Shikamaru stared intensely at the figure in front of him, his mind void of coherent thought. Teal eyes stared back at him full of excitement and anticipation. Everything had come to a standstill in the office of the Chief Advisor five minutes ago when two people allied to the Nara clan had entered the room.

The door to his office burst open and the Hokage came in boisterously.

"Oi! Shikamaru. About this latest mess—" Naruto paused in mid speech, and Shikamaru saw his friend's attention was captivated by Shikamaru's guests.

"AHHHH!" The blond Hokage yelled after a moment. "TEMARI SHRUNK!"

"That's Shika." Shikamaru said with a hint of resignation. He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

He saw Naruto lean towards the shorter Nara. The blond's eyebrows were scrunched, his eyes squinted in concentration, and he wore a frown which indicated he was thinking hard about something. Shikamaru bit back a smirk. Some things never changed.

"Ah! It's Shika-chan!" Naruto said gleefully after a moment. He then turned to Shikamaru, "Why does she look like a mini Temari?"

"That's a good question." One that Shikamaru himself wanted answered.

The Nara Clan Head looked at his daughter who smiled up at him innocently. He automatically smiled in return. Her gold-tinted brown hair was tied in to four ponytails. One her forehead, bearing resemblance to the forehead protector, was a bandana with an ink drawing of the Konoha symbol. She wore a full-length, short-sleeved black kimono with long slits on the sides and a red sash around her middle. But what stunned Shikamaru the most was a folded fan that was as tall as his daughter and looked a lot like a smaller version of Temari's trademark fan.

"Che. Troublesome." He muttered. He did not want his daughter to be his wife's mini clone. Not that there was anything wrong with his wife; Temari was a very attractive woman which was precisely why he did not want his precious daughter looking that — ever. What bothered him most though, was that Shika was starting to display her preference of acting like her mother and he was not sure he could handle two Temaris.

"Ah. I apologize, Shikamaru-sama. Shika-sama was insisting on coming here and…well nothing could convince her otherwise." The harried Nara aide who accompanied his daughter said meekly.

"Aa. Don't worry about it." Shikamaru eased the man. He knew the only reason Temari was not here on this occasion was because something else had kept her away. It just meant that the conversation he wanted to have with her would be delayed for a few minutes.

"Naruto." He addressed his boss who was now kneeling and chatting happily with Shika. "Put whatever you wanted to talk to me about on hold. I have something to do before that."

"But this is important!" The blond objected while facing him. He pointed a finger at Shikamaru, "And you're still on duty!"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "But this is urgent. I'll be back soon."

Before Naruto could interject with further objection, Shikamaru hurriedly signaled the Nara aide, called his daughter, and exited the room, leaving Naruto to wave back at his little girl.

He found Temari sitting crossed legs in the family room, enjoying her favorite Suna delicacy while their youngest son played nearby.

"Why does my daughter look like your mini clone?" Shikamaru asked as soon as he neared her.

Temari turned to look at him with surprise written on her face and the next bite halfway to her mouth. She stared at him for a moment. Then she calmly put down the morsel, called Shika over, and examined her from head to toe before replying, "Hmm…may be because she's my daughter too."

"But is it necessary to make her exactly like you?" Shikamaru asked with slight agitation.

"Shikaku is like you. You don't see me complaining. Though Heaven knows I should be." She replied returning to her food.

"I don't go out of my way to make him be like me." He retorted.

Temari shrugged. "She wanted to dress like a ninja. I just helped her out. Of course, she had her own preference as well."

"So you just handed her a smaller version of your fan that you had lying about?" He asked warily.

She turned her full attention on him and he noticed the eagerness in her eyes. "Isn't it good? It arrived today. I had it especially made for her from the same weapon shop in Suna that makes my fans."

Shikamaru ran a hand over his face. "Why couldn't you get her one of those smaller fans from here?"

"She already had a lot of them and loses interest in them very quickly. So I got her a custom made one." She said smugly.

"She'll hurt herself!" He exclaimed.

"Stop being so overprotective." Temari responded flippantly. "I asked it to be made child friendly. It's not as heavy or dangerous as my fan."

"Did you forget to tell them about the size?" He questioned.

