I tried really hard so that I wouldn't update until next month! So here it is! Half way through the month and already another chapter, I say that wasn't so bad. Whenever I got the chance I worked on it!
To Guest sorry for pissing you off! But thank you for letting me know! I appreciate it nonetheless. I'll be careful with how i word things out from now on. When I meant Shika/Tema moment I just meant more of an interaction, or a chapter where to two will appear together. Nothing fluffy. I apologize!
I don't want to make these two have some type of affair. Despite Shika's moments where he's a total a-whole to Fuyumi, he knows his bounds! I realize maybe I'm maybe writing this story at a slow pace. But i'd like to expand Temari's newfound relationship with Ryota, I believe that relationships take time to build. I don't want to just jump the gun and have them be all over each other. Those two have alot of troubles in their minds. As for an actual Shikamaru and Temari moment, hmmm,,, I'm still debating how far I'm going to push Shikamaru to a breaking limit. Anyways hope I don't make people lose interest for my sucky writing :/ I'll try harder I promise! And I'll try to upload the next chappy as soon as I can!
Shikamaru's eyes palpitate, focusing on his surroundings trying to figure out where exactly he could be. Judging by the sky blue four walls that cage him, he's in his office. He's fallen asleep on the job once again. Either no one has noticed or they just let him be. A parchment sticks to his face as he raises his body from his desk, and falls into his hands as he yawns. It was a good thing he hadn't started on the assignment anyways. Rubbing the sleep from his face with both his hands, the chair he sits on creaks as he stands up. Not bothering to put anything back in its place he locks the door and makes way through the lonely corridors of the Hokage Tower. It's Christmas day and almost everybody has been granted the off.
"We should hurry home and change. My dad's expecting us." A tired looking Fuyumi startles him unexpectedly, still in her white work clothes; she's standing outside the double doors he's just exited from.
He has his hands in his pockets, and she fumbles with her white apron during their whole trip home. It's not a cause of recent events for their silence; in fact Shikamaru notes that it's always been this way. Usually Fuyumi does most of the talking and it's not much to begin with. She's soft spoken and not opinionated unless asked. The subjects he's interested in, she doesn't understand. So mundane…
He plays a lonely game of shogi in his home office while Fuyumi gets ready. A pitter patter of footsteps is heard throughout the house made from stepping on his wooden floor. Fuyumi does not live with him; he's never offered and does not plan to. She stays over a few days a week, leaves articles of clothing from previous nights, but other than that not much of her belongings reside in his home.
Clanks echo through his office room, it's only got his desk, a filing cabinet, and a bookshelf. The only noise he makes is the one that clicks as he puts the shogi pieces on the tile. Sometimes he plays because it expands his mind whenever he's stuck with a problem from work. Right now though more than anything he misses the company of his father, after Asuma had passed he at least had him to play with. Now he had no one.
"We could play together if you'd just teach me how." The woman is right next to him, it's these moments that make him disbelieve she's not a ninja because of the way she manages to sneak up on him, but then again he's always spaced out when not at work, and especially when home.
He shrugs at her, "You'd get bored."
Separating the hand on his shoulder as he gets up he asks, "You ready?"
"Yeah."
The Shadow nin opens the largest drawer on his desk. "Wait, thought I'd give you this before we leave."
High expectations was what he was trying to avoid, especially giving his gift in front of her father, he opted for giving it before they left. That way he wouldn't have to feel the pressure.
The woman takes a hold of the white box tied with a golden ribbon. Delicate fingers undo the knot. Shikamaru puts his hands in his pockets, waiting.
She dangles it with her index finger and inspects it. "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen this type of jewelry."
"That's because it's not from here. I got it at the Sand Village."
A large amount of breath is inhaled by his girlfriend; she holds it and then lets it out, nods her head and gives a forced smile.
After ignoring her actions he then says, "I didn't know what to get you. And I didn't know what you like. I don't even know your favorite color."
"My favorite color is brown." Fuyumi whispers.
"Sorry…"
The woman in front of him shakes her head, "Its fine. Thank you." she then puts it on herself and says "Come on, my dad's waiting for us. He must be hungry already."
For the first time ever he decides not to spend Christmas with the rest of his family. Shikamaru's mother wouldn't be lonely, besides this way Fuyumi could avoid an interrogation. Under any circumstances did he not want to go through the questions of 'When will you get married?' and 'When will you have children.' In addition to that he knew the woman in his family did not completely accept Fuyumi. It was never that they were rude towards her, but she stood out from the females of the Nara clan. The women from his family were loud beings that had all the Nara men whipped to do their bidding. He called it the family curse. One he was trying to avoid…
He looks up from his plate, eying the way she nurtures over her father, same way she does with him. Remembering the pained expression from earlier as she opened her gift, he works through his mind trying to figure out the reason of her disappointment.
