A/N:Hello. I know I've been gone for a while so I'm really happy I finished this and in one day too! I just thought it wouldn't be right to go through Valentine's Day without a ShikaTema. So if you don't support the pairing or don't like it, do not read it.

Setting: during / post-Shippuden

Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto. The characters within this fanfiction belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Paper Hearts

Temari walked around the streets of her home, her beloved village of Suna, hugging herself as the wind swept by her. Her face, void of emotion, would not contort to show any passers-by the thoughts that dwelt in her head and heart. She barely greeted the vendors and villagers, some of whom had come to fear her, and instead focused on the path ahead of her.

She'd leave the main road and take a few unwalked paths until she found herself atop the gates of Suna, walking a little further until she found her own secluded corner once more.

'Stupid Shikamaru,' she muttered to herself, hugging her knees as orbs of brilliant teal looked down at the swirling gusts of sand. Dressed in her usual attire, she felt a little colder with each inch the sun fell below the horizon. The wind, breath of the earth, strengthened its caresses and she only hugged herself a little more as she sighed.

She'd arrived home from Konoha not too long ago, not even a few days ago really. And over that time it seemed the decorations in the shop windows increased, the varying shades of red annoying her to no end; signs and gestures of love and affection causing her nothing of the sort. Bouquets of roses and boxes and boxes of chocolate filled a room in their home, some for her, some for her brothers. Mostly for her. But to her, they filled nothing more than the bottomless pit that was the remains of her heart.

And it was all because of him. All because of the little games they'd played with each other's minds.

And because of her. Because she'd dared to believe in him.

And what had that achieved? Nothing really. She never did like reality that much. But that changed with the more time she and her brothers spent in Konoha. She once though Suna superior to the other villages, to the other four great villages that existed. Travelling to Konoha had left her wanting more. They changed Gaara, and he in turn would change his siblings, and his country. They were always loyal and annoyingly laid back for some of the ninja she'd met, namely him. They'd had a handful of talented shinobi turn their backs on the same village that held such high values, and yet there seemed to be more that was determined to prove them wrong. And Naruto and Sakura, no matter what the Uchiha brat had done, still wanted their comrade and friend back. They were determined to do everything for him. And everything for Gaara.

Konoha was idealistic, she'd always thought so once she'd learned of it. But she never realised how realistic their values could be. And it made her wonder if what else she dreamed of once, and forced herself to forget, could be true and real. Gaara was her brother and acted as such. That alone seemed impossible for so long. But now it was real. And he was Kazekage, and kind and compassionate.

And telling her to talk to him.

'Temari,' he'd called before she left his office. She watched as both her brothers exchanged glances, before Kankurou walked over to close the door and take a seat by their youngest brother.

'Yes, Gaara?' she'd responded with a strange look.

'Bring him back to Suna,' he said to her.

Shocked, Temari took a step closer to her brother's desk, shock and confusion etched onto her features.

'Excuse me? I thought I heard you wrong. Could you repeat that please?'

'Bring him back to Suna,' Kankurou repeated to his older sister. She studied her brothers' faces closely. No smirks. No wicked glints in their eyes. No shifty glances between them. They were dead serious. She knew who they were talking about and she had an idea as to why they'd ask such a thing. But really?

When she didn't reply, Gaara continued. 'You've told us you and he seem to be getting closer and closer with each return you make. Invite him back.'

'Tell him straight what's been going on in your head for so long,' Kankurou added.

Temari averted her eyes from both her brothers. Gaara sat at his desk, elbows propped atop it, hands clasped, piercing jade eyes watching his older sister. Kankurou sat beside him, more relaxed but still as alert. His dark eyes followed his older sister's movements to the seat before Gaara's desk.

'Why now?' she asked them.

'Because it's long overdue, don't you think?' Kankurou answered. 'And that guy seems pretty lazy. He might be waiting for you to do something first.'

'He has his moments,' Temari answered, sinking into her chair. She was meant to leave Suna in the next few minutes but it could wait she guessed. Gaara had asked her to stay and talk about this after all.

'Why tell me this now? Why not last night at dinner?' she questioned.

'You would have thought about it too much and convinced us to let you not do it,' Gaara answered in his usual monotone.

'Temari, it's almost Cupid's Day,' Kankurou continued, 'it could save a lot of people some money if you told them you were taken before then.' Temari rolled her eyes but smiled all the same.

'I've told them numerous times I'm not interested in them,' she said to Gaara, who shrugged at her. Shrugged!

'It comes with your name,' he answered simply.

'We don't want you to invite him back to Suna for Gaara and I to harass him,' Kankurou explained to his sister. 'We just thought it'd be nice for you to have him come here for you.'

'It's an open invitation,' Gaara continued before anyone else could speak, Temari's eyes turning to him once more. 'If he's nearby he can come and see the village. As allies, Konoha shinobi in need of help can come to or request help from Suna and we will help in any way we can, as long as it doesn't go against any of our laws and beliefs. But as a friend he is also welcome. That is all.'

