The sun shined brightly upon the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A few harmless white fluffy clouds floated through the blue sky, providing a lovely morning for the villagers to wake up to. Streams of sunlight broke through the windows, rousing the people of the town.
Inside the Paradise Hotel, a foreign kunoichi stirred under the blankets of her bed. She rolled over in the bed just for blinding light to hit her in the eyes through her curtains. She sighed as she opened her dark green eyes. The young woman slightly blinked to get rid of the remaining sleep that clouded her vision.
“Alright, time to get up,” Temari told herself. The Sand kunoichi slowly pulled herself into a sitting position in her bed, stretching her arms above her head. She sluggishly pushed herself out of bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for her departure.
Temari hopped into the shower and let the steaming hot water run down her lightly tanned skin. Her shoulder length sandy blonde hair clung to her face and neck as the water rinsed it out. After completely cleansing herself, she wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and proceeded to don her ninja wardrobe. She wore an orange battle kimono, similar to the black one she had worn in her later teen years. A green sash was tied around her waist, and orange fingerless gloves covered her hands.
Once she was dressed, she began to pull her hair up into her signature four ponytail style. She glanced at herself in the mirror, satisfied with her work. As the finishing touch, she tied her Sand ninja headband around her forehead, her bangs coming down to gently brush against the metal plate.
She emerged from the bathroom, feeling refreshed after taking her long shower. The Sand kunoichi gathered her items into her backpack and strapped her metal fan to her back. Temari carried her bag at her side, and once she was sure she had everything, she left the hotel.
Temari emerged from the building to breathe in the fresh air that seemed to fill the Leaf Village. Her home didn’t have crisp air like this, so it was always a gift to relish in the foreign atmosphere whenever she could.
After breathing in the new air for what should be her last time for a while, she glanced to the side to see a shadow emerge from beside the wall of the hotel building. She smiled slightly as she saw Shikamaru approach her. He was wearing black pants and a fishnet shirt underneath his green Leaf jounin vest.
The Leaf ninja smiled back when he saw that Temari had noticed him. The two fell into step with the other, side by side, as they walked on through the village.
“So this is your last day here, correct?” Shikamaru asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“It is,” Temari nodded. “I have completed my mission as Suna’s representative, so I need to return to my village.”
“Hmm,” the Leaf ninja replied with an acknowledging nod. “So you’ll be back for the Chuunin Exams, then?”
“Yeah, I will,” the kunoichi replied kindly. “You know, you didn’t have to escort me to the gates. I’m a big girl. I can find my way to the gates,” Temari smirked.
“Yeah, but it is my mission to escort you throughout the village during your stay here. That pretty much means I’m stuck with you until you get out of here,” Shikamaru teased. “Troublesome woman…”
Temari chuckled. “Well alright, whatever…”
The gates of Konoha appeared in front of them after only a few more moments of walking. The green majestic doors opened up to the outside world, and the two shinobi could see the forest extending out before them for an indistinguishable distance. They turned to each other, ready for their goodbyes.
“So, I guess I’ll see you later then,” Temari said as she grinned at her friend.
Shikamaru nodded his head. “You know where to find me,” he said with a smirk.
Temari turned to leave for her three-day journey back to Suna. She had barely crossed the threshold to completely leave the village when the screeching of a bird caught both shinobi’s attention. The Suna ninja turned just in time to see a brown hawk swoop down towards them. Shikamaru reflexively lifted his right arm, and the bird easily landed on the makeshift perch. The jounin slightly grimaced at the bird’s talons digging into his bare arm, but after only a moment, he began to ignore it.
He reached up to grab the little white piece of paper that was tied to the hawk’s leg. His black eyes read through the small note lazily before he finally sighed. Shikamaru slowly glanced up at the kunoichi before him, who was staring at him expectantly.
“Looks like you’re still stuck here,” Shikamaru said sluggishly. Temari raised an eyebrow at his statement in surprise. “The Hokage wishes to see us,” he explained. The Sand ninja sighed as she nodded her head, redirecting herself to follow her escort back into the Leaf Village.
**********************************************************
After only a few minutes, Shikamaru and Temari arrived at the Fifth Hokage’s office. The Leaf shinobi gently knocked on the large wooden door a couple times before shoving his hand back into his pocket.
“Come in,” a voice said from inside the room. Shikamaru turned the knob and opened the door, allowing Temari to walk in first before following in after her.
Once inside Lady Tsunade’s office, both Shikamaru’s and Temari’s eyes widened at what was waiting for them. Tsunade was seated at her desk, with her hands folded in front of her face, and Shizune was standing behind her, with TonTon cuddled in her arms. This was the normal part, as this particular scene was very common to experience when entering the Hokage’s office.
What threw Shikamaru and Temari off was the fact that Naruto and Sakura were standing on the left side of the room, and Gaara and Kankurou were standing on the opposite side.
Temari furrowed her eyebrows as she eyed her brothers. “Gaara? Kankurou? What are you two doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Konoha?”
“There were some last minute arrangements concerning the Leaf-Sand alliance treaty that needed to be discussed,” Gaara said as he glanced over at the Hokage. He crossed his arms over his chest, signifying that the rest of the explanation was handed over to the blonde woman.
Tsunade nodded her head. “There are some concerns that need to be taken care of in order for the alliance to be reestablished.”
