Work Text:
“I’m home.” Shikamaru announced it when he arrived home from work. It was past midnight, the house was in pin drop silence condition. He walked past the kitchen and saw there was leftover on the table. Instead of eating, he put them back into the fridge and walked up to the bedroom linked bathroom to have a warm shower after having a long day.
Once he was done, he walked out of the bathroom and saw his wife sleeping soundlessly at the other side of the queen sized bed. He sighed and walked to his side of the bed and ended his day. It was 8 in the morning where the sun had risen, with his age catching up, Shikamaru no longer able to claim his title for being the laziest sleepyhead in Konoha. A loud yawn, followed by a deep stretch, he turned around and stretched his arm to discover the other side of his bed was no longer warm. “Ahh..” he thought, she must have left before the sun rose again.
As mundane as it sounds, his routine was to wake up, freshen up, and have breakfast or reheated leftover dinner prior going to work as a Senior Advisor to the Hokage. As usual, he eats his breakfast deep in thought. Something feels different but nothing seems to have changed. It felt like something was missing in his life. Probably it was the thrill of having a shogi partner. Shikadai has grown up into a fine shinobi, his 18th birthday wish was to step out of this house and to live on his own and be part of the union committee. Much like his mother, it’s rather troublesome to deal with his determination; besides, he is no longer a child. He can only accept Shikadai's plan and give his blessing. Much to his dear wife's overbearing nature, she disagrees and reprimanded him over his blessing for their son.
He shrugged and sigh, he took too much of his mother's attitude, like a wind, he travels around the world on behalf of the union for diplomatic purposes. It’s less troublesome to find a new shogi partner than to wait for his son to come home and have a game of shogi. He lit a stick of cigarette and had a puff as he left the house for work.
When he arrived at the advisor office, he overheard a few young in-training Assistant Advisor’s conversation, “hey, I’m gonna clock out early today, I’m meeting Rui-san later.”.
“Oooo.. You must be nervous, sooo… how did you know him?”
“Mmm… you know working in the advisor office is always busy. I don’t have many friends here. Most of the time, I got home and poured myself a glass of beer to end the day…” another assistant advisor cut in “ Come on, you haven’t tell us how you know him”
“Okay…okay.. I know him from a Friend Making Website.”
“Friend Making Website”. He mumble quietly and once again deep in his thoughts while the assistant advisors continue their chatter. ‘I can find a shogi partner there.’ He then searched for the said Friend Making Website and was required to create a profile.
‘Name… I can’t put my real name. It will only get me in trouble and who is willing to play shogi with a Nara, besides another Nara. Haaa… Nara… since Nara’s is the caretaker for deers, dear, it’s generic enough. I will use that. Next, talk about your bio or interest. A shogi player looking for someone to play shogi with’ Shikamaru keyed in the information as he mused.
Swipe left to reject and swipe right to accept and chat with them. Sounds reasonable.’ he mused while going through the profile. It only takes him a few swipes to realize it’s more than just a Friend Making Website but a place to search for a partner or a fling. With an IQ over 200, his brain has flash out over 200 scenarios of what will happen if he matches up with any of these ladies and what would make it worse if Temari or any of his friends saw him with another unidentified lady together. He will definitely be labeled as an infidelity man and Temari might, and very likely will maim him and his beloved stag. ‘That would be a total drag.’ he winced at his thought. ‘Women are troublesome, I just need a person who enjoys shogi and plays together…. That’s it! I just have to find a man.’ he ended his thoughts with a smirk and was caught by one of the assistants.
“Say, Shikamaru-san are you alright? You haven’t been yourself the past 15 minutes.”
“I’m fine.” he rubs the back of his neck and continued “I just remembered I have a delivery sent over to my house today, and thought it's a good idea to work from home. I’m bringing these stack of papers home, you all can carry on. Bye!” He packed his items and left the office in a rush.
As Shikamaru marched out of the Hokage building, he wished to go to a quiet place, preferably somewhere with some privacy and he can only think of the Nara Resident. His wife would most likely be at home, which would deem suspicious for him to be home this early. He sighs as he exits the building and looks around, in search of peace and privacy.
He looked at the Hokage Rock and thought of a great place that fulfilled both peace and privacy criteria. He proceeded to the Archive Library, being the Hokage’s right hand man does give him some perks to enter and exit the archive at ease. He finds himself a comfortable, quiet spot and in search of a man who likes shogi. He encountered a rather mysterious profile that caught his interest. Without a second thought, he swiped right as he read the mysterious profile bio.
‘Name: Kuri,
If you like sake with lemon and enjoy shogi, we can probably play, and if you don’t mind getting caught in the rain or dirty your feet on the dunes, we can probably take a long walk somewhere to stargaze. Let’s connect and plan for an escape.’
He smirks at the end of his reading, he was humored and intrigued by the bio. He thought it would be a good idea to keep with the flow, ‘Kuri.. that’s a man's name, it means chestnut’. He chuckled, ‘welp, it’s been a while since I was involved in something spontaneous’.
