For my readers who read most of my stories and my author's notes, you might have guessed who my mystery 'manager' is. Yes, it is spilihp17. (Fanofthisfiction, you guessed right!) Anyway I wanted to thank him publicly for moving my ass along this story and also demand that he get going with his stories as well. Lol.
Once again, I am thankful to everyone who is sticking to this story!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Shikamaru shook Temari gently. "Tem, wake up. You have to go."
Last night, it had been Temari who snuck in the middle of the night to visit Shikamaru. She was currently using Shikamaru as her pillow. Head snuggled to his neck, arm and leg flung over his body, rendering him somewhat immobile.
Turning his head toward the window, he peered to find the sun rising over the horizon. He sighed, loathed to let her go but knew he must. He lightly ran his fingers inside her shirt and up the side of her silky torso. She squirmed. He tried it again and caught the fist headed toward his face.
"Jerk," Temari whispered, eyes opening in a bleary state. His mouth curved upwards, unable not to at such a sight.
"You're the one who tried to hit me." He chuckled while detangling her limbs from his and pushing her bottom away.
"You deserved it," she muttered without heat as she sat up, swinging her legs over the bed and settling her feet flat on the floor.
"Yeah yeah, get going now, sassy princess." His face held that familiar smirk.
She did not have to look back to know he was smirking. Swinging around in a heartbeat, she crawled towards him and straddled him. She leaned down to kiss him ferociously and wiggled her bottom. After a few heated seconds, she jumped off him, ran towards the door and went, "byee!" with a naughty smirk of her own.
He shook his head. The woman did not like losing. She always had to have the last word in. In this case, last touch as well. What a touch. He chuckled.
He stared at the door where she left until he sighed. The next round of the tournament was always at the back of his mind. He predicted that it would be one of the last rounds, if not the last, considering there were only two contestants left.
It would most likely play to Captain Takeshi's strengths.
Captain Takeshi had delivered him a challenge he could not possibly ignore. His hand could attest to that. Besides that, he could neither forget nor forgive the possessive stare this man had over Temari. It gave him a terrible feeling. And that was not a man to be underestimated.
There was a knock at the door. He was startled. No one had knocked on that door since the start of this whole tournament. Temari certainly did not knock.
He got up and opened the door to see one of the officials of Suna standing before him, holding out a white envelope.
"Sir Nara Shikamaru, I am told to deliver you this invitation for tonight's event. Have a good day," he intoned. As soon as Shikamaru took the envelope, the man bowed and left.
Closing the door, he turned over the envelope to discover his name scrawled with the official seal of Suna. He tore it open and read,
"Nara Shikamaru, we hereby invite you to tonight's soiree. This is a chance for the Princess to further the acquaintance of the final contestants and to further examine the skills of the contestants in the social arena. In a way, it is to be a round of its own. Without any judgement. With a gentle reminder that the Princess does get to choose who will be her husband in the end. This event will help her in making such a decision.
The rules of the round will be elaborated at the start of the soiree.
P.S. Please wear formal clothing as it is a ball with rounds of dancing."
A frown formed as he mulled over the invitation. Dancing, huh. He scratched his head in thought.
At least it was not another round of spicy food.
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A woman with obvious sexual appeal, with red curls, full red lips, red slinky dress and red heels stood alluringly before the elder.
The elder eyed the other woman with distaste. She despised such women who displayed their bodies with abandon. But she had need of the woman thus she will keep such comments behind her teeth. "Do you understand what I'm asking you to do?" Chiyose demanded, a stern look on her face.
"Crystal." Those red lips curved into a sinful smirk.
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Doesn't planning a soiree take a few weeks at least to plan? Temari wondered.
There was a sea of people from the village milling the sides of the ballroom. It looked like everyone had to come to watch this round. Curiosity was a powerful pull indeed.
In the center of the room stood the final two contestants. In front of the room sat the elder, council members, Gaara, Kankuro and Temari.
Since Temari was just informed today, she had no time to make a new dress sewn therefore had just worn her best dress for the event. The gown was the same shade as her teal eyes and it hugged her figure well. Judging by the eyes of the men in the crowd, it was well appreciated. Not that Temari cared for their opinions.
The elder stood before the crowd and announced, "This is how this round will be conducted. As stated in your invitations, there will be no scoring. However your social skills will be on display throughout the whole night. But the real test is when you are to spend 30 minutes each with the Princess, half in dancing, half in privacy. You may take a walk outside if you so wish."
"As I've already told you, the purpose of this event is for the Princess to have a better knowledge of her suitors. Since it is her choice at the end, this will aid her in making a well-informed decision."
"Shall we start with Captain Takeshi? A few couples are selected from the crowd to join you in dancing."
