Chapter Text
“What do you want to do for our anniversary this year?” Shikamaru asked at breakfast one morning, tone dismissive.
“Same as always, I guess,” Temari replied. “Talk about going out for dinner and then not bother because we were both working.”
“It has served us well the last few years,” Shikamaru agreed. “Glad that’s sorted.”
Shikadai looked between them. “I don’t even know when your anniversary is. Isn’t it supposed to be a big deal?”
“It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal,” Shikamaru replied. He glanced at Temari, then back down at his food.
“So why isn’t it a big deal?” Shikadai asked.
“Because our wedding was shit,” Temari provided, and Shikamaru protested, “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Why was it bad?” Shikadai cocked his head to the side curiously.
“The Suna council is full of old, interfering men who didn’t want us to get married,” Temari explained. “We had to get married in Suna, we had to follow a lot of boring traditions there, and I didn’t get to do a lot of the things I wanted.”
“Huh,” Shikadai paused to think about that. “Why didn’t you have another ceremony in Konoha with all the stuff you wanted afterwards?”
“Because we were tired,” Shikamaru said.
Temari rolled her eyes. “No, there didn’t seem any point to it. We were married, it was behind us, and the future was more important. Eat your breakfast; you’re going to be late.”
Shikadai rolled his eyes, but fell silent again. After a few minutes of contemplation, he glanced up at Temari once more. “You could do it now.”
“Do what?” she asked.
“Have another ceremony. That’s a thing, right?” Shikadai looked to his father.
“It’s a thing,” Shikamaru confirmed. “It would be a renewal of our vows, not technically a wedding ceremony.”
“What’s renewing vows?” Shikadai scrunched up his nose.
“You just reaffirm them,” Shikamaru explained. “It doesn’t change anything, but it’s a nice gesture if you want to remind your friends and family that you’re happy with your partner and where your life is. Chouji and Karui did it last year,” Shikamaru said with a shrug. “Chocho read something about it and thought it would be fun.”
“Wait, I didn’t know that.” Temari frowned. “Why wasn’t I there?”
“You were in Kiri, doing ambassador stuff,” Shikamaru explained.
“Oh, right.” Temari nodded.
“So, why don’t you do it?” Shikadai asked, looking from one parent to the other. “You could do whatever you wanted now. No council to make rules for you.”
Shikamaru looked at Temari. “What do you think?”
“Sounds cheesy and dumb,” Temari said. “Think of something else.”
She stood up, throwing Shikamaru a look. “I’ll be home late tonight. Start dinner if you’re hungry, otherwise I’ll do it when I get back.”
Shikamaru stayed silent while Temari bustled around, looking to Shikadai only once she had left. “Kid, I’m going to need your help.”
“Why?” Shikadai chewed slowly.
Shikamaru leaned in, voice low. “Because she will never admit it, but your mother regrets not having everything she wanted for our wedding. And we’re going to fix that.”
“We?” Shikadai queried. “How did this become my problem?”
“Because you are my problem,” Shikamaru claimed. “We are going to convince Temari that we should renew our wedding vows, exactly the way she always dreamed.”
“Mom just said she didn’t want to,” Shikadai replied, seemingly ready to drop the subject.
“I’ll convince her.”
“Sure about that?” Shikadai looked doubtful. “Mom’s stubborn. What makes you think you can change her mind?”
“Remember,” Shikamaru stood up. “At one point your mother didn’t like me. But now I’m her second favourite person in the world.”
“Sure about that?” Shikadai asked.
“Well,” Shikamaru half shrugged. “Top five, at least.”
Shikamaru was dozing on the bed when Temari returned that night. He heard her go into the bathroom, start a shower, and once the water was off again he heaved himself to his feet and wandered to talk to her.
He pushed the bathroom door open, blinking through the steam.
“Tem,” Shikamaru began, pausing in the doorway.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, wrapped in a towel and wrangling knots from her hair. “Yeah?”
“I know you said reaffirming vows was dumb. But . . . I think we should do it.”
“Why?”
“Because whenever our wedding gets brought up, you get in a huff about it. Wouldn’t it be nice,” Shikamaru said slowly, “if we had better memories? I’d like you to be happy.”
Temari turned to face him. She looked him up and down, clearly contemplating.
“Do you want to?” Temari asked.
“I do,” Shikamaru nodded. “I think it’ll be good for us.”
Temari raised a sceptical eyebrow. “We’re married already. We have been for years. It’s behind us, and we’re happy. Having another ceremony won’t mean anything and it won’t change anything.”
“Maybe it won’t change anything,” Shikamaru said, smiling gently. “But it will mean something. It will mean a lot.”
There was a long silence, while Temari narrowed her eyes and mused. She wasn’t prone to whimsy. She wasn’t prone to self-indulgence, and she wasn’t prone to lingering in the past. What’s done was done, and there was no use dwelling on the ‘what if’s and the ‘would have been’s.
But, she thought, there had been a few times when she thought a do over would be nice.
With fewer grumpy Suna elders, and less tension across the two countries.
With all the words she had wanted to say, but hadn’t been able to at the time.
Maybe, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“You’d really marry me again?” she asked.
“I’ll marry you as many times as needed,” Shikamaru claimed surely.
“Sure about that? You didn’t learn your lesson from the first time?” Temari smirked.
“I’ve learnt plenty since the first time,” Shikamaru came closer, resting his hands on her waist and staring into the teal of her eyes. “I’ve learnt that I love you more each day. And that my life is so much richer with you in it. And that I wouldn’t trade any of our moments together for anything else.”
Temari looked searchingly at him, studying the dark shadows in his eyes and the sincerity on his face.
“Alright,” she agreed. “Let’s do it.”
