Shadows and Fangs
Chapter 10
Now that their relationship is established, it's time to move on with their lives! Long chapter! But splitting it didn't feel right so...enjoy! :)
Shikamaru had always known that Kiba freely expressed his happiness with much exuberance; so really, he shouldn't have been surprised when his lover threw himself at him when he opened the door, sending them tumbling to the floor.
"Good news, I guess?" he asked needlessly as he tried to sit up, Kiba ending up straddling his lap as he proudly held a piece of paper right into his face. The Nara chuckled as he grabbed it so he'd be able to read it and his eyes widened as he did so. It was an official statement bearing the Hokage's seal, very brief in its message but undeniably important.
Inuzuka Kiba – Konoha shinobi registration number 012620 – Following official review and effective immediately: promoted to the rank of tokubetsu jounin as a tracking expert.
"Tokubetsu jounin? You've been holding out on me," Shikamaru teased with a raised eyebrow as he looked back at him. Inwardly, he felt incredibly relieved that Kiba visibly wasn't being punished because of their relationship.
Kiba's grin widened and he shrugged sheepishly. "Kurenai told me I was up for consideration the other night, before we left. It's mostly following my work in Suna and the last few missions I went on here, but I didn't want to get my hopes up, so I didn't talk about it," he admitted. Akamaru barked happily behind him and he nodded. "But I made the cut!"
"I'm not surprised," Shikamaru replied honestly, feeling very proud as he moved a hand to the back of his neck to pull him into a kiss. "I guess I'll need to properly congratulate you," he mused against his lips.
"Why do you think I told you first?" Kiba huffed as he rested his forehead against his. "I'm going to go tell my mom and Hana, and then Shino and Hinata – Kurenai was with me, as my squad leader, so she already knows. But you'll come by later? We'll probably have a huge dinner to celebrate," he asked him excitedly.
"It's a date," Shikamaru joked, leaning in for another kiss, pulling back as something occurred to him. "So I guess you outrank me now…"
Kiba laughed brightly at this, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Does that mean I get to order you around?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes fondly at this and the Inuzuka's smile softened as he moved back to kiss him. "Hey, you know that if you really put your mind to it, you'd get promoted in a heartbeat, right?" he asked rhetorically.
The Nara sighed as he leaned his head against Kiba's shoulder, tightening his hold on his waist. "I'm happy like this," he assured him lazily.
Kiba smirked warmly as he let himself be held. He opened his mouth to tease him more, but tensed as his nose picked up a smell he was familiar with. "Let go," he whispered urgently as he disentangled himself from him and stood back outside of the house.
Shikamaru frowned at him, confused for a second before figuring it out. There was only one person that made Kiba tense like that: Yoshino Nara. And indeed, his mother wasn't long in walking up to the house, letting out a sigh as she saw them.
While she and Kiba never displayed any outward animosity towards each other, theirs was a relationship based solely on mutual tolerance. Kiba didn't particularly care about her approving of him, but he was always on her best behavior when around her, because at the very least, he didn't want her to hate or resent him. And Yoshino shared that mindset; she didn't pretend to like him, but she acted civil because he may have been uncouth and boisterous at times, but he was by no means a bad person, and although it pained her to admit it, he made her son happy.
So there you have it. Mutual tolerance.
"Good afternoon Kiba," she greeted civilly.
"Mrs. Nara," he replied with a polite nod. Even Akamaru behaved extra nicely as he sat by his master's legs obediently and didn't bark.
"Kiba was promoted to tokubetsu jounin," Shikamaru told her with barely contained pride as he stepped closer to his lover. Call him an idealist, but he never tired of pointing out Kiba's successes to her in hopes that she'd finally warm up to him.
Yoshino's eyes widened in surprise and she had to concede that she was impressed. "That is something to be proud of – congratulations," she told him earnestly.
"Thank you," the Inuzuka replied as he fought to keep a blush from spreading over his face. He then cleared his throat, ready for his exit. "Well, I have to go let my family know."
"I'll see you later," Shikamaru said easily.
"Later," Kiba confirmed with a small smile. "Have a nice day," he then told Yoshino before he and Akamaru ran off.
