Standard Disclaimers Apply
Temari looked in the mirror as she adjusted her brown Sunan jounin vest. Smoothing down the front, she gave one nod to herself as she readied the rest of her equipment. It had been awhile since she had been on a mission that lasted more than a couple of days and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about a week long mission quite yet. It had easily been years since she'd had a solo mission this long. Shaking off the odd sense of apprehension, Temari grabbed her things and left the bedroom.
Shikamaru didn't bother looking up from the papers he had sprawled on the dining room table but their three year old daughter, Sakiko jumped up immediately at the sight of her mother. Dropping her chopsticks onto the table, she hastily slid off of her chair and ran to Temari, her breakfast completely forgotten.
"Mommy, Mommy I wanna come too!"
Temari looked at her, amused, "You don't even know where I'm going."
"I don't care; I want to fight bad guys like you."
Temari slid her bags to the floor next to the entrance of their home and turned around to pick Sakiko up. Carrying her back to the dining table, she said, "Don't you want to stay with Daddy and do more puzzles?" Temari glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of her eyes to see if he was paying attention to their conversation.
Sakiko frowned and shook her head fervently, "No! It's SOOOO boring! I want to fight bad guys!"
Temari tilted her head and asked, "I thought you liked solving puzzles?"
Shikamaru was definitely paying attention at this point, giving Temari an irritated look. Temari merely ignored him. He knew what she was doing.
"They're boooorrrinng," Sakiko repeated.
"Why are they boring, Sakiko?" Temari asked.
"Because they are too easy," she complained, "I want to do something fun!"
"Is that so?" Temari said giving a triumphant grin. "But can't you do anything fun with Daddy?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. She really wanted to rub it in.
"No, Daddy just wants to sleep all day and read boring papers that I can't touch," Sakiko pouted. Shikamaru frowned at her, slightly offended. Temari's grin of triumph vanished into a glare.
"Shikamaru, do you just take naps when you have to take care of our children?"
"Troublesome…"
"Shikamaru," Temari said warningly, her eyes flashing.
"Don't be troublesome, I take care of our children just fine. Sakiko, don't lie."
"Daddy's boring," Sakiko wailed.
Shikamaru couldn't believe he was getting his feelings hurt by a small child. Granted, it was his child so it mattered, but still. He had to remedy this.
He stretched back in his chair to appear confidant and uninterested. He twirled his pen in his hand and asked nonchalantly, "Wanna learn how to play Shogi?"
Temari hid a grin behind Sakiko's head. Was he really trying this hard to impress a three year old by using the same lame tactics he had used to ask her out?
Sakiko perked up at the secretive tone in Shikamaru's voice.
"What's Shogi?" She asked, innocently.
"Well…" Shikamaru drawled out slowly, pretending it wasn't a big deal but actually, his pride as a father was at stake so he cared more than he would willingly admit, "If you choose Daddy over Mommy, you can find out."
Sakiko looked uncertainly at Temari but Temari wasn't looking at her. "Hey! That's cheating!"
"If I remember correctly, you once told me that all's fair in love and war." She could literally feel the smirk in the words without having to look at his expression.
"You know I can't take her with me," Temari objected.
Shikamaru shrugged, "looks like I win then."
Temari gave Shikamaru the same challenging look she had given him all those years ago at their first with each other.
She turned to Sakiko, "Baby, Mommy can't take you with her on her mission but when I come back, I'll teach you how to use a fan."
Sakiko's eyes widened, whispering dramatically as only three year olds could do, "Does that mean I get my own fan?" This had been a coveted item for Sakiko for the past few months. She didn't have to know that Temari had been planning on finding a suitable one for her already.
Temari's heart melted at the wide-eyed hopeful look of her own cerulean eyes staring back at her. She felt vaguely guilty for using Sakiko as a competition between her and Shikamaru, but honestly, it was bound to happen. They would stop before Sakiko caught onto what they were doing. And hopefully they would be smart enough to know when that is.
She nodded, "We'll go to the market so you can pick one out."
Sakiko clapped her hands in delight, "I love you, Mommy!" And then she gave her a hug. Temari laughed happily at the affection, hugging her back. She couldn't help but look at Shikamaru to give him a smug smile but when their eyes connected, he just had a content look on his face, watching wife and child embracing. A warm feeling swept through Temari at the gaze and she felt a blush threatening to bloom on her face. She immediately schooled her features into a scowl and turned around to place Sakiko back in her chair.
