Shadows and Fangs
Chapter 12
An old friend returns...
Eventually, Yoshino insisted he should have a proper celebration for his promotion (where he resisted telling her that Kiba had already seen to that) and since he knew how much it meant to her, Shikamaru agreed to a dinner at the Nara household. Chouji and Ino (plus Sai) were there naturally, with their parents, and Kiba had also been invited (somewhat grudgingly, although she'd caved at her son's unflinching look when she mentioned perhaps they could keep it to the Ino-Shika-Cho group). Even Akamaru was tolerated inside, although she'd demanded he be bathed and groomed before stepping foot—er, paw inside her house.
Ino and Chouji's parents of course already knew about Kiba and Shikamaru's relationship (with the mothers having often heard Yoshino's woes on the matter) but they'd never really seen them together before, so for a moment it was a bit awkward until they realized that just because they were together it didn't mean they'd be all over each other, and from then on the evening went on quite nicely. Chouji, Shikamaru and Kiba had also discovered with non-dissimulated amusement how much Sai seemed to go out of his way to impress Ino's mother. No monstrosities came out of his mouth, although it was still as fun to watch as always. (And Yoshino had to admit though, if she had to choose between Sai and Kiba, well…maybe the Inuzuka wasn't so bad in the end.)
Compared to an Inuzuka celebration, it could've been called 'tame', but still it was quite enjoyable. More importantly, Shikamaru knew how much it meant to his mother – he'd even pretended not to notice how she'd glanced at his father's portrait more than once. Besides, in the end they'd mostly split in two groups to talk, parents on one side and children on the other, so it was just another evening with his friends.
By the time the little gathering disbanded, much later, with the goodbyes taking a good long while at the door, Shikamaru felt exhausted – in a good way though. At least Sai hadn't said something drastically inappropriate to his mother – he was honestly anticipating a comment on his and Kiba's sex-life at some point, and maybe that was why he felt so tired now: he'd been too tense before. "We're cleaning up tomorrow, I'm beat," he declared as he moved his shoulder until he heard a satisfying 'pop'.
"You sure? I don't mind giving you a hand," Kiba replied easily as he stretched his arms.
"You can give me a hand tomorrow. For now, bed," Shikamaru said back with a lazy grin as he reached for his hand to pull him along.
Kiba chuckled and followed him, shooting a last look at his nin-dog – Akamaru hadn't moved from where he'd peacefully curled up to nap some time ago. "Seriously though, are you sure your mother won't mind? Maybe I should—"
"My mother's aware that I'm not trading war-stories with Chouji when I don't sleep here, Kiba," the Nara interrupted him in amusement, raising an eyebrow at his annoyed expression – oh, suddenly, he felt really awake. "We just need to be quieter than usual," he added easily as they reached his bedroom.
Kiba groaned at that – and it was a lost battle at this point, they both knew it. Still, they also quickly learned that being quiet during sex was easier said than done – much easier. "I never thought of myself as particularly loud, but that was a challenge!" he commented seriously between pants.
"I think Sai once mentioned researching sound-proofing jutsu, remind me to ask him about that," Shikamaru replied against his neck.
"Oh so we're asking Sai for advice now? Did we really stoop that low?" Kiba lamented jokingly, laughing as he felt Shikamaru chuckle against him.
The worse part was that their efforts were apparently in vain because Yoshino still fixed him with a death glare in the morning. Some battles you just couldn't win, he figured as they tried to enjoy one of the most awkward breakfasts he could remember having. Once that was done, they cleaned up last night's party's remains, putting the empty bottles in crates, cleaning up the table and then washing all the bowls and glasses – fairly routine tasks, done with pointless small talk.
At one point Yoshino poked her head in to make sure they hadn't made a mess of her kitchen nor broken all the glasses – always shooting a suspicious look towards Akamaru even though he was behaving like a perfect dog – and finally relaxed slightly when she saw nothing out of the ordinary. "I've left your equipment on the table, Shikamaru," she informed her son evenly.
