I do not own Naruto. Oneshot for DV Ramachan's baby naming contest (never did this before, but thought it might be fun.) BTW this is not based of any of my fanfics, but purely inspired by Ramachan's art work.
"I will never get used to this heat. It makes me lazier than usual." The Konoha ninja moaned as he lay in bed with his wife. At some point in the evening he had stripped off the bed covers and even flung off his clothes (actually that act was done by Temari.) With her head buried in her pillow she curtly replied. "Oh yeah well try walking around in this heat carrying twenty extra pounds." Chuckling, he turned over and gently placed his hand on the beautifully rounded belly of the woman before him. He felt the life within her stir and a sense of overwhelming pride and anticipation came over him. Lifting the thin cotton shirt that she had on, he tenderly graced her belly with kiss after kiss. Smiling Temari ran her fingers through her husband's hair. How did he manage to still make her feel desirable and sexy (when she looked and felt like a beached whale)? He truly was a genius. Mischeviously smiling she pleasantly recalled the evening they had conceived this child and her heart swelled at the knowledge that she was the one and only person in this world who would ever knew the "extra" benefits of marrying such a genius.
As his hands began to explore beyond her belly she voiced, "I'm loving the extra attention, but aren't you going to be late for work?" "I can get there in five minutes." He gruffly stated as he moved in and passionately kissed his wife. Amongst sighs of pleasure, she panted "but school starts in 3." Stopping he sat straight up in bed, eyes widened before she kicked him off. "Get going you lazy, my brother will kill you if he finds out the guest lecturer at the academy isn't actually lecturing." Swiftly he threw on his clothes, but before heading out called back. "Call me if anything…" "I know, I know." Temari answered settling back into bed.
They had arrived in Suna a few weeks before. Unfortunately their first child was born a week early and Gaara and Kankuro weren't able to make it to Konoha on time. They said they were just happy the delivery went well, but Temari clearly read the disappointment in both of their faces. Honestly she was somewhat surprised at how willing Shikamaru was when she asked how he felt about have this child in Suna. Yet as expected he muttered something about how less troublesome it would be without his mother, or Ino or any of the other Konoha nin around. Chuckling she recalled the completely exasperated look on his face whenever his family or friends would come to fawn over Hastune and herself. Deep down her husband was a selfish man…he liked to keep his girls for himself. As the sun began to shine brightly into their room, Temari forced herself out of bed and dressed. "Phew." She thought, the swelling of her belly making even the most mundane tasks difficult. Gazing to her right she smiled at the form of her still sleeping daughter. Gently stroking her cheek she spoke to her. "Your dad's going to kill me when he finds out what actually is involved around the birth of Suna royalty. I think he'll find it much more troublesome than his mom and his friends."
"Temari sama. Breakfast is ready." Voiced the maid that was helping them settle into Suna. Leaning over the crib, she gently plucked up their daughter who in turn unconsciously wrapped her chubby arms around her mother's neck, and carried her little body downstairs.
Shikamaru sat out on the fronts steps of the school, watching his class practice kunai throwing when a big lumbering shadow overcame him. Without looking behind he simply said. "I can't believe your brother made me teach this class." A loud rumbling laugh followed and Kankuro commented. "Well he figured he'd have to do something to keep you occupied, otherwise you sleep all day long." Sitting beside him, Kankuro took out a pack of cloves. "Want a drag?" He asked, to which Shikamaru sadly shook his head. "Are you trying to get me killed? You know she made me quit when we had Hastune." "Damn good thing too. You wouldn't want to do anything that could harm that babes health." Kankuro affirmed. The sand nin looked over at Shikamaru's class and saw several of the older girls glancing their way. It was a matter of minutes before the most developed of them came over and coyly asked Shikamaru for some pointers. In the time it took for Shikamaru to help the girls out, Kankuro had already smoked two cloves. As Shikamaru returned Kankuro called out. "You know I could never figure out why you were always so popular with the ladies." Sitting down next to him the Konohoa nin replied "Yeah I could never figure that out about you too." He received a quick punch in the arm for that comment before Kankuro continued. "But seriously come on, what's you're secret?" Hesitantly Shikamaru replied. "Well, Temari tells me it has to do with the I-don't-care attitude. Something like it gets interpreted as me being calm and collected and making me … her words not mine… the cool type." Scratching his chin, Kankuro nodded. "Hmm. Makes sense, that's probably why Gaara gets a lot of play too."
