The Shadow's Fox

Chapter 20

It was late by the time they got back to the village since it was several hours away and the meeting had been in the late afternoon, and everyone was tired. After a brief summary and thoughts with Tsunade, they all said their good nights and Shikaku, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Jiraiya headed toward the Nara Compound, Jiraiya saying he would stay with Naruto and Shikamaru until he went to confront Nagato and Konan.

Naruto sighed as he stepped through the main house's front door.

"You ok?" Shikamaru asked as he wrapped his arm around his husband's waist.

"Yeah. Just tired," Naruto replied, laying his head on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"It has been a long couple months for you," Shikamaru said.

"Mommy!" Shikadai cried out as he ran down the hallway.

Naruto smiled and took a step forward, making Shikamaru drop his arm, and Shikadai hit Naruto's legs hard, making the blonde cringe a bit. "Hey, what's wrong? I told you I'd be back."

Shikadai looked up at him, tears in his eyes. "Mommy, you no leave again."

Naruto picked the boy up and kissed him on the side of his head as the boy wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck. "I won't."

"Not yet, at least," Jiraiya said.

Shikadai tensed and wrapped his arms a little tighter around Naruto's neck. "No. Mommy no leave," he said, an angry sounding tone to the boy's voice.

Naruto chuckled, just imagining Shikadai glaring at the older man. "Calm down, Dai. I won't be leaving for a while, but I am a shinobi."

"No, mommy. You no leave," Shikadai said, anger now gone and replaced by fear.

"Ok. Ok," Naruto said. "I won't leave." He looked up and saw Yoshino walking toward them with Kairi in her arms. The girl seemed to be asleep. "Were they ok? They both seemed pretty upset when we left."

"Shikadai was a bit restless, but other than that, yeah. They were both fine," Yoshino said as she handed Kairi to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru smiled down at his daughter and kissed her forehead.

"You two should go home and get some rest," Shikaku said. "It's going to be a long week, if not longer. I'll come over tomorrow and we can discuss your plan."

Shikamaru nodded.

"She had a bottle about an hour ago, so she should be good for a bit," Yoshino said. "I'll go get her bag." She then turned and disappeared back into the living room, coming back only a moment later and handing the back to Shikamaru, but Jiraiya took it instead.

"They got their hands full," the white haired man said when Yoshino gave him a look.

"Thanks, Pervy Sage," Naruto said.

They said good night to Shikaku and Yoshino, then walked the short distance back to their house, Jiraiya following the two up the stairs and setting the bag down next to Kairi's room. "Night you two," he said, then disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him.

"I'll put Kairi down," Shikamaru said, then picked up the bag and walked into the girl's room.

Naruto just nodded and walked into Shikadai's room. The boy had fallen asleep in the short time it took them to get home, but as soon as he laid the boy down, Shikadai woke up. "Mommy."

"Shhh. I'm not going anywhere," Naruto said as he sat down on the side of the bed. He pulled the tie out of Shikadai's hair, then ran his fingers through it. "I'll sit with you until you go back to sleep."