He hopped up the stairs grabbing the paper out front the door. The apartment looked the same as in did for decades and it felt the same. He almost expected to smell stale beer and cigarettes by the front door from the night before. That was long gone. "You need to lock your door," Shikamaru groaned, locking the front door for good measure.

"Well, I knew my baby was coming over. I know everyone in the damned complex Shikamaru and they all know my son is a police sergeant. That's enough to keep me safe. Besides my cornbread is too good they have to keep me around," Yoshino laughed and parted from the kitchen to hug him.

He hugged her and let her kiss his cheek, wiping his face with the back of his hand when she turned away. "You really should move, you're not getting any younger."

She turned to glare at him, eyes piercing, "Shikamaru I have lived in this part of town my entire life. I am not leaving. I have everything I need here."

"What about a working dryer," he mused pointing at the clothesline hung through the small common room. "Or windows that lock without slamming them shut."

"I won't move", she said decidedly focusing on the pots and pans in front of her, "I still have your father's gun. Isn't that enough for you?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. He plopped down at the kitchen table, "At least get a damn cellphone. I will be sure it's easy to use. Please dad would want you to be more careful."

Her eyebrows fell and she set some coffee on the table for him, "I will do it. But please don't use your father to guilt me."

"Then don't make it the only move in my playbook mom. If you would stop being stubborn and accept some more help I wouldn't need to throw dad's name around," he said bringing the cup to his lips. He understood where she was coming from, everything about this apartment screamed home.

"Shikamaru…the people here, are all I have left other than you. And one day you are going to meet a nice girl and settle down. I refuse to be a live-in nana and this is our community."

He got up and she inhaled a sharp breath. Shikamaru went into the kitchen grabbing plates to set the table, "Okay. Let's just have dinner."

"Thank you," she said quietly and ruffled his ponytail on her way back to the stove. "You should go to mass with me sometime, it might help relieve some of that stress you have."

He snorted and smiled, "What stress? When have you ever known your cloud watching, lazy boy to be stressed?" He finished setting the table pausing as he mistakenly set a third fork out. He quickly picked it up and tucked it back into the drawer with a sigh.

"You work too much. I'm not even sure the city is allowed to work you as hard as you do," she said harshly and filled his plate with noodles and sauce.

"If it makes you feel better, Naruto dragged me out for Sakura's birthday."

"It does. If it weren't for that boy you would never leave that damned office just like your father," she said with an amused smile. "Why do you think we only had one child?"

Shikamaru choked on his food, coughing and hacking, "Good god mom!"

"I am only teasing. Your father certainly made time for that, he was quite motivated."

"Not helping," he shook his head and drank some water.

His mother handed him several napkins and put her hand over his, "I do think you need to take better care of yourself though. I worry about you."

"Don't," he said offering her a half shrug. She smacked the back of his head.

"Show me I don't have to! Find a wife or at least cook yourself a decent meal once and a while. Keep going out with friends. It would be pretty pathetic for a man of your age to have no social calendar save for Sunday dinner with his mother once a month."

"Fine, we can up it to twice a month."

"I would love that but that is not my point."

He blew out a bunch of air. "I will try and make an effort to be a normal functioning adult in society, there?"

"Thank you, now I have a dessert made. If you refused to comply I was going to give it to the neighbor kids. They love my homemade carrot cake just as much as you."

"Ha, Impossible."

…

He felt his long time friend behind him trying to look over his shoulder. Shikamaru set down his phone and turned in his chair to face him, "Yes Naruto?"

The other man looked rather childish about now, smirking and on the verge of laughter. His blonde hair was as messy and wild as ever but what was new? He was wearing a tie per the dress code but a zip-up hoodie over it.

It often stunned Shikamaru that this was the same man determined to be the future captain of the precinct and commissioner of the whole department. Yet he never doubted Naruto. "Soooo you and Gaara's sister sure seemed cozy. Be nice to have a couple to double date with."

"We just met. You can take it down a notch or ten," Shikamaru said and turned back around to type feverishly.

Naruto didn't seem to get the hint or care to, sitting on the edge of Shikamaru's desk, "So you are seeing her. Well, then we have to go out. It could be a triple date."

Shikamaru hung his head, "We are just getting lunch today. Why are you turning this into an entire production? Maybe I should cancel."

"Ha! As if. You want to see her, why else would you, Shikamaru Nara self-proclaimed anti-marriage advocate asking a woman out?" Naruto seemed rather proud of him as he looked down at Shikamaru.

"Get off my desk detective," Shikamaru bit and pointed to Naruto's desk. The other man only smiled down at him, chuckling.

A head popped out from behind the screen across from them, looking rather amused, "And then tomorrow he's seeing her in court. She's defending someone Shikamaru arrested." Kiba snorted and got up to lean on the other side of Shikamaru's desk.

"She's a defense attorney?" Naruto pretended to gag and waved his friend off, "Nevermind, cut her loose."

"You couldn't hear the maniacal laughter and screams of children when she walked in the bar?" Kiba commented and Naruto laughed. "In all seriousness Temari is great, but she's an even better attorney."

"How do you know?" Naruto asked.

Kiba looked at them both dumbfounded, "You guys are shitty detectives. She's my sister in law. Kankuro is my man."

"Well you never say your husband's name," Naruto said defensively and looked up at the ceiling.

"You always call him K. A lot of names begin with K. I could run some stats for you but you hate numbers," Shikamaru stated dryly.

"That's all those games you play are. Who wants to do math for fun? Whatever there's like seven pictures of us on my desk. Anyway, Temari is a great girl don't fuck up."

"Thanks for the confidence."

"So your nervous?"

"No, but I have it all planned."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "As always huh?"

"Better than going into a situation half-cocked."