Hiiii.

Sorry for the long break. Work got crazy and I was so tired and I'm still tired and it makes me hate my writing right now. Last chapter was a mess and I haven't even gotten a chance to go back to fix everything. This chapter will be the same and I hope it doesn't take away from the story too much. I just really wanted to scribble all of this down while it's still fresh in my head. ^^;

I know this chapter is taking an abrupt change. Kind of. It's just that I hadn't expected ONE WEEKEND TO SPREAD OVER TEN CHAPTERS... but no worries. I don't have a limit for this fic. It ends when it ends. :)

Pages in Our Storybooks

The dryness of Temari's throat reminded her of Suna during a heatwave.

Fatigued from her body fighting to counter the side effects of drinking, she continued to lie there motionless. There was so much alcohol in her system that it burned her nostrils every time she went to exhale. While she usually loved the herbal scent of gin, it no longer smelled appealing as it circulated through her bloodstream.

Her body reluctantly sat up when she decided she could no longer tolerate the dehydration. That was when she finally noticed the weight of his arm around her bare waist. Still groggy from waking up so parched, she had completely forgotten the activities earlier that had resulted in both of them falling asleep naked.

Moving with as much caution as she could in her given state to avoid waking him up, she continued to slip out from under the sheets.

Once her feet found the cool wooden floors beneath his bed, she made her way across the room and picked up his shirt that she had helped him remove earlier. A hint of cedar and pine leaves filled her nostrils as she slipped it over her shoulders. Her fingers grazed the soft fabric as she fastened the middle button to keep the top closed.

His shirt hung off her shoulder and fell past her toned buttocks like a dress as she refilled the glass she had used earlier. The chilled water woke up her senses as it washed over the drought in her mouth. Even though she didn't have a hangover, it lifted the fog from her brain as she polished it off.

She had spent countless drunken nights with Kurotsuchi trying to figure out the secret to not feeling like death the morning after indulging in the toxic liquid. She recalled the mornings after their failed attempts.

"Tem, you'd think growing up with royal blood and being the first in our councils would make us intelligent enough to realized how stupid this research project is."

"Yeah… but it's fun until we wake up. Besides, isn't this how we cope with all of those meetings?"

She felt herself smiling as she remembered the way they tried to suppress their laughter because of their headaches.

Fortunately, after far too many trial and errors to count, they figured out that the culprit behind those god awful headaches boiled down to two things: one was sugar, and the other was mixing different types of alcohol. Ever since then, Temari only drank enough juice or soda to chase if she absolutely had to. Otherwise, she would only drink liquor neat or with carbonated water when she wasn't drinking wine or beer. Once she had chosen her poison, she would refuse to drink anything else for the rest of the night.

A little breathless from chugging the water, she inhaled deeply to regular her breathing. His scent floated into her nostrils again, causing her to turn her attention back to the sleeping shinobi who was still passed out. She leered at him from the opening of his glass shogi doors and smiled from what she could see of his peaceful face.

After making sure that she was okay from her fall earlier, Shikamaru endearingly helped her slip out of her boots and walked her to his couch. They sat in silence together as they sipped on their water. She remembered the way her eyes followed his fingers as he began to trace patterns on her thighs before rising to watch him stare at the glass in his hand. She had noticed lately that he would touch her legs when he was deep in his thoughts, similar to the way he would bring his fingers together when he had to strategize a plan.

When he finally felt her eyes on him, he rotated his his just enough to stared back into them. She had caught his subtle affectionate gazes several times these past few months, but there was something that was very different this time around. In fact, everything he did earlier was a little out of the ordinary for them.

A couple seconds continued to pass by before he reached for her cup to placed both their drinks on the coffee table. When he leaned back, he gently cupped the back of her neck and pulled her into a tender, yet passionate kiss. His other hand found a resting place on her waist as he moved forward to deepen their kiss. Then he proceeded to pull her onto his lap and held her close, almost as if he thought there was still too much space between them. Once she was straddling him, his lips found their way to her neck while his nimble fingers went to unfastened the belt around her waist.

