Walking out of the house, Kai locked the door behind her before taking her leave. However, she didn't even take one step before she came face to face with a girl. She jumped back when the girl suddenly squealed out of nowhere.
"Kyaa! Lord Namikaze!"
Before the girl could latch herself onto her, Kai quickly body flickered herself away into a nearby tree. She sighed when she saw the girl pouted and complain about missing her chance. Turning around to leave the area, her eyes met with another pair of wide sparkling eyes.
A scream was heard and a loud thump came after.
Rubbing the back of her head, Kai felt a squeeze around her torso and looks down. She was met with the same sparkling eyes. Sweatdrop, she was about to excuse the girl until a huge shadow fell upon the both of them, covering the light from the sun.
Looking up, she couldn't help but start sweating. There, right above her, were more fan-girls than just the two that she had encountered so far. Knowing what was going to happen, she mentally counted down to zero before the girls screamed excitedly and leaped towards her.
Not wanting to be captured by their wrath, Kai quickly made a hand sign and substituted herself away before she got captured.
/
After explaining what had happened to her just that morning, Kai flopped her face flat on the table while everyone laughed at her predicament.
She was over at Yakiniku Q with the other Jounins that afternoon. They had all decided to meet up today since they weren't too busy and wanted to see her after her long month away from the village.
Slamming her sake cup down onto the table, Anko laughed, "Man, who would've thought that you would be scared of a bunch of girls."
Kai deadpanned at her.
Smiling, Kurenai propped her arm on the table, "Well, we all know someone who can relate to Kai's demise of fan-girls." She turned her head to look at the silver-haired Jounin, who was sitting next to the young Jounin as usual.
Asuma laughed, "Yeah, I could still remember the day during our academy days. Kakashi here was always bombarded by fan-girls and still is. Just not as much as it used to."
Looking down at the miserable girl next to him, Kakashi gave her a closed-eye smile, "Don't worry, Kai. Just run like the wind when they do catch you."
She sighed, "Thanks for the obvious advice, Kakashi."
"You're welcome."
His reply irked her but decided to set her irritation aside. Sighing, she grabbed her glass of water and drank the content. As she drank, her attention was grabbed by something at the window. Her eyes widen as she started choking on her water.
Her coughing caught everyone at the table's attention. Turning to look at her, they watched in concern and raised eyebrows as Kai kept coughing, pounding at her chest.
"Are you alright, Kai?" Kurenai asked.
Giving one last cough, she nodded, "I'm… I'm alright."
Kakashi had seen what had happened and wonder what caught her attention to make her choke on her water like that. Turning his head to look at where she was looking, he couldn't help but sweatdrop at what he saw.
Getting her breath back to normal, Kai started sweating while trying very hard not to pay attention to the window.
Seeing her sweat, the others looked at Kakashi to see if he knew what was wrong. His answer to them was a mere chuckle and pointed at the window. They all turned to look at where he pointed and saw a whole bunch of girls pressed up at the window. They were all pushing and shouting at each other while trying to look into the restaurant. Looking away from the window, the male Jounins couldn't help but sweatdrop at the scene.
"Man, I do not envy you at all, Kai," said Genma, giving a nervous chuckle at the young Jounin's predicament.
Burying her face in her arms on the table, she groaned, "I still have the hang out party with Shikaku and the others to go later tonight also."
"The Ino-Shika-Cho head families?" Kurenai asked.
Showing her face to them, she grumbled, "Yeah. So having these girls following me even until dinner time is going to be quite exhausting."
All of the Jounin's look at each other before looking back at her, "Why don't you just use the clone jutsu?"
Looking at them, she hit the palm of her hand with a fist, "Oh yeah. Why didn't I think of that?"
They all sweatdropped. It was really rare for them to see this forgetfulness side of her. Just when they were about to go back to eating, a waitress came up to them, "Excuse me, but Lord Namikaze?"
Kai looked at the waitress, "Yes?"
The waitress looked really nervous when she spoke, "I don't mean to be rude or anything, Lord Namikaze. But you being here is disturbing our business."
Looking to see the problem, Kai flinched when she saw that the group of girls has been upgraded into a crowd. They were pressing up at all of the windows and was blocking up the front entrance, not allowing any of the customers to enter or leave the restaurant. Fully understanding on what the problem was, she stood up from her seat and bowed, "I'm very sorry."
With a nervous smile, the waitress replied, "It's quite alright. But if you will please?"
Fully understanding that it was her fault, Kai was about to leave but not without checking her surrounding first. She saw that she wouldn't be able to get out of the shop seeing as how every window and entrance has been blocked by her fan-girls. Turning to the waitress, she apologized, "Sorry about this."
Bringing up her hands together, she did her jutsu, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" With a poof, about a hundred clones appeared filling up the entire shop.
"Hey!"
"What's the big idea?!"
"I'm so very sorry!"
Every clone looked at each other and nodded, knowing the plan. Facing toward the entrance of the shop, they all started to push the fan-girls out of the way before taking a leap and started to separate in different directions. Not knowing which one was the real one, all of the fan-girls screamed out Kai's name and started chasing after her clones.
