Title: Sweet Release

Summary: At one point in time he would've killed himself before getting involved with a troublesome woman like her, but now it's all he could dream of. She was everything to him, but he had foolishly let her slip through his careless fingers. ShikaTema

Author: Bibliophile Nincompoop

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All marriages are happy. It's the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble.

~Raymond Hull

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Chapter 4: Hello Kumokagure

The blonde wasn't much of a morning person, though she woke relatively early every day. She could be considered a grouch or a raging psychopath when she awoke from her beauty sleep, which she was admittingly. But this morning was different, she was so warm and felt so secure, that she never wanted to leave the spot she was in. But unfortunately the call of nature told her to get up. So when her eyes forced open, the blonde was quite surprised to see Shikamaru still holding on to her, the most peaceful smile she'd ever seen on his face, it made her cold dying heart flutter. It took her awhile to force her way out of the man's dead grip arms. Temari had to kick him out of the bed, draggin her in tow.

Naturally he woke up grumpy, as any person would with that kind of wake up call. And directing his foul moud towards her then made her grumpy. So needless to say they were not happy, especially with each other.

Shikamaru grunted, he hated this mission already. He took in great gasps of air, if he were to take a normal breath he'd find himself squirming on the floor like a fish out of water. Every step he took felt like forever, he looked up and saw that Temari was already twenty feet, give or take, ahead of him. How can she be doing so well? Konoha is about fifty feet above sea level, and Suna is well way below sea level. He felt incompetent, just like he always does around her. He felt his body swaying back and forth, and he felt light headed. But he wasn't about to tell Temari that, he was a man.

Not only that but earlier his was practically boasting that he'd have to carry her up the mountain, because she would be to fatigued. He huffed while taking a few more steps, and dropped to his knees. His head was swimming. Nothing really made sense, his vision was blurry and his hearing dulled into mumbles.

"Shikamaru are you ok?" She looked back at him, not even in the least bit fazed.

The now low pony-tailed ninja opened his mouth to reply, but his head felt someone smashing the sides of his head in. He saw Temari running to him, her face full of worry. Why was she worried?

"Shikamaru, wake up." He looked up and saw Temari, she had the mightiest smirk on her face.

Shit I fainted, I mean um I passed out, either way you say it doesn't make is sound manly.

"Do you think you can climb on my back, we are almost at the gates." He lifted his body and forced himself onto her back.

Now this is even worse than passing out! This is pitiful. I hate irony.

Mountains suck.

"Hey I guess with us pretending to be married instead of me calling you crybaby, I can just call you baby." After the words slipped her mouth, she clamped her jaw shut. A dark blush spread across her face.

Shikamaru fought of a blush of his own, and sarcastically remarked, "Well I guess I can still call you troublesome woman too."

Temari lifted her hands in the air, and helpless Shikamaru fell back on his rear. "Humph! I guess you can walk your altitude sickness ass the rest of the way."

An audible gurgle came from the ebony haired man, "I think I'm going to be sick."

The blonde rushed to his side, pouring the rest of her water into his mouth. "Swallow."

She forced him on his side and rested his head on her lap, "If you throw up on me I kill you."

Temari pulled out a small sack she had gotten from the shop owner, revealing two lunch boxes. "Here open up."

She fed him some rice, trying to build his strength. Its not always wise to feed a person who is going to throw up, but she'd already threatened him. He knew better than to disobey her.

He forced himself to look up at her, he could already see her. Her face would have that 'you're such an ass' look, her eyes could be glassy from his verbal jab. But instead... her face had the 'you stupid idiotic man' look and her eyes were practically on fire. Their eyes met, aquamarine to earthy brown. He watched her eyes go from hate, to sadness, to defeat.

"Do you feel like your going to vomit?" She asked, looking anywhere but at him.

"No." Shikamaru sat up, he actually felt much better. He stood and brushed the dirt from his pants and offered his hand to Temari. She gladly took it. "We should be there really soon."

"Who are you?" Came a foreign voice. Shikamaru and Temari turned quickly to the man. He was taller than both of them, his skin an almond color with matching hair and eyes. He wore a Kumogakure headband.

"I am Shikamaru, and this is my wife Temari. We are moving from the Earth country, we have all our papers." Shikamaru grabbed a thick stack of papers from his bag and handed it to the man.

Temari gave the man a bashful smile, playing the part of the clueless wife. The cloud ninja smiled and handed back the papers, "Go ahead, you'll meet an escort at the gate."

"Thank you so much." Temari batted her eyelashes.

