Disclaimer: I don't think it would be good idea if I owned Naruto…
Penname: LiveLoveLaugh
Summary: He was in love with four other women, one woman for every season. But in spring, Shikamaru fell recklessly—and irreversibly—in love for her…(ShikaXSaku) One-shot
Author's Note: Gah, I feel like writing one-shots these days. This came to me like a train that ran over me, backed up, and drove over me again. I was actually reading my favorite book Stones from the River by my favorite author Ursula Hegi over again, just then, and when I was reading about a character named Klaus Malter who fell recklessly in love with a girl half his age, ending his respectable engagement to a fine woman, I just knew I had to write about Shikamaru and Sakura. Please enjoy!
Holy Palmer's Kiss
Just the touch of her palm against his, he knew he was in love.
And he knew he would have a happy ending…
It was impossible, completely ridiculous and stupid. Things like that are unreal, like 'love at first sight' or the storybook fairy tales about knights in shining armor coming to the rescue of a beautiful princess, riding on his white horse and the moment the fair woman hands the handsome fellow her wedding lace handkerchief they were in love.
No, that's dumb. How can a princess fall in love with someone who just helped her out of a castle with no door? How did she get into the castle if the castle had no door? How can she fall in love with a stranger, unless he took off his helmet flashing off his Prince Charming face or what happens if the guy's a jerk—and you fall in love with a jerk?
No, no, that's stupid, childish…handsome good-looking faces don't tell a person their personalities, their beings…
That's the way it was with the women! They see an attractive man with an angel-carved face, and somehow they expect the rest of them is perfect! No, this is what ordinary men had such a hard problem with falling in love.
Shikamaru had always had wanted to be become a so-so Ninja, with an okay pay, to marry a plain girl who is neither beautiful nor a hag, to then move to a small comfortable home in a clear open space where he could watch the clouds just above, and to have two children, a daughter first before the son, then he would retire when the daughter gets married and the son becomes independent, so finally he would live the next years in his life playing Shougi and Go.
"You ask a lot for a modest guy," she giggled, her laugh so sweet and serene.
Even Chouji called him crazy.
But his plans never work out the way he wanted, real life wasn't like pieces of a chessboard where he would control every character his own way, no…he didn't plan on ruining his plans when he started to go out with Temari.
With just one smile, he knew he would come to love her…
But somehow…that love never came…
She was beautiful, gorgeous, with hair of golden amber and sharp tranquilizing eyes of cerulean pools. She was entirely more attractive than the next four women he fell in love with. Like any sensible man, he adored her for her. He loved her high intelligence and analytical eyes, the way her hips moved side to side when she walked to him. She had a way of being a seductress, always getting her way with the men she dated but she always wants to train and become stronger, and the way her pace was taking her, he knew he would never be able to keep up. She never liked to mess around in the past, always having her words blunt and straight to the point…of course, she had to get used to talking like that ever since she lived with her younger brother.
But whenever he was with her, he knew there was something missing. Then that small hole in their relationship expanded until he ran away like a coward before he could get hurt. He knew somehow in some way, Temari wanted to relive her lost years as a teenager even though she was already twenty-two. She became more and more wild, simultaneously changing like Gaara, exposing her inner demon.
A kind of demon, who always wanted to think for herself, but had hidden away when she thought of others.
He didn't want that wildness in a woman, she wasn't very stable, she always wanted to go somewhere like to a club or to get drunk. And almost everyday was exciting with her, but Shikamaru always to stay at home. He didn't feel like dragging her drunken body from across the town forever.
He loved her…no, he liked her…he really just liked her…
"She provided a lot for you, but you couldn't see her more than a friend," she explained, smiling impishly up at him.
Shikamaru left Temari in the spring, and fell in love again in the summer.
With one kiss, he began to care for her…
But that desire soon washed away…
His own teammate, Ino, came to his apartment one day to comfort him when she heard about his breakup.
Then just that one kiss, Ino and Shikamaru came together. He knew she had to be the one, because she was a good cook, hard worker, strong, she was attractive as any other woman, and even if her intelligence wasn't in his caliber, Shikamaru just accepted that he wasn't completely dominant over her that way. Yes, it came to a time when he began to doubt in their relationship but he shook away that feeling and continued to care about Ino.
