CHASING THE WIND
CHAPTER ONE – THE TROUBLESOME ONE
A loud series of bangs roused Shikamaru from his morning nap, causing an irritable groan to slip from his lips. Yet another day of chaos awaited him as the head of the Nara clan. Twelve whole months had passed since the conclusion of the war and he was still struggling to process all the changes; his father passing, becoming a clan leader and being promoted to the ambassador of Konohagakure. Grieving his father's death was difficult enough, he hardly needed two new responsibilities on his shoulders, but life had to go on.
The transition hadn't been easy for anyone involved. For over a month he had waged a war of sorts within his family, arguing about what decisions fell to him as opposed to that of the clan elders. His reason for such an arduous discourse was quite simple, and surprisingly it wasn't focused on avoiding more work; although he didn't exactly appreciate the extensive list of responsibilities that now rested on his shoulders. Instead, he was primarily focused on maintaining control of his own key life decisions, something they all unanimously believed he no longer had any right to given his position. The fact that his own father had willingly agreed to forfeiting his rights in the same respect upon assuming the position certainly didn't help matters.
Since Shikaku's passing, Shikamaru couldn't help but feel it was insensitive to go against the clan elders given how much respect his father held for them; no matter how absurd their demands were. Although his intellect far exceeded theirs, he simply couldn't find it in himself to continue to fight their ridiculous request to gain control over his non-existent marriage after a month of arguing his point to no avail; after all, his parents' relationship was a product of an arranged marriage, and his grandparents before them as was the custom. As difficult as it was to accept, his life had changed and a lot of responsibility now fell to him, the most obvious one of all was the inescapable concept of an arranged marriage with a woman from a reputable family within the land of fire. Naturally he understood the true rationale behind the archaic concept, he needed to have children of good breeding stock and to continue the family line with a clan that could add further prestige to his own. It wasn't even a question of if he wanted to get married at this point, it was necessary for the survival of the clan.
Thankfully, the elders agreed to a compromise on the matter in an effort to 'modernize' their customs. He would attend one marriage meeting with a young woman per month as arranged by his mother, the final decision was to rest with him unless he took longer than a year to agree to a marriage candidate. He couldn't really complain despite how much he desired to, it was the best deal he was going to get from the stubborn old fools; and besides, it wasn't like he had a girlfriend to worry about anyway.
The shadow-nin rubbed his right forearm sleepily across his eyes, his body sprawled across the tatami flooring in the shogi room, the doors leading to the central garden were wide open; the unusually loud banging echoing through the halls of the estate. His mother's sudden decision to make minor improvements to the overall appeal of their estate to make it look more appealing to prospective marriage candidates was shaping up to be significantly more disruptive than she had first implied. "I cannot take two more days of this racket," he growled half dazed; "If they're so shallow that they care what our home looks like then why invite them here in the first place?" It was a fair question, after all he was never going to agree to marry a high maintenance woman who was focused on flashy items or who had a spoilt persona. "So much fuss for nothing," he grumbled sleepily, a drawn out yawn spilling from his lips as he tilted his head to the side.
The two women his mother had introduced him to thus far were nice enough, all coming from prominent families, but they all lacked something vital; they didn't challenge him. There was something about a subservient woman that was really off-putting, he'd even go as far as to deem it a repulsive trait. He would be damned if he spent the rest of his life with an obedient wife with no thoughts of her own, how dull; I guess that's why father was so whipped by mother, she kept his life interesting, Shikamaru mused to himself.
As fate would have it, two of the Suna siblings arrived at his family estate the day prior, taking him up on the long standing offer to stay at his home as opposed to staying at a hotel as they usually did. Not exactly the best timing, especially given the stressful environment his mother had created within their home in recent months, but it was nice to have a distraction of sorts; even if the blonde was more troublesome than his mother. Why is it that I'm always surrounded by overwhelmingly assertive women? He wondered to himself, groaning inwardly.
