"OHAIYO SHIKAMARU" Naruto yelled in Shikamaru's ear as he slept. Snores followed the shouting. Naruto scratched his head the grabbed a water bottle beside the bed, probably left by Yoshino for more effective wake up calls. Naruto opens the lid and snickers. He positioned the water bottle over Shikamaru's head and tipped it over... Really fast... Then shook it to let more water out. Water splashed on Shikamaru's face as he woke up with a jolt. He looked around his face wet then spotted Naruto in his room hold an empty water bottle and laughing on the floor. Shikamaru groaned flopped back onto his bed.
"Why are you in my room Naruto?" Shikamaru asked sleepily
"The guys are going out today! We wanted you to come!" Naruto said excitedly
"Sorry but I have to escort Temari around town and stuff" Shikamaru said.
"I know Temari is your girlfriend and all but don't you think you spent too much time with her? You never really hang out with us." Naruto said
"I guess, but then again escorting her is my mission. Tsunade will have my head if i don't do my job." Shikamaru said frowning at the thought.
"You can just call in sick!" Naruto said grabbing Shikamaru's phone and dialing some numbers.
"Hey wait!" Shikamaru said getting out of bed.
"HIIIIIII TEMARIIIIII." Naruto yelled into the phone.
"Naruto, Why are you using Shikamaru's phone?" Temari said on the other side of the line clearly annoyed.
"Shikamaru is sick! He can't go on a date with you!" Naruto said happily.
"Um, ok. Tell him to get better or whatever shit you guys say." Temari said then hung up.
"She said get better or whatever shit." Naruto said relaying the message to Shikamaru, who smacked his head and took him phone back.
"So you're coming with us?!" Naruto asked
"Do I have a choice?" Shikamaru asked rubbing his head.
"Nope! Get changed! Let's go!" Naruto said walking out the door. Shikamaru sighed and got ready.
-oOo-
Temari walked around the village peacefully. It was sunny out even though it was winter. Snow fell quietly as the children condo be heard playing. Adults walked around getting eachother gifts and the shops were bustling with buisniess. It had a heart warming feeing to it, but to her something was missing. Shikamaru. She sighed and kept walking.
"Of all the days he had to be sick, I visit Konoha." She said to herself shaking her head. She kept walking and saw the 5 Konoha girls talking to each other along with Karui from the Cloud Village.
"Hey Temari! Over here!" Ino said calling over Temari. She grinned and walked over.
"Long time no see" Temari said as the girls smiled.
"Yeah! I wish you could visit more, you're always with Shikamaru!" TenTen said as she counted the number of days it had been since her last visit.
"Yeah where is he?" Karui asked
"He's out sick" Temari said plainly. The girls all made an "ohhhhh" sound and nodded.
"Hey! We should totally go get lunch together! It's almost 12:00" Sakura said checking her phone. The other girls nodded and they headed towards Yakiniku.
-oOo-
"So where are we going?" Shikamaru asked as the boys dragged him around. Chouji smiled and punted at the nearest resturant, which happened to be Yakiniku. Shikamaru chuckled and shook his head.
'Of course we're going there.' Shikamaru thought as they headed in.
What can we get you today?" A waitress asked as they sat down.
"We'll all be having the barbecue cook-it-yourself meal." Chouji said smiling.
"Of course, we'll be right over in a minute." She said and walked off towards the kitchen.
"So Shikamaru, looks like you finally got away from Temari." Neji said grinning.
"I told Temari he was out sick" Naruto said gleaming with pride. The guys chuckled and started eating once they got their food.
A few minutes later a group of girls walked in and sat down at a table near them. Neji looked over the back of the seat and saw pink hair. Now that pink hair couldn't be confused with anyone else.
"Byakugan!" Neji activated his kenjutsu and saw the groups of 6 girls sitting at the table. Hinata, Temari, Ino, TenTen, Sakura, and Karui. Neji sighed and turned around.
"Shikamaru you're in deep trouble." Neji said
"Why is that?" Shikamaru asked as he turned a bit pale.
"It's just so happened that Temari is with the rest of the girls two tables from here." Neji said. Shikamaru gulped as he shrunk in his seat.