Once the fan-girls and all of Kai's clones were gone, the male Jounins nervously chuckled.
"I just hope he gets away okay," said Asuma.
Kakashi chuckled, "He'll be fine."
"Lord Namikaze~! Come back here!" a fan-girl yelled as she chased after a Kai clone. The clone ignored the girl as she kept running away from her.
A white cat with bright blue eyes looked out from between an alleyway. It watched as the fan-girls kept chasing after each clone that they see. Looking the other way, the cat saw that the coast was clear. Smiling, it took a giant leap and landed softly on the fence before taking a nice stroll on it.
While it walked, a voice stopped it, "Looks like you finally got away from them."
Looking down from where it perched, the cat saw that it was Shikamaru who spoke to it. It tilts its head.
"Don't act stupid. I know that it's you, Kai."
Meowing, the cat poofed and transformed back to Kai Namikaze. She chuckled, "I'm surprised you notice that it was me, Shikamaru."
He shrugged, "You made it quite obvious."
Jumping down from the fence, she walked next to him, "So, where are you off to?"
"Somewhere so I can take a nap before the hang out party tonight."
She nodded, "I can use a nap too."
Shikamaru looked up at her, "I can tell. After with all of those fan-girls chasing after you. Man, I'm just glad I'm an average guy with no troublesome women chasing after me."
Sweatdropped, Kai chuckled, 'Even at a young age, he already has the Nara trait.'
"Yeah, well, not much I can do there."
They had walked for a while until they came to an empty training field. Kai was glad that they hadn't run into any of her fan-girls throughout their walk there. Stretching, she let herself fall back onto the grassy field. Shikamaru sighed as he slowly lay down next to her.
It was quiet between the two of them. A calm and peaceful atmosphere. They didn't know how long they had stayed there for but by the time they woke up from their nap, the sun was already setting. Sitting up from where she lay, Kai stretched her arms above her head. She looked at the young Nara next to her. He was also awake when she saw his eyes open.
"Shall we go?"
Sitting up, he nodded. They both got up and started walking back to the village. Kai barely took one step into the village before the cries of fan-girls were heard. She flinched when she heard their cries.
Shikamaru sigh at the girls' situation, "You can transform back to being a cat until it's over. Those girls wouldn't be able to chase you forever. Even throughout the night."
With a nervous smile, she apologizes, "Sorry, Shikamaru."
With a ram sign, she quickly transformed back into a white cat. Just when she transformed, a pair of hands picked her up off from the ground. Looking up, she saw that Shikamaru had picked her up. He spoke without looking at her, "It's easier this way. That way we don't have to wait for you while you're trying to get away from them." Understandable, she nodded.
Shikamaru walked them back to his home. When he got to the front of the door, he unlocked it and entered.
"I'm home," he called out, closing the door behind him.
His mother came out from a room, which Kai has to assume was the kitchen, and greeted her son, "Welcome home, Shikamaru." Her attention was then grabbed by the cat in her son's arms, "What's with the cat, dear?"
Looking down at the pet in hand, he answered, "It's not really a cat mom?"
She was confused until Shikamaru put the cat down and took a couple of steps back. With a poof, the cat transformed.
Shikamaru's mother gasp when she saw that the cat that her son brought home was none other than the young Lord Namikaze. Kai smiled with a wave, "Hello there, Ma'am."
Embarrassed that she doesn't look her best in front of the young girl, she blushed, "Oh, hello there, Lord Namikaze." She then gestures for her son, "Shikamaru, do come here please."
Knowing not to anger his mother, he walked up to her, "Yeah?"
She grabbed him by the ear as she smiled in anger at him, "Why didn't you tell me that you have brought him here?"
He winced as he tries to have her lessen the pain on his ear, "It was actually unexpected. Besides, with all of his fan-girls chasing after him, he barely has anywhere else to go."
She let go of his ear, "Oh that's right. I almost forgot about those girls."
Taking a step away from her, Shikamaru rubbed his burning ear. Kai bowed, "I'm very sorry to come here unexpectedly."
Quickly turning to her, she waved a hand, "Oh no. There's no need to apologize, Lord Namikaze! Besides, you're also here for the hang out right? So it's alright." Taking a step next to her, the older woman grabbed her by the arm and started leading her towards the living room, "Please, do make yourself at home."
Kai smiled at her, "Thank you and please, just call me Kai."
It was finally time for the dinner party. The Akimichi and Yamanaka family came at the exact time and greeted Kai in the living room when they saw her. Once everyone was together, Shikamaru's mother brought them all outside to the backyard. Not once has Ino left the young Namikaze side.
Kai couldn't help but sweatdrop as the young girl kept a tight grip on her arm throughout most of the beginning of the party. The adults couldn't help but laugh at her little predicament. Especially since they all knew what happened to her today.
Chowing down on his barbeque meat, Choji spoke, "Ino, you should let Kai at least eat some of the food. You're going to starve him."
