Author's notes: Because it is Valentines Day, I decided to put my school work aside for a while to try and write this idea which came to me last week. This is the first Shikamaru-Temari fic I wrote so forgive me if it's really bad.
Dedication: To R, though you are very troublesome.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
He didn't even know when or where it started. He just realized it when it was too late. He just realized it when he finally found himself on the edge of the precipice, the ends of his toes resting on nothing but the thick humid air around him. Which was quite strange, knowing that he was always ten moves ahead of his opponent.
Troublesome woman.
Nara Shikamaru looked down to his feet and when he moved to shove his hands inside his pockets, several small stones fell down from underneath his feet. He watched the stones as they rolled down the cliff until they were simply small dots that disappeared beneath the flurry of the waves crashing madly onto the rock wall.
He closed his eyes then breathed in the salty air. Throwing his head back, he opened his eyes towards the cloud-filled sky then he smirked.
Very, very troublesome.
He'd been thinking about it for years now. Despite all his preparations and his actions to keep it from happening, he still ended up here. Here at the edge of a cliff where he had to decide whether to stay and play safe or fall and face the unknown.
He didn't really want to fall. It was quite inconvenient and it would surely require his work. If he stayed here, he could lie around doing nothing all day, stare up at the clouds and live his life alone without worrying about a certain ninja from Suna.
He frowned.
But then again, he wanted to know what would happen if he chose to fall. It would be much troublesome if he would be haunted by the "what-ifs" and the "what-could-have-beens." Besides, he could be a bit of a risk-taker sometimes.
He heard a rustle from behind him which was followed by the soft crunching sound of the ground with her every footfall. She wanted to be heard.
Slowly and carefully, Shikamaru turned to her. She was walking casually towards him, with the orange light of the setting sun making her blonde hair look yellow-orange to him. Temari smirked upon seeing his bored look.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she stood beside him and looked at the horizon.
"Can't I have some time alone?" he asked back rather irritably as he looked back toward the sun. "You've been at my heels for weeks now. Sometimes... sometimes I don't even know how it feels being alone."
Shikamaru mentally slapped himself over that slip of the tongue. He gave her a sideways glance praying fervently and hoping that she didn't hear it. She said nothing about it, yet he saw the left side of her lip curled up into a smile.
She heard it.
In frustration, he just stayed silent and together, they watched the sun as it sank down the horizon.
Darkness finally fell. The stars had started to show up and the moon also rose for the night. Shikamaru just stood there, staring ahead but really seeing nothing as he weighed down his options.
To fall or to stay?
"Oi, Shikamaru," she said from his side then he felt her turn around to leave. "I'm hungry, let's have dinner."
He looked toward her direction and saw her watching him with an amused look on her face. The faint light of the moon danced across her teal colored eyes. For a while, he just stared at her, entranced, and so much more when she smiled and inched closer.
To fall or to stay?
"And where will we have dinner?" he asked rather softly.
She just smiled wider then offered her hand. Shikamaru stared at it then weighed down his options.
To fall or to stay?
"Faster, Pineapple-head," she said feigning annoyance. "I'm hungry."
He felt his stomach rumble then he frowned. He looked at her face, her hand, then back again.
"Fine," he said then he took her hand. Together, they walked away from the edge of the cliff and back to the village, hand-in-hand.
Unknown to Temari, Nara Shikamaru had intentionally fallen headfirst.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Happy Valentines Day everyone!