Shadows and Fangs

Chapter 31

Although he'd visited the Nara grounds a few times in the past – mostly to see Shikamaru, both as children and adults – Kiba had only been to the house of the head of the clan once, shortly before the war when he and his team had acted as messengers. He was back for an entirely different purpose now however, and he felt a lot more nervous than back then – he wasn't nervous at all back then actually, so that wasn't hard.

Shikato Nara, current head of the clan – and Shikamaru's uncle – wasn't as intimidating as other heads of clan he'd met (including the Inuzuka's), and like many of his fellow clansmen he was much more nonchalant than stuck-up. (Not being stuck-up was always a good point, in Kiba's book.) He'd taken over after his brother's death during the war since Shikamaru was considered – by others as well as himself – too young to shoulder the burden yet (another good point for him, because he didn't have to).

Besides, their meeting really wasn't supposed to take long – they just needed his signature on one form so Kiba could be registered under the Nara clan's name. They actually weren't sure what was supposed to happen beyond that, because if joining the clan was accompanied by any sort of ceremony, it definitely wasn't public and Shikamaru had never attended one.

"Well, first things first, congratulations are in order," the man told them simply as they sat around a low table where they were served tea. It was lightly snowing outside, but the house was kept warm.

"But the certificate was signed by the Kazekage, not our Hokage," another member commented with a huff, a kunoichi younger than them by a few years – the head's youngest child.

Both Shikamaru and Kiba were immediately annoyed at Gaara's dismissal, but didn't react beyond sharing a fleeting look.

"It's been validated and added to our local records by the Hokage's office, so it's solid!" Kiba replied evenly as he absently pat Akamaru to calm him down as well – the nin-dog was very partial to Gaara.

"Holding old grudges against other villages does not allow to question their authority," the head of the clan noted with a raised eyebrow towards her, reminding everyone present that this was, in effect, a family meeting, not a debate court – even though it was true that despite the fact that Suna and Konoha enjoyed an exceptional relationship as far as shinobi villages were concerned, some in Konoha hadn't forgotten that the Sand had once allied itself with the Sound to invade them.

The girl pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest, muttering a, "Sorry, it wasn't my intention."

Shikato nodded at her, an amused glint in his eyes, before turning back to their guests. "Back to the matter at hand. You wish to join our clan by way of your marriage, Kiba?" he asked him although they all knew the answer to that, since after all, it was what they were meeting for.

"Yes," Kiba replied regardless, holding his gaze.

"I'm not fundamentally opposed to it, I just wonder what the point is," their host admitted honestly, tone not the slightest bit hostile and expression completely open.

"Is wanting to share the same clan as your partner something so surprising that it needs to be explained?" Kiba asked back with a raised eyebrow, inquisitive.

"Just seems an awful lot of paperwork for something that'll have so little incidence down the road," Shikato replied simply, absently sipping his tea. "Normally I'd be jumping up and down at Inuzuka blood joining the clan – you're sturdier and faster than us, something the future generations of Nara could greatly benefit from. But that won't exactly be a possibility, will it?" he concluded rhetorically.

Shikamaru's cousin smirked and Kiba resisted the urge to growl at her.

"Obviously not, biologically speaking," Shikamaru said calmly.

His uncle raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, gaze shifting between the two before settling back on his nephew. "But you might consider another way?"

"Possibly, in the future," Shikamaru replied, trying not to smirk as Kiba grinned slightly.

Shikato almost chuckled at them before crossing his arms over his chest. Well, there wasn't much to say in the end, was there? He had a feeling that if Kiba wasn't made a Nara, then they'd just turn to the Inuzuka clan, and that scruffy Jozu wouldn't hesitate for a second before making a genius like Shikamaru an Inuzuka—which simply wouldn't do, he was a symbol of the Nara clan beyond jus their borders!

Besides, it wasn't like this would unreasonably implicate the clan in any way. It was just adding a name to an already large registry – and to be fair, it wasn't just any name, there really was no questioning Kiba's abilities as a tracker.

