Shadows and Fangs

Chapter 9

And on the story goes...

In all fairness, and while he really didn't have a problem with public confrontations, Kiba had rather honestly – and optimistically – hoped to avoid another scene in the near future, but his mother had other plans.

"One week, Kiba – I leave the village for one week and you manage to make it to the top of the gossip pile!" Tsume tsked as she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at him. "I wasn't even there to laugh at you—with you, I mean!"

From his best friend's side, Shino briefly wanted to comment that Kiba had really perfectly anticipated what she'd say, but as if sensing it, she sent him a look, and so he kept quiet and buried his nose deeper into his collar.

"And you!" she continued as she turned to Shikamaru, all but ignoring the looks she was getting from fellow shinobi as they were after all still in the middle of the hallways of the Hokage's building. "You've got crappy timing, you know that?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at this, trying to determine whether he was actually being yelled at or toyed with – he was thinking the latter, but still… "It's a work in progress," he replied evenly.

Tsume mirrored his raised eyebrow and huffed, looking between her son and the Nara – and occasionally Shino, when he moved, which he promptly stopped doing. "It still took you long enough," she finally declared, practically leaning into Shikamaru's space to stare him down.

"I know," was all he said as he held her look, resisting the urge to step back – although he did slightly lean away.

Tsume's eyes darted to Kiba, then to Akamaru, and finally back to him. "Well. Whatever. If Kiba's happy, then I'm happy!" she declared with another huff as she pulled back and reached to ruffle her son's hair.

"Uh…thank you? I guess…" Shikamaru replied as he frowned at her behavior. Did that mean she approved of them? Or should he sleep with a kunai and a scented smoke-bomb under his pillow?

"We can finally stop worrying, eh Shino?" Tsume asked the Aburame cheerfully.

"Indeed," Shino agreed simply.

The Inuzuka matriarch absently pat Kuromaru's head as she thought about something else. "Hey, Shikamaru, how did Yoshino take it? You probably couldn't have done worse than an Inuzuka as far as she's concerned, I bet!" Despite her words though, she looked more amused than insulted at the prospect.

"Huh…" Shikamaru cleared his throat as he looked to the side, shoving his hands in his pockets. He couldn't really tell her she still hadn't left the house yet and ran him ragged with chores and shopping assignments, could he? "I think she just needs some time…" such as another few months, or possibly years.

"We Inuzuka do grow on people!" Tsume commented modestly. "Right, Shino?" she teased as she 'lightly' elbowed him.

"Surprisingly so," the bug-user gasped out. "If you'll excuse me, I need to tend to my assignments," he quickly said before she could start over again. "Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru, Tsume, Kuromaru," he greeted each in turn before leaving.

"Bye Shino! See you tomorrow at Hinata's!" Kiba called back loudly, backed by Akamaru's barks. Sensing an opportunity, he grabbed Shikamaru's arm and pulled him to the side. "So, we'll be going too! Busy evening ahead! See you around, mom!" he called over his shoulder as he dragged his lover along.

"Busy my ass!" Tsume called back before she laughed loudly, leaning back against her nin-dog. "Oh, that was a good one, eh, Kuromaru?"

Kiba groaned and Shikamaru sighed. "I think she'd have liked it better if you'd gone for Shino," the shadow-nin commented with a frown.

"Only because she knows him better," Kiba replied with a roll of his eyes. "But she didn't threaten you, so we're good!" he assured him.

Shikamaru nodded as he had to concede this point. "So…" he started as he turned his head to him. "What does our 'busy evening' entail, exactly?" he asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"You, me," Kiba started as he pointed to them in succession before pausing as though thinking about it. "Dinner. Making out, most likely. Probably bed then. Clothes only an option, obviously," he continued as he listed things on his fingers. "But those're just thoughts, I'm open to suggestions. What do you think?" he asked with a wide self-satisfied grin.

Shikamaru chuckled at this, finding nothing wrong with that prospect. And people thought Kiba couldn't plan properly! "I really can't find anything to complain about," he replied easily. And luckily, they were able to follow through with that plan without any setbacks.

Shikamaru had to hand it to him, sometimes Kiba was a genius.

"You have a thing with public scenes; you know that, don't you?" Omoi asked Shikamaru as he walked to sit down next to him on the bench he'd slumped in for a quick break. He tilted his head back to also look at the clouds, his grin reflecting a perfectly split amount of teasing and support.