It was Shikamaru who showed her just how aggressive she was willing to get when it came to sex. The lazy genius was anything but lazy in bed. He paid attention to every single one of her reactions when he touched her, always pushing her just far enough but never failing to recognized when to stop. Though sex with him was always the perfect mixture of pleasure and pain, it was also always playful. Sarcastic jokes and laughter always found a place in the midst of their passionate moans and sighs.

Except this time.

There was no teasing or taunting. Instead of withholding his touch this time, he gave her everything her body ached for. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair as she tried to do the same. The way his nails ripped into her back as she moved on top forced her to feel his hunger for her.

Her skin burned as it recalled the way his strong hands and soft lips roamed her body. Following his tempo, she did exactly the same, only nipping and scratching him when the feeling grew too intense for her to handle. His strong arms kept her close to him, only pulling her back so that he could taste the skin on her neck and chest with his tongue.

It wasn't gentle sex. No, Shikamaru was never gentle.

When they weren't play rough, he was cool and calculated.

This time, he was warm and tender. He moved slowly as if he was trying to savor her.

It came as a surprise to Temari as she was used to their hot and steamy fights for dominance that always took place instead.

Her mind stumbled upon further clarity when she noticed her packed belongings on the counter from the corner of her eye.

She was going home in a few hours.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed with excitement to see her kin and being able to sleep in her own bed, she felt her heart sinking into her stomach. It was different from when she thought of her mother's death or her brothers in danger. It wasn't as devastating as that for sure, but it still caused her heart to ache in a rather unfamiliar way. No amount of emotional training had taught her how to soothe the pain that came from leaving someone you were never really with.

She heard Kurotsuchi's voice slurring in her head again.

A drunk mind speaks a sober heart…

Temari knew deep down that their relationship would have never worked. It was the reason behind her question for Sakura earlier that night. He wasn't going to leave Konoha and she wasn't going to leave Suna. They could never physically be together. Ever.

With no offense to Sakura and Hinata, she always thought that she wasn't one of those girls who latched onto the first guy she'd develop feelings for. She thought she was strong enough to just enjoy it for what it was and moved on when the time was necessary.

But here you are… she scolded herself.

Knowing that her mind was racing far too much to fall back asleep, she dug around his kitchen until she found a few jars and a large pot. After setting up her battle station, she went to the fridge to pull out the remaining strawberries.

Shikamaru stirred from underneath his blanket. Although he woke up when she had initially crept out of bed, he was still enjoying the peaceful limbo between being half awake and falling into a deep sleep. However, the sudden ruckus in his kitchen pulled him from that limbo state and brought his attention to the faint throbbing in his head.

Frustrated, he threw off the blanket and tried to find his boxers in the dimly lit room. Turning his head look outside the bedroom, he sighed in annoyance before going to retrieve it off the couch. Light spilled in from all of his windows, allowing the full moon to illuminate his apartment just enough to for him to see where he was going. The only other source of light was the one directly over the stove where Temari was standing.

"It's half-past three in the morning. What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he glared at the clock sitting on top of the steps that divided his living room and dining area.

She turned around to see him retracting his thumbs from the waistband on his boxers. His hair danced around his shoulders when he went to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Making jam," she flatly replied before turning her attention back to the stove.

His hands reached for the large mason jars she'd lined up on the counter. Picking it up, he rotated the glass in his hands to inspect what he could see of it in the dark kitchen.

"Not the first thing I want to hear after waking up to headache…" he groaned as set down the jar. It made a gentle clanging sound when it touched his granite counter. Leaning against the island that was parallel to the the stove, he watched as she stirred the crimson goo in the pot.

"That's because you mixed," she said without taking her eyes off the mixure. "I know it looked crazy that I played flip cup with shots, but it calls for a much better morning than mixing beer and liquor."

"Duly noted," he murmured, scratching the back of his head as a yawn took over his body.

"Here," she said as she handed him her water. "Keep hydrating yourself."

"Thanks…" he replied quietly as he watched her turned back to her project. Despite her attempt to quickly avert his gaze, he still managed catch the conflict that was stirring in her stormy eyes. It was also painfully obvious due to her sudden closed off demeanor and short responses. He reached over and picked up a strawberry that she had left out of the batch she was working on. "Strawberry for your thoughts?"

