Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence forced) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. Huge rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult.

~..~..~

On Monday morning, Kiba started his day like any other. He went to the library to make intricate plans for a combination attack with Akamaru, seeing how the book Kotetsu had showed him held information that was actually pretty useful for coming up with plausible attacks they could fuse.

Oddly enough, he was not able to find Kotetsu manning the front desk like usual. But when he asked the kunoichi that had taken his place, he found out that the older male had finally been freed from his punishment.

(He did not miss the pure shock that took over the woman's face when she saw an Inuzuka in a library before daybreak. But he didn't comment on it, instead allowing that surprise to roll off of him as if it meant nothing… It had kind of stung, though, to be seen as abnormal just because he was in a library. Wasn't he supposed to want to learn to be a better ninja?)

It was a shame, in a sense, because he would not be around the library anymore. And that meant no more Kotetsu induced fun inside said library. But, it also meant Kotetsu had served his time and was back in the active roster of shinobi, which was something he had wanted for a while now. So, Kiba was kind of happy for him, although also disappointed.

Still, he had busied himself taking notes from a book on earth release jutsu and for possible combination attacks he could execute with his partner. It had been weird to not have Kotetsu looking over his shoulder and nitpicking everything he found interesting. It had not been a good kind of weird… But he couldn't bring himself to brood because he'd lost his library buddy. It just wouldn't be right to wish Kotetsu to be stuck in a place he'd damned a thousand times before.

Once he had finished up in the library, Kiba promised himself to seek Kotetsu out later on to weedle him some more and find out why he had been working at the library in the first place. Oh, and to make him find even more information for him, even though he wouldn't have complete access to library archives anymore.

With that promise to himself clear in his mind, Kiba made his way to the training grounds to meet with his team.

When he reached Traning Ground 8, it was to find Kurenai Sensei waiting with Shino right beside her. Hinata, oddly enough, seemed to be the last one to arrive, seeing how she trudged up to them a couple of seconds after Kiba and Akamaru arrived.

"It's good to see you all again." Kurenai smiled kindly at all of them, her eyes shining with pride Kiba knew well.

His heart began to beat in excitement as soon as he connected the shine in her eyes with the usual information she gave them whenever she had it. There was a mission they had been assigned to! Finally, he'd finally be able to get out of this godforsaken Village for a little while!

"What have you got for us, Kurenai Sensei?" He asked excitedly, Akamaru barking right beside him in his own excitement.

"There are no books on the Inuzuka Clan hierarchy. There's nothing for me to learn… If I haven't found anything yet, I won't find anything at all."

Shikaku's only answer was silence.

Quite frankly, he had not expected anything other than that. If he had been answered, he may have just started worrying about mental health. He was supposed to be alone down here, after all.

The Hokage's personal library was one that he wouldn't have access to unless he was Jounin Leader. It held some of the most dangerous and sensitive texts to ever be written, so it wasn't really a surprise that not just anybody could waltz in and begin to look over what could be found within its collection.

It was exactly because of this that Shikaku had fully expected some kind of something that dealt with the inner workings of the Inuzuka Clan. If there truly were texts of all kinds, then odds were that there would have been something about the dog lovers.

He had been wrong. There was nothing about them in here… Well, there was. But it was all standard: Clan affiliation, history of said affiliation, preferred jutsu type, supposed origins, and more standard information that could be found within any library inside of Konoha. None of it was something he could even use to try and begin to understand the puzzle before him.

A small frown pulled at the corner of his lips as the Nara walked out of the library and shut the door behind him. He made sure that all of the locks were in their proper place and then stepped away so he could begin to make his way out of the maze that was the inner workings of the Hokage's Compound.

He knew that books weren't substitute for real life events. He knew that literature, no matter how precise, could always miss the more important human factors of any given story. He knew that emotions and thought processes weren't always depicted in accounts of historical events, much less in books that observed and analyzed a Clan. But he also knew that he needed to begin somewhere.