Temari stared at her youngest brother, contemplating all he'd said, as well as Kankurou's words. She nodded slowly, turning to see if Kankurou had anything to add. With a shake of his head, she stood from her seat, kissing each brother on the forehead before she left the office, the mansion, and the village.

It was her policy, and a rather good idea she thought, to have all work finished as soon as possible before leisure was taken into account, if any. So when she arrived at Konoha, she mentioned nothing to her guide except for work and meetings, and the greetings of how everyone was over lunch. She smiled and laughed with him, as they did, and when a break was needed they'd play a game of shougi or just laugh some more. She'd even taken to watching clouds with him sometimes, when she was particularly stressed.

And it was when they were watching clouds, and Temari was at her calmest, that she brought up her brothers' invitation. They'd attended the last meeting on her agenda and she'd been planning to spend the following day in Konoha to look around and catch up with people, leaving the day after.

'Oy Nara,' she said to him, eyes transfixed upon the fluffy white puffs in the sky.

'Hmm?' he barely answered, causing her to wonder if he was falling asleep.

She sat up slightly from her lying position to look over at him. He was wide-awake. Her mistake, he just always sounded tired and lazy. Lying back down, she continued on.

'Do you think we're close?' she asked him.

'Hn,' was her reply. As if he did want to talk about this. Oh well.

'It's a bit weird, no. Like strange weird. I wouldn't have expected it when we met,' she continued on.

'Hn.'

He barely replied but he didn't say no so she kept talking.

'Gaara and Kankurou told me to bring you back to Suna,' she told him with a smile. She felt him turn to look at her, but avoided his eyes all the same. 'It's an open invitation,' she revised, 'so if you have the time and would like to, you're welcome in Suna, not as an ally but as a personal friend.'

She turned her head to look at him, only to see that he'd turned away and was studying the clouds once more. He didn't respond to her either. And that irritated her.

'Did you hear what I said?' she asked him.

No response.

She sat up to look down at him, as he avoided her fiery gaze.

'Baka,' he said to her simply, causing her to flush in embarrassment.

'What did you say?!'

To her astonishment, he looked her right in the eye, with that bored and lazy expression of his, and repeated once more:

'Baka.'

Smoke rose from the top of Temari's sandy-blonde hair as her anger and pride enveloped her.

'Howdare you! Do you know how much of a privilege it is to have the Kazekage, to have my family, invite you is?! Do you have any idea how many people would love to have a personal invitation from either three of us? Especially with Va-'

She closed her mouth immediately, hoping his genius mind would forget that Valentine's Day was arriving and was exactly what she was about to say to him. He continued to stare at her, more curiously this time. She glared back at him, breathing heavily. Shaking her head, she sighed, anger under control.

'Thank you for being my guide, Shikamaru,' she said politely, bowing to him once she'd stood, and then turning away and walking down the steps back to her hotel. He didn't follow her either. She knew.

When she was one turn away from the hotel, she instead changed her course to the Hokage's office, where she would tell Tsunade that she'd changed her plans and was going to return to Suna the following morning. She'd written to her brothers while she'd been gone of course, and so when she knocked on Gaara's door to report to him what had been happening a day early, he was surprised to see her there.

'How'd it go?' he asked once their official business had finished.

'He called me an idiot,' she told him with a shrug.

Gaara looked at her, confusion resonating from the young Kazekage.

'Does he know how much of an honour it is to be invited by our family? How so many suitors would fight to have you personally invite them into our home?' Gaara asked her.

Temari sighed but nodded. 'That's what I said. Guess I was wrong with him and I,' she said to Gaara with a half-hearted smile. 'I'll see you at home for dinner. What do you want to have?'

'Are you okay, nee-san?' he asked her.

With another feeble smile she nodded. 'I will be. I always get over things, so don't worry about me Gaara.'

'It's different this time,' he said to her. 'You seem to really care about him. To really lo-'

'Don't say it, Gaara,' she said to him sternly, eyes softening momentarily as she continued. 'Please.'

Understanding and remembering Kankurou's hints of knowing when to stop talking about things with his siblings, he nodded and told her he'd be fine with anything for dinner.

'Welcome back then, nee-san. If you don't feel like cooking tonight we can get one of the cooks to do it,' he told her.

'No, it's okay. I feel like doing it.'

Gaara offered her a small smile. 'It'll be good to have your cooking again. It hasn't smelled like smoke in there for over a week,' Gaara said to her.

Temari laughed a little, waving to Gaara before she left.

'Let Kankurou know for me if you see him, okay?'

Gaara nodded again and turned back to his paperwork. Kankurou and Temari had made it clear that he could talk to them about anything and everything. And that there was no limit to when they could stop asking things because even if they said to stop talking, they hardly ever meant it. But there was a way it was said and a look in their eyes when you knew you had to stop. In time, they would share what they couldn't before.

That had been yesterday. Temari did make dinner for them, and it had steadily improved since she was 15. She'd started to cook for her and her brothers when they became more of a family and they liked to joke about how bad it used to be. She'd stayed up with Gaara watching old movies too. Well, it was more like Gaara stayed up until she fell asleep. Although he was able to fall asleep now, he still found it fairly easy to stay awake if need be. The next day Gaara had kept her close to him or Kankurou, letting her run errands instead of sending her off on a long mission somewhere else. It was nice to have all of them together after all.

