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On The Cusp	By : Okami-Rayne Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Shikamaru/Neji Views: 2205 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
ON THE CUSP

by Okami Rayne

Chapter Two

Autumn littered the road in bloody hues, painting a fiery path up to Konoha's broad, weather-worn gates. Leaves swamped the broad trail, a carpet of crumpled reds and peppered gold that crunched and crackled beneath the steady steps of two shinobi approaching the village.

Two ninja from different lands united by a common goal.

Peace.

One bore the unmistakable scars of a fighter; scars that marked the expression on his face rather than the skin. A young face hardened and jaded by wars fought too close to home. Something about his walk suggested that aggression rode neck to neck with a fierce temper, both carried just beneath the surface of a wry smile that had begun to reach the guarded grey of his eyes. His hair was a mane of fire, bound in a ponytail at his nape. He carried a massive blade of equal length to his body, jagged and vicious looking.

He wore black and green.

Beside him walked the inverted image of a very different breed of ninja.

This shinobi wore white.

His face was crafted to elegant, sculpted angles. Proud and patrician features, his high cheekbones hollowed down to a sharp but strong jaw. This striking face was defined and dominated by eyes which broadcasted his bloodline as clearly as what lay beneath the steel of his hitai-ate. And his gait, regal and instinctively paced, displayed his blue-blooded heritage more prominently than the elegant garb of his clan's robes.

A clan of power and prestige. Inwardly, he cared for neither, but outwardly, he projected the polished veneer of excellent breeding.

But there was something a little too still about his face.

A stillness that didn't match the way his body moved beneath those robes.

With this ninja, what lay beneath his cool, calm surface threatened far more damage than any weapon he would ever wield. He'd pushed himself to attain a strength held deep and dormant in every delineated muscle. Muscles that roped his body in lean, hard-earned slabs, shot through with sinew strung like steel, all concealed beneath a proud air of serenity and stillness.

Controlled power, draped in grace.

The way Neji moved hadn't changed.

But something in his eyes had.

Two weeks ago they'd been clouded and darkened with the tempest of a rage he was losing control of. But now they were calm and clear, like the storm had finally settled deep in those moonstone eyes, churning with conviction rather than carnage.

He was centred in a way he hadn't been for a long time.

I have direction.

And with direction, came the drive to move forward.

Neji blinked slowly, refocusing his gaze on the current destination.

Home.

High above, a shrill cry pierced the quiet skies, a golden-winged eagle circling in a steady orbit above the travelling pair.

"Big gates," the redhead noted dryly. "That supposed to be intimidating?"

Neji arched a brow and shot the other ninja a pointed look that immediately slid to the massive sword.

The Tsubasa shinobi smirked. "Fair point."

Neji made a noncommittal sound, but amusement hinted at the corner of his mouth, which smoothed back to a calm line as they approached the entrance to the Leaf village. The breeze at their backs was a welcoming, guiding hand, ushering them past the threshold of the wide gates, thrown open like embracing arms.

It hasn't changed.

It occurred to him then that there was no reason Konoha should have felt any different, even though he'd expected it to. He had changed. He was the foreigner on familiar ground.

Embrace it.

Neji let his eyes shutter a little and drew a deep, silent breath, holding it long and lingeringly. He considered the length of his absence, which felt longer than the mere fourteen days that had passed since he'd left.

Walked away…

For the barest fraction of a second, Neji's smooth stride faltered. A slip unnoticed by his mind and almost unfelt by his body. But somewhere deep within the centre of the calm he had created, he felt a fluttering sensation – like a flex of restless wings – a restlessness he'd left Konoha to escape.

Breathe.

He took another deep pull on the crisp breeze, the scent of burning leaves singeing the air. The hint of smoke kindled his senses, threatening to draw his mind to the memory of a warmer, huskier smoke made solid on sound…wrapped in a murmur…a murmur of a voice he hadn't stopped hearing…

A low whistle redirected his attention.

"Big sword," a voice called.

Neji blinked back to the moment and turned towards the two shinobi at the registry post. Kotetsu sat in a relaxed slouch, peering over the top of his feet, which he'd crossed and propped on a stack of paperwork. He seemed to be ignoring the workload as religiously as the frustrated looks his friend kept shooting him.

Izumo glanced over. "Welcome back, Hyūga. You know your Genin team got brought in—"

"—blown in," Kotetsu smirked.

"Brought in by Suna's ambassador?" Izumo corrected, his finger scanning a list for the information. "Yeah, much earlier today. Where were you?"

Neji glanced pointedly at the sword-wielding nin beside him. "I was delayed."

The redhead shrugged. "Having a big sword comes with the tendency to swing it at people who threaten kids."

"So you demonstrated, but I trust you'll opt for diplomacy over violence the next time you deal with Suna's ambassador, Hibari." Neji gestured vaguely around the village. "She's a friend to some of our people and she happens to be here on the same business as you."

"Which would be peace negotiations, according to this statement." Izumo eyed the Tsubasa shinobi warily, leafing through papers to search for the mission report.

Kotetsu pretended to glance at the book propped on his lap, watching the newcomer with equal caution. "So you attacked Temari-san?"

Hibari glanced at his sword. "If she's the crazy lady with a big fan, I guess that's accurate."

Neji controlled the urge to roll his eyes. He managed a dignified flicker of his lashes instead. While crossing paths with Temari had come as a surprise, the fight that had sparked off between her and Hibari had come as an outright shock.

That's the last time I play mediator…

It hadn't been easy breaking up that fight.

He certainly hadn't expected two peace ambassadors to decide that a weapon's worth was measured by wielding it against anyone who claimed that theirs was bigger.

It had been a childish and unexpected reaction on both their parts.

Given what had set them off, Neji sensed it had more to do with a personal clash of values between Hibari and Temari when it came to how to deal with childish antics – or namely, Konohamaru.

"Big fan alright. Yeah, that would be her." Kotetsu grinned, snapping his book shut with a loud crack. "She had your Genin team whipped, Hyūga. They had a whole load of luggage too. Weirdly enough, I'm pretty sure some of it was chirping."

"That's right." Neji paused, something close to humour hitting his eyes. "I'd have returned with them, but I had to deal with damage control."

Izumo frowned, glancing up sharply from his papers. "Damage control?"

"I swung my sword, she swung her fan, objects got in the way," Hibari detailed without inflection, his grey eyes scanning the sidewalks, automatically surveying the village.

"Objects, huh?" Kotetsu pressed, looking more amused than concerned. "Well she was still swinging that fan at the Genin team, I'll tell you that."

