day 4: ice cream - beach

Shikamaru fell flat on his back with a pleased sigh. The sun was shining, the sand was warm, there was a breeze gently pushing the clouds, and best of all, he could just do nothing but enjoy the peace and quiet.

"Dad, I'm hungry."

He sighed again, less pleased. "We have snacks in the cooler, Shikadai. Go get something."

The six-year-old frowned. "I don't wanna eat that."

"What do you want?"

Shikadai plopped down on the sand, leaning on his father's stomach. "Me and Shinki want ice cream."

Shikamaru peeled open an eye. "I don't see Shinki here asking." He pointed out.

His son sighed like the weight of the world was on his tiny shoulders. "He's right there, Dad. I'm asking for us." He lightly slapped his backrest. "Now can we go?"

Shikamaru's mind jumped to the first - and best - excuse. "You have to ask Mom. I don't want her getting mad at me for feeding you too much sugar again."

Shikadai pouted, but got to his feet. "You're just making an excuse." He complained. "But fine."

Satisfied to have his silence again, Shikamaru resettled into the sand, letting the rush of the waves drift him off to sleep. The nap, unfortunately, didn't last long enough.

A shadow fell over his face, eliciting a tired groan. "Yes, wife?"

"What are you doing sleeping? We're at the beach." Temari scowled down at him, annoyed but not surprised. "Get up and take the boys to get some ice cream; they need to take a break from playing in the water."

A few dozen excuses formed in his head, but none of them were worth the effort. Shikamaru slowly sat up. "Alright, alright. I'll feed our brat some junk food."

"Thank you." Temari brushed the sand off his back. "And when you come back, you need to put some sunscreen on - you're going to burn."

But sunscreen was oily and smelly and troublesome, so Shikamaru just nodded and mentally decided to ignore that suggestion. He rummaged through their bags for his wallet, before calling to the kids. "Shikadai, Shinki. Let's go."

The boys - mainly Shikadai - insisted on going to practically the farthest ice cream stall from them, which meant extra walking for Shikamaru. He ambled quietly behind them, head tilted towards the sky, ears pointed towards the kids.

"I'm telling you, Shinki, once you try this ice cream, you'll never want a fruit popsicle again." the young Nara heir declared adamantly.

His cousin disagreed. "I'll have you know, the mango ones are very refreshing to have after training."

"But this ice cream is so good, you can't have enough of it!"

It really amused Shikamaru to see his genius son debate with his serious cousin over a matter so trivial as ice cream. Both of them often acted and behaved well beyond their respective ages of six and five, and their time spent together was short and usually packed with family obligations, so it wasn't often that they were able to hang out as normal kids. That was why Shikamaru had had no problem when Gaara asked him and Temari to take Shinki with them, while himself and Kankuro would join them later, after finishing up their daily administrative duties.

Shikadai turned to face his father, walking backwards. "How many scoops can I have?" He asked eagerly.

"Just one." Shikamaru frowned. "And turn back around to walk, would you? I don't want you to fall."

The little boy ignored the second part of his sentence and held up three fingers. "How about three?"

"One."

"Come on, please? I won't tell Mom."

"One, Shikadai, turn around, you're going to-"

"Whoa!" And just as he expected, the six-year-old's foot slipped in the sand, causing him to trip and somehow twist as he fell towards the rough ground.

It was only due to years of shinobi training - and parental panic - that Shikamaru was able to lunge forward and grab onto the back of his t-shirt, narrowly saving him from any troublesome scrapes and blisters. Shikamaru sighed loudly, holding his son just a couple inches in midair. Shinki clapped politely.

"Cool, Dad." Shikadai swung his feet lightly, skimming the sand. "I think this deserves two scoops for sure."

His cousin nodded his head solemnly. "I agree, two seems fair."

Shikamaru only sighed again.

By the time they got back, Kankuro and Gaara had joined Temari under their umbrellas and were awaiting their return. The boys ran over to them with details of their frozen treat, although Shikamaru had been the one to begrudgingly finish his son's cone.

He trudged over to his wife, practically falling into the chair next to her. "How was the ice cream?" She asked, already teasing - they both knew their child's habits.

"Mint." Shikamaru groaned. "Who gets mint ice cream?"

"Maybe if you didn't smoke so much, you would still have taste buds." Said the staunch ice cream advocate.

He grunted, muttering. "I rarely smoke..."

Just then, Kankuro butt into their conversation. "Hey, what ice cream is this?" He asked, holding up Shinki's empty cup. "It's good stuff."

"They went to the big stall near the piers. Shikamaru can get you guys some, too." Temari both explained and offered, an offer that he most certainly did not agree to.

Shikamaru shot his wife a betrayed look that she retaliated with a glare and a hit on the knee to get him to stand back up.

"It's good exercise."

"I don't want to exercise."

Temari gave him a look that told him he was never going to win this. He thought forlornly of the nap that never was - and never could be. Shikamaru really didn't want to walk all the way back to the ice cream stand, but at the same time, if he stayed, he would probably get pulled into some other energy-consuming activity. At least he could take his time on the walk there. Not on the way back, though. His wife would kill him if he let the ice cream melt.

With a very loud, exaggerated sigh, he got to his feet. "What flavor do you want?"

After the second trip to the ice cream stand, Shikamaru was determined not to let anything stop him from his nap. However, just seconds after he had straightened out a nice, soft towel, he felt something wet and cold hit his shoulders. "What the- Temari!"

"Didn't I tell you to put this on earlier?" She reproached, rubbing the sunscreen down his arms. "I don't want to hear you complaining about your sensitive skin for a week, so sit still and be quiet."

Having no choice, Shikamaru groaned but let his wife finish her task. After she was satisfied with her work, she announced. "There, done. Now, I've decided which flavor I want. What do you think of strawberry?"

He shook his head as he reluctantly got to his feet. "How many times am I going to buy ice cream today?"

"Just once more. For me." Temari wrapped her arms around her husbands, leaning into his side. "I'll even let you have a bite." She fluttered her eyes not-so-innocently.

Shikamaru had to force himself to remember that there were children - and her brothers - nearby.

He cleared his throat, acting as confident as she. "Well, if I really must."

That was probably the fastest he walked to the ice cream stand that day.

this is my fave chapter just bc of baby shikadai 333