This fanfiction is a translation of one fanfiction in Spanish written by myself (WhiteTigerKiara) and translated by Anamicenas.
The story consists in following the original line that Kishimoto develops in his manga/anime and my rol here is only to complete the story we've already seen on the screen. Maybe it's bad to publish the prequel before the part I but I think that the cool things grow as long as you continue reading (till part II).
To create this fanfiction I've read all the chapters and I've seen all the episodes where they appear and my conclusion was that, from my point of view, Shikamaru and Temari are completely different when they interact to each other than when they interact to other people. They are connected in some really special way. You could smell it from far away.
Please, read with the love this couple deserves and take in consideration all the effort I've made (and my friend translating it). It's been a long time developing this fanfic.
So... finally! There it is: the translation...! Hope you like it!
Original story in Spanish: WhiteTigerKiara
Translation to English: Anamicenas
Knowing Happiness (prequel)
The characters from this story belong to the series Naruto & Naruto Shippūden © Masashi Kishimoto
Chapter 1.
Temari was the most troublesome woman he had ever met. After the battle in the Chūnin exams, even after Shikamaru quitted and because of that she won, she still felt frustrated. She felt worst than if she had lost.
He was thirteen-years-old. She was sixteen. Despite the age difference she seemed to take him very much into consideration. She didn't like to admit it, but she was very impressed with Shikamaru's performance in the exam. Maybe that's why it was her the one standing there, in front of him, willing to fight against Tayuya.
"We are allies of Konoha. We are the shinobi from The Sand." said the blonde.
"I heard the traitors from The Sand had signed an alliance with The Leaf, but I didn't thought you would be so fast in helping us" said Shikamaru.
"We didn't invade The Leaf because we wanted to. It was an order. And that's also why I'm here"
"I see… so the Godaime requested help from the Sand… we are saved…" thought the shinobi.
"By the way" said the kunoichi from Suna, "Has that good brain of yours deteriorated?"
"Eh?" Shikamaru answered the comment from the blonde. It seemed like the news about his super intelligence fly fast.
"Are you going to give up again? This time I will take care of her."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot give up in here." said Shikamaru falling in Temari's attempt to get his attention. And she succeeded. "A man can't be protected by a woman."
"You are always talking that crap about men and women" said the blonde, "even if you try to hide it, is obvious you are beaten, idiot!"
"So you are the Leaf's allies. How much work you have…" said Tayuya.
"She uses the notes from her flute to create her illusions" Shikamaru informed Temari.
"I know!" said the blonde, "DAI KAMAITACHI NO JUTSU!"
"She's capable to deflect the sound from the flute and at the same time cause physical damage. Attack and defense in a single movement. Unlike me, she's got pretty good techniques" Shikamaru thought.
…
"She's hiding…" said Shikamaru.
"Did she ran away?" said Temari.
"No, I doubt it" he said.
"I just got here, briefly inform me about the situation and tell me the analysis you've done about her abilities and her attack style."
"First, she uses the sound of her flute as her primary technique to trap her enemy in an illusion and then she'll inflict physical damage. Her thing is long distance fighting and genjutsu. She probably already noticed that her technique won't work against you. Also, is two against one. She won't show herself until we are trapped under the illusion"
"Sound, eh?"
"Yeah…"
"Illusion techniques are directed to the five senses of a person: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Confusing one or all. And that aside, the biggest problem is that it can affect your hearing from a long distance while she hides and in the meantime we can't see her and we won't know when and from where she's going to execute her technique against us. By the time we locate where the sound is coming from, we'll be already trapped under her illusion" Shikamaru tried to straighten his broken finger. "From my point of view, we are under a very unfavorable situation. At his pace, sooner or later she'll trap us, so we should retreat and…"
"Who asked for your opinion? I only asked you about the situation…Don't underestimate my power." said the kunoichi while biting her finger to perform an invocation "If she thinks that while fighting against me she'll be safe if she hides and that her flute can reach us at a distance, how naïve!... KUCHIYOSE: KIRIKIRI MAI!"
Temari's technique swept away all the trees around and then they saw Tayuya wounded and buried under one of those trees.
"So, what do you think? It's over." said Temari.
"How strong she is… is scarier than my mother…"
"Impressed?" said Temari while dedicating her best smile at him. Shikamaru's expression changed, she was terribly beautiful.
"… it seems this time I have to be grateful…" Shikamaru thought without noticing the stupid face he was making captivated by the smile of the kunoichi from Suna.
…
"Why are you staying?" Shikamaru inquired.
"Is that the way you thank me? I'm accompanying you" said the blonde from Suna.
"What about your brothers?"
"They are around town, I came by myself."
Shikamaru didn't say anything else. He just stayed quiet, nervously moving his hands, making circles with his thumbs. He had some minor injuries and a broken finger, but his friends weren't as lucky.
"There's no point in getting desperate" said the kunoichi. Shikamaru looked up at her that was sitting with her legs crossed revealing a big part of her thigh.
