Hi. Did you miss me?
I told you last chapter was a bit abrupt hehe... I could have spent a little more time on it but work has been crazzzzzy. Then I'm literally too tired to brainstorm let alone organize my thoughts when I write. I was originally going to do Shikamaru's POV first but after everything said and done, this order made the most sense to me.
Not that it made as much as sense as I hoped it would, but it was the best I could do. Teehee.
"This is it..."
"…and here's what the budget for the train will look like," Temari said as she slid the document across the table to Kakashi. "Of course, our village will pay for ninety percent of it since it is our proposal," she assured him when she saw his eyes widening in mix of shock and terror. Bringing her elbows onto the table, she intertwined fingers and rested her chin on top of them while she waited for the Hokage to skim through the pages.
Rather than paying attention to the proposal, Shikamaru simply observed her from his position behind Kakashi's chair. Although she appeared alert and collected, the whites of her eyes were a faint shade of pink from their sleepless night. He had insisted that she should at least get some rest since she had a long journey home today, but she refused. Still, he was thankful for her protests against his orders because they had agreed that everything will return to 'normal' the moment they step out of his apartment.
They'll continue working side and side, pretending that they felt nothing for each other as they've always done.
It didn't take a genius to see that something was off when she blatantly confessed how much she liked him yesterday. She spoke in a tone that people always used when they would follow up with 'but.' As in, 'I like you a lot, but…'
Renown for his ability to assess all the potential scenarios in a matter of minutes as a strategist, his mind had already processed every conversation that would have followed before she spoke to him. He had wanted to ask her the same question about their relationship in the long run as well, but found the answer in the uncertainty of voice when she asked first.
And then, he ceased to have control over his emotions and thoughts. At first, he wasn't sure why he made the comment about women moving in with their husbands until he realized that was what he wanted her to do
During his battle against Gengo, he came to the realization that she was so important to him that he refused to live in a world which did not include her. However, despite his praised intellect, it took him months later to understand that was basically was what loving someone meant. You don't want to be without them. He had scoffed at Naruto's and Neji's inability to acknowledge the women who loved them all this time and yet, he failed to acknowledge his own feelings about the woman in front of him.
He wanted to blame it on the fact that the only example he had were his friends who literally fell into love. He desperately wanted to point his fingers at Ino, Sakura, and Hinata for their excessive infatuation over the men in their life.
Except that wasn't the case either because there was one person Shikamaru knew who found the love of their life in a similar fashion as he had.
There was his sensei, Asuma.
Ever since he was old enough to remember, he'd witness the subtle interactions between Asuma and Kurenai. They would interact in such a subtle way that everyone completely overlooked their chemistry.
They were just like…
He focused on Temari's face as she watched Kakashi with those intense eyes of hers.
Her eyes were so dark that they were just a shade away from a navy sea. He used to believe that they were just as icy as their owner, who was far too cruel to know of love and warmth. However, that was when he was an ignorant child because now he knew that only the hottest flames burned a similar color to her eyes.
Guess I have more in common with you than I thought, sensei.
He had completely forgotten about the relationship between his god daughter's parents. His relationship with Temari's was just like theirs. They didn't fall in love. No, their love was one that grew slowly and steadily. It was nurtured with care over the years they've spent together.
A sighed escaped him as he averted his gaze and pretended to look at the document.
He remembered how it took every fiber in his body to control the anger that washed over him when he realized that asking him those questions was her way of letting him know that there was no future for them.
He wasn't mad at her.
It just wasn't fair.
Their relationship made the most sense to him and yet, here they were. Unable to be together.
He heard her voice in his head.
'We come from different books and lived in different stories...'
Then, Kakashi's voice pulled Shikamaru's attention back to their meeting. "This is quite expensive, Temari-dono." He said nervously. "Are you sure?"
"Suna's economy is thriving because our inhabited land is full of resources needed for the new developments across all the villages," she explained. "By no means is this a humble brag, but we have more money than we know what to do with and it's only going to continue to accumulate. Gaara wants to make sure as much as that goes into bridging our relationships with the other nations. Once everyone in our village has been taken care of, of course."
