Chapter 65

Asuma, sauntering on the lane that leads to the Nara compound, welcomes the sight of one of his former students coming towards his way. With her big fan in tow she's probably out to get some training at the training ground. "Hey Temari, where's Kamaru?" he jauntily asks in greeting.

"Do I look like his jailer?"Temari retorts, not liking her sensei's early mornin' good mood.

"No. But you certainly look like his wife," Asuma replies, the glint in his eyes teases.

The kunoichi's own eyes sharpen for a moment then with a softly indrawn breath, she tries to control her annoyance. Obliging, she asks more calmly, "What do you want from him, Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma's brows knit in a frown as a possibility occurs to him. His voice devoid of mirth he verifies, "Didn't he tell you we have a mission at five am today?"

"That doesn't answer why you're here."

"Why am I here?" grunts the older shinobi, "To fetch your husband, obviously."

"Then why are you here at seven and not five?"

"About that…" Asuma's lingering sternness disappears as he almost smiles sheepishly. Sounding defensive, he rumbles, "I don't have to fetch your husband at five! I told him to meet me at Yakiniku."

Temari snorts. That guilty looking lopsided tilt to her sensei's mouth gives him away. "How's your offspring?" she enquires instead, knowing that it's related to his reason for being this late. Fatherhood has certainly changed her sensei although still she has expected him to treat the matter with Kamaru with a more exacting and stricter attention.

"My offspring is teething," Asuma answers proudly, forgetting that the happy event had actually made the baby irritable and fussy all night. "Kurenai wants you to visit her by the way."

"I will. I have something to ask her."

"Yes. She figures that out," Asuma remarks a bit wryly. Then by pointedly looking at the trees lining the narrow dirt track and the shadows they cast on the ground, he returns to the topic as he inquires, "It's getting late. Again where's your husband?"

"Stop calling the lazy ass that," protests Temari, vehemently.

"Lazy ass?" Asuma prevaricates before he chuckles loudly. "I somehow understand your endearment."

"It's not an endearment," Temari snaps.

"Sure," Asuma agrees although his tone is laced with disbelief. "So you don't know where your husband is?"

Temari controls the urge to do something like get her fan from her back sling in frustration. That won't work on her sensei anyway. She has to give up or he will just keep on insisting calling the damn ass her husband. She settles for a glower directed at the older nin as she grudgingly mutters, "Kaasan said she saw Kamaru went out hours ago."

Asuma clucks his tongue, reproving loudly, "I know he's your husband, Temari, but he's still a foreign nin. You and your family should keep a sharper eye on him."

So her sensei indeed has his reservations about Shikamaru, Temari realizes. With her body duly tensing, she meets Asuma's uncompromising eyes as she declares, her voice carrying the strength of her convictions, "I trust Kamaru even with my life."

Asuma gestures 'fine, fine' with his hand, not wanting to get into an argument with Temari, judging by her appearance, she seems prepared to go to war. Instead he drones on, "Ah young love," as the teasing glint is back in his eyes.

"I don't love him!" Temari suddenly scowls, indignant as with a fisted hand she makes a slashing gesture in the air, emphatically emphasizing the 'don't' part in her statement.

"Of course you do—n't" Asuma pauses midway through the word as he notices a new arrival. Turning around to face the shinobi unhurriedly coming their way, he reproaches, "Kamaru, you're late."

"Tch," Shikamaru simply grunts in reply to Asuma's accusation then to Temari he speaks, tonelessly, "We're going. Is there anything else you wanted to say to your sensei?"

Temari's eyes turn irately on Shikamaru. Not saying a word to both men, she swivels around to leave, seething with annoyance as she strides towards the direction of where she just came from, back to the house.

"What?" Asuma queries, at a lost why his former student is suddenly fuming mad.

You don't believe what she just said, Shikamaru answers, keeping it to himself though. "Let's go," he utters instead, already walking towards the opposite direction from Temari's, his hands inside his pockets but his shoulders way too stiff.

