A/N-This is dedicated to my good buddy on here, Jackie. She rocks and she's writing one of my chapters for The Shadow's Artful Mistress because I am in a serious lacking of creativity. I owe her and this is her one-shot! Hope you enjoy it Jackie!! Now, on with the show!
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Clear days were Shikamaru's least favorite days. He couldn't use the excuse of going cloud watching to get out of whatever Temari had planned for him. Today was one of those rare, cloudless days and Shikamaru was ready to throw in the towel.
Temari had commanded that he help her go shopping for a get together they were going to. After ten years, everyone from Konoha and Suna were coming together for a ten-year reunion, if you will. Shikamaru wasn't exactly thrilled about it, complaining throughout the day about how troublesome all of it was. Temari, however, was ecstatic and positively couldn't wait to go.
"Come on Temari," Shikamaru complained as she tried on what seemed like the thousandth dress, "It's not that hard to pick out what dress you want to wear. You'll look fine in anything." An instant later, a hanger came flying out of the dressing room and hit Shikamaru in the side of the head. He swore softly, rubbing the now tender spot. Temari's head popped out of the dressing room, a glare pinned on her fiancée.
"Fine doesn't cut it," she snapped, "I have to look great, or I'll never get over being older than your friends. My pride is on the line here!" With that, she disappeared into the dressing room once again and silence fell.
"How troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, gathering the dresses she had rejected into his arms, "Can't she just pick a dress and we can go home?" Another hanger came flying at him, this one he barely dodged.
"I can hear you!" Temari shouted, obviously sounding very pissed. Shikamaru sighed and kept his mouth shut, returning the rejected dresses to their proper places. He returned to find Temari dressed in a silken lavender dress. It hung off the shoulders, exposing a fair expanse of chest. The neckline was low, dipping to her mid-chest and showing off more cleavage than Shikamaru would have liked. His eyes traveled lower to her legs, where a slit up to her upper thighs showed off her tanned, toned legs. He could feel his face heating up and a nosebleed coming on.
"Do I look fat in this?" Temari asked, a slightly distressed look in her eye as she turned to Shikamaru. Shikamaru could only gape at her, stunned into silence and shock at how beautiful she was. However, Temari took the gape for a gape of horror, not shock. She frowned deeply before fretting with the dress, refusing to look at Shikamaru.
"I do look fat," she wailed, hiding her face in her hands. Shikamaru snapped out of it at her obvious distress.
"You don't look fat," he protested, "You look gorgeous!" Temari turned to him with a glare on her face.
"Don't lie," she spat, "You were just gaping at me like I was some hideous monster!" She stomped into the dressing room again, now giving Shikamaru the silence treatment. She continued to try on dresses, mumbling and groaning about how ugly she looked in each one. Shikamaru was ignored. It made him upset. He wanted nothing more than for Temari to be happy, but this dress thing was obviously distressing her. After another hour or so of putting up with the silent treatment, Shikamaru had had enough.
"Temari," She ignored him, making sure her back was to him. He tried again.
"Temari." Again, same result.
"Temari, look at me." When she didn't, Shikamaru decided to get assertive for once. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him, eyes slightly narrowed in frustration. Temari still refused to look at him, turning her head away and looking at the wall. There was silence before Shikamaru spoke again.
"I wasn't lying when I said you didn't look fat," he said softly, lessening his grip slightly, "I was just… stunned at how great you looked. If you wear that, I'll have so many guys trying to steal you away from me, I'll have to kiss you in front of everyone." He chuckled softly at his own joke before looking meaningfully at Temari. She still had her head turned away, but she watched him out of the corner of her eyes. He sighed before continuing.
"You know I think this is troublesome, just like everything else, but I'll put up with it for you," he said, letting her go and taking a step back, "I really liked that purple dress. I'll buy it for you if you want." He felt his cheeks warming up. He had never done this before and it was all new to him. He was nervous as Hell about what she would say. For a few moments, there was silence and Shikamaru thought he had made a mistake, but Temari spoke up.
"I liked that dress too," she said, now looking at Shikamaru again, "I just wanted to hear it from you too. It's a girl thing, so I get it if you don't want to say it." Shikamaru sighed in relief. He was forgiven!
"Can we go home now?" he asked eagerly, looking at Temari with eyes of total innocence. They both knew she couldn't resist those eyes.
"Fine," she sighed, laughing a little at her fiancée's silliness, "Just let me get the dress." Shikamaru sighed in relief before heading towards the front of the shop, a content and happy smile on his face. He was back in Temari's good graces and that was all that mattered to him.
