The first weird thinghad happened two weeks ago on the occasion of the Monthly Kage Summit. He had been charged, like a handful of other handpicked ninjas, with the mission of watching over his own kage. Danzo Shimura. He might not be particularly fond of him but Shikamaru had to admit that the thought of him being selected for that task was quite ... gratifying.
Well - it had taken them more than three and a half days of walking in a cold and quite hostile climate - but it was still 'a great privilege for him' (him meaning "a chuunin such as himself") to be included in that trip.
Well - at least, it was what his mother had repeated again and again. In the end, however, he could see that she was as dumbstruck as he was by this decision. Whatever.
He was a thinker. He would always take the time to consider all eventualities that offered a situation before issuing, finally, a decision and a plan of attack. In short, they could not expect him to spontaneously throw himself under the blade and a surprise attack of a samurai, a samurai much more used to that kind of thing than in, in top of that.
His father had simply shrugged and said that he 'should see this as an opportunity to learn more about the politics of the shinobi world'. In retrospect, Shikamaru had now came to wonder whether it was not his father (or any other prominent member of his clan, convinced of his 'liking' for the diplomatic sphere) who had directly assigned him to that mission.
In short - everything about that mission had been a real pain in the ass : it was freezing cold outside AND inside of the palace, the Hokage and the Elite Ninjas would exchange treacherous looks whenever he had his back turned to them - the austere and far too formal atmosphere between the different representatives of the Nations (and also within his own faction): Shikamaru had never felt so much out of place.
The only kind of friendly faces - and friendly was still quite a reach, lying among the foreign delegates were those of the Sable siblings.
...
In other words, yes - his first big political mission wasn't by any means a piece of cake. He would have rather chose to watch over the Academy kids a billion times rather than attend that kind of meeting where everyone was so suspicious of everything, silence included.
The genin trainees, at least, had the merit of being entertaining.
His father, who was also a member of the elite guard, had warned him quite well : a simple yawn there could be interpreted as a sign of ostentatious disrespect, in other words, a very real declaration of war between two countries.
Shikamaru had now been trying for more than five minutes to suppress the boredom that was begging to come out of his mouth - and it was hard, much harder than at family dinners where he could hide behind a paper towel or at the Academy where, in any case, he was far from being alone to feel that way. He was literally surrounded by ninjas twenty times more experienced than he was, who were constantly watching the most imperceptible movements of their peers.
There was even that moment where Shikamaru had thought for sure that he wasn't going to make it out alive - because of that damn Kumo kunoïchi, a real madwoman, when he had had the misfortune to raise his arms to tighten the elastic of his ponytail. Phew. The blade had barely stopped a few centimeters away from his throat - his father had frowned, the two anbus accompanying them had reached for their sheaths and he was almost sure that he had seen the Kazekage and the Mizukage, from below, turning towards them - before it finally decided to return to its place. Without a word - without an excuse, but with a grunt that had made many of them giggled. "Pff, rookie mistake."
And indeed, Shikamaru being one of those who learn from their mistakes, he had decided not to move a inch until the end of the session - after all, how much time was still left ; an hour or two? All he had to do was find a way to entertain himself - to avoid any kind of diplomatic incident, without having to move - to avoid dying stupidly because of an overzealous ninja.
In such a situation, what option did he have left other than observing others? To see what they were doing in order not to die of boredom?
Kumo's ninjas gave him a sarcastic look as he glanced over them - to which he rolled his eyes heavenwards, but things seemed to be calmer on Iwa's side as they where quietly exchanging a few comments. Well, there was no way he could do the same and chat a little bit with his companions - no, his father was far too concentrated to suddenly start talking about shoji strategies, and as for the other two... No, Shikamaru'd rather pursue his internal dialogue.
The Sand Junins focused their full energy and attention on Gaara. Their arms were folded, and they would shake or nod their heads every now and then, depending on what was being said down there. They didn't seem to fear boredom... Or catching cold.
Especially Temari, whose shawl barely covered her long legs. The cream color of the wool was clashing with her tan. Wait a moment - how the hell was she not freezing to death dressed like that, while he, wrapped in an stylish coat-scarf-turtleneck-gaiters-bobble hat ensemble, was literally freezing his butt off?
It was precisely in that moment that his father made his comment:
"Don't let it distract you too much, son."
