A/N: I wrote this years ago, so this story takes place in Shippuden. I hope you like it :)
Temari was known for being the strong kunoichi, who didn't care what anybody thought of her, but things had changed. Now that she was the ambassador of Suna and had to visit Konoha frequently she found herself wondering what a certain lazy shinobi thought of her.
It was new for her to feel this way. Except for the opinion of her brothers, she had never cared what anyone thought of her, but now she wanted Shikamaru to know that she got promoted and wanted him to acknowledge her increasing strength. That alone didn't force her to realize her feelings for the lazy shinobi, because she could just blame it on her ambition. However another and more confusing aspect for her came into the picture when she visited Konoha again on her ambassador duties on Christmas Eve for an annual celebration.
Like always Shikamaru met her at the entrance of Konoha and brought her to the Hokage office to see Tsunade. When Temari was done reporting, she came outside to see the young Nara already in conversation with Ino. Curious about what they had to discuss, she didn't announce her arrival just yet and listened.
"So I just got this new outfit for tonight while shopping with Sakura. How do I look?"
"Great Ino, really beautiful." Shikamaru replied with a bored expression on his face, which Temari couldn't see because his back was turned to her.
"Thanks, Shika. I have to go. See you around." She embraced him happily and left.
Temari was left wondering. Ino had looked beautiful in that dress, no doubt, but was this what Shikamaru wanted in women? Sure, she had brought something other than her normal clothes for tonight, but it was nowhere near Ino's dress. For the first time in her life she felt self-conscious about her look.
Little did she know that Shikamaru hadn't even bothered to really look at Ino's outfit. She was one of his best friends, so she always looked the same to him. He had no knowledge about fashion, but he knew how insulted Ino was when she wasn't complimented, so he had just done that. Women were really troublesome.
Speaking of which, a woman, who was even more troublesome, approached him.
"What took you so long, woman?"
"Nothing. Just bring me to the hotel so I can get ready for tonight."
The young Nara was confused at her unusual behavior. Normally she would force him to buy her lunch when she arrived in Konoha, but just going to her hotel wasn't like her.
"Did something happen?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"No, just bring me to the damn hotel." In her confusion about her feelings and in her fury, she missed his caring tone.
Shikamaru sighed. 'Why am I falling for such a troublesome woman?'
When he had shown her the room that she was staying in, he didn't even get a goodbye, only a door slamming in his face.
'Even with an IQ over 200 I can't understand women. Well it seems that I have nothing to do until tonight.' With that in mind he left to his favorite cloud watching spot.
When Temari was sure that Shikamaru was gone, she went to the training grounds to release her anger. After two hours of intensive training she had to take a break. She still couldn't understand why she was so worked up about this.
'Why do I even care what this lazy-ass thinks?'
A little voice in the wind seemed to say 'Because you want him to think that you're beautiful.'
Temari's eyes widened. It was true, she had hoped that Shikamaru saw more in her than a kunoichi. Never had she given her look much thought, but now she wondered for the first time if she was not only strong but beautiful as well. Before coming to Konoha so regularly she had never had girl friends, but now she was closer to the other kunoichi from Shikamaru's generation. Maybe she could ask Ino for help. She was Shikamaru's best friend and she knew as much about fashion as Temari knew about fighting techniques.
With that decision made, Temari found herself in front of Ino's house an hour later.
"Temari, what a surprise." Ino greeted her. Clearly she was surprised but smiled at her none the less. "What brings you here?"
"Can I come in first?"
Ino nodded and when they sat together and Ino had made them tea Temari spoke up again.
"I forgot my outfit for tonight. Could you help me out?" It was a white lie, but she had to try something.
"Of course." Ino's eyes lighted up. "I always wanted to do your styling. Don't say anything and let me do everything. I'll not only lent you a dress, but I'll do your make-up as well. You'll make everyone's head turn tonight."
That was more than Temari had wanted when she came here for help, but Ino and her shared a rather prominent trait, stubbornness, so there was no way that she could get away from Ino now. What felt like hours later Ino was finally done.
