Shikamaru had been acting kind of weird for the past few weeks. Even after Chouji's punishment had ended, the Nara had been acting distant and he didn't come around as often as he once had to the Akimichi compound.
Kiba had told him that he shouldn't worry. That Shikamaru was most probably just being a big baby and that Chouji didn't have to fill his head with worry for people that didn't matter. But this had left an unpleasant taste in Chouji's mouth because, even though Kiba and Sakura were now his friends, Shikamaru and he had been best friends since, essentially, birth.
And Sakura had said that Shikamaru was most probably just trying to come to terms to him having new friends. She had explained to him that, after years of being only his and Ino's friends, Chouji was going through a period of adapting that might confuse his old friends. She and Kiba weren't having any difficulty because they didn't have any other friends to worry about. But Ino and Shikamaru were just now getting used to having to share him. Something they had never been forced to do.
"You know... If you're all that worried about deer boy, you should just invite him to hang out with us."
The three of them had been hanging out together ever since they had compared notes on their interesting necklaces. Every single day, Kiba would appear at Chouji's door and shout for him to get his ass in motion. After Chouji was dressed and rushed out his home's door, giving his mom and dad a speedy goodbye before they could try and stop him from spending another day with his friends, they would both run over to Sakura's home and pick her up.
For days now they had been doing this; picking one another up and then heading over to whichever place caught their attention the most. Often times it was Kiba that chose where they would go, leading them on some sort of 'adventure' that usually wound up with all of them tired, sweaty, and extremely hungry, returning to either Chouji's or Sakura's home to get food from their parents. Sometimes, though, Kiba had no plans of fun and so allowed Sakura and Chouji to choose where they would go.
When their decision came, usually Sakura wanted to go to the library or playground, simple places that didn't leave them exhausted, and Chouji wouldn't have any problem going along. But, today had been different. Today he had chosen where they would go. And he had chosen a bakery run by one of his distant cousins, one that had a small play room at the back with a comfy garden and a few tables to be able to use.
Currently, they had all been gnawing on a few of the pastries his cousin had brought to them with a broad smile on her face. They hadn't really been talking about anything, just enjoying the silence and being around one another. And Chouji had been busy thinking about Shikamaru.
"What do you mean?" The plump boy sat up, confusion clear on his face.
The Inuzuka flicked one of the used napkins over in Chouji's direction, although it fell to the floor harmlessly, with a roll of his eyes. "Shikamaru, you idiot. You're always worrying about him and how you don't hang out anymore. So why don't you just invite him to hang out with us?"
As more time passed and she hung out with both boys, Sakura found out that Kiba in school was a thousand times different Kiba outside of school. First of all, he was actually smart. He knew how to navigate all the streets of Konoha, how to talk his way out of just about any kind of trouble with shop owners, and which places to avoid if they didn't want to get caught while doing things they weren't necessarily supposed to do.
And her opinion on Chouji had just been cemented the more they hung out. He was nice, kind, understanding, and hadn't ever raised his voice at either her or Kiba. He was a bubbly boy that allowed her to get her way and treated her like she deserved to be treated, with respect. Even though he wasn't street smart like Kiba, he was book smart like her. It just took a bit of digging to make him notice that he wasn't lacking in education.
She understood that Chouji's best friend was Shikamaru. And that he had hung out more with Ino back in school. Their parents were all good friends, so, in effect, they all were good friends.
But ever since they had begun to hang out, she hadn't seen him anywhere near Shikamaru. And they had spent just about every single day together for the past week. But no sign of Shikamaru anywhere near.
Kiba's words managed to stun Sakura. They hadn't even been talking before he'd said Chouji should invite Shikamaru over to spend time with them. But he'd said it, clearly managing to stagger Chouji as well.
Thinking about his words, though... Kiba had a point.
"Yeah... Kiba, you're right..." The girl muttered with a soft nod, then looked at Chouji with a smile. "You know, if you really miss Shikamaru, then we should go get him and invite him to play with us."
