This was a sight he could never get used to. Temari, wind mistress and proclaimed cruelest kunoichi lying flat on her back, light headed, flushed and in a daze. It started two years ago, after their son was born. The kid took too much after his mother. He looked and thought like a Nara but his eyes and mannerisms were all hers. The nine month old infant had scraped himself on the corner of a table and had promptly begun to screech. Rushing over to view the damage, Temari had taken one look at him and promptly passed out on the ground. Shikamaru, hearing the thud, rushed over to see his red faced son with a small trail of blood running from his cut. After placing his wife on the couch he quickly tended to the minor wound. At the time he had been too bemused to make fun of her.
"My son…is…bleeding," she mumbled in a hypnotic like state. Who would have known that Temari of the desert would turn into such an anxious and doting mother? She was overbearing most of the time but after their son had been born a whole other side of her emerged. She was fiercely maternal and Shikamaru had no doubt in his mind that she would show no mercy to anyone who harmed a single hair on the boy's head. He suspected it was because of the lack of parental figures in her childhood.
Actually, all of the sand siblings spoiled him rotten. Little Shikadai could do no wrong in his uncles' eyes. Both of them came to Konoha a week before his due date despite their duties. Unfortunately, Garra was not there to see him after he was born as the boy was two weeks late. Kankarou didn't even blink an eye when the baby drooled on his puppets. When Gaara did meet him, the stony kazekage showed a rare smile and discreetly rubbed his eyes as what Shikamaru knew were tears began to fall. Then there was his mother… That crazy woman had an entire wall dedicated to her grandson, everything from photographs to scribbled drawings. Yoshino could hardly contain herself when she had found out they were expecting. She cried and mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like, "I never thought this day would come." At the end of the day, he was the golden child of the family. He would probably always be due to Temari's difficult labour.
"Mari, you've seen wounds far worse than this. Besides, he's not going to break that easily." The Nara gave a self satisfied smirk as he eyed his patch up work. The boy had stopped crying and was eying his mother curiously from his father's lap.
"He is definitely your child…," she grumbled as she propped herself upright. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I should hope so; he's pretty much my clone. That being said, Nara men definitely have a distinct family resemblance. If he wasn't mine, I'd have to ask which one of my cousins you've been having affiliations with." A pillow went flying from the couch so fast that he had no chance of dodging. It hit him square in the face.
"Woman, I'm holding your child here!"
"Definitely yours…he's troublesome just like his father," she flashed her trade-marked smirk.
Now, two years later, the sand ninja was still taken to a state of utter helplessness when her little boy was injured. Even though the child himself could now assure his mother that he was completely fine.
"You're laughing at me," she snarled from the couch.
"I'm not," he replied with great amusement as he stooped above her. He heard her let out a huff of aggravation. When their son became a ninja he didn't know what she would do. Perhaps, that would be the one chuunin exam she'd miss. As if, he knew his wife was intensely loyal; it was one of her best qualities. Even if she fainted in the stands, she would never miss that kind of milestone.
"Don't lie to me crybaby!"
"Mama id oka," the two year old assured, with a smile so much like Shikamaru's that she had to stop worrying for just a minute and admire him. Just like that, all the harsh lines were wiped from her face and she smiled her beautiful smile. Temari was proud. And, despite her numerous titles and skills, what she took the most pride in was her son. They had done good.