Disclaimer: I do not any part of Naruto, nor do I own Hinder

A/N: When I first heard this song (Lips of an Angel), I really didn't think too much of it. Then when I was listening again I thought "Bingo...inspiration!" This is my first oneshot ever and I'm actually pleased with how it came out. Now that the formaitites have been set aside, let the story begin...

Somewhere on the outskirts of Konoha, a lone boy lays himself down in a field to gaze at the bright blue sky up above. He couldn't help himself at all for doing this. Just watching those white puffballs calmly glide in the stratosphere, it always relaxed him. There were actually times where he yearned to be a cloud himself, a life of complete freedom where he could do practically nothing…yeah…Shikamaru always thought of that every single time he could.

A calm breeze whispered by the area almost lulling him to sleep. He wanted that, he always wanted to doze off and dream of life in the sky. Shikamaru may be a genius, but he sure as hell doesn't want to be and it frustrates him to no end. Not to mention his teammates Chouji and Ino would get on his nerves if he slacked off during their training. He always felt life was too much to handle, his mother always seems to fight with his father, endless training, Asuma's death…finding some time alone to stare at the sky was his escape, the only way he knew to get away from it all, and he got ticked off if someone ever disturbed him, especially one person in particular.

No matter how many times he had told her to go away, or how many times he'd beat her in a fight, Temari, the oldest of the three sand siblings, would never give up and leave him alone to relax. It seems she would find some crazy excuse to leave the Sand Village and come here to annoy the hell out of him. But, there was one thing the shadow master could not deny no matter how hard he tried; she was definitely worthy of his skills.

Ever since the Chunin Exams about 2 and a half years ago, he found something intriguing about her. He thinks that's why he never tried to force her out of the village gates every time she came to visit, whether it was strictly business between her brother, Garaa the kazekage, and Konoha, or for her own pleasure. Shikamaru had never faced an opponent who'd tested him to the extents of his abilities before her, and it was the only thing that kept him back from totally ignoring the blonde nuisance.

What was more surprising to him is that soon after Naruto left with that pervert sanin Jiraya, there were times where he was eager to fight Temari again just to show her that he had improved since her last visit. She was his reason that he didn't skip training as often as he did during his genin days. He never really knew how it happened, no matter how many times he played the fight through his head

Flashback 1 year after Naruto left

If you had good hearing, you could hear the distant sounds of two shinobi clashing in a random clearing on the outskirts of Konoha. Every time Temari came to visit, her priority was to find Shikamaru and challenge to a match…or so she thought. Lately she had wanted to see him for other reasons.

Before him, she was undefeated, so it was natural that she was confused beyond all reason why he surrendered in the Chunin Exams. Between the punches, kicks, and other varieties of attacks, they'd stop and exchange a little banter. Through those short conversations she had found out a lot of things about Shikamaru. What he likes, and more importantly, how to tick him off. It was the only way she'd get him off his lazy ass and fight her. This was about the fifteenth time they had gone at it and she still couldn't beat him so she was determined to make this match different.

As his shadow crept to her shins, she immediately jumped to the side, and knew she had an opening. Using as much speed as she could muster, she ran up to Shikamaru, whipped out her trademark fan, and gave it a huge whip to her right sending a large gust of wind that blew Shikamaru right into a tree. As he started lurching forward, Temari instantly closed the distance between them and pinned him to the tree with her fan. He couldn't move his arms, so he couldn't manipulate his shadow to make her break her hold.

"I win…" was the only thing she said before the two realized they were staring each other in the face. Temari had never beaten him before and something was rising inside Shikamaru the longer his back was pressed against the rough bark of the maple tree behind him. He didn't have a clue why, but he was attracted to her in a way he never thought he could possibly feel.

Temari had never felt more dominant in her whole life. Here she was, pinning her rival to a tree, and there was nothing he could do to free himself. There were no traps set up around her so she had this in the bag. Her face was showing an amazed yet a little confused look. How was this possible? Doesn't he have any kind of counter move or something?! No…he doesn't…she won fair and square.

She set her fan aside to release her opponent and he rubbed himself off of anything that fell off the tree. The next thing they knew, Temari ran back up to Shikamaru, whipped her arms around his back and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Shikamaru was now dumbfounded at what she was doing, but did nothing to stop her.

He just stared at the blonde windbag with a surprised look in his eyes. Shikamaru had an internal conflict in his mind once again. Temari, of all people was invading his privacy in a way she never had before, but then again, Temari was pretty good looking and his brain didn't deny it. Before he knew it, he had started snaking his arms around her waist, but Temari let him go before they locked into place and she blushed as she looked away.