Chouji's face was one of pure shock. But it soon melted into one of happiness that had both Sakura and Kiba smiling broadly back at him.
"We could do that? Really?" Sakura nodded without any hesitation, getting up immediately. "Really? Then, let's go! He should be at the Nara Compound!"
Kiba didn't mind Shikamaru. The Nara was lazy and could be kind of boring, but he had never insulted his clan, which made him not mind the boy. But he didn't think Shikamaru could ever possibly be any fun.
Ever since they had started their school days, he had always thought of Chouji and Shikamaru as always being together. They were one-in-the-same in his mind.
But now that he had gotten to know Chouji as a person as separate from Shikamaru. They were different. They weren't always together. And they didn't really need to be around each other 24 hours of the day.
Chouji was clearly always thinking of someone that wasn't either him or Sakura. And the Nara and Akimichi clans were known for having members always being good friends, the Yamanaka one added sometimes as well. And who was he to stop Chouji from being happy? If Shikamaru made him happy, why would he keep the boy away from him?
Besides, Chouji was excited. It was undoubtedly the idea of hanging around Shikamaru, Sakura, and Kiba all at the same time. He had even begun to run from the excitement, even though he was the kind that would usually enjoy walking everywhere rather than running.
"So, Sakura, ever been to the Nara compound?" Kiba asked conversationally as he jogged comfortably after Chouji, even though the girl was struggling just a little bit.
... If she wanted to be his friend, she would need to build a better resistance to running. So would Chouji. He was always running around. And if they wanted to keep up with him, they would need to be able to not make him stop to make sure they were still alive.
The pink haired girl shook her head, chest heaving just slightly in exertion. "I've never really gone to any clan compound but the Akimichi one."
That would make sense. It wasn't really normal for civilians to be taken to a clan's home. And even though the Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Inuzuka were rather nice compared to the likes of the Hyuga or Uchiha, and even more welcoming than the odd Aburame one, it wasn't really something normal to invite people that weren't of the clan over.
It made sense that Sakura had never really gone to any except for the Akimichi. And if he had it his way, neither she nor Chouji would ever go to his own.
"I think you'll like it, Sakura!" Chouji supplied, smile broad. "They've got deer running all around and the that part of the forest is really peaceful. And sometimes, if he can, Shikamaru's father takes us out for a small scavenger hunt. Shikamaru usually always wins, but when Ino's part of it, she doesn't really let him win."
Kiba didn't have a good opinion on Ino. The blonde girl was loud, annoying, and reminded him too much of the kind of girl that always insulted him. He had even heard her saying that he smelled like wet dog one day. And he swore that he once saw her deny a puppy food. So he didn't like her. Not like he'd tell Chouji, though, who clearly respected and liked the Yamanaka heir.
"A scavenger hunt sounds like fun!"
When they got to Shikamaru's home, Chouji knocked excitedly on the door. Then, he waited patiently.
After a minute had passed, Kiba made to knock loudly. But Chouji stopped him with a shake of his head, "There's no need for that. They already heard my knock. And they'll come. Shikamaru and his dad just take his sweet time."
From the way Kiba looked at him, Chouji could tell that the boy clearly did not like the idea of patiently waiting. But Sakura merely cocked her head to the side slightly.
"Can't his mother open the door for us?" She questioned, which made Chouji smile softly but shake his head.
"She's off doing a few errands for the house during this hour. It's much too early for Shikamaru or his father to wake up, so she takes the time to be productive." He repeated what his own mother had told him when he had asked this very question a few months ago.
The girl blinked at him, then nodded once. "That makes sense, I guess."
When she said this, Chouji also heard the latch on the door unlock. Then it opened, revealing a rather groggy looking Shikaku never. He and his son were almost clones. The only differences were the scars and clear age difference. But, aside from that, they were exactly alike. Even when they were tired and didn't want to be woken up, they had the same facial expression.
"Huh? Chouji?" The man's eyebrows raised just slightly when he saw the Akimichi, and they raised even more in a show of confusion when he saw the other two kids with him. "Hmm... I don't recognize these kids... Who are you?"