Hibari scowled, grey eyes hardening.

Neji shot Kotetsu a warning glance, a signal to stray away from the mention of children given the redhead's overprotective tendency towards them.

Izumo caught the look, kicked Kotetsu under the desk and ignored his friend's startled yelp. "No civilians were hurt, right?"

"No one was injured." Neji paused, considering the cost. "Only pride and property."

Thank the Gods.

He'd resorted to the Kaiten at the last minute and sent both Jōnin spinning in separate directions only to diplomatically bring them back onto common ground.

"Right, Hanegakure." Izumo rolled open a scroll, the bold script detailing the original outline of the mission, along with Temari's signature confirming the Genin team's escorted return. "You'll need to sign."

Neji stepped over and examined the text with a quick sweep of his gaze. "This will need to be revised."

"Nah." Kotetsu waved a hand dismissively. "Just omit the dirty facts, we won't say anything."

Neji looked insulted. "I'll omit the fact that you just suggested that."

"Yeesh, talk about strait-laced. All work and no play for you Jōnin, huh?" Kotetsu stretched his arms above his head in a yawn, shooting his untouched workload an irritated look. "Well, unless you're Asuma-senpai."

Neji cocked his head in query, taking up the ink quill to sign his name beneath the neat scratch of Temari's signature. "Asuma-senpai?"

Kotetsu sighed in a woebegone fashion, jerking his chin accusingly. "Yeah, you Jōnin just love pulling rank, don't you?" He flicked a glance at Izumo. "Why'd Asuma load all the slacker's work onto us anyway? That's sure as hell not elite training."

"Because it's Shikamaru's birthday," Izumo explained.

Neji froze half-way into setting the quill down.

No one noticed.

"WHAT!" Kotetsu swung his feet from his paperwork prop, upturning a few sheets in the process. "No way! That sly little shit. When the hell did that happen?"

"Seventeen years ago?" Izumo muttered, frowning when he noticed Neji staring sightlessly at the scroll. "Hey, you okay?"

Neji snapped back to himself in an instant, his breath catching hard.

He straightened away from the desk, opal eyes still as placid pools, untouched by the tension rippling along his torso. "Temari-san has an escort?"

Izumo blinked at the odd, unrelated response. "Yeah, that's all taken care of." He dated, then stamped the entry and handed over the scroll.

"Good." Neji slotted the scroll away, turning away from the desk. "Hibari, I have obligations I need to see to, but I'll ensure you have an escort for the duration of your stay."

"Not a problem." Hibari inclined his head and raised his arm when a shrill screech signalled the dive of the large bird haloing the skies.

The golden eagle curved her path towards him, swooping low in a swift descent. The sharp arc of her wings broke the force of her plummet and she eased into a glide, talons stretched ahead, perching on the leather guard clipped onto Hibari's forearm.

Kotetsu smirked, leaning back in his chair. "Big bird."

"The best kind."

"I assume you'll want to keep her with you," Neji guessed, turning his steps away from the registry post and gesturing for Hibari to follow.

The redhead nodded, stroking a knuckle over the eagle's head affectionately. "Yeah, she doesn't do well in cages."

Neji smiled a little, his gaze set ahead to keep his focus from turning inward and onto that restlessness churning in the pit of his stomach. "Understandably. I'll see to it that—"

"HEY!" A hoarse shout exploded across the street, accompanied by the animated swing of an arm waving back and forth.

"Still haven't gotten him a leash," Hibari noted, amusement threaded into his tone, grey eyes set on the shinobi jogging his way towards them.

"Little good it would do," Neji remarked with the barest hint of a smile.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, still waving. He was clad in khaki pants and an orange t-shirt pulled over a long-sleeved black top. The Jinchūriki's hitai-ate was absent, leaving his sunny spikes to fall free. "Neji!"

The Hyūga slowed to a stop, squinting against the sun's glare. It struck a fuzzy glow around Naruto's head, reflecting off his golden strands in a hazy flash. One might have wondered if it wasn't just the Uzumaki's indomitable light shining through, always exploding outwards, never contained and never conditional. Like Naruto's heart, it spilled untainted into his ready smiles and blazing grins, the sun of his personality always riding high in the swirling blue of his eyes.

Always in such high spirits.

Which had Neji wondering at the darkness Naruto had wrestled with in order to come out on top of his own turbulence, buoyant and upbeat to the extent of stirring the best in others everywhere he went.

How dark was the place you were in, to have reached out to find this unmatched light…against all odds…?

Despite the depth of introspection playing behind his eyes, the rest of Neji's expression remained perfectly schooled. The unspoken respect which settled in his gaze lasted long enough to be marked by Hibari, but not long enough to be recognised by Naruto as the Uzumaki bounded over.

"Naruto," Neji greeted mildly, adopting the semi-warning tone he'd learned to take with over-affectionate children or animals likely to pounce.

Naruto skidded to a stop along the sidewalk, kicking up a spray of leaves that caught on the breeze and whipped around him playfully.

"Whoa!" He stabbed his finger at Hibari, his attention switching in an instant from one Jōnin to the other. "Hibari! No way! Tsunade-baachan didn't mention Neji would be bringin' you back!"

Neji shook his head at the uncouth greeting. Normally he'd resist rebuking Naruto, mainly because 1) it was pointless and 2) the Uzumaki's grin often saved him from anything being misconstrued as genuine rudeness. Normally, Neji accepted it was just his "mouth before mind" nature. Unfortunately, two weeks of pulling Konohamaru up on proper decorum had the Hyūga's condescending streak kicking in like a knee-jerk reaction.

Bred into him like a gene, the urge to reproach won out.

Neji drew his head up, long mocha bangs framing his unimpressed expression. "As foreign as the concept of courtesy is to you, Naruto, a civil hello would have sufficed."

Naruto laughed, tossing his head back to parody Neji's lofty look, his eyes tinged with mischief. "Yeah right, next you'll be askin' me to bow low and use a suffix."

Neji arched a brow, his deep tones falling on a dry, depreciating note. "I'm convinced you are both physically and verbally incapable of both. Akamaru has more social propriety than you do."

Naruto puffed out his chest and made a face that was probably supposed to mimic and mock Neji's haughty demeanour before he looked so uncomfortable with the act that he settled with sticking his tongue out.

How very mature…

Grinning with unbeatable aplomb, the Uzumaki turned his gaze to Hibari, blue eyes on high beam until they hit on the eagle.

"Gah!" he hopped back a step, waving his palms nervously. "Man, did you have to bring a bird with you?"