"Give me the form then," he said simply as he held out his hand.

Kiba and Shikamaru exchanged somewhat relieved glances at this and did as instructed. The head of the clan affixed his signature and their seal on it before handing it back with a 'welcome to the Nara clan, Kiba', and that was it. Again, much buildup for nothing.

"I think your cousin doesn't like me," Kiba commented as they walked back towards Yoshino's house, both looking and sounding not sorry at all about that state of affairs.

Shikamaru almost snorted at that, raising an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you notice her blush? She likes you alright, hence the brattiness!"

The tracker frowned at this, sharing a look with Akamaru, before looking up as he gave it some serious thoughts. Huh. Maybe. "She's too young," he finally dismissed. She couldn't have been older than 14, really.

"Wow, good for me," Shikamaru drawled, smirk widening as one of his hands was pulled out of his pocket and solidly held.

Kiba as usual ignored his jibe and reached to pet Akamaru's head with his other hand. "So…I'm a Nara now – or almost, anyway, I guess!"

Shikamaru's smirk turned fond as he glanced at him sideways before frowning as something else occurred to him now. "You won't be expected to remove those, will you?" he wondered despite his better judgement as he reached to trail the back of his free hand over the red triangles on his cheeks.

Kiba blinked in surprise and then laughed, waving a hand about. "The Inuzukas really aren't that overly dramatic, you know!" he teased him easily.

"Right…" Not always. But something told him it was better not to voice that opinion.

"Hey, does that mean you can teach me to use my shadow?" Kiba wondered instead of rising to the bait.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him, having to admit he actually hadn't thought about that. "Well…I suppose so. You'd want me to?" he asked him in surprise.

The tracker shrugged at this. "Not to use it during battle – I can't really see how that'd work with the rest of my techniques. But just for knowledge's sake. It could be fun!" Akamaru barked his agreement next to them, visibly as curious as his master.

"Well, I don't see why not!" Shikamaru had no doubt he'd be a quick learner, too – and he found himself looking forward to trying that out.

His childhood home came into view and he let out a breath at this, but he needn't have worried, because his mother sounded and looked earnest when she welcomed Kiba into the clan.

"Hem…thank you. Really," Kiba replied, the slightest bit flustered – Shikamaru almost wanted to chuckle, it was such a rare look on him.

Yoshino however turned more serious and held up a finger, signifying she wasn't done speaking. "You need to learn who to avoid, and whose good side is worth getting onto!"

Kiba immediately brightened up at this – every clan had its weirdoes and celebrities, right? But usually only the clan-members themselves really knew who was which. "I hope Maen's not in the latter category, because we already butted heads a couple of times in the past!"

"Oh save me, absolutely not! He reminds me of that saying – small dogs have the loudest bark? Or something," Yoshino immediately dismissed, and they had to laugh at her choice of words.

Kiba resisted the urge to snort at this. Plus he'd walked by Maen's house on the clan grounds a few times before, and his pond always smelled moldy – he briefly wondered about sharing that random fact, but then figured he should keep some for later.

"Ensui has a high opinion of you, that's really good – he's well respected," Shikamaru continued before they'd get further carried away, leaning his head on his hand.

"Ooh, I like him, too! He's a great captain!" the tracker said happily as Akamaru barked his agreement.

A rapid review of those they were most likely to run into followed, and it was surprisingly civil – even lighthearted and practically fun, to Shikamaru's enjoyment.

Well, it was undeniably (and finally) progress, right? And it only took five years!

The next day, while they were finalizing the administrative hassle linked to registering their marriage and Kiba joining the Nara clan, they ran into Konoha's Allied HQ's deputy, Maki of Suna, who promptly asked Kiba whether Anko had spoken to him – sporting a grin as she did so, worrying them.

"No…" Kiba replied slowly, wondering what she wanted with him. "Was she supposed to?"

