Hey, so yesterday marked a year since I posted my first fanfic ever 'A Troublesome Dilemma'.
When I posted it a year ago my aim was to just try my hand at writing a fanfic as I was very bored with the prospect of a 3 month summer break. I was expecting maybe 2 favorites and had no intention of writing beyond that first story. But here we are a year later, 9 stories in and I must admit it's been one helluva ride.
I've met some amazing writers and made some great friends and hope that I continue to interact with you fine folks and provide you with countless more stories to sate your reading needs.
I want to thank every one of you from the bottom of my heart for the amazing support you've showed me over the past year by reading, reviewing, following and favoriting my stories. Your love gives me the motivation to continue writing and I mean it when I say this, I'm genuinely grateful for all of you.
This story is my first attempt at writing a bit of humor as mississippimudpiecraves clearly forbade me from writing any of my remotely dark muses for my 1 year anniversary.
A Troublesome Anniversary.
Do you ever wonder if fate is actually just a 3 year old toddler that's hell-bent on ensuring nothing goes your way because they find that amusing. That was exactly what was going through Shikamaru's mind as he walked back home from the Hokage tower.
. .
He woke up as the morning rays peeked through from behind closed curtains. Groaning he turned his head to the side and was greeted by the sight of her.
As a kid Shikamaru never aspired for much; he wanted to lead an average life with an average job, marry an average girl, have two kids a girl and then a boy, and finally die of old age before his wife.
But looking at her, as she slept peacefully; mouth slightly agape and as the morning rays carefully fell on the exposed skin of her belly between her tank top and boy shorts making her curves look all the more enticing, he had to admit to himself waking up to this every morning was worth the change of plans.
As he felt a soft smile pull on his lips from thinking about his wife he placed his hand on her abdomen and gently started to caress her before letting his hand wander higher under her tank top causing her to stir in her sleep before slowly blinking her eyes open.
Looking at him through sleep-laden eyes she smiled before closing them again. 'You're in a good mood for someone who hates waking up this early.'
'Happy Anniversary.' He said as he moved closer to capture her lips in a kiss.
'More like Congratulations on successfully surviving another year with me.' She replied between kisses.
'I ought to be rewarded for my bravery, don't you think?' he said as he hovered over her.
Smirking she pulled him down as they continued where they left off. Less than a minute had passed when they suddenly heard a cry come from the other room, Mommy.
Groaning; Shikamaru pulled back from her lips.
'Guess your time's up.' Temari said before pushing her husband off her and getting out of bed to attend to the crying boy.
Great timing boy; for such a good sleeper I was hoping I could rely on you today to give your old man and mom some time to themselves.
Five minutes later Temari walked back in carrying a 2 year toddler holding a stuffed dear with one hand while the other rubbed the sleep and tears out of his eyes. Sitting on the bed the kid jumped out of his mom's hands and sat on Shikamaru clearly fascinated by his goatee.
'What happened Shikadai?'
'Dream scary.' The kid replied as Temari lay down and looked at her family.
'Did the bad monsters come in your dream?' Temari asked as she gently stroked the kid's back.
Looking at his mom the kid slowly nodded as he whimpered.
'Aww it's okay. See mommy's here now and Rikimaru is here, you know the bad monsters are scared of Rikimaru.' she said as she pointed at the deer causing the boy to stop whimpering. 'Now tell me do you want some tasty miso soup for breakfast.'
Smiling the boy nodded his head as he reached for Temari.
'Okay let's go.' She said as she got up to make breakfast.
. .
After eating their meal and doing the dishes the couple went out and sat on the porch while Shikadai played in the grass.
Shikamaru laid his head in Temari's lap while she played with his hair as they enjoyed the weather outside.
