Hey guys. Here's another chapter for you all. Sorry it took so long. I got a new job and then between that, my other job, moving, and the works, it's just been a struggle. Plus it didn't help that I had writers block again. Anyway, here it is and I hope you enjoy it.
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Ch. 18: First Delivery
Over the next couple months, things had started to return to normal. Asuma and Shikamaru's relationship was starting to get a lot better now. For a while, Shikamaru had to sneak out to see Asuma, because Temari still wasn't so happy about him seeing Asuma, but after a couple weeks, she finally saw that it was actually helping Shikamaru.
Shikamaru was starting to become his old self again. He was smiling more, talking more, and his and Temari's relationship was actually starting to improve now. That's when Temari finally accepted things. She even surprised Shikamaru when she showed up at Asuma's while Shikamaru was still there.
"T-Temari!" Asuma said in a bit of a panic.
"Look, I know Shikamaru is here," she said, and as if to prove her point, Shikamaru appeared next to Asuma at the door.
"Temari, it's not..." Shikamaru began, but Temari raised her hand to stop him.
"I know you've been sneaking out to come see him, Shika," Temari said. "At first I wasn't happy about it, but now I see that it's actually helping you."
Shikamaru moved his way past Asuma and got closer to Temari with a big smile on his face. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that."
"He really has been stressing over it," Asuma said, making the two look at him.
Temari sighed and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Shikamaru. "Here."
Shikamaru looked at the paper confused, but took it and looked at it. His eyes went wide. "This is the restraining order!"
"You're obviously not listening to it anyway, so just rip it up already," Temari said.
Shikamaru lowered the paper, not even making an attempt to rip it. "I'm sorry, Tem. I..."
Temari scowled at him, grabbed the paper from his hand, and ripped it in half. "Look, it's not doing any good, so why keep it around," she said a bit loudly. She then turned her attention to Asuma. "I can see that being around you has helped Shikamaru a lot. He hasn't been coming home depressed anymore, so I'm assuming that you're actually keeping your word and not touching him, so as long as that remains the norm, I won't try and stop him." Her face suddenly went scary and she pointed straight at Asuma. "But I swear, Asuma, if I find out you so much as flirted at him, I'll kill you where you stand. Do you understand?"
Asuma raised both his hands and nodded. "Completely."
Shikamaru just smiled at the two.
After that, things went on as if the whole situation never happened. There were times that Shikamaru came over and in the middle of a game of Shogi he looked over and saw a bulge in Asuma's pants, but Asuma never did anything about it, and even made an excuse for Shikamaru to leave.
Now, however, was not one of those times. Asuma was staring at Shikamaru a bit concerned. He had noticed that Shikamaru's head wasn't in the game today, and that he kept rubbing his stomach more than usual. It was actually starting to worry him.
"Shikamaru?," Asuma finally said.
Shikamaru looked up at him. "Hmm. Uh, yeah?" he asked a little confused.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"Because you've been a bit distracted today."
"I have?"
"Yeah, your head's not in the game, and you keep rubbing your stomach. Are you feeling ok?"
Shikamaru smiled and chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine. Tobi's just moving around a lot more today. Well, the part about me being distracted is because I'm just thinking about what lady Tsunade said a while back."
"About the baby? Is he ok?" Asuma asked starting to really get worried.
Shikamaru smiled. "Don't worry, he's fine. No, what I'm talking about is actually about Temari."
"Temari? Why would you need to talk to Lady Tsunade about Temari?" Asuma asked now completely confused.
Shikamaru blushed. "Uh... Well, you see..." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "About a month ago, uh... well, Temari and I... we had sex."
Asuma's face went a little red, but smiled. "You two are married, Shikamaru. It's only natural that you two have sex."
"Yeah, I know that, but with the whole serum thing, we've been trying to be more careful about it."
"So she doesn't end up like I was," Asuma stated more than asked.
"Yeah. Before you were cured from it, we weren't really doing anything, so it wasn't really a problem."
Asuma looked away. "I'm sorry."
Shikamaru blinked at him then realized what he just said. "No, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it. It's in the past and we're doing fine now."
Asuma looked back at him. "So then what's got you so worried?"
"Well, nothing's worrying me now."
"Now?"
"Well, the next day when we realized that we weren't so careful, we went to Tsunade and had her check Temari to see if we made a huge mistake and got the serum in her too."
"And? Did you?"
