Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Black and White, Queen and Knight
…
She slid a rook forward a few spaces in a contemplative manner. Occasionally her eyes drifted upwards, taking in the image of the one she'd come to admire greatly over the last few years. Her head tilted curiously at him as she thought back to the day they first encountered each other; that was during the chuunin exam.
Temari smirked, recalling the events of their battle that day during the final exam. His laid-back demeanor and clever deception came to mind. He sure was a strategist then too, she thought to herself—just as she showed himself to be now as they sat outside on the Nara's porch playing chess.
"You sure like to play chess, Shikamaru, don't you? Is this how you keep yourself so competent on the frontline?"
Shikamaru hummed thoughtfully to himself as he slowly took a drag from his cigarette that hung loosely between his parted lips. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he drawled, lethargically sliding forward a pawn as he did so.
Temari advanced her own pawn before glancing at the man who lay on his side with his head perched lazily upon his fist. "Seriously though, why do you play it so much? You hardly do anything else. What about when Naruto becomes Hokage?"
The young man lifted a brow and lazily raised his gaze to meet her teal orbs. "What of it?"
"Don't you want to be his right-hand man or something? You know, he may have the heart and strength of a kage, but he's lacking in the intelligence department and you know I'm not lying either. Surely you wouldn't leave the village to crash and burn under him, would you?"
Shikamaru smirked. "That's Naruto for you…" He slid another pawn, this time diagonally, capturing one of Temari's that lay exposed. "But he's the kind of person who despite what you say, is somehow still able to accomplish everything he does with just his heart. He has a strong sense of loyalty and compassion… it's inspiring, you know? Just makes everyone want to follow him, myself included."
"Well I can't deny that." Temari knew full well that it was Naruto's will and nature that transformed Gaara. There was certainly no doubting this statement. She watched on silently as Shikamaru made his next move and then as they traded turns a few more times in silence.
The afternoon sun rested high in the sky now. A light breeze accompanied the heat like a hushed whisper. Occasionally the two would glance up at each other when the other wasn't looking. They continued on like this for a few minutes before Temari, from the corner of her eye, detected a look of perplexity resting on the face of one of Konoha's most strategic shinobi. It'd been there for minutes now, she noted from her previous glances. She could see something was on his mind, but decided that rather than asking, she'd rather have him be the one to address her about whatever was bothering him. After a pregnant silence, Temari's wish was granted as Shikamaru's spoke up at last.
"…When you think of 'king', what comes to mind?"
"The kage… why?" she answered after a moment of thought.
"I used to think the same thing, particularly the Hokage though in my case…"
Temari sat silently for a moment waiting for him to continue, but he made no attempt at doing so. Slightly baffled, Temari prodded him to continue. "Okay, but that didn't answer the question, Shikamaru."
"Before Asuma-sensei was killed, he asked me the same thing—who I envisioned the king to be. He told me I was wrong when I first responded, but never gave me the true answer until his final moments."
"Well what'd he say?"
"The king isn't the one who leads the village—the one who stands before them with guidance," he began. "The king is the future—the generations that are to come. That's why the rooks, the bishops, the knights, and the pawns stand before the king," he continued pointing to each piece in respective order as he listed them. "They're protecting the new generation that will lead our future."
It was an interesting concept, Temari admitted mentally. With slightly piqued interest, she offered a question. "Well then, in this little metaphor where the future generations are the king, what would that make you and me?"
"According to him, I was… or am a knight. It's the piece that has the ability to turn the tides in the game despite lacking the strength or aggression that the others—the bishops and rooks—have."
Temari bit her inner cheek lightly, still not completely sure of where this was going. "So you're a crucial piece to the protection of the king then?"
"Just as important as the rest, actually," he admitted. "The only difference is the knight is able to see past the main line of defense and break through it." With a knight in hand, Shikamaru moved to capture a bishop. He lifted his gaze at Temari with eyes reading 'see?', as if making a statement.
At the sight of her last remaining bishop being captured, she grinned crookedly. "Well aren't you the wise guy?" Temari moved again, lightly holding her queen in her fingers, swiping a pawn, but leaving herself exposed to a fatal loss in the process she had yet to register. "So then who fulfills the role of queen if the king is the supposed 'future generations' you speak of?"
