The team has arrived back to the Leaf from their mission; Shikamaru has dismissed the girls and taken Choji along with him to meet the Hokage. He's in no mood for Naruto's energetic outbursts; sometimes he doesn't know who's worst him or Guy sensei.
On his way he drags his feet more than usual. Something about this assignment has left him mind boggled. With hands in his pockets he matches his steps with his best friend's.
Catching a glimpse at Choji he sees his mouth water as they pass a fruit vendor giving a plate of watermelon covered in chili powder to a kid. Despite the chance to try other exotic foods while out in other lands there truly was no place like being back home with the things that you've already been accustomed to.
"I can treat you to some barbecue after meeting Naruto." He offers.
"Eh?" Choji stares at him confused," Don't you want to see Fuyumi first?"
"She can wait." Shikamaru shrugs.
Her father's bakery shop doesn't close until nine and as he can tell by the brightness of the sun it's nowhere near night.
Choji's eyes sparkles as he decides out loud what he should get to eat at their usual restaurant. He grunts every now and then to let him know he's listening.
Each step up the stairs feels like an eternity. Instead of the road up the Hokage tower getting shorter he felt it was quite the opposite. This had turned into his daily routine every morning, the most dreaded part of his day. He wondered if the builder of the stairs had done it intentionally for lazy people like him. Shikamaru was getting a workout he did not desire.
"Tch, these stairs are so troublesome." Shikamaru reaches for the door knob.
"Ah! I see you're back!" Naruto welcomes them with a wide grin.
"Yeah. I sent Ino and Sakura home. Couldn't handle one more day of their mood swings."
He then notices Hinata by his side sitting on what looks to be a very comfortable couch. Naruto must have ordered it specifically for her so she wouldn't tire out. Unlike him who had to be standing up at all times, back straight, Naruto's orders. He couldn't always escape to his office for a quick nap that was next door to the current room.
"So how was the mission? Any trouble?"
"No. Pointless." He mutters.
"Ah, well, at least you got paid a grand of money for it." Naruto waves him off. "So how's Gaara?"
"Oh right. He sends his regards."
"We should visit soon!" Naruto exclaims ignoring the two men, his attention on Hinata.
"Yes." She nods sweetly at him.
Her stutter had disappeared through the years.
"Right, well..." Shikamaru scratches his head awkwardly as the two love birds had seemed to have forgotten that they weren't alone as Naruto discusses the plans he has for when they visit the Sand. "I'll have the report done by tomorrow."
"Yeah. Take the rest of the day off. I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto makes a gesture with his hands as if pushing them away, which really means 'leave us alone.' Hinata smiles apologetically, a small blush covering her cheeks.
He doesn't need to be told twice. Shikamaru nods at the door to Choji. They scurry away before they become witnesses of their friends' intimacy.
Shikamaru makes his way home after dinner with Choji. Walking along through the same pattern of turns he has done so each night since he was young. A group of children dash by him, a gust of wind chills his body; they seem to be playing catch. He smiles and replays a similar scene back from his visit in the Sand Village. This also happened to be the last time he saw Temari. He didn't bother saying goodbye and she was nowhere to be seen that morning. She'd come in weeks time anyways for liaison duties.
That didn't matter though; being adviser meant he was no longer her escort because of his newly appointed job. And she refused to be given a replacement stating she'd been over long enough to remember where every building was.
Perhaps it was his high intellect that got him home that night as his mind had wandered off into a forbidden zone as he realized he was standing in front of his Clan's Land. What caught him more by surprise was the small woman waiting for him sitting on a boulder.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"Just about an hour or so." She answers sweetly.
"How'd you know I was back?"
"I ran into Ino and Sakura during a delivery." she says head held down as they both know the two had a knack for discouraging their relationship.
She interlaces her fingers with his own and shows how much she's missed him with the intensity of her gaze. Breathing the air that surrounds him becomes a difficult task. He is being suffocated by the cool breeze.
"Come on." He leads the way towards his home.
Fuyumi does not have a key to his place. In fact she wasn't allowed in his land unless she was accompanied by someone of the Nara Clan. The rule applied to all foreigners of no relation. So she only visited when he was around. Not even to his mother would she go to, she was terrified of her.