"No, that's the weird thing. She said there was no trace of it, but I know that I... uh... released myself inside her several times," he replied, getting red at the last part.
"So Temari's immune to the serum?" Asuma asked.
"I have no idea," Shikamaru said. "Tsunade said she was sure she was going to find a trace of it, but it's as if the serum doesn't react the same way it did with you and Guy."
Asuma thought about this for a second. "Maybe this serum was directed specifically towards men so that's why it's not affecting Temari."
"Maybe," Shikamaru said then took in a sharp breath and rubbed his stomach again. "Dang it, kid, why are you so active today?"
Asuma smiled. He looked at Shikamaru's stomach and longed to feel his child moving inside Shikamaru.
"You want to feel it?" Shikamaru suddenly asked.
Asuma was a bit surprised. "How did..."
"The way you were looking at me."
Asuma blushed a little. "Sorry."
"It's fine. Do you?"
Asuma nodded and got up from his seat. He sat back down next to Shikamaru and reached out towards Shikamaru's stomach, but stopped before he touched it.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and grabbed Asuma's hand and placed it on his stomach where the baby was kicking.
Asuma's eyes went wide and a huge smile spread across his face. Shikamaru just laughed.
"What?" Asuma asked not removing his hand from the spot.
"You look like Kiba when he feels his kids kicking," Shikamaru said.
Asuma blushed again and removed his hand. "I've never felt that before."
"It's fine, I just found it funny."
Asuma got back up and sat back in his own seat. Shikamaru finally made his move on the board and their game continued.
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Kiba walked into the kitchen and saw Kurenai siting at the table drinking what smelled like tea. "No coffee this morning?" he asked as he went over to the cabinet to get a cup. As he turned to get the juice out of the fridge, he saw Akamaru laying down by Kurenai's chair. "Hey, boy." He got the juice, poured it in the cup, and joined Kurenai at the table, and noticed Akamaru was laying back down again.
Kurenai looked deep in thought about something when he looked back at her and realized that she still hadn't answered him yet. "You ok?" he asked. When she still didn't answer, he raised his voice a little. "Hey."
Kurenai looked up at him a bit surprised. "Huh? Oh, good morning," she said with a smile.
Kiba looked at her concerned. "You ok? Is something wrong with the babies? Should we get you to a hospital?" he panicked and stood up at the last question.
Kurenai chuckled. "Calm down, Kiba. I'm fine." At this Kiba sat back down a little calmer. "I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Just about the last few months and how we're going to be parents in a few weeks."
"I thought we were parents the moment we knew about the babies?" Kiba asked slightly confused.
Kurenai smiled again. "Well, yeah, we are, but when they get here it just makes it official. It's a little overwhelming, even after all this time."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kiba agreed. "I still can't believe I'm married to my sensei."
"Former sensei, but I get what you mean," Kurenai said. "So, what are your plans for today?"
"Shino and Hinata asked me if I wanted to train with them today, so I was thinking about doing that."
"That's good. You should keep up your training even though I can't train with you guys."
Kiba smiled. "I think I've been keeping my training up with you quite well."
Kurenai shook her head and smiled. "So how are Shino and Hinata anyway? Haven't seen them in a while."
"They're doing pretty good. Hinata said that Naruto had started noticing her a little more lately. I think it's because Shikamaru finally said something to that idiot," Kiba said.
"Good for her, and I heard Shikamaru was becoming more like his old self since he and Asuma started making up. I know how close those two were, and I was afraid that after what happened they would never be that close again."
"Yeah, I know," Kiba said sadly, but perked back up again. "But that's behind them now. I even heard that Temari's even going to let Asuma be in the kid's life again."
"That's good," Kurenai said with a smile.
"Yeah. Anyway, as for Shino, he's pretty much the same, 'though I've heard he was talking to Iruka Sensei more these days," Kiba said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, but I have no idea why. Maybe it's because me and Hinata have been so busy lately."
"Maybe. Are you hungry?" I can make you something real fast," Kurenai said as she started to get up.
"No, no," Kiba said putting his hands up to stop her. Kurenai stopped trying to get up and turned back to him. "We actually agreed to meet up before training to eat something, so you don't have to."
"Ok," Kurenai said and took a drink of her tea. She made a face when she realized it was now cold.
"Anyway, I should probably head out," Kiba said as he stood up.