In books and literature, though, it seemed he would find nothing of importance. So he clearly would not be able to find his starting line there.

This wasn't necessarily a complete roadblock. But it certainly didn't help him in getting any closer to figuring out the puzzle of the Inuzuka Clan.

Once he was able to get out of the dark, clean, and unbearably stale hallways, Shikaku found himself at the center of the Hokage Compound.

This wasn't really much of a compound. The Hokage that had built it, Hashirama Senju, had never been one for material riches. He had wanted a comfortable home where his children could roam free but be protected in case of an attack. So it began as a comfortably sized plot of land with easily defendable buildings at the top of one of the highest mountains in Konoha. The thought behind the location was that the higher the Compound found itself, the more their enemies would have to climb. And this would mean the more time they would have to be able to find a counter attack to protect themselves from those enemies.

Afterwards, Tobirama Senju acquired some more land. His plans for the Compound were for it to be used as a temporary safe haven for civilians, wounded shinobi, and children in case of an invasion in Konoha. So it became a rather large, almost terrifying structure. It had looked almost like a prison because of its orientation leaning towards safety and protection rather than comfort.

The Third Hokage had decided that, while his old teacher's heart had been in the right place, the Compound had become too large to properly defend. So he decided to build underground tunnels and structures to be able to keep his Villagers safe in case of an attack, but to leave the above ground façade as it had initially been after Hashirama had finished with it.

Finally, the current Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had decided to add a couple of gardens and fountains to make it look nice- the whole Village knew that it had actually been Kushina to decide to make the Compound look much more artistic and peaceful. He fortified the underground structures and added defenses to the main areas, though, in a strategic move in case of a possible attack. But, aside from that, he had mostly left things untouched.

It had been Tobirama Senju to collect the most dangerous documents, books, and scrolls to keep things civilians didn't need to know from bothering them. Then it had been Hiruzen Sarutobi that had decided to grab most of those documents and group them together into the underground library Shikaku had just used. He had kept the most dangerous of scrolls, though, close to his heart. And Minato now found himself weighed down with that very burden. Just like the next Hokage to come would be tasked with keeping these documents safe and untouched.

The sky was caught in between shades of light blue, bright white, and pale yellow. The sun was in its highest position, nestled among a sea of blue and white, signaling that Shikaku had spent a measure amount of time seeking information. He had arrived early to sift through those documents and scrolls, aware that he could not spend a whole day within the records, but sure that he could give a few hours to his search.

He had not spent too long… But he would still be hounded on by Inoichi and the rest when they found out he had not gone directly into his office once morning had come.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the Nara groaned, stuck his hands into his pockets, and began to walk away from the entrance into the library.

He did not make it too far before he was stopped by a much too bubbly blonde Hokage making his way towards him.

"Lord Nara! How'd your search go? Find anything interesting?"

Minato was not supposed to be in his home so early in the day. He was supposed to still be in his office, dealing with all of the important documents he needed to fill out.

Shikaku suppressed the unimpressed sigh he wanted to release- this man wasn't supposed to be here and he couldn't really condone that he was here. But he merely stopped and waited for his Hokage to catch up to him so he would not have to worry over proper etiquette around his Village's Leader.

"Oh, I found nothing too amazing." Shikaku shrugged his shoulders softly.

Upon seeing the Hokage's energetic blue eyes zeroed in on him and the much too bright smile on his lips, Shikaku began to feel overwhelmingly tired. He had no idea just how in the world someone could maintain such a high level of energy throughout the whole day. And he certainly could not understand how someone was able to look so happy in the middle of a busy day, even though they had the weight of a whole Village upon their shoulders.

Once he was right in front of Shikaku, the Hokage smiled warmly at him and planted his hands on his hips.

"At least you found something- that there was nothing here you need."

So annoyinginly optimistic… Why did he always find himself surrounded by such troublesome blondes?

