Memory two: The Greenhouse.

Three years after the tournament: there had been several interactions between her and him. Nothing special just small talk and chit chat. By now they knew each other's names but that was about it. This particular memory is a very short one but it is an important one.


Temari was walking through her village. She heard that the leaf village had a new ambassador and she was to greet him. She wasn't very fond of village embassy work but she knew she had no choice. Her little brother was now kazekage and seeing as he had bigger responsibilities now, she too had greater responsibilities. In any case, she had a couple of hours to kill so she was walking around the market but nothing seemed appetizing. She decided that she would keep walking just for the sake of killing time. She kept walking until she came across the village greenhouse. She was about to start heading the other way when she noticed something. Through the glass walls of the greenhouse, there was a figure under a tree. This figure seemed very familiar and the closer she came to the window, the more she recognized this figure. It was the lazy ninja of konoha. She walked inside the greenhouse because curiosity took its toll on her.

"well well well… who do we have here? A little homesick lazy ass?"

Shikamaru barely looked at her without moving his head before putting his gaze back to the sky.

"how do you people live here? I can't even look at the clouds peacefully without getting a kilo of sand in my eyes" he said.

"only people that have nothing to do with their time waste it cloud gazing like a lazy ass" she replied

She didn't even phase him. Not a little. This frustrated her. She couldn't get a reaction out of him.

"so what? Youre just going to lay there? You ARE the new ambassador am I right? We have to be in a meeting in twenty minutes, you're seriously just going to…"

"you talk to much woman! Here!" he threw an apple at her to catch. "relax a little. Eat this apple it's delicious. Who knew that you could grow an apple tree in the middle of the dessert and have its produce taste so good?"

She blinked twice not knowing if this kid was for real. She looked up and realized he was under an apple tree. She didn't know the greenhouse had an apple tree.

"so what? You're just going to stand there and stare at the tree? If you're not going to relax, then go away. Your stress is stressing ME out."

She took a bite of the apple and stared at it in her hand. He was right. It was absolutely delicious. She gave in and sat next to but not too close to where he laid.

"so what is it you stare at anyway?" she asked

"the clouds. They're so free and not caring. They just keep floating. Sometimes I wish I was a cloud. No cares in the world. Just go wherever the wind took me."

The more he talked, the more intriguing he was to her. What a strange boy.

"well, clouds eventually evaporate and they are the cause of rain, which I hate. Clouds are just unreliable and a waste of your time..."

"you're just saying that because you have no time to look at them and enjoy them. you never relax and just take some time for yourself." He interrupted.

"what the hell do YOU know about me?" she exclaimed rather annoyed. "clouds are a waste of time because they are not fulfilling... unlike stars."

"stars?... you think STARS are fulfilling?"

"yes I do" she stood her ground

"stars are lame." He closed his eyes.

"you've never experienced stars in the desert!"

She waited for a response but nothing.

"I said! You've never experienced stars in the desert!"

Nothing

"don't pretend like you're asleep I know you're not!."

Nothing

"ugh! YOU'RE a waste of my time!"

She got up and was ready to leave but turned around one last time

"if you want to be proven wrong, meet me at my house tonight at midnight and I'll show you what a joke clouds are. Then again, if you're too scared that I'm going to prove you wrong then don't show up."

With that, she turned to walk away with her pride. Shika simply opened one eye to watch her strut away. He smirked and closed his eyes again.