Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 4
Temari approached the sleeping Shikamaru. He looked like he had been watching clouds under the tree, but she couldn't be sure. It had taken her a little longer than she thought to set up for their dancing and partially reset her mind from their earlier "moment." Part of her just wanted to end everything for today, but then that would mean she was a coward. Temari of the Sand was anything but a coward.
"Shikamaru, wake up!" She lightly kicked his shin.
The black haired young man just ignored the nagging woman as she tried to wake him up again with another nudge. Finally, Temari got the brilliant idea of getting one of their water canteens. "Shika, this is the last warning. Get up now. We have more work to do!"
He ignored her yet again, mumbling something about she was the troublesome one who wanted a break.
True, he was right, but Temari wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. With a self-satisfied smile on her face, Temari pour the water over Shikamaru's head. He quickly rose up sputtering at her.
"Dammit, Temari! What was that for?"
"I told you to get up multiple times, crybaby, and you didn't listen to me." A smirk dominated her face. Now, things were feeling back to normal.
"Women…" Shikamaru growled dried off with a towel that she handed him.
Temari just rolled her eyes and walked off while Shikamaru shook his head and followed shortly after her.
What awaited Shikamaru surprised him. He saw Temari bent over fiddling with a radio trying to find the perfect station. While he was asleep, she had set up a traditional dancing floor among an area of enclosed trees to give the two some privacy.
'What is she playing at?' He asked himself as he tried to figure out the only, well one of the only wild cards in his life. His was another of his wild cards, but Temari could rival her at times.
Once she found the perfect station, she nodded in satisfaction. The blonde turned around the see Shikamaru curiously staring at her. It seemed their little stand off earlier didn't affect her as much as he thought, which disappointed the genius for some reason.
"Are you ready?" Temari asked as she walked up to Shikamaru.
He blushed slightly at her being this close to him, but he placed a look of boredom in his head, hoping that Temari wouldn't notice. "You're the teacher here, Tem. You tell me if we are ready to begin because if not I'm going back to cloud watching." He told her.
The blonde smirked as she grabbed Shikamaru hand and placed one on her hip and the other in her hand.
"Wh…what are we doing?" Shaking his head, Shikamaru asked again. "What is the dance that we are doing?"
"Well, the first one is a waltz. It's the most traditional one so it will be used the most." She told him matter-of-factly, but inwardly, she was enjoying watching him squirm.
He gulped. Heat radiated from his hand on her waist. Being this close to Temari did weird things to his heart. "Do we have to dance this close?"
"Shika, this is supposed to be a dance of lovers. It's teasing and seductive…" She replied as she stepped even closer.
"And I have to do this with a woman I don't even know?" He asked a rhetorical question, but what really bothered him was the fact that Temari probably danced this way with numerous nobles before.
"Yes, you do. I have done this many times whether I wanted to or not." She told him with a slight frown on her face just as his suspicious were confirmed. "But at least this time I don't mind."
That little fact made Shikamaru feel better. "Will you be dancing at this meeting then?"
"If the elders have it their way, then yes." She said with a slight laugh. Shikamaru furrowed his brow. "You have to understand, Shika, that I am the Kazekage's sister and one of his most trusted advisors."
"So, they're trying to marry you off already? You're not even twenty yet."
"I'm three years older than you, crybaby. To many, I'm an old maid even if I am a powerful kunoichi, but I don't mind." She said with a laugh. Then he instantly understood her words. She'd rather marry someone of her choosing rather than anything forced on her by the elders. Temari seemingly was a master at dancing around the elders' games.
"Now, enough of this pointless talk. Let's get to dancing." She told him with a troubling smile.
Shikamaru would have ran under other circumstance, but this was for a mission, right?
Slowly, Temari made Shikamaru stand up straight and made him follow the steps of her movement. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Temari kept repeating. It didn't take Shikamaru long to learn the count or take the lead from the blonde. They were twirling and spinning… and was that a smile forming on Shikamaru's face as they twirled faster and faster?
Little did the two nin notice that they were being watched. Kakashi sat on the tree branch trying to enjoy his Icha Icha novel, but the Fifth swore that if he didn't inform her of the surprising pet project then, all of his Icha Icha collection would be destroyed. He wished that Tsunade gave him a more interesting mission, but whatever the Hokage wanted, then the Hokage got. She was one beautiful, but scary woman after all. A shiver ran down his back as he thought of Sakura taking after her sensei. Two Tsunade's running around in the world was a dangerous thing.
