Neither the story nor the characters belong to me.
Chapter Five
TEMARI
"What's the difference?" Shika asked, holding up two different cans of formula in the middle of the baby aisle of McGinty's Groceries.
Was I seriously grocery shopping with Shika Nara? Yep, and apparently living with him for the next week.
Eleven a.m. on a Saturday meant the store was reasonably full, and therefore we'd reasonably be on Konoha's less-than-reasonable gossip radar in the next hour or so. Especially since we'd already seen Mrs. Yakushi in the produce aisle. May as well hire a skywriter that we were playing house.
"I have no clue, but this is the one he uses," I answered, taking the one in his left hand and handing it to Denki. "Right?"
Hoki reached for my side braid, and I switched him to the other hip, keeping my hair safely out of his surprisingly strong grip.
Denki looked it over like the world's tiniest sommelier and nodded.
"He likes those too." He pointed up to the puffs.
"Okay," Shika answered, throwing one of each flavor in the quickly filling cart.
"He's not going to eat all of that in one week," I said, stifling a laugh.
Shika just shrugged and tossed in one more.
Diapers and wipes were next. We walked up and down the aisles, stocking the house, letting Denki pick whatever he wanted, but he didn't select anything without prompting. Poor guy was overwhelmed.
"Ooh, look what they have!" I grabbed a box of Bottlecaps candy off the endcap.
"You still eat those things?" Shika asked.
"Processed sugar in soda flavors? What's not to love?" I said, tossing a box in the cart, then turned my attention to Denki. "Now, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?"
He shrugged. Food was definitely a sensitive subject with him.
Shika dropped down to his eye level.
"I like hamburgers." His tone didn't slip into what I called kid-talk. He spoke to him like he was an adult, just shorter. "I'm a fan of the big, thick ones with bacon and cheese. What do you say we make those? They're very manly burgers. Only for the biggest of boys."
Denki's eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded.
"And ketchup."
"Absolutely. Why don't you pick out a box or two of cereal?" Shika nodded toward the brightly colored boxes before standing back up. "What else does Sir Pukes-A-Lot need besides paper towels for cleanup?" he asked me.
I rolled my eyes at the nickname and thought through my mental list.
"I think we got it all..." My stomach sank as a familiar face came around the corner.
Some days I hated small towns.
"What's wrong?" Shika asked, moving closer and turning slightly, shielding me from view.
"My ex" I said quietly, glancing around his shoulder "We didn't exactly have an amicable split."
He glanced discreetly and snorted.
"Ah, yes. Gemma 'the Dick' Stone. What the "his gaze flickered to Denki" heck were you thinking? He's eleven years older than you."
"Who I date is none of your business."
I had been thinking he was the opposite of Shika and therefore worth a try, but I wasn't about to say that.
"He wasn't a…dick," I whispered. "Well, not until the end, at least. Then it got a little ugly, but…well, he was just another episode in the series of Temari-chooses-the-wrong-guy." I shrugged, not bothering to repeat the ugly words Gemma had said during the breakup.
"What happened?" Shika's eyes chilled, sending a shiver up my spine.
Ah, there he was, the guy who had made sure none of the boys at Konoha High would come near me with a ten-foot pole. Guess my dating life was about to suffer another hit with him back in town. The problem with being Naruto's little sister was that it came with Sasuke, Naruto, and Shika all locked and loaded to lose their shit on anyone who hurt me. It was kind of like growing up with nuclear launch codes... with the power came the responsibility not to use it.
I arched a single eyebrow at Shika.
"Nothing you need to freak out over. He wanted to get married, and I didn't."
I kissed the top of Hoki's head and inhaled the scent only babies seemed to possess. I'd read somewhere it was like a drug to women, the smell of babies. Truth.
"And it ended just like that?" He tilted his head.
I swallowed and made sure Denki was still occupied choosing cereal. Gemma was getting closer.
"I broke up with him because we'd been together for over a year, and I knew that he wasn't it for me. Dad always said that you don't marry the one you can live with, you marry the one you can't live without. And I could definitely live without him." Because there's only been you, and you're a rather impossible standard to live up to. I just about smacked myself for that thought. "I was gentle about it, and he…was not. Then he got a little spiteful and basically did his best to block the construction of the new preschool until Greg stepped in from city planning to push it through zoning."
Shika's jaw flexed. I knew that face. That was the face that kept Vic's hands off me on prom night.
"Whatever you're thinking, don't" I whispered as Gemma saw us. "It's been a year, and my school is open. No harm. No foul. Let it go. God knows I have."
"Temari, imagine seeing you here" Gemma said, carrying his basket.
His brown hair was perfectly combed to the side, his teeth unnaturally white, and he was decked in head-to-toe Patagonia, which nearly made me snort because I knew his idea of getting outside was walking from the courthouse to his car.