Captain Takeshi moved forward until he was in front of Temari. He bowed and held out his hand. Temari stood up and placed her hand in his and let herself be led towards the center of the ballroom.
He placed a hand on her waist and the other clasping her hand. And he led her through the dance.
He was elegance personified and Temari could see no fault unfortunately. Neither did the women in the crowd who sighed and wore hearts in their eyes for him.
She did not even know if Shikamaru knew how to dance. But at least he was able to watch first. Maybe that will give him an advantage.
She knew why the elder invited the villagers to watch. People will judge and if they did not like the contestant who will become her groom it will be a problem.
She did not notice that the dance had ended and while the crowd was applauding, Takeshi had led her towards the outside until her surroundings became still and silent.
Takeshi turned to her and announced with urgent eyes, "Surely you must know my feelings since long ago, Princess. I have never tried to hide it. It was fruitless to do otherwise. When I was invited to compete in this tournament, I thought surely it must be fate."
"Perhaps this is quite forward of me however." He clasped Temari's hand. "I know that you believe you have deep-seated feelings for Nara Shikamaru. I am here to persuade you otherwise."
"You are the Princess. You have duties to your village. And not to boast or anything, I am the most suited man for someone of your worth and value. I have served this village for as long as I can remember. I have worked my way up the ranks of my own strength and willpower. I am of the highest rank in the mighty and unparalleled army of Suna. There is no one as commendable as I. Certainly not one of another village. If you think clearly, Princess, it was quite selfish and thoughtless of you to have a relationship with another man from another village."
Trying to control her temper, Temari replied in a carefully even tone, "However much I admire you for your skills and loyalty to our village, you have overstepped your boundaries in telling me what I should or should not do. Frankly, I do not want a high-handed husband. Which you are likely to be."
Takeshi turned quiet. Temari assumed he was stunned. But then he let out a burst of wild laughter. It was Temari's turn to be caught off guard. He had never acted in such a way that did not conform to proper decorum. Not that she could recall. "Oh you will marry me, Princess. Like it or not. I was being understanding until now but I thought you'd have more wits in that pretty little head of yours. Obviously, I was mistaken. I overestimated you, your Highness." The look he sent her was filled with condescension.
His true colors showed at last. She just did not expect it would be this ugly.
Temari shook with fury. "If your aim is to win me, you're failing miserably."
He laughed uproariously, wilder than before. "You still don't get it. It doesn't matter what you think. The elder and the council, they're all vouching for me. This soiree is just a front to make them look honourable and to appease Lord Gaara for what they did during the last round. Besides I only need to beat him and you won't need to make a choice." His superior and deranged expression sent unpleasant shivers down her spine.
She steeled herself. "You think I don't know that? And if you think you can beat Shikamaru easily, I feel sorry for you." She sneered at him.
Takeshi hissed furiously, his face contorting menacingly. "Is it because he was a hero? You have a thing for heroic beings, perhaps? Did you get carried away by the adrenaline of the war? Did you allow him to take you under the open night sky? Did you let him put his filthy hands up your skirt and fiddle you as if he had every right? Or perhaps you willingly hiked up your skirt and rode him to your heart's content? That's more your style, isn't it, aggressive woman that you are. Exactly how I like them too."
"You bastard." She moved to strike him but he held up a hand and went, "You don't want to be doing that. It might get Nara disqualified."
"How's that? When it's my fist on your face?" she snarled.
"You're not thinking. If I become unable to fight in the next round due to injuries caused by you, then everyone will suspect that it was planned by you and Nara. They will all think it's foul play. Do you really think that you will be able to get what you want this way?"
She ground her teeth, seething, knowing he was right.
He smirked infuriatingly and she longed to smack it off his face. "I am only saying this because I want to trounce him my way. Now shall we return under the public eye?"
"Asshole," she spat as she brushed past him and headed towards the ballroom by herself. But before she could reach the room, her arm was grabbed roughly and his fingers dug deep into her skin.
"I will not fail this round, so you would do well to stay by my side until my time is up, Princess." He then led her into the ballroom, all smiles for the crowd. And she tried to act similarly, trying to play the same game but it was difficult. Every muscle in her body was straining to prevent herself from ripping him apart piece by piece.
She was stiff as a board until they came face to face with Shikamaru, who was sending her a troubled look. She shook her head minutely. She did not want him to worry. Not now during this round.
Shikamaru bowed low before them and addressed Takeshi while looking at him directly, "I will take the Princess from here, Captain."
Takeshi bowed as well. "The Princess is all yours, Sir Nara," he said in a smooth and honeyed voice.
To be continued...
Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers especially DaX0315, fanofthisfiction, Axel0913, SnowHusky20, SariaKasumi, Rose-Aki, maxridelover. Thank you all for the encouragement. Much appreciated. ^_^