Hibari shrugged, hefting the arm his eagle was perched on. "I remember how fond you were of our birds – or vice versa."

The eagle cocked her head towards Naruto, feathers ruffling at the crest of her neck as she responded to his jumpiness with a high, playful screech. Naruto's expression twisted in a grimace. Neji bit down on a smile, watching the Uzumaki shuffle back another step, sky-bright eyes casting around in a paranoid flick.

"Uh, that was the only one you brought with you, right?"

He obviously hasn't seen Konohamaru yet.

Hibari glanced at Neji, silently communicating a question that read along the lines of 'should-I-tell-him-so-you-can-deal-with-the-hysterical-reaction?'.

Neji blinked quickly and redirected the topic. "Naruto, I need to arrange an escort for Hibari, do you know if any Chūnin are available?"

Naruto kept his eyes on the bird, scratching at his blond spikes. "Uh, well we're all kinda tied up 'cause of Ino's plans and all." He paused here, blinking wide as he whirled on Neji like a cyclone, grinning. "Hey! You guys are gonna be there right?"

Neji arched a brow, playing the part of the ignorant party if only to keep from acknowledging that tightening in his gut. "Where?"

"At the place Ino's hijacked for her joint birthday thing with Shikamaru," Naruto explained, swinging his arm in one direction only to frown and then point the other way. "Uh, I'm pretty sure Sakura said it was one of those fancy ryokans close to the Hot Springs."

Neji's brow quirked at that.

A ryokan?

That was unexpected. Those modern accommodations close to the Hot Springs were by no means cheap, much less a place to hold a party – or at least the kind of party that Neji assumed was in the works. From what Shikamaru had once hinted about Ino's festive tastes, it seemed the least likely place for a gregarious creature like the Yamanaka to celebrate.

"A ryokan?" Neji tucked his chin back, looking dubious.

"Weird, huh?" Naruto stuffed his hands into his pockets, shrugging. "Yeah, something about Shikamaru being an old man and needing something low-key and quiet or whatever."

Of course…

Neji's lips betrayed the barest ghost of a smile, his gaze straying across towards the Shogi House further along the street.

A silent sigh, sloughing deep in his chest, loosened the tension in his gut.

He steeled himself against the embalming warmth that followed it.

It was a perilous slip, likely to pull him into a quick slide the second his focus shifted onto the shadow-nin.

Not now…

The instruction did little to stop the instinctive reaction.

Memories stirred in the back of his mind, creeping across the line he'd drawn between two parts of himself. They threatened to remind him of a yearning he hadn't tried to forget, but had needed to control. A yearning that had wrapped around his heart like a vine, thorns digging into places that had never stopped hurting since the day he'd walked away.

Stop it.

He closed his eyes, clearing his throat. "Then I'll speak with Tsunade-sama and find someone to take my place."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked. "What?"

Neji tipped his head to Hibari, veering the topic back onto safer ground. "Escort."

"No need to stand on ceremony, Hyūga." Hibari arched a brow, grazing a knuckle across his eagle's head. "I've got all the eyes I need to find my way around."

Naruto made a face at the eagle, but brightened at the prospect of time to spare. "So does that mean you'll drop by later?"

Neji frowned, not sure whether to be amused or aggravated by Naruto's obstinate ability to cling fixedly to a point – or promise – without factoring in the reality surrounding it.

"Hibari is here for peace negotiations, Naruto, not birthday celebrations."

"Well yeah, but peace between our villages is cause for celebrations!" Naruto reasoned, holding out his palms to solicit support from Hibari. "I mean you're not seriously gonna let Neji stick you with Tsunade-baachan and those council oldies the whole time, right?"

"Baachan?" Hibari echoed, glancing at Neji.

Neji shook his head very slowly. Naruto's ability to slaughter a suffix was unmatched. It never ceased to amaze the Hyūga how someone as fiercely devoted to Konoha as Naruto could unabashedly run the village's reputation into the ground by reducing its figureheads to embarrassing caricatures.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"Be quiet."

"Oi!" Naruto took a moment to be offended, then settled back on his heels and crossed his arms, a sly grin working across his face. "Oh I get it, you're just being all stuck-up and socially awkward."

Neji blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

My social graces are impeccable…

He frowned at the stupid, defensive thought.

There was absolutely no reason to have reacted to Naruto's words, mentally or otherwise. It was a ridiculous and unfounded statement after all.

Well, mostly.

Ridiculous.

Neji's frown knitted tighter until he noticed that Naruto was grinning at him idiotically, revelling in the possibility that he might just get a rise out of the stoic shinobi. Neji quickly pulled his frown taut, his high brow smoothing out beneath the hitai-ate.

Naruto grinned wider, nodding. "Yeah, you totally know I'm right," he laughed. "You need to chill out with us."

"The purpose being?"

"Fun!"

Neji gazed blankly, sampling the taste of the word without reaction. "Fun."

Hibari chuckled beneath his breath. "You know your Uzumaki may have a point where you don't have a clue, Hyūga."

Neji started inside, blinking from his glazed stare, which had somehow, without his knowing, slid over Naruto's shoulder towards the distant Shogi House.

He looked across at Hibari and scoffed. "What?"

"Yeah, what?" Naruto echoed in a slow, suspicious drawl, squinting at Hibari, not sure whether he was being insulted or supported, though apparently it didn't matter because he was smiling again a moment later. "Aww, c'mon Neji."

"Naruto," Neji warned, but his tone failed to penetrate Naruto's insistence.

Naruto clapped his hands together in a childish plea. "C'mon! We never get chances like this. And it'd be cool to have everyone there, you know? It'd be the first time we're all together…" Naruto trailed off suddenly, the light in his eyes sucked out by a shadow Neji recognised in an instant.

Uchiha.

Understanding softened the glare he intended to pin on the Jinchūriki, curbing his tone into something gentler as he sighed, throwing the ball in Hibari's court.

"There'll be time after the council meeting, if you wish to indulge in this…" he waved a hand vaguely in Naruto's direction, unable to find an adequate word that described the 'fun' the Uzumaki was promoting.

Perhaps I 'am' clueless when it comes to these…festivities…

Unbidden, Shikamaru's words came back to him.

"Probably for the best. Don't really give much of a crap about birthdays myself."

"It's not gonna be all wild or anything." Naruto grinned a little, a weak imitation of his beaming smile. "You'll get free food outta it too."

Neji wasn't listening.

Hibari glanced between them, sensing that something was off. Unable to define it, he simply shrugged the tension away. "Wouldn't turn down the chance to surprise your strategist now, would I?"