"Here look in the mirror. I did a great job." Ino smiled brightly.
The Suna princess blinked. She didn't recognize herself with her hair down and with the make-up. The dress, that Ino had given her, was a deep red, fitting for the season, but it was also the most revealing one that she had ever worn. Normally she wore kimonos that were more fitting for her role as ambassador. The woman in the mirror was beautiful, but she didn't feel like herself.
"Let's go." Ino said after she was done looking and dragged Temari outside. Surprised Temari realized that it was already late and the celebration was about to begin.
When they arrived a few heads turned to them and a few men even gave them compliments. Ino visibly liked all the attention she was getting, but Temari felt uncomfortable. After a while Ino seemed to realize that and lead Temari over to Shikamaru. The Suna princess was more than nervous what his reaction would be.
Shikamaru looked at the woman in front of him and gave Ino a confused glance. It was obvious that Ino had styled Temari, but he didn't like it. He was used to seeing her in a practical but still beautiful kimono. It was just like her, ready to fight but still looking good. In this dress however she didn't look like the confident kunoichi who he found himself falling for. Normally Shikamaru knew better than to upset strong women, but Temari's change was just something he couldn't accept.
"I don't like it."
Temari was hurt by his words and reacted with the only emotion that she was ready to face when it came to Shikamaru, anger.
"You're such a jerk, Nara." She shouted at him and stormed away.
"For all the genius they say you are, you're really stupid. Don't you know that you give the woman you like compliments? Go after her." Ino demanded as soon as Temari was gone.
"What a drag." He complained but did as Ino had told him.
Ino looked after him while shaking her head. These two were a match made in heaven if they wouldn't be so difficult about it. If anyone needed a little bit of Christmas magic it were those two. Hopefully Shikamaru wouldn't mess this up.
After Temari had left she went to her hotel. She changed into the kimono that she had brought with her and put her hair back in her four regular ponytails. To Tsunade's speech she had to be back at the event. No matter how much she wanted to stay here, she was Suna's ambassador and she didn't want to disappoint Gara. Pulling herself together, she opened the door to go back to the celebration. What she hadn't anticipated was that Shikamaru was standing in front of her hotel.
"What are you doing here?"
"Can we talk?"
"No." Temari was about make a run for it, but she couldn't move. It took her only a second to realize that she was trapped in his jutsu. "Let me go, Nara."
"Not until we have talked about this." Shikamaru said determined before he took a deep breath and spoke up again. "You look more like yourself now, truly beautiful."
Temari's breath caught in her throat and she blushed lightly.
"Do you really think that?" She whispered, shyly meeting his eyes.
"Of course, troublesome woman. I would never lie to you."
On his way here Shikamaru had thought about what Temari and Ino had said. He had tried to come up with 200 possibilities what it could mean, but he had only found one that made sense. The conclusion he had come to made him happy and confused at the same time. He had to ask her something before he could be sure that his assumptions were correct.
"Why did you do all this?"
The Suna princess broke their eye contact immediately and her blush intensified. She didn't know what to do or say. Temari was never good at talking about her feelings. Having grown up with two brothers and a heartless father, she had never learned how to express vulnerable feelings.
Shikamaru saw her struggle with an answer and knew that he had been right.
"Temari, please look at me."
Slowly and untypical shy the kunoichi lifted her head and met his eyes.
"I like everything about you as it is." He blushed, knowing what he was about to say next would change their friendship into something more. "To be honest, I really like you as troublesome as you are."
Temari's eyes widened. He couldn't be implying what she thought he was implying, right? Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. One look into his eyes convinced her otherwise. He was really serious about his confession.
Getting her confidence back, she gave him a bright grin and stepped closer. Leaning in she kissed him. The kiss started softly and carefully, but got more passionate by the second. After finally admitting what they felt for each other, both couldn't hold back any longer.
When they pulled away from each other the first snow of the year began falling. Ino, who had followed Shikamaru, saw what had happened and had to smile. This was truly beautiful.
A/N: Merry Christmas :)