"Where is that crybaby?" Temari grumbled, shuffling the stack of paper in her hands. Usually Shikamaru would be waiting outside her door for her in the morning, and they'd have breakfast together before heading for yet another boring meeting. But today had been the exception. She'd opened the door to find an untidily scrawled note with the author nowhere in sight. Being by herself for the first time in a long time, she'd lost her appetite for anything fancy and had chewed on a piece of bread instead. She felt a growing sense of dread towards the long meeting which she'd most probably have to attend alone. He'd better have a good reason for abandoning her like that.
Half a day later, Temari staggered out of the meeting room. She had been the only young person in the midst of wrinkled old men and shriveled up old ladies. It was horrendous. She silently cursed Shikamaru and thanked whoever it was that arranged such terrible meetings that there were no more of those to go through that day.
She was heading back to start on yet another pile of paperwork when she caught a brief glimpse of a black spiky ponytail heading towards her.
"Where have you been, Nara." There was a hint of accusation in her voice. The dark-haired man looked uncomfortable just for a fraction of a second before his usual bored expression took over. He leisurely matched his pace with hers. "There was a whole bunch of troublesome stuff I had to deal with this morning, sorry."
Temari saw the fleeting nervousness in his face and had narrowed her eyes at the vague explanation. Having had her brain cells massacred by the earlier meeting though, she decided not to pursue the matter. She'd find out soon enough.
There was a brief silence before Shikamaru suddenly grabbed her hand and dragged her off in another direction. That woke her up from her hazy stupor immediately and she resisted the sudden change in path.
"Where are we going?! I still have paperwo-"
"You need a break woman, stop being troublesome and just come with me."
She allowed him to continue leading her to his intended destination, trying her best to ignore the stares they were getting from the people on the street. The more they walked, the less people they saw, and eventually they ended up in a secluded little clearing from where they had a majestic view of Konoha and of course, the vast sky with fluffy little clouds drifting everywhere.
"You'd better be helping me with my work later or I'm so going to kill you for this." She grumbled under her breath, plopping down on the grass next to him.
He stared intensely at the clouds before murmuring, "… for the rest of my life."
She stopped fiddling with a blade of grass and wheeled around to face him.
"What?!"
He promptly turned pink and Temari's jaw dropped. The pineapple had cried before her and that she could still handle. But blushing? All she wanted to do right now was to scream and run away in the most un-Temari way.
But she didn't.
He awkwardly thrust into her hands a small purple box and she threw him a questioning glance before cracking it open. The quiet gleam of amethyst shone from within dark circles of onyx. Sitting innocently in the velvety folds were earrings.
"It's troublesome as hell but I wouldn't mind working with you for the rest of my life."
Shikamaru sneaked a peek at Temari, who was still staring at the object in her hands. All her muscles were tense and scariness surrounded her like a bubble. He froze.
There was a moment of tense silence before Temari started laughing so hard she almost fell over. The pleasant ringing tones danced about in the still afternoon air. Shikamaru stared at her in shock.
"Normal people don't react that way to a wedding proposal you know." He muttered petulantly, trying not to look wounded.
"Normal people go down on their knees and propose with a ring, Nara." She was shaking with laughter, the bright teal of her eyes gaining a crystal-like quality as they brimmed with tears of mirth. "How did I ever end up with an abnormal weirdo like you?"
"Rings are too mainstream." Red was slowly creeping up his neck to accompany the pink in his cheeks. Why did he even bother to kick himself into doing this sort of thing it was so embarrassing so troublesome so-
Two pink earrings fell into Shikamaru's lap and he looked up to see onyx and amethyst glittering subtly against thin pale flesh. She flashed him the fearless grin he loved so much.
"Too bad we're both abnormal weirdos then."