A/N - I wrote this one a while. ShikaTema. I hope that Shikamaru and Temari aren't too OOC. I pride myself on keeping the characters in character. So if they aren't...I'll probably mentally drown myself. Ugh. Anyways, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Naruto. If I did...oh gosh. The changes I'd make...
...Read and Review...
What Lasts Forever
Shoulders slumped, he trudged forward. Heard footsteps, saw feet, didn't look up. Then he made contact with the body that was flying toward him and fell over backwards straight on his back.
"Ouch."
The girl stood up, looked at him.
"Watch where you're going!"
She picked up her books, dashed off again.
He couldn't get the sight of her, blonde pigtails and all, out of his mind.
.
.
He was sucked into his thoughts, not paying attention to the world around him. His best friend walked beside him, eying his tray of food as if it was the most heavenly thing in the world.
Next thing he knew, a collision, tomato sauce smeared across his white button up. A blue lunch tray clattered to the floor. His mother would not be pleased.
He heard an angry growl.
"Do you make it a habit to bump into people?"
He looked down at her. A scowl was plastered on her face. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously.
He couldn't help it.
"No. Only you."
.
.
Next semester. Chemistry. Seating arrangements. Partners.
Reluctantly, she stood and sat beside him. Several minutes passed. She turned to him.
"Okay, let's get this straight, Nara. If you bump into me while I'm holding a dangerous chemical, it goes over your head. Kapeash?"
He holds down the gulp, keeps his face indifferent. Uses well practiced manners.
"Yes ma'am."
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Somehow, he ends up paired with her for a project in History. And English. And Psychology.
She comes over to his house to work on the projects with him. They discuss English, jot down notes for History, and plan the display for Psychology. His crazy mother asks her to stay for dinner.
She shrugs.
"Sure, why not? Kankuro and Gaara have to learn how to manage without me, anyways."
.
.
After dinner, they watch The Matrix. A large bowl of popcorn is in between them.
"Everyone I know who's watched this movie thinks it's confusing."
She throws a piece of the popcorn in the air, catches it in her mouth.
"It's so easy to understand. I mean, come on!"
He looks over to her, awed. His face shows no evidence of this emotion.
"You know what, I completely agree with you."
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.
By the end of the third movie they've watched, they're asleep on the couch.
Side-by-side, her head is on his shoulder, his head lays atop hers. She is curled into his side and his arm has unconsciously wrapped around her.
His mother leaves them be, but not before snapping a picture first.
.
.
Their fighting lessens, he agrees with her more, she agrees with him occasionally.
She spends more time at his house, claiming to be working on projects.
His mother smiles knowingly. Their class projects are already finished.
.
.
Instead they watch movies, play video games, and eagerly compete at board games.
She bites her tongue, moving a piece across the board. She looks up at his face. He is smirking at her.
With a flick of his wrist, her king is surrounded, no way to escape from impending doom.
"Checkmate."
She pouts and he pushes the thought of her being 'cute' to the back of his mind.
.
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School lets out for the summer and it is hot. She invites him over to the apartment she shares with her two younger brothers.
"There's a pool."
He contemplates her invitation.
"Sure."
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He knocks thrice. The door opens. A tall man with wild brown hair, piercing brown eyes stands there.
"Who are you?"
"Er."
His words die in his throat. This is her younger brother? He looks terrifying. But he swallows his fear, looks him in the eye.
"Shikamaru. Temari invited me over."
The young man narrowed his eyes at him.
"Kankuro! Leave Shikamaru alone!"
He heard her voice and he felt thankful. Her younger brother turned around towards her with a wince.
.
.
"Are you just going to lay there all day?"
He pushed his sunglasses up slightly to look at her. She was standing beside his raft, water coming up to her tanned waist, a frown on her face.
"Yes."
He slid the sunglasses back down and closed his eyes, crossing his arms behind his head.
He heard splashing, assume she was swimming back over to the deeper end of the pool. Next thing he knew, he was coughing and spluttering, sunglasses askew. He looked over at her, doubled over and hiccuping from laughing.
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They were walking back from the theater. It was silent between them. When they came to a stop in front of her apartment door, he turned to face her.
The words just decided to slip from his mouth without his permission.
