Chapter 67
Shikamaru and Temari
Shikamaru was walking back to his house when he saw Temari walking outside of the hospital on her way back home. He wasn't close enough for her to see him so he walked over to her and surprised her.
"Hey, Temari, how are you feeling?" He asked as he smiled, "I was just coming to see you," he added.
"Shikamaru," She said with surprise, not expecting to see him. He hadn't joined the work group she was on and she wondered what might be going on with him. "Would you like to go have some ramen?" she asked in a sweeter than usual tone.
Her tone cued him in that something was wrong and he wondered what was going on. "Yeah, sure, let's go." He replied as he walked right next to her, not holding her hand. He had to be careful with any public displays of affection now that he had a clear mission regarding the elders.
When they got to the ramen shop they sat down and ordered and then Temari began.
"I haven't seen you in a couple of days, how have things been going?" She noticed he hadn't held her hand on the way to the shop and wondered what was going on.
"I know I haven't been around in a couple of days, and I didn't hold your hand when we walked here. I wanted to, but I have a good reason." He replied as their ramen was sat down in front of them.
She continued to stare at him and waited for his reply.
He nodded and continued. "Right," he said as he explained his strategy to her. When he got to the part of the story where he revealed that he was going to be Kakashi's advisor Temari felt defeated.
"We may have had a chance, but now, how can it be possible? Don't get me wrong, this is a very good thing for you, but it just turns out to be a very bad thing for us."
"I agree, it's bittersweet right now. I've considered this in my plan though and it actually gives us an advantage." He replied as he told her the rest of the plan.
When he was finished she was impressed. "It looks like you've covered everything." She said in between bites.
"Almost everything," Shikamaru acknowledged a hole in his own planning.
"Almost? What's missing?" Temari was considering his plan from many angles and couldn't figure out what he was talking about.
"You still need to meet my mom," he replied.
"Yes, your plan had almost everything but that. Why is that?" she asked. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She joked.
Shikamaru swallowed hard and looked at Temari. She was smiling at him but when he didn't smile back she stopped and gave him a quizzical look.
"What is it?" she asked.
"She's just, very opinionated. And I'm not sure she agrees with what we're doing. I told her about us and how we met and she seems happy for us, but I can tell there's something she is holding back. Whatever it is, I'm thinking she'll probably want to talk about it with you directly."
"Not everyone is going to agree with this Shikamaru, and I'm prepared for that. I don't mind if she has questions for me either, I kind of expected it." She replied nonchalantly while she finished her noodles.
"I know you're right, but my mom is the one person I hoped would agree." He added with a disappointed look.
"Have you asked her why she doesn't? Maybe she has her reasons?" Temari wanted to try to understand why his mom might feel the way she did.
"No, I didn't ask her." He picked up his bowl and sipped the rest of the broth.
"Let's meet tomorrow," she offered. "That way you don't need to worry about it anymore and you can go forward with your plans." She didn't like to see that this was bothering him as much as it was.
"Tomorrow? If you're sure…" He grabbed her hand under the table and held it for a minute.
"Shikamaru," Temari said as she pulled her hand away. "We have a lot riding on this, we can't afford to make a scene or cause suspicion." He would have been unhappy at her pulling her hand away, but he was much happier that she wasn't going to risk it. It showed him she loved him without having to say it.
He smiled at her as he pulled out the cash to pay for their ramen.
"I'm getting mine," she said as his face looked disappointed. "Don't worry, it won't be this way forever." She smiled back at him as he resisted the urge to kiss her.