A/N: Hello lovely people! It's been a while, I know. This is one of the few chapters I didn't write months in advance (I skipped over this scene altogether in the initial story), so I've been taking my sweet time writing and rewriting it until I'm satisfied because I didn't want it to disrupt the flow, yet I still felt it was an important one to include. Plus, how could I not take the opportunity to write about a hot air balloon ride with the two of them?! As Temari said in the last chapter, it's "the ultimate cloud-watching experience"...

My other ShikaTema stories/collections are being updated slowly but surely - I've recently started a new one, Cause for Concern (a high school AU no less), so do check that out if you're interested. I try and get around to all of them but some will inevitably fall behind while I work on others and have a life in between lol. And my Chihayafuru fic is definitely still in-progress - my attentions have been directed at the Naruto fandom as of late but it will be finished one day soon, I promise!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

A familiar knock sounded on the door.

"Seven o'clock; right on time, Nara."

"I usually am these days."

She pulled on her sandals; he presented the crook of his arm to her. "Shall we?"

"You're not escorting me to the ball," she joked. "I'm not going to take your hand, don glass slippers and ride in a pumpkin carriage, if that's what you're scheming."

"Would it kill you to play along, woman?" he rolled his eyes. "This is technically my birthday present, remember?"

"Whatever floats your boat, my good sir," she curtseyed, slipping her arm into his. "Or should I say, whatever floats your balloon."

"Sounds about right." He closed the door behind them.

When they emerged onto the street, Temari let go of his arm.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"People might think we're on a date."

"Oh, this is definitely a date."

"What?!"

"Was the intention not clear?"

"Excuse me for being a little sceptical after the Shiho incident," she teased.

"Touché," he said sheepishly, remembering how that almost altered the course of their relationship altogether. "But hey, people thought we were dating when we were just walking next to each other."

"I don't think Naruto is the most accurate representation of how our relationship has been perceived over the years."

"Tem, we were essentially dating for years; we were the only ones who didn't realise it."

"Even so, we haven't figured out what we're doing at the moment. That was the agenda for this morning. Until we resolve that, we're just going up in a hot air balloon as friends, okay?"

"Fine, troublesome woman."

"Wow," Temari whispered as they drifted above Konoha at three-thousand feet. Everything that had become so familiar seemed so new, so exciting: villagers dwindled into mere dots and eventually disappeared altogether as the balloon reached its peak altitude; the neat arrangement of houses was suddenly apparent, as if she were looking at a blueprint; the land extended beyond her wildest imagination, tiles of grass mapping out an impossibly large area like a mosaic. "It looks so...beautiful from here. There's so much green."

"No forests where you come from?" the pilot asked.

"No," she sighed. "I'm from Suna. Only desert and sand for me."

"Have you visited Konoha before?"

"Many times," she nodded. "I serve as Suna's ambassador. I'm also part of Gaara's guard, so I accompany him on his visits occasionally."

"'Gaara'?!" the pilot repeated incredulously, shocked at her informality. Then the realisation hit him. "You're the Fourth Kazekage's daughter?"

She laughed. "I suppose. And the Fifth Kazekage's sister, if we're being pedantic. But I prefer 'Temari of the Sand'."

"I do apologise," the pilot mumbled. "Thank you for your service to our village, Lady Temari."

"Tch," Shikamaru grumbled. "All she brings to Konoha is trouble."

"Guess it's a good thing I'm leaving today, then," she snapped right back.

"I didn't say that was a bad thing," he shrugged. "Look."

"No."

"Stop being so stubborn and just take a look, would you?"

Reluctantly her eyes followed his finger which was pointing at a particular patch of dark green just below them.

"What? It's just a field, isn't it?"

"That's the Nara Clan Forest," he explained. "Only members are allowed in, otherwise the deer will attack."

"It's quite secluded," the pilot commented. "Right on the outskirts."

"Yeah," Shikamaru confirmed. "As such, it's one of my favourite places to watch the clouds from."

"Typical," Temari rolled her eyes. "I will admit, Konoha is even prettier from above."

"I guess," he mused, eyes sweeping across the landscape vacantly.

"You guess?" Temari said irritably. "Shikamaru Nara, don't tell me I wasted all this time and money finding you the perfect present-"

"Jeez, Tem, relax," he interrupted. "You know how much this means to me."

