Hey everyone, I wrote this quickly in hopes of it getting me back into my other story which I have serious writers block for, but sadly, not yet. I know it's probs super OC and not even slightly canon, but I still think its good… I've got Kankuren fever right now, and I so do not know why. Have a happy Christmas/ holiday season, whatever it is you do or celebrate. I don't really, just another excuse for tasty food and presents Any reviews are appreciated! Thanks peeps
"Kankuro!" yelled the blonde woman in the kitchen as she swatted his hand away from the Christmas cake for the umpteenth time, "Stop touching the god damn cake or so help me you won't live until dinner!" Dodging the knife the puppet master ran out of the kitchen, making sure to close the door behind him. He smiled to himself as he licked the icing off his index finger, thinking of how happy his older sister was, and how happy that made him in turn.
He walked down the hallway and headed toward the lounge, to resume his seat in front of his younger brother and Temaris boyfriend.
"Who's winning? Is it Shikamaru, I bet it's Shikamaru, Gaara, you're the Kazekage, please don't lose to a chunin." Kankuro bantered, trying to keep himself from falling into raucous peals of laughter. Gaara simply ignored his antagonistic older brother and stared at the board in front of him, Shikamaru, meanwhile, didn't want the either Sand Sibling to think he couldn't hold his own.
"Well excuse me Kankuro, but I'm a jounin now. The official ceremony will be held after the holidays." He said matter of factly as he rolled his eyes at the puppet wielder. "Pfft" snorted Kankuro as he laid himself down on the couch, "Took you long enough." Just as the leaf shinobi was about to respond there was a slight knock at the door to which Gaara stood up as quick as possible and headed over too. "I guess I win then" sighed Shikamaru as he stretched his arms above his head releasing all of the muscles in his back.
"Everybody," the deep drawl of the Kazekage got the attention of the two relaxing ninja, as well as bringing Temari out of her kitchen, hair slightly frazzled and raw foods splattered all down her apron. "Matsuri has arrived, and she brought a guest with her." He stepped aside to reveal Matsuri standing behind him, holding a bag filled with presents and smiling shyly at the three people in front of her, her tiny frame draped in a casual green and white striped dress, making her look as small and elfish as normal, though this time in a rather comical sense. Standing proudly beside her was a rather familiar face for Shikamaru, bright brown eyes and her hair in two buns on either side of her crown. She was also dressed in seasonal colours – a green top and red pants – but her slightly larger frame made her look more human than elf.
"Uh, TenTen, hi, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked quickly, surprised at seeing her so far from the village. His eyes quickly travelled over to Temari – they hadn't been exactly forthcoming about their relationship, the war only ended recently and they wanted to spend time together without the prying, gossipy eyes of Shikamarus comrades, namely Ino and Naruto.
"Hi Shikamaru!" TenTen greeted him with her usual upbeat voice and big smile, "Um, I'm actually here to see" "Me!" came a loud voice from behind the shadow ninja. "She's here to see me" Kankuro continued as he brushed roughly past Shikamaru, smirking back at him as he greeted TenTen with a small hug and a peck on the cheek. He stood proudly next to her, smiling as though he'd just won first prize in a contest.
Temari snorted "Yes, Kankuro, congratulations, you finally found a girl not repulsed by you, we know." She walked back to the kitchen as they laughed at Kankuro whose face had fallen and there was a slight blush on his cheeks. He suggested that they all go and sit in the lounge and led the girls to where they could place their belongings. Matsuri busied herself arranging the presents she had brought under the tree, Gaara kneeling at her side giving her awkward compliments about how she looked, blushing while she giggled sweetly.
Kankuro was sitting on the couch eagerly listening to TenTens recount of her travel to the Hidden Sand, so Shikamaru decided to go and see if he could help his girlfriend.
As soon as he entered the kitchen he regretted his decision. Everything was set up in a fine order and he dare not breathe out too hard for fear of disturbing the perfect system the kitchen was organised into. She was bending over slightly, trying to decipher some small handwriting in the side column of the cook book she had been pouring over the night before. She didn't look up as he entered the room, and ignored him totally as he cleared his throat. He made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, intending to give her a small kiss on the back of the head, but she turned instead and placed her lips on his. He smiled as they kissed and felt himself pulled closer as Temari hoisted herself up elegantly and effortlessly onto the bench. Leaning back and bumping her head slightly on the overhead cabinet as Shikamaru leaned in to her. She raised her hands over his shoulders to the back of his head and neck, as he dropped his to her hips. They broke apart for much needed air, smiling at one another as Shikamaru started a small trail of kisses down her neck. Temari giggled as the door to the kitchen swung open.
"Ew, Temari, not near the food, I have to eat that!" Kankuro complained loudly as he headed for the fridge. Popping the cap off a beer bottle he threw it at the couple, Shikamaru blushing bright red, Temari smiling evilly at her younger brother. She caught the bottle cap and threw it in the bin, hopping off the bench and pushing Shikamaru toward the door. "Five minutes, wash up and sit down, I'm bringing the Turkey out now."
The six shinobi sat at an elegant dining table in the formal dining area of the Kazekages residence. It wasn't a mansion, per say – The hidden sand hadn't been a particularly wealthy village previously – but the house was large and set out to hold many functions. Temari had been cooking all day and had set up a beautiful feast – a massive roast turkey, salads, roast vegies, bread, gravy, sauces, enough food for more than just the six of them.
