Alone in the family’s living room, Temari watched Naruto on the TV screen earnestly reading from an unfamiliar script.
“We propose to share all intelligence among all the hidden villages and redress differences in individual battle power. As a first step, Konoha will disclose its own secret intelligence to the other villages. If we can make real progress in sharing information with one another, we can create peaceful uses for ninjutsu. With new uses for ninja techniques, ninja can earn their living without having to go on dangerous missions.” Naruto lifted his face from his notes. “As Hokage, I want to propose this to all the nations gathered here.”
Temari listened solemnly, kneeling before the screen in a formal position. They had shown the inside of the hall a moment earlier, and she found her brothers seated at one table, representatives of Sunagakure. They’d almost been smiling at Naruto on the podium, and she’d breathed a sigh of relief.
But critical member was nowhere to be found: Shikamaru was not sitting with Konoha.
My job’s done. It’s a drag sitting in a room full of people like that.
She could almost hear her husband’s voice.
“We absolutely can’t go to war. Please, I’m asking you. As representatives of your countries, please make the only rational decision.” Naruto bowed so deeply that his head almost rested on the podium.
Temari felt something sublime in the figure he cut. It was a grand speech from the Hokage of Konoha, from a single ninja among many. And at work in his shadow was her husband. He did everything he possibly could for Naruto and for the village of Konohagakure. In fact, it was more than that; that husband of hers squeezed out every last ounce of strength he had for the sake of the whole world.
Shikamaru desperately hoped for peace. He felt more strongly than anyone else that the time of the ninja was over. A lazy life, lazy days, a lazy death—this was what Shikamaru wanted.
Sometimes the thought struck her that maybe she had been the one who had snatched that dream away from him. Had Shikamaru been forced to the frontlines of battle because of Temari and Shikadai, even though he desired nothing other than a life of idleness? Wouldn’t he actually prefer to work somewhere more easygoing, a place that didn’t cause such waves in his heart?
Temari was a ninja. There had been a time when she was hostile to Shikamaru and Naruto and the rest of them. She had lived as a ninja of Sunagakure and married into the village of Konohagakure. She had her own ninja tools and a very clear idea of what exactly a ninja was and should be. Perhaps she had unconsciously sought that in Shikamaru and Shikadai.
Her husband was the kindest man she knew. For her sake and the sake of her son, for Naruto, for the village of Konohagakure, he always put himself second. He was too good for her. But in his heart, did he actually want to throw it all away and drift along like a cloud, living however he pleased?
She had been too scared to ever ask him. She was grateful to him for working so hard on their behalf, and she had faith in him. No one took greater joy in Shikadai’s growth than Shikamaru. After Shikadai’s big showing in the chunin exams, he had come home and gleefully described every minute of it to her. Shikamaru was a good father, which was exactly why, when he was in this house, she wanted him to be his true self.
She clenched the hands resting on her knees as she knelt before the TV. Her fingers caught on her thighs, digging into them lightly.
Naruto stepped down from the podium. The hall was enveloped in thunderous applause.
“You really worked hard, huh, Shikamaru?” Temari said to the empty seat next to Naruto as he sat down.