I wanted to post this earlier, because I wanted to get Temari more involved in the story since reviewers were asking for that, but I had boxing today and my body totally went in to shutdown mode when I got home. My trainer has had me sparring with his son lately. We're the same age and height, but I'm a Lightweight and he's a Welterweight so he has quite a few pounds on me, plus a lifetime more experience than I do. So all week I've been getting knocked around the ring. When I'm just training with him he doesn't seem that much bigger than me, but the moment we step in the ring he's like a giant. On the brightside I can hold my ground to him and not get knocked out, but on the not so bright side he's been beating me senseless all week. Either way It's good for me. Thanks for all the reviews, I'll try to update faster.

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 7: Back to Basics

Shikamaru despised living with his parents, he had learned a few things from his short time living independently, but the biggest lesson he learned was that everything was expensive. He struggled for a few months; he could never seem to work enough hours to pay his rent and still have enough to eat. It was embarrassing to have to return to the home that he had sworn he'd never return to after an argument with his father and mother. When he did return with his head down he expected to be turned away, but his mother quickly embraced him and told him to go to get ready for dinner. It was one of the few times he had seen his mother acting maternal and it was greatly appreciated. His father did not say a word, but Shikamaru could tell by the Shogi board that's pieces had been left in the same position since the last time they had played that his father had been expecting his return.

With his upcoming fight with Kiba on the horizon, living at home was becoming unbearable. It was impossible for Shikamaru to get the sleep that he so desired. His mother would kick him out of bed in the morning demanding that he clean up around the house. Then at night his father would kick him out of bed demanding him to go to the gym and train for his fight. According to Shikaku since the fight would take place at night, it was necessary for Shikamaru to train at night so that his body would be ready when the night hours came.

Shikamaru had been training alone at the gym for two weeks and was used to the silence of the building, but when he unlocked the door on this night he noticed someone had left the lights on. When he stepped in the usual silence was nowhere to be found, but the familiar sound of the heavy bag being hit was present. He wondered who was training this late and if they had permission from his father. He attempts to get a view of who is hitting the bag, but the bag itself obscures his view. He can hear muffled music being played. He steps around the bag to get a view. A familiar curvy blonde woman jabs at the bag. Shikamaru stands shocked at the sight of her. His eyes betray him as he looks her over from bottom to top. Her muscular legs flexed in a stance, tight dark purple shorts hugging tightly to her hips, her mid section exposed, her tan skin sparkling with a thin layer of sweat, her chest covered by a tight top sporting the Adidas logo. As his eyes made their way to her face her view snaps towards him. Temari gasps in shock and throws a jab towards Shikamaru's general direction. His instincts take over and he shifts his mid section to the left weaving an inch away to avoid it.

Temari pulls her headphones out with a little more force than necessary. "What the hell are you doing!?" she yells at Shikamaru who had just relaxed after avoiding her hit. Shikamaru's voice rises to match hers. "What am I doing? You're the one hitting me!" Temari takes a moment to calm down she puts a hand on her hip and uses the other to gesture towards Shikamaru. "Well then you shouldn't have snuck up on me, what are you doing here anyways? It's nighttime." Shikamaru wonders if she's not aware of how obvious it is. "It's not that hard, I'm a boxer. This is a boxing gym. Even someone like you could put the two together." Temari crossed her arms at his insult. She does not reply to his taunting. "What are you doing here? Last I checked you're not a boxer." Temari scoffs at him. "I was here late going over contracts for Chouji. I didn't want to waste a drive back to my brother's gym to do my work out so I figured I'd just do it here." Shikamaru mumbled a reply. "Troublesome… Well can you leave now, I have to start training. I have a fight coming up." Temari raised an eyebrow at his words. "Oh really? A skinny twerp like you got a fight. Against who?" Shikamaru's tone went on the defensive. "What do you mean? I'm perfectly capable of getting a fight. Next month against a guy named Kiba Inuzuku." Temari laughed. "You're fighting Mad Dog Kiba? Well then, have fun losing." Shikamaru was surprised for a moment. "You know of him?" he asks. "Of course I do, that guy had an amazing amateur record. The crowd loves him. He's an all out brawler. He's got this signature punch the "Fang over Fang" where he pressures his opponent in to a corner and then rocks him with overhand right and left hooks. All his fights either ended in knockouts or the ref stopped them."

The words got to Shikamaru, he had already seen how deadly Kiba was in the basement. It worried him to know that he was just as deadly or even more so in the ring. He needed to think of a strategy. He needed to analyze his opponent, but that would have to wait for another night. For now he had to focus on training.

