After the War:Chapter 2 The Funeral

Shikamaru woke up before he needed to, as usual. The first rays of sunlight were beginning to filter into the bedroom. Was this really the best he had slept in years? He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had slept so soundly. The raven haired shinobi looked fondly at the kunoichi breathing softly wrapped up in his arms. The Nara stayed where he was, just taking in everything. The way she felt against him, the smell of her hair, the sound of her breathing, and how it all just felt so perfect. 'This is better than it was in the infinite tsukiyomi,' he thought to himself as he let a contented sigh escape his lips. The nin carefully disentangled himself from the sleeping woman and slid silently out of the bed. He was standing beside the bed rearranging his side neatly as Temari rolled over and looked at him through heavy lids. "Good morning," he couldn't help but chuckle as he looked at how wild her blonde hair was.

"Hmnnn," the woman responded sleepily. "Is it time to get up already?" she asked as she rolled and stretched. What she didn't realize was that her yukata had loosened over the night and was giving the shadow user a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage.

The Nara shrugged trying to not let his eyes drift. "You don't have to."

The blonde sat up and stood slowly as she raised one arm over her head. "I'm up, I'm up," she groaned. "It's going to be a long day. I need to get ready and head out."

"I'll fix breakfast while you get ready," Shikamaru said as he slipped his black haori back on. The genius turned to see Temari watching him as he was putting his hair back up but she quickly looked away.

"OK," she mumbled as she shuffled sleepily towards the bathroom.

000oooo000ooo

Shikamaru fixed the kunoichi an amazing breakfast that was accompanied with their usual pleasant banter. The genius couldn't help but wonder why it always made him feel good to verbally spar with the blonde. There was a knock on the door after the kunoichi left for his mother's house. Shikamaru answered the door when he saw that it was Gaara and Kankuro so he could let them know where Temari went. The conversation with her brothers began innocently enough. He eventually found himself cornered in her apartment by the protective younger brothers. The genius discovered Sunan interrogation techniques were rather interesting.

"We heard you get here around midnight last night and you stayed the night!" growled Kankuro as he leaned toward the shadow user. The puppet master was in his casual clothes without war makeup which made him eerily look like the 4th Kazekage. Gaara simply stood behind Kankuro with his arms crossed watching both of them.

"I didn't do anything!" the Nara defended with his hands up in front of himself.

The puppet master grabbed Shikamaru's haori in the center of his chest and pulled the Nara's face dangerously close to his own. "Do you think we're stupid?" he hissed.

"What are your intentions with our sister?" the Kazekage asked in his calm and monotone voice as he waved for Kankuro to back off. The puppet master looked back at the Kazekage as he released the Konoha nin reluctantly. Kankuro took a few steps back as he gave Shikamaru a venomous glare. Gaara walked forward and stood directly in front of the shadow user waiting for his answer.

Shikamaru began to rub the back of his neck as he tried to figure out the best way to explain his situation.

"I'm the Nara clan head now," he started slowly. "That means I need to find a woman that is worthy of being the second in command of the Nara clan and is capable of learning our medical techniques, traditions, and pass them down to future generations."

"What does that have to do with our sister?" barked Kankuro as his chakra began to spike. Gaara raised his hand to silence the puppet master and shook his head slowly from side to side.

"Continue," the Kazekage said coolly.

The Nara shrugged. "The only woman I can see myself with is Temari. She's the only one that challenges me, the only one that thinks like me, the only one that really understands me. We've not dated or done anything romantically. We haven't even kissed. I have to figure out what to do so I don't scare her off," the last sentence sounding more like he was thinking out loud rather than speaking to Gaara.

"Ha!" scoffed Kankuro. "Good luck with that."

Gaara shot Kankuro a look that silenced the shinobi yet again. The red head looked at the Konoha shinobi intensely for what felt like five minutes. He stared at Shikamaru as if he was looking straight into his soul. The Sunan brought a hand up thoughtfully to his chin as he narrowed his bright blue eyes.

"You intend on taking her from us and Suna," the Kazekage stated in a voice that showed no emotion.

"Well," Shikamaru began and then paused for a moment to think about how he was going to phrase his response. "Temari will decide what she wants, but if she does choose to move to Konoha doesn't that make the Suna and Konoha bond even stronger? Couldn't you make her the permanent Sunan ambassador to Konoha? Do we really have to look at it like she is an object to fight over? She can become a Nara, move to Konoha, but be put in a position that allows her to travel to Suna frequently."

"Children," the sand wielder stated as he crossed his arms again and his expression became very intimidating.

"Dual citizenship," Shikamaru answered without hesitation. "The eldest boy will still be the Nara clan heir though."

"Very well then," Gaara said softly as he took another step closer to Shikamaru putting them face to face. "You may court our sister," the Kazekage began before lowering his voice to a soft and dangerous tone, "but understand that if you hurt her in any way, Kankuro and I will make you pay." Gaara locked eyes with Shikamaru to make sure the Konoha nin understood how serious this threat was.

Shikamaru actually laughed in response. "Do you think that if I hurt her there would be anything left of me by the time she is done?" the shadow user asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The genius realized the two sand siblings were staring at him as if he had gone mad. He added quickly in a sincere tone, "Honestly though, I only want to make her happy. I would never intentionally hurt her."

