He relaxed leaning a little on Shinki, after they all finished eating Araya moved to the field and worked on the Jutsu that Yodo was having trouble with. Watching them Shikadai missed Shinki watching him till he felt Shinki's fingers on his chin turning him to face Shinki. "That was an amazing performance Shika-chan." He smirked a little knowing he was the only one besides Termari that got away with calling him that. "We should train together, I do hope we are teamed up together as well ." He admitted making Shikadai's heart skip a beat, "Oh I would lov-Like I mean like that too.'' He mumbled looking away from Shinki's eyes. He leans even closer into Shinki before they knew it three hours past, Yodo and Araya had to leave something about needing to get ready for later in the day, leaving Shinki and Shikadai in the training field. "Should we go home or train since you wanted to earlier?"

Shikadai smiled looking up at Shinki rocking on the back of his heel. "Ah I think a little light work out should do then we can pick up something to eat and you can play your video while I read," Shinki spoke with his arms cross, Shikadai nods before moving into a position he grabbed his giant fan and waited for his partner to move to watch the Iron sand he smirks before sending the first attack a giant gust of wind before jumping on his fan letting it guide him upward before pulling his two little fans out. "Wind Blades!" He directed the attack around Shinki on purpose to make the ground unstable which brought Shinki into having to make his iron sand into wings. Bringing him into, Shikadai element "Wind Gust!" he sent a little more Chakra into it only to fall. He wasn't expecting this as he noticed the iron sand behind him struck his fan tilting it. He relaxed his body and moved mid-air to land in a crouch with his dancer fans. He quickly tucked one in his sash and pulled out a poisoned kunai with an explosive tag. He threw them with deadly accuracy, he quickly ran around trying to find a position so he could trap Shinki in his shadow, he cartwheeled out of the way from being trapped in the Iron sand that snuck up behind him, he cursed noticing how when he attacked the ground Shinki must have used the cover of dust to leak the Iron sand around so he could attack without being seen. He quickly flicked the other dancer fan open "Wind Gust!" Before running again he closed his fan and deflected a kunai with it before changing course and pounced at Shinki, quickly running through the hand signs only to stop when he had to flip mid-air he did a cloudless substitution jutsu so when he was 'caught'. He could finish his hand sign capturing Shinki, even though Shinki has a spike against his neck and stomach. Shikadai felt as excitement ran through him at the end of the spar he ended in a drawl meaning he was getting one step closer to catching up to him.

"Looks like a stalemate, ShinkI our first one." He laughed even though it was their first Shikadai didn't think he could do it at first but through his training with his mom and uncle and working on his new wind jutsu he was able to end it in a drawl. Smiling happily, he moved around the iron sand always trusting that Shinki and his sand would never hurt him. Walking towards Shinki, "Ready to head home?" He asked dusting his clothes off before looking up at Shinki, "Hmm, oh yes, what should we get to eat, or are you cooking again Shika-chan?" He asked collecting his kunai before grabbing their trash from earlier, never one to leave trash or weapons around, making Shikadai smile, appreciating how Shinki cared about simple things like that. "I think I would like to cook, mom taught me that one recipe you liked!" He moved beside him, taking the bag of trash from Shinki so he could put the kunai up, having already strapped his fan to his back and placed his smaller back in his sash for easy access. He hummed softly walking beside him mind drifting off before looking at Shinki, "Are you going to change your war paint?" He asked before continuing after seeing Shinki's confused expression. "I mean the style we are entering a new part of our life becoming official ninjas' now. Uncle Kankuro changed his war paint after becoming a genin and I figured you would do that as well." He said softly, shivering a little feeling the dusk cool breeze settling on him. He laughed softly, feeling Shinki extend his Iron around him making a miniature cloak like his, it was surprisingly warm, 'Probably from his Chakra' Shinkadai mused as he walked closer to Shinki feeling the warmth from his necklace that contained Shinki sand. "Yes, I do believe I should but I don't know what I would style it like yet." He admitted trying to think of what he would style it after when he heard Shikadai hum before continuing their conversation.

"I am thinking Beef stew with Yakitori and Miso glazed eggplant?" He was already counting off the things they had at home and what they needed to stop and pick up before stopping when realized Shinki was a few steps behind. Turning around he looked at him in confusion when he realized Shinki was looking at him surprised, "Y-you actually remember what I like just from the one time your mom cooked and I was there?" Shikadai eyes soften even when people stop treating his Shinki differently the scars from before would flair and then with Shinki holding himself to such a high standard it would still always surprise seeing Shinki shock or insecure before the mask would cover it. "Of course I do Shinki-Kun. We are childhood best friends and I always pay attention to what you like or don't. Remember how I would switch our food around when no one was looking because they gave you things you didn't like while I picked things I knew you liked or tolerated? Or how I would always have extra food or candy. I do pay attention to things I may not always know how to show you but I do try to give you things you like or pay attention to when you mention things you're passionate about or you are currently enjoying." He looks away blushing before turning back around feeling vulnerable as if he exposed too much of himself. "We should hurry, we need to pick up a few things for dinner and-" He froze feeling Shinki hug him from behind before slowly relaxing and leaning into the touch. "Thank you." Shinki's eyes were closed, reminding himself that Shikadai was his first friend and wasn't afraid of him before or after he killed those two men nor before when he was unable to control his powers.

