Words Worth Spoken

Chapter 1. The war's end

It was finally over. The fourth great ninja war had ended. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had been defeated by Naruto and Sasuke. Everyone was exhausted, they were starving after not eating for over a day and most of the villages were destroyed when the divine tree took over.

There was sadness and grief in the air as the allied shinobi forces mourned their fallen comrades. But in the end there was a sliver of hope, of tranquility and of peace that resided over the world. No more wars would be fought over petty differences, no more young children dying while fighting battles, the villages were friends after the long period of hatred and revenge.

. . .

Shikamaru was walking with Choji and Ino as they made their way to the closest camp to get some rest. They went on in silence, enjoying the peaceful moment and each other's company.

The ground was uneven and there were many craters where battles were fought, making it harder to walk than it already was in their fatigued state. As they were nearing the camp Ino faltered in her step causing her to fall almost hitting the ground before Shikamaru caught her and helped her back up.

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes and for the first time since the initial event the fact that Shikaku and Inoichi were dead really sunk in, whether it was seeing the upset look on Ino's face or something else that trigged it, Shikamaru felt like crying. He had only felt like this one other time, when his sensei Asuma died, but then he had his father to console him. This time he was alone, sure he had friends to help him through it but it just wasn't the same.

Once Ino was back on her feet, Shikamaru headed toward what looked like the only part of forest left for miles. Willing his friends not to follow him, he walked faster, almost jogging until he reached a clearing with a big rock in the middle. He sat up against the rock and looked up at the clouds.

There had been a time when he had wished that he was a cloud, just floating along in the breeze. All he wanted was to live a simple life, he would marry a woman that was not ugly but not too pretty, he would have a job as a normal basic ninja, he would have two kids and live in a medium sized house. He would grow old with his wife but die before her and finally he would be like a cloud, living a peaceful, stress free life in the afterworld.

'Here I am' he thought, 'the same guy who wished for a simple life. The one who people would call a genius, or a lazy ass, or even a 'crybaby' he chuckled to himself at the last name. There was only one person that would call him that and he didn't know why but he was happy whenever she did.

"What's so funny?"

Shikamaru almost jumped as Temari spoke from the other side of the rock. He had thought he was alone, not noticing the kunoichi sitting less than a meter behind him.

"Nothing just thinking back on my past goals and hopes." Shikamaru said coolly, not wanting her to find out that he was also thinking about the little nickname she gave him.

"Hmmm, let me guess you wanted to live a simple life?" Temari guessed

"Ya, guess that's never going to happen huh. What a drag." He sighed

"Guess not." She answered "So what are you doing out here, or did you come here just to think about your childhood wishes?"

"I needed to get away from other people for awhile, but I guess that didn't work." There was a hint of amusement in his answer letting Temari know he wasn't upset that she was there.

"..." Temari was silent for a few seconds and then said "Shikamaru.."

"Hm, ya" He was a bit taken aback by the softness of her voice, it was a big change from her usually stoic and hard tone.

"I.." She took a deep breath and then continued "I heard about your father... I'm so sorry"

Shikamaru was not expecting that, he was a bit confused; it sounded more like empathy than sympathy. Did she know how he felt? But how could she..? Then he realized how little he actually knew about the sand kunoichi.

Shikamaru lent over, placing his weight onto his hands and knees as he looked around the side of the rock to see Temari. She looked small, she had her knees brought up to her chest and her face was resting on her knees. She was like a little ball, a ball of sadness, the normally strong and feisty Suna shinobi looked as if she would break down at any moment.

Not really thinking at first Shikamaru moved closer to her until he was sitting right next to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close, she looked up out of her knees and processed what was happening. It was back, her stoic expression and feisty attitude, she looked at Shikamaru calmly and said "we should head back before people start to worry and come looking for us".

At that she stood up and started walking away. "Troublesome woman" Shikamaru grumbled just loud enough for her to hear as he too got up.

"Lazy ass" she retorted.

"huh? Not crybaby?" Shikamaru teased trying not to sound disappointed.

She looked back at him. "No. You aren't the sad, weak little boy who cried after failing his first mission as captain anymore. You're Shikamaru Nara, head of the Nara clan and genius of the leaf, who helped lead the allied shinobi forces during the fourth great ninja war. In other words a hero."

Shikamaru was in shock, 'genius of the leaf, hero, head of the Nara clan...' A slight blush made its way into his cheeks as he thought of all the things Temari, the scariest kunoichi he knew, had called him. He looked at her and a rosy colour covered her face, but as soon as it came it was gone as she suppressed the blush.

. . .

When they reached the camp there were eyes staring and following them as they walked.

"There you are" Ino exclaimed as she spotted him "we were starting to worry tha-" She stopped talking when she saw Temari with him. "Ohh, I understand, you were together, alone, in the forest, where no one could see you" she said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Umm ya?" Shikamaru said confused, he didn't understand this woman at all.

Ino squealed looking excited and Temari shot him an irritated glare, nevermind he didn't understand women in general.

"Nothing happened, we were just talking, don't get any ideas. Got it?" Temari said look at Ino with narrowed eyes.

"Riiight" and with that Ino took Choji and walked away.

"She- she thought we- what a drag." Shikamaru mumbled, shaking his head in embarrassment. Temari just rolled her eyes.

They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways to find their friends and relax before they had to start helping clean up the mess caused by the war. Finally after weeks of tension the two could let down their guard without worrying about an enemy attacking. Peace seemed like a possibility.