Shikamaru laid on the grass at his favorite cloud-watching spot with his eyes closed. It had been two months since he got back from Suna, and he couldn't get Temari or Koji out of his head. He had promised Temari that he wouldn't tell anyone about Koji and he was finding it harder and harder to keep that promise, especially when people asked him what's wrong.

Shikamaru sat up and sighed. 'I know she would've found it by now. Why hasn't she written to yell at me about it?' He looked up at the clouds floating by in the sky. 'Did she think it was just some kind of joke and throw it away?'

"Maru!"

Shikamaru looked over wide eyed and saw Koji running toward him. "Koji?" he got out before Koji plowed into him, knocking him over.

"I missed you, Maru," Koji said.

Shikamaru sat back up and looked down at the boy that had been plaguing his mind. "I missed you, too, but what are you doing here?"

"Well that's rude."

He looked over and saw Temari and a small smile appeared. "Ok, then I'll ask you. What's he doing here?"

Temari stopped a few feet from him and crossed her arms. "That's still rude."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Troublesome woman. Why did you bring him all the way here? You usually leave him in Suna when you come here."

Temari walked the rest of the way and sat down next to him. "I was going to be here longer than usual, so I decided to bring him along. I haven't really left him for a long period of time before."

"Really?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. The last time I was here was the longest I've been gone," Temari said.

"What about other missions?" Shikamaru asked.

"After I had Koji, I haven't really taken big missions. The biggest I've done has been an escort mission for an important delegate to a village close by."

"I see," Shikamaru said and watched as Koji plucked a dandelion from the ground and examined it. "So what brings you to Konoha this time? Lady Tsunade didn't say you were coming so I know it's not any meetings."

"Vagation!" Koji said happily.

"Vacation?" Shikamaru asked looking from Koji to Temari.

"It was Gaara's idea," she replied. "He thought it would be good for Koji to get out of Suna and meet some allies."

"But I thought you didn't want anyone to know about Koji?" Shikamaru said.

"Before you found out, I didn't know how to tell anyone, but I asked you not to tell anyone because I didn't want them to find out from someone else. I wanted to be the one to tell them."

"What's this?" Koji asked Shikamaru as he held up the flower.

"It's called a dandelion," Shikamaru said. "It's a kind of flower.

"Oh," Koji said and lowered it back down to look at it again.

"Shikamaru knows someone that has a lot of flowers, and knows a lot about them," Temari said.

"Really?" Koji asked.

"Yeah, but we'll go see her later," Temari said. "Didn't you say you were getting hungry before we got here?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Koji said.

Temari stood up and helped Koji off Shikamaru's lap. "Come on. Shikamaru will buy us lunch."

"Hey, why do I have to buy lunch?" Shikamaru asked as he stood up.

"Because," Temari said, "it's your village."

"Then that means you should've been the one to pay for me while I was in Suna," Shikamaru said.

"I made you food," Temari said and smiled. "Besides, you're the guy."

Shikamaru huffed. "Troublesome woman."

Temari laughed and they continued to the village. Once they got in town, Koji grabbed his mom's hand and stood close to her, afraid of the strange people around them.

Everyone was staring at them. The villagers were used to seeing Shikamaru and Temari together, but it was new to see a kid with them. Shikamaru sighed when he saw a couple people whispering with each other.

"What?" Temari asked when she heard him.

"People are getting the wrong idea," he replied.

Temari stopped, looked around and saw the people whispering, picked Koji up, and kept walking. "Let them. We know the truth so it doesn't matter." Shikamaru didn't respond, but she knew he agreed.

After they ate, they headed over to the Yamanaka's Flower Shop to see Ino.

"Welcome," Ino said then realized who walked in. "Temari! It's good to see you again," she said walking around the counter. She noticed someone hiding behind Temari's leg. "Who's this?" she asked as she knelt down.

Koji tried to hide even more behind Temari.

"This is Koji, my son," Temari said.

"What?" Ino exclaimed looking up at Temari. She then turned her head to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru raised his hands. "Hey, don't look at me. I found out about him two months ago on my mission to Suna."

"Shikamaru's not the father," Temari clarified.

Ino looked back at Koji, who quickly hid his face again, and smiled. "Hey, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Koji," Temari said placing a hand behind his head to try and coax him out. "This is Ino, Shikamaru's friend. She's the one that knows about flowers."

Koji looked at Ino then down at his flower. He held out the flower and took a step toward Ino. "I have a dandy lion."

