While I am developing the relationship between Naruto and Hinata I'm also working on developing the one between Shikamaru and Temari. Going forward, their stories will be intermixed but there will be still plenty more to come. :)

Chapter 47

Shikamaru and Temari

As soon as he followed Temari out the door he hoped to find something to talk to her about. The only things he could think to talk to her about were things right in front of them, it was harder to forget what to say when he had a visual reminder. He stayed behind her by a few paces, she said she was leading him to go see Gaara but he wasn't sure why.

She stopped at the front of large red doors, the doors to the kazekage's office. Before she opened them she stopped to talk to Shikamaru for the first time after verifying how he felt about her.

"Shikamaru, we're going to see my brother and talk to him about my returning to the leaf, are you sure this is what you want." She asked.

Shikamaru's eyes were wide, she was leaving this up to him? "Yes," he said and she started to open the door "but," he started, and she let go of the door so it would close and he started to blush.

"Well," she asked, waiting.

"Is this what you want?" He asked her.

She smiled, "Kind of," she replied.

He had a crest fallen look on his face "Kind of," he repeated "what do you mean?" he asked.

Her smile turned into a smirk "I wish you'd just tell me why you stopped me, obviously you wanted to say something, what is it?"

"How long do you plan to stay," he asked her.

"Probably until the rebuild is complete," she added

"That's the problem," he faltered and dropped his head, "I um…think that's too soon." He gulped when he finished and looked up at Temari. She was standing looking at him with her hands on her hips.

"Well how long do you think I should stay," she questioned him. "I need to come home some time," she replied.

"Why?" he asked her in a sad tone.

"What?" she walked away from the doors and took two steps closer to Shikamaru. "Because I live here, this is where I belong." She answered.

"No, Temari," he took a deep breath, he liked her a lot but she also kind of scared him sometimes, he didn't know how she would react to what he had to say next. "You belong with me, I know you can already see that or you wouldn't be in such a big rush to come back with me. The problem is when you leave to come back to the sand I don't know when I will get to see you again."

Her smile faltered while she dropped her hands from her hips, her guard was down, she wasn't sure if she liked that. "I also know my place is by your side Shikamaru."

He stared at her and took the image of her in. Even though she felt vulnerable for the first time, he saw that she was more beautiful than she had ever been to him. He liked all the sides she had, the soft and the rougher ones.

"I also know that marriages don't happen between villages," she reluctantly dropped the 'M' word, if anything were going to scare him off…

"I was thinking about that too," he admitted, "But your bother is Kazekage, maybe if we spoke to him, if I spoke to him…" Shikamaru mentioned.

"Are you serious Shikamaru, you want to march in and tell my brother that 'although you haven't heard of this before I like your sister and want to marry her?'" she exhaled deeply "what do you think he would say?" Her hands were back on her hips again.

Shikamaru smiled at her in return "Only one way to find out," he replied as he grabbed the handles to the doors and pulled them open.