A/N: I hated the last chapter, so I'd love some reviews on it. Or just my story in general. It's totally chill if you just write "this is stupid, I hate it." I just like to know what people are thinking. Anyways, last week was horrible, but spring break is almost here, so I will be able to write more, hopefully. I'm doing a male POV again, shoot me in the face... Anyways, I'd just like to remind people that this is a 1st person narration, meaning that you can't always trust someone's perception on what happens! They'll get the plot right, but certain emotions are sometimes not seen by people, etc. For example, men (sorry) are really bad, usually, at picking up body language, and understanding subtleties. Women are really good at that stuff, and can read people, emotionally. Temari and Shikamaru aren't really like that, because Shika is so smart and Temari's emotional growth was stunted due to ninja training. So that was my literary lesson (lmao go tell that to your English teachers), just try and keep that in mind when you read. Enjoy!

Shikamaru POV

Sakura and I have never been close, but we've always had mutual respect for each other. We practically grew up together, and even though Ino and Sakura had a falling out, Sakura was always considered a friend. So, one day, when I walked in on Sasuke full on yelling at her for no reason, and her crying hysterically, I was not going to be my normal, passive self. It's not that I felt particularly close to Sakura, but I felt it was my duty to help her out. Most guys felt that they had to stick up for the girls that Sasuke hurt.

Even though I was the last person she'd ever tell the story to, we were thrusted into the situation together, just because I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. So, I was the only one that she could seek comfort in. She couldn't talk to Naruto, because she didn't want Naruto and Sasuke to fight, and she couldn't tell her best friend, Ino, even, because she just thought that Ino would take Sasuke's side. So, I helped her out. I went out with her, helped her get back on her two feet. I know I may seem like a misogynistic lazy asshole, and I'm not denying that I am, but I do have empathy. I am quite loyal to the Konoha 11 and would sacrifice a lot for them. So I took her out to coffee, we got a few dinners, and took a few walks. It ended up seeming like a date, even though the real motive for going out was to convince her to talk to Ino, so that she could deal with this mess. I really was the wrong person to do this, and those stupid girls needed to sort out whatever shenanigans Sasuke got them into.

Sakura tried to make a move after that dinner at Ichiraku. I immediately put an end to it, mortified that it had happened. I mean, she was embarrassed about the whole thing and said that she was just caught up in the romance of the place, and she just was really desperate and lonely. I get that, and I don't think she should be embarrassed, but she was seriously barking up the wrong tree. Okay, that kind of makes me sound gay, but I mean, I would never date Sakura, it would be like dating a cousin.

After school, one day, I was walking with her to the training grounds, and as we walked passed the Yamanaka shop, she glared with an intensity that could tear someone to shreds and the only person in the shop, Temari. I knew that she and Temari didn't get along, but she shouldn't be so hostile to her. Not that I'm being protective of Temari, or anything, that would be troublesome. I just mean, to stop any more trouble from happening, they shouldn't fight. Yeah...

Anyways, a few days later, I ended up asking her what was wrong with Temari, and now I sort of wished I hadn't. The story took far too long and she was crying through most of it. I was quite the cry baby myself, as Temari frequently liked to remind me, but I didn't really know how to deal with emotional girls. I tried my hardest, patting her awkwardly on her back, but I was way in over my head.

Anyways, the story went that Sasuke developed a crush on the new girl, Temari, and ended up taunting Sakura about it, or something. She was really upset, obviously, because everyone can see that Sakura worships the ground that Sasuke walks on. Well he specifically used Temari and Ino as a way of messing with her. It's weird, I always thought that he was too apathetic about his feelings towards Sakura to actually go through the trouble of manipulating her so much.

"Don't worry about me Shikamaru, you know, I bet he's just doing this because he has a crush on me, right?" I cringed. No man, scratch that, no one who is emotionally developed would ever show their love for a person by hurting them. That's hardly accepted in grade school.

"Sakura?"

"yeah?" She wiped her tears with her sleeve.

"you need to talk to Ino."

"I know." She surprised me. I really wasn't expecting that answer. "You've been a really good friend to me through all of this. And I cherish this experience, because even though we grew up together, I feel like I didn't really know you all that well until recently. And you're really smart, that's why you're Tsunade's second favorite." I smirked at her compliment to herself, she knew she was the favorite. "But you are really bad at consoling people. It's not your fault, I guess I just need my best friend back. You know?" She was acting like she came to this realization on her own, even though I asked her about ten times every time I saw her to go talk to Ino. Troublesome. But not troublesome enough to refute.

"I'll walk you to her shop."

