A/N: Hi, there. So, you guys might have noticed I changed the rating of the fic, but there's nothing to it, really, I just re-read the ratings guide and concluded that T is more appropriate.
SpicyWifey: Haha, and there they are again. I'm realy into writing ShikaTema these days...
Aya Kazuki: Yeah, I'm trying to work on every couple even the biggest surprise of chapter 700 ;)
chemistrykim: Thank you very much. But I have to confess the most of ideas I have about NaruHina are about them as a married couple.
Fier66: I'm glad you did! I hope you like this one as well - even if Naruto and Hinata aren't present.
Chocogirl24: Thanks, and there you go.
marissa mars: Yeah, I needed an explanation to them too, thats why I made up that one, I'm glad you find it credible. And, about Hiashi's blessing, well, I think so! Not even Naruto would be dumb enough to try marry the Hyuuga ojou-sama withou the head of the clan blessing. Thanks for following the story XD
SavsHeatherly: Thank you very much, I hope you like the new chaps as well.
"You know… Ino-san is a bit of a maniac, isn't she?" Said Karui, when her husband opened his mouth to object she added: "Yeah, I know transmitting your knowledge to the kids is an important traditional thing but going as far as wait them at school so they can't escape? That's a bit too much."
Sai squirmed his face. "Nah, you say that because it' wasn't not you guys who had to deal with her after last time they bailed on us."
Temari laughed and put a hand on her friend's arm. "Don't worry, Sai, I'll make sure your name get on the Memorial Stone for being married to that woman."
"Very funny." Said Ino, getting on the field holding Shikadai's and Chouchou's hands. Inojin was walking behind them willingly and seemed very focused already. She let go of the kids hands, still looking at Temari.
"Hey, mom, dad's not here, how will I train without him?" Asked Shikadai.
"Don't get all excited, Shikamaru will get here in no time. We will start without him." Answered Ino.
Temari and Karui exchanged a look then made a "it can't be helped" gesture to their kids.
"You can start where we stopped last train." The longhaired blonde said, crossing her arms. "Assuming you remember."
She's talking about Formation #1. Both Shikadai and Chouchou heard Inojin say in their heads.
Inojin! Since when you can communicate telepathically? Chouchou thought, surprised.
That doesn't matter now! Shikadai, you come closer to me, Chouchou go behind us, and prepare to move when we get them.
Chouchou, remember to watch uncle Sai's drawings. Shikadai thought, surrendering to his friend enthusiasm.
They assumed their positions. Sai, Karui and Temari prepared as well.
I'm pretty sure that mom and aunt Karui will attack together as a decoy. Shikadai said in his mind, Inojin kept transmitting it. We can't let them hit us, but we have the upperhand: they don't know we are connected telepathically. Inojin, can you warn me when they'll come?
I think so.
Good, I will trap you guys on my shadow imitation jutsu and move us all to dodge. He warned.
THERE THEY COME!
"Oh! They got better!" Shouted Ino when the three kids escaped from being hit by Temari's iron fan jutsu.
Choji moved his head to the side. "That's right, is Shikadai controlling them all? Not even Shikamaru could that when he was so young."
"It's easier when they are sharing the same mind." Explained Shikamaru, who had just get there with Kakashi.
"How do you know that?" Ino asked, still watching the trio closely. They were still escaping from every single hit, but it seemed like they weren't getting any space to fight back.
"Inojin's hand is on his forehead. He will have to learn how to that without showing external signals." The emeritus Hokage chimed in.
"That's funny. I never taught him how to do that." Ino said, smiling proudly at her kid.
"It seems like your terror police is working on someone, Ino." Said Shikamaru. "But still really impressive, it's a C or B level jutsu."
On battle, Sai drew three shetland sheepdogs that started to walk towards the kids.
Now? Inojin was asking.
Now, and pray for it to work. Thought Shikadai.
Inojin's body fell on the ground, mindless.
"No! What is that? You can't use Shintenshin no justsu before your targets gets immobilized!" Shouted his mom. "And no one is close enough to guard your body, what are you thinking, Inojin?"
Karui, who was closest to him, prepared to touch his chest - what would eliminate him from that round - but she suddenly felt her body get stiff. She couldn't move.
Shikadai sighed in relief, he got her. A huge hand stretched to Karui's chest.
"You're out, mom!" Announced Chouchou as the other fist crushed one of Sai's dogs.
Karui smiled and sat down on the ground after Shikadai released her. "It's up to you now." She said to Temari and Sai.