The Nara merely frowned at him, letting out a sigh. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't come with the territory of being with an Inuzuka," he tempered, thinking about the number of times Tsume had loudly embarrassed the hell out of her children or Aoba in the shinobi lounges or just around the village – she seemed to make a sport of it, there was just no other plausible explanation. Even the gentle-tempered Hana wasn't above divulging certain (usually) personal details on her lover, like that time when she'd told him not to get so drunk he'd end up sleeping with the nin-dogs again – Raido, who'd laughed the loudest, had spent the next week tensely looking over his shoulder and jumping out of his skin every time he heard a bird's wing flap.

"Yeah, we have a few clans like that in Kumo, too…" the other shinobi noted with a chuckle. "But it's part of home, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Shikamaru agreed as he took in his appearance – he seemed to be fully geared up for travel. "Are you going back?"

Omoi nodded, absently stretching his legs. "Yeah, Karui's settled, she doesn't need a babysitter anymore – although I get the impression Chouji volunteered for the job anyway!" he then added, feeling torn between grinning and frowning at the Akimichi's obvious masochism.

Shikamaru shrugged helplessly, being with him on that one. He opened his mouth to wish him a good trip, but then thought about something else. "Hey, Omoi, can I ask you something? About Kumo?"

"Sure," the other man replied with a blink, curious.

"Relationships like mine and Kiba's…how are they viewed there?" the Nara wondered, crossing his arms over his chest. "You reacted pretty coolly, even when my friends thought I was actually in love with you. And all things considered, so did Karui, even if she repeatedly expressed disgust at the thought of the physical aspects of it," he noted. "But you both told me I was brave for pursuing him." And it had surprised him, coming from Karui – although, specifically, she'd said it 'took balls'.

Omoi hummed as he wondered how to put it, raising a hand to distractedly scratch his cheek. "Well, there's all sorts of people everywhere, but if a guy publically told another he loved him like you did, it's really likely that neither would get command positions in the future," he admitted with a sigh. "I don't know that it's any consolation, but it would be worse for two women," he then added.

Well that was different, Shikamaru thought. Many guys he knew here seemed to be really interested at the prospect of two women being together. "How so?" he asked curiously.

The Kumo shinobi sighed once more as he looked down, one hand absently rising to trail his fingers over the cloud symbol on his forehead protector. "I get the impression it's very different in Konoha, but in Kumo, kunoichi have only really risen through the ranks in the last fifteen years or so – Samui was the first to ever be given a position in the Raikage's entourage, and you can imagine she didn't achieve that by being compliant." No, his teacher was ruthless, unflappable, and determined – determined to prove that she shouldn't be overlooked in favor of others just because she was a woman.

Shikamaru honestly didn't have a problem picturing her staring down the competition and causing quite a few to wet their pants.

"Here, or in Suna, you have many kunoichi who are also clearly feminine – like Ino, Temari, or Tenten," Omoi continued thoughtfully. "And I'm not saying it's bad, on the contrary, but in Kumo, femininity is still seen as a weakness by the older shinobi – those who remember a time when there were absolutely no women on the field on our side. So as a result, many kunoichi back home take on a masculine conduct so they won't be demeaned – you've met Karui, right?"

Atsui had once called her 'a man with boobs' before pausing, looking at her flat chest and adding 'sort of'. He'd consequently spent two days at the hospital. Still, that was the day Omoi knew his teacher's brother would be a friend for life.

"So in a sense, if two women are together, it's like saying that they don't need men, right? Independent women don't sit well with the previous generation…" he finished with a huff.

"And I suppose that in the same vein, as a man, sleeping with another man wouldn't exactly make you masculine enough in their eyes, right?" Shikamaru concluded with a sigh, pushing his hands in his pockets nonchalantly.

Omoi shrugged, not bothering to deny nor minimize it. "As I said, it's mostly a generational thing. My mom wasn't a shinobi, but I was trained by Samui; I've never thought her less capable than anyone else. My father however was a bit reticent at first, but he couldn't deny the results. And I know you, and Kiba; it doesn't faze me that you're together," he said seriously, looking down with a frown before speaking once more. "I think that as always though, the real issue is that people don't like what's different, and they need time to get used to it – time they're not often willing to invest."