Usually, Shikaku Nara was a rather serious and calm individual. He barely ever asked any questions. But Chouji had found out that, much like his son, when he was tired, he was more prone to allowing others to explain things he didn't understand rather than try and figure them out himself.
"These are Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka." Chouji answered, "From the academy."
The man's eyebrows drew in as he looked over both kids, then nodded.
"Civilian and an Inuzuka. Tsume's kid?"
"What's it to ya?"
Chouji was taken aback by the boy's rather rude answer and he knew he paled slightly. But Shikaku only looked at the boy for a second longer, nodded at himself, then looked back at Chouji.
"Shikamaru's still sleeping. You should go wake him up and see if you can get him out of the house. His mother's been harping about how a boy his age needs to spend more time outside and having fun." The man told them as he stepped to the side, allowing the three to walk into his home. Then he yawned, eyes closing as he closed the door behind them. "Go ahead and get him out of the house. Yoshino should have some snacks ready for you by the time you get back."
Nodding at the man's words because of how accustomed he was to hanging around the Nara clan, Chouji began to make his way past the home's receiving room and towards the hallway that held Shikamaru's room. Shikaku, on the other hand, just threw himself on the couch in the family room, which let Chouji know that he had been kicked out yet again from the bedroom by his wife.
It would be rather interesting to hear about why the man had been kicked out this time.
As he led the way down the long hallway, Chouji felt a soft tug at his shirt. And when he craned his neck slightly to look behind him, he found that both Sakura and Kiba were looking at him quizzically.
"Was that Shikamaru's dad?" Sakura whispered, which, because of being Kiba's friend, made him drop his own voice into a whisper. He was used to, whenever someone used this hushed tone, it was because what was to be said wasn't to be overheard.
"Yeah. You've never met him before?"
The girl shook her head. But Kiba merely shrugged.
Chouji found this odd. Had Kiba met Shikaku before?
But before he could ask the Inuzuka, they arrived at Shikamaru's door, a simple wooden one with a paper that read 'Anyone troublesome stay out'.
Seeing the familiar door made Chouji smile broadly. So he stepped forward, knocked on the door as strong as he knew would be needed to rouse Shikamaru, waited a few seconds, then opened it.
Shikamaru was not a morning person. Nor a noon person. Nor a night person... Now that Chouji thought about it, Shikamaru was the kind of person that shouldn't be woken up. When he awoke by himself, he was fine. But when someone, no matter who, did the waking, he looked like he could be a dangerous shinobi that would murder the person that was annoying him.
The first thing Shikamaru did was glare at the person that had dared wake him up.
He had just gone through yet another fitful night's sleep and had just been able to finally get some rest. But right when he had managed to get his body into the most perfect and comfortable position, there was a knock on the front door. And if there was one thing he'd always hated about his home, it was the way that it echoed noise. Which meant that, even though the knock had been rather far away, it was still rather loud in his room.
Luckily for him, today was one of his father's days off. So the man had answered the door, leaving him to try and drift back into sleep.
And now someone dared knock on his door. It was as if whoever ruled up in the sky decided that today would be a horrible day for him, starting off with a horrible sleep and annoying people keeping him from sleeping.
But the anger he felt at being awoken kind of dissipated when he noticed just who it had been that had awoken him.
"Chouji?" His voice was clouded in confusion and fogged in sleepiness. "What are you doing here?"
He hadn't seen his good friend in the last week. And it surprised him to see him again, especially with the pink haired Sakura and always angry Kiba standing behind him.
When their vacation had started, everything had been normal. Chouji and he would hang out and Ino would join the sometimes. But after a while, Chouji had stopped coming by. And when he had done that, Shikamaru had begun to worry about why. But, one day, he'd gone off and searched for his friend. And found that he was enjoying playing hide and seek with Sakura and Kiba... Having fun without him.
It had immediately hurt. And instead of talking to his friend about it, Shikamaru had decided to just not speak to him at all. If Chouji had new friends, then he didn't need him. He had Ino and his bed. And that was all he really needed.
