Momentum
A/N This is just a handful of short pieces in no particular order.
"Temari. It isn't working out."
"You're right," she gazed into his eyes and snatched the sheet from his hands as she moved away from him.
"We could always -"
"I don't want to hear it, Shikamaru."
She turned her back to him and reached for the door handle.
"Temari, listen!"
"What?!"
Shikamaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Nevermind, go ahead."
She made a "hmph" noise before turning back to the door, with a page in one hand and a glass in the other.
In one sudden move, she slammed the glass on top of the spider and slipped the page under it, trapping the little beast.
She smiled triumphantly at her boyfriend.
"See?!"
"I stand corrected."
She smirked at him before making her way towards the window and tossing the arachnid out.
"All done," she leaned forward over him and gave him a teasing smile.
"The next time a wickle spidew scawes you, you know who to caww," she laughed, giving him a swift kiss before opening the door and leaving his bedroom.
"I'm making tea, do you want some?"
O
Her legs were dangling off the arm of the sofa as she lay across it, with her head resting in Shikamaru's lap.
"Hey, give me a fact."
"The sky is blue."
She glared at him.
"Something less obvious please. You're meant to be a genius. Surprise me."
"Seaweed isn't a plant."
She frowned for a split second before looking confused.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Give me another fact."
"Humans are more closely related to mould than they are to flowers."
"That's just sad."
"Hnn..."
"Tell me more."
"Um... I can't think of any facts. You tell me something."
She wrinkled her nose as she thought of what to say.
"Eh... All Beer caps have exactly 21 grooves."
"Drunkard,"
"A group of seals is called a harem."
"Perv,"
"Life is futile,"
"Pesimist."
"You're a bitch."
"Liar,"
She glared at him.
"You are." She stated simply. "But I can handle it."
"I thought of another fact," Shikamaru said through a yawn.
"Oh? And what might that be?"
"Butterflies taste through their feet."
"I knew that already."
"The discovery of penicillin was an accident."
"Isn't that nice."
"Also, I love you."
She paused for a beat.
"Tell me something I don't already know."
"I'm pregnant," he smirked.
Temari rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you are."
"It's yours," he laughed.
"Lets hope it takes after me then, for its own sake," she snickered. "Can you pass on a message?"
He nodded, placing a hand on his belly as he chuckled.
"Tell our baby that its dad is bearable."
"Is that your own way of saying 'I love you'?"
She smiled.
"Maybe."
O
"We should break up."
The words came out of his mouth and settled themselves down on the kitchen table between himself and Temari.
The atmosphere sank.
He had decided to do this. He had to, it wasn't fair on her to be such a burden on her existence.
She stared blankly at him.
"I know that you-"
"Shikamaru."
He looked at her. She was smiling.
"You love me, you can't break up with me."
She was laughing now as she stood up and made her way over to his side of the table.
She kissed him gently as he ran his fingers through her hair.
As they pulled apart, she chuckled into his ear.
"You'll have to try harder than that to get rid of me, crybaby. I'm not leaving you."
O
"SHIKAAAA! TEMARIIIIIIIII!"
"Hey Ino,"
"Sup."
The platinum blonde gave them a devilish grin before wiggling her thin eyebrows at them.
"Soooo, are you two dating?"
Shikamaru opened his mouth to contradict her, but Temari spoke first.
"Yup," she said simply.
Ino's jaw dropped.
"I-y-you... OHMYGOD! SHIKA, I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!"
She turned her attention back to Temari and put a hand on her shoulder.
"If he pisses you off, just blackmail him. I have baby pictures if you'd like..."
In spite of desperate protests, Shikamaru was left to sulk in the kitchen as he listened to Temari and Ino cackle over pictures of a small Shikamaru dressed as a deer.
Temari kept several.
O
"What do you like about me?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I'm just...curious."
Temari sighed and lowered the book she was reading.
"I can wait," he said. "If you need to think about it. I can wait."
"Shikamaru, recite the numbers of Pi."
