Tsunade sighed happily, reaching for a bottle of sake. The negotiations were going wonderfully without Motoyoshi around. She remembered when one of the ANBU watching over the pair had returned with a report about a confrontation. She had listened in stunned silence when he transformed into Shikamaru and repeated what had been said, word-for-word. She finally realized that ever since Temari and Shikamaru had taken on their roles in this work of fiction that Konoha and Suna had penned together, Shikamaru had begun acting more and more out of character. Asuma-sensei had even informed her that Shikamaru was actually on time for training, frowning less and less, and most disturbingly, he was prone to smiling in contentment whenever Temari was around.

Tsunade began to wonder what changes, if any, were occurring in Temari.

Shikamaru was still asleep. Temari was sitting up in bed, staring down at him. When she woke up in his arms, she was happy. When she pulled away, she became unhappy. It didn't make any sense. None of it did. Not the peacefulness, or the feeling of familiarity, and especially not what she had felt when she heard that Motoyoshi had been dismissed. That would mean she would go home soon. That would mean seeing her brothers again and her home that she missed, and it would mean leaving Shikamaru. She didn't like that feeling that came with that thought. She wasn't in love with him. She didn't obsess over him. She had never been intimate with him.

But when she lay her head back down on his chest, and thought about leaving him, the arms she had wrapped around him squeezed just a little tighter.

When she watched him go into the bathroom to take his morning shower, she noticed the muscles and motions of his body. When he crept up behind her while she was cooking breakfast and put his arms around her, she tilted her head when she felt his breath on her neck, giving him better access to that muscle he would nibble. When he ate his breakfast, she realized he was eating something she had made for him. When he left for his morning training, she kissed him. She didn't feel the presence of a stone ninja nearby, but she did it anyways. When he was gone, and she was alone, she sat down and purred, the sensations from his lips and fingertips and even his teeth buzzing happily on her skin.

She didn't understand any of it. The only thing she was sure of…she didn't want it to end.

And so, lost in thought, Temari was slowly making her way towards the training fields. As much as she might not want to, she needed to talk to Shikamaru. Her imagination had been tormenting her since last night with images ranging from a confession of love and asking Shikamaru to return with her to Suna, to being officially married with her brothers looking on, even having children. She saw herself cradling a mini-Temari in her arms, whispering to her, caring for her, watching her grow up, trying to give her baby the peaceful childhood she had been denied…

At that point, she wasn't sure if she would kiss Shikamaru when she saw him, or try to kill him.

Kiba was pestering him again, asking about his sex life. Kami, he was as big a pervert as Kakashi, Shikamaru was sure of it. Every other genin, the male ones, were pretending to be on the side of decency, but he could tell they all wanted to know. When Hinata tried to get Kiba to stop asking such personal questions, he turned to her, and with a grin, asked her what she was planning to do to Naruto on their first night together. She had a nosebleed and keeled over on the spot. Ino then proceeded to slap Kiba upside the head before picking up the unconscious girl and hauling her away to safety from any more perverted young men.

Shikamaru took that chance to leave and find a place to sit alone in peace. He liked her, sure, but he knew it was just a mission. As soon as the negotiations were finished, Temari would leave. Temari would…leave. Leave him. Alone. He would be alone.

Pain shot through him and he doubled over, clutching his chest. He hadn't even sparred yet. What could hurt so much? Still, he realized as he straightened up, as much as it had hurt, it was preferable to the kunai that was sunk into the tree where his head had been a split-second before.

A second kunai flew at him, and he leaped upwards to avoid it. One nin accounted for. The other three were still hidden, likely waiting in ambush if he went with his first instinct of retreating towards the rest of the genin. He was at the edge of the training fields, so they wouldn't risk loud, flashy jutsu's that would attract attention. That suited him just fine, a single Kage Mane no jutsu after drawing them out and he could walk away. That was assuming that ANBU simply didn't swat them all in an instant. Wait…where was ANBU?

He balanced himself in the branches of the tree he had leapt into and scanned his surroundings. He truly doubted that the stone nin had discovered and defeated them, or that the Hokage had called them off before the danger was completely past. So where were they?

Temari jogged through the grass, looking for her husband. His teammates had pointed her in the direction he had wandered off, and she was now well past the tree line. It was strange…

Too strange.

