Call Me A Narcissus

"You want me to what?"

"I'm asking you to watch my place while I'm on a mission. It's only two days."

She huffed indignantly and crossed her arms, even though she was secretly very pleased. He'd only ask this of someone he trusted. Any one of his friends could have done it but he had asked her. Thrusting one hand out, she demanded the key with just the look in her eyes. Sighing he relinquished it to her. "Hopefully I won't come back to find the place destroyed."

"I don't have to do this, you know? I have enough ambassadorial duties to keep me busy for months."

"I'm sure you do," he sarcastically and smirked. It made her feel oddly embarrassed and he held the stare surely for what was longer than socially acceptable. And, though she liked him - - more so than she'd admit aloud - - it made her uncomfortable.

Though all of their friends would tell you exactly what they thought the two's relationship entailed, she herself had no idea exactly where they stood. A war and the moon hurtling towards the earth had made them come no closer to declaring anything.

"Do you have any plants?" she blurted out, successfully breaking the silence. An eyebrow lifted before he questioned,

"No. Why?" In all fairness, it was a stupid question. Not only was this Shikamaru they were talking about but any greenery in his place would surely die as he would barely find enough energy to water the damn thing. Additionally, Konoha had more than enough vegetation outside to satisfy anyone's need for indoor potted plants.

"Um...I just wanted to know if I needed to water anything," she supplied lamely. His amused gaze aggravated her to no end. "Unless you want me to chuck this key at your lazy head you better be on your way." He laughed, knowing the threat held no weight.

"I'll see you in two days, troublesome." She thanked whatever gods there were that he turned his back before he could witness the bright blush that covered her face. As she watched his shrinking figure a small smile spread unwillingly across her lips. Humming a happy tune she walked away with a bounce in her step and a key in her hand.

The first day she just walked past his house. He didn't have any plants or pets so there was no point in going inside. If Kankurou was here, he would tease her mercilessly for being such a wimp.

A part of her felt like stepping through that doorway would be like admitting that there was some sort of connection between them that crossed the boundaries of friendship and partners. The rest of her, the part that scared her the most, was extremely tempted by that very idea.

The second day, she paced up and down his street and outside the front door. There was no doubt that she had gained the suspicion of his neighbours, who most likely thought she was some sort of thief. This was ridiculous and not the sort of thing she would ever do, perhaps that why he irked her so much. Before they had met, she had never been bested by someone younger than herself.

True, she had saved his sorry ass but he had made it even shortly after and then, without even knowing it, had put her back in his debt. By being someone she didn't have to put up a wall for, just by being Shikamaru.

Whenever he was there, she could be brash and simply Temari without fearing that he would leave. And there was no way she could ever repay him for that. Despite calling him a cry baby, she knew that he must have deceptively thick skin to stick around. Before she could second guess herself, she marched up the stairs to the doorway.

It is a universal truth that, whenever you are given the key to a house, that the owner has trusted you. So, it is only natural to want to inspect every room from top to bottom with no regard for said owner's privacy. With the poorly masked giddiness of a child on Christmas morning she roughly yanked open the door and stomped through the threshold. What she saw didn't really surprise her.

It wasn't messy but definitely not neat. The odd book lay here and there. Some paperwork lay haphazardly over the kitchen table. Everything was very green and she stumbled upon more than one deer related painting; most likely gifts from his mother that she'd have to tease him about later.

A selection of books in a shelf caught her eye. Her lips spread wide with unrestricted glee as she noted that they were indeed photo albums filled with pictures. The collection ranged from adorable baby photos to young, slightly gawky pictures of a child just approaching adolescence.

Without realizing it, she had spent so much time looking at his old albums that she was surprised when the dim light of street lamps outside cast shadows over her face. How had pictures of his young dorky face entertained her for that long?

So much time had been spent looking at photographs that she hadn't even gotten the chance to snoop in his room. After all, this was a once in a life time opportunity. Just opening the door would satisfy her, if anything, to make sure he wasn't hiding anything weird like dead bodies in there.

The hinges of the door let out a quiet squeak, on instinct she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one else had heard. Berating herself inaudibly for her stupidity she peered inside. Much like the rest of the house, books and scrolls lay about in organized piles. An abandoned shogi board lay pressed up in the corner and the doors to his dresser were left open. At least the bed was made. The clock on his bedside table told her it was ten o'clock.

It was that time of year in Konoha. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt in the day but the temperatures dropped significantly in the evenings. She hadn't brought a coat on the way over and where she was staying was several blocks away.

With that incredibly lame excuse in mind she swiped a long sleeved shirt from his dresser and dragged his comforter from the bed. Dropping herself onto the couch in the living room she reasoned that she could be out of here in the morning without him suspecting a thing.

A loud irritating ringing registered in her conscious sometime the next morning. Bolting upright she raced into his room and all but smashed the alarm until it fell silent. She had just managed to put the comforter back on his bed when the door opened.

Dreading being caught in the act, she quickly scanned the room for anything that may have moved the night before. When she was certain that nothing was out of place, she went to meet him at the door.

"Nice deer paintings Nara." He looked up from taking off his shoes. The change in his demeanor was almost instantaneous; lazy and slumped over to something she couldn't quite place. His gaze was unwavering and something about it made her self-conscious. When his shoe hit the floor she broke out of her musings.

"Is that my shirt?"

Shit. It felt like her heart had dropped straight to the floor. She didn't need to look down to know that, yes; she was indeed still wearing his shirt. How could she have forgotten? It was almost two sizes too big! Through her internal panic she noted that he was looking at her as if awaiting an explanation.

There was none, well not one she was sharing anytime soon. After a moment he returned to slipping off his shoes and reached down to pick up something she hadn't noticed before. He placed a small potted plant in her hands.

"What's this?"

"It's a plant," he replied immediately, not missing the chance to point out the obvious and make her even more flustered than before.

"I know what it is, stupid! Why are you giving it to me?"

"A thank you gift, I guess, for going out of your way." She recognized the tiny flowers growing in the pot; Narcissus.

Having only read about and seen them in botanical books, she couldn't help but be momentarily fascinated by the delicate white flowers with their bright orange centers that reminded her of the Sunan sun. "Any way," he continued, "you're probably just about ready to get out of this place so I'll see you around." He placed a hand on the small of her back and gently guided her out the door, his face holding the slightest tint of red.

"But wait I'm still wear–

The door closed behind her and she was left staring dumbly out at the street. Her unfinished words hung in the air. She looked down at the black long sleeved shirt. There was no way that he had forgotten; of course he knew.

The thought created a flush of warmth that spread throughout her chest. Unbeknownst to her, a similar situation was taking place behind the door. Shikamaru stood with his hand against his mouth and face as red as the sash she tied around her waist.

So there she was, on the doorstep with a man's oversized shirt and a flower which symbolized new beginnings.