Chapter Text
Shikamaru leaned against the railing outside of the apartment building that was reserved for guests from the other villages. He was picking at his nails, shrouded by the air of complete and utter boredom. At this rate, his hands would be destroyed before his partner decided to join him for the day.
Being awake so early was such a drag.
When he left home this morning, the sun had barely started cresting the horizon. By the time he had finished his cigarette and made it to his destination, the sunlight warmed his face between passing clouds.
It was the Leaf's turn to host the Chunin Exams this year, which meant another round of proctoring. And, by extension, escorting his assigned partner through the village.
Of all of the tasks he'd been assigned, proctoring the exams was one of his favorites. He by no means had the energy for spirited competition-- that wasn't his style-- but he enjoyed mapping out the matches like a game of Shogi and analyzing what the young shinobi brought to the table. The actual effort required of him was pretty minimal.
The preliminaries always came with last minute disruptions that were inconvenient at best. Every year there seemed to be the same issues: missing paperwork, nervous genin, and at least one team that arrived entirely way too early. Part of Shikamaru's responsibilities, after proctoring for so many years, was to ensure everything was in order before the competitors started flooding the arena. If he didn't do it, something was sure to fall through the cracks.
Besides, the Hokage was counting on him. If something went wrong during the preliminaries, it was his job to make sure that the issue didn't turn into everyone else's problem. That was reason enough to leave as early as he did.
At least, that's what he convinced himself it was.
He'd been waiting here for ten minutes. (Not that he was counting.)
The door across from him opened. He looked up without thinking.
Temari stepped out.
It had been more than a year since he had last seen her. He quickly catalogued what new information he could glean from her just by appearance alone.
She wore her hair the same way as she had since they were kids facing off in the exams, themselves. It was slightly longer now. Her hitai-ate had been polished to perfection-- enough that the morning light glinted off of it when she turned. He couldn't help but notice she wore it like a badge of honor.
Her fan rested across her back. The strap that was holding it against her flak jacket looked more worn than he remembered it being. This could only mean she had a slew of new missions under her belt.
Dust clung to her boots, suggesting she had come in late last night and headed straight for her usual place of refuge when she arrived in the Leaf. He wondered, for a moment, who had been assigned to drop her off.
None of that mattered, really, but he noticed anyway.
Her confidence had been honed like a blade. When they were younger, it was sharp enough to strike anyone that dared to underestimate her. After years of leading missions and standing beside the Kazekage, she had no reason for wielding it like a weapon. It just became part of her.
Her eyes found him almost immediately. As if she had expected he would be right there waiting.
And of course he would be. This had been their routine for years.
"You're here early," Temari chided, closing the door behind her.
"I'm always on time," he said around a yawn.
She raised an eyebrow. "That is not what I said."
"I'm aware."
The corner of her lips pulled to a small smirk for a fleeting moment. Things really hadn't changed all that much. It felt almost too easy to pick up where they had left off.
He waited for her to start walking before shoving his hands halfheartedly into his pockets and keeping pace with her.
"You know," she started, "it's been a while since I've been to Konoha, but I'm sure I could have found my way to the exam hall just fine on my own."
"I'm just doing my job."
"You'd think, after all this time, they would have promoted you to a more important task than escorting me across the village," she teased. "Unless they tried and you were too lazy to take on the extra responsibility."
His gaze flicked to hers. "Someone has to do it. Besides, you'd complain if anyone else had shown up."
"You seem awfully confident about that."
He shrugged. "I've known you for a long time."
For a while, neither of them bothered to utter a word. They never really did on their walks across the village.
Most people found silence to be awkward. Shikamaru never understood that. Idle chatter was such an exhausting waste of energy.
Temari never needed him to entertain her. It made walking with her almost easy. Shikamaru appreciated that more than he cared to admit. He could have gotten stuck with some obnoxious chatter box that wanted to know how his day was going before it had even begun.
As they walked further into the heart of the village side by side, their strides became synchronized.
A group of Academy students rushed past the two. They were loud and careless in the way only excited children could be.
They were also headed in the opposite direction of the exam hall. Odd.
Before he could give it much thought, Temari shifted slightly to avoid being bumped into. Her arm brushed against his.
It was a stupid thing to notice.
Unfortunately, Shikamaru noticed, well... everything.
This wasn't the first time they had been so close to each other. They had stood shoulder to shoulder before battle, they had a handful of matches between them, and he and walked with her through the village more times than he could remember.
