Author's Note: Before you read my story, please be aware that this is a fanfiction story where the characters might not be their usual selves as I intended for this fanfiction story to be a fun little story for you to read. It's highly unrealistic but that's the beauty of fiction, who needs things to be realistic? Am I right!
Shikamaru Nara normally wasn't a heavy drinker, he had a naturally high tolerance for alcohol but he purposefully chose not to drink anything containing alcohol as he hated being hungover the next morning. That being said, when it comes to special occasions such as the after-wedding party of Karin Uzumaki and Suigetsu Hozuki, he wasn't able to refuse the two newlyweds and so, he drank so much that he knew he'd be regretting it in the morning.
Currently, it was the day after the after-wedding party, and Shikamaru hoped for his hangover to disappear by late afternoon as he had classes with students to teach tomorrow morning. With the remaining time, Shikamaru decides to take a stroll in Marino Beach Garden, one of Konoha's many public gardens for its residents to explore and enjoy.
Shikamaru checked his watch, it was nine a.m. on a Monday which meant that he'd have to deal with far fewer people than he normally would if he were to come to the garden during the weekend. For the majority of his walk, he mostly saw the elderly residents of Konoha City and small young children who weren't quite old enough for school yet with their parents.
However, his walking comes to a stop when he spots a woman who looked out of place from the position she was currently in. The woman he was staring at wore a bright golden yellow off-shoulder mini dress reaching to the middle of her thighs with sleeves that had a slit in the middle, wonderfully showing off her toned arms. There were lace tights underneath her dress displaying her long toned legs and the black stiletto heels only made it seem like her legs went on for days. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled up into a high voluminous ponytail and the makeup she wore was stylized in the way in which her face was to always give off an attractive look no matter what expression she wore.
"I must be dreaming," Shikamaru says to himself out loud causing the woman to stop eating her stick of blue cotton to look at him.
"Why?" It was all the woman said before she continued eating the cotton candy in her hand.
"You look too good to be true," Shikamaru replied.
The woman's eyes widened in surprise before faking a cough, "If this were indeed a dream, what would you be doing right now?"
"I don't know," Shikamaru answered.
"Well, if I were dreaming about this, I'd probably have a chocolate fudge vanilla ice cream cone with me right now."
"Why that?"
The woman shrugged, "Why not? I'm a professional tennis player so I have to follow a strict diet but on the times that I can cheat on my diet, I like to indulge myself with ice cream. The only thing I could find early in the day was cotton candy."
"You wouldn't happen to know where I could find someone to cure my hangover, would you?"
Temari laughed, no wonder the man was acting in such a strange manner. "No, but I do happen to know a place nearby that makes great fruit smoothies. My cousin-in-law swears that fruit smoothies are the ultimate cure to hangovers. I've drunk some a few times and I could back her up on that. "
"I'm not particularly hungry," Shikamaru confessed.
Temari shrugged, "Well, why don't you take a nap then?"
"You mean like right now?"
Temari nodded, "Yes, right now."
"How?"
Temari scooted over the bench and with her empty hand, she gestured towards the space next to her on the bench. "You can take a nap here." Temari said before pulling out a mischievous smile, " I promise I won't bite."
"Don't worry, I do." Temari blushed at that, "Or so my students claim," Shikamaru said with a laugh at the end.
"Oh, so you're a teacher," Temari said.
Shikamaru sat down next to her, "Yeah, I'm a professor at Konoha University."
"Wow, that's impressive. I'm from Suna so I went to Suna University," Temari told him, "But tell me, what's a professor of Konoha University doing out here? Shouldn't you be teaching a class of students?"
"I should be but yesterday, I got dragged to an after-wedding party and drank my butt off."
Temari smirked, "I was supposed to go to one yesterday but I had last-minute plans so I had to call the couple and tell them I couldn't come. It was such a shame because I bought this really nice outfit from one of my favorite boutiques in all of Suna. Oh, well, I figured that if I couldn't attend the after-party, I could just visit them later and hand them their marriage gift."
"I remember a friend of mine told me that his sister, Temari, I believe? Yeah, Temari, she was supposed to come along with him and his brother, Kankuro but she had to accompany a cousin of theirs to the airport."
Upon hearing her name come out from the stranger's mouth, Temari's eyes widened. "Wait, did you go to the after-wedding party of Karin Uzumaki and Suigetsu Hozuki?"
"Yes, I did. Were you there yesterday? I swear, I would've noticed a face like yours at the party."
Temari blushed before answering, "I wasn't there yesterday because I'm Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro's sister."
Now, it was Shikamaru's turn to have wide eyes, "You're that Temari? Gaara and Kankuro's sister from the Cactus Valley of Death?"
Temari rolled her eyes, "I can't believe they would still say that about me to other people. What are my brothers, five years old? I'm thirty-one and yet, I'm still their thorny cactus queen."
"The only thing you're the queen of is beauty," Shikamaru told her, "I've been searching for a queen, and you fit the bill."
Temari groaned, "Be quiet, you!"
Shikamaru raised his hands up in defeat, "What? I'm being rightfully honest with you, my lady."
"You must be having the worst hangover in your life for you to have chosen to flirt with me out of all people," Temari scolded him before patting her lap, "Do you want to sleep on my lap?"
Shikamaru choked, "What are you trying to imply?"
"I don't think you've properly rested," Temari told him, "You really ought to take a nap."
"So why are you offering me your lap?"
"Why not? I've had children sleep on my lap before and it's really uncomfortable to fall asleep in a seated position. Besides, if you try to do anything funny, I'm more than funny capable of choking you."