As the bell rang, they both stood, wiping the sand off their pants. "Are you coming over to our place for lunch?" Shikamaru asked. Kankuro nodded and began to follow. Halfway there Shikamaru warned, "You better change your clothes first. If she smells the smoke on you, your toast. Pun not intended" Stopping in his tracks, Kankuro decided this indeed was a good idea. "I'll catch up with you guys in about ten, I'll run home first."
When Shikamaru arrived at the guest house, he found that Gaara had already arrived. Walking into the kitchen he meandered over to his wife, kissing her on the cheek while gently caressing her belly. "Smells great. I love traditional Suna cooking." He complimented while nodded to Gaara. Walking over to Gaara (and his daughter who was currently in her uncle's lap) he bent down, gave her forehead a kiss and handed her a gift. Ripping into the wrapping she hugged the book. "Thanks papa!" The little girl beamed. "Your welcome Hastuchan." Looking over Temari caught the title and glared at Shikamaru. "Don't you think the Art of War is a bit advanced?" Lazily turning his head towards her he shrugged. "She can already read, and she's board with all those See Spot and Pet the Rabbit books that you keep getting her." "Yes, but Shikamaru…she's two." Temari finished.
"I think it's a great present for my little sand bunny." Gaara interrupted before he looked up and menancingly glared at the both of them. "More importantly, don't you think you two should be discussing a name for the little sand bun in the oven? I've got a recommendation, what about Gaarataro." Shikamaru shivered. It was always so weird to hear Gaara say things like that. "Well, you know Gaara there is the tradition of including the character for deer in the males born into the Nara clan. But Shikamaru and I can't decide on a name we like." Temari explained. "Yeah we've come up with Shikako, which we both think is too similar to dad's name. Temari thinks Shikahiko, Shikato, Shikaki, and Daishika are too plain and ordinary." Under his breath he muttered. "But I don't know what's wrong with ordinary." A shuriken grazed his ear with that statement. "Shikatema." Gaara offered. "Sounds too much like a fanfic pairing." Temari replied. "Shikamari?" "Dear Kazekage, you do realize that translates into deer balls right?" Under his breath Gaara mumbled. "At least that's better than deer dumplings, nee Shikamaru."
After helping his wife serve up the kebabs, and spiced bread he slumped into a chair. "Actually the name we like the best so far is Shikayuu spelled with the kanji for deer and gentle." Rubbing Temari on the back, he continued with "But we're still talking about it."
"Sunako."
"Gaara give it a rest already. Anyway, that's a girl's name." Temari fumed. When Kankuro finally appeared, the conversation shifted towards politics (as it often did amongst these three siblings) which suited Shikamaru's taste just fine. As the time came for them to head back to school, Shikamaru pulled his wife aside and stealthily handed her a small wrapped package while stealing another kiss in return. Watching his back as he walked away she smiled thinking another perk to pregnancy was the small change he also underwent. He became a bit more patient, a bit more thoughtful, and she thought even a bit more passionate. Well, he always did like women with curves. She carefully unwrapped her present and breathed a sigh of relief to see that this was not a book, but instead a beautifully crafted set of hairpins, under which lay a note that simply said: I love you mama, Shikamaru.
Closing the door, she turned to head back to the kitchen and was struck by a sudden sharp pain. "Oooh." She cried out. Gaara appeared quickly at the sound of her voice, still holding their little sand bunny. "Are you okay? Is it gas?" He expressionlessly asked. Doubled over Temari glared at her younger brother. "It's not gas, it's a contraction!" She scolded a bit of fear shining in her eyes. "How do you know? It's two weeks too early. Maybe it's just indigestion." Grabbing the Kazekage's sleeve she angrily stated. "It's a contraction. My water just broke."
Shikamaru was in the middle of class explaining the basics of breaking a genjutsu when Kankuro came rushing in. "It's Temari, she's in the hospital. The baby's coming." He announced. Dropping the chalk midsentence Shikamaru went white. "Shikamaru, did you hear me? You better get over there now." Sweating, the Konoha nin began to panic. This was too soon, he wasn't ready, he didn't even have confidence in the name they had picked…how could he have confidence in being a father to a second child. "Sensei!" The class cried out as Shikamaru's soul left his body. "Uh, sorry class, free period." He voiced as he rushed out of the room knocking over the trash and a big pile of books in the process. Amongst the group of gaping students, a high pitched voice commented. "That just ruined my image of sensei as the cool type."
