All righty! Here's my next entry of Illustrious. This one is a good ol' ShikaTema -squeals- My favorite… And I kinda got this idea off the top of my head in World History class. I'm not too sure if I got the ending thought good enough or not, but I thought is was cute. But sadly, it's probably been used before for this couple. Oh well. Enjoy.

Thanks to eCZi for reviewing the previous drabble. You are freaking awesome! …and my only reviewer.

Disclaimer: Mesa don't own Naruto. Believe it.

Love is a Game Two Can Win At

ShikaTema

"Damn, why do I keep losing to you!?" Temari shouted out loudly in obvious annoyance to her male rival. She stared at his finishing move, trying to let it sink in. All the while, Shikamaru kept his pleasant happy smirk on her face. They had been playing Shogi again, and she had lost to him… yet again.

"I guess that this just isn't one of your strengths Temari. You don't have to be perfect about everything you know." Shikamaru gave his thought as he put the game away neatly into the package it had first come in when he bought it. Usually he would just toss most of his possessions aside, but Shogi was very important to him so he treated it with great care. Besides that, he had to protect it from what was inevitably going to happen next.

"What do you mean not one my strengths?! Of course it's one of my strengths! Strategizing always has been my strength, you bastard! Somehow, you're just inhumanly talented. Hey! Quit smirking at me!" Temari, as Shikamaru predicted, had jumped over, grabbed him by the collar, and quickly began shaking him without mercy.

"Temari, stop it. You're acting childishly." Shikamaru said without much emotion, but Temari only stopped shaking him around. She dug her fingernails deeper into his collar and brought his face closer to hers. Shikamaru was beginning to become nervous from the close proximity and unwillingly felt some heat rush to his face. Partly, it was because of Temari's hot breath on his face, but he knew that he also had something to do with it himself.

"Someday, I will beat you. Just you wait." Was all that she said before leaving his room and stomping her way out of the building. Shikamaru sighed loudly hearing her footsteps grow fainter and fainter despite how much noise she was making leaving the building.

"Tch. Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath before breathing in a deep sigh. He slowly exhaled that deep breath and lay down on his bed. It was ritual for this to happen. They would play Shogi, he would win, she would get mad, and she would threaten him and walk away in an angry fit. But this time something was different. Something was different about her.

He couldn't tell what it was, but lately their competitions had also become another type of game. A game where one person would stare at the other person for as long as they could before the other person realized they were being stared at. It switched between turns.

If the person realized they were being stared at and caught the other person in the act, they would lose, or something similar to that. It wasn't anything they made rules for, mostly since they didn't make up the game vocally. It just started to happen…

When it came to actually playing Shogi, Shikamaru was always the winner. However, when it comes to playing their "other game" then Shikamaru was always the loser. Temari had a sixth sense about her somehow and always caught him the act of staring at her. To which she would give an angry glance or glare and even the occasional quizzical look, but today… today was different.

Shikamaru couldn't help but look at her while she was thinking. She always looked more peaceful while she was thinking, not at all scary or frightening. She looked at home thinking deeply. It fit her, and Shikamaru noticed. But today as he stared at her during her turn, she noticed him. That was no surprise, but Shikamaru almost gasped out loud when he noticed that she was blushing.

Since when did Temari ever blush, especially around him? He had never noticed it before and this sudden reaction surprised him more than Naruto becoming the next Hokage would have! His mind started to think again as it always did when he had a puzzle to solve. The most impossible thought popped in his mind, making him question his own I.Q.

His conclusion was simple, yet he couldn't believe it. Temari had feelings for him. It made so much sense… it made sense why she always came back day after day to spend hours after hours playing shoji with him. It made sense as to why she dragged him over everywhere just because he was "her guide". He knew that she could have taken anybody else or even gone by her self, but she always took him.

Why hadn't he seen this before? He sighed even louder and decided to sleep on it. He spent the night deep in thought over his revelations. He was also thinking about Temari and their complicated relationship, he fell asleep smiling, because… he had a plan.

"I want a rematch." Temari said defiantly as she stepped into his apartment the next day. Their routine was still the same as it always was; she was here to play yet again. Shikamaru looked at her with a smirk on his face. He'd been waiting for this to happen. Temari was looking around his apartment noticing that something was amiss.

"Wait, why isn't your board out?" Temari noticed and looked at Shikamaru. Shikamaru was still giving her his infamous smirk that he always had when he was about to win. Temari felt herself become flustered as he started to walk toward her.

"Which game did you want a rematch to?" Shikamaru asked calmly. That was plan. He wanted to ask her this way so that if she had actually realized what they had been doing, then they could talk about it. If not, he would just his Shogi board out, and they'd play just like they used to.

However, Shikamaru was confident that she would know and he would wait for to admit it. Which knowing her, would take a little while. True to Shikamaru's thoughts, she responded the way he thought she would.

"Shogi of course. What else could I mean dumb ass?" She looked at him as she often did when she found him stupid or just plain annoying, which happened often honestly. It was a sort of glare and a rolling of the eyes put into one. It was a look meant for Shikamaru and Shikamaru alone. Shikamaru just keep his gaze calm as he waited for her to realize what he meant. Temari's face then went into a nervous trance, and Shikamaru guessed that she finally understood his meaning.

"The… uh, the other game…" She admitted out. Shikamaru's smirk only became bigger as stepped closer and closer to her. She had her head down, facing towards the ground when she felt him put his hand underneath her chin lifting her face up. Her eyes were soft looking up at him. At that moment, he never looked as handsome as he had before. Together they both met in a kiss, which started short and sweet but quickly turned into something more passionate and longing.

Temari couldn't help but feel the bliss from that moment. It was forever imprinted into her brain. Because finally she had found a game that she could beat him at if she wanted to, but more importantly… They had found a game were they could both win at… Love.

Ah… the cheesiness of it. Gawd I love it. And if you don't like fluff to this extent then I apologize… I'm kinda addicted. Well, hopefully I did that well…

R&R if it floats your boat. Reviews rock my socks. Ja ne.