I do not own Naruto.

XXXKAKASHIXXX

He lazily opened the wallet, then instantly knitted his brow "What the HELL!" he yelled.

"pffft…. heeheeeheeheeeheee..haaahaaahaa, HAAHAAHAA!" Between fits of laughter I explained "That's the love of my life!"

"This is a picture of a blond, buxom, girl wearing three strategically placed …bandaids… and she's doing what looks like… the splits!" He exclaimed as he waved the wallet in front of me.

I couldn't stop laughing, but tried to say this with a straight face, "Oh that's her practicing her sexy no jutsu…when we did get to see each other, we actually had a very active, ahem, well…it's because she loved me of course."

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

I quickly removed the photo from the wallet and flipped it over, the back read Icha Icha Paradise Collectors Card # 602: Lucious. "Ahh, I should've known when you said you cried because of a sunset!" I grumbled.

"That bit went too far huh. I'll remember to leave that out next time." He spat out between fits of laughter.

"Kakashi you bastard, I'm outta here" I growled as I got off the chair and walked towards the door.

"Oi my wallet!" he bellowed after me.

I tossed that stupid piece of leather over my shoulder and slammed the door.

XXX SHIKAMARUXXX

That baka Kakashi…I admire the tactics he used to get his point across. But did he have to do it at my expense. He could have just told me, 'yes Shikamaru it's worth it.' He really does have a cruel streak…I should've listen to Naruto and Sakura. He was right in saying that I did know the right answer. I knew the moment I laid eyes on her that she had to be mine. I'd never met a kunoichi who moved with such a mesmerizing combination of fierceness and grace. She was terrifying and yet absolutely irresistible. I began considering what strategies I could employ to get her to notice me, but in the end, luck brought us together. I couldn't have predicted my selfish, childish desires would evolve into…alright I admit it…an unconditional, mature love. I had run scenario after scenario in my head trying to decide whether or not to continue to pursue her. Recently I thought, love might just be too troublesome. Regret and disappointment in myself after Asuma's death, provided the nidus for my current state of indecision. Because I couldn't come up with a guaranteed "win" for Temari and I … I wanted to give up completely. Now, thanks to that bastard Kakashi, I realize thinking that way was stupid. As soon as I get home, I'm going to invite her to join me for dinner and take the rest of the day to figure out how best to get my feelings across.

XXXTEMARIXXX

7:10, of course, he is late again. I don't know why I bother trying to be on time when I'm meeting that guy. I should've known that 700 really meant 800. Maybe next time I'll come late and make him wait, I'd bet he would looove that. … … … Aahhh, what's wrong with me today? Usually it doesn't bother me until he's 30 minutes late. I've definitely gotten more tolerant, the more time we sent together. I don't really know when it happened, but somewhere along the line I realized his happiness and his life was more important than mine…no that's not quite right…more like my happiness and my life were dependent on his. I don't know if this is love, but what else could explain these feelings and more importantly how uncharacteristically girly I get when I'm around him. Lately he's been acting distant though-when I'm here we're normally inseparable, but I haven't seen him much at all. In fact he's definitely avoiding me, I mean you'd think a genius could come up with something better than "I can't, I have to help my mom with the laundry". Please does he think I'm an idiot? I thought while I paced in front of our arranged meeting place.

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

I walked to the restaurant I had told her about and caught her silhouette in the sunset. Man I love the way she moves…look at the those legs, and the way her hips sway, and her teeny little waist and then…uuh ooh better not look there for too long …that always gets me in trouble. Ah she noticed me. Hmm, shes irritated. Gosh she's really adorable irritated, if not I'd probably make an effort to be on time, since her irritation is also paired with some sort of corporal punishment. Gosh she really is something, look at how her lips move in such an enticing way…and her skin is so smooth.

Before I knew it I was reaching for her face when suddenly my arm wouldn't go any further and I looked down to see she was holding onto my wrist.

"Shikamaru..." she said with a tone of annoyance, "What are you doing? I've been calling your name for the last five minutes and you're just standing there staring at me. What's wrong do I have something in my teeth?"

"Uh." I responded.

"Yeah…great comeback…what's with you lately? Come on lets go eat already I'm starved." She said as she let go of my hand and started walking toward the restaurant.

