3. Meet

She was a bag of nerves. She couldn't tell why; she had never been nervous meeting people before but something about meeting her boyfriend's mother terrified her. That was a lie. She knew exactly why she was nervous; she just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

"You ready to go?" Shikamaru called from the living room of her apartment.

"In a minute!" she yelled back, frustrated after answering the same question four times.

"You know," he said, walking into her bedroom, "it's just my mom. You don't need to dress up or put much effort in. I mean I'm just wearing a t-shirt and jeans, next to me you'll look amazing. Can we just go so we're not late?" He stood behind her looking at her in the mirror.

She fussed over her earrings. "Since when do you care about being late?"

"Since I get lectured about being late, with the possibility of getting slapped on the head. Not as fun as you think." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek from behind. "Besides, you look beautiful. And it's freaking me out how much girly stuff you're doing."

She shot him a glare over her shoulder. "I just want to make sure I make a good impression. It doesn't help Ino's already introduced me as 'the girl your son is sleeping with'."

"Well, she's not wrong is she?" When Temari showed no sign of finding him funny, he laughed. "Come on, she going to love you. Did I tell you she always wanted a daughter? So much so, she used to dress me up and all."

Temari stopped. "Wait a second." Shikamaru started walking out of the door. "Come back here! I need to hear more about this, you can't leave me hanging!" She grabbed her keys and phone and started moving after him.

"If you want to hear more, move your butt let's go!"

They stood outside the door to the impressive Nara household, coated with ornate wood carvings of deer and woodland. Temari fidgeted with her dress as Shikamaru tried to snake an arm around her waist. She jumped out of his reach immediately. "What are you doing? I'm meeting your mom for the first time, no touching allowed."

"Since when was that a rule?" Before she could answer the door opened with a smiling Yoshino.

"I thought I heard my son complaining. Come in, come in both of you!" She stepped aside and gestured into the house. "I must say, I was so excited when Shikamaru told me he was bringing a girl home. Ino has been keeping me updated for weeks, I was wondering how long it was going to take you to introduce me." She looked expectantly at Shikamaru. When he simply wore a more confused expression she slapped his arm. "What, am I going to have to wait longer?"

"Ow! Mom, this is Temari, and Temari this is my abusive mother."

Both Yoshino and Temari shot him a glare, and in what seemed like practised synchrony said, "Don't talk about your mother that way." They smiled at each other.

"Sorry," Temari said, "I've just gotten so used to scolding him nowadays, but that's more your area."

"Rubbish!" Yoshino said, with renewed enthusiasm, "I've always needed someone to help me keep him in check. Now come inside, I'm only used to cooking for Choji when Shikamaru brings friends over so I'm afraid there's a lot of food to finish."

After a hefty meal of fish, grilled meats, heaps of rice, noodles and vegetables, topped off with dessert, all three were ready to pass out soon. They continued to talk as Yoshino made tea for them. "So Temari, have you taken Shikamaru to meet your parents yet?"

Temari looked at Shikamaru and then back at Yoshino. "Ma…" Shikamaru started.

"Um, sadly he won't get the chance to, although I would pay good money to see him try to impress them. They passed away when I was a young girl." Temari smiled a sad smile at her to ease the tension in her voice.

For some time Yoshino was taken aback speechless. Then she turned to Shikamaru. "Idiot! How come you didn't tell me this before? Honestly you are a piece of work sometimes Shikamaru Nara." She turned to a now laughing Temari. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"No it's fine, I didn't expect you to, don't worry about it." Temari had been fighting off a yawn for the last ten minutes, but finally it made its way to her throat and escaped. Yoshino yawned in tandem.

"Well, looks like Temari and I are exhausted. You can do the dishes as punishment for not telling me anything about Temari before she came." Yoshino smiled at her son.

"Wha..?" Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest, but realised it was futile; he would end up doing the dishes regardless. "Fine," he said as the two women made their way to the living room.

"You've trained him better than I thought," Yoshino said to Temari as she put her arm around her and guided her to the sofa. "I have to say, you're not what I expected from Ino's rather crude descriptions. Of course, you are as beautiful as she said, but you have just the right spirit Shikamaru needs. Thank you for being in his life."

Temari was flustered. She never expected to receive a compliment from the tough Nara matriarch; let alone one as nice as that. "Thank you, Mrs. Nara, but I'm very much the lucky one. Thanks to your son I've been able to feel a happiness that I haven't felt since I was a child. He's helped me fill a gap in my life that has been there so long I forgot it existed."

Yoshino smiled sadly at the young woman she saw in front of her. "I've seen first-hand what impact losing a parent has on a child. I'm very impressed with your maturity and strength, which no doubt you didn't have any choice but to develop; however, I firmly believe everyone needs a parent-figure in their life. It's the reason I never let Shikamaru see my sadness. I don't want him to feel like he should take care of me when in reality it is the other way around. How you've managed all these years without one, I have no idea."

Temari liked the way Yoshino looked at her; with nothing but respect and care, not a shred of pity in sight. She felt like she could talk to her. "Well, it hasn't been easy. When you put your body through a lot it becomes calloused; it's the same with your emotions. I didn't honestly believe I would love someone again, but I've been pleasantly surprised. To be honest, I wasn't close to my father, but as for my mother I still feel that gap in everything I do. She would have loved meeting Shikamaru, or seeing me happy. I've never had someone to stop me feeling that space. I mean, I have my brothers but it's not the same as having a mom. I guess just like you aren't emotional in front of Shikamaru, I'm not emotional in front of them; I've brought them up."

"Well, now you do. I might not be your mother but if ever you need advice from a woman, I'm here. You've been alone long enough, my dear, now it's time for you to feel loved."

"I hope you're not excluding me from this." Shikamaru walked back into the room rubbing his hands with a dishcloth.

The two women laughed. "Of course not, I'll take all the love I can get." Temari grabbed his hand as he perched on the armrest next to her.

"What happened to the 'no touching' rule?" he smirked.

"Well, I think your mom broke that first."

They said their goodbyes and got given a whole basket full of leftovers. As Temari waved her way out of the door, Yoshino grabbed her son's arm. "If you're as smart as we've raised you to be," she whispered, "you'll know you can't mess this up. Clear?"

For once Shikamaru didn't mind his mom's nagging. "You think I would have brought her to dinner if I didn't?"