She sighed. "You could sound a little more enthusiastic, idiot."

"It's a beautiful view," he agreed, then turned to face her. "But the most beautiful one is right in front of me."

She crossed her arms and examined him sceptically. "I didn't think you had this much cheese in you, Nara."

"I'm serious."

"Is now really the best time to do this, though? We're not even alone, for crying out loud," she hissed, eyes flickering over to the pilot who was now quite uncomfortable in the far corner of the basket.

"What can I say, the whole hot air balloon experience has brought out the romantic in me."

"Damn it, Shikamaru! Do you have to be such a melodramatic asshole? This is why I didn't want to do this with you. I'm not going to humour your mind games. No amount of mid-air sweet-talk is going to change my mind about us or about Suna."

"Ease up, Tem. We'll talk about this when we're on the ground."

"That's if I don't throw you out of this balloon," she warned him.

"Hey, we've still got a picnic to get through, remember? I'd like to be in one piece for that."

"Then shut up and enjoy the view."

He glanced at the warm orange sky, then his gaze returned to her. I am, he thought.

He subconsciously placed his hand on hers as they held the edge of the basket, looking out into the distance.

She didn't flinch.

"Thank you for the hot air balloon ride, Temari," he said as they settled onto their picnic blanket. They'd found a spot on the hill overlooking the river; between them sat a woven basket filled with speciality foods and fine wine, courtesy of the generous people at Konoha's gourmet market. "Honestly, that was one of the best experiences I've had in my life. Waking up early isn't so bad after all."

"I'm glad you liked it," she smiled. "I thought it was pretty cool, until you nearly ruined it by talking," she teased.

"We've gotta talk at some point, Tem."

"I know." She uncorked the wine and poured them a glass each.

"I'm supposed to be Konoha's number-one strategist," he muttered. "Why is this such a difficult problem to solve?"

"It's not so much about strategy as it is about morality," she reasoned. "We could let Gaara take the fall and live happily ever after, but we both have too much integrity to do that."

"You really think it could end in war otherwise?"

"It's an extreme scenario," she murmured. "But however slim the possibility is, it's there. We endured the worst war to date, and that was only two-and-a-half years ago. Suna suffered terrible losses, more so than many other villages. They want security and stability; it's understandable."

"What if we got married?"

She nearly choked on her wine. "What?!"

"Last time you couldn't give them a sure answer. What if you could now?"

"I think you're suffering from some sort of altitude-related hypoxia," she rolled her eyes. "Did you not learn anything from that conversation? A Konoha-born heir is a big no-no. An engagement is a start towards some form of security for the village, but that doesn't solve the problem of a suitable heir to the Kazekage seat."

"Dual citizenship exists, you know. Our children wouldn't have to pledge allegiance to one or the other. Times are changing; they could well live in Suna for half the year and Konoha for the other half, going wherever your ambassadorial duties take you."

"And not see one of their parents for six months at a time? I don't think so."

"It's just a hypothetical, Tem. Chances are it wouldn't even happen. I'm just throwing possibilities out there to appease them."

"It won't be enough."

"Then we'll give them everything we've got," he insisted. "If we informed them of an engagement and subsequently posed the dual citizenship idea regarding children, I'm sure they'd be far more lenient in terms of Gaara's situation. In fact, rather than arranging an entire marriage, the most they could do would be suggesting potential partners. No binding contracts, no blind weddings. Just laying out some options but ultimately leaving the choice up to him. If we assured them of our future together, they'd have no leverage to manipulate Gaara with. There's no logic or justice in that."

Only then did it dawn on her that they'd just discussed a future of marriage and children together, rather openly at that. It surprised her at first to see him so committed to this crazy idea; it was the last thing she expected from him. But as she listened to him argue his way to a potential solution, she realised that it stopped being hypothetical some time ago. He was serious. He wanted her, he wanted their future - wanted it enough to go against the odds and fight for it with the sheer superiority of his mind.

She smiled. "I think you may be onto something, Nara."

He raised his glass. "To the possibility of us."

She clinked hers lightly with his. "To us."

He raised an eyebrow as he registered how she'd altered his toast, but sipped his wine with a restless excitement for the long road ahead.

"By the way," she smirked. "When you propose for real, you've gotta do better than that."