Chapter 15: Steps

"So, er, this is pretty much it. This is my place." She chucked her keys on the table trying to make it look casual but in reality she'd spent the whole morning cleaning the place to make it as presentable as possible. The last thing she wanted was for him to walk in and see her dirty clothes and piles of dishes lying around; she'd lose all her moral high ground instantly.

It wasn't much she'd admit; enough to be comfortable, sure, but she hadn't ever furnished the little flat properly since she split her time so she was mostly in Suna. Although she loved her home in Suna with her brothers, she was actually becoming more and more attached to this place, her little recluse in the middle of her (closely) second favourite village. But today it was more than just that; today her little flat was being turned into a place where she could bring Shikamaru, where she could hang out with her-

She stopped herself. She didn't actually fully know what they were but she did not by any means want to jump the gun and be the first one to say anything. She was just making him do the work for once in his life, it wasn't like she was scared or anything. She was Temari, daughter of a Kazekage; she wasn't going to be scared of something so trivial.

"It's nice," he said wondering into her living room/kitchen area. He seemed to be absorbing his surroundings, analysing everything carefully. In a few moments he was going to have a lot of smartass comments about it, but for now it was nice to watch him just contemplate everything around him. She sat on her couch so he would follow suit. He instead continued to look around at her windowsills and dresser tops.

"Are you okay?" she asked, leaning back against the couch cushions and peering over them to face him.

"It's not very personal, huh?" he smirked. Here it comes she thought.

"Yeah, well I'm a very private person. I don't like having too much stuff on display." He grunted. She really didn't know what to make of that. Sometimes he was so infuriatingly hard to read she wished she was with someone simpler. Someone who would show her how much he cared and would lay all the cards on the table so she knew exactly where she stood. But, then again, she needed someone to keep her interest piqued and well, you couldn't deny Shikamaru was a pretty intriguing guy. "I'm gonna get some dinner going, want to give me a hand?"

He snapped out of his reverie finally. "Oh yeah, sure." For a lazy guy Shikamaru was a great cook with a lot of innate skill. She had no idea where it came from as he didn't seem like the kind of kid that spent hours watching his parents cook but he just seemed to know how all the different tastes and spices worked together, like it was some big puzzle he'd put together. They relaxed into the cooking as he allowed himself to be a little more childish than usual with her and she let her guard down a lot more than she was used to. Sometimes when he made her laugh she could swear she could see her whole life like this, but it was way too early for that kind of thinking and honestly, it terrified her she would even have those thoughts.

But she still felt it. She felt how safe and secure his arms wrapped around her felt as she stirred the pan with him watching over her shoulder. She felt her heart flutter a little when he kissed her cheek; not anything sexual or heated just a simple quick kiss that made her feel grounded. He seemed to get this whole dating thing so much more easily than she did and it bothered her massively. He just always knew how often they should be going on dates, where to take her, how to treat her. She had no idea what she was doing; it had been years since she learned to care for someone else and the people she cared about in this world could be counted on less than one hand. Honestly, it was hard enough admitting she cared for Shikamaru and that he was one of her few cherished people, let alone expressing it in her touch and actions. "Something wrong?" he said, brushing some hair out of her face as she realised she'd been staring at him over her shoulder for way longer than is acceptable.

"No, sorry, just lost in thought." she smiled softly.

"Yeah, I'd get lost staring into my eyes too," he said with mock seriousness. "Did you know they're mesmerising?"

She chortled loudly, a half scoff, saying "Oh really? I thought my eyes were the mesmerising ones. This town's not big enough for the both of us kiddo."

He caught her unsuspecting as he caught her lips in his. "You win then. Such a demanding woman, my god." She chuckled and returned her attention to the food.

Dinner wrapped up and plates in the dishwasher, they sunk into her couch exhausted from a long day. Wanting to take charge in the progress of their relationship for once, she pulled herself into his lap making Shikamaru's eyes widen a little. She couldn't help laughing at his response. "Relax cowboy, I don't have the energy for that tonight. Some other time maybe," she said kissing his jawline. He muttered something about her being troublesome and proceeded to wrap his arms around her midriff to hold her steady.

She looked up at him as he chatted to her about life; she noticed he had a lot of deep thoughts about life that he didn't share with anyone else but for some reason always shared with her. He said it was because she didn't think he was stupid when he said it, but she doubted very much anyone would find his wise, old brain stupid. "Oh wait, I just remembered," he said, detangling himself and earning a small whine from Temari. He went over to his bag and pulled out a small wrapped rectangle.

"Why'd you get me a present?" she asked grabbing it from him.

"Well, I thought it would be a nice addition to all the pictures in your house," he gestured around, "but it seems my picture is going to get a little lonely here." She unwrapped it to find a framed picture of the two of them on their third date, having a picnic near the forest.

"Shikamaru, it's so great I don't even know what to say." She scratched the back of her head. "Does it ever bother you that I suck at this so much more than you?"

"What was that? Did you just admit I'm better than you at something?" She rolled her eyes and chucked a pillow at him.

"You know what I mean. I mean does it worry you that I'm not there yet?"

"I mean yeah all the time, but I just figured you'd get there whenever you're ready. I've had ages to think about all this stuff but I get it that you haven't. So whenever you want to, you can return the favour." He smiled at her with so much comfort before furrowing his eyebrows slightly. "I mean now you're bringing it up I'm a little worried. Should I be worried?"

She let herself giggle for once. "No, not at all. I really like you I just don't really know how all this works."

"And I do? I'm younger than you and I've never done this before. I mean it terrifies me, of course, but what scares me more is never doing this stuff with you so I try it out and see if you get scared off."

She smiled at that. He always had a way of putting things logically so she'd understand. She cradled the little picture in her hands and decided it was time to start being brave. At least for now it didn't look like he was getting scared off easily.