I'm back! After all this time, I'm back to my favourite power couple! Sorry for the long wait.

This probably willhave more chapters, so I'll give you a little something soon. I really want to see that talk between Shika and the in-laws!

I hope you like it!

Shikamaru was just enjoying a rare carefree day, lying on his favourite spot, on his family's grounds, watching clouds, not a care in the world.

He knows that this blissful peace will be short-lived. Nowadays, he doesn't get more than a couple of hours to himself. Between the work and the troublesome woman of his life, he's always busy.

Said woman, right now, is somewhere in the village with the girls, on a secret mission. He cringes at the thought. Whatever they are doing, scares the life out of him… Those women…

"Hey, Cry Baby!" The cheerful greeting pulls him out of his rest. He feels her lying next to him and resting his head on his legs.

"Hmm… Troublesome woman…" The jounin answers without opening his eyes.

"I have news…" Is she...chanting? Weird… "Do you want to hear them?"

"Do I? You're the one delivering them, so you know if I want to know them or not…" He sits up to look at her and lights up a cigarette.

Temari frowns. Actually, she pouts, but he'll never tell her that, she would kill him! "You are no fun! Can't you be a little more enthusiastic?"

"I don't even know they are good or bad news, how can I be enthusiastic about them?" He pokes the crease between her eyebrows. "Come on, tell me… You were out and about all day with the girls… Something is up…"

"Awwwn, did you miss me?" She teases. "How cute!"

"Not much… It's nice to enjoy the peace and quiet without a troublesome woman nagging me around…" He laughs at her. "Especially, a troublesome woman who came back and didn't even kiss me…"

"You are so lame… And you smell like smoke. No kisses for you!"

He huffs in annoyance. "You are impossible…" Shikamaru throws away the cigarette and looks at her. "So, are you telling me or not?"

"Hum… To tell or not to tell? I don't know if you deserve to know…"

"Oh come on, now I'm curious! Don't be cruel!"

"You know that I'm known for being the Cruelest Kunoichi on earth…" She laughs at his expression. "Oh don't pout… I have a soft spot for it!"

"Good to hear that… It'll come in handy!"

"Hey! Don't use my weaknesses against me! It's not fair!" She hits him in the arm.

"I'm a strategist, I need to use my enemy's weaknesses…"

"So, now I'm the enemy? Smooth move, Shika…"
"You're impossible, woman! Just tell me the news, please…" He lights another cigarette. Old habits...

"Since you used your manners so nicely…" She smirks at him. "I got a house!"

"You what?" He coughs so hard that the cigarette flies out of his mouth. "When? Where? How? Why?"

"I got a house. Today. Close to the consulate. With my money. To move to Konoha." She answers in that tone that women reserve for children.

"But, but… You didn't even tell me that you are looking for a house in here… That you want to move…"

"I was trying to surprise you, but maybe I was wrong…" She sits to look at him, sounding hurt. "I thought that the distance was hard on you, so… But it seems that you don't want me to move in…"

"What? Are you insane?" He pulls her close and kisses her. "The distance kills me! I… I'm surprised… You love Suna, you love your brothers, you are happy there… I couldn't ask you to move to Konoha and leave everything and everyone behind… It would be unfair… I think that maybe, someday, when you want it, I would move to your village, not the other way around…"

"You… You would do it for me? Leaving your village, your friends, your mother, for me?"

"Of course, it's only logic… I knew what I was getting when I started a relationship with you. You are a diplomat, the Suna princess, the right-hand woman of the Kazecage. And you are an independent, strong-headed and self-sufficient woman. I couldn't just go and tell you to move in here!"

"That's… That's… So sweet…" Her eyes shine with tears. "Actually, that's the sweetest, most caring thing that anyone ever told me!"

"That's probably because you deal with a bunch of selfish brutes!" He jokes.

"Classy… So, classy…"

"Sooooo, when are you going back to Suna? I need to take those days off…"

"In the end of the month… Why? Are you coming with me?"

"Of course… I need to help you bring your stuff here… And you need to introduce me to your brothers…"

"My brothers met you ages ago… Why are you all ceremonial?"

"I was raise to be a gentleman. You can't move to Konoha without a proper meeting with your brothers! They would kill me and this would turn into a diplomatic mess!"

Temari laughs so hard that she rolls on the grass, tears falling down her face.

"Oh Kami, you kill me! You just… You kill me!"

"What? Why?"

"You are here, standing like a deer in the headlights, all flustered, like this is something we never talked about. I told you a million times that I wanted to live in here, to be close the consulate, to be close to the team organizing the Chunin Exams, to be close to you. I never, ever thought that you would be the one moving to Suna! That doesn't even makes sense! You don't work there, you don't have any connections there and you hate the heat…"

"But your family?..."

"So what? I spent half of my time coming and going since I was 15! They can live without me, they'll survive… And I'll go to Suna once a month. Besides, I spent most of my time in here, I have you, my career, my friends. Konoha is my home. I'm happy here. I'm not doing this just for your sake, like a big, stupid, romantic gesture. I'm doing this for me. I'm more than my family, my heritage, my village. I'll always be Subaku no Temari, the cruelest kunoichi, the daughter and the sister of two Kazecages. But here…"

She falls silent and looks down, a dark shadow in her eyes, a striking contrast with her previous happy and light mood.

Shikamaru reaches and pulls her close, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"But here…"He prompts her.

She nuzzles his chest. "But here I'm just me, Temari. A diplomat, a counselor, part of a team. I have friends, I go out, I go shopping, I hear the gossips, I share the stories, I have people to talk about a bad day at work. I have you…"

"You'll have me wherever you are. You don't need to change your life for me…"

"I'm not… But… Aren't you happy? Was I stupid trying to surprise you like this?" She looks up. "Is it too much pressure? It's a big commitment and..."

"Woman… For a woman so smart, sometimes you are completely oblivious." He turns her to look her straight in the eyes. "This, you moving here, being here 24/7, without having to let you go and not know when you'll come back… This is my dream since I was 15! And I didn't even know that by then! I can't thank you enough for that!"

"So, it's okay for you…"

"It's more than okay! It's my dream come true! Pressure? Commitment? Woman, I would marry you right here and now, if I could!"

She laughs again. "Don't be cheesy! I'm moving, not marrying you… Yet!"

He smirks. "Oh you will… Soon enough…"

"Shush, tacky Cry Baby…"

"I'm not crying!"

"Oh you will… Soon enough…"

Shikamaru kisses her deeply. This is his dream coming true. This is everything he ever wanted. No more goodbyes, no more long absences, no more missing her. She's something else, this woman…

Temari returns the kiss. This is her dream, too. Being just herself, living her life surrounded by friends, with the man that she loves, doing the job that she loves, living her past behind.

And this man… He deserves this, more than anyone.

This… This is just another beginning.