Shadows and Fangs
Chapter 22
Slightly longer this time, but I think you'll be happy I didn't split it :)
The day that Kiba turned over a page of their calendar and saw the date of Kao's third birthday circled several times in a bright red pen, he found himself wondering where the time went and how it sped by so quickly.
"Kao's turning three next week," he said to himself out loud, as though to confirm it. He knew that of course – they'd planned some leave days to be there for the celebration and, accessorily, Hinata and Naruto's wedding the week after, but still…he thought for sure they had another month left – or two, maybe even three.
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Shikamaru wondered as he closed the fridge, having heard him anyway. "It's somewhat hard to believe she'll finally get her markings – I'm really looking forward to seeing that!"
The Inuzuka nodded back and grinned. "Yep. Then her training will officially start!" he recalled from his own childhood. Then, upon turning five and entering the Academy, she'd be given her own nin-dog, but that was still some time away!
At any rate, an Inuzuka getting their markings was always a huge celebration that the entire clan was invited (and mostly present) to, even the ones who'd married into other clans. The markings themselves were placed by the Head of the Clan; in opposition, the bonding to a nin-dog was a much more private matter, reserved for direct family only.
"I'm glad I'll be allowed to attend," Shikamaru commented as he sat down for breakfast.
"Why wouldn't you?" Kiba almost growled back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Aoba's parents are allowed to, and they don't know half of a quarter of what you know about the Inuzuka!"
Shikamaru chuckled at this, holding his hands up. The head of the clan had made it clear that he shouldn't be around the clan grounds so much until they got married, after all, so he was always cautious about not overstaying his welcome. And effectively, since they'd moved in together, all his stays on the Inuzuka compound had in fact been short visits, to either Tsume or Hana and Aoba – even if in light of this special occasion, he'd been given permission to remain on the clan grounds as a guest of Hana and Aoba.
And truth be told, he had started thinking about marriage, although it was most likely because now he saw Gaara signing marriage certificates on a regular basis and had even affixed Suna's seal on more than a few of them himself – it was a task equally shared with the administrative support, really. He and Kiba had been together for over three years now, after all, and he'd even followed him to Suna. He knew they'd raise eyebrows, but then again they'd been raising eyebrows since day one anyway, and Kakashi would be happy to put his signature on that certificate, there was no doubting that. He was practically certain that Kiba would say yes, too, but for some reason he hadn't asked him yet.
A part of him always whispered 'what if?' and then he figured they were happy as they were. Another part always dreaded his mother's reaction, although he figured Yoshino had by then accepted that Kiba was there to stay – although it might be more accurate to say she'd resigned herself to that fact.
Besides, Naruto and Hinata getting married made thinking about marriage even more unavoidable. It was good timing though, because they'd be able to be there – Kiba in particular was very happy about not missing his team-mate's happy day. Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, who were also invited, would join them in Konoha a week later, so they wouldn't really break away from Suna completely yet…
So it was that almost a week later, they were back in the Leaf for the first time since leaving nine months ago – exhausted from the journey and somehow finding their hometown chilly. They'd been invited to stay at Hana and Aoba's house, paying their 'rent' in babysitting hours, to their amusement, and had readily agreed because they'd missed a lot of Kao's development and she was now old enough to be really fun to be around.
Obviously though, in the Inuzuka world 'babysitting' began at dawn, as evidenced by Kao as she burst into their room and threw herself over Kiba at a time where most people in their right minds, even the early risers, preferred to sleep. To be honest, they'd initially been scared she'd be too shy around them, since she was still little when they left. Clearly, they needn't have worried.
"Uncle Kiba, can we go walk Akamaru?" she asked excitedly as she pulled back the covers he'd moved over his face.
"He can walk himself," Kiba argued as he tried another tactic – getting her to go back to sleep. "It's too early to be up, just take a nap, pup," he encouraged as he pulled her against his chest. From behind him, Shikamaru made a sound to show he approved this plan.
"But I don't want to sleep anymore," Kao replied with a pout as though explaining something obvious to him, although she'd lowered her volume and didn't try to leave.
The older Inuzuka groaned slightly, willing himself not to let her wrap him around her little finger as she was so prone to. "Kao, Shikamaru and I just got here yesterday after three days' travel. We're not as young as you, we need more sleep to recover!" he insisted patiently as a hand stroked her hair with the hope of lulling her back to sleep. "Your dad's an early riser – maybe you can ask him?" he then suggested.