As the sun nestled itself between the sand dunes, Temari sighed, breathing in the cold air before she stood and brushed herself off. She wanted to make dinner again tonight so it was time she started heading back. She let her feet be her mind, deciding the path she would walk, leaving her eyes to peer through the shop windows into the heart-shaped balloons and cakes, and into the romantically arranged bouquets of flowers, passing over the signs and cute pictures where a boy would kiss a girl.

She smiled slightly. It was cute. Puppy love always was. But she didn't have time for that, she never did and now that she may have time for it she didn't know where to fit it in.

She was in the kitchen washing the vegetables she'd be using when Kankurou knocked on the door, or wall, trying to grab her attention.

'Oy Temari,' he said to her a little louder. She turned to face him.

'What is it you're being so loud about, Kankurou?' she said with a smirk.

'You've got mail,' he said to her, dropping a letter on the counter near the door. 'It doesn't look like it's from any of ":the suitors". It arrived at Gaara's office for you so yeah.'

He waited for her to dry her hands and walk over to even look at the letter before he even thought of leaving. Temari's face changed to a look of shock and pain momentarily as soon as she glanced at the letter, but Kankurou caught it nonetheless. He looked at it again, wondering if it was from a certain Konoha nin.

Temari opened the letter to find familiar, sharp, neat handwriting. She glared daggers at the letter when she read the first word.

Baka.

Mendokuse. Why did you disappear so quickly? You took things the wrong way. And then the next morning I go to your place only to find you'd left the night before, even though according to Tsunade-sama you said you'd be leaving the following morning.

Mendokuse.

Didn't you know that being with you is my dream? And I would do everything so that it would happen? Sometimes when we're cloud watching I think. And am in no mood for serious conversations because my mind is elsewhere. I think about you actually; if I should say anything, how I should say it.

Because I can't forget someone like you.

I just want you to know that much at least. It's hard for me to communicate it in person, and on paper it doesn't look like it's me. Tch. Troublesome woman. Look what you've done.

I accept your invitation and while I may not understand how much of a privilege it really is, I do feel grateful. But understand how difficult it is to even get into anything with us. It's not that I don't want it; I just want to make sure it's possible. I need to know what I have to do before I start anything. I need to know the next few steps before I take the first one.

I'll figure something out. Especially if it's for you.

I'm sorry for giving you the wrong impression and if I hurt you or anything.

Tch. Baka. You're the most important thing to me. I'll find a way.

I won't be there for Valentine's Day, but I hope you accept my wishes. Because it's all I have right now. I'll come to Suna when I find a way. Please thank Kankurou and Gaara-sama for their invitation, but let them know that I will come and ask them for permission all the same.

As I will yours. Baka. Make me write so much, mendokuse.

Shikamaru

Temari re-read it again before she dropped her arm and let herself wander in her thoughts again. Kankurou pulled the letter from her, waiting for any objection she may have before he tried reading it. Her eyes merely darted to his but she let go of it all the same, and soon enough her little brother was reading it through a few times.

'Not the sweetest guy, is he?' Kankurou said, handing the letter to Gaara, who'd wondered why Kankurou hadn't returned to their shougi game. Temari merely smiled at him, waiting for Gaara's response.

After reading it no less than five times, Gaara handed the letter back to his sister. He'd wanted to make sure there was no hidden codes or anything. He stared at her.

A small, content smile graced her lips. Kankurou was right. It wasn't the sweetest of Valentine's letters or anything. In less than twelve hours she knew that tokens of affection would arrive for her, much larger and much sweeter.

But the letter in her hand would always weigh against them. Maybe it was because she cared for him. But she knew and understood everything he meant. That's how they were. Although she did like a little sweetness here and there, that's how Shikamaru was. They'd never openly spoken about their relationship with the other but they understood it was there. And she knew Shikamaru wasn't about to burst into song by her window any time soon. He'd just write her a letter that was a little sweet but seemed too sweet to be him, explaining why he was the way he was. It was just one of those rare occasions where Temari didn't immediately understand.

And he would logically explain the pros and cons and think of a strategy that would work rather than dive right into something. She understood that he didn't want to ruin such a fragile thing that was their relationship, and that in time he wouldn't.

But by writing he told her it was there. He told her he wanted it, and he told her it would last. He comforted her.

And once again, Temari would believe in the person that made it so easy to dream and wish. She would watch him make her a paper heart and cherish it forever. Because paper, however mediocre and dull an object compared to a diamond, was never chiselled into shape. It was folded over time by loving hands, with nothing ever lost.

Just like their relationship would always be.

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A/N:

I used to know how to make paper hearts. My friend taught me some years ago. I have one I can take apart to relearn it but yeah. I'm sorry if they seem OOC as well, especially Shika's letter but the inspiration to write this came from a song that's not in English, and it sounds really sappy in English haha so yeah that's that.

I'm also sorry for not updating my other stuff for anyone who's waiting. I'm finding it difficult. So yes.

Happy Valentine's Day.

jm