A very short story I made while attempting to finish up Lies, Love, Live!. I was up at four in the morning when I typed this on my iPod, so the scenario was entirely real. The dialogue, unfortunately, did not happen to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Temari laid in her bed, more awake than an owl at four in the morning. Her eyes refused to shut for more than 10 seconds. It's not like she was over thinking or anything- she was just…awake. Maybe because she woke up at nine in the morning to meet her friends at the bagel shop up the street. Or maybe because she did the same exact thing the night before: sit around on Tumblr then whatever else she does online. She was bored. Her brothers were dead asleep, all her friends were sleeping, why were people sleeping!

"It's summer!" She whispered loudly. "Why are people even thinking about sleep!"

She wanted food, but there's no food in the kitchen, and going to get Burger King or McDonald's requires getting changed, and Temari wasn't about to get up out of her comfy bed for a $1.29 Whopper. Seemed worth it, but it's not. She reached for her iPhone and scrolled down her contacts list: all sleeping. Then she went on Twitter: still some active people, but no one worth catching a conversation with. Just imagine if Khloe Kardashian-Odom conversed with her? She then closed the app and decided to call the only person she knew would be up at an outrageous time like this.

"Hello?" The person picked up after a few rings.

"Shikaaaa!" She whined.

He signed. "What do you want?"

"I'm borreeeeedddd!"

"Welcome to the club."

'Hmph! Jerk!' She thought. "Shikkkkaaaa!"

"Whhhhaaatt?" He mimicked her.

'Now he's just being annoying!' "Entertain me."

"No."

"Please?"

"Temari, I'm just as bored as you. If I can't entertain myself, what makes you think I can entertain you?"

"Just try! Tell me a story!"

"How old are you again?"

"Gonna be 20 next month!"

"Why are you so enthusiastic right now?"

"I don't know." And it's not like she was joking. You know how when you stay up well past your bedtime, then all of a sudden you're just jumping off walls (or you think you are) and you're just saying something stupid or doing something stupid? That's how she is right now.

"Troublesome woman." he sighed.

"What are you doing up?"

"Working on my AP Psychology assignment."

"Sucks. I thought you finished that already." 'Stupid genius got the thing legit yesterday!'

"I did. I'm just retouching it."

'Freak!' "Whatever."

"Now, what are you doing up?"

"I don't know."

"You must know."

"No I mean like, I've been like this for over two months now. I just can't seem to go to sleep."

"Insomnia?"

"Nope, it would be clear as day if I had that."

"Maybe you're just overtired."

"Heh?"

"When you're overtired, especially with a wide open schedule like yours, you tend to sleep to pass the time, hence why you're up so late right now."

"Oh, I guess." 'Why does he have to be so freaking smart for?!' "Hey Shikamaru?"

"Yes?"

"Am I annoying you?"

"No, you're keeping me company through a phone. Why?"

"I just feel like every time I call you in times like this, I annoy you."

"You're not annoying me, believe me."

"But you're always so busy and I feel bad when you stop what you're doing and hear me talk."

"It's fine, it doesn't bother me."

"Ugh, why are you so nice?"

"Hey, someone has to be."

"Don't you ever get lonely?"

"What is this, 20 Questions?"

"I'm entertaining myself, since you're not doing a great job!"

"Alright. I do sometimes, but I don't really mind."

"How come?"

"I'm best when I'm alone."

'Heh, can't say that about me.' She thought. "Ugh. I hate being alone. I feel so…defenseless and worthless. Like now."

"You're not worthless Temari."

"That's not what I think."

"You wanna know what I think?"

"Enlighten me."

There was a pause. "I think you're the strongest person I know. I think that you have so much potential to be whatever you want to be in life. You're an amazing person to all of your friend, and, even though you rarely show it, you're a caring person as well. You put up this barrier so no one hurts you and you can't trust a lot of people. I understand that completely. You're aggressive, but sweet; rough, but soft around the edges. You're just a great person. So no, I don't find it annoying when you call me at the wee hours of the night, I find it relaxing, hearing your voice. It's not a drag, like most things, and you keep the conversation exciting. You're not worthless to me."

The other end was silent. Shikamaru questioned if she finally fell asleep. It wasn't until he heard her breathing that he knew she was up.

"That was probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Nah, I've defiantly said nicer things to you."

"Do you really think that?"

"Yeah, I do. And don't take that for granted."

"You're so sweet, even for a sarcastic lazy prick like you."

"Eh, I try."

"Ooh, look at the sky!" He looked out his window and saw the sky as a dark blue now. "It's beautiful." Shika resisted the urge to say something corny like 'Just like you' because, even for a half asleep girl, Temari will catch on. They don't even like each other like that.

"I think that's a sign for us to hit the hay."

"Hit the hay?"

"Don't ask."

"Never say that again."

"Will do."

"But I'm still not tired."

"Oh come on, the bird are chirping now."

"Stay up until sunrise with me!"

"Can't, got plans later on today. You can come if you want."

"I don't wanna intrude on you and your friend's plans."

"Friends? Oh no, I'm running errands tomorrow."

"Alone?"

"Yep."

"Oh, alright."

"The offer still stands; you can come, unless you want people around, then-"

"No, no, it's good. Just the two of us."

"Alright, sounds like a plan. Now go to sleep. The birds are telling you so."

"Nyah!"

"Temari."

"Fine! I'll see you in the morning."

"Will do."

"Oh, and Shikamaru?"

"Yes?"

"…Thanks for always answering my calls. It means a lot."

"No problem." He felt a smile cross his face. "Anytime. Good night."

"More like good morning."

"Heh, yeah. See you later."

"Bye!" She hung up the phone and stared at her ceiling. "I can't believe he lets me talk for that long. Even I would get annoyed of hearing my voice."

She looked out her window and saw the sky got slightly lighter. She checked the clock- 4:30. Good conversation. Her ears perked up as she heard her youngest brother walk down the hallway into the kitchen. He obviously believes in late night snacks.

Temari turned over in her blanket and thought about the conversation she just had with Shikamaru. 'He's so sweet,' she thought. 'how is he still single? Heh, guess I could ask myself the same question. But the things he said about me…ah, they didn't mean more than what they're meant for. Did they?'

"That's too much thinking for this time." She concluded aloud to herself. "Time to attempt sleep." She laid her head on her pillow and thought about tomorrow; hanging out with Shika all day, sounds like a lot of fun, considering he's running errands. 'It'll just be good to hang out with him.' She thought.

The chirping of the birds tuned out, the early car noises stopped, and before she knew it, she was sleeping. Which is a shocker. Her last thought before entering DreamLand was her and Shika walking down the marketplace, grocery bags in his left hand, a shopping bag in her right hand. What the key was to entering her dreams was them two holding hands as the marketplace moved by them.

Shikamaru always knew how to get Temari to sleep. He is a genius, after all.