[Some time after the end of the war Shikamaru and Temari are on a mission together or something, and Shikamaru gets badly hurt. Temari proceeds to tell him she'll be by his side as long as she can and says she'll move to Konoha to be with him.]

"Shit-" he hissed, and the single syllable was enough to have her whirl on her heels.

Temari didn't know what was wrong with her. Ever since the war ended – since the cleanup, joint missions to rebuild their suddenly diminished nations – she'd grown all the more aware. There were probably hundreds of factors as to how this'd happened: from her strangely intrusive infinite tsukiyomi dream, to the looks she'd often catch him giving her, to the realization of feelings she thought she could bury – it all surmounted to this very moment, when she turned at his sharp inhale of breath.

But of course, Shikamaru was fine. If not a little dramatic, as he rubbed his foot. He'd managed to kick a rock, or something, but Temari found herself rolling her eyes. "You're such a baby," she tossed over her shoulder, the words coming easily off her tongue. Teasing was something relatively new in their palette of interactions – or at least, fully realized, intentional teasing, because if she were true to herself, she'd also start kicking herself for all the times they'd flirted and they'd (intentionally or not) passed it off as anything but. And she could hear a small noise of contempt come from his lips, one of annoyance, as he gingerly stepped around whatever had caused him the pain the first place.

When Lord Sixth and Gaara had assigned them on rubble duty, the two had exchanged rather bemused glances. And then they promptly looked away from each other. Sure, they worked well together, but she was a little annoyed. Temari didn't know why – but of all people, she didn't want to be stuck with him. Maybe it was because she didn't want to be forced to be with him, seeing as, for all purposes, her concentration would plummet to zero – and she'd be too aware of him.

Him, Shikamaru – as he muttered another curse.

He was useless in this department, anyway.

Thank god they were allowed to take a couple genin to aid in the cause.

Temari sighed and turned to one of said genin. "Step aside and, I don't know, toss some rocks around, okay? I've got this side." And before he could protest, she shooed him off. Shikamaru's gaze followed him, before he too stalked off, muttering something about being troublesome or the rather. Truthfully, she was used to such mutterings – in fact, she'd come to somewhat expect it. She wouldn't ever admit it, but part of her listened for him calling her troublesome – and there was something oddly comforting about being called, for all purposes, an insult.

The thought had her pink in the ears. She hated it. She's not one of those giggly girls she's seen in Konoha, and yet, she could be one. Definitely.

Her hands were on autopilot, and part of her wanted to just use her fan to clear everything with one sweep. Although that was the first thing Shikamaru advised against; and even if he didn't, she knew better – there were probably traps, milling around, un-triggered from the war-

A sudden explosion threw debris back toward her.

"What did Shikamaru say?!" She barked, and it didn't take long to pinpoint who the culprit was. His face was a dead giveaway anyways, the genin had an ashen face and an expression that was equal parts shock, terror, and utter humiliation. Suits him right, she thought viciously as she stalked up toward him. "Don't move things unnecessarily, ask Shikamaru or me if it's a big piece, I don't care if you have a new jutsu you want to try out – Konoha – Shikamaru!"

There was no response.

Dread filled her stomach – and at first, it was entirely irrational thoughts that milled about, her hasty, ridiculous reasons why he didn't respond right away. But once she stripped away her impulsive fears, she did recognize that he wouldn't stray from such a scene.

She shot the poor, cowering genin another glare. "Stay. Do not touch." And with that, she stalked her way around the shifted pile of upturned earth and tree stumps, to where he was.

"Oy, you idiot – we're not taking genin next time if there's going to be explosive tags-" her mini rant cut itself off when her eyes zeroed onto her partner's current state. Which was on the floor, his foot bent at an awkward angle, blood making its way steadily down his leg.

What might've been butterflies initially, suddenly died and turned into full blown (and in hindsight, somewhat irrational) panic. With a flash, Temari was by his side, knees on the ground to help him sit up. "Oh god, what happened?"

