"I can't believe that knucklehead got married. To Hinata of all people. She must have the patience of a saint."
Shikamaru gave a light, breathy laugh at the comment made by Temari. His face was turning warm from the liquor and the tips of his fingers were cold from the night air surrounding them. He had his eyes on the newlyweds, two people on such opposite ends of a spectrum they had to call their own.
"You've known them for a while but not as long as I have. You'd be surprised at what Hinata can and can't tolerate."
"I guess so."
She held her left hand up and away from her.
The ring on her finger was cheap and an ugly bronze color. It caught some of the light peeking out from the dusty, floral curtains of the room. It brought out the discoloration and the scratches on the piece of metal.
She didn't care how ugly it appeared to be.
She loved it.
"You see yourself getting married anytime soon, Trouble?"
"Is that a comment on my age?"
He almost choked on his drink. "No, oh my God. I meant it like do you see yourself settling-"
"I was joking you crybaby."
He muttered under his breath and got up from their table to get another drink.
The comforter rose and fell in time with Shikamaru's breathing. It was far too early in the morning for him to even consider waking up so of course he was still asleep. Especially after the activities from last night.
His sleeping form was facing her. His thick lashes barely touched the soft, pale skin underneath his eye. She was always so jealous of his lashes. Her eyes scanned his entire body and stopped at his left hand. She gave the matching ring on his finger a light touch and it caused him to stir slightly.
Her face warmed up when he opened his eyes.
"Good morning."
"We could get married, you know."
He stopped short of his movements
They never made their relationship public. They still denied Naruto's jabs even though they were true. It just wasn't for them. They didn't it to be out in the open. They wanted it for themselves.
"Temari, I thought we both said we didn't want-"
"I know what we both said. It can be just the two of us, Shikamaru."
Just the two of them.
She pressed her body to his and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. He smelled of sweat and cigarettes and a hint of pine. Probably from spending most of his time feeding the deer in the forest, no doubt.
She held up his left hand and spun the ring on his finger around, catching her dim reflection on the dirty piece of jewelry.
His breath was warm against the crown of her head. "I'll get you a nicer ring when we get back."
"No. This one is perfect. It's 'us', you know?"
"Yeah. It is."
"Are you being serious?"
"One hundred percent."
"We can't have a private ceremony here, everyone knows who we are."
"Then we'll run off and go where no one knows us."
His head was spinning. The lights, the people, the music. It all became a blur. The only clear thing in his line of sight was Temari. His stomach was doing backflips and his heart was about to fly out of his chest. Every emotion he could name hit him like a Rasengan. He was terrified, thrilled, nervous, excited.
He was everything in that one moment.
"What are we gonna tell your brothers?"
"The truth."
"Temari." His voice had a stern tone to it.
That thought never came to mind. What were they going to tell everyone? Who is going to move where? What will they all think?
They were just so caught up in the moment. Bliss had blinded them.
"Okay."
Her green eyes grew wide and shone under the lights hanging above them. Her heart rate increased and her eyes stung with threatening tears. She saw nothing but love and determination in his eyes.
"Really?"
"Really," He took her hands into his, "Yeah, let's do it. We don't have to worry about pleasing anyone. We won't have any eyes on us. The only one's we'd have to worry about is each other."
"Then let's go right now."
"You mean 'now' now? Leave the wedding?"
"Yes, now."
"What village would we go to? Everyone in the Land of Fire knows who we are."
"We'll go to another country then."
"Where?"
She never gave him an answer. She just took his hand and ran.
"Did we make the right decision, Shikamaru?"
The question scared him. This was Temari. Temari never question him and she never questioned herself. She was so sure of everything. She held no regrets over her head. Now he was afraid that he would be her first real regret.
She must have sensed his fear.
"No. I don't mean getting married. That I feel we did right on," She ran her fingers through his hair and shivered at its silky texture, "But now we're going to face everyone. My brothers, your mother and friends. What comes after this?"
He pressed his lips into her hair and spoke into it. "I guess that's the fun of it. Finding out what comes after."
The streets were empty and dark. Everyone was out at Naruto and Hinata's wedding. No one was there to see them running hand in hand.
Air burned their lungs and nostrils as their legs pounded against the pavement. Her hair had fallen out of its twin tails and his tie was flapping wildly.
