Chapter 70

The next day, Shikamaru is up early only to discover his mission consists of uprooting grasses from two large adjacent lawns. Grunting under his breath, he bends his knees to squat, he then pulls at the short grasses as he starts his task at one corner of the lawn.

After almost an hour, with his knees straining at the discomfort of his position, he raises his eyes for the nth time towards the nearby veranda. He spies Asuma and the old man who owns the house and its surrounding still playing shogi.

The so called sensei, with his cigarette dangling from his mouth, and the old owner who's not bothered by the curling white smoke are seated comfortably on the veranda floor with a small table and the shogi board between them.

Muttering to himself, disgruntled and hot from the sun, Shikamaru moves across the garden in his squat position, removing grasses methodically. The least that his babysitter can do is assist him with the gigantic lawns.

Moving closer and closer to the veranda, Shikamaru sighs loudly when he hears Asuma gives a hearty laugh. Temari's sensei is obviously in a good mood for having beaten the old, old man.

"Another game?" Asuma's voice rumbles as he asks.

The oldman shakes his wrinkled hand, gesturing no. "Go look for some worthy opponent."

"You are a worthy opponent."

The old man snorts. "I don't like to admit it but I think I have become dull-minded in my years."

Asuma leans closer to pat his adversary's shoulder. "Nonsense. You're on your prime. What do you say, another game."

The old man merely shakes his white-haired head, no.

Shikamaru straightens his knees as he stands up from the ground. Still clutching a bunch of uprooted grasses in one hand, he declares calmly, "I'll be your opponent."

The chain-smoking nin and his companion simultaneously swivel their head to glance towards Kamaru.

The old man, his face dotted with warts and wrinkled, smiles kindly towards the new face youth. "This I've got to see," he proclaims.

While Asuma draws from his cigarette. Still seated, he leans backward with his hands propping him as he looks at Kamaru, trying to read his casual expression. "Just finish the lawn."

"If I beat you, I don't have to finish the lawn. What's more, you'll give me something other than this kind of missions," Shikamaru states.

"No," answers Asuma.

"You chicken," Shikamaru mutters.

"I see Temari's attitude is rubbing off on you," responds Asuma, unperturbed.

The old man chuckles. "Why don't you give the boy a chance?"

Asuma turns his attention back at the man wizened through his years. Their eyes meet and communicate before Asuma raises his hand to gesture at Kamaru to come towards the veranda.

Shikamaru throws the uprooted greenery on the mound of collected grasses near him before rubbing his hands together to remove the dirt that clings to his skin. Satisfied, he puts his hands inside his pants' pockets then with his shoulders slouched in a relax position he goes towards and up the veranda steps.

"Just one game. One chance," Asuma spells his terms when the foreign shinobi reaches them.

"I just need one," replies Shikamaru, failing to mention that he learned a lot about shogi strategies the previous night.

—o0o—

Shikamaru is sprawled on the soft ground. He has already found his perfect spot in Konoha. With the village laid down below the nearby cliff, it offers an impeccable vantage point. Added to that the area itself is shaded by trees and the ground carpeted by soft grasses, and with no one to disturb him, the spot is simply faultless.

Staring up at the sky covered by a generous amount of puffy grey-white clouds, Shikamaru sighs contentedly. The day is a productive one— he finally graduated from D-rank missions.

Asuma-sensei even asked him for another game then another, proclaiming that he's a genius and simply better at it than Temari.

Temari… Shikamaru wonders what she would have done if she heard her sensei's blunt comparison.

She'll probably have both their heads serve on a platter for that kind of remark, considering last night's talk with Shikaku and her penchant for competitions.

While thinking about the troublesome woman, Shikamaru suddenly detects a set of footsteps approaching his napping area. Inexplicably keen, he raises half his body up, expecting Temari. After all, that woman, acting almost as if his real wife, had already discovered his particular hideout.

However, it's just Choji waving his hand at him in greeting as he draws near. Shikamaru smiles back in return, mentally shrugging the niggling disappointment that pricks him.

"Hey," Shikamaru consequently utters, sitting more comfortably and crossing his legs in front of him.

"Kamaru, I knew I'd find you here," remarks Choji, plunking down on the grass beside the foreign nin.

"Tch, were you looking for me?"

The overweight nin nods his head as he checks his pockets for his packs of potato chips. Finding one, he opens the plastic bag then proffers the packet of food first to the other shinobi. After Kamaru has taken some, Choji grabs some chips and dumps them into his wide-open mouth.

Choji munches his way through the potato bag then another bag then another. Not bothered by the lack of conversation, it's after a while before Shikamaru finally deems to speak again.

"Why were you looking for me?" Shikamaru enquires.

Choji answers through a mouthful, "Temari wants me to tell you something."