Maki just smiled mysteriously and shrugged. "Come by the HQ before you leave," she said conspiringly before going on her merry way.

"Think you're in trouble?" Shikamaru asked him with a lazy smirk.

"Hey!" the tracker protested as he lightly elbowed his ribs. "She's probably got something to pass along to Temari…I'll drop by tomorrow or the day after – remind me to, in case I forget," he added with a shrug.

"Of course, leave it to me…" Shikamaru said automatically and then yawned as he checked the time, rolling his shoulders absently. "You want to try to catch Shino today?" he asked him around another yawn.

Kiba blinked and thought about it after a look at the clock. "Yeah, he should be done soon. Wanna tag along?"

"Not really," was the direct response. "I'm going to take a nap. Do you know how long it's been since I was last able to take a nap?" he asked him contemplatively.

Akamaru barked and Kiba dutifully relayed, "A day?"

Shikamaru shot them both a look and huffed. "Before that, it had been way too long."

Akamaru whined and Kiba actually laughed before saying, "Didn't you take a nap the day before too?"

"Now you're just being aggravating on purpose," the shadow-nin accused with a frown. "So I'll be taking my leave."

"No kiss goodbye?" Kiba teased him as he watched him go, sharing a look with Akamaru who was just as amused. "What, you're not even going to bother romancing me anymore?"

"You already signed your soul over to the Nara clan, my work here is done!" Shikamaru threw over his shoulder with a smirk.

Kiba raised an eyebrow at this, but as the shadow-nin stopped in his steps, he didn't hesitate for a second before walking to him and getting that kiss. "Okay, you can take your leave now," he declared as he pulled back.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes fondly but didn't say anything, just waved a hand about and then yawned, determined to get to that nap before someone else barred his way with unreasonable demands. (Hah.)

The tracker and his nin-dog just exchanged amused glances and then made their way to the academy, strolling around the grounds in reminiscence until class would be dismissed. There were only a couple of days left before the end of the year break, so he knew the kids would be even more restless than usual. And right on cue, he heard the children cheering as they escaped their daily daytime prison, as he used to call it – and really, now he felt guilty for having felt like that, and all the headaches he'd given poor Iruka…he definitely owed the man a fair number of drinks!

Mirai's eyes widened happily as she saw him, and she wasted no time in tackling him before moving to hug Akamaru. "How's Kao doing?" she then asked him worriedly.

Kiba blinked in confusion until he figured she was likely referring to Kao's indigestion from the other night at the festival, and he shook his head as he ruffled her hair fondly. "She's fine, don't worry. She got over it pretty quickly," he assured her.

Mirai sighed in relief and squeezed Akamaru tighter. "Good…I tried telling her not to eat that mushroom, you know? But Miko dared her to and then—"

"Don't blame yourself, Mirai," he quickly interrupted reassuringly – it wasn't her fault, after all. "Now, do you know if Shino's still alive?" he asked her with a wink.

The little Sarutobi giggled and nodded with certainty. "Of course! No one could kill Uncle Shino!" she replied confidently. She wasn't in his class, but she had faith in him.

"I know that! But I'll go and see if he needs back-up anyway! Try to behave, okay?" Kiba asked her with a serious expression as he ruffled her hair one last time.

"I'll try!" she promised happily as Akamaru licked her cheek.

Kiba nodded back and then walked towards Shino's classroom, greeting a couple of other professors on the way. "Hey Shino! Missed me?" he asked his best friend brightly as he walked into the room.

"We met at the festival the other night," Shino needlessly reminded him as he finished gathering his papers without looking up at him.

"You missed me," Kiba stated matter-of-factly as he strolled over to him. "Did you give them a test right before the break? That's mean," he then added with a raised eyebrow.

"They more than deserved it," was the Aburame's reply as he briefly looked up at him, however pausing as he took a good look at his face. "What is it?" he asked as he tilted his head to the side the slightest bit.

"What is what?" his friend asked back with a blink, sitting up on his desk.