"Good," the former jinchuriki nodded as he motioned for Kankuro to follow him towards the door.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama," the shadow user breathed.

Kankuro shook his head as he watched his younger brother walk towards the door. "You poor guy," he mumbled over his shoulder to the Nara as he turned to head out of the apartment.

"You really don't plan on going to your father's funeral?" the sand user asked as he reached the doorway.

"No," Shikamaru replied firmly.

"Our condolences on your loss and if there is anything you need," Gaara began before being interrupted.

"Other than our sister," chuckled Kankuro under his breath.

The Kazekage placed a finger to his temple as he sighed, "Please forgive him. If there is anything we can do to help, do not hesitate to let us know."

The shadow user began to rub the back of his neck again as he replied, "Thanks."

00oo00oo00oo0o

Temari found herself in awe of Yoshino Nara. The woman had the day organized and planned down to the last detail. The kunoichi from Suna found herself hurrying back and forth doing various tasks for the woman along with Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and various Nara clan members. It was close to time for the funeral before the kunoichi had a moment to catch her breath.

"He's not coming, is he?" Ino asked quietly as Choji walked up.

Temari looked at the platinum blonde woman apologetically. "No," she whispered.

"Ino, you really should know Shikamaru better," Choji scolded. "He was the same way with Asuma. At least this time he sent us Temari to help," the big man shrugged.

"Let's go," snapped Yoshino to the three as she motioned them out the door.

"Yes, Mrs. Nara," Temari answered obediently which caused the woman to smile as the group walked towards the cemetery.

"Did you know that the Nara clan ascension ceremony is a week from today, Temari?" the dark haired woman asked.

"No ma'am. May I ask what that is?" the Sunan asked innocently. Ino and Choji were walking behind the two women and shared a very surprised look.

"Shikamaru will officially take over as the new Nara clan head. It's just a rather formal clan event," the woman answered curtly. "Will you still be in Konoha?"

"I don't know," Temari answered. "How long we stay is up to Gaara, I mean the Kazekage."

"I see," Yoshino chimed before she started in on Choji about something. Temari was just happy to be out of the line of fire for a moment. As the group arrived at the cemetery they received their directions from the Nara woman. Temari started to walk towards her brothers when Yoshino grabbed her by the shoulders. "Temari, do you see that large willow tree across the way?"

"Yes," the kunoichi answered trying not to sound confused.

"I need you to go stand under that tree," she ordered.

"It's so far away, I won't be able to hear anything," Temari started to argue.

"Sabaku no Temari, I am asking you to listen and trust me," Yoshino whispered as she looked into Temari's green eyes.

"Fine," the blonde from Suna grumbled as Yoshino let her go and pointed to the tree again. Temari made eye contact with her brothers and signaled that she would be going over to the willow. They nodded that they understood.

Temari walked to the willow and made herself almost invisible in the shade of its many branches. The blonde leaned against the large trunk that was cool to the touch as she tried to make herself comfortable. The ceremony was just starting when she felt a presence nearby.

"I thought you weren't coming," she whispered as she continued to look straight ahead.

"I'm not here," the genius answered as he moved quietly in the shadows beneath the willow tree's limbs. Temari still faced where the ceremony was happening not sure what she should say or do. The Nara leaned against the tree beside the kunoichi and rested his head against the soft bark.

"Of course you're not," the Sunan said softly as she looked down at Shikamaru's feet beside her. "You're mother told me about the ceremony next week," the blonde commented quietly.

"Mhmmm," was all the ponytailed Nara replied.

The wind user couldn't help but turn and look at the young man with a questioning look. "Are you really OK?" she murmured.

"No," the genius shrugged, "but I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. Do I?"

The blonde bit her lip and looked down, "I'm sorry."

"Why? None of this is your fault," the shadow user remarked as he slowly took her hand into his and laced his fingers between hers.

Temari looked down at their hands and then up into Shikamaru's dark eyes. There was a wild mixture of emotions in his gaze. "What do you want me to do? What can I do?" the blonde asked as she looked back down at their hands intertwined.

"You do so much more than you realize," he sighed as he ran his thumb lightly over her knuckles. "We can talk about this more tonight," he stated as he turned his eyes to his mother who was now talking.

The kunoichi felt her body begin to warm simply from holding the Nara's hand. She kept reminding herself to steady her breathing and to focus on what Yoshino was saying. The rest of the ceremony they said nothing, watching speaker after speaker but not really being able to hear what they have to say.

"I'm leaving," Shikamaru choked out as it looked like the ceremony was coming to a close. He went to pull his hand away from Temari, but found that it was her turn to not let go of his hand.

"Tonight," she stated while giving him a look that meant this was an order and not a request. He nodded his head yes in response, trying not to say anything out of fear of losing his composure. The blonde let go of him as she looked back towards the ceremony. She watched Yoshino begin thanking the mourners for coming. The mistress of the wind added before he was too far to hear her, "Don't make me worry about you. Don't make me wait because I will come find you and it won't be pretty."

The Nara snorted as he walked away. "Understood," he said softly in a tone that almost sounded endearing. The blonde tried to not turn around to watch him go, but she couldn't help but glimpse back to see his silhouette melting into the shadows. The kunoichi began to slowly walk back towards the crowd that was now mingling about after the ceremony. Yoshino was talking to her brothers now.