A/N: Kikisuteru! Thanks for the review, your suggestion for sure influenced the chapter. Lmao. Thanks to people who are still reading it, idk why you're doing it, but as long as you read it (and I somehow find out that you are, indeed, reading it) I will continue to write this strange, strange story. I'm mostly on summer break now, so I'll try to update more often now, and update with longer chapters.

Send me an emoticon in the review if you like it. I'm an attention whore, I really need reviews, follows, or favorites to write. Lmao.

Shikamaru POV

The clock was unreasonably loud. Each second was marked so clearly and distinctly. I don't understand why they didn't just have a digital clock in the library. Everything else was up to date in terms of technology, why did they need one of those circular clocks that blasted out each counting second?

I spend far too long analyzing the technology of the library, and the dialectics of having innovative technology for everything but timekeeping before I came to the conclusion that the clock wasn't archaic or anything, the silence was just awkward.

Temari and I, usually, are the kind of friends who enjoy companionable silence. I'm not really the most talkative person, and while she is pretty talkative herself, she knows that she can't talk for too long because I'll stop listening. But this silence was grueling. This was our first fight. I'd never been in a real fight with a girl before. Sure, we bicker a lot, just like how mom and Ino constantly yell at me, but that isn't fighting. I didn't like this one bit. I kept on having these thoughts that I wanted to tell her, theories about who the culprit was, notes on our project, whatever. But I didn't tell her what I was thinking, like I usually do. I was scared she was going to respond without a bitingly sarcastic remark or a comment about how dumb my idea was or even worse, something supportive. When Temari is nice to me, that's when I know I'm fucked. I desperately wanted her to go back to normal, but I was too cowardly, because I feared she would ignore me, and I just didn't want things to be different.

Of course, these are all my thoughts looking back at it. I should have seen that worrying about our fight more than the poison possibly streaming into our lungs was a sign, but I didn't. In the moment, I was just fucking pissed. I did find myself wanting to tell her things, out of habit, but then I reminded myself that I hated her guts, at that moment.

Temari POV

I'm too stubborn for my own good, I know. But this stupidhead really was on my nerves. I was trying to help him and he didn't fucking accept it, so he can go fuck himself. Usually I can't hold a grudge for very long, but Shikamaru miraculously changed my ways. There was no way I was going to cave first. I was practically glaring darts at him, daring him to fucking break this tension filled silence. It did not matter what he was going to say, I was going to yell at him for it. He could tell me that he was going to give me a million dollars and that I was the most beautiful person he ever laid eyes on, but I still would have yelled at him for it.

I was about to provoke a response from him when the intercom voiced another announcement.

"All library personnel and guests, do not be alarmed."

"stupid." I muttered under my breath, we were all fucking poisoned, of course we're alarmed. I saw Shikamaru roll his eyes, too.

"We are experiencing an attack through our ventilation system. If you are in the general library, please proceed with caution to the exits where medical nins will assist you in removing the toxins. If you are in a study area, or another closed space, stay put until a ninja can come get you. It is possible that the intruders have attacked the ventilation system in the closed spaces differently, so please, be patient. This message will repeat."

We both listened to the message again. This was bad. The ninja world did many things very well and kept many people safe. However, not even ninjas can avoid the horrors of bureaucracy, and as such, Shikamaru and I both knew very well that this could talk hours. So much medical work and testing… The door to their study room was locked and there was no getting in or out for a long time.

I probably should have been worrying about toxins killing me, but instead, my brain was working overtime to try and figure out what was going on between me and Shikamaru.

I stopped working for a moment to crack my knuckles, my neck, my back, anything I could to relieve some tension. I saw Shikamaru shutter at the sound and felt a spark of pride flow through me. I crossed my arms and stared at the lazyass. He cleared his throat.

"How many sources did Mr. Yamato say we need?" I was taken aback for a second. Here, we've been sitting in tension for a small eternity and he chooses that to crack it?

"Shikamaru?"

"hnn."

"What's your iq, again?"

"I don't know, something above 200."

"So why the fuck would you ask me something like that." I glared right into his eyes so he knew I wasn't fucking around. I pushed the chair back and stood up, my fists on the table. "You're the fucking genius. You know all there is to know about the world, so you don't need me. Figure it out yourself." The sarcasm was just dripping from my words. I was infuriated.

"Temari, are we really gonna do this now?" He sounded bored. Bored!

"Do what, now? Please, explain to my simple mind what we're doing now."

"Temari! You know well what I mean." He stood up too, matching my stance. "You're just being a child about this, just say what your problem is."