"That idiot genin," Shikamaru hissed, his voice sharper with pain. And then he sighed. "I told him not to touch anything."

"Well, he did," she replied automatically, and for a brief second, she was almost apologetic for her briskness. And as quickly as that moment came, it passed. She took a breath in, soothing her sudden nervousness. "That looks bad," she said, almost conversationally.

His dark eyes darted down to his ankle. "Yeah. It hurts," he deadpanned. Temari tried, and failed, to suppress the grin that'd crept on her lips.

She couldn't help it.

Her heart was doing that stupid fluttering thing that she hated so much.

And before she could even react, two of his hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders. The sudden contact was, somehow, not surprising, or irritating. It's not as if she'd suddenly gotten used to such gestures, nor come to expect it. Or perhaps she was thinking too much, because his eyes lifted to hers almost expectantly.

Temari sighed and wrapped her hands around his forearms, slowly straightening and then rising to her feet. With her sturdy grip, he slowly rose too, hissing as he gingerly tucked his injured leg underneath him. Him being upright did nothing to convince her, his sudden sway even less so. She grimaced.

"Maybe we should call off this mission." At his next hiss and the sudden added weight to her shoulders, Temari quickly amended her statement. "We're going back to Konoha, now."

"What about those genin?"

"They're idiots. Let them blow themselves up."

His eyes narrowed. "They're from Konoha." At her reluctance, he sighed – though his expression was somewhat amused. "I'm sure Kaka- the Sixth will scold them appropriately, but we don't need more crippled ninja."

Not funny, she thought as she allowed him to lean rather heavily on her shoulder. Upon arriving at the scene, though, the other genin had already fled, with a hastily carved note in the bark of one fallen log – notifying the duo that they'd returned to the village to inform the Hokage preemptively.

"Or they wanted to avoid you," Shikamaru observed more than joked. Temari rolled her eyes – though her heart hadn't calmed, she was ready for him to stop talking any time soon.

So she did the one thing that she knew would shut him up – and if she were truthful, she'd know part of this was due to her own impulsive need to touch him. His body warmth was nothing but a tease up until this point. So as fluidly as she could, she knocked his knees from under him (gently) and swung him forward.

His spluttering reaction made up for her sudden decision. "T-Temari, put me down!"

"You can't walk," she said coldly, attempting a little too hard to emulate his attitude. What she didn't expect was the sudden flush of red to spread across his cheeks. Huh.

"I-"

"Shut up," she barked, more because the sudden realization of his blush had her blushing and he wasn't allowed to see that.

"You don't hav-"

"I said, shut up, don't make me drop you."

That certainly did the trick.

She sighed and looked away. This was hard enough as it was, without the subject of all her distractions in her arms – literally.

And their journey back was swift, though she didn't really want it to be so. Embarrassment fueled her strides, her cheeks thankfully not blazing but still, at the end of the day, betraying her. He was somehow quiet, in her arms - but she doubted it was anything out of comfort. Attempts at conversation played at her lips, but she never quite said anything. Besides, if she opened her mouth now, she was more worried about the rush that would come out unbidden by the lack of floodgates. If her face, her blush, was any indication, what she would say would probably lead to regret later on.

But as they approached the gates, she couldn't resist one jab - considering how he'd somehow managed to make himself comfortable in his arms. Temari didn't bother questioning it anymore; it was Shikamaru, who could probably sleep on the back of an animal. In her arms, he looked rather helpless: his ankle probably needed attention immediately. He was lucky she'd even found him.

"What are you going to do without me," she breathed, more to herself than to him. Shikamaru only gave her half a glance, before he, too, stubbornly looked away.

"I guess you'll have to move in."

"Maybe I'll have to."

"You're just like my mother."

"I'll be like worse if you get blood on my carpet."

"Our carpet."

"Details."

They both didn't bother bringing up the more-than-obvious pounding of their hearts, which he could feel against his shoulder, and her with him in her arms.