The younger Nara literally stopped on the spot. Coming from anyone else, he would have fond something to defend himself - after all, he wasn't doing anything wrong per say, his only aim was to chase away boredom in order to avoid any kind of diplomatic war. The meeting has been dragging on for hours now - a meeting to which he still did not know why he was there, for hours now he's been dying to be able to move again and sit by a fire.
There was nothing more to see in it. Nothing at all.
And yet, the tip of his ears now crimson, Shikamaru waited for the rest. But nothing else came out of his father's mouth - Shikaku seemed to had immediately lost any interest in what his son was doing. He was completely focused on the discussion below them.
On the way home, fortunately, none of them mentioned it again.
March, 25th - it was finally time for the great Spring Cleaning. Well, at least, it was what his mother had been harping on again and again since his return from the Land of Iron. So, it was more compelled than really enthusiast about that Shikamaru had spent the entire morning looking for any clothes that had been lying loose in his chest of drawers for too long. He had then simply buried them in a random bag found under his bed.
He had made some amazing discoveries: an old pair of shorts that he probably hadn't wear since his Academy days, lots and lots of similar undershirts (so similar that he briefly thought of buying new ones, in order to brighten up his wardrobe a little bit before changing his mind, for lack of real motivation) and a T-shirt far too tight to be his.
Ask him about it and the young Nara would have been at loss to explain how it got there. But fortunately for him, he didn't have the answer, as Yoshino had postponed her little inspection tour.
Two o'clock in the afternoon: Shikamaru now found himself with a tidy room and a heavy bag of clothes on his hands. On second thought, he decided not to get rid of it. Throwing away those clothes meant that he'll have to buy new ones, which was completely absurd when he knew he already had a bag bag full of it.
Only one option was left : to go to the laundromat, as asking for his mother to do his laundry meant that he'd ended up doing it himself.
Going to the self-service laundry only took him a few minutes getting to grips with the machines was not difficult : he had already tag along with Naruto in there once or twice before and everything had always gone well. The Nara put a first pile of clothes in the machine and, sitting on a bench not far away, waited for the magic to happen. Thanks god, he had thought of bringing his book.
"Hey Shikamaru. First time I see you here!"
Shikamaru looked up from his book, not really surprised by the arrival of the Inuzuka, already preceded by Akamaru's yapping. He nodded to the brown-haired man and closed his 'Botany Manual', leaving it for good in favor of his friend. He liked Kiba - they had known each other since childhood, had gone to the Academy together, and had always gotten along well: they suffered the wrath of their mothers on a daily basis and were the kind of people who didn't like to bother too much with aning. No - running into Kiba here made him happy. What he wasn't so happy about, however, was the presence of his long-haired friend, a very nice boy when it came down to it, so close to his freshly washed laundry.
Were dogs only allowed in there ?
Strategically, Shikamaru chose not to share that thought with his friend and preferred, in a hurry, to program one last machine. It was only after throwing in there the last piece of clothing, the infamous T-shirt that had came out of nowhere in his room, that he became aware of the insistent look Akamaru was addressing to him, lying at his master's feet.
Well - this was something that often happened to him with animals; Shikamaru was not, basically speaking, a 'beast lover', it was rare for a cat or dog to rub its legs begging for attention. But Akamaru's gaze was piercing, so focused on him that the Nara would not have been surprised if he started growling.
Surprised by this unusual reaction (he had known him after all since he was a puppy), the genius took a few moments to understand.
Shit: how far was a dog's sense of smell developed?
Shikamaru froze in place for a moment before, not knowing how to do it any better, he loaded the machine with a triple dose of detergent - ignoring the extras he would have to pay later.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, Akamaru?"
If he and Kiba were waiting for a miracle, it certainly wasn't for today because Akamaru didn't magically gave an answer. And the minutes that followed were long - painfully long despite their good-natured discussion that had resumed.
"Well, I have to go and fold this. See you later, Kiba."
Shikamaru left the laundromat with his bag under his arms. It was high time for him to make that strategic retreat because he certainly had not dreamed of the curious look Kiba had thrown at his laundry basket as he left.
Damn it - on his way home, Shikamaru swore to find out how far the sense of smell really spread within the Inuzuka clan.
Shikamaru really hadn't expect to run into them as he marched towards the Hokage Office to deliver a message. And if they were also surprised by that fact, they didn't show it. Baaki tilted his chin a few degrees to greet him, Kankuro waved at him faintly - and they resumed their woal. Temari was the only one who stopped at his level.
"We have to talk about the pre-selection", she announced flatly, not bothering to be more polite.
