This is just a short story I wanted to do. Not even much of a story, more like a small scene or whatever. This doesn't link with the story You and Me make We since in this they're already dating and stuff, but you'd sort of get the feeling of what it might be like in You and Me make We story when they end up (inevitably) together near the end of the story; which is far from now, but soon if I work hard. :D

I value all your support in my writing the two stories I've begun, I'm really happy and I thank everyone for making my experience on fantastic so far! It hasn't been a year since I've been here, probably only two months, but it's still has been fantastic! Happy New Year, (even though it's the end of January first, but whatever. ;D) and I hope all of you have a great start to a new year! Hopefully there will be more stories to come and it's going to get really busy for me, so I apologize before hand if I'm not on more often than I used to be. Thank you again and to all you ShikaTema fans; here you go.

Shikamaru normally spent his New Years alone at home with his parents off on a vacation while he stayed up all night sitting in front of the TV and sleeping before he actually got to the countdown. He never cared much for the celebration and always turned down his friend's invitation to join them to the big event that happened in downtown of Konoha city; where the fireworks would be displayed at. He didn't go for various reasons. One, it was going to be loud and noisy; he hated events such as that and would've preferred to have kept to himself. Two, it was full of people; naturally the streets would be crowded and everyone would be pushing, shoving, and bumping into one another; it'd be so annoying. And lastly, he hated the bright lights. It always left that annoying glare in his eyes that he'd have to spend the next five minutes trying to blink away, not to mention it hurt his eyes watching those fireworks up close. That was why he simply enjoyed staying home in front of a TV sleeping through it all, his traditional Shikamaru Nara way of celebrating New Years.

But this year was a bit different. Since he was dating Temari now, he would be spending New Years with her. Ever since she learned that her parents weren't home, she insisted that she came over to his house. For whatever reason, he wasn't sure why, but as long as she was spending the New Years with him, it should be fun.

There was a loud knock on his door, a smile on his face as he recognized the banging; Temari was already here.

He hurried to open the door, though he tried to appear calm and unexcited about her coming as he opened the door with a smile.

"Hi Temari."

Temari shoved past Shikamaru inside his house, shivering as she hopped in place on the rug.

"Eesh, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, COLD ,weather. I hate the cold."

Shikamaru closed the door and helped her out of her coat and shoes, pulling her scarf away he kissed her on the cheek.

"Want anything to drink?"
"Coffee. Warm, hot coffee."

Shikamaru laughed as he headed into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I don't have coffee in the house. I drank the last cup a week ago. Is hot chocolate okay?"
Temari shrugged, peeling off her gloves she replied, "Just get me anything that's warm, I'm freezing right now."

After Shikamaru made two cups, he came back to the living room to sit beside her, handing her a mug before offering anything else for her. She shook her head politely and smiled at him.

"Nope, nothing else. I'm fine, thank you though."

Shikamaru nodded, sitting back as he tentatively drank his hot chocolate sitting beside his girlfriend. The two awkwardly just sat together watching the event being broadcasted live on the TV, a large group working quickly to get the fireworks in place by the thirty minute check point.

Suddenly he felt her snuggle closer to him and he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her closer against him as he rested his chin on her head.

She smiled as she leaned on Shikamaru.

"Well this is nice …"
"Mmhmm."

"So your parents leave you at home every New Year's Day so they can go on vacation?"
"Ever since I turned thirteen, yeah, pretty much every chance they get."

"You don't feel bad that they leave you alone every time?"
"Not really, I understand that my parents would want to be alone sometimes without me. Parents have every right to be alone together without their children witnessing everything they do together. So I guess its better this way that I stay home and they go have fun on a date or whatever."

Temari reached up to Shikamaru's face before kissing him sweetly. He could taste the hot chocolate on her lips.

"You sure are considerate of your own parents."
"Why wouldn't I be? Everyone loves their parents."

"You don't know that."

Temari suddenly turned away from Shikamaru, staring solemnly at the TV screen in silence. Shikamaru wondered what he said wrong before she spoke, "My brothers and I hate our father. We loved our mother, but since she died giving birth to Gaara, we lost her early in our lives. Especially for Gaara. He never knew what it was like to have a mother. Especially since then our father neglected us and has even tried to kill Gaara, blaming him for our mother's death. Of course in the end, our father got himself killed, but nevertheless, we never liked our father …"

Shikamaru pulled Temari close to him again before kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry about your parents."
"Don't be. If anything, my brothers and I learned a few things from our good for nothing father. Even if he was a b*tch and stuff, he was still our father that has even taught us some lessons even if he didn't mean to. Though we hate him, we're grateful for the lessons we've learned. It was what helped us become who we are today."

Shikamaru smiled in her hair as the reporter on TV declared ten minutes before the New Year's Day; the excited look on the reporter's face reflecting in the others that were shown on TV. Shikamaru took this time to think back on his past year. Personally, he hadn't done anything notable or achieved anything in his past year, and all he could think back to was that one night he finally confessed to Temari. Their first date which eventually lead to their first kiss. The year had gone by quicker than he had hoped and every second he had spent with Temari was precious to him; spending time with her was worth more to him than anything else. He truly enjoyed being with her and even if she was a bit of a hot-head and snappy at him for being so lazy, he knew she genuinely loved him back and put up with him. Though he wasn't one to really enjoy the company of woman, Temari was his one and only that he personally loved being with.