"Ah, thank you," he said back easily before frowning as a red mark on a certain glass just wouldn't give. "Damn it Ino, what is it that you put on your lips?" he muttered as he scrubbed harder.
Yoshino snorted at this, having to admit that Ino's color choice in lipstick was strong indeed. She was about to mercifully help him when Kiba stepped closer.
"Here, there's a trick to it, let me show you," he said as he reached for the glass and the sponge. "I think Hana probably tried all the products in existence before settling on one, so this isn't the first time I'm confronted to the problem!" he added playfully.
"My hero," Shikamaru drawled as he gently bumped his shoulder against his and traded places with him so he'd be the one drying for a change.
Yoshino bit her lips as she elected to leave, not wanting – liking – to intrude. She couldn't help but stop in her steps however when she heard them talk again.
"D'you get new equipment?" Kiba asked curiously.
"No, it's the same old. My mother usually cleans it up for me though, she likes doing that – used to do it for my father too," Shikamaru replied softly, and she could just picture the small smile on his face as he said it.
"Of course," Kiba said, letting out a small 'a-ha' that likely meant the lipstick was finally gone. "It's proof that you're back," he declared simply.
Yoshino's eyes widened upon hearing these words as she turned to look back towards the kitchen.
"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked interestedly.
"Your equipment – that you'll need it again is proof that you're back safely. Nicks and blood and whatnot, they're proof that you fought and lived," Kiba explained in an easygoing tone. "Hana and I used to fight over who got to clean mom's equipment all the time when we were kids!" he added, the grin easily audible in his voice. "Although more often than not, that meant giving Kuromaru a bath!"
From her spot in the corridor, Yoshino frowned as she raised a hand to her mouth. That was…basically, that was almost word for word how she'd explained it to Shikaku after he'd asked her why she kept doing it. Maybe…maybe she'd been a bit hard on Kiba…there was obviously much more to him than met the eye – more than she let herself see. Tsume, despite the odds, had clearly raised two strong loyal and loving kids. Perhaps she'd try to cut him some slack…after all, with the way he and Shikamaru behaved together, it was obvious he'd likely be a pretty permanent fixture in her life.
And she knew that Shikaku would've said something along the lines of, "It's his life, Yoshino, as long as he's happy we shouldn't ask for more". He'd always been right, and she'd always hated that.
A suspicious silence settled, followed by an unmistakable sigh and her eyes narrowed back at that, resisting the urge to go to the kitchen to scare them apart.
Okay, so maybe she'd still need more time. She'd already let the dog stay after all, one thing at a time.
As it turned out, Shikamaru's first assignment as jounin was given to him by the Hokage in person – but wouldn't require for him to leave the village, a fact for which he was really thankful, because he felt like he hadn't had a moment to rest recently. "I got your message, what do you need me for?" he asked around a yawn as he walked into his office.
Shizune sighed but didn't say anything, by then used to everyone's behavior.
So was Kakashi, actually, as he wasn't fazed and even yawned himself. "Actually it's your brain we'll need, but I suppose the rest of you can help too," he conceded magnanimously with a shrug.
"My brain is all ears," Shikamaru replied with an amused roll of his eyes.
"The Kazekage has requested to use Konoha as a neutral meeting ground for delicate negotiations," Shizune informed him as she walked to hand him a file.
"Over territory belonging to Kiri that was conquered by Suna during the previous war…" Shikamaru noted as he turned a few pages to get a sense of the task.
"One island in particular, and its natural resources – which include a fantastic natural hot water resort, although I didn't get the sense that was really what the argument was about," Kakashi commented pensively. "Konoha will not be involved in the talks beyond serving as a neutral observing third party. As such I'd like you to make sure the representatives have the proper atmosphere for negotiations – and see to it they don't kill each other in our village, of course," he added as though it was an after-thought. "That would be a mess to clean up!"
"So it's baby-sitting," Shikamaru rephrased with a sigh.
"Glorified baby-sitting," Shizune tried to embellish with a weak grin and fake pep.
"Well paid baby-sitting," Kakashi reminded him pragmatically.