"On the eve of the War?" he arched an eyebrow, he didn't want to be so brittle, but they both knew the situation. "Maybe there are other priorities now?"
"We have to think about what we'll do after - life has to continue. And these lists may come in very handy before."
As always in public, she was strictly there to talk about work, and she did it vigorously. He didn't have the time to answer as Kankuro called out for her :
"Temari, you'll have plenty of time to see Nara later. Let's go unpack."
She nodded and, in the upmost roll of eyes, turned around and caught up to the foreign delegation. Kankuro stared impassively at Shikamaru for a few seconds, before walking back into what Shikamaru felt was a sniff of contempt directed at him.
Well, at least he had a cold.
No - Shikamaru wasn't surprised to hear the news. The Junins from Suna were in town - yes, he had had the pleasure of meeting them earlier in the day, but he was careful not to tell so Tenten, who, as always, had only one thing on her mind: hes revenge match. He explained to Neji that - no, it was not just about the upcoming exams this time. Shikamaru wondered why Mr. Perfect-Junin was even bothering to ask about it; it wasn't as if he was still concerned.
Hinata's impromptu arrival finally seemed to quench Tenten's thirst for answers, which he had apparently (for a reason that he completely didn't understand) not been able to satisfy himself.
Their distinguished guests were staying in the embassy that was located near the Hyuuga family mansion. There was nothing surprising about that - but Shikamaru deemed that it wouldn't be relevant as this point to share that thought with the others, he had had to escort Temari there three or four times during her diplomatic stays.
"Great! It's now or never, she must have started to settle now by now."
The Nara pinched the bridge of his nose, bored - he had no desire to get mixed up in all of this mess. A very boring situation was coming up - Tenten would either be blamed or dismissed by Temari right from the start, earning in passing a reprimand for misconduct towards foreign diplomacy, or would be savagely beaten up with that damn weasel. It was hardly a comforting thought in the run-up to a War in which every member of the force counted. In short - it was high time for him to get out of this quagmire.
"Neji, come with me ! It won't be hard for you to tell me in which room she is."
Shikamaru's foot hang in the air, but no one really seemed to notice it.
"I don't want to get mixed up in this, Tenten."
"Come oooon. It's on your way. And maybe you can even tell me from your home!"
All color suddenly left the Nara's face. Was the paranoia really starting to get to him, or had he really seen the shadow of a smile on Hyuuga's mouth?
Damn it - was the hotel that close to their home?
His panicked gaze unintentionally fell on Hinata, who promptly turned away. Shit, shit, shit - why did he have to live in a place populated by geniuses with hereditary techniques?
On the way home, Shikamaru swore to learn more about the real range of the Byakugan.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. That day, Shikamaru had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Little wonder, given his torments of the last few days... Shit, did the whole village really have nothing but his supposed affair on their lips?
He'd had little respite after leaving Team Gaï the day before - Ino was waiting for him outside of his house and she dragged him to a barbecue party where Chôji was already impatiently waiting. It could have been all right - meaning that Shikamaru could have had a pleasant evening, far from the turmoil of his 'personal' life, if his teammate hadn't met Sakura on the road.
Oh, Sakura was quite okay - he had nothing against her and they often even exchanged a few good words, but combined with her, Ino was always unbearable. When it was noly three of them, everything always went on smoothly - Choji and I were able to restrain Ino's passion for gossip and romance.
But yesterday, when the four of them dinned together - well, Shikamaru could almost say the five of them, as Ino has been talking about Saï (asking endless questions about him) so much that Shikamaru felt as if he was toasting with him too, things got even worse. As always, when the discussion finally started to settle down, Ino had to drift. First about Choji and his love of food, which supposedly ' could not to stand in the way of love with a capital L' - the formula had made him raise his eyes to heaven, a gesture that had not escaped his blonde teammate, who had promptly attacked him in retaliation:
"Well Shikamaru, given your experience, it's about time you told us a little bit about all of this !", she said.
Once again, the Nara had wiped away the sarcasm calmly by shrugging his shoulders. It was then that he met the look, strangely amused, of the man he thought was his life-long ally at the table.
What...?
It was just pure sarcasm, wasn't it?
Ino had burst out laughing out loud. And Chôji, as well as Sakura - even she, couldn't hold back a smile.
But something was still not right.
They had all stared at him without a word - calmly, for what had seemed like an eternity, before quietly ordering dessert. A triple scoop of ice cream that he had strangely felt obliged to offer them.