"What was that about?" Shikamaru inquired, wanting answers to her intimate move. Temari smirked and answered back "Well…every time you won you told me to leave…so I think it's fair that I get something I want because I won…"

End Flashback

They never looked back after that. Later that day, they went out to dinner together and that's when her true feelings toward him were revieled. Oddly enough, Shikamaru never questioned why he was going out with a girl like Temari, let alone any girl at all. Even after that day, they still argued with each other and ended up fighting again, but they would make peace by the end of the night anyway. Plus, Shikamaru had finally grown to like the way she acted around him, her annoying yet smooth voice, the attitude she gave him when he'd rather sleep instead of fight, that's what he loved about her. Pfft, love…that was the last thing on his mind at the moment. Things started changing after Naruto came back. He and Temari had been "going out" for about 1.5 years when something happened that changed them forever.

Flashback 1 month ago

"Hold on a minute…what are you talking about?"

"It's not the same Shikamaru…"

"Whoa…you haven't called me by that in months, what is going on?"

"You are…you've become lazier these past few weeks" Temari sternly pointed out. Shikamaru, having no idea where this was going, kept his usual laid back attitude as he lay on the ground, staring at the clouds again. "So what's you're point?"

"You're becoming boring that's what!" Shikamaru ignored her shouting and continued looking at the sky, he and his team had recently lost their sensei to the Akatsuki member, Hidan, and Shikamaru just wanted to forget it all, like it never happened "Are you even listening you bonehead?!"

"If you'll excuse me, I was trying to sleep here…" Temari was stunned at his emotionless reaction. But she kept her assertive demands and said "Fine…maybe it would be better if I didn't come back at all!" Now it was Shikamaru's turn to be stunned, he had acted like this in front of her before, but she'd always force him into a fight. Instead, she was flat out leaving which threw his mojo out of whack "Wait…that's it? No demanding for 'a test of my true skill' and all that crap?"

"You're no longer worth it…I'm leaving" and she walked away, and never looked back at him. Shikamaru soon shrugged it off and went back to cloud watching, as if he didn't care about the situation at all.

End Flashback

One month…it has been a full month since he last saw a trace of the sand sibling. Not once had he bothered to ask why she flat out left that day, but Shikamaru never liked fighting with a girl so he stayed at home. He had finally gotten away from her annoying demands, her bossy attitude, and that troublesome fan of hers, and as Shikamaru started dozing off, one thought entered his mind…'Ugh…get a grip on yourself…she broke up with you a month ago, you don't have to deal with her anymore…but why do I feel like…' "I miss her?! Oh my god…what has she done to me……this is such a drag!"

"I thought I'd find you here Shikamaru." He opened his eyes and turned his head and almost gasped as he saw a familiar looking shade of blonde, held up in four pigtails, until he blinked and saw who it really was. He sighed as he fell back down on the ground "Go away Ino…"

"Oh no you don't lazy boy, you promised to take me out to lunch today, and I'm making sure you keep it!" Ino grinned as he sighed in defeat. She felt as things were looking up for her recently, ever since Temari stopped coming to the village she felt it was her chance to move in. Her interest in her teammate started at the Chunin Exams as well.

Chouji had told her many times that she didn't know clue about Shikamaru, and boy was Chouji right. Ino had used the past month to spend whatever time she could with Shikamaru, even though he constantly tried to push her away. She felt as though she had reached new ground with him. Plus, watching him try to resist always made her laugh in the end.

As the two teammates sat at Ichiraku's, Shikamaru just rested his elbow on the counter as he rubbed his forehead, clearly stressed out by something. Ino always noticed how his behavior changed to lazy from flat out ignorance, but rather than yell at him like she usually does, she instead tried a softer approach "Alright bright boy, what's wrong?"

"What are you talking about Ino, I'm fine" Shikamaru commented flatly. Although he was speaking like everything was hunky dory Ino knew better "Come on, don't try and put on a tough act for me, I know something is on your mind"

"No there isn't…"

"Aww come on Shika-kun, you can tell me…" Shikamaru's mood took a turn for the worst as he slammed his hand on the counter, making the empty bowls in front of them jump slightly. A stunned Ino just watched as he growled

"Do…not…call me that!" He got up and left the bar, leaving Ino with the bill, which she quickly paid for, then she went after her teammate, very angry. She eventually caught up to Shikamaru about a mile from the bar where she proceeded to tell him off "Shikamaru, what on earth has gotten into your head?! How dare you leave me to pay the bill and…" she continued rambling on about respect for women and such, but he wasn't listening. Her voice became fingernails scratching against a blackboard, and the tension inside his head continued to build until

"WOULD YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE FOR ONE DAMN MINUTE INO?!?!?!?!?!" His anger caught the kunoichi totally off guard. Ino then tried desperately to patch things up with him, but he stormed off before a word escaped her mouth. Completely lost in her thoughts she asked herself "What the hell is wrong with him?!"

