One might remember that the highlight of their wedding reception was, when asked what made her unique in his eyes for the first time, he announced aloud: "She was more frightening than my mother."

But Nara Shikamaru and Temari have gone through a lot more than just that. Here are some snapshots taken from the photo album that is their life together.


His and Her Circumstances

Nara Shikamaru and Temari


Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Linked to my other fics "Congratulations - I Think" and "The First Thing About Her". Check them out, too, please! (shameless plugging)

Dedication: Here's to YamiPaladin of Chaos, whose "drabble" fics inspired this.


Love at first sight did not apply to them. She wanted to kick his ass; he didn't want anything to do with her. They both changed their minds afterwards, though.


His face was not exactly built for smiles, so she found it a bit irritating at first to be the object of his niceties. Then again, it was nice to be pleasantly smiled at.


She was more partial to smirks. But he knew how nice she looked when she smiled, having led her to do so once upon a first time and many more times later.


She wanted someone who was at least a match for her prowess in battle. He more than made up for that with his penetrating intelligence. So she didn't mind having his babies, if it came to that. Considering offspring usually combine the best traits of their parents, their children would be utter monsters when they grew up.


He wasn't sweet. But he was charming in his own way. Besides, she preferred intelligent frankness to dumb charisma. And she had the satisfaction of never having to hear a lamebrain on-the-fly excuse. All he ever bothered to say was, "I slept too long."

Of course she believed him.


She didn't pursue him in the way modern women would. Neither did he exactly court her. One could almost say that, one bright and sunny day, they just happened on the exact same conclusion and agreed that something was there between them. Not every couple could say they thought on mostly the same lines.


Unlike most guys (number one of whom was a certain blonde Jinchuriki ramen junkie), he wasn't out and out crazy about her. She found that a relief. Not being the type who liked silly fan boys, she would have wasted a lot of shuriken and war fans on him for every gush he'd dropped. Good weapons were expensive nowadays.

Then again, he merited every single attack she launched every time they sparred.


The day she knew he was hers and hers alone was when Yamanaka Ino went to her and said, "Take care of him for me, will you?" To which she replied humbly: "I have the feeling he'll be the one taking of me."

Ino laughed. Ever since, they were sisters.


It took him a while to finally get around to proposing. His mother helped steer him in that direction– by becoming such an utter horror that he was terrified into looking for someone who could defend him from her. And that was the reason why he picked her, she being more frightening than his mother.

Or so he jokes.


The first time she saw his wits not about him was during their wedding. He caught the bouquet meant for the single ladies, annoying bridesmaid Ino to no end (but maybe that was for the best; considering all the formidable ladies present, a rumble might have ensued in the scramble for the bouquet); asked why the wedding cake was not chocolate (it was– that is, white chocolate); and had to be led around like a stray puppy for the most part. And there was that truthful joke, to boot.

Nevertheless, it was the happiest day in her life. The happiest night in her life followed a few hours later.


The morning after their wedding, he looked totally beat. His wife, though, was grinning like an idiot.

No one dared comment.


She knew she was getting soft when, having been asked to take the laundry in one day, she found herself at the yard and taking down a fluffy white blanket before she knew it.

At least he didn't ask her to wash the clothes.


To beat the taint of domesticity out of her system, she took on especially difficult and dangerous A-class missions every now and then. On her own, she insisted. He didn't argue. Who could? He knew she could take care of herself pretty well.

And when she got home after spending a week in God knew what hellhole of a country this time, all battered and bloody and loving it, he only gave her a long look, shook his head and asked "Had fun?"

"Hell, yeah!"


Gaara never really did approve of him. Her "little brother" went out of his way to terrorize him whenever he thought she wasn't looking. She didn't bother telling him off. Who was brave enough to? Besides, it made her husband all the more submissive and attentive.

And she always got a laugh out of it. She even won ten thousand dollars after sending a tape of their antics to Konoha's Funniest Videos.

He probably didn't mind much, either, seeing he agreed to name their first child after him. Yes, no one was going to bully little Gara at school while Uncle Gaara was around.


Speaking of her pregnancy, she did not force her husband to circle the globe collecting all manner of exotic foodstuffs on a whimsy. She only wanted someone to hit with her war fan when she felt stressed.

On second thought, he decided as he dodged the umpteenth strike that day, he would have infinitely preferred the food.


He showed just how tough and manly he was by not fainting dead away when she told him she was pregnant. In that way he proved superior to so many other men: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji and even– much to her surprise and her husband's unending delight– Gaara, the last being in range at that moment.

Not that he didn't faint. He just did it out of sight in the bathroom. Smart. Which was why she married him.


He knew what to say when she offered to let him hold his firstborn. "Yes, dear." With a dazed and happy expression on his face, he took that tiny swaddle of pink flesh and clothing into his arms to beam at his daughter. "Her name is Gara, right?"

Behind him, his brother-in-law actually blushed.


Ino visited them a lot to dispense bits of wisdom they already knew and to fuss over baby Gara. "And keep an eye on her," her fellow blonde would advise, "Because before you know it, she might get into trouble because he's too busy sleeping."

"He always watches her very carefully," she said. To which Ino said: "No, not that way. What I mean is that he's a bad influence."


Watching little Gara dozing with him one hot afternoon, the blonde girl using her daddy's tummy as a pillow, her mother realized with a grimace that while her daughter might have her looks and most of her godfather's name, she also had her father's aptitude for laziness.

Yes, Ino was right for once.


Not willing to lose in the role model business, she took Gara on a crash course in the art of kicking ass and taking names. For this she borrowed Naruto from Hyuuga Hinata, Sasuke from Sakura, Tenten from Neji, Rock Lee from Hyuuga Hanabi and even Hatake Kakashi from– believe it or not– Shizune.

At the end of the training day, Gara would run to her daddy and tell him about all the things she and her mother did. At which Shikamaru would look at Temari, Ino and his mother (the last two visiting) and bemoan: "Why is it that all the women in my life have to be so scary?"