Her Mask (Shikamaru x Oc)

Chapter Twelve

Dinner was on the table and the four of them began eating but not before Shingami thanked Yoshino for inviting her to stay for dinner.

"So did you two have fun?" Yoshino said sweetly.

"Mom..." Shikamaru groaned.

"Shikamaru..." Yoshino mocked which promptly shut him up to avoid embarrassing himself any further.

Shingami, on the other hand, didn't notice or she did but she was so used to the banner because she was always around Anko and Genma.

"We ended in a tie for all the games we played. I find Shogi to be enjoyable now that I have learned to play."

"That's good. How has work been for you?"

Shingami took a bite of the delicious food before answering Yoshino.

"It's been a bit hectic with all the new cases lately but overall it's been going well."

Shingami didn't want to go into great detail while they were eating because she knew from experience that some people got sick when she explained in great detail how her day of work had gone.

Who knew that the Hokage's daughter in law wasn't a shinobi and didn't like gore?

"Have any of the cases been difficult?" Yoshino asked.

"Only one a couple of weeks ago, a prisoner escaped and... made a little bit of a mess, he was dealt with accordingly." She said, Shikaku and Yoshino understood instantly understood and weren't in the slightest bit bothered by what she was implying. Shikamaru, however, was surprised that Shingami was so at ease with the subject and said it like she was reading off a grocery list.

"And how has training been going for you Shikamaru?" Yoshino asked her son after she had spoken to Shingami.

"It's been a drag." Shikaku agreed with the statement, Shingami didn't make any comment, and Yoshino just groaned over her son's answer.

"How has he been doing during training, Shingami?" Yoshino was glad that Shingami was having dinner with them for more than one reason. Between having her son actually doing something productive and having someone to give her a full answer on how Shikamaru was doing with his team.

Shingami took a bite of rice then after she swallowed she answered, "Shikamaru has made remarkable progress during training. On top of his natural intellect he has built up muscle tissues and his reflexes are starting to keep up with his mind. You should be proud of all that he has accomplished thus far."

Shingami then looked at Shikamaru and gave him a small smile, and with that small gesture, his face bloomed into a blush because he knew that she had meant every word that she said.

He didn't want to see his parent's reactions to his blush so he looked down at his curry. Shingami, however, noticed Yoshino's and Shikaku's faces and found herself confused. Yoshino was quietly laughing while Shikaku had a smug look on his face. She chose not to ask about it and took another bite of her food.

"Shingami, what's your favorite type of flowers?" Yoshino asked the girl. It seemed like an innocent question to Shingami however Shikamaru knew that his mother had other motives behind the question.

"I really like roses."

"What color?"

Shingami answered instantly because of her fondness for the flowers.

"The white ones are my favorite but so are the red ones they are both beautiful."

Shingami's smile faded as she remembered the first time she had ever seen a rose.

____________

Shingami was walking a little ahead of her mother and brother. She was four years old with a bandage over the wound on her shoulder. Her mother and brother were talking as they went down a dirt path.

"I know it's hard, Sweetheart. But we just have to look on the bright side. You and Shingami will be just fine if you just listen to your father as much as you can." Her mother said quietly from under her mask.

"Why?! So I can just stand by and watch him beat you and Shingami half to death?!" He pointed at Shingami who was listening but also looking at her surroundings.

"You saw what he did to her! He was drinking and she didn't do a Jashin damn thing wrong and he still hurt her! Tell me why I can't do anything?!"

"You know why, Sweetheart..." Her mother sighed she was no happier than her son but there was nothing she could do.

While they talked Shingami noticed a bush of pure white flowers that she had never seen before and went up to them to get a better look.

"Momma? What are these?" Shingami asked once she was certain she didn't know what they were.

Her mother and her brother had caught up and looked at the flowers with the girl. Her mother kneeled beside her.

"These are called roses, Shingami. Do you like them?"

"Yeah. Their real pretty."

Her brother reached over and pulled one off the bush and cursed lightly as he nicked his fingers on the thorns while taking them off and holding it out for shingami to take.

"Not as pretty as you." He said as she took it from his hand carefully.

"And they are too fragile, you are strong." He said with a smile and poked one of the pedals towards the middle blood from his hand dripped onto the flower but neither of them minded.

And she smiled back.

_____________

"-gami? Are you okay, dear?"

She looked up from her food realizing that she had been staring blankly at it for a while.

"Yeah, sorry I spaced out for a second there." She said and gave them a weak smile picking up her chopsticks and started eating again.

Yoshino, Shikaku, and Shikamaru kind of brushed it off knowing that Shingami probably always had something on her mind as such a high ranking shinobi. That was the lifestyle she chose.

But then Shikamaru thought of something that never really struck him before.

Did Shingami ever really want to be a shinobi to begin with?