Temari turned to look at Shikamaru before smiling, "Hey, what are you thinking about? Resolutions?"
Shikamaru gave her a grin, laughing slightly at the irony of her words; he never made resolutions. Of course once he had tried making a resolution to be not so lazy, but that never worked out. The next morning he had woken up to find out that he had slept through half the day – brilliant start to trying to be the opposite of lazy.

"Resolutions? Nah, not at all. I've never been good with resolutions. I was just thinking about my year … with you."

Temari smiled, leaning in she rested her face against his chest, listening to his heart beat.

"Hmm, ever hoped on being productive in your life for once?"
"Funny, I was just thinking about that one time I tried."
"How did it work out?"
"It was a complete and utter failure; I slept through half a day the day after making that resolution - didn't think I'd be up for it again next time."

"Ah. Well it would've been nice if you had been a bit more productive; your lazy personality is enough to make me want to tape your eyes open every time you sleep in class."
"I'm so feeling the love right now."
"You can't be lazy forever, life eventually will have you at the point where you can't afford to be lazy."
"Hearing this come from you is making me wonder if you have ever seen me actually try being productive for once."
"Nope."

"Hmm. Well you will this year, then you'll see how capable I am."
"I hope so."

Shikamaru kissed her just so that she wouldn't have to make another sarcastic comment about him; it was getting annoying …

Kankuro and Gaara were enjoying their New Year's without Temari in the house. Kankuro had taken the liberty of ordering some pizza and so far drank three cans of soda and consumed four bags of family sized chips; he laughed now as he sat playing a video game with his brother thinking how angry his sister would be.

"Hey Gaara, you think Temari will get mad when she figures out I used her money to buy the pizza? Not to mention I'm totally pigging it out today …"
"She's going to murder you for that. She'll probably scowl at me, but she can't do much against me."
"Heh, you're right. She's scared sh*t of you."
"She's not scared of you though. She'll probably beat you senseless."
"Oi! Gaara, you make is sound like it's so easy for her."
"It is. You're so easy to beat up Kankuro."

"Says the scary one."
"Thank you."

Gaara fiddled with his controls mindlessly as his player grabbed a machine gun and gunned down the enemy, Kankuro's player throwing a grenade up and over his fort. They fell silent before Kankuro mumbled, "I still don't see why she had to go spend her New Years with that Nara guy. I still don't like her dating him. It's creepy. "

"Would you have wanted her to stay here with us? I'll let her go marry him if it means I can free myself from her tyranny ways."

"Geez! Don't even joke about that; I don't want her marrying that Nara into the family! That'd be creepy as sh*t! Not to mention their little kids would turn out to be my nieces and nephews that would keep calling me; 'Uncle! Uncle!' Guh, I so don't want to see that Nara's genes passed into their little faces – SOOO CREEPY."

"Nyeh, I don't mind. We need brains like that Nara kid to balance out your stupidity that runs in our family."

"Hey!"

Gaara smirked as Kankuro held up a fist.

"Watch it Gaara or I'll-"
"Or you'll do what?"
"…. Gah! Never mind, forget I said anything!"
"Yeah you better back down; I would've grabbed the nearest pillow and suffocated you."

"You're so loving Gaara."
"Brotherly love from what I've heard."

Temari sneezed; Shikamaru gave her an amused grin before replying, "Bless you."

Temari sighed, taking a tissue in hand before mumbling, "Geez, whenever I sneeze it usually means my brothers are talking about me again."

"Speaking of your brothers, they didn't mind when you said you'd be here tonight?"
"Gaara was all for it. He was the one herding me out the door while Kankuro was grabbing my feet trying to keep me home. He doesn't like you, Kankuro."

Shikamaru recalled her brother Kankuro before laughing.

"Him? Yeah, he doesn't like me. I should probably try and work on getting on his good side for your sake."
"Pfft. Don't bother, Kankuro is just a butthead. He's never liked the idea of giving me to anyone. He hates it when I get into relationships because then he keeps getting weird ideas like marriage and kids. He has a wild imagination."
"Wow. To think he thinks about all of that when you're still in high school."
"He calls it 'dangerous times' for me. Stupid idiot …"
The TV suddenly began counting down; Shikamaru glanced at his watch before smiling as he watched the hands of his watch tick down. Temari smiled as she kept her eyes riveted on the screen.

"Ten … nine … eight … seven ..."

Shikamaru pulled Temari close to him as Temari pulled her knees up to scoot closer.

"Six … five … four ... three … two … one-!"

Shikamaru turned off the TV to keep it from screaming and blinding the two from the live capture of the fireworks, they didn't need it. He'd be having his own. He pulled Temari's face close to his before kissing her gently; kissing her was far more exciting than watching fireworks.

Temari smiled against his lips, his fingers tangling into her hair as he held her head closer, eventually he pulled back before mumbling, "Happy New Year."

Temari grabbed the front of his shirt and grinned, "Oh just shut up."

Then she yanked him closer and the two resumed kissing while the entire world celebrated the New Years. But Shikamaru liked it where he was. Enjoying a quiet night with his girlfriend was far more appealing than being stuck in a loud and noisy crowd with messy confetti and blinding fireworks – being with her meant so much more.

Hope you enjoyed, I certainly liked writing it! :D I will continuously value your support as I write more stories from now on and thank you all for being amazing people! Thank you, thank you, thank you! THANK YOU~! XD AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!