Chapter 4: Unexpected Visit

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Shikamaru never truly gets time off. Some days, he felt like leaving a shadow clone to deal with the chaos that was Naruto and Sasuke. The Hokage allowed it on days that were slow, thus he left a shadow clone back at the office.

"Shikaaaaa!" Holding a plastic kunai, Mirai latched onto Shikamaru's leg and pretended to stab him. She was the reason why lately he couldn't send shadow clones to play with her because the young girl would only disperse them.

Kurenai, who was outside the house doing laundry, stopped to greet her guest.

"Thank kami you're here," Kurenai said with a look of relief. "Can you take Mirai out for a while?" She wanted to finish the chores without worrying about her daughter's mischief.

"Of course, sensei." Shikamaru said politely as he scooped up the toddler in his arms. He didn't have the heart to mention that his visit had only meant to be brief.

"Be back at 5 pm?" Her question was more of a hopeful suggestion.

Shikamaru glanced down at his watch to check the time. He had three hours with Mirai.

"Alright."

After having some tea, and preparing Mirai's baby stuff, he grabbed the girl and threw a bag over his shoulder and headed back to his home.

When he arrived at his mansion, he noticed there were more maids running around than there normally were. He set Mirai down and dropped Mirai's bag on the floor to take off his ninja shoes. He paused when he noticed that a stranger's shoes were already present.

The size of the sandals was too small and too girly to belong to his mother. He wasn't into fashion, but he knew those wooden sandals were normally paired with a Kimono. That may explain why there were two Anbu stationed outside his home who didn't bother to hide their presence.

That could only mean someone important was inside their home. His analysis was cut short when Mirai yelled down the hall as she took off with familiarity.

"Hey, don't run too fast!" Shikamaru called out, quickly following down the hall. He heard the sound of a soft thud, as though the little girl had bumped into someone.

"I got you." A familiar voice said softly. "Hello Mirai-chan, do you remember me?"

"You're very pretty," Mirai spoke, in broken baby language that the person somehow understood.

"Aw thank you, you're also very pretty," Then it clicked that the voice belonged to Hinata.

Shikamaru turned around the corner and saw her kneeling in front of Mirai, with the toddler trying to grab a hold of her hair ornament. Today it wasn't braids, she had her hair up in an elegant bun. Hinata's smile wasn't as guarded when around children, he noticed.

Right now, she looked like she was the happiest person on earth. Lifting her gaze to greet him, she nodded slightly his way as she straightened herself.

"Hello, Nara-san,"

Mirai ran from Hinata's arm and jumped into his mother's arm

His mother's loving gaze was definitely aimed towards Mirai. However, it was also obvious something good happened from the way her eyes lit up with happiness. But before inquiring about his mother's well-being, he wondered why Hinata Hyuga was in his home.

As if reading his thoughts, his mother answered.

"Hinata-san has been helping me put together the event, Shika," Ah, that's right, Kakashi had decided on a whim that this year the Nara clan was in charge of hosting the annual event since the Hyuga clan already went all out during the inauguration event.

"Okay, but what's up with you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Remember how you left me in charge of sending out clan invitations for the annual meeting? I invited the Sand siblings, and got a reply!"

Shikamaru's eyes perked up at this.

"Temari's coming?"

He missed that troublesome woman. They could hang all day, and he would never feel bored.

"Not just Temari, let me give you a hint, they left Kankuro in charge of the village."

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Gaara too?" How did Temari ever manage to convince Gaara to part from his beloved village? The surrounding joke was that Gaara loved the village as though it was his own wife.

"When she gets here, please ask her how she convinced her little brother to come along. I'm really curious."

"Thank you, you've given me great news." Naruto was bound to be happy.

"Ah, before I forget, I made their invitation slightly special."

Oh no.

Shikamaru regarded her with caution.

"You see, Shika, I extended an invitation for them to stay at the mansion throughout the duration of their visit."

Shikamaru's smile fell. Sure, he felt like he could hang with Temari all day, but that didn't mean he wanted to play the role of a host.

He sighed.

"I love you Shika!" His mother disappeared around the corner with Mirai in her arms, seemingly returning to what she was doing.