The Nara chuckled at their efforts to motivate him more, nodding at them. "Don't worry, I'll do my job," he assured them before taking his leave to go study the file. This had the potential to be either extremely boring or quite challenging, but he felt up to the task. Besides, Suna's representative alone would make it worth his while.
It'd been way too long since he'd last seen Temari after all.
When he told Kiba about it (since it wasn't classified), the Inuzuka cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes in thought. "Are you gonna tell her?"
"Tell her what?" Shikamaru asked back with a confused frown.
"About us," Kiba said with an exasperated huff.
Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow at that. "Assuming she doesn't already know? Then yeah, of course I'll tell her – besides, you'll want to see her too right?" he asked back with a shrug.
Kiba only grinned widely at this before proceeding to make sure Shikamaru knew how much he appreciated that answer.
It made him wish Temari had visited sooner. Much sooner.
Temari was the first to arrive in Konoha for the negotiations, because of course she'd be. She looked annoyed, and perhaps the slightest bit stressed, but that could just as likely have been linked to the travel, so Shikamaru didn't dare push her buttons yet. "Welcome back," was all he said.
"Seeing you now makes me realize I actually missed your sorry face, to a certain extent!" Temari replied with fake emotion before grinning happily. "It's good to see you again – and congratulations on your promotion," she said more seriously.
Shikamaru found himself smiling back before shrugging his head to the side. "Follow me, I'll show you to your quarters – and before you ask, no, Kiri's representative will not be staying in the same building. We don't trust either of you not to make a mess for us to clean up," he added half-jokingly.
"And I don't blame you for that!" she replied brightly as she idly looked around – she hadn't visited Konoha since they'd finished the reconstruction, so most of the buildings were new to her. "Honestly, I'll just be glad to settle this, they've been breathing down Gaara's neck for months about that stupid island!" she muttered with a frown. "As if he didn't have more important things to worry about…!"
"So you're prepared to let it go?" Shikamaru wondered with a frown – he'd be lying if he said he'd expected that.
"Of course not!" Temari replied with certainty, looking at him as though he'd missed the point. "It's ours! They piss my brother off, they piss me off, and now they're gonna get it!" she forewarned as she smirked worryingly.
The Nara chuckled at that, having to admit that was much more like her. "I almost pity that man…"
"You should," the kunoichi readily agreed with a shrug.
"Please don't kill him under my watch," he asked for the principle.
"I only planned on making him cry," she replied airily, upon which they shared another chuckle. "So how's everyone been doing? How's Kiba?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, but her grin not quite full as she wasn't sure whether that was a good subject to broach.
Shikamaru smiled to himself, absently noting that despite his mother's worries, clearly the news of his unusual relationship hadn't travelled as far as the other villages. "He was doing great when I left him this morning," he replied absently.
"And by 'this morning', you mean…?" Temari demanded as she leaned forward to look at his face.
"When we each went our separate ways to work," he replied innocently just to annoy her. "After he kicked me out of bed because I didn't want to get up so early – and speaking of that, do you absolutely have to get here so damn early every time?" he asked in annoyance.
Temari laughed loudly at this, reaching to clap his back – with enough force to make him feel like coughing out his lungs. "Ha! I knew it!"
"You did?" he asked with a frown as he cleared his throat to keep his internal organs on the inside where they belonged.
"I mean I strongly suspected," she replied with a shrug. "Kiba's face after you left? Yeah, it didn't really leave much room for doubt," she added with a pointed look – and it made him realized he hadn't really thought about how Kiba had felt after he left Suna, in the end. "So, how's that been going?" she asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Well enough," Shikamaru replied modestly, trying to look casual – but caving in at her unimpressed look. "Okay, more than 'well enough'," he was forced to concede.
Temari chuckled at this, slinging an arm around his neck and rubbing her knuckle against his head – just to be annoying, since his hair was now long and pulled up again. "We have to have dinner together before I go!" she then said happily, pausing and frowning as she noticed she was getting some very strange looks – and Shikamaru some nasty ones. "Shikamaru, why are people looking at us like that?" she asked with a frown.