-oOo-
The girls sat down and chatted for a small while as they waited for the food to arrive. Hinata looked over the seat and saw shiny glossy black hair in a bowl cut. (Everyone sighs) she activated her byakugan and saw that the group of boys were sitting near them. Shikamaru, Neji, Rock Lee, Sai, Chouji, Naruto, and Sasuke. Sasuke was in his emo corner though. But we all knew that. She tuned around and shyly spoke up.
"Um, T-temari. It seems that Shikamaru is two tables away from us with the rest of the boys.
"What?!" Temari threw her fists on the table.
"I-I-I-!" Hinata started
"Temari! Temari! I'm sure it's a misunderstanding! I mean Naruto was the one who called and-" TenTen started.
"We're getting to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do." Temari said gripping the table and glaring at it.
-oOo-
Later that eventing the boys dispersed and headed home. The girls stuck together and decided to have a sleepover.
"So Temari" Ino started
"What are you going to do about Shikamaru?" Sakura asked. They were all in pajamas and at Hinatas house, which was quite spacious. They were sitting in a circle and chatting about random stuff when Shikamaru came up.
"I'll see how long he keeps this up. If he spends all his time like this while in my konoh, I'll, I'll, I-" Temari's voice drifted off.
"Are you gonna break up with him?" TenTen asked. Temaris heart aches at the thought.
"I... Don't know" Temari finally said.
Ino scooched over patted Temari on the back. Temari sighed and they decided to play a little truth or dare, then they all fell asleep.
-oOo-
They next day Temari walked to the hokage's building to work on papers for the chunin exams. She sighed as Neji called and said Shikamaru was still sick. She sat down at the long empty table and started looking over her papers. After a few hours she got up and stretched. She looked out the window as she heard
"YOUTH"
The same group of boys were walking around in the snow as Shikaamru trailed behind. Her throat made a low growl as she clenched her fist.
"Either you're a liar, or they're doing it for you." She said to herself and retuned to her paperwork. The rest of the day she couldn't focus.
She walked home shivering in the cold. It was dark and she didn't wear warm clothes. She was liked down the street and saw the bright lights of shops selling things to happy couples. She kept walking as she watched a couple kiss under the mistletoe. Her heart dropped and she looked away and ran back to her hotel room. Tomorrow she would get to the bottom of this mess.
-oOo-
"Shikamaru is sick today, sorry Temari" Chouji said into the phone.
"It's fine, I'll talk to you later." Temari said back.
"Thanks for being understanding Temari, I'll see you!" Chouji said then hung up. He smiled at Shikaamru who was almost finished getting ready.
"Let's go." Shikamaru said to Chouji who nodded and smiled
'Why am I going along with this?' Shikamaru thought. He shrugged and went outside with Chouji and the rest of the boys. Temari snapped a tree branch. She leaned against the tree next to shikamaru's window. Her heart was broken once more. Her heart was cold and she almost thought she was about to cry. She was a kunoichi, a shinobi. And shinobi don't cry. Especially over stupid feelings, She thought. She kept down from the tree and headed over to the hokage's building once more to work by herself on the chunin exams.
-oOo-
It was her last day in Konoha for her visit. She would be leaving tomorrow morning. Every single day of her stay, one of the boys called her to say Shikamaru was sick. And everyday she saw them walking around Konoha. Her heart was shattered to pieces. She didn't even feel anything anymore except for regret. Regret for ever falling in love.
Tsunade handed her a large stack of papers. The most she got the whole week. With Shikamaru they would have just got it finished at the last minute. This was going to take the whole day for sure. She sighed and she heaved the stack of papers to the work room. This time the room wasn't heated and was ice cold. She regretted sitting down on the seat too. She jumped up as it was much too cold to sit on. But she sat back down again. Wincing at the cold she started to work on the papers. Hours went by and only a little of the stack was done. She sighed and shivered more. Once it was dark she finished all the papers. She slowly walked back to the hokage's office to find that Tsunade had left to go home. She looked at the clock and read 1:48.
"Geez I've been up for so long." She said rubbing her eyes. She walked out of the building and coughed.