Yoshino sighed slightly as she watched them go and looked back towards her son as he picked the bag she was carrying out of her arms. "Thank you," she replied absently, still taking in the way his expression radiated pure pride – love, to be honest, but she didn't like to think about it like that. "You should hurry up and get promoted too," she said as they walked back into the house. "Otherwise he'll go to places you can't follow," she added off-handedly.
Shikamaru cocked his head to the side at her words, surprised. Since retiring from active duty after his birth, he knew she'd often suffered, watching her husband and then her son go off onto missions day in and day out – where each could be the last. To hear her encouraging him not to let that distance grow bigger in his own life, in her own way, was strangely encouraging. "I guess you're right…" he replied evenly. "But it sure sounds troublesome," he added, just for the principle, and just to annoy her – and it worked, too!
"Shikamaru Nara, you will be the death of me," Yoshino muttered as she yanked the bag back from him and walked off towards the kitchen – although the hasty retreat was to hide her fond grin, and they both knew it.
The apple didn't fall far from the tree, and when Shikamaru got to the Inuzuka household that evening, between the excited family members and the equally excited nin-dogs, he yet again found himself worrying about his hearing down the road. "Would it make sense to you if I told you my ears are somehow getting used to this kind of volume?" he asked Aoba distractedly.
"Strangely so, yes," the other shinobi replied contemplatively. "One of the mysteries of this world, I suppose," he added as he held his glass to him.
"Sounds good to me," Shikamaru agreed as he hit it with his and brought it to his lips. Turning his head to his lover, his grin widened as Tsume and another Inuzuka – Kiba's second cousin, if he remembered correctly – flanked him and forced a drink down his throat to celebrate. Well, if they continued like that, maybe Kiba wouldn't be in any shape to have a private celebration later, the Nara mused, not too happy about the possibility.
Hana for her part frowned as she reached for her husband's glass right as it touched his lips and replaced it with tea. "If I can't drink, you can't drink," she reminded him simply with a sweet smile, daring him to disagree.
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" the sensor quickly assured her, making a show of enjoying his tea.
Opposite of him, Shino's enjoyment of said tea was completely earnest.
Shikamaru hid his smirk behind his glass at this. Pregnancy had strangely turned Hana more like her fellow Inuzuka – with a predilection for playing pranks to boot.
"You're looking great, Hana," Hinata told her, opting for a safer subject.
"Oh, I'm starting to grow a fearsome bump, but I'm holding on!" she replied happily, smile widening as Aoba lovingly moved a hand over her round stomach to stroke it. "And the same time next year, we can forget I ever grew to such proportions, all the while playing with an adorable little pup!"
"It's so great that you're going to be parents!" Hinata commented earnestly as she looked at the couple with a bright smile.
"Isn't it?" Aoba replied contentedly as he rested his chin on his wife's shoulder. "I think it's a girl," he stage-whispered quite seriously.
Hana grinned as she automatically raised a hand to stroke his hair, turning her neck to press a kiss to his head.
"Personally, I'm rather looking forward to that moment where you suddenly realize that finding a babysitter is the most daunting task in the world!" Kurenai teased them easily. She was lucky in that aspect, with both her team and Asuma's, not to forget Konohamaru who always liked to play 'super uncle' – as he was doing this very evening.
Hana just moved her gaze to her brother and raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru. "There're two future uncles right here who very well know they've been signed up for it already!" she declared with a wide Inuzuka grin.
"You bet! We'll be the best uncles ever!" Kiba grinned happily from the headlock his mother had him in while Shikamaru returned to his drink self-consciously.
He felt touched that she so casually referred to him as a future uncle as well – even more so as no one corrected her nor made any comments. It was heartening, even though that was obviously the Inuzuka way – even Kiba referred to Aoba as his brother, more often than not dropping the 'in-law'. Absently, his eyes trailed to the red Inuzuka triangles on Aoba's wrists – those who married into the clan received them there, Kiba had told him, further proof of how much the Inuzukas were really inclusive like a family.