"I'm being a child? I have a problem?" I stared at him incredulously and he just returned it with a confused expression. "You act like you're two years old over there." I pointed to where we were sitting when we were waiting for Hatake and his girl to finish. "and you think I'm the one with the issue? You're the one who's too fucking proud to hear what I have to say about sex. You're my problem" I poked him on the chest when I said 'you're' to really emphasize my point.

"jesus christ, Temari!"

"What? Does it bother you when I say sex?" He went red. Yes, it did bother him. "Too bad. I'll fucking say it when I want. Sex. Sex. Sex." The word got louder each passing time I said it. "SEX! Shikamaru is afraid of SEX!"

"Temari!" He lounged across the workplace to cover my mouth with his hand. He ended up banging my head on the wall, and I viciously bit at his hand to get it off.

"You're an asshole, Shikamaru, that fucking hurt!"

"Well I wouldn't have had to do it if you had just been quiet." He licked some blood off his palm.

"You need to get over this weird aversion to sex. What are you, asexual, or something? hmm? because if you are, fuck, Shikamaru, I'll stop." I uncrossed my arms exasperatedly.

"Jesus, no. I'm not asexual, Temari."

"Then why can't you fucking look me in the face and just say 'sex'" My voice betrayed me, I couldn't get the last line out without laughing slightly.

"Stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing at you!"

"You're the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"Excuse me? You know, it's not like you're some ray of sunshine in my life, either."

"Then why don't you just go home." I shoved him.

"I can't, you fucking jerk! You have your family who loves you and can support you, I don't have the luxuries you have. You dimwitted asshole." I waited for a response, but he just dumbly put his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I'm here to fucking pay for my brothers' education. What the fuck are you here for? To satisfy your mom? You don't even understand how lucky you are. All you do is complain about your mother. Did you ever stop to think that I would kill to have what you have?" Fuck, I just made myself incredibly depressed. I meant to make him feel bad, but now I was feeling bad.

"Temari- I-"

"No! Shikamaru, you're just a coward. I was trying to fucking explain something to you, and you just-"

"Temari."

"you just ignore me like that. I know it's not the most comfortable topic but-"

"TEMARI!"

"What do you want now, I swear Shika-"

"Shadow possession jutsu."

"Asshole!" He had me fucking tied up. "No fair! I didn't bring my fan!"

"your fault." I knew that resistance was futile, so I just gave up. He had me tied to the chair in his freezing cold shadows.

"Alright, out with it." He used a shadow to gag me. I made a bunch of inhumanly sounds in protest, but he ignored it.

"I'm a traditional kind of guy." I rolled my eyes. No shit, Shikamaru. "I don't have a problem with sex but I'm not about to start a conversation about it, let alone a conversation about it with someone who I'm not fucking and in the public library of all places." I stopped giving him attitude, because he did have a point. He exhaled deeply and kept his eyes shut. "I'm sorry. I'm going to release you. Pleasedon'thurtme" he said quickly while he released the jutsu. The idiot. As soon as I was let go of I punched him square in the jaw.

"moron!"

"Temari, that fucking hurt!" He held his jaw and fingered at the blood creeping from his mouth.

"serves you right, you bastard."

"can we just call it even, now?"

"depends."

"on what?" He said exasperatedly.

"do you still want me to leave?"

silence.

"well that answers that." I went back to work, fully ignoring him again, back to square one.

Shikamaru POV

What's the point of having this high of an iq, anyways? I'd gladly give up 100 of these useless things if it meant I could talk to Temari normally. I don't know why I couldn't fucking say it. All I had to say was 'no, I don't want you to leave'. But I didn't trust myself to. I honestly didn't think I could just end it there, I think I would have ended up admitting feelings for her. No, reader, not romantic or sexual feelings. Just feelings in general. And, well, that's not really how our relationship works. Sentiments are uncomfortable. I couldn't tell her that I'd miss her when she'd leave during winter break, or that I enjoyed her company. She'd make fun of me and call me a crybaby. Or even worse, she may just flat out ignore my emotional advances and just make our relationship awkward. I could have none of that, it was too troublesome. I'd like to think that my decision to not respond to her question was a logical one; one that required the least amount of work, but it wasn't. I said nothing because I'm a coward, just like she said. And how the fuck and I supposed to apologize for having a mother? That's not exactly fair of her to blame me for.

I spent a good 15 minutes yelling at myself to fucking say something to her, fucking anything would do, at this point, but she beat me to it.

"it's okay. let's not fight." Easy as that. Temari was amazing. I exhaled and reclined in my seat.

"hey Temari?"

"hmmm"

"what do you think the odds are that Kakashi and his girl are fucking in the room next door?" As if it was some horribly misplaced divine intervention, a moan answered my question. She burst out laughing. I didn't like talking crudely, but I did it anyways.

It was then that I realized that there was little I wouldn't do to see her laugh.