A/N: Because what else are you supposed to talk about while travelling for three days?

A brief interlude before some good ol' Sand Sibling time - I hope you're looking forward to it! And thank you for the sweet reviews, they never fail to make my day. Do follow me if you want some more ShikaTema stories in the future, I'm working on a few one-shots at the moment that will be posted in the near future so stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

They were a few hours away from Suna; Shikamaru was breaking a sweat, and not just from the dry heat that slowly enveloped them as they got closer to the village.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…"

Temari rolled her eyes at him. "This is so like you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying, you have a history of dropping something before it gets difficult," she teased. "And I'm not talking exclusively about the Chunin exams."

He sighed. "Must I ask when else I've ever done that?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe when I left Konoha after coming here as Suna's ambassador?"

He looked confused. "I'm not following."

"That's exactly my point," Temari said. "You didn't…follow me."

"Why would I follow you to Suna?"

Hurt momentarily flashed in her eyes, however she avoided his gaze before he could register it. Nonetheless, she left him without an answer, and that alone was enough to alert him that he'd misspoken.

"I didn't mean it like that," Shikamaru said quickly. "It's just that we weren't an item back then. Neither of us had initiated any sort of relationship, so I guess we just came to accept we were work colleagues." He remembered that day when he saw off Temari at the village gate, her back to him as she gestured farewell. A not-so-unfamiliar feeling resurfaced with these memories.

"I wanted to follow you, but I thought it would be weird."

Instantly, Temari looked up, eyes piqued with curiosity. He smiled to himself at how eager she was to hear him confess all these minor details he'd almost forgotten himself.

"I…I watched you go, and as you did, I realised I didn't want you to. I wouldn't admit it to myself at the time, but I think that was the moment it happened."

"What happened?"

"I fell for you."

Her cheeks flushed bright red, not that it was particularly visible in the growing darkness that surrounded them. She was thankful for sundown.

"But our relationship up until that point had been purely platonic. We bickered constantly; our idea of a regular conversation was taking shots at each other. We're three years apart, and I was still an immature kid who thought he knew everything there was to know about the world. So I think you could understand if I thought it was too sudden, too unusual, to suddenly change that dynamic. Besides, how was I to know if you felt the same way? If I had stopped you from going, and told you how important you had become to me, who's to say you wouldn't have laughed in my face and shut me down? A man needs his pride, you know."

She laughed. "Wow. It's so strange to think that maybe had either of us spoken up, we could've ended up together sooner."

"Really, now? Do enlighten me as to when you started doodling 'Mrs Shikamaru Nara' on your notebooks."

"In your dreams, asshole," she retorted. "I was the same as you. I didn't really ascertain how much I cared about you until I was literally at Konoha's border, having spent the last however-many months being chaperoned everywhere by your lazy ass. Of course, my brain would never let me admit that unless I had confirmation it could potentially go somewhere."

The corners of his mouth turned up at her confession. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You should be," she grinned. "This whole thing between us was a real mindfuck, to put it simply. For years on end I had no clue what you thought of me or our friendship. I didn't know what I was to you, but since we rarely had time to see each other since I returned to Suna, I figured we were both continuing with our lives and I'd just be that troublesome girl from the Sand you had to escort once upon a time."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips, where he kissed it softly. "So," he looked at her suggestively. "You were daydreaming about me for years?"

Immediately she snatched her hand back and crossed her arms huffily. "Don't flatter yourself, Nara. I couldn't have cared less about us. Since the possibility dwindled rapidly after I went back, I just resigned myself to the fact that my feelings were superficial, just a figment of my imagination."

He slung an arm around her and squeezed her against his side to the point where she couldn't wriggle out of his grasp no matter how frustrated she was with him. "Aw," he cooed. "You're so cute when you get defensive."

She grumbled, her head still pressed against his chest awkwardly as they walked through the desert.

Seeing how bitter she was that she had revealed any kind of vulnerability, he softened and stopped playing games with her. "Well, regardless of whether you dismissed the idea eventually…I thought of you a lot."

She wasn't going to buy it that easily. "Is that so?"

"Not everyday, because let's face it, we were both busy on missions and lived three days away from each other. It's easy enough for a man to distract himself. But whenever something shitty happened in my life, I just thought, 'I wish Temari was here'. When Asuma-sensei died, I could hear your voice clear as day in my mind, telling me to stop being a crybaby, have some real courage and stand in the face of defeat. You helped me summon the strength to avenge him."

Her eyes widened with wonder, however Shikamaru's gaze was still fixed straight ahead. She refused to surrender. "You're just saying that."

"No, I'm dead serious," he affirmed. "I know I talk a lot about men and women, but the truth is…and you're going to wish you had a video recorder for this…you made me a man."

That was when she knew he wasn't just sugarcoating it for her benefit. Shikamaru Nara was a man of dignity, tinged with a tiny bit of historical sexism, and he'd never let his masculinity be questioned, especially not by her.

"So, are you happy n-"

Almost instantaneously she had swung around to face him, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her lips. But unlike their other kisses which had all been soft and sweet until now, there was a new edge; an overwhelming sensation of desire flared as they made contact, as if she was trying to convey every ounce of emotion she felt with this one action. When she let go, he was left breathless.

"W-wow," he said, visibly stunned. "I'll take that as a yes."

She sniggered as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "That was a hint to follow me next time."

He grinned sheepishly. "Noted."

"Also, you don't taste like tobacco anymore," Temari mused. "That's a refreshing change."

"I actually quit smoking."

"Really? How come?"

"You didn't like it, and I didn't need it. So I stopped."

"Wow. I'm impressed. No one drops a habit that easily."

"Well, you're much more addictive than a cigarette," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Besides, I can't die from cancer before I train Mirai and become Naruto's advisor," he chuckled into the dark.