This here be my entry for SunaPrincess7's ShikaTem Fest, using the below quote as a prompt. It was my first time doing something like this, and thanks to the literally 15k words of storylines abandoned for straying too far from the prompt, my last time. I don't mix well with deadlines and disease. -.-;

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Warmth and Wind Chimes

"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night." - Marilyn Monroe

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It was a slivered moon that shone down on the Village Hidden in the Sand, casting weak silver light and blurred shadows over the city, bleaching the warm colors from the scenery and leaching heat from the stone. Temari was still awake, although it was the darkest time of night and just an hour or so before dawn. She was seated on top of one of the tallest buildings, eyes restlessly and uselessly scanning the surroundings for motion.

Insomnia seemed to run in her family, after all.

The horizon was blank, bare, taunting her by denying her a sight of what she most craved. Below her dangling feet, Sand was quiet as the grave, as was the desert around her - the only break to the silence was the occasional stirring of the wind chimes that some of the merchants hung outside their shops. A chill was setting deep into her flesh, nearing the bones; but she'd endured worse and so she ignored it. It was her own willpower - or her own pigheadedness, or the foolishness of a woman; it depended on who you asked - that kept her out in the dark so late, dressed in a flimsy but prude nightgown.

He'd been gone on a mission to Wave Country for a long time now; and she knew that he still had to report to Leaf, just like she knew that he had people there he cared for as well and he'd probably end up resting for a few days before the Hokage let him go visit another Hidden Village on a pleasure trip – if she let him go at all. Tsunade was not thrilled over their match, purely because it meant that should their relationship last, Leaf would lose one of their favorite jounin. No force in this life or the next could convince Gaara to let one of his siblings leave Sand; thus, the shadow manipulating genius would be transferred to Wind Country.

It was through the bond between the Kazekage and the Uzumaki that she even knew what he was up to; messenger birds brought her tiny scrolls in the neat script of Sakura or the amusing if less legible brushworks of Naruto that told of the Nara's adventures. She had a box full of them hidden in her room.

Not that she needed them to remember him by.

Small things, in her own house, reminded her of him. Like at breakfast that morning, a pile of white bandages made her reminisce on when Kankurou had found out about their relationship.

-w-w-

After a rather exhausting (but quite fulfilling) night, Temari's appetite was whetted sharp as a knife. Thus, the hulking shape of her puppeteer brother blocking the way to the kitchen was met with a snort and an automatic reach over her shoulder for the fan that wasn't there.

"You seem kinda edgy, Temari," he noted, adopting his most irritating and condescending tone of voice. "What'sa matter?"

"I'm hungry," she snarled, hitting him in the shoulder with a fist that then gripped his sleeve. "Let's go eat.."

A moment too late did she notice the bandage-wrapped bundle on Kankurou's back; the false face fell away and a puppet grinned mockingly at her as her brother slithered out and flung open her bedroom door. Cursing briefly behind gritted teeth, Temari threw herself in the doorway, but she was too late. Naturally.

He was just as she'd left him; hands still tied above his head, body still stretched out on her futon and a blanket casually draped across his hip. For a long, painful moment, lover and brother stared at each other. Silently, Kankurou's jaw dropped, and with stiff movements he turned to gape at Temari. If it wasn't for the clatter of wood as his puppet collapsed behind her, she'd swear one had replaced her brother... and was falling to pieces.

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She had stifled a smile then, too, and gone about with her day. When she was summoned to the Kazekage's office later that day, an ink brush and a half finished message to Leaf made her think of when Gaara found out, moments after Kankurou.

-w-w-

She bit her lip and turned her eyes toward the ceiling. There was no way around explaining things now, and the only way things could get any worse would be if-

"Good morning, Kazekage," the man on the bed drawled, and two more sets of eyes latched onto the redhead who had slipped up unnoticed. Gaara's jade eyes slid over the scene, to each sibling in turn, then back to his addresser.