Shikamaru raises a brow at that. The woman doesn't need a messenger. She can express whatever she wants to say better and definitely more painfully effective than her fat friend. So it's must be some non-essential errand Temari wants him to do…What a drag.

"What?" Shikamaru finally asks Choji, voice laced with disinterest.

"Remember that time when we were at the Nara clan forest?" Choji questions as he looks soulfully into his almost empty last bag of chips.

"Yes." Shikamaru frowns. Why does it seem like Choji is hesitant in telling him whatever Temari's message is?

Tch, it's probably related to last night's heated discussion at dinner. In the end, Temari did not explain why she broke the Akimichi's door. He and Shikaku share the theory that she didn't like what she heard from Choji. What he and the old man didn't foresee is that Temari's behaviour is related to what happened the last time he was here in Konoha two months ago.

Choji continues, "Ino means well, you know. It is not like she was spitefully making up stories. I was there. I could have protested if I did not believe what she believed for the longest time. Now, that belief is obviously incorrect and I don't even want to tell Ino she's wrong but I think I have to. I don't know how she will react though."

Ino's in it too aside from Choji? Isn't this team Asuma's concern? Does it really concern him? Shikamaru finally interrupts the other nin, "Stop. Just tell me Temari's message."

"But…"

"Alright, I won't blame Ino." What a drag. Really, Shikamaru doesn't envy Choji; having two females in his team would have been too troublesome. He doesn't know what the fuss is about that has Choji flustered. If it happened in the Nara Clan forest then it's probably about some facts about those herds of deer that Temari takes so much pride on.

Shikamaru tries to remember all the trivia about the four legged animal that Ino and Choji shared that day. They told him that the male deer grow new antlers each year. That seems to be true. Ino said those animals also can jump high and swim well. Maybe it was the swim part that is not factual. But that doesn't seem to be much of a reason for Choji to be worried about.

But then what man can truly predict how a woman will react to certain things especially when the said woman is pregnant…

Tch, Shikaku is right. After all, the old man knew what he's talking about. Yoshino did destroy several properties for such a small thing like her husband's drinking when she was pregnant. Temari is simply following after her mother's footsteps and knowing Shikamaru was recipient of Ino's and Choji's questionable information about her precious deers could indeed led her to smash the Akimichi's door.

Shikamaru's forehead knits into a frown. Seems such a flimsy reason but he can't think of any other… Clearly, it's troublesome to fully understand women. That kind of species is simply unfathomable.

"Alright, so those deer can't swim," Shikamaru finally mumbles, nonchalant. He then straightens his legs on the ground getting ready to lie back down again.

Choji's face scrunches up in confusion. "Huh?"

"Isn't that what you came here to tell me?" Shikamaru finally reclines down, enjoying the view of the thickened clouds seen in the gaps between the tree branches.

"No." Choji denies. "I came to tell you that Temari doesn't like Sasuke."

Abruptly, Shikamaru's supine body tenses on the ground, undetected by the other shinobi. Losing his carefree stance and with his heart thumping wildly inside his chest, Shikamaru slowly sits up again. Calming himself by taking deep breaths, he then utters offhand, "Really?"

Choji nods his head then slowly he smiles gently. "I should have guessed that she likes you."

Oh my God, did she really say that? With his heart beating painfully fast in immeasurable happiness, Shikamaru just has to ask, "Did she also tell you that?"

The hefty shinobi shakes his head. "No. But it's so obvious. She married you."

Shikamaru's happiness is put down a peg. So alright, Temari doesn't like Sasuke anymore but that doesn't readily translate that she likes him. But still, it means he has a better chance. Just last night, Shikaku told him something that made him hesitate with his original plan. And now Choji's revelation has just blown away one huge insurmountable obstacle in winning Temari's heart and the probability of success in attaining the impossible has just improved from zero to a number definitely higher than zero.

Several questions now race through Shikamaru's mind. He needs to see his wife to have some of it answered. He can't just wait for this coming evening.

Immediately fumbling up, with Temari's former team mate following his sudden burst of movement with his eyes, Shikamaru ungracefully stands up from the ground in his rush.

"Where you going?" Choji enquires as a handful of chips are on its way to his mouth.

Shikamaru answers with a question of his own. "Do you know where I can find Temari at this time?"

"Probably returning back from training," Choji replies through a mouthful.

Shikamaru nods his head, his way of saying thanks to his friend before quickly pivoting on his feet. Not wasting time going back the usual way, the dark haired shinobi dashes towards the edge of the promontory then jumping off the cliff face on his way down fast from his perfect spot.

Shikamaru, wearing a smirk and his untied hair flying backwards off his face, rushes from roof to roof of the houses and establishments of Konoha in search of Temari.

Today, he's really feeling lucky.

TBC

~2 11 13AF P 3 17 13~

A/N: You guys like a workout, don't ya? Just check out my Coded Messages fic. You can always pm me for help before you start pulling at your hair…

And don't forget to review this one…