Shadows and Fangs

Chapter 4

Thank you for reading :)

When he woke up the next morning, Shikamaru allowed himself a moment to enjoy Kiba's body against his, although he resisted the urge to run his hand over the arm that was around his waist. Light was just filtering though the blinds, and the clock on the bedside table confirmed that it was likely barely dawn yet, but he wanted to make an early start, so he'd cover good distance before the night. In three days, he'd be back in Konoha, back to his friends and family, back to a quiet uneventful life without dangerous exceptions – without Kiba, at least until the other shinobi returned to the Leaf as well. He honestly wasn't sure how he felt about that – he wanted to tell himself it'd be good, safer at any rate, but the truth was part of him didn't want to feel safe. Sighing, he closed his eyes and mentally started a countdown from ten before he'd pull himself out of bed.

He'd reached six when Kiba snored quite monstrously and Shikamaru laughed out loud despite himself, wondering how in the blazes it was he actually found that endearing, of all things. His laughter and movement nudged Kiba awake though, and he nearly whined as he blinked an eye open.

"Why're you laughing?" he wondered sleepily.

"Trust me: you'd know if you ever heard yourself snoring," the Nara replied with a fond roll of his eyes as he sat up and stretched his arms, turning back to raise an eyebrow at him. "I can't believe you managed to make us believe it was Akamaru all those years!" he teased him, shaking his head in fake disappointment. However Kiba didn't react to his jibe and only looked at him with a bright warm smile. "What?" he asked defensively despite himself.

"Just happy that you're still looking me in the eyes this morning too," Kiba replied easily, much more awake.

"I told you I wouldn't do that," Shikamaru reminded him with a frown as he looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

The Inuzuka shrugged slightly, the motion awkward in his position, before he turned to lie on his back and absently scratch his stomach – and Shikamaru forced his eyes to stop trailing down his body only by sheer force of will. "I wasn't even sure I'd see you before you left. I thought perhaps you'd just sneak away," he admitted quietly.

"Well I didn't," Shikamaru replied simply, although if he had to be honest, he likely would've tried to. If Kiba hadn't woken up on his own, he really wasn't sure he would've done anything to change that. "But I have to get going – I want to make the most of the daylight," he added though he made no move to actually get out of bed yet.

Kiba nodded to show he heard him, although his eyes didn't trail back to him. "Hey, could you drop by the vet clinic and reassure my sister I'm still alive, when you have a moment?" he then asked him abruptly.

"Sure," the Nara replied easily, because that wasn't an unreasonable request and he'd always liked Hana – who was much, much calmer than most of her clan kinsmen.

"Thanks! Now try to get ready quietly, some of us have a few more hours of sleep before they need to get going and intend on enjoying them!" Kiba exaggeratedly shooed him away as he finally turned back to him with a grin.

Shikamaru found himself returning that grin and simultaneously fighting the sudden urge to kiss him. To stifle it, he reached for his pillow and dropped it on his friend's face, his smile widening as he heard him laugh and watched him half-heartedly try to swat the pillow away. They didn't say anything more, and he did his best to ignore the eyes he felt on his back as he got up and picked his clothes from the floor.

For some strange reason, the huff Akamaru directed his way after seeing him and sniffing the air once was much more unsettling.

Okay. So perhaps he'd wait a few days after being back in Konoha before visiting Hana, just on the off chance that she – or her dogs – could smell Kiba on him.

Some twisted part of him hoped she would. He shut it down quickly.

It would be a long trip home.

Shikamaru finally made it back to Konoha on the third day of travel, in the late afternoon, just as planned. The weather wasn't that cold in itself, but compared to Suna's desert clime it was almost chilly and he found himself shivering at times under the light breeze. He was tired from the journey and wanted nothing more than to shower and sleep the stiffness away, but it was early enough that he figured the Hokage was still in his office, and as he carried a message from the Kazekage, he knew he had to make a stop there first.

Shizune was quick in welcoming him back and practically pushed him towards Kakashi's office, where the Copy Nin himself greeted him happily and congratulated him on a job well done – as usual. He accepted the scroll from Gaara, and asked him for a summarized report before agreeing that a more formal and detailed meeting would be held in the morning as previously scheduled.