After all, his own father, while having fought in the Alliance during the war, really doubted the value of the exchange program, and when he'd learned that Karui volunteered, had turned to Omoi and said 'I'm relieved you had the sense not to apply!' – and Omoi had been half-tempted to reply that he'd wanted to, but Darui had offered him another position so he hadn't, in the end.

"Anyway," the Kumo shinobi continued as he shook his head. "Karui had to prove herself twice as hard, she's used to biased criticism; so I think not mincing her words to you is her way of helping you toughen up against outside comments," he noted quietly, knowing that was her way of being…well, not 'friendly' but…less antagonistic, maybe? Yeah, that sounded more like her.

"I'll try to keep that in mind the next time I wonder why I'm letting my best friend pursue her," Shikamaru replied with a lazy smirk.

Aside from his personal angle in this case, it was always interesting to learn more about the other villages, and barely a couple of years ago no shinobi from Kumo would have told him half as much as Omoi just did. In Konoha, women were typically less likely to rise through the ranks than their male counterparts, but that was mostly linked to personal motivation, not skill – they even often retired after having children, like his mother had. But if a kunoichi had the talent and willpower, her gender mattered nothing – as evidenced by their Fifth Hokage, or Sakura, Ino, Kurenai to name only a few…

"Have…people been giving you two a hard time?" Omoi then asked his friend tentatively, having heard all the talking and seen all the pointing, but nothing that got out of hand to his knowledge.

Shikamaru frowned slightly as he looked at him, shaking his head. "Except for my mother, not really, no…not yet, at any rate," he tempered. And, that he knew, beyond sometimes having to suffer jokes of poor taste, Izumo and Kotetsu hadn't really been ostracized either. Sure, many depreciatingly called them the Hokage's 'errand boys', but they liked that job, and they were good at it – all the while not falling behind when they were assigned actual field work.

"Well…you're Shikamaru Nara of Konoha after all!" Omoi noted with a shrug, reaching to pat his arm amicably as he stood up. "Everyone in the Alliance knows your brains and what they're capable of."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him, lazily moving to clap the hand that was held out to him. "Try not to trip over a rock and die on the way home," he drawled with a grin, knowing that the way Omoi's eyes darted to the side at his words meant he was already taking his warning to heart and spinning an unlikely tale of impossible life-altering-by-rocks injuries.

As he watched him go – chuckling as he took a wide step to the side to avoid a marble-sized pebble on the road – he found himself thinking back on his words. "Everyone knows my brains, huh…?" he repeated quietly, letting his head fall back to look at the sky – there were barely any clouds left, unfortunately, it was all white, and it was starting to feel chilly. He'd always figured his 'fame' – so to speak – just meant he had more responsibilities, but thanks to Omoi he now realized it actually also gave him more freedom.

He was Shikamaru Nara of Konoha, his opinion was valued – no matter who he took to bed.

He chuckled at the thought, just as immediately frowning. His opinion was valued, yes, but what about Kiba…? Of course, everyone in Konoha knew the Inuzuka clan, but how many knew Kiba by name? And how many even knew as much only following his involvement with the exchange program? They'd had him mostly working as a liaison with Suna since his return, something he enjoyed, but what if following their recent development they somehow turned it into a way to bench him?

Kiba wasn't particularly interested in command positions (a shame, in Shikamaru's opinion, because once he set his playfulness and competitiveness aside, he had an uncanny instinct when it came to people that was incredibly well-suited for command) – but that was now. What about later?

Kiba would probably raise an eyebrow at him, move a hand to flick a finger at his frown, and remind him with a grin that it was no use worrying about the future, because there's no way of knowing it before it happens.

Shikamaru smiled at this. It was one of the reasons he loved him after all.

Still, from that day on he resolved to pay more attention to his assignments – as discreetly as he could.

In the end, it took over two weeks – almost three – for Yoshino to finally agree to leave the house again, and until then she'd looked at him reproachfully every single day – adding a glower when he hadn't slept in his room the night before. She took her mind off of things by cleaning around the house, and as she'd finally cleared his father's things, Shikamaru inwardly thought that maybe it wasn't so bad, because she'd been holding off on doing that for well over a year. She'd also taken revenge on him in more open ways, such as cooking leeks every other day—he loathed leeks and she knew that very well. To date, the most betrayed and guilt-inducing look had been directed at him when he'd mentioned he'd been invited to have lunch at Tsume's. Ino and Chouji's mothers had been there when he'd come home the next day, and they'd both shaken their heads helplessly and discreetly pointed towards his room. A storm was brewing inside, and Shikamaru had no particular desire to brave it.