Unmoving his eyes from the shimmer her pendant necklace gave as she moves, his light bulb of a brain turns on automatically.
It was strange really, had someone asked him what first color came to mind when the name Temari was uttered he would have responded with purple because that's her favorite color.
Fuyumi's eyes are a light shade of green, almost pale or pastel looking. He'd ask for a light green color because it was the first hue that had popped into his head. Only then does he realize it's not as light as it should have been considering the vendor's options. The pendant that lies on Fuyumi's bosom is a shade of emerald green that usually stares at him angrily. They were the exact color as Temari's eyes.
Fuyumi had noticed this the moment he'd mention the Sand village and yet he'd missed the unexplainable act that he'd done without really thinking about it. Until now…
Shikamaru waits by the village's entrance, remembering the last encounters he had with the troublesome woman. Certainly there went another glorifying moment (to her anyways) that she'd never let him live down. He recalls the night he got stupidly drunk, never again he promises. He hadn't done anything dumb, but the morning after was a torturous hell. For once though he could honestly say he knew what it was like to be intoxicated. Despite the horrible aftereffects it had, it made him forget his inner turmoil. Most of that night had been spent chatting with Kankuro, Temari joining in every once in awhile. He was grateful for that.
Unfortunately for him the two oldest Sand siblings decided to check up on him the following day. Shikamaru was throwing up all of his insides out, he swore he was dying. They seemed to indulge in his pain, but at least they had the decency to accompany him, tipping him about what he should do to make himself feel better. Of course Temari being conniving as ever, kept teasing him about his woman like tolerance for the rest of his stay. Troublesome…
"Hey." Shikamaru waves at Temari.
"You? What are you doing here?" Temari asks, her hand grasping onto the shoulder bag on her back.
"Came to pick you up. It was Hokage's orders."
"That wasn't necessary."
"Just doing my job." Shikamaru shrugs.
He notes the backpack she carries is way too big, "What happened to packing light?"
"There were some," she pauses momentarily "things I needed to bring."
"Oh…" Ino had been his friend all of his childhood, and he knew that when she packed extra was in case she needed clothes for going out.
Locking his jaw tightly he leads the way, "Come on, Naruto's waiting for us."
"You're here!" Naruto jumps caught up in the act, dosing off into slumber while a stack of papers waited for his attention.
"Yes. Sorry for the two week delay, with the holidays coming up the Kazekage didn't want to send me here until after New Years." Temari then gives a small smile. "Gaara wanted to celebrate in family."
"You're here now that's all that matters." Naruto waves his hands. "Besides you guys got ahead on Shikamaru's visit to the sand. Excellent job you guys!" Damn his short attention span, "I was quite busy myself during the holidays anyways."
At that point Shikamaru stops him before he goes into details that will scar. "Tch, we don't want to know your business with Hinata. Just give us our orders."
"That wasn't what I was gona tell you!"
"Good." Shikamaru muttered.
Naruto gets up from his seat, unlike Tsunade; he NEVER took off his robe. No matter where he went or how hot it was, the Hokage wore his hat and robe everywhere. The white fabric sways as he walks around his desk to lean on it and face them.
He flashes them a toothy grin. "The negotiations with the Fire Lord are going great. He's more than pleased and so am I. Unifying our villages in trades is strengthening our bonds and showing others the trust we have in each other. Villages from other Lands want to copy our example. Peace is in our grasp." He sighs with a look of content.
Shikamaru had to admit though that for an idiot he had his moments.
"Well," he continues, "that's a whole different subject. The chunin exams are getting near, it's almost April. You guys only have about three months left. At the rate that you're going though you should be fine. I looked through the paperwork, you guys only have about one-third left to do. So there's not much of a difference in orders, just keep up the hard work."
Temari and Shikamaru bow down together.
"Is that all?" he asks.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Naruto exclaims as he takes back his seat. "When you have to leave Temari let me know so I can put together a four man cell team to go along with you."
"What for?" She asks, one her eyebrows raised up.
"Fire Lord's orders."
"TheFire Lord?"
Naruto snorts, "Yes, and there's no way out. Even I can't say no to the Fire Lord's request. It seems like he's taken quite a liking to you. Him and someone else…" he teases.
"I suppose I don't have a choice." Temari says bitterly.
"It doesn't look like it." Naruto displays a hint amusement.
Even he knows the troublesome woman has to comply with the orders. Despite the Fire Lord having crazy antic decisions there really was no one who could deny him. Except for himself, he had declined his request one-hundred and nine times (he'd counted) of becoming a part of his guard.
"Well you're dismissed. You can start tomorrow morning, eight a.m. sharp."
The two of them make way towards the door and as he opens it, letting Temari go first Naruto whispers, but in his voice it's obviously loud enough to hear.