Okay, so what if Ino began to want more from him? Things he wasn't able to provide? So what he didn't exactly want a girl who was a complete opposite of Temari, but so alike that way? Unlike her, Temari was a wild woman who loved the outdoors, always dragging him everywhere. She was a homely girl, who always cautious about herself when she dressed for the day or host parties. But it came to many times, when he did want to go out, and she complained to him to stay home.
Stay home? When all the fresh air was outside? When he wanted to think, when he wanted to do something else, Ino wanted him to first accomplish things for her. She wanted him to please her like a gentleman would, to love her in bed when she became more demanding than helpful. He would always find her all over her with her hands and teeth in places he hated. He didn't want her to be so needy.
He can't provide those kinds of things.
Yes, he loved the way her light blue eyes glimmer, the way her long platinum blond hair shined when the sun had bounced off her face. She was his second choice, the second woman in line. She was dutiful, she had all the things he wanted in his very first plan for his life.
But yet, it just wasn't enough with her either…
"You weren't compatible with her, it probably would be best if you ended it," she grinned, showing her straight and white teeth.
Shikamaru had left Ino in the summer, and fell in love again in autumn.
With just one hug, he didn't want to let go…
But he let go anyway…
Shikamaru did really like Tenten, a woman far more different than Temari or Ino. She was just in the middle between the two blondes. She was wasn't as beautiful as Temari, but she had better looks than Ino. Her strength had ranged weaker than Temari but stronger than Ino. She liked both indoors and outdoors, cared a lot for her teammates but she was able to provide for herself and her boyfriend. Tenten had long brown hair which she concealed into two hair buns she set on top of her head, with dark eyes that reminded him of chocolate, though he wasn't fond of sweets…he came to accept them. She held him in her strong arms, he smelled her skin and he wasn't able to identify her scent. So when he able to given that chance to smell her skin, her mystery was gone when he knew she smelled like cinnamon.
Yes, Tenten was mysterious to him, no matter what other people said.
But it came to a point in their relationship when he noticed everyone else was correct all along.
He wondered how long her hair was, but when she untied her hair for their fifth date it came down to her chest. It was long. When he wondered if her eyes were brown, a dark shade of russet, she opened her eyes, and they were brown. When he wondered if she was strong, yes she was. He wondered if she was smart, yes she was. When he wondered whether or not she loved him, yes she did.
As a matter of fact, when he noticed that Tenten was so incredibly predictable, their relationship became boring.
So boring, and so unbelievably dull that even Shikamaru could not even find a single word to speak to her about, because her answer would always be the same or the way he had long expected. When they both one night with each other, he hated to admit that Tenten was also boring in bed. They nearly had to force sexual desires for each other just so their relationship would not fall. Many days after that moment, he wanted to avoid her and watch the clouds pass by. She then became less important to him. He began to expect too much of her, then just then, he gave up on her love.
When Shikamaru left Tenten in autumn, he fell in love again in winter.
"What are you going to do if you're stuck in a relationship that goes nowhere?" she asked softly, blushing slightly.
With one glance across the room, he began to follow her…
But he walked right into a wall…
Hyuuga Hinata, it was very surprising to everyone. She was the plain girl he always wanted, but she had proven to be more different than before. People thought he was crazy for running after her. But he couldn't help it. He just couldn't. It was like love at first sight, but so much more different. His love for her was for the wrong reasons. She was the person he needed to continue his very first plan after his last three attempts in relationships, even if she was more powerful than him or that she was already in love with someone else…
She gave up to his pleadings, becoming his girlfriend when the man she loved had shown nothing of a hint that he had noticed her. But it had end quickly when Shikamaru had to end the relationship. It probably the shortest commitment he had ever had for a woman he didn't truly and honestly love.
"You can't have everything…" she whispered, closing her pretty eyes.
Shikamaru had left Hinata in the winter, and fell in love one last time in spring.
Just the touch of her palm against his, he knew he was in love.
And he knew he would have a happy ending…
It was like magic, so grand that the entire village was blown away when they saw Shikamaru running after her. They never expected him to fall in love again. He was a hopeless romantic, he used his brain before his heart. He had loved too moderately, which no one was supposed to do. When he didn't believe in true love, he lost so many things that the last one had hit him so hard that Nara Shikamaru was stunned to how much he would sacrifice to stay with her.