"I-i knows you do care and you try to show me while always respecting my needs. I sometimes forget that you're more observant and always will be there for me. You are one of my most important people, Shikadai, one of my strengths and constant in my life. Never doubt that, just as you have been there for me, I will be there for you" Shinki moved around and grabbed Shikadai's hand leading them to the nearest store in the area letting Shikadai have a moment to calm down and sort through his thoughts while being guided. Shikadai sighs softly and moved to stand beside Shinki and grab the things they would need for dinner and extra so he could make lunch for them for tomorrow, "Stay the night Shinki-Kun, t-this might be one of the few last nights we have to spend with each other in case we are on separate teams." He looked up at him and smiled softly showing he was fine from before even if he still felt raw from exposing himself a little of showing his affection and feelings for Shinki with the fear of rejection. "I think it would be cool since we would be the newer version of mom, uncle Gaara and uncle kankuro. Only you can do the puppets and sand." He laughed softly looking at Shinki from the corner of his eyes. Shinki smirked and let a soft huff version of his laugh "yeah we could be the new and improved version of them with a strong bond from the start but we still don't have an idea of who we would be a team with?" Shikadai hummed and thought of who they could be a team with. "Well, we know it will be a girl right? So Yodo, Aika, Mina, Sora, and Luna are the ones I can remember passing. I honestly feel we could work with any of them, but it depends if we are for heavy-hitting but if they want to be different it would be an all-male team. Honestly, we could be different, and being an all-around team would be good." He sighs and shakes his head thinking of at least 20 different scenarios.

"Let's just wait for tomorrow yeah?" He sighs before going to pay for the things they got, waving at the cashier and heading out. They finally arrived at the house, unlocking the door and heading off to the kitchen to start on dinner and making sure it was enough for everyone. He checked the clock and frowned, wondering what could be taking his family so long before remembering how annoying the elders are and shivers. (Yeah no,) he thought to himself. (The elders are probably dragging their feet and pitching a fit for more.) He sighs and shakes his head wondering how his uncle Gaara had so much patience to put up with them. He put enough focus on the food preparation while thinking of his family. He loved his uncle Gaara even with some weird gifts but he understood his uncle didn't have the best childhood so he would always smile and thank him even if it was strange and sought him out to play games with him or teach his uncle something he thought would interest him or just show off when he accomplished something. His uncle Gaara always made the time or just let him in when he was doing paperwork showing Shikadai what he was doing and explaining it to him when he didn't understand. Uncle Kankuro was fun and always there for him when he needed a laugh or to play pranks or when both his mom and uncle Gaara was too busy. He let him play in his war paint and laughed before helping him take it off and reapply it better. He would tell him stories of his Mom and dad how they met and how they fell in love and had him. His Mom was always his solid rock and comfort but she didn't coddle him teaching him to be strong and soft, that sometimes we had to make sacrifices for those they love. That we can use our love to be a sword and a shield for those we care about, to help push us in a fight but never let it cloud our judgment or those who wished to hurt us would use that against us. To never underestimate your opponent and never stop fighting for the next day. She didn't go easy on him in training but wasn't brutal. She would increase the training based on how much he could take and what he has accomplished. He felt on those days he wanted to give up but he would remember why he was doing this and feel the strength and devotion for those he loved and get back up. His dad when he visited or when Shikadai visited helped him in his clan training and looked amused at him when he would complain that mom would be mad if she found out that dad wasn't properly training him. Even so, he trained him in his clans work and would play Go with him and tell him of his Grandfather which made Shikadai heart clench and shyly asked if they could visit him so Shikadai could tell him all the things he learned and ask him to please keep protecting him and everyone he loved. He would do the same for his Grandmother Karura. He wonders if they would be proud of him or even love him. On some of those nights when he couldn't stop those thoughts he would sneak out and find an empty training ground and work on his jutsu or train till he was too tired for his mind to work.

