The young Nara sat bored in his room and played shogi against himself. Normally he would have asked Asuma if they could play, but that was not possible for two reasons.

First, he, Shikamaru Nara, was under house arrest. Yes, house arrest.
He had looked rather foolish when his mother gave him this punishment. After all, it took away his favorite pastime, cloud-watching. From the window they really didn't look so light and peaceful. Shikamaru sighed. It was horrible not to get out of this hell house.

The second reason was far more dramatic. The earliest he could ask Asuma about a game of shogi was when he was dead. His sensei had died on a mission. It had taken the boy a long time to overcome the loss. In the meantime, however, he had realized that despair was no solution. He helped Kurenai, Asuma's wife, much more now. She was pregnant and now needed help. At least, that's how Shikamaru saw it.

He thought for a moment and then made the decisive move. That was the 21st game today. How annoying it was not to be allowed outside.

He got up and lay down on his bed. His eyes automatically wandered to the window. The clouds looked particularly beautiful that day. Another longing sigh escaped him. What would he not give for it, just to lie in a meadow and feel the wind.

At these reveries a thought suddenly flashed in him. There was a way for him to get out of that prison. Maybe he should ...


~~ Flashback ~~


"You don't do anything but laze around !!" his mother yelled at him. Completely annoyed, he scratched the back of his head. "Uh, no. That's not true. I also play Sh-" Shikamaru couldn't finish because an angry woman hit the table.

"I don't mean that !! Do you think I don't care what you do with the clan ?! Which girl wants to be married to a dreamer like you ?! If you keep doing this, the clan ends with you !!"

The two had been arguing for an hour about whether the Nara offspring finally needed a girlfriend. Yoshino, of course, voiced her opinion, whereas Shikamaru only gave low-pitched answers.

"Mendokuse, don't yell like that ... If you want grandchildren, you should have had two children."

"PLEASE ?! Either you are going out with a girl for the next week or you won't be leaving this house for the rest of your life !! You are house arrested! Until you have a date !!"


~~ Flashback end ~~


If he asked a girl if she was going out with him, permanent residence would be over. But the date would be damn exhausting ... Shikamaru would have to spend a whole evening with her. Maybe he should think about which girl to ask. Who was there in the village?Ino, but it was so loud and annoying. Hmm Sakura, but she was just like Ino and above all she would never go out with him. Then there is Hinata, but she was with Naruto. Anyone else? No, or ... yes. Tents. But he didn't know much about her, only that she was on a team with Neji and Lee.

All the girls in the village were strange. It didn't really matter which one he went out with. It would always be annoying.

"Mendokuse. And all just to get out of here ..."

After a few minutes of thought, he finally decided on Ino. She knew Shikamaru best. Maybe she would help him deceive his mother and then leave him alone.

He yawned. It was very tiring to develop escape plans. Almost as exhausting as on a mission.

Shikamaru got up and slowly went downstairs. On the stairs he could hear his mother scolding, probably his father. Great. So his prospects weren't exactly good. Carefully he pushed open the kitchen door and recognized the suspected picture. The eldest Nara was sitting at the dining table while his wife stood angrily in front of him and reproached him.

“Um, mom?” Shikamaru waited until she looked at him. Her face was a little red and a vein pulsed on her forehead. His father was grateful for this interruption and quickly snuck out of the room.

“If I ask Ino if she wants to do something with me, can I go out again?” The Nara looked at him in surprise. After a few seconds, the angry expression was replaced by a satisfied grin.

"Ino, yes? Of course Shikamaru. I told you yes, if you go out with a girl, you can go outside again." The boy nodded and left the kitchen.

That was scary. His mother had smiled.

Another thought drowned out the memory of it. All he had to do was call Ino and ask her out on a date and he was free. The anticipation grabbed him and made him hurry to the phone.


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Far from Konoha, a blonde girl was packing her bag. She secretly looked forward to the trip, but above all to a certain person. The Kunoichi has not been able to sleep properly for weeks. All because of this boy.