"Hey, would you like to join my family for lunch?" The blonde suddenly asked, then pointed over towards the main structure nestled among a couple of smaller buildings and surrounded by luscious trees and bushes. "Kushina is never bothered by having more mouths to feed."

Shikaku was instantly enticed at the prospect of free food. He was rather hungry and not too eager to spend any more money on food. So it wouldn't really be that bad of an idea… Besides, the Namikaze family always proved to be rather interesting company.

A bit of entertainment with a free meal didn't sound too bad… Especially when he took into account just how horrible of a cook he was and how Shikamaru had- unfortunately- inherited his lack of skills in that department.

He quietly nodded his affirmation to joining the family's dinner.

~/~

"I don't really think that those kids should be sent out on missions yet… And the Inuzuka agree with me; Kiba still hasn't been cleared for action. But Hinata and Shino are assigned to leave the Village in less than a week. Their teacher is supposed to tell them their mission today." Minato sighed softly with a shake of his head, then looked Shikaku in the eyes, worry clear within his own. "You can understand why I would be worried over their safety."

Shikaku nodded solemnly after the Hokage had finished explaining his worries for the three Clan Heirs, all the while Kushina flitted from one place to another within her home. He wasn't completely sure just what exactly she was doing, but he could smell various foods being cooked along with a couple of cleaning detergents. Whatever it was she was doing, he was sure it dealt with multi-tasking in levels that he had only ever seen Yoshino display.

Even though Minato had said it would be fine if he joined them for lunch, Kushina made it very clear that she had not been planning on cooking for more than three people. She'd sent Minato that exasperated glare she only ever gave him whenever he did something foolish but couldn't bring herself to actually scold him on what he had done. But she had quickly gotten to cooking so that the food would be prepared by the time Naruto arrived.

Softly, Shikaku breathed out and restrained himself from closing his eyes in frustration.

There was another reason as to why Kiba was not being cleared for out of village missions. But that was a reason that only he, the Inuzuka and Nara Clan Elders, and Tsume knew about. Not even Kiba himself was aware of this small fact. Just like Minato did not know. And, just like with everyone that was not part of the Clans involved, the Hokage did not need to know about this particular reason.

"They're both capable shinobi." Shikaku conceded with a small sigh as he scratched softly at his chin, "I'm sure that they'll be able to complete whatever they've been sent to do without any difficulty."

Minato smiled shakily at the reassurance, "Yeah, you're right. Besides, Shikamaru is going with them. There's no way those three won't be able to deal with whatever life throws at them."

It was at this point that Shikaku noticed he had not had a good conversation with his only son in quite some time. If he had, he would have known about this newest mission he was being sent on.

… He would have to make up for that… Shikamaru was not in any state to be allowed loose for so long. He needed more guidance. And he deserved for his father to be there for him too. He couldn't allow himself to slip away from his role as a parent just because he found himself having to deal with an arranged marriage he had never wanted.

"Aside from the fact that I still have people searching for Yoshino's killers, I don't really think there's anything too exciting for me to talk about. At least about missions I've had to assign…"

Shikaku nodded softly and was about to ask the man if he had managed to read over the documents he had sent back to his office after having had to make a couple of annotations over things the Hokage had not taken seriously enough the first time around. But before he was able to do so, the serenity within the Hokage's home was shattered by the sudden slamming of a door.

"Dad! Is it okay if I head over to Ichiraku's for lunch? Team 8'll be there!"

"Sure thing, son!"

"Thanks, dad!"

Just as suddenly as his voice had shattered all peace in the house, it left to allow silence to take its rightful place once again.

"Guess I didn't have to make so much food, then…" Shikaku heard Kushina lament, which made him shrug and smile softly at her.

"Now you have leftovers for dinner and won't have to cook a second meal."

The red head's lips allowed a small, devious smile to take over them, all the while Minato groaned in dismay at not getting a fresh meal for dinner. Shikaku did his best to keep from seeming to smug over this.