This is how it should be, just you and me enjoying the good weather comfortable in each other's company. Besides we can always continue the morning's activities when Shikadai falls asleep for his nap in an hour. Perfect anniversary. He mused to himself.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed since they came out, he guessed it was around thirty minutes when he felt something wet fall on his face. Opening his eyes he looked up to the sky as another drop fell on his face. What the, it was just bright where did these rain clouds come from. And all of a sudden the downpour started as the two of them quickly got to their feet to get Shikadai and his toys inside before they got too wet and caught a cold.
'Great, this is just perfect.' Shikamaru exclaimed as he dried his hair.
Feeling bad for him Temari grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in for a quick kiss. 'C'mon let's put Shikadai in his play pen and I'll make it up to you for today morning in the shower.'
'I'll get his toys and put him in, meet you in five.'
Placing the kid in the pen he looked at the boy before talking. 'Okay Shikadai your dad's counting on you, be a good boy and don't cry for twenty minutes okay.' And with that he entered the bathroom. Through the steam that filled the shower he admired Temari's silhouette before getting out of his clothes and joining her.
Walking behind her he enveloped her in his arms as he started to ghost his lips along her neck laying kisses in between. Turning around in his arms she pulled his head down as she caught his lips in hers. Their kiss soon turned fiery and Shikamaru lowered his arms and pulled her up and against him with her legs wrapping around him.
They were interrupted by a loud sound of metal clanking against the floor.
'What the fuck was that.' Temari exclaimed as they turned off the shower and rushed out of the bathroom with towels wrapped around them. Opening the door they were greeted by Shikadai sitting comfortably outside his play pen with shuriken from Shikamaru's holster surrounding him. Temari immediately shunshined to pull Shikadai away from the dangerous objects.
After carefully checking the boy to make sure he wasn't cut anywhere she turned and glared at Shikamaru. 'I thought you were going to place him inside the pen.'
'I did put him in, I don't know how he got out.'
'Well you should have made sure it was locked.'
'Ofcourse I checked Tem; I'm not irresponsible. He probably figured out how to unlock the gate, it would explain why the safety gate on the staircase was found open last week.'
Turning to look at the giggling baby she couldn't help but smile at him. 'That's dangerous Shikadai, you don't want to get mommy worried do you? Guess we can't leave you out of our sight now can we smart boy.' She said as she nuzzled against Shikadai's cheek.
. .
They had just managed to put Shikadai to sleep; for a child that loved to sleep he was definitely a handful today. Exhausted the two of them collapsed on the couch with Temari leaning her head against his chest while he gently trailed his fingers along her side.
'Can't believe it's already 4 in the evening. God knows where the day went.'
'Well I know, it went with everything going against me. Felt like someone was trying very hard to prevent me from spending time with you.' Shikamaru sulked.
'Aw, well we can have a nice candlelight dinner. I'll make your favorite; I even got fresh mackerel yesterday.'
'Well I'm afraid that won't be possible.'
Sitting up she looked at him curiously. 'Why's that?'
'Oh just cause we have a reservation at that fancy new restaurant being run by Choji's cousin.'
'Really? You do know that restaurant is where everyone goes for dates nowadays right.' She said impressed by Shikamaru's initiative to do something so troublesome.
'I know, it's a drag but I figured you deserved something special today. Besides I had to pull a few strings to get the reservation, more like bribing Choji with food in order to get me on the list, but it worked.'
There was then rapid knocking on their front door.
'Shit, Shikadai just fell asleep, go get it fast.'
Opening the door he was greeted by a clearly distressed Naruto.
'Hey Naruto, what's the matter?'
'Shikamaru you have to come to the Hokage's office quickly.'
'No ways. It's my anniversary. You do know who I'm married to right; she'll blow off the Hokage tower if I leave her for work today.'
'It's an emergency, oh wait it's your anniversary; congratulations man. Yeah like I was saying Kakashi sensei has summoned you immediately he said he will never let me be Hokage if I come back without you.'
'Doesn't make a difference to me.'
'Please man I'm begging you. You know how it was always my dream right, you can't let me lose the seat because I couldn't bring the Hokage's adviser to work.'