Ten minutes later, Shikamaru was barely out of the Hokage's building when his ears were assaulted by a loud-mouthed blond-haired energy ball. How troublesome was it that the years hadn't quieted Naruto down in the slightest? "Yes, Naruto, I heard you the first five times you called my name," he informed him with a raised eyebrow as he turned back to him.

Naruto grinned widely, not in the least bit remorseful as he clamped a hand over his shoulder. "So you just got back, right? How was your trip?" he asked conversationally.

"As you'd expect. Thankfully uneventful," Shikamaru replied. Well, they were just talking about the trip itself, right, not the stay? That wasn't a lie then! "Shizune just told me you and Sai would be Kakashi's guards during the exam?" he then asked to steer the conversation away from himself.

"Yup. Personally I recommended Ino, but Kakashi thought Sai's unpredictability would be a better asset – not to mention it's good for his social development to get out of Konoha from time to time," Naruto said with a grin, easily falling in steps with him.

"You recommended Ino? Not that I doubt her in the least, but I'm surprised," Shikamaru noted as he tilted his head on the side.

"Well, it's Kakashi we're talking about; bodyguards are more a question of tradition than necessity. But to complete his skillset, a sensor would be good, and my manpower negates her lower abilities in the fighting department," Naruto explained as he crossed his arms behind his head, frowning as he noticed his friend was looking at him with a strange expression. "What?" he asked defensively.

Shikamaru smirked as he held his hands up. "It's just always a bit surprising to hear you go all analytical out of nowhere – I still remember the class clown from our Academy days!"

Naruto pouted at this, although he could hardly deny it. "Yeah well, back then you couldn't be bothered to do anything but sleep!" he bit back good-naturedly. "Hey, did you see Kiba in Suna? How's he holding up?" he then asked excitedly.

"Kiba? Yeah…we actually shared the same quarters, as Leaf shinobi," Shikamaru replied as evenly as he could, a treacherous hand rising to scratch the back of his head. "He's doing great. You'll likely see him, he'll be affected to the Hokage's protection after all," he informed him.

"Awesome! Don't tell him I said so, but I actually miss him!" Naruto admitted with a wide grin. "I'll tell him you made it back safely!" he promised as he clapped his back with an open hand. "Gotta be off now, but I'll see you around, or maybe after I'm back?"

"Yeah, it's been some time since I've had ramen," Shikamaru offered easily.

"It's a date!" Naruto declared before offering him a playful salute and running off.

When Naruto would become Hokage – because there was no doubt in Shikamaru's mind that it was when, and not if – the village would sure become even livelier. (And ramen would probably become a local delicacy, but who was he to complain about that?)

"You haven't tanned a bit," his mother remarked as he walked in, and as usual, with her tone he never knew whether she approved or the opposite.

Shikamaru just smiled back lazily, knowing she would start an inquisition of her own over dinner. It was always good to be back home, even if deep down inside he wished he was still in Suna – but wouldn't let himself be honest as to why, really.

Shikamaru repeatedly told himself he wasn't stalling, but still, he did wait a few days before stopping by the veterinary clinic on his way to work. He saw one of Hana's triplets outside – at least he thought it was one of Hana's, but then again he was practically sure – so he figured she was in, and he had no excuse. He asked for her at the desk and was told he was free to go on further down the corridor where she was, and when he walked into the designated room, he found her tending to an injured cat. One of the Haimaru brothers was lying down by the door while the third one seemed to be holding a staring contest with the injured cat, as though to establish that the person tending to it was his human, so don't get used to it, feline. He surprised himself thinking that, and chuckled as he figured that was probably Kiba's bad influence.

Hana grinned slightly at this, raising an eyebrow as she turned to him for a second to acknowledge that she'd noticed his arrival. "Hello Shikamaru," she greeted easily. "Did you find a critter in need of care on your way to work?"

"Not really – though if you're wondering where the third one is, I'm pretty sure I saw him chasing butterflies outside," the Nara informed her as the corner of his lips pulled up.

The other two nin-dogs let out a soft whine at this, as though criticizing his behavior – or maybe they were envious, he wasn't sure, to be honest.

