Shikamaru had no idea how he had managed to get himself stuck in this mess. While half of his brain tried to figure out how he got into this, the other half was frantically trying to figure out how to get out of it. The only problem was his brain wouldn't function properly. He cursed mentally. He had a 200+ IQ and it was getting him nowhere. The shadow ninja thought back to the events preceding this one. He had been appointed team captain over Kiba, Neji, Naruto, and Chouji. Their mission: retrieve Sasuke from the clutches of the Sound ninja. His team had split up to defeat the Sound ninja. First, they left Chouji behind. Then Neji, and then Kiba. And he had stayed behind to fight Tayuya while Naruto hurried on ahead so he could fulfill his promise to Sakura.

Shikamaru had no idea if they were still alive. He'd been fighting against Tayuya for some time but was making little headway. He'd been certain he wouldn't live. Then a huge gust of wind had blown the Sound girl at least twenty feet away. His knees turned weak as he realized that he knew where it had come from. The only woman scarier than his mom.

Temari.

The Sand kunoichi landed lightly on the tree limb beside him, turned, and grinned that cocky grin of hers. He'd been surprised to see her since it had been her village that had attacked his. But she put his fears to rest when she revealed that they had not wanted to attack his village and that the Hokage had requested the Sand's help. But that talk soon turned to the discussion of how to defeat that Sound girl. Two minutes later, Shikamaru stared in shock at the destroyed forest.

"What a violent person." His heart nearly stopped beating when she turned around, her fan still open. He inwardly stiffened and waited for whatever she was going to do to him.
"How was that?" She grinned. A lopsided smile appeared on his face. "It wasn't bad, I suppose. I think you could have spared those trees, though. They never did anything to you."
The grin was replaced by a scowl and her eyes glinted dangerously. "So I get no thanks for saving your worthless life? Ungrateful jerk." Shikamaru shrugged. "I didn't say I wasn't thankful. You asked me how that was so I answered." The fan-wielding kunoichi paused for a moment then smiled. She folded her fan up and carefully laid it down on the thick branch.

She caught his eye. Shikamaru gulped. He couldn't identify that look she had. Was it her death glare? Or some other glare he had not seen before? Suddenly, he felt something touch his back. Cocking his head slightly, he noticed that he was right up against the trunk of the tree. He had unconsciously been backing away from Temari. And now he was stuck. "Don't you know it's polite to say thank you?" She whispered. She was now directly in front of him.

"I suppose I'll have to teach you some manners."
Shikamaru's heartbeat quickened as she leaned closer, closer, closer...And that was how he'd ended up in this predicament. There was no escaping it.

Not when he was pressed against a tree with his lips crushed against Temari's lips and her tongue shoved in his mouth.
This was not something he knew how to do. Even with his 200+ IQ he was struggling with it. He just didn't understand what the big deal was about kissing someone. Besides the fact that you couldn't breathe.

Then, just as abruptly as she had kissed him, she stopped. "I should be going now. I did what I was told to." Her back was facing him but he saw that her shoulders drooped slightly. He heard the faint note of disappointment in her voice. He struggled to find something - anything! To say. Only one thing came to mind.

"You can't leave yet. I didn't thank you." The shadow boy smirked as she whirled around, shock evident in her green eyes. "Wh-what did you say?" She sputtered, obviously taken aback. He grinned lazily. "You heard me." He stepped forward and caught her wrists in his hands, jerking her towards him.
Their mouths collided once more and she immediately forced her tongue back into his mouth. Cautiously, he turned them around and pushed her against the tree. Temari was surprised. She had been certain that he didn't like this. It looked like she was wrong. Her fingers quickly undid his Chunnin vest. She trailed her fingers up his chest, feeling him shudder. It was her turn to shudder when he ran his hands down her sides and over her hips. He intensified the kiss, pressing against her. Finally they broke apart, each gasping for breath. Temari could feel her cheeks burning and saw that he was red-faced as well.

"Let's keep this between the two of us." Shikamaru managed to say. Temari nodded. "All right." Without another word, they began leaping from tree to tree. Both ninja were fully aware that they would never be able to look at each other the same way again. They could never be "just friends." There was no moving back. Not after what had just transpired between them.
They could only move forward.