Temari was thankful that she was with Gaara when the contractions started. His eyes widened when she had told him about her water breaking but then he immediately acted. Quickly a soft sand stretcher was formed on which he placed Temari. Hatsune was placed in a little sand baby knapsack. With them both, he ran to the hospital. His presence expediated Temari's evaluation and got her a very nice private birthing room with a view. To her chagrin, however, Suna's pain medicines were not quite at the level of Konoha's and she found this current experience much less pleasant. "Where is he?" She growled gripping her younger brother by his shawl. "He'll be here in any moment. I sent a notice." Her brother calmly replied. True to his word, it really was only another moment until Shikamaru appeared.
The anticipation, uncertainty, hesitation, and suffering of the moments that followed broke the genius and royalty of the sand into their smallest pieces. Temari couldn't remember the first child being this painful and she threw shuriken after shuriken after her husband blaming his damn genius techniques for the situation she was currently in. In his state, Shikamaru could barely think, heck he could barely dodge - had it not been for his well honed muscle memory he probably would have succumbed to a shuriken to the forehead. Trying to appease her with words and kisses, he also thought that the trouble of this almost made sleeping with his wife not worth it (almost). But it was Kankuro who suffered the most. Although no stranger to blood and guts, he had always been squeamish when his family was involved. Thus he found himself facing a corner of the room practicing Lamaze breathing techniques...with himself. Gaara of course, thought it best to remove himself from the situation in its entirety and walked across the room (behind the modesty curtain) to play with Hatsune.
Labor lasted well into the evening and as they neared nine hours, Shikamaru could tell Temari was utterly exhausted. His palm gently caressed hers as his free hand dabbed the sweat off her forehead. In the light of the moon, shimmering beads glistened down her face and in her hair and he thought she had never been more beautiful in her entire life. "Aaah it's coming again." She cried out. "Come on one last push Temari, one last push." Grunting Temari pushed with every once of strength that she had before. "WAAAH." The medical nin who had been helping voiced. "He looks like a strong healthy boy. Who's cutting the cord?" In unison the three male nin answered "I am!" A few kunai flew by a now irate Temari. "Shikamaru is, he's the father."
Their son was handed to Shikamaru first as the medical nin knelt to finish the afterbirth. Looking down upon this child he was immediately captivated. His dark brown hair clung in curls around his milky white face. His lips were plump and pursed, ah Shikamaru thought, he's already perfected the Temari pout. Rubbing his cheeks, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt anything as smooth or soft. As he was about to pull his finger away, his son freed an arm from the cloth he had been swaddled in and firmly grapsed his father. It was a good, strong, determined grip. But it was the opening of his eyes that caused Shikamaru to gasp. They were hazel in color with flecks of green and turquoise and they immediately pierced him to the very core of his soul. The Konoha nin swore that in the moment his son spoke to him, told him he would be strong, told him he would protect, told him he would succeed, told him he would be perfect. "Kanzen." Shikamaru whispered. Looking up to Temari, he walked over to her his eyes brimming with tears. "Mama our son is perfect." Laying him carefully in her arms, she too felt the same. "Waah he's so beautiful!" Wailed Kankuro as waterfalls of tears ran down his face ruining his face paint. Looking towards Gaara, Shikamaru nearly fell over at the size of the purely ecstatic smile covering the Kazekage's face.
Pulling out her paperwork, the medical nin inquired. "What will his name be?" Shikamaru answered. "Kanzen. His name is Nara Kanzen." Surprised Temari took her eyes off their child and gazed deeply into husbands. Squeezing his hand she smiled and agreed. "Nara Kanzen, that has a nice ring to it. But Shikamaru." She paused. "What about tradition?" Cupping his radiant wife's face in his hand he smiled and asked. "When have we ever bothered with tradition?" After a long precious and tender kiss. He whispered lovingly into her ear. "Good work, mama. Good work."
Kanzen means perfect or complete/whole