"He said to ask you," the child replied as she made no move to pull back. "He said you'd understand," she then added, to which Shikamaru snorted in amusement.
Kiba gave up at this, getting the message. "Okay, fine…" As soon as the words had left his mouth, his niece sprung up happily – almost elbowing his face and kneeing his stomach in the process – and ran to tackle Akamaru where he slept with the other nin-dogs. "Get some sleep for me?" he asked Shikamaru with a sigh as he turned to nuzzle his cheek.
Shikamaru grinned but shook his head. "I'm going too – then we can stop by to visit my mom afterwards," he said as he sat up.
Kiba raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you planning on using our niece to shield you from your mother's nagging?" he asked him knowingly.
"Yes," Shikamaru confirmed unashamedly as he paused at the door and turned back to his lover. "Is that wrong?"
"No, that's actually brilliant," Kiba was forced to admit with a shrug as he walked towards the kitchen – he wasn't going to leave without a full breakfast, it was bad enough being up that early on time off! He made enough for every human and dog in the household – because he was a kind, kind brother – and after getting dressed – and making Shikamaru turn the shirt he'd put on backwards because he was not an early morning person – they left with Kao energetically running alongside Akamaru. The nin-dog in question had momentarily looked at the still sleeping Haimaru brothers wistfully, but the pup's excitement had soon won him over.
While there definitely weren't that many people around so early in the morning, there was always someone to run into, and not just the poor souls on watch duty. By the time they'd made a small tour of the village – as much as was needed to comply with Kao's idea of 'walking' Akamaru – some shops were opening and more and more people walked down the streets.
"Where are we going?" Kao asked curiously as they turned down a street she was unfamiliar with.
"To say hello to my mother," Shikamaru replied as he absently reached a hand to steady her on Akamaru's back – although she didn't really need him to. "Do you remember her?" he wondered.
"I don't know," she replied, face scrunched up in concentration.
Kiba chuckled at this, reaching to ruffle her hair fondly. "It's okay pup, she won't bite!" he promised with a wink, clicking his teeth together anyway to make her push him away with a giggle.
Shikamaru smiled as he looked at them, letting out another yawn as they reached the Nara clan grounds. They received some strange looks as they walked further in, and he chuckled to himself as he tried to think about what was going on in their minds. Maybe that they'd been away from Konoha for some time, and now they were back with a kid? He laughed at this, hoping that most would use their heads and remember that Kiba had a niece. As they walked up to his childhood home, his smile turned warmer and he knocked on the door, hoping this wasn't the one day his mother would've decided to sleep in.
Yoshino, true to herself, wasn't long in answering, first looking annoyed – because who visited so damn early? – before grinning as she recognized him. "Shikamaru, you're back!" she said happily.
Kiba didn't let it faze him anymore that she didn't really pay much attention to him. Instead he focused on keeping Kao amused.
"Just for a week or so," Shikamaru immediately tempered, trying not to wince at her obvious disappointment. "Kao will turn three tomorrow, we're here for the celebration," he said as he turned to gesture towards the miniature Inuzuka.
Yoshino followed his lead and her eyes softened at the child's curious expression. "My, how you've grown since I last saw you!" she praised as she smiled at her, briefly looking up at Kiba to nod at him. "Why don't you all come in?"
"Ah, thank you, but we need to get Kao back home," Shikamaru shamelessly replied. "I'll come by tonight though if you want?" he then offered, knowing he wouldn't be able to get away with not having dinner with her.
"Alright. Tonight then – I'll make your favorite," she said brightly before winking at Kao.
"Wow, could she blame me more obviously? I'm honestly not sure whether she's pretending to anymore," Kiba muttered sarcastically as they walked back towards the Inuzuka compound.
"It's her tough love! I think she's over it by now," Shikamaru said as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. His mother had taken rather well his news that he'd move to the Sand, but blamed Kiba for the principle, since she saw it as his 'fault'.
"I think she'll really be over it once you break up with me, marry Temari, and move back here," Kiba offered with a smirk and a roll of his eyes. "And give her a grandchild or two, of course – a boy first and then a girl, ideally – or, you know, just aim for twins right away."
"Of course," Shikamaru groaned as he couldn't contradict him on that. "I suppose that means she'll never get over it," he then noted matter-of-factly. "I'm okay with that," he assured him as he pressed a kiss to the side of his head.
