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The first time she’s seen him, was way back when she was fifteen. Back then, at her age, boys started to have a certain appeal. But to her Shikamaru was nothing more than a weakling Konoha genin. He reminded her of one of those funny Kankuro puppets. When she saw him fighting the sound girl, she thought his fighting style, his arrogance and his looks were lame and uncool. But when they actually fought one against each other on the next round, she was… surprised. Positively surprised, actually. He was strong on his own way, but adult enough to not let something like a fight against a woman get him worked up.
The next time she saw him, she was the one to imprint an idea into his mind. She wasn’t just a troublesome woman, she was more. Becoming Konoha’s ally, her and her brothers became closer to them, allowing Shikamaru to learn a few things about the spunky little girl from Suna, to actually be a mature warrior woman to the core. She was brave, and strong, but she also had a soft side to her.
Temari on the other hand got to see how fragile he was. Unexpectedly so, from someone who often bragged about being a man. It did not make her think less of him, if anything, it was endearing to see he was a man of emotions, a man who was able to put his friends first, to think about them and save them. He was trustworthy.
As the years passed by, both got to know each other better. With each visit from the Suna kunoichi, Shikamaru learned another new thing about her or suna. A tradition back in suna, or how dysfunctional her family used to be, and to be fair, she never pretended to be a martyr, she never blamed anyone or made him feel sorry for her. She simply, slowly, and carefully with each visit, told him where she came from. He came to understand her better, to understand her harshness, and her personality. She was a child of circumstances, just like her brothers.
With each visit, Temari learned new things about him, about konoha. The streets filled with troublesome stories, the food and the companionship between the habitants. She grew to adore all those things and looked forward for her next visit to the leaf village, to be challenged again by Shikamaru, in some intellectual dilemma or argument.
They got along just well enough. Became closer without even realizing. And by the end of the war, her eyes looked at him in a different light. She was a woman after all. And men had a certain appeal to her. In fact, Shikamaru did. Not other men.
After the war, the suna siblings traveled between countries, the first place to visit was actually konoha, there was much to be taken care of, and all of them looked forward to the new world they all created. And so they began, helping Gaara as best as they could.
She saw him in the distance, in the aftermath, when everyone was healing and the funerals had been hold for everyone who perished. She knew Shikaku had been one of the victims, and that pained her quite a lot, Shikamaru’s father had become a great ally and a good friend to her. He meant a lot to her, it was only fair to speak some kind words for him.
Delicately she tapped his shoulder, two quick taps that got his immediate attention. He was wearing all black, his eyes were still sunken and tired, but he already looked healthy comparing to how he looked after the war. There was also something different about his presence, something she noticed when they worked together on that war, how much she admired him back then, still respected that feeling.
“Temari? I didn’t know you were in town.” His voice was smooth as usual, he seemed surprised even thought he knew for sure the Kazekage was in Konoha.
“Ah… Gaara had to be here with the rest of the kages, and he wanted to make sure about some things as well, so of course Kakuro and I couldn’t leave him alone…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked down, her hands were folded over each other, fidgeting, she was nervous, it felt awkward to talk to him, it was embarrassing.
“Oh! Right, right, the Kazekage is in town, with the rest of the kages as well… ahhh seems like I won’t be your guide this time, huh?”
They were used to a certain habit and confidence between each other. He’s been handpicked to be her guide or to aid the suna travelers every time they stepped in konoha, it was strange that for once he wasn’t it.
The shy teal eyes raised up again to meet his dark ones.
“I meant to tell you!” She started, and he looked once again surprised, raising his brows at her sudden change of topic. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
She meant his father. The great pillar in his life was gone. His expression changed again, soften features, the tired eyes and the shoulders falling. He felt smaller all of the sudden, fragile again.
Temari knew he was sensitive to this sort of situation, she’s seen him frail before. He would probably break into tears, angrily scream, maybe hide behind a cigarette. But to her it was important to let him know she was deeply sorry, Shikaku was important to her, and so was Shikamaru. To her, both men became part of her life without even realizing.
“Right… my old man…” His voice wasn’t broken, it wasn’t shaky, but still had a hint of sadness, his eyes pinned on the floor, looking down at the forms of gravel under his feet.
That was a better reaction than she thought, but still, it hurt seeing him like that. Without even thinking Temari pressed her hand to his chest, he was stung with surprise. When he looked at her, she had a kind and sweet in her expression, a soft side of her openly allowing him to see. His heart skipped a beat.
“He was a good man, and he would be proud of you.” Soft spoken words, like she never does. Shikamaru was seeing something so new about her that he honestly liked more than he was willing to admit. Temari was… pretty, and sweet and even kind. He smiled.
“Thank you, Temari. I know he liked you a lot as well.” He felt his chest burn where she was touching him, but did nothing to push her away. It was a rather pleasant feeling actually. But as expected from the sand ninja, she pulled her hand back quickly, turning her eyes to fall somewhere else, holding her hand close as if she had just hurt herself.
After a moment of silence, Shikamaru spoke again, breaking the little tingling awkwardness.
“You’ll be glad to know that I’m the Hokage’s right hand now. I gotta say that you’ve inspired me, you spent years complaining that I didn’t put enough effort in what I do so…” Was he trying to impress her, perhaps? He did it almost unconsciously and also to break the moment of silence between them, to lighten the mood, but there was definitely hope that she would be impressed by it.
It lightened everything up, because Temari could never let pass a perfect opportunity to poke fun of him.
“Aha! So you’ve finally listened to me, and got up from your lazy ass?” She laughed, a shiny giggle, almost brightening everything around them. There it was, the kunoichi he knew so well. “I’m proud of you. And so would he.” This time, she demanded of herself a more sweet and pleasant mood, for him, for someone who knew loss so well and needed no more than a friendly shoulder he could rely on.
He smiled, thankful for that moment, thankful for having Temari as his friend, thankful to have her in his life. She could always somehow slap some sense into him.
“Shikamaru! We need you here, man!” A friendly voice from the other side of the street called out for him, his new office friends, helpful group of fellas who helped him around the busy office work. Even though he was handpicked by Kakashi as his right hand, he still had a lot to learn when it comes to office work.
The youngster looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the voice, and waved with his hand, much more subtle than they were. “I guess I gotta run.” He spoke, slowly turning his face to look at her again.
Temari took a deep breath, smiling back at him. That was goodbye. At least for now. And yet it felt wrong to leave like that. She nodded at him, bitterly.
“Thanks again.” He said, waving his hand at her gingerly. “I guess I’ll see ya around.”
“Yeah, bye.” A vague smile crossed her lips as she waved back at him, watching him leave.
He turned his back at her, her teal eyes observing his back, intently, she remembered the boy she met once, far long gone, replaced by the man she knew now. His back, they seemed larger, when did his back became so large? When did he grow up so much, when did he become a man? She realized, right on that instant, on that fleeting moment, that everything she was feeling for him, everything she wanted, was more than before, it was special. She realized on that moment, when he left, that she was in love with him. She had been in love with Shikamaru for a while now.
She clicked her tongue, turned her head away, looking up into the sky, to the clouds. “How troublesome.” She whispered.