HI! This is practically a draft because I barely spent any time editing it.

That's because I don't have ANY time to write, but I wanted to get this out to you!

Cutie Pie

A faint scrunch came from her fingerless gloves as Temari used her hand to shield her eyes from the sunset that poured over the gates of Konoha. Her stomach was churning and she couldn't calm her racing heart no matter how many deep breaths she took as she leaned against a tree trunk. She had never once felt this nervous about visiting Konoha. In fact, she was much more calm during her initial visit while on her mission to destroy it.

More than a month has passed since she parted ways with Shikamaru at the very gates before her. They had parted ways agreeing that they'd return to being friends. Yet, here she was, pathetically lurking in the shadows of the trees. She knew that this wasn't how friends behaved.

However, it was now July 6th, just a little over a week before Shikaku's birthday. One of the things she'd learned over the past few years was that Shikamaru would fall into a bleak, introverted state around the time of his father's birthday. She and her brother had often experienced the same daunting feelings around the time of their own parents' birthdays. Temari knew she had grown more calloused over the years, but this was still fresh for him. She had been mentally wrestling with herself on whether it was appropriate for her to check up on him.

'Because that's what friends do, right?'

Tired of feeling like a meek little girl, she decided that preventing the lazy genius from wallowing was exactly what she was going to do because she was such a good 'friend.' Pulling back her shoulders and holding her head high, she found her confidence again and marched towards the gate. Temari of the Desert would never let a man be a source of her weakness.

The streets of Konoha were decorated with streamers of every color she could possibly name. Different paper figurines hung from trees and danced in the wind as she made her way across the village. She figured it must have been some kind of holiday.

Nostalgia washed over her when she arrived at his apartment building. Memories of them cautiously arriving and leaving together played in her head as she made her way inside. When she started to recall the long nights and lazy mornings from her last trip, she violently shook her head to clear her thoughts.

'Nope. That part of your relationship is over,' she scolded herself as she made her way up the stairs. 'We're back to being friends now…"

"Thanks for doing this for me, Shikamaru-kun!"

A female's soft voice stopped Temari in her tracks just as she was about the emerge onto his floor. She retreated down to the bottom of the steps and and waited. She wasn't expecting another visitor, let alone someone who called called him, "Shikamaru-kun."

"Of course," came a familiar voice. Its cheerfulness made her flinch in annoyance. It was definitely his. "I would do anything for my favorite girl."

The way his voice was dripping with affection made her heart sink. She could feel her breath rapidly increasing as her heart began to pound aggressively against her chest. She wasn't sure whether she felt ill from how petty she was being right now or from the shock.

"I owe you big time," said the mysterious voice again. "I love my cutie pie so much!"

'Cutie pie?' Then shock subsided as confusion started to take over. Was this the type of girl Shikamaru was really into? She slid into the hallway of the lower level when she heard them saying their goodbyes and looked towards the stairs to watch for the owner of the voice. Just a few moments later, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties came bouncing down the steps. She looked like a simple woman. Her garments were practical and not very flashy, and her brown tresses were pulled into a messy ponytail. She looked exactly like the simple type woman Shikamaru always joked about marrying.

Temari waited another minute before descending the stairs herself. Of course she had expected him to move on, but the fact that that he did it so soon offended her. She hated the jealousy that was pulsing through her veins. This was not like her and she detested that he could make her feel so out of her skin, even now.

She knew she had no valid reason to feel upset, but she didn't care. What she desperately needed right now was a friend and a drink. After letting out a frustrated sigh, she started to make her way across the village to see a specific shinobi that she knew would appreciate some company.

"Temari… where are my pants?" A voice croaked softly at her. "My head is killing me…"

"I told you that cocktails were poison," she replied. "They don't teach you that in medical school?"

"I'll let the instructors that we apparently need crash course on how to drink appropriately…"

Temari laughed, picking a pair of white pants off the floor by the bathroom on her way to the bed. She handed it along with a glass of water to the corpse beneath the sheets. "You sleep in, Sakura. I'll pick up some ramen for when you're not too nauseous to eat."

"Hnn…" Sakura groaned from under her pillow, causing Temari to chuckle again as she quietly closed the door to the medical-nin's studio.

"Temari-san." A voice greeted her when she arrived at Ichiraku's ramen booth. She looked over to see Kurenai sitting with a very lively child in her lap.

"Kurenai-sensei. Please, no need to be that formal with me," she replied.

"I'm sorry. Given your lineage and..."

"I insist," Temari interrupted her. "You are an instructor after all…"

"Ah, well if you say so." Kurenai smiled. Mirai giggled on her lap as she began to wave her hands at Temari. "What brings you into town? Another meeting with the Hokage?"