"Better not make it three if Temari finds out." Kakashi murmured as he disappeared once again. The Hokage would be delighted in everything that he had observed.
Day two, Temari decided to drill the major noble families into Shimamura's head. He already knew the Leaf's by heart, but what about the nobles of all the 5 nations? He had to learn these, plus any important nobles or people who would be present that had relations to the 5 kages.
This was not something that Shikamaru enjoyed. He'd rather be writing a mission report instead of looking at pictures of privileged individuals who didn't have a clue how the world worked. Sure, having Temari lead the lesson wasn't bad because he enjoyed hearing her talk, but was it worth it?
Surely, he didn't have to learn everyone. Although with his memory and intelligence, Shikamaru was sure that he could talk his way out of any question that the nobles presented him.
A few hours into their study secession, Temari noticed how bored Shikamaru looked, which was worse than normal. She knew that he'd memorize these people without any issues, so maybe a break was in order. After all, they did have to practice his socialization and flirting skills with women. Kami knew he was lacking in that area unless he was teasing her.
"I think it's time for a mini break, Crybaby. You look like you can't stay awake another minute. Maybe some tea and food will help."
"You just want some dango…" He slightly growled at her smirk, but food seemed like to be a good option for him and some tea would help wake him up.
"I want more than that, Nara. I want to see how well you flirt." Temari demanded with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"WHAT?" The black-haired man asked in shock.
"Oh, don't what me!" She scoffed at him. "I want to see how well you function outside of anyone who isn't any of the girls that you know personally."
"If I flirted with any of them, half of them would kill me then the other half would ask if I was drunk." He murmured.
"For your training secession. You will practice your flirting while finding a meal, and I'll watch with great enjoyment. Once you talked to enough women, then we'll head back and discuss what you did wrong or right."
"Do we have to?" Shikamaru whined.
"Yes. You need to be able to flirt with a noble lady like you mean it, but we'd best start out with normal kunoichi or civilians." She replied with an evil grin and dragged off towards the heart of town.
Once they were situated in the food district, Temari abandoned Shikamaru with a smile. "Hey, where are you going?" He asked.
"To get me some dango and green tea." She replied, but then something caught her attention. Kakashi was standing at a nearby leaning against a stall wall reading. "Excuse me, Nara, I have a friend I need to go speak to."
With that, Shikamaru watched Temari walk towards Kakashi, who greeted her with a smile. You couldn't see the smile, but he knew just how the older jonin's eye twinkled when something amused him.
"Hey, Kakashi!" Temari greeted the silver haired man.
"Long time, no see Temari." Nothing missed Kakashi's view as he noticed Shikamaru not participating in Temari's little training exercise. There was a scowl on the young man's face as he observed the two. Instantly understanding her reasoning, Kakashi decided to play along.
"I think you're making someone jealous." Kakashi told the blonde as he leaned towards her.
"Good. Maybe it will get his ass in gear!" She stated with an evil laugh.
"Oh?" Kakashi silently asked.
"He's in training mode right now. I'm seeing how he does with women that he doesn't know."
"You're evil, Temari."
"You're not the first who told me that!" She said with an evil laugh. Shikamaru started hard at the duo until Temari made a shooing motion with her hand.
"He's going to strangle you after this is over with." Kakashi remarked with a crinkled eye.
The blonde shrugged her shoulders as if she didn't care. "Ah, I think you better go, Kakashi. He's not going to ask anyone out when he is too busy watching us." Kakashi nodded, but Temari placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will you tell Lady Tsunade that he is doing well."
Instantly, a white poof of smoke appeared where Kakashi once stood. Inwardly, Shikamaru was relieved that he didn't feel like he had to watch out for Temari. He knew some of the jonin around town liked nothing better to flirt with the younger ladies, and she was their type. The men liked a challenge.
Temari caught Shikamaru staring at her again, and she raised a blonde eyebrow. The man finally conceded to their silent war.
Dark eyes searched the premises for a willing victim until they landed on a black-haired girl from the crypto. 'Might as well,' He thought.
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