A few minutes later, Temari emerged with the dress and Shikamaru paid a pretty penny for it, but with a smile on his face the whole time. If it was for his Temari, it was all worth it. They left the shop hand in hand, Temari, surprisingly, holding the bag her dress was held in. As they walked down the street, she turned to Shikamaru with a devious smile on her face.
"You do realize I need accessories," she said in a sweet voice that Shikamaru couldn't say no to. He sighed and he grumbled, but, of course, he gave in to Temari's demands. After all, how could he say no someone as beautiful as her? She squealed with delight and pulled him into a bone crushing hug that he didn't mind all that much, considering where she had planted his face. Yes, he was a happy man, soon to be married to the most wonderful woman in the world. The world was going his way it seemed.
------------------------------(A few days later at the reunion)---------------------------------
"Temari, oh my God!!" As soon as the couple walked in, Temari was swept away by the girls, each of them fawning over how stunning she looked. Shikamaru sighed as his laughing friends approached him. They all watched contentedly as the girls chattered amongst themselves. There was silence before Naruto spoke up.
"Temari certainly is a catch tonight, eh Shikamaru?" he said teasingly, elbowing his friend in the ribs and winking suggestively, "I might have to steal her for myself and share her with Hinata!" Shikamaru sent a vicious glare towards the blonde, making said blonde yelp in surprise. Shikamaru never glared at anyone like that.
"I was kidding!" Naruto said hurriedly, "She's all yours man! She's too scary for me. Her glares are terrifying!" All the guys laughed, while Shikamaru grumbled. He glanced over at Temari to find her smiling at him. He smiled weakly back before giving a slight wave. He excused himself from his friends and made his way over to her, moving smoothly through the small crowd.
"Excuse me ladies," he said, snatching Temari's arm, "But I'm going to have to steal this lovely jewel from you. I'm afraid she's mine for the night." A few of the girls laughed, giving Temari suggestive stares. She flushed red as Shikamaru steered her away from them. They eventually made it away from the crowd and in a more private spot on a veranda.
"It's a pretty night," Temari sighed, gazing wistfully up at the full moon, "I remember when Gaara used to freak out on nights like this." She laughed to herself; "I used to cower in my room all night, not daring to come out of my bed until morning." Shikamaru laughed a little as well, suddenly being reminded whom his brother-in-law was going to be. Just the thought made him shiver with fear. Gaara was still as scary as he was back when they were all genin.
"Your brothers scare me," Shikamaru grunted, "I'm not looking forward to having them in my family." Temari laughed outright at her fiancée's fear.
"They're not that bad anymore," she protested, still laughing, "Gaara's only gotten stronger and Kankuro is only a slightly less pompous ass like he used to be. Besides, Gaara's gotten a lot better since he met Naruto. He's much kinder than before." Shikamaru nodded, but was still skeptical. He would always have a fear of Temari's brothers, no matter what she said to try to make him see otherwise. They both sat in silence until Temari spoke up in a nervous voice.
"Are you nervous?" she asked quietly, "About our wedding, I mean." Shikamaru stared at her, a little confused as to what brought this on. She continued on, staring out on Konoha as she did.
"We're going to get married; the holy matrimony. We're going to be together forever. Doesn't it make you a little nervous? You'll only have me to go to and I know I'm not much to look forward to. You'll be part of my family, and I'll be part of yours. It'll be no turning back once we say I do." Shikamaru stared at his fiancée in slight amazement. He knew Temari was brilliant (he wouldn't have liked her if she wasn't) but this was a new show of colors. She was now a normal girl, scared about her wedding day and what lay beyond it.
"Not really," Shikamaru replied, "I know I'll make it if you're there. After all, I wouldn't have put up with you for this long if I didn't love you." Temari refrained from smacking Shikamaru at his comment, but let him continue instead, "If I wasn't ready to get married to you, I never would have proposed in the first place. I know what I'm facing: Your terrifying brothers and life full of troublesome things. But believe me when I say that you're more than enough to come home to and I can't wait until I can really say you're mine." Temari flushed red at Shikamaru's statement, looking away self-consciously. No one had ever complimented her like that before and it warmed her heart to know she was marrying Shikamaru.
"Thanks," she murmured, squeezing his hand, "I needed that. I feel better about our wedding now. It's good to know that you think of me like that." Shikamaru sighed and muttered a 'troublesome,' but put his arm around Temari anyway.
"You're a troublesome woman," he whispered to her, "But you're my troublesome woman."
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A/N- Whaddya think Jack? Was it okay? I'm sorry it took me soooooo long to get this out, but I have evil school that takes up a lot of my time. Damn homework to the bowels of Hell… Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed this rather… random fic and I thank you INFINITELY for your chappy… gave me lots of ideas, it did! Well, hugs and kisses to you and I hope you get out the next chapters to your stories soon. (I had to put that in)
Suisho-chan