Chapter 58
In sickness and in health
The next morning Shikamaru came by where Konkuro was staying to pick up Temari. He wanted to head out to the work groups with her but there was something they had to plan for first; Shikamaru's mom.
He knocked on the door and Temari answered, she still looked half asleep.
"Hey Shikamaru, I'll be a few minutes and then we can go," she offered, her tone didn't sound that great either.
"You don't sound very good Temari, maybe you're sick?" He asked.
She didn't have any reply at first but a sneeze. "No, I feel fine, I'm almost ready."
Shikamaru wasn't going to take her to the work group and wondered what he could do to help her be less stubborn. She seemed fine yesterday so this must have come on all of a sudden. Her face had lost color and she didn't have any energy. He walked into the temporary apartment she was sharing with Kankuro and closed the door.
He waited for her to come out of the room before trying to push her to stay. She came out 20 minutes later dressed and ready to go.
"Before we go Temari can we just sit and talk," he asked her.
"Sure, we have a few minutes," she offered. In actuality they were already late but could join up at anytime.
She sat next to him and he pulled her head down to his chest and pulled her closer to him. He ran his fingers through her hair and after a few minutes she became so comfortable that she fell back asleep. Shikamaru sat there for hours until Kankuro came back for lunch. He still wasn't so loud that he woke Temari up and Shikamaru was pinned down by her sleepy body so he couldn't get up.
"Umm…what's going on here?" Kankuro asked Shikamaru.
Shikamaru wasn't sure how much Temari had told her brother, so he decided to give the least amount of info possible. "She's sick and didn't want to stay home, I helped her to fall back asleep." He replied.
"Couldn't you have used a genjuitsu? Why are your arms around her?" Kankuro asked, his tone showing that Temari hadn't had a chance to tell him.
"I don't have any genjuitsu," was all he replied. He didn't want to speak to why his arms were around her although he could understand why Konkuro might be upset, coming home to another village's shinobi holding his sister. Shikamaru took a deep breath and sighed "oh man," he thought "I don't want to explain this, what a drag." The uncomfortable look on his face gave his thoughts away.
Temari started to stir and she looked up to see Shikamaru, "how long have I been asleep," she asked him in a groggy voice.
"Just a few hours," Shikamaru replied, he was rigid and uncomfortable because of Kankuro.
"Shikamaru, what's wrong? Are you getting sick too?" She made a sad face at him.
"No…" Shikamaru began but was interrupted by Kankuro.
He stepped closer to his sister "Temari, what's going on here?"
"Nice, you could have warned me," she said to Shikamaru as she pulled herself up from him. She was still weak and had little energy. Shikamaru got up as well and kept his back to the wall. He saw the same glimpses in Kankuro's face that he had seen in Gaara's when Shikamaru had shared his feelings about Temari.
Kankuro stood with his arms crossed glaring at Shikamaru and waiting for Temari to explain.
"Well Kankuro, I was planning on talking to you about this today because you were asleep last night. I'm…" She faltered.
"Pregnant?" he offered.
"No you idiot, I was going to say 'in love.' What's your problem?" She yelled at him.
"Sorry, I'm really sorry Temari," he appoligized.
Shikamaru started laughing, he wasn't expecting the conversation to go the way it had.
"Well, it's a long story, but Shikamaru and I want to get married, but" Kankuro interrupted again.
"But that's forbidden Temari," he said with wide eyes.
"I know that, but we approached Gaara and he gave his blessing if Kakashi also agrees." She replied.
"Gaara did?" Kankuro sounded surprised. "He must have really taken to Shikamaru then…" he pointed out.
"He did actually, better than even I expected. Although you probably didn't notice, did you Shikamaru." She added.
"No, I can't say that I did." He was still sitting with his back against the wall. Kakuro noticed his stance.
"Hey, sorry about earier, I, uh, didn't know that you guys…you know…." Kankuro tried to explain.
"I can't blame you, you were probably more patient than I would have been in your situation, don't worry about it." Shikamaru wanted to get off on the right foot with his new brother in law. He could see that Temari and him were close.
"So have you guys set a date or anything?" Kankuro asked.
"Well, we still need approval from Kakashi, and then we're going to start dating. We don't want to get married right away." Temari added.
"That's kind of weird, if you already know you want to get married, why would you waste your time dating? But whatever makes you happy I guess." He tried to reason.
Temari had sat back down on the floor because she was tired of standing.
Shikamaru sat down next to her as he answered Kankuro. "Since we do come from different villages we don't want to think of it as possible until we know from the Hokage. And even then, we want to take our time to enjoy it, and not just rush into our destiny."
"Until you know it's possible? Do you guys not notice how you're acting?" he asked.
Both Temari and Shikamaru started blushing and then looked at each other. There was some truth to his question.
"Now that I know how she feels, I don't think there is any going back." He admitted.
"I hope you get the answer you want you guys." Kankuro offered. "I'm going to have to head back," he added reluctantly.
"Yeah, I probably should go too and let you rest," Shikamaru said to Temari.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure," he replied "I'll come by tomorrow morning." He smiled at her. "Let me help you to bed," he said as he watched her stand up. She didn't argue like she usually did.
She walked to her room and laid down in bed as he pulled the covers up. "Rest Temari, and I'll be back when you wake up tomorrow." He said as he bent down to kiss her forehead.
She smiled, "Night Shikamaru."
He turned and left with Kankuro and headed out to work on the village.