She leapt back as the ground beneath her crumbled, a pit yawning before her with rock spikes lining the bottom. She opened her fan on pure reflex and swung it in a defensive spin, blocking a dozen shuriken before she began methodically stripping the leaves from the trees around her with huge gusts of air, sending three shinobi scrambling for cover, all of whom she had seen previously dressed as common attendants.

That was the trick. Four obvious shinobi, and a few hidden ones.

"Temari!"

She turned at the voice to see Shikamaru and another nin bouncing from tree to tree, smashing blades together. She jumped towards him, sending a nin that tried to intercept her into a tree with a blast from her fan. The man fighting Shikamaru jumped away as she approached, and the two stood back to back, looking for the next attack.

"You're doing it again, Temari."

"You too."

"Where's ANBU?"

"Watching the wrong set of ninja. We're on our own."

They stood quietly, the nin apparently rethinking their approach now that someone else had appeared. They knew the nin would have to try to kill them both quickly, before someone realized the sounds of combat were not from a normal practice session. The first attack came sooner than expected. An almost amateur rustling of leaves and scraping of dirt, followed by…

A single thrown Kunai?

Shikamaru sidestepped and Temari took his place, swinging her fan almost lazily. The current of air washed over the blade, and it continued without pause. Temari frowned but simply snapped her fan shut and positioned it to block the blade directly. The kunai struck the metal guard, and she was sent hurtling backwards to crash into a tree, blood spilling from her mouth and the fan sliding from her grip.

"TEMARI!"

He was at her side in an instant. What had…he saw the grass around the fallen kunai was pressed down.

"Kai!"

The kunai dissolved, and in it's place was a rock at least two feet across. He noted the trick and immediately kneeled at Temari's side to check her condition. A nin ran forward and then quickly leapt away as Shikamaru's shadow raced across the ground towards him. He could see one shoulder was dislocated and ribs had to have been broken from the impacts. He couldn't treat her and protect her at the same time, or risk moving her, or leave her to go on the offensive. He couldn't concentrate, seeing Temari in that state. He couldn't do anything, except scream in frustration.

That wasn't enough. He had his hands together in the seal he used with his shadow jutsus, but stopped and slumped. It would be pointless unless he could see what he was targeting. All it would do is waste chakra. A blur of motion, and a kunai was thrown his way. This one passed through a bush without disturbing it, so he twisted and let it hit his forehead protector, keeping his position in front of Temari. He couldn't keep this up. The next jutsu would be the end of at least one of them. If he took the hit, he would protect Temari but would be in no condition to win the battle. But if he didn't protect Temari…he shook his head to clear the image. That was something he would never do.

"Shika…maru…"

"Hold on, please, I'll think of something, get us out of this…"

"Stop…slacking off…you lazy…"

"Temari? Te…"

He dropped to his knees, bending over her and taking her in his arms. His guard completely down, the nin came out of hiding and approached slowly.

It would be the last mistake they would ever make.

Under Shikamaru, his shadow twisted and spun, darkening past simple shade and becoming heavy and thick, solid darkness that defied the sun above it. It wormed it's way up his limbs and over Temari's still form. The earth ninja froze as the shadow covering him writhed and boiled, and against belief, tiny wisps of it lifted off of him like steam, straightened, and pointed at them. Shikamaru turned his head just enough for them to see a look of murderous intent in his eyes before those tiny shadow-needles shot outward by the hundreds.

Temari groaned. She was alive. Everything hurt. That's how she knew. She opened her eyes slowly. White ceiling. Soft, electronic beeping. Bandages. Black ponytail.

"Huh?"

She tilted her head, carefully. On a chair next to her bed, Shikamaru was fast asleep, his hands over one of hers. Temari felt her face grow warm, and startled as the door cracked open to reveal a young girl with pink hair.

"Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"…Bruised. What happened?"

"You were attacked, remember?"

"Yeah…yeah, we…were fighting…and something…"

"Relax. Just rest for now."

"Wait…did he…"

"Shikamaru defeated the men that attacked you and brought you here for treatment. After the operation, he refused to leave your side."

"Oh."

The girl smiled and closed the door quietly behind her. Temari lifted her good hand, dropping it onto his head and running her fingers through his hair.

"We...need to talk."