XXXTEMARIXXX

I turned quickly, my heart racing…what was with that look? He's never looked at me so intensely before, and there was something else in that look. Was it sadness, regret, fear? It is weird that he wanted to meet up all of a sudden tonight… Oh god, what if he's realized how I feel about him and is here to give me the "friends talk", or what if he's in love with someone else, or…. Is that why he's been avoiding me? I'm not ready to hear those things yet, I'm not ready to get my heart broken. It wouldn't be able to stand it if I lost him completely.

I brought my sleeve swiftly up to my eyes with those thoughts and wiped away a single hot tear. It doesn't matter, he doesn't matter, I'm a strong kunoichi of the sand …

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

It was only because I was so intently watching her that I noticed… a tear? "Temari….what's wrong" I called out. She whirled around and glared at me.

"What I'm just really hungry." She quipped back.

Before I could stop myself…I grabbed her shoulders…and brought her close. I tipped her face up to me and saw the silvery residual of a tear. I gently touched her cheek below that tear stain as I looked down on her face. Oh man, this was no good, every time we got this close I wanted to grab her and embrace her and tell her how amazing she was.

"Ah … must have been dust huh?" I let go of her face, took a step back and looked away, trying to hide the blush I knew was there.

She replied with "Um yeah, whatever, let's get dinner."

XXXTEMARIXXX

I couldn't calm the restlessness I felt … who was this weird acting Shikamaru? Maybe he's a replacement? Is that idiot Naruto playing a joke on me? Nope that chakra signature is definitely Shika…I mean I memorized it the day he beat me at the Chunin exams…there's no mistaking it. I thought as we were led to our table. Oh what a great table! I love sitting outside for a meal in Konoha…it wasn't too cold tonight yet. Hmm everything on this menu sounds really good. Yum, teriyaki chicken!!! I think I'll order a glass of wine too…I mean I feel really wound up. Probably because I missed out on a training session today…I've got all this pent up energy.

XXXSHIKAMARUXXX

Througout the meal, we kept conversation light, and I watched her begin to unwind. She's been really tense lately, especially tonight. What was with that? I lost track of our conversation a few times because I'd kept thinking about what I really wanted to accomplish tonight…good thing I can always recover with a "troublesome". It was a nice dinner, I mean I this place came with Ino's not Chouj's recommendation (meaning quality over quantity). I have to say, I love eating meals with her, it really sweet how she always savors her food and it is sooo cute the way her eyes get big and excited when she looks at a dessert menu. Even though, I can never get her to admit how much she loves chocolate.

"Shikamaru ….eh…Gaara's sister! What are you guys doing? On another date? " Yelled a familiar, loud, and annoying voice.

I turned towards the direction of that blond idiot walking down the road. He waved as he walked; and then I noticed a bright red Hinata following a few steps back.

"As a matter of fact we are, so don't bother us." I simply said. CLAANG! Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Temari had dropped her spoon.

Naruto's mischievous look was replaced by a huge wide grin. "Finally, I mean we've all known you've both been in love with each other for like forever. Well sorry to bother. Come on Hinata we don't want to be late for the midweek special at Ichiraku's. Didn't you tell me you love naruto fishcake in your ramen?" He grabbed her fidgety hands and began dragging her off.

That poor girl…she just had to fall for the dumbest, densest guy in Konoha. Something like this happened every time she made an effort to confess.

XXXTEMARIXXX

Did he just say what I think he said? I thought as I watched Naruto and Hinata rush away. He turned back to me with a glint in his eye…that confident look he gets …just before he's makes the move that ends the game at shoji.

"Date? You didn't say this was a date." I said trying to sound irritated, as I picked up my spoon and erased the shock from my face.

"Well, what else do you call it when a guy asks a girl out for dinner and she says yes?" He matter of factly said. Before giving me that intense look again.

"Um , right, of course." I stammered. Thank goodness for the dim lighting out here…I'm sure I had turned just as red as HInata in response to that stare.

"Hnn… great comeback." He retorted paying me back for my earlier statement. "Hey, you've stopped eating that cake a long time ago and now you're just torturing it. Let's get out of here."

"Shut up." I said as I quickly stuffed the remainder of the gooey chocolate cake into my mouth.

He laughed in response and got up from the table, turning towards the exit. Stopping a step away from me, he thrust his hand back and calmly said "Come on you silly woman, I have something to show you."

Yes there is a fishcake called naruto…it's spirally because I think they mix 2 different kinds of fish meat and roll it up like a jelly roll. I've eaten it in ramen.

Finally I got to the shikatema part!