He just had to go and ruin her moment of victory. She heard Shikamaru sigh behind her and the scratching noise of the blunt end of his pen on his scalp. "I guess that means you'll have to learn Shogi some other time," he said, wistfully.
Temari straightened up and ignored Shikamaru both of them knowing that somehow, he had won that round.
Temari walked past the kitchen into the nursery to grab Shikaku. She could hear their muffled conversation through the walls of their home.
"I want to learn Shouji too! Can I learn to use a fan and Shogi, Daddy?"
"Of course," he replied, "but Shogi takes more effort and intelligence and skill."
Temari shook her head at his antics; he was just trying to bait her. Temari looked at the crib to see that Shikaku was already standing up and holding onto the bars of the crib. "Hey little one, are you hungry?"
Shikaku reached his hands up allowing Temari to pick him up easily. "You're getting really big aren't you?"
Shikaku shifted around uncomfortably in her hands scrambling to get down. Temari placed him on the ground so he could walk to the kitchen, but instead of walking, he sprinted out of the room in a mad dash.
"Shikaku!" Temari exclaimed in surprise.
Shikamaru must have gotten up at her shout because when she rushed out of the room she could see Shikamaru at the other end of the hallway with a wiggling Shikaku in his arms and Sakiko clutching his leg looking up at her little brother.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shikamaru asked his son.
Shikaku tried in vain to pull away, "Down!"
"Where do you want to go?" Shikamaru asked again. Shikaku was starting to scrunch up his face in the telltale signs of a crying fit. "Down! Daddy, down!"
Shikamaru cautiously placed Shikaku on the floor, holding on tightly to one arm. He glanced up at Temari, "when did he learn to run?"
Temari shrugged, still in mild shock. This was odd behavior coming from Shikaku. Shikaku was struggling towards the front of the house and Shikamaru, still holding his harm had no choice but to follow, and Sakiko, holding onto his leg had no choice to follow him.
When Shikaku got to Temari's mission supplies, he stopped and sat down on the back pack.
"Mommy, stay!"
Shikamaru and Temari exchanged baffled looks.
"Shikaku, where do you think Mommy is going?" Shikamaru asked, concerned.
"Away!" Shikaku exclaimed and promptly burst into tears. Temari pushed Shikamaru out of the way to pick up Shikaku. She rocked him and made soothing sounds. "Oh Shikaku, Mommy won't be gone for long. There's nothing to worry about."
"Sakiko, go and finish your breakfast and the puzzle I gave you." Shikamaru said, ushering her back to the dining table. Temari followed behind them with a still crying Shikaku.
Sakiko started whining immediately, "But Daddy I already finished the puzzle!"
Shikamaru looked down at the table to see that, indeed Sakiko had completed the three puzzles he had given her. Maybe Temari was right and he wasn't paying enough attention to the kids. Sakiko had obediently sat down to finish her food. She was swinging her legs back and forth as only children are wont to do. "See," she said, "all done!"
"I need to give you harder puzzles."
Sakiko shrugged, "You can try." Shikamaru blinked at her flippant response. He was about to reprimand her for her arrogance when he remembered, this had been exactly how he had acted when he was a child-even at three (almost four) years old. It wasn't ego or arrogance. She was too young to even know what arrogance was. She honestly believed that he couldn't challenge her.
Temari paused in consoling Shikaku long enough to scold Sakiko sharply, "Sakiko—"
Shikamaru interrupted, "It's okay, Temari. Sakiko," She shifted to look up at him, "challenge accepted." Sakiko returned his warm smile with a gigantic grin. "If I get all the puzzles right next time, can I play with a real shuriken?"
Temari tensed up automatically, in complete mother mode, but Shikamaru beat her, "Sure."
Temari, who was still rubbing Shikaku's back, glared at Shikamaru. She didn't need to say anything; Shikamaru could see the warning in her eyes. He just gave her a small smile. Trust me.
He came up behind Temari to wrap himself around her and Shikaku, "Do you really think a three year old can outwit me?"
Temari opened her mouth to respond affirmatively when he squeezed her tighter to himself, "Don't answer that." He kissed her neck and let her go. Shikaku had finally calmed down and was eyeing Shikamaru inquisitively.
"And you," Shikamaru said, pulling Shikaku out of Temari's arms so he could put him in his high chair and Temari could grab his breakfast, "how did you know Mommy's going on a trip?"