"Aren't you violent," Shikamaru pointed out.
Temari shrugged, "I was just saying that you could. You don't actually need to take up my offer-"
"No, I'll accept," Shikamaru interrupted.
And, with that Temari complied, allowing Shikamaru to rest his head on her lap. At first, Shikamaru thought the blonde woman wasn't actually being serious about it but here he was, sleeping on her lap. While he napped, Temari stroked his hair that was let out from its usual pineapple-shaped ponytail. The entire time, Shikamaru was comforted by the smell of her body and the warmth that she had.
Shikamaru woke up to the sound of Temari singing a song. The second their eyes met, Temari's green eyes meeting Shikamaru's brown eyes, she gave him a shy smile.
"I'm sorry, did I wake up," Temari apologized but Shikamaru shook his head, causing Temari to giggle at how his spiky hair was tickling her arms.
"No, you're fine. I was just surprised at how you have such a beautiful singing voice," Shikamaru confessed.
Temari opened her mouth to let out a gasp in surprise, one hand covering her mouth.
"Oh, you always seem to know how to woo me with just words."
"Is it enough to ask you to let me sleep on your lap every day?"
Temari laughed, "Don't be silly, Mister. This is a one-time thing. I just wanted to make sure you're in the right state of mind because you've been flirting with me all too much."
"Shikamaru," he told her.
Temari raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"My name's Shikamaru Nara, you calling me Mister reminds me of my students and I honestly dislike being called Mister, it makes me feel old."
"Got it, Mister Shikamaru," Temari teased.
"Fuck you," Shikamaru told her.
"You'd like that wouldn't you," Temari jokes, a smirk adorning her face.
"Yes, I would," Shikamaru replied.
Temari placed a hand over her chest, "What kind of woman do you take me for, huh? You'd need to marry me first and be my husband for at least one year before I'd let that happen."
"Damn, alright, let's get married then," Shikamaru suggested, "There's only one thing I want to change about you, your last name. Temari Nara has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"We barely just met-"
"We've got the rest of our lives to get to know each other better."
Shikamaru stood up causing Temari to jump behind the seat at his sudden action. He gave her a smirk before going down on one knee.
"I know that I'm supposed to have a ring with me but this is a last-minute proposal so bear with me on this."
"Ugh," Temari groaned, "You're seriously not asking me to marry you are you?"
Shikamaru laughed, "I was thinking about dinner later tomorrow but that could work."
"Oh," Temari says, "That works with me. I'm not ready to get married just yet."
Shikamaru took a deep breath, holding Temari's hands with his hands, "Temari no Sabaku, will you please do the honor of going to Taruza with me tomorrow? I promise to pay for dinner and everything else-"
"Yes, Shikamaru Nara, I'll go out with you," Temari answered.
"Really?"
"Yes, now, stand up. Your knees are going to get weak and tired," she says, pulling Shikamaru up.
"So, what time do you want for us to meet up or would you like for me to pick you up?"
"I can drive...anyways, is seven fine with you?"
"I can do that," Shikamaru nodded.
Temari went through her purse before coming back with a tiny pocket notebook and a green-colored pen. She scribbled down her number before handing it to Shikamaru.
"Here's my number," Temari told him.
"Can I have a photo to go along with the number?"
Temari shrugged, "Sure. I'm no supermodel though."
"In my eyes, you are."
Temari laughed and with Shikamaru's phone camera, he was able to capture the scene with the perfect photo of her laughing.
"Damn, it's already four a.m.?" Temari says, staring at her phone screen. "I'd hate to cut things like this but I'm supposed to be visiting my grandmother tonight and if I'm going to be there on time, I have to run."
"I'll just call you," Shikamaru replied.
Temari grinned, giving him a thumbs-up, "Sounds good with me. I'll see you tomorrow then, Shikamaru!"
"Goodbye," Shikamaru said to her, waving her goodbye as he watched her run until he could no longer see her in the distance.
Going through his contacts on his phone, Shikamaru pressed the call option and held the phone close to his ears.
"Hello," said a voice from the other line.
"Hey, Mom, it's me, I just wanted to tell you that I've finally found the woman of my dreams and I'm going to make her my wife," Shikamaru said.
"How wonderful is that to hear! Your father and I are going to be so excited to meet her. What's her name? How old is she? Do I know her family? What does she do for a living? You must tell me everything there is to her, do you hear me, Son?"
"Yes, Mom, I hear you."
"Good. Ask her if she's free on Saturday, we're going to throw an engagement party for you two."
"But she hasn't even agreed to it yet."
"In my heart, you two are married."
"That's one way to think about this…"
The end.
Author's Note: LOL, in real life, I'd never do something like allowing a stranger to sleep on my lap as Temari did for Shikamaru this is a crackfic, a fanfiction story where you don't need to take things seriously. I really can't believe that this is the second ShikaTema story that I've written today. This story is also the third ShikaTema story that I've written in which Shikamaru and Temari meet in various different ways as there's no right or wrong way to meet someone and fall in love with them.
Haha, while writing this story, I was listening to this song and suddenly, I have the urge to write a NejiTen story now! If anyone would like for me to write a NejiTen story, please let me know by writing me a comment.
Well, you've made it this far in reading my story. I hope this was an enjoyable reading experience for you and if you'd like to show just how much you liked my story, please do feel free to leave me a like and a comment. Until next time, my friends! 3 3 3
P.S. I start school tomorrow and that's why I wrote some stories as a back-to-school writing challenge for myself.