"Three point one four one five nine two six fiv-"
"Okay stop. What is a vector quantity?"
"A quantative measure that takes both magnitude and direction into account."
She nodded and looked at him again.
"Why do humans sweat?"
"It's a form of excretion, removing waste products from the body."
"What is the country with the lowest population density?"
"Greenland, I believe."
"And what does ATM stand for?"
"Automated teller machine-everyone knows that, Tem."
"Why do I love you?"
"My personality, my brains and-" he stopped talking when he saw a wide smirk on her face.
"I-H-How?!" He spluttered. "How did you do that?!"
She laughed at his reaction.
"You're far too predictable, but look, you answered your own question."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"Nope, I asked what you liked about me. You asked why you love me. Sorry Temari, but I'm the winner here."
It was his turn to smile as she blushed.
"Whatever, lazy-ass."
She grumbled, turning back to her book.
"Do you know why I love you, Temari?"
"Honestly, I wonder."
"You're troublesome. I never thought I could survive a hurricane, but I'm literally dating one, so loving you just proves fate wrong."
She laughed.
"How romantic, I'm swooning." She said in monotone.
"It isn't like we're big on romance either."
She shrugged.
"Fair enough, but be careful, I might develop standards if you don't treat me right."
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer so that she was leaning against his chest with her head resting on his shoulder.
"I'm sure," he said, smiling as she brought her hand to his arm, drawing small patterns with her finger tip.
"Hnn, better watch out, Mr. Nara."
She was writing numbers now.
And the alphabet.
And the Greek alphabet. She paused at theta.
"Is that really the only reason?"
She started writing again when he didn't answer.
It wasn't until she was on mathematical formulae that he answered.
"Maybe it's your smile."
She said nothing, and began writing Pythagoras' theorem he knew she didn't believe him.
He loved her for so much more than he could describe.
It was more than just her brain her heart or her smile.
He didn't even know if he knew what made him love her so much.
It was so much more than anything.
But all he knew was that in that moment, he loved her, and she loved him.
The world was truly beautiful.
O
To say he liked her would be an understatement.
He loved her, if love were such a thing.
The way she was simply there for him.
He of course understood the immeasurable amount of trouble that came with spending time with her, but thinking of that was too troublesome, so instead, he stuck to his original thought:
She was simply there for him.
She caused no harm, did him no wrong.
She was a saviour in his troubled world.
As he lay in the park that Monday, hands behind his head, eyes fixed on the glorious clouds above, mind set on her, the group of runners passed.
They were his only interruption from his daily cloud-gazing session.
He smiled and waved at them as they passed, the girl leading the group of twenty called a few words over her shoulder to the others in the group before turning and running up the small hill to greet him.
"I knew you liked the clouds, but I didn't think you'd be here every Monday."
She smirked, seating herself down beside him and looking at his face with a quizzical expression before lying down so that they were shoulder to shoulder.
She brought her eyes up to the clouds and watched them drift peacefully overhead.
He laced his fingers through hers and no more words were exchanged as they gazed up at the clouds.
Together, they watched them be.
A/N: Only one chapter left :( I'll be sad to let this story go I must say...
Which was your favourite? I'm not sure if Temari was a little ooc at parts...
As promised, I'll go through the reviews from the chapter before last.
whattadragg~ yeah, sibling conversations are the strangest things I've ever witnessed tbh. And Temari killing Tayuya would literally be the most tempting thing ever. O.o
SilverMoon6817~ Gaara the garlic clove, it makes him far more endearing! I don't really want it to end either, but I don't want to drag it out in case it loses its charm. Tayuya is a total brat.
a01(guest)~ I may put one in then ;)
Okie, please let me know what you think! I hope you guys have all enjoyed the story so far, please remember to follow/fave/review!
The last chapter is being posted tomorrow!
Thank you all sososososo much for all the support so far through reviews/faves/PMs etc. I honestly cannot explain how glad I am that all of you exist thankyouthankyouthankyou you little fireflies, we're almost there :)
~Lee :)