"I see…"
"However," she continued. "Before we begin such an exorbitant project, my siblings and I want to make sure people have an incentive to want to travel amongst our villages. No use in building that train if we're the only ones using to make these meetings."
Kakashi gave her a questioning look and asked, "And how are we going to ensure that?"
"We want to host an event where both our villages can come together."
"Like the chunin exams?"
"No," she answered with a small smile, expecting that response from him. "The chunin exams promote too much competition by pitting teams against each other. That is perfectly fine when we are trying to seek out new talent, but we're trying to strengthen the bonds between the villagers. While our council members share a mutual respect, I believe that the rest of the villagers still have doubts about trusting outsiders. We wanted to host a festival that will help us address that."
"A festival, you say?" Kakashi stoked his chin over his mask.
"Yes. Sunagakure was establish in October. We will be holding a parade for an entire weekend and hope have Konoha-nin there as guests. You don't have to invite the entire village, just enough so that it will spread through word of mouth and encourage future visitations."
"Ah," Kakashi nodded. "That way, we can still leave some of our shinobi here to watch the village."
"That's the plan."
"Well, I propose that we open up our village to do the same."
"Really?" Shikamaru finally perked up and asked.
"Yes, Shikamaru." Kakashi chuckled. "That train is meant to be used both ways."
"Well, yes. I suppose…" he replied. "But which festival?"
"I think Obon would be perfect. It's a beautiful sight to see with all of the lights," the Hokage explained. "However, Obon is in August. Would it matter if we host it first, Temari?"
With her chin still resting on top of her fingers, the Suna kunoichi glanced down at the table as she processed her thoughts.
"I would have to run that by Gaara, but I don't see why not." She said when she finally looked up again.
"Alright, then I look forward to our next meeting then." Kakashi said as he stood up.
Temari followed his cue and brought herself to her feet. Placing her arms flat against her body, she bowed to him. "Hokage-sama."
Kakashi smiled nervously at her formality before glancing at the door that was finally repaired. The last time he saw her, she had ripped the entire frame out of the wall in order to interrogate him. He had to admit, she was one of the very few women out there who he was slightly terrified of. His eyes found their way to the floor as he thought of Tsunade and her protégé before looking back up at the Suna ambassador.
"Safe travels," he said to her as he signaled for her come out of her bow. He turned to Shikamaru. "As always, please make sure Temari-dono has everything she needs before she leaves."
Silence took the place of their usual verbal sparring as they made their way to the main gate.
Sober Temari was silently repenting for drunk Temari's impulsive decisions. Seeing her packed belongings on the counter the night prior brought her down from the high she had been riding since they took their relationship beyond being work associates. It was normal for people to have several relationships before they settled down, so she figured she could have done the same. While she hadn't plan on seeing anyone else, she thought she could at least enjoy his company for the time being.
But then she might have enjoyed it too much.
When she realized that she dreaded the feeling of leaving, she finally addressed her reckless behavior. She had valued the company of another man over her home. That was unacceptable to her. She knew she fought for far too long and far too hard for some guy to come between her and her family.
Still, she gave herself some credit because Shikamaru wasn't just any guy. He was a very smart and a very respected man who also respected her intellect and abilities. If any of her friends had been in her situation, she would have understood.
However, she was far too proud to accept that this still happened to her out of all people. Temari of the Desert was not one to foolishly put anyone before her family and her village.
Even though she was thankful to experience the past few days with him, she also cursed it for weight on her heart when she finally came to her senses. So in the midst of making a mess in his kitchen, she decided to nip their relationship in the bud. If it was already this hard this early on, she didn't want to imagine how hard it would have been if she had let it run its course.
To her, it was clearly the right choice.
When the gate finally came into view, the pair saw the girls from last night's party lounging around. Although they were clearly ridden with fatigue, Temari could hear their chipper voices as they chatted up Kotetsu and Izumo.
"Hey!" Sakura exclaimed when she noticed them. "Looks like I picked the right time to break for lunch. I was hoping to catch you before you leave."
"Who? Me?" Temari asked her in confusion.
"Yes!"