He turned on his heel - Kankurou, having recovered, raised his puppet from the floor with a swish of his hand. "Aren'tcha gonna help me, Gaara?" the middle child hissed as Temari snarled back. Of course now he'd turn macho and protective.

"Hardly." The short but stately teenager replied, not even bothering to turn back around. His sister took that opportunity to clobber Kankurou thoroughly with her fan; stunned senseless, he thudded onto his back on her bedroom floor.

"Hold 'em here," she ordered her lover; he muttered a complaint under his breath and loosened his hands from his binding just enough to be able to make hand signs. Satisfied, Temari headed off after her other brother.

He was seated at his desk, calmly working at a scroll, which instantly made his sister cautious. Suspicion, shock, amusement or even protective anger were all things she'd expected... but this was something new.

"... What are you doing, Gaara?"

"Writing a ransom note to Tsunade, of course."

-w-w-

The familiar, the ordinary, the mundane; all had now become exceptional, tied as they were to bittersweet memories that made her smile and burn with longing.

There was a faint presence behind her, the light footsteps of a ninja trying hard to be heard despite being made to stalk. For all his conspicuousness, Gaara had trouble with not creeping up on people and consequentially scaring a few months off their lives.

"Hey," she murmured, greeting him and letting him know it was just her, even though his sand had probably followed her progress all the way up to the roof hours ago. She turned to watch his approach, watch him avoid the patch where, so long ago, the Fourth Kazekage had found the charred bones and scorched bloodstain that had once been Yashamaru. The mark was gone from the stone, but not from their memories.

Gaara gave no verbal answer; she hadn't expected one, so that was all right. Hesitantly, he settled himself beside her, draping a folded blanket across his knees. Then he seemed to rethink things and held it out to her.

"We thought you might get cold out here, waiting for him."

"You two," she muttered, but accepted the warmth without complaint. It was woolen, and brown stained to a deep gray in the moonlight; the same color of the blanket she'd shared with the insufferable genius near the start of their relationship. Rubbing the fabric between her fingertips, she let her mind travel back through to the memory.

-w-w-

Stone County was bitterly cold in the winter, even in the daytime; Temari's feet were directed towards the small heater in their hotel room, bare toes glad to be free of cold shoes. She wiggled them, trying to get warmth and blood back circulating as she watched her temporary team-mate squirm.

Well... squirm was the wrong term. He was too lazy to move unnecessarily, but the way he rocked forward in his crouch beside her, fingertips starting to meet up in the unconscious hand sign he assumed when strategizing proved his unrest.

She grinned to herself - his face was oddly cute when he was upset.

"What's eatin' ya, Leaf nin? It's just a wedding tomorrow, and we're just supplemental guards."

"I know our mission," he muttered, hands breaking apart only to reform.

Temari waited until his eyes glassed over from thought then leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Then what?"

The chuunin tensed, then snorted and turned his head slightly away. His silver earring caught her eye; the urge to catch it in her teeth and pull crossed her mind, but she settled for chuckling into his neck.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Troublesome woman," he muttered, loud enough for her to hear this time, then distracted her from the insult with a gesture of his hand. "There's only one bed."

"So?"

"So I have to sleep on the floor, and I'm trying to think about how to get another blanket after you chewed out our innkeeper. He's probably going to charge us extra, and we're already short on-"

"Just sleep with me."

The sudden, wide eyed stare reminded her strikingly of the deer his family raised; but she hadn't expected the invitation to come out so sultry. Malicious on the inside, Temari stood and padded over to the futon, then draped herself over it. "Afraid I'll bite?"

He took in a sharp breath, dark eyes sweeping over her; a heartbeat later, however, he was back to dispassionately stubborn.

"You outrank me."

She raised a dark blonde eyebrow and slid under the blankets. "Should I make it an order, then?"

His hands started to form a circle again, but he slammed one palm into the floor between his knees instead, the other rubbing his brow

"I don't have to follow it," he countered after a moment. "I'm a Leaf nin."