A grin hooked Naruto's lips, immediately picking up the corners of his slumped spirits and lifting him back to his sunny zenith. "Alright!" He punched the air, tucking his fist back with a winning smile. "So Neji, you're coming too right?"

Neji blinked slowly, distractedly settling his gaze somewhere to the side of Naruto before his expression cleared, arranging itself into a serene but detached stare.

"I have somewhere I need to be."

Naruto's brow lifted with interest then dropped with disappointment, his arms folding as he hunched with a pout, studying Neji's face. "Another mission or something?"

Or something…

The Jōnin inclined his head, offering no elaboration.

Thankfully, Naruto didn't ask, so Neji didn't have to lie. Because his destination of somewhere could have been anywhere provided it was south, west or east of that yearning which made Shikamaru a Magnetic North.

Just the thought of the Nara was enough to awaken that deep, gravitational pull.

No.

'No' was a word Neji had told himself repeatedly. He'd also told himself that distance and new direction had weakened the bond that had been tearing him one way as he'd moved in another. In his most convicted moments, he'd assumed the yearning had eased in the two weeks he'd been away.

He'd told himself it had.

And so long as he stayed away, he could pretend to believe it.

What the hell am I doing?

Shikamaru wouldn't have believed it, if he hadn't already done it. With that in mind, there was nothing left to do but proceed as planned.

"Stupid bird," Shikamaru muttered, one hand jammed at his hip, the other locked around his current weapon of choice.

A net.

He'd found it stashed at the back of one of the deer pens. He'd briefly considered a sling-shot and a big, fat stone but the falcon had charmed him away from irritability with its playful swoops and dives.

And then another round of getting chased around the forest had almost ensued.

I need a bigger net…

Shikamaru scythed the end around in a few experimental dips and curves, examining the large, streaming mesh, though he'd already checked it for holes. He was stalling. And the bird knew it. Above him in the tree, the falcon cooed mockingly, tipping its head in neurotic little jerks with every wave of the net.

Shikamaru scowled up at it. "Ugh. You're such a pain in the ass."

The falcon preened, fanning out its wings as if it had received the most delightful compliment. Shikamaru had hurled more insults at it than he could be bothered to repeat. But given that he always lost in their games of 'run-and-get-dive-bombed' the bird was king and he was just an idiot with a net.

"Screw it," Shikamaru growled, moving forward with the net held like a blade.

He'd have used his jutsu if he didn't think it would seriously frighten the bird. His hesitation was impractical, considering the fact that he wanted it gone. Frightening it away was the best solution. Too bad that every time he planned out the best way to go about scaring it off, he felt a weird curdling in the pit of his stomach that soured his mood and always had him abandoning the strategy.

He never delved deeper into the reason behind it.

He didn't want to consider the possibility that some part of him had become attached to this crazy bird and its annoying games.

Just treat it like a Genin mission.

No hard feat. Team 10 had done their time saving cats and rescuing animals in D-Rank dramas back in the Genin days. Unlike Ino and Chōji, Shikamaru had never been sympathetic when it came to cats idiotic enough to get stuck in trees or dogs dumb enough to get wedged into places so awkward and impossible that simple physics screamed 'you've got to be kidding me'.

Embarrassingly enough, this exact thought assailed his brain as he began to scale the thorny, troublesome tree the bird had perched in. The boughs were tight-knitted and curved in a tangle that suggested nature had gotten confused at some point.

Yeah, so have I…

Shikamaru tilted his head away from the scratch of branches.

I'm supposed to be smart.

He snorted, managing an impressive contortionist stunt that had his ribs cramping while he attempted to angle the net up through branches, his feet set precariously on a narrow bough.

Real smart.

The falcon let out a soft 'kee' that in Shikamaru's mind carried the impression of amusement.

"Right, you better stay still," he ordered, getting a solid grip on the pole. "I'm not chasing you around like an idiot."

I'll probably fall and break my fucking neck first.

The falcon watched him with infuriating calm, almost curious – possibly condescending. Shikamaru scowled, swiped the net and missed so spectacularly that the falcon gave a little whistle of glee as it hopped along its branch tauntingly.

Shikamaru shot it an exasperated look. "Dammit."

The bird blinked back at him, cocking its head in challenge.

Shikamaru twisted his hips, pivoting very, very slowly. He raised the net with equal deliberateness, keeping every motion calculated and calm, holding the flow of chakra steady at the balls of his feet.

Slowly.

Bored with the shadow-nin's pace and premeditated moves, which seemed doomed to fail, the falcon lost interest and went about examining its feathers, paying Shikamaru no heed as he began to calculate its capture.

Here we go.

Shikamaru braced himself, adjusted his grip on the net and gauged the angle.

This can't fail.

He drew a slow breath, prepared to strike – and froze when a choked sound drifted up from below.

The hell…?

Shikamaru craned his neck back, glanced down and would have blanched if he hadn't flushed in humiliation.

Fuck.

Kiba stood below, one arm hooked on Chōji's shoulder for support. He held a fist to his mouth, cheeks sucking in and puffing out in a desperate, hyperventilating fit as he attempted to hold in his laughter. Chōji was doing a better job handling his amusement, despite grinning so wide his eyes had vanished into two little half-moons.

Shikamaru glared, unable to do much else in his embarrassing position.

And the bastard dog-nin knew it.

Kiba's face had flared to the shade of his tattoos, body shaking with the beginnings of a howling kind of laugh that would startle the bird into flight. And then Kiba did something that made Shikamaru wish the dog-nin had reached for a shuriken rather than the horrible device he'd brought with him.

Kiba reached into his jacket and pulled out a familiar, chunky-looking camera.

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

Oh screw that. No way.

He levelled a narrow, warning glare on the dog-nin, bistre orbs darkening with annoyance, shaking his head.

"NO…" he mouthed darkly.

Kiba creased up, nodding emphatically, his entire face wrinkling with the effort to keep his hysterics contained. He jerked spasmodically on the spot, attempting to work the camera.

Shikamaru considered cracking the pole down on the idiot's head.

He raised the net in warning and mouthed. "I mean it..."

The bird stopped preening.

Everyone froze.

Shikamaru tightened his grip on the net, poised awkwardly with his arms still raised. Taking advantage of the moment, Kiba titled his wrists, aiming the camera up by degrees, his strained expression close to resembling a blowfish ready to burst.

Shikamaru's eye twitched.

I'm gonna burst a vein in a minute…

The falcon ruffled its feathers, cocked its head down at Kiba and Chōji, hopped a little further along its perch and began to preen again.