"Awww! So cute!" Ino said loudly.

Koji jumped at Ino's loud voice, dropped the flower, and hid behind Temari again.

"Congratulations, Ino, you already scare the kid," Shikamaru said.

Ino glared at Shikamaru then turned back to Koji. She picked up the dandelion off the floor and held it out to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Koji stared at Ino for a second then stepped out and took the flower from Ino. He then looked around and saw all the flowers in the store. "Wow," he said wide eyed.

"Would you like to see them closer?" Ino asked.

Koji looked up at Temari to see if it was ok. When she nodded her ok, Koji turned back to Ino, smiled, and nodded vigorously."

Ino stood up and chuckled. "Ok. How 'bout we go look at some roses and daffodils first," she said and held out her hand.

"Yeah," Koji said excitedly and took Ino's hand. "What's a roses and daffy dills?"

Ino laughed and dragged Koji away from Shikamaru and Temari.

Temari smiled and turned to Shikamaru. "Well, he'll be occupied for a while."

"Yeah," Shikamaru said. "Hope Ino can keep up with all the questions he's going to have."

"I'm sure she can handle it," Temari said. She took a quick glance back at Ino and Koji, then back at Shikamaru. She grabbed his arm and headed for the door.

"Hey," Shikamaru said in surprise. "Where are we going?" He struggled to keep his balance until he finally managed to turn around.

"I need to talk to you," Temari said not looking back at him. She dragged him to the end of the building, not wanting to be too far away in case Koji needed her.

"What's this about?" Shikamaru asked putting his hands back in his pockets.

Temari pulled a piece of paper out of her side pouch and held it out to him. "Did you fill this out?"

Shikamaru took the paper and looked it over then handed it back. "Yeah."

Temari took the paper back a bit surprised. "You're admitting it so easily?"

Shikamaru looked away from her and rubbed the back of his head. "Why not?"

"I just didn't expect you to actually admit it," Temari said. "Did you mean it?"

Shikamaru looked back at her confused. "Mean what?"

"The answers," Temari said. "Did you really answer these questions truthfully, or did you just write them to make Koji happy?"

Shikamaru looked into Temari's eyes and saw a hint of fear. "Why would I answer them if I didn't mean it? I know that would only hurt Koji if I lied on it."

Temari looked down. "Even the last question?" she asked without looking up.

"It's been a while since I read through them," Shikamaru said.

"The one where he asked if you would love him and... me," Temari said still not looking up. Her face was slightly blushed now.

When he didn't say anything, she looked up at him and saw he had looked away from her, his cheeks tinted a light shade of pink. "I said I didn't lie on it."

"Mommy!"

Temari looked over and saw Koji standing outside the shop door struggling to get away from Ino, who had a firm grip on his wrist.

"Koji, I told you she'll be back. Let's just go back inside and wait for her," Ino tried.

"No!" Koji said trying to push Ino's hand off him.

"Koji, what's wrong?" Temari asked.

Koji looked up and saw Shikamaru and Temari heading for them. "Mommy!" Ino let go of his wrist, and Koji ran over to her and clung to her. "Why'd you leave?"

"I had to talk to Shikamaru for a minute," Temari said trying to hold back the blush she could feel trying to rear its head again. She knelt down and put her hands on Koji's shoulders. "You know I wouldn't leave you someplace you weren't use to. I was just outside here."

"When he ran to show you a flower I gave him and didn't see you, he started panicking. I told him you probably had someplace you wanted to go real fast since he was looking at flowers with me, but that didn't help at all. He just ran toward the door," Ino said.

Temari looked up at Ino. "Sorry. This is his first time being away from Suna." She picked Koji up, who laid his head on her shoulder. "I guess not seeing me made him scared."

"It's ok," Ino said.

"He's probably tired from the trip, too," Shikamaru said. "Maybe you should lay him down for a while."

"Yeah," Temari said when she looked down at Koji and saw him trying to keep his eyes open. "Thanks for watching him, Ino," she said as she walked past Ino.

"No problem," Ino said happily. "Come by again sometime. We never finished looking at all the flowers."

"We will," Temari yelled back.

By the time they got to the hotel Temari usually stayed at, Koji was fast asleep. "Well, I guess I'll see you later," Temari said as she walked toward the building.

Shikamaru stopped walking. "Yeah." He stared at them until they disappeared into the building, then turned and headed home.

NNNNNNNNNNNNN

Shikaku heard the door open and close and heard Shikamaru call out that he was home. He stood up from the couch and walked into the hall. "Welcome home."