"What would you do if I told you I liked you?"
The silence stretched for several long moments. It felt like forever. But finally she replied.
"I'd tell you the feeling is mutual."
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They were at his house.
It was drizzling. She had somehow managed to drag him outside and into the rain. They were walking down the empty street, hand in hand.
He said something that made her laugh before suddenly they stopped. Curiously, she faced him. He was staring at her. And then completely out of the blue, he leaned down and kissed her.
It was quick, short, chaste. But it meant everything.
.
.
Lounging on the couch in her apartment, the front door opened, closed.
Tall, red hair, seafoam eyes ringed in black, muscular.
He gulped. This was her other brother.
"Hey, Gaara."
The tall man nodded in greeting, setting a set of keys on the table by the front. His eyes landed on him.
"Who's that?"
She rolled her eyes and her head turned back towards the TV.
"My boyfriend."
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The minute she said she was going to use the bathroom, her brothers corned him.
"What are your intentions with our sister?"
They stood above him, arms crossed, gazes penetrating. He didn't know how to answer them, so he told the truth.
"To do things to make her happy, and kick the arses of the idiots who make her sad or angry."
While the redhead didn't openly show it, both of the brothers were impressed with his answer.
"Have you kissed her?"
"Only once."
"What would you do if you broke her heart?"
He thought about his answer before verbally saying it.
"I'd kill myself in the most painful way possible."
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Day before school started, they took a walk in the park.
The wind whistled silently through the trees, gravel crunched, children's gay laughter floating through the breeze.
Hand in hand, they walked down a dirt path that led into the forest that surrounded the park.
"I had a dream about you last night."
His eyebrow raised.
"You did?"
She grinned.
"Yep."
"What about?"
She turned to smile broadly at him.
"You. Me. Making out."
He had the grace to flush embarrassedly at this. He brought his free hand to his mouth, cleared his throat.
"You better not tell your brothers."
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Winter came quickly.
The cold bit at her already red nose. She sniffled, stole the scarf off the person walking beside her, wrapped it around her face.
"Much better."
She let out a happy sigh. His teeth chattered.
"Could you please do me a favor and give my scarf back?"
She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"Nah. Tough luck, bub."
.
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The Christmas dance.
The Christmas dance.
He didn't know how to dance.
This fact accidentally slips out one night during dinner with his family and his girlfriend and his mother freaks out on him.
"Shikaku, I thought you taught him how to dance!"
He didn't mention the fact that the lessons were on playing Shogi rather than learning to dance.
"I did!"
She leans over to him and whispers in his ear.
"I can teach you."
.
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The radio - where her MP3 player is plugged in - is on the coffee table and the couch is pushed up against the wall. The living room has been turned into a temporary dance floor.
She took his hand, placed it on her waist.
"So you place this hand here."
He holds it there, she takes his free hand in her other one.
"And your free hand holds mine while my other hand rests on your shoulder. You got this so far?"
He nods dumbly, not bothering to tell her that his mind went blank the minute his fingertips touched her hip.
"-and then you...Shikamaru. Are you listening to me at all?"
It's then that he realizes she's been talking for two minutes while he just stared at her.
"..."
Her inquisitive stare turns into a full out glare.
"Come down from Shikamaru Land and pay attention!"
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"See! Now you're getting the hang of it!"
They were twirling around the living room, her heavenly laugh peeling through her every so often. Her grin was overtaking her face and her eyes glittered happily.
He smiled down at her softly. He was actually starting to like the whole concept of dancing. If it could make her smile this much than he should do it more often.
"Kiss me. K-k-kiss me. Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison."
She was mouthing the words to the song and he felt himself duck down to plant his lips atop hers.
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His mother forces him into black slacks, white button up shirt, black vest, black shoes. He keeps his hair in the same pineapple shape it's always in.
She arrives at his front door, gorgeous violet dress, pretty flats, golden hair let down from four ponytails.
He wants to run his fingers through that hair of hers. It's wavy and beautiful and golden.
He thrusts a rose into her hand, looks away, embarrassed.
.
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They own the dance floor. She is laughing, sweet shrill of bubbling laughter convulsing into hiccups that wrack her body. She laughs on, clutching his vest with the hand that isn't holding his.