Kiba, naturally, felt otherwise, because he was an Inuzuka and that meant he liked jumping into danger head first. He'd been walking through town with Hinata, happily discussing recent assignments when they found themselves face to face with Yoshino. Who then momentarily froze in her spot, narrowed her eyes at him, said a quick greeting to the kunoichi, and went on her way ignoring him.

"That's not very nice…" Hinata commented softly, reaching to place a comforting hand on her friend's arm.

Kiba, however, was far from being offended – he was just plain annoyed. "Hang on, I'll be right back," he told her as he walked after the Nara.

Akamaru whined as he looked up at Hinata, but the Hyuuga just smiled reassuringly as she reached to rub his ears – she had complete faith in Kiba after all.

"Mrs. Nara, wait up please!" Kiba called out as he reached her, refraining from raising his voice as she seemed set on ignoring him. "I said please," he tried again as he stopped in front of her.

"What do you want?" she muttered as she fixed her death-glare on the people around them who'd stopped to look at them and start talking in hushed whispers – they quickly disbanded.

"Just to talk – and you don't even need to say anything, just listen," he replied patiently, resisting the urge to growl as she still wouldn't look at him. "I love him, you know," he started honestly, trying a different approach and grinning inside when it worked and her frown was turned to him.

"You're nineteen, Kiba, you don't know what love is," Yoshino promptly informed him as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The Inuzuka did roll his eyes at that. "Oh, right! Sorry, I forgot that a man can only really be in love at that age if he loves a woman," he said sarcastically. The Nara couple had been around twenty when they'd married, Shikamaru had told him as much – so he didn't appreciate her hypocrisy. "Look, I'm not saying you have to approve of me – you don't even have to like me – but at least stop giving Shikamaru a hard time!" he pressed on earnestly, determined to say his piece before she walked off again.

Yoshino's frown deepened at these words, and for a moment she didn't say anything, merely stared him down, being both annoyed and impressed when he didn't back away and just held her look. It wasn't the loud and messy Kiba Inuzuka who ran around with a puppy on his head who was standing in front of her at that moment; it was a young man all grown up, confident and determined – still as annoying though. Looking at him like that, she knew nothing she did or said would affect them, in the end. "Alright," she finally said after what seemed like an eternity, the word tasting like vinegar in her mouth.

"Alright?" Kiba repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright," Yoshino confirmed, stepping closer to poke his chest. "I don't approve of you. But I can see you're not going to go away if I ignore you," she said accusatorily.

"I'll take what I can get," he replied easily, not stepping back even though her pokes were on the painful side.

Yoshino rolled her eyes and the next second there was a kunai to his throat, its smell confirming that she'd stolen one of his from his holster – well…that he'd let her, to be precise. "Betray him and I will end you," she warned with absolute honesty.

"Hey, you know, just so we're clear, he's the one who's already broken my heart once," Kiba informed her with a frown, motioning with a hand for Akamaru to settle down from where he'd bristled by Hinata's side upon seeing someone threaten his master.

Yoshino did blink at this, despite herself, and then she remembered that from what her friends had told her, Shikamaru had really gone out of his way to win Kiba back – evidently being even willing to do it with an audience. Another movement, and the kunai was back in its holster as she stepped back. "Fair enough," she conceded.

"Truce?" Kiba asked with a wide grin as he held out a hand – he really couldn't help but push it sometimes.

Yoshino rolled her eyes with a scoff but clapped his hand regardless. "Now step out of my way," she said with no real animosity. He raised an eyebrow and literally took just one step to the side, and she once more rolled her eyes as she kept on walking. She then threw a casual look over her shoulder to see he'd returned to his friend – and his oversized flea-bag. Why couldn't Shikamaru have gone for a sweet girl like the Hyuuga who was currently beaming at the Inuzuka?

