I write a lot of oneword prompts on my tumblr, therewithasmile. After writing them there, I try to bring them to fanfiction. As you can see from my lack of updates, I often forget to do them, though - and I easily have over 20 drabbles on tumblr that haven't made their way here yet. That being said, I've been working on bundling a bunch at once to release here on windy and on 4572. Anyhow, here's one I particularly liked.

[prompt: shoes]

"I can't - take - fucking - ouch!" The last was a hiss of indignation, followed by another full blown swear. At the sound of her pain, Shikamaru's head whipped to the bearer. Muttering her annoyance, Temari was hunched over, massaging her left ankle. It didn't take a second glance for him to see what was wrong - the bindings of her sandals had snapped. To make matters worse, just behind her was a particularly gnarled root. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

Shikamaru plodded over, and to his approaching footsteps, the blonde whipped her gaze upward. Her lip already curled into a frown, Temari seemed to only grow more hostile at his presence. "I got this."

"Your sandal is broken," Shikamaru pointed out. For a split second, her green eyes flashed down to her feet, and then back onto his.

"And?"

He sighed.

"You can't walk around like that, especially in these woods."

Creases formed in her forehead as she glared - but what he said rang true, and she knew it - that much he could tell behind the facade of anger in her eyes. But before he could even begin to offer a solution, Temari hunched over. And with dexterous fingers, she tied a quick knot with the straps of her shoes. She straightened with a satisfied grin. "See? Fine."

As much as the quick thinking was impressive, the fact still remained that the sandal wasn't about to hold. She seemed to be thinking the same lines, but stubbornness won as her grin turned challenging.

So Shikamaru shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Have it your way."

And so they walked onwards, occasionally trading quips. But otherwise, patrol was the same - until they could restore their military strengths individually, the allied nations were trading shinobi to continuing their rounds. Not everyone, though, were used to the varying terrains.

As evidenced by Temari's impromptu sandal, and her scowl just evidenced her frustration.

Shikamaru wasn't waiting for it, but the next hiss of complete and utter anger didn't exactly surprise him. However, the slight moan of pain did, if only because it seemed to escape her moreso than actually be heartfelt.

"Don't say I told you so," he called behind her.

The lack of response was suddenly deafening to his ears.

"Temari?" He turned around - only to see the blonde kunoichi hunched over, her eyes screwed closed, her breathing slow and pained. A quick glance to her sandals showed that her hasty solution had come undone. As if following his thought, she, rather violently, whipped off her sandal, exposing her ankle.

And with a flash, he was on her side. To say he was concerned would be accurate, especially because her frown was even more pronounced than before.

"Are you okay?"

The look she gave him was one of slight contempt.

He sighed and reached for her foot. "Tell me if it hurts," Shikamaru said, and he didn't wait for her to respond before he began to prod around her ankle. From his peripheral he could see her grimacing, but one particular spot had her hissing. "Twisted," he analyzed, and a small part of him was relieved it wasn't anything more. "We should get you back to Konoha."

And then he made the mistake of catching her eye.

He didn't realize it; he was much too close. He could see the pale freckles that dotted her cheeks, could see the faint wrinkles in her lips even as she bit them. He could see every strand of hair, every bit that fell into her eyes.

And then, her eyes. A glossy in-between of teal and green, framed with thick eyelashes. Currently narrowed, though as they locked onto his, they almost seemed to soften.

He was all too aware; all too aware of the heat that spiked up his spine and the way his fingers tingled, as blood away from his body and up to his brain. And for those few seconds, his mind quieted - gone away with the concerning thoughts, and much more focused oh the concerning space. Or rather, the lack of space - because if he leaned in, just a few inches, their lips may meet. And who knows what would happen next.

She blinked, and he copied reflexively.

Temari cleared her throat first. "Fine."

"Fine?" He was all to aware of how his voice had suddenly dried - just a little.

And then the hostility was back. "I'll have to use you for support."

So was his smirk. "You don't have to sound so disappointed."

"Ha," she said dryly as she held out her arm. With a gentle lift, Shikamaru maneuvered her arm around his neck. He did have to give her credit; even with a twisted ankle she didn't flinch as she gingerly tested her weight, though she did hiss with disapproval.

And as they hobbled back, her nails suddenly dug into his shoulder. Ignoring his quiet hiss of surprise, she added, "Also, you need to get me new shoes."

"Buy some when you go back to Suna."

"If I'm going to be stationed in Konoha, I need a good pair."

Shikamaru all but prayed that he could hide his satisfied smile - or at the very least, that she couldn't see it from her spot against his shoulder.