The idea for this wouldn't leave me alone, so here it is. It's based off the song of the same title by Kevin Devine, which I absolutely love. When I started writing it I really liked it, but now I'm unsure. I hope you all like it though

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any characters used within this story.

You're my Incentive

Temari threw her phone across the room, and growled as it skittered across the surface of the coffee table and onto the floor. What had she expected really? It really wasn't like this day was going to get much better. She stood dejectedly in the space that indicated the living room ended and the kitchen began. A corner of her mind registered that the television had been left on all day again, and the two sets of curtains were inexplicably drawn shut.

Would it really have hurt someone to have sent her just one message? Though she supposed she shouldn't have set her hopes so high, even today. Her friends never seemed to call anymore, all busy with their own lives.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the lack of communication was her only downside to the day. Most of it had been spent in the local garage, as her dilapidated old Peugeot had once again broken down. And, true to her bad luck, it still hadn't been fixed, and was now left in the workshop overnight. She'd walked home in the stifling midsummer heat, already sweaty from the warmth of the garage to find her shared flat empty.

Lord only knew where her flatmate was. Not that she ever saw him very much. They'd been living in the place for just under a year together now and they'd barely said two words to one another. Hell, the blonde couldn't even remember what the man's name was. All she knew was that he had dark hair, and generally slept in later than her. Their communication was hardly more than post-it notes on the fridge, reminding one another when bills were due. Said bills were in Temari's name, and she gave the man his due, he was very prompt with getting the money to her on time. Speaking of which, the water and energy bills were due in the next few days.

Checking an inconspicuous canister on the sideboard she found his share of the money, had as usual been tucked neatly inside it. Unusually however, there was slip of paper carefully fastened with a green paperclip to one of the notes.

"Sorry, I'm a bit short on money this month, I can get the missing 40 to you next week, hope it's not a problem

–S"

Temari sighed. It was just her luck; she was down on money with the car being repaired and now this. She tried not to get angry at her flatmate, it wasn't like he'd ever let her down before. She settled for putting the money container back a little harder than necessary and sank into the sagging couch. Her anger hadn't truly vented, not really, but what could she do? It wasn't so much about the money either really, she was irritated about that sure, but it bothered her that nobody had remembered. For some reason she was also bothered that she still couldn't remember her flatmate's name, even with the clue of his initial.

She cast her eyes to the flickering television. She didn't understand why it was the pair of them always seemed to leave the television on. A long time ago, she remembered, the family used to leave on the set when they went shopping to make it appear someone was at home. She allowed herself a faint smile at the memory and returned her thoughts to the channel that was on now. It was one of the twenty four hour news networks. It was always a news channel, Temari thought dully.

The blonde haired woman was dragged from her inner monologue as the doorbell sounded harshly. Wearily she padded over to the door, to find herself face to face with another blonde. The girl was carrying a rather large, not to mention expensive looking, bouquet.

She thanked the delivery girl and smiled as she inhaled the delicate scent of the roses, her hand brushing against a velveteen petal. Admittedly roses were a bit of a cliché in the flower department. Still, they weren't red, but a vibrant shade of orange, that somehow managed to go rather well with the hot pink of the gerberas in the bunch. Temari went about putting the flowers in a suitable vase, before giving them pride of place on the coffee table. She couldn't complain, somebody had actually remembered her birthday, and the flowers themselves blocked out that awful news channel.

Temari rarely cried. There was a time when she would have delighted in her reputation as a hard faced bitch. That reputation had softened, as she had over the years, but she was still known to have somewhat of a tough attitude. Now, however, it felt like it would be the second time this week crying.

Just days earlier she'd burst into tears at her god-awful job. She was unsure why and thoroughly upset at the action. This evening however it would take more than a sympathising co-worker to calm down the blonde. She'd made an effort after all; loosening her hair from the messy four pigtails she usually brushed it into, and actually styling it. She'd even put on a nice (and certainly not cheap) dress rather than the comfortable clothes she would have otherwise worn. And well, that effort, it appeared, was about to be wasted.

Temari's birthday was rarely celebrated, more of her own choice than anything. The most that the family ever did was go out for an evening meal. It was always her, her two brothers and her boyfriend. Tonight, it was the brothers, who arrived to meet her first. Kankuro, the middle child, was somewhat of a carer for their youngest sibling Gaara.

