"You're not going to shower?" he asked her stepping out from the bathroom. She was fully dressed and bustling around the room.
"No. I'm- ," she started to say until she noticed he was wet with just a towel around his waist. "Fine. Really fine." She said dreamily, looking at how shiny his chest was covered in water and his hair was slicked back. He looked like a mermaid - was it merman? She shook herself back to reality, going back to searching her travel bag, unzipping every pocket.
"Found anything?" He asked her, getting dressed with some fresh clothes.
He found some clothes thrown about on the ground by the door - a white button down shirt, stained pink with what looked like wine? Maybe a pink soda. His grey holiday trousers. What looked like a pair of Temari's underwear. The room was pretty large, he noticed, with a king sized bed in the centre of it. There was a bucket filled with water - probably used to be ice. And were those rose petals on the floor?
"We're in a hotel called The Grand Mirage," Temari showed him the hotel room card in her fingers. It was a sleek black and the name of the hotel shined glossy.
That sounds familiar. Shikamaru felt like the pieces were coming together as he looked through his clothes. There was a wallet in his pants. He looked inside. There was no money, to his disappointment. But there was a folded note and a photo.
He opened the note to read it. His eyebrows scrunched together. The brain fog was clearing and he had a sudden surge of familiarity- as if he remembered writing it but not why. It was definitely his handwriting. He read it and cringed, putting it back into his wallet. He took out the photo and looking at it, he was certain Temari was going to freak out even harder. He noticed a series of numbers on the back of the photograph.
There was a knock on the door.
Shikamaru went to answer the door, holding it only wide enough for his face. "Hello?"
"Good morning Mr and Mrs-," she paused to check the card in her hand," Mr and Mrs. Nasu? If I'm pronouncing that right. This is a small token from all of us at the Grand Mirage." She handed Shikamaru a basket of strawberries and what looked liked champagne - thought he didn't recognise the label. "We would also like to give you two a free weekend stay for your next visit to the Grand Mirage!" Shikamaru took the voucher in her hand. It was deeply perfumed. A sickening sweet smell. He was hit with a feeling of deja vu.
The girl at his door didn't stop talking, "And here is a copy of today's newspaper. You might be excited to know you two made the front page. And from everyone at the Grand mirage, we wish congratulations!"
Congratulations?
Shikamaru glanced at the newspaper's front page, shocked to see the on the cover was the same photo from his wallet, just blown out to huge proportions. He checked the date on the newspaper and saw the numbers on the back of the photo. The numbers were a date. And judging from the date of the newspaper, the photo was taken yesterday.
He closed the door on the girl's face and called out, "Hey Tem?"
"Yeah?" She said.
"Don't freak out."
He passed her the photo.
The image was Temari and Shikamaru kissing on the beach under a huge banner, she was in a white button shirt, with a big stain on one side. The shirt was opened, revealing the blue glitter bikini that she had on this morning. She was sporting that haircut. Shikamaru was shirtless in the same grey pants that was on the floor. The banner over their heads read "Just Married"
"This.. this is a joke right?"
Temari sat on the bed, seeming to unravel. He handed her the newspaper. Temari's green eyes went wide. Her eyes shot back up to meet his. "Shikamaru, this is today's newspaper?" Temari immediately looked at the date, then back to the photo.
"Yeap."
"This photo was taken yesterday."
"The same day we left Suna," Shikamaru recalled.
"Is this all some kind of cruel prank?" She picked the note from Shikamaru's wallet and tried to read it aloud, "Call... Does this say 'Call Mom'? You get married whilst on a mission and the first thing you do is write a note telling yourself to call your mom?"
"It might not say 'Mom', it's just an 'M' with some scribbles. Maybe I was trying to write 'N'- like for Naruto, the shinobi hero?" Shikamaru answered, not sure if he felt more cringe from having a very publicised inebriated wedding or from the fact that he wanted to remind himself to tell his mother.
"So in the past 24 hours, we left Suna, have gotten married and lost our memory," concluded aloud. Temari fell back onto the bed, defeated. This would not go over well in the mission report.
24 Hours Before
"Alright, you two will be going off grid. Zero contact. Once you find the target, you get him and you get out. No witnesses- totally incognito. Its No-Man's land so nobody can get even a whiff that this is a sting operation of the Sand and the Leaf," Kankuro looked at Temari and Shkkamaru from his place next to Gaara. They were in the Kazakages office. Gaara was seated behind his desk. "Any questions?"
Temari and Shikamaru had the folders in their hand. "We'll find him and bring him back." He assured.
"We'll leave immediately" Temari told them. She turned to leave the room, Shikamaru followed her out.
Once they were out, Gaara commented in his neutral tone, "They make a fine couple, don't they?"
"Yeah. Temari has taken a real liking to him." Kankuro joked.
"And him to her," Gaara agreed.
Shikamaru followed Temari out of Gaara's office and straight into her own. Once the door was close, Shikamaru walked up close to Temari, "Do we really need to leave immediately?" He brought a hand to her collar, pulling it aside to look at the bite mark he left on her during their morning make out session.
She swatted his hand away."You're lucky nobody saw this. If we're here any longer, someone's going to see." Her face was not happy.
Temari was more self conscious when they were in Suna. Shikamaru couldn't blame her because he was always on edge when they were in Konoha. The thought his mom catching whiff of their relationship was a real mood killer. It must be harder for her being the Princess of the land or whatever. So these long missions away were the perfect romantic getaway.
"I only bit as hard as you told me too," he told her plainly.
She threw him a dirty look.
"Alright alright." He conceded, taking a step back. He was going to work a little harder to get her to forgive him, otherwise it was going to be a long journey to No Man's Land.
"Where are we heading to again?" Shikamaru asked her in a bored tone. He knew all of the mission details perfectly well. But he liked it when she explained things to him. She'd roll her eyes and list everything out. Typical Type A kunoichi.
"Did you not read the brief? She asked curtly.
"I skim."
Temari rolled her eyes.
"Tell me," he said, sitting on her desk.
"First, we go to No Man's Land. The small strip of land along the coast that is just outside the jurisdiction of the Land of Sand and the Land of Fire. We will base our operations in the Grand Mirage, a hotel where the target was last spotted.
"Wait, a hotel, huh?"
"Separate rooms, of course." Temari told him. "Then...-," She noticed Shikamaru's forearms as he crossed his arms while listening to her.
"Urm- then we'll go undercover to locate the missing person and bring him back to Suna to face trial."
"Mmhmm," he hummed, watching her. "Undercover huh? We'll need disguises. New clothes. New names."
"Exactly," she said. She grabbed her bag. "Anyway let's get your stuff, and we'll pick up some supplies for the journey as we head out. It shouldn't take us longer than a day to get there on foot."
"Just one more thing...," Shikamaru grasped her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. He let her go, running her fingers through one of the ponytails. "If you wanted, you could wear your hair down to cover the hickey," he told her. "I've always liked your hair."
"Then I might just cut it all off," She said playfully.
He clicked his teeth, "Troublesome woman."