Kurenai again tried to get up, but this time Kiba helped her when he saw her struggling. "Thanks," she said when she was finally on her fee. "I can't wait to have these kids so I can stand up on my own again."
Kiba chuckled. "I bet."
They walked to the front door, Akamaru following close behind, and Kiba opened the door. "Well, I'll see you in a few hours," he said and kissed Kurenai.
"Yeah," she replied with a smile after they broke off the kiss.
"Come on, Akamaru," Kiba said and walked out the door, but stopped and turned around when he didn't sense Akamaru following him. "Come on, boy. We don't want to be late."
Akamaru whined and moved closer to Kurenai.
Kurenai looked down at Akamaru surprised. "It looks like he doesn't want to go."
Kiba frowned. "he's been hanging around you a lot lately. I know mom and pop said that dogs become more protective when women in the clan get pregnant, but he's never refused to go with me before when I go somewhere."
"Well, Lady Tsunade did say that because I'm having twins my dew date is earlier than the others. Maybe he just wants to make sure I'm ok."
Kiba walked over and knelt down in front of Akamaru and pet him on the face with both hands. "Is that it, boy? You just want to watch over Kurenai?"
Akamaru barked and wagged his tail.
"Guess that answers that," Kurenai said.
"Yeah," Kiba replied with a smile. He gave one more rub on Akamaru's head, stood up, pecked Kurenai on the lips, and walked out the door. "See ya," he said as the door closed.
Kurenai smiled and looked down at Akamaru. "So, what should we do today?"
Akamaru turned his head and whined.
Kurenai laughed. "Well, how 'bout we start by getting something to eat, then we can decide?"
Akamaru barked and wagged his tail again.
Kurenai just laughed and walked toward the kitchen, Akamaru right on her heels.
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After they ate, Kurenai decided she wanted to get out of the house. They walked around the village, looking at a few things in the shop windows, and finally made it to the park where Kurenai found a bench to sit on, Akamaru laying down by her feet.
She rubbed the lower part of her stomach for the tenth time since they left the house. She was getting a little concerned with the slight pain she'd been feeling. It started right after she used the bathroom that morning, and it had gradually been getting worse, especially during the walk, but it hadn't been a constant pain, just a strong pain every several minutes. Now, however, the pain was every minute.
'Well, it's not like I haven't felt these pains before...' She took in a sharp breath. '... but they've never been this bad. Maybe I should've had Kiba take me to the hospital after all.'
She looked down when she felt someone staring at her and saw Akamaru looking up at her. He turned his head when they made eye contact. "I'm ok," she answered the dog's unspoken question. "I think," she said after another sharp pain flooded her abdomen.
Akamaru straightened up a little more, fully alert.
"Maybe we should go to the hospital just to be safe."
Akamaru immediately stood up and was at her side in an instant.
They slowly made their way to the hospital, the pain getting worse as they went, but a few blocks from the hospital, Kurenai doubled over. The pain was so bad now that she could barely stand n her feet. The only thing keeping her up was Akamaru.
"Akamaru, I think I'm in labor."
Akamaru whined. He got as close to Kurenai as possible and tried to help her move forward, but she let out a loud yell on the next step.
"Are you ok, Kurenai Sensei?"
Kurenai looked up and saw Naruto staring at her in concern. "No. I think I'm in labor," she said through the pain.
"What?" Naruto yelled as he took a step back. "Where's Kiba? Why isn't he helping you?"
"He... He's training with Shino and... Hinata," she managed to get out before she let out another shout.
Naruto stepped over and grabbed Kurenai's arm and wrapped it around his shoulders. He then swept her off her feet and ran toward the hospital, Akamaru following closely.
When they got there, Naruto kicked the door open and walked in as Kurenai let out another shout, which got the attention of everyone in the room.
Shizune rushed over to them. "What's wrong?"
"I... I think I'm... in labor," Kurenai said.
"Naruto, quickly, follow me," Shizune said and lead them to a room. Naruto went straight to the bed and sat Kurenai down gently. "Now go find Kiba," she ordered as she checked Kurenai over.
"Right!" Naruto said and ran out of the room.
Akamaru whined and got closer to the bed.
"Oh no you don't," Shizune said and grabbed him by the fur of his neck. "Sorry, Akamaru, but you can't be in here."
Akamaru continued to whine and tried to get back to Kurenai.
"She'll be fine. Go wait for Kiba and show him to the room when he get here," Shizune told him.
