"This is going to be troublesome," thought Shikamaru as he led Temari to the front door of the Nara residence. But, if there was anyone who could handle his mother, it would have to be Temari. She certainly had the same temper and the same opinionative nature. He took a deep breath and opened the door. The smell of cooking meat wafted through the air, as well as his mother's agitated voice.
"You're late Shikamaru! Dinner is almost ready! Wash up, set the table, and…who is this?"
Before Shikamaru could even answer, the girl in question stepped forward and saved him the trouble.
"I'm Temari, the ambassador for the hidden village of Suna. Shikamaru is my guide for the next few weeks and he was nice enough to invite me to dinner."
Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn't say anything about the lost game of shogi and the bet. He would never live that down if his family found out; not that Temari was ever going to let him live it down either.
"It's nice to meet you Temari. It's going to be so good to have another female at the table for once. You know, you are the first one Shika has ever brought home! He has his father's lazy streak. I thought he would never take the initiative and ask anyone out. There must be more of me in him than I thought!
His face resembling a tomato, Shikamaru was ready to go crawl under a rock somewhere and never come back out. He knew this was going to happen. It wasn't that he didn't particularly like the idea of dating Temari; it was just the fact that they had never talked about anything like that. But now, he was pretty sure he was going to find out; whether he wanted to or not. Temari glanced over at him and smirked.
"He just needed the right kind of motivation..."
Just then, Temari flashed him a smile that could have melted ice. For all of her faults, she was definitely the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
"Mrs. Nara, would you like for us to help you with anything in the kitchen?" She asked sweetly. Inwardly, Shikamaru groaned. Great! She's volunteering us for cores now!
"Oh absolutely not! I could never put a dinner guest to work! Shikamaru, find Temari a seat and get started on setting the table."
He seated Temari on the couch in the living room, cursing his mother under his breath. This was beginning to take far too much effort. As he walked towards the kitchen, his mother pulled him in close and managed to make him turn an even deeper shade of red.
"I am so proud of you Shika! Your first girlfriend! She's pretty too... and so outspoken! She reminds me of myself back in my younger days."
"Why don't I just stab myself now..."
"What was that Shikamaru? I didn't quite hear you."
"Nothing."
Shikamaru looked over his shoulder at Temari, who was withholding her laughter. Could this possibly get any worse?