The other two dogs were now getting closer to Inojin's body and, for the surprise of everyone, one of them stood protectively over the boy growled to the other. A few neck bites and hits with paw and there was only one dog. This Shetland sheepdog ran to his creator aggressively. It took long enough to Sai understand what was going on. He fell on the ground with the dog above him, his paws on his chest.
"Inojin!" He realized. "You transferred your mind to my drawing!"
The dog sort of smiled - what was a bit creepy - and licked up Sai's face before running back to his team, as he ran, his shape began to change, get bigger, when he got there, it was a bear Sai sat up to exchanged an impressed proud look with his wife.
"That is pretty brilliant of him." Complimented Choji. "I didn't knew it was possible to put your mind inside a drawing."
"Me too. I never tried it." Confessed Ino, her light eyes were still sparkling.
"You probably can't do it, Ino." Kakashi spoke. "I guess that Inojin can do it because he inherited some of Sai's skill too, that's why he could change the drawing as well. If he can also draw on his own and transfer his mind to his own drawings... Inojin will be ruthless. That is, if he don't faint due fatigue, because that must be exhausting."
Shikamaru smirked and put his hands on his old gesture. "Man, who could imagine he would match his parent skills so well. It's both a waste and a blessing that our kids are born in such quiet times."
Kakashi chuckled.
"What's funny, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Nothing. I was just remembering I said something similar about Minato-sensei's yet-to-come baby when I found out about him and he ended up facing as much or even more than the generation before him."
Ino frowned. "Eh? Sensei, are you cursing our kids or something?"
He chuckled again. "No, I'm just saying that you can never know how the future will be, that's why you're right about wanting to train the kids so rigorously, Ino."
Shikamaru tilted his head. "Well, about that... It's good that Shikadai and Chouchou are less eager to train than Inojin, that way they keep him from being obsessed. But his enthusiasm seem to be what motivates the other two to do what they must... This should be a very effective team."
Right then, the trio was fighting Temari. Inojin's unconscious body was behind the ink bear's back, Chouchou had her normal-sized hands in fight position, ready to attack when Shikadai told her to, but he was still trying to get his mom on his shadow jutsu, but she was dodging it almost effortlessly.
Temari made a mark with her fan on the place her son's shadow reached its stretching limit. She looked at Shikamaru. "That's a bit nostalgic."
"A-ah, I need to grown up at least 30 inches to reach her!" Shikada complained out loud but he kept trying to get her nevertheless.
The bear began to change its shape again, now it was an big eagle, that grabbed its controler body and flew above Shikadai's head, coming closer and closer to Temari. She looked at the eagle and brandished her still closed fan at it.
"Heh, one star should do to blow you away, Inojin." Temari tried to open her fan a bit but a familiar sensation of restrainment overcame her. She sighed. "Yeah, definitely nostalgic. Inojin was both a decoy and a way to stretch you shadow?"
Shikadai smiled and walked a few steps towards his mom as she, unwillingly, walked towards him as well. He stretched out to touch Temari's chest.
"Done." Shikadai released the jutsu and she pulled him to a hug.
"That's my boy."
Inojin, we won. Get down. He tought.
Roger that. I'm co...
They lost the connection and the ink eagle exploded in the air and Inojin's body started the freefall, Sai was about to drawn another bird to catch his son but Chouchou was faster.
"Baika no jutsu!" She shouted, as her body expanded she ran and lied down below Inojin, he fell on her tummy, cushioning the fall. "See? Being fatty has it's perks."
Inojin smiled but he was too tired to say anything, so he just lied there while she get back to her normal size.
"Yeah, they will definitely be an effective team." Agreed the Sixth, smiling under his mask as he looked to that weary little trio.
xxxxxx
As they walked home, Chouchou was hand in hand with both of her parents.
"You did very well today, sweetie, so you can choose whatever you want for dinner." Said Karui.
Choji knitted his brows at her. "Heh, weren't you the one who said that training was useless?"
Karui sighed. "I never said it was 'useless' just that it isn't really urgent, there's a difference. And, after I saw out kid do so well on battlefield I got more excited about it."
Chouchou looked up, pensive. "I won't complain if I get to choose the dinner, but I pretty much just did what Inojin and Shikadai told me to."
"Think together is pretty much what defines teamwork, babygirl, don't underestimate yourself." Said her father, petting her head.
"And will teach you how to fence and you will see: combining my kenjutsu and your dad's techniques you will be the best Akimichi that ever lived." Karui laughed strangely.
Father and daughter exchanged a concerned look.
"You know, maybe mom and aunt Ino have more in common than they know, and I don't really know if that is such a bad thing." She whispered.
