When she woke up with a crick in her neck, her first thought was to sit up and stretch, but upon attempting said manoeuvre, she found that there wasn't enough room in the small car to do so.
The sky was still dark, and while she was aware that it was November and therefore darker in general, she still found herself surprised by the fact that the sun hadn't yet begun to make its presence known to those of the waking world.
She glanced at her watch and saw that it was only half five, and that waking Shikamaru would be fairly cruel.
She sat forward and peeked at the man in question who was seated in the driver's seat, wearing a slight frown and snoring lightly.
Temari rested her cheek on the passenger seat and gazed at him. His resting bitch face was perfectly in place, even as he slept.
She hadn't noticed before, but his eyebrows were fairly scrawny for a guy, and his nose was narrow too. His lips were thin, and his hair was soft, and why was she touching his hair?
Did it matter?
It was soft, that was what mattered, unlike her messy straw-like nest. She made a mental note to ask him what conditioner he used.
She felt a hand close over her own and she didn't start.
"Hey," she mumbled as she continued threading her fingers through his hair.
"Hmm," he mumbled, nowhere near awake yet.
She brought the strand which she'd been twirling through her fingers behind his ear and looked at him, his eyes only beginning to open.
"Shikamaru?"
"Hn?"
She didn't move her hand as she opened her mouth to speak. It rested by his jaw, leaning on his ear.
"What conditioner do you use?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes," she grumbled, "It's a matter of life or death."
He sighed and took his hand off of hers to rub his eyes.
"Whichever one is handy. I use my conditioner before my shampoo though."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
"You weirdo," she snorted. "Why would you do that?"
He shrugged. "My dad recommended I do it."
She nodded.
"I'll try that then,"
He frowned.
"I like your hair though,"
"Well I don't."
"Whatever you want then." He replaced his hand where it had been and threaded his fingers through hers.
"How cruel," he mumbled. "Waking me up before six A M."
"I didn't mean to. I didn't think you were the kind of guy who had a delicate scalp."
He snorted at her joke and shut his eyes again, beginning to doze off.
"Hahaha, nope," Temari snapped, grabbing a fistful of his hair. "If you're awake, you're staying awake."
He winced and rubbed his head as she released him. "Woman, I can't function this early in the morning!"
"Tough."
"There isn't even anything to do! I'm not driving halfway down a mountain in the dark!"
"Entertain me then."
He huffed and reached into his bag, extracting a small leather bound book and dropping it on her lap. "Entertain yourself."
"I'm not reading a boo-"
"Just open it, will you?"
She shot him a death glare and opened it on the first page, gasping as her eyes settled on a beautiful picture of a forest trail.
It was shot in autumn, the golden leaves that littered the frame were caught mid-dance and swirled with such vibrant colours that even an artist would have difficulties painting them.
"It's a collection of my twenty-five best photos. A portfolio, if you will."
"It's gorgeous," Temari breathed, turning the page to see two more photos.
One was of a kingfisher in flight, hovering over a clear pool of water, the second was of a crowded marketplace seen from above, with red tents and bustling people.
The next page was a polaroid picture of two people: A slim blonde girl with silky smooth hair reaching for a boy's hand. The boy was pale and had an odd expression on his face as he gazed expectantly at her thin extended arm.
Opposite that was a shot of the same blonde girl from behind, walking with a larger boy. Their shadows stretched out behind them as they walked towards a wide expanse of trees.
She flicked through the next few pages which held pictures of dusty alleys and railroad tracks.
At the next page, she froze.
"Shikamaru?"
"Hrn?" He grumbled, his eyes opening in annoyance.
"Where are the rest of them? You said there were twenty five of them."
"Well there are meant to be. I just haven't taken enough yet. Keep flicking through. I've left gaps."
Sure enough, she turned over the page and saw a picture of a pregnant woman glaring at a man who was smoking, who only gazed back at her with kind eyes. Neither of them were looking at the camera.
There was a photo of chess pieces toppled on a chess board that had grown dusty, and a photo of a bare tree.
On the last page she found-
"You bitch," she laughed, slamming the book shut.
"What?" He smirked, knowing full well what it was that had caused her to insult him.
She opened the book to the last page and placed it between the two of them.
The photo had a blue tone to it and showed a girl with blonde hair who had her hand pressed to glass and was staring longingly at something out of the frame.
The girl had four ponytails and even Temari had to admit it:
"I look good in this."
"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded absentmindedly, making her chuckle.
"Okay, creep."
He blushed a little and reached for the photo album.
"Who's the pretty blonde?" Temari couldn't help but ask.
"You?"
"Nice try, but no. The one who looks like a model."