Judging by his body language, she had him half won over anyway. "But we're team mates on this mission." She patted the bed beside her, watched him peer at her between his fingers.

"I'm not... sharing the bed with you, Temari," he gritted. The Sand nin sighed, shoved the blankets aside and slid to the edge.

"Because I'm a woman?"

She was close enough to watch his throat move when he swallowed; she was also close enough to grab him and haul him onto the mattress beside her. The Leaf nin struggled in her grip, and she pinned him down with glee.

Taking great delight in the feel of his heart thundering in his chest and the faint blush that made it to his cheeks as he turned away from her, scowling, Temari chuckled.

"Good night," she teased him; then, spitefully, she snuggled against his back and fell asleep breathing down his neck.

-w-w-

Temari tilted her head skyward. No clouds crossed the deep black sky, and the stars seemed farther away than usual. Under their faint glow, she felt smaller than ever. Did Gaara feel like this, both now and back when it had been Shukaku instead of work and habit disturbing his rest?

"You know you should sleep."

The glare she gave him was even colder than the night air. "Hypocrite."

He was unfazed; after a few awkward seconds of staring down her brother, Temari shook her head in defeat.

"Fine. I can't sleep without that moron insisting on snuggling with me. It's stupid and uncomfortable to have him breathing down my neck when I'm trying to recover from a mission, but..."

"Something's missing, and the feeling is acute. Like hunger." Gaara turned to face her entirely, and a gust of wind stirred his hair, drawing her eyes to the kanji on his forehead. Of course he would understand what it was like to miss something, want something, to crave for it beyond rationality.

"Yeah," she replied simply, and their conversation lapsed again.

It was strange, really, how much she cared for the Leaf nin; how much she felt at ease around him. Perhaps it was because he was strange – quiet, generally lazy, content with the world around him so long as it left him alone. He didn't feel the need to prove himself to everyone, and it was this sort of silent self confidence she envied… and respected.

But then again, Temari noted with a wry smile as she glanced at her brother, her opinion of normal was probably quite skewed.

As she watched, his hands blurred to her sleepy mind while he made a series of signs; then he stood, folding up the blanket. Her puzzled look - and slight shiver - was met with a shrug.

"You won't be waiting here much longer. He's almost here."

Her heart leaped in her chest, a surge of affection so strong it almost made her lose her balance. But she scowled at her brother first.

"You shouldn't waste your chakra like that, searching for him."

"You shouldn't loose sleep over him," came his calm reply as he vanished in a swirl of sand.

Swinging her legs back around, Temari stood on the roof just long enough to make out the faint hopping smudge in the distance - the image made her think of crickets, and the sound of them back in Leaf as she watched stars and clouds and just made excuses to lie flat on her back on the grass with him. The memory threatened to steal her away again, on flights of fancy, but she refused this time.

Like quicksilver, she leapt to the nearest roof, bouncing off the cool rough stone and heading towards the quarters of the Kazekage; once inside, she darted down the hall to her bedroom. The window was unlocked, as she'd left it for months; the covers on the bed were thrown entirely away in a fit of restlessness. Smoothly, she rolled back into bed, facing away from the window and draping the sheets and blanket over her body as carelessly as possible.

Temari lay there for a few long minutes, her body tense and nerves humming with hope. A gentle impact of feet on her windowsill, then a whisper of air brought the sound of wind chimes and the faint scent of cut grass and rain that always surrounded him to swirl around her bedroom. She heard him step inside, and the sound of his tossing aside vest and shirt, then stripping off the bindings that secured his sandals to his legs and discarding them as well. His weight beside her on the mattress shifted her nearer to him; an arm slid around her waist and he nuzzled the back of her neck.

"Welcome back, Shikamaru," she murmured, pretending to be drowsy, even though they both felt the chill of the bed. He replied with a kiss on her cheek, then a sigh of contentment. This too was familiar; the peaceful warmth in the dark of night, when he smelled faintly of sweat and all was right with the world.

