Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters

Temari hastily donned her yukata, and frowned a bit at the conspicuous love stains on her obi. Guess tomorrow's laundry day. She walked back to the bed and sat near the headboard. She thought it was rather funny that his body resembled that of a young deer. She watched his sleeping form, resting on his side with his face turned away from her. His waist was infuriatingly small, especially compared to his broad back and tight yet rotund ass. She was tempted to pinch it, but resisted, not wanting to disturb his slumber. His build was even more comical considering he turned out to be much better endowed than she expected. She jumped a bit as he turned around and cracked open an eye, "Hnh?" as if reading her thoughts.

"Shh nothing, go back to sleep."

"Hn," he grunted sleepily as he closed his eye and draped an arm around hips.

"Good boy," Temari reached down to pet his hair.

"Troubles....zzzz....ZZZZ....ZZZ"

Since it was his first time, she made a point of being respectful and going slow, unlike her usually rough routine. He probably would appreciate that sort of crap anyway. Despite what people say about men, she knew that he somewhat valued his chastity—not as if it were priceless or anything, but it was still worth something. For that reason she had taken him slowly, hoping that the experience would resemble the one he had probably played out in his mind once or twice—one that was just a tiny bit meaningful. God knows she hadn't been so lucky a few years ago with the bastard from the traveling circus. All she knew was that she woke up alone and it hurt to walk. It wasn't fair. Fate seemed to treat Konohagakure much more kindly. She had been stripped away of her fairy tales and her innocence at such a young age, without any sort of compensation from heaven's judiciary powers. On the other hand, circumstances had always allowed the Leafs to maintain their sometimes ludicrous idealism. She remembered Naruto's promise to win back Sasuke and protect Konoha. Believe it! And what about deer boy? How was it that a Chunin could cry, even when his team enjoyed a full recovery, without anyone reproaching him? She had been annoyed at first, (How dare you! Do you know what hell my Kankuro and Baki would have put me through if they saw me cry like that?) but the lazy runt somehow found a place in her heart. The boy was surely capable, but she had felt protective of him for some reason, moved by his quiet idealism (they call it the Will of Fire) and lulled by his carefree demeanor. She wanted his heart to stay pure for as long as possible, and told herself it was because she wanted to live vicariously the rosy life that had been denied to her and her brothers. She ignored the voice that told her that his life wasn't that easy and that she didn't care nearly as much about the other Leaf nin, and remained content with her explanation.

She slowly moved his arm away, pushed herself off the bed, and walked toward the desk by the window. She tore off a piece of paper from one of his dog-eared notebooks and wrote a quick note. Afterward, she hopped onto the window pane and stole one last glance at the boy. "Good night, dearie," she whispered wryly and stalked off into the night.

*****

Shikamaru awoke to find himself alone and rather cold. He saw the open window and felt slightly irritated. As he shuffled out of bed to close the window, he noticed a note with Temari's small, neat handwriting:

Thanks for the lovely time. Don't forget to shower.

His mouth broke into a grin as he headed for the bathroom. Today seemed like a good day to treat Chouji and Ino for barbecue.