Shikamaru looked up at the clouds with a blank stare on his face. He lifted his right hand into the sky and began twirling his former sensei’s trench knives on his finger. He sighed as he basked in the sun. It was a day Shikamaru loved. The clouds were in full view, not obstructing the sun in anyway. He looked closer at the sky. A small grin escaped his lips as he saw what appeared to be a deer out of the clouds.
“Waiting is so troublesome,” he uttered finally closing his eyes. “Well, at least I have time to stare at the clouds without being pestered by anyone.” He sighed again as he recounted the conversation between him and his mother that morning.
“Shikamaru-kun, that woman came by early this morning,” Shikamaru’s mother, Yoshino said with a hint of happiness in her voice.
“Woman?” Shikamaru looked at her questioningly.
“You know,” she jests.
“Ino?” Shikamaru throws out a name knowing it was probably not her.
“No. The other blonde. The one with the fan on her back.”
“Temari!” Shikamaru said with a mix of fear and annoyance. He regained his composure. “What about her.”
“She invited you on a picnic. She said that she wanted to talk about something. She also said,” Yoshino began checking her pockets. “To give you this.” She held a letter in her hand. It had a picture of a fan on the front. It was roughly folded in half and was slightly crumbled. Shikamaru sighed and took the letter. He never knew Temari as the neat type. He opened the letter and read the contents.
All right, lazy. Get your butt in gear. We’re going on a picnic. You don’t want me to find you. Meet me where we usually meet.
Shikamaru took the paper and crumbled it up. “So troublesome that woman is,” he mumbled.
“So you’re going, right?” Shikamaru’s mother asked as he finished reading.
“I think I’ll just go lay down in my room,” he said as he began walking towards his room. He stopped abruptly as he saw a hand jump in the way. Shikamaru stared at his mother.
“You’re going,” she demanded with a look that could kill. Shikamaru stepped back slightly.
“Fine.”
His eyes twitched upon remembering the conversation. He then gritted his teeth as he recalled his conversation with Ino as he was walking over to this spot.
“Shikamaru where are ya heading?” Ino asked. She was slightly winded indicating she ran towards him.
“Nowhere,” he replied nonchalantly as he began walking again.
“If you’re going nowhere then why don’t you come with me to the flower shop?” Ino began.
“Uh, no,” he answered quickly.
“Oh! Why not!’ she started yelling.
“Don’t you need to go to the hospital and take Sakura’s shift or something.”
“Forehead girl can wait. She won’t go anywhere.” Shikamaru sighed.
“You’re really annoying,” he muttered.
“So where are you going then?” Ino asked again seemingly ignoring his comment.
“Temari wanted something,” Shikamaru said finally as if it hurt to say that.
“I don’t know what you see in her,” Ino said lifting her hands behind her head and looking up at the sky.
“To be honest, neither do I.”
“Yeah, she’s bossy, rude, cocky, and did you see what she did to Tenten?” Ino remarked. Shikamaru stared at the sky as well. He thought back to the match between Tenten and Temari those three years ago. He shook his head remembering Temari’s brutality. He sighed again. He realized Tenten wasn’t the type to hold grudges, but she probably has wanted a few rematches against her.
“Yeah, but surprisingly enough she does have a caring side,” Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. This whole conversation is troublesome.” Ino shook her head.
“No motivation whatsoever. You can’t even continue a conversation without saying it’s troublesome.” Shikamaru didn’t comment this time.
“Isn’t that right?” He said nothing. Ino started getting angry at Shikamaru.
‘Ignoring me now!’ she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.
“Whatever. I’m leaving,” Ino said as he turned a corner as Shikamaru kept going straight. He glanced over at her. Ino turned and waved then walked into the crowd.
He sighed and continued watching the clouds. He put the trench knife in his pocket and placed both hands behind his back ready to take a nap. He takes a deep breath before drifting off. He sat there asleep for a couple minutes until he heard the sound of Temari’s fan open slightly. He looked down out of the corner of his eye to see Temari. He gulped and turned his attention to the clouds.
“Shikamaru,” Temari yelled. “I see you up there.”
‘Should I answer her or should I run?” he thought. ‘This is all so troublesome. Why do I put myself in these situations?’
“Come down here,” Temari yelled again interrupting his thought process.