"How's Kiba?" Hana asked him as she finished wrapping the cat's hind leg in a bandage and carefully cradled him in her arms to bring him to a padded cage to rest. "I can smell both him and Akamaru on your vest," she replied to his unspoken question as she turned back to him and noticed his raised eyebrow.

Damned Inuzuka and their stupidly superior sense of smell. "He asked me to let you know he's still alive," he replied evenly.

She laughed at this, shaking her head fondly. "Oh, he better be!" She then moved to wash her hands and grabbed a towel to dry them, absently noting she'd need to restock the supply of disinfecting soap. "So it's going well? I don't think my telling you that he's not the writing type would come as a surprise," she added playfully.

"You don't say," he drawled back in amusement, smirk widening at her laughter. "It's going really well from what I could tell – even the Kazekage mentioned he's very happy with his involvement in the program, at any rate. Akamaru's doing great too – he's even gotten used to deployment in the desert."

Hana's expression turned to pure pride at this, for the both of them, and the two dogs yapped happily as if sensing it – or perhaps they just reacted to hearing their fellow dog-nin being praised. "I had no doubts," she replied earnestly. "Thank you for taking a moment to reassure me, I really appreciate it – and I'm sure our mother will be happy to use this as an excuse to celebrate!" she added with a sigh, as though already tired of Tsume's possible future antics.

Shikamaru chuckled at this and coughed to hide it. "Don't mention it," he replied honestly. "Well, I have to get going now, take care," he said as he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against.

"You too – try not to overwork that brain of yours," Hana teased with a warm grin.

There was something about the free way the Inuzuka grinned that made you want to smile back, it was that unnervingly infectious. Seeing her made him want to see Kiba again however, and that was an extremely dangerous train of thoughts, so he forced himself to let it go.

He'd always been unnaturally good at that.

True to what he'd said, Shikamaru wasn't much interested in attending the chuunin selection exam – not since there wasn't anyone in particular for him to root for. Besides, the way Naruto gave him a play-per-play account after he returned, he almost felt like he'd actually been there – and apparently hadn't missed much, truth be told. He'd even managed not to look overly interested when Naruto mentioned Kiba, nor annoyed when Sai talked about Kankuro, as he'd kept a strong respect for his former squad captain from the war – and Shikamaru really had to pinch himself to stop being irritated by this, because Sai liking people was a good thing!

Eventually time went by, quickly as it always did, with work both in and outside of the village keeping him busy. He'd almost let himself forget what had happened in Suna when reality reminded itself to him, and he stopped in his steps as he saw Kiba a short distance away from him. And while he was certain that on the outside, he looked his same bored old self, on the inside he had to reign himself in pretty tightly not to let his heart's pace increase or his posture become too stiff.

He hadn't seen Kiba in two months. Two months. Why wasn't he over what had happened between them, after all this time? It was a one-time thing. Why couldn't he just ignore him and move on? He didn't regret it – not in the slightest bit, despite the inner shit-storm he felt going on inside of him at times, present moment included. But he wished he could move on – what was it Kakashi had said? The key to moving on is moving forward? How the heck was he supposed to do that and step away from Kiba when his body and a part of his mind wouldn't let him?

Kiba of course noticed him and offered him his trademark grin as he took the few steps that separated them, Akamaru barking his acknowledgement at this side as usual. "Hey, Shikamaru!" he greeted easily – but tentatively, he saw it in the way his grin wasn't quite as wide as usual and his leg remained pressed to his dog's side.

And suddenly Shikamaru knew why he wasn't able to either ignore him, or move on. It was so simple. Because how were things supposed to be the same as before when he now knew what Kiba's face looked like when he bit his lip in pleasure? Or how his own name sounded when Kiba whispered it over and over against his neck? Or how his skin felt under his fingers, or again how his lips tasted against his? How was he supposed to act normal and move on when he could clearly remember all these things about him? (And how was he supposed to resist wanting to kill Kankuro the next time he saw him because he knew those things too?) This was crazy—how did other people ever manage? "Kiba…I didn't know you were back," he said calmly instead of saying something else he'd definitely regret.

"Oh, it's not for good yet," Kiba quickly dismissed. "We're just here for a few days – you might've heard, but Hana and Aoba are finally getting married!" he informed him with a grin.