"You better be!" Kiba muttered in fake annoyance, looking up as the Haimaru brothers, now up and running, welcomed them on the clan grounds, yapping happily as Kao was back. His eyes then narrowed as he spotted his brother-in-law leaving on his way to work. "Aoba! Good morning!" he told him brazenly.
Aoba only grinned back, clearly not feeling the slightest bit of remorse for having shamelessly thrown his daughter on them earlier so he could get more sleep. "Kiba, Shikamaru! Did you sleep well?"
"You're walking a narrow path, Aoba," Shikamaru warned him with a raised eyebrow.
"Such is life!" the other man replied pragmatically, giving them a mock-salute before vanishing.
Hana, at least, thanked her brother for the breakfast before heading off with her triplets, and while Kiba carried Kao over to the garden to try and tire her out enough for a nap later on, Shikamaru went directly to that part – to show by example. And he needed to store energy for dinner with his mother after all.
He'd been right to.
"So, how is it in Suna – really?" Yoshino asked critically the second they sat down for dinner, as if he'd been censoring his real thoughts those few times they'd spoken before.
"It's going really great, mom, I promise," Shikamaru assured her, chuckling at her dubious look. "Really," he insisted. "Organization is stricter in Suna, and the Council of Elders has much more power than here, so it did take some getting used to. But overall it's not too different from Konoha, when it really comes down to it. Besides, Gaara definitely makes it interesting!"
"Well, as long as you don't regret it," Yoshino stated simply, sipping her tea, looking him in the eyes.
"I don't – not for a moment," Shikamaru said without any doubts before smiling to himself. "And you should see Kiba at it, he's amazing – nobody wants to see him go!" he added proudly.
His mother tilted her head sideways at this, not really surprised because the Inuzuka had always excelled at his work, and he did have some people skills, that much she could never deny. "How much longer will you be staying there?" she wondered with a curious look instead.
Shikamaru looked up as he tried to figure that one out, absently chewing on her famous roast – one of the things he missed the most about Konoha, truthfully. "That's hard to say for sure," he replied honestly. "It was always meant to be between a year and two, but I think we're leaning more towards two."
Yoshino sighed at this, bringing her chopsticks to her mouth. "So another year away…"
"This will be a really helpful experience when I'll work with the Hokage," he offered as he tried to appeal to her optimistic side about the future.
It seemed to help some, as she looked up with a small smile. "How long did you say you were staying here for?" she then asked conversationally.
"Little over than a week," he replied, satisfied that she was dropping the Suna part. "As I mentioned this morning, Kao's birthday is tomorrow – there's going to be a huge celebration on the clan grounds, because she'll get her markings."
"Ah, she'll become a true Inuzuka!" Yoshino noted in amusement.
Shikamaru nodded absently at this – he'd always seen her as a 'true Inuzuka' anyway. "And next week, Naruto and Hinata are holding their wedding celebration – I'm sure you've heard about that?"
"Oh, everyone in the village and beyond knows our hero is marrying his princess!" Yoshino replied with a clear laugh, pointing her chopsticks at him. "A lot of people would give their right arm to be invited, you should consider yourselves lucky – it's shaping up to be the event of the decade, perhaps even the age!" she teased him easily.
"Of course," he agreed with a grin. "Granted, the guest list alone could give anyone pause – the four other Kage simply traveling to Konoha as wedding guests? That'll go down in the history books, I'd bet on it!"
"It's so extravagant…!" Yoshino said with faked shock, laughing at their antics. "So naturally the Kazekage will be there as well? With his brother as usual, I suppose?"
"Well, Gaara's practically Naruto's best friend, I think they'd both be openly depressed if he couldn't make it," Shikamaru replied genuinely. "And both Temari and Kankuro will actually be there. After that we'll likely be going back with them," he finished.
"But with both Temari and Kiba here in Konoha, who will be responsible for the Suna Allied headquarters?" Yoshino asked him in confusion.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, remembering the logistics and discussions behind that very same question. "It took forever to agree on a contingency, but two of the captains are taking over as proxies," he told her. "Temari initially offered to remain in Suna, but in the end an alternate arrangement was found. I think that was mostly Gaara not wanting any of Naruto's friends to be away from the party," he added earnestly.
Yoshino chuckled at this. "Well, as already established it will be quite the celebration!" she agreed.
