Facet of Future

6

Chapter 5

"Ah! Papa!"

"Oh, Uncle Kiba!"

Akamaru slid to a halt before a tall man with dark and unruly hair wearing a jounin's uniform, his arms crossed over his chest. "Really, Misaki?" Kiba asked with a sigh. "Don't you have anything better to do than to cause trouble?"

"Eh? We're not causing trouble, papa!" Misaki protested.

"Yeah!" Hanami added with a nod. "We're just chasing after big bro and big sis Mikoto, dattebane!"

"Even so, you shouldn't do that in a crowded place." Kiba responded, unmoved. "And to drag Akamaru into it too."

Akamaru barked and whined, and Kiba sighed. "Really, partner?" he asked, and Akamaru barked again, and also causing Kiba to sigh again.

"Huh," Ino said. "Looks like it isn't just Naruto who grew up and got responsible. Kiba, too."

"Well, he had a kid, so he had to grow up as well." Tenten concurred. "I wonder who the mother is, though."

"Yeah…I don't see anything about her that could be a hint." Ino thoughtfully said.

"Indeed," Shino agreed. "It would be logical to conclude that the child takes primarily after her father."

"Almost completely like her father, down to his mannerisms." Neji corrected.

Kiba rolled his eyes at the somewhat disparaging remarks of his fellow ninja, though he did smile at how Misaki seemed to be just like him at that age. He had to wonder though, why she didn't have a ninken with her and was hanging around with Akamaru instead. Maybe it was sick and had to be left at home?

Shikamaru though, had a small suspicion on who the mother was. The evidence was small, circumstantial, and weak, so much so that everyone had glossed over it. He could be wrong, but he also might not be.

He kept his mouth shut though. First, because he might be wrong, and second, even if he was right, Ino would probably cause a scene.

And that would make things even more troublesome than they already were.

"Hey, Shino." Kiba said over a shoulder. "Did you get those two other troublemakers?"

"Is that not a bit harsh?" Shino asked a few moments later, emerging from the crowd, and looking completely unchanged from the present day. "As I understand it, they were the ones being pursued, and for no good reason."

"Apart from Hanami and Misaki just being Hanami and Misaki, that is." Shinachiku grumbled.

"That's mean, big bro!" Hanami protested, and then blinked as she caught something Shinachiku tossed at her. The pink-haired girl held up the stuffed toad and regarding it for a moment, grinned. "Thanks, big bro!"

"Yeah," Ino said with a nod. "She takes after her dad, alright."

"What's wrong with the toads?" Naruto grumbled. "They're cool. Certainly better than snakes."

There was a chorus of assent at that.

"Hey, Misaki." Kiba sternly said. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"Yeah, yeah…thanks, Mikoto-san." Misaki said, clutching a stuffed dog to herself.

Kiba nodded. "Alright," he said. "Akamaru, take those two back to the pavilion. No side-trips and no more adventures, alright? You've caused enough trouble already."