A/N: Sorry for the wait! My WiFi has been out of action for the last week, hence the lack of update and minimal online activity in general. But I'm back, and excited to share with you this next chapter! Keep the reviews coming, lovely people, it amazes me that some of you have stuck with the story for this long. Plenty more on the way, enjoy!

Shikamaru's twentieth birthday for the twentieth chapter. Total coincidence, but it worked out nicely, huh?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

It was five in the afternoon when Shikamaru realised he'd slept all day. So this is what it's like being twenty, he thought to himself. Happy birthday to me.

He stumbled out of bed and changed into some regular clothes. It felt odd not wearing his usual flak jacket and track-pants that had become his go-to attire ever since he made chunin, but at least Kakashi had given him a day off on his birthday.

"You're up!"

He swung around and saw his mother standing in the doorway.

"That was fast."

"You always make a lot of noise when you get out of bed."

"Sorry."

"Happy birthday, Shikamaru."

They hugged briefly. For once, Shikamaru reciprocated, realising that although she was one of the most troublesome women he knew, she had always been there for him.

"Thanks, Mom." He looked at his watch. "How come you didn't wake me up in the morning?"

She laughed. "It's your birthday, so if you wanted to spend it on one of your favourite pastimes, so be it," she replied. "Besides, you're twenty today. I should be so lucky if you sleep through it instead of going out."

"I don't think it's going to be a wild night, Mom."

"Tch," she huffed, and Shikamaru remembered where he got that quirk from. "It's good that you're awake, now. Any longer and it'd be Ino's birthday already."

He always found it scary how she remembered more about Ino and Choji than he probably did.

"And your friends can't celebrate Ino's until they've celebrated yours…"

Right on cue, a crowd of familiar faces burst in behind Yoshino. "Happy birthday, Shikamaru!"

Bewildered, Shikamaru looked at his mother who simply smiled wryly at him and left. His friends stormed into his room, with Naruto leading them.

"Shoes on, Shikamaru. We're going out."

"Out? Out where?"

"Where do you think, idiot?" Ino rolled her eyes. "It's your twentieth birthday. Of course we're going to the bar."

"I can't believe we're technically adults now," Choji said as they all sat consecutively around the bar. "Soon I'll have little genin calling me Choji-sensei. How crazy is that?"

"You'll need to become a jonin first," Ino reminded him.

"Well, Shikamaru's always getting a headstart," Choji mumbled. "I'm nowhere near as smart or responsible as him."

"And yet the law let you drink before me," Kiba muttered.

"I don't know what you're complaining about, Kiba," Shino said flatly. "Of course Choji should be able to buy a drink before you can. You're an idiot."

"Hey! You're talking to the future Hokage, so I'd watch your mouth!"

"Ha!" Naruto laughed. "Like I'd let that happen."

Kiba grumbled something inaudible and retreated into his pride.

"Lee, didn't you turn twenty last year?" Sai asked with his signature indifference.

"Yes, Sai-kun."

"Why is it that we have never seen you consume an alcoholic beverage, then?"

"In order to stay at the peak of my youth, it is best for me to abstain from alcohol altogether," Lee explained.

"Guys, being able to drink doesn't make you an adult," Shikamaru reiterated. "Remember that time you guys got me stupidly drunk after Temari and I broke up? Technically, that was pretty illegal. It's a good thing I'm tall, I guess. But that was a stupid thing to do. Who knows what could've happened."

"No one ever gets called out for underage drinking," Kiba said casually. "Besides, Choji bought you the alcohol."

"That's not what I meant," Shikamaru continued. "I was off my face the whole night. Imagine all the bad decisions I would've made had I not been surrounded by you guys."

"Well…" Naruto began.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, eyes growing apprehensive.

"Nothing," Naruto said quickly.

After that exchange, the girls looked at each other and nodded out of Shikamaru's sight. Tenten pushed back her chair and announced, "We're going to the bathroom."

"All of you?"

"Girls always go in groups," Ino insisted.

"Please excuse us, Shikamaru-kun," Hinata smiled as they all stood up and walked away.

He sighed. "Women. I'll never understand them."

"You had a girlfriend, didn't you?" Kiba scoffed.

"Yeah, and look how great that turned out."

"Let's not get him down, now, shall we?" Lee said cheerfully. "It's his birthday. A round of drinks on me!"

As they sat and started their evening off lightly, the girls returned. "So, Shikamaru," Ino began, spotting the empty pint glasses on the table. "Now that you've had a beer, it's time to get your real buzz on. What are you thinking?"

"It's barely seven, Ino," Shikamaru hesitated. "Don't you think it's a little early for something stronger?"

"Wow," Ino laughed. "One day out of adolescence and that's your response. Is this what we can expect from a responsible, adult Shikamaru?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll take a rum and Coke."

"How original."

"Just go get it, Ino," Sakura hissed, causing her best friend to abruptly disappear from the booth.

"So," said Shino out of nowhere. "Is this how you expected to celebrate your twentieth birthday?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I can't imagine it any other way. It's pretty customary to have your first legal drink when you turn twenty, is it not?"

"Yes, but it's your birthday," Shino continued. "We should celebrate however you want to celebrate it."

"Really, I don't mind," Shikamaru replied casually. "It means a lot that you guys even came over to take me out in the first place. If you hadn't I probably would've stayed in and eaten my mom's cooking. Don't get me wrong; I love her, and I love her food, but it's too weird commemorating special occasions with just the two of us. It's...lonely."