When she looked up at him, his face was red and a thin layer of sweat was forming on his skin. Shots and air came from his mouth which was pulled back in a grin. He must of sensed her looking, because she felt his hand tighten around her's and they both quickened their pace, heading off into the direction of his house and her hotel to pack.
"Should we go back?"
"We should. It's wouldn't be wise to stay here, Shikamaru. We have responsibilities. You're head of the Nara clan, remember?"
"Don't remind me. They're all probably in a blind panic right now."
Her laugh was soft and gentle. She pulled away from him and sat up, her back aching from laying down for too long.
The blanket fell from her body and the cold air around them covered her bare chest in goose bumps. She looked down at the exposed bruises on her hips smiled to herself. She turned to make Shikamaru roll over onto his stomach and smiled wider and the red scratches spread across his back.
She heard him let out a content sigh when she traced a finger down one of the marks.
It was past midnight when they arrived at the Crescent Moon Kingdom. Shikamaru heard of it from Naruto and Sakura when they came back from a mission with Lee and Kakashi. It was here that they were sure no one would know who they were.
Casinos and amusement parks outshone the moon they lived so valiantly under. Temari was in utter amazement. In her twenty-two years of life, she had never seen a place like this. The desert did not have much to offer.
The wedding chapel they found was small. Perhaps smaller than the ramen stand back in Konoha.
"Shikamaru, we don't have rings."
With no words spoken, he ran off to find a pair. He came back, panting and strands of black hair in his face. In his hands were two cheap, old, bronze rings.
"Ready?"
She took his hand in hers and rubbed her thumb along the back of it. "Ready."
"I think I'm more afraid of my mom than Kankuro."
"That's because Kankuro is afraid of me and will back off if I say it. He's a bigger crybaby than you are sometimes."
He grinned and chuckled at her remark. "What about Gaara?"
"I think Gaara knew about us. You know him, he just sits and observes."
"Ew."
"Not while we were together you idiot!" She took the pillow from behind her and smacked him with it. This only made him laugh harder.
"He'll be alright with it?"
"Gaara isn't that brother that's all 'hurt my sister and you die'. He knows me and what I can handle. He likes you anyway."
"That's more of an honor than marrying you."
Another hit with the pillow.
They must have thanked every God, every tailed-beast and every deity known to man that there wasn't anyone in the hotel room next to them. Not that they needed to ask, the clerk at the front desk made sure to tell them.
Dents began to form in the stucco of the wall from the bed frame banging into it.
He pounded into her, fingers squeezing the tanned flesh of her hips. She drew blood when she raked her fingers down his back, bits of skin and blood catching underneath them.
His hair tickled her nose when he bent down to catch her screams in a heated kiss. He gulped down every last syllable of his name, every 'please' and every 'yes' that came from her.
When he pulled away a thin line of saliva fell from his mouth and landed on her bottom lip. Her lips were beet red and swollen from his relentless attacks on them and small hickeys dotted the skin of her neck and shoulder like stars.
Her orgasm took her by surprise, hitting her when he finally found her sweet spot. Her walls convulsed and squeezed around him and he came a few seconds after her.
He fell to the side, so that he wouldn't land on her, and took her left hand into his. Her eyes were glazed over with lust and fatigue but she watch him as he kissed the tips of each of her fingers. He stopped when he reached her third finger and placed light kisses on the ring.
"I love you, Temari."
They thanked the clerk when they left the hotel and again when she congratulated them, albeit that last one was rushed with embarrassment.
They sat on the boat, waiting for it to leave the docks. The whole time they sat there and watched the clouds drift by and joked about the couples that walked by.
"How many of them do you think ran off like we did?"
Shikamru snorted, "I'm sure all of them," he put his hand behind his head and arched his back to stretch, "And I'm sure they'll go home and get a divorce in a year or two."
"Do you think that will happen to us?"
He looked towards Temari and down at the ring on her finger. "We're not like them."
He was right.
She held her left hand up and away from her.
The ring on her finger was cheap and an ugly bronze color. It caught some of the light peeking out from the dusty, floral curtains of the room. It brought out the discoloration and the scratches on the piece of metal.
In her mind, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever gotten from him. No amount of words and any other gift could take that away from her.
Hell yeah I did a throwback to the third Naruto movie.