Even though her heart felt like it was being dragged down by an anchor, he still managed to make her smile. She sighed and continued to stir the red mixture in front of her, knowing that this conversation was better to have sooner than later.

"A sigh only tells me that you're troubled, but not what is troubling you, troublemaker." He said playfully.

"I know it's far too soon to be thinking about the future," she began without looking at him. "But quite frankly, I didn't expect to like you so much so fast."

A serious expression took over the smirk on his face. He placed the empty cup that he had been fidgeting with on the counter and waited for her to continued. When she didn't say anything, he searched his mind for something to break the silence with.

"Well, the feeling's mutual…" he said as he brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head again.

"Right…" she said quietly. "And so… what would happen if we were to get serious?"

"Well… women usually move with their husbands…" he replied. For some reason, it didn't feel like the right answer to him even though he was simply repeating the commonly followed tradition.

"But, and only by birthright, I'm not just any woman, Shikamaru. Both you and I are our respective Kage's right hands and first in command. We can't just…"

"Right," he answered as her voice trailed off. He crossed his arms and traced the patterns on his wooden floors with his eyes.

They stood there in their thoughts with only the sound of the burning flame from his stove to fill the silence around them.

Temari chose to omit the fact that marrying her is still far more complicated due to her lineage. Distance alone was enough to put a strain on their relationship.

After what seemed like an eternity, Shikamaru finally spoke again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," she answered gently.

"When we were trapped in the infinite tsukuyomi, what was your idea of a perfect world?"

Her brows knotted together in confusion at the random question, but quickly relaxed when she recalled the dream. It made her aware of how much she'd missed Kankuro amen Gaara despite her current situation with Shikamaru.

"Well…" she began. "I dreamed that my silly brothers needed me and that I was of use to them."

Shikamaru closed his eyes and quietly sighed, "I see."

"What about you?" she asked hoping to find the intention behind the sudden question in his answer.

"Asuma and my father were alive. My mom was nagging him and Asuma was clueless on what to do with his screaming baby."

"So you saw your family too?"

"And you," he answered.

"Me?" she asked. Her voice was so quiet that it almost came out like a whisper.

"Yeah," he replied. He opened his eyes to stare at the floor. "You were agreeing with me that marriage was too troublesome."

Temari narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't tell whether she felt more confused or offended. "Are you saying that your happy ending was you not marrying me?"

"Tch." He grunted and knotted his brows together. "No, you silly troublemaker."

Her eyes softened again when he addressed her by the nickname he had given her.

"What I got from my dream was that… Yes, I got to see my father and my sensei alive. However, I also considered the idea of marriage, and I guess I considered it with you because you were the only other person in my dream."

"O-oh…" she stammered. Her head snapped back to the pot of jam when she felt the heat rising to her cheeks.

"But… I guess we're not quite on the same page," he muttered quietly as lifted himself off to counter to take a seat at his dining table.

Temari watch as he closed his eyes and threw his head back over the chair. She turned off the stove before making her way over to join him.

"My turn to ask the questions," she declared as she sat herself in the chair next to him. He opened his eyes and turned to look at her. Her hands reached for his and brought them on top of the table. "Tell me about your eighth birthday," she said as she held both of his hands.

It was his turn now to look at her in confusion. Even in the partially lit room, her eyes glimmered like a sky full of stars when she smiled warmly back at him.

"Uh… Well, Ino and Choji brought me to the store to buy me ice cream. I thought it was weird because it was at ten in the morning, but we played in the park until about lunch. When we returned to my estate, there were a ton of our family friends gathered there for a surprise party."

"That sounds nice," she smiled. "What was your favorite present that year?"

"Hmm." He looked down at the table as he searched his memory. His hands rotated around so that her fingers rested in his palms. "My dad got me this treasure chest full of old artifacts and relics. They're about as useful as paper weights, but they all had really interesting stories of war heroes behind them."

"That's pretty neat. I'm a sucker for things like that," she chuckled.