His expression softened into gentle, open fondness. That in itself was enough to cement into Temari’s mind that agreeing to this was a great idea. So few things filled Shikamaru with sincere happiness. To find another was a gift.
“Tell me everything you want,” Shikamaru said simply. “Tell me all the things you dreamed about your wedding day that you never got.”
“You know it all,” Temari mumbled. “I told you the first time.”
“Tell me again,” Shikamaru encouraged. “Tell me everything, and this time I promise I’ll make it happen.”
Temari heaved a sigh, looking away towards the foggy window. A long, tense silence stretched out, before she began softly, eyes on the blurry forest. “. . . I want it outside.”
“Okay,” Shikamaru nodded, and didn’t add anything else, hoping the silence would prompt her to open up more.
“I want . . .” Temari hesitated. “The edge of the forest. Where it meets the meadow. When the flowers are blooming. And all our friends are there. And not a single councilman from Suna. Just the people we like.”
“Sounds doable,” Shikamaru assured.
“And I want you to write me your own vows,” Temari added. “Because we used the Suna vows last time.”
“Will you write some for me too?” he asked.
“Of course. Fair’s fair.” She thought for a moment, then asked, “What do you want?”
Shikamaru curled his fingers in her hair. “All I need is you.”
“How many flowers, and what kind?” Ino asked. “I will give you millions.”
“We don’t need flowers, Ino, it’s not going to be that extravagant,” Temari said patiently. She sipped her tea, seated on Ino’s couch, while Ino and Karui listened intently to the upcoming plans. “It’s just something small to create new memories and celebrate the ones we’ve had so far.”
“Sounds exactly like the sort of thing that needs flowers,” Ino insisted. “Lots of flowers. What arrangements did you originally have for your wedding? We can recreate them. We can put them all down the aisle -”
“There’s no aisle,” Temari pointed out. “It’s just us standing around saying stuff to each other.”
“Re-writing your vows?” Karui asked.
“Yeah,” Temari shrugged a shoulder. “It’s a little harder than I expected it to be. I have no idea what to say.”
“List all the reasons you haven’t killed Shikamaru in his sleep yet,” Ino suggested.
Temari sent her an affronted look. “I haven’t killed in him in his sleep because that would rob me of the satisfaction of watching the life leave his eyes. If I’m going to kill him, he’s going to know about it. I’m not wasting my time on him while he’s asleep.”
“Sounds like a healthy marriage,” Karui remarked, taking a sip of tea.
Temari had nothing to say in reply.
Ino, however, had plenty to add. “Are you having a reception afterwards?”
“I guess.” Temari hadn’t planned that far. “It’ll be nice to have everyone around. I suppose we can all have dinner at our place. There won’t be too many of us.”
“We can help with food,” Karui volunteered.
“Thanks,” Temari grinned at her. “I’m sure Shikamaru and Chouji will talk about it between themselves, too.”
“Are you wearing your wedding dress?” Ino demanded. “Are you getting a new dress? Is someone walking you down the aisle?”
“There is no aisle,” Temari repeated, exasperated. “And why are you so nosy? I’ll let you know details as you need to know them.”
“You have to tell me everything,” Ino insisted.
“Why?” Karui raised an eyebrow.
“I’m taking notes so Sai and I can do this too,” Ino claimed brightly.
Karui frowned. “What was wrong with your wedding that you need a do over?”
“Nothing,” Ino replied. “But who doesn’t want an excuse for another party?”
“And especially a party where you get to be the centre of attention, right?” Temari added, with an arched eyebrow.
“Exactly. My favourite kind of party. And you already did this,” Ino sent Karui a slightly snooty look. “What was wrong with your wedding that you needed a do over?”
“It’s a pretty normal thing in Kumo,” Karui replied, with a casual shrug. “Every few years, on milestone anniversaries, we renew our love. There’s nothing mystical about it – it’s exactly the same as getting each other anniversary gifts.”
“Except this time we can force Shikamaru to dress up and be neat for once,” Ino sounded eager. “And Chouji – they have gotten so lazy. It’ll do them good to think about what they’re wearing, for once. And I’ll put some flower arrangements together,” she added, narrowing her eyes at Temari. “You can choose which ones you like. Do you have a theme? Colours?”
“There’s no theme,” Temari said. “It’s just a few friends.”
“With flowers.”
“Fine,” Temari gave in with a sigh. “With flowers. Go nuts. Do whatever you want.”
“Do you need a maid of honour?” Ino asked.
“No. There is no maid of honour. I’m not getting remarried, Ino.”
“Okay, but,” Ino leant forwards. “I will be your maid of honour. Even if you don’t need one.”
“Fine,” Temari stared at Ino over her tea. “But don’t get over excited and make everything get out of hand.”
“No promises,” Ino replied flippantly, and Karui nodded.
“Resign yourself to it now, Temari,” she added. “Ino is going to turn this into a huge party.”
“Small party,” Temari corrected.
Karui’s smile widened. “Right. Wanna bet that Chouji and I will be working out the catering for half the village?”
“I don’t take bets I can’t win,” Temari replied firmly, and Karui chuckled. Anything involving Ino was sure to get out of hand, and Temari knew that. She took another drink of tea, and made a mental note to tell Shikamaru that Ino had stuck her nose into their business again, and he needed to either talk her down or roll with it.
Shikamaru was always a fan of the path of least resistance, which meant he would happily let Ino do whatever she wanted. Especially since whatever Ino did was something less for Shikamaru to do.
Temari sighed to herself. Shikamaru had long since weaponized his own laziness, and this was a prime example. He liked to call it delegation.
She called him a useless bastard.
And they were both correct.