"I knew you Nara were smart."

He wanted to be happy for his teammates. He really did. He wanted to be able to look them in the eyes and tell them how truly glad he was that they had been chosen for a mission after the whole fiasco that had rocked all of their Clans.

But Kiba had never hated either of his teammates so much before in his life. And he couldn't bring himself to try and lie to them. So he didn't. He just kept his mouth shut.

Training with them had been rocky because of this. It was rather difficult for teams to work together, after all, if one of them refused to cooperate with the rest and communicate. Their joint attacks were off and Kurenai Sensei was left fuming at Kiba's very obvious lack of consideration for his teammates.

When she'd told him to get his head out of his ass and work like a proper ninja, Kiba had found something within himself snap.

He hadn't screamed like he was accustomed to doing when he was angry. He didn't growl and snarl out about his disappointment and how he deserved to go on a mission. Actually, he didn't say a single thing.

He'd never walked away from his team before. Not even during their toughest days, when they all hated each other and wanted nothing more than to leave one another behind, had he even thought about leaving his teammates behind.

This didn't even cross his mind as he walked away.

He didn't storm off. He didn't stomp and sneer as he made a big point of leaving them behind. No, he walked off with all of the calm in the world.

He knew that he would regret leaving them behind later on. He knew that eventually they would go to find him and ask what in the world had crawled up his ass and died. He was also pretty aware that walking off on his team was a pretty valid reason for not sending him on a mission.

But Kiba couldn't bring himself to care about any of that at the moment. Because his teammates were living amazing lives while his was turning to shit. And he could not understand what he had done to deserve such a destiny while they were given amazing hands of fate.

Akamaru had not walked off with him. He had stayed behind for a couple of minutes, undoubtedly completely caught off guard by Kiba's actions. But it hadn't taken him long to follow after his human. And Kiba had found one good thing in his life.

Maybe his human friends had no idea what he was going through. But at least Akamaru would always have his back, no matter what.

"Feel like going for lunch, boy?"

Akamaru barked at him, asking if they shouldn't turn back and apologize to his team.

"I can't do that. I'm pissed off. I shouldn't be angry at them, boy, I know that…" Kiba breathed out, shaking his head in frustration. "But they sure aren't helping. I have to go and marry Shikaku, my Clan won't let me leave the Village, and they complain over stupid family drama that can be solved by just talking shit out."

They didn't complain much. Kiba knew this. But Shino and Hinata were forever mired with frustration and stress that stemmed from their Clans. Hinata's issues were, admittedly, a bit bigger than Shino's, seeing how her father had actually contemplated disowning her at one point. But Hiashi had gotten better over the years and he only wanted to see her grow stronger. She sometimes saw this and tried her best to improve her skills. But she was a teenager and sometimes she succumbed to her self-doubts and accidentally gave her father a reason to continue looking at her younger sister as a proper heir.

Shino didn't have that problem with his father. He merely had to worry over not failing every single mission he went on and passing any tests he was given to take leadership of his Clan when his father decided to step down. His true issues came from the fact that he had insects living inside of him and not many people found that cool. He was socially awkward at best and purposely rude at worst, and that made him feel like an outsider.

Usually, Kiba would sympathize with his teammates. He had, at one point, been the one out of all of them that had the least issues with his Clan and with social interactions. He was an Inuzuka and that always led him into some kind of trouble around people that weren't accustomed to them, but he had always been outgoing and had barely faced the issues Shino came across. And, while he wasn't a prodigy, his Clan and mother had never given him a reason to worry over his inheritance.

But now he was being forced to marry one of his father's friends. He was being told he would have to fully submit to a man twice his age. And he was being kept locked inside of Konoha as if he were a flight risk.

Hinata and Shino's problems seemed rather small when he acknowledged the fact that his own Clan had sold him off to a life of servitude to an old man simply because of a debt that had been created before he had been born.

