Stormy Clouds

Shikamaru x Temari fluff fiction

Clouds slowly drifted across the sky, darkening more and more by the minute. Shikamaru, sitting in his backyard and staring up at the sky, sighed from where he laid down. Usually watching the clouds calmed him... But when they began to darken... It just depressed him. He saw a small flash not too far away in the sky, figuring it would rain soon. Now in an irritated mood, he was convinced that nothing could make his day worse.

He was wrong.

"Hey, Lazy-ass," came an all too familiar female voice. At first his body went ridged, then he forced himself to sit up, only to see the sand ninja, Temari, crouched down and staring at him. An unmotivated, "Eh," was all she got in response, which seemed to make her grin.

"You're not heading inside because of the rain, are you?" She said, looking up at the sky before plopping down next to him on the grass. Her actions made him suddenly wonder why she was even in his yard… The young blonde shot a grin towards him. "I wonder why… Because you can see Clouds during storms, too… Or does that not suit your fancy, sense they're not calm?"

A sour look crossed his face as he glared at the sky. "I hate storms." Was all he replied before getting up, heading towards his house. He was expecting her to follow him in… But he noticed she didn't. She just sat there, staring up into the sky.

°…Oh well. It's not my problem if she catches a cold. She came over uninvited, anyway.° He convinced himself, shutting the back door behind him, making sure to take off his sandals so that his mother didn't chew him out. Figuring Temari would leave soon, anyway, he went upstairs to his room, and shut himself inside to take a nap.

When he had finally woken up, it was dark out, but rain could be heard pattering outside on the houses. He groaned, his throat dry and scratchy. He lazily got out of bed and wandered downstairs, coming to the conclusion that his parents must have been asleep.

After making his way to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and sipping from it, he saw something that almost made him drop his glass. He coughed on his water before wiping his mouth and stared out the window.

There, he saw a drenched Temari, sitting in the same spot as she was earlier. He half wondered if she passed out or not sense he figured it must have at least been a couple hours since the rain came down. He sweatdropped and also wondered why his mom didn't make her go back to the hotel where she and her brothers were staying at.

"Pssh… It's her problem if she gets a cold…" He said to himself outloud before rethinking something. "Wait…" Shikamaru's mind reeled to what he had just thought about, including Kankurou and Gaara… What if Temari did get a cold… And she told them she got it when she was over at his house!? He could already imagine Gaara's sand squishing him… Of course, that'd be after Kankurou's puppet beat him to a pulp!

A chill ran down his spin before he decided that it was in his best health to get her out of the rain. He idly grabbed an umbrella, put on his sandals. He went out the back door, opening it and walking out into the field towards Temari.

"Woman, what are you still doing out here?" He said, sighing as he walked next to her, staring down at her. She blinked, and stared up at him, looking weird in his opinion sense she was drenched with rain. He noticed the flush on her cheeks and quickly decided that he was making her drink some medicine when she got inside.

"Oh! Uhm… I was just enjoying the storm! Sorry! I'll head home…" She said while getting up, coughing once into her hand. She was about to walk off when Shikamaru grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards his house. "Hey… What're you…?" She started to ask, a bit confused at her rival's actions.

"You're obviously sick… Think what'll happen to me if you go home looking like that." He said truthfully, guiding her inside. He put the umbrella away and looked at Temari as if she was a helpless case. "Ugh… You're soaked. Well… Whatever. Stay silent and go upstairs to my room… Do not make any noise." He demanded before walking off towards the kitchen to get a cold remedy they had stashed somewhere.

She blinked a few times before quietly going upstairs. She did her best to keep a lot of water from dripping, but it was unavoidable with how wet she was. She crept inside his room and sighed, feeling a bit hot… She figured she must have been getting a headache. She instantly cursed Sunaga for being nothing but desert… it always made her like to see the rain.

Shikamaru grumbled quietly as he found himself wiping up the water droplets on the wood floor trailing up to his room. He had a feeling that if his mother saw so much as a drop, she'd go into detective mode and interrogate him later… so he was thorough in his cleaning. He finally made it to his room where Temari stood awkwardly.

She was really beginning to wish that he had let her go home and treat herself…

He sat down a bottled liquid on his desk and walked over to his dresser, going through his clothes. Temari sweatdropped as she soon realized what he was doing.

"I… Am not wearing your clothes!" She whispered, embarrassed. He glanced over at her, shrugging. He obviously thought otherwiseand
ignored her protest. He eventually pulled out a loose green shirt and black pants, rather new looking. She immediately could tell they weren't some of his favorites.

"Go change into this. There's a bathroom across the hall…" He thought for a moment, standing up and giving her the clothes. "Hang your clothes… behind the shower curtain." He said, sweating slightly. He didn't figure his mom would go through his bathroom… so it seemed safe.

