They walked back home together after dinner.

It was nothing new for them to share a meal together. Not with all the past work they had had together. But this time was different somehow.

He had been noticeably more attentive to her this time.

And she had been more accommodating of his need to be a man.

She had allowed him to choose their food, pay the bill and had even allowed him to offer her his arm as they walked back home in the cold of the night. She had surprised them both by accepting it.

The meal had been much more pleasant than their previous one, a little less nervousness on both sides although there was still a hint of underlying mutual frustration that neither party was ready to confront head on. Still, despite the relative quiet of the meal, they had been more comfortable with each other, which was good considering they had only just gotten to the restaurant before they closed the kitchen. As such, they had ended up being the only two people in the place besides the staff. And both had felt that the setting had been a little intimate.

It was still early spring in the Leaf Village and although the weather had warmed up a lot, it wasn't exactly warm when the sun went down.

With the late hour and the cold in the air, the streets were pretty empty of people.

And although Temari wasn't afraid of the cold, she enjoyed the sensation of holding his arm in hers.

The warmth she felt was from more than just the physical sensation of having his body close to hers.

She gazed up at him as they walked home. He's so tall, she thought clinging tighter to the Shadow Ninja. Dark and handsome too, she mused. And manly. She wondered what it would be like to run a hand through his hair, to stroke his chin, to kiss his lips...When she saw him look down at her, she pretended to be looking up at the stars.

He was staring fixedly ahead as they walked in a companionable silence, pretending not to sneak surreptitious glances at the lovely kunoichi on his arm. The soft moonlight added a different quality to features that he realised had come to personify beauty to him. She looked so content on his arm yet he knew that she was also always ready to explode at a moment's notice. In fact he rather enjoyed seeing her come to life like that. She had spunk that one, he thought as he couldn't resist taking a more direct glance at his beautiful blonde companion.

Their eyes met for an instant and for the first time in her life, she felt a sudden weakness in her legs that was not due to a physical injury. Embarrassed, she looked away, pretending to study the stars.

He watched her amused. That had been very ladylike. But very different to the normal lady that Temari of the Sand usually was.

He still couldn't believe that a day that had started out so run of the mill with a lazy sleep in and then some cloud watching had changed to an unexpected encounter with Temari. An unexpected day spent in an unexpected day with an unexpected lady. A fight, which wasn't really that unexpected when it came to the two of them he mused. He always enjoyed seeing that sparkle in her eye, even if it meant she often accompanied it with a boast or a taunt. Then there had been an awkward lunch and the run in with some of the members of the Konoha Eleven. Followed by a very pleasant few hours of shogi with one who could actually give him a challenge. Who didn't just give up in the face of his superior ability. He smiled to himself as he thought back to the look on her face, the determination in her eyes as she had challenged him to game after game. She was a tough one, alright.

She caught him smiling at some memory and looked at him again. His eyes were distant, lost in some remembered memory. His eyes that suddenly seemed so large and bright. She suddenly wished she had spent more time talking to the other other female kunoichi she knew. Kunoichi who seemed a lot more comfortable in these situations. Although she knew she could appear calm and powerful from her many years of training, sometimes it hid a thoroughly beating heart. Especially when it came to being near this man or thinking about him.

Frankly, it scared her how powerful these sensations had become over the years. How she had come to care so much about him. Even though they hadn't spent much time together. Or even lived in the same village, she thought sadly.

She looked up at him as he softly called her name, her heart beating even faster.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me?" he said, looking at her intently.

"Really, you're offering to do some physical activity with me?", she replied before she could stop herself. She smiled weakly to let him know she didn't mean anything by it. "Sure, I'd love to", she added, resting her head on his shoulder. She would walk as long as he wanted to. She didn't want this night to end.

Wordlessly, he lead them up a sidestreet towards the outskirts of town.

Neither really seemed to care where they were going, both just enjoying each other's company in the cold spring night.

After a while he realised that she was beginning to shiver next to him. He looked down at her worriedly. "Come on Temari, time to go home."

"F-f-f-five more m-m-m-minutes, Shikamaru!", she chattered.

"No, you're shivering, you troublesome woman. Don't make me use my shadow possession jutsu on you!", he said more firmly.

She turned to look at him as she protested, "two more minutes!"

She felt him extract his arm. She suddenly felt very cold. Until he hurriedly wrapped it around her along with his other arm in an embrace drawing her to him to offer some of his warmth with her.

Sighing, she let him hold her against his chest as she leaned her spikey haired head against him. They stood like that for a minute, revelling in the comfort and warmth of each other in the still silence of the night as their breaths condensed in the air around them.

When he felt her begin to shiver harder he softly pried her off him and put a protective arm around her waist which made her gasp. But when she did not resist, he quietly lead them back in the direction of home.

By the time he had them in sight of home again, she was really shivering hard as he tried to hurry them along more quickly.

"Come on Temari, we're almost there", he said to her softly with more than a touch of concern as they neared the front door. "I'll run you a hot bath and you can get warmed up while I set up the spare room for you."

"Mhhmm", she said sleepily. "N-n-n-no ba-a-a-th, I-I-I just want to go to b-b-b-ed...s-s-s-o tired..." as she leant against in more against his firm hold on her.

He got her through the door and got her shoes off hurriedly as she lurched uncertainly on her feet. Why had that woman decided to go out dressed in such light clothing?, he thought. Why had he let her, he thought more guiltily.

Normally he wouldn't have been game but since she was so unusually vulnerable, Shikamaru picked her up bridal style as she reached up to steady herself by wrapping her hands around his neck. He felt himself heat up but she was too out of it to notice.

He was too concerned by her shivering and chattering teeth as he carried her to his room, pausing only to slide the door open. He freed one hand to hurriedly draw his futon and bedding out as she clung on almost asleep.

Finally satisfied with the arrangement he lay her down and began to pull the quilt over her but then she stirred slightly, "s-s-staay with me?"

His heart melted then but he knew he shouldn't. "It's ok Temari, I'll just be in the guest room down the hall. You'll be fine once you get some sleep."

He tried to pull away from the almost asleep kunoichi but she reached a hand out and gripped his wrist.

"P-please Sh-sh-sh-shiika, I-I-Im s-s-so cold!"

"Alright", he said, giving in to her once again. "But just five minutes", he said, trying to convince himself.

She smiled softly without even opening her eyes as she let him go and curled up into a fetus position.

He scooted in beside her and pulled the quilt over them both.

Sensing his presence, she wriggled back towards him unexpectedly which made him very embarrassed. But when she placed her ice cold feet against his he snuggled closer to better hold her close, draping an arm protectively around her. He felt her shivering begin to cease as she snuggled close to him, lost in sleep already.

Slowly, he felt her body begin to warm up but he was reluctant to leave, telling himself it was just to keep an eye on her.

Just five more minutes he told himself every five minutes, as sleep finally began to take a hold of him too.