The bright lights of the dressing room managed to make her sun-kissed skin radiant in its embrace, as the brunette man's hand wandered atop an army of brushes, finally picking up one, he dipped it in powder and gently touched her face with the soft hairs on the brush.
"You look rejuvenated," he commented, as his brush glided on her face.
Temari arched an eyebrow as Kankuro dipped the brush into the powder again. "Are you telling me that I look old? I am twenty-five, Kankuro."
"No, not that kind of rejuvenated," he said with a smirk, his lined eye thinning into one dark line. "I mean, you look really happy and stuff, are you seeing someone?"
Temari smiled secretly but hid her amusement well, she closed her eye as her brother approached with a smaller brush. "Nah."
"Nah, huh?" Kankuro smirked as he took a step back and stared at her face. "This will do."
"Kankuro, it's a masquerade-themed ball." Temari rolled her eyes. "I don't see the effort."
"Well, do you trust me or not?" He sucked his teeth. "As the owner and creative director of Marioneta cosmetics, I know what's best."
"Alright, it's your field," Temari shook her head exasperatedly. "Thanks for dolling me up as always."
"I am going to pamper myself when you have your fun tonight, bye." Kankuro walked out of her room as Tenten entered, aptly dressed in a knee-length black dress and kitten heels.
"Temari-san," she said with a smile. "The makeup is definitely on point, let me help you in the dress."
Temari frowned as Tenten pulled the plunging red dress out of the hanger bag.
"I don't think red is my colour," Temari muttered as she slipped inside.
"Every colour will be your colour," Tenten smiled as she zipped the dress up. "You should take a look in the mirror." Tenten walked out of the room as she said, closing the door behind her.
Temari stared in the mirror, her perfectly painted red lips arched into a smile.
Her hair was done into an elegant updo, leaving two strands of her hair to frame her face. Her makeup was perfect - the sharply painted eyeliner and blazing red lip matched her red dress more than she thought it would, the diamond earrings sparkled in the dressing room lights. What startled herself a little was the plunging neckline of her dress, her cleavage displaying itself proudly as the red dress hugged around her curvaceous figure.
"Alright," she said to herself softly, smiling at the woman in the mirror.
"Oh and by the way," Tenten walked back inside. "Someone sent you a bunch of flowers."
Temari arched an eyebrow as she took the bouquet from Tenten. She opened the card as she put the flowers on her dressing table.
She shrugged as she glanced through and closed the card; she shook her head as she dropped it into the bin.
"Who's that?" Tenten asked as Temari shook her head.
"Not someone important," she smirked. "Is it time?"
"Yes, it's almost seven." Tenten passed Temari her silver clutch. "The driver is downstairs."
"Alright then," Temari smiled. "Let's go."
The crystal chandelier glittered in the floodlights. The ballroom was filled with men and women, dressed in tailored suits in different shades of colour and women in different dresses. The music played as she entered, her dark grey, crystal-studded mask glittered as it covered the top half of her face; her red lip curved into a brilliant smile; she glided through the ballroom like a seductive vixen, flaunting her golden blonde hair and perfect figure in each proud stride.
As she did, men and women moved out of her way; her glances moved from side to side until someone stood in her way. She looked up and saw him, hiding his face behind a white mask and dressed in a well-tailored light gray tuxedo, the man smiled and looked at her.
"May I have a dance with the lovely lady?" He raised a gloved hand, smiling as his pale eyes locked with her sparkling green ones.
"Sure," she smiled, as she placed her hand in his. He led her to the center as the music played on, his hand rested upon her waist as she placed her hand on his shoulder. They twirled and swayed as the music goes on.
"Do you like the flowers?" He asked as he twirled her around.
"I prefer arrangements more than bouquets." She smirked; he caught her again.
"I would note that down," Temari said nothing to that comment.
There was a change in music, as Neji twirled her around once again, a sweeping shadow emerged from their side and took hold of her hand.
She gasped slightly, her leg twirled as she almost falls on her back, then someone caught her.
Her gaze was fixated as the mask-clad man smiled at her, holding her by the waist.
She smiled as he pulled her up gracefully, looking over his shoulder; she could see the man she just danced with reaching out and retracting his hand in frustration.
"Forgive me," his voice was cool, but relaxed - just the way she liked it. "I couldn't control myself."
She grinned at him for a brief moment. "Can you ever?" Arching an eyebrow behind her mask, he placed his hand on her waist, pulling her closer.
"I cannot," he said with a smirk, as Temari playfully dug her nails into his back and sighed softly.
She could her abdomen touching his, he leaned forward and whispered into her ear.
"Don't you like flowers?" He said. "I am sure Hyuga Neji only sends his best."
She laughed, gently shaking her head. "I really do like arrangements more than bouquets, besides," she looked down at their feet and shot a glance as she jerked her head upwards, gazing into his eyes.
"Flowers are nothing if they are not from someone special." He chuckled after that comment, gently soothing the tips of her fingers.
"How do you feel about this pretentious event?" He asked, his magnetic voice sending a chill down her spine. "Where everyone pretends to not know each other, hiding behind these flimsy masks and putting an alternate ego, while we all know who exactly we are dancing with, talking with, flirting with?"
"What do you think?" She shot back, her fingers dancing on the curve of his shoulder.
He grinned, twirling her around and catching her again. "Troublesome."