"He is a hero!" Shikamaru noted with a shrug.
"So are you," his mother reminded him with a raised eyebrow. "You put together strategies that helped in the war! And you're part of the team that stopped the moon from crashing down!" she added proudly.
"Be that as it may…I wouldn't want such a big fuss!" Shikamaru said with a chuckle.
"For what?"
"My wedding," he replied easily. "I mean…only family and close friends, and nothing too big, just a nice moment…" he trailed off as he noticed her confused and shocked expression. "What?"
"Your…wedding…" Yoshino repeated quietly, setting her chopsticks down and looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You don't mean to say you're…planning…" she trailed off at this, her hand doing a vague circling gesture that he couldn't really interpret.
"More like thinking," he tempered – although, yeah, he was thinking about going beyond just thinking.
"With Kiba?" she clarified with a frown.
"Who else?" Shikamaru asked back as he mirrored her.
"Do you want a full list?" Yoshino prompted with a chuckle before she could stop herself.
"Well, for your information, Temari's now spoken for, so that ship definitely sailed," he informed her. And even if he was getting slightly ahead of himself, it wasn't exactly a lie, right? Those games of shogi with Sojiro held way too much sexual tension for them to be just games.
Yoshino snorted in amusement at this. Part of her was almost glad that he was still serious in his involvement, because if you're going to go that far you might as well go all the way, right? But really she wasn't ready to give up on him finding himself a nice woman and finally having those grandkids she'd always dreamt of – even if Temari was (possibly) out of the equation. "I didn't know that was on your mind," she noted neutrally.
"On and off, yeah." Shikamaru closed his eyes and let out a breath at this, not wanting to get carried away over a thought. "Look, mom, I don't want to fight with you on this. But provided he says 'yes', I will marry Kiba one day," he told her honestly. He didn't have any doubts about his feelings.
Besides, nobody questioned Naruto when he'd proposed to Hinata after barely a year together, and nobody would question Ino and Sai when he'd finally understand her really not subtle hints – heck, there was even a betting pool going on for when Karui would make Chouji marry her and they still effectively lived villages apart at times! So why did it feel like he and Kiba had to justify themselves for wanting the same thing when they'd been together longer than most of their friends?
Yoshino didn't respond right away. She only looked up at him, as though trying to understand him, to make sense of what he was saying. More than ever, she wished Shikaku were still there. He'd understand him, he'd make sense of his words; she was certain of it. "I don't want to fight with you either, I was just surprised," she finally replied softly. "You know I have a temper," she added lightly, grinning easily.
"Yeah, I know…" he replied as the corner of his lips pulled up in a small smile.
Maybe one day they'd get there after all.
It wasn't exactly late when he left the Nara clan grounds, so he took a slight detour and went by Chouji's apartment. It wasn't located on the Akimichi clan grounds, despite there being more than enough room for them, but Chouji thought that not feeling so surrounded by his family would be better for Karui – undeniably, it was less awkward that way. She seemed to appreciate the thought and gesture though, even if she never commented on that in public.
When she opened the door to his face, she smirked as she always did, as if there was a sign on his forehead that proclaimed something or other – 'I have weird sexual preferences', if he knew her at all. "Guess you're really back at the scene of the crime!" she noted casually as she invited him in and called Chouji.
"You have such a nice way of putting things as usual," he muttered without any real animosity, grin turning more genuine as his best friend's eyes lit up and he ran to squeeze the living daylight out of his ribs. "I hope I'm not interrupting!" he wheezed out for the principle.
"Of course not!" Chouji reassured him with a bashful smile.
"As if we'd have opened the door if that was the case…" Karui scoffed with much less shyness.
Shikamaru couldn't very well deny her point though, so he turned back to his friend. "I just left my mother's, I could definitely go for a drink if you're up to it," he offered, glancing back at Karui as well. "Both of you, of course."
Karui rolled her eyes for show but her grin was genuine as she made shooing motions with her hands. "Not that desperate, but thanks anyway."
Chouji beamed brighter and picked her up in his arms for a twirl before making his way to their bedroom to get changed.
Shikamaru expertly pretended not to have witnessed that as the kunoichi turned back to glare at him, cheeks red and daring him to comment. "I'll be out in front when he's ready. I'll see you around – at Sakura and Ino's dinner, likely?" he said as he cleared his throat.
