Give Me All Your Love
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EPILOGUE
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The days were too short now, he thought.
It was just over an hour before the end of class, and yet the light from the windows were beginning to wane, throwing the classroom very slowly into darkness. Asuma sighed and pillowed his cheek on his hand, halfheartedly listening to Shino-sensei's lecture. He loved his Shino-nii-san, but school was just so boring.
Asuma snuck a glance to the side, watching a raven-haired girl furiously taking notes. He supposed the lecture was beneficial for students of civilians, but as the child of a kunoichi, Asuma had heard all of this before. The only reason he even came to school anymore was to hang out with his friends. Everything else was so lame.
The final bell rang and instant commotion began; students shuffled around packing up their backpacks and loudly talking with one another. Asuma's friend, a boy who sat next to him, started going on about how much his back hurt from bending over the desk. Asuma laughed at him and told him to just sit up straight like a normal person. They walked out the classroom casually arguing with each other, passing by Shino-nii-san as he answered a question the raven-haired girl had about his lecture. Asuma struggled to remember her name, but curiously watched the determined gleam in her eyes.
They passed by Shino-nii-san and his classmate without incident, breaking out into the courtyard and playground area. A group of mothers were there to pick up their kids and go home, but Asuma didn't bother looking for his mom in the crowd. She was out on a mission and would be gone for a few days. His friends, a group of about three or four kids, gathered around him when they noticed his mom was absent.
"Hey 'Suma, who's pickin' you up today?" one of his friends asked. Asuma shrugged.
"Not sure. Maybe Ino-nee-chan?"
They all brightened. "Ino-nee-san?!" they chorused. Instantly, the group of them became dreamy-eyed. Asuma rolled his eyes.
"Guys, that's gross. She's my nee-chan." But none of them heard, daydreaming about the gorgeous person that occasionally came to pick Asuma up from school. Their mothers were already shuffling over, urging them to hurry on home for dinner. A few asked Asuma if he was okay by himself, and he reassured them that he could stay at Shino-nii-san's house if no one came to pick him up. That was looking more and more like the only option left to him after his friends left with their parents, and he was leaning against the tree waiting patiently for someone he wasn't even sure would come.
But, just as he was about to head back inside to wait for Shino-nii-san, a figure appeared quietly from behind the tree.
"Yo."
Asuma's head whipped around, and his smile stretched until it hurt.
"Shika-nii-san!"
He ran forward itching to hug the older man, but chose instead to stop in front of him and tremble with excitement.
"I thought you were in Sunagakure," Asuma said. Nara Shikamaru — his idol and the greatest strategist who ever lived — smirked and shrugged.
"Hokage-sama called me back. Looks like I'm needed indefinitely in Konoha."
Asuma's arms had wrapped around Shika-nii-san's stomach before either of them realized it. Asuma didn't see the surprised look that briefly crossed Shikamaru's face, but he felt the rough, slightly awkward hand that rested on his head. Ino-nee-chan once said that Shika-nii-san couldn't express emotion very well, and the feeling of the hand on his head made Asuma tear up.
"Asuma? Oh! Shikamaru?"
The two men turned to Ino, who was staring dumbfounded at the two of them. She seemed more surprised at Shika-nii-san's presence though, which puzzled Asuma because Ino-nee-chan was usually the one who told Asuma that Shika-nii-san was in Konoha. She looked as though she wanted to ask Shika-nii-san directly what was going on, but he stepped towards her and put his hand on the small of her back, leaning down to whisper something in her ear.
Asuma watched as Ino-nee-chan's eyes widened briefly before settling back into a neutral expression. Shika-nii-san pulled away from her, smiling lightly. He kept his hand on her back, turning to Asuma and proclaiming they were heading home. Asuma followed without protest, listening to their low voices behind him, whispering to each other. He couldn't catch what they were saying though. By the time they arrived home, the whispers had stopped already and Asuma put the whole strange situation out of his mind.
It was only after dinner, when he was getting ready for bed, that he discovered why Shika-nii-san was back in Konoha.
"I was going to wait to tell you."
Asuma heard Ino-nee-chan's voice as he padded quietly down the hall, stopping to listen to their conversation. There was some soft rustling, and then Shika-nii-san's voice sounded in the quiet.
"Troublesome woman. Did you really think Sakura could keep a secret like that?"
"Sakura can keep secrets! You're just too smart for your own good."
Asuma heard a low chuckle. There was silence for a while.
"... are you mad?"
That was Ino-nee-chan, and she sounded a little unsure. But Shika-nii-san scoffed.
"Don't be troublesome," he said. "I have more than enough love to give." Ino-nee-chan laughed.
"But you'll have to share me," she teased. He snickered.
"I already share you with 'Suma."
Asuma, at the mention of his name, peeked into the room through the crack in the door. His babysitters were sitting face-to-face on the window seat, their faces only barely highlighted by the moonlight. Their foreheads were touching, hands entwined. Asuma's heart sped up as he watched them; watched one of Shika-nii-san's hands rest gently on the slight curve of Ino-nee-chan's stomach.
And he couldn't hear them, but he saw the movement of their lips, and he knew, finally, what that thing in their eyes was whenever they looked at each other.
('I love you.')
And he knew, instantly, that there was enough love in him for someone new too.