2. Ball

He was settling down for a quiet night in tonight; Temari was at some fancy royal gala event that he hadn't been invited to, so he decided to take over her apartment and relax. He was technically on a mission but his duties didn't start until a couple of days later, so Shikamaru was in the rare position of having free time while Temari was in town. Temari and him had agreed they were going to spend the whole two days together to make up for the months in between their last few meets, but Temari had been last minute whisked away to represent the Kazekage clan at a ball-type event for ambassadors from all the villages and village higher-ups. It was definitely not Shikamaru's scene, but then neither was dinner with his mother, so he'd set up camp in Temari's flat with takeout dinner and a movie. He was about to tuck in when the bell rang. No one knew he was here. He ignored it and heard loud banging followed by a shrill voice.

"Shikamaru! Open up it's me!" The banging persisted and he finally sighed in defeat, moving to get the door. He was met with a grinning Ino and a bemused Choji.

"What's up guys? How did you find me?"

"We're highly skilled Shikamaru don't patronise us. Now are you going to invite us in?" Ino said, practically barging in anyway.

"Uh…" Shikamaru hesitated while the two entered Temari's apartment. It was a lot more expressive than his apartment, and it contained a lot of private parts of Shikamaru and Temari's relationship; this included many pictures of the two of them which no doubt caught Ino's attention. He looked slightly embarrassed by the apartment even though it was perfect for him, and scratched the back of his neck like he usually did when he was nervous. "What do you guys want, exactly?"

They looked at each other. "Well," Choji said, "we know Temari is at a fancy ball tonight that she doesn't want to be at so much. So we figured we'd get you dressed to go join her. We've got you a ticket and everything." Shikamaru was speechless. He really didn't want to schmooze with some village elders and ambassadors, but he liked the idea of seeing her tonight.

"We're playing Fairy Godmother!" squealed Ino, obviously excited at the prospect of sending Shikamaru to this ball. She pulled out two tuxedos from behind her back and grinned at him expectantly.

"What, you're going to dress me up and send me in a horse-drawn carriage to some dumb ball? Guys, it's a nice idea but she's not going to appreciate me turning up unexpectedly." Shikamaru stated plainly, hoping they would contradict him. When Ino and Choji simply rolled their eyes at him he added more defensively, "I have a whole evening planned here! Plus my food is getting all cold."

"That's the best excuse you can come up with? That you have a date with her TV set? Man, Shikamaru, she really messes with your head, doesn't she?" Choji smirked at his best friend. "Just get dressed would you? We'll finish off the food."

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine, if you insist." He said, grabbing the tuxes and heading to the bedroom smiling.

When he arrived at the ball, he really didn't know what to expect; he'd never been to anything like this before and didn't know how it worked. Waiters came around offering champagne and wine, people danced and mingled politely. The whole thing was confusing and overbearing, and he considered leaving to avoid the toxic small talk in the room. That was until he was stopped dead in his tracks by the figure he saw across the room. Golden hair, teal eyes, and a sleek black dress that showed off all the best parts of her body, Temari stood looking absolutely flawless making uncomfortable conversation with two elders. Instinctively, he moved toward her.

"…so you see, Lady Temari, many other influential women your age have decided to marry in order to improve their status further. It may be worth considering…" the elder in front of her droned on as Shikamaru approached them from behind. He placed his hand on the small of her back, causing her to flinch a little before she saw him, and her face immediately lit up.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Shikamaru cut in smoothly, as the two greying, stocky elders wore shocked expressions on their faces, "but I was hoping for a dance with Temari before the end of the night. Do you mind?" They both shook their heads, speechless from his audacity to steal her away.

"I'm sorry, Elder Mitokado, Elder Utatane, it's been a pleasure talking to you." Before he had the chance to guide her away she was already grabbing his hand and pacing away from the elders.

She guided his hand to her waist and held the other in hers as they danced gently. "Why'd you have to do that? All they're going to do is talk about us now."

"Let them. I don't want them trying to recommend some Sunan ninja to you. Besides, you seemed like you needed a way out of there."

"Fair enough," she laughed, "I can't take these conversations anymore. Everything is about when I'm going to get married. Nice surprise seeing you here, though. Never thought I'd see Shikamaru Nara scrubbed up in a tux."

"Well, what can I say? I thought I needed to keep you on your toes so I got myself a ticket." Shikamaru smirked.

"Hmm, so that means Ino and Choji forced you to come?" When he nodded sheepishly she just smiled. "Well, you're here that's the main thing." She looked up at him, staring him right in the eye, and abruptly stopped dancing. "Let's go."

"What, we're leaving so soon? I put on a whole tux to come here. Don't you have more small talk to make? Why are we going?" Shikamaru complained, not understanding her train of thought.

"Because," she whispered as she raised her eyebrows and leaned into his ear on her tiptoes, "I made all the effort of getting into this dress, somebody else better get me out of it."

"Well, I'm not arguing with that logic." Shikamaru had never been in such a rush to get home in his life.