Shikamaru looked around inquiringly – honestly, he didn't even notice when people stared at him anymore – and promptly rolled his eyes. "Because starting today the newest rumor around the village will you have participating in a threesome with Kiba and me," he informed her tiredly.
"You're joking."
"I wish."
"A threesome."
"Well, up to date, the most popular rumor is that I cheated on Kiba with Ino, prompting him to run away to Suna, where people will now deduce he hooked up with you, and since you're here – presumably to get him back – then I'll have no choice but to suffer to share him if I don't want to lose him to you," he deadpanned, shrugging at her incredulous look. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves – maybe they'll simply think I'm cheating on him with you and there won't be any talks of threesomes," he tempered.
Temari groaned as she slid her fingers under her forehead protector to massage her temples. "You Leaf people are all crazy. Completely gone," she declared with absolute certainty. "I mean…people gossip in Suna too, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, but this?"
Shikamaru sighed heavily, wholeheartedly agreeing as he tried to arrange his hair back. "You learn to ignore them in time," he said off-handedly.
Well, that much was true, she had to admit. She then hummed as she thought about it a bit more. "Wait, so…everyone knows about you two?" she wondered curiously, quite surprised as this was a radical change from back when he wasn't even willing to admit it to her.
"We had a…public get-together," he tempered with a frown, wincing as she grabbed his arm and squeezed.
"Tell me," she ordered with a wide smirk.
Shikamaru only rolled his eyes at this. Women were so troublesome… "We'll have time for that later, now let me do my job and get you settled, okay?"
"Fine, be that way!" Temari muttered with a huff. "Have you ever met the representative from Kiri?" she then asked conversationally, figuring that was part of his job after all.
"I don't think so," Shikamaru replied with a shrug. "I recognized his clan's name from other reports though."
She nodded at this, stretching her arms behind her back. "Yeah, the Satoshi clan has a poison release bloodline limit, they gained a certain level of fame during the war for their role in the Daimyo protection squad," she remembered absently. "First the Fifth Mizukage, now her representative in delicate negotiations…it looks like Kiri's honestly trying to turn the page on their bloody history against bloodline limits – pun intended," she noted seriously.
Shikamaru huffed at this. Every village handled bloodline limits their own way after all. In Konoha, those clans held power and respect; in Suna, they were military leaders; in Kiri, until recently, they'd just been feared scapegoats. It was obvious a change had been necessary – of all the Kage, he honestly believed that the Fifth Mizukage was the one who'd had the hardest job, but she'd done remarkably well given all she'd had to contend with. "He's supposed to get here later this afternoon anyway," he told his friend, smirking at her uninterested shrug.
The representative from the Hidden Mist turned out not to be on time, though, which greatly annoyed Shikamaru – although really, as long as he was in time for the meetings in the morning, he'd be okay, he just didn't want to have to suffer Temari's ire if that wasn't the case. Two hours past their convened time, Shikamaru checked in at the communications tower one last time, sighing in aggravation as indeed they'd received a short message – 'will be slightly late—in time for meeting'. Oh well. If he said so. And if not, then who was he, puny Konoha jounin, to stop the Kazekage's sister from killing a tardy emissary from Kiri?
Thirty minutes before the official – planned – start of the negotiations, Shikamaru was still waiting for Kiri's representative. On the principle, he didn't really care that he was late, because Temari would rip him a new one well enough on her own for that, but until then, it was all on him, so he was getting peeved. Not to mention he could've had more time to sleep. Troublesome.
Eventually one of the gate guards – a sensor – advised him that someone with a different chakra signature was on their way, and he let out a sigh as he walked out to wait for him. He didn't have to wait long at least, until a short man wearing the common Kiri attire stopped by him. "Sojiro Satoshi, I take it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping his annoyance was plainly conveyed by his bored tone.
"Ah, yes, sorry I'm late," the shinobi replied with a nod as he held up his credentials as per the procedure.