"I better not be sick..." She thought back to Shikamaru and sighed. She walked down the street and all the lights were off. Normal People wouldn't be up this late. But of course some people had to prove her wrong. The bar was emitting a bright light as she saw Naruto dancing with the rest of the boys, minus sasukes and shikamaru. Shikamaru was sitting down at the bar drinking water, cuz he's a smartass, and smiling. He was smiling. Smiling. Temari fumed as Shikamsru turned to see her. She glared at him and stomped off.
-oOo-
Naruto danced crazily and sang into the microphone. They all laughed cuz he was stumbling all over the place due to too much alcohol. He looked ridiculous. Shikamaru grinned at the sight of his friend
embarrassing himself. He looked out the window to see a tired Temari trudging out in the snow. She sent him a galore that could kill. He looked back to the group and snuck out the door. Temari made her way through the park. It was quite and dark there. Small lights shining through the street lamps. She looked up and saw mistletoe hanging from the streetlamps and frowned. Shikamaru ran after Temari who was getting farther away.
"Tema-" he started but was cut off my a certain blonde who suddenly stepped out of the shadows. Temari looked back to see two figures one she could make out as Shikamaru
"Hello, s-Shikamaru." Shiho said nervously.
"Sorry Shiho but I have to go-" he was stopped yet again but this time by a kiss on the cheek. Temari stepped forward in the shadows slowly to see who the person was.
"What was that? Why did you do that?!" Shikamaru backed away from Shiho.
"You're under the mistletoe, and I l-like you s-Shikamaru." She blushed and covered her face. Shikamaru froze as he remembered the first time he and Temari kissed.
-Flashback-
Temari and Shikamaru walked through the park at sunset. It was snowing softly and it was a nice shade of orange pink. Shikamaru stopped and pulled Temari back lightly to make her stop.
"Hey what are you-" Temari started. She was stopped by a pair of lips meeting hers. Shikamaru sneaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes and kissed back slowly. Her arms snaked up around his neck and the kiss started to get more passionate. After a few more seconds they let go of each other. Temari stepped back and blushed.
"What was that?!" She yelled at him.
"That was a kiss, Temari" Shikamaru grinned.
"I... Don't understand." She said slowly rubbing her temples trying to get a grasp of what was going on.
"I love you Temari." Shikamaru said taking her arms and removing them from her face. He leaned down and kissed her again. She somehow reacted and kissed back once more. Once they parted she kept holding onto him.
"I guess, I love you too." Temari said smirking against his chest.
"That's nice to hear."
-End of Flashback-
Shikamaru heard a cough and running footsteps after he regained his mind. He could make out 4 ponytails running into the dark forest.
"Temari!" Shikamaru pushed Shiho out of the way and ran after her. Shiho fell onto the ground and sadly accepted that she had been rejected.(all shikatema fans grin)
-oOo-
Temari kept running faster and faster into the forest. It just so happend to be the Nara Clan's forest. Temari ran into a clearing and coughed. She shook her head and kept going. Suddenly a dark root appeared on the ground and tripped her. She fell onto her ankle which twisted at an unnatural angle. Temari bit her lip to prevent herself from yelling. Her hand made its way to her ankle and held it. Her winced at the contact and tried to get up. She tried and failed. She was in the Nara Clan Forest, in the snow, in a clearing. And at the moment, the deer in he forest started coming out. She tried to get back up with more force and screamed as it twisted yet again and fell back down into the flattened snow. The head deer stepped in front of everyone and sniffed the fallen kunoichi. She closed her eye bracing for impact when she just felt some nudging. She opened her eyes slowly to see that the deer had layed down next to her and was nudging her to lay down next to him. She slowly relaxed against the large deer and sighed. Tears slowly flowed down her cheek. She looked into the dark sky and stared at the stars. She was brought back to her senses when the deer grunted and a smaller deer ran off to who knows where.
About 30 minutes later the deer came prancing back out of the trees. Temari was fast asleep against the deer and the snow had started to create a soft blanket for her. A middle aged woman ran out of the forest and gasped as she saw the group of deer with the girl. She had a medical bag and headed for the girl. The woman touched Temari's arm.
"Goodness she frozen cold!" She said and picked the girl up slowly. The head deer got up and bowed towards the woman who nodded her head in return. The deer walked off back into the forest.