"Huh? Why…?"
"To see you off, silly!"
Temari was stunned. It was unusual for anyone besides Shikamaru and the gate guards to bid her a farewell.
"It was really nice to hang out together as friends off the battlefield," Hinata 's soft voice chimed in.
"We have some things to give you as well," Tenten smiled at her as she pulled out a small scroll. "I've sealed some refreshments in here for your journey home. There's water and some of Sakura's amazing food pills."
"Well, they don't taste amazing…" Sakura laughed nervously. "But you won't find anything that will replenish your energy better than my pills!"
"And of course, for you to remember how ah-mazing we are," Ino winked at her as she held up two photos.
Temari accepted it from her to see that they were the ones taken at the party. The first one was of her and the girls and the second one was the group huddled around Naruto. Everyone was smiling happily at camera except for her and Shikamaru. They were smiling at each other.
She stood there and stared at the photo wistfully, convinced that this was karma for all the terrible deeds she had accumulated under her father's and the old council's order. It was as if the universe thought it was funny to make this as hard and possible for her. As if it wasn't already tough enough to walk away from a relationship she could never have, she now had to walk away from his wonderful friends as well.
"Here," Tenten said as she reached for the bag containing Temari's spare clothes. "Let me seal these up for your so you only have to carry the scroll. I can put away the picture too so it won't get wrinkled from your travels."
"Thanks…" Temari said quietly as she handed the items to her.
"Well," Ino smiled. She walked up to wrap her arms around Temari for a hug. "We'll see ya soon, okay?"
"Uh…" Temari began. She could feel her body growing stiff from the sudden contact. "Yeah…"
The rest of the girls did the same before walking away with Ino.
Once they were out of sight, Shikamaru made his way over to her as she stared blankly at the scroll in her hand. "You good?"
She wasn't. Though Temari usually never had any issues when she parted ways with her close friends like Kurotsuchi, the girls' thoughtful gifts made her departure from him even harder.
"Yeah," she lied and she tucked the scroll into her kimono. "That was very nice of them."
"Yeah," he agreed. "They seem to really like you for some weird reason."
She smiled softly at his joke, earning one back from him in return. "Well then, this is it."
"This is it…" he echoed her. It was a phrase they've always exchanged every time she left, except this time, it meant much more than a friendly farewell.
"I'll see you next time… for work."
"Gotcha," he replied.
He watched her turn to leave, staring at her back until she disappeared down the path before turning around himself.
Izumo and Kotetsu watched as he slowly made his way back into the village.
"That was... different." Izumo muttered.
"Yeah. Did they break up already?" Kotetsu asked.
"They were dating?" Izumo looked at him in confusion.
"I don't know… Were they?" Kotetsu responded.
"But you just said…"
"Don't listen to me. I'm terrible when it comes to these things."
Comedic relief ending? Idk.
I told you I lost my momentum but I also knew the past few chapters were going to be the hardest ones to write so far. I work a client-facing job and I'm just so beat after work that my brain literally feels fried from talking to them. I can't even proof read properly 'cause I'm so tired. Still, I really want to write because I lav ShikaTem and I really want to see what their wedding was like. We all know our gal would never has simply say, "oh yah lemme be a housewife." YES, I know strong women eventually settle down for their family if they choose to but I know she didn't just hang up her gloves (quite literally if you look at her design lol).
STAY TUNED:
THE SAND SIBLINGS & TEMARI MEETS THE ASSHOLE WHO RIPPED THROUGH A PICTURE OF HER FACE.
(i'm averaging 2-3 hrs of sleep per night, can you tell?)
Looks like the last chapter was a huge hit. Thanks, loves!
I do read through all your reviews. I just try to keep my responses here short if you guys are just being so sweet that all I can respond with is thanks.
Guest - ty ty ty! i try my best to keep them in character 'cause that's why i love them.
Mirin Hanashi - hiiii hun. no no no. critique all you want. it makes me better and i agree and i think i mentioned it at the beginning of the previous chapter. i hope this chapter clarifies it for you a little bit. i was going for the "oops i guess i rly like him more than i thought i would and that's not good" thing for her.