Cheater [ShikaNaru]

Ch. 4 That Slowly Grew

"Let's see...we already made our rounds with the Inuzukas, Akimichi, Yamanaka clans. You're up next Shika!" Naruto was way too energetic this morning.

"Right. Well, we can have our meeting at the Nara forest... I really don't want to have Temari scream in my ear about how I'm bringing work home," Shikamaru remarked with a sigh.

"But these are clan rounds. Why would she be mad?"

"She hates the fact that I have so much work. Now imagine how she'll be when I bring the one giving me said work, home." Naruto thought it over before shivering.

"You're right..." Temari was scary. Becoming a mother certainly didn't help either. Not only that but he really didn't want to be in the same house as the women who's husband cheated on her with him.

"Deeeeeer!!!" Naruto immediately rushed into the forest, hugging the first hind (female sika deer) he saw. She was a beauty, with a dark dorsal stripe surrounded by white spots on her reddish-brown fur. The deer, instead of being fearful like most would when seeing people, let out soft bleats and whistles as the blond hugged her neck.

"She likes you." Naruto smiled widely, petting the deer in the head between the two bumps she had on her head.

"I like her too..." All of a sudden, he was nudged in the leg by...

"A baby deer!!!" Shikamaru looked down to see the fawn, which must only be a few days old judging by the coat, bleat as he was pet by Naruto.

"He must've come out of the thick undergrowth there." He said pointing to dense growth of shrubs and other plants under a nearby tree.

"I couldn't even sense him coming near. And I have a great nose!" He said as he pointed at it.

"Yeah, when Sika deer are born they don't have a scent at all. Their mothers hide them well while they're gone so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to tag them. We asked the Inuzukas to help us find them while they were hidden but their ninken couldn't find a single one." Naruto stared in awe as the two began walking on to the rest of their herd without a worry in the world.

"That's cool!"

"Yeah. And you're lucky, you know. Not everyone gets their trust so quickly. Especially, since that one is a new mom and they're usually overprotective of their kids." Naruto could only look away, his bandaged hand pulling on the tips of his hair.

"Thanks...we should hurry and go over the reports!" He squawked out making Shikamaru tilt his head in slight confusion before nodding. They went deeper into the forest where there was a picnic like area with tables.  It was empty, considering it was slightly cloudy and might rain later on, but they ignored it in favor of sitting down.

"Let's see here, so here are our reports from the past year. This year we have a total of 611 members of our clan. 17 passed away from old age, 6 were confirmed to be killed during missions, and 3 are MIA. 19 were born, while 8 joined after marrying into the clan. Hmm..." Naruto read through the reports, humming slightly. The casualties in missions were going down which, while sad that there were any casualties at all, was good especially in this era of peace.

"Are there any monetary concerns?"

"None so far. Seems everyone is at least smart enough to handle their money." Naruto snickered as the other smiled.

"I mean you all are geniuses. Guess it applies to how you handle your money too."

"Ugh, tell that to my mom. She's been on a spending spree since her birthday. I think she's the only Nara who spends without a care in the world." Yoshino was such a lively women. He wondered if his mom knew her while she was alive. They seemed a lot like each other so he wouldn't be surprised if they may have been friends at one point. They continued to work together, going over any concerns they had for the clan as well as doing other work concerning the upcoming chunin exams. After an hour, they were satisfied and quickly sealed all their work into the corresponding scroll.