—o0o—

"This is the mission?" Shikamaru grumbles as he glances at what he has caught between his hands in the dark and dank alley of Konoha. It's a wily brown cat, with an outlandish red ribbon on its right ear.

"Yes."

"I thought you knew I'm a chuunin at least," rebukes Shikamaru.

"It doesn't matter if you're a genin, chuunin or jounin."

"Why? Because I'm from Suna?"

"Yes," Asuma answers with no hesitation.

Shikamaru holds the cat aloft as it mewls loudly in frustration and tries to use its sharp claws on him. "Didn't you receive the Hokage's memo?" Shikamaru queries, his attention focus on his tiny captive.

"I did. Now quit complaining. This brings money which will make you able to bring food to the Nara's table," Asuma admonishes, sounding stern and unsympathetic as he poses the question, "Or are you expecting your in-laws to provide for you?"

"If all I get is a measly sum for a mission that even a genin can perform, then yes," mutters Shikamaru.

"I don't even know your abilities."

"How do you expect me to show you with this kind of D-rank mission?" Shikamaru's brows knit together, his dissatisfaction with the morning made known while the angry feline continues to fight his hold, scratching his hands successfully.

Glancing at the furry animal, Asuma replies, "I take it you hate looking for cats. Madam Shijimi would be upset to know that."

"Maybe I should kill this cat so its owner would really be upset," Shikamaru responds evenly, his face becoming blank and hard to read.

Abruptly, Asuma takes action. His trench knife is drawn as he subsequently pushes Kamaru roughly towards the alley's concrete wall. Holding the knife's edge threateningly at the younger man's neck while painfully fisting a handful of his shirt's collar, he rasps, "That's right, Suna shinobis are ruthless. I would be more suspicious of you if you have continued to act like a man without a care."

Finding its chance, the cat vigorously contorts its body and uses its claws in its struggle from the hands that grip it. Finally jumping out from Shikamaru's clutch, it purrs loudly as it flees, climbing the nearby wall fast and disappearing. "What a drag…Are we supposed to catch it again?"

Asuma tightens his grasp on Kamaru's collar while still brandishing the knife at his neck. "The one I met yesterday is the type that wouldn't even threaten an adorable cat."

"Adorable? Didn't you see the claws on that cat?" Shikamaru harshly retorts; flexing his hands at his sides which bear the mark of the little spitfire.

Asuma frowns. The young man has a fleeting look in his eyes, a sort of bitterness—he can't really explain that look. "Why do I have a feeling, you're not speaking about the cat anymore."

Shikamaru's fist goes up, hitting the outstretch arm that has his collar in its grip to push it away but his action only dislodges the hand with the trench knife, nicking his neck. A drop of blood then trickles from the surface wound.

"What? No denial?" Asuma asks as his fingers loosen their grip on Kamaru's collar while his other hand brings down his knife to his side.

Shikamaru shakes off Asuma's hold. "Let's go catch the blasted cat."

Asuma allows Kamaru his freedom. The younger nin immediately jumps then runs the high wall chasing after the furry animal. Asuma, as he sheaths back his trench knife, mutters to himself, "He said blasted cat."

Mulling over the young man's words, somehow, Asuma gets the feeling that the blasted cat isn't the one that just got away.

Asuma laughs to himself. He has his own feisty cat at home so he knows… The boy is just plainly sulking because he heard a particular cat denying him err affection.

Asuma finally ascends the wall, instantly seeing the brown fur dashing on its four feet at some distant roof and the shinobi after it.

The lazy ass—his student's words, not his—can run at least.

Which reminds him… Temari obviously has a valid reason to trust her husband with her life.

Still that doesn't mean he can trust the foreign nin.

Asuma gives a mental shrug as he joins in the cat pursuit. After all, time…everything will be revealed in time who the young man considers to be his king.

—o0o—

TBC

~12 8 12, 1 22 13 A 13~

A/N: Hope you guys review. Even an all out crit is better than no reviews.