He had finally fallen asleep after turning around for a long time, furious at himself. Three hours of rest, at most, later, someone had come to pick him up. Of course. There was no rest for the brave.
His chief assigned him to the Deciphering Unit - the first good news of the week as none of his prodigal team-mates would try to bury themselves there. Konoha's library was a quiet, bright place, perhaps a little chilly, where only the rustling of the pages disturbed the silence: the perfect place to hide.
Shikamaru greeted his new colleagues upon his arrival - unwilling to disturb them in what was sometimes the work of a lifetime, and settled down at the end of a table, alone. The Hokage had entrusted him with the reading and deciphering of an old parchment, found only God knew how in the bottom of a drawer.
Each day brought them a little closer to the moment when the War would be officially declared - the Nara almost came to wonder whereas he was the only one to be aware of it. Was it really necessary to send him, now, decoding an old paper that would probably only contain, once again, an old kitchen recipe? It might have be the perfect hiding place for today - couldn't he be more useful... anywhere else?
Well - there was, perhaps, still a slim chance of finding an Ultra Super Secret Technique that would save them all from going to the front line... And the young strategist decided to cling to that hope in order to ease his conscience a bit.
With the help of a few foreign alphabet primers that he had managed to find in the library, he looked at the first cuneiform symbol - try to find in each index the shapes that seemed to be the closest, wrote down the dozens of possibilities on a blank sheet - and so on. Y, R - no, an A rather, K, J or I (probably an I), T...-
Bingo - Yakitori.
The news would be delightful to the Hokage - and Chôji. This thought brought a smile to his face, but before he could even write down the fruit of his discovery, he was interrupted:
"You seem in a good mood, Shikamaru san."
The Nara raised his head and relaxed almost immediatly - he had thought for a second that he was dealing with the (far from delightful) section leader, but it was Shiho who had just taken a seat in front of him. She was nice - cool, the kind of girl who resented being asked for an umpteenth precision - she frankly gifted in her field of search.
"Another recipe. Do you think I need to translate the rest of it to give a full report to the Hokage?"
The cryptographer laughed quietly. He then noticed the ton of books in her arms and got up quickly to help her stack them.
"That's a lot of books, what are you working on?"
"A rune discovered not long ago in the Land of the Valleys."
He arched his eyebrows as he assessed the amount of books needed to study such a small thing. He admired her patience.
"Well... Well, good luck with that."
She thanked him distractedly before plunging back into the analysis of the tablet and Shikamaru went back to work - he was going to translate the first two lines of his 'antique' recipe just to make sure. Working like that - in a respectful silence, far away from the screams of excited genins or the incessant chat of his blonde teammate: it really felt nice. And for a bit, it almost made him wish he'd never come back in the real world at all.
Poc.
The Nara raised his head, frowning, unwilling to be buried under a pile of textbooks that probably weighed a ton. What the hell is...? A single book had just fallen from the pile, open on one page. It was a rookie mistake, but he decided to take a look at it just in case.
Well, this symbol looked quite familiar.
Intrigued, Shikamaru stepped forward on the table and wrung his neck until he could unravel the mystery.
The realization hit him hard:
Suna's emblem, oh.
Shit - the strategist suddenly stopped when he realized that Shiho's pen was no longer scratching the paper. It wasn't easy to see behind the researcher's thick glasses, but her gaze slowly moved from the book to Shikamaru. Then to the book again - it lingered a few moments on it - and finally came up to the brown haired man's face. The same thing happened three more times before he recovered.
Damn it - even here, it had to chase him?
Uncomfortable, the genius felt obliged, once again, to make an excuse:
"I didn't notice it before, but upside down it looks way more like an hourglass."
Shiho didn't say a word that day.
When Temari wanted something, she always managed to have it. One way or another. And it was not difficult in that case, as Shikamaru was assigned the task of accompanying the young woman to the Academy, where they could find the registers of graduate students. At the same time, they were given the chance to talk about the exams that were so dear to her heart, among other things.
Everything would have gone smoothly if they had not had the misfortune of running into Naruto as soon as they crossed the threshold of the school. It really seems as if the young hero of Konoha tracked them down.
Because of course, they had to have the misfortune of running into him every time they worked together professionally - yes, professionally, Shikamaru made it a point of honor to insist on that word. The strategist pinched the bridge of his nose - tired in advance of what Naruto was about to say.