‘Hi Kuri,
I have never tried sake with lemon, they probably taste good but I do enjoy shogi. We can play together. I don’t mind getting caught in the rain or getting my feet wet. I’m a strategist, let me initiate the escape. See you tomorrow evening, 5.30pm at Senju Park. It’s a great place to play and stargaze’
Once he was satisfied with his message, he clicked send and await for his potential shogi partner to respond back. As he was preparing the papers to continue his work, he heard a ring, the sound of a notification. He opens the message and receives a mail from Kuri. In a blink of an eye, he opens it with excitement.
‘Hi Dear,
Sounds like a plan. I will bring some refreshment, specially sake with lemon and you can bring along a shogi board. We will be playing together and if I like the game, we can proceed with the escape. I will see you at Senju Park in my purple sundress.’
‘Pur….pur…purple sundress!!! What?! Kuri is a woman?’ He was dumbstruck.. His excitement was nullified to horrified at a lightning pace. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sat in a comfortable seated position, with both of his hands entangled in his usual thinking hand sign. A couple of minutes later, he continued with his paper with that shit eating grin on his face throughout the day.
The next morning, as routined, he woke up with a loud yawn, followed by a deep stretch and his wife was no longer in bed. He freshens up and walks down to the kitchen for breakfast. “Good Morning” a woman's voice surprised him. He gazed at the direction of the voice and found his wife sitting in the living room with a book in her hand.
“Fancy to see you here at this hour.” he replied nonchalantly.
“Took a day off.” Temari replied.
He hummed at her response and continued his journey to the kitchen table.
“Will you be home for dinner today?” she asked.
He sighs and replies “I guess not. Gotta catch up on some paperwork.”
“Okay. I will pack some food for you to reheat in the fridge. I won’t be home tonight.” she announced.
He hummed again and continued his breakfast in silence and of course, deep in thoughts.
Now this is the tricky part, how is he supposed to explain to her about bringing the shogi board to work? Various scenarios have popped out of his mind casually. He stood up from the table and placed the dirty dishes into the sink and walked to his study room and picked up the shogi board and pieces. He then walk out to the main door casually and before he able to announce “ ittekimasu”
Temari query “What’s with the shogi board?” ‘Haaa… nothing seems to get past her.’ he sighed.
“Thought it could help me to think better at work” he replied nonchalantly.
“Something troublesome?” she persisted.
“No. There is nothing you should be worried about.” he assured her and left the house.
Work has been rather peaceful today, 5pm sharp, he clock out from his office and walked to his favorite cloud watching spot. He looked left and right, it seems no one was around, “Henge no jutsu” he announced. Shikamaru has transformed into a man with half tied black hair, a light scar on his left cheeks dressed in an olive linen shirt with his sleeve rolled up, paired with black pants and a laced up flat black boots. He left his favorite place in his transformed identity and walked off to Senju Park.
He sat on one of the canopy near the entrance of the park and started setting up his shogi board with high hopes and a hint of nervousness. It felt just like asking Temari out for a date at the Land of Silence. He was smiling to himself with all those fond memories while waiting for Kuri to start the game.
A pair of black peep toe booties stood in front of him, he glanced up and saw a feminine figure in purple sundress. As the evening sun started to descend, he squinted his eyes in an effort to decipher her features. She has wavy brown hair, with strands dancing with the gentle breeze as she chose to let them run loose with side bangs framing her face that embodied a sense of untamed beauty and hint of mystery.
He caught a glimpse of her eyes, a mesmerizing blend of green and blue. Those eyes held a depth and intensity that instantly drew him in, captivating him. The color teal was a hue owned by the very two important people in his life. They, too, possessed eyes that held the same enchanting shades that always kept him captivated, regardless of how many times he had seen them. He stood up, still captivated by her eyes, to greet her.
As the evening sun embraced her brown hair, bathed in its warm glow, it seemed to take on a luminous quality, transforming into a familiar shade of blond. Her facade was scrunched, glaring at him intensely. The word ‘Temari’ caught on his mind. Before he gets to voice out to greet her. She retorted, “Oh, it’s you” with a smirk.
In a sense of relief, he gave her a loose smirk and replied “yes”
They both laughed and dispelled their henge no jutsu. She was dressed in her purple kimono and a black peep toe booties, with her hair style in two low pigtails.
“I never knew you like sake, and still dancing in the rain. All these while I thought you played shogi just to accompany me and never into the game.” he confessed.
She replied “you never asked or invited me to a game, since Shikadai and yes, I have been drinking sake with lemon all day.”
‘Now it makes sense why she looks a little flustered with rather calm nerves today.’ he thought to himself. He gestured her to sit on the opposite side of the shogi set and sat down to move his shogi piece. She took her turn to move her piece. They both sat in silence and played in peace till the evening sun descended below the horizon, casting its fading rays across the landscape, painting the sky with hues of orange and soft pink.
The air was rather crisp, carrying whispers of gentle breeze as they both lay side by side holding hands, flustered cheeks with emptied water flask, ready to embark on a journey amongst the stars. Hand in hand, they traced the constellations with their eyes, playfully connecting the dots to form intricate stories just like the olden days. The air was filled with laughter and reminiscence as they once again found comfort in each other’s company.
~~~ The End ~~~