Shikamaru looked over the papers and turned his head to nod at the guards – who immediately relaxed – before turning back to their guest and handing him his documents back. "Welcome to Konoha. My name is Shikamaru Nara and I'll be your contact as well as neutral observer during your talks with Suna's representative," he told him, shrugging his head to the side to indicate he should follow him. "If you'll follow me, you're right on time."
Sojiro sighed at this. "Throwing me right in, are you?" he asked tiredly although he followed him, looking around curiously – first time in Konoha, obviously.
"Your fault for being late," Shikamaru replied without the slightest bit of compassion. "I'll show you to your quarters later on, when you'll take a break from the negotiations."
"Fair enough," the other shinobi agreed as he looked up at the Hokages' monument. "It looks even more impressive than the pictures…" he mused to himself.
Shikamaru shrugged noncommittally. He was used to those faces himself, and honestly thought them rather…showy. But he understood why visitors from other villages were always impressed. Making their way through the village and then the corridors of the Hokage's building, he stopped by one door and knocked once to warn the occupant before stepping in with his charge. Temari was already seated but stood to greet them; she looked well-rested – a euphemism for ready to eat him alive. "Temari of the Sand, Sojiro Satoshi of Kiri," Shikamaru introduced summarily, noting that they both sobered up as they shook hands before taking their seats. The Nara let out a breath as the atmosphere had immediately changed. Moving towards his own seat, he braced himself. This was going to be a long day.
To their credit, both Temari and Sojiro managed to keep things at a reasonable volume for most of the morning. Shikamaru sighed internally as he watched them – he had to admit it was somewhat amusing, to a certain extent. They were similar, in the sense that they controlled themselves really well but were obviously too stubborn to accept any sort of defeat. The premise itself wasn't overly complicated: back during the Third Shinobi war, Suna had invaded and successfully colonized a group of islands belonging to Kiri but close to the Land of Wind geographically speaking. Now, as some of these islands possessed natural resources that Kiri's economy could greatly benefit from, the Land of Water wanted them back. Only, asking nicely obviously wasn't enough.
"Kiri abandoned these islands after barely making an effort to defend them," Temari reminded factually as she tapped her finger on the desk. "The inhabitants themselves welcomed Suna's occupation – even though we were the enemy!"
"You're talking about events that are over a decade-old – we were at war," Sojiro stated calmly, not backing off. "We're not here to discuss how attached to Kiri the islanders were – the fact of the matter remains Suna stole Kiri's territory and we are now determined to have it back."
"Right – after we've brought them stability and aided in their development," Temari noted with a pointed look.
"Kiri has regained the stability we'd lost back then—" the shinobi started to argue.
"Kiri just wants to get their hands on more natural resources – I'm not hearing you're fighting over the barren strips of land Kumo's currently using as training grounds after they stole them from you," Temari cut in with a raised eyebrow.
Shikamaru resisted the urge to smirk at this – he was supposed to remain neutral after all. But this was fun.
"Oh, and I have no doubt Suna's desire to retain these lands has nothing to do with resources, and everything to do with the people's well-being," Sojiro said calmly with a nod.
Shikamaru very barely managed to turn his chuckle into a cough – he couldn't help it, this was way past fun. They both turned to him at this however, he with a confused-annoyed look, she with a fully-annoyed one. Think quickly, Shikamaru, he told himself. "I propose to take a break at this time, it's past noon. Shall we meet up again at two?" he offered calmly, managing to appear completely serious and like he'd actually planned to interrupt them all along.
The two representatives shared a look and imperceptibly nodded their agreement.
Temari was the first to go, but not without shooting him a look. Shikamaru just shrugged it off. Since they were in the middle of negotiations, it would be best if they didn't have lunch together anyway, not without risking Kiri accusing Konoha of favoring Suna – politics were so troublesome. "I'll show you to your quarters," he told the Mist shinobi.
Sojiro seemed to snap out of his thoughts and nodded back as he stood. "Yes, thank you."