"You clearly wish to ask me something," Shino noted, frowning slightly at his casual confusion about treating his desk as a chair but not voicing the complaint.

Kiba chuckled, happy he knew him so well, and leaned closer while narrowing his eyes conspiringly. "So we found out about Kurenai and that guy from Kiri! I can't believe you kept that from me!"

Shino merely raised an eyebrow at the accusation. "And why should I have said anything? You know I don't gossip, Kiba."

"Aw, Shino! Gossip is such an ugly word! Gossip is when it's about people you don't know!" Kiba argued with a grin. "When you're close it's just—"

"Gossip all the same."

"—information," was the correction, backed by a faithful bark.

"I'm fairly certain that gossip is always referred to as such when you're spreading stories that are about someone other than yourself," the professor insisted pragmatically. "In fact, I would even go as far as to say that this is gossip's very definition."

But that didn't really annoy Kiba. "Aw, Shino…you drive me crazy, I missed that so much!" he said honestly.

"Yet we talk to each other quite often," Shino reminded him, sounding a little amused.

"It's not the same and you know it!" Kiba paused at this and frowned as he eyed him in a gauging manner. "Hey, you're really not mad at me for getting married out of the blue, right?"

Damn Ino for managing to make him worry about that again!

Shino seemed surprised by the question, but slowly shook his head. "It wasn't out of the blue – you'd announced your intention to do so quite some time back, as I'm sure you'll recall."

"You know what I mean, Shino," Kiba said with a roll of his eyes.

Shino closed his mouth and looked at him, absently putting the quizzes into a folder. "I'm not mad at you, Kiba," he assured him.

The tracker sighed in relief and opened his mouth to get back to teasing him but his friend wasn't done speaking.

"I'm mad at Shikamaru," the Aburame informed him.

"I know you're not exactly crazy about him but—" Kiba started but was cut off.

"You didn't know, so how could I be mad at you for not telling me something you didn't know? Besides, you called me as soon as you were able." Shino continued as though he hadn't said anything. "And I understand your reasons for getting married; I even understand Shikamaru's eagerness to get it done, in light of the fright you gave him after that mission," he added the slightest bit reproachfully.

Kiba frowned slowly at this, unused to hearing his best friend expand so much on something – usually he did most of the listening and kept his sentences to a subject, verb and noun, with sometimes maybe an adjective or an adverb finding their way in there. "So then what…?"

"Three days," Shino said simply, frowning slightly. "That's all it would have taken for us to be there. And if schedules didn't permit, then that would have been out of our hands, but at least we would have had an opportunity."

Kiba frowned at this, trying to see it from his point of view – and yeah, he could get why he felt a bit stung, because Shino kept grudges, and Shikamaru hadn't impressed him at the start of their relationship. "I know you'll say it's not my place to apologize, but I'm sorry anyway," he told him earnestly. "I'm not going to lie to you, it was a very awesome day for me; but it's true that having you guys there would've made it even better," he admitted as he reached to punch his shoulder fondly.

"I know," Shino replied easily, having never doubted him. "How did the meeting on Nara grounds go?" he then asked, figuring they could move on to the next subject now that they'd laid it all out in the open.

Luckily Kiba was used to his ways by then so this didn't faze him. "Well, you're looking at the newest Nara in the clan," the tracker replied, shrugging modestly.

Shino simply nodded. He for one would've preferred it if his best friend hadn't joined another clan, but he respected his decision to do so and didn't feel the need to comment about it.

Kiba grinned at him and then hummed as he tapped his nose. "So I ran into Maki at the tower before getting here. She seemed to want me to visit the HQ, any ideas why?" he asked him with wiggling eyebrows.

"Why would I?" Shino asked back with a raised eyebrow.

Akamaru did his barking laugh and Kiba snorted. "Come on, I can tell the two of you still have that—what was it you called it? 'Mutually beneficial arrangement'?"

"Our arrangement notwithstanding, if she has any business with you, I can hardly see why it would be appropriate for her to discuss it with me," was Shino's factual response.