"Hey, dad. You're home early," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. I finished up at the tower and decided to come home for lunch," Shikaku said.

They both walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. "I already ate," Shikamaru said.

"That's fine," Shikaku said. "Son, is there something you haven't told your mother and me?"

Shikamaru looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"I heard something on the way back here that has me concerned."

"Like what?"

Shikaku could see that his son had no idea what he was talking about. "Maybe it's nothing, but I heard a few people talking about how they saw you, Temari, and some kid."

"Oh that," Shikamaru said. "It's not what you're thinking of."

"Oh?" Shikaku asked crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch.

"Something happened to Temari a few years ago, and now she has Koji," Shikamaru said.

"So Temari had a kid with someone else?"

"It wasn't her choice," Shikamaru said looking away.

"I see," Shikaku said and stood up and headed out of the room. "Thank you for telling me."

Shikamaru stared at his dad. "That's why you came home?"

"No. I said I came home to have lunch. You just happened to come home, so I thought I'd ask," Shikaku said not turning around. Before Shikamaru could say anything else, Shikaku left the room.

"Troublesome old man," Shikamaru said leaning back on the couch. 'How could he think I would actually do that, and even if I did, he and mom would've been the first people to know.' He sighed and leaned his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

NNNNNNNNNNN

Over the next couple days, Shikamaru showed Koji all the fun places he could play including the park, training grounds, and a huge meadow just outside the village. That's where they were now.

Koji was surprised at how many flowers were in the area. "So many."

"Yeah," Shikamaru said. "This is a meadow. There isn't a lot of people that come here, so flowers can grow to the amount you see."

Koji looked up at his mom. "Why don't we have me does?"

"It's too hot in Suna for flowers to grow to this quantity. We can get the occasional desert flower, but nothing like this," Temari explained.

Koji looked back at the flowers and started running through them. Temari just smiled and found a nice spot to sit down. "I think he likes Konoha."

Shikamaru sat down next to her. "Yeah, but that's just because it's all new to him. I'm sure he'll want to return to Suna once the newness wears off."

"Newness?" Temari asked.

"Shut up. It's the only way I could think of it," Shikamaru said looking away from her.

Temari rolled her eyes and smiled. She watched Koji pull some flowers out of the ground and bunch them together, then run around throwing them up in the air.

Shikamaru laid down and stared up at the clouds. He closed his eyes and just listened to the wind blow through the trees. When he noticed the sun was no longer as bright in his eyes, he opened them to see Koji looking down at him.

"What you doin'?" Koji asked.

"Looking at the clouds," Shikamaru explained.

Koji looked up at the sky then back at Shikamaru. "Why?"

Temari tried to stifle her laugh.

"It's how I like to relax," Shikamaru said ignoring Temari.

"Relax?" Koji asked.

"Yeah. It's how I calm down after a long, stressful, or hard day."

"Oh," Koji said and laid down next to Shikamaru. He looked up at the sky and at all the clouds.

Shikamaru looked at him then back at the sky. "Can you find pictures in the clouds?"

"Pictures?"

"Yeah, like... That one looks like a circle," Shikamaru said pointing to a round cloud. "And that one kind of looks like a tree," he said pointing to another cloud.

Koji looked at the sky in amazement. "I see a dog," he said pointing at a weirdly shaped cloud.

"Great, now you're trying to make my kid into a lazy bum too," Temari said.

"Lazy bum?" Koji asked looking at Temari.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru said.

Koji looked back and forth between the smiling Temari and the pouting Shikamaru. He started laughing which surprised both Shikamaru and Temari.

"What's so funny?" Temari asked.

"Mommy and Maru," Koji said smiling.

Shikamaru blinked then looked at Temari then smiled himself. He then reached over and started tickling Koji. "Oh we're funny, are we?"

"Stop!" Koji said between laughter, trying to push Shikamaru's hands away, but Shikamaru just kept tickling him.

Temari just smiled at the whole scene.

"Will Maru marry mommy?"

Shikamaru froze and Temari looked at Koji wide eyed. "Koji!"

Shikamaru stared at Koji, who looked up at him awaiting Shikamaru's answer.

Temari grabbed Koji's arm and pulled him away from Shikamaru. "Koji, that's not something you can just ask someone."

"Why? You like Maru," Koji said not understanding why his mother was upset with him.

"Koji, I told you, it's complicated," Temari said quieter.