Warring with his pride and the purpose for sacrificing it, Shikamaru switched his glare onto the bird. He needed to catch it. This was the closest he'd ever got with any kind of item designed to snare it. The bird had got cocky. And now was the best chance to use its lack of guard to his advantage.

And get a snapshot.

He flicked a glance down at Kiba. The dog-nin was still shaking on the spot, trying to hold the camera steady.

How embarrassing.

"No pressure, Nara," Kiba hissed, drumming the camera with his fingertips. "But I'm framing it."

"Shut up," Shikamaru growled beneath his breath, transferring his glare onto Chōji. "I hate you."

Chōji grinned, giving him the thumbs up.

Shikamaru grunted a curse and with painstaking effort, began to twist his body a little more, concentrating chakra to the balls of his feet as he arched, his long torso stretched out to extend his reach.

He heard Kiba snicker.

Ugh.

Well, at least if he fell he could direct his crash landing onto the idiot. A good thing Naruto wasn't around; he'd never live that down. As he began to inch to the very edge of the branch, he slowly curved his arm, preparing to sweep the net in an arc that would give the falcon the least number of exits by caging it against the trunk.

And then the camera flash went off. "Shit!"

The bird let out a shrill screech and shot skyward, the net grazing it's talons in Shikamaru's last ditch effort to capture it. The net caught a tangle of branches instead, forcing Shikamaru to twist sharply to avoid slamming into the trunk. The new position left him half hanging by the pole, teetering on a thin bough with chakra and the net as his only grip.

Fuck!

Another flash went off.

"Dammit, Kiba!"

A howl of laughter exploded from below. "Shikamaru, don't move!"

"No shit!" Shikamaru growled, glaring down between his arms, trying to keep his balance despite several branches prodding him like bony, mocking fingers every time he angled for a better position.

"Nice one, Nara!" Kiba crouched at the base of the tree, camera tilted up, his canines bared in a wild grin. "Oooh man, you're totally screwed!" he laughed, gasping for air. "You move an inch and that tree is gonna have your ass three different ways!"

Shikamaru twisted his head, glancing over the jut of his shoulder-blade towards the protruding boughs and sharp branches all lecherously poised to stab him in the most awkward and private of regions.

Why the hell does this shit have to happen…?

In fact, how the hell did this shit happen? Suddenly making fun of dumb cats didn't seem so simple now that he was suffering the same disgrace.

Another flash had him jerking his head back, spots dancing in his vision. "Would you stop with the goddamned camera!"

Kiba rocked to his feet, one hand waving the chunky device, the other cupping his ear with a mischievous smirk. "What's the magic word?"

Chōji chuckled, ignoring Shikamaru's murderous glare. The Akimichi rounded the tree and made the sign for his expansion jutsu. Shikamaru took the opportunity to free one hand and deign Kiba with his middle finger.

Kiba took a picture. "It's so cool when you do brilliant, stupid shit, Shikamaru. It just never happens." He waved the camera for emphasis. "But now I've got proof that even a genius can be a dumbass."

"Shikamaru!" Chōji's multi-sized hand reached up like a godly giant offering deliverance from the hell of humiliation. "You can let go, I'll catch you."

Shikamaru shot his friend a deadpan stare. "Oh, so now you wanna help me out?"

Chōji chuckled. "I'm with Kiba on this one, Shikamaru. You never do dumb stuff, so this is kinda surreal and pretty awesome."

"Like the pain medication I'm gonna be on thanks to you two."

"Ne, just let go of the net and I'll catch you."

"Not a chance."

Kiba hopped back, searching for a more embarrassing angle to shoot from. "I think Shikamaru's into a bit of branch bondage!" he called, eyes gleaming with teary amusement.

Shikamaru frowned. "Idiot."

"Tree hugger."

"Shut up."

"C'mon, Shikamaru. You know I won't drop you."

"Is it wrong that I would actually be okay with that?" Shikamaru growled, wondering if a broken neck would hurt less than being caught on camera.

"Hurry it up, I'm waiting!" Kiba called, said camera at the ready.

Shikamaru scowled, weighing up his lack of options as he dangled mid-air. Maybe he could somehow do what he did backwards?

Yeah right…

Toeing his way along the thin bough, the shadow-nin sighed and resigned himself to the inevitable. He adjusted his grip and looked down at the expanded palm hovering beneath him.

And then the falcon swooped with a shrill scream.

"Shit!" Shikamaru released the net on instinct.

Chōji caught him, caging his fingers protectively around his teammate.

But the bird took a helix-spin right past them, straight at Kiba.

"The hell!" The dog-nin bolted to his feet and ducked for cover. The falcon's talons raked through the shaggy muss of his hair. "Hey! Shikamaru! Call off your crazy bird!"

Shikamaru peered through Chōji's fingers, smirking. "What's the magic word?" he called.

"Not funny!" Kiba waved the camera around to ward the falcon off, another flash going off in the process, straight in his own face. "SHIT!"

Shikamaru gave a breathy chuckle. "What an idiot."

The fierce explosion of light sent the bird into a screeching frenzy. Razor talons cracked and hooked into the camera, getting a solid grip on the thick plastic, wrenching it from Kiba's fingers.

"HEY!" the dog-nin yelled, waving a hand around blindly. "Give it back!"

Shikamaru's eyes widened, eyebrows shooting up in surprise and amusement. The bird had just scored itself a strike in his favour.

Even so, better stop this crap before it gets outta hand.

Shikamaru rapped his knuckles against Chōji's palm, prompting the Akimichi to set him down and unfurl his fingers. The shadow-nin strolled off his friend's hand as if it was the norm to be carried around, brushing flakes of bark off his clothes.

"Kiba, quit attacking it and it'll back off."

"Argh! I can't see shit!" Kiba growled, hopping his way around the clearing in an attempt to arrest the stolen camera. "Am I even close to it? All I can see are dots!"

Chōji took up an unhelpful running commentary, directing Kiba with outbursts of "hot, cold, warm, warmer, almost". The bird screeched and flapped, haloing Kiba's head with the device dangling from its claws in taunting proximity, always just out of reach.

"Sonofabitch!" Kiba growled, twisting around in circles. "Shikamaru! C'mon! Call it off!"

"Tch. Even if I could, I wouldn't."

Chōji laughed, clapping Shikamaru's shoulder. "All's forgiven, right? Now aren't you glad I brought him with me?"

Shikamaru pursed his lips, rubbing a hand across his mouth in an attempt to smooth out his smile. "I still hate you."

