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The Nara residence had been lively that day, with the presence of the Kazekage himself, his right arm, Kankurou and his son Shinki. All because their older sister Temari insisted quite a lot, even when Gaara said she shouldn’t make such thing, that he didn’t want to trouble her, that eating together in a restaurant would have been less trouble and still could keep the whole family together. But he knew his dearest sister to be the most stubborn out of the three of them and, and with her insistence, he easily gave in.
So lively it was, and Temari couldn’t be happier through the whole dinner party, watching her family together, reminiscent of the old days when she was responsible for taking care of her sloppy brothers. Gaara was always stuck on his office, forgetting often to take care of himself, and Kakuro, well Kakuro was specially slob and careless ever since she could remember. But it was nice to bask in such memories.
The Nara family took note of how Shinki grew up to be. He was incredibly similar to Gaara, from his speech, to his quiet demeanor, his sense of priorities. Shikadai only remembered Shinki from a long time ago, when both of them were little kids, playing together in Suna, from the several vacations he spent with his uncles, all in order to learn about his Sunagakure heritage better, his mother often said. He knew and felt, Shinki was completely different now. His cousin had always been quiet, but now more than ever.
After the pleasant dinner, Temari invited them to stay over, after all the Nara residence was quite big, and having her brothers close was all she wanted. If only for a little longer. But to this, Gaara said no, and he insisted this time, he explained that he had already booked rooms for him, Kankuro and the kids, not to mention that having dinner was one thing, staying over would be a lot more trouble he wasn’t willing to let his sister carry. He considered to her, he would be wiling to spend a few days with her when work wasn’t as chaotic. It would be nice to have the family all together in Konoha. She gave in, feeling like they just negotiated time to spend as a family.
They left for the night, and Temari was a little saddened. Shikamaru noted that down on his brain, and when they were waving their goodbyes, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close. Temari noted that down on her heart.
“Shikadai’s sleeping. I guess the first day of the chunin exams already took the best of him, huh?” Shikamaru entered the room, pocketed hands, slow pace and a gentle close of the door behind him, making sure no sounds would be made to not wake his son up.
His wife, sitting on the bed, back comfortably laying against the bunch of pillows, peeked up from the book she was reading. The dim light in the room, was just enough for her to make up the words in it. Another antique she found on the Nara library, often about Justus of the family, other times medical books, or just several diaries and notes from the several Nara heads on the family across the centuries. Her teal eyes looked up at him, her naked legs were curled up, close to her chest, and she gently stretched one, and then the other.
The book was finding now rest on top of the bed side table, and her lips stretched a smile up at him. “Your son, isn’t he?” She teased. “Already tired and it was only the first day. Do you know what he told me about the first test? It was easy.” She snorted, dipping her body further against the pillows, her legs dancing one on top of the other sensually, a show for his eyes only.
Shikamaru’s eyes shifted between her eyes and her legs. Quick peeks at her legs, and the dance they were in, and then her teal deep eyes. The tease. “Hah, right back at you. Only you would say something like easy in a chunin exam, after all. Isn’t that what you thought when you saw me as your opponent? This one’s gonna be easy.”
The man, scratched his beard, analyzing his situation before him. Everything was pointing to this being a trap. She was faking it right now, he could tell, he already knew the little hints she dropped when she was lying or hiding something. A little twitch of her smile, the sudden change of topic, a distraction with her legs. She was good, and has only gotten better over the years, but this was a strategy he knew well by now. His wife missed her brothers, and that much was obvious by their nice evening that day. And now she was trying to cover up the fact that she was sad that they left. As always trying to be tough when she didn’t have to.
He decided to approached the situation carefully, sitting on the edge of his bed, across from her, his back turned to her, working on stripping his clothes, making himself comfortable, leading her to believe he fell for her trap.
