a/n: finally one that isn't au. note: shikamaru is the ambassador and lives in suna full-time. okey dokey. any more requests?

also based on something i read recently.

Golden

Temari ran her hands through her hair, tapping her toes against the ground, elbows on her knees. The breeze was soft and dry, cooling in the late summer weather.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, glancing down at the ring beside her.

She shrugged, not turning around.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

Temari moved her head to look at him. "Not at all."

He understood what she was saying, and though he thought she was being a little inconsiderate—even if she didn't like the kid—it wasn't his place to say anything, so Kankuro sighed, quite audibly in a passive-aggressive manner, and shut the window, letting her remain on the steps.

Temari shook her head at no one in particular. She didn't have somewhere else to be. Shikamaru was leaving, but he would be back, someday. Three years, at the most. And it wasn't like she couldn't go to wherever the new embassy was going to be when she had some time.

It wasn't goodbye.

She didn't have to stop him or tell him she'd wait for him or anything like that. He was an adult—almost—and it wasn't like she'd ever said Yes in the first place.

It wasn't small and it wasn't insignificant. His confession was like a white squall: brusque and confrontational.

"Temari," he'd said slowly, looking at her acutely.

"Hm?"

"I like you."

She'd been taken aback. They were sitting on a balcony of Gaara's office during his break, not talking much but enjoying each other's company. They'd been friends for years. They didn't seen one another often, but when they did they got along well enough.

But he was only a kid. And she wasn't interested in people like him.

"I like you," he said again. "I'll take care of you for the rest of your life, so choose me."

It was as though she were hit with a bag of bricks.

"Shikamaru," she'd said sharply, on the defensive. "I don't need to be taken care of."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm capable of handling myself."

"I know," he said quickly. "I just mean, I want to be with you. And I care for you. I love you."

She could feel the blood painting a canvas across her neck. Without knowing what to say, she shook her head and turned back over the railing of the balcony to look down at the street.

"You don't embarrass easily, do you?" Was all she said.

Temari was coy. She didn't always say what she meant, and when she did it was only as a tactic. She thought before she spoke. Perhaps Shikamaru did too. But he said exactly what he meant to say and she said exactly what she needed to say.

She didn't manipulate as a game. She didn't play with people. She wasn't cruel or disingenuous. But she had learned early on that it was more fruitful to not always tell the truth.

And Shikamaru's tactic wasn't working, was it? She didn't go running to him. She didn't throw him on the ground and stick her tongue down his throat.

She didn't tell him she loved him or anything silly like that.

The first time he kissed her—hardly even a kiss, by her standard, just the pressing together of lips for a long moment, almost wayward in its execution, actually—he'd taken her hand to his heart and asked if she could feel it pounding.

Temari was coy in her words, but perhaps there was something to learn from him.

"You're not very tactical about this," she said recently when they were eating lunch on the roof of the embassy. It was a space she often found him at when not working.

"About what?"

"Me."

Shikamaru was on his back and he had to rise to his elbows to look at her. "What do you mean?"

Temari had thought about her words beforehand. "You're very smart. And you're very good about getting what you want, so why didn't you try harder with me?"

Shikamaru thought about this, then said simply: "I did try hard."

"Then you must not be very good at it."

"I guess not."

There was a longer pause.

"I've had little practice though. You're the first person I've ever fallen in love with. I don't really know how it works."

Temari narrowed her eyes. "I've seen you convince dozens of jonin to go along with your mission strategies before. It's not that different with people. You seduce them."

He sat up fully and turned to face her, placing his hands on his thighs. "Do you want me to seduce you?"

She felt the blood rush to her face—and other parts of her body—again.

"All I meant," she amended, lying back down and looking at the sky, "was that you're not oblivious to this, or to sex. So why didn't you try to be tactical about it?"

"Because," he said seriously, "it's not complex. You're not an item to be won and sex isn't a game I wanted to play. I love you. It's simple. I wanted to tell you, so I did."

Temari shut her eyes and rubbed a hand over her face. "Idiot."

"I thought you loved me," he said yesterday afternoon outside her apartment.

"What?"

"I'd heard that if you want to be with someone more than anything, they'll almost always feel the same way."

"That's a gross generalization."

"Is it?"

"Shikamaru…"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "You told me to convince you, so I'll try."

Temari took a step back. "Are you proposing to me?"

"No."

"Then what is this?"

"I want you to wait for me."

"Shikamaru—"

"I'll be gone for a long time but if you wait, I promise I'll come back to you."

"You can't just throw around words like this."

"I don't understand why you won't take me seriously," he said with quiet intent. "I'm in love with you, Temari, and I want to spend the rest of my life by your side."

"Because you never do anything about, Shikamaru! You spout all these bigs words with big intentions and no follow through. You confessed almost a year ago and now you take some initiative? How is a ring supposed to convince me to love you? I can barely tell if you want me or not."

Shikamaru looked vaguely surprised, but he covered the expression quickly. He gave her a moment to calm down at then brought his gaze to hers in earnest.

"I'm waiting for you to come to me on your own conviction." He said sharply. "But don't misunderstand me, Temari. I burn for you."

Temari licked her lips and ran her hands through her hair one more time. The wind was picking up now, and if she didn't put it back soon, it was going to get knotted.

He'd promised. He'd said, if she gave the word, he'd come back to her.

Temari wanted to laugh. All this time, she'd never realized how much she'd fallen in love with him. She'd never realized that maybe his tactic had worked. Maybe she didn't need to be seduced because she already love him.

Or maybe this whole time, he'd already been seducing her.

Picking up the ring from where it laid beside her, she slipped it onto her finger. It was a little big.

"Temari," Kankuro said from the porch window, "come inside."

"Sorry," she said, standing up, "I have somewhere to be."

yay! quick update.

i'm serious in that i have two more (LONG) ones (okay one mid length but the other coming-up-tails-long)

also, seriously considering expanding the previous chapter

also, in case no one realized, I officially just began using alexz johnson titles

REVIEWS ARE THE EQUIVALENT OF TWINKIES DURING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

not a zombieland reference at alllll
seriously though you should give me feedback