Shadows and Fangs

Chapter 11

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While he and Kiba were nowhere close to settling into a routine (oh, the horror!), there was one regular occurrence that Shikamaru actually enjoyed: lunch at Tsume's every other Saturday. He'd personally seen her rip enemies to shreds with her teeth on the battlefield, but the Inuzuka Matriarch was an excellent cook and a surprisingly good host. And while she never kept back from teasing them every opportunity she could, she wasn't overly overbearing – and actually, she still teased Hana and Aoba just the same, which made them feel quite good, to be honest.

Growing up, the people he'd been close to were the Yamanaka and Akimichi – not other Nara clansmen. But the Inuzuka were different – they were truly a clan in every sense of the word, and once they warmed to you, you were family, no matter your origins.

"Shikamaru, have some more! You've been looking so drained lately – I made that stew especially for you!" Tsume argued with a frown as she looked at the Nara with an expression that was both threatening and worried.

"Thanks, but I assure you, I could not stomach a third serving," Shikamaru replied quite honestly as he wrapped his arms around his midsection protectively.

Kiba laughed loudly next to him – he was already wondering where he'd put the first two, to be honest!

Tsume tsked and then turned to Aoba. "And you've barely eaten anything!" she accused dismissively.

"I had three plates!" the sensor claimed with a pained frown, holding up three fingers as though to emphasize his commitment.

"Who's going to eat all that then?" Tsume muttered as she looked at the leftovers.

"Oh, that's not a problem I've ever seen on Inuzuka grounds," Aoba replied with a grin, barely avoiding the napkin that was thrown his way.

Hana fondly rolled her eyes at her family's antics and then frowned as she placed a hand over her stomach. "Your daughter wants out," she noted with a sigh.

"Hey, there should be another month left, right?" Kiba asked worriedly.

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she decided otherwise!" Hana replied with an amused huff, leaning against Aoba to get more comfortable.

"You were early, actually," Tsume noted contemplatively. "You were right on time," she then added as she shrugged her head at her son.

"Mom says I was late," Shikamaru mused, grinning lazily.

"Yeah, not surprised," Tsume remarked with a snort before turning to Aoba. "I bet you were there right when expected, too, huh?"

"So I've been told," he agreed modestly, flinching slightly at her loud laugh – you never really got used to that, in his opinion. A quick look shared with Shikamaru confirmed he wasn't alone in that. Good.

Because those Inuzuka could drive you crazy. (Which, he supposed, made him slightly masochistic.)

Later, as he was waiting for Kiba to emerge from the kitchen with an armful of leftovers, Shikamaru tilted his head to the side as he saw a box full of baby's toys in the entryway, figuring Tsume had likely pulled it out of storage to give to Hana – or simply to reminisce. A picture album rested on top, and he couldn't help but reach for it, idly leafing through, chuckling at the equal amount of pictures of dogs and Inuzuka – of puppies and babies.

Hana chuckled as she stopped to look over his shoulder. "Aww, look at us, aren't we the cutest?" she cooed as she pointed to a picture of herself and Kiba in front of the academy – and he must've been very young, because he didn't have the red marks on his cheeks yet. The Haimaru triplets, puppies themselves, proudly flanked them.

"It must've been crowded in class with three nin-dogs!" he commented with a grin – because he didn't want to admit it out loud that yes, it was pretty much the most adorable picture he'd ever seen. He turned the pages and time obviously passed, because there were red triangles on Kiba's cheeks now, and on one picture he and Hana were with another man as he knelt behind them and had his hands on their shoulders, with all three grinning brightly. He didn't have the Inuzuka markings on his cheeks, but on his wrists, and there was something strangely familiar about him. He'd also seen him in a couple of other pictures, now that he thought about it – but mostly with Tsume. "Who's he?" he wondered.

"That's our father," Hana said simply. "I'd forgotten he was there for Kiba's academy entrance…" she then muttered as she looked up, as if trying to remember it.