Ino huffed at his words, "This is the Kai Namikaze, Choji."
Eating a piece of meat, Choji replied, "So?"
"So?! How many chances do you get to be around Konoha's hottest young lord?"
Kai couldn't help but sweatdrop at her words.
'Konoha's hottest young lord?'
A yawn came from the young Nara, "So what? You practically see him every time when he comes and picks Naruto up from the academy. Sometimes even Sasuke."
'Are they just going to talk as if I'm not here?'
"That's practically nothing! I meant getting to touch him and actually hugging him."
'Yeah, okay. I'm practically not here.'
He sighs, "Whatever. At least let him eat. That is why he came here in the first place."
Huffing, Ino shouted, "I am letting him eat!" Grabbing her plate filled with the cooked food, she grabbed a piece of meat with her chopsticks and brought it up to the older girl, "Here Lord Namikaze, say aah~!"
With a nervous smile, Kai declined, "That's alright, Ino. I would prefer my own plate, thanks."
She pouted, "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
She nodded and let go, "Okay."
Getting up from where she sat, Kai gave a silent relief sigh as she walked away from the now bickering young Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Well, Ino did most of the bickering while the other two listened.
Walking over to the adults, Shikaku was the first to see her and waved, "Kai! I see you finally got away."
She chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her head, "For now it would seem."
They laughed as Ino's mother gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm very sorry about her, Kai."
She waved her apology away, "It's alright. I'm quite used to it."
"I'm more surprised you made it through the day," said Inoichi, taking a sip of sake.
Chouza laughed, "He's right. I haven't seen that many girls run after a guy in a very long time."
She rubbed the back of her neck with a sweatdrop, "Yes, well. It was quite exhausting while trying to get away from them today."
With a chuckle, Shikaku smirk, "Must suck to be so popular."
"I never even asked to be one," she grumbled miserably, her head down.
Chouza's wife giggled, "Well, you do have your father's looks."
Inoichi's wife agreed, "I remember that your father was quite a looker when he was your age but I don't quite remember if he had this many fan-girls running after him."
Shikaku's wife shook her head, "Nah, he was too busy and in love chasing after Kushina remember?"
The two mother's agreed with her words.
Smiling sadly at the mere mention of her parents, Kai thought back to them. Her time may have been short with them, but she will never change that for anything.
"Kai! Come back and hang with us!" Ino shouted.
Looking at the young trio, Kai was about to reject until Shikaku's wife handed her a plate filled with food into her hand, "Go on and hang with them." Not wanting to reject her offer, she held onto the plate as she walked back to them.
When she got there, Ino sat her back down on the patio next to her. She started eating as she listened in on the there's conversation.
"Hey, Ino. I don't get it. Why do you even cling to Kai? I thought you were in love with Sasuke?" asked Shikamaru, who was laying on the patio with his empty plate next to him while watching the stars.
She huffed at his question, "I am in love with him! But that doesn't mean that I can't like Kai either!"
'And I'm being talked about again as if I'm not here,' Kai thought with a sweatdrop as she silently eats her food.
"That's way too weird. Doesn't that mean that you like two guys instead of just one?" asked Choji.
"Man, you boys really have no clue about romance do you? It doesn't matter if I like two of them. If I'm lucky enough, I'll keep the both of them to myself!"
"Geez, talk about selfish. Man, this is why I don't get girls. They're always so troublesome."
Choji nodded, eating a piece of meat, "Got that right Shikamaru."
The party was finally over. The Akimichi and Yamanaka family left after helping with the cleaning with Kai's help of course.
Walking out of the front door, Kai turned to the Nara family with a smile, "Thank you for inviting me over again. It was fun."
They all smiled at her as Shikaku replied, "It's always a pleasure to have you over, kid."
His wife smiled, "You're welcome to come over anytime, Kai."
Giving them a wave, she started leaving, "I'll see you all next time." She looked down at the young Nara, "See you later, Shikamaru."
"Yeah," he replied, giving a tired wave.
With that, she started walking back to her home.
Shikaku looks down at his son, "So, what do you think about him?"
Looking up at his dad, Shikamaru shrugged, "Not much to be said. And don't you mean "her"? Not "him"?"
He laughed, "So, you noticed did you?"
"I've known about it for a couple of months now."
Laughing, Shikaku ruffles the top of his son's head.
"Wait, what do you mean "she"?"
They both turned to look at a very confused and shocked wife/mother of the revelation that they had just spoken. Entering back into the house, Shikamaru waves tiredly to his dad as he goes to his room to sleep, "She's your wife, dad. You answer her."
Mentally shouting at his son for the betrayal of letting him having to answer her, Shikaku looks back to his wife, who was now holding a very angry expression on her face. Her hands on her hip while tapping her foot. Sweating, he nervously chuckled, "I can explain."
"Explain what?!"
It was the last thing that was heard before a loud crash and breaking stuff was heard.
Stopping in her track, Kai looks back at the direction of where the noise was coming from and wonder what had happened. Thinking that it was probably nothing, she shrugs and continues walking back to her home.