Kiba shrugged it off, having figured that would most likely be the case. "I'll keep you posted anyway," he commented dismissively. He then grinned even wider as he remembered what Shikamaru had brought up the other night, about having their own kid one day, and he quickly sniffed the air to make sure no one else was around before turning back to his friend. "Hey, you'll never guess what Shikamaru asked me the other day!"

Shino raised an eyebrow and while he didn't actually try to guess, neither did he stop him from sharing.

After all, even though he personally didn't like Shikamaru all that much, he didn't actually dislike him either. But Kiba's face lit up whenever he talked about him, and he knew it was mutual, so he figured that was the important part.

Besides, true childlike optimism in adults was hardly seen, and Shino had to admit he actually liked that about his friend. It reassured him when thinking about his students and what their lives might become like as shinobi.

A couple of days later, Kiba remembered Maki's advice to visit the HQ without needing to be reminded, and so it was that shortly before noon he got to Anko's office and knocked on the open door. "Maki said you wanted to see me?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow, really hoping he wouldn't just be asked to be an errand boy for Temari.

Anko looked up at this and her eyes narrowed slightly – the way a predator's did when it spotted prey. "Yes! Good thing she ran into you, I was about to have someone track you down! Walk in, close the door, sit down," she replied simply as she gestured to the chair in front of her desk.

"Yeah, if it's all the same to you, then I'll stay standing," Kiba said with a chuckle as he closed the door and stepped closer to her but remained standing.

"Suit yourself," Anko noted conversationally as she walked around her desk to sit on it facing him. "How've things been going, Kiba?" she asked without preamble, starting much like she had when she'd visited his office in Suna.

Akamaru tilted his head to the side as Kiba held her look. "Things seem to be running smoothly enough. But I doubt you called me over to compare notes on our HQs," he said matter-of-factly.

The kunoichi threw her head back and laughed at this – the kind of laughter that usually sent shivers down spines – wiping a fake tear from her eye for show. "Aw, Kiba, I would never!" she assured him before grinning once more. "You're as feisty as ever, I like that."

Not creepy at all, Kiba thought. Where was Temari when you needed her? Or even Maki? This was her fault anyway!

"So…what did you need me for?" he asked again as he really, really, wanted to get going.

"There's an opening for captain coming up," Anko informed him as she interrupted his thoughts, knowing she'd piqued his interest. "It's not official yet – to be honest, it's not certain yet, either. I can't go into details, but it might be just temporary, meaning we'll promote someone internally for a short while. But there's also a pretty good chance it'll be permanent, meaning we'll be looking for someone new full time starting April – maybe May at the latest," she explained, holding his gaze. "Should that be the case, and should you be interested, the job's yours. And seeing as I haven't had a captain from Konoha since Lee transferred to Kumo, there wouldn't be any red tape stopping me."

Kiba's eyes widened and narrowed in quick succession as he searched her face for any indication it wasn't true, unsure how to react, exactly. Matter-of-factly, being captain in Konoha would be a demotion compared to his current posting, it was undeniable; yet at the same time, as a rule he couldn't be deputy commander in his hometown, so there wasn't an equivalent in the first place. And the position didn't open up all that often, so there was no telling how long he'd have to wait for the next opportunity.

He and Shikamaru had always talked about Suna as a temporary stint, but he knew for a fact they both greatly enjoyed themselves there – and that included their jobs, something that wasn't always easy to find. Could he imagine making it permanent? Abstractly, yes.

But Konoha was home. Their families were there. And if Shikamaru was serious about adopting, then raising a child in the Leaf would be more natural for them. There was nothing easy about that decision. And again, he knew it wasn't one he should or could take on his own.

Besides, this was still only a hypothetical, and Anko wasn't the person whose word he trusted the most. "Can I get that in writing?" he asked as he decided on being gutsy all the way.