"You can stay or go, I don't care, but I have to start training now." Temari nodded at his words. Shikamaru wasn't comfortable having her around, but he needed to focus on the things that mattered. He unzips his bag and retrieves his jump rope and begins his cardio training. Alternating between hops in different directions and hops on one foot his breathing slows to a relaxed pace. He speeds up his jump, but tries to keep his heart rate steady. This was important in the ring, because a boxer who uses too much energy too early in the fight will be outpunched later on.

During his jump his eyes slowly drifted towards Temari who had resumed hitting the bag. It sickened him that she could even be remotely attracted to the monster of a man that had killed Asuma let alone date the bastard. She was fit, more so than Shikamaru had seen in other women of her age. As he watched he noticed something off about the way she was hitting. He puts down his jump rope and grabs his gloves and approaches her. Just like before she is in her own world as she hits the bag, music blaring from her headphones. He grabs the wires connecting her headphones to her iPod and yanks it out of her ears.

"What the hell man!" she starts, but before she can finish yelling he speaks. "You're doing it wrong. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right. It's a bother, but I'll show you." She begins to protest, but Shikamaru ignores her as he straps the gloves on and assumes his stance at the heavy bag next to the one she is using. "Stand like I am." Temari looks at his stance for a moment and slowly mimics it. "We start with the left jab. The left jab is the key to all punches. Use it to check your reach, test your opponent's reflexes, distance yourself from an attacker, and to open opportunities for bigger punches. Watch how I do it." Shikamaru snaps his left hand out and returns it quickly to its guarding position. Temari does the same, but lets her hand drop as she finishes. "Don't drop it. That's the worst thing you can do. After every punch return the hand to the guarding position. No matter what keep your guard up. Chin down with gloves covering the side of your cheeks. That's a good place to start learning the basics of defense." Temari repeated her jab and returned it to its rightful position after it was finished. "That looks better, just pull it back faster. Now the right straight, this is the follow up punch. We throw the left jab and follow up with the right straight." Shikamaru demonstrates for her. To his surprise she gets it instantaneously and looks quite solid as she hits the bag. "Good, that's a one two. The left jab is the one; the right straight is the two." She flashed a quick smile as she repeated the punches. "Alright now we learn the three. It's the left hook." Shikamaru demonstrates it for her. Temari attempts to copy it, but she can't get it right. She tries multiple times, but she can't seem to get it. Shikamaru speaks up. "You're dropping your hand as you punch, Keep it straight as you follow through, It's called a hook, because the punch hooks around, picture hitting the side of the head with this punch, not the chin. You'll begin to drop it low if you picture the chin. It helps me to think of it as I'm making my arm in to an L shape and it is swinging towards my opponent." Temari listens and tries again, the punch looks better, but it does not hit hard. Finally Shikamaru realizes the problem and knows how hard it is to describe in words. He uses the same method Asuma used to teach him.

He walks up behind Temari and grabs on to her hips one hand on each side. She lets out a small noise of surprise and Shikamaru can hear the sharp breath she is taking to let of a yell at him, he speaks before she can. "Just bare with me, this is hard to explain with words." Temari opens her mouth to protest, but gives up halfway and listens to what Shikamaru has to say. "You're not using your hips. Hips are where the strength comes from. It's hard to explain, you have to feel it. You bring the power from your stance, so it comes from the foot. And it works its way up through your legs and your hips use all of it at once to give the punch fuel." Temari looks over her shoulder a bit confused. "I know it's hard to understand, let me show you. Keep your stance the same and locked in a bit" He moves Temari's hips towards the left. They shift with his hands. "Alright put your left hand in hook position." She obeys his demands. "Now put force in to your punch as I shift your hips to the right." Temari nods to let him know she understands. He pulls her hips back towards the right and her left fist follows a heavy thud hits the bag. Temari speaks with excitement. "I get it now." She shifts her hips on her own and throws her left hook over and over. Shikamaru can't help, but feel proud at what he's accomplished.

"Shikamaru…" she says quietly. "Yeah?" he asks. "You can let go now." It takes Shikamaru a moment to understands what she means, but after looking down he saw his hands were still holding on to her hips. He quickly lets go and distances himself from her, his cheeks warming up no matter how much he tries to force them not to. She laughs at his actions. Her laughter is coarse and rough, and for some odd reason Shikamaru finds himself enjoying it, and then it hits him again. This was the woman who was with that monster who had taken Asuma from the land of the living; he quickly regains his ill thoughts of her in his mind.

He reverts back to his cold glare and body language he had reserved especially for her. "Well were done now. I'm going back to training." Temari had taken notice of his hostility. "Thanks then." Shikamaru began walking back to his corner of the gym. "Whatever" he mutters over his shoulder. Faintly he can here an insult whispered under her breath. He forces himself not to look back. In fear that he might like what he sees.