"Well, I think your night's about to get a little more interesting…" Tenten trailed off.

"Huh?"

"Did someone order a rum and Coke?"

Shikamaru turned to look at the waitress who stood beside him sitting on the edge of the booth, holding a black circular tray with a single highball glass in the centre. She wore a slim black cocktail dress with chunky suede heels, and her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into two ponytails with her sweeping fringe parted to the right. His eyes widened in shock.

"Te…Temari?"

"Happy birthday, Nara."

He still couldn't comprehend what was happening. His mouth hung open in utter disbelief; with her index finger, Temari gently raised his jaw back to its normal position and laughed.

"Still just as dense as ever, I see."

"W-w-what are you doing here?" he stuttered.

She set his drink down in front of him and let the tray drop to her side, held loosely between her fingers. "Aren't you glad to see me?" she teased.

"Well, sure, but…" he trailed off. He couldn't take her eyes off that. Damn. Dress. Or rather, her in that damn dress. Here his eyes could appreciate every line, every angle, every curve; it was as if every time he saw her, she became even more womanly.

"Surprise," she smirked, then put the tray on the table as well.

"For your birthday, we asked for Temari-san's company," Hinata clarified politely. Then she added, "That is our present to you."

"Lame," Kiba yawned. "What a cliché."

"What are you trying to say, mutt?" Temari retorted. "I can still kick your ass any day."

"Kiba, don't be rude," Shino hissed at him.

"We thought it was romantic…" Ino muttered quietly.

Temari chuckled. She leaned on the side of Shikamaru's chair and looked at him momentarily. "The effort they went to was sweet, so I couldn't disappoint them now, could I?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "I guess not."

"Maybe you two can catch up afterwards…" Sakura suggested.

"Oh, I shouldn't hang around that late," Temari replied. "It's a special birthday for him, the least I can do is make as little trouble as possible."
Shikamaru sighed internally. Even now, was she really so quick to believe he would rather do anything other than be around her?

"You've come all this way, though," Naruto complained.

"Well, if you're my present…" Shikamaru reasoned.

"Actually," Tenten interjected. "The gift of Temari is from us," she emphasised, indicating the other girls. "We have no idea what they've prepared."

The guys looked at each other, startled. "I don't think it's going to be anywhere near as thoughtful and heartfelt as what they did…" Naruto whispered worriedly to Lee.

"All the drinks tonight are on us!" Choji declared hurriedly, causing the women and Shikamaru to erupt into cheers while the males around the table looked nervously at each other.

"Has Choji gone nuts?!" Kiba exclaimed in a hushed voice to Shino.

"It's actually quite a smart idea," Shino replied in a hushed voice. "He knows the girls don't like to drink much in front of us; they're quite reserved consumers of alcohol, probably because they don't want us to see them in a rather unladylike state. So I doubt it will cost much at all, even though the offer is very generous."

"Anyway," Temari announced. "Now that I've got you your drink, Nara, I think I'll go get one myself."

"Allow me," he said, rising from the table.

"Sit down, lazy ass," she laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing him back into his seat. "It's your birthday. Wouldn't want to exhaust you now, would I?" she smirked as she turned and walked away.

"Get a room already," Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Huh?" Shikamaru said absently, his eyes never leaving Temari who had crossed to the bar.

"You two might as well still be dating," Naruto giggled.

"There is no better time than now, Shikamaru-kun!" Lee announced, pumping his fist in the air. "You must go for it!"

"Go for what?"

"Don't play dumb, Shikamaru," Choji said, gripping his best friend's shoulder. "It may have been the girls' idea to invite Temari, but she wouldn't have come here if she wasn't interested in the idea of you two again."

"And to say you are still in love with her would be stating the obvious," Shino added.

"Yeah, so don't give me any of that 'we're just friends' crap," Ino said adamantly. "Her coming here tonight is our gift to you. Make the most of it."

Suddenly something caught Shikamaru's attention. A man had sat down on the stool next to her and, while she never gave him the slightest hint of attention, he continued edging closer to her.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing drinking alone?" he asked her, a sly smile across his face.

"I'm with friends," she replied bluntly. "And I'm waiting for my drink, so while I would love to stay and chat, I'll be returning to them in a minute."

"What's the rush?" he asked. "We haven't even gotten to know each other yet," he grinned as he grabbed her waist and tried to force himself on her.

Everything happened so fast, she resisted manually rather than thinking to use a jutsu. Temari was confused when suddenly the struggle had ceased, the man had let go of her and he stood frozen two inches away from her face; she got up from her stool and, out of the corner of her eye, saw Shikamaru with his hands interlocked and his shadow extended towards the stranger. Slowly, Shikamaru walked towards the bar, concentrating on his jutsu as he looked at the perpetrator dead in the eyes.

"Don't even think about touching her again," he hissed with a surprisingly venomous edge to his voice. Temari was taken aback.

She quickly recomposed herself. "You didn't have to do that, you know," she smirked. "I can handle a creep like that myself."

"Let me go, you bastard," the man said through gritted teeth. "Who are you anyway, her boyfriend?"

"Something like that," Shikamaru grinned. Before Temari even had time to register what he'd said, he asked her, "Would you like to do the honours?"

She smiled and proceeded to kick the pervert as hard as she could in the balls.