"And I'll be a grandmother! That doesn't make me feel any younger!" Tsume commented with a laugh, her amused expression completely at odds with her complaint. "It feels like it was only yesterday Kiba outgrew his nappies!" she added, much to everyone's amusement – butt of the joke excluded, of course.
"Are you kidding me?" Kiba muttered as he managed to pull out of her clutches and moved away to safety to sit by Shikamaru's side, close enough to press one leg against his. "This is supposed to be my celebration, mom, so no embarrassing memories please!"
"Fine, be that way, Mr. Touchy!" Tsume huffed as she leaned back against Kuromaru – and how eerie was it that the nin-dog's amused huff was so like hers?
"Embarrassing others is a common way for the Inuzuka to show their affection after all," Shino needlessly reminded them all, not failing to notice the flinches of recognition his words drew from the room's occupants.
"Aw, Shino, you'll make me blush!" Tsume chided fondly as her children snorted – all those present knew very well that the only thing that had the ability to make her blush was alcohol.
Laughter – and barks – filled the room once more and Kiba sighed happily, leaning more against Shikamaru and sharing a small smile with him. "Today's a good day," he said brightly.
"It is," Shikamaru agreed easily. "It really is…"
And seeing as Kiba visibly hadn't had too much to drink, the night was even better.
In all honesty, when Kiba had finally made chuunin, it had felt great, but really it had been a team effort, and a logical evolution. Without bragging, it was obvious shinobi of his level did not remain genin their entire careers – unless they retired early. Getting another promotion, however, was never guaranteed, and completely dependent on your own personal skills – and your career plans, naturally. Following the war and having witnessed so many other people's abilities first hand, he'd realized that rather to try and emulate the all-around level of excellence that some seemed to naturally attain, he should concentrate on his own strengths, and so making tokubetsu jounin had become his goal. Having reached it felt amazing. Sure, he'd been proud to become a chuunin, had walked into the mission room without Kurenai for the first time with his head held high and there'd been a near skip to his steps, and yet he hadn't even worn the jacket that long. But this…
Walking into the room where tokubetsu jounin awaited their assignments really did fill him with pride. It was organized and decorated exactly as the other rooms were, the only difference was the sign on the door, but he'd expected that – he still felt a difference. Aoba looked up from the morning's newspaper and motioned him over from the other side of the room as he noticed him, so he walked to him.
"How's the first day going?" his brother-in-law asked him with an easy smile.
"We just got here," Kiba replied as Akamaru greeted the other man. He tilted his head and turned as he felt someone stop next to them however, and raised an eyebrow as he saw a member of the Nara clan – Maen, if he remembered right.
"Do you know what some are saying?" the Nara asked him without preamble.
Kiba chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Unless you've just returned to the village after months of absence, it's fairly common knowledge that people have been talking about me a lot behind my back for some time now," he reminded him easily. Next to him the corner of Aoba's lips pulled up – he and Hana were so alike, sometimes.
Maen rolled his eyes and rested a hand on his hip. "I meant about your promotion," he corrected.
"Let me guess: I slept for it," Kiba offered, clearly unimpressed – he'd just thrown it out like that, but really, it was what 'people' said of roughly one promotion out of three!
The other man muttered something about 'cocky Inuzukas' and sighed. "Look – Ensui was the Captain to give his final recommendation. So now among those who're still waiting for their own promotion, there are people saying you used your relationship to your advantage," he stated plainly.
"Saying what? That he asked Shikamaru to convince Ensui to promote him?" Aoba cut in dubiously, raising an eyebrow at the idiocy behind such rumors.
"Hey I'm just relaying it – I know it's not true," Maen replied with a frown. "Even a Yamanaka couldn't get Ensui to do anything he doesn't want to! But the fact of the matter is this – you – is affecting the Nara clan's reputation."
Kiba snorted at that. "So what do you expect me to do about it? Apologize? Step down?" Akamaru let out a huff at this, clearly unhappy with the conversation. "I'm not doing either of those."
"Good, because I wasn't going to suggest either," Maen snapped back in annoyance. "Look, I don't really care what you do and who you do it with, even if it's beyond me! I care that it impacts on my clan."