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly and he looked at the picture more closely. Except for his eyes, which were clearly a hundred percent Tsume, Kiba really took after him – Hana was the exact opposite: she had their father's eyes. He turned some more pages, but the mystery father showed up again only a very few other times, the last when the siblings were much older – that picture couldn't have been more than a few years old. He wanted to ask her about him but then Kiba hurriedly made his way to them, loudly insisting that no, he didn't need more food, thank you, mom, and see you soon!

"Let's get outta here before she tries to dump some on you too!" he told the Nara with a grin, turning to peck his sister's cheek to say goodbye. "Tell my niece to behave, okay? And go in there to save Aoba, you know he can't say 'no'!" he warned good-naturedly.

Hana winced, well aware that the sensor had probably already been given heaps of food that they didn't really need. "Will do…" she muttered as she turned to walk towards the kitchen. "Mom? Are you forcing leftovers on my husband again?"

"He's scrawny!" Tsume insisted loudly.

Kiba and Shikamaru shared amused glances and agreed this was their cue to leave. The shadow-nin reached to help him carry some of the containers and they leisurely made their way back to the apartment. Inwardly, he wondered whether his body would be able to eventually digest all the food he'd consumed, as he did nearly every time he left Tsume's table. As he later let himself fall on the couch with every intention of taking a nap, he found that he couldn't help but think back on the photo album. "Hey Kiba?" he called, turning his head to look at him.

"Yeah?" the Inuzuka replied from his spot on the ground as he brushed Akamaru.

"How come no one ever mentions your father?" he asked him curiously. "You can tell me off if that's not something you want to talk about," he then added seriously at the tracker's wide-eyed look.

Kiba shook his head at that, absently removing a hairball from the brush and dropping it on an ever-growing pile. "No, no, I don't mind – I was just surprised you'd ask," he assured him before looking back at him, wondering what to say. "He's just…never really been our father, you know? Mom argues he's never been much of a husband either, although she's repeatedly added he was – and I quote, to my complete horror – 'quite the lover'," he said with a grimace.

Shikamaru chuckled despite himself, having to admit he could easily imagine Tsume telling her children that – he could actually picture it, predatory grin and wiggling eyebrows included. "He wasn't around much, I take it?" he then asked. Come to think of it, even back during their academy days, Kiba had only ever talked about his mother and sister.

"No," Kiba confirmed, grabbing one of Akamaru's paws to keep brushing. "He was here…what? Putting all his stays together, one month every year, I guess? If even that much! He was an Anbu, always on secret assignments away from the village. To be honest, we didn't really worry or notice when he stopped showing up…"

Shikamaru frowned at this, as in a sense it was difficult to imagine – that people like Kiba and Hana could have such a nonexistent relationship with their father.

"We held a token funeral when Lady Tsunade told us he'd been killed on a mission, but it wasn't exactly devastating," Kiba continued off-handedly. "We don't really know the details, since it was classified, but given the timing, I think he was investigating Akatsuki," he noted, grinning as Akamaru moved on his own to give him another paw.

"Wait—what?" the Nara asked as he sat up in shock.

Kiba blinked as he turned to him, cocking his head to the side. "It was a few weeks before the attack on Konoha, that's why I—"

"No, I mean, he—I didn't know he was—I thought you just used the past tense because you didn't care or something," Shikamaru interrupted him with a frown. He honestly hadn't known that the man had died – years ago, even.

"I do care," Kiba replied, momentarily interrupting his task to turn to him fully. "I liked him, and I liked it when he visited. I just never really considered him my parent, the way my mother is – he felt more like a distant relative," he explained with a shrug before pausing and frowning. "This really seems to shock you," he then noted in confusion.

Shikamaru shrugged slightly, feeling self-conscious. "It's just…your family always seems so close, and inclusive, that I have a hard time picturing you or Hana feeling the way you're telling me…" he admitted.