"On the topic of troublesome, where is she?" Shikamaru mused, slowly sitting upright and looking across at the perfectly manicured garden before him; it's almost nine o'clock, since when was she the type to sleep in? Yawning the Nara rolled his shoulders back, slightly dazed as he slowly got to his feet and started to wander along the engawa, the sound of his heavy footsteps causing the wood to creak as he walked. The fresh morning air enveloped his figure as he wandered down the open corridor, a hand instinctively slipping into his jacket's pocket, toying with his metal lighter and a couple of loose cigarettes he always carried on him.
To be honest, Temari's timing might've been horrid but for him it could not have been better. Now he had a plethora of excuses as to why he couldn't meet with this month's marriage candidate who was due to arrive in a few days, after all it would be rude to not spend time with a guest when they were dwelling in your own home. Shikamaru's lips curved upwards and opened a fraction as one of his hands swiftly lifted a cigarette up and planted it between them, promptly lighting it and expelling a puff of smoke. There was only one issue, she needed to be on board with his plan and if there was one thing he knew about the Suna local, it was that she loved to jump on any and all opportunities that came her way to make things difficult for him. It was basically a hobby of hers at this point.
"Tch," he murmurs, pulling the cigarette away from his lips, a stream of smoke rising through the air before promptly sighing; She's as unpredictable as the wind, who knows what to expect at this point. The calm chirping of birds rang through the air as he came to a halt, onyx orbs locking on the blonde sitting quietly in the sun room just around the bend of the engawa. Picturesque like always, her piercing eyes closed as she leaned backwards basking in the warm spring sunlight, a pot of hot tea sitting before her at the chabudai. You'd never know how much of a menace she can be by just looking at her. It's practically a trap when you think about it, you would never think that someone with a face like that be so troublesome, he mused silently.
His relationship with the headstrong blonde was a complicated one, she seemed to always want to start an argument at every opportunity, and yet somehow he constantly found himself wondering how someone he found so damn exhausting could be so incredibly attractive at the same time; perhaps he was masochist. Things had gotten interesting after the war had concluded almost a year ago, with both of them working as ambassadors for their nations it often led to them spending a significant amount of time together; and somehow (and he'd be damned if he understood how), things had taken a surprising turn and the heat from disagreements turned carnal on multiple occasions. They never really discussed their situation apart for briefly after the first incident, after which Temari promptly advised that it meant 'nothing;' so who was he to argue? It was just their way of exerting their sexual frustration as far as he was concerned, end of story.
Temari sighs as the sunlight danced across her visage; it had been days since she had the pleasure to relax like this, and to be completely honest she almost had no idea what to do with herself. The Nara family had kindly let her and Gaara stay at their estate during their visit to the hidden leaf and as per usual Shikamaru was lurking nearby, either admiring her beauty from afar, observing her out of pure curiosity or perhaps he was trying to think of a plan of attack before their conversation commenced. A gentle smile teased at the corner of her lips, "You don't need to lurk Shikamaru. This is your home after all," She chuckles while pouring a cup of jasmine tea his mother had kindly prepared for her. Was this something the Hokage had requested from him or did he enjoy her company? It was hard to tell at this point.
In the months that followed the conclusion of the war, the two had spent an extensive amount of hours side by side, equally fighting from a political standpoint in order to maintain the peace that their people had fought and died for. She couldn't deny that his presence was somewhat comforting after all they had gone through. Reverting back to an upright sitting position, the blonde gently taps her fingertips on the table; "It's more polite to sit with your guests Shikamaru, or do I need to give you a lesson in etiquette?" she teases, absentmindedly drawing her cup of tea up to her lips and sipping the infusion.
And so it begins, he groans inwardly, slipping his hands up to his lips and dragging his cigarette away, blowing smoke over his shoulder before entering the room and dropping down to the floor, crossing his legs; "I'm not putting it out. I've had a difficult enough week as it is." Sure it might've been rude, smoking in the presence of others was rather uncouth, but given his current stress levels and the mocking he was sure would ensue he would rather get tortured than butt it out prematurely.