Shika tensed and his hands curled into fists. I ignored the pit in my stomach and plastered a fake smile on my face.
"Well, there's only one grocery store in town, so the odds are pretty good that it would happen eventually, right?"
He stared at Hoki and blinked in confusion.
"Right," he said softly, his gaze moving to see Shika. "Ah, Mr. Nara. I see you've come to join our new hotshots." He paused, waiting for Shika to fill in the gaping holes in the puzzle before him.
Our? Hardly. Gemma had been adamantly against reinstating the crew. He'd argued for hours that the town couldn't take the bad press if something happened again.
"Yep. I'm home" Shika answered, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I fit perfectly under his arm like always, and maybe it was only for show, but that didn't stop my nerve endings from sizzling to life, or Gemma from glaring. "I hear you're a judge now."
"I am. Just elected last November." Gemma's chest puffed out like a damn bird.
"Pretty young for that kind of job" Shika said. "Good for you."
"I'll be thirty-seven next month. I'm just flattered that the citizens of Konoha saw fit to trust my judgment." His smile was practiced, polished.
"Running for mayor soon?" Shika said with a veil of sarcasm so thin I knew I was the only one who could pick up on it.
He rubbed my arm in absentminded circles, and I nearly purred and leaned in. Did he feel that too? The charge that seemed to run from his fingers, into my skin, and through my veins? He couldn't, or he would have stopped, I was certain. Shika never touched me, not if he could help it. Not since…well, prom, but that definitely wasn't up for discussion. I wasn't even sure he remembered it, to be honest. He and Naruto had been trashed when I'd gotten home later that night.
"I hadn't given it much thought" Gemma said with his politician smile. "But I like to keep my options open"
He'd been salivating over Mayor Sarutobi's seat for years.
"Well, I guess I should let you three"—he eyed Hoki again—"get back to your shopping."
"Got 'em!" Denki said, dropping two boxes of cereal into the shopping cart.
Gemma's eyes flew to mine.
"Are those the Clark boys?"
"We're taking care of them this week until their family can be located." I held Hoki a little tighter and didn't flinch when he decided to yank on my braid.
"Huh," Gemma said, raising his eyebrow slightly. "I thought you weren't interested in a family, Temari. I never took you for a foster parent."
Denki took my free hand, and I smiled down at him in reassurance.
"Me either," I answered. "But we're figuring it out. Right, Denki?"
"Right," he answered softly.
"Temari always rises to a challenge" Shika said protectively.
Don't poke the bear, I mentally begged him. Gemma could be a massive pain in the ass for us both if he wanted to be.
"Oh?" Gemma lifted that brow again, and the urge to smack the smug look off his face ran amok in my brain. "Sorry to say that was never my experience while we were together"
"Maybe there wasn't much worth fighting for then" Shika threw back with a shrug and a smile that was pure menace and sexy as sin. He reached for Hoki, and the baby went willingly, running his hands over the scruff on Shika's chin. "We'll catch you later, Gemma. We have a new house to stock. Home study and all."
As we walked away, my brain knew that show had all been for Gemma's benefit, that Shika wasn't really interested in me, but my heart went all gooey just the same.
Ugh. It was going to hurt like hell when Shika inevitably brought the next Melinda home.
"Crib is together!" Kiba called out from the boys' bedroom. Denki had thrown a fit when we suggested he get his own room, so together they went.
"Bed is made!" Ino added.
"Child locks are on every cabinet," Sasuke said, waving a screwdriver before putting it back into the bag on the counter.
"Food is all stocked and organized according to mealtimes" Sakura closed the pantry door.
"What are we forgetting?" I asked, throwing the lunch dishes into the dishwasher.
"We've got smoke detectors in every room, carbon monoxide alarms on every floor, and I just padlocked the hot tub" Shika said, coming into the kitchen "I think we've got it, Temari. Shizune will know they're safe here. I even hid the sex toys under the bed."
"Can you be serious for once in your life?"
My heart was jumping all over the place with nerves and picturing…well, that wasn't helping.
"I take my toys very seriously." A corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk "Relax. We've got everything taken care of."
I nodded.
"Okay, and with ten minutes to" the knock at the door startled me and I almost dropped a dish "spare."
"We'll get it," Sasuke offered, taking Sakura toward the front door and leaving me alone with Shika.
"We've got this, Temari," Shika promised "The boys are playing in the living room, Sir Pukes-A-Lot is in fresh clothes after his last upchuck, and I think he honestly likes that giant cage Sasuke built him."
I put the last dish into the washer and closed it.
"It's a playpen, Shika. Not a cage. Oh God, that's Shizune. She's here. Say it again."
"Octagon, playpen, whatever. It's not a cage," he said with a grin that nearly stopped my heart.
Ugh. He had to stop that.
"No, not that part."
