Authors note: Just a quick tidbit. I personally do not do Judo, so I spent some time watching youtube videos and having someone demonstrate a couple techniques on me. So if you are a Judo person reading this, I'm sorry for the inconsistencies if there are any. Also I'm writing from a generalized location that I grew up near since it's always best to write what you know.

If anyone wants a side chapter from another character's perspective, I can add in a short chapter or do a separate one shot if enough people are curious about the background noise. Let me know eh?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters

Shikamaru found himself sitting on a bus in second day clothes next to a very fidgety Temari. He resisted the urge to place his hand over her twitching fingers despite how inappropriate it would be. He watched the greenery whirl past as the bus made the short trip between the University and the city. There was a stretch of forest that kept the illusion of seclusion between city and campus, and it was often under constant legal scrutiny for who could buy and build there. It remained protected by some wildlife preservation who continued to fight tooth and nail to leave it untouched. Temari woke him from his thoughts as she pressed into him accidentally while reaching for the bell to indicate their stop. Shikamaru smoothed a hand over his hair pretending not to have noticed the interaction. She jabbed him in the side with a finger and stood up as the bus came to a halt. Shikamaru followed her off the bus and found themselves standing before an old glass front building. A weathered sign read the word DOJO in faded letters above the main entrance. The sun was already beating down on them steadily causing sweat to bead at their temples and the base of their necks. It was awfully hot for early morning mid-September. Temari skipped excitedly towards the front door and pulled it open, motioning for Shikamaru to follow her. Inside was a deserted front desk that separated them from a full room of mats lining the floor. There were heavy bags hanging from the ceiling close to the furthest wall and even a boxing ring set up in the corner past them. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in surprise at how well kept the gym seemed compared to the outside. The smell of sweat and leather brought back memories of countless hours spent training with his friends as a child. Temari gripped his wrist and dragged him towards the change rooms.

"Wait here, I have an extra judogi you can borrow for today. It'll be a little small but at least it's clean." She disappeared into the women's room for what seemed like a split second and reappeared with a blue gi folded in her arms. Shikamaru mumbled a thanks and pushed his way into the mens room.

Shikamaru exited and stood sheepishly outside the door of the change room tugging on the hem of his sleeve, which was easily 3 inches too short. Not to mention the pants that actually fit quite well around the waist but were much too short, leaving his ankles and the base of his calves exposed. He spotted Temari standing near the desk chatting to an older gentleman dressed in a black gi, matching Temari. He smiled at her affectionately and ruffled he hair while saying something to make her laugh. Shikamaru wasn't aware of the expression he was wearing, but was immediately met with a questioning look from Temari as she caught his eye. He walked over and bowed in introduction the man he assumed was the owner.

"You must be the Nara kid from the Leaf I've heard so much about!" Temari fought to keep her cheeks from reddening and trained her eyes to the ground. "I used to work with your coach Asuma back in the day. He spoke quite fondly of you." He gave Shikamaru a big smile that crinkled the corner of his eyes. "The name's Mikio. It's a pleasure to meet you son. I'm the owner of this fine establishment and the recently acquired teacher of your friend Temari here." Temari chipped in quickly trying to save herself further embarrassment.

"Thanks, sensei. We're just testing out how rusty Shikamaru is, so no coaching needed today." She smiled and stepped forward gripping the sleeve of Shikamaru's gi, effectively dragging him to a bright corner of the mats. He wondered how much Temari actually knew of him if she had spoken to her sensei about him previous to their introduction today, but it was just a passing thought that he placed in a mental folder of 'things to ask about later'. Shikamaru cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders a couple times to loosen up. Temari had her hands linked together and fully stretched out behind her. She tightened the belt holding her gi closed and stood with hands on her hips looking menacing. Shikamaru noticed that she looked more comfortable that he had ever seen her before, now that she was standing in her element. The light streaming in from the window set fire to her blonde hair and danced mischievously in her eyes. She wasn't what you would call beautiful, she was absolutely radiant, and Shikamaru felt that to touch her would burn. She said his name inquisitively and he blinked away his reverie. He took a deep breath and squared himself to her. They both bowed slowly not once breaking eye contact. Before he could react she stepped in and gripped his collar with one hand and his sleeve with the other. He slapped his hand over the wrist closest to him and reached for her collar, only to catch a handful of air as she stepped to the side. He tried to follow but was too slow. Still holding tight she turned her hip and butted into him backwards while simultaneously kicking back, effectively taking out both of his feet and giving her some pretty hefty momentum as she flipped him over her shoulder. Shikamaru was completely upside down when he remembered how to break fall. The floor seemed to rise to him in slow motion as he flung out his arms to break some of the momentum. He slammed into the floor and squinted up into a smirk full of pride as Temari pinned him with her forearm.