"And to think, everyone thought it would have been the two of you…"
He's more than sure that she's heard too as they make eye contact and it feels like a string of electricity connects them for that small second. Hurriedly he ushers her out as he tries to close the door quickly, her shoulder and arm bump into his chest in the process. Heat waves travel through his body, an indescribable yet more than familiar warmth.
But then Naruto's last words echo out so harshly before he can manage to close the door.
He now feels like a pile of bricks have been thrown rapidly into the pit of his stomach.
"Such a shame…"
Shikamaru takes a bite out of a carrot stick; surely their order could not get to them any sooner. It smelled of roasted chicken all over the small diner, his stomach growled in protest. He shifts farther from the booth he's sitting on, Kiba is telling a story and has the habit of flaring his hands to make notions. As if he was a freaking mime…
Across from him Temari and Ino sit, while Lee took an extra seat at the edge of the booth. At the time, when he had made an offer to invite them out to eat as well, he'd only done it to be polite; unfortunately he was now stuck with three of the loudest people he knew.
A very amused Temari plays with the salt shaker as she listens intently to the dog tamer's story. Shikamaru then dodges quickly to avert an accidental slap from Kiba, Temari purses her lips to hold in her laughter. He smirks at her playfully.
After what felt like eternity their large set of multi-flavored chicken wings finally arrives, it's so large there's barely enough room for their plates. Speaking of which, he wonders. Normally his large friend doesn't miss out on a lunch like this, or any meal for that matter.
"Ino?"
"What?" she asks too concentrated on trying to dissect the chicken wing on her plate with her fork and knife.
"Where's Choji?"
"How should I know!?" she answers defensively.
"Well you're always with him." It was the truth.
"Am not!"
Tch, she's so troublesome, he quirks one of his eyebrows up. Ino looks down on her plate, but there's a tinge of pink coloring her cheeks.
"He's busy." She murmurs.
"Is he out on a mission?"
"No!" his inquisition has started to frustrate her.
It's their fault really, thinking they can outsmart him. Asides from being a highly intellectual person he's known both of them practically his whole life. Maybe they could keep themselves hidden from others, obviously due to the obliviousness from Kiba and Lee as they continued their conversation despite Ino's ranting. They could even (maybe) outwit the woman sitting in front of him, Temari would look at Ino as if she were crazy whenever she'd squeal out an answer, but it just could be not that Temari was stupid, she simply didn't care to tap into other people's business. She was like that…
He on the other hand, well, the fact that his friends thought they could outdo him, was just comical and entertaining because Ino was much easier to break than Choji. She was after all a gossip queen.
"Chakra training." Ino murmured.
"What was that?"
"He's out doing chakra training at the academy!"
"Is that all? I don't know why you had to make such a big deal Ino."
There it was, that small twitch he'd provoke on the platinum blonde's forehead, he'd have to hear about it later on how it's going to cause her wrinkles at such a young age. Blah, blah, blah.
Before she can snap at him he prizes her with a smile that conceals his laughter, she bloats her cheeks in anger. Ino has fallen into his little game, giving her a clue that he's on to them. But because she doesn't want to be discovered she keeps her mouth shut for once, and to Shikamaru it is a glorifying moment.
Time to dig in, he decides after baiting his friend.
It wasn't everyday you got to see the Kazekage's sister eat so messy, apart from Ino who was dining as if she were at a five star restaurant; their fingers were covered in chicken wing sauce.
"Temari you should eat more like a lady!" Ino reprimands her as she takes a napkin and starts cleaning Temari's left hand with a napkin.
"If I wanted to eat like a lady I would have had my dinner at the Hyuga compound!" Temari laughs at Ino's actions but lets her get away with it anyways.
"Ino you must let Temari embark on her freedom of youth! I'm sure she's forced to act righteous all the time back in her village!"
"You have no idea." Temari points a greasy finger at Lee.
"Yeah Ino let Temari let loose for a change." He winks at her.
Together at the same time, Ino and Temari roll their eyes at Kiba's more than familiar flirting.
There was a pleasing rush coursing through his body, to see Temari interact so freely with his friends, who of course in time became hers as well. Shikamaru felt like he could relax, which was something he hadn't done in a long time. The results weren't quite the same when Shikamaru had tried to introduce Fuyumi to his friends. From the beginning he knew for a fact that the girls (mostly Ino) did not approve of his girlfriend. He had at least seen them try to include her though, but Fuyumi was too different from them. Most of their talks were about their missions. Fuyumi only knew one life, the bakery shop. His male friends were too rowdy for her. Eventually she gave up so whenever he'd go out with his friends it was just him. There was only so much he could do, despite all that he appreciated the effort because no matter his friends' opinions they had at least tried to get to know her. The same could not be said for her, she was intimidated by them, in a way he understood, his friends were nosy, not to mention noisy.
"Oh my goodness! Did you just see who came in!?" Ino whispers into the table.