"Yes. I'm meeting him in an hour or so. I'm just picking up some ramen for a friend," she explained.

"You mean Shikamaru?" Kurenai asked. Sakura wasn't the only one who felt nauseous. The sound of his name made her stomach twist up in knots. She had to meet him first so that he could walk her to the Hokage's office.

"What? No. Why would you assume…" Temari quietly stammered.

"Isn't he your coworker? Both of you work together as delegates for your respective villages, right? I never see you without him unless you're escorting Gaara…"

"Right…" Temari was embarrassed for her awkward reaction. "No, it's for Sakura. She had a bit too much to drink at dinner the other night."

"Ah," Kurenai laughed quietly. Suddenly, she looked past Temari and waved. "Miyu-chan!"

Temari looked over her shoulder to see a familiar face that struck a nerve in her. It was the same brunette she had saw leaving Shikamaru's apartment.

"This is Miyu, she's Mirai's nanny." Kurenai began to introduce them. "Miyu, this is Temari. She is the Kazekage's sister and Suna's Ambassador. She works very closely with Shikamaru."

"Wow! It is definitely an honor to meet you!" The girl bowed. "You work with Shikamaru-kun? Isn't he the greatest?" She turned to Kurenai to continue. "He was so nice to take Mirai on such short notice for me yesterday when my husband injured himself."

Temari couldn't help but feel alleviated as she continued to listen to the woman who apparently was not Shikamaru's new girlfriend babble to Kurenai about her husband's hospital visit.

"You're so lucky your uncle Shikamaru loves his favorite girl so much," Miyu squatted down and cooed at Mirai. "I love you very much too, my cutie pie!" She said before planting a kiss on Mirai's head. She stood up to face the other two women. "I'm sorry but I have to go. I have to bring my husband the medicine for the gash on his hand. He's being such a baby about it! Bye, Kurenai-san! It was a pleasure to meet you, Temari-dono!"

Temari nodded at her and watched as the cheerful woman disappeared in the crowds. Relief washed over her, as did a wave of embarrassment. Apparently, both the nanny and Shikamaru had been talking to Mirai the other day. She wasn't exactly proud of the how strongly she reacted to entire situation either. It was extemely juvenile and she knew that she was above that.

After wrapping up her conversation with Kurenai and dropping the ramen off for Sakura, she made her way to the entrance where Shikamaru always waited for her. When she got there, she was greeted by his back as he leaned against the frame facing away from the village. It was as if nothing ever changed… except for the fact that she arrived a day earlier unannounced to make sure that he was doing alright.

'But that's because I'm a good- no. A great friend,' she convinced herself as she walked up behind him to tap his shoulder. She watched as he turned to look back at her, at first first in annoyance and then in surprise. He quickly spun around to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. After he confirmed that it was indeed her, he stared at her suspiciously.

"Where the hell did you come from?" He asked her.

"Sakura's."

"What?" He suddenly looked more confused.

"Sakura's," she repeated.

"No, I heard you." He grunted, rolling his eyes at her dry humor. "What were you doing there?"

"I would tell you, but people like Kakashi pay a lot of money for stories like that."

Shikamaru leered at her, carefully biting his lip to suppress a smirk. She may have been an annoying smartass, but she always managed to find a way to make him laugh. "Never mind," he sighed. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

They turned to walk down a straight path that lead to the Hokage's office as they've always done. Shikamaru had his hands buried in his pockets with an unamused expression and Temari took long, confident strides as if she owned the streets. No one would have guessed that they were ever anything more than colleagues.

"Anything new with you?" He finally asked her.

"Maybe," she replied. "I'll tell you about it later. Kind of confidential." She didn't want to risk the chance of anyone finding out that she was onto the suspicious men back in her village.

Shikamaru blinked at her before finally shrugging. "If you say so."

"And you?"

"Nothing really," he sighed. "A lot of work, but not enough sleep."

"You sound like a parent."

He turned to her and smirked, "Funny you should say that…"

Temari scoffed as they finally reached the office. Upon ascending the stairs, the pair found Ino happily chattering while Kakashi stood there and nodded as she spoke. The two of them stopped and looked at Shikamaru and Temari when they finally noticed their presence.

"Good afternoon, Hoka-" Temari began to greet Kakashi, but was immediately cut off by a very furious Ino.

"Excuse me!" She commanded as she marched up to Temari. "How are you come into town and have drinks with Sakura? Without me?!"

"Uh," Temari began almost nervously. "I asked her about you and she said you were on a date with Sai."

"Still!"

"You want me to drop in on your date next time?" Temari cocked an eyebrow at her.

Ino glared back at the Suna kunoichi before turning around to fold her arms in frustration. "No..."

"Well then?"

"Well then!" Ino spun around on her heel until her turquoise eyes met a pair of teal ones. "You owe me a round!"