"The queen… it's the piece that can fulfill the roles of all other pieces but the knight." Shikamaru sat quietly for a moment. "Think of the queen as the mother of the next generation to come. The queen is the one who nurtures the future and makes it her duty to protect the king in any way possible. She feels it's her responsibility to do so regardless of the challenges faced."
"Is that so?"
"Heh, I had my doubts at one point, too."
"Really?"
He nodded.
"What changed your mind?"
"Simple. Women are scary. That's what changed my mind." Shikamaru slid his queen diagonally four spaces while drawing his cigarette from his mouth. "Checkmate."
Instantly Temari's eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at the board. He truly was great at the game. "Heh, well played, though I can say I'd expect no less from you."
He brushed off the comment with a slight snort. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he pressed the end of the butt into the wooden plank on the veranda, watching the ashes crumble and a steady stream of smoke rise from them.
Just as the last of the smoke faded from existence, Shikamaru raised his head up a bit to look at the beautiful yet fearsome woman who sat before him. His expression relaxed slightly as he eyed her studiously while she continued to look down at the board, retracing the steps back to where she went wrong. "You're almost there, you know."
"Hm?" Temari turned her attention towards him.
Shikamaru shifted onto his back from his current position. "At the status of a queen, I mean."
"Don't be so ridiculous Shikamaru," she remarked with the slightest blush creeping onto her cheeks. "…but do you really think so?"
Shikamaru smirked while lazily opening one eye in her direction. "Heh, troublesome woman. I said almost. Not quite there… yet."
She huffed disappointedly. "You're the worst, you know that?"
"What makes you say that? I'm only stating the truth. It's true that the queen has the capability of protecting the king in almost every way possible, but she can't truly do so without the assistance of a knight."
Temari clicked her tongue in question. "What's that now?"
"You see, every queen needs their knight if they are to succeed in their role. Like I said earlier, the queen can do almost everything, but she can never truly fulfill the role of the knight."
Shikamaru lifted himself up into a seated position and turned his body fully to face Temari. He inhaled a slowly and released a calm breath before attempting to speak. For some reason as he did so, he felt his head instinctively turn away from the blonde and out into the Nara forest.
"Look, I may regret this later—hopefully not," he mumbled to himself, "but frankly I'm ready to settle down already. Life is only so long, you know."
"…"
"…"
Her lips parted slightly now as she remained seated in complete silence.
"…Well whatdaya say?" He asked before the silence continued any longer. Shikamaru found himself having to fight his own body to tilt his even in the slightest just to get a glimpse of Temari and while he may have been humored by the look on her face, he figured now wouldn't be the right time to chuckle.
Temari sat with her mouth agape and her eyes wide open for a few more seconds before the realization truly sunk in and she was shaken back into reality.
"Tch, is this your idea of a proposal, Shikamaru?"
He scrunched his faced in confusion. "Wasn't it obvious?"
"What the hell, Shikamaru? That's the worst proposal I've ever heard," she sneered.
He looked up thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging, brushing off her comment. "It's probably the only one you've ever heard and besides, it's not really my thing."
"I can see that. Hell, Kankuro and Gaara could have done better than that and they're the most unromantic guys I know, save for you apparently."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Perhaps," he drawled, sliding his hand under his chin to and pinching it pensively. He shut his eyes and shifted onto his back again using his hands as a pillow. "But I don't think he'd be as good a knight to his queen like I would to mine."
Temari bit her lip and huffed as she fought the little violent storm of emotions that were ferociously fighting to burst from her chest, her equivalent of butterflies in Hinata's tummy when it came to Naruto.
Curiously he peeked at Temari to get a glimpse at her reactions once more. Truth be told, he couldn't actually tell what she was truly feeling as she looked quite conflicted at the moment. And it suddenly left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.
That was until the corners of her lips tugged upwards slightly, sharply even and she finally spoke. "Well if it were anyone else I'd consider that a less than acceptable proposal, but I already know this is the type of person you are."
"Troublesome woman…" he muttered.
"What, did I worry you for a second there?" Temari taunted. He shook his head in an undecipherable manner.
"Only a little. Don't flatter yourself," he shot back in a similar teasing manner with his eyes closed, savoring this moment as it was.
"Like I'd ever."
"…You did during the exams years back."
"Don't make me go back on my decision now."
…
A/N: Scene. I know in Shogi the piece of the queen doesn't exist, so I decided to go with chess since I was overall more familiar with it. I've never done this pairing before so I decided I'd take a shot at it. I hope you enjoyed it.
Until next time!