“Fine,” he mumbled. He leaned over the tree and jumped down. He noticed that she had a basket wrapped around her right arm, her fan rested on the ground standing straight up, her left hand guiding it.
“About time,” she said. She approached him walking with her usual swagger as she put her fan behind her back again. Shikamaru stood upright.
“Where to?” he asked not looking directly at Temari.
“I’m over here,” Temari said drawing his attention to her face. Shikamaru looked at her face and repeated the question. He watched as Temari pointed behind him. He looked a few feet away to see a hill. On the top of the hill was a large light-blue blanket under a different tree. Temari walked past him and motioned for him to follow.
“Don’t even think about running away either,” Temari warned as she continued walking putting her left hand on her hip as she walked towards the blanket. Shikamaru realizing it was smarter to follow walked behind her. She removed the fan from her back and set it beside her on her left. Shikamaru soon joined her on the blanket. They had a short staring contest. Shikamaru lacking the will to continue blinked and laid down on the blanket. Temari then rested the picnic basket on the blanket in between them.
“So, what did you want anyway?” Shikamaru asked already bored.
“I wanted to do something you like for once. That so wrong. Besides I’m sure you thought of five hundred ways to get out of this if you wanted,” Temari began with a smirk.
“More like five hundred and ten,” Shikamaru corrected. Temari shook her head as she reached into the basket. Shikamaru’s eyes widened as Temari pulled out a shogi board. He sat up quickly.
“I heard you liked playing this game,” she started. “I played against Kankuro and Gaara enough. Even though we learned at the same time; I can beat them both handily. It’s time for a real challenge. You win, you get a prize,” Temari explained, the smirk growing on her face as she talked.
“Shikamaru took a deep breath. “You’re on,” he said.
“My my. Was that a hint of enthusiasm in your voice?” Temari noticed as she set up the pieces. Shikamaru said nothing. Temari’s smirk grew even more as she rolled up the sleeves of her black kimono.
“I’ll go first,” Temari demanded.
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“That’s check mate,” Shikamaru declared as he moved his general to the left. Temari looked flabbergasted. Shikamaru laid back and looked at the sky. The sun was starting to set now. They must have been playing for a couple of hours now.
“That was troublesome,” he said stretching. Temari released a low growl that caused Shikamaru to look at her in the face. She was a bit red with anger. She set the pieces back in the bag she had with her and looked at Shikamaru.
“Sit up,” she demanded.
“Why?”
“You want the prize don’t you?”
“No, not really.”
“You’ll get it anyway.”
Shikamaru sighed. He sat up and looked at her in the eyes. He noticed the shogi board was the only thing between them.
“What...” Shikamaru began. He never finished the question. He was too shocked to continue. Temari began creeping closer towards him. She puckered her lips and leaned forward. Shikamaru stood there waiting. He noticed Temari stopping midway at the shogi board. He stood there shocked.
‘This was the prize?’ he thought. He waited patiently. Sweat began pouring out of him. He closed his eyes and waited. Nothing came. He heard Temari chuckle. He opened his eyes quickly. She was pulled back now, her hands in her lap.
“What... Why?”
“You lack determination, Shikamaru,” Temari began. “I’m not doing all the work.” Her chuckle turned into a laugh. She observed Shikamaru’s face. It screamed embarrassment and annoyance. Temari’s face went red from laughter. She controlled herself a couple minutes later and stared at him again.
“It looks like I won at least one match today,” Temari concluded.
“Troublesome woman,” he called her. “All woman are troublesome,” he continued.
“You love us anyway,” Temari said getting up. Shikamaru followed suit. She folded up the blanket and tucked it back in the picnic basket.
“Now be a gentleman and walk me to my hotel,” Temari demanded mockingly. Shikamaru grunted. She grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and led him away. She had that confident smirk again.
‘Maybe that’s what I see in her.’
"Troublesome determination," Shikamaru muttered.
"What?" Temari asked.
"Nothing."
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A/N: Okay, this is the first romance fanfiction I’ve ever wrote and probably the only romance fic I’m writing for a long time. So tell me if it was any good or at least entertaining. I might do a couple more oneshot fics. This one features my favorite character Temari. Hopefully, it’s a decent read. Let me know your thoughts.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.