Shikamaru stared at the two. 'They've talked about this before?'

"But I want a daddy. Maru filled out the appligation," Koji said.

"It's not as easy as that, sweetie," Temari said and pulled him close to her chest. She looked over at Shikamaru who still seemed shock, and blushed. "We should get back to the hotel," she said, stood Koji up, then stood up herself. She grabbed Koji's hand and started walking back toward the village.

Koji looked back at Shikamaru, who just stared at them. "Maru's not goming?"

"He's not coming back to the hotel with us," Temari said.

Koji continued staring at Shikamaru until he couldn't see him anymore.

NNNNNNNNNNNNN

Shikamaru didn't see Temari for the rest of the day, and was now staring at his bedroom ceiling. Koji's words kept running though his head. 'Does Temari really like me? I mean I never really said it outright, but I told her that I loved her. Did she come here because she loves me too?'

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. "Shikamaru, dinner's almost ready," Yoshino said.

"I'll be down in a minute," Shikamaru said. He sat up and stared at his feet. 'But if she does like me, why didn't she say anything. It's been a couple days since she confronted me about the application Koji made.' He took a deep breath and decided to head down stairs.

"Are you Maru's mommy?"

"Koji?" Shikamaru said surprised. He quickly walked the rest of the way to the kitchen.

"Yes, I am. My name is Yoshino," Yoshino said.

Shikamaru rounded the corner and saw his mom talking with Koji and Temari standing behind them. "Wha-what're you doing here?"

"Maru!" Koji said and ran over to him.

Temari blushed and looked away from him. "Koji wouldn't stop until I brought him to see you."

"Maru, I'm sorry," Koji said sadly.

Shikamaru knelt down so he was eye level with Koji. "What do you mean?"

"I was not sposed to say that you and mommy will get married," Koji said not looking at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru looked up at his mom who looked surprised at Koji's words and blushed a bit. "It's ok," he told Koji. He then leaned forward and said something that only Koji could hear.

"Really!" Koji said happily.

"I said maybe, but don't say anything, ok?" Shikamaru said putting a finger over his mouth to say 'shhh.'

"Ogay," Koji said still happy and went back over to Temari.

"Will you two be staying for dinner?" Yoshino asked.

Temari was still staring at Shikamaru as he stood back up.

"Yeah!" Koji said. "Please, mommy?" he begged Temari.

Temari blinked and looked down at him and smiled. "Well, since we're here and Yoshino offered..."

"Yay!" Koji said jumping up and down.

"Ok," Yoshino said smiling. "It should be ready soon. Why don't you three go to the living room.

Koji ran out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Where do you get all your energy?" Shikamaru asked as he and Temari followed Koji.

"I wonder that too," Temari said.

"Gan I watch TV?" Koji asked Shikamaru after he saw the TV.

"Sure," Shikamaru said and turned it on. He flipped through a few channels until he found a cartoon. Koji sat down on the floor and stared at the screen.

"What did you say to him?" Temari asked.

"Huh?" Shikamaru asked looking at her.

"To Koji. What did you say to him in the kitchen?" Temari said again.

"Oh. That's between me and him," Shikamaru said and sat down on the couch.

"I'd like to know what you told my son, Shikamaru," Temari said crossing her arms.

"Shhhh!" Koji said turning to Temari. "Gan't hear."

"Sorry," Temari huffed and sat down hard on the couch, her arms still crossed.

Shikamaru looked at Temari and smiled. "It's killing you not knowing isn't it?"

"Just shut up and watch the cartoon," Temari said not looking at him.

After a while, Yoshino called out that dinner was ready and the four of them sat around the table in the kitchen. Yoshino dished out some food for Koji, who was sitting in between Shikamaru and Temari and sitting across from Yoshino. "Thang you," Koji said and picked up his fork.

"You're very welcome," Yoshino said with a big smile. She then held out the dish to Temari. "Would you like some too?"

"Thanks," Temari said taking the dish from Yoshino. "Hey, where's Shikaku?"

"He said he'd be late tonight," Yoshino said. "He has a meeting with the elders of the village tomorrow and he said he didn't have anything ready."

"Really?" Temari asked then took a bite of food.

"Shikaku is as lazy as his son, if not more so," Yoshino said a bit annoyed.

"Plus he just got back from an unexpected mission," Shikamaru added.

"Oh," Temari said.

"Mommy, I really lige this," Koji said.

Temari looked over and saw that Koji had sauce all over his face. "Koji," Temari said as she picked up the napkin and wiped his face, "don't go making a mess."