Akamaru looked back at Kurenai then turned and walked down the hall. He stopped in front of the entrance doors and sat there, staring at them, waiting for Kiba to walk in.
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"Kiba!"
Kiba turned around and saw Naruto running toward them. He was in the middle of sparring with Shino and was grateful when he didn't feel the punch he saw coming before Naruto yelled his name. "What's up, Naruto?" he asked when Naruto got close.
Naruto stopped in front of him panting a bit. "It's Kurenai."
Kiba's eyes went wide and Hinata and Shino got closer. "What's wrong with her?" Kiba asked panicking. 'I knew I shouldn't have left her today.'
"She said she was in labor. I got her to the hospital, but she looked like she was... Where'd he go?" Naruto asked when he noticed Kiba was no longer in front of him. He turned and saw Kiba already leaving.
Naruto, Hinata, and Shino all followed.
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Kiba burst through the doors and Akamaru stood up and walked toward him.
"Where's she at, boy?"
Akamaru barked then turned and headed down the hall. He stopped in front of one of the doors and sat down. They both looked at the door when they heard Kurenai shout and Kiba rushed into the room leaving Akamaru alone.
When Akamaru smelled Hinata and Shino walk in the hospital, he turned and walked over to them and right up to Hinata, who pet him on the head.
"Hey, Akamaru," Hinata said.
Akamaru whined and looked up at her.
Hinata smiled. "She'll be ok. Why don't we go sit down and wait?"
Akamaru walked over to one of the chairs and sat down and looked over at Hinata.
Hinata smiled and she, Shino, and Naruto all went to set down too.
A few minutes later, Kiba's parents and Hana walked in the door. They said hello to the three and took a seat waiting for the babies to be born.
"Wait," Naruto said. "How did you guys know Kurenai was in labor?"
"before we left the training ground, I sent some of my insects to Kiba's parent's house and Hana's veterinary clinic to let them know," Shino said.
"And we appreciate it. Thank you," Hana said.
"Oh, ok," Naruto said.
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Everyone had been sitting in the waiting room for an hour and a half now, and Hinata could tell that Naruto was getting restless, but she was happy that he was still there with her. She had also noticed Akamaru had lifted his head up a few times only to lay it back down, but now he was just staring down the hall.
Before she had the chance to say anything, Kiba walked out the door. Akamaru got up and walked over to him, but the others just waited for Kiba to get to them.
"So, are we grandparents now?" Inuken asked.
Kiba beamed. "Yeah, a girl and boy just like Lady Tsunade said, but they had to take them to the incubators since they were born so early."
"That can only be expected. Why? Because they were not fully developed yet when they were born," Shino said.
"Yeah, but Shizune said they were both healthy and we'll be able to take them home in a couple weeks," Kiba said.
"That's great," Hinata said.
"But can we see them before then?" Inuken asked.
"Yeah, we just have to wait until they're all set up in the incubators," Kiba said. "Shizune said she'd let us know when we can see them."
"How's Kurenai doing?" Tsume asked.
"She's tired and resting now, but she'll be able to see the kids when she wakes up," Kiba said.
"She saw them before they took them away right?" Hana asked.
"Yeah, she did," Kiba replied.
Hana nodded satisfied with the answer.
Shizune cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her. "You can see the kids now."
Everyone followed Shizune down a few halls until they got to a room with the two incubators. "Kiba and Kurenai already got to hold them, however, because they need to spend as much time as they can in the incubators, I'm afraid not all of you can hold them right now."
"We can, right?" Tsume asked.
"Yes, you and your husband can, but I'm afraid the rest of you will have to wait," Shizune said.
"That's ok," Hinata said with a smile. "We can wait. We can see them through the glass, so that's good enough for us, right, Shino?"
Shino just nodded.
"Ok then. Tsume, Inuken, please come with me," Shizune said.
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After a little over two weeks, Kiba and Kurenai finally brought Takeshi and Tamiko home.
"Welcome home, Takeshi, Tamiko," Kiba said happily.
They took the twins to their cribs in their room and laid them down. Once they got the twins settled and they were asleep, Kiba and Kurenai stepped back and watched their kids sleep.
Kiba wrapped his arm around Kurenai's waist. "We did good."
Kurenai smiled. "Yes, we did."
They watched the kids for another minute before they left the room.
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Well, how'd you like it. Let me know in a comment below.
See you in the next chapter :)