I am working on the one request I received (come on, guys!), but I finally managed to write a ShikaTem piece today so I'm posting it. Enjoy!
I do not own Naruto.
Tapestry
---Six: Names---
When talking to or about each other, Shikamaru and Temari rarely used their actual names. Instead they used various nicknames. His personal favorite title for her was "troublesome woman."
Hers for him was "lazy-ass."
Their names only came into play when something important (and usually bad) happened to one of them, which was less often than it might have been. They were both thankful for that.
The relationship between the two was far from secret and occasionally hailed as the greatest romance Konoha and Suna had ever known (though the people who said that were generally drunk at the time). Both villages would have been surprised to learn that Shikamaru and Temari had never actually said they loved each other.
If she knew, Ino would most likely shriek and whack Shikamaru on the head, placing the blame entirely on him. But she didn't know, and she would have been wrong. Because Shikamaru's reputation was that of a man prone to extreme laziness, anything that did not happen between him and Temari was assumed to be his fault. Such an assumption was also incorrect.
When Shikamaru would lay down on a rooftop and watch the clouds, Temari would join him without a word.
When he'd heard once that she'd been injured en route to Konoha, he rushed to the hospital only to have her wave a broken wrist at him and laugh at his panicked expression.
When a week-long mission of his turned into a month-long one, she stayed in Konoha until his return and made sure that hers was the first face he saw as he trudged up to the gates.
They didn't say each other's names because, to them, the nicknames meant much more.
They didn't say they loved each other because both of them already knew it.
---Owari---
Short and sweet, huh? I'm still taking requests; see the author's note at the end of chapter five for the rules about that. Thanks for reading, and please review!