She was about to thank them for the flowers, when Gaara tentatively pushed a gift towards her. She thanked the quiet redhead, and knew then that the bouquet had not come from her brothers. Well, she hadn't expected it to come from Hidan. It turned out it hadn't either. When her silver haired boyfriend had eventually shown up, he seemed incredibly puzzled at her thanks. And all after all of that, she had been brought to the point where she was now close to tears.

Ignoring her surroundings, she let out a half hearted laugh at the situation. Temari would give an awful lot for this situation to end. She even contemplated praying to get herself out of this. Had it worked, it would have been ridiculous anyway. Casting her mind back she remembered the last time she'd even set foot in a church was in year eleven. The year her father had died, and she became responsible for her two brothers. Though, right now, Temari was doing a pretty poor job of being responsible for them.

Kankuro was certainly drunk. The house white they'd ordered with the meal had gone to his head. It hadn't helped that he'd virtually polished off the bottle on his own either. Next to him, Gaara looked like he was going to have a fit. His eyes were fixated upon the plate in front of him. His knuckles had gone white from the stiff manner in which the redhead was holding his cutlery. He did not enjoy when Kankuro drank.

Not only that, but Hidan, well, she couldn't believe what he was up to. Actually she could, he was a sleaze when it all came down to it. The silver haired man was brazenly flirting with the timid young thing who had been serving their dinner. She knew Hidan was hardly the type to remain faithful, but the nerve! He was hitting on someone else, while not only she was sat there, but her family too. Pissed was an understatement for the blonde girl right now. She had had enough, enough of her awful birthday and awful attempts at having a nice evening.

She was going home.

Sighing, she threw down her cutlery and napkin before pushing her chair back and standing. Her so called boyfriend and middle brother hadn't noticed. Gaara stopped trying to ignore everything and stared at her confused.

"Thank you all for a lovely evening," she snapped sarcastically as she grabbed her coat and handbag. Hidan and Kankuro noticed then, and made to protest at her, but it was too late. Temari had turned on her heel and was currently weaving her way through the other diners and to the restaurants exit.

The taxi ride home hadn't taken very long. Gaara had sent her a text by way of apology, but it wasn't really the redhead she was angry with. After wrestling with her keys and the door lock for several seconds she pushed into her flat and felt ready to collapse.

The first thing she noticed was that the television was switched off. The second thing she noticed was the shirtless man lounging on the sofa playing an acoustic guitar. It took the blonde a minute to realise that it was her flatmate. In the rare times she did come across him he was fully clothed, and his hair was in a spiky ponytail. Right now it hung loose, framing his bored face rather nicely. The third thing Temari noticed was that he was actually a lot more attractive than she remembered him to be.

"I didn't know you played guitar," she commented, hanging her coat up and walking into the kitchen area.

"I have a pretty good source of inspiration. Like an incentive or something," he shrugged, "besides a guy can't play chess and work all day,"

"No, I guess not," Temari answered absently. She began making herself a coffee, and sighed loudly to herself.

"Long evening?" the flatmate asked, strumming his guitar lazily.

"You could say that," came the response over the sound of the kettle boiling, "though it's been a long week in general really." She walked back through the living room and towards her bedroom in silence, she wasn't really in the mood to talk. She stopped in her tracks when the dark haired male coughed.

"Did you like your flowers?" he spoke softly, stopping his playing. Temari turned around and gaped at him.

"They were from you?"

"Sure, it is your birthday isn't it? I really hope so, otherwise I just wasted our bill money on a present that wasn't needed."

Temari wasn't sure what to think, but nodded slowly.

"Yes, yes it's my birthday," she replied eventually. The reason he'd been short on cash was because her flatmate, the man whose name she could barely remember, had been the only one to think of her on her birthday. She was a little overwhelmed right now.

"Oh good," her flatmate stood up. He set his guitar down on the sofa and stretched his arms wide while he yawned. Temari caught herself marvelling at him. Now she looked at him, he was actually quite handsome. He spoke again "well, I'm off to bed, happy birthday Temari."

"Wait," Temari heard herself speak against her own will, the pair were stood in front of each other. "Thank you, for the flowers, and remembering my birthday." He shrugged at her again.

"You were saying before you had a good inspiration, mind telling me what it is?" She asked boldly.

"I'd have thought that obvious from the flowers," the lazy one smirked, "you're my incentive."

Temari smiled back, a true smile. Deciding that it was safe to say her relationship with Hidan was over, and after the fiasco this evening she deserved something good like this. She took the plunge, and she kissed her flatmate forcefully.

When he kissed back enthusiastically, she decided it was a rather happy birthday after all.