Temari was in her room making final preparations. Tonight she would be leaving for Konoha. For her it meant that she would see Shikamaru again in three days. Hard to believe, but she must have fallen in love with him. That's why she was so happy to be in the Fire Kingdom soon.

Excited, she sat on her bed and looked around the room. She wouldn't see it for the next few weeks. All her memories of her brothers were here, only one photo she took with her. Kankuro had an arm around Temari on top of him while Gaara stood next to them.She had to smile. The picture was taken four years ago. That was before Gaara became Kazekage. Since then, Gaara had started laughing again, even if it was seldom.

The blonde put the photo in a side pocket and went into the living room. Her brother Kankuro was sitting on the couch and looking at the television.

"I'm still going to Gaara," said Temari. Kankuro looked at her and grinned. "Already? You can't wait to see this Shikamaru again."
Temari turned her head to the side so he couldn't see her blush.
"No, you Baka! I just don't feel like walking through the desert when it gets dark. Did you forget that it gets cold at night ?!"

Kankuro started laughing happily and looked back at the television. "Sure. Have fun in Konoha, sister." Still red around her nose, she grabbed her fan and made her way to the Kazekageturm.

Sometimes Kankuro could see through them too well. She had never told him that she was really in love with Shikamaru, but maybe it had been noticed. No, Temari had been very good at hiding it so far. And her brother was not paying such close attention to her behavior. Rather, she was now afraid that Gaara might see through her too. In contrast to Kankuro, he was very good at it.

When she got to the tower, she recognized Baki. Her Sensei just came out of the building and greeted her briefly before walking on. Temari went straight to Gaara's room. She had been here so many times that she knew her way around here as well as she did at home. She knocked briefly on the door and after a "Come in" stepped into the room.

Her red-haired brother was sitting at a huge table covered with innumerable stacks of paper. "Temari.", Gaara greeted them. He looked a little pained. Maybe the job didn't get him ...

“Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you.” She smiled slightly at her brother. Her gaze wandered briefly across the room. In the middle was Gaara's desk. Behind him were two large windows that looked out over the whole of Suna. Left and right were many shelves with books and various files. Otherwise the room was quite empty.

Temari looked at the Kazekage and walked over to him. "I will probably leave earlier," she said. Gaara watched her take the photo on his table and look at it. It was the same as hers. “Be careful.” The blonde appreciated that he was worried. She put the photo away again.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. You better take care of the village. And especially Kankuro." She joked, but at the same time there was a certain seriousness in her voice. By now Temari knew how to make him smile. As expected, the corners of Gaara's mouth rolled up.

"Sure. Greetings from Naruto."
The girl nodded. He hadn't seen the Chaos Ninja since Gaara was the head of the village.So it was understandable that he wanted to be heard from.

"For you always. I'll go then, see you soon Gaara." The named looked after her as she left his office and made her way to the distant Konoha.


-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.


"No, not a real date. We just have to pretend that my mother is satisfied." - "Exactly. You show up here a little dressed up and walk with me only so far away that she can no longer see us. Then you can disappear again ", the young Nara explained to his teammate.

He held the phone close to his face so he could speak as softly as possible. Ino hadn't been very excited about the idea of ​​dating him. As she said, Sasuke wouldn't have liked it very much. The only catch with the theory was that the traitor wasn't in the village at all, but with Orochimaru.

In any case, she'd just agreed, on the condition that it wouldn't be a real date and that she could go as soon as possible. He had no problems with it except- "How, you can only be in three days ?! That doesn't exist! I'll die if I have to stay here any longer," the shinobi exclaimed in horror.

At that moment he saw a scene in his mind's eye in which he actually died of boredom. It couldn't be possible that Ino had to go on a mission TODAY that would last three days.

"Can't Tsunade replace you? Ino, please!"

The blonde just laughed on the phone and made fun of the fact that he started begging. It was right, normally he wouldn't have done that under any circumstances, but if there was such a way to escape house arrest, he was happy to accept it.

He must have sounded pretty desperate, but his teammate denied his request.
Disappointed and depressed, he said goodbye to her, but not without making her promise that she would answer as soon as possible.

"Let's see how I can survive this ..."



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