-w-w-

He was hesitating in the doorway to her apartment, even as his hands pressed her closer to his body. Both were a little tipsy on sake that had been meant for Tsunade, but Temari had made up her mind once and for all regarding the Leaf nin she'd known since she was fifteen. She could taste alcohol on his tongue when he kissed her again, deeply, passionately; and she let herself relax under his careful touch.

The curling warmth down her spine reminded her of why she'd wheedled him over to her place, why she'd taken the first sip to calm her nerves and then found the touches and kisses came easier with each drink. This burning heat, this simple lust was easier to deal with than the complexities of having a relationship with him; and maybe it would be enough. After all, they were from different villages and she'd given him a million chances to make his move and he'd never taken them...

"Come on," she crooned to him, latching her fingers into the bottom of his vest and pulling him back to her bed. "I won't bite."

"I might want you to," came his ragged reply as he pinned her to the wall and kissed her again. Then he pulled away and fixed her in that serious stare. "But you're drunk."

"Not that drunk," she protested, fighting the grip he had on her shoulders.

His expression didn't falter, but he took in a deep breath like he was bracing himself to dive into frigid water. Sensing the seriousness of the moment, despite her slightly intoxicated state, she stilled.

"I love you too much to have empty sex with you, Temari."

The words hit her with all the force of a punch to the stomach. Her legs buckled, she started to fight his grip with more earnest and... he held her tighter.

"Shikamaru," she breathed, wrapping herself around him in a hug, staring blankly over his shoulder and trying to stop the sudden feeling of joy that filled her being. It was even more intoxicating than the alcohol.

"Should I go?" he asked, backing away from her only once she'd recovered her breath and balance. She teasingly hit him, and he chuckled as heretreated; Temari took the opportunity to herdhim all the way to her bedroom and shove him onto his back on the mattress.

Smirking as she followed him and straddled his thighs, she leaned forward and laced her fingers with his. "What do you think, genius?"

"I think you love me, too."

-w-w-

"Yeah," he muttered between light kisses as he busied himself with lazily peppering her neck with affection, "I'm back." His ministrations dipped to the hem of her nightshirt, to the skin just between her shoulders; hands traveled carefully up and down her sides like he was blind and learning the shape of her body for the first time.

"Your mission?"

"Successful." She was pressed closer to him as his fingers trailed across the top of her thigh. "Boring." He stopped, traced a circle on the top of her knee, then slid his palm up to her stomach. "And too damn long."

Obviously, he was exhausted, but still desperate to touch her and feel her; as though he'd dreamed of her so often that he wanted to prove to himself she was here and real.

"Did you miss me?" Temari half rolled over, asking him coyly, studying the depths of jet-black eyes.

He stopped, looking at her amusedly for a long moment. She could practically see the cogs turning in his head, trying to find the subtext to her words. "Maybe," he replied, then started to kiss her on the other side of her neck, draping his toned body across hers.

She was half-teasing him with the question, of course; but she'd also been half-serious. A scowl was just starting to form on her face when his tongue swiped across her collarbone and he raised his head again.

"I won't say it, you know."

"Why not?" Temari knew full well he was exhausted and she was being difficult, but didn't entirely care. Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he propped himself up better over her, so as to lock gazes with his beloved.

"Because I miss you more than I could say, all right?" With that and a muttered complaint, he dropped back to her side and pulled her spine against his chest again.

"What did you say?"

Shikamaru huffed into her hair. "I said I miss-"

"Not that," she corrected him, pulling him closer and shifting her hips against his in the way she knew he liked. "The other thing."

"I said you're a pain in the ass, Temari."

"But worth it?"

He went back to nuzzling her. "Always," he murmured. In time with her sigh, wind stirred the chimes outside – a gentle trickle of notes, the desert's lullaby. Shikamaru pulled away just long enough to slide the window shut, and then returned to press against her back. Linking fingers, they relaxed in the comfort of the other's presence.

She'd missed him, too.

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Hope it didn't disappoint. C: Thanks for reading!