"How kind of you. Again—what do you expect me to do about it?" the Inuzuka asked in the same tone. "Anyone who doubts the merit behind my promotion can feel free to say it to my face, and it'll be my pleasure to prove them wrong down the road. The fact is, I'm among the best damn trackers this village's seen in a while, and this is where I belong," he finished confidently. Some of the room's other occupants had tuned into their conversation, but he shrugged it off – he'd already figured he'd have to contend with that for some time.
Maen let out a deep sigh at this, looking at him tiredly, but with an expression close to satisfaction. "Good," was all he said before walking away.
Aoba sighed as he clapped Kiba's shoulder. "I guess you'd better think of that as a fair warning slash welcome slash hazing," he mused.
"It's not just that," Kiba commented as his eyes narrowed in thought. "I don't care what people say about me, but if Ensui's reputation starts being questioned because of—"
"It wouldn't be the first time," Aoba promptly interrupted him seriously. "Trust me on this, Kiba: promotions are always criticized by people denied their own. You should have heard the rumors flying about when the Fourth chose Genma, Raido and Iwashi for his Guard Platoon instead of more experienced or powerful Anbu!" he assured him. "Besides, Ensui might've been Konoha's final approver, but your first endorsement came from the Kazekage himself!" he needless reminded him. "People are just jealous!"
Kiba chuckled at this, clapping his shoulder back wordlessly. He'd never doubted himself, but it was always nice to have people back you up. Besides, it was true that independently of his relationship, a lot of shinobi were annoyed with him because he'd recognized the exchange program's potential value when they'd all dismissed it, and he had a lot to show for it now.
His name was called at that moment, and he nodded at his brother-in-law before stepping forward, surprised to see Ensui. He shared a quick look with Maen before greeting the very subject of their conversation. "Captain Ensui. I look forward to working with you again," he said with a nod.
Ensui nodded back curtly, eyes darting to his fellow clansman before he sighed. "Maen talked to you, didn't he?" he asked in annoyance. "Never mind, it's unimportant," he added before he could reply as he turned around and walked out.
Kiba toned down his grin as he followed him – there was something about the Nara's nonchalance that he really appreciated, generally speaking.
Ensui opened another door and called out two shinobi, who Kiba didn't know personally but recognized as jounin – Santa from the Yamanaka clan and a kunoichi he knew only knew by name, Ora. "I hope none of you made plans for dinner, we're leaving on an A-rank," he informed them summarily.
"You're an enemy to life outside of work as usual, Ensui," Santa muttered to his friend, though not really with any animosity.
Ora sighed as her eyes trailed to Kiba and then to Akamaru before settling back ahead unimpressed. "So it's tracking time," she declared in a bored tone, figuring that would be their purpose since they had a tracker.
Kiba was torn between laughing and rolling his eyes, but settled for looking her over instead. As a chuunin, you more or less worked with the same people, teams formed pretty quickly and it set a routine. But now, here he was on an A-rank mission with shinobi he knew little about on his first day.
This was exciting. It felt like being in Suna had. And he reveled in it.
Their prey wasn't hard to track down once Kiba and Akamaru had caught her scent, but she was hard to catch – almost impossibly so, at times, leading them on a chase that lasted days. Eventually though, between the four of them she was apprehended. Ensui had tasked Kiba and Ora with attacking her on all fronts, creating an opening for him to trap her with shadows. Santa had then taken over her body and forced her hands and legs into binds and seals. Once they felt she was secure – and with Ensui keeping her shadow under control just in case – the sensor broke the link and moved to probe her mind to determine whether the deserter had sold any information of value already.
"Most of the information is still in her possession – she was looking for a big buyer," the Yamanaka informed them, eyes still closed as he continued his search. "She's given away some of it to the black market though. Two different handlers, but they met in the village south of here, not at their bases."
"Kiba, how many smells can you track simultaneously?" Ensui enquired as he turned to him in thoughts.
"If you mean the two, that won't be a problem – but I need a sample," the Inuzuka replied. Even without Akamaru, he'd be able to track two scents – it was his specialty, right?
The captain nodded as he hummed, looking at their captive. "Santa can access her olfactory sensations as well, but chances are she won't have smelled anything special about them."