She grabbed the clothes and shook her head, wondering why he had decided to go through all this trouble. She didn't figure he was that nice. She went across the hallway, changed, and hung up her dress, sash, and fishnet behind the shower curtain. She stared at herself in the mirror for a while before she decided to take out her pigtails, running her fingers roughly through her hair before straightening it… with difficulty. She eventually gave up, ruffled it again, and went back to his room.

She didn't exactly expect an reaction sense she did what she was told to, but Shikamaru stared at her for a good few minutes when she came back in. "…Uhm… Hello?" She asked, waving her hand slightly, yet feeling somewhat dizzy. She couldn't figure out what was so shocking… Other than the fact she followed his orders.

He snapped out of his thoughts, nodding. "Oh, yeah… Here's a remedy that should help your cold." He said, grabbing it and handing it to her, thinking that she looked a lot more mature with her hair down… as well as attractive. °Wait… Dammit.° He could have kicked himself for thinking that.

Temari opened it gingerly, obviously not trusting it, before sniffing it. "…It smells like camel shit." She stated plainly, glaring at him. He stared back at her, blinking. "…Fine, whatever." She said in reaction to the look on his face, taking a quick, yet big, swig of the drink. She had to force it down, paling. She slammed the bottle down on his desk, no longer having any recognition for the others in the house. "Shikamaru…" She hissed, feeling sicker then she did five seconds ago.

Shikamaru suddenly wondered if it was… expired… or something… Because Temari looked pissed. But, inwardly, he knew he'd rather beaten to a pulp by Temari, rather then her brothers. He just hoped that Temari's slamming the bottle down didn't wake his mother. "Er… Uh… Now wait a minute. I didn't say it'd taste good… It'll just make you better…" He said nervously, adding, °I hope,° to his thoughts.

Temari stumbled around before tripping onto his bed, curling up in the blankets, groaning. "Ugh… What the hell's up with that potion…? Urgh…" She crawled her way over to the corner of the bed, curling up in the blankets again, moaning from the new pain.

Shikamaru felt half-responsible now, unlike how it was her own fault earlier. "Hey, you gunna be okay?" He murmured, getting on the side of the bed. He received a glare from Temari, who was doing her best to kill him mentally. He sighed and shook his head before grabbing some of the blankets.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" She hissed, blushing. She was baffled by the fact that he was actually brave enough to get in the bed with her… Even if it was his bed.

"I'm going to bed, too. I'm not an insomniac, alright?" He grumbled, turning to face the other way, ignoring her attempts at mental homicide.

Eventually, it seemed she finally no longer cared about his presence; his body actually wasn't so tense from feeling her violent aura. He turned over to check on her before blushing slightly. She was finally asleep… but she looked so cute. He quickly turned back around, not wanting her to wake up seeing him staring at her.

As if blushing when seeing her sleep wasn't bad enough, he shuddered when he felt arms extend around his stomach, and her cuddling his back. "What the hell…? How troublesome." He stated, doing his best to fall asleep without thinking about anything indecent which proved to be a lot more difficult then he expect.

He eventually made himself get used to it, and relatively was comfortable. At that point, he was ready to sleep… But god seemed to really hate him today.

Temari had leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Why haven't you tried to move me?" He blushed and quickly pried her off of him, glaring at the devious grin on her face. "I was sleeping." He lied, glancing down at the bed. "Well, seems you're feeling better. Why don't you just go home now?"

"…It's still raining out… and I'm comfortable." She laid back down on his bed and stared at him. He lay down as well, facing her. All he could think about was of how torturing she was. Sighing with a shrug, more to himself then to her, he nestled back into the bed.

"Shikamaru." She said, catching his attention. "Why'd you bring me in and take care of me?" She honestly believed that it might have been one of the nicest things that were ever done for her. Now, she wouldn't say she had a horrible life, but it wasn't great. She wasn't pampered, and she didn't get what she wanted, usually. She didn't have almost any friends in Sunaga, either. If someone asked her who her best friend was, she'd probably have to go with Kankurou. So, after asking this, she stared at him, waiting in anticipation for his answer.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, had no idea how significant his answer was to her. "…I don't know. I'd do it for anybody, I guess." And, though he didn't really think about it before he answered, the depressed and disappointed look on her face told him he answered wrong, making him think about it. He quickly answered back, "Well… actually… I guess I'd do it for Chouji… And, you, I guess." He said, nervously staring at her, hoping that maybe she wouldn't be depressed.

She blinked a couple times, not even noticing the few tears trailing down her cheek, and over the ridge of her nose. Her face flushed slightly before she quickly leaned forward and stole a kiss from him. She backed away immediately, and smiled. "Thank you." Was all she could say before nestling back into the bed, figuring he'd get over the kiss…

Her first kiss.