SUMMARY:
They have to decide. They need to decide soon. They need to choose who will give it all away for the other. With Kurenai constantly reliant on Shikamaru to raise her son, and Temari constantly busy with her position in Suna, the pair realise the decision will not be easy. To have a happy life with each other, one of them will have to sacrifice so much... But who will be willing to do it? Or better yet, who will ask the other to do it for them?
Author's Note: This chapter just kind of sets everything up so you have an understanding where I've set this~ It's thirteen years after the Fourth Shinobi War, if something drastic happens in the manga/anime then I'll be sure to change it on here so it'll be pretty accurate. The next chapter is some lemon for those of you who came here for the citrus goods, then it'll mainly be story line with occasional lemons, which I'll give a prewarning about for you guys~
WARNINGS
NaruHina- Its spoke about and they will have a part later on.
NejiTen- This contains massive spoilers for those of you who aren't up to date with the manga. Just a warning, its emotional as hell.
SasuSaku- If you really, really squint then its there, just not very obvious... Though that may change. Actually, it probably will change.
I'll give a pre-warning if I decide to throw in some more couples. Probably will add one for Ino... Just not sure on whether ChoIno or SaiIno yet... What do you think? Message me or something.
There you go, warnings done. First ShikaTema upload, R&R please!~
The day was hot in Sunagakure, as it always was. The benefits of living in a desert town meant that those whose bodies did not agree to cold weather were in paradise. The terracotta houses lined the streets sat in a defeated manner, as if the makers had just given up on building them. Suna was still dusty and barren of life, however now most of its population had smiles on their faces as they busied the streets with stalls of various different trades, selling the plants they had been sold by Konoha, selling gems they had found within their own land to tourists who visited.
The kazekage tower stood in the centre of the city, watching over all the population of Suna who felt safe under the gaze of their beloved Kazekage. He would walk amongst them once every week, the once monster of Suna was now a symbol of triumph and hope. His relations with the other countries is what had made Sunagakure successful, his love for his family had inspired unity. Him and his siblings had trained the nation to make it stronger. They harnessed the sand, the wind, the puppets, these things that Suna was famous for, they made them known again. And the people of Sunagakure, the Shinobi's who had thought it impossible, the surrounding countries who they had previously distrusted, all of them had respect for the Sand Siblings.
"Temari- Sensei, team Nara is going to be here soon..." A small girl whined as her Sensei pushed her whole team back another three feet with a gust of wind, laced with chakra. The girl had her hair in high pigtails, in a two tail version of her sensei. Her hair however was as red as the Kazekage's, her eyes a similar red. She was a distant relative of Lady Chiyo, and bore a resemblance to the supposed appearance of Sasori of the Red sands. The girl was a puppeteer also, but she did not aspire to be as great as Sasori or Chiyo... She merely wanted her Sensei's brother to appreciate her own models... Her own designs. She wore a plain green dress over the top of a fish net body suit, her puppet Hansha was in front of her in a heap, disconnected from Taiyō's chakra threads. She had made this puppet herself, for it to be sneered upon by Kankuro. Hansha was made of glass, a glass that would crumble apart and form any shape Taiyō willed it do, it was much like her Kazekage's defence in the sense that she could summon the glass at will from the pouch she wore around her waist.
"And if you're still being beat by me, Taiyō, then we are nowhere near ready" Temari laughed, leaning on her fan casually. The rest of team Temari was panting beside Taiyō. They were boys of course, not many women chose the lives of Kunouchi and it was proven that in a team of two boys and girl shinobi can work most effectively, boys do not work well when on their own whereas girls will strive to be seen as equal and work harder on their own. To Taiyō's left was Korosu, he was shorter than the rest of his team and was nothing special to look at, his eyes were hazel and hair was a messy brown. He wore a belt coated in kunais and shurikens which seemed out of place on him. He was a boy of few words, so Temari enjoyed his company. He was panting though keeping that expressionless mask he always wore, he was a short distance fighter and therefore relying heavily on the weapons that adorned his belts in the current situation. The final part of the team was Akarui, long blonde hair which was tied in a messy long pony tail. Blue eyed and tall. A boisterous young man who was always ready for a fight. He was a short range fighter also, relying on his signature jutsu rather than developing skills. He frustrated Temari, who had no time for such nonsense, but the boy was determined, he was a strategist like his Sensei and she made sure that they harnessed this skill.
Especially if she was going to beat Shikamaru in this friendly competition.
"Once more, then you can go rest" She ordered. She was a firm sensei, she was tough because these children needed her to be. She was kind to them outside of training, but they needed to be the best if they wanted to pass the next chunin exams. They launched their attack, Akarui taking the lead as he lunged at his sensei, who dodged swiftly, hitting him softly with the back of her fan.
