Alright, time for the more Temari-centric side of the first chapter! Just incase it wasn't clear, this will have the same events as last chapter, but be more from Temari's POV. Hope you guys enjoy!

Damn the Stone.

Seriously, why did their stupid reports have to be so long and tedious? Why was the Tsuchikage such a weaselly old fart?

Those were some of the kinder thoughts going through Temari's mind as she read the report. It didn't help that she was starving and that instead of solely focusing on filling her growling belly she had to read this report while she ate.

Shikamaru sat across from her, lazily picking at his own meal. She could tell he was staring a her but made no comment. It's not like it bothered her.

But she didn't like it either. They were just friends. Nothing else. Seriously.

"What color are your eyes anyways?"

"Hm?" Only half hearing him, she turned her attention to Shikamaru. "Sorry, what?" she asked, confused. "I was in the middle of reading, y'know, it's rude to blurt stuff out." Her voice lacked her usual venom, as it usually did when conversing with the laze.

As usual, he ignored her insult and said "What color are your eyes?"

Temari stared at him in surprise, bewildered. That was not what she was expecting. "Uh, I dunno," she said it slowly so she could formulate how exactly to respond to this bizarre question.

A small part inside her nudged her smugly and said 'he thinks your eyes are pretty' but she shoved that part of her into a corner and ignored her.

She did have a fondness for her eyes though, they were a nice mix between blue or green, depending on what she wore.

"I've never really thought about it," she lied, wondering what his response to that would be. For added measure, she grinned at him and kicked his shin under the table, making him wince. "You staring at my eyes, Nara?"

Shikamaru scoffed and leaned back in his seat, big surprise there. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, looking like a pouting child. His words surprised her, though. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

She was very grateful that his eyes were closed because she was pretty sure she had blushed, and if he saw her blushing she might just have to kill him.

The small part of her previously locked in the corner of her mind busted out of its mental cage and began doing a little tap dance, and it was getting harder to lock it away.

"They're so annoying. Are they blue? Are they green? It's like just pick a color, sheesh."

The small, giddy part of her promptly died.

There was silence for a good ten seconds as Temari's struggled through the wave of emotions that just slammed into her. First was the shock at the brutality of his words followed by the unwanted but very much present hurt. Cold anger took the place within seconds and it took most of her willpower to not throw her meal at him.

He eventually opened his eyes and looked at her. He must've seen the glare she was giving him, but only offered up a lazy "What?"

"You're an ass," she told him, quickly gathering her documents.

"Huh?" he said, raising an eyebrow, "What-?"

Unwilling to spend another second in that jerk's presence, she quickly stood up, thankful that her action cut off the words he was saying. She grabbed some money from her purse and tossed them on the tbale.

"Where are you going?" He asked, "I usually pay..."

Hah, she was storming out and he was worried about the money? Could he be any more apathetic?

She didn't so much as look at him as she headed for the exit.

She needed to get the hell out of there before she did something stupid like beat him up or cry.

Temari stormed into her office, a little room at the end of a hall that was super inconvenient to get to, and threw herself onto her desk chair, burning holes in her desk with her glare.

Annoying.

She felt the disgusting combination of anger and hurt twist viciously in her chest.

Her eyes were literally the only phsyical trait of hers that she was proud of. She wasn't one to care much for girly things like fashionable outfits or perfect makeup, but dammit, she had pretty eyes! They were her mothers shape and a color that was entirely unique to her.

Annoying.

Who was he to call them annoying? As a matter of fact, who was he to make her feel hurt with his worthless opinion?

Screw him, she decided. Shikamaru Nara just got downgraded from a friend to a work colleague. A distant work colleague. She wouldn't speak to him unless absolutely necessary.

Speak of the devil, she heard someone walking down the hallway. Sure enough, he strolled in, stifling a yawn.

"What was that all about?" he asked, walking over to her desk and dropping her half-eaten food and her money on it. "Everything okay?"

Her intense anger wilted slightly at seeing the food. Shikamaru knew how hungry she was when they left for lunch and seeing that she didn't eat everything, he had boxed it for her because he figured she was still hungry.

She still wasn't even a little close to forgiving him, though, and his words were annoying.

What was that all about?

Did he not even realize what he said? Temari came to the startling realization that his words weren't even meant as insult, they were just a casual observation and to make things even worse, he didn't even realize how she could be upset by that.

That just made her angrier.

So she spent the rest of the day giving him the silent treatment, enduring his sighs that plagued the silence every ten minutes for as long as possible.

Eventually, she had to get out of there, and left early. She left the money on the table too.

