Chapter 1

Shikamaru woke abruptly from his sleep... He was dreaming about her again. He looked at the clock. It flashed 2:00AM "troublesome" he said as he laid back on his pillow. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, it seemed that every time he closed his eyes thoughts of a certain girl began to cross his mind. He laid there and stared at the ceiling unable to fall back asleep... He knew he would see her today.

Temari had just finished resting and was ready to resume her trip. She had been traveling two days already and would arrive in Konoha later today. She had been told nothing of a mission, or any detail about her purpose for going. Just that Tsunada had something for Temari to take back to Suna. As she thought about what it could possibly be. She found her thoughts drifting... Before she knew it she was at the gates of Konoha. The men at the gate waved & said "hello" to her as she entered the village. She wandered down the street on her way to the Hokage's office. When she reached the door of the Hokage's office she knocked. Tsunade called out "enter". As Temari stepped in, she saw Shizune & Sakura were on either side of Tsunade as well as Shikamaru, undoubtedly waiting to escort her around the village once again. Oddly, he seemed to flush a little when he saw Temari looking at him. She stepped forward to Tsunade's desk and was handed an envelope. Tsunade told her "don't open this. Take it back to the Kazekage. Shikamaru will escort you to your room and you can leave in the morning." Temari turned & walked out of the office, followed by Shikamaru. When they exited the building, she turned to him "so, were am I staying this time?" He sighed "this way". As Temari followed behind Shikamaru she sensed... Something different, almost an awkward feeling. They arrived at a small inn and Shikamaru handed her a key with a number on it. She went to her room and Shikamaru (without her knowledge) left.

Temari looked around the room. It was rather small, only a bed, small table & the bathroom. "its only for one night" she said, then put the envelope in a safe place & headed back out to get something to eat. She expected Shikamaru to be waiting for her, by the door, but when she got there he was nowhere in sight. "well, I guess, its not like I don't know my way around..." she said and set off to find a good meal.

The thought hadn't even crossed Shikamaru's mind that since it was still early Temari might be coming back out. He just knew he suddenly felt awkward around her and he wanted to get away before he did anything embarrassing. He walked back to his house, but when he arrived he found himself completely locked out. It was too troublesome for him to carry a key, besides the door was always left unlocked for him. He decided to go get some dinner and try again later. Shikamaru wandered down the street to his favorite restaurant. Once he had been seated & order his meal, he looked around the room & saw someone familiar sitting across the room, with her back to him. It was Temari and apparently she had gotten there a little before him, as she was already enjoying her meal. He suddenly remembered that he was saposed to be escorting her. Why hadn't she told him she was going back out? maybe she just assumed he would wait? Or maybe she didn't want him to go with her? Shikamaru sighed and went over to her table. "May i join you?" Temari looked up at him and nodded. He wasn't quite sure why be she seemed to have a sad look in her eyes. He sat down in the seat across from her and asked the waitress to bring his food to this table instead. Shikamaru's mind raced, there were so many things he would like to say to Temari, but he just couldn't think of an appropriate topic to break the uncomfortable silence hanging over them. To his relief, Temari spoke first. She asked how things had been in Konoha and if anything new or interesting was happening. For the remainder of their meal they exchanged stories of happenings from their respective villages.

Well, that's it for now, will continue this in the next chapter. I'm sorry, its gonna start out really slow, hopefully it'll get better.

Thank you for reading! This is my first story, so please no flames. Constructive criticism & nice comments only, please.

If you notice any names misspelled or anything, please let me know