"Temari, this is amazing!" squeaked Matsuri from her seat next to Gaara. They were smiling at each other through mouthfuls of food, lovingly passing each other the gravy boat – it was all the other four could do to not burst into laughter, especially with Temari making finger-down-throat motions and Kankuro over dramatically replaying it to TenTen every time she asked for something.
After dinner, and dessert, Kankuro finally got his cake, and he ate three slices of it, they all went to relax in the lounge room. The lights on the tree were on, presents piled high and spread out wide, gentle music playing in the background.
Kankuro sat on the lounge with TenTen, showing her old pictures of the three siblings, laughing at the cute poses, awkward pictures and every now and then smiling warmly at a random picture of either parent.
Gaara and Matsuri were sitting by the window, looking out at the stars and talking quietly about the constellations, every now and then sharing a small kiss.
Temari and Shikamaru were finishing up a game of Shogi – Shikamaru winning, Temari trying to retrace her steps and see just how far back she had lost. She was deep in thought and Shikamaru smiled as he watched her, enjoying the fact that she could not only keep up with him, but that he could challenge her in a way few could. He got up and paced over to the tree, looking at the decorations closely, every now and again turning to one of the male sand siblings and making pointed eye contact. Regarding him quizzically, Gaara suggested to Matsuri that she and TenTen help Temari with the washing up. Temari finally realising where she went wrong stood up and guided the two girls back into the kitchen.
Once sure she was out of ear shot, Shikamaru started one of the most serious discussions he would ever have.
The girls finished their cleaning up and Temari excused herself to clean up slightly. She dumped her apron in the dirty wash basket and went up to the bathroom to rinse her face. She pulled her hair out of her pigtails, letting it bounce slightly off her shoulders. She returned to the lounge room running her fingers through her hair, seeing the other five shinobi all seated facing the Christmas tree. She made eye contact with Shikamaru, smiling at him as he stared at her – even he hardly saw her with her hair down. She took a seat between Kankuro and Shikamaru – It was tradition in their family for each person to receive one present on Christmas Eve. It was also tradition that Kankuro would hand them out.
He handed one to Gaara, from himself, it was a small pocket guide – How to be a Boyfriend – Gaara thanked Kankuro profusely, obviously not understanding that it was a joke. Kankuro however, had tears running down his cheeks and when glared at by Matsuri all he could sputter out was "I'm sorry, I'm just so funny!"
Next was Matsuri, and she had received a small weaponised fan from Temari. "You asked me to train you in long distance, I think using a fan would be a good start." Matsuri skipped over and gave Temari a hug, before bounding joyfully back to Gaara.
Then was TenTen who received a special looking kunai with her named carved into it from Kankuro. He blushed the whole time, and only just managed to make eye contact with her once she had already placed it back in its box. Temari made a mental note to use that to her advantage.
Kankuro picked up the next present and it was to him, from Temari. He regarded the package suspiciously, not knowing what his darling sister could have put in there for him. He saw her smiling at him and slowly unwrapped the box. Fearing the worst, it turned out to only be a bottle of old whisky, a bottle he had been searching for, for quite a while now. He wrapped an arm around her asking who was left.
Temari reached past Kankuro and pulled quite a large box towards herself, handing it to Shikamaru. He took it from her and lifted the lid. Inside was a smaller, ornate carved wooden box. He looked up at her, hoping to receive some sort of hint as to what was inside, but her teal eyes gave nothing away. He removed the box and placed it before himself, opening it slowly. Inside, were shogi pieces.
"They were dads. My brothers and I don't enjoy this game like you do, and I thought they'd do a lot better being used, rather than sitting in a box here and never getting seen." She looked at him passively, a look he wasn't used to seeing on her, and he smiled as big as he could. "They're gold Temari, gold. They're beautiful. Thank you." She smiled at him, happy that he liked the gift, knowing that he understood the real reason why it was important to her.
"Last one Temari, looks like it's for you." Kankuro picked up the small box, but instead of handing it to her, he handed it to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru looked at her as he readied himself for what was to come next. "Shopping for women is troublesome, but I really hope you like it." He opened the small box for her and watched as her eyes took in the small item inside.
A small, silver, scratched up lighter sat in the box in front of her. She looked at the leaf shinobi in front of her. She knew this lighter. She'd seen it many times in his hands as she reprimanded him for smoking, and many times before that in the hands of his now deceased sensei, Asuma. She reached up and took it out of the box, her eyes glazing over with unshed tears. "You really want me to have this?" she asked, she knew how important his sensei was to him and to be given one of the few things left to remind him of that sensei meant a lot to her.
"No, silly woman, open it." He drew a shaky breath as his hands helped hers to open the lighter up, all eyes – especially those of her overprotective brothers – on him. As she opened the lighter a delicate, though brilliantly shiny, diamond ring popped up where the flame should be. His heart stopped, he forgot the audience, it was only Temari now, she was all that mattered to him. He felt the lighter being taken from his hands as she pulled it towards herself, ripping the ring out and shoving it unceremoniously on her small hands, holding it up to the light.
She turned to him and smiled, her eyes sparkling in all shades of blue and green, her smile bright, saying "yes", a small tear of happiness running down her cheek, and turning to her brothers, who were coming over to give her a hug.
Shikamaru sat back as the two girls swamped Temari for a closer look and her brothers came over to him, shaking his hand, congratulating him, and welcoming him to the family.