"Yeah… I noticed your love for history when we researched the old scrolls," he smiled, keeping his eyes on their hands.

"What about your tenth birthday? You were still in the academy, right?"

"Oh, yeah." He laughed quietly as he watched the way their fingers danced together. "Funny you mention that… We had a special dinner reserved at this upscale restaurant and I showed up with a handprint on my face."

Her weight shifted back as she shot him a confused look.

"Iruka spoke to my mom about my bad grades from always sleeping in the class," he smiled nervously and shrugged.

"And you call everyone else troublesome…" she said with an unimpressed look on her face. "Yet, somehow you're helping prepare that goof Naruto to be your village's next Kage. I remember you telling me stories of the trouble you guys would get into"

He snorted back a laugh, "Yep. Leading by example."

"Ugh, we obviously picked the wrong time to invade Konoha. Should have just waited a decade or two," she joked, rolling her eyes.

He laughed with her.

After falling back into a moment silence, he watched quietly as she traced the lines on his palms.

"And what about when you were twelve?" she asked. "That's when you had to get ready for the chunin exams, right?"

"Yeah. Remember when I told you how Sakura yelled at me for pretending I was under the genjutsu?"

She scoffed, "I'm so glad you redeemed yourself from your lazy behavior before I decided to sleep with you."

"I thought you said that was because you were waiting for me to catch up with you in height," he retorted.

Temari bit her lip and scoffed, "That too."

In the midst of their jokes and hand holding, he had almost forgotten about their initial conversation earlier.

"Hey, troublemaker…" he began, replacing his cheery tone with a more serious one. "What's all this got to do with what we were talking about?"

The smile on Temari's face faded as well. She sat there quietly as he stroked his fingers across the few callouses she had on her hands.

"Tem?"

She softly let out a sigh before raising her eyes to look at his, greeting him with the smoky green hue that reminded him of the way the leaves in his forest clung onto the light at sunset.

"On my eighth birthday, I was sent on a mission to massacre the village belonging to a group of bandits that threatened Sunagakure. Even though they were bandits, they still had innocent women and children who lived amongst them."

Shikamaru watched a melancholy wave washed over her eyes.

"Do you remember the first person you've ever killed?" she asked rhetorically. "I do. It wasn't just a person either. It was three children and their mother who was trying to shield them from me. By the time I was ten, I had already lost count of the battle fields I've fought on let alone the amount of people I've slaughter. And while you were preparing for the chunin exams, I was told I was not allowed to take the test when I turned twelve. Instead, I was informed that we had to go to war and needed prep my youngest brother as a weapon. As you know, we initiated the war when I was fifteen… I came into your village that day not knowing if I was going to make it out alive. I didn't know whether my brothers, my only family, would make it out alive. Particularly Gaara…"

Even though her hands were still resting on top of his, both of them had stopped moving as she shared her story.

"So you see, Shikamaru…" she continued. "Maybe we're not on the same page because well. We come from different books and lived in different stories. And please, by no means am I saying that my pain is worse than yours… It's not that I've suffered more, it's that I've suffered longer. Please don't think it's because one of us is more invested than the other, it's just— "

"You and your siblings have never had a real childhood and this is the first time you guys get to lead the village as a family instead pawns in a fight for power," he finished for her. "I'm so sorry, Temari. That was incredibly selfish of me to say given what I already know about your family. I should have known better," he apologized as his sullen eyes fell back to their intertwined fingers. Both of them sat there quietly, unsure of what to say next.

The sound of her chair dragging against his hardwood floor broke the silence that had fallen on them as she got up and turned around to sit on his lap. Her legs dangled off the side as she wrapped her arms behind his head.

"It's okay," she said softly as she nuzzled her head against his neck. "Maybe one day when you're not so lazy, we can take over Tanigakure and start our own village. Then we'll be right in the middle of Suna and Konoha."

She heard the rumbling in his chest as he laughed at her joke. A smile appeared on her rosy lips when she felt his arms snaking around her waist to pull her body closer to his.

"And who would be the Kage of this new village?" he asked.