They reach his residence and with a shaky hand he opens his front door. His girlfriend takes a hold of his arm to probably ask what's wrong but he gives her no chance to question him.
Falling on top of her as they fumble on his couch his lips attack hers. He's hungry to find relief. Shikamaru needs the comfort and the truth of his reality. The woman beneath him that moans small sighs of pleasure as he nips her neck. Hurriedly he takes off his vest, then his shirt, and then the mesh one under it. There is a look of lust in her eyes as he does so.
He quickly unties her forest green yukata and gets rid of her undergarments that stand in his way. The despair taking over him doesn't care that he's sweaty and dirty. That this woman deserves to be made love to not ravished by an animal.
But because the woman is more of a giver than a taker she takes what she can get out of him. Shikamaru was not a man of sweet words. He never claimed to be. Yet she wanted him from the beginning flawed and all. She doesn't ask anything of him because she loves him too much. He knows that better than anyone. And so selfishly he takes it for his benefit.
He uses her to take the pain away that night as he begins to plunge into her his pants and boxers long forgotten on the floor. Taking a hold of her hands that are extended towards the end of the couch. He hardly ever touches her, instead goes straight to business.
He grunts with each clasp that is heard from their joined bodies, she screams his name a little bit louder each time.
He tries to concentrate on the petite body begging for more. The bounce of her small breasts being the center of his attention. More than anything he wants to forget. As he reaches his climax conjoined with hers he lets out a growl that probably to her sounds of satisfaction but it's nothing near close to it because it's the sound of his guilt.
Shikamaru sits on the dinner table that was set and ready by his mother, Fuyumi next to him and Yoshino at the head where his father used to sit. Negative aura surrounds his mother as Fuyumi gets up from her chair and begins to serve his food. What makes it worse is that she cuts up his food like one would to a child. Immediately his eyes snap at his mother's, he knows she has something to say.
"Fuyumi you don't have to do that for him." Her voice is vehemently sweet.
"Oh I don't mind Yoshino-san."
Yoshino grits her teeth but he only shrugs her evil stares. He knows how much his mother hated the way Fuyumi doted on him. She babied him way too much or at least that's what she said.
"He's a big boy he can do it himself."
"But he works so hard all day I want to do something to help him relax."
"I assure you this boy does not know the definition of hard work."
Shikamaru rolls his eyes. It was like this every time he brought her over for a visit. This was not a woman Yoshino saw right for his son, her words not his, but she tolerated her because it was the first girl he'd ever brought home. After all Fuyumi was not a bad person, but she was too devoted to her man. She clashed with the entire women that belonged to the Nara Clan. That was a first. All the woman were head strong and bossy. Unlike her who's gentleness seemed to irritate the hell out of his mother. He sighed; he'd pay for this one when decides to visit her by himself. Again…
Biting at her crayon, Kotori seems absorbed in her own thoughts as she decides what to draw next.
"Hey kiddo, don't eat that." He tells her gently, if there was one thing he learned throughout his years of babysitting was to be careful with the tone of voice he used with this child or else she'd burst out in tears.
Honestly all girls were too sensitive. Well almost all of them…
"I'm not eating it." she corrects him with an angry pout.
This little one was feisty. She spent too much time with Ino and Sakura.
"Alright, sorry." Trying to get back on her good side. "Can I color with you?"
"Ok." She pushes her box of crayons towards him and a blank sheet of paper. "You draw Uncle Choji and you."
He takes the black color to do the outlines of his best friend and himself. In truth he feels weird drawing a self portrait but since Kotori is three he knows he doesn't have to try all that much and matches her childlike sketches.
Once he's done he pushes it forward. He struggles to make himself comfortable under the small wooden table that's placed in the middle of his living room. It's been scratched, painted, chipped, and just plain worn out by the three year old sitting Indian style next to him.
Shikamaru's attention is directed to two blonde woman Kotori has drawn. One he recognizes as Ino due to her signature hair style and purple outfit. The other one he has a suspicion but needs to confirm it.
"This. Who's this?" He points out at the second blonde haired woman.
"Temari." Kotori answers without looking up at him, instead takes away the black crayon he was using to finish her black yukata.
"And why did you draw her?" Curiosity got the best of him.
"Auntie Ino say you go visit Temari in Sand." She says simply.
"I see… You like Temari?"