"Gaara isn't with you that time ?"
... Ah?
"No, he has a village to take care of", Temari put her hands on her hips, annoyed by the lack of politeness of her interlocutor. "Good morning to you too."
And there it was - the moment he dreaded so much had arrived. The Uzumaki couldn't just greet her AND leave, no: he had to put in his two cents every single time..
"Ahah, hello there Temari."
Shikamaru arched one eyebrow, then the other. Still nothing?
"It's good to see you."
Did he really have to wait that long? He was burning with envy to tell them, you could tell that because of the banana smile on his lips. A smile that then stretched - finally!, to... -
"See you Shikamaru!"
.. Nothing ?!
Dumbfounded, Konoha's genius followed his friend with his eyes and saw him take one step, then another - and another. He finally got out of the Academy and into the street.
But it was just the moment he'd been waiting for to turn around, looking like nothing and take them by surprise -
No?
Seriously, he really had nothing to say, now?!
"Well, you're not coming it?"
Suna's kunoïchi's cutting yet amused voice brought him back to reality. Well - it was truly a great day as Naruto had finally managed to keep his mouth closed, a first in months.
Anyway...
Shikamaru took one last look behind him to make sure he wouldn't come back, but it was useless: Konoha's yellow tornado had long now disappeared in the crowd.
Their afternoon had been productive. Among other things, they had updated the registers of combat-capable ninjas, sorted them with those already compiled by Suna, by skill level, and even began to draft what could become, after the War, the best examination ever conceived.
They were wondering which of their two villages would guarantee its completion when there was a brief knock on the door. The strategist was quite surprised to see Kotetsu - usually confined to his post at the village gates.
"A new embassy is coming, Shikamaru, you are the one who has to welcome them."
More diplomacy? It must be the ninjas of Iwa - the Nara has heard about them several days before, but from there to think that he was going to have to take care of them...? Pff, it was going to be a royal pain in the ass.
"Well, he got up and", not knowing what else to do with his notes, handed them to the kunoïchi, who accepted them without a second thought, "So I'll let you finish this?"
"No worries."
She didn't bat an eyelid and bid him farewell with a brief movement of her hand, without even looking at him, too deep in her thoughts - a classic Temari move.
The journey to the entrance of the village was made, peacefully (once is not customary) in silence, but the elder ninja finally broke it after a few minutes:
"Sorry that it has to be you."
"Well," Shikamaru cleared his throat. "It's not like this is my first mission as a guide."
"No," Kotetsu shook his head. "But that the mission fell on you... Now."
"Between this or another assignment in the archives, you know...", the strategist shook his shoulders, sincerely hoping the other party would get the memo.
"No, but what I mean is" - damn it, he definitely didn't get it, he didn't understand a damn thing, "that it fell on you, now, when... -"
The Nara, fortunately for him, managed to cut it off:
"Ah, we've already arrived. And it looks like they have too."
Right on cue.
He then barely managed to ignore Izumo's heavy and very frequent apologetic glances.
Well - things were going on pretty smoothly with the Iwa embassy. And now that he thought about it, Shikamaru found himself very lucky not to have to deal with Kumo's - poor Chôji, he definitely had to warn him against the mad swordwoman.
They seemed quite friendly and were clearly only waiting for one thing - to sit down to a good meal.
The strategist was about to take them to the restaurant provided for that purpose when Akatsuchi - also present at the Kage Summit - finally felt obliged to talk :
"The village looks nice. But I demand the same special treatment as Suna's."
Frozen in place, Shikamaru looked at her dumbly. But the brunette, far from being satisfied with this small victory, launched him the final blow:
"Well, maybe not as special... But you know what I mean."
The tips of his ears were still bright crimson when he closed the tavern door behind him: Damn, damn, damn - he really was cursed.
The Nara was exhausted. The whole village (and now even the foreign deputation) had given him a nightmare all week long. It was as if everything was connected - as if they had all agreed to plot and spread bewildering rumors behind his back.
And the worst of it? He seemed to be the only one who seemed reasonably affected by everything that was happening to him. His father, his mother, his friends, his co-workers, the dog - he had seen them all since and nothing seemed to bother them. Everything even seemed to be in the best of all possible worlds, as if everything was perfectly in its place.
Well, everything - except him.
Finding a place to stay for the new arrivals was far from being a piece of cake, to keep everyone happy new plans had to be made and some people had to be relocated.