"Hi Shikamaru!" Chouji smiled brightly, taking a step into his room, looking as if he didn't know just how Shikamaru had felt when he'd seen his friend running around without him.
Logically, if Shikamaru hadn't told him anything or even allowed him to see him, then Chouji would not know. But, even though he was a Nara, he was still a kid. So he was allowed to not always be thinking rationally.
"We were wondering if you wanted to play with us?"
Shikamaru was sitting up on his bed, eyes glued on Chouji. Then, when he heard this, the Nara sighed, looked at Kiba and Sakura, taking in their own emotions. Sakura was smiling and looked like she really wanted him around. But Kiba looked more bored than anything.
Could... Could Chouji still want to be his friend?
"What do you want to play?" The Nara asked cautiously, pulling the comforter that rested over him back to throw his legs over the edge of the bed.
Chouji thought on the answer for a moment. And, if he was still the same person Shikamaru had been best friends with, then he knew he wouldn't be able to make a decision immediately.
Kiba, though, spoke up with an almost feral smile. "Extreme hide and seek?"
"W-what makes it extreme?" Sakura questioned, eyes going wide.
Well... She hadn't changed at all either, it seemed. Still scared. Like always.
"We'll use kunai and explosive tags!"
And the Inuzuka was as hyperactive and dangerous as always.
They all seemed to be the same... But, if they were... What were they doing hanging out together?
Shikamaru's father looked exactly like Shikamaru!
...Maybe they were clones...
Sakura had been kind of shocked by how murderous Shikamaru had looked when he'd woken up. She knew that he had always been a very lazy and sleep loving person. But she had never expected him to look so evil just because he had been woken up.
And then there was Kiba talking about using explosive tags and kunai in hide and seek! She didn't even know how to properly hold either of those weapons! Much less use them!
"We can't play hide and seek with those things, Kiba." Shikamaru scoffed with a shake of his head, standing up to stretch his body lazily.
... He kind of reminded Sakura of a cat, now that she thought about it.
"What?! Why?" Kiba immediately growled, glaring at Shikamaru. "I use them all the time with my pack!"
Shikamaru yawned slowly, then leveled Kiba with an almost disinterested look. "Because we're six and have yet to be trained to use those things."
"Bullshit! You're part of a clan!"
"But Sakura isn't. And, even if she miraculously knew how to hold a kunai, it wouldn't be fair. Chouji and I know the Nara forest like the back of our hands because of how much time we spend here. But Sakura's never even been here. She would be running around like a chicken without its' head."
This must have been the most Sakura had ever heard the Nara say in her life. And what really shocked her was the fact that he was actually defending her! Not Chouji. But her! Then, as if that hadn't been enough, Shikamaru added one more thing.
"Besides, playing hide and seek with an Inuzuka is unfair. You have enhanced sense of hearing and smell, which would give you an edge in both finding and avoiding us."
This was the first Sakura had ever heard of these traits of the Inuzuka. She had always known they were odd and different. But she had not known how different they truly were.
Was there more to what Kiba could do? Were these the reasons why he was so wild and feral and rather rude?
"Well? What do you propose we play?!"
Sakura winced softly at Kiba's extremely clear anger. He hadn't lost his temper with them in a long time and she'd almost forgotten how scary he could get. But whatever had made him not get angry while it was only three of them seemed to have left him now that Shikamaru was with them.
Shikamaru barely reacted to Kiba, though. Instead he pursed his lips slightly and shrugged. "Let me get dressed."
That insufferable, lazy, retarded bastard! How dare he question Kiba's hide and seek plan?! And how dare he stay so calm when Kiba clearly showed he wanted an argument?!
People like him pissed the Inuzuka off.
They thought they were all high and mighty just because they analyzed before they did anything. His mom was right. All Nara were the same! And they were fucking annoying!
And now he dared kick them out of his room so he could change?
