Purely self-indulgent fic, haha. Because it's rainy and sleepy and I wanted domestic family fluff. Just a quick two-parter!
Rain drummed quietly on the roof. The room was illuminated only by a small, low lamp in the corner, sending shadows out across the tatami.
Unusually, Shikamaru didn't feel much like sleeping. He'd decided that simply lying there for the moment was fine enough.
Temari curled close to him, warm, beneath the blankets they shared on the futon. Her breathing soft and even in slumber.
He'd never felt quite so… safe. Was the word he settled on.
The roundness of her stomach pressed against his own and he smiled a bit. She'd just taken several months leave and was certainly not happy about it; most of her duties now consisted of paperwork. And any trips to the Sand, particularly during this season, took five or six days as compared to the usual three.
But they'd agreed on it long ago. And she was just as equally happy and thrilled. (Her brothers had been delighted.) Without so much of the stress of work, she seemed much calmer. (And much more affectionate. Which he supposed he didn't really mind at all.)
She would return to her duties again in another year or so. (And, thankfully, his mother had offered to help. However, he did still shudder a bit over her reaction upon finding out a grandchild was on the way.)
Finally being off of (what had been fairly easy) missions for a full three weeks, Shikamaru had come home to a sleepy village in the midst of the autumn rainy season. With so little to do that even the energetic Naruto kept falling asleep at his desk.
The Chuunin Exams were far off, the fields had been harvested and people began preparing and bundling up for the oncoming winter. His mother and Ino's bustling around with dried persimmons and herbs.
Streets filled with the scent of wood smoke. Red and gold trees rambled out from the foothills of the mountains and, on quiet mornings or evenings, you could faintly hear the deer calling from the cold forest…
Pulling the blankets closer, he reached up to gently brush her hair from her face.
I wish that things could stay like this forever.
It took him a moment to realize he'd said that out loud.
Temari's eyelids fluttered open and the corners of her lips turned up in a tiny smirk.
"I heard that."
She kissed his nose, and then their lips met. And he was pretty certain he'd never been happier in his life.
