The way Maria first introduced herself to Shikamaru was, in simple terms, beyond embarrassing.

She had been informed upon her arrival at her new home -a charming little duplex surrounded by its identical friends- that a ninja lived next door to her. She hadn't really been to focused on it, more bothered by her mother nagging in her ear about how if she was going to buy a family home she should at least have a family first.

But as she slowly got more settled into her home, the gossipers swept upon her steps and whispered to her stories of her neighbor.

He was a genius ninja who was revered as one of the more capable and strategic of all the Konoha nin. He was married, though his wife had been missing for years now, and he had two children that he was raising all by his self.

And he never took off his ring.

She sometimes heard the laughter of children at play, the sounds of scoldings and of the begging for just five more minutes, happy family sounds she hoped to hear from her own home sometime in the future.

She always kept herself away from that other half of the building though, never really sure as to why. But she just sensed that something would... change if she dared to approach it.

One night on her way home from her work at the library it started to rain. It was only a small drizzle when it started, forcing Maria to pop up the collar of her coat to try and stay dry during the walk home, though the thought didn't last long when the rain abruptly began to pound down on her, soaking her to the bone in a matter of moments.

She ran up her steps, shoving her hands in her pockets in a desperate search for her keys. She paused for the barest second, beginning her search again by patting up and down her body with increased fervor. Then she stopped, accepting the unavoidable truth: she had forgotten her keys.

Banging her head against her door, she closed her eyes against the droplets that flowed down her face, trying to just figure out how she could get inside. If only she knew how to pick a lock or- pick a lock.

Her eyes flew open and she flew down her steps and up the neighboring set, banging on the door desperately.

As first impressions went, the one Shikamaru got of Maria when he opened the door wasn't very good. He'd been getting Asuma ready for bed, helping him with his bath while simultaneously listening to Kyoko's account of all of the cartoons she had watched and bugs she had found in the park that day when the annoying knock had sounded on his door. He had opened it to find a woman with a crazy look in her eyes, looking like a drowned animal in her soaked clothes and her hair hanging in heavy strings, makeup streaking under her eyes.

All he could think of was that this -whatever this was- was going to be troublesome.

"Ye-"

"Could you break into my house for me?" Shikamaru blinked, uncertain that he had heard right but also sure that he had. "What?"

She shoved a clump of her heavy hair behind her ear, blowing out her breath. "I'm your neighbor, Maria, and I forgot my keys God knows where. So I was wondering if you'd be kind enough to break into my house for me." She paused, looking him over with a critical eye, taking in his messily tied up hair and his bath time dampened clothes. "You are a ninja, aren't you?"

Shikamaru had a choice, many choices actually. He could say yes and help her or say yes and then no. He could say no all around, and he could also just close the door in her face. But as he watched the wet woman with bored eyes he felt the prickle on the back of his neck which could only mean that his children were watching him. Heaving out a sigh he reached beside him to grab his umbrella, closing the door behind him as he followed the harried and grateful woman.

The lock was simple to take care of, pathetic really, and when it was done he turned away to leave. "Hey!" He turned, expecting to see the same grumpy sight as before. Instead he was met with a radiant smile, making everything that had obviously gone wrong with her day suddenly evaporate. "Thank you!"

And he smiled, turning back without a word, not even noticing that he had caused Maria's heart to stumble and stutter.

Kathy came up with this one randomly, so I just wrote it down for her.

I was thinking about how Shikamaru and Maria would have met, and obviously Shikamaru wouldn't have approached her, so I had to figure out why Maria would approach a complete stranger. And why else would you approach a ninja but to break into your house?

Kisses my darlings!