"Likely," Karui agreed. Complete certainty in terms of presence to this or that event was near impossible to have in their line of work after all, but they made do.
Chouji wasn't long in joining him outside, and they naturally started walking towards the Yamanaka grounds – because their team wasn't complete unless they were a trio.
And really, it shouldn't have surprised them to find Ino waiting for them sitting on a bench at the grounds' entrance, raising an eyebrow at them. "You sure took your time, I picked up on your chakras ages ago!" she accused for the principle as she pinched Shikamaru's cheek before giving him a one-armed hug. "Kay, let's not waste a moment, I have an early day tomorrow so I can't stay up all night, unfortunately!" she declared as she pulled back and pulled them along.
"You're the boss, Ino," Chouji replied easily, sharing an amused look with Shikamaru. Once they were seated, he found it hard to decide on what to ask about first – they hadn't seen each other in nine months, after all, there was a lot to talk about that letters or calls didn't cover! Although…he himself didn't have anything in particular to share. Nothing exceptional had happened – nothing good, nothing bad. Same old. So he settled for the very recent past. "So, did your mother ask whether you've joined a cult in the Sand?"
The other two laughed at this, and Ino shook her head as she thought about Yoshino. "You know, she regularly asks my mother to ask me whether I've heard from you – she didn't believe me when I insisted you didn't contact us more than her!" she said with the slightest reproach laced in.
Shikamaru held a hand up in apology at this, shrugging helplessly. "Those new technologies feel so cold to me! And writing letters isn't really my strong point…"
"You're the Kazekage's assistant. I'm sure you write letters all day long," Ino pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "Don't try to defuse the situation…" she recommended as she poked his side.
"Hey, I'm here now!" the Nara reminded her as he tried to remove her finger from his ribs. "And if you must know, I made the mistake of getting her started on talks of marriage," he replied to Chouji's question.
"Now why would you do that for?" his friend asked him with a frown.
"In my defense, the situation very quickly got out of hand – all I did was mention we'd be going to Naruto and Hinata's wedding next week," Shikamaru defended himself before shaking his head. "I did bring it upon myself, I suppose."
Ino compassionately rubbed his arm as she brought her glass to her lips and then tilted her head to the side. "But wait – so what d'you tell her?" she wondered as a discussion on marriage with Yoshino couldn't have been uneventful.
"That I've been considering it," he replied with a shrug.
"With Kiba?" Chouji immediately asked him excitedly, nearly sitting up to lean closer to him.
"Who else?" Shikamaru asked back for the second time that night, grin widening at Chouji's pout as he insisted he didn't mean it like that.
Ino for her part was shockingly not shocked about the big reveal. "Not like that's completely unexpected – you guys have been together what? Three years? Four?" she wondered out loud as she looked up and tried to remember more precisely.
"Three and a half," Shikamaru replied, not exactly surprised that she wasn't surprised. "I mean it's not a done deal, it's not like Kiba and I have talked about it in details."
"Makes sense," Ino replied warmly.
"Have you been thinking about it too, Ino?" Chouji wondered as he noted her calm.
The sensor blinked in surprise at this, not expecting the tables to get turned on her that rapidly. "Well…yes and no," she started slowly. "You see, I'd like to get married, and I think so would Sai, that way he'd actually have a clan…"
"But?" the Akimichi pressed with a frown.
Ino shrugged at this. "You know people – you know my family. I'd rather get questioned daily about why we aren't married rather than why we don't have kids," she replied as she twisted her mouth.
"Oh! I guess I see your point," Chouji admitted as he thought about it.
Shikamaru nodded his agreement – it wasn't entirely different from what Temari had to contend with, except she was already being pressed for progeny even without having a man at her side (officially). "I wonder if Naruto and Hinata really know what they're in for," he added with a chuckle.
"Well, we'll have to wait and see – but I stopped worrying about them long ago!" Ino replied confidently before turning her eyes to Chouji. "What about you, Chouji? When are you going to make Karui an official citizen of Konoha?" she teased him easily.
Chouji sputtered in embarrassment and turned to Shikamaru for support but the vile traitor only grinned wider and raised an eyebrow at him, so he hung his head. "You know, I think I'll just wait for her to ask me," he confessed.
How sad was it that the other two shared a look and agreed with him?
"I think we know each other too well," he mock-lamented.
At this, they all shared another look and held their glasses up.
That was the good part, right?
