A/N: Here's a challenge - see if you can guess what song this is based on (or cheat and look at the bottom, but if you've heard the song, it's not that hard). The song had been stuck in my head all day, and I just think it fits these two pretty well. Just something light and fun.
I don't own the characters or the song.
She crossed her arms, eyes narrow as she studied him. "I'm angry," she said tersely, cocking her head to one side.
"I hadn't noticed," Shikamaru scoffed.
He heard an angry 'huff' from her and was glad she couldn't see his face. If he'd been facing her, she would not have been pleased with the smile he was wearing. She just got so self-righteous when she was mad.
"Then why are you still trying to piss me off?"
Oh, so it was all his fault?
"What the hell have I done to you?" he asked, finally turning to look at her.
Damn, but she was gorgeous mad.
She scowled, her eyebrows drawing down more and that pretty mouth turned into the smallest of pouts - this was her default don't-fuck-with-me-I'm-pissed face. If that mouth had been in a slighty more recognizable smirk, it would have been her I'm-a-tough-girl-and-this-makes-me-better-than-you face that just fit her so perfectly. Of course, there was rarely a day he didn't want to see that smug face.
"You're doing this on purpose."
"Yes, Temari, I am purposefully ruining my whole day just because I want to argue with you. Nice ruminations there."
She didn't say anything, just glared. He could see the anger rising in those eyes, the pale aqua framed by dark lashes rising to a bright blue-green.
"Are you even going to tell me what you want, or am I just blindly taking the hit?" He was starting to get pissed off, a feat in itself, meaning Temari had some talent in getting under his skin. Most people, he'd just shrug off their words and keep ignoring them in favor of the sky. Could clouds pester him? No, they couldn't. They were blissfully silent. He could be left to sort through his own mind.
"Whatever." Temari looked away, then closed her eyes. "You figure it out. Get yourself together, then come back and see me." She turned and walked off.
Shikamaru waited until she was out of the house before letting out a grunt of frustration. Damn that troublesome woman...Why did she always have to rile him? She did it on purpose, he knew she did. It would be just like her to not actually be all that angry. Maybe she'd stumbled upon some little quirk of his that had upset her and had magnified it. Or maybe she wasn't actually mad at him at all, she was just taking her anger at other things out on him.
No, no, she'd accused him of doing it all on purpose. Okay, so it was all his fault. But what was it? Think!
Genius? Heh. Yeah, right.
Sure, sure, he had an IQ upwards of 200, but how did that connect to being socially adept? Especially when it came to women. Especially when it came to troublesome women. Especially when it came to troublesome women like Temari. That girl...she was work.
He didn't bother going to look for her. A guy could take a walk through the village and not have any point, right? Even if he were checking all the spots a certain blonde frequented, he had no real purpose, right?
Wrong. Who was he kidding? He was so whipped, to be chasing after her like this.
Contrary to popular belief, there was a lot going on in his mind. He was not just a lazy, quiet guy. Well, he was, but he was also more than that. He was quiet because he was thinking. He thought a lot. It wasn't easy, being so smart. He could spend the whole day ruminating on theories that nobody else his age could begin to comprehend. And he wasn't the explaining type. So he kept to himself. Generally, he preferred his own company to that of his less-than-gifted comrades.
Oh, not that he didn't like them. No, no, he much enjoyed them, usually. Truthfully - and this was his own little secret, that he'd told nobody - he desperately wished to be at their level. It would be so much easier to not know things all the time. Why did he have to be the one to understand everything? Why couldn't he just be normal in some aspect? He'd be perfectly fine with having an IQ that fell within the range of just an average genius. It was a burdern to be alone like this. Who else was in his league? Nobody that he was close to.
So he had all of this information, intuition, and understanding in his head, and now on top of that was this girl. She wasn't as smart as him, though she was clever. She was pushy, hot-headed, much too independent, she argued with him too much, she was angry most of the time, and she was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. Every inflamed word from those downturned lips was the sweetest sound in his ears. The fiery poison she intended for him went straight...well, he'd think on that later. Her venom was more honeyed, more candied than poisonous.