Still, when Shikamaru came home that evening, he was smiling – and not his usual lazy smile either. He then walked up to her and said "thank you"– just those two words, but he meant them so much she frowned and looked away in embarrassment. "Dinner's almost ready," was all she could mutter in response. Her gaze then trailed to the leeks she'd planned on cooking and she sighed loudly before throwing them away.

She'd grown pretty tired of them herself anyway.

So being with Kiba for good and – dare he say it – officially was a lot easier than he'd anticipated. Not that it was easy, in effect, but it was nothing he – they – couldn't handle. A different rumor about them seemed to surface every week, usually revolving around Shikamaru initially cheating on Kiba, thus explaining why he tried to win him back in public – once, they'd even insisted that Kiba had escaped to Suna heartbroken. Shikamaru hated these with a passion – and his throat still hurt from that time he choked on his food when the latest gossip claimed that he'd cheated on Kiba with Ino. Sai still frowned at him every time they saw each other, because even in rumor, no one was allowed to sleep with his girlfriend but himself. But mostly new gossips just took over, as always.

In all honesty, Shikamaru just had one tiny little slight issue, and it wasn't even linked to Kiba himself directly.

"So I have a problem and it's stupid," he declared without preamble as he sat down next to Chouji as he enjoyed roasted chestnuts outside the office. Inwardly, he was quite relieved that Karui was nowhere in sight, because he didn't need her making fun of him – although in all fairness, making fun of people seemed to be her way of showing something akin to affection. But, she was good to Chouji. As he'd surmised, the direct approach had worked wonders, and Karui did not, in fact, care what Chouji weighed so long as his "heart and stuff" were "in the right places" (which, obviously, they were). Chouji had beamed for a full week after she'd said that.

"Okay…?" the Akimichi started as he looked at him in surprise – Shikamaru didn't often have problems he couldn't deal with on his own. "So what's it about?" he asked as he offered him some comfort food.

"It's stupid," the Nara forewarned once more as he reached for a chestnut absently. "And it's driving me crazy," he added darkly.

Chouji frowned worriedly as this definitely spelled trouble – and he wondered what he'd be able to do about it if his genius of a best friend was stumped. "Come on, we can figure something out together, I'm sure!" he encouraged nonetheless as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Shikamaru took a deep breath and steeled himself before muttering something incomprehensively. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said Akamaru doesn't like me!" Shikamaru hissed as he rubbed his eyes tiredly, obviously feeling embarrassed.

"Of course Akamaru likes you," Chouji instantly replied matter-of-factly. "If he didn't like you, he wouldn't let you get that close to Kiba!"

"He doesn't come to me for pats or scratches or treats!" the Nara argued back, fingers picking at the outer layer of the warm nut to clear it before popping it into his mouth.

Chouji's frown deepened as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Do you want him to come to you for pats or scratches or treats?" he wondered.

Shikamaru sighed at this. "Not exactly…" he sighed once more at this as he leaned his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Well has he been growling at you, or giving you the stink-eye, or the cold shoulder? Or…well, I guess the dog version of the stink-eye or the cold shoulder…is there a dog version?" Chouji trailed off thoughtfully, popping another chestnut in his mouth. "He might just be jealous you know – I mean, Kiba used to be with him all the time but now you're always around! You've probably even kicked him out of his bed!" he added with a teasing grin, mistaking his friend's silence for a confirmation.

"No, that's not it," Shikamaru interrupted with a sigh. "And he's not giving me the dog version of the stink-eye or the cold shoulder either. He's just…I mean…he was all over Kankuro!" he finally mumbled.

"What's Kankuro got to do with this?" the Akimichi wondered, this conversation getting him more confused by the second. A pointed look from his best friend had him gaping. "No way! You're not saying… Kiba and Kankuro? When? How?"

"Back in Suna, sometime during the first few months of Kiba's stay – and I've really made it a point never to think about the how," Shikamaru muttered in annoyance. "But anyway. Akamaru was all over Kankuro – and that was months after they'd split!" he continued sourly.

"Huh…" Chouji let out as he tried to wrap his mind around this new piece of information. Kiba and Kankuro, huh? Wow. Never saw that one coming. Oh, he was suddenly so very glad that whoever Karui had been with before him was anonymously far away in distant Kumo! But back to his friend… "Look, Shikamaru, so maybe Akamaru gets along better with Kankuro – is that really so important?" he tried with a smile.

Shikamaru's frown informed him that yes, it was important, damn it.