A brief brush of their arms against each other wasn't anything worth thinking about. So he just decided he wouldn't think about it any longer.
Instead, he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and placed it in between his lips. He cupped a hand around the lighter as he lit the end and took a drag.
Temari glanced over. "You're still doing that?"
"Only when I'm thinking," he said evenly through a smoky exhale.
"For someone who hates exerting energy, you sure have some taxing habits."
Shikamaru looked at his cigarette and flicked the ashes off the end. While he could admit that smoking was a bad habit, it did tend to help him clear his head. It gave his hands something to do and allowed him to be present instead of being somewhere trapped in the depths of his mind. "What's your point?"
"You always act like nothing gets to you."
"Because most things don't."
"That's not true." She watched the smoke curl between them. The pause seemed drawn out, like she was debating continuing. "You just don't like letting people see you when they do."
Shikamaru went quiet and rubbed at the back of his neck with his free hand. "You make it sound like a bad thing."
"Isn't it?"
"That's harsh."
"Not harsh, just accurate," she paused, considering before continuing. "The cigarettes are an excuse to put distance between yourself and others. Not everybody can stand to be around the smell."
For a moment, Shikamaru couldn't respond. Her observations were annoying.
"You're analyzing me now?"
"Consider it a taste of your own medicine."
He took one last, long drag. Then, he extinguished the cigarette butt on the bottom of his shoe. He grabbed the small metal tin he kept next to his lighter and opened it. It was pretty much full to the brim with whatever remained of his previous smokes.
"You know you're supposed to empty those out, right?"
"Eventually."
"How long has 'eventually' been?"
He gave it some consideration before answering. "I actually don't know."
They rounded the corner to the exam hall, not having put any extra distance between them after being passed by the young shinobi.
The doors to the hall were shut tight.
Genma was leaning back against the wall next to them, senbon balanced lazily between his teeth. He looked entirely too relaxed for someone who was also supposed to be helping administer the Chunin Exams.
Shikamaru frowned.
"You're early," Genma said.
"We're on time," said Temari with a small smile.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. The small jab didn't escape his notice.
"Same difference," Genma shrugged.
"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.
"One of the competing villages hit some trouble on the way here," Genma stated plainly. "They sent word this morning." He jerked a thumb toward the doors where a notice had been posted. "Preliminaries have been rescheduled to tomorrow."
"That explains the shinobi running the opposite direction this morning," Temari sighed.
There's a long pause. Silence. Shikamaru glanced between the notice, Genma, and the sky before letting out a long sigh.
"You're telling me that I woke up before sunrise," Shikamaru began, pinching the bridge of his nose, "for nothing?"
"Seems like it. Congratulations. You've got the day off," Genma said, giving Shikamaru's shoulder a playful slap.
"Couldn't someone have sent a messenger?" Shikamaru asked. This was incredibly inconvenient.
"We did." There was a pause while Genma looked between the two of them. It felt like he was trying to piece together some kind of puzzle. "Guess you beat him out the door."
He hadn't left his apartment that early. Had he?
"Bummer," Temari said with a frown. "I was really hoping to see some action today and get a read on this year's group."
Then something in the air shifted, and she... smiled.
Shikamaru's eyebrows drew together slightly. He knew that look. It wasn't one born of niceties. It was the one that usually meant she had decided something on his behalf.
Troublesome.
"Looks like we've got the day to ourselves." Her grin was mischievous.
"No."
She blinked innocently. "No, what?"
"Whatever it is you're thinking."
"You couldn't possibly know what I'm thinking."
"I know you."
Genma cleared his throat quietly, as if to remind them that he was still there. "The villages that are present have all decided to take the day to rest up for matches tomorrow."
"That's such a drag. You mean I have to get up early again tomorrow?"
Genma gave him a pitying shrug. "Seems like it."
Whatever idea overtook Temari had become fully fledged at this point. Shikamaru did his best to prepare himself for what was to come.
"Does that mean the training grounds are open?" She asked with thinly veiled excitement.
"Yup," Genma replied with a terse nod of his head.
Her smile widened into something almost downright wicked. He knew exactly where this was going.
"There it is," Shikamaru mumbled.
Temari rounded on him. "What? You're scared I've gotten better than you?"
He could have ignored the challenge-- probably should have, even. Instead, he chose to take the bait.
"Scared? Never."