Humming he had an hour till the food was done he washed his hand before heading to his bedroom to grab a new pair of clothes and grab a bit of attention from Shinki to tell him that he was taking a quick shower. He walked into his bathroom to shower wondering if he should drop the food off at the office for his family or just leave it on low shimmer and wrapped up to keep it warm for them. Sighing softly he quickly scrubbed his body of the sweat and dirt of this morning off he turned the shower off and dried down before slipping a light sweater that stopped mid-thigh and shorts on. Stepping out of the bathroom, still drying his hair he mumbles about leaving it down till it dried completely, He walked back into his room and smiled seeing Shinki relaxed on his bed, reading the book his Dad sent him as a gift that he finished and let Shinki read, he headed to his game console and set the game up still keeping an eye on dinner.

He made a comfortable spot and throws a light blanket on himself, he gets into his game doing grinding work and ignoring the push to play the storyline in the game instead of going on a side quest and exploring to make sure he found everything and didn't miss anything before continuing on for the most part before finding a spot to pause when his internal timer went off in his head and he checked on dinner. Humming softly he moved about in the kitchen and set the table and then pulled out containers having settled on bringing food to his family in the office. He sighed softly before deviating the food in the containers and wrote a post-it note that they better eat and not to forget to let him know when they are heading home. Nodding to himself he gets back to making his and Shinki plates before making themself something to drink and grabs a thermal of his Uncle Gaara's favorite Jasmine tea, coffee for his mom, and melon tea for uncle Kankuro. Setting them to the side to grab and go. He walks back to his room and sets to coak Shinki to stop reading and come eat. Finally convinced him to come to eat after what feels like a negotiation or a battle as Shinki was really absorbed in the book. "Itadakimasu" Shinki and both say at the same time before digging into the food, "Thank you Shikadai, this is really delicious." He smiles bashfully rubbing the back of his neck, "Thanks mom says I need to learn to cook and that it's good to learn in case I am on a long term mission and to learn plants and seasoning and how to cook things or I need experience in undercover work like a cook or such."

He grins knowing it's more so as his mom would say and probably true thinking of his uncle Chouji that a way to most men and females was through their food. "Do you know how to cook Shinki?" He asked curious about the other as they never really headed to Shinki's apartment mostly since Shinki sometimes stays over or was busy with training and by then was too tired to leave some nights. "Ah I can somewhat cook generally mostly Breakfast food but most Night Temari-sama gives me leftovers or food already prepared and needs reheating. I usually stop by the stand close to my apartment." Shikadai frowns and starts thinking of stopping at Shinki's apartment with groceries and cooking for him. Before blushing a little at the thought, "Nay Shinki I could just cook for you and show you how if you want. That way you can save your money from eating out so much and don't have to eat leftovers. Besides it is better to have a balanced diet you don't know how much sodium or what's in the food at that stand. This way you can have a healthier diet and a new skill, yeah." He teased the other with a playful smile before they laughed and shook their head. "Yeah, I guess that doesn't sound too bad. Especially if your cooking as good as this is." he Teased the other feeling a rush of satisfaction at seeing Shikadai's cheeks flush and looked away stuttering out a response before dodging a rag thrown at him laughing softly.

"S-shut up and eat!" He glares at him, feeling his brow twitch at how Shinki lifts his hand in the air in surrender and goes back to eating with a smirk. Pouting he eats a little feeling the blush still on his cheek (Ugh why would he say that, does he know?) Trying to ignore that train wreck of a thought, "Have you finally thought about what you're changing your war paint style to?" Shinki hums before nodding "Yeah you know your uncle gourd? I think I will use those designs." Shikadai tilts his head as he visually sees it in his mind's eyes before nodding with a smile. "I think it will look good on you," He laughs softly and shakes his head. "I can't wait to see it tomorrow and show Uncle Gaara he gets flustered even now when showed appreciation. It's kind of adorable and mom get all sappy when she sees it, which makes it worse for Uncle Gaara and more hilarious for Uncle Kankuro who will take pictures." He laughs softly thinking about it before calming down. Soon dinner finishes before them and Shikadai allows Shinki to take the book home on the promise that he gets some sleep. Shikadai grabs his mom and uncle's food and thermal before heading off to the office. Walking into the building and nodding at the guards who bow to him on his way to his Uncle's office before letting him in, smiling happily at his family. Heartwarming at seeing them he walks in. "I brought you Dinner so you better eat it." snickering at seeing Kankuro jump having been dozing on some paperwork thankfully drool-free or Mom and uncle Gaara might have killed him. "Aww, Shika-chan did you cook this? Did it happen to be for your crush?" Temari teases her son who flushes and glares at her with a pout. "Vanish that though or I can give Uncle Kankuro your food." She smirked, "Please I could beat your uncle and take the food back." Kankuro looked between those two "Uh I don't care what you two are talking about but I would like to eat and not have to battle for my food and drink ya know." He moved over to Gaara feeling the need for a shield if those two started a cold war. Gaara sighed using his sand to take the food from his precious nephew. "Ah! Uncle," He pouts up at Gaara who looked at him from behind his folded hand.