The next time Temari came to Leaf was for the chunin exams. He had run into her in Suna a few weeks before, but she never came to him when he was staying there, and even if he hadn't been one of the laziest ninja around, he would've had to be an idiot to try sneaking into the Kazekage's compound for a late night rendezvous with his daughter. So by the time the chunin exams rolled around, it had been over a month since they'd really seen each other.
She arrived at the gate in the late afternoon walking side by side with her two brothers at the front of the large group of Sand-nin who had come for the exam. The three were a sight to behold—they were well known as the strongest nin of their generation from their village, and the strength and confidence they projected as they walked reflected their reputations. Shikamaru let the smallest of smiles grace his lips as they approached. Temari walked with confidence like her brothers to be sure, but her confidence had a different character. She moved with something more than that, something sensual but deadly. The sway of her hips just pronounced enough to make you start to forget that she could kill you in an instant. It made his mouth go dry to see her like that, in her element, leading at the head of the approaching group of Sand-nin. She was a natural born leader, in battle and in politics, which she had proven time and again. Seeing her walk the way she did, her weapon at her back and her allies at her side and that smirk on her face, she was almost too terrifyingly strong to be sensual. Almost.
Most of their party was made up of wide-eyed genin, though of course their jonin sensei had come along as well, not to mention all three of the Kazekage's children, who he had sent in his stead. Shikamaru, as Konoha's coordinator of the exams, was there to greet them at the gates, flanked by Ibiki, and Kakashi, who, though he refused to take on another team of genin after team seven, had agreed to serve as an examiner this time around. When Tsunade had first suggested Kakashi as an examiner, Shikamaru had been surprised. Upon further reflection on how much Kakashi had messed around with team seven, basically immediately thrown the team into the deep end when they were starting out, it made sense that the silver haired jonin would take another opportunity to concoct and carry out what was in some ways could be viewed as an extended and exceptionally cruel prank on a new group of youngsters.
Shikamaru greeted the three siblings. Gaara stood arms crossed and face impassive, but Kankuro was giving him the death glare of all death glares. Shikamaru couldn't care less though. The Sabaku siblings may have intimidated him when he was younger, but he'd grown up in a lot of ways since they had first met at the chunin exams years ago. He'd seen too much in the field to let a dirty look get to him.
Thanks to Ino, there wasn't a soul in Konoha that didn't know about him and Temari. In fact, there were quite a few people under the impression that they were already engaged, or that she was pregnant or that they had eloped and were waiting for the exams to publicly announce their undying love. Leave it to the rumor mill. And from the way that Kankuro was staring him down, he had the feeling that somehow the "news" had made its way all the way back to Suna in some form or another.
It's not as though they were close, but Shikamaru had had a few too many drinks with Kankuro enough times to know that he would do anything to make his sister happy, and that though the protective-brother-posturing was inevitable, that as long as he and Temari were getting along he'd be in the clear.
Temari stood next to her brothers with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Nara-san," she greeted him with a slight bow, "thank you for the courtesy of welcoming us to your village. We look forward to successfully cooperating with you in the exams."
It would've been a normal enough interaction in a diplomatic setting, but to anyone who knew anything about Temari and Shikamaru's working relationship—basically that they had been bickering and insulting each other non-stop since before they hit puberty—it was so overly formal it was downright laughable. Shikamaru heard Genma, who was sitting at his post at the gate, snicker which in turn deepened Kankuro's scowl even further. Shikamaru was sure he was about to get an earful form the sand-nin, when Temari threw her arms around her brother's shoulders and exclaimed, "Let's head to our lodgings already! These kids are exhausted, it's their first trek to Konoha for a lot of them."
And with that they parted ways. Shikamaru wondered if she would come to his room that night. She almost always traveled to Konoha alone, so she never had to worry about sneaking away from her brothers.
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He had sat for a long time in his apartment, contemplating his window. It was summer and plenty of the village nin he knew had set up astoundingly complicated traps that would let in an evening breeze but nothing more so that they could sleep safely with their windows open. He had never been much for traps, even before Temari had started climbing in his window at night, figuring that if there ever was an attack, he wasn't important enough to be targeted before the village alarm system started blaring.
No traps and window open was a bit much even for him though, which is why he found himself sitting out on the fire escape in the balmy evening, smoking his second cigarette since the sun had set. Sleeping in the heat was troublesome, but locking her out was even more troublesome, so he figured the least he could do was to delay the decision a while longer and maybe she would show up.