Shikaku's lower lip started quivering again. That had been the wrong thing to say. Shikamaru pushed away from his son in panic and looked at Temari with pleading eyes. Luckily, Temari had his breakfast ready and swooped in to start feeding him. Shikaku banged the tray in front of him happily at the sight of his mother and food.
"You're an idiot," she said to Shikamaru matter-of-factly.
He didn't reply, just watched her handle her son with ease. Somehow, he still wasn't used to this side of Temari. The overly affectionate, caring mother. He had always known she had it in her, but prior to children it only surfaced when Gaara was in trouble. With Kankuro or himself, there was usually a lot more yelling and cursing involved.
Temari shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "Stop staring at me like that."
"I can't help it."
"Well you better," she growled, continuing to shovel food into Shikaku's mouth from the other side of the high chair.
"I'm going to miss you."
"Stop," Temari said, fighting the tingling feeling in her chest and arms. This was ridiculous, just because she hadn't gone on an extended mission in a long time, her whole family had to decide to act up and Shikamaru had to get all emotional.
She was not a sap, but it could not be denied that after years of being with Shikamaru and having two children with him, she had mellowed out a lot since her younger days. And Shikamaru had no qualms with stating any adoring feelings, mostly because he knew how uncomfortable it made Temari.
"I am," he said seriously.
"You're an idiot," she said again, this time with a soft smile.
Sakiko had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this exchange. When Shikamaru turned around to see what she was doing, he was taken aback by what he saw. Sakiko was looking at the code work he had been working on the morning and deciphering it slowly. It wasn't a particularly hard code but definitely not something a three year old could manage. Yet here she was.
"Sakiko, what are you doing?"
She looked up, "Daddy, I like this puzzle! Why won't you let me do the fun ones?"
"Okay, I'll give you more fun ones," he acquiesced, "but I'll finish that one." He stood up and grabbed the sheet of paper from her and stacked the rest of his work out of reach so she wouldn't go through important intelligence documents for Konoha. Sakiko didn't argue, content with the possibility of a challenge later.
"Our kids are too smart for their own good," Temari remarked when Shikamaru came back around the table to sit in Sakiko's chair, picking her up and placing her on his lap.
"They'll keep us on our toes."
"It's really going to hinder your slacker lifestyle," she teased, knowing that even though Shikamaru could still be lazy at times, he had given up his old ways a long time ago.
"You took care of that years ago," he teased back.
Shikaku pounded the tray in front of him and kicked his legs out to get Temari's attention. She was holding a piece of omelet in midair that had yet to make it to his mouth.
"You know," she said, turning her attention back to her son, "Sakiko may be a daddy's girl but Shikaku is completely a momma's boy."
"I'm a daddy and mommy's girl!" Sakiko proclaimed.
"Yes you are," Shikamaru agreed, ruffling her hair.
After cleaning up the remains of breakfast and the kids, Temari was ready to head out for her mission. This was the part she dreaded and she mentally prepared herself for some screaming and crying.
As she was slipping her shoes, Shikaku's crying fit started again and Sakiko demanded to 'fight the bad guys' next time Temari went away on a mission.
"We can talk about that in a few years, Sakiko."
"A few years? But that's forever!"
Temari sighed, "Are you sure you can handle this for a week?"
"How bad can it be? You do it all the time."
Temari punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Yeah, that needs to change."
Shikamaru absent-mindedly rubbed his shoulder where she had punched it. "Yeah, yeah," he said, "give Shikaku to me."
Prying Shikaku's arms off of Temari was an A-rank mission itself. He was completely in a fit again. Temari ignored the pang in her chest at the sight and hugged and kissed Sakiko.
"I love you, be a good girl."
"Okay Mommy, I love you too."
She leaned up and kissed Shikamaru on the cheek, "And you, don't be a lazy ass!"
"Tch, stop being annoying." He grinned down at her to return a kiss on her cheek.
"Bye Shikaku, Mommy loves you." Shikaku still had a tears running down his cheeks but he had exhausted himself, finally realizing that his tantrum was futile. "Mommy," he said in response.
Temari twisted around to grab her things. She opened the door and with one last backward glance, set off on her mission.
AN: I don't know where this came from. Mostly to avoid studying. I don't even know of it makes sense or is in character. It was supposed to be a drabble. Meh, it was fun to write regardless. As for updating The Mission, I have a few ideas on where I want it to go but I keep thinking of something different and just haven't had a good chunk of time to sit down and write. I'm extremely rusty (except for one story… I haven't really written anything in about a decade). Also, I'm in med school so finding time to write is nearly impossible. Hope you enjoyed this!