"And I still love that bird," Chōji laughed, triggering Shikamaru to loosen a chuckle.

A loud bark drew their attention away from Kiba and onto the approach of a great white mutt ready to meddle in the mayhem. Oblivious to the cause of the trouble, Akamaru came bounding between the trees with a wild bay that sent the bird rocketing for the canopies, camera in claws.

"NOOOO!" Kiba howled to the heavens, his hand outstretched and knees bent, like a scene out of an amateur-dramatic tragedy.

The best part was that it wasn't an act.

Shikamaru laughed, the low, raspy sound followed by a smile that cut sharp and defined across his face. "Yeah, all's forgiven," he chuckled, breaking into another laugh.

Chōji looked askance at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape in a surprised, lopsided smile, like he hadn't expected that reaction from his friend.

Shit, has it been that long since I've laughed?

Shikamaru pretended not to notice Chōji's look, focusing instead on Kiba's distraught pose as the dog-nin mourned his loss of blackmail material.

"No, no, no…" Kiba chanted, searching the canopy for any sign of movement.

Akamaru finally caught on to the fact that there was no immediate danger and stopped turning circles around Kiba, cocking his head up, floppy ears arched attentively as he followed his master's gaze towards the treetops.

"Too bad, Inuzuka," Shikamaru drawled, shaking his head.

"Arrrgh! Dammit!" Kiba turned a tight circle and carved his fingers through his hair, grabbing coarse, tawny strands in frustration. "It took it." His mouth dropped open and snapped shut repeatedly as he stared up at the canopies, looking crushed, like the bird had torn his heart out. "It took the fucking camera!"

"Yeah, well observed." Shikamaru cocked a hip against a tree, his voice husky with laughter as his gaze fell to something on Kiba's shoulder, eyes brightening with fresh humour. "Guess even dumb geniuses have fallback plans."

Kiba shook his head, gazing forlornly at the trees until Shikamaru's words registered. He shot the shadow-nin a sidelong glare. "Hey, shut up. You didn't plan that."

Shikamaru pressed his lips, his stomach tightening against the raw flurry of laughter building inside him. "Yeah…"

Kiba's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "That's bullshit."

Shikamaru shrugged, his smile threatening to break through. "More like birdshit."

Chōji guffawed loudly, throwing his head back. "You have the worst luck, Kiba."

"What?" Kiba frowned, until a dawning realisation had his eyes flying wide. He turned his head in a jerk, his gaze hitting on the source of their amusement. "Oh you're shitting me! NO!"

Chōji chuckled, squinting at the thick, chunky smear streaked across Kiba's jacket. "Oh hey, Shikamaru, I think that's your Shogi piece."

Shikamaru cocked his head, narrowing his eyes to bring the crap-caked lump on Kiba's shoulder into focus, his lips tugging into a smirk.

"Checkmate."

Kiba's feral howl startled the Nara deer into a skittish bolt, but the immediate sound that followed it had one stag turning back and raising its head, ears pricked high as it caught the stirring and much missed sound.

Shikamaru's laughter.

It carried huskily over Kiba's roar, rolling warm and relaxed into the canopies and between the trees, chasing away a ghost of aching sadness which had haunted the forest for days.

An aura of silence hung heavy in the heart of the Hyūga residence.

Like an unsung dirge frozen in cold lungs.

Breathe…

Neji drew a sharp breath. He felt his stomach clench against a belated tremor as he crossed the threshold into the courtyard, immediately picking up on the odd mood.

What has happened here?

A thick, oppressive static seemed to be clinging to every molecule of air, thickening his breath as he dragged it in. The odd sense of tension sucked out the calm like a parasite, excreting an ominous chill that crawled along the walls and across his skin, raising hairs and tightening nerves.

Chakra…

Neji could sense it and automatically activated his Byakugan, scanning the courtyard. His eerily defined pupils tapered to sharp pinpoints, tracking the chakra that came into focus; flares, flurries and a flood of blue-white aura bleeding into his monochrome radar.

So much chakra…

The courtyard was bloated with it. A cool, stagnant pool of expended energy, arcing out in places to form the dome-shape structures of the Kaiten and the less solid formations of jutsu patterns he was unfamiliar with.

"Neji-niisan."

Neji blinked, the pinched surface of his eyes smoothing back to their flawless, opalescent stone. The Byakugan veins contracted as he turned, setting his calm gaze on his youngest cousin. She stood beyond the sun's reach, her face obscured by one long shadow falling sharp across her face, a slot of shade bisecting her figure.

Neji bowed his head. "Hanabi-sama."

She stood on the porch close to the training room, hair pulled back in a tight braid that began its elegant weave at the crown of her head, trailing down between her shoulder blades. She wore the standard ninja-mesh beneath a pale and sleeveless v-neck with matching white pants.

Despite acknowledging her, she didn't respond straight away.

She didn't come forward either.

She remained lodged against the side of one of the porch posts, keeping to the chill of the shade. Neji tried not to focus on the prickle across his skin and moved a pace to his right so the afternoon sun struck his face, painting his high cheeks in golden brush strokes.

The warmth barely penetrated the chakra haze.

Neji glanced around, then set his gaze on her shadowed face. "What happened here, Hanabi-sama?"

"Welcome home," Hanabi greeted, her voice hollow and quiet.

She said nothing more, watching him almost warily.

Strange.

Neji dipped his shoulder, letting his ninja bag slide to the crook of his arm as he stepped forward, muscles tensing and flexing against the claustrophobic press of chakra.

"Thank you," he returned neutrally, catching a glint of steel. Hanabi turned over a set of shuriken in her slim fingers, shuffling them like cards.

What the hell is going on?

Neji hesitated a moment before modulating the deep velvet of his voice to its most soothing tenor. "Is Hiashi-sama in council?"

"No." Hanabi wrapped an arm around the post in an abrupt flick, quick as a cat's tail, dragging the shuriken against the wood like a small feline sharpening her claws.

Neji observed the odd behaviour with the barest pinch at the corners of his eyes.

And then the sun struck the shuriken.

A glint of fractured light hit her face.

It flashed like a thin spotlight across the vicious burn that painted the pale slant of her jaw and scraped like red chalk along her neck.

Neji remained perfectly still, but a rush of cold flooded along his spine, drawing his posture more rigid than his face. "What happened to you?"

Hanabi stood silently, regarding him with an unreadable flatness that looked oddly haunting. What was worse was that he recognised it. He'd once lived with the same ghost inside him, staring back at him through eyes that had once belonged to his father. Eyes he had inherited; and a haunting he'd inherited. One that spoke of transience between destiny and decision – or the dreaded state of limbo that came from being caught in-between them.