"Yeah, I think I've heard Izumo and Kotetsu mention it. Congratulations to them," Shikamaru offered earnestly.

"I'll tell them! Anyway, after that I have to go back to Suna, but just for a couple of weeks; in a month's time at the most I'll be posted in Konoha again," the Inuzuka continued easily – and Shikamaru really hoped he was just that good an actor, because if he truly didn't feel the same things as him seeing him again, then he didn't want to know.

"That's good," the Nara replied – because what else was he supposed to say?

Kiba seemed happy at his comment, if the way his grin widened and his eyes softened was any indication. "I hope so," he finally said evenly. "Well, unfortunately I gotta get running. Even though I'm only here for a short while, as you can imagine my sister has no problem with working me to the bone!" he complained half-heartedly.

Shikamaru grinned lazily at that, because yeah, that sounded like Hana alright. "I think I'll know your pain when Ino gets married," he admitted with a shrug. "I'm really not looking forward to that…"

"So are Ino and Sai still a thing?" the other man asked as he absently scratched the red mark on his left cheek. At his friend's nod, he shrugged. "Oh well – at least it's always bound to be entertaining with him around – in both a good and a bad way!" he reasoned.

"Still leaning more towards the bad," Shikamaru muttered anyway. He opened his mouth to say something else – something, anything that would keep Kiba there a moment longer – but was interrupted by another bark, and turned his head to see one of Hana's triplets looking disapprovingly at Kiba. "Inuzuka police?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You have no idea," Kiba replied with a frown as he held his hands up and followed his sister's canine companion. "See you around," he threw over his shoulder before leaving.

Shikamaru nodded but didn't say anything. He didn't really know what he'd been expecting, because of course, rationally, there was no way he could not be affected upon seeing the friend he'd ended up sleeping with, but still…he felt much more rattled than he cared to acknowledge.

He wasn't proud to admit he avoided Kiba for the rest of his stay to the very best of his abilities. Sometimes necessity gave you no choice.

It was Ino who told Shikamaru when Kiba was back in Konoha for good, and of all places, it had to be over dinner at his house. It figured.

"I saw Hana Inuzuka at the clinic yesterday – she and Aoba are expecting a child!" she first informed them happily – and innocuously.

"Good for them!" her mother commented while Shikamaru tried to unfreeze himself.

"A child is always good news," Yoshino noted with a warm grin. "Imagine though: Tsume a grandmother!" she added with a frown, shuddering at the thought.

Ino laughed at this, having to concede the point. "And Kiba an uncle!" she added before turning back to Shikamaru. "Did you hear by the way? He's back from Suna for real this time!" she said excitedly. "Oh, I'm really curious what it was like to live over there!"

Shikamaru tensed as he slowly looked up from his plate. No, he hadn't heard. And he wished it was still the case.

"He was there on that exchange program, wasn't he?" Ino's mother wondered.

Ino nodded at her as she swallowed what she'd previously been chewing. "I have to say I'm looking forward to reading the report. Both he and the village took a real chance on that program, but if it's conclusive, it could be of great importance to Konoha's future as well as that of our alliances," she commented seriously.

"Do you really think so?" Yoshino asked curiously as she poured her guests some more tea, a fond smile pulling at her lips as she remarked to herself that their children were all grown up. "I'll admit, I always thought this program was just a good front."

"Well, that's certainly a part of it, but such close cooperation is unheard of. I can attest that Kiba was given real missions in Suna, he wasn't just there for show," Shikamaru noted with a shrug, finding his voice back and feeling compelled to defend Kiba's work despite himself. "Besides, alliances between villages end up strengthening alliances between families, and while for sure no lineages with bloodline limits will be merging any time soon, for regular clans this is a golden opportunity to get new blood," he added factually as his friend nodded her agreement.

Yoshino however clearly focused on something else at his words. "My, I couldn't agree with you more, Shikamaru!" she said happily, grinning ominously and sharing a look with her friend. "So, how's Temari?" she asked with all the finesse of a charging bull – Ino, vile traitor that she was, only wiggled her eyebrows at him, hiding her smirk behind her cup.

"I'm sure we'd have heard if anything happened to the Kazekage's sister, so I'm assuming she's doing well," Shikamaru replied evenly, not rising to the bait. Luckily, she left it at that.