He could lose everything…just for…her…
He loved Haruno Sakura. He loved her so much, it hurt to see her with other men. It killed and stabbed at him when he saw her walk away or smiled at him with those pink lips he couldn't kiss. Unlike with other women, he didn't hate to do things for her. She never demanded them, or expected them, or was too predictable, or was the plain girl he liked. No, she was none of that. She was the complete opposite of everything he thought he wanted, that he worked for.
He really had no idea how it happened, how it had hit him across the forehead for to slap his hands on his aching pain. It was just one spring day when they met with others to a restaurant, and when she had dropped something next to him, he was going to pick it for essential reasons. And just like lightening, only that it hurt so much more when his palm connected with hers.
And he gasped after that night when he woke up in love.
Just the touch of her palm…
No, he wasted his breath with the other women, call him crude, but it was true. She was more different than a blonde or a brunette, or even a redhead, and she was so much more attractive than Temari, so much more kinder than Ino, so much more fun than Tenten, so much more better to have around than Hinata, who he had planned to use since the beginning. She was intelligent and beautiful, it just took his breath away when he didn't have any words to explain how much he loved her. He didn't mean to hurt the other women, but when the moment came for the cowardly ninja to face, Shikamaru didn't want to get sweaty.
He knew he was in love…
But now he wanted to be. For her. For Haruno Sakura.
This was so unexpected. Shikamaru was happy because he 'wanted' to do those things that please Sakura, he was happy when he kissed her, he was happy when he found everything he wanted, not needed, from her and she had received all the things she wanted from him. But it wasn't really he wanted from her, he just wanted her.
When she didn't seem to notice him, he would make that happen. He would pop up from nowhere, surprising her and bringing that bright smile to her face. He created a bunch of scenarios, that either got him embarrassed or hurt, but she would laugh and invite him into her home for some tea. In those little adventures, he would smile more than usual and be content in her company. He could not stand it if she came a second too late to the door, or the way she looked when she bit her lip in concentration.
Their hands, their palms were warm as they meshed the only available flesh together…
Shikamaru couldn't grab her all at once, he couldn't force her like he had done to Hinata. He couldn't be cynical around her, no matter how much she liked to see that, but he couldn't say this was 'troublesome' or it was too much hard work to do when he could just slack off. No, he wouldn't do that, not around her.
The man and woman looked into each other's eyes…
People around the village saw that change in him. They saw him grow out of his lazy form, even if some of those traits still come up to the surface, they saw him look so differently at Sakura. They saw them dancing with each other, at a formal party at the Hyuuga Estate or an event like that. They saw them dance together, even when they knew Shikamaru was a respectful man on the outside, they saw him change when he took the pink-haired kunoichi in his arms.
Their insides churning…
They knew, even Chouji knew, that Shikamaru had acted very differently around Sakura. And his friends admired him for that.
They loved each other…
But some people had thought he was being inappropriate. They thought he would never kiss a woman in public, nonetheless run his fingers through her hair, nuzzle his cheek against her slender neck, hold her close by. They expected him to be more mannerly and stern with his actions, but somehow when he was dressed in a fine teal green yukata and Sakura was wearing a beautiful pink and white kimono with a silk red obi around her thin waist, and underneath all those thick fabrics—just when they held each other, the villagers had thought they were still naked.
And when they separated, people had seen that Shikamaru opened a bottle of sake across the room from Sakura, they still looked like they were 'touching'.
And he knew he would have a good life…
So he never became a so-so Ninja, no, he became a full-certified Special Jounin and Anbu captain, soon after.
He never had an okay pay, no, he was wealthy.
He never come to like a plain girl, he fell in love five times…
No, wait, he liked the other four women and fell madly in love with the last woman.
The last woman on earth for him to ever fall in love with.
He really didn't plan on it.
But he did fall in love that insane way…
Kind of like Romeo and Juliet, but not…
No, it was then Shikamaru found out that he had created his own story.
"But with a happy ending," she murmured when she kissed him.
Fin
Ah, the great things about alternative pairings. Wasn't exactly my favorite, but good enough…