"You weren't lying, you really are rusty if you let me get away with that right off the bat." Shikamaru reached to grab her arm before she could stand, keeping her attention.

"Uchi Mata." He turned his head to the side and coughed, a little winded from the landing. "I can't believe I didn't recognize you right off the bat."

"Yeah well it took me a couple times before I realized who you were as well, so don't worry about it." Her face softened and she sat back on her knees, gently pulling her arm from Shikamaru's grasp. "Sorry that was.. excessive." Shikamaru chuckled and rolled onto his stomach to prop his chin up with his hands.

"Yeah you could say that. But your best move is now out on the table, and I'm not even warmed up."

"Excuse me?!" Temari slapped her hand down on the mat startling Shikamaru. "If you can take me down even once in the next ten rounds, I would be impressed." She got to her feet and stuck her chin up in the air, moving back to the centre of the corner they had claimed. "Round two let's go Nara!" Shikamaru sighed as he got to his feet. What a drag this is going to be.

On the third round Shikamaru started to remember his footwork and almost managed a sweep. On the fifth Temari slammed him down so hard he thought she might have broken a rib. On the ninth round they spent almost five minutes hand fighting for grips before Temari let her gi fall open, exposing her bare stomach and tightly covered chest which in turn forced Shikamaru to lose focus and let her get another Uchi Mata on him.

"That should seriously be considered cheating." Temari adjusted her gi and helped him up this time.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so easily distracted while under attack." She grinned devilishly and squared up to bow for their last round. Shikamaru felt a trickle of sweat make its way down his spine and shivered at the sensation. "Last round, if you've got anything left in the tank that is." Shikamaru frowned and squared up without a response. She moved to jump in as she had in the first round, hoping to have the advantage of better cardio over him, but he had been expecting it. She was too eager to jump the gun. He slipped just past her movement and caught her extended arms. As the ball of her foot made contact with the mat, Shikamaru struck her ankle with his own foot and effectively took her down. She lay on her back still holding on to him with a look of surprise on her face.

"Not bad for a guy out of practice." It was his turn to smirk at her from above as a dark look crossed her features. She squirmed out from under him and sat up to face him on the mats.

"Don't be so cocky, it did take you ten tries."

"And you did say you'd be impressed if I could get you within ten." She rolled her eyes at him and began to pull the elastics out of her hair. She rolled the four ties onto her wrist and flopped onto her back letting her hair fan out around her. In that moment Shikamaru's stomach growled loudly and he pressed a fist against it tightly to try and make it stop.

"Okay that was pretty good." Shikamaru barely heard her but nonetheless let a smile ghost his lips at her small compliment.

"Temari." He tasted her name on his tongue as he said it and she turned her gaze to him lazily. "You must need more than toast to survive."

"Well the coffee helps but you're right. I'm starving." She rolled over into a cat stretch before standing and offering a hand to Shikamaru once again. He took it and let her help him up. He hadn't noticed but several people had made their way into the gym while they were sparring. A couple were also sparring in gi's and some were wrapping their hands to presumably hit the bags or each other.

"What kind of martial arts do they teach here?" Shikamaru asked while watching the sparring duo attempt to pin one another.

"Mostly Judo and Boxing, but they recently introduced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu once a week since there aren't any decent gyms nearby to practice.

"It's an olympic gym?" It was rhetorical but he was impressed. Temari just shot him a shrug with a smile and made her way to the changing rooms.

"Food?" Temari posed the word as a question. Shikamaru nodded and went to change.

In less than fifteen minutes they were standing outside at the bus stop arguing about where to go. Shikamaru had insisted on taking the gi home and washing it but Temari refused claiming he would probably do it wrong and ruin it. She had also somehow found him some soccer shorts and very aggressively suggested he put them on or possibly die of heat stroke. With only a little grumbling he had changed into the uncomfortably short shorts and made his way outdoors after Temari. He caught his reflection in the window outside and thought he looked absolutely ridiculous in the short shorts and tank top combo considering how skinny he was.

"I don't even like eggs! And I don't want breakfast anymore. It's 11 o'clock!" Shikamaru clenched his teeth and crossed his arms angrily.