"You still don't have a clue Ino" she whipped around to find her red armored comrade Chouji behind her. "A clue about what exactly?"

"Shikamaru's feelings of course…I warned you that your jealousy would get you nowhere"

"Jealousy…HAH…what would I be jealous about Chouji?!"

"Temari…" Ino was silent. She never openly admitted it, but something in her had grown since after the mission to retrieve Sasuke. She knew full well Shikamaru was upset for nearly failing and she wanted to help him. But seeing him being comforted by another girl, especially Temari, she felt useless. She just wanted to make him happy; she hated to see him sad for any reason. But, Shikamaru was sad because of her? Ino never saw it coming.

Chouji then handed her a crumpled piece of paper he had found in the garbage some time ago. Since it wasn't covered in glop, Ino took it and unfolded it, and gasped in shock. On the paper was a picture along with a note written on it, in her handwriting. Said picture was of Temari looking happily ready to kiss Shikamaru in the middle of the village, and the note inscribed read

Dear Temari-chan,

Remember how you always told me that I should learn how to blackmail better? Well guess what? I'll be sending my demands later.

Love,
Ino

"W-well…she deserved it Chouji! You saw how those two were always fighting"

"I did…I also had enough sense to realize that there was something more to it, plus Shikamaru told me about it"

"W-what…why'd he tell you and not me?!"

"Because I respect his choice to lie down and look at the sky, heck I think I'm starting to like it." Ino couldn't rebut his answer. She just continued to look at the paper in her hands as the repercussions of her actions flooded her mind. It was true; she had blackmailed Temari into eventually breaking up with Shikamaru. Heck Ino even saw her run out of the village because she knew Temari liked to keep a certain status amongst her brothers, and Temari felt it would be compromised if her secret got out to them.

The other reason was because Ino was jealous. After giving up on Sasuke, she had moved on to Shikamaru after his first mission as a chunin. Plus, a part of her wanted to rub her relationship in Sakura's face, forgetting why Sasuke left Konoha. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes when Chouji snapped her out of her trance "Do you really like Shikamaru?"

"…Y-yes…I do…"

"Then you know what you need to do…Garaa is in town for a discussion of a true alliance between our villages and I hear Temari is there as a bodyguard…" Chouji stopped talking when Ino hugged him out of nowhere. She let go after a few seconds and sped off in the direction of the Hokage's office.

An hour had passed since the frustrated Shikamaru left Ino back by the village. He had found his usual gazing spot in the forest and sat down at a nearby tree. His head was pounding so much he couldn't even relax himself enough to stare at the now orange sky of the afternoon.

"This I really a drag…stupid Ino, why did she call me that…holy crap what's wrong with me?!" Shikamaru felt like banging his head on a brick wall. Never in his whole life was he this stressed out over anything. What was giving him this unbearable migraine?! Deep down, he knew the answer; the only person to ever call him by "Shika-kun" was… "Ugh…why can't I get her out of my head?!?! For the love of Pete…what have you done to me?!?!?!!!" He banged his head three times on the tree behind him and shut his eyes when he heard someone else

"I think you know full well Shikamaru…"

"Hn…A-Asuma sensei???" Great now he was hearing things. He thought he was getting delirious from all the stress he'd been feeling. "Great…I think this headache is going to my head…"

"Oh cut that out……Shikamaru, you may be a genius, but you've been acting like an idiot recently"

"Aw shut up what do you know…this is way too troublesome…"

"I know enough to know you actually had something going a while back"

"Well that was then…it's best to just forget about it and move on, now leave me alone"

"Now don't give me that…let me tell you something. If I had come from that fight alive, there was one thing I probably would've done eventually"

"What beat me at shogii?"

"You really are that oblivious…I'm sure you saw me with Kurenai Yuhi at one point"

"What if I did, what's your point?" Shikamaru felt this was going nowhere fast. He tried his best to tune out the voice of his former teacher, but it did little to help his headache. "She won't show it Shikamaru, but Yuhi-chan misses me, a lot…just like you miss her"

"I DON'T MISS HER NOW WOULD YOU GO AWAY?!?!?!" As if it was on cue, he got no response back. His head fell back onto the tree as he rubbed his forehead to try and make sense of the crazy thought train chugging through his brain. "Come on man, control yourself, you don't miss her…I don't miss her……" he sighed after he proceeded to stab a kunai about 3 inches into the tree holding him up. As a cool wind blew by, Shikamaru remained still until he flopped down on the ground and muttered "Aww who am I kidding?!" In times like this, not even the clouds could help him, so he turned to the only thing that could during times like this.

