Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
In that moment, the world came to a complete and utter standstill. With eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape, no words came to him. Stupidly, he could only stare at her, frozen in time. Amidst those intimate, silent moments, only the Shadow Possession Jutsu hung between them.
At last, a smile curved upon his lips as clear understanding shook through him. "May I?" he teased, flicking her hand to throw the harmless white stick in his direction. Deftly catching it, he noted the confirmation in the form of the faint blue (+) sign. Positive it read. Positive. Although he wouldn't say it in so many words, he could hardly contain his glee.
She relaxed just then, since the spar was over, and she could see the sudden swell of pride and understanding wash over him all at once. She would show no sign of it, at least not yet, but it made her heart sing.
Those few weeks of unexplained moodiness should have been a sign, although it made no difference now. All that mattered was her and the baby. Their baby, he repeated in his mind, relaxing into his own happiness, his and hers.
What a troublesome way she had picked to tell him, wielding the shuriken showers and windstorm to drive him out of his favorite cloud watching spot on the Nara grounds. He almost felt guilty using his family's Jutsu to hold her frozen on the spot, but a few close calls of those dangerously sharp shuriken near some very important pieces of his anatomy left him with no other alternative than to end it quickly. He had thought she was about to wield a kunai from her sleeve before he froze her in that precarious position, so he couldn't have been more surprised when he discovered the pregnancy test stick instead.
"Troublesome woman," he mumbled, but, there was no bite to the accusation, only sincerity and warmth.
Tender lips locked with hers as he released his Jutsu. "Thank you," he murmured as his forehead touched hers and he held her gaze.
The look would forever be imprinted in her mind of the moment when his eyes, full of wonder and joy, blinked to stare back at her. She was still a bit breathless from the spar just moments ago and the rush of pink to her cheeks could do nothing to hide all that had transpired.
A smile graced her lips. The last time he had caught her in the grips of his family Jutsu, it caught her attention too.
"You're welcome," she beamed.
Shikamaru liked being outside when the sun was up and the clouds floated by, and he liked kissing his beloved tenderly as the light rays illuminated her soft, radiant skin. Light was his ally, the core source of his greatest strength. A sudden errant thought passed, as his trademark smirk sprung to life. Well, almost always, he chuckled to himself, remembering the nights in the dark spent intimately with his wife. He'd hesitantly admit it was sometimes an advantage. Her upper hand in things then had blossomed into new life. He had always cherished her, but somehow, impossible as it was, she meant even more to him than ever before.
Temari. I grow to love you more every day.
~End~
Author's Note:
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