"Hikairi no justu!" Taiyō yelled as she threw parts of Hansha into the air and reflected the sun to aim at Temari, she shielded her eyes with her fan and during this time Korosu launched himself forward with an array of weapons until he landed one straight against his sensei's neck.
"We win..." He uttered, chakra forming at his hands for the finishing blow. Temari smiled, taking in a few deep breaths before simply poofing into smoke.
"Konoha nin tend to always use shadow clones in their battles" A voice said from behind them. Team Temari whirled and saw their sensei smiling at them with three head bands in her hands. "You should have remembered that, if I was as reliant on Shadow Clones like Naruto Uzumaki is then you would have been fooled into a false victory just then." Temari sighed, her team looked so disheartened but then hopeful when she smiled "However your team work and strategy skills have vastly improved and I am impressed at the progress, I'll treat you all to lunch for your efforts" She said kindly "And I bought you all proper headbands... Not the tat that the academy give to you"
"Hn... I told you she was troublesome didn't I, Sakkaku?" A voice said from the opposite end of their training ground, the team whirled to face this new voice. Temari smirked and walked forward slowly, stretching out her long legs as they escaped the confines of her black kimono. She walked up to the dark haired shinobi who regarded her with a smirk of his own. "She can be such a drag sometimes too..."
"Shikamaru-Sensei!" A small girl with lavender, pupil-less eyes blushed, she had dull blonde hair that reached her hips and a shy smile and blush on her lips. She wore a simple, strappy orange dress with black sandals. Temari knew instantly whose daughter she was and smiled kindly at her. Beside her was the one Shikamaru had addressed as Sakkaku, who dressed in a similar way to Shikamaru when he was a youth, however he had brown messy hair and Inazuka markings on his face, beside him was a small dog and Temari raised her thin brow... Was Shikamaru's team composed of all her Konoha friend's offspring? The final member of their team was notably missing, which confused the blonde Sand Nin. "You are so rude to Temari-chan! My-My dad said we had to be nice to..."
"Yeah Shina, I remember" Shikamaru sighed, Temari regarded the blonde girl arrogantly.
"So Hinata named you Kushina then? After your grandmother right?" Temari said to the girl, who nodded shyly.
"Just Shina though... She said that I sometimes remind her of Aburame Shino- san, because I'm very sensitive... So my name comes from him as well."
"You are overly sensitive sometimes..." Sakkaku snorted, grinning at the girl who pouted at him, sending him a glare.
"Just because I'm a Hyuga!" She yelled.
"It's not even about that!" Sakkaku groaned in reply. "And you're Uzumaki!"
"Hmm." She huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You only make note of that because I heal faster than you do."
"You do not!" The boy roared, making his sensei sigh loudly.
"Enough already!" Shikamaru groaned. "You're both too loud!"
"And you're an Inazuka, Kiba's?" Temari interjected to the boy.
"I was adopted by the Inazuka when I was little" The boy shrugged, "Kiba took me in, yeah, but his sister is my adopted mother... I guess you know my Uncle Kiba then..."
"I guess I do... " Temari laughed softly as she looked back at her confused team.
"But you were saying about lunch, Mari-Sensei!" Akarui shouted loudly.
"Akarui!" Korosu hissed "She will kill you for the Mari comment"
"Jeez... Your own team is scared of you, Tema" Shikamaru sighed loudly.
"They won't be after you buy as all lunch, Shika"
"Hn... Troublesome..." He smiled, nodding for his team to go ahead. "Troublesome woman..."
"Lazy ass."
Shikamaru had sat down at a separate table from his team, they were mingling with Team Temari who were overly friendly, with the exception of Korosu who silently handed Shina food. They kept eating and eating, just like Choji would have, eating up all of Shikamaru's money. Now he sat opposite the troublesome kunouchi who he had longed to see, slowly eating her yakisoba and edame with a smirk on her lips, her deliciously pink lips. He took in every detail of her with unnatural ease. Her golden blonde hair was tied in her usual four ponytails, in a spiky fashion that made her 'different'. Her emerald eyes lured him in with their depth, and seduced him all over again with their darkness. Her tanned skin looked so radiant that Shikamaru found himself wondering if the war had touched her at all... If she hadn't been in his regiment he'd doubt she even attended the war, her skin was far too unscathed and perfect for her to be a warrior. He drank in everything about her as he watched her eat, sipping some sweet drink she had ordered for him. He was holding himself back from tasting her shimmering skin, from claiming her moist lips, though it took little restraint as he was so lazy, but the fact that Shikamaru wanted her this badly already frightened him.
He hadn't seen her in a year and all he could think about was having sex with her? Wow, Naruto and Kiba must have got to him.
"Where is your godson then? I heard Kurenai held him back because she wanted you to be his Sensei" Temari said bluntly. Her distaste was so evident that Shikamaru found it hard not to smirk at her.