Confusion puckered his forehead for a heartbeat and then he relaxed, taking my face in his hands. I almost forgot the nausea, the worry, the gut- wrenching fear Shizune would say this wasn't working…all because Shika had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They were giant pools of warm chocolate highlighted by flecks of toffee and gold.
"We've got this."
"Okay," I whispered, believing him, savoring the tiny breath of relief I felt at not having to carry this alone.
"It's Shizune" Sasuke announced. "Sakura took her into the living room."
Shika's hands fell away like I'd burned him, and that tiny bloom of hope withered a little. Okay, a lot. I blinked. Did he seriously just back up five steps?
"Temari, is there anything else you need?" Kiba asked from the bottom of the steps, Ino right behind him.
I looked over toward the great room. Shizune was talking to Denki, along with Mrs. Dean, the only other social worker in town.
"Nope, I think the rest is all on us."
Sakura walked over and hugged me.
"This is going to go great. Don't stress. And you really owe me details on how living with Shika is going to go," she ended in a whisper.
I squeezed her back and let her go.
"I will."
After wishing us luck, Sasuke took Sakura's hand and they left, Kiba and Ino following in their wake.
"Shizune, you know these two are awesome, right?" Kiba asked before he reached the front door.
I cracked a smile. Kiba and his brother, Neji, were hotshots too, but while Neji had graduated just ahead of Sasuke, Naruto, and Shika, Kiba and I were the same age and had been friends since kindergarten.
It was more than nice to have him home.
"Out, Kiba." She shooed him, seeming way older than her twenty-seven years, and out he went.
"In we go," Shika muttered as we entered the great room.
Shizune sat down across from us on the loveseat with Mrs. Dean. We took the couch next to where Hoki played on the floor, and Denki kneeled at his side, pretending to not pay attention to what was going on.
"Man, I've always heard you hotshot boys were a family, but I didn't expect them both to be here. Honestly, I didn't expect to see you here, Shika. But I'm glad you are."
"Me too" he answered, leaning forward into his serious pose "We know this is unorthodox, but we're hoping you'll let the insanity slide just to get these guys to their family. The last thing either of us want is for them to be split up or put with parents who can't keep up with them or clean up gallons of vomit."
"What?" Her pen froze against her clipboard and her forehead puckered.
"Spit up. He means spit up. Hoki doesn't keep a lot down" I corrected.
"Oh, okay. This is going to get a little intrusive. You're background checked, Temari, so at least that's easy, but Shika..."
"I am too," he assured her. "It's all on file at the clubhouse."
"Oh" She smiled with surprise "That's great news. Makes it way easier. Like I said, I wasn't expecting you to be back already, and I'll need to ask some rather extensive questions"
"Are you both comfortable with that?" Mrs. Dean asked, like she was offering us tea.
Silver now streaked her brown hair, but other than that, she looked like I'd always remembered.
"I don't think there's anything about my past Temari doesn't know, and I think I caught up to date on hers a little earlier today." He looked over at me.
"I'm fine with questions. I'll even go first" I answered, mentally preparing to have every single moment of my life exposed in front of Shika.
This was a great idea. Awesome.
Shizune nodded once, then put on her glasses, adjusted her grip on her clipboard, and launched into her questions, writing down notes on my answers as we went.
Mercy, she hadn't been kidding when she said the questions were intrusive. She asked about my childhood, about the impact of losing Dad in the fire, about how I'd been disciplined. What were my views on adoption? How did I feel about fostering a student? What if this was longer than a week?
That last question drew me up short.
"Then we'll handle it like we do everything else in this town. One step at a time."
They both nodded. Shika leaned back into the cushions, crossing one ankle to his knee in a deceptively relaxed pose. What the social workers didn't see was the way his fingers quickly drummed against his jeans.
This had to be torture for him. He barely let Naruto and Sasuke in, let alone me, or relative strangers. They asked about the arrests on his record. It wasn't like the entire town hadn't had a front-row seat to Shika's adolescence, but everything he'd done as a teenager—from drag racing down Main Street to putting Sheriff Peterson's patrol car inside the high school gym—had long since been expunged from his record.
Shika might still be an ass when it came to the revolving door that was his bedroom, but he'd kept himself out of handcuffs since he turned eighteen.
"Money isn't an issue between the two of you?" Mrs. Dean asked, jotting down notes.
Shika snorted.
"I made enough investing in Sasuke Uchiha's tech company that I only firefight for the love of it. I don't have any debt. The house is paid off. The truck is paid off. I'm a fully invested member of Konoha, KLC, which means I'm financially responsible for the success or loss in the new hotshot crew too."
My eyebrows hit the ceiling. I knew Sasuke had made a killing for the three of them when they'd all gone in together on his apps, but damn.
"Okay then, we know your father was killed in the Konoha fire, and you were raised by Chiyo, your grandmother" Shizune said. "Do you have any other living relatives? Your mother?"