"Duh!" she answers as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Ino has a habit of taking Kotori away for at least an hour a day. The girls love to play with her. Temari during her stay tends to spend some of her time with them. Which would have resulted in them two meeting more than that one time when she was still in diapers. What he wasn't aware of was how much interaction the two had had with each other. As it seems they've had plenty of it for Shikamaru didn't even know Kotori knew Temari at all. He'd never introduced them after that. Shikamaru plays with his bottom lip as he taps his index finger on it. Fixated on thoughts over the scary woman.
On his way back from dropping off Kotori at Kurenai's he meets Fuyumi and heads back home. He sits on the couch; head leaned back, while Fuyumi cleans the clatter of pictures Kotori drew. He has stacks of packages of white paper in his home office just for her, courtesy of her Uncle Naruto.
"Aren't you tired? You don't have to clean up you know?"
"No it's fine. Their cute." She giggles, getting a hold of an illustration everyone has witnessed many times before. Sakura punching Naruto.
"Eh? Who's this?" Fuyumi has reached the one with the unknown face.
"Oh. That's Temari."
"The Sand Ambassador?"
"Yeah."
"I see…" her words linger and then moves on to placing the crayons in their box.
Even though they've never met he's more than sure she's heard about her through the grape vine. Temari was a well known figure in his village and loved by all despite her bossy nature. She was a forced to be reckoned with. Regardless she was admired by many. Being a politician had extended her name and because of her hard work the bond between both their villages. Other villages wanted what they had and so after the war they all made their efforts in acquiring friendships with their neighbors.
Certainly though the stiffness of her shoulders was most probably caused by the rumors him and her that traveled like the snakes. Poisoning every ear into believing whatever they liked. Him affirming his relationship with her only added fire to the gasoline. Shikamaru eventually became so tired of them that he learned to block them out.
"I'll get dinner started."
He leaves her to her rustle in the living room. Of course, being her he knows she won't interrogate him. So predictable.
Shikamaru soaks his feet in a faraway lake in his village. He needs time to gather his thoughts. His body feels weary from last night's activities but he's not managed an ounce of sleep. After dropping off Fuyumi at the bakery so she could start the making of the dough before the shop opened he went for a stroll and ended up there. It was barely past five in the morning. So against his lazy character for being up that early.
Who's even up at this time? He thinks. It should be illegal.
He swishes with his feet the cool water that envelops his skin. He's sitting right on the edge, his pants rolled up so they won't get wet. For once he wishes for eight to get here sooner so he can drown himself in paperwork. At least that would keep his troublesome mind from thinking more than it should. Stocks of paper work had become his best friend.
"Wow! You're up early!" That jolly tone could only belong to one person.
"What brings you to this part of the village Naruto?"
"I… well… I…I…"
"Never mind. Forget I asked." Knowing well where he had been, after all the Hyuga compound was not far off.
"It's not what you think!" he waves his hands.
Shikamaru suppresses a laugh, "Naruto I really don't care."
Naruto scratches his head in embarrassment.
"Hey. Why ARE you up so early?"
"Can't sleep." He shrugs.
"Well that ought to be a first."
"I guess…"
Fixing his orange jacket by zipping it up he lets himself flop next to him. Shikamaru raises a questioning eye brow.
"Well now that you're here I've been meaning to ask you…"
"What?"
"Are you okay?"
Shikamaru looks at him quizzically, "Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Well," he scratches his chin, "It's like you're there. I mean I see you there obviously, but you're not really there? You know what I mean?" Naruto looks confused at his own question.
Snorting at his friend's stupidity he answers. "I'm fine, Naruto."
"If you say so." He gets up. "Well just don't fall asleep during work." Naruto shoots him a glare.
"Not making any promises." Shikamaru grumbles.
"Well just make sure your brain's working in two days time. I'm going to need your help. And well if you're not cooperative I'm sure she'll help me put you in your place."
"Who's going to help you put me in my place?" Surely he wasn't talking about Hinata.
"I've just received a letter last night from Gaara. Temari gets here in two days."
"Temari?"
"Yup. So behave or I'll make her punish you." Naruto grins evilly as he leaves.
Recalling from the last time she came he counts the days and thinks it strange, they weren't expecting a visit from the liaison for another three weeks.