"She kept him at home, she didn't deem the trip safe enough for her son" Shikamaru shrugged, though the matter had deeply angered him.
"Hn..." Temari snorted, looking at him as a confused expression covered Shikamaru's face. "That woman is too dependent on you... I don't like it."
"Jealous, Temari?" He smirked at her, she raised a blonde, finely plucked brow at him.
"You think I'd be jealous of a woman who is too busy holding onto the past that she is missing the future? You don't know me at all Shikamaru" Temari sighed playfully.
"Give me a break, I've not seen you in a year... And I know you better than most, Temari" He murmured, sliding closer to her in their semi circle of a booth. She watched him curiously.
"Is that how long it's been? A whole year?" She questioned sarcastically.
"Temari-Sensei!" Akarui called leaning over the wall that had separated the teachers from their students. The boy noticed Shikamaru's glare before Temari "Oh... Sorry... It's just, we were wondering if we could take Shina and Sakkaku on a tour of Suna... If it's okay with you and Nara-Sensei that is"
"That's a great idea Akarui" Temari smiled, the boy grinned happily at his sensei's approval "You should do so at once and here-" She took out a few notes and leant across the table to hand it over to the grinning boy "You should treat them to Taiyō's favourite Bubble Tea spot..."
"Yes Temari-Sensei! Right away" The boy saluted in a joke military fashion. He disappeared back into his own booth to have the booth erupt in cheers.
"Shika..." Temari said softly, the dark eyed Nara looked at his companion who had a devious look in her eye. "Will you just admit you missed me?"
Shikamaru snorted and looked away, hearing her move closer. "Missed a troublesome woman like you?"
"You heard me" She whispered near his ear, to have his face flush crimson. Her breath danced across the side of his face.
"I missed you, Mari..." He shivered at her breath on his skin, he could smell her scent. Her spiced allure of a scent. He was reacting like an addict who had to relieve his withdrawal symptoms. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek and laughed softly near his ear. No matter how old he got, he knew he'd probably never grow out of blushing at her.
"I missed you too, Shikamaru" She whispered, her hand on his knee as she leant even closer. "Maybe this time you won't leave me a year without even a visit."
"Mari... I've been busy" He groaned, turning to face her dazed eyes "Really busy with Shina on my team, not to mention Kurenai being over the top with Kasai, then Sakkaku takes up my time because he relies on me and-" She cut him off with a finger to his lips.
"I know, lazy ass, I've got a team too... I was joking" She smiled. He smiled back at her contentedly, how could he ask for better than her? He couldn't. She didn't care about the distance, she trusted him to stay faithful to only her and for him to come back to her. The only way he knew she'd stay faithful is the simplistic silver ring that she wore on a chain around her neck. They were engaged to be married, and had been for the last four years. They'd been dating each other for eight years and neither of them had looked back, it had seemed so easy for him to love the troublesome Sand Nin and for her to love him back. It had seemed so simple that they met and enjoyed their time together whenever they could get it.. The thing with marriage however was that it wasn't easy. Shikamaru's own mother expected him to get Temari to leave Suna and live in the Nara compound when she became officially a Nara. Naruto expected that Temari would come and live with the lazy nin as soon as he proposed, but she hadn't. Temari had Gaara patiently explain the rules of marriage in Suna when she was training with her team.
"None of us have surnames" Gaara stated in that placid way of his "When we require a surname most of us just add 'no Suna'. Marriage within Suna is easy enough because of our lack of surnames, we just see it as uniting our village further by changing the 'no Suna' to merely Suna as we now represent Suna. As you have proposed to my sister, as an outsider from a clan it means Temari has to turn her back on her village title. In my eyes, and most of the population she is still definitely one of our people, however to the elders she would no longer be a citizen. If Temari takes your surname, some of the population may not accept her as the ranking official she is."
That was where the problem lay. Shikamaru realised that either way one of them was going to lose everything they had worked for. He'd lose his family, his name, his friends and home if he moved to Suna. She'd lose her family, her rank and her country if she moved to Konoha. One of them had to chose to leave their family, though neither could bring themselves to save the other from the decision. But she waited... They both did. Whilst their friends all settled down and had kids of their own, the pair remained in the path they were stuck in, frozen in a loop of being engaged.
"Shikamaru?" She smiled, poking his temple softly "You're not even outside, so don't lie and say you're looking at clouds."
"I was just thinking..."
"Well can we think more later? I've missed you alot, and since we have some free time I thought we could..." She trailed off, pressing her lips against his chastely "Go back to my place."
"In the Kazekage tower? I thought I wasn't allowed to be with you there" Shikamaru smirked, moving his hands around her waist to rest on her lower back.
"I'm the older sibling, I overrule my little brother... Plus he made that threat when we first started dating" She smiled at him suggestively, tugging at his collar teasingly. "Come on Nara... Show me how much you missed me"