"It's technically still morning, and how can you not like breakfast?" Temari opened her mouth to protest when they both saw the bus approaching fast. Shikamaru waved a hand to get the attention for the driver to stop. He could feel displeasure seeping out of Temari as she followed him closely and sat on the seat across from him. The bus was mostly empty aside from two or three possible students making their way back home after a rough night of partying.

"For the record I do like breakfast, I just like it better at night." With that Temari turned her attention to the window silently letting Shikamaru know she was done talking to him for now. He watched the tree's turn into buildings as they entered the city and let the breeze of an open window keep his forehead from overheating. He mindlessly reached for the bell when they arrived at his stop and stood up before remembering that Temari was with him. She finally gave him attention and stood up as the bus slowed to a halt. They exited and stood directly across the street from Shikamaru's apartment. He wasn't going to bring her there, no matter how uncomfortable his shorts were. " So what's there to eat around here?"

"Actually there's a diner around the corner that serves breakfast AND lunch." Temari shrugged beside him. He looked down at her being several inches taller and met her eye for a second before she turned away expressionless. Had she been staring at him? He tried not to let it get to his head since he would probably over-analyze it. They took off at a matched pace towards the diner, sticking close to the looming shadows of the high rise buildings in attempt to keep cool.

"I can't believe how hot it is, especially after all that rain we got yesterday." Temari tried for easy conversation. Shikamaru scanned the street and couldn't even spot the remnants of a leftover puddle. "Not that I mind, it actually reminds me of home."

"Where is home for you?" Shikamaru asked forcing her to slow her pace as he could now see the diner approaching and didn't want her to change the topic.

"It's not far from here actually, a small vacation town a few hours drive, and the ocean is only another hour away after that." She sighed quietly with a small smile on her face and squinted as they crossed the street into the sunshine. "Is this is?" They had arrived and were now standing in a small lineup trailing along the makeshift patio fence.

"This is one of my favourite spots in the city that I've discovered over the past 5 years I've been here." Shikamaru caught the host's eye and he smiled and waved politely recognizing him at the back of the line. "And it's open 24 hours so it was usually a first choice whenever we were out drinking since it's so close to my apartment."

"Oh is that where we got off then. I was wondering where the hell you were taking me." Shikamaru felt heat creeping up his neck, and not from the weather.

"Not at all! I was just on auto pilot and you weren't paying attention." She cut him off with a genuine laugh.

"You're kinda cute when you're embarrassed Shikamaru." He touched a hand to the back of his neck defensively and made a face at her, but he had to put a little extra effort to hold back a smile on that one.

"Reservation for Shikamaru?"

"Yeah that's me." Shikamaru cut in front of the small party ahead of them with Temari sticking close on his heels. The host led them to an umbrella'd table at the far end of the patio and handed them menus as they took their seats. "Thanks Ryu."

"No problem! We were getting worried about you since you haven't been around in a while. Is Choji coming back soon?" Shikamaru gave the young host a sincere smile and shook his head.

"Not for a while. He'll be back mid February actually."

"Too bad, he's probably the reason we're still in business!" He laughed loudly at his own joke then jumped at the sound of his name being shouted from somewhere inside the restaurant. "Duty calls my friend. Enjoy your date!" He winked at Temari and took off in a sprint barely dodging a server carrying plates to the table next to them. She looked surprised at the assumption and then let her eyes darken as she turned to face Shikamaru.

"This is not a date in case you were wondering."

"I didn't think it was." He watched her expression shift again as she accepted his answer and glanced at the menu. He thought to himself that's he's never met someone who showed their emotions so openly and could shift moods in such quick succession. He thought of Ino briefly, but it wasn't the same since Ino loved to over-dramatize everything and rarely let people know her true feelings. He tapped out a beat with a finger on his leg and watched Temari flip back and forth on the menu undecidedly. She had freckles lightly dusting her nose and the tops of her shoulders where the sun kissed her most often. Her dark lashes cast shadows on her cheeks drawing attention to her lower lip she chewed on in concentration. Shikamaru subconsciously bit his own while studying her. She was a study in gold and bronze with piercing blue eyes that made him think of the Caribbean ocean he had seen once on a vacation with his parents as a child. He watched a drop of sweat trickle down her throat and pool in the hollow of her collar bone. He realized he was staring a little too intensely and forced his eyes to the people meandering by on the street. He cleared his throat gently and Temari finally put her menu down and follow his eyes to the street.

"With that kind of expression, I assume you know what you want."