Shikamaru frowned for a moment before realisation broke out onto his face and he flicked to the third page.
"This one?" He asked, pointing at the girl who was reaching for the strange looking boy.
"Yeah."
"That's Ino." He pointed to the boy beside her. "That's her boyfriend Sai, and this-" he pointed at the large boy who's back was to the camera. "-is Chouji. He's my best friend."
He flicked over a couple of pages and pointed to the photo of the couple.
"Kurenai and Asuma." He said, a small frown on his face. "Their kid is my god child. She's a total sweetheart."
Temari studied his face as he spoke of the people in the photos, subtly smiling at the fact that he was openly talking about his friends.
"And this is just some troublesome girl who dragged me on some epic journey," he added, pointing to the last one.
Temari rolled her eyes and ignored his last comment.
"They're really good photos, Shikamaru."
"Thanks."
She gently closed the album and leaned forward to place it on his lap, wincing as she felt a pain on her side.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she muttered, pressing her hand to the spot on her waist. "I think I got a bruise there from the fall. "
"Do you want me to take a look at it?" He asked. "I'm not a medic or anything but..."
He stopped talking when he noticed her raised eyebrow.
"Shikamaru, that is the most circumspect approach anyone has ever tried to get me out of my clothes."
"Eh?! No-I-" he spluttered, instantly going red. "I didn't mean-"
Temari chuckled and shook her head "I'm only messing with you, but it's fine don't worry."
She settled back into her seat at the back of the car and watched Shikamaru as he delicately put the album back in his bag before resting his forearms on the steering wheel.
"What now?" He asked. "It's still too dark to drive."
"Wanna play chess?"
His eyes lit up at her suggestion and he got the board from his bag and opened the drivers door to come around and sit at the back with her.
"Prepare to lose, Woman." He growled with a smile, startling her slightly.
-IOIOIOI-
Shikamaru had fallen asleep half way through their sixth game of chess and the sun was beginning to rise with beautiful colours painting the sky.
"Hey, the sky looks nice," she muttered, placing the board on the front seat so that she could use his arm as a pillow.
She knew he probably hadn't heard her, but she didn't mind.
Scooting in close to him, she rested her head against his shoulder and allowed herself to close her eyes and give in to the fact that she was still tired.
She felt his arm wrap around her waist and didn't question it as his head dropped on top of hers and he half-whispered half-mumbled something which she couldn't quite understand because she was too busy falling asleep.
-IOIOIOI-
The car was moving as she allowed her eyes to open again, she noticed that she was strapped in and had a travel cushion around her neck.
"Shikamaru?" She called.
"Oh, you're awake?"
She looked to the driver's seat and saw his pony tail sticking out from above it.
"No, I'm just coherently sleep-talking," she said sarcastically.
She heard a chuckle.
"I'm getting us some take-out breakfast, I hope you don't mind."
"No, no. Fire away." Temari caught a glimpse of her reflection in the rearview mirror and was glad to see that her face wasn't as bruised-looking as it had been the night before.
"Where are we headed?" She asked, glancing out the window to see a road that she didn't recognise.
"You'll see."
A moment or so later, she heard him switch the indicator on before turning right into a car park. She couldn't see where they were and she waited until they were parked to ask again.
"Where are we?"
He didn't answer as he stepped out of the car and walked around to open her door for her.
Temari stepped out and frowned slightly.
"Why the chivalr- oh." Her eyes widened as she looked at the building in front of her.
"Oh." She repeated.
He chuckled and placed one of his arms around her shoulder.
"There are twenty five other letters in the alphabet who feel very forgotten at the moment."
She couldn't even glare at him.
"Oh."
"I'll take that as a 'wow Shikamaru, you're the best!' " he smiled, she could only nod in response.
"We should probably head in. I guarantee you the inside is better than the outside."
She nodded numbly and shuffled beside him, not daring to blink too much in case she was dreaming and it woke her up.
"Have you ever been before?"
She shook her head disbelievingly. She had completely forgotten to add the Planetarium to her list.
"Wow." She managed eventually. "Wow. Really Shikamaru, holy shit wow."
"I know, I'm the best."
"Yeah." She nodded. "Right now, you seriously are."
She saw a small prideful smile play across his lips as they walked into the building.
She didn't dare close her eyes.
A/N:IIIII NEEEEEEEEED TO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
I will edit this tomorrow or the day after, sorry for any mistakes-I'llgo through comments and all of that when I edit this chapter, I just honestly haven't got the time tonight, so if you' reviewed one of the last chapters and you want to see if I responded to that, I'll have it up in a day or two, I just seriously need to chill out and sleep for at least four hours right now.
***EDIT***
Okie: Reviews!
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