"Family isn't something you turn on and off," Kiba noted seriously with a frown. "The way I see it, being related isn't everything; and keeping bonds strong must be a mutual effort. He made his choice, and it wasn't us," he finished simply.

Which made sense, Shikamaru had to concede. "What was he like?" he then wondered curiously.

Kiba hummed as he shared a look with Akamaru and thought about it. "Well…he married my mother, so as you can imagine he wasn't stuck-up. What I liked best about him though was that he accepted that his absence gave him no rights over us, so when he was there he didn't pretend to parent us or interfere with mom's teachings – he listened and gave advice, but he never tried to shape us in any way that wasn't us. Does that make sense?" he asked with a frown, really unsure how to explain it.

Shikamaru nodded back absently. "Yes, it makes a lot of sense…" His mother had her good sides, but she'd always done that: tried to shape him into her ideals of what he could be, particularly since his father's death. Shikaku, on the other hand, had been the opposite: letting him be his own person, to the point of appearing almost uninvolved, sometimes – something he'd even apologized for at the end. "That actually makes him a good parent, in a way…" he mused.

Kiba smiled back and nodded slightly. "Sometimes I think that too," he admitted. "He'd have approved of you!" he then added with a grin.

"Oh, really?" Shikamaru asked back with a raised eyebrow. "Did he know you like men?"

"He's the first person who asked me to explain why!" Kiba replied with a roll of his eyes, chuckling as he remembered that particular talk. "He was completely baffled that I don't find women sexually attractive! But in the end he just shrugged and said: 'well it's you we're talking about, so I'm sure you know best'," he recalled.

The Nara hummed at this, leaning back down. "You know…I think my father would've said something like that too…" he thought out loud. Kiba gave him a knowing look before returning to his task, and he smiled as he closed his eyes. Actually, he was certain of it; his father would have trusted him to make the right decisions for himself – he'd always had, after all.

Clearly, there was a lot to learn from the Inuzukas – those born to the clan as well as those who married into it.

Shikamaru's eyes snapped wide open as he heard his mother shriek his name – it'd been a long time since she'd last woken him up like that, and it couldn't be said that he missed it. Still, he tried to ignore her and go back to sleep, if only for the principle, because he knew from past experiences that it wouldn't deter her. And indeed, not even a minute later, she walked into his room, hands on her hips.

"The dog is at the door!" she informed him with a frown.

"Kiba?" he asked with a frown as he instantly sat up.

Yoshino rolled her eyes, although she had to admit that assumption wasn't too far-fetched. "No, the actual dog. Akamaru," she corrected, the words having barely left her mouth before he was up and past her in a hurry. "Hmm…that gets him out of bed quickly, I should keep that in mind…" she muttered to herself, casting one last (pained) look over the sorry state his room was in before following him back outside, cocking her head to the side as she watched him try to communicate with the oversized nin-dog.

"So Kiba's okay?" Shikamaru clarified, sighing in relief as Akamaru barked and wagged his tail. "Where is he?"

Akamaru used his paw to trace a cross in the ground, looking up expectantly.

"The hospital?" Shikamaru guessed with a frown, wondering how that was good news. His eyes then widened as he thought of something else. "Is it Hana? Is the baby here?"

Akamaru yet again barked his agreement, this time spinning once on himself happily.

"Can I visit?"

Yoshino smiled despite herself and rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, give that poor Hana time to recover, would you?" she chastised her son.

Akamaru gave her a confused whine at this, before barking and wagging his tail even faster.

"I think he's saying you're welcome as well," Shikamaru translated, being inwardly quite please as he'd visibly understood correctly – Kiba would sure be proud of him!

Yoshino's eyes widened and she shook her head. "I just told you to give her room to breathe! Go if you have to, but I'll offer my congratulations later," she said as she fought off the blush that wanted to spread over her face. "Do give her my best wishes, though," she later told him as he walked by her fully dressed and ready to leave.