Shika tensed, his fingers digging into the couch. I reached across the small space that separated us and put my hand over his, squeezing lightly. He gave me a tight, closed-lip smile that I knew meant "thank you" and relaxed slightly. Then he turned back to our inquisitors.
"It's just Grams and me. The last I saw of my mother was her walking away when I was ten. She hasn't been in the picture since, and she never will be again."
Mrs. Dean nodded, probably remembering when that happened.
"And how do you feel that's affected you as an adult?"
"I'd say that it doesn't, but I knew that was a lie the moment I found Temari in my house with the boys."
I held my breath.
"How so?" she asked.
I studied the carved lines of his face, the way his jaw flexed once, twice, and his focus darted toward where the boys played.
"Her leaving gave me a sense of determination to prove myself, and as of today, to keep Denki and Hoki together. I'm thankful every day that I had Grams to raise me after the fire. I'm not going to let anything happen to these boys while they're here. They're…" He took a deep breath and released it slowly "Well, in a way, Temari and I have been where they are. They're just like us."
My heart ached with a familiar pressure. The years didn't matter. I was still foolishly in love with this man.
They finished up that line of questioning, and Mrs. Dean leveled a no- bullshit stare on us both.
"And what exactly is the relationship between the two of you?"
I froze.
"What would you like it to be?" Shika asked.
Mrs. Dean pursed her lips.
"You're obviously not roommates" Shizune jumped in "Especially since we all know that Temari's been at Naruto's since her place took all that flood damage during the spring melt."
Small. Freaking. Towns.
"Roommates isn't an acceptable living situation for us" Mrs. Dean added, her focus zeroed in on Shika. "It's too unstable, and while there are elements of this emergency placement that we'll make exceptions for, Temari not having an official place of residence isn't one of them, since she's the one who will be their primary foster parent."
"So, it looks better for the paperwork if we're dating and she lives here?" Shika asked Shizune.
My head whipped in his direction, and I squeezed his hand, but he kept his attention fully locked on Shizune.
She glanced from Mrs. Dean to me, and then to Shika.
"We've always allowed foster parents to live with their partners in the home, provided that they're background checked and pass a home study, but of course stable relationships are preferred," she finished slowly.
"Great. Go with that." He laced his fingers with mine. "That okay with you, Temari?"
My mouth dropped.
"Are you seriously going to tell us you've been dating Temari long distance?" Mrs. Dean asked, looking over the rim of her glasses.
"Are you seriously going to tell me I haven't been?" Shika challenged "Go ahead, ask me anything about Temari, and I guarantee I can answer it."
"How l…" Mrs. Dean started.
"I think we have enough," Shizune interrupted, coming to her feet "It's just a week, Maggie."
Mrs. Dean looked at Shika and I, her gaze dropping to our hands, then softening as she looked at the boys.
"Just a week."
Shika and I both breathed easier when they told us they were ready for the walk-through of the house. Shika took them on the tour while I made the boys a snack. My hands shook at the possibility that we'd be turned down, but I managed to slice up the banana without cutting myself.
"Okay," Shizune said once they finished, leaning across the kitchen island as Mrs. Dean headed into the great room with Shika. "We're expecting to get some news of their father in the next week, or any remaining family. Until then, you're their official foster mother."
"And Shika?" I asked, fighting the urge to hold my breath.
"He's your very supportive…partner," Shizune said "You're not married, which of course is always Maggie's ideal, but she hasn't quite kept up with the times and your living arrangements are acceptable to us. It's such a short time period that they'll be here."
My entire body sagged in relief. The boys could stay. They wouldn't be separated.
"Thank you, Shizune."
"No, thank you. You did a huge thing stepping up for them."
We both turned when Hoki giggled, and we saw Shika blowing on his neck.
"Well, that's a punch to the ovaries," Shizune whispered, her jaw slack "Never thought I'd see Shika Nara with a baby."
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the careful way Shika held Hoki, or the way he easily scooped up Denki in his other arm, who surprisingly let him. They both looked so tiny against Shika's huge frame, so delicate compared to the strength in Shika's body. If he was this good with them after a few hours, what would a week be like? What would he look like with his own babies?
"He's going to make an amazing father one day" I agreed, slightly breathless.
He might swear up and down he'd never have kids, but I knew a natural when I saw it.
"Well, as your friend, and not your social worker? I'd stand in line to help him with that, if I were you" She shot me a knowing look "You've waited long enough for him to come home."
Stand in line? Hell, I would have stood on my head if it got me Shika. But Shika wasn't exactly the "getting" kind, and though he'd put on one hell of a show, I knew once this week was over, we'd be back to one-word conversations when he came around with Naruto.
"But do me a favor," Shizune whispered.
"What?"
"Put on a good show for Maggie this week, or I'll never hear the end of it."