"I honestly thought I did but I'm not sure anymore."

"What? You didn't even look at the damn menu!" Shikamaru snapped his focus to her with wide eyes.

"Shit. I... – never mind. Yes I know what I want to eat." Temari laughed and folded her arms on the table.

"Don't worry Shikamaru. Nobody really knows what they want in the grand scheme of things. Most people are just lucky enough to end up in the right place at the right time. And then eventually, you just kinda fall into yourself." Shikamaru absorbed her words and saved them to memory as she paused. "Also I'm getting waffles."

"I thought you didn't like breakfast?" Shikamaru squinted at her as light reflected off the watch of the approaching server come to take their order.

"Changed my mind. I'm allowed." She stuck her tongue out at him and then greeted the server sweetly as if nothing happened. She ordered coffee, water and milk along with her waffles before the server turned to Shikamaru with her pen waiting expectantly on the notepad. He ordered water and the breakfast special which consisted of eggs, bacon and home fries.

"Did you just order three drinks?" Shikamaru shifted his chair slightly to the left to remain in the shadow of the umbrella. Temari shrugged and crossed her ankle over her knee.

"Why did you stop doing Judo? If I remember correctly, you were one of the best in the western conference."

"Yeah, I was. But life happened you know. I got accepted to university early and was offered a full ride as long as I could maintain my grades so that ended up taking priority." The server returned with their drinks and left without a word. Shikamaru sipped his water and watched as Temari took her own and chugged it. "Do you need more?" He began to push his glass towards her as she placed the cup back on the table and poured her coffee over the ice cubes into the glass. She ripped open several packets of sugar and poured them in and stirred before adding half her glass of milk. Shikamaru frowned and cocked his head to the side. "You know you can order iced coffee here."

"I saw that, but it's always better when you make it yourself. Besides they make it with cream, not milk and I cannot stand cream." She stirred the drink viciously before letting the straw spin with the momentum of the liquid and refocusing on Shikamaru. "Anyways, you said you were offered a full ride? That's pretty amazing for someone as inconspicuous as you. Even with school though, mental stimulation isn't enough to keep you alive."

"Yeah well, I preferred to spend what little free time I did have catching up on sleep or maintaining the few friendships I have here." He sipped his water and watched Temari as she carefully tasted her own concoction. "There are some pretty nice spots you can walk to in the forest behind campus too."

"So you like to hike then?"

"Only if I can nap in the sunshine somewhere along the way." Temari laughed at his response.

"Of course a nap is the endgame" She twirled her straw between her fingers as she mused on. "So you gave up Judo in lieu of naps and some sort of social life even with a full ride. Oh and you stare at girls when you think they aren't looking and take the easy way out of bad situations." Shikamaru clenched his jaw and shifted forward aggressively to interject before Temari rudely raised a hand to stop him from speaking, motioning she wasn't finished. "I don't think pervert is really a suiting name for you when you're really just a lazy ass." Shikamaru relaxed and leaned back in his chair, taking in Temari's typical smirk.

"Yeah I think I'd prefer lazy ass over pervert anyways. At least it's accurate." Shikamaru once again shifted slightly to the left with the sun burning the edge of his arm. "So you competed at the leaf before. It must have been for the Western conference since that's the only competition I remember anyone coming from any further than this city. Also I specifically remember seeing you right before your last match started." Or at least he remembered the terrifying look on her face as she had stood menacingly at ten years old, staring down her opponent across the ring. At the time he had hoped she would win so she could have a look other than murder grace her childish features.

"Yeah I never forgot that tournament. My last opponent was good competition and almost had me near the end. I remember watching you fight as well." Shikamaru shrugged, he didn't even remember the matches from that day, considering how long ago it was now. "I was there one other time for a seminar, but you weren't there." She frowned a little at the memory while she continued twirling her straw between her fingers. Shikamaru shrugged again, not really remembering as much as she seemed to about his Judo days. He watched her drift into her own thoughts for a second, so quiet and still while the world seemed to rush beyond so loud and blurry. She caught him staring and gave him a small smile returning from wherever she had gone off to. "My stomach is growling now, it must be contagious."

"Yeah right, it's probably from being filled with nothing but sugar!"

"It's really not that sweet. Here you try it!" She slid the condensation covered glass across the table to him with the glint of a challenge in her eye. He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes lifting the glass high enough to reach the straw. He took a small sip through the straw and immediately recoiled at the taste. He set the glass down in the centre of the table and turned to spit out his drink on the ground. Thank god we're on the patio.

