A/N: An older story I wrote a few years ago, but never posted. I hope you like it :)
Shikamaru was laying on his favorite hill and was watching clouds. Sighing deeply he thought about the new developments in Konoha and the event that could only be described with his favorite word.
"Troublesome." He mumbled.
So troublesome for him was the fact that Tsunade had announced a celebration for Valentine's Day and the girls could choose who they wanted to invite to the dance. It wasn't a formal event, but still very troublesome in Shikamaru's eyes. He could almost picture Tsunade planning this for her own enjoyment and not theirs. Surly she would be there, drinking Sake and playing matchmaker. To make sure everyone was attending the celebration the Hokage had made it an obligation to come, even if you didn't have someone to go with.
'What a drag.'
The thoughts of Konoha's genius were interrupted by his best friend, who was sitting down next to him. After a while of comfortable silence Choji spoke up with his mouth full of chips.
"Thinking about the celebration tonight?"
"Yeah it will be troublesome... Anyway who are you going with?"
"No one, but I'm sure the food will be amazing." Choji smiled.
"I guess." Shikamaru couldn't held but return Choji's smile. At least he wasn't the only one, who was going alone.
"With who are you going?" Choji asked him after he had opened another bag of chips.
"Nobody." Shikamaru stated looking back at the clouds again.
"You know, I heard that you rejected some girls who asked you to the celebration."
"Who told you that?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in question.
"Ino."
"Figures." Shikamaru sighed annoyed.
"So is it true?"
"Yeah, but I don't even know why they want to go with me."
"Well you were the first to become a Chunin and you have the reputation to be a genius." Choji pointed out.
"This celebration will be a drag, just like this whole day is. The last thing I need on top of that is a troublesome woman to go with me and force me to dance."
"But you have to go. Tsunade made it an obligation after all."
"You just have to be there and I will be, but she can't force me to dance or be social."
'Just like Shikamaru to have a plan to avoid the troublesome women.' Choji thought to himself.
"If you say so." Choji stood up. "I'm about to go to Ichiraku's. Want to come with me?"
"Nah I will stay here and watch the clouds. It's too troublesome to move right now."
"Alright, I'll see you later."
Shikamaru only lifted his hand as a goodbye and then pulled out a cigarette and ignited it. He didn't smoke that often, but from time to time he did in memory of his old sensei Asuma. Looking at the clouds, he thought about his conversation with Choji.
Choji should be glad that he didn't have so troublesome women in his life. Thinking about the three women in his life, who he thought were the most troublesome, he couldn't help but think about her. True to be told, the first person who had come to his mind when Tsunade had mentioned this celebration was the most troublesome woman he knew. After she had become the ambassador of Suna and he had been announce as her guide, they spent a lot of time together when she was in Konoha. The genius thought that it was only logical that she was the first person, who he thought of in this situation. However he completely dismissing the option that it was because he had developed some feelings for her.
'Anyway she isn't here so it's too troublesome to even think about it.'
Shikamaru lay on his favorite grass hill for a while longer until it was time to get ready for the celebration.
'What a drag.'
In the evening everyone from Konoha was attending the celebration, willingly or not. When Shikamaru entered the huge hall, he saw some people already dancing in the middle of the room, while other were standing at the buffet talking with their friends and then there was Tsunade. Like he had predicted she was drinking Sake and looking around with a smirk on her face. The shadow-user spotted Ino and Choji in a corner and walked over to them.
"Hey."
"Hey Shikamaru. So with who are you here?" Ino asked interested.
"No one."
"But I heard a lot of girls wanted to go with you." Ino didn't stop interrogating him.
"Women are too troublesome."
"For you everything is 'too troublesome'." She snapped annoyed.
"Tell me something I don't know."
After a while Shikamaru decided to leave his teammates alone and go sit at the bar in the corner of the room.
Shikamaru's plan was to wait until this troublesome celebration was over and then go home so he could sleep. With nothing better to do, he looked around the room, but he failed to noticed the only person who could endanger his plan.
On the other side of the room a familiar fan-user entered the room. She still couldn't believe how she got into this situation.
Flashback
Three days ago Gaara had called Temari to his office to tell her about a new mission.
"Tsunade sent me a letter saying that she needs a Suna shinobi to support a team from Konoha on a joined mission. We agreed that you are the most likely choice, because you are already the ambassador of Suna. So you have to leave today and meet up with Tsunade when you arrive to discuss the rest."
The kunoichi didn't mind to go to Konoha and was even a little bit happy to go. For some reason she hoped a special lazy-ass to be her guide there or maybe even have this mission with him. It was nothing wrong with wishing that considering they were old friends. However Temari didn't want to admit it to herself, but she felt a little more than friendship for him.
On the outside the sand princess hid her slight excitement well and just replied to Gaara.
"I accept the mission."
