Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and probably Shonen Jump, with license to Viz Media

To Trust.

They were bickering.

It was beyond odd.

"Family dinner" at a very pregnant Kurenai's consisted of Ino, Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru, and Hinata. Shino and Chouji were on missions. The group was used to the easy familiarity between their favorite genius and the shy Hyuuga. It was clear from the small touches, standing too close and another dozen gestures and glances. Hinata and Shikamaru had moved beyond friends.

To a shinobi, every breath was a gift and to share that with someone was an even greater blessing. Ino and Chouju approved. It seemed so unlikely that Hinata would harm their teammate in any way. So Hinata had gotten off without any confrontation.

Shikamaru was almost as lucky. He had been spared a physical confrontation. However, Shino & Kiba had use genjustu to "remind" him that they could find and destroy any target. Shikamaru was left with the slightly disturbing visual of his body covered with kikai as Akamaru dragged him through the streets and dumped him on his mom's doorstep.

Overall though, little had changed with the family dinners. Nara was too lazy and Hinata was too private for any public demonstrations of affection. But there were small changes. Shikamaru helped more with dinner and clean up. Hinata sat a little closer to him. He put food on her plate. She filled Kurenai's tea cup first followed by Shikamaru's every time. It was quite and sweet.

Usually.

"If you would have let me cut the vegetables, you wouldn't have sliced your finger." Shikamaru scolded.

"I am capable of cutting a few vegetables. It was a simple accident." Hinata replied with a frustrated sigh. A tiny amount of healing chakra was enough to heal the cut without leaving a scar.

"Of course you are capable. I am just saying you don't have to try to do everything by yourself." So said the shinobi once famous for his laziness.

Hinata responded by ignoring him.

Ino and Kiba looked at each other in confusion. Shikamaru was usually too lazy to argue and Hinata was too polite to argue.

Kurenai sighed. It was entertaining to see the troubles of young love, but it was time to cut the tension with some important information.

"I think I'm going into labor." The heavily pregnant jonin stated calmly.

Silence ruled for a moment.

An instant later Kiba and Akamaru were out the door with a brisk "I'll notify Shizune."

Hinata stood at the door with Kurenai's bag to take to the hospital.

Ino had her stethoscope on Kurenai's stomach and looking at her watch.

Shikamaru simply stood next to his sensei's widow and held her hand.

"The baby's heartbeat is good and the fluid sounds are normal. I could feel that last contraction. How do you feel Kurenai-sensei?" Ino asked.

"I'm okay. I thought it was another false alarm, all through the day the contractions seemed like they were getting more intense. But this is the third time I thought that." A faint sheen of perspiration covered her face. Even the toughest jonin could not completely ignore the pain of the onset of labor.

"So you waited a little longer this time?" Ino smiled.

Kurenai nodded as she stood up with Shikamaru still holding her hand. He hovered uncertainly as she made her way slowly to the door.

The walk to the hospital was slow. Kurenai would pause every minute or so and breathe heavily through the contractions. Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata flanked her like an escort service.

A few hours later Kurenai was settled in her hospital room. She was getting tired and still her baby was not ready for delivery. The soon to be mother sighed. Ino conferred with Shizune. Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, and Shikamaru hovered nearby.

"Shizune-sempai says it could still be quite a few more hours. But nothing to worry about. It is well within the normal range." Ino explained to the others as Shizune left the small room.

Kiba let out an exasperated sigh. "Sheesh, it takes more time than whelping puppies."

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata scolded good-naturally.

Kiba merely grinned at her. Akamaru woofed his amusement. Ino rolled her eyes and good naturely poked Kiba in the ribs. Shikamaru merely twitched. The tension was still rolling off him in waves.

Kurenai looked sleepily around the room. She was lucky to be surround by love. Her young friends, who care so much about her and Asuma, would be a family for her child…if they didn't drive each other crazy first. With another sigh, Kurenai resolved to help them grow up as well. Even as brilliant young shinobi, they were still teenagers.

"Okay. Here is the plan." Kurenai announced. Startled, the group turned to look at her. They were unaware that a plan was required.

"One. It is going to be hours before the baby is born. Two. You want to help me for the next few days. Three. It is very late." She ticked off the facts. "Ideally I would send you all home to rest." Her red eyes flashed and forestalled their protests. "BUT I know you don't want me to be alone when the baby does come."

"So I want a standard rotation. One of you can stay for another 4 hours. Shizune can help find a place to nap. One can come back in 4 hours. Then we move to 6 hour shifts." She explained. Each person would have 18 hours to rest and take care of any other responsibilities.

Each of them had requested a few days reprieve from missions. Tsunade had agreed to try and would limit any missions to short ones within the village if possible. It was still wartime. Highly skilled jonin and chunin were constantly in demand. Shino and Chouji were on missions because it simply wasn't possible to keep all six of them off the duty roaster.