“What kind of concerns?” Shikamaru asked in confusion.
The busty woman sighed as she stared at the two new arrivals. “Ever since the war ended, the countries have had a difficult time readjusting to previous treaties. The Joint Shinobi Alliance has basically established new treaties while canceling some others.”
“But… Is it really that difficult to renew the Leaf-Sand alliance?” Temari asked, slightly bewildered.
“The economies of the Leaf and the Sand are disastrously low,” Tsunade informed as she leaned back in her swivel chair. “Even though our villages are meant to be allies, other nations do not believe in our peace treaty. Even with the shinobi countries emerging victorious in the war, mistrust is a sad aftereffect that is evident in all places now. Now, they are not cooperating with either of us.”
“What do you mean by cooperating?” the Sand kunoichi asked.
Kankurou looked up to lock eyes with his sister as he attempted to explain the diplomatic issues for the two Kage, as the stress was becoming a bit evident in both of their expressions. “Countries aren’t trading with us, people aren’t coming to the villages, and nations aren’t hiring our ninja. If this keeps up, basically, both of our villages will be in shambles,” the puppet master said.
“However, there is one way to encourage the other countries to believe in our alliance,” Sakura said, her jade eyes illustrating her hopefulness.
“What is it?” Shikamaru asked, his comrade’s hope having a slightly positive impact on him. However, his faith dwindled when he noticed Naruto snickering beside his pink-haired teammate.
Tsunade paused for a moment. She leaned forward in her chair and laced her hands together in front of her ruby lips. She took in a deep breath before she replied to Shikamaru’s question. “A marriage between Konoha and Suna.”
Shikamaru’s mouth fell open. “You can’t mean…”
Temari went wide-eyed. “You’re not saying that…”
Everyone else in the room nodded. “Shikamaru, Temari, the Kazekage and I are assigning you the mission of matrimony,” Tsunade declared, her voice projecting loudly across the room.
“WHAT?!” Shikamaru and Temari both yelled at the same time. Both were sporting fearful expressions across their faces.
“It’s only a pretend marriage,” Sakura said calmly, hoping to soothe the growing anxiety in the room. “But the only ones who’ll know it is phony will be us. You two just have to act married to fool everyone.”
“Yeah, it’s just three months,” Naruto shrugged with a bright grin on his whiskered face. “Even you, Shikamaru, should be able to handle a wife for three months.”
“After that, you two can go back to your normal lives,” Tsunade said coolly.
“But why me? Why not Gaara or Kankurou?” Temari complained. She crossed her arms over her chest, acting like a stubborn child.
“Temari, Gaara’s the Kazekage. He can’t just marry anyone,” Kankurou said matter-of-factly. “I have a girlfriend in Suna, so that’s out of the question. And besides, word has it that you two are dating anyway."
Shikamaru and Temari blushed at this. The two glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes before quickly averting their respective gazes to something else in the room other than the person standing beside them. Simultaneously, both were thinking of killing the person who had spread the rumor of them dating. They were just friends, and they wouldn’t have said that their ‘friendship’ meant ‘dating.’
“You two have known each other for eleven years. You’ve done plenty of missions together. This seemed like the best arrangement,” the Fifth Hokage said as her hazel orbs eyed the two shinobi up and down.
“But… a marriage? Is this really necessary?” Shikamaru whined.
“Yes,” Tsunade scolded sternly. She rose from her seat to enhance her figure of authority. “This is a mission. Should you refuse the marriage, you would be refusing the orders of your leaders. Is that what you two intend on doing?”
Shikamaru and Temari glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes. Then they looked back at Tsunade and Gaara. “No,” they both muttered at the same time as they looked to the floor in sadness.
“Good,” the woman said with a nod. She gestured to Naruto and Sakura, who were standing to her right. “Naruto and Sakura will act as coordinators to ensure that no one finds out about the fake marriage. They will relay new information to you whenever it is necessary.” After receiving nods from the two now engaged shinobi, Tsunade seated herself back in her swivel chair. “Now, you two had better go prepare the plans for your wedding. I expect a ceremony at the end of next week,” she smiled.
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Story notes: This used to be a one-shot, but after many suggestions, I decided to extend it.
Chapter notes: This was previously a one-shot, but after several suggestions from both Narutofic.org and FF.Net users, I decided to extend this into a novel. I can't promise that this will be updated frequently, as I have other priorities with my other stories first. Then again, since I already pretty much 'wrote' this story, it might be completed before my other stories. *shrug* Oh well...
The idea for this was based off of a couple pictures I found on the internet. Evidently, the idea was actually an entire doujinshi. I was unaware of this at the time, so the credit of the idea actually goes to whoever made the doujinshi. Other than the part where Tsunade and Gaara issue the mission, everything else is mine. The doujinshi is called 'Mission Rings with Voice for You', and you can check it out at YouTube.
Okay, I do not own Naruto, so there is no need for any of that lawyer business please... I can't afford a lawyer anyway, so...
Read on and enjoy!
Chapter end notes: So how was this for the rewrite? Better than the one-shot? Those who have read the one-shot know what I'm talking about, as my writing was rather sucky-ish when I posted it, since it was written three years ago.
So, feedback? Anyone? It would really be appreciated. I'd like to know what some of you guys think of this so far.
Thank you for reading! You're incredible!