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Warm desert air caressed his skin as he dashed over the rooftops of Suna in a familiar path he’d followed so many times before. His skin itched, and not just from grains of sand the wind had carried his way, a sensation he’d grown used to. No, this particular discomfort came from something quite different.
It took only three days for the news to reach Konoha. And another three days for Shikamaru to reach Suna.
The council has arranged a political marriage for Suna’s princess, and word on the street is, she’s going along with it. He’d laughed at first, because the idea was utterly ridiculous. Temari doesn’t exactly bend so easy to the council’s, or anyone else’s will. But when multiple sources told the same story in the same day, it was hard to keep dismissing it as a rumor. There was no more laughter, only fury.
Streets were empty and scarcely lit. If he had more time he’d stop to look at the stars and admire how much more visible they were here as opposed to in Konoha.
Shikamaru found himself standing on the roof of a building across the street from hers. The sight in front of him had his jaw clenching, and an unpleasant burn spread through his chest. There sat Temari, in her dining room, with a diplomat from Kumo – the man she was allegedly marrying.
He observed for a moment, his breath stuck in his throat. They were chatting over dinner. She wasn’t showing signs of distress, but he knew how to tell her fake smile apart from the real one with a single glance. And the face she was wearing was the carefully schooled, overly polite one she reserved for special occasions, such as politics.
Shikamaru smiled, finally feeling a semblance of respite and letting it wash over him, as he let the breath he’d been holding escape at last.
His relief was short lived when he saw the man place his hand on top of hers and caress it lightly. Her face was turned away so Shikamaru couldn’t read her reaction, but the fact that she didn’t retract her hand didn’t sit well with him. And the man grew bolder then, the same hand casually found it’s way to Temari’s knee.
Nope. Screw this. He’s not going to just stand there and watch some jackass cozy up to her. Shikamaru circled the building and in a few swift motions landed on the terrace of her bedroom, door wide open. Perfect.
He walked in slowly, strategically. His steps light enough to not be noticed by a diplomat sitting in the next room, but his presence heavy enough to be immediately noticed by a trained shinobi. He kept his chakra unconcealed. She would know it’s him. All he had to do was wait.
Three. Two. One.
The door creaked open when a shapely silhouette appeared at the door. As she closed the door behind her, Shikamaru instantly moved, invading her space and caging her between himself and the wall. She let out a small gasp as soon as her back hit the wall and she flashed him a smile. The real one. The one she so rarely used, but he’d been lucky to see it on more than one occasion.
“What,” he asked quietly with a lethal edge to his voice “do you think you’re doing?” They stood so close he could smell that orchid perfume on her, the one she always liked to wear, and it took all he had in him to not dip his head down to her neck and kiss her.
“Funny, I could ask you the same thing?” She said equally as calm, not bothering to push him away. He was no fool, Shikamaru knew he could only cage her like he had if she allowed him to. “Seriously Shikamaru, breaking and entering?”
“Technically I didn’t break anything. Your door was open.” He said as he brushed her bangs to the side of her face to take a look at her eyes. Miles of green had him in a siren gaze. His self-control went to shit when she exhaled a heavy breath that fell on his skin, and he came rushing down to capture her mouth with his.
Her lips parted instantly, allowing him in, and she let out the smallest moan at the taste of his tongue which had him instantly hard. Her hands roamed over his chest and around his neck while his firmly rested on her waist, pulling her closer where she belonged.
After letting himself get briefly distracted and indulge in pleasures of her mouth on his, Shikamaru pulled back slowly, breaking the kiss. His forehead rested atop hers, their breaths heavy. He remembered there was a certain Kumo diplomat waiting for her behind the door, and he felt both devastated and on top of the world knowing she was here, melting in his arms in spite of what awaited outside of this room.
“Seriously, Tem? A diplomat from Kumo? You can’t actually be thinking of going through with this.”
For the first time tonight, he saw her face show signs of discomfort. She frowned and looked away from him.
“I have to. You know Suna has been in a bad place ever since the war. And even with all alliances we have, the council has been pressuring me to do this for years. You know as well as I do that peace never lasts long. We need to have a safety net. Suna needs this.”
“Why him? Why Kumo?”
“The council–“
“Surely the council knows that Konoha would’ve been a better match. We have more resources than Kumo, or any other nation for that matter. We do however lack eligible diplomats, but surely a clan head would’ve been an adequate replacement, no? So why didn’t you fight for us?”
“Us? I– Shikamaru, we aren’t really dating, we’re just fucking. I can hardly expect you to jump in just to save me here, nor can you really expect me not to do what my country needs just so we can keep this thing between us.”
Something broke inside him listening to her throw his own words back at him the way she did.
We won’t let it get personal. He’d said the first time they crossed the invisible line of their relationship. Except he lied and only said it because he was mortified he would lose her and things would become weird between them. It was no secret that neither of them was exactly an expert on relationships. They may have pretended it was just a side thing they did, but it was definitely way more than just fucking.
Because when they weren’t fucking, they were still best friends, and never dated anyone else, and spent all their possible free time together and that pretty much sounded like a relationship to him.
“As Kazekage’s sister it’s my duty to help my country. I don’t like it but I’ll do it for my people.” She kept on.
“You’re not marrying him Temari, this is not negotiable.” Shikamaru said, his tone final. He stepped closer, pinning her in place once again.
“You don’t get a say in this.” She swallowed thickly, still not completely facing him. “You promised me this was just casual…”
“I lied. We both did.”
There was a beat of silence, but the truth still buzzed through the air, electrifying it. He knew it. She knew it. They never labeled it, and Temari may have been stubborn as all hell, denying what was obvious and staring her right in the face, but Shikamaru wouldn’t be scared, and he wouldn’t be pushed away. Her coping mechanisms were terrible, but he knew her well enough, inside and out, to know that her heart was his. Just as his was hers.
“What do you want me to do, Shikamaru?” She asked, her eyes sparkling as they looked up at him with something resembling hope.
“Just say yes.” He whispered and started peppering light kisses on her lips, her neck, between her chest, on her stomach and her thighs as he went down to his knee. His hand dipped into his pocket to bring out a small velvet box that has been burning a hole in his vest ever since he put it there a month ago. He took out the ring and placed it on her finger with another tender kiss to her knuckles.
He didn’t ask the question, but she nodded yes regardless.
“Good. Now go and tell him to leave, because if he touches your thigh one more time he’s losing a fucking hand.”
“Since when are you so possessive?” Temari frowned with a lightness on her face. Like she liked it.
“Since you tried to marry another man just because you’re too proud to admit that you love me, you troublesome woman.”
“Crybaby.”