But still, he found himself no longer able to keep his thoughts away from Kiba anymore. Telling himself not to was well and easy when he was way off in Suna, but with him back in Konoha, that was an entirely different can of worms, and he found that his will wasn't strong enough.

Shikamaru knew he was smart. That much was pretty hard to deny. Still, it might surprise people to know that he called himself an idiot quite often. As in, 'on a daily basis' often. For the past week, it had even graduated to an almost-hourly basis.

I'm such an idiotic idiot.

Okay, multi-hourly basis by the point he was practically camped in front of the Inuzuka clan grounds, resolutely telling himself it wasn't because he wanted to see Kiba or find out whether he'd gotten back with Kankuro – even though he really wanted to know about that last part. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd resolved to turn around and leave, but in the end always elected to remain where he was, thinking 'just ten more minutes'. He didn't want to acknowledge how long ago those 'ten more minutes' had stretched into hours. It wasn't even any business of his what Kiba did and who he did it with…and it wasn't like he had clear course of action planned either way! On top of that, it was raining, and his 'hiding' spot only provided minimal shelter. He was honestly about to leave (it was the 22nd time he'd honestly told himself that) when he heard a bark and looked up to see Kiba playfully chasing after his dog as Akamaru made it a point to jump in each puddle along the way.

"Oh that's it! We're eating Akamaru stew tonight!" Kiba declared between bouts of laughter as he ran after him, completely drenched.

Shikamaru hoped to whatever was above that he wasn't grinning stupidly as he watched them. (But he knew it was probably too late.) Still, he figured he could finally leave – or talk to him as he wanted, or incidentally just leave. Leaving was easier. He heard another bark and when he looked back down Akamaru was wagging his tail as he looked at him and Kiba had paused at the entrance of the compound, nose twitching as he looked around with a frown until his eyes settled on him and he cocked his head to the side. Shikamaru knew he should've ignored him and left when he had the chance, but then his friend grinned and waved at him to come down and damn it but he did.

"What're you doing here?" Kiba asked before he seemed to change his mind as he turned to point to his apartment. "Never mind, it's freezing out here, come in!" he threw over his shoulder as he ran to the door, unlocked it and stepped in, unconvincingly reprimanding Akamaru as he dragged muddy rainwater in. "Dog stew's sounding better and better," he muttered under his breath as he walked to a big basket by the door and produced large towels from it, setting one over his own shoulders before chucking one at Shikamaru's head and using the third to cover his partner and start rubbing.

The shadow-nin thanked him automatically and chuckled despite himself as he watched him wrestle with the giant dog in his attempt to pat him somewhat dry.

"Whatever, you're the one who's gonna have to sleep on a bed that smells like wet dog! And that'll be yours, not mine!" Kiba huffed as he gave up – Akamaru clearly didn't care, and walked off with the towel trailing over his back like a cape. "So…not that I'm complaining, but what brings you around here?" he asked his friend as he turned back to him, absently taking off his jacket to wring out the water.

"I was in the neighborhood," Shikamaru replied as blandly as he could as he looked around. He'd heard that Kiba had moved since returning but hadn't seen where yet – after Hana's marriage, Tsume had insisted she and Aoba take the large family house, and so both she and Kiba had gotten their own apartments on the clan grounds. Everything wasn't unpacked yet, there were still boxes and things about, but it wasn't messy in itself, just like his quarters in Suna had been. "Nice place," he commented off-handedly.

"Can't complain," Kiba replied with a shrug, smiling easily. "It's not big, but it's enough for us, and after that year on our own in Suna, moving back in with mom and the other dogs would've been a bit overwhelming!" he added with a grin.

"So what've you been up to lately?" the shadow-nin asked nonchalantly as he ran the towel over his hair, absently thinking that indeed short hair was really more convenient in cases like this.

"Oh, ya know…the usual. Tea?" Kiba offered with a shrug as he walked to the kitchen to set the boiler on anyway.

The voice of reason within Shikamaru exhorted him to politely decline, offer an excuse, and get the hell out of here right this instant, but of course he ignored it. "Sure. Thanks." And then, because once you started ignoring your voice of reason you went all the way, he asked, "So, how were your last few weeks in Suna?" Inwardly he wondered: was there a subtle way of asking about Kankuro?