"Who?" Kiba turns his head around looking for whoever Ino was gushing about.
"There!" she points towards the entrance. "Not there you moron over there!" she points again, Kiba missing her target the first time.
"Sakura-san and Sasuke-kun." Lee gasps.
"What are they doing here!? Together!?" Discharging a great aura of curiosity Ino gasps in surprise.
Sasuke coolly makes his way towards the back of the diner with his hands in his pockets while Sakura follows head bowed down, in embarrassment at all the staring, her face getting redder by the minute.
"Sakura-san! Sasuke-kun! Since you're here as well why don't you join us!?" Lee waves at the two approaching shinobi.
They halt in front of them, Sasuke never losing his composure. Sakura speaks first though.
"Thank you Lee-san but we can't." Sakura bites her lip, giving Sasuke a nervous glance.
"We have," Sasuke pauses and then continues, "very important work to discuss. Now if you'll excuse us."
Following right behind him Sakura waves them good-bye.
Disinterestedly Shikamaru takes another wing from his plate but all he can think without smirking is 'Work to discuss my ass.'
"I am SO going to question her later." Ino grins evilly, he guess she's not so slow after all.
"We're better off without them anyways," Kiba says while chewing, "Sasuke's so uptight he'd kill our mellow mood."
Lee strikes up the conversation again. "Temari when will your brothers be visiting? I'd like to challenge Gaara!"
"Yeah!" Kiba interjects "I want to challenge Kankuro too! He's always stuck up in that office I bet he's forgotten how to fight!"
"You boys will have to wait a while. They won't be coming until the Chunin Exams. That's three months away." Temari answers.
Shikamaru had forgotten about that little fact; everyone would come to his village to watch the Exams. From family members of the competitors, to the highest of nobles. Meaning the Fire Lord would be there, in the same box as he, maybe even the same row. This also meant…
He drops the wing on the plate.
He's just lost his appetite.
Shit…
"I need something from here."
Guiding her inside the small overcrowded bookstore, Temari follows him without asking any questions. He was accompanying her back to her inn. It became a sort of unspoken ritual for them, once she stopped fighting him about it. Shikamaru had retaken his role as her guide, upon no one's request.
Walking towards the back of the bookstore, he leaves a curious Temari already engrossed on a book about botany that's right at the entrance. The shelf he is looking for is covered in dust. Not many had the same interests as he did. A brown box wrapped in plastic catches his attention. Just what he was looking for. Atop that shelf he grabs a think book no more than one-hundred and fifty pages long.
"I'll be taking this." Shikamaru puts the items next to the register.
A red headed woman with long curly hair wearing a wooly black turtle neck charges him. Her face looked bitter; the owner isn't anywhere to be seen. Her husband must've pissed her off. Woman, they're all troublesome.
"I'll be right back, just give me five minutes." He tells Temari putting his hand on her shoulder, the woman only nods engrossed on a different much thicker book, still from the same section.
Many emotions dash at him with such a simple touch. He damned his male hormones.
When he gets back, exactly three minutes later, and now holding two bags with him, Temari comes out with a bag of her own. From the looks of it she'd bought three humongous books about plants.
They walk back to her inn, the vibes around them is calming, and in spite of the cold weather he feels a certain heat with every step he takes.
Every time he doesn't see Temari he gets a chance to cool down. The time apart lets him rethink the situation. That was what he needed. Shikamaru has calculated through his mind over two hundred ways in which he could avoid the emotions he gets when Temari is involved. It all came down to one. He didn't like that option. So he opts to destroy it the moment it he realizes it's the only way out.
There is no way he can cut his ties with her. Not because he is afraid of what she might do to him, in fact he was more than sure that she would have accepted his decision. No, it's because no matter how painful, irritating, and uncomfortable the situation between them will get, he cannot admit defeat in losing the one thing, the only thing; that connects them now. Their friendship.
So he takes on a different approach.
"We're here." Temari announces.
"I noticed."
"Ha ha! Alright Mr. Sarcasm I'm gona head right in. I want to get started on these books."
"Wait. Here."
"What is it?"
"Open it, and then you'll see."
Her eyes widen shortly like a kid on Christmas as she opens first the small white paper bag, their sweet chestnuts; her favorite. Taking a bit off of one she looks at him and smiles. The small beautiful sincere smile he's seen her show only to her brothers, and it's her way of saying 'thank you.'
Next she takes out the large box, as she does so the book he bought for her falls. Lazily he forces his body to bend down and reach for it considering her arms are occupied by the large set he's just bought her. He places it on top of the box so that she can see the title.
"You've never played it before right?" he asks but he already knows the answer.
"No, I've heard about it that's all."
"Well by your next visit you better have learned all the rules; the book even has some tricks."
He figures he's been playing alone for far too long…
Shikamaru simply explains. "I need a new shogi partner."