He stares at her bemusedly. A strand of her hair has fallen into her face. He moves it out of the way for her.
"Hey."
She looks up at him, big grin present on the that adorable face of hers.
"Hey!"
His lips tilt up, he cups her cheek, kisses her.
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If the Christmas dance isn't enough, Prom is.
She wants to go, even though she once told him how incredibly cliche it was.
Most of all, his mother wants him to go. Even if he didn't have Temari, his mother would still have made him go to that dreaded prom.
The theme is Enchantment Under the Sea.
So, was it going to be centered around The Little Mermaid?
Gosh, he hoped it wasn't.
.
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He's starting to like this whole 'kissing' concept.
When she was mad, he'd kiss her.
When she was curious, he'd kiss her.
When she was sad, he'd kiss her.
When she was happy, he'd kiss her.
And, from the looks of things, she was starting to like it, too.
.
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The gym was covered in blue, teal, and green streamers.
It kind of made him want to throw up.
But when he saw how excited she was, he manned up and headed into the mass of cliche with his head held high.
.
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Graduation couldn't have come sooner.
His years of high school were finally over and he really just wanted to get out of the building. He'd had enough time here. He didn't want anymore.
When she came down the steps to sit beside him, he stood up and kissed her in front of everyone.
"I love you."
The whisper reached her ears and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you, too."
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He entered the shop and didn't really know where to go from there.
There were diamonds and rubies and emeralds and topazes and he was getting a headache.
She was simplistic and extravagant at the same time. So he looked and looked and looked until something caught his eye and he knew it was the one.
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Twenty years old, two years of dating, he wanted it to be endless.
He took her for a walk in the park that evening. The moon glinted off the pond in the center of the greenery and the stars twinkled in the sky.
"It's so beautiful out."
He looked up, hand fiddling within his pocket. He was nervous, excited, nauseous.
"Yeah."
Her lips turned in a smile.
"I want this night to last forever. You. Me. The stars."
There it was! An opening.
He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He took that opening.
"Want to know what could also last forever?"
She looked at him curiously. He held down the gulp.
"Hm?"
"Us."
And he dropped to one knee, her eyes widened, the box was out of his pocket and opened before her.
She grinned, held out her left hand before he could even ask her the question.
"Don't even bother. I can read minds."
He eyed her in the 'you can't be serious way'. But she was both kidding and serious at the same time. He let her be.
He slipped the ring on her finger. The single diamond on the simple golden band looked beautiful on her finger.
It was funny. He was finding everything about her beautiful nowadays.
.
.
It was an extravagant wedding.
Figures. Simple ring, extravagant wedding.
Oh well. Anything for her.
"Troublesome."
Her eyes were already on him, but now they narrowed dangerously.
"What was that?"
"I love you."
"That's what I thought."
"-you, Sabaku no Temari, promise to-"
"I do."
She said it before he could finish.
Looking exasperated, the priest looked to him.
"Do you, Nara Shikama-"
"I do."
Snickers and chuckles were being muffled behind him. Stupid groomsmen.
The priest sighed, snapped the Bible shut, waved his hands through the air.
"Then kiss the bride already."
"My pleasure."
He took her hand, pulled her forward, dipped her. She shrieked but it was muffled as he bent down to plant a kiss on her lips. Shrieks turned to giggles and he wondered when she became so girly. And he so cliche.
He pushes this to the back of his mind. It doesn't matter anymore.
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The blonde haired toddler wrinkled his nose in disgust as his redheaded twin clasped her hands together and let out a 'how romantic'.
He chuckled, wrapped an arm around her, dragged her to his side, being careful of her oversized stomach.
"Now, now Sayu, Tamaki."
Her laugh echoes around the room.
"Off to bed."
He finishes her sentence, as he is prone to do nowadays.
His son scowls and grumbles, pushing himself off the edge of their bed as his daughter grins magnificently as she skips after her brother.
He sighs as they leave, letting them drop to the mattress on their backs. His nose dips into her neck and takes a long inhale.
"I love you."
His voice is a quiet drawl in her ear but she smiles.
"I love you, too."
And they crawl under the covers and shut off the lamp, his arms around her, nose buried in her hair as she smiles into his chest.
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#Fin#