Anko raised an eyebrow and made a sound between a hiss and a chuckle as she sized him up, looking both pleased and annoyed at his request. "Proof, eh?"

"You're asking me to consider leaving a higher ranked posting on a 'maybe'. If I have to wait for some official indication before being able to tell my commander that I plan on asking for a transfer, I want to be sure the job would actually be mine," Kiba replied simply, trying not to smirk too widely at Akamaru's proud expression next to him.

"Smart man," Anko praised slyly as she leaned back on her hands, moving one leg to cross it over the other. "You'll get your proof, Kiba Nara," she promised curtly.

Kiba's eyes almost widened at this before he remembered himself. News traveled fast, he knew that, but it was likely she'd simply accessed his file, something that he now realized she must've been doing regularly, since back in Suna she'd also known they'd gotten married – in a sense, keeping tabs on him showed she was serious in her offer. (Even if it was creepy that she was one of the first to call him that.)

"Give my regards to Temari, would you?" she asked to conclude their meeting.

"Sure thing," Kiba replied, mirroring her (fake) grin and thinking 'like hell I will' because these two nearly broke each other's hands in greeting whenever they met and he wanted no part in it.

When he got back to the Inuzuka household, he found Shikamaru playing a game of shogi with Aoba, who had Kao half-sprawled over his lap as she played with the pieces he'd captured. Sitting down next to them, he shrugged at Shikamaru's questioning look, figuring they weren't exactly in a hurry – besides, from what he could see the game would soon be over. He spent the remaining time explaining the pieces' names to his niece as she'd moved to rest against Akamaru.

"Proper etiquette would dictate one should let their host win from time to time," Aoba told Shikamaru with an exaggerated frown as they put the board back in order.

"Ah, but knowing my host as I do, it's my impression he wouldn't really be satisfied with a fake victory, and might even feel offended by it," the shadow-nin drawled back in amusement, chuckling as Kao went to comfort her 'poor daddy'. Turning to his husband, he nodded at him as they moved to the porch by the garden, wincing as he watched Akamaru frolic in the snow – he knew they'd have to pat him dry before he was allowed back in, and that usually meant patience, wet clothes and a sore back.

Kiba relayed his conversation with Anko almost word for word, and Shikamaru's reaction wasn't surprise as much as it was annoyance.

"That woman has some serious nerve trying to steal you from another branch after having turned you down!" he muttered before looking back up at him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, this is good – it's just her methods that rub me the wrong way," he quickly assured him.

Kiba chuckled at that. "You and me both," he confirmed with a huff. "I'd really rather work for Temari than Anko, but she got me thinking…"

"About…?" Shikamaru prompted as he absently watched Akamaru roll on his back happily – it was hard to be annoyed at him when he looked so happy with so little, really.

Kiba was silent for a short moment as he tried to think of the best way to word his thoughts. "I want her job," he declared finally, settling for 'to the point' as usual.

That wasn't exactly the answer Shikamaru had been expecting, and he raised an eyebrow at him, half-amused half-surprised. "Commander of Konoha's HQ?" he clarified.

Kiba nodded, turning his eyes back to him. "Call it a gut feeling, but I doubt Anko will stay there until she retires. If and when that happens, I want her job. And for that, I think being a captain in Konoha would be more to my advantage than remaining deputy commander in Suna," he developed.

Shikamaru could only chuckle fondly at this situation, because really Kiba never missed an opportunity to throw him in for another round. Not that he doubted him at all, and seeing how appreciated he was by his subordinates in Suna, he knew for a fact he'd make an excellent commander – as he'd always said.

"That being said," Kiba continued as he moved to grab his hand. "We're not at a 'now-or-never' kind of moment. I'd rather not owe Anko anything, obviously," he added with a frown.

"I think you'd owe Maki as well – she seemed awfully keen on you dropping by the HQ," Shikamaru reminded him easily.