"My pleasure ma'am." He said with a smirk on his lips.

The duo walked up a now clear path to the gates. Shikamaru whispered to his pseudo wife, "Laying it on a little thick don't you think?"

"Are you jelous my dear idiot husband?" Temari hid her grin.

Shikamaru's brow raised, "Of course not, Dear."

They made their way to the large wooden gates, and once again they were stopped by a burly man with a dark completion. "You aren't spies are you?"

Shikamaru and Temari looked at each other and answer, "Chu yea right, like that's even possible."

The man smiled, his deep voice echoed loudly, "Good. I am Mutaro, I will be showing you around a bit."

Entering the village was different than both Konoha and Suna. The people seemed to move slowly, taking their time. They seemed friendly, but no one extended a hello or a welcome. Other than the glancing eyes, no one paid attention to them. Temari noticed that not many women were on the streets, and the ones she did see were patrolling ninja. It was strange to say the least. The buildings seemed to be made of some kind of rock, and wood. The stone structures shot straight up past the looming clouds, No wonder its called the Village hidden in the clouds. Directly in front of them several hundred yard ahead, was a gigantic curvy building sitting on the mountain, which was probably no doubt the Raikage's office. The ground was a big puzzle piece of concrete, with a nice fountain in the middle of the road every now and then. It seemed like this village was more about appearance than personality. Both of which Konoha had, and Suna had neither. Random stairways lead up into the air, leading where the two had no clue.

"As you can see our people are a little weary of outsiders, but as soon as they get to know you you'll be having dinner at someone elses house everyday of the week. And it's very easy to get lost here, so be on your guard." Mutaro chuckled. "We have a ways till your house, you ordered a very old home away from shopping district."

"Yes," Temari patted Shikamaru's chest and smiled lovingly at him, "my husband and I enjoy our time away from it all, alone."

The darker man chuckled and winked at Shikamaru, "You lucky dog."

The ebony haired man chuckled as a blush darkend his cheeks. Damn you Temari.

It took them about five minutes from the main district to their new home. It was a dainty little two story home, just like the other homes it seemed to be made out of a thick stone. There was a small green lawn covered with white daisys, corralled by a mid-thigh high picket fence. It looked like a little cottage from a fairy tale, which secretly made Temari giddy, though she would never tell a soul that. They were quite a ways from another house, but they were grateful for that.

"Well, here are your keys." Mutaro dropped a single gold key into Shikamaru's palm, "The Raikage will see you tomorrow at eight, in his office."

Shikamaru nodded as he wrapped his arm around his new wife, "Thank you so much for the tour. We hope to see you soon."

The dark man nodded "Oh and Miss... I wouldn't suggest you walking alone around in the main districts, some stange happenings have been going on."

"Thank you." She bowed polietly, "Goodbye."

The dark man walked away waving his hand silently behind him.

"Well honey," Temari smirked, "lets go see our new home."

"Hmmm I feel like I've been here before." The blonde said as she looked around the house.

Shikamaru just gaped at the house, "The floor plan is just like my mom and dad's place. That's a little creepy..."

"Its really dusty, it kind of reminds me of a haunted house." Temari chuckled and made a ghostly sound, "Woohoooo."

"You're having too much fun with this." The obsidian haired man sighed. "I need to take a nap, I am feeling a little sick again."

Temari scoffed at him, "Don't you dare think that, that hair brained excuse is going to get you out of helping me clean this house!" Temari stopped and thought for a moment, and smiled wickedly, "Okay my big burly hubby."

"Oh no what is it?" The man backed away.

"Well I was just thinking... If you don't want to clean house with me then you can go buy some food in town." Temari chuckled, "Go socialize a bit."

"Thats it?" Shikamaru gaped at her, "No scrubbing the toilet with my own toothbrush?"

"Nope. Just go get some groceries."

The man was already out the door, "Bye!"

Temari chuckled, while she opened all the doors in the house. "Have fun shopping right before dinner, when the shopping district is the busiest."

The blonde went from room to room cleaning, cheating a little, ok cheating alot. Temari had used her wind, which with a great amount of practice she could use without a fan, but still didn't do any damage, and would blow out all the dust from the room. After that she just splashed water everywhere and scrubbed, taking her loving time, because her new husband would be gone for quite a while.

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Yes I do realize that this chapter is rather short and boring if I might add. But what do you expect from this kind of situation? But anyways I promise that the next chapter will be much longer, and some more romance, plus Shikamaru is running out of... well "steam" and looks like he is needing a refil already. And yes I changed the summary, because the old one wasn't attracting many...