Shikamaru scratched the back of his head as he entered the office.

He noticed that the desk opposite to him was covered with stacks of binders and papers.

It was empty yesterday.

"Morning," he heard her voice and raised his head, she was grinning at him, teal eyes shining.

"Why are you here?"
"Duh, to work of course." Temari stretched her arms. "Since we don't have a permanent office here, Madam Tsunade made them clear a seat for me here at your office."

"I see," he sighed, with a smile on his face. "What a drag."

"Just get back to work," she scowled. "I don't want to spend so much time on this."

"What, you have something else better to do?" He raised an eyebrow, she glared at him for a second. "I have a life apart from work."

"Hmmm." He turned his head back to his stack of papers, and sighed. "How troublesome."

The clock ticked and ticked, soon enough, people started to leave the office.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" His chubby friend, Chouji waved at him as he approached his desk. "We are going to get some barbeque and drinks after work, you wanna join us?"
"Nah, I still have all these troublesome paperwork. Maybe next time."

"Well, see you next week then hehehe." He chuckled and left the office.

There was no one left in the office.

Nevertheless, they kept working and working – all the initial steps were mundane, repetitive and most importantly – annoying.

The clock was ticking – tick tock, tick tock …

He furrowed his brows and looked up, only to realize that Temari looked equally annoyed.

"How troublesome."

The phrase sounded particularly intriguing coming out of her mouth.

"Don't copy me, troublesome woman." He chuckled and stapled another sheet of paper.

"Shut up." She glared at him for another second.

Then suddenly, there was a sound broke the awkward silence in the office.

The sound of a dying whale originating from the blonde woman.

"You're hungry?" Shikamaru tried not to laugh and smirked.

"Of-of course, it's almost eight now." Temari stood up and stretched her arms. "Think I am going to call it a day," she sighed. "I will take these home and finish them over the weekend."

"What a drag," he also stood up. "Come on, let's go."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused, arching an eyebrow and staring at the man as if he had just said something that makes no sense.

"We will go get some food, then we will continue." He stretched and let out a good long yawn.

"I'd rather go home and finish this." Temari also stood up, her hand massaging her neck.

"Well," Shikamaru yawned again. "If you don't mind, we could move the documents to my place – it's just a few blocks away. You could come and we can work together."

"Hmmm." Temari nodded. "Fine with me, as long as we get the job done."

"What, no snide come backs this time?" He smirked, collecting the loose papers around the two tables and stacking them. "Let's go then."


Temari went into the strangely familiar apartment of his. She held two boxes of takeout ramen in one of her hand, and her handbag in the other.

"Welcome." Shikamaru stretched his back as he dropped the stack of documents on the table.

"You mean welcome again." She smirked and headed inside, putting the food on the table. He scratched the back of his head with a smile hanging on his face.

"Troublesome," he murmured as he sat down at the table.

He stared at her, playing with his ramen noodles as she hungrily wolfed down the whole bowl.

"What are you starin' at." She glared at him, before standing up and cleaning up.

"Nah nothing." He continued eating his own bowl.

Before he realized, they began working on the documents once again.

The clock ticked, it was way past midnight.

She yawned, covering her mouth with a hand.

He looked up, and saw her eyelids batting.

"You tired?"

Temari shook her head, barely opening her eyes.

He chuckled, stood up and went into his room.

After a minute, he returned with a towel in his hand.

"Here." He handed it over to her.

"What's this for." She said with another yawn.

"Go ahead and take a shower, I will find some large t-shirt and shorts for you to wear."

She looked away, her eyelids fluttering.

"Thanks." She uttered almost soundlessly before dodging into the bathroom with the towel in her hand.

He smiled and scratched the back of his head, before sitting down in front of the stack of paper in front of him.

She entered the bathroom, it was clean for someone as lazy as the guy outside, she thought to herself as she took off her clothes and entered the shower.

Turning on the tap, the hot water ran all over her body.

She frowned to realize that she could only use his shampoo and body wash.

Fifteen minutes later, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked out, her blonde hair still dripping with water.

"The clothes are in my room," he said without lifting his head from the paperwork.

She smirked and went into his room.

Quickly, she pulled the large grey t-shirt over herself and pulled the loose shorts up her legs.

"Let's get back to it." She approached the table and yawned again.

"Well, I think we can continue tomorrow." Shikamaru shrugged. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go," he said standing up and walked towards the bathroom.

Temari suddenly felt the tiredness hitting her head, she could barely open her eyes. She walked towards the bathroom door and knocked.

"What is it?" His lazy voice replied.

"Do you have extra pillows and blankets? I need them to sleep on the couch."

She could hear him laugh amongst the sound of running water.

"Take the bed, I will sleep on the couch. Troublesome as it is, it will be impolite to ask a guest to sleep on the couch."

She could not help but smile. "Thanks." She whispered before heading to his familiar room, and collapsing onto the bed.

Before she knew it, she closed her eyes and was fast asleep.


He wrapped his lower half in a towel and walked into the room, only to discover that she was sleeping. She laid sideways on his bed, his t-shirt covering most of her body.

He smiled at her, and approached the bed.

Gently, he pulled the blanket beneath her away and used it to cover her body.

"Troublesome," he muttered. He found himself staring at her sleeping face.

He touched her hair – it was still a bit damp.

"Oi," he held her shoulder and shook her gently. "Sit up."

She shook her head sleepily.

Shikamaru was not sure what to feel about this woman sleeping on his bed.

He eventually made her sit up, she was still sleeping.

He opened his drawer and plugged in the hairdryer – something that he had not used in quite some time.

He ran his hand through her sandy blonde hair as the warm wind emitted from the machine dried her hair. He worked through her hair, inch by inch, bit by bit.

Only when he finished he realized that his own hair has almost dried itself – he then blew his own hair dry.

Temari grumbled as she laid back onto the pillow and slept.

Shikamaru grinned at her, and covered her with the blanket again.

She rested her arm on his lap, he gently placed it back to her side.

Standing up, he reached over to the overhead cupboard and fished out a set of pillow and blanket.

He headed to the living room.

As he lied on the sofa, he stared at the clock next to the television.

03:20

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

They have a long day tomorrow.

What a drag.


Author's note:

It might be a bit confusing now, but it will clear up later!

Enjoy!

V.S.V