“Is my husband feeling nostalgic?” Temari wasn’t dumb, she knew he had something planned, she could tell by the way he was being so slow and careful about his approach. This though, was one of the best things about being married to Konoha’s genius. Every day was a nice challenge, it tickled her personality. She dragged her body across the bed, reaching for him from behind, a hand coming up to his shoulder, helping him off his clothes.
“Maybe. I did meet a very spunky little girl back then.” He arched his brow, reaching for her hand, stopping it gently, caressing it, each finger carefully.
But then she was fast to reply. “Oh did you? Spunky seems troublesome thought.” Her other hand was now on his other shoulder, and he turned his head to face her. Her lovely hair was falling down her face, framing her olive skin in a beautiful sight under the dim light.
“Yeah. It was. It’s been a really troublesome journey all the way, but, you know? It was worth it. Look at what I have now.” He slowly turned his body towards her, and gently entwined their fingers together.
What Temari needed right now, was understanding and love. Not lust. Lust was a distraction for her, to forget for a moment that she missed being the one taking care of her brothers. She missed her roots, her land. Even thought she grew well accustomed to Konoha, she was still a brawly woman from Suna, and she would never forget that.
In her voice this time, there was need, it was breathless almost desperate. “What is it? What do you have now? Tell me?”
The gentle side of her. That sweet little thing his father told him about. She stopped being the scariest suna kunoichi in the world for him, a long time ago. Again and again, she gave him this side of her no one else saw.
It was in her nature and she felt it. It felt so natural for her to be caring with him, to be kind, to be loving. It was natural when they became accustomed to each other’s company, how they cared for each other, how strong the bonds have become, how that friendship grew into something so beautiful, and It felt incredibly natural for her to say yes, when he proposed, to kiss and touch for the first time. It was meant to be. And the thought of love and passion filled her cheeks in a rosy color, painted her eyes with a twinkle and made her lean closer to him, tilting her head in search for a kiss, but still waiting for her answer.
“I have you, I have Shikadai, I have us, our family. You were worth all the trouble.” It didn’t take long for him to answer; it was like a verse from an ancient poem, so right and so simple to say. The words spilled from his lips so easily and so genuine.
They touched, for a moment lips brushed a little, and she fell. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed him. He swallowed back, opening her arms to accept her weight on him. His grip was secure, locked around her, and they kissed, deeply and passionately.
But Shikamaru didn’t let the kiss go any further into something more; he broke it, very gently so he wouldn’t startle her. He only pulled her close to rest their foreheads together. Eyes still closed, basking in the moment, sitting her on his lap.
“They’ll be here until the end of the chunin exams, you can take advantage of that and spend more time with them.”
She was caught. Check mate, he would say. He was probably proud of himself when she pulled herself back a little, opening her eyes. Reacting to his challenge.
“I know.” She said, already looking around herself for another plan. “I’ll do that.”
Smile grew on his face when she saw and felt her cornered against his words. So he was right about it. Years of marriage made him an expert on what is Temari Nara thinking about right now. He was truly proud. “But you wanted them to stay over, actually sleep here and be able to take care of them. I know. But they’re both big boys now, and the Kazekage didn’t want any special treatment just because his sister is here. “
Ah, that nasty, horrible man of hers. When did he get so good at knowing her? It truly pissed her off.
“Okay I get it already.” She admitted defeat, leaning against him, hiding her face on the crook of his neck. “But I’m not giving up like a certain someone.” She continued, biting down the flash on his neck, gently.
“Hey!” Accepting that bite as a challenge, Shikamaru pushed his troublesome, spunky wife against the bed. “Ah, you want a rematch from the chunin exams, do ya?” A sweet smile was covering his lips, and her hand sneaked up to him pulling his hair tie off, giggling to his lack of vision after that. She used her fingers to tangle against his hair gently, pulling it out of his eyes.
“I won’t lose this time, and I have a few new things to show you.” Her voice was quiet and deep, her eyes was defiant, and her lower lip curled under her teeth after her words came out like honey to his ears.
“Ahh…. You know I can’t lose against a woman…”