"Makes sense." Kiba agreed. He wasn't actually that keen on being around for the birth. Besides it made sense to approach the support for Kurenai like a mission and plan out a rotation schedule. "I'll take the second watch."

"I'll take this first round. I know the hospital and how things work around here." Ino volunteered. She was the most advanced in her medical skills and was a semi-regular hospital staff member. If Kurenai needed any additional attention, Ino would be able to get it for her. She was also the most excited to see the baby's actual birth.

Shikamaru slouched toward Kurenai. He took her hand and squeezed it. "Good luck." He could see she was tired. She wanted a bit of peace for herself as much as she was worried about them.

Kurenai smiled back. "Get some rest and relax." She said gratefully. Shikamaru was the most stubborn of the extended "family." He worried about fulfilling Asuma's trust and about caring for Asuma's child. Kurenai was happy that the brilliant young man accepted her plan without protest.

Hinata smiled from her place next to the bed. "Kurenai-sensei, I will return for the third shift." Kurenai nodded. Hinata would miss the birth of the baby. But she was exhausted and wanted to honor her sensei's wishes.

Kurenai nodded to Hinata and then pointed to the door. "Get some rest and relax. I'll be fine."

"I'll take good care of her and the baby." Ino promised.

"I'll be back in four hours. I'll bring some food." Kiba promised as he exited the small hospital room.

Hinata smiled gratefully at Ino. "Thanks Ino." Shikamaru took his place by Hinata's side and they left together.


After a quiet walk back to Kurenai's apartment, Shikamaru gently pulled Hinata into his arms.

"Why have we been fighting?" He asked as he breathed in the smell of jasmine in her hair. Kiba, Ino and Kurenai seemed very far away.

The drama of the moment slipped away and it was just the two of them.

Shikamaru worried and he planned. He planned and re-planned. He cared and he worried. And somewhere along the line, he started nagging. Hinata did so much for others and didn't worry about herself.

So he worried for her.

And it was natural that Shikamaru's nagging would grate on her hard earned self-esteem.

Hinata wrapped her own arms around Shikamaru's waist and mumbled. "I don't know." Every concern felt like a criticism. It felt like every moment was spent waiting for him to find something he couldn't accept. But as he held her, his firm body relaxed. She could feel it as he released some of the tension they lived with every day.

He sighed and felt the whisper of her soft hair against his cheek and the warmth of her curved body fit against him. His mind let go and he stopped planning and worrying.

Dishes sat on the table from the abandoned dinner. Kurenai was safely in the hospital with Ino. A beautiful, kind wonderful girl loved him.

She pressed herself so she could hear his heart and she could feel the flow of his chakra. Somewhere between his heartbeats, she realized that he was afraid of accepting their small happiness. He was afraid of losing it and that made him worried. With realization came instant forgiveness.

"I think. We need a little more trust. More trust in that things will work out okay." She said quietly.

Without further discussion, they both understood.

It was ridiculous. They were both shinobi in the middle of a war. The odds were that one or both of them would not live to see the end of the war were unfortunately high.

And yet, what did it matter? They were going to love each other. They were going to protect the village and the ones they loved.

They could choose to accept the time they had together and be happy. Trust in the future. Have some hope in the moment.

Or they could worry and bicker and nag.

Not a difficult choice after all.

"Are you tired?" He asked. Before she could answer, he added. "I'm exhausted. This baby is going to be so troublesome."

Hinata smiled into his vest. Some things did not change. She curled her fingers to grip his waist a little tighter. She wanted to hold on to him and on to this moment a little longer.

"Let's go to bed." Hinata blushed and hid under her long hair as she whispered the suggestion.

"Ah." Shikamaru smiled as he agreed.

It was a strange relationship. It was quiet and filled with love. It was awkward with long days spent apart on missions. It was private but not secret.

They stood in silence making no move to the small bedroom. A gentle shove put Shikamaru on the defense. Hinata kissed him. It was the best kind of kiss. The gentle kind, which heighten his awareness of everything about her. The softens of her lips, the heat from her skin, the way her hair felt as it slipped between his fingers. Everything about her was endlessly interesting.

With a sigh Hinata relaxed into his love and acceptance. Every gentle caress held the promise that he cared. A small tug of his fingers as they combed her hair magnified the sense that he really saw her. He always kept his eyes open when he kissed her. As though he wanted to be sure to capture every moment of their time together.

"I love you."

"I know." A small laugh and a giggle followed. "I love you too."


Author's Note: Please review!

I'm not particularly excited with this chapter. But it has been sitting on my pc waiting for to be edited and posted for awhile, so i finally decided...just to put it out there. I hope you enjoyed it.

I think one more chapter…but no idea when I will get to it. They have a least one more stop on the journey to become "cool adults."

Happy Spring!