With a scowl, Kiba stomped out of the room. But as he did so, he caught sight of Chouji. And the Akimichi seemed torn between following him and Sakura out of the room and staying to talk to Shikamaru. Which made Kiba feel somewhat guilty because of having gotten so angry so fast.
He was here because of Chouji's friendship. He was here because the Akimichi, while kind of bland, was a good kid to have around. He just had to remember that. If he could do that, then maybe he could be able to tolerate Shikamaru's irritating ways.
The three of them stepped out into the hallway, Shikamaru closing the door behind them.
With a glare and a cross of his arms, Kiba couldn't help but have to remind himself that Chouji was his friend and he was there for him.
Shikamaru may be a prick, but he was Chouji's best friend. And he couldn't try and tear them apart. That would just be wrong. You didn't break friends apart. That was like trying to turn members of a pack against each other. Just wrong.
From the front of the house, Kiba heard footsteps. And the more time that passed, the closer the footsteps became. And a few seconds later Shikaku Nara, clad in his boring pajamas, appeared in the hallway, eyes tired but a bit more alert than when they had met him at the door.
"You kids drink coffee?"
The question made Kiba crinkle his nose and scowl at the man. If anyone should know how little Kiba needed coffee, it was a man that had to deal with mother on a monthly basis.
"None for the Inuzuka. I already learned my lessons years ago, kiddo." The man muttered with slight humor in his tone, "Sorry. I'm tired. Kids shouldn't be drinking coffee. Want any water or milk or age appropriate drink?"
For a split second, Kiba felt like giving an inappropriate answer. Like some kind of alcoholic drink. But then he remembered that, even though his mother and Shikaku didn't get along, they had a steady friendship and she'd beat him if she heard he was more disrespectful that what was usual of him. So he merely shook his head and allowed his friends to answer.
"Could I get some milk, please?" Chouji asked politely, followed by Sakura asking for juice.
They were so polite and proper. Kiba would have to fix that.
"Follow me then." The man motioned for them to follow after him.
Kiba waited for both of his friends to walk before him. He followed after him quietly, looking around the simple yet furnished home that belonged to the Nara clan head's family. It was interesting to see wooden walls without any kind of scratch marks or weapons littered all around. This place was pristine and clean compared to Kiba's own home.
They were taken to a spacious kitchen, when they were then told by Shikaku to sit at the island counter near the stove. Kiba jumped up without any difficulty, although Chouji and Sakura both struggled because of the height. It didn't really annoy him to see them struggle anymore. It actually kind of amused him at this point.
They were short because they were kids. One would have expected them to have already adapted to living in a world of tall people by this point.
Shikaku moved sluggishly around the kitchen, fetching three cups and a mug from one of the cupboards above the stove before placing them down on a counter and moving over to the refrigerator. There he took out the milk, placed it on the counter, then grabbed a jug of water and one of orange juice, turning around with a clear yawn to set them down beside the milk.
He served one cup of each drink. Chouji thanked the man respectfully, just like Sakura, before they both took a drink from their cups. But when the man set a cup filled with water in front of Kiba, the boy quirked an eyebrow at the man, wondering if he was dumber than his mom said he could be.
"Why're you giving this to me? I didn't ask for anything."
The man didn't even look at him as he began to work on making his coffee, "You've got dry lips, kid. And if you want to run around all day, you should hydrate yourself."
Kiba didn't like being told what to do. Especially when someone avoided looking him in the eye, as if he weren't worth looking at. But before he could give the Nara a piece of his mind, the man was interrupting with a casual enough comment.
"So, Chouji, I'm free today. If you managed to convince Shikamaru to leave his bed, I could be able to help you kids set up a game of scavenger hunt."
Sure. They couldn't play extreme hide and seek but they could allow a Jonin to set up their games for them. These kids could be such babies sometimes!
"Really, Mr. Nara? That would be so cool!"
Grabbing the cup in front of him with a soft growl, Kiba acknowledged how excited Chouji sounded.
Okay, the Nara's were annoying... But that was a huge piece of forest that would be amazing to run around... He'd play along for now. If just to have some fun in that place before he had to leave this place.
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