Moments
Chapter 8: Ring. EXTRA
Author's note: I had absolutely no intention to write this. It was never my plan. But then again I went through the last chapter, felt that it's a little bit incomplete, and then wrote this piece. In my files, I'll just add it to the eighth chapter. But since I've posted it here before even having an idea that I would end up writing this... This is going to be a little extra for Chapter 8. Enjoy!
The man sitting across from Shikamaru wasn't happy.
Although, Kankurou's mood could hardly be described by just that one word. The groom could see irritation, jealousy, suspicion and even whole lot of hate. But one thing was true though. His future brother in law was not happy at all.
These meetings continued for months with hardly any progress at all. Elders insisted that both of the countries' traditions must be followed for the ceremony and the banquet later. As it turned out, it was easier said than done, especially when they'd come up with new stupid rules just to piss off the other side and ruin their preparations. With each side being this stubborn it was nearly impossible to reach compromise.
Coming this far after seven whole months was already a relief. The worst part about all this was the fact, that Elders will never send Temari to do the negotiations. They hardly let her out of the village after the engagement was announced. The most reasonable messenger turned out to be Baki. Gaara's fan girls were annoying, but still bearable. The worst were the meetings with Kankurou. The middle brother didn't like him, that much Shikamaru could tell from that glare. Unlike Temari, who will never let her own feelings show in times like this, Kankurou didn't seem professional enough for this job.
"So, with this everything's decided." Future brother in law collected all the papers from the table. "Are Leaf's Elders satisfied with this?"
"They're not, but they'll have no other choice but to cooperate." Shikamaru sighted. He spent whole week fighting with them for another minor detail. "What about the Sand?"
"At this point they won't dare to." Kankurou smirked. "Another tiny complain from them and Temari will go on killing rampage."
Shikamaru could only meet her during official meetings for the Union or even five Kage. Investigations on Sand's rebels matter still continued, although every lead they tried to follow was just another dead-end. For the political matters Elders of the Sand couldn't keep Temari in the village. But yet again just one word about the wedding would make her furious. Especially when she learned that during their wedding preparations both Ino and Sakura got engaged and then married, with Sasuke Uchiha still being in Hidden Sand as a spy.
And now, finally, all the preparations were over.
"So it's final now. The ceremony will be in two months' time." Kankurou continued with a sour look on his face.
Two months? Sounds like an eternity.
"What a drag..."
"Why don't you call it off?"
"Ha?!"
"The wedding. Call it off." Kankurou finally let his sour feelings out.
"I won't." Definitely not after all preparations were over!
"But why? Why Temari? I mean, you've hardly got any time together. How did this even happen?"
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know. It kind of feels like it has always been this way from the start."
Kankurou stared at him with a grumpy look on his face for another minute. And then sighted.
"So that's how it is. It can't be helped then."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Kankurou sighted again.
"Since she said exact same words... I'll let it go." He wasn't happy about this either. "For now."
"Yeah."
"But that doesn't mean that I'm accepting you, or anything. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Now listen, if you ever..." Kankurou stopped in the middle of sentence and smirked again. "Ok, I won't tell you something like "if you ever hurt my sister, I'll kill you", because I'm pretty sure she's capable of doing it herself." Well, that was true. "But if we get to know that she's not happy here, we're taking her back. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"And don't you ever call me brother, got it?"
Looking at him right now reminded Shikamaru of the first time he met Sand Siblings. That time he kind of thought, that among two brothers Kankurou was probably more reasonable one, since little Gaara was scary like hell. But as the things are now, Shikamaru would rather prefer working with Kazekage himself.
"Yeah."
Shikamaru could hardly remember what had actually happened during the wedding itself. In the end it felt more of a competition between two villages, rather than actual wedding. Mismatched dresses, mismatched guests, mismatched traditions, mismatched food and mismatched presents made the whole thing way too pompous, especially for the newlyweds. The only reason why Shikamaru had endured it all was Tamari's hand clinging on to him. This whole mess was probably even worse for her. The dress made of long single piece of silk, that Hidden Sand tradition requires her to wear, was hardly comfortable itself, but combined with thousands of golden accessories it also seemed way too heavy for a girl to wear. That was another custom: the wealthier the family, the more gold on a bride, the finer is the silk of her dress, and the longer is the cloth it's made from. Being born into Kazekage bloodline meant being the wealthiest of them all. The dress hardly allowed her to breathe, let alone walk or eat. For Temari, who always preferred comfortable clothes, it was a pure torture to sit through the whole ceremony.
That's why Shikamaru never let go. 'If this is your hell, then the least I can do, is to stay in it with you.' He thought.
They've never really talked that whole day, until the wedding night, when the two of them were finally left alone.
"Is it over now?" She exhaled in relief.
"Yeah." Among all troublesome days he had in his life this one outranked them all.
When all loud noises and annoying traditions were left far away from here, Shikamaru for the first time really saw his bride. White silk and gold actually looked very good on her, while green emeralds complimented her eyes. No matter how uncomfortable it might be, the dress was beautiful.
By the way, speaking of...
"How can you even walk in this dress?" He asked.
"I've had training." Temari was absolutely serious when she said that.
Of course she did. He smiled, trying to imagine wedding dress walk practice.
The wedding... is actually over. With all the formalities and ceremonies, he kind of forgot one important detail...
"Hey... we're actually married now." Shikamaru said.
"After all this time and that whole mess... it's kind of hard to believe, huh?" Temari sounded a bit surprised too.
"Yeah."
He looked at her, still trying to process this idea. The wedding, traditions, white dress... no matter how he looked at it, nothing has changed. Except for one minor detail. She doesn't have to leave anymore.
With this though he pulled her closer, trying to embrace her. All the gold Temari was wearing suddenly made this really uncomfortable.
Shikamaru looked down on her wedding gown.
"How do you take this thing off?"
She raised her eyes to meet his, and with the most serious expression she was capable of, Temari said:
"I have absolutely no idea."
Next moment they were laughing.