An excellent strategic move for the Nara who was walking briskly to the new hotel. He was finally decided to take the bull by the horns.
It was far - far away from the residential area of the Hyuugas, and even farther from the Inuzuka's.
But even with that, Shikamaru was prepared for the worst. With every step he took, he was mentally preparing to confront one of his teammates, a distant relative, the Raikage himself, or even better - a gathering of all his friends, family and acquaintances, all of whom holding a large fluorescent banner saying "Where do you think you are going Shikamaru ?"
Yet - nothing happened. There was no one in the busy streets of the city. Perhaps was it precisely because of this, the rural activities, that were finally diverting their attention from him? He couldn't say whether that reassured or saddened him, but Shikamaru finally arrived at the gates of the tall building.
Strange.
He decided to take one final look behind him - just to be really sure, and his gaze was caught by fluorescent gaiters hanging in the air.
Of course - out of the whole village, only fucking Rock Lee was left, visibly busy running around the village on the palm of his hands for the umpteenth time. Their eyes met and the bowl-cut haired ninja's mouth split into a theatrical 'O'. Clenching his fists, Shikamaru waited for it to happen - anything: a brass band, the end of a genjutsu telling him that his entire existence was a joke, the appearance of the Nine-Tailed Fox... He was ready to face everything.
But what he saw was literally the last straw:
Lee sure took his sweet time to insist of that wink before resuming his frantic run, as if nothing never happened.
Once again, Shikamaru had got it all wrong. One last surprise was standing in front of him before he could reach his destination - the bellboy service.
It wasn't just that: he had just greeted the doorman - a simple good evening, nothing more! he swore - but the doorman told him de facto that he would find her on the second floor, room 15.
Needless to say, Shikamaru obeyed without a word.
Shikamaru Nara was a strategist - he always liked to make sure he was at least twenty moves ahead. It was much more practical that way - no nasty surprises, no spillover: everything was under control.
So for his love affair too - of course, he would make sure to think of everything. Never take a mission leading him directly to Suna - too obvious. Don't be systematically in Konoha during her visits - to muddy the waters a litlle bit. Don't take her to dinner in too many different establishments - that would multiply their chances of being discovered. Never stay until the early hours of the morning - the time when he was officially supposed to meet her. Don't always have her sleep at the same hostel - and therefore arrange to vary the strategic locations. Pretend twice a week (no more because it would be suspicious and no less because it would fall on deaf ears) when he was her guide how annoying it was to have to get up at dawn because Madame was fond of the morning trainings.
If there's a suspicious question, deny it all flatly. Don't be embarrassed.
In the case of a silent question, justify half of it. Only half of it.
And if the cover is blown - don't panic.
Temari opened the door after a few seconds and didn't seem surprised to see him. She moved a little to let him in and finished securing the towel holding her wet hair.
"He knows."
Not the brightest romantic starter, but Shikamaru decided to come straight to the point. The situation was serious.
"Who's he?" She raised an eyebrow and let herself fall on a pillow.
"The doorman," he decided to sit directly on the floor. Bad idea, because it was really hard. "And Lee too."
Where could he possibly start? The glances that passers-by exchanged, the knowing-it-all smiles that his whole hierarchy seemed to favor him with, or the silly prophecy contained in his Chinese biscuit?
«"... Everybody Temari!" He sighed. "The whole village knows: my father, Kiba's dog, Kiba, Naruto, the Hyuugas, your brother."
He paused as he realized, with a small ball of fear growing in his stomach.
"And your Kazekage of a brother too, in fact. Great..-"
If he had expected Temari to do what he couldn't bring himself to do for almost a week - that is to say, go berserk - he was disappointed. She simply stared at him, her dark-teal orbs planted in his.
"You're imagining things, Shikamaru. We're always discreet and follow your plan to the letter, remember?"
The work of a strategist would be useless if there was no way to foil a plan by concocting one a tad more sophisticated : there was no such thing as a perfect, infallible strategy.
This thought struck Shikamaru suddenly, while Temari poured him a cup of tea.
Well, it was somehow refreshing to see her like that - serene and in control of herself despite the growing panic that was inside of him.
"Sometimes, all it takes is one small disturbing element, just one, and everything can go up in smoke...-"
"Mh, like when you shamelessly ogled me during the whole Summit?"
He nearly choked on a sip of hot water.
If caught red-handed? Find a way to create a diversion.