"When they come looking for me, I won't chase them off. But I won't apologize either."

Akamaru thought that was pretty foolish. They didn't know about what he was going through. And he should act as if nothing was wrong if he didn't want his Elders on his ass yet again. But Kiba couldn't bring himself to act as if everything was fine. Because it wasn't.

"Listen, either we get lunch now or I go back to the library and keep on working until ma and sis are asleep."

He wasn't all that hungry. If anything, his stomach was in a tight knot that refused to let him even think of anything being appetizing. But he knew that he had to eat, he wasn't about to let himself waste away just because his life sucked.

The large dog huffed but agreed to go ahead and find something to eat.

~/~

Along their way to find something to eat, Kiba stumbled upon a little bit of good luck.

"Hey, Inuzuka! Am I glad to see your ugly mug again!"

Kotetsu jogged up to him with a bright smile and, once close enough, he pulled Kiba in for a tight hug as he ruffled the younger male's hair.

Kiba, in mock protest, weakly groaned and tried to get away from him. But Kotetsu merely chuckled and kept him close, more than aware that if Kiba didn't want to get hugged, he would have never even allowed himself to get dragged towards him.

"Man, no wonder Izumo doesn't like you… You are loud."

Kotetsu gasped out in feigned pain, then let go of the Inuzuka so he could clutch at his heart. "Wounded by my friend yet again." Once he'd said this, though, he straightened up and frowned, then said in a deadpan, "I honestly have no idea why I sometimes keep you around."

Kiba shrugged, "I could say the same thing."

Kotetsu rolled his eyes, but smiled easily yet again. "I'm guessing you already figured out I won't be around the library anymore."

"Yup." The Inuzuka nodded, motioning offhandedly with his hand, "The kunoichi that took your place told me you were finally freed from library duty."

Kotetsu hummed, then motioned for Kiba to follow him with a slight nod to his right. Kiba quirked an eyebrow at him but didn't question him. Instead he followed after him, more than aware that when Kotetsu wanted him to do something, it was because it was either extremely cool or because he had new information he could use.

They walked down the busy streets of the large market with pleasant conversation. Kotetsu explained to him that he'd finally been liberated from library duty once the Hokage had finally remembered he had been assigned there (apparently, he shouldn't have been working there for so long, but Minato forgot all about him and he'd spent more than what he was supposed to have spent working as his punishment). Now he was being thrown back into the pool of active shinobi. But until he was sent on an actual, out of Village mission, he was moonlighting as Gate guard or running errands for Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka.

Kiba knew Ibiki because of Ino. He kind of also knew Inoichi because of her… But, he didn't. In reality, he knew more about Inoichi because of Shikaku than because of his own daughter.

When they had still been in the Academy, Ino would sometimes be accompanied by the large, scarred, and kind of terrifying behemoth known as Ibiki Morino. Back then he had still been working under Inoichi, rather than with him, but he'd been one of the scariest things any of the kids his age had ever seen.

He had always been a pretty intense man and Kiba had, at one point, thought that he didn't have the physical ability to smile. But his theory of Ibiki actually being a demon from hell in human disguise sent to the world of the living to collect the souls of the stupidly innocent and maliciously evil had been proven wrong when he had shown up alongside Ino to one of their classmate's birthday parties with an actual smile on his face.

His mother had also kind of smacked sense into him when he'd accidentally told her his theory, but… eh… He had been a kid. And he still swore there was something not quite right with the guy.

Inoichi Yamanaka, though… Well, he was someone he didn't really want to think about. So he wouldn't.

"So you're really trying to get into T&I, huh?" Kiba questioned Kotetsu as they weaved past civilians, vendors, and an occasional ninja on their way to Kotetsu's destination. "You sure you're prepared to deal with Morino being your boss?"

Kotetsu scoffed and sent him a devious smirk, "Please, you're asking the wrong questions, Inuzuka. I've been dealing with Morino bossing me around for years now. No, no, the true question to ask here is: Will Morino really let me to join Anko's ranks?"