On her side, Temari hummed to herself as she walked down the main street, trying to decide what she'd have for lunch – something spicy sounded nice, something to give her extra pep. She laughed to herself at that – she had all the pep she needed already! And truth be told, she was glad her trip hadn't been wasted on a gutless bumbling shinobi – Kiri obviously took it seriously, and it was always gratifying to be taken seriously. Her head snapped up as she heard her name however, and she relaxed as she saw Tenten. Sure, they'd gotten off to a rocky start because she'd literally kicked her ass during the chuunin exams, but their following meetings had allowed them to put that behind them and realize they got along really well, in the end.
"What brings you here?" the weapons specialist asked with an easy smile.
"Negotiations with Kiri – Konoha's the moderator," she replied evenly as they shook hands. "Although we're on lunch break right now."
"Ah, of course! Were you thinking of eating something spicy to keep your energy up?" Tenten asked knowingly as she shrugged her head towards the menu she'd been reading.
The Suna nin held her hands up in surrender. "Hey, in my defense, the guy they sent isn't half bad!"
"Ooh, is he cute?" Tenten immediately asked with a grin, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.
Temari huffed at this, crossing her arms over her chest. "To be honest, right now I'm just picturing him as a practice dummy – once this is over, I'll let you know if it's worth it to move to Kiri!" They shared a laugh at this and she tilted her head to the side. "Hey, if you haven't had lunch yet, feel like having spicy food?" she offered easily – eating alone got boring very quickly.
Tenten shrugged, not having anything planned. "Sure, I'll need the extra boost too, I'm giving a talk at the academy on ninja weapons later on," she said with a grin as they walked to get a seat in the restaurant. It seemed they'd just arrived between two waves, luckily, so they were quickly attended to. "So who's your mediator?" she asked the other kunoichi curiously.
"Shikamaru," Temari replied as she enjoyed her tea. "I think Gaara asked for him – probably figured he'd keep me from killing Kiri's envoy or something! Anyway! What've you been up to – aside from educating the next generation?" she asked teasingly.
Tenten laughed and stuck her tongue out at this. "I'm only doing it for Shino because he asked nicely and repeatedly! Something about wanting the kids to have a more optimistic outlook after Karui's bullying lecture on Kumo – and getting them to stop fearing women!" she informed her conspiringly.
Temari did raise an eyebrow at this. She wasn't overly familiar with Karui, but from what little she knew, she didn't seem like the prime candidate to speak to children. "How did that even happen?"
"She was here for the exchange program," Tenten explained simply.
"Oh, I see now – Kiba spoke at the academy in Suna as well when he was there! The kids loved him!"
"I have no doubts about that! The kids here were more…intimidated by Karui! So Shino's been asking his friends to try and repair the damage," Tenten concluded diplomatically.
"Smart man," Temari replied in amusement, looking up as they were brought their orders. "So Konoha's successfully set up the exchange program with Kumo then?" Suna hadn't managed that yet, although they'd recently started it with Iwa and were in talks with Kiri – although it wasn't a far stretch to say that depended on how well her own talks would end.
Tenten nodded, pausing to chew and swallow before talking. "I'm actually going there in a couple of weeks," she informed her proudly.
"Really? Good luck then!"
"Thanks!" Tenten replied brightly before smirking and lowering her voice. "And from what I've seen during the war, it's definitely worth it to move to Kumo in terms of cute guys!" she added half-jokingly.
Temari laughed clearly at this, having to agree that there was a certain appeal to their casualness. "Tell you what – I'll accompany Gaara to the Kage meeting in Kumo next summer, and from what I gather you'll be there at the same time? You can tell me all about it then!"
"Deal!" Tenten agreed solemnly.
Thanks to her, Temari was actually in a good mood when she returned to the meeting room, and her smile widened as she saw Shikamaru and Sojiro exchange tense looks. "Let's proceed, shall we?" she asked brightly.
To his credit, Sojiro looked more interested than intimidated.
Shikamaru resisted the urge to wince, infinitely glad he wasn't the one who had to go up against her.
At least the afternoon wouldn't be boring.
TBC
I do love the idea of Temari and Tenten eventually striking up a friendship, when nothing dictates they must fight each other in the end. I have so much fun writing Temari at any rate...! :)