When she arrived in Konoha she was a little disappointed to see Shizune waiting for her at the gates and not the one she had secretly hoped for. Later in Tsunade's office she heard that her mission wouldn't start until tomorrow. Furthermore the Hokage told her that tonight was a celebration for Valentine's Day, which everyone was obligated to attend and that she was no exception.
Flashback end
'Right that's why I'm here.' Temari looked around, searching for the laziest shinobi of Konoha. She knew that he had to be here.
There was still something bothering her since Tsunade had told her about the celebration and that was with whom Shikamaru would be here.
'Probably Ino.' The sand princess couldn't help but feel slightly jealous thinking about it.
Trying to shake that thought off she walked around the room. Finally she found a familiar face, sure not the one she had hoped for, but oh well. Without hesitation she made her way over to that person.
"Hey Choji." Temari greeted the person she knew was Shikamaru's best friend.
"Temari? What are you doing here?" Choji asked surprised to see her.
"I have a mission in Konoha tomorrow and Tsunade required that I come to this celebration tonight. So where is the rest of your team?"
"Ino and Shikamaru must be here somewhere." Choji looked around, searching for his friends.
"Oh I see. So Ino chose Shikamaru to go to the dance with her." The Suna princess saw her suspicion confirmed and tried everything to keep her anger out of her voice.
Choji shook his head, hiding his smile when he noticed her reaction. "No, Ino came with someone else and Shikamaru came alone."
"The girls here probably think that he is too lazy, so no one asked him." Temari hid her relief behind a smirk.
"No, quite the opposite."
"What do you mean?"
"A lot of girls wanted to go with him to this celebration, but he rejected everyone of them." Choji explained.
"Let me guess, he said that going to a dance with a woman is too troublesome."
Choji was surprised at how well the Suna nin knew his best friend, but it only confirmed his guess about these two. They had gotten really close over the years and even if they didn't realized it, Choji knew that they were meant to be.
"Or he only wanted to dance with the most troublesome woman he knows."
Temari's eyes widened in shock at what Shikamaru's best friend implied. For once she was speechless. Choji looked back at the buffet table, where the desserts had now arrived.
"Well, I have to go. If you search Shikamaru he is over there at the bar. Bye."
The fan-user just nodded, still not able to say something.
'Choji couldn't mean that Shikamaru rejected all those girls because he wanted me to- no that's impossible. I will just go and see him. Where did Akimichi say he was? At the bar, right.' Temari thought and made her way to the other side of the room.
Meanwhile Shikamaru was bored out of his mind. That was until he spotted four familiar pigtails. At first he thought that it was his wishful thinking, but when she came closer he recognized her outfit. Surprisingly she didn't have her huge fan tied to her back.
"Hey crybaby." She smirked.
"What are you doing here, troublesome woman?"
"Tsunade wrote a letter to Gaara saying that I should support some Konoha shinobis on a joined mission. When I came here she told me that the mission starts tomorrow and that I have to go to this celebration tonight so-"
The rest of what she said was lost to Shikamaru, because immediately a thought crossed his mind. You didn't need to be a genius to figure out that Tsunade had played matchmaker. A look in the Hokage's direction confirmed his suspicion, because when she saw him look at her, she smirked.
'How troublesome.'
A punch on his arm brought him out of his thoughts.
"Are you even listing to me, Nara?"
"Of course."
"Yeah sure. So if you don't want to talk, let's dance." Temari said annoyed.
"I don't dance."
"Geez lazy-ass Tsunade told me that it's girls choice tonight and I choose to dance with you, so as my guide you have to make sure I'm content. Come on."
Without waiting for a respond the kunoichi pulled Shikamaru on the dance floor. When she found a spot she liked she released him and began to dance to the fast beat. A frown made its way to her face when she looked at the shadow-user. He was just standing there with his hands in his pockets.
"You know dancing didn't mean standing around and doing nothing, genius."
"I said I don't dance, but you had to drag me here forcefully."
"So you let me, a woman, beat you at dancing?" Temari knew that would get him to do something.
"Is this a challenge?"
"When you want to see it like this, then yes it is."
In this moment the music faded into a slower song and the Suna princess stopped dancing. Meanwhile Shikamaru looked around and saw the couples standing close to each other and moving slowly to the music. When he looked at Temari she raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Thinking about the next 200 possible moves he decided to pull her slightly closer to him and mimic the other couples. The fan-user was surprised to see the 'Number one coward of Konoha', how he called himself, making such a bold move, but she was the last to complain. Quite the opposite. She encircled her arms lightly around his neck and swayed with him.
"So Choji told me that you rejected some poor girls who wanted to dance with you."
"Yeah dancing is too troublesome."
"But you are dancing with me." Temari smirked.
"Yeah and it's troublesome." He smirked back.
None of them said it out loud, but despite it being troublesome for one of them, they both enjoyed to be together. Maybe this Valentine's Day would mark the beginning of a change in their relationship.
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day :)