The tracker nodded slowly at this as it wasn't impossible – he'd worked under Maki a fair number of times during his stay in Suna, and then when she was his deputy commander in Konoha; he knew they got along and liked each other genuinely enough. "I won't be miserable if we stay in Suna," he then started fairly, as though afraid that was how he'd come across. "I really love everything about it – I could honestly see us spending the rest of our lives over there."

"Me too," Shikamaru had to admit evenly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd even miss Kankuro!" he added with a frown, clearly wondering how that happened.

Kiba grinned in that infuriating 'I knew you'd say that eventually' manner and leaned over to steal a kiss before turning a bit more serious once again. "I just meant to say that I don't want us to move again just for me – especially when there's no guarantee I'd even get her position if and when it opens up," he stated slowly.

Shikamaru nodded as he thought about it in more details. He had to admit that he enjoyed working with Gaara. Of course, there was no doubt that Naruto would be the next Hokage, and he knew his friend would hire him on the spot – and could probably really use his help. Working with him would be a never-ending adventure, in an entirely different way. But it was hard to choose between something he already had and enjoyed, and something he could have, even if it was something he'd always wanted.

It sounded too much like a gamble either way, and Shikamaru had never been much of a gambler…

"I don't really care where we live," he started matter-of-factly. "And yes, moving to Suna was – at first – to further your career, but at this point it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say we've built a life for ourselves there."

And they had, undoubtedly. Legally, after a certain number of years spent in the village they'd also be eligible to apply for citizenship, so it wasn't too abstract to think they could be part of that first wave of shinobi who'd moved to other villages – that was what the alliance was about, wasn't it? Karui had done it and if they remained on the optimistic side, then either Tenten and Omoi, or Temari and Sojiro, would also end up doing it – although for them all it would be through marriage.

"I think the old-fashioned part of me would enjoy raising our child in Konoha, in the same setting we grew up in, but that doesn't mean I can't consider the alternatives," Shikamaru continued honestly.

Kiba nodded as he could completely relate to that. "Yeah, and the mushy-hearted part of me would love to watch his sister's kids grow up – and then watch our friends' kids too when they get to it!" he added with a bright grin. He then let out a breath as he moved to wrap his arms around Shikamaru's waist and rest his head by his neck. "It's not like we need to make a decision this instant – no matter what Anko says, if the position eventually opens up I can still turn it down, even if it was 'guaranteed' to be mine," he reasoned.

Shikamaru made a sound of agreement as he absently ran a hand through his hair. "Might be worth it just to see the look on her face," he drawled back lazily, smirk widening as he felt his husband's laughter against him. "Say yes for now," he added more seriously. "We can see about the rest if and when the time comes."

Kiba nodded slightly, tightening his hold on him as he smiled fondly. "Hey, at the very least, you can never say I make your life boring, right?" he wondered rhetorically.

Shikamaru snorted in response, sighing woefully for good measure. "You can be called many things Kiba, both good and bad, but boring is not one of them," he mock-muttered.

"I sure hope so; otherwise what'd you marry me for?" the tracker wondered with a huff.

"What, you mean I needed a reason beside your good looks?" Shikamaru asked back, managing to sound actually confused.

"At least you think I look good!" Kiba replied smartly, kissing him for good measure.

Akamaru took that scene as an invitation to join them and tackled them gleefully – bringing with him about half the snow in the garden, naturally. Personally, Shikamaru had been inclined to avoid said snow-laden nin-dog, but Kiba's arms around him hadn't let him.

The woes of married life…

Aoba and Kao poked their heads out at that moment and raised an eyebrow at the scene, but didn't comment further. Well, more precisely, she decided to join in on the fun and just threw herself over them. Her father could only lament the sorry state they were all in afterwards – although he was tempted to simply ignore them.

Just another day at the Inuzukas'.

TBC

Shino holding grudges is so canon I had to write a scene including it, right? :) I so love their friendship...Kiba's hyperness and Shino's shino-ness...awesome combo!
Next chapter we'll be back in Suna...what awaits them there, and what about Anko's offer? I hope you'll stay tuned to find out! :)