Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!
Chapter Thirty-Five: Wind
"You complete and. Utter. JERK!"
A woman's fist crashed into the jaw of one Nara Shikamaru, knocking him down and out. She turned her back to his collapsed, unconscious form and spoke loudly to the Leaf Jounin's assistants. "When the bastard wakes up tell him I'll be in his house. If the head trauma gave him amnesia tell him to follow the sound of screams and everything he owns smashing to itty-bitty pieces."
It had been one hell of a good right, so two hours later when Shikamaru came to he didn't need to ask any questions. There was only one person he knew who could and would hit him like that; something that his genius mind was able to work out even when asleep.
In many ways that was his curse. He couldn't stop thinking, no matter how much he tried. His mind was always considering possibilities and ideas and schemes and ideas and notions and ideas. It were like to drive him mad some day, and no day passed without some part of his self feeling lost in a sea of numbers and words.
Few could understand that pain of his. Shikamaru wished he could be like everyone else and live a calm and silent life, but that was not his lot. Few could understand his pain. Those who wish for genius often do so without true knowledge of what it means. Shikamaru could not stop thinking, which is why all the way from his office to his house he was wracking that prodigious brain of his to find the answer to one simple question.
"What did I do this time, Temari?"
"What did you do? What did you do?! What. Did. You. DO?!"
Sighing, Shikamaru said, "Yes, that's what I asked. What did I do? Just tell me quickly so I can fix it quickly and we never have to talk about it again."
"Fix it? Fix it?! FIX IT?!"
"Yes," the black-haired Jounin breathed out. "How can I fix it?"
"How dare you ask that?! You can't ask that! JERK!!" Temari swung at him again, but this time he managed to avoid her raging fist, even if it did leave a red line scratch across his cheek.
"Temari." Shikamaru tried to speak in a controlled voice and slowly, steadily continued. "Temari. What did I do?"
Her eyes boiled red with anger and tears she refused to let free. "I'm pregnant, you colossal jerk."
Shikamaru had considered that possibility in his search for something Temari could be blaming him for, but then he had already dismissed it as well. Why would she be so angry and violent towards him if she were pregnant? It didn't really make too much sense, which he supposed was exactly why he should have guessed.
He smiled.
"I love you," Shikamaru said quietly, holding her head in his hands.
"I hate you," was Temari's response. And she kissed him.
"This is amazing," Shikamaru said through a grin wider than he'd ever bothered to have before. "This is just – wow – amazing."
"I know," Temari admitted. "I know. But we need to talk about it. Really talk."
"I know."
Temari calmed down, and as they made love the couple worked their mutual frustration and excitement out together. Their fingers entwined together in a sign of the tenderness they too often let go unspoken.
Afterwards, while Temari was sleeping off the long trip from the Sand to the Leaf, Shikamaru slipped out of his bedroom, through the shattered remains of his living room and out the door. He made his way over the rooftops above the streets for what was almost the first time ever for him. Shikamaru was by nature a lazy man, so climbing and leaping about like a mad man was not something he did unless he really, really had to be somewhere fast. In this case he needed to see someone and he needed to get there and get back as fast as possible. Temari had already broken too many of his possessions for one day, and he was in no hurry to see any more of that carnage arise.
"Yo," he said as he walked into the bar. "Shikamaru!" Came the delighted voice of one Aikimichi Chouji, accompanied by the acquiescent murmurs of some other friends and colleagues. Chouji gestured excitedly for his best friend to come sit by him, and seeing an adult man wave like he was one-fifth his age was enough to make Shikamaru, senior advisor to the Hokage and chair for this session of the Konoha Ninja Council, grown inwardly. He loved Chouji, and the fact that he had the soul of a child was one of the reasons why, but it could get a little awkward at times.
"Chouji." The grin on his face was enough for Shikamaru to forget any complaints. "Come on, sit sit! And order some food, you need to put some meat on those bones of yours." He always did this, fussing over Shikamaru like he was his mother and not his best friend. Ever since Shikamaru had moved out of his family home into his own place it was as if everyone he knew had been conspiring to see him properly fed and dressed, Chouji chief among them. "You're so skinny!"
"To you Chouji everyone is skinny."
His eyes narrowed. "Was that a fat crack?"
"Would I dream of doing that?"
"You're the only one I'd ever let do it," he paused. "And you know it."
Shikamaru grinned a little. "I do, at that."
Chouji took a sip of his drink and a bite of his steak, and then he spoke. "So what's the problem?"
"Why does there have to be a problem – I can't just come out to see a friend?"
"Please Shikamaru," Chouji laughed a little with his voice. "You're sweating. The only times you sweat are when you're fighting or in a hurry.
"Shikamaru – are we fighting?"
"No."
"Then you were a hurry, and I know you. You're never in a hurry. Not unless it's a problem. So – what's the problem?"
"Temari is… well, she's kinda… you know… she's pregnant."
"Really?" Shikamaru nodded. "That's wonderful! Choumaru will have a playmate!"