And those eyes. Oh, those eyes were just beyond compare. He could never tell if it was a steel glint of anger or a soft dazzle of a reflection he was seeing in them. How could she not know what she did to him?
His thoughts quieted as the woman he so often pondered over came into view. She was at one of her usual places...he sighed, eyes seeking the sky for a quick moment, then walked over and took a seat beside her.
"Why are you here?" she asked immediately. "You're not old enough to drink."
"And because you're legal, that means you're old enough?"
"Yeah. It does," she said with a smug smile and lifted her cup to her mouth. Shikamaru watched her move, entranced as her bottom lip pushed out around the edge of the cup. He heard the light sip, then blinked as she licked the excess off her upper lip. His fist clenched. She was doing this on purpose.
"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.
"Yup."
He turned his head a bit, trying to hide his reaction, but she knew him too well - her head whipped over to face him.
"Are you laughing?"
He ran a hand through his hair, openly grinning now.
"You think this is funny?"
He couldn't help but fall in love with the rising note of incredulity in her voice. Her smooth-as-sand words in that exotic accent.
"No, Temari, it's just when you're mad..."
But he didn't finish before she was slamming money onto the table by her unfinished drink. She quickly stood up and walked away, throwing her hands into the air. "You're crazy."
He couldn't help that his smile erupted into full-blown laughter. The owner gave him a look and took the cup. Shikamaru just shook his head and also stood and left, calling over his shoulder to the blonde girl.
"You always said I wore my mind on my sleeve anyway."
Hands in his pockets, he kept walking, head down and smile still playing at his lips. Suffice it to say, he was unprepared for the assault. He just knew that suddenly, he was thrown to the ground, an all-too-familiar prescence on his back. Temari leaned down close to his face.
"You're so masochistic, you'd laugh at your own funeral."
Her words may have been threatening if he hadn't been so acutely aware of how seductive she was being.
He finally went home after that, and didn't see her again until the next afternoon, after a night with dreams reminiscent of those moments when she had him pinned to the ground, and a morning of leisurely routine while he waited for the inevitable: Temari would find him and grudgingly apologize for tackling him. They'd make up - as much as two people who were still strictly platonic can make up - and probably wouldn't argue for the rest of the day. Probably.
The sun had just passed it's high point when his door opened and closed again with a little more force than necessary.
"Shikamaru?"
"In here."
He stood up as she entered the room. The look on her face was an angry one, but not her normal angry. It was more of an annoyed one, like the idea of being in his house disgusted her. But he knew that wasn't true. Hell, sometimes she slept there on her stays. So what was the reason for her disposition?
Shikamaru folded his arms. "So?"
Her glare bored into him for only a moment before she let her arms fall to her sides. "I'm sorry I tackled you."
With her admission, she seemed to collapse. Apologies didn't suit her. Her riotous aura faded, and she looked at him with contemplative eyes, waiting, for once, for him to make the next move. He didn't like it. He threw his head back and laughed at her.
"What?"
He could tell just from her voice that she was getting back to her pushy ways quickly.
"You just did just what I thought you were going to do."
He saw her fists clench, but she dropped it again. "Why do you always purposefully make me angry?"
Shikamaru thought for a moment. Did he do that? Yeah, he did. Why? Because arguing was how they got along? Because she was so gorgeous angry? Hadn't he wanted her to be less troublesome?
"Mm, I guess it is my fault."
"Nah, it's my fault too." She was smiling now.
He nearly gaped. She'd just wanted him to say it first? He scoffed. "You played me."
"I always do." She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He hugged her back, breathing in the rich, foreign scent of her hair. Smiling at the exotic familiarity of it, he felt her chuckle into his shoulder.
"You know, it'll still be two days until we say we're sorry."
Song is 'One Week' by Barenaked Ladies. If you don't know it (le gasp!) go find it. It's like crack, I swear.