"About more stressful than the previous months, if you'll believe it!" Kiba replied distractedly as he rummaged through his cupboards for clean mugs and the 'damned disappearing tea leaves', as he called them under his breath.

"I can imagine," was the amused reply. "I'm sure it was hard to say goodbye to the people you've met over there as well," he added as casually as he could.

"Don't remind me! You'd think that the distance isn't so big, but we've all become so busy…I guess it might be years before I see some of them again!" Kiba said wistfully, by then pulling out the various boxes that had been stuffed in the cupboards.

The Nara nodded and then added, "At least you'll probably see Kankuro sooner than that – when Gaara visits, for instance."

Kiba paused in his search and frowned at him, the look in his eyes not so playful anymore as he figured him out. "Why, because we're good friends? Or because I used to sleep with him?" he challenged.

"I just meant that it was more likely you'll see him again," Shikamaru defended with a shrug as he carefully schooled his expression to remain neutral.

The Inuzuka snorted at that, crossing his arms over his chest. "How can you be so smart but be so off?" he wondered with a frown before he realized something and his head snapped to him. "Is that why you're really here? You were worried I'd been with him after you left?" he asked him, and the tentative grin on his face looked so damned hopeful that Shikamaru had to look away. "I really wouldn't have pegged you for the jealous type," he then goaded because he was insufferable like that.

Shikamaru frowned as he set the towel down on the back of a chair. "It's not jealousy so much as it's curiosity – if it can even be called that," he tempered coolly, but when he looked up Kiba was right in his space.

"I don't mind jealousy," Kiba informed him as his hands grabbed the sides of his jacket. "Or curiosity, or whatever you want to call it," he added with a smirk. "It's nice to feel wanted," he then admitted, and he sounded so earnest that Shikamaru couldn't look away anymore. "And there hasn't been anyone since you."

Really, the only reason he kissed Kiba at that point was to shut him up—nothing more. And when they relocated to his room, it was because it wouldn't do to continue in front of Akamaru—nothing more. And when hands started pulling at clothes, it was obviously because they were drenched and they shouldn't remain in wet clothes—nothing more. And it was amazing—nothing less.

Somehow, it was even better than the first time. All hesitation was gone, as they already knew what to do, knew what they both wanted, like it wasn't the second, but the thousandth time.

Kiba – all the while sporting a happy grin – moved to cling to him after Shikamaru rolled off of him, and the Nara kept telling himself he should go before he got himself into even more trouble (whatever that could be), but he couldn't, not with a disheveled Kiba looking at him like he was the only man worthy of notice in the World.

"Hey…you're the one I really wanted, you know…" he informed him quietly before nuzzling his neck contentedly.

Shikamaru hadn't known, as a matter of fact, but he didn't trust his voice yet so he only pressed a kiss to the top of his head in reply. Funny, how these seemingly innocent words had thrown him in for a loop even more than the sex. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself a moment to delve on the 'what if', the possibility that this could be more than just a momentary weakness. Kiba's notoriously awful snoring filled the room not much time later, and Shikamaru ignored the fond smile that pulled at his lips at that. Carefully pulling away from him and disentangling their legs, he panicked for a second when he felt fingers at his hand.

"Shika…" Kiba mumbled but otherwise gave no further indication that he was waking up – and even resumed his snoring.

Shikamaru sighed as he brought the hand to his lips, whispering against his skin. "Kiba—" please "—please don't fall in love with me."

Because if he did, the Nara didn't know how long he'd be able to deny that it was mutual.

And as he shrugged on his still-damp clothes, doing his best not to shiver at the sharp cold contrast when they touched his skin, he forced himself not to think as he left as quietly as he could, purposefully not sparing another glance towards the bed. If he'd had, he'd have seen that Kiba was watching him but elected to let him go without saying a word.

It was still raining when he stepped outside, but this time he let the shivers rack his body as he made his way back home.

Inside, Kiba sighed as he rolled to his side to gather his pillow in his arms, the other's scent still strong on it. "You're way too late…" he muttered to it.

TBC

What, were you expecting that happy end already? I said I had a lot planned for them! :)