Choji shrugged. "You know, due my position I can't agree or disagree." But he smiled and blinked an eye to her, ruining the impartial effect of the sentence. Chouchou also smiled.
"What are you two talking about?" Karui asked, eyeing them.
"About dinner." Chouchou was quick to make up. "Mom, I think I want curry for dinner."
xxxxxxx
"This is really what you two have in mind for 'chilling'?" Wondered Temari.
"Yeah." Both her son and husband answered.
"Okay." She sighed. "I will try to see the point."
The Nara family was lying down on the grass on a small glade in their clan forest looking at the clouds that move faster and faster in the sky. A few deers walked by, Temari eyed them, worried.
"Are you sure the deers won't attack me? I'm not a Nara by birth." She asked.
"Yes, mom, we brought you here because we want to get rid of you without a trace." Shikadai said sarcastically.
Temari sat up. "What's up with that tone, young man?" A deer approached Temari the sniff her, she screamed and got up in a jump.
Shikadai and Shikamaru laughed. "Lie down already, Temari. They can feel you're my mate, they won't hurt you."
Temari scowled at the deer, but lied back down beside her husband. She looked at the clouds as well, still not getting the point of doing so.
"Wait a second, Shikamaru, you just called me mate?"
"Mom, please, you're ruining the mood."
Temari sighed and looked around, trying to find something more interesting to look. The deer that sniffed her was now sharpening his antler on a tree nearby. She hoped he wasn't doing it to attack her. A few moments later, all the deer went away, Temari frowned and looked up to the sky again, it was getting cloudy and greyer.
"It will rain." She said.
"Yes." Shikamaru answered.
"And we will stay lying down here in the rain?"
"Yes."
"Is there any point to this except getting a cold?"
"Yes."
She sighed again. "You two have the weirdest hobby ever."
Shikamaru smiled but said nothing. A few raindrops fell on her face, Temari squirmed her green eyes, hating the feeling. Soon enough the rain got thicker, the cold water that poured on them made even her soul freeze.
God, how can they like this? She asked herself. The kunoichi tried to open up one eye just to have a particularly bulky drop hitting her cornea. She shutted it back, grumpy then she listened a muffled chuckle.
"You are having your time there watching me suffer, aren't you?" She asked Shikamaru.
He laughed out loud. "Pretty much yeah."
She lifted herself on one elbow. "So there's really no point to all this except annoy me?"
"Well, there really is something soothing about looking at the clouds but after it started to rain I just wanted to see how long you would endure it." He explained, still laughing.
Temari narrowed her eyes at him. "Shikadai was scamming this too?"
"He fell asleep right after he told to not ruin the mood."
That eased her annoyance a bit. "Huh? How can he sleep under the rain like this?"
Shikamaru sat up. "He's a very calm and well balanced kid." He said sarcastically. "Maybe it would have been better if we had left his cradle under that shelf, huh?"
Temari laughed. She wanted to tell him to shut up but what came out instead was: "I love you."
Shikamaru's smile got warmer, he grabbed their kid in his arms and put him on his back before standing up. "Let's go home, I'm feeling my nose get stuffy."
She laughed again and got up as well. "Yeah, I think I will prepare us all a very warm rice porridge for dinner."
They started their way home, Shikamaru reached out for her hand. "I love you too. Rice porridge sounds good, can you add some chicken?"
xxxxxxx
After he was finished with the dishes of the dinner, Sai sat on the living room with his new issue of his favorite women magazine. Ino got in the room and sat on the armchair angled towards him.
"Inojin is sleeping like a log. He really overdid himself today, maybe I should take it easier on him." She said.
Sai raised his eyes from "10 things guys say when they are not into you". "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Ino frowned at the magazine. "You know, one could think you already know everything there is to know about women now, we've been married for years now, after all."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I should stop wanting to make you happy, does it?" He answered.
Ino didn't have time to feel touched because he added: "Besides they have these recipes for diuretics juices that make you lose up to 5 pounds, you should take a look."
She sighed. "Yeah, keep on reading these magazines."
It was Sai's turn to frown. "You're mad?"
"Yes. You just ruined such a nice mood." She said, crossing her legs slowly.
"We have a mood...?"
"We had a mood, now I'm going to our bedroom." She spoke as she got up with languid moves.
Sai dropped the magazine and tried to think on a coherent sentence, but all the thoughts that were crossing his mind were pictures of Ino and him on wordless actions. He followed her to their bedroom.
"Say... Inojin is sleeping like a log, right?" He asked, closing the door behind him.
Ino looked at him over her shoulder flirtatiously. "That's right."
"Good." Sai said before running to her.