Red Is A Pretty Colour

112

Hiko's pov

I was on my way back from training with Kakashi~Sensei when I was stopped by Shikamaru. He knew exactly where to find me on Wednesday afternoons considering it had become part of my routine for the past few weeks to work on my lightning style with Kakashi~Sensei on Wednesdays. It was nice to get myself into training again, I had spent 8 months unable to do any shinobi work at all and I felt like that seriously affected my skills. Throwing myself into training had done me a world of good.

"What? Need a shogi partner?" I asked Shikamaru as I pulled the sleeves of my dress down.

"What a drag, I'm supposed to babysit Mirai in an hour and wanted to know if you'd help out. You haven't actually met her yet so this could be your chance." Shikamaru replied.

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do today." I said.

"Come on then you troublesome woman or we'll be late." Shikamaru said as he grabbed my wrist gently and began leading me away.

"Hey! What have I done to be troublesome this time? It's not like I knew I'd be coming." I said as I had to speed walk to keep up.

"I had to walk all this way to get you, that's why you're troublesome." Shikamaru replied.

"It's not my fault you're obsessed with me, I've been trying to shake you off for years." I joked.

"You'd be lost without me." Shikamaru said.

"I'd be far more than lost." I said, smiling up at him.

Shikamaru smiled back at me, the soft caring smile he didn't often use. I only really saw him smile like that when we played shogi or cloud gazed and even then it had become somewhat of a rarity. According to Ino and Choji, Shikamaru had flung himself into work when I left and just hadn't taken a break since. That limited the time we spent together despite me supposedly having the same work hours as him.

Time skip

When we arrived at Kurenai's apartment Mirai immediately began grabbing for Shikamaru. I had seen her in passing once or twice but I hadn't properly had the chance to spend time with her. Looking at her now she looked a lot like Kurenai but for some indescribable reason she felt like Asuma.

"Hiko, I didn't know Shikamaru was bringing you." Kurenai said, smiling at me. "I feel like it's been years since I last saw you."

"I know, I'm sorry I didn't let you know I was coming, Shikamaru Kidnapped me from training." I joked.

"He does that to you a lot, doesn't he." Kurenai said with a giggle.

"Yeah, he's just obssesd with me." I said jokingly. "You don't mind me sticking around and helping Shikamaru watch Mirai do you?"

"Of course not, you're more than welcome. I'll be back by 10, try and have her in bed by 8." Kurenai explained.

"Don't worry, we've got it. Have fun on your night out." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, you need a break every once in a while." I said.

"Tell that to Shikamaru." Kurenai said.