"Will do," Shikamaru assured her before taking off with Akamaru. The rare people who were about this early in the morning paid them no mind, as after all the Nara walking by an Inuzuka nin-dog had become a familiar sight in Konoha over the past few months. They reached the hospital quickly, and once inside it wasn't long until Kiba excitedly grabbed his hand to drag him towards the nursery.

"Look, look! There she is! The second from the left, that's her!" Kiba informed him happily, somehow managing to keep his voice down – he'd probably been sternly told off by the staff before, knowing him, and was doing his very best not to be kicked out.

"Oh, the one with Aoba crying over her crib?" Shikamaru teased as he took in the other man's exhausted but blissful expression as he watched his newborn daughter. So that was what a new dad looked like. (That was what Mirai had missed out on, a bitter voice in the back of his head added.) "How's Hana?" he then asked.

"Okay, but completely drained. I'm telling you, it sounded brutal! Mom wasn't worried, but I was scared out of my pants! Women are tough!" Kiba added with a shudder, never looking away from the baby. "Mom's with her right now – and the triplets too of course. We're keeping watch here!" he finished as he reached with his free hand to scratch Akamaru's ears to thank him for playing 'fetch the boyfriend'. "She's so tiny…"

Shikamaru smiled softly as he followed his gaze back to her. "What's her name?" he asked as he twined their fingers together.

"Kao. Aoba's tears are out of relief that it's a girl and he won't have to live with having a son called Mushi!" Kiba snickered as he finally turned to him with a grin. Well, it had been their agreement: Aoba would pick girls' names, and Hana boys' names. (They seriously all believed Hana's hormones to be responsible for 'Mushi'.)

Shikamaru chuckled as he had to concede the point, and gave his hand a last squeeze before stepping away. "I'm going to the cafeteria – you and Aoba both look like you could use some tea or coffee," he commented as he looked at them in turn.

"Coffee!" the Inuzuka immediately agreed (also on behalf of his brother-in-law), leaning in to briefly press his lips to his fondly before turning back to his watch. He'd always been some sort of brotherly figure to Mirai, but honestly that felt nothing compared to how he felt in that instant. How could you love someone so much when you didn't even know them yet? When they didn't even have a personality yet? Well…he couldn't wait to know her, and find out what kind of person she'd be, that was for sure! "Life sure is interesting, right Akamaru?"

Akamaru softly whined his agreement (also knowing to keep his tone down in this place), tail wagging happily.

To be fair, people made it so.

Much as he enjoyed watching the Inuzukas fawn over baby Kao – or 'pup', as they all very naturally called her – Shikamaru found himself increasingly busy with work in the following weeks. Most missions took him away from the village, once even as far as Kumo, to Chouji's unbridled satisfaction (and Shikamaru hadn't been surprised to learn that his best friend had volunteered as he did every time there was a mission to Kumo since Karui had returned home). It was almost five weeks before he once more had enough time to just kick back and enjoy – even take naps! – and by then he was surprised by how much Kao had grown.

Hana, as had been expected, had woken up from her post-delivery sleep all fresh and kicking, and she and Aoba had promptly locked themselves in their house to enjoy their bundle of joy ("And poop," Kiba had elegantly reminded them before his mother slapped the back of his head with an exasperated groan, ignoring his, "I was joking!"). Now though, they welcomed visitors and proudly paraded their little loud-mouth (an Inuzuka through and through, clearly).

But, well…his hard work had paid off, at least.

"Let's keep it to the point, shall we? I'm sure you've got places to be," Kakashi commented (both teasingly and seriously, as only he could do) before holding up a document and handing it over to him. "I just signed it, so it's official: you're a jounin. Congratulations on your promotion, you've more than earned it," he said honestly as he smiled at him behind his face-mask.