"How troublesome…" he thought, slightly distracted by the posture of the blonde.
"Sacrifices are inevitable part of missions" she kept talking "You did receive emotional training, right?"
The Nara changed his face annoyed by that comment.
"Training is completely different from real combat. I understand what a mission is. And I can also understand how things are in the shinobi world. This has been the first mission I've been captain and now I understand… I don't think I'm made for this."
"You are unexpectedly boring and sometimes you act like an adult" said the kunoichi in front of him.
"I shouldn't have been captain for this team" Shikamaru tried to explain himself while standing up. "All I did was trust on everyone. I've been too naïve, and I'm not strong enough… This is all my fault!"
"Are you scared to be hurt?" said Temari. Shikamaru couldn't look at her and he started walking to the door where his friend Chōji was been attended. He was not willing to listen to the scolding of a girl, his pride wouldn't let him.
"Shikamaru" his father, who was leaning against the wall on the hallway he couldn't see, said. "A woman scolds you and you run?"
"This is so troublesome; I don't want to keep talking about this. I'm not a girl." the young Nara complained.
"Yes…" Shikaku followed "but you are not a man either, you are just acting like a coward."
Temari watched from her seat, with pity on her face, at how Shikamaru's dad was scolding him.
"Even if you quit been a shinobi, there will always be missions and someone is got to do it. Your friends will be assigned to another leader. And they all could die, but if you are their captain, your friends won't end up like that. If you think about it, you have gained experience that will help you grow and next time you will be capable to accomplish your missions perfectly. If your friends are really that important to you, think about it before you abandon them… Consider yourself lucky to have your friends under your command! That's what it means to be a real friend! Don't be a coward!"
Suddenly Tsunade came out from the emergency room.
"Everything will be alright!" she said to everybody on the hall. She sat down in front of Temari. "The cellular destruction caused by the pills has been stopped by an antidote I made. Thanks for your help Shikaku. The Nara Clan's medical manual was very useful. I'm pretty sure it hasn't been easy to collect all that data, it's the result from so many studies."
"Thank you" Shikaku said contently nodding at the news.
…
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune screamed while she was running to reach them "Hyūga Neji is out of danger. And also, I got some information, just a moment ago Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto came back… he's been treaded, but his life is not in danger."
"Only two…?" Tsunade said.
Shikamaru was still standing on that hall not knowing where to go. Temari kept looking, with much more pity on her face –if that was even possible- to the young Nara still in the middle standing. She couldn't stop thinking what could be going on through the mind of that boy. He was about to break down.
"Shikamaru, it seems like your mission was a failure. But everyone is alive, and that's what's important."
And he cried. He cried a lot, he cried with such rage of putting his friends at danger.
"Next time I will accomplish a perfect mission" Shikamaru said still with big tears on his face rolling down to the floor.
…
Shizune and Tsunade left and Shikaku followed after them. Shikamaru was drying his tears.
"Hey…" the blonde kunoichi from Suna said coming close to his back "is done, everything will be ok."
Shikamaru just saw how she was offering him a handkerchief.
"Thanks" he said, picking it up.
"Don't worry, you didn't fail" Temari said while putting a hand on his shoulder "for sure next time it will be better."
Shikamaru and Temari walked out of the hospital at a slow pace. Truthfully, Shikamaru didn't understand why she kept following him, so he picked up his pace. After a couple minutes walking he suddenly stopped and said:
"Why are you following me?" he said it is a very harsh tone. The kunoichi just frowned and was surprised by the attitude of the boy.
Temari looked down and just answered with sorrow in her voice:
"… you are so lucky to have so many friends, I don't have any friends in Suna. I don't know anybody in Konoha… and people is always scared of me because of my brother…" she explained to Shikamaru.
The first thing that came out to the young Nara boy's head was Naruto's suffering trying to get accepted by other people because he was a jinchūriki. Gaara was one too and that was a little detail he didn't think about. He always thought that the only ones that suffered were the jinchūrikis themselves, he never imagined that all that could also affect Gaara's siblings.
Shikamaru felt bad for Temari the same way he did for Naruto. So he said to her:
"Well…. I will be your friend In Konoha, what do you think?"
Temari looked up openmouthed and saw him with wishful eyes. Shikamaru's cheeks flushed a little noticing the reaction of the kunoichi:
"… that way you won't feel like you have no friends." he tried to explain, scratching the back of his head feeling a little bit ashamed.
Temari's face changed and a gorgeous smiled formed on her mouth, a smile even bigger than the one she showed him when she saved his life. Shikamaru was as red as a tomato this time, because he noticed, that in reality, she was a very sweet woman.
The Temari he met the first time was a very rough woman, so Shikamaru could barely understand how was it possible that, that girl could smile like that.
"Thank you" she said to him, still with that smile on her face, she came close to him and pinched his cheeks and kissed his forehead.
Shikamaru thought his head was about to explode when her lips touch his forehead and on top of that he could see in front of his eyes her cleavage framed by her lilac dress…