-oOo-
"Mm, Yoshino?" Temari woke up slowly seeing the woman tending to her leg.
"Oh Temari! You're awake!" Yoshino said happily.
"What happened?" Temari asked
"Well, I found you in the forest with the other deer. I'm surprised that they were helping you. They seem to like you. But anyways, your ankle is broken." Yoshino said wrapping up her leg with a steel plate.
"Oh, thank you." Temari said
"No problem." Yoshino paused.
"Shikamaru was looking for you. I think he wants to talk to you." She said and got up.
"I'll be making dinner!" Yoshino said and walked out of the room. She closed the door and Temari heard her walking down the hall then talking to someone, she couldn't make out what she was saying.
A few minutes later a knock was heard on the door.
"Come in" Temari replied
The door opened slowly to reveal Shikamaru standing in the doorway.
"Hey"
She looked away and fumed
"Temari."
"..."
"Look at me."
"I don't take orders from you." She said grimly
He took his hand and turned her head to him only to have her forcefully turn it back away.
"Temari." He took her hand, which she slapped away.
"Temari." He said louder, which startled her.
"Leave me alone!" Temari yelled at him. Her closed her eyes and whimpered as a terrible pain shot through her leg.
"Fine." He said getting up and opening the door. He looked back to her holding her leg and closing her eyes in pain. He walked out a shut the door.
-oOo-
Kazekage sama, Temari will have an extended stay for she has broken her ankle in an unfortunate accident.
~Tsunade, 5th Hokage
Tsunade sighed and gave the letter to Shizune to send.
Temari wandered around the Nara forest on a crutch. she was trying as hard as possible to heal her leg and get to suna as soon as possible.
She stood in the center of the clearing waiting for something, she wasn't sure what though. Slowly, the head deer came out of the tree's shadows. It walked over to her and rubbed it's head on her hand. She chuckled and rubbed its head. She looked at the deer, it's eyes were brown and had a striking resemblance to Shikamaru's. She sighed and put her forehead to the deer's.
"I.. Don't want to lose him." She said quietly to the deer.
"But what if he doesn't care anymore?"
"What if he's lying to be to get out of being with me."
"What if you misunderstood." A voice sounded from behind her. A voice that was all too familiar.
"What if you don't love me anymore" she said back
"What if I still do"
"What if your lying"
"What if you're being a troublesome woman" he said and she sighed.
"What if... Thats all I am to you... Troublesome" she said
"What if you're more than that to me. Temari, would you stop with this nonsense" Shikamaru said
"I would if I didn't see you with the guys when you were supposedly sick" she said still not looking at him
"They were the ones who dragged me around"
"Even when you knew it was wrong, and you should have been working with me, you still went along with it?" She said starting to get angry again
"And when Shiho kissed you, you did nothing."
"I-"
"If you dont love me anymore just tell me!" She screamed at him as she turned to face him. Tears streamed down her face and dropped to the ground. The deer walked back into the forest.
"I spent all my time here working by myself, staying up until morning, never once talking to you, being lied to! And I already don't have enough to time to spend with you that's not working! I miss you everyday in Suna, and when I finally come here, I never get to see you!" She yelled at him and covered her face with one hand. Tears made her hand wet as he stood stunned at her break out.
"And finally, the one time I get to talk to you, we're fighting" she whimpered and sat on the ground. He jolted back into reality and dropped to his knees. He took his arms and pulled her into his chest. She hugged him back as she cried into his shirt. He rubbed her back and whispered soft comforting things to her. Once her crying settled and it was silent again, he got a chance to speak.
"Temari, I never meant to lie to you, I guess it just never came to mind that I was supposed to be working. I guess the whole sick act just got to me, and it had been a while since I got to catch up with them. And I don't care about Shiho. I was just really stunned. It's not everyday a co worker kisses you. Right?"
"I'm your co worker dumbass" Temari said into his shirt. He stopped then chuckled.
"Not including you then." She grinned
"Temari, I love you, and that's never going to change no matter what." Shikamaru said looking into her eyes. She blinked then nodded. He slowly moved one hand to the back of her neck and brought her closer.
"I love you too." She said back slowly right before their lips met. They closed their eyes and let love do the rest.
The End