She laughed, she blinked and said. "Great minds," she swayed and he followed. He arched an eyebrow, licking his lips, he pulled her closer.
"Let's get out here." She grinned, as he held her hand and pulled her into the crowd.
"Where are we going?" She muttered under her breath, as they travelled through the crowd almost seamlessly.
"Out of this troublesome place." He said with a smirk. "And to some place where we can be more private."
She shifted anxiously in her seat, he had her blindfolded with a piece of red satin.
"Are we there yet?" She asked impatiently, only to have him tap onto her hand gently in a reassuring manner.
The car vibrated as it rages on, she knew that Shikamaru would not do something crazy, but then, what he had done just now was not like what he usually would do. Something was not quite the same about him.
The car pulled to an abrupt stop. Temari held her breath as she heard him exiting the car, the door closed behind him.
She could feel the breeze brushing against her, as he held her hand.
She followed him, she felt that they were walking indoors, as the door closed behind him.
Slowly, he undone the blindfold, Temari kept her eyes closed, slowly adjusting to the light.
As she opened her eyes, she found herself at a seaside bungalow, the room was lit dimly by the lights inside.
She turned around, only to see Shikamaru, his face still covered by the mask.
"You are different," Temari said, partly surprised, partly confused by his strange yet seductive behaviour.
"Since we are all pretending to be someone we're not tonight," he said, holding her by the waist as his hands began to wander across her body. "I'm just indulging myself a little."
He pressed a kiss on the side of her neck, each small kiss he planted gave her a little static.
Seamlessly, he moved his hand to her back and swept her up off her feet.
Temari looked at him, the coolness that lingered around him frightened her a little.
"Shikamaru?" She called her name, he turned his head and looked at her.
"I want to take a shower," she said.
"Sure," he said, slowly putting her down. "Take your time, I will get something for you to change into."
She kicked off her heels and held them by her hand, making her way through, she reached the bathroom.
She found herself surprised by the toiletries inside, gently she removed the make up and stepped into the shower, staring at the tile wall, she tried to make sense of the situation that she was in.
Something is different with Shikamaru, something must be wrong.
She wrapped herself in a large white towel as she stepped outside.
Temari found her way to the master's bedroom, inside, she found him there, standing with his torso naked, looking out of the window, a string of smoke lingering like a soft fog.
She walked up slowly, wrapping her arms around his naked abdomen.
He squashed the cigarette butt into the ashtray, as he turned around, he pulled her towel-wrapped body close and enclosed her into a tight embrace.
"Are you okay?" She asked out of concern, he said nothing but buried his face into her still drenched hair.
"I don't know what got over me," he muttered, soothing the curve of her back as he did. "Sorry if I scared you."
Temari snuggled closer to his neck, shaking her head a little. "What's wrong?"
"I had to pull that demeanor in front of Neji," he said, lifting his head and staring into her green eyes, basking in the moonlight, he touched her face lightly. "But the way he looked at you, and how smug he looked at that ball of his - I wished I could gauge his eyes out."
Temari smiled a little, pinching his ear. He scowled a little.
"So that's what happened, you are jealous." Temari sighed exasperatedly. "You had me worried," she said. "I thought something was wrong with you."
"Something is wrong," he said. He took hold of her hand and placed it in front of his left chest. "Every time, when you're not by my side, something is wrong right here."
Temari rolled her eyes, blushing a little as she slid her hand out of his. "Cheesy," she sneered, shaking herself off from his embrace.
She sat herself down at the dressing table and plugged in the hair dryer; Shikamaru walked up behind her and took hold of the hair dryer.
Gently, he ran his hand through her blonde hair, drying it bit by bit. Temari sat there obediently, staring at the mirror, as he dried each strand of her hair.
"Aren't you going to take a shower?" She asked with an arched eyebrow, as he finished drying the last bit of her hair.
"I barely sweated just now," he said.
She smiled and stood up, taking hold of his hand as she did. "Let's go to bed then."
Shikamaru eyed her, arching an eyebrow. "You are wearing nothing but a towel."
She smiled seductively. "You've seen everything already, why so shy?"
He shook his head as he reached over, and shoved a t-shirt into her hands.
"I don't want you to catch a cold." He smirked, as he turned around.
Temari threw the t-shirt over herself, the hem scantily covering her lower body.
She slid into the covers as he did.
Turning around, she found him staring straight into her eyes.
"Don't you have work tomorrow?" She asked out of pure concern.
"I took the day off tomorrow," he said. "What about you? Your clutch was vibrating like crazy - your manager must be going crazy now that you've gone missing with some stranger."
Temari stuck out her tongue, before grinning widely. "You know what, I am going to take the day off tomorrow, let's just hang."
"Really?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah," she said as she snuggled herself against his chest. "And you know what?"
"What?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled closer.
"Dark, mysterious Shikamaru is cool," she bit her lip a little, before leaning forward and pressing a swift kiss onto his chin. He looked at her as she smiled triumphantly. "But I think I like lazy ass Shikamaru just a bit more."
He smiled and pressed a chaste kiss onto her forehead in return. "Troublesome."
Slowly he closed his eyes, feeling anchored with her in his arms.
Author's note:
Another chapter! I hope you enjoy this chapter :3 I have to add some drama - I can't do silly interactions all the time (its not really Shikatema anyway, there has to be some drama) hahah anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this story! Thanks for the love and reviews xoxo
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