Red Is A Pretty Colour

101

Hiko's pov

As promised on my next day off I dropped by Shikamaru's house. Yoshino was very excited to see me and ushered me straight into her living room.

"I don't know why you still bother to knock dear, you're always welcome here. I'd be fine with you just letting yourself in." Yoshino said.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said.

"Now, where have you been!? I haven't seen you since the war ended 4 months ago!" Yoshino said, crossing her arms and giving me a stern look.

"Sorry, I've been really busy with all the work as and advisor and Naruto's new arm and all the problems that come with that and then trying to find time to visit my boyfriend too. Things have been really hectic, I missed you though." I explained.

"I missed you too dear." Yoshino said before pulling me into a hug. "Now, tell me about this boyfriend of yours. Shikamaru mentioned him but he never went into detail, just that he lives in the hidden sand."

"Well, his names Gaara and he's the Kazekage. We became close through my best friend, his older sister Temari. He's really sweet and a little awkward but in a cute way." I explained.

"He sounds wonderful." Yoshino said although she seemed a little off about it. "How long have you two been a thing?"

"4 months." I replied.

"Awww, well I hope it lasts many more. Young love is always so wonderful." Yoshino gushed. "Now I just need to find someone for Shikamaru. Honestly, the boy's hopeless."

"Give him a break Yoshino~san, the right person will come along eventually. Now just isn't the time for him." I said.

"I just hope it's soon, I want grandkids before I die." Yoshino said making me laugh.

"What are you laughing at you troublesome wo- Hiko, when did you get here?" Shikamaru asked as he came around the corner into the livingroom.

"About 20 minutes ago, Yoshino~san and I were just catching up." I replied.

"What a drag." Shikamaru muttered.

"What was that?" Yoshino asked, giving him a chance to take it back.

"Nothing." Shikamaru said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender.

Yoshino and I both laughed and she shook her head.

"Anyway, I was promised a round of shogi when I came over. Let's play." I said making him smile.

"Yeah, I'll get the board, wait for me on the porch." Shikamaru said.

"You kids never change." Yoshino said.

"Isn't that a good thing? Good things don't need to change, they were already perfect to begin with." I said.

"I suppose, I do love watching you kids play." Yoshino said a gentle smile gracing her lips. "Shikamaru would never admit it but he always gets excited about playing against you."

"I love playing against him too, even loosing to him is fun." I said before heading outside to go to Shikamaru and I's usual spot.

I felt at peace sitting here again after so long. All of my favourite moments in my life happened here on this porch with a shogi board infront of me. It was just a place I loved being.

"It's been so long since we played that its covered in dust." Shikamaru said as he came outside, carrying a dusty board.

"Our poor shogi board, we've neglected our child." I said as I leaned forwards to dust it off.

Shikamaru smiled and shook his head.

"You're special." Shikamaru said. "Please don't eat my pieces this time."

"I can't make any promises, they're tasty." I said as we began setting up the board.

"You better not you troublesome woman." Shikamaru said.

"I missed this. We should try and find time for this more often." I said.

"Yeah." Shikamaru agreed before making the first move.

The two of us were definitely rusty, I hadn't played in 4 months and Shikamaru hadn't had a challenging opponent in just as long. That didn't matter though as our competitive streak took over due to the challenge of eachother's minds.