"You," she answered, looking up to grin at him. "I'll be your muscle."

Her smile was contagious. Shikamaru found himself laughing again despite the sadness that was accumulating inside him. She always managed to find a way to warm up his heart.

"Well," he began quietly. "What now? Pretend that this… that we never happened?"

Temari stroked the back of his neck affectionately with her thumb as she took a deep breath. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair as she tried to find ways to articulate her feelings.

"No," she answered when she finally spoke. "I don't ever want to forget… us. I don't think I can to be honest. We just have to move forward and appreciate the time we did get to spend with each other."

"Such a shame that it was so short…" he murmured into her hair.

"Yeah…" she agreed as she tightened her arms around his neck.

Shikamaru ran his hands against her thighs, feeling the definition on her legs from her rigorous training. He dragged his palm against her skin until it reached her knee before flipping it around to run the back of his hand up towards her hips. He repeated the pattern as they sat there silently.

After a few minutes, Temari stood up and turned around to face him. Her hands found their way to his shoulders and used them for balance as she lowered her weight back onto his lap to straddle him. When she was finally seated, she gently ran her fingernails down his body. Goosebumps manifested across his skin as she gently raked them past his chest and down the definition on his abdominals.

His own fingernails found themselves digging into the flesh on her legs as he tossed his head back to let out a quiet moan.

"Tem…" he whispered. His head slowly rolled back as he opened his eyes to meet hers. People always spoke about the way her eyes shone like emeralds, but he never thought that was quite right. Emeralds were more of a true green like Sakura's, while Ino's were more of a turquoise. Temari's eyes were somewhere in between, but darker. In fact, he never found a gemstone that accurately represented her eyes. They were deeper, like the sea right before a storm. "Don't you think this will make parting tomorrow even harder?" he asked in a hush voice.

"You mean to tell me that you've found a way to make this easier?" she replied sarcastically.

After failing to find a flaw in her reason, he decided to give into her touch.

"I suppose you're right…" he whispered into her ear. A sigh escaped her lips when she felt his breath. Her arms snaked behind his head again as he began to paint her the skin on her neck with his lips. He slid his wrapped his hands under her thighs to pick her up and carried her to back to his bed.

Tonight, he was going to take in as much of her as he could before he had to let her go.

Hiiiii.. I know I said there would be a lemon but I guess this is kind of a lemon 'cause I'm just not in the mental state to write one. I'm just exhausted but still really want to write this fic!

I just think my title is so weird now because I had originally planned on taking this fanfic a very different route. Chapter 2 was actually the very first chapter I wrote and it was supposed to be a RomCom of Temari reflecting back on everything Ino and Sakura taught her about astrology. Tem doesn't even have Scorpio Moon, I just made it up and thought it was fitting for her (although I believe that another placement might have been more accurate now if you know a thing or two about astrology...) Oh well. It has a nice ring to it I guess haahah.

Stay tuned...

A bit more from Shikamaru's point of view and Temari's farewell to Konoha.

Simone137 - Thanks! Yeah, I think I mentioned this before but I'm around the age they are in the blank period so I think it helps bring a realistic perspective of how they would act. I remember seeing Shika and Choji drinking (rather large) glasses beers in the 497 (I think) so I mean... I assume they're doing young adults things around this time period. Hehehee, thanks for the compliment on the lemon. Do you really think I made Shiho more confident? I don't remember her too well but I remember she wasn't meek either. Right? Okay, I don't really remember. Hahahah.

charlieobsesses - oh man, slice bread is the real deal too. thanks, love!

Wiceriene - Hehe, but he doesn't get a chance to and got yelled at right? I've stopped watching Boruto since that episode. I hate, hate, hate they way they portray Tem so I refuse to accept it as a canon! (PS: I wouldn't write Vampires in this universe but I probably won't continue that fanfic anyway. I have muuuuuch better ideas for the AU one)

KangerTop21 - "he got no time for that kind of drama" bwahahaha. right? I can see her only making bratty comments with him and he would just be like siiiiiigh, nope!

PennyChemie & lili & Axel0913 - thank you! i love the support.