He had never met Anko Mitarashi personally. But he'd heard more than enough about her to know that Orochimaru had helped mold quite a unique kunoichi in his younger years.

He couldn't really put much against the guy, though, when it came to her, seeing how his mother had also been trained by the Snake Sannin… Well, then again, maybe he should feel sorry for the guy. He had no idea how that guy had not gone insane after having taken so many different Inuzuka and insane kunoichi under his wing.

"I don't think he would." Kiba muttered, turning his eyes away from Kotetsu's back to notice how one of the merchants was selling extremely cheap steak at much too high a price. He sneered softly, but didn't comment on it, knowing more than well enough that he wasn't the right person to confront a foreign salesman. He'd already done so once before and had gotten his ass handed to him. "But, who knows, maybe he'll let you join just to dump all of the boring work on you."

"Please, as if that would stop me!" When Kiba turned to look at Kotetsu, it was to find him puffing out his chest in a clear show of pride. "I'd just delegate all that to Izumo."

"I'm pretty sure that that's not how it works, Kotetsu."

"Hush, young grasshopper." Kotetsu murmured, then beamed as he pointed directly in front of them. "I'm going for lunch and you're joining me."

When Kiba followed his finger, it was to find that he was pointing at Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. And while he wasn't usually a big fan of ramen, he was pretty sure that he could convince the guy to buy his food for him. And why would he stop himself from eating ramen when he could possibly get it for free?

"You're paying."

"Only if I get to pick your meal."

"If it's vegetarian, I'll stab you with a rusty kunai."

"Ooh, kinky." Kotetsu waggled his eyebrows, immediately making Kiba snort out a chuckle, "Let's go get some food, yeah?"

~/~

Eating with Kotetsu was pleasant. He was a funny guy that made light of just about anything and somehow made Kiba's day a thousand times less shitty by just opening his mouth and saying something completely and hilariously stupid.

Their time spent together had been fun and delicious, seeing how Kotetsu had actually ordered the meat lover's ramen for him, rather than some evil plate that would have made Kiba try and make good with his threat of rusty kunai.

Unfortunately, their pleasant time together was cut short when his teammates and Naruto entered the ramen shop.

"Kiba-kun!"

As soon as Kiba heard Hinata, his good demeanor soured and he turned to her with an unimpressed frown pulling at the corners of his lips.

"We have to talk."

Hinata's pale eyes were wide, worry and confusion swimming within them. Shino was as unreadable as ever, but hurt and confusion wafted off of him in droves, filling up Kiba's nostrils. And confused Naruto was just completely caught off guard by the sudden tension around them, unused to Team 8 having any kind of conflict within their little unit.

Kotetsu's own good demeanor dampened, quickly getting a feel for the tension around the teenagers. But he didn't show that he was worried. Instead he continued eating with a small smile on his lips, as if to let Kiba know that he wasn't all that concerned with what was happening.

"We really don't." Kiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned back around to face his food. "You two get to on a mission because your Clans decided you were ready. I'm just stuck in Konoha for who knows how long. There's nothing to talk about."

"Of course there is." Shino bit out, forcing his way to stand behind Kiba. "Mission or not, you had no right to jeopardize our training in such a manner. It's already enough that you always show up late and never have your fully reserves of chakra. Storming out on a training session is the last straw."

"Shino-kun, please…" Hinata suddenly piped up, but Kiba didn't turn to look at either of them. He just kept his eyes locked on his food. "Kiba-kun… Y-you know you can talk to us about anything, ri-right?"

Dammit.

Kiba found his angered resolve wane as soon as he heard Hinata's words.

He had always had a soft spot for her. He'd always had a soft spot for the Hyuga siblings. Hanabi and Hinata both were people he could never stay mad at for too long. He always felt dirty and wrong whenever he tried to keep a grudge against either of them.