"Normal people don't smell other people," Ora remarked blandly from where she was standing guard.
Kiba ignored the jibe and stepped closer to the Yamanaka. "I just need the faintest trace – I can expand that myself," he assured them.
Santa held out a hand and pressed it to Kiba's head before concentrating on relaying the two exchanges in his mind, as vividly as he could. "Did you get them?"
Kiba didn't reply immediately and wrinkled his nose as he took in a deep breath and then several shorter sniffs. "I've got them. The first leads north-east, about half a day away, not much more. The second is south, we can be on him in a couple of hours," he informed them.
Ensui nodded as he mentally formulated a plan for their next course of action. "We'll track the north-east one first, even if it's farther away – that's Kusa and Ame's direction, I'm not taking any chances. Santa, anything else of value?" he asked the other man.
"No," Santa replied succinctly as he stepped back.
The Nara nodded at his words and used the shadow wrapped around her to snap her neck without further ado. "We leave as soon as you're done with the body, Ora," he instructed as Kiba moved to take her place on watch duty.
The first time he'd tracked someone and it had led to their death, Kiba had wondered whether he should feel guilty that he'd been the one to chase that person down – and therefore bring their end. Fairly quickly however he remembered that shinobi didn't do things without a reason – that traitors who risked their village's safety or people who had every intention to kill you did not deserve mercy, and that when it really came down to it, their fate had nothing to do with him. Nowadays, he didn't even blink anymore. His job was to track, not to judge.
Ora was remarkably fast in dealing with the body – first taking extensive notes in a scroll that she sealed, and then placing the body in a precise position before burning it to a crisp with a perfectly executed jutsu. It was obvious this was her specialty. "Done," she said simply as she walked to them, cocking her head to the side as she noticed Kiba hadn't budged. "Didn't that smell bother you?" she wondered half-curiously, referring to the burning body.
Kiba shrugged. "I'd be out of it most of the time if I hadn't learned to block unpleasant smells," he replied matter-of-factly. He wasn't about to repeat losing a fight to a fart after all!
Ora seemed mildly impressed at this – or at the very least, less unimpressed – and didn't add any more.
"Lead the way, Kiba," Ensui directed as they stood ready.
Kiba nodded and jumped ahead. "I'll follow the trail, you handle our immediate surroundings for traps," he told Akamaru, nodding as the dog barked in agreement. He then concentrated fully on tracking the scent as it was moving closer to the border, all the while also keeping a small part of his attention concentrated on the second scent in case it changed course radically. Tracking two targets moving in opposite directions – a challenge, and dream come true to most Inuzuka. He tried hard not to grin. (He failed.)
Back in Konoha and over at the Academy, Shino frowned as he internally debated the consequences that would await him were he to murder Kumo's exchange shinobi. Nobody had to know after all. He could make the body disappear. And it would be for the children.
"And yeah, so that's why Kumo is infinitely better and stronger!" Karui concluded, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared down his class. On the blackboard behind her, the Aburame had written in neat letters: 'An explanation of the Cloud – a lecture on Kumo by our exchange program guest Karui'. She was wearing the Leaf's symbol on her protector, but had brought hers from the Cloud and it had been passed from hand to hand around the class.
"Thank you for your unbiased description of Kumo's many aspects, Karui," Shino said blandly as he pushed his glasses further up on his nose before turning to his students and taking back her forehead protector. "Does anyone have questions?" His resident trouble-maker raised his hand, and he almost wanted to smile sadistically as he motioned for him to go ahead.
"So are you a boy or a girl?" the child asked with a frown, clearly baffled by her flat chest.
"I'm a WOMAN, you brat!" Karui yelled back as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt, nostrils flaring. As Shino cleared his throat behind her, she set him down and 'gently' pat his head – she hated bugs, they made a sick crunchy sound when you squashed them.
Mercifully, the other questions were actually on Kumo itself, and she grudgingly answered them somewhat seriously. Still, Shino did not hold back his sigh of relief when Shikamaru and Chouji came to pick her up.
"So how'd it go?" Shikamaru wondered with a raised eyebrow as the children hurried past them since their classes were over for the day.