Up until now, Hinata had felt like an intruder to their moment.

"It's actually embarrassing that you witnessed all of that,"

"Is it?" Hinata giggled behind her hand. She never had the luxury of knowing a mother's love, but it always pleased her when she witnessed it.

When he started to walk, he motioned her to join his side.

"Did my mom give you a tour?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes, she even showed me the forest. You have a lot of beautiful flowers there,"

"Flowers?" He tried to recall a memory, but those kinds of things never really stood out to him since he found that he loved staring at the sky, more than staring at the ground. "You like flowers," He suddenly realized.

"I do,"

Stopping at the porch, he saw his mother sitting on the floor, facing the garden, as Mirai was let loose to play in the wild. His mother reached out and motioned them to join her.

"Hinata-san, I know you don't have any reason to stay longer now that Shika's here to help, but could you grant this lady a wish."

"Sure, what is it Yoshino-san?" Hinata asked, unsure.

"Can you look after Mirai while I talk to my son in private?"

The request didn't seem hard, besides, she wanted to spend more time with the girl.

Once they were inside his office, Shikamaru sat behind his desk, realizing his mother meant to talk business with him.

Yoshino settled across from him and handed him a letter, the seal hadn't been broken yet. The letter was addressed to him, from Gaara of the Sand. He glanced up at his mother, she had a serious expression on her face that had mirrored his own.

"What do you think it says?" She asked.

Shikamaru sighed, opting to break the seal on the envelope instead of theorizing about its content.

"It's about the reason Gaara is coming to visit Konoha," Shikamaru said vaguely.

"Okay, but what does it say?" She urged him to continue with a stern look in her eyes.

"He wants to speak to me about Temari,"

His mother clasped her hand and let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you think it's finally happening?"

Shikamaru gave her a look.

"I don't quite follow,"

"We both know she fancies you, silly,"

"Ah..."

"What do you mean "Ah"? This is a good thing. He's probably going to give you his approval to officially court his sister,"

"Please stop jumping to conclusions," After all, the letter literally only said that Gaara wished to speak to him about Temari, and nothing more. "We won't know until he gets here,"

"I guess you're right," Yoshino said, disappointed.

When they returned to the porch, Hinata was found laying on her back with Mirai arranging flowers on her hair, gone was the elegant bun. Her violet hair was all around her, feathering across the floor, and the hair ornament was spotted on Mirai's dark hair. They were only gone for twenty minutes, but somehow Mirai found an obsession and decided to become Hinata's personal hairstylist.

Yoshino giggled as she reached Hinata's side.

"D-Do I amuse you, Yoshino-san?" Hinata asked his mother with a knowing smile. "To see the Hyuga leader disarmed in your own home by a child?"

"For some reason, when I think about peace, I think I will always remember this moment," Yoshino replied.

"Care to help me up?" Her kimono was a little straining sometimes. "I-I feel like a turtle on my back,"

"Turtle!" Mirai repeated while throwing herself on the floor and pretending to also be a turtle, believing this had become a game.

"Aw, you two are adorable," Yoshino abided with her simple request and helped her sit. "Aren't they cute Shikamaru?" Yoshino finally turned her attention back to her son, it finally occurred to her that he had been still and quiet the entire time. "Shika?"

Yoshino didn't even want to begin to suspect what thoughts could be flashing through his head. Staring back at Hinata, who had been unaware of the moment, Yoshino smiled to herself softly. It was better this way.

"I'll guide Hinata-san to the door, and you look after Mirai as you're supposed to,"

"Ah." He said, his eyes still focused on Hinata as she combed her fingers through her hair and attempted to braid her hair.

"If I wasn't your mother, I probably would just punch you," Yoshino said, trying to ignore the slight blush that came over her son's features.

Glancing between the two Naras, Hinata blinked.

"Um...did I miss something?"

"No."

"It's nothing."

They both replied in unison.

It was good that Hinata Hyuga did not get to witness the way her son had just looked at her.

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Edited: 2/11/2021 Grammar, typos

Edited: 9/24/2021 Grammar

Edited: 8-30-22 Grammar

Edited: 9-6-22 Title