Shino was someone easier to stay angry at. He was so mission focused that he usually always lost sight of the emotional aspect that made up human life. He didn't see what could make people in the way they did. He just saw actions that were right or wrong; tolerable or annoying. And it was because of this lack of understanding that Kiba didn't find it too hard to be angry with Shino.

But Hinata… Well, he'd be a liar if he tried to tell anyone that he could stay mad at her for too long. Especially when she went around making sure that everybody was alright, even when she had her own problems to deal with.

"I know that." He sighed, shaking his head softly. "Listen, I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine. Just enjoy your meal. I'll be out of here in a couple of minutes."

"You're not sticking around for lunch, Kiba?" Naruto suddenly chimed in, making Kiba turn to him with an apologetic smile on his face.

Naruto always tried to make time to eat with the rest of their old classmates. He always did his best to spend as much time as possible with Team 10 and Team 8 whenever he wasn't busy with his own team. And sometimes he even pulled them all together for a sort of Academy reunion.

For some reason that was completely foreign to Kiba's understanding, Naruto wanted to keep all of his friends as actual friends, rather than acquaintances that had once gone to school together. And he was usually pretty up for hanging out together, Naruto was a fun guy and time with him was never dull. But, right now, he didn't want to be anywhere near anyone his age.

"Nah. I already finished eating."

He stood up and maneuvered around Shino- whom he knew was glaring at him- and Hinata, whistling for Akamaru to get up and follow him. The dog groaned softly at having to get up from his nap, but still stood up and walked up to him.

"What? Kid, you barely touched your food." Kotetsu finally spoke up, but Kiba only shook his head and pulled the curtain that separated Ichiraku's from the rest of the world aside.

"I'm good. Naruto can eat whatever I left."

And he took off before either Kotetsu or any of his friends could try and convince him to stick around any longer.

As he walked to his office, Shikaku could not stop himself from wondering just what Kiba would be doing at this very moment.

He knew that Naruto had supposedly gone to lunch with Team 8. Which undoubtedly meant that he was currently in the same place as the Inuzuka. And this, in turn, meant that Kiba was currently interacting with his friends.

That was good, right? Kiba maintaining his friendships would undoubtedly help him continue dealing with the difficult situation he had placed in by his Elders.

Shikaku had Choza and Inoichi to help him deal with what was happening. Even though Choza didn't know what exactly was happening in his life, he was still a very understanding friend that only wanted the best for those he cared about. And that certainly helped Shikaku continue keeping a level head throughout everything that happened to him.

Yeah. Even though his friends weren't supposed to know about what was happening with him, Shikaku was sure that they would help him adapt and overcome what he now faced in their own unique ways.

As soon as he thought this, Shikaku found himself face to face with a rather sad looking Kiba Inuzuka. Akamaru trailed behind him with his tail between his hind legs, and immediately the Nara knew that something rather unsavory must have occurred.

For a couple of seconds, he wondered if he should try and say anything. It really wasn't his place to try and help the kid out, was it? He was just some older man he was being forced to marry. There was no way Kiba would ever want to tell him what was happening.

Still… That frown didn't look right on his face.

When their eyes met, Shikaku made his decision.

With his hands in his pockets, the Nara made his way towards the Inuzuka. And Kiba walked up to meet him halfway, which let him know that he wasn't against them talking.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Kiba shuffled his feet somewhat awkwardly while Shikaku struggled to find the right way to ask his question. Luckily for him, he didn't have to say anything. Kiba spoke up before he had to.

"Listen, I've got nothing to do right now and want to avoid my friends. Would you mind it if I hung around your office for a little bit?"

The request was odd, but not totally bad.

Shikaku mulled over his choices for a little bit.

Kiba didn't really look as if he should be left alone. His eyes were rimmed with red, unshed tears brimming even as he undoubtedly tried to hold them back. And he'd actually asked to go to his office, which meant that he really wanted to have an excuse to not be near his teammates.

