Inspired by; My wish to come up with a slightly less fluffy Shikatema- this was the best I could do! :)


BANG

BANG

BANG

"Open up!"

Despite of the fact that he had only one foot on the stairs as he made his way up to bed, Shikamaru was still bemoaning the fact that there was someone wanting into his house at 2am in the morning.

Adding fuel to the worsening fire was the fact that this person was obviously loud and most discernibly female.

Trudging back to the door, he threw it open.

"Temari?" he queried into the night, eyeing the out-of-breath female standing on his doorway.

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly, not really looking at him; but moving closer.

Not in much of a mood to turn her down given the scene that would follow if he did, Shikamaru stepped back and widened the door allowing her room.

Taking the initiative she strode in, her arms folded around her body tightly.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Shikamaru went on abruptly, deciding to get to the point.

Obviously not wanting to answer him, the blonde continued to pace slowly back and forth in the space separating his living room and his kitchen.

"Temari..." he tried again, before she spun around quickly.

"We're not friends, right?" she questioned harshly, glaring at him angrily.

Unable to decipher what she was trying to get at by asking such a thing, he decided to be honest.

"No," he replied normally, settling himself on the edge of his coffee table. It looked like this conversation was going to run for a while.

Nodding jerkily, she started tapping her foot.

"And you don't find me attractive or anything?" she persisted, her eyes still boring into his unnervingly.

A little put off and wondering if she was trying to trap him, he stuttered.

"Eh...I...well, it's..."

Sighing hurriedly, she fixed him with an exasperated look.

"Look, you're not in love with me, are you?" Temari gritted, as Shikamaru eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"No!" he said truthfully, wondering what the hell was wrong with her tonight.

"Right," she stated heavily, as though she'd just decided something. "Good."

And then she was fumbling with her obi as he proceeded to choke.

"What..." he began, in a stunned manner but his brain cut off as her obi dropped whilst her kimono fell open.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" Temari asked without a hint of shame or embarrassment at the fact that she was essentially naked in his house, covered only by two pieces of flimsy binding.

Coughing repeatedly now and barely able to think, he asked the first thing that came into his head.

"Why?"

Rolling her eyes, Temari sighed again before her hands went for the kunai strapped to her leg, with which she then slid through the bindings like butter.

As the material fluttered to the floor, Shikamaru felt his heart stop.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" she repeated, twice as decisively as before.

And then he nodded. Because, yes, he did want to have sex with her.


He awoke the next morning with the sun streaming in through the windows, the wind rustling tenderly outside and some gorgeous, curvy blonde sprawled on the other side of his bed.

After he had finally awoken her with a little gentle shifting on his behalf, he found himself watching her wrapping up her skin with the spare bandages he kept in his bedside cabinet.

"You know last night meant nothing, don't you?" she asked quietly, sitting down to thread the material in between her thighs.

Not really surprised by her admission and to be honest, a little relieved, Shikamaru nodded silently, lying down to let his eyes drift closed again.

"My boyfriend cheated on me," came her voice, plain as anything yet sounding somewhat fragile. He thought he might have imagined it though.

His eyes opened again only to watch her retying her hair.

"So, I was revenge sex?" he asked dramatically, pretending to be miffed as she smiled half-heartedly.

She shrugged and continued with her hair perfections.

"Is he dead yet?" Shikamaru continued conversationally, mentally connecting the freckles on her back.

"No," she replied through a laugh, lying back down to sprawl herself across the foot of the bed.

"Why not?"

"I'm kind of in love with him," Temari said, as he watched her carefully for signs of emotion. "So, I don't really want to hurt him."

Surprised at the sudden display of tenderness, Shikamaru frowned.

"He hurt you," he said bluntly, kicking at her foot as she rolled over to face him.

She sighed.

"I know. But it's his loss, right?" she stated blithely, as though she had heard that line somewhere before.

As far as Shikamaru was concerned the guy was an idiot. If only for the fact that she had two brothers likely to impale him. But mostly because Shikamaru figured that once any guy actually had Temari, he'd be smart enough never to let her go.

Even he knew that.

As that alarming thought entered his head, Shikamaru wondered if now might be the time to do something gallant.

"You can stay here, if you want," he said, annoyed that it didn't come out quiet as gracefully as he had wanted.

She scoffed, her head falling slowly to regard him.

"If you think that I'm staying here and sleeping with you whilst I get over this bastard then..."

Feeling incredibly stupid- he should've known she would've taken it the wrong way- Shikamaru sat up.

"Look," he interrupted practically, glaring down at her. "I'm not asking you to marry me. I'm not saying I want to be with you. I'm just saying that you can crash here for a while whilst things in Suna cool down."

Her eyes narrowed, as she watched him suspiciously.

"Ugh," he groaned, throwing his legs off of the bed. "Forget I asked."

"No!" Temari interjected quickly, sitting up, her arms stopping him from moving.

A quiet pause followed whilst he waited for her to say something.

"I'd like that," she said finally, her eyes directed downwards. "Thanks."

"No problem," Shikamaru answered gently, pressing a kiss to her shoulder, before moving towards the bathroom to get showered.

From his view in the mirror, he observed as she exited the room, trying not to think about what he had just gotten himself into.

Here he was, an admittedly lonely, hormonal teenager, shacking up with a temperamental, broken-hearted female.

He wanted to believe that it was all just platonic.

But when she crawled into his bed beside him that night, he wasn't really surprised.


I may do a follow up where boyfriend arrives- if anyone wishes it, that is :)

Let me know!

Review!

SP7