"Sorry," Koji said then put another spoonful of rice in his mouth.

"Well, I'm glad you like it," Yoshino said. "Maybe after this you can help me make some cookies?" she asked looking more towards Temari than Koji.

"Yeah!" Koji said loudly.

"Only if you finish your food," Temari said.

Koji nodded and started shoveling his food in his mouth, which made Shikamaru and Yoshino chuckle.

"Koji, not so fast," Temari said as she picked up several pieces of meat that fell on the table.

Dinner went by quickly after that, a few conversations here and there, and Koji and Yoshino started making the cookies while Shikamaru and Temari sat in the living room. Shikamaru had pulled out the Shogi board and challenged Temari to a match and they were a good way into the game when Koji ran into the room with two cookies.

"Mommy, Maru, here," Koji said as he ran up to the two.

"Thank you, sweetie," Temari said and bit into the cookie. She placed her hand under her mouth to catch a part of the cookie. "Wow, it's so soft."

Shikamaru smiled as he took a bite of his cookie. "Yeah," he said. "Mom knows a really good cookie recipe that comes out soft every time."

Temari licked some chocolate that got on her finger. "I'm going to have to get that recipe."

"What's that?" Koji asked.

Shikamaru looked at Koji and saw him staring at the Shogi board. "It's called Shogi. It's a game."

"A game?" Koji asked excitedly. "Gan I play?"

"This game's a little bit difficult for you, sweetie, but you can watch," Temari said.

"Ok," Koji said and crawled up into Shikamaru's lap.

"Uh..." Shikamaru let out as Koji settled into his lap.

"Koji, did you ask Shikamaru if you could use him as a chair?" Temari asked.

"No," he said then looked up at Shikamaru. "Gan I sit on your lap?"

"Well, since you're already there, I don't see why not," Shikamaru said.

"Thangs," Koji said and turned his attention to the board.

Shikamaru moved his piece and the game continued. Koji was watching carefully at what they were doing, but eventually fell asleep.

"Do you want me to take him?" Temari asked.

"Nah, it's fine. He's not hurting anything," Shikamaru said and smiled. "Checkmate."

"Wha... Dang it!" Temari cried out.

Shikamaru continued to smile at her then looked up and saw his dad standing in the doorway. "Hey dad."

Temari turned around. "Oh, hi Shikaku."

"Hello, Temari," Shikaku said, his gaze not moving from the child in Shikamaru's lap.

Temari looked over to where Shikaku was looking and turned back to Shikaku. "That's Koji, my son."

"I see," Shikaku said and walked closer. He leaned down and picked the boy up and moved him to the couch. After placing a blanket on the boy, he turned back to Shikamaru. "I need you for a minute." He then walked out of the room and toward his home office.

Shikamaru stood up to follow his dad. "I'll be back."

"Ok, I'll be here," Temari said as she stood up and sat down next to Koji on the couch and watched Shikamaru walk out of the room.

She turned her head toward Koji's sleeping figure. 'He's never crawled up on anyone else and fallen asleep before. He only falls asleep on my lap. Not even Gaara and Kankuro can get him to fall asleep on their lap. He's really getting attached to Shikamaru.'

This last thought had her a bit worried. She knew that Shikamaru liked her now, and she's pretty sure Shikamaru knows she likes him, but neither one of them had actually said it yet. She looked up to the window to look outside and stare at the trees, but what she saw instead was someone staring back at her. "What the... Shikamaru, Shikaku!" she shouted as she stood up.

It took a few seconds, but Shikaku and Shikamaru were in the door way quickly, along with Yoshino. "Temari, what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked as he walked up to her.

Temari was still staring out the window and pointed at it. "Someone was just looking in from there."

Shikaku walked over to the window, opened it, stuck his head out, and looked around. He came back in and closed the window. "I don't see anyone. Did you recognize them?"

"Mommy?"

Temari looked down at Koji, who was sitting up, looking a little scared. She sat down and pulled her son close to her, then looked back at Shikaku. "I didn't get a good look at him. He moved away almost as soon as I saw him."

"But you saw that it was a man?" Shikaku asked walking over to her.

"Yeah, that much I know," Temari said and looked down.

"But..." Shikamaru said sensing that she wasn't telling them something.

Temari looked up at him. "I may not have seen him really well, but he looked familiar."

————————

Kids say the darndest things don't they :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter and want to leave a comment to tell me what you liked.

See you next chapter