'What does he even need me for, there is no urgent work due for at least three weeks.'
'I'm not sure, he said something about the Daimyo wanting something related to finances or something like that.'
'Troublesome, fine give me a minute. But before that I'll need you to stay perfectly still.'
'Thank you Shikamaru, you saved me.' The blond exclaimed clearly relieved. 'But why do yo…' before he could complete his sentence he was punched in the face by Shikamaru causing him to disappear into a puff of smoke.
Figures he'd send a bunshin. Now I better get dressed and leave. All I wanted was to spend a carefree day with Temari, and absolutely nothing's been going my way. Shikamaru grumbled as he closed the door behind him.
He walked back in and prepared himself for Temari's wrath. After he explained the situation he expected an argument or the silent treatment as she walked back to their room or an assault with her fan but all she did was laugh. 'Today really isn't your day Shika. Go and finish your work fast, I'll cancel the reservations and make us some food.'
. .
Do you ever wonder if fate is actually just a 3 year old toddler that's hell bent on ensuring nothing goes your way because they find that amusing. Well that's what today was like. First Shikadai wakes up early and ruins a perfectly good mood, then the weather decides that today is the perfect day to be unpredictable, then Shikadai decides to display his Nara genius and ruin another great mood it's almost like he's trying to remain the only child, then the great Daimyo demands a fucking financial review of the Leaf's operations when it wasn't even due for another three months.
Unlocking the door he entered a pitch black home. Tem must be asleep, it's already 11. Best Anniversary Ever! he sighed.
Kicking off his sandals he dropped his jonin vest and made his way to his room.
Opening their room door his breath hitched as he stood frozen in the doorway. The room was illuminated by candles placed everywhere and sitting on the bed was Aphrodite incarnate reading a book.
Her sandy blonde hair was left loose allowing it to comfortably fall past her shoulders, she was wearing nothing but a silk shirt with the buttons undone, giving a teasing view of her ample breasts, and a sexy pair of black lace underwear.
Looking at Shikamaru she smirked, contended with the effect she was having on him. 'You can close your mouth now y'know.'
Gaining some control over himself he closed his mouth, he quickly looked behind him before looking at his wife again. 'Where's Shikadai?'
'Oh Shikadai, well you see your mother came by earlier complaining of how much she missed her grandson and insisted he spend the night with her. Shikadai was more than happy to be pampered by his obaa-chan for the night and left with her a few hours ago.'
'That's convenient.' He replied as he moved towards her. 'I'm sorry this anniversary was so bad; it felt like someone was trying to keep me from spending time with you. I'm sorry we couldn't have the perfect anniversary.'
'Shikamaru; we've been married what, four years now and we dated for five years before that. A perfect anniversary for me right now involves spending time with you and Shikadai, just us as a family; that's the best anniversary gift in my opinion.'
'Troublesome, then I guess I shouldn't have bought those sweet chestnuts earlier.'
Leaping off the bed she started to search Shikamaru's person for where they were hidden. 'Where are they, you better not have lied about chestnuts, you know you're not allowed to lie about chestnuts.' she said a bit annoyed.
Smiling he tilted her chin up, 'They're here.' He said as he gave her a soft kiss before bringing a small packet out from behind her using a shadow.
'Ah sneaky, you used a shadow to take it off you. This is an equally good anniversary gift. Thank you.' She said as she flashed her trademark smile, the one that never failed to make his heart flutter and make him feel like he was 15 all over again.
'There's still an hour left before the day ends y'know, so what's the plan?' he said as he brought her close.
'Well I was about to soak in a nice hot bath, do you want to join me and see where things go from there?'
'Temari; if I ever answer no to that question I want you to drive a kunai through my heart as it is most definitely an impostor.'
'A kunai seems too painless I was planning on testing out my fan.'
Smiling he kissed her forehead. 'I love you Tem.'
'I know.' she replied hugging him tighter.
Hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, I hope my attempt at humor wasn't too cringey.
As always, thank you for reading. :)