"Kiba obviously likes you better, isn't that what matters the most?" Chouji tried once more with a different approach, smile widening as he saw Shikamaru start to wind down the slightest bit. "Besides, I've seen Akamaru playfully bark at you or nuzzle your hand on more than one occasion, so I really don't think you need to worry," he assured him encouragingly.

"I know that…" the shadow-nin replied with another deep sigh. "And I told you it was stupid – but it really annoys me that Kankuro has a better relationship than me with Akamaru!"

Chouji pretended to think about it as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked up with a frown. "Hmm, you know, this sounds somewhat familiar, I've heard of it before – I think it's called…oh, what was it again? Ah! Yes: jealousy," he deadpanned with a wide grin as he looked back down at his friend. "And it's completely normal to feel that way about your boyfriend's ex! I hate the guts of every man Karui's ever looked at even though I don't know any of them personally!"

Shikamaru raised his head from his hands to offer him a glare at this. "Thanks, Chouji, that makes me feel so much better," he replied with a huff.

The Akimichi laughed loudly at this and shrugged innocently as he tried to get him to stop sulking. "Seriously Shikamaru, you're hard to read sometimes. Akamaru probably figures you'd find him troublesome if he asked you for more attention," he reasoned easily. "Have a small talk with him!"

Shikamaru's scowl didn't diminish but that was actually because he was annoyed that he hadn't thought of that on his own. "Huh." And it didn't matter that Akamaru was way smarter than your average normal dog as he understood everything people said to him, because he still felt oddly out of place as he sat down next to the nin-dog while Kiba was getting changed. "So, Akamaru…what do you say we have a little talk, just you and me?" he started awkwardly.

Akamaru cocked his head to the side but wagged his tail, which the shadow-nin decided to take as a 'go ahead'.

"So…I'm not really sure how to say this but…I don't think you're troublesome," he said eloquently. The dog frowned at him, and so he groaned and decided to lay it all out. "And, if there's anything about me that bothers you, I'm willing to work on it. For Kiba," he added.

Akamaru surveyed him for a moment until he yapped, tail wagging faster, and rested his head in his lap.

"So we're good?" Shikamaru asked tentatively as he ruffled the soft fur. The short bark he received in response seemed to confirm that so he sighed in relief. (Take that, Kankuro!) "Man, feeling jealous is exhausting – not to mention troublesome," he muttered to himself. Good thing Kiba only had one ex!

Akamaru just whined sympathetically at that. Good enough.

"Hey now, what'd I miss?" Kiba wondered with a grin as he looked at them from the bedroom's doorsill.

"Nothing," Shikamaru replied evenly as Akamaru barked his own reply.

"Well we'd better get going though, or Kurenai will lecture us," Kiba noted as he checked the clock, rolling his eyes playfully. They weren't late, but still, it was true that she greatly valued timeliness – and it wouldn't do to set a poor example for Mirai! He extended a hand to Shikamaru and grinned as he took it before pulling him up, being rewarded for his efforts with a kiss.

"Hey, we can be a little bit late though, right?" the shadow-nin mumbled against his lips.

"Nice try," Kiba said with an amused huff – although he didn't step back.

"No, really, there's an expression for it – Ino uses that excuse all the time!" Shikamaru insisted, tightening his arms around him. "Fashionably late."

"Kurenai will make us fashionably sorry if we do that," the Inuzuka muttered, fully convinced of the truth behind his words – team 8 had paid dearly for even the slightest delay, it had ingrained a great sense of timeliness in him.

And he was right, because when she opened the door, Kurenai was smiling but her tone was unequivocal as she said, "Boys, right on time!"

"Told you so," Kiba whispered to his lover.

Shikamaru nodded back curtly. Don't be late with Kurenai unless you have an ironclad alibi – duly noted. No wonder Asuma had often had to grovel.

TBC

So about Shikamaru and Omoi's conversation...I wanted to explore the different viewpoints shinobi from different village might have. Not sure how much of that could be considered canon, it's mostly reflection on my part. A lot of female characters in the Naruto universe were clearly there only so there'd be a woman around (Tenten), or to provide a known love interest for male characters (Karui).
I also wanted to draw emphasis on that fact that people are treated differently based on their abilities/fame, obviously.
I hope this didn't make the chapter boring!