Chapter 68

Yoshino Nara

Yoshino Nara had been getting used to her son keeping irregular hours since he had been appointed as the advisor to the Hokage. She couldn't be more proud of him and how far he had come.

A few days before, her son had told her about a girl that he really liked from another village. She wasn't exactly sure how to react, although she couldn't hide that she was surprised. Shikamaru had always been the type of kid that she had to get after to do anything, much like her husband Shikaku. Lately though, she had seen a change in her son. He seemed more driven than before, more willing to work without being asked. 'Maybe he is growing up to become a man after all.' She thought.

Shikamaru came home late in the evening and she had been sitting in the kitchen, drinking some tea before bed.

He stopped into the kitchen and sat down to talk with her before going to bed himself.

"Hi Shika, how are you doing?" She asked as she moved the cup to her lips.

In his nervousness he cut to the chase, "mom can Temari come and meet you tomorrow night?"

Yoshino was taken by surprise and wasn't prepared to have guests tomorrow. There was some work she'd need to do before she was ready.

"I'll help, just tell me what you need," Shikamaru could read her thoughts on her face.

"Okay, that sounds fine. I do need to go to the market in the morning though." She added as she thought out loud. "I'll have a list of things for you to do here in the morning," she smiled as she got up from the table and went off to bed.

In the morning Yoshino had left the list on the table as promised and headed out to the market. She got a few things that she thought might be good and headed home to cook them that afternoon. In the evening, Shikamaru came home with Temari.

The first thing she noticed about Temari was her beauty, then her sand village headband, followed by her sharp eyes. Yoshino also had been trained as a ninja and often had the same look in her eyes when she was taking in information.

Shikamaru introduced them to each other and they both bowed and sat down at the table to talk. Yoshino set the plates up and Shikamaru brought them to the table.

"I understand that you fought in the last war, that you worked with my husband," Yoshino began.

"Yes, he was an amazing strategist and fought bravely." She bowed her head as she talked about Shikamaru's father, knowing it must not be easy for his mother.

"I understand that you and my son are making plans for the future already. Don't you feel that it's pretty soon to be doing that?" She asked, putting Temari on the spot.

Temari considered this for a second before she replied. Shikamaru sighed deeply next to her. "No, I really don't." She said as she took a bite of the food Yoshino made. "The hoops we have to jump through will take time, better to have it started than to wait."

This logic made sense to Yoshino and she nodded her head. Shikamaru was glad that Temari was holding up so well to his mother's questions.

"This is really good," Temari added as she quickly ate. She hadn't had food that tasted this good before.

"Yeah, she's a really good cook," Shikamaru added as he took a few more bites.

Yoshino smiled. "Thank you, you guys don't have to eat so fast. I can try to make one of your favorites sometime, what does your mom usually cook?" She wondered.

Shikamaru looked at Temari and then back to his mom. Temari hadn't lifted her head as the question caught her off guard.

She kept her head down as she replied. "My mother passed away after giving birth to my youngest brother when I was about four years old." She replied. "I haven't had any favorites in a long time," she said as she lifted her head and looked at Yoshino, "until tonight." Temari didn't smile but spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Shikamaru hadn't asked her about her mother and father. He remembered her saying that her father was kazekage before Gaara was, but there wasn't much more he knew about her background. It made him sad to picture her growing up without a mother.

Judging by the look on Yoshino's face the thought made her sad too. "I'm sorry to hear that." She replied, at a loss for something more substantial to say.

Temari nodded. "Have you told your mom your plan yet Shikamaru?" She asked, changing the subject.. "It's really a very good one," she added to his mother.

"No, I haven't heard it yet," she said as she looked at her son, letting him know she wanted to hear.

Temari sat up in her chair as he started to explain, smiling through is explanation.

Yoshio was very impressed with his plan. "It sounds like you've considered this well Shikamaru," she added encouragingly. She could see in Temari's countenance that she had deep feelings for her son and that she liked him. So far she liked Temari too, knowing she had saved her son from one of the sound ninja and also because of her honesty during dinner.

"I'm sure Shikamaru has told you how I feel about marriages between the villages…" she mentioned casually to Temari.

"Yes, he has," Temari answered.

"Yet you came to meet me anyways and decided to try to get to know me?" Her respect for Temari was building. She couldn't deny that the girl had real strength of character.

"I figured that a man as smart as Shikamaru would have an equally smart mom. I also figured you would have your reasons. I don't mean to pry but I am curious to what those reasons are." Temari asked her, wondering whether or not to expect an answer.

Shikamaru looked at his mom, also wondering what she might say.

"Well, you're right, I do have my reasons." She paused for a moment, thinking of how to word what she wanted to say. "My husband and I, as well as Shikamaru, have undertaken many covert missions, as I'm sure you have in your own village. As a shinobi it isn't your place to argue about a mission, but just to complete it." Temari nodded to show she was following along. "Say that you have a mission where you had to neutralize a threat, or a shinobi from an enemy village was sent here to neutralize you. What would you do if several years later you found yourself living in the same village as someone who tried to take your or a family members life? Better yet, what if you were neighbors and had a constant reminder about it?"

Temari let her point sink in for a moment before replying. "I see your point but I have another side for you to consider."

"Sure," Yoshino replied skeptically.

"For those people coming to live in a new village, it's not such an easy transition. They are giving up their own customs and traditions to be a part of someone else's. They also will be treated like an outsider no matter how long they live in the village. During the war, it was difficult to unite with other nations because that meant showing them our juitsu and being more vulnerable to our enemies. But, it also meant that we had to give up the view of being enemies and put our lives in each other's hands, as you would a comrade." Temari tried to explain.

"If you don't make an effort to have the adjustment period and for the awkwardness to get out of the way, you can't build your future. Over the course of generations the village will meld these peoples together and the youth will have no notion of being separate as they were before…" Shikamaru added to the conversation.

"That's not necessarily true, look at what happened with the Uchiha family? Judging by what you say it appears you've learned nothing from that." Yoshino countered.

"Uchiha?" The name rolled off of Temari's lips, she wasn't sure where she had heard it before. "Isn't that Sasuke guys's name? Naruto's friend?"

"Exactly, and even during the war he became a traitor to the Leaf, just like his older brother. What a waste," Yoshino said as she shook her head.

"It's a complicated situation," Shikamaru added. "You'll never have the perfect solution for some people, but what I can tell you is that for the other 99% of the villagers that settled here had no issues getting along, look how our family adapted to the Yamanaka and Acamichi clans." He eyed his mom as he kept eating.

She remembered what it was like to be young and want everyone to get along. Maybe peace would again be possible some day if there were more people like this young couple sitting in front of her. She decided they had talked about this long enough and was ready to change the subject.

"I can tell my son really likes you a lot. When you left back to your village he moped around the house until he got the mission to return to the sand." She mentioned casually while looking at her son.

Shikamaru started to blush with embarrassment. "Mom, do you think you could quit," he said through gritted teeth.

Temari giggled. "I was happy that he returned," she looked over at Shikamaru and was also blushing.

Yoshino could see that Temari and her son were truly in love and it made her happy, even if he was too young to get married.

"Temari?" Yoshino asked, breaking up the moment between her and Shikamaru.

"Yes?" she replied.

"I'd like to help you plan the wedding, if that's okay?" She offered.

Shikamaru smiled and Temari's eyes welled up with tears as she nodded her head. Yoshino's approval was one she wanted the most beside her brother's and she just received it.