All morning, the lazy genius wandered around restlessly. That was until he found himself inevitably in front of his family home.
"Mom, I need your help," Shikamaru said with apparent hesitance. The fact that he was still hovering outside the house was a testament to his indecision.
His mother eyed him critically before stating, "Don't tell me you waited the day before White Day to make some chocolates for Temari."
He visibly flinched, then a sheepish grin crossed his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, at least I thought of making them, right?"
"You're your father's son, alright," she muttered. Shikamaru let out a nervous chuckle.
Then Yoshino conceded with a huff. "Fine, but I will work you hard, Shikamaru. No son of mine will present any sub-par chocolates to my potential daughter-in-law."
"Troublesome," he mumbled, blood infusing into his cheeks.
"What was that?" his mother said in a dangerously low tone.
"Please guide me properly, mom," Shikamaru recited, automatically appeasing her.
"That's more like it," she answered with a nod of approval before turning around to enter the house, wordlessly expecting him to follow.
He resisted from rolling his eyes, convinced she had eyes on the back of her head and would probably call him out for it.
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"Why are you making so much, Shikamaru?" Yoshino queried with a quizzical expression on her face.
"Trust me, mom. One batch is not anywhere near enough," Shikamaru replied with conviction, remembering Temari's impressive feat wherein she cleaned out a box of chocolates in a matter of minutes.
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Surprise flickered in the Suna ambassador's teal eyes as she spotted Shikamaru's mother in front of his apartment, seemingly waiting for something or someone. She was carrying a huge paper bag.
Yoshino brightened when Temari came into sight and waved cheerfully.
The wind shinobi cautiously waved back, wondering what in the world was going on. She had nothing against Yoshino but this must be the first time she's met Shikamaru's mother on her own. And while she knew her own worth, she somehow had this feeling that she had to behave properly in front of her.
When Temari was just a few feet away, Yoshino rushed forward to embrace her. Temari stiffened but eventually hugged back.
"Temari, how are you? Did you have a nice journey?"
"Oh, I'm good, ma'am. Yes, it was fine."
"Great! Well, I won't keep you too long. I'm sure you need to rest." Yoshino took the paper bag and handed it to her, beaming. "That son of mine asked if I could give this to you because he had an emergency meeting. He didn't want you to wait to receive this since he didn't know when the meeting will end."
"Ah," Temari said, slightly embarrassed. "Thank you for delivering it."
Yoshino waved her hand dismissively. "It's no problem. Before I go, I just want to say he worked really hard on those, Temari. Even asked me for help. Yes, that lazy son of mine actually doing something like this." Yoshino winked at her before leaving.