"What about the size?" She asked in return. "It's right for Shika's size just like mine is made proportionate to my height."

"She is barely able to carry it!" He cried drawing attention to their little girl.

Shika was a few feet away from them trying to carry the large fan without stumbling. She paused and tried to unfold it as she had seen Temari do, but was unsuccessful. She placed the fan on the ground and made another attempt at spreading it open by going along its perimeter. Once the fan lay open on the floor, Shika tried to pick it up but no matter from which angle she tried, she was unable to do so.

Temari laughed. "Give her time. She just got it today. She'll figure it out in a few days."

"She'll get hurt in a few days!" Shikamaru retorted. "She's too young for that fan!"

Temari stared at him. After a while she said, "Well, if you're so against it, you do something about it. I'm not going to help you."

With that she turned her back to him and went back to eating her Suna dessert while enjoying her daughter's antics.

"Troublesome." He muttered and approached his daughter with the sole intention of doing as his wife suggested.

"Shika." He gently called out to the busy girl with a smile on his face.

"Daddy!" The little girl beamed up at him. "Daddy. Help lift the fan?"

"Ah. Shika. That fan is so big. It's very hard for you to pick up, right? How about daddy keep it for a while?" He asked with pleading note.

"No!" She replied vehemently. "It's Shika's fan."

"Yes, and daddy will give it back in a few days." Shikamaru coaxed.

"NO! It's mine! Mommy gave it to me." She replied obstinately, crossing her arms across her chest in an imitation of her mother.

"Please?" He tried again, this time picking up the fan and standing up so that it was beyond Shika's reach. "Daddy wants to play with it too."

"NO!" She yelled getting close to him speedily. "Give me my fan!"

When it became clear that no amount of pleading, jumping, or attempting to climb Shikamaru's leg would bring her closer to the fan, Shika unleashed her deadliest technique. It started simple, with her making large, teary eyes and wearing a hurt expression, but before Shikamaru could fully register the threat, it turned in to a full-fledged tantrum.

When her face was red and tear-stained from intense crying and no amount of cajoling, bribing, or pleading would cease her screaming, Shikamaru gave up and returned her fan. As soon as she secured her prize, his little hellion dragged it out of the family room — sobbing and hiccupping all the way — leaving him standing alone and his wife grinning at him arrogantly while chewing her favorite Suna treats.

'Che, troublesome' were his only words.

Despite his earlier disapproval of the fan, Shikamaru felt pride course through him a few days later when he noticed that his daughter had indeed managed to get the hang of it. She would still get unbalanced and stumble whenever she tried to carry it but now she was able to unfold it without having to put it down first. She was also able to poorly mimic her mother's action of swinging the unfolded fan. However, unlike the elder's, Shika's swing would only result in a small breeze which ended up being a reprieve from the summer heat instead of the deadly attack it was supposed to be.

Contrary to Shikamaru's expectations, instead of waning as was the norm with children, Shika's interest in the fan — and imitating her mother — grew with each passing day. She would dress up every morning in her 'ninja' clothes and spend the rest of the day acting like one. She even harassed Shikamaru one day to take her to the Hokage's office and when she stood in front of the busy Hokage's desk, she proudly declared, "I am Shika Nara. I am a Ninja. Give me a mission, Hokage-sama."

Naruto, who was busy signing papers, paused, looked down at the little girl from over his desk for a moment, and laughed heartily. When Shika expressed her displeasure with a pouty frown, Naruto humored her and gave her a small 'mission' snickering all the while. Satisfied, Shika self-importantly went about fulfilling the Hokage's orders. That evening, the Nara household had a very lively dinner while their only daughter described — in meticulous detail — the execution of her mission.

Shika braved every obstacle she faced while trying to copy her mother. She took great delight in mirroring the actions she had seen her mother perform on the larger fan and usually ignored any failure she encountered. It was on one such occasion when Shikamaru and Temari were alerted by a loud cry from the yard. Rushing to the scene of the incident, the couple found their only daughter standing on the lush, green grass with her fan spread open, wailing loudly as blood dripped from her thumb.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked alarmed with Temari beside him. "How did you get hurt?"