Shikamaru smiled back lazily as he accepted the paper, quickly going over it to make sure it was the correct one – Kakashi was known to sometimes mix up his documents when Shizune took a well-deserved vacation. "Thank you," he replied as he nodded his head at him before turning to leave. He had people to tell, after all. Ino and Chouji were waiting for him outside of the Hokage's office, and as he held up his promotion orders, they both grinned and clapped his shoulders.

"Okay, let's eat to celebrate – my treat!" Chouji offered brightly.

"Hey, don't use his promotion as an excuse to stuff yourself," Ino chided good-naturedly although she automatically took off in the restaurant's direction.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes fondly as he allowed himself to be dragged off, complaining just for the principle. When he told him the good news later, Kiba's idea of a celebration didn't involve food, but then again it didn't involve clothes, either, and Shikamaru was completely okay with that, naturally. Much as he'd wanted to however, he didn't spend the night with him, because he knew his mother would feel left out – and throw a fit – if he only told her the day after. So his third celebration had been food once more, and he was glad promotions didn't come every day, because he couldn't have done that too often.

The next day, he agreed to accompany her to the market, because at times he did feel bad that she was on her own. It must've been his lucky day though because they ran into Hana and Kiba while there.

"Hana! No one could guess you've just had a baby!" Yoshino praised the young woman teasingly.

"Trust me – the hips are still there!" the Inuzuka replied jovially as she turned to look at her daughter fondly, happily drooling in her uncle's arms as she was. "This is Kao."

Yoshino melted a bit, forgetting for a moment that this was an Inuzuka baby – although Hana had that calming effect on people. "She seems curious, and alert," she cooed.

Kiba chuckled at that. "Yep, she wants to touch and lick everything she sees, it's a constant battle keeping her hands in check!" he said before she decided to illustrate his point by putting her fingers in his mouth and acting like it was obviously quite fun.

Shikamaru grinned at this, resisting the urge to lean over and kiss him as he knew his mother would lose her calm if he did.

"No markings yet though? I'll admit, I almost thought you were just born with them," Yoshino noted half-jokingly.

Hana laughed at the assumption, truly amused. "No, we get those at three during a big ceremony with the whole clan!" she informed her. "It also marks the start of training, so she's got some time yet!" she added, tenderly reaching to rub her back.

"Plenty of time to keep drooling over her uncle!" Kiba added brightly as he managed to pry her hand from his mouth, upon which she effectively returned to his shirt.

"Don't worry, her daddy'll be back soon to take over on the drooling front," Hana reassured him with a fond huff, quickly checking the time. "Really soon, actually, so we should get going," she noted. They then said their goodbyes and left, but not before Kiba wormed a promise out of Shikamaru to visit him that evening.

"Hana must've really taken after her father; she's nothing like all the other Inuzukas I know!" Yoshino mused as they returned to their shopping.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes for the principle but didn't say anything, because he knew it would only result in an argument. The way he saw them, yes the Inuzukas were loud, exuberant and way too attached to their dogs, but that was only at first glance; they were also deeply loyal, honest and loving. Or at the very least, his were. But there was something his mother had said that got him thinking.

"Say, what are they, really?" he wondered curiously as he traced the markings on Kiba's cheeks later that evening.

"Curious?" Kiba asked with a grin, chuckling at the other man's nod. "They're just a seal."

Not a tattoo as many suspected then, and it made sense: how do you keep a three-year-old still enough? Besides, ink faded, but the markings on Kiba's face were still as bright as when he first saw him back when they were kids. "So it didn't hurt then," he pondered.

"I didn't even notice until I looked in a mirror!" Kiba replied with a shrug before nuzzling his neck and resting more comfortably against him. "You Naras have your hair, we Inuzukas have our seals!" he added teasingly.

"Oh yes, and what a clan secret our hair is!" Shikamaru mocked as he pulled his head back to press a kiss to his lips. "Actually, I'm surprised your markings aren't a clan secret," he mused.