Temari stared back at her until a smile finally appeared on her face. "Sure."

"Great, you can stay for Tanabata tonight then!"

"Tanabata? Is that what's all the decorations are for?" She asked the other blonde.

"Yes!"

"What are you celebrating?"

"Oh! It's such a sweet legend! It's about a…" Ino's voice began to trail off. Her eyes nervously danced between Shikamaru and Temari. Telling Temari that Tanabata celebrated the day where two deities, separated by distance, got to meet would scare her off given her situation with Shikamaru. Temari and Shikamaru were currently sharing the same faith as the two fabled lovers. "It's to celebrated Orihime and Hikoboshi," she nervously answered.

"Who?"

"No matter," Ino replied. "You owe me one so you're going to stay and celebrate with us!"

"I was going to leave after the meeting…" Temari explained quietly.

"About that, Temari…" Kakashi suddenly interrupted. "It appears that a group of Konoha civilians were ambushed by bandits a town over. I'm heading there with the medic team and the Anbu unit to investigate it. I apologize, but I would have to push our meeting back until next week. I understand that it was not an easy journey for you to get here, and will completely compensate for your entire stay if you'd like to grace our village with your presence until then," he said to her apologetically.

"Ah," Temari said softly. "Not to worry. I understand that these things happen. I'll just return once you have everything situated."

"Nonsense!" Ino snapped as she reached over to grab Temari by her shoulders. "You just got offered an all inclusive stay here and you owe me one! Besides, it takes six days for you to get here and back. Would you really prefer to spend the entire week walking between our villages?!"

"Uh, well." Temari began. The truth was that she detested the idea of wasting so much time doing practically nothing but walking, but she already didn't like the emotional roller coaster she's been on just in the past twenty-four hours because of the lazy shinobi that was quietly standing beside her. "I just don't think-"

"Don't think what?!" Ino interrupted her. "Face it, the only reason that you would not accept the offer is if you actually hate us. You don't hate us, do you?"

"Actually…" She sarcastic replied.

"Temari!" Ino grunted at her.

Temari was caught. She really didn't have a good excuse to get out of the town. No one in their right mind would spend three days traveling home just to spend another three days traveling back. "Fine."

"Great!" Ino clasped her hands together and beamed.

"I'm terribly sorry again, Temari." Kakashi apologized. "I do hope that you enjoy the festival though. I'm sure your friends here will have no trouble entertaining you," he smiled at her from under his mask.

'Friends…' She thought to herself. 'I have… friends here.'

After Kakashi left to address the bandit situation, Ino turned to Temari and grinned. "Great, I have the perfect yukata to give to you as well! It's too dark for my tones, but I'm sure it'll look great against your tanned skin."

"Oh, I'll be alright. I'm pretty much wearing one anyway."

"Your manners are getting annoying," Ino groaned.

Temari narrowed her eyes at Ino. She couldn't help but to admire her sass and quite enjoyed the fact that Ino wasn't timid around her the way most of the girls back in Suna would have been.

"Shikamaru," Ino called and turned to him. "I'll take her back to my place and we'll meet you and Choji at the gazebo. The usual time, yeah?"

"Whatever," Shikamaru sighed as he laced his fingers behind his head.

Ino rolled her eyes and reached for Temari's wrist, "Let's go!"

Shikamaru kept his eyes closed until the footsteps disappeared down the stairs. Once they were out of his sight, he stared at the clouds through a nearby window. He yawned, almost regretting that he agreed to babysit Mirai. She had kept him up all night because she wanted to play and refused to sleep. As if that wasn't already troublesome, the day had been nothing but weird so far. First, Temari arrived to meet him from inside the village, and then he found out that she had met up with Sakura the night prior. That was definitely out of the ordinary for her.

Knowing that he had to meet her again for the first time in a month already had him uneasy, but now she's going to stay in Konoha for a week. Again. Ino continued to add to the awkwardness by inviting her to join them for the Tanabata festival.

'Why are you so worked up?' He scolded himself. 'You were friends once before; this should be easy for you.'

But it wasn't, and he wasn't ignorant enough to pretend that it was.

'How troublesome…'

HAHAHA Did you guys hate me there for a second?

DID I NOT TELL YOU THIS WAS GOING TO BE AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER?! AND we're not even halfway through the story.

I really wanted to respond to some of your guys' comments but it's been really shitty at work so I haven't had the time or creativity. Please do know that I read every review and I really love the support.

I'm sorry for the messy chapter but I wrote it over a span of 6-8 days so if the writing starts to feel different between the scenes, well. You know why! I will fix it later~

Sorry lovelies, I'm falling asleep and wrote the last bit with one eye open. Hope you enjoyed it.