He wondered if she had ever actually used the door to his apartment and found that he couldn't remember a single time when that would've been the case. So much for the sappy, romantic rumors flying around. They weren't dating, really. They ate meals together, sure, but it's not like they did it in a couple-y way. Publicly, nothing much had changed between them. When she was in town, they would often work together, so they would often eat at Ichiraku in the evening, then they'd go their separate ways. He would go to play shogi or cloud watch before the light faded, and she would go off to do whatever it was that she did in Konoha when he wasn't around, mostly train he supposed, though he knew she would sometimes visit the Yamanaka flower shop and even occasionally socialize with the kunoichi of the rookie nine. It was only later that she would slip into his apartment, almost as if that part of their relationship was bound to the confines of his small apartment, under the night sky.
He put out the butt of the cigarette on the railing and sighed, taking in one last moment of the gentle wind moving the heavy summer air.
He slipped back inside, stripping off his shirt before moving to close the window.
He woke at the first light to an empty bed, sheets damp with sweat.
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"The Kazekage was thrilled, of course, when he heard that one of his top jonin has been consorting with an advisor to the Hokage."
Temari's voice was dripping with her dry sarcasm. Their spot in the stands was far enough away from the field to avoid the spectators that had packed in to the better seats to watch the third exams, but still close enough for anyone with a sharp eye or some shinobi training to easily what was going on in the match below. They watched as a Sand genin released a controlled burst of wind that would've completely knocked out his opponent if not for a well-timed substitution jutsu. Not for the first time, he wondered if Temari had trained any of the genin in the exams. He knew that given the travel-heavy schedule and diplomatic responsibilities her father had laden her with, she would be unable to take her own team, but he knew how deeply she cared about the future of her village, and was sure that she would be an excellent teacher.
"Is that so?" Shikamaru responded, after cheers from the crowd died down. Shikamaru looked over at her and found that her eyes were locked on the field.
"So thrilled, in fact, that he basically accused me of treason outright."
Temari said it with a laugh, in a lighthearted tone, but there was no mirth in her eyes. Her expression was stone cold and he felt his heart drop. Kankuro's death glare he was not afraid of, but he knew Temari and she wouldn't be bringing this up if it wasn't something she was legitimately worried about. Shikamaru turned his gaze back to the field, which had just flared up with a sloppy attempt at a fire jutsu.
"Hm, I hadn't heard that version of the story. I mean, I had heard the version where we were engaged, and the one where you're betrothed to the Wind Daimyo's son but we already eloped, but I hadn't heard the one where you're divulging state secrets to me." Not for the first time, Shikamaru felt a pang of guilt for his perusals of her bingo book. He didn't let on though. He had enough training on resistance to interrogations to allow even a shadow of emotional reaction seep into his facial expression or body language.
"It's a good angle though, I'll be sure to mention it to Ino next time I see her," Shikamaru said in a low deadpan.
Shikamaru barely had time to think before he felt her folded fan crash against the back of his skull. He saw stars and buckled forward, catching himself on the railing in front of him, head bowed as the pain throbbed through his skull. She had moved so fast that any civilian that may have seen them across the stadium would have missed it entirely, but then slowly and deliberately she leaned over him.
"You ever joke about that again and I'll castrate you before you can even form the first seal for your pathetic jutsu," she bit out in a hushed but deadly tone, and he could feel her Kunai pressed against his back, just hard enough for him to feel it's edge, before she sheathed it and stormed away, back towards the box in the stands where the Suna jonin were gathered to watch the matches.
"Shikamaru-san, is everything alright?" He saw the cloaked and masked figure arrive out of his peripheral vision, which was still swimming as his head throbbed.
"Thank you, Anbu-san, I'm fine," he gingerly touched the back of his head where she'd clocked him, he was going to have a nasty bump, "You know Temari, always looking for an opportunity to convince me I need to train more."
"Hm," the Anbu hummed in acknowledgement, not asking any follow-up questions but not leaving the box either. After a few moments when he had regained his bearings he took a closer look at the Anbu—though he was masked the only Konoha nin he knew with hair that long was Neji. Neji was a good friend and a good ninja. He was loyal to a fault, and though he had begun to forgive his clan for the cursed seal they had place upon him as a child, he still had never been able to fully forgive Gaara for what he had done to Lee. He had always been wary of the Sand siblings, and his quick appearance at Temari's outburst made Shikamaru wonder just how closely of an eye on them he had been keeping, and for how long. Neji's dedication to his role as a shinobi of the village was beyond admirable, but his tendancy to hold grudges and his ability to blindly follow orders had always put Shikamaru on edge.
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Alrighty, well that's as much as I have drafted for now. If you've read this far, give me a shout in the reviews. I could use a kick in the ass to draft more.