Kiba rolled his eyes at that, absently trailing a hand from his waist to his jaw. "Our nin-dog training techniques or the way we work on our nose are secrets – our markings, not so much. If there's anything you want to know, just ask – if it's mine to say, I'll answer any question," he promised mock-seriously.

Shikamaru chuckled but took him up on his offer. "Alright…so, you get your markings and start your training at three…when do you get your nin-dog?" he asked curiously. He remembered Kiba without Akamaru from when they were kids, before they really knew each other at the Academy, but he didn't know whether it was supposed to happen at a specific moment or just when the parents felt the child was ready.

"At five, the same year we're supposed to start the Academy – although there have been a few cases of particularly gifted kids who did both earlier, of course," Kiba replied with a hum, grinning as he craned his neck to look at Akamaru.

"How does it happen? Do you just…pick one?" That was maybe oversimplifying it, but he had a feeling he wasn't too far off.

"Depends. Most of the time, yeah – you see which pup you get a good connection with. Mom chose Akamaru for me though – she was visiting distant relatives on my birthday to check out their pups, and this fluff-ball was born while she was there, the only one in the litter, and she just…figured it was a sign, I guess! So I got my nin-dog a bit later," Kiba said, grin widening as Akamaru barked his agreement. "She was right!"

"Yes she was," Shikamaru easily agreed. "What about Hana? She's the only one I've seen with more than one – is that unusual?"

Kiba nodded at this. "It's rare. It's not convenient on the battlefield, you'd be all over the place, and it's not how we fight! She only takes all three on missions when she's serving as the squad's medic-nin – better defense, you know? If she's expected to fight though, then only one goes with her – like during the war, for instance: the other two stayed back at camp to help with logistics," he reminded him.

"Makes sense," Shikamaru noted before humming as this brought up another thought. "How do you learn to communicate with your nin-dogs? Is it just like learning another language? Or are you somehow just able to do it from birth?"

"Now that is one of the clan secrets I can't tell you about," the Inuzuka noted simply. "But others can learn how to do it when they marry into the clan – like my father or Aoba," he added with a shrug.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," Shikamaru mumbled as he thought back on how Aoba had complained that he just wasn't gifted in the nin-dog communication department and that the triplets were on top of it taking great pleasure in running him ragged. Smirking, he then asked something else. "Alright, popular sayings now – do the Inuzukas really do everything with their dogs, like sharing baths and beds?" he teased.

Kiba laughed at this, with even Akamaru making his laughing noise. "All true! Until we get a human partner, that is!" he added with a sly smile, leaning up for a kiss.

"So I kicked Akamaru out of bed? Sorry about that!" the Nara apologized to the nin-dog, raising an eyebrow when he barked in response and his lover protested. "What did he say?"

Kiba glared at the oversized dog and huffed before relaying it anyway. "That it's okay, because it would've been pretty sad if I'd kept sharing my bed with my dog at my age," he muttered.

Shikamaru chuckled, nodding at Akamaru. "So…what happens if a nin-dog doesn't like his master's partner?" he wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh…well, Kuromaru never liked our father, and it was mutual, but that didn't stop mom, so…I guess nothing happens. They'll just ignore each other," Kiba replied with a shrug before grinning and patting his cheek reassuringly. "But you don't need to worry, because Akamaru definitely likes you!" he assured him, the dog yet again barking his agreement, tail wagging energetically.

"To be fair, Akamaru is easy to like," Shikamaru praised truthfully. He still wondered why he was so overly fond of Kankuro but well…nobody was perfect. And besides, the puppeteer had probably given him treats or something when Kiba wasn't looking.

Huh…maybe he was on to something…

TBC

I'm clearly taking liberties with Kiba and Hana's father, since we don't know anything about him. I've often seen him pictured as another Inuzuka in fics, but it doesn't make much sense to me. Having him marry into the clan seemed more interesting.