A/N: Hey guise! I'm currently really trying to complete the (real) seventh chapter but plot bunnies keep popping up and pestering me, plus I haven't really gotten much inspiration… So till I can actually produce a quality chapter, I've decided to include several background scenes about Temari and Shikamaru. I might do some things about Hinata, we'll see if my writer's block relents soon.
Basically this small excerpt of their relationship is placed somewhere before the war. I think it's pretty obvious that Temari and Shikamaru had things going on way before the war, possibly at the start of Shippuuden. Maybe even before that. Who knows, eh? But in Blue Hour I'd say that they got together somewhere in the time skip. So it's technically an AU, isn't it? (Not that it wasn't before ha ha ha…)
Also it's my birthday today! (15th November) I'm not revealing my age because I'm actually an ancient ninja who's been living off hate after my clan spurned me. Regardless, I think I deserve a pat on the back for living another whole year on this planet. Sometimes I think I'm a waste of oxygen, but then I realise I could've been much worse so oh well.
Read and review, yes? I love reading reviews. It's a sensation that's indescribable. I swear.
Thanks for sticking with me so far, and enjoy! (:
Blue Hour Chapter -0.75
It was Day 29 of their cold war, and both sides were refusing to even be in the same room as each other, which was especially difficult since staying in separate tents when space was limited while fighting a war proved to seem very unreasonable to the clueless outsider. Chouji and Sakura had all but refused to be a part of their argument, but Ino very actively took her side. Kiba was sympathetic but gave no real support, and the others appeared not to care very much unless their fighting impacted his performance in battle. Naruto, well, he didn't even know that he and she had been an item for some time now.
Granted, it started when he'd responded rather coldly to one of her moods, but in his defense what he said was his honest opinion and she'd said something that contradicted one of his core beliefs, things that he held very close to his heart. Unfortunately for him, she argued that it was her body and it was not just his decision. Their quarrelling had escalated very quickly, and so now they were stuck in a rut – he refused to compromise and she refused to back down. He really should have known that their personalities would clash.
Well, actually, he did, but that didn't change his decision to pursue her.
"I'm not speaking to him again till he tells me he's sorry and that he won't ever mention it again," Temari said very loudly, arms crossed and eyebrows drawn together. Next to her, Ino nodded while Sakura sighed.
"Temari-san, I don't really understand why you're so against the idea," Sakura said slowly. She, along with the rest of her friends save for Ino, had decided that it would be best for the pair to make up. It was her turn after Chouji, and if she failed like Chouji had it would be Neji's turn. While the latter's promise of precious jewels should she succeed seemed rather petty, Sakura was determined to resolve the issue as soon as possible. "It's a general consensus in Konoha."
Temari's teal eyes narrowed in irritation, anger flashing in them. "I'm not a citizen of the Leaf," she countered.
At this Sakura tried very hard not to roll her eyes. "No, you aren't," she agreed. "But your boyfriend is." Really, sometimes she was glad she'd given up on men for now – having relationships was just too damn tiring. That, and she couldn't believe how such an argument could have turned the mature, diplomatic Temari of the Sand into a whiney, shortsighted brat.
Temari didn't correct Sakura for the 'boyfriend' term, and Sakura took it as a positive sign.
"Besides," the green-eyed teenager continued, "since you've both already started having sex it's only going to be a matter of time when one fine day either one of you forgets to bring along a contraceptive."
Temari almost turned bright red. "How-how did you know," she stopped, and decided she herself didn't want to know. Instead the Suna kunoichi scowled once again. "I don't want children and that's final," she sneered decisively. "I don't even like kids."
Sakura brightened, delighted that her friend from Suna had finally started talking. "It'll be different when it's your child," she assured. "I swear. I've seen women in labour cursing their husbands and cursing every man on the planet but once the baby pops out they're all full of love."
Temari paled at this. "What?" she murmured, in slight shock and disbelief. "Those things actually pop out?"
Sakura sighed. That diamond necklace and ruby bracelet suddenly seemed so very far away.
~X~
That night, Shikamaru crept into the tent that he shared with Temari. He evidently had not been very happy for the past 29 days, if his more-annoyed-than-usual expression and his short, terse answers were any indication. After a brief talk with Neji, who was trying very hard to avoid talking to Temari, Shikamaru decided that this needed to end.
So there he was, standing awkwardly at the tent doors, staring at a silent Temari who was sitting on the edge of her bed, cleaning her fan.
"You're not happy," he started, and continued when he didn't get a reaction. "I'm not happy. We both aren't happy with the situation."
Shikamaru took in a deep breath. "Let's make up."
There. He said it. Now all he wanted to do was fall into her brutish, cruel arms and kiss her till make up sex seemed to be the only logical option. Nara Shikamaru had thought about how he would be able to do this, and even after three hours of hardcore thinking he'd only come up with one method.
Shikamaru daringly sat down next to her and forcefully turned her head to face him.
"I'm not going to say that I don't want kids," he told his frowning lover, "I'm just going to say that I don't want kids right now. We'll have kids after the war. And even then we'll only have them when you're ready." His expression was soft and gentle, his voice velvet.
Temari continued frowning. She didn't like being difficult but she knew that her child would have a more than fifty-percent chance of ending up like her own family – borderline insane, for example. And she really could not bear the thought of her own child living in, well, a living hell.
"What if I'm never going to be ready?" she murmured so softly Shikamaru barely caught it. Would this issue tear them apart? She knew that one day they would have an argument so big that they'd break up forever, but a part of her kept wishing that that day would never come.
Shikamaru sighed a long sigh. He kissed her lightly on her lips, smiling now because he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. "We'll figure something out," he assured, "I promise."
Then he moved his hands from her face to her waist and then to her hips, running his fingers all over. He brought his lips to her ears, and when she didn't smack him, they both knew that their quarrel was now officially over.
"I love you," he whispered, "I'll love you forever."
~X~
Outside the tent, Neji could be seen fist pumping the air while Sakura watched, her eyes strangely appearing to gleam in the darkness.