"I was calling Kamatari like mommy —" Shika sobbed "— but she didn't come and my thumb hurts!"

Temari held Shika's injured hand and hugged the little girl, trying to suppress a laugh while Shikamaru glared at his wife with a look that said he expected this. Once his beloved princess had calmed down with the help of her mother's gentle touch — after much coddling and coaxing — he took the opportunity and mentioned the issue that never left his mind. Yet, when he tried to make her give up the fan, he was rewarded with a heated 'NO' and an ear-splitting wail along with a murderous glare from his wife. With a few choice words that clearly conveyed her opinion of him, Temari led Shika inside, all the while trying to soothe their daughter and promising her that daddy will not take away her fan.

Shikamaru accepted the setback but did not give up on his self-appointed mission, and when scrapes and cuts kept appearing on his baby girl's delicate skin, he decided it was time to put his foot down. After all, with his incredible IQ and strategic prowess, how hard was it outwit a five year old? So one day, after Temari loving put another Band-Aid on Shika's forehead in his presence, he once again broached the taboo subject.

"Shika." He started in his usual laid back manner. "You have another Band-Aid on your forehead today. It hurts, doesn't it?"

The little girl looked up at him with her big, innocent eyes and shook her head.

"Did you get hurt while playing with the fan again?" He pressed.

Shika stayed silent for a moment before answering animatedly, "I was trying to go swoosh like mommy, but then I fell."

"Hmmm…well? Did you make a big swoosh?" He asked looking at her with a small smile.

"No." She replied, downcast.

"But you did get hurt so many times." He pointed out. "So, you see. The fan is dangerous. Let me have it and tomorrow we'll go buy you a new toy. Whichever one you like!"

"NO!" Shika howled. "It's my fan!"

"I know. I'll just borrow it for a little while. Let's get you a kunai tomorrow." He bribed.

"No!" She said stubbornly. "I don't want a kunai. I like this fan."

"Che." Shikamaru muttered. He tried a different approach, "Why do you want the fan so much?"

"Because it's like mommy's. I want to be strong like mommy!" She stated excitedly.

"But mommy isn't just strong because of the fan you know," he reasoned. "It's because she trained hard as a ninja. And she has a kunai too."

"Nuh uh!" She shook her head. "When mommy makes her fan go swoosh, everyone goes ouch!"

"Is that so?" He said with a sly grin. "But you don't know how to use the fan like that."

"I know how to use it!" She retorted zealously. She made gestures with her hands, "You open it like this, and you do swoosh, and people say ouch!"

"I see…" he said slowly in a smug tone. His plan was coming along nicely. "Ok. Let's make a deal. If you get one hit on me with your fan, I'll let you keep it. But if you can't do that, that means you don't know how to use the fan and you'll have to give it to me, OK?"

When Shika stared at him in confusion, he paraphrased, "Make me go ouch with your fan or I'll take it."

Shika thought for a little while and then retrieved her fan. She unfolded it with a little difficulty and readied her stance. Then she swung it, and a gentle breeze hit Shikamaru.

"Hmmm. Nothing." He said with a victorious grin. "Looks like I'll take the fan."

"NO! Once more!" She yelled at him urgently as he moved towards her with his hand extended.

Shikamaru looked at her pleading face and gave in. "OK. Once more."

She tried again and failed the second time as well.

"Still nothing." Shikamaru said haughtily and got up from his seat.

"Once more!" Shika shouted.

He paused. "We already di—"

"Once more!" Shika repeated forcefully with a determined face.

Shikamaru sighed but agreed for a third try.

The cycle repeated a few times until he said, "Now no more tries. You already had so many. A deal is a deal. Now, be a good girl and give me the fan."

He smiled in triumph and held out his hand as Shika folded her fan. Her increasing frustration was clearly visible on her innocent face. He watched as she stomped over to him, lifted her fan, and bonked him over the head.

"OWW!" He exclaimed more from the abruptness of the action than the damage.

In that moment, the Konoha genius witnessed his victory turn to defeat. He saw Shika's eyes widen in realization and a wide smile slowly replace her frown. And he knew; his treasured princess had figured out how to use her fan.

Shika 1. Daddy 0.

THE END