hers, but ten years was just enough time to get their minds responding to the same thing in two different ways. It was sort of…phenomenal.
"What does your wife look like?" Nezumi asked very cautiously, cutting his thoughts short. Her face was a bit pink, not sure whether this was an appropriate question or not. "Could I see a picture of her?"
He blinked.
"Uh, sure."
She scooched toward him as he retrieved his phone. Temari was the wallpaper on his lock screen, but she hated that picture. It consisted of her asleep on the couch, grabbing her pregnant belly, and looking oh-so adorable in her husband's eyes. If he could get past the cutesy "my wife is the most precious thing in the world" goggles, though, he would have seen the line of drool falling out of her wide-open mouth, and how her legs were in a somewhat unladylike position. Seeing the photo, Nezumi had to suppress a laugh.
"Yeah, she thinks it's dumb," he snickered. "I just think it's really sweet. The only time she doesn't yell at me is when she's sleeping."
"Nani?" she rhetorically responded, unleashing her giggle.
"Yeah, she's a yeller," he stated. "But she's mine. Here, I'll find a better one."
He scrolled through his photos. Past the selfies Naruto took anytime—anytime—he was within reach of Shikamaru's phone, past the pictures of birthday ideas for Temari, and past the picture of the Nara baby's ultrasound, he found Temari's favorite photo. Not only did she look elegant in it, but she even got Shikamaru to dress up for the shot. He personally didn't like himself in the picture very much, but his wife was absolutely stunning. She wore a purple, floral kimono, and was leaning in for a kiss from her husband, whose arms were folded.* Shikamaru was a tad embarrassed as he showed this to his student, but she was in total awe of it. He zoomed in so all you could see was Temari, and Nezumi's eyes shined.
"She's so beautiful," she stated. "What's her name?"
Shikamaru blinked a second time. That caught him by surprise. Nani? He thought to himself. Have I not mentioned this to the kids?
"Temari," he answered. "I've never said that?"
Nezumi shook her head. "No, but you've mentioned lots of other things about her."
That was believable. He was notorious for being stuck in the honeymoon phase. He and Temari may not have acted like a normal couple—what with them naysaying pet names, not showing public displays of affection, or even being generally kind to one another outside of the house—but it was very apparent to everyone that they were totally, utterly in love. They talked about each other so much to other people that the listeners could probably write a biography.
"I can't believe I've never mentioned her name," he said, totally dumbstruck. "Wow."
"Well, you mentioned it just now," Nezumi confirmed with a single chuckle. "And Temari-San is gorgeous."
-\[=]/-
After eating an incredible meal at the Yasen home, Shikamaru thanked Nezumi for her time, thanked Mrs. Yasen for dinner, and bid them adieux. It had been a very productive day, he thought. He learned a lot about Nezumi, got to see her less-nervous side, got to see her overly nervous side, and—as a bonus—he got to show off his wife. Now, he didn't feel as distant from Nezumi. He genuinely felt that they were a closer sensei and student because of it.
Tomorrow would be all about Ahkiro. For right now, though, he was aching to get home to Temari.
-\[=]/-
"How'd it go?" Temari asked him as he walked through the door.
"Great," he smiled. "I know her favorite color, I know more about her family life, I know about her crush—"
"It's not on you, is it?" she joked.
"No," Shikamaru said with extra emphasis. "It's on a boy named Hoshi."
"Sounds like a nice day," she stated.
He flung himself onto the couch, resting his head on her shoulder. She began lightly stroking the back of her husband's head, the other hand latched onto a book. He pulled his phone from his pants pocket and flipped through his photos once again. He just knew that this would make her night. Once he located the image, he lightly tapped her arm with his cellular before presenting it to her. When her eyes fell on the screen, she smiled warmly.
"I love this picture," she quietly declared.
"You know who else loves it?" he asked rhetorically. "Nezumi."
Her eyes bulged at the comment. "She does?"
"Mhmm," he hummed in her ear. "She said that you look 'so beautiful,' and 'gorgeous' when she saw it."
"She did?"
"She did."
The event from this morning happened again. Tears trickled down Temari's lovely face, and she hauled her husband in for a hug. He smiled very softly to himself, lifting his hand so he could graze her undone hair. He noted that she was increasingly emotional now that they were in the third trimester. The nice thing about it, though, was that she always wanted to hold him, and he always complied.
"She also said I talk about you a lot," he snickered.
"All good things I hope," she managed to giggle out betwixt sniffles.
"Hai," he sighed in mock exasperation.
"Good," she said, kissing his cheeks, "because it'll be my turn to talk about you come Friday."
-\[=]/-
A/N: Long chapter. So, yes, that's Nezumi. I hope you liked it! Ahkiro is up next!
PLEASE REVIEW!
ASTERISKS
*"He assumed the process would be easier, considering he'd seen it done about ten or fifteen different times,": because there's a Charlie Brown movie that begins with him making a kite like FIVE times, and I've always thought "that looks SO EASY." But I've never tried it, so it could be hard for all I know. XD
*"She wore a purple, floral kimono, and was leaning in for a kiss from her husband, whose arms were folded.": I have a link to the picture! Found it on Tumblr. It's super cute! Just take out all the spaces, and you'll see it.
twitter sktm _ cawai / status / 564021507655868416
God bless! 8D
[ENDED ON: 7-23-17 at 2:23 AM]