"Successfully, if our goal was to ensure every child present now believes Kumo to be full of tomboyish bullies," Shino deadpanned as he frowned at him. "Kiba had warned me, but I thought he was exaggerating. I should have listened to him," he added with a bowed head, looking truly repentant.
"That bad, huh?" Shikamaru asked needlessly with a wince as he looked back to where Karui and Chouji were walking off happily – well, he was happy, she was…less annoyed.
"Yes," the bug-user replied simply as he absently extended a hand to guide a solitary ant onto his finger from where it roamed over his desk. "Have you heard from him?" he then wondered.
"No," the Nara admitted with a sigh. "I know I shouldn't worry but…well…first mission as tokujou and he's gone for a week, how can I not?" he asked rhetorically.
Shino nodded at this, strangely satisfied to know he worried. "Good. After all, if you didn't worry, and consequently betrayed his trust, I would be forced to enact my threats," he stated matter-of-factly as he walked to the open window where he set the ant down.
Shikamaru involuntarily shuddered at his words. "Don't worry, I have no intention of giving you any reason to turn my body into an insect breeding ground," he assured him flatly.
"Good," the Aburame concluded as though he hadn't just threatened him again.
"Want to come have dinner with us later on?" Shikamaru offered off-handedly as he shrugged his head towards the couple. He couldn't help but chuckle at Shino's expression though – clearly, one afternoon with Karui was more than enough for him. "Okay, I won't insist! See you around!" he called over his shoulder as he walked to his friends.
Shino nodded at him and his frown deepened as he watched Chouji and the Kumo bully. What an odd couple! Truly, he was baffled. How could such a kind and gentle man as Chouji – who was one of the few people to look at him guiltily when he accidentally killed a bug – feel so much adoration for a no-nonsense nationalist like Karui?
He was supposed to be a teacher now, the one who explained things to others, but this subject eluded him completely…! Inwardly, he wondered if there was a seminar on the matter he could attend, just as quickly dismissing the thought. Love was like friendship, the way he saw it.
Some things weren't meant to be explained after all, just lived.
When Kiba finally returned to Konoha, exactly nine days after leaving, he felt ready to sleep the next nine away. As could be expected from an A-rank mission, it had been extremely demanding, even though it wasn't his first. They'd been successful in their task though, and that always felt extremely satisfying. They'd tracked down both buyers, and had swiftly dealt with them; and since they were black marketers, they didn't bother getting rid of the bodies, but rather left them as a warning for anyone who'd think to buy information on Konoha.
Being back home after such a race felt great, and the Hokage's monument was a welcome sight – Kakashi's face was practically finished, he noted absently.
"Good nose," Ora said simply as she clapped his shoulder before disappearing.
He didn't let it get to him – it hadn't taken him long to determine that she was a woman of very few words, so he figured this was her way of letting him know she wouldn't be opposed to working with him again in the future. Santa didn't say anything as he nodded at them and walked off as well, making a beeline for the food courts – and Kiba had to admit he had the right idea.
"If I hadn't already recommended your promotion, I'd do it right now," Ensui said out of the blue as he turned to him. "So would anyone else in my position. That you're sleeping with one of my clansmen has nothing to do with that," he added bluntly.
Kiba chuckled as he held his look. "I appreciate your saying that," he assured him earnestly.
Ensui nodded at him and then craned his head to the side to crack his neck with a sigh. "I'll handle the report. We'll probably see each other around," he said simply before he too left.
Akamaru grunted as they watched him go and Kiba nodded. "Yeah, you're right…" he replied absently as his stomach growled. "I need food though! And now! But first…" he mumbled as he concentrated on tracking down one particular smell. He found himself smiling as it turned out to be much closer than he'd anticipated, and turned around to be faced with Shikamaru. "How did you know I was back?" he wondered happily.
"I was with Ino, and she sensed you while practicing," the Nara replied, smiling at Akamaru as the dog nuzzled his hand. "Welcome back."
