Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own the plot.
Summary: Proposing is hard...even for someone with 200IQ...
Pairing: ShikamaruXTemari
A short drabble about my favourite couple XD
BaBy KaKaShI: thanks for telling me about the grammar mistake ;D
The Shinobi's Guide on How to Propose
The Lazy One Gets the Girl
"…Will…you…"
Shikamaru, who stood directly before the blond woman with four pigtails, patiently waited for her to finish. His hands, which were clamped together in a seal, were shaking slightly.
"…Marry…" The woman continued, still stammering like she suddenly had a speech impediment.
Beads of sweat rolled down Shikamaru's face. They were in the heart of the Konoha Park, meaning that they were currently alone with each other. He was standing approximately three feet and a half away from Temari. Although he had an advantage over her in intelligence, she had a physical advantage of being able to kick his ass in less than a minute…if given the chance.
In other words, if he doesn't take care of this situation carefully, it might backfire.
Hard.
Shikamaru swallowed.
It was just a little more to go, Shikamaru told himself encouragingly.
"…me." Temari, who had practically gritted her teeth as she spoke, finished the sentence.
Over them, a crow flew past them, cawing loudly.
"Che, woman." Shikamaru said as he released his infamous shadow jutsu. The sound of his shadow retracting was heard. "I didn't know you want me that badly…well I guess I'll marry you then."
Temari didn't answer him. Her hands were clenched into fists and her face was flushed red, whether it was in angry or in embarrassment was unknown. Her eyes were slightly more dilated than usual. She was heaving loudly, inhaling and exhaling, probably trying to calm herself down.
Being Shikamaru, he continued as a matter-of-factly, "After all, I thought that guys are the one that's suppose to do the proposing."
He would never tell her that he'd been practicing on a manipulation jutsu that was similar to Ino's mind-controlling ones. The only difference was that he would use his shadow technique to 'possess' his victim's body so that the victim would be under his control.
And of course, he wouldn't tell her that he'd been trying it on all of his friends until he could pull off the jutsu perfectly.
No, he wouldn't tell her that. It wasn't as if he valued her so much that he was willing to sacrifice his cloud watching time to practice a jutsu and his bachelorship just to get her to marry him.
Nah…So what if he hadn't seen her for more than seven months? So what if he couldn't get the image of her out of his mind ever since she'd left? Telling her all the things he did would make it seemed like he was desperate, that he really wanted her to remain by his side.
He was a genius, and geniuses don't get desperate. Period.
"Shi-ka-ma-ru!" Temari growled. She stomped toward him, forcing him to move backward out of instinct.
When she backed him into a tree, she grabbed him by the collar. She spat the words in his face, "What the hell was that?"
By then, Shikamaru had expected a bad beating. He didn't like the sound of her voice. However, being a genius, he kept his mouth shut and let her carry on with her rant.
"Fuck, why can't you propose like every other normal people?" She stated exasperatedly.
He blinked, and for the first time, was speechless. Sure he'd expected her to swear or to yell at him for controlling her. However, he was surprised at the content of the sentence. Shikamaru began to wonder if forcing her to ask him to marry her was a traumatizing experience for her.
"Making me propose to you…does that make you happy…humiliating me like this?" The blond woman looked at him in the eyes, waiting for an honest answer. When she got no reply, she pressed her lips into a fine line.
She said slowly, her eyes turned cold, "You are the worst."
Temari let go of him, turning around sternly, she walked away from him.
Shikamaru watched her as leave. He wanted to call out to her and tell her that he didn't mean to hurt her. Shit, this wasn't one of the results he'd come up with. Of all the pain she'd ever inflicted him with…
Nothing could be compared to this…
Why hadn't he considered her feelings? He knew that answer. She was always tough, like a brick wall that no one could ever demolish. Shikamaru was so used to the fact that Temari was able to take care of herself that he hadn't thought about what she would think about this.
In fact, Shikamaru had been more concerned about the injury that would bring to his manhood if she rejects him than about what she would feel if he did the things he did. He did have a ring ready for her; it was safely tucked inside the pocket of his pants but he didn't want to get it thrown back at him in the face. He had considered telling her how much she meant to him but he didn't want to get sneered at.
He thought that by making her propose to him, it would make the proposal more like a joke…that if she said yes…then it would be great, but if she said no…then it would only indicate that she needed more time.
It was suppose to be a no-biggy.
If she said 'no', then he would at least to be able to walk away with some dignity left…because Shikamaru knew that Temari was good at chewing people up. She could be so ruthless...depending on the situation or the person she was facing…
He forgot the fact that no matter how tough of a facet Temari put up, she was still human, that she was a woman.
How could he be so inconsiderate?
Even so, he wasn't about to let her walk out of his life. With that decision in mind, Shikamaru sprinted after her. He stopped when she was several feet away from him.
"That's a stupid jutsu you know." Temari said quietly, not turning around to see him. She'd stopped when she heard his approach.
Shikamaru sighed, "I know."
"I'm really angry with you, you know."
"Yes…I know…" Shikamaru answered solemnly, "But I…"
"Since you know everything…" Temari continued, cutting him off. "Then you must also know that I'll have to agree because this is probably the only time you will ever make an effort into proposing."
Shikamaru's eyes widened. Did he hear properly? She said 'yes'…
She sighed as she spun around, looking at him for a moment. Her eyes turned soft once again.
"That stupid jutsu of yours…must've taken you a lot of time to learn." She gave a small smile.
She knew…
Damn…this woman was sometimes too smart for her own good.
"But still you really suck at proposing." Temari tilted her head, smirking.
Being a genius that he was, Shikamaru knew she was teasing him.
He raised an eyebrow.
Now this is a challenge directed to his manhood.
He'll show her.
Therefore, he proposed to her once again.
The ring.
The 'down-on-one knee' thing.
Ah…yes…the declaration of love thing.
And all the troublesome things that goes in between them all.
Love it? Hate it? Please review because it really motivates me into writing!