"Do you make all your drinks that sweet?"

"It's not that sweet! You're just a baby."

"You'd think with all that sugar you'd be a little sweeter." Her face grew dark and a vein started to pop over her right eyebrow.

"You little motherf..."

"Your waffles Miss?" Their server stood awkwardly next to the table with two plates in hand as she obviously realized she had interrupted some sort of argument between the two. Temari nodded without looking away from Shikamaru. The server placed her plate down gently in front of her before giving Shikamaru his just as slowly. She pulled out syrup and ketchup from her apron and placed them on the table. "Can you get you two anything else?" They both said No simultaneously and the server turned on her heel and walked away quickly.

Despite the tension and the still rising temperature, the food was delicious and warm. Shikamaru shifted away from the creeping sunlight again and they both realized he was now only a foot away. At least at this point the sun couldn't creep across any more before it was directly above them.

"If you're getting closer so you can hit on me, don't bother, you've already killed the mood."

"It's not a date Temari." Shikamaru said mockingly as he squirted ketchup onto the edge of his plate. She poured syrup heartily over her waffle covered in fresh fruit and whip cream before attacking it with her fork and knife. Shikamaru almost choked on his bite of egg after observing her from the corner of his eye. She continued to eat with gusto even with Shikamaru shaking his head at her.

"It's rude to stare!" She said with a mouthful, reaching for her 'iced' coffee to wash the bite down.

"I'm just making sure you don't choke eating like that."

"Whatever, it's good, like really good." She gave her torn apart waffle a look of lust and admiration before diving back in. Shikamaru chuckled and ate the rest of his food in silence.

After they finished eating, they talked about classes at the school and tried to figure out if they had ever crossed paths before, being in similar programs. Turns out they were in the same year and had a couple of the same classes, but had never had one together that would have had them cross paths. Temari stood and excused herself to the ladies room after the server refilled his water and brought Temari a new one. As Temari walked away into the building the server returned with one bill in hand. Shikamaru must have had a solemn expression because she immediately tried to take the bill back with an apology. Shikamaru shook his head and pulled out his wallet offering enough cash to cover both meals and the tip. When Temari returned he stood before she could sit.

"I think I need to move or I'm going to pass out."

"Yeah, me too actually. Where can I pay?" She picked up her drawstring bag from the extra seat and opened it to retrieve her wallet.

"Oh, yeah I covered it while you were gone."

"You shouldn't ha-"

"Consider it my treat since you beat me 9 out of 10 today." Temari considered this for a moment before dropping her wallet back into her bag and sliding the strings over her shoulders.

"Well then, the odds of me eating free are looking good then." She smirked over her shoulder as she turned to leave. "Walk me to the bus stop will ya?"

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru grumbled as he followed her. She made no reaction to his comment so she either didn't hear it or didn't care.

Shikamaru led her to the nearest bus stop which also happened to be right outside his apartment. When they stopped Temari glanced at the building and shielded her eyes with a hand as she looked to the roof.

"What floor do you live on?" Shikamaru didn't answer right away, unsure if he wanted to share that information, but Temari continued to look to the sky waiting patiently.

"The 6th floor. I've got a pretty decent view." He would have preferred to live on the 8th which was the top floor and had the best view with roof access, but it was out of Choji's price range so he settled for the 6th with the neighbouring apartment for his best friend.

"It looks... nice." She shifted her attention to the approaching cars, looking for the bus.

"Yeah well it's nicer than most places downtown and close to work, so it was ideal."

"Where do you work?" She turned back to face him, her shoulders and the tip of her nose were beginning to burn in the midday sun. Shikamaru wondered how red he was going to be tonight.

"Konoha Inc. I've only been there a week, but it seems to be going well and I have a really great coworker to share my office with." Shikamaru thought he saw a new emotion crossing Temari's face but she had turned away before he could tell.

"I've heard of them. Anyways here's my bus, let's do Judo at 9am on Sundays. I need a good sparring partner and I'm sure you'll be back to my level in a few weeks. You can get my number from Ino if you want."

"9am! You're crazy woman. That means I gotta be up at 8 to get there on time, and Sunday is my day to sleep in!" Temari just shook her head and grinned up at him as the bus came to a halt at their stop.

"Take care lazy ass." With that the bus doors closed and Shikamaru was left alone watching the bus drive away with the mixed feelings of dread and excitement.

"She's going to be the death of me."