There was undoubtedly a large stack of fresh documents waiting for his approval in his office. Because he had not gone into his office yet, he had no idea how big it was. But from his experience in his post, he knew that it wasn't going to be just a new document or two he would have to read. Which meant that he would be tasked with filing away yesterday's documents along with approving today's.

But… If he had Kiba file yesterday's things, then he would only have to focus on what had been left for him today.

Quite frankly, it wasn't hard to come to a decision.

"Would you mind helping me file things away?"

If it had been obvious how eager Kiba was to go into his office before, it was just about hard to ignore now. He shook his head with a bit too much energy, and immediately said, "Just tell me what to do."

Inuzuka weren't usually eager to be cooped up in an office.

If the kid was eager enough to get away from his friends that he was willing to spend an afternoon dealing with tedious paperwork, then there was something incredibly off.

"Come on, then." Shikaku motioned in the direction of his office with his head and began to walk off without waiting to see if the Inuzuka would follow.

He didn't have to wait, really. As soon as he was moving, he could feel Kiba following him.

Sighing softly, Shikaku pondered over just what in the world could have happened to Kiba in the course of a day to make him eager to spend time in an office.

When they reached his office, Kiba immediately bounced towards the stack of signed and approved documents so he could continue the work he had been assigned a couple of days ago, back when he had fallen asleep in Shikaku's office.

Shikaku made his way towards his desk and the fresh stack of troublesome documents he would have to read through. And, upon seeing the size of everything he would have to read, he regretted ever having accepted Minato's proposition of being his Jounin Leader and personal advisor.

Akamaru made himself comfortable on his couch, beginning to snore peacefully in less than five minutes.

When he noted the snoring, Kiba snorted to himself with a murmur of, "Lazy mutt." But it was good natured and Shikaku was able to see the barest threads of a smile on his lips when he looked over at him.

The rest of their afternoon was spent in an amicable silence. It was only ever broken by the rustle of paper, the clipping of a staple, or a groan of irritation or annoyance at what was currently being read.

It took Shikaku almost five hours to figure out what it was that had happened to Kiba. And he only really noticed it when he grabbed a document requesting his permission for a team of only Chunin to leave on a B-Ranked mission.

'Team Leader: Shikamaru Nara

Team Members: Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame'

His teammates were being sent off on a mission when he wasn't. And Kiba didn't even know that this would not be the last time he would be passed over for a mission.

With a soft sigh, Shikaku signed the paper and chanced a glance at Kiba.

He had all kinds of folders scattered around him, different piles of loose papers and collection of documents making up what Shikaku could only assume were the things that needed to be filed away.

"Kiba?"

"Hmm?" The kid hummed to show him that he was listening, even though his eyes were glued to a specific paper.

Shikaku frowned softly, "Is that a confidential file?"

Now the kid tore his eyes away from the paper to look at him. But his eyes weren't wide in fear or worry. No, the kid just looked completely unapologetic. "What would happen if it was?"

Confidential files were confidential for a reason. Either they dealt with extremely fragile occurrences that could jeopardize the Village's safety or they dealt with Clan disputes that should not be known by people that did not understand the intricacies that came with each Clan.

For a moment, Shikaku mulled over his answer. He could tell the kid he could be jailed for getting his paws on things that weren't supposed to be read by him. Or he could even say he could assign him only the worst D-Ranks to show him some respect for the shinobi hierarchy. But, really, that wouldn't win him anything with an Inuzuka.

"Just don't tell anyone about this. I'd lose my job."

"You got it!" Kiba offered him a small salute, then returned to his reading of precious and delicate documents.

Shikaku could have stopped him and kicked him out of his office. But, really, what could one Chunin reading that sort of information do? He might as well give Kiba something to entertain himself with.

..~..~..

And I have finally updated! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And hope you're also prepared for some more Kiba angst, Clan politics, and Shikaku being adorably awkward!

Please review!