He took a step closer, frowning now. "What happened to you, Hanabi-sama?"

Only the jerky scratch of the shuriken told him that she'd heard. But there was something he wasn't seeing – until she looked him in the eye. And then it occurred to him so fast that the cold unease creeping along his spine hit his eyes in a flash.

He drew his head up sharply, his tone taking a deep plummet. "Where is Hinata-sama?"

Hanabi's fingernails dug into the post, the shuriken cutting into her palms. "Do you think I'm weak, cousin?"

Neji blinked, only vaguely thrown by the question. His focus was elsewhere, eyes flicking in a sharp dart around the courtyard, searching for the elder sister. "I do not think you are weak."

"No. You do not think of me at all, do you?"

What?

Neji snapped his gaze back to the younger Hyūga, the angles of his face drawn tight with practiced calm, thinly layering his concern. "Where is your sister?"

Hanabi's eyes flashed like two icy jewels, cool and crisp and much too hard.

Neji, unfazed by the look, could have shattered it in an instant if he'd chosen to return it. Instead, he faced her more directly, the sunlight slashing a fierce gleam across his headband – a glow that paled in comparison to what threatened to flash dangerously across his eyes.

"What happened here?" he pressed.

The faint prick of tears crowded at the very corners of Hanabi's eyes. She blinked them away, raising her chin a notch, withdrawing her arm back around the post to score small, claw-like grooves in the wood.

Neji tried a different method, dropping the terse square of his shoulders to adopt a less austere approach.

His eyes softened and his tone gentled. "Hanabi, what happened to you?"

"You taught her how to do it," Hanabi spat the 'you' like poison, her voice tremulous beneath her hurt. "So really, you should know."

Neji's eyes widened, his tongue recoiling in sharp curve as he set his teeth on edge, hissing a breath.

Those bastards.

No sooner had the thought struck him than he felt a keen chill chase back up his spine and settle at his nape. He turned his head on instinct, canting his jaw to glance through his bangs across the courtyard.

His gaze hit on the stern white eyes of two Main House elders watching him.

Neji pressed his lips to keep them from curling in a sneer.

This breed of the Main House took the lion's share of Hyūga pride. But to Neji, they were a flock of vultures on the sidelines. Raptors of tradition that decorated themselves in pristine plumes; plumes that hid their scavenging need to watch the cruel, twisted game play out amongst Hyūga siblings and cousins pit in a vicious war of survival of the fittest.

Neji turned his head a little more.

One Hyūga elder raised his chin, pale eyes deeply scarred by crow's-feet, the lines of his wrinkled brow arched in expectancy. But it was the younger of the men who held Neji's gaze like a fixed beam, unwavering and cold. Condescending, commanding…

Controlling…

Hyūga Hitaro.

Hiashi's cousin.

Hitaro raised his broad jaw, a dark brow arched in one of countless unspoken commands that Neji knew as well as any Branch member. Sometimes just the barest movement was the Main House's nonverbal cues. Neji was fluent in these voiceless expectations. And this one spoke five words without a sound.

"You will bow to me."

Neji steeled his jaw, every fibre inside him coming alive like vipers wanting to strike – but those vipers might as well have been chains, leashing him down in futility. Holding Hitaro's gaze, Neji weighed the consequences of defiance.

Then he set his attention on Hanabi.

She stared up at him through hurt and hardening eyes. But her look was also speaking wordless whispers. An accusation without a sound.

"You're supposed to protect me."

Gods if that didn't hit him in a place still too tender to take a blow.

He closed his eyes, bowed low to Hanabi, offered nothing but his back to Hitaro and simply walked away.

Fourteen days.

For Shikamaru, it had been a test of time for many reasons. And most of them related to establishing a big enough gap between the past and present so that he could detach and compartmentalise his thoughts. In his mind, the past wasn't happening now so there was no point in letting it impact the present.

It saved him from guilt, grief and regret.

Sometimes it saved him from remembering…

Unfortunately, no one ever appreciated this brilliant evasive tactic.

And no one was more obstinate about defying it than his mother.

So it shouldn't have surprised him that when he attempted to enter his house, he was met with an uncooperative shoji door and a couple of splinters after applying the automatic 'force will find a way' tactic.

It also shouldn't have surprised him that this tactic failed.

Shikamaru was pretty sure it was because his mother – and possibly most women – defined and epitomised the question "what happens when an unmoveable object hits an unstoppable force?"

She wins. That's what happens. Dammit.

Yoshino had locked down the house.

Again.

"Troublesome woman."

"What's up?" Chōji queried, peering over Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Nothing," Shikamaru sighed and dropped his forehead against the chipped screen. He banged the side of his fist in a dull thump against the doorframe. "Mom!"

"Uh, Shikamaru…" Kiba called.

"What?"

"That crazy bird…you brought it back from Hanegakure, right?"

"Yeah."

"Huh, right." Standing further along the porch, the dog-nin had his hands tucked under his arms, scowling and shivering on the spot as he glared towards the Nara forest. He'd shucked his ruined jacket, nose wrinkled against the amplified reek of bird crap and the damp, misty scent of distant rain.

"That explains it, you know," Kiba said.

Chōji looked between them. "Explains what?"

"It's possessed."

"It's not possessed," Shikamaru dismissed a little too vehemently,especially considering the fact that Kiba might actually have a point. "You just pissed it off."

Kiba made a sound that could have been indigestion, or an insult beneath his breath. Shikamaru couldn't blame him really. All things considered, Kiba had a justified reason to be spooked.

The falcon had returned for a second round.

And it hadn't been looking to play.

To the Nara's alarm, it had launched into an outright attack, going straight for the dog-nin. It had clawed the Inuzuka's top to ribbons, lacerating the fabric into a state that looked like Kiba had been caught in the crossfire of kunai and shuriken. He stood in a stringy semblance of what had once been a fawn-coloured top, his jeans scuffed with dirt and claw-marks, exposed skin prickled against the cold rolling in with the clouds.

"I hate your bird."

"It's not my bird," Shikamaru grumbled, banging his fist against the door again. "I told you not to piss it off."

"You were swingin' a friggin' net at it and it didn't attack you!"

"I'm lucky. You're not."

"Oh you think?" Kiba drawled with exaggerated surprise, making a sweeping gesture that encompassed his rough appearance from head to toe. "I got crapped on, attacked and it took my camera!"

"That's not your camera," Chōji pointed out.