Temari wasn't completely filled in on the finer details of the situation, but she knew enough to understand that he was in need of comfort of some kind. If that was cigarettes, so be it. Twisting her lips she turned away, her sharp gaze fixed on the trees outside the window, gently swaying in the breeze; "So an arranged marriage, never knew you were the type," she states matter-of-factly, "I thought you believed marriage was more trouble than it was worth?" It was difficult to not feel a pang of disappointment when she heard the news earlier; they were sleeping together (even if it was casually) so she assumed if that was going to change he would've been man enough to tell her himself when that was first decided. To top it off the fact he even agreed to it was baffling, who was he? She thought that the man she knew would've fought tooth and nail against violations of his own liberty even if he was lazy, she was clearly mistaken.
"How did you - ?" He muttered unsurely before cutting himself short, "Ah! My mother filled you in, a little too gleefully I'm sure." Eyes rolling, the strategist scratched the back of his neck; That woman, she can't keep family business to herself for even half a day. It was irritating but his mother was always an unpredictable factor in every equation, it wasn't as if he had anything to hide as the facts were the facts after all, but it didn't make her oversharing personal details any less troublesome.
The Kunoichi forces a fake smirk as she leans forward, her alabaster hands gently placing the cup back on the table before her and promptly slipping to her knees, gripping them roughly as her nerves got the better of her. "You didn't answer my question cry baby. I assume you're trying to get out of it given how unreasonable their request is?" she pried, her chest tightening as she met his gaze directly, her eyes narrowing as her frustration built up slowly but steadily. He can't just avoid answering it, that question isn't going anywhere, she notes silently.
There was that look again, that same irked expression he knew all too well. Why is she even so invested in this? He pondered for a brief moment before lifting his cigarette back up to his lips and exhaling heavily; smoke enveloping him in an instant. "It is and always will be more trouble than it's worth, but it's out of my hands now that I'm the head of the clan in my father's stead," Shikamaru answered at last, his dark orbs fixed on her perplexed expression; "If getting married will appease my mother then so be it. She's been fixated on marrying me off since Dad died in the war, probably worrying about the future too, I guess grief does that to you."
"I clearly misjudged you," Temari barks, the false smirk once plastered across her lips quickly vanishing as she met her comrade's gaze directly. Losing a parent was never something that would be easy to handle, something she had unfortunately learnt through personal experience; but that was no excuse to just hand over your freedom. "How did you become this pitiful in two mere months?" she asked flatly, her teal oculars trembling with frustration as it consumed her; "Whatever, it's not my life." Temari sighed heavily and turned away, attempting to calm herself down before she said something she would regret; Seriously, how hard is it to have a backbone?
Brows furrowing, Shikamaru leant forward and butted out the last tiny portion of his cigarette in the ashtray on the table. "Why are you raising your voice? Are you jealous?" He almost laughed at his own suggestion, if there was one thing he was sure of it was that Temari was not like other girls he grew up with; not once had she ever fawned over a guy let alone gotten jealous due to one, to his knowledge anyway.
The blond's stormy eyes widened for a split second. "Me? Jealous over you of all people? You can't be serious," she fires back defensively, heat rising to the apples of her cheeks as she promptly crossed her arms under her chest as she rose to her feet, fists clenched. "Just because we have been intimate it doesn't mean that I'm territorial or whatever you're assuming in that complicated mind of yours. I told you it meant nothing and I meant it." He had struck a nerve, she would rather die than admit it but he had. So what if I am jealous? You're suddenly getting married and you didn't even think to tell me this was something that might happen when I saw you last month or the month before that? I had to hear about it from your mother! Her mind fires back silently, anger consuming her thoughts. Sure, they hadn't gone on a date or anything of the sort, but their relationship had always been a complicated one and adding sex into the equation only made it more confusing. Hell, she didn't even know how she felt herself or why his situation infuriated her to the degree it did, but she was positive there was something between them that was worth exploring. God he's frustrating!
He'd gone and done it now, her bitchy side was showing. Rolling his eyes he laid back on the tatami flooring, his arms folded behind his head; "It was a fair question. Geeze, all you women are so annoying," he grumbled under his breath; There's nothing wrong with being a little jealous, just own up to it and stop being as stubborn as an ox, he mused silently.
"I shouldn't have decided to stay here," Temari snaps as she storms out of the room; "You're absolutely impossible. I don't know why I even bother." There was no stopping her now, she was furious.
AUTHOR:
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)
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