"What, that's it? I don't even get a kiss?" Kiba teased as he crossed his arms over his chest, half-surprised when Shikamaru actually leaned over to press his lips to his briefly in a chaste kiss. "If I weren't so hungry right now I would drag you to my place faster than you can say 'troublesome'," he promised huskily.
Shikamaru chuckled at this and shrugged his head to the side. "Then let's get you both fed. Then after that if you're still up to it we can see who's really faster," he offered with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm game!" Kiba agreed happily as he easily fell into steps with him. "So what'd I miss?"
"I think Shino's ready to kill Karui to protect the village's youth," the shadow-nin replied evenly in amusement.
"Her talk at the Academy went that well, huh?" the Inuzuka asked with a snigger, mentally sympathizing with his best friend – poor Shino, he'd warned him! Akamaru barked and he sniffed the air at this. "Hey, you're right – ramen does sound good right now! D'you mind?" he asked Shikamaru as he turned to him.
"Ramen always sounds good." With that settled, they took a left and were soon at Ichiraku, where Shikamaru inwardly wondered how Naruto managed to be there so often – he'd honestly started suspecting he always kept a shadow clone there, there was just no other way.
"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted happily as he waved at them widely, leaning back in his stool to look at them. "Kiba, I heard you got promoted, way to go!" he congratulated him with a wide grin.
"Thanks!" Kiba replied with his own grin as Akamaru barked.
Naruto chuckled and then paused as he looked between his friends more closely and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "So…uh…are you guys on a date or…I mean is this just for dinner or…well…what I mean is…" he trailed off at this, visibly annoyed with himself for not being able to find his words.
"We're slightly beyond having 'dates' by now," Shikamaru replied mercifully as they sat down next to him.
"What does that mean?" the blond wondered with a frown, thanking the owner happily as he set a bowl of ramen in front of him – his second.
"That we know how the evening's gonna end anyway, so there's no use being on our best behavior anymore," Kiba mock-whispered, grin widening at his friend's blush and not even needing to turn his head to know Shikamaru was rolling his eyes at him.
"I didn't need to know that much…" Naruto muttered as he turned back to his beloved food and dug in. Absently, he listened as they placed their order, with Akamaru barking his own and Kiba dutifully translating, and Shikamaru teasing them for their request of 'extra-large' servings. He then heard his name and turned to greet a few young genin he'd spent some time with earlier that week, waving at them absentmindedly as he kept slurping his noodles.
"Shino mentioned you've been making regular visits at the Academy," Shikamaru started as he followed his gaze.
"Yeah!" Naruto replied happily as he turned back to his friends. "It's just that…many of them have lost parents so…I want to cheer them up, you know! And it doesn't take much, you just have to show them a few moves – and play a few pranks!" he added mischievously.
"Poor Iruka…it's no wonder he's been sharing more duties with Shino!" Kiba commented with a compassionate thought for their old teacher.
"He's enjoying every second of it!" Naruto insisted brightly, knowing he was right – Iruka wouldn't change a thing, and they all knew it. They continued to talk about the Academy until all the ramen were ready, and after Kiba set Akamaru's down on the ground, they didn't waste any time before getting started.
And as they alternated between eating and talking, Naruto thought to himself that really, spending time with them now wasn't really any different from how it was before. So maybe sometimes they shared a look or a smile, but they were still Shikamaru and Kiba. Yeah, it was weird to think that they did…more, but that also applied to Ino and Sai or any of his friends in the end!
Inwardly, he felt envious. He had friends now, family even (because Iruka and Tsunade were family, at this point, as was Jiraiya), respect and recognition but…he was still missing love. For a brief second, he considered asking them about it, but then he figured Shikamaru would just say it'd be troublesome to explain, and Kiba would likely share way too much information, which had him chuckling.
Maybe he'd be better off finding out about that on his own anyway…
TBC
I generally won't spend much time describing missions or fights because it's something I'm not crazy about as a reader, so I'd honestly have a hard time selling it as the writer. I like human interactions better, they're infinitely much more fun to write!
Some OC's will pop up from time to time, if only because I don't want to overuse every and any shinobi that was mentioned once/twice in passing, especially from other villages. The story won't revolve around them and the POV will remain mostly with Kiba and Shikamaru at any rate!