Maybe he'd get the freaking message that she was pissed at him.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked suddenly, and Temari froze in the act of stacking her completed papers.

He rarely offered to do that, but that wasn't very surprising as usually he was the first to leave. She ignored him still and left, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her.

She heard him yelp slightly through the closed door and allowed herself a self-satisfied smirk. Maybe that idiot would clue in. Did she kind of hope he'd clue in?

She shook her head. Whatever.

Temari walked through the village, her destination her Konoha apartment. She was very ready to just get home, cook some dinner for herself, and sleep this crappy day away

However, as she walked she remembered that she wanted to get her brothers a little something from Konoha, since Gaara's birthday was coming up and Kankuro always pouted if Gaara got gifts and he didn't.

Remembering a passing remark from Gaara that he was fond of cacti, Temari kept her eye out for any flower shops on her way back.

Luckily for her, there was one, and she strolled into it, keeping an eye out for cacti. Her hopes weren't too high, as Konoha wasn't a desert, but there was a chance she might be able to snag a cactus that didn't grow in Suna, or something.

"Temari?!" came a voice from behind her.

Temari winced and choked back a sigh. She turned around and got a look at the girl behind the counter.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Asked Ino, clad in a gardening apron stained with dirt. The idiot's teammate wore a broad grin on her face.

"I'm looking for a birthday cactus for Gaara," Temari said shortly, not in the mood for conversation.

Ino sensed the frost in Temari's tone and her grin slowly faded. She shook her head slightly and her face turned annoyed. "What did he do this time, huh?"

"Eh?" Temari didn't understand.

Ino waved her hand as if it was obvious. "Hello? Shikamaru, silly! What did he do to piss you off?"

Temari hoped it wasn't possible to pale and blush at the same time, because that's what she felt like she was doing. "W-what?" She stammered out, "what are you talking about?"

Ino gave her a pointed look and walked out from behind the counter. She walked to the other side of the shop and Temari, against her better judgement, followed suit.

"I've been teamed up with Shikamru for like, years," Ino remarked, scrutinizing the shelves upon shelves of beautiful plants. Temari would never tell her this, but she was secretly jealous of Ino for getting to work in such an amazing place. There were definitely no flower shops in Suna.

"Most people have the same look when something that idiot says something senseless," Ino continued, still gazing at the shelves of flora. "So spill it."

Temari didn't understand why she had to tell Ino anything, the two were far from close and barely ever spoke to each other.

However, she secretly hoped if she told Ino she would laugh and say, 'oh, that's just his stupid way of telling you your eyes are pretty!'

Hah, fat chance.

Not that she wanted that anyways, she just wanted him to not be an ass.

"Really, it's nothing," Temari said, "he's just being lazy, slacking at work," she lied.

Ino's jaw dropped, "really? That seems so unlike him! He's always so invested in it, we barely even hang out anymore!"

Temari hesitated, unsure where to take the conversation. She decided it was safest to just change the subject altogether.

"So, do you have any cactus or not?"

"Hm? Oh yeah we have a few, come take a look!"

Temari entered her apartment with a small cactus in her hands. She set it gently down on her kitchen table and sighed out loud.

Part of her wished she had come clean to Ino and told her about what Shikamaru had said, but it was just too embarrassing to admit out loud that he could make her hurt like this.

No, better this way. When she got back to Suna she could just tell Gaara that she could manage most of her Chunin Exams workload there in Suna. Sure, she'd have to come to Konoha still but it would be less frequent. Fine by her.

A small part of her told her she was overreacting, and that Shikamaru would probably apologize or do something in his foolishly charming way that would make her forgive him, but that part was very quiet and completely overwhelmed by her bad mood.

She went to bed that night eager to get back to Suna.

Shikamaru arrived at their little office at his usual time the next day, so that meant Temari was already immersed in her work. She almost chastised him for being later than her as she usual did, and had to remind herself that she was giving him the silent treatment.

He sat down at his desk and silence consumed them.

So he was just as unaware, huh? Typical.

She went back to her work, but was soon drawn from it when he stood up and walked over to her.

She continued to ignore him. She also ignored her quickening heartbeat and the butterflies in her stomach.

He stood there for what felt like an hour, and Temari began to wonder if he was going to say anything at all. She continued filing out a report, uncomfortable with his presence. If his game was to annoy her so that she'd snap at him, she was loathe to admit it was working pretty well.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."

Her entire body tensed and she nearly dropped her pencil.

Her first thought was that Ino had gotten to Shikamaru and demanded she apologized because she wasn't fooled by what she had told her the previous night, but she quickly dismissed that idea.

Unable to figure out his angle, she decided to just scoff at him and return to her work.

"Really, I