So here's the last chapter for this story. Thanks to everyone who stuck with me since the very beginning! This was my first fanfiction and I still have yet a lot to learn. Sorry for the last rushed chapter but as I was writing it I realized that after they got together I didn't have anything planned. I'm trying to save all my ideas for later stories or one-shots that I'm planning. I'm still debating. Anyways thanks so much for the reviews and all the positive feedback I received. I could have never finished this story without you guys! Well hopefully I will post up something new sometime soon.

Thanks for reading! :)

~Epilogue~

Shikamaru lets out a sigh of content as he crosses his hands behind his head for support. He is lying down on the fresh grass that still smells like rain from the previous day. As his eyes close he hears the exact same sounds and movements he made coming from the person next to him. Well more like little person, an exact replica of him.

Altogether one could say that indeed his son was a Nara, except for the eyes, they were the very same green as his troublesome wife. That was a new one for his clan. None the less much to Temari's chagrin little Asuma was exactly like his father. Not only in the appearance, but from the spiky pony tail to his sluggish remarks about how troublesome everything was. A very angry Temari made a fit when their son's first word was "twusum."

Several yards away the yell of a toddler was heard calling out their names. He hears Asuma grumble, Shikamaru sighs, gets up and dusts the dirt off his pants.

"Mommy said it's time for lunch!" Shikari yells.

His three year-old daughter has inherited the same fierce attitude from his mother. He figures it's his payback from Temari for his first five years of a peaceful start at fatherhood. She looks exactly like Temari, except her eyes are the same brown as his. Her golden blonde hair is up only in two pony tails. Her vocabulary is excellent considering her age. Both of his children inherited his brains.

"We're coming. You troublesome child."

Shikari pouts, "Mommy said I can hit you if you don't hurry up!"

"Tch, of course she did."

"Come on!" Shikari says as she drags her big brother towards their home.

Asuma mutters under his breath but follows anyways. Despite the fact that he avoids Shikari like the plague he always does as she says. Probably so he doesn't have to hear her yells but Shikamaru knows better. Asuma looks out for his little sister more than anything no matter how much he complains about it.

The three of them take a seat in the dining room, waiting for Temari to bring in their food. His wife enters with various plates in hands, he never did quite figure out how she did that. Sure they both have aged slightly; it has been nine years of marriage after all.

To him she looks the same though. Their features have matured but even then he still has yet to find a wrinkle on her face. Her attitude is still the same, bossy and very troublesome. Yet when alone and the children are nowhere in sight he gets to witness her gentlest moments.

She nags at Asuma as they start eating, their daily ritual. This time she has taken matter into her own hands and has made sure that Asuma does not fall asleep during class like Shikamaru did. Had it not been for that he would have been at the top of his class.

He sees Shikari struggle to cut her chicken and he does it for her. She gives him a wide smile as she takes a bit of her food. Shikamaru chuckles at his daughters actions that are so much like his wife. He taps the top of her little head and kisses her lightly on her forehead.

"Let's play ball!" Shikari orders Asuma as she drags him outside right the minute he has taken his last bite.

Shikamaru watches as Temari takes all the dirty wishes into the kitchen. He follows her and stands by the entrance, observing her every move.

"What?" she asks.

"Nothing." Shikamaru shrugs but walks towards her.

He pulls her by the waist and kisses her, the intensity of their passion never diminished throughout the years. They pull out breathlessly and Temari smiles at him, the smile she reserves for him and their children.

Shikamaru pulls her into a hug burying his face in her shoulder.

"I love you." He whispers in her ear.

"I love you too." Temari answers back but grabs a hold of his face so that she can say it while looking at his eyes.

He cherishes the words that both of them don't say quite often to each other. Words are needless when their actions speak much louder towards their feelings for each other.

Tearing their eyes apart from each other they go on about their daily lives. Shikamaru helps her wash the dishes. Both of them take advantage of the few minutes they get during the day with each other before Asuma comes in complaining that Shikari beat him with the ball again.

Shikamaru's live is anything of what he imagined it would be when he was twelve. In fact it was anything but troublesome and exhausting. As he walks outside though and watches his wife play a game of catch with their two children, all three smiles go unnoticed. Most of all he sees the woman and the mother of his children that he fell in love with. Troublesome and all, he wouldn't have had it any other way.