"That's not the point."

"And it's not my problem," Shikamaru growled, trying to work the door again. "Shit."

"She was expecting you back, right?" Chōji asked.

"Yeah…"

"You sure?" Kiba frowned, abandoning his tirade only because this delay would mean standing even longer in the cold. He moved over in a bouncing lope, trying to keep warm. "So why's the place locked up?"

Shikamaru pursed his lips, his fist tightening against the doorframe. If he ignored the question, it would beat lying. It was too much effort to fabricate a story around a truth he sometimes doubted ever happened.

It was like a fragmented, surreal nightmare he'd tried to forget.

The memory of that night always came to him in flashes.

Like strobe flickers, bright and brutal as the lightning had been the evening that Neji had come at him like an executioner, hell-bent on a violent retribution.

Shikamaru pressed his brow against the door and sighed.

Chōji frowned and pulled out some barbecue potato chips to munch on, the crackle of the packet drowned out by the rustle of leaves as Shikamaru crouched down to scrape them away from the bottom of the door.

"Uh, Shikamaru, what are you doing?"

"Breaking into my own home," he uttered, only half-sarcastic, glancing over his shoulder. "Kiba, move out the way, you're blocking the light."

Kiba shuffled aside with a grumble and Akamaru whined, cocking his head up and batting his tail against the Inuzuka's legs in a lazy 'there, there' pat, sharing warmth as he nuzzled close.

Shikamaru dropped a knee and flicked his fingers in two quick seals. "Kage Nui no Jutsu."

A black tendril snaked away from his shadow, flatting out into a spatula-like shape that slipped under the crack in the door. Shikamaru closed his eyes, bringing the map of his home to the forefront of his mind. He directed the shadow tendril accordingly, concentrating chakra enough to taper the end and keep the point of contact with the door fixed and flat.

Almost.

The lock clicked before he could reach it.

Crap.

The door tore back.

Shikamaru ducked and rolled on instinct, narrowly missing the swing of a katana blade. It hit the porch in a whistling crack that sent tiny shards of wood splintering in all directions.

Chōji's mouth fell open, his crisp packet sailing to the ground.

Kiba, however, had to snap his jaw shut to keep from laughing, utterly unfazed by the violent reaction from a fierce - possibly crazed - mother.

"Mom!" Shikamaru barked, flipping back onto his feet and holding a palm out. "What the hell, it's me!"

Yoshino poked her head around and Shikamaru caught the briefest flash of a fearful kind of ferocity he hadn't seen in her eyes before.

It was gone the second she set her gaze on him, shaking it off. "Honestly, why didn't you try the front door?"

"I did." Shikamaru dropped his palm, but kept his tone even. "It was locked. Like every other door and window around the house."

Yoshino sniffed, her eyes hitting on his cheek before she tugged the blade, dislodging it from the porch and sighing at the ugly groove it had left. "Now I have to seal that up and sand it down."

Shikamaru stared for a long moment, eyes pinched in disbelief. "That could have been my head."

"Well you're lucky you have your father's reflexes, aren't you?" Yoshino dismissed, her eyes calming when they hit on Chōji's nervous face. "Is my boy giving you trouble, Chōji-kun?"

The Akimichi grinned sheepishly, patting Shikamaru on the shoulder as the shadow-nin shot his mother an incredulous glare, hands jammed at his hips as he cocked a leg, jaw set.

Chōji smiled disarmingly. "Kiba and I are handling him, Nara-san."

Shikamaru threw a withering glance over his shoulder as Kiba coughed loudly enough to both disguise his chuckle and draw attention. The second Yoshino looked over he instantly morphed his expression to the look of a kicked puppy.

"Kami, Kiba-kun, what happened to your clothes?" Yoshino asked, equal parts concern and suspicion.

Kiba smoothed a hand over his shredded top, shaking his head. "Shikamaru tried to warn me, Nara-san."

"Repeatedly," Shikamaru added.

"Repeatedly," Kiba agreed a little too obligingly. "But I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't let that dog maul him."

Shikamaru choked on a snort.

Oh you've got to be joking…

Sadly, not the case.

And while Shikamaru knew that Kiba could never and would never outsmart him on anything that required strategic thinking, there was one thing the dog-nin understood better than he did.

Women.

Yoshino squinted sceptically, her gaze flicking in rapid snaps between each teenager, searching for a ploy.

Shikamaru didn't get a chance to open his mouth.

Kiba switched tactic and no sooner had he cupped his side than Akamaru whined low and loud, nuzzling at his flank with a wet, worried nose. Kiba played the part flawlessly, wincing at the contact as if it actually hurt.

"I'm okay, boy…" He petted his canine's head indulgently. "You did good too, protecting Shikamaru while I fought it off."

Chōji swayed behind Shikamaru to hide his grin.

Shikamaru looked about ready to oblige Kiba with some genuine injuries.

But Yoshino, to her son's shock, melted at the sight of the mutt fussing over the Inuzuka. Shikamaru made a bold mental note of the animal tactic and its results. It probably explained why his father always coaxed her towards the deer on days when she was oddly quiet.

It occurred to him then how quiet she'd been after the night Neji had attacked him.

For three days she'd been like more of a stranger in her house than the nameless face that had violated her home and attacked her son. Hence the dramatic lockdown on the Nara residence. Shikaku indulged her and insisted that Shikamaru do the same, but to the young shadow-nin it was nothing more than an irritating, bothersome overreaction.

I'm fine. She should get over what happened already.

It was nothing compared to what his damned life portended day-in and day-out.

Every mission carried the possibility of never coming home.

But for some reason, this had hit his mother hard and his father wasn't offering up any clues, cryptic or otherwise, as to why.

Weird.

He blinked back from his thoughts when Yoshino called Kiba into the house, ordering that Shikamaru find appropriate clothes for his 'brave friend' who had saved him from a rabid dog twice the size of Akamaru.

Yeah right.

Kiba limped over, developing injuries on the way which Akamaru supported with plaintive whines and concerned nudges.

Unbelievable…

The dog-nin shot Shikamaru a sly grin as he hobbled past.

Shikamaru's mouth bent down in a frown. "I can't believe she fell for that."

Chōji laughed. "Watch and learn, buddy. Another thing I never get the chance to say to you." He sighed contently, round cheeks dimpling in a grin. "Yep, this day is going great."

"For you maybe," Shikamaru grumbled, shaking his head. "Something tells me I'm gonna be in tears by the time its over."

TBC.

A/N: ^_^ The board is set, the players are present and in the next chapter, the games begin!
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