"Well, if you were wearing something more covering...," she rolled her eyes and it brought a first smile to his face. "Were you really not cold?"
"Well, I'm hot-blooded. You should know it by now."
The strategist snorted and it was finally Temari who took the first step and joined him on the floor.
"Seriously Tem'," his serious look faded a little when he felt her thin, cold, fingers on the crease of his forehead. "They've caught it. They know."
"You're really imagining things, Shikamaru."
It was amusing for the kunoichi to see him in such a state - he hadn't be so nervous in age.
"You really didn't notice anything this week?"
"No, I have not."
"What about Naruto?," she rolled her eyes.
"He didn't say a thing. That should make you feel better, right?"
"That's precisely why I say that. Don't you find it strange?"
Temari stared at him for a few more moments and, sighing, stood up to put the towel down to untangle her hair.
"No, perhaps he just got bored. We stopped reacting to his childish provocations months ago."
"He's not like that and you know it.. If he doesn't say anything, it's because he knows he has nothing more to prove. And therefore because he knows it's true... And if he knows, then the whole village knows..-"
Crr.
Great - there she was, tied in a knot.
"You're getting over-dramatic," she tried to forcefully comb the teeth of her brush through it - without success.
"Not at all, I...-"
Shikamaru left his sentence in air while he searched for the flaw in his reasoning. Over-interpretation? Not if you take into account the other incriminating factors - the reactions of Hyuugas, Akamaru, his team-mates, ...
"Finally!," shouted the Kunoichi as she finally managed to comb her strand of hair.
"... The situation doesn't really seem to worry you Temari."
He handed her the shard of the comb that was now broken in two pieces, eyebrows furrowed. In another situation, the scene would probably have amused him, but not now
"And you," she gave up for good trying to discipline her hair and turned to him, hands on her hips, "you seem a little too worried. I know we agreed that we'd do everything we could to keep politics out of it for a start, but people are going to find out eventually, aren't they?"
Settling down with a foreign princess, daughter and sister of Kazekage - more than capable of taking the reins of her country herself if asked, was not really what he had originally planned to do. But the reality of things had disturbed the order of the life strategy he had worked out all his childhood - and it wasn't so bad in the end.
Oh - of course, it was going to plunge him into an endless mess made of diplomatic and international relations.
Konoha's Council - Suna's Council. The accounts they would have to give to their respective clans, the justifications they would have to make, the question of who-where-when. And the public opinion of their two villages, as well as the public opinion of what might later become the Great United Nation.
There were many things to think about - many things to plan for.
Shikamaru liked to take things slowly, and Temari, though a fine strategist herself, had less patience:
"You should worry about something else instead, Nara. Like the fact that the door of my room will stay closed for good if you don't move in the next five seconds, for example."
Well.
He'd take care of silencing those stupid, unfounded rumors later.
Tomorrow, perhaps.
In the meantime, he still had his priorities straight.
Shikamaru sighed contentedly. It felt nice - really, really nice. No more negative thoughts in his head, no more catastrophic scenarios being replayed. Just darkness, a warm body clung to his and a lemony smell that pleasantly stung his nostrils, her shampoo.
"I found one of your shirt in my room, by the way."
"Mm-hmm."
"I have to get it back to you before my mom gets it. Can you imagine if..."
She threw her pillow in his face. Even half asleep, she was more agile than he was.
"You know what?"
"Hmm ?," he grazed her cheek, a rare privilege, and waited for her to continue.
"Once we're done with the war, screw your damn rules."
"And we'll put up a big banner? Telling everyone everything?"
His reply made her laugh softly - she closed her eyes, but the memory of her earlier meeting with Aburame suddenly came back. Although she's could not discern his eyes or his mouth - or any potential smile that might have been there - his funny remark had weird her out. Indeed, she was quite deep in the forest.
"Well, I don't know what's being said in your village... But as long as my brothers don't find out, it's fine."
Sunakagure, a few days later.
"Temari and Nara?"
Kankuro grinned at the absurd thought. Wow, where the hell did he get that from?
"Pff. Bullshit. She wouldn't even give him the time of day!"
Nara, a chuunin not too dumb and quite useful in the field, certainly, but from there to imagine her with their sister...
Too soft, not seasoned enough. And above all: not her style at all!
"Well, for the chuunin exam, maybe she does have to tag along with him a little. But that's all. Pff... How could you get that idea ?"
"Oh, I see."
Gaara shrugged, faintly disappointed: human relations were definitely not his thing.