She was nervous, I could tell, and I almost wanted to hold her hand, but I didn't want her to start thinking about me romantically, so I just would give her an assuring smile when she looked at me, and answered all her dumb questions, like "do you think she'll hate me?" "Will she accept me again?" "does she hate me? Be honest!" I pretended like I didn't think they were dumb questions, too.

Yeah, so that happened. She even apologized to Temari for acting so cold. It was troublesome, but it's worth it because now Ino has her best friend back. But my reasons aren't really that charitable, it means she'll stop nagging me. Of course, that was the plan from the start. I wasn't about to go out of my way for someone else, least of all a troublesome girl. I just needed Ino to get off my case.

I don't know why, but even after all that shit went down, I still felt guilty. I guess I did the right thing with Sakura and Ino, but it still felt like I was betraying Temari. I asked Asuma why I felt that way, he laughed at me, which is troublesome. But he did give me some good advice. He told me to make it up to her. It had just rained, so the sky was beautifully clear. The morning's dew kept all the plants wet, with droplets falling from their leaves, picturesquely. You couldn't feel your feet if you were in sandals, it was so cold, but the sun was present in the sky. It was the perfect time to watch clouds if you had a blanket to protect you from the wet grass. I felt like just being back here would help me forget everything that was dragging me down in life. One of the drags walked silently behind me. I opened up the iron gate leading to the compound and she hesitated. I don't know why, she's been here before. Hell, she even sleeps over a few times a week. I guess this gesture seemed so much more intimate than anything else we've ever done, because I was starting to get nervous. We didn't go to the mansion like we always have when we go to the compound. Instead, we slowly made it to the forrest.

"Did your mom force you to take me here?" I was embarrassed of the answer.

"No." She didn't respond. I didn't expect her to.

We walked for almost an hour before we reached the destination: a small river that I frequently visited to think. As I looked on, I saw the reason that we travelled so long. She was shocked, I could tell by the hitch in her breath. There wasn't anything like this in Suna. The river, for one, because Suna is a desert. But more importantly, next to it, the deer. I wasn't looking at them, though. I was focused only on her, nervously waiting for her reaction. If you didn't know her, you might not have seen it. But I did know her, and I did get to experience it, and it made my heart jump. There was a slight glimmer in her eye, and she looked like she was suppressing a smile. I guess she hadn't seen deer before, but I asked anyways.

"Shhh you'll scare them away." She whispered.

I laughed at her because she didn't know that the deer were not going to run away from me no matter what. It wasn't really fair of me to laugh, she couldn't have known (I mean, she could have guessed from my name and surname), but we never specifically told her that our clan raised and cared for the deer. I was the one who fed them and kept them, as the heir. She wasn't happy that I was laughing at her, she scowled at me, but it made me laugh harder.

"What are you laughing at?" She was exasperated, so I explained.

"watch." I whistled softly, not like how Kiba calls for Akamaru so sharp and loud, but more like I was imitating a single note a bird might make in the morning. A mother walked over with a baby doe trailing behind her. Temari gasped, making my attention focus back on her. Her smile was back. So was mine. As the deer approached, Temari took a step back suddenly, as if she was shy. I pet the mother gently on the head. Temari surprised me by still acting so conservative. She still looked nervous, but excited now, too. "Would you like to pet her?"

Temari nodded and took a step forward. She put on hand out, waiting for the mother to react. Temari looked at me, I gave her an assured nod, then I gave the deer one, too. It was as if both the females were looking for my approval to the new comer's trust. The deer trusted me, and took a step forward, lowering her head and pressing it into Temari's outstretched hand. Temari's breath hitched and she smiled.

"She likes you. Sometimes they get nervous if their kids are around. They don't like newcomers to begin with." I knelt to play with the little doe. "Ino isn't allowed in the forest anymore because the males don't like her." I started to laugh, remembering the fiasco that occurred when we were little, and accidentally went beyond the bounds of our play area.

"Do they have names?"

"Yup. Every single one of them."

"What's the mother's name?"

"Cho. Because of Chouji, and because sometimes, when she was a baby, she'd chase butterflies with me." She smiled at that.

"Do you name them?"

"I've named all the ones who are eight years old or younger."

"How old is the mother?"

"four."

"And the baby?"

"three weeks old."

"So what's this one's name?" She asked as she knelt down to pet the baby.

I flushed bright red, I knew it.

"you sure ask a lot of questions." I stood up, stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to look away.

"Well I promise that that's the last one. Just tell me her name."

I was no good at lying, so I scratched the back of my head awkwardly and spat it out.

"It's Temari."

Both of our faces smiled shyly. I'd never have admitted how jittery I was. I liked Temari a lot.