"You got any new pictures of my favourite nephew?" Chouji smiled broadly and pulled out a thick wad of photographs. He put them down on the bar in a neat pile, but before Shikamaru could pick the top one up to look at it Chouji grabbed his wrist. "What else is bothering you?"
The Jounin let out a long sigh and leaned back on his stool, his head facing upwards to the ceiling. He pulled something out of his pocket and put it on the table. "Oh," said Chouji. "I can see why that's a problem."
Chouji took the final bite of his steak and sighed in the zenith of satisfaction. "That was good. Now let's get a real meal, what do ya say?"
It was the next day, but Shikamaru's head was still looking up. This time he was lying on top of his favourite hill, on the grass, staring at the clouds as they breezed by. He had one hand on the belly of Temari where their tiny child was already growing.
"Marry me."
Temari blinked. Had she heard that right?
"What did you say?"
Apparently, he hadn't said anything at all, because Shiamaru didn't stir from his rest. Temari took that silence as an invitation to stretch her arm around him and tickle her lover under his chin.
"Sigh," he said. "Do I really have to repeat myself?"
Temari sat up with one hand, pushing up from the ground to look over Shikamaru. She had an unbelieving grin on her face. "You actually said "sigh". That's amazing – I've never heard anyone actually say that."
This time he genuinely sighed, rolling over so she was left talking to his back. "Don't make me say it again."
"Come on," Temari asked. "Do it for me." She hugged him from behind and whispered into his ear. "Say it."
Shikamaru broke her arms away from him and rolled further away. By now he was covered in crushed and broken blades of grass and his clothes were crumpled and creased. He sighed again then rolled back to face Temari, staring into her eyes as both of them lay there.
"Marry me," he said for the second time.
The Sand girl paused, and then spoke. "You look ridiculous," she said with a smile.
"Is that a no?" For a moment Shikamaru's heart stopped.
"Did I say that?"
She kissed him. That was answer enough for both of them.
"Where do you want to live?"
It was a few days later. Temari was still staying with her boyfriend – now her fiancé, she supposed, happily – and it was time for her to put her foot down. Shikamaru was good at ideas and such, but often he trailed through the execution without spirit. It was her job to make sure he kept up his momentum and actually finished what he needed to.
Thus, the nitty-gritty details of their impending marriage and parenthood were left up to Temari to manage. She needed to be firm with Shikamaru, so when he didn't answer her – his mind having drifted off again – she simply repeated the question a little louder and loud firmer. "Where do you want to live?"
He sighed. "Wherever you want to live dear."
"I want to live at home, in the Suna village."
"Then that's okay with me." Shikamaru didn't look up from the files he was reading. So Temari pulled them out of his hands, leaned on the table in front of him and spoke some more. "That's a load of crap. You need to be here. You run this place, you and Naruto, and without you it'd just be that idiot messing things up."
"Yeah, but I love you, and you're needed just as much as me in Suna."
She looked deep into his eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm just another Jounin. They act like I'm important but really it's just because my brother is Kazekage."
"You're important." He stroked her cheek gently. "You are important. You're one of the Sand's top Jounin and you have been for years."
"I'm not as important as you. That's why we have to live here.
"Besides," she added with the beginnings of a soft smile. "It's only right our daughter should live where her only living set of grandparents are." At that Shikamaru put his hand over hers and squeezed. "Thank you."
He picked up his files and started reading them through again. "Then what else do we need to do today?"
"Well we should really do some shopping."
"Isn't it a bit early for baby shopping?"
"Sure, but you need some new stuff."
"Because you broke my old stuff."
"Yes, I suppose that's one contributing factor. But it was some pretty crappy stuff to begin with. To be honest, you needed new stuff anyway, so stop whining about it, you baby." She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. It was time to go shopping, no matter how little Shikamaru wanted to and no matter how much work he had left to do.
They had trouble setting a date for the wedding. When the groom was a close friend of the Hokage and the bride was the sister of the Kazekage arranging a wedding wasn't a personal matter – it was an international matter of state and an event of grand proportions. With both the Hokage and the Kazekage attending, naturally the various feudal lords of both countries would be coming. And with them came an entourage of fussy and important men and women from every country. Temari had wanted something simple, but Shikamaru was both realistic and practical and knew it was a good way for the Leaf village and Fire country to gain some political capital, and that was his job.
Temari looked stunning, and even Shikamaru looked good. It looked as if he had put a lot of effort into doing so. That was not entirely the case, but as a best man Chouji was very good at his job. It was a very formal affair, what with every self-important dignitary and noble who wanted to network coming. They both cursed their senses of responsibility but went off with it. After a little way into the ceremony they didn't even care any more. It was enough that they were together and enough that they would be together for the rest of their lives.
