Quick answer to a prompt on Tumblr. Might edit it fully tonight and extend it.

PROMPT: ShikaTema - Hospital

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

Temari would never admit it, but her arm hurt like hell.

"I'm fine," the blonde snapped at the incessant medic working furiously at her arm to remove the small, probably poisoned kunai lodged in her skin.

So, alright, maybe she had been careless; she should've been watching her opponent more carefully, but…

"Does she need to be held down, doctor?" The voice came from over in the corner, where he was standing; his posture lazy and his arms crossed as his entire body radiated an expression of both boredom and amusement. Somehow.

Him.

It was all his fault.

She'd been bantering with him and was more focused on thinking of a witty comeback than on defeating the weak rogue nin around them.

"She does not need to be held down!" Temari hissed, attempting to sit up and ward off the irritating medic. The poison had already been removed from her system; they didn't need her lying down like some critically injured old woman. "I am fine."

With her strength, she managed to bat away the doctor's hands, and was about to roll off of the table when she felt her forearm being seized in a tight but gentle grip.

Her head snapped around to see who her assailant was- though she probably should have already known. Shikamaru had an appraising stare; and immediately, she couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt in her stomach.

"Stop being troublesome," he quietly told her, his fingers pulsing slightly around her wrist as though to emphasise his words.

Really, if it was any other man, Temari would've ripped their heads off by now. Or let her brothers do the job for her.

But with Shikamaru…

"Now, really!" The flustered medic huffed in annoyance, and Shikamaru's lips twitched in a small smirk as he none-too-gently pushed Temari back into her position of lying down on the hospital bed.

She growled in discontent, but only her assailant was able to hear her. Not that he was particularly fazed by it, but at least her complaints were being heard.

"You call me troublesome," Temari muttered in annoyance, curving her lips oddly and blowing a strand of hair out of her face as the medic resumed their work on her arm. "You're the one being troublesome."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her but a small chuckle vibrated in his chest- she could feel it thrumming underneath his skin due to their close proximity. Really, she mused briefly, he was the only person she knew who contradicted themselves with their every movement, yet still managed to make the most sense.

It really hurt her head sometimes.

"I'm not being troublesome," he replied with a shake of his head, and Temari knew that if his hands weren't currently occupied, one would be palmed against his face. "I'm trying to help you."

It was the most non-cryptic thing she'd heard from him all day.

She turned her head to the side, not particularly wanting him to see the small hue of red forming on her cheeks. She knew that it was futile, due to the fact that he was practically on top of her.

"I don't need your help," she muttered pathetically, scrunching her face up in a pitiful attempt of a scowl. "It's not necessary. Why do you do it?"

The question seemed to surprise him for a moment- but nothing tended to surprise Shikamaru for long.

He shut his eyes and smiled- a gesture she had seen him do many times, but only when he was delivering an answer to a particularly challenging riddle.

"Why?" He repeated lowly to her, his breath grazing against the lobe of her ear as he leaned into closer to her- causing shivers to erupt against her skin and her blood to be set alight.

He chuckled; the air brushing against her as he delivered his answer.

"Because a man has to help the woman he loves."

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