"This had better be good you brat"

"Would you just shut up and follow me or do I need to blackmail you again?!" Temari just grunted and followed Ino through the village and eventually into the forest. Ino had interrupted Garaa's meeting with Tsunade just to know where she was. Temari didn't have a clue why she accepted to be his brother's bodyguard for this in the first place, why didn't he ask Kankuro?

Her thoughts were focused on the blonde in front of her as they swung from branch to branch. Temari knew Ino was up to something, she always was ever since she started blackmailing her, but she never knew why? About 2 miles in, Ino vanished and Temari stopped to look for her. She saw an opening amongst the vegetation and pushed the branches aside to get a better look. Ino wasn't there; instead, there was a vast clearing that seemed to go on for a few miles and in the near distance she saw the last thing she wanted to see, Shikamaru.

Her memory immediately flew back to the day she had broken up wit him, but she never intended that to happen in the first place. Even with Ino's demands, she had hoped he'd come to his senses and come after her, but he didn't, so why would this be any different? But, judging by the way he was rubbing his forehead, he seemed really frustrated over something, but she didn't care. She let go of the branches and turned around, somewhat disappointed

"That little witch…she probably wanted to rub it in my face…when I find her…" but she didn't even leave. Temari froze in place after she heard the docile tones of a guitar? The sound was coming from behind her, and the only one behind her was…no it couldn't be. But she gasped in total astonishment as she soon heard something that Shikamaru never did before

Honey why you calling me so late
It's kinda hard to talk right now
Honey why you crying is everything okay
I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud

Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice say my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
Let it die,
never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And yes I dreamt of you too
And does he know you're talking to me will it start a fight
No, I don't think she has a clue

Well my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice say my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
Lei it die,
never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

Was this really Shikamaru, the same lazy do-nothing, laid back Shikamaru? Temari had to look back out into the clearing to make sure she wasn't hearing things, but sure enough there he was. Guitar in hand, and his voice was a low pitch tenor. Temari never saw this side of him before, was this really true, did Shikamaru really miss her, or did he just pick up music as a hobby? But then again, the only hobby Shikamaru ever had was sleeping.

The wind seemed to echo a pure emotion in his voice as it reached Temari's ears and she felt herself slowly move out of the trees, and closer to his side. Temari knelt down next to him and noticed his eyes were shut as he was playing. She continued to stare totally awestruck at his behavior, what could have driven Shikamaru to this, and then it hit her, this is what Ino wanted to show her. Shikamaru still loved her and here he was actually expressing his feelings. Temari could feel herself breaking as the notes penetrated her entire body

It's really good to hear your voice say my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
Let it die,
never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
(let it die, never wanna say goodbye)
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel

Honey why you calling me so late

Shikamaru set the guitar aside, and finally acknowledged the presence next to him. Finding a familiar pair of shimmering teal eyes, a head with blonde hair tied into four pigtails, and a body clothed in familiar mesh undergarments, a white skirt and red sash, the only thing missing was the giant fan, which she left in her hotel room. "T-Temari…" was the only thing he could muster from his consciousness. He wondered if she had listened to the whole song, but her quick response was all he needed as she threw herself around and finally broke down.

Shikamaru did the only thing he could and hugged her back just as tightly. He even let a couple tears escape his eyes as her sobs echoed through the forest. The two let go of each other after about a minute or so. Shikamaru touched his hand to her hot, tear stricken face as he wiped them away with his thumb. Temari put her hand on his and opened her eyes to see his face. He was smiling, and that was all it took for her to close the distance between their lips with a strong, passionate kiss.

They wrapped around each other again and soon they were fighting each other again. This time, they were fighting to remain on top as they rolled around in the grass totally oblivious to everything but each other. They only broke apart for a couple seconds to let the other speak

"I love you Shika-kun…"

"I know…" and the two started going at the others lips again and the sun continued to set into the best sleep Shikamaru ever had.

You did good Ino-san…"

"Thanks Chouji…I told you she liked him Garaa!"

"Alright alright…but what do we do with them now?"

"Just leave them there, they'll be okay…" Ino smiled and left the forest with Chouji leaving Garaa to stare at the sight of his sister making out with Shikamaru, until he decided he had enough and left for the hotel. He'd finally be able to get a peaceful night himself without Temari to bug him about Kazekage stuff even if it was only for one night.

A/N: And that's all I wrote folks. Now I realize that Shikamaru maybe OOC, but come on, even he has to draw the line somewhere. Now that there's nothing more to be said, please review

Temari: Yeah and make it good otherwise I'll send you into the next country, literally!

Shikamaru: What she said...