Uzumaki Naruto wore his official Hokage robes to the ceremony, but he didn't seem very happy for once. He smiled at the appropriate moments and everything, but at the party afterwards he just stood in a corner in what was uncharacteristic solemnity. Shikamaru noticed, of course, and he casually made way through the crowd of congratulators to his friend's side. Maybe no one else cared enough or saw enough to tell, but even on the happiest day of his life – which was, in fact, that very day – Shikamaru couldn't stop thinking and he needed to know what was wrong. He wanted everyone to be happy.
"What's up?" Naruto chuckled and grabbed Shikamaru by the neck and shoulders, bringing him round to look over the room with him. "See all this? It's a wonderful world we're making here Shikamaru.
"Look over there," he pointed. "Hinata is as beautiful as always, but look at Yume. She gets more amazing every day. I haven't told anyone else yet, but we're having another baby already."
Naruto moved his arm again, sweeping it across the room. "Everyone's here. All my – our – friends. Kiba is trying to pick up your cousin. Chouji keeps one eye on the food in the room at all times, like some sort of predator. Look, look at how Ino keeps Sasuke calm. Her body language is perfectly tuned to his.
"Our old teachers are here too." Ah, Shikamaru thought at that. So that was what this was about. "Asuma keeps sneaking out for cigarettes, even though he doesn't need to. He does it because he's worried about you. Kurenai is talking to our wives like she's their age, swapping tips for new mothers. Gai is…" The two looked at Gai for a moment. "Actually I don't know what Gai is doing."
"But…" Shikamaru started for Naruto.
"Yeah. But, there's someone missing."
Shikamaru put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We all miss him. But it's been two years."
"I know… But I wish he could be here for the days like this. Just for days like this."
The groom patted Naruto on the back. "I know."
"You need to get back to the party."
"I know that too."
Married life was bliss for Nara Shikamaru and Nara Temari. It didn't often look like that to outside observers, but it was. Fights for them were emotional foreplay, but life in their little house watching their baby grow inside Temari and waiting for the day that their little family grew as well was the closest either of them had ever come to pure happiness.
Time passed within that domestic microcosm until Shikamaru's wife was large with life and until it was time. They rushed to the hospital, where Shikamaru demanded to see Sakura. "Where is she?" He yelled. The administrator at the front desk looked like a frightened rabbit as she stammered "I'm – I'm sorry s-sir, but Sakura-sama is in surgery at the moment. It's confidential, s-sorry."
"Confidential?" Shikamaru asked. "Confidential?" He leaned in close to the woman. "You will tell me what Sakura is doing now, and you will arrange for her to deliver my baby, or I will personally make sure you not only lose your job but that you never work in this village – this country! – again."
"I'm sorry sir."
Shikamaru wanted to be there just as much as he wanted Sakura to be the one doing the delivery, but he was shuffled away by doctors, and as much of a genius that he was, Shikamaru did not know about medicine. He was no doctor.
He sat in the waiting room doing just that. There were a few other new prospective fathers waiting with him, but they didn't exactly strike up much conversation. Shikamaru spent the hours leaning back on his chair and looking up at the ceiling. He wished that he could see the sky and watch the clouds go by as he had less and less time to do. He wished for the calming influence of Chouji and the warmth of his wife's embrace. He wished for everything in the world to be right and good and perfect. And he wished that he could stop thinking about how everything could go so, so wrong.
"Nara-san."
Shikamaru leapt to his feet and crossed the distance between his chair and the door in a second. "Is everything okay? Everything's okay?"
The look in the doctor's eyes was more answer than Shikmaru had ever wanted.
"Is it…?" He couldn't finish the question. He just couldn't.
The doctor closed his eyes to keep in his own pain, and when he spoke he said simply. "You have a healthy, beautiful little girl, Nara-san. But I am afraid your wife did not make it. There were complications, and we did everything we…"
The man's words seemed to trail off into silence to Shikamaru. No part of his brain, be it conscious or unconscious registered anything else the other man said.
Some time later – he couldn't tell you how much or how little – Shikamaru interrupted, saying, "I want to see her."
He was led into another room, where a bundle of cloth was put gently into his arms. From within the swaddles of that blanket poked out a tiny little face with closed eyes. Shikamaru had never seen anything so wonderful in his life. He brushed the tears from his face and then stroked those angelic features. "My little Wind Girl," he choked out, his voice thick and coarse with unspoken emotion. "My little Kazeko."
Author's Note: Yes, this chapter was always planned. If you go back and read previous chapters, you will see that there are little things that will now make more sense. Seriously, go back. I didn't pull this out of my ass. Well, I did, but I did it months ago. Still, I can see why readers might think that, so here I am explaining things.
The next chapter will be set in the "future" that I showed at the end of HME3 and should answer some of the questions you might have. Things are going to get interesting.
This is not my best chapter by any means, but it has parts that I like. I hope you liked them as well. If you did, you know what to do. I feel a little out of enthusiasm at the moment, so some extra reviews would go far to cheer me up. Not that I'm begging for them or anything. Just a little down. Actually, screw it, I am begging for them. Cheer me up! Sigh.