When Kao's big day finally came, the majority of the Inuzuka clan and their nin-dogs showed up to celebrate one of their own officially joining their ranks. By nature, the celebration wasn't exactly open to all, but neither was it remotely a secret – in fact, it would have been difficult to find a more informal gathering in the other shinobi clans! Parents were free to invite basically whomever they chose to, and so close friends of Hana and Aoba's were present, in addition to their respective families, and so Hinata and Shino had also been invited.
Some of the younger children knew the Aburame from the Academy, and it was a world of fun for Kiba and Hinata to see them grab him by the hand to pull him along towards this or that area to either introduce him to someone or push him to take some food – and, occasionally, beg him to perform a trick or two with his insects.
Hinata's identity had never exactly been a mystery to people, what with her being an heiress of the Hyuuga clan, but getting engaged to Naruto had literally spread that fame to every corner of the shinobi world. She politely accepted the congratulations she received, all the while firmly and politely reminding well-wishers that this was an Inuzuka clan event, for Kao. Her smile was too disarming for anyone to insist – and keep trying to get into her good graces.
Kiba could hardly remember having ever seen his mother so proud – maybe when it had been his and Hana's turns? He barely remembered his own ceremony – he'd been too small, if he thought about it there was only a vague sense of having eaten too much food. He'd seen others since, naturally, given that they were always a clan event, but this was different – this was his niece. Inwardly he felt envious of his sister, because that was something he'd only ever know about from the spectator's side, but he didn't let it bring him down too long, because he was still damn proud himself.
The Haimaru brothers carried Kao on their backs in turn, under Hana's amused and trustful eyes, and eventually she picked her daughter up in her arms and she and Aoba walked with her to sit down in front of Jozu Inuzuka, new head of the Inuzuka clan since his mother Sumire had decided that she'd earned her early retirement – she was still present though, grinning boastfully and eying her son critically.
"I see a lot of people gathered to officially welcome you into our clan, little one," he told Kao with a warm grin, laughing when she frowned at him and jealously guarded the meat bun she was munching on as though fearing he'd take it from her.
"You can have more later, pup; now listen to Jozu," Hana gently coaxed her as she took the half-eaten bun and gave it to her dogs – waste not, right?
Kao pouted but did as she was told after a quick look towards her father, because when both mommy and daddy agreed on something, then she had to do it.
Jozu nodded at the parents and rolled open a large scroll – a family lineage, Shikamaru noted with interest. "Your name?" he asked for the principle.
"Kao, daughter of Hana and Aoba of the Inuzuka clan," Aoba replied for her.
The head of the clan dutifully recorded it, reaching for a kunai to prick the tip of his thumb to affix his seal as witness before handing it over to Hana.
"This will just sting a little, I promise," she said to her daughter as she very quickly touched it to her thumb and helped her press it down next to her name.
Jozu grinned and joined his hands to form several seals, following which the Inuzuka clan's trademark red triangles appeared on Kao's cheeks without further flourish, just as could be expected from this clan.
Kiba's breath hitched and Shikamaru smiled to himself as he felt him reach for his hand, wordlessly squeezing it back. He'd known what to expect, his lover had told him as much years back, but it was still surprising to actually see how it was done.
Next to them, Hinata smiled brightly as she discreetly moved to carefully wipe her eyes as her other hand squeezed Akamaru's fur. By her side, Shino exhaled slowly and nodded once in pure approval and contentment.
"Welcome to the Inuzuka clan, Kao!" the head of the clan declared as he closed the scroll and reached to ruffle her hair.
Kao frowned at him in confusion, but then her parents squeezed her happily, and her grandmother rushed over to ruffle her hair even more and her uncle Kiba was laughing loudly with an arm around her uncle Shikamaru's shoulders, so she figured grown-ups were just strange as she stuck her injured thumb into her father's mouth.
Now where were the meat buns she was promised?
"Hey, does the Nara clan have any sort of huge ceremony like that?" Kiba wondered as he lay sprawled on their bed, head dangling off the edge upside-down as he looked up at the sky through the open window.
"Oh, sure, when there's a new member, we gather in the woods on a night of full moon and commune with the deer," Shikamaru said with a snort as he dug around his bag for an extra hair tie.
"No you don't," Kiba stated as he turned to look at him with a frown.
"No we don't," Shikamaru was forced to admit, not really looking sorry about it. He then tied up his hair absently with the ease of practice as he thought about the question more seriously. "The appointment of a new head is the only thing that comes to mind that would gather everyone in celebration – and even then, I use the term loosely," he finally replied as he walked to him, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at him in amusement.
"You're upside-down," Kiba informed him as though it was his fault.
The Nara chuckled and sighed helplessly as he walked to the window to shut the blinds and close it. "Be careful, you'll get a headache," he warned absently, smiling as his lover stuck his tongue out at him. And looking at Kiba being playful and childish like that just after having been part of a special occasion with his clan, somehow it made it crystal clear in his mind. He was going to make it happen.
They were getting married.
"Hey, Kiba?" he finally called out with a lazy smile.
Kiba cocked his head to the side and grinned up at him before throwing out unexpected words. "Marry me," he said confidently – and of course, he'd make what was usually a question into a demand.
Shikamaru frowned at him as he closed his mouth with a snap. "Of all the times to interrupt me…" he muttered as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You're really, really troublesome!" he informed him sourly.
Kiba raised an eyebrow at his words, chuckling as he rolled over so he'd be on his stomach and could see him in the normal sense. "Okay, not exactly the answer I was hoping for, I'll admit," he said as he did his best not to sound slightly nervous – because really, should he assume that being told he was (really, really) troublesome was a 'yes' or a 'no'? With Shikamaru, he was never really too sure.
"Backtrack to the beginning of this conversation," the Nara reminded him as crossed his arms over his chest and walked closer. "I called your name to get your attention, and you were supposed to let me speak, so that I could've said 'marry me' first. You beat me to it," he accused him with narrowed eyes.
Kiba laughed his barking laugh at that and shrugged innocently. "I'll act surprised if you ask me?" he offered.
Shikamaru huffed as he dropped down on his back next to him, arms still crossed. "The moment's gone," he drawled lazily, grinning despite himself as he felt Kiba move to straddle him and press their lips together. "So that's a 'yes'?" he asked as he opened one eye.
"I'm the one who asked!" Kiba protested competitively. "You say 'yes'!"
"So troublesome…"
"So, not that I'm complaining, but what prompted this?" Kiba wondered curiously, completely ignoring his protests.
"That was always the plan, as far as I'm concerned," Shikamaru replied as he looked up at him, finally uncrossing his arms to move them around him. "But I didn't want you to think I asked you just because our friends were doing it," he then added with a shrug.
"Your oversized brain overthinks things too much! I'd never think that," Kiba dismissed with a scoff. "And you didn't actually ask me, by the way."
Shikamaru ignored his last comment in favor of expressing his own curiosity. "What compelled you to demand?"
Kiba hummed as he wondered how to best sum it up. "Well…I always thought it was a matter of 'when', not 'if'," and he didn't fail to notice his lover's warm smile at this. "But then I figured, why wait? Plus I'm in a really good mood right now, that party really pepped me up!" he admitted.
"It was really nice," the Nara agreed lazily.
The Inuzuka smiled as reached for his hands and pressed them back on the bed by his head, twining their fingers. "So, is that a 'yes'?" he asked against his lips.
"Yes, damn it, that's a 'yes'," Shikamaru was forced to admit with a – fond – sigh.
"I can't wait to tell people!" Kiba remarked happily.
"That should be fun," the shadow-nin was forced to agree. "And we're here, so we can tell them in person. It's another reason why I felt like asking – it'd have been troublesome from Suna," he noted.
Kiba's grin widened as he leaned back in to kiss him. "I already told you, you didn't technically ask me anything," he reminded him aggravatingly.
Shikamaru groaned as he resisted the urge to wipe that grin off his face. "Kiba Inuzuka, will you keep on driving me crazy for the rest of my life?" he asked him sarcastically instead.
"Yes," Kiba replied with barely contained satisfaction, grinning widely.
Shikamaru reasonably couldn't really complain about that, so he just freed an arm to wrap it around his neck and pull him close. "You're so troublesome," he muttered fondly into his hair.
So very troublesome.
TBC
Was I planning on this all along? Yeees. Am I done now? Nooooo.
Quick note about Kao. I haven't hung out with dozens of three year olds, just a few cousins. Some were quiet and played with their blocks (and feet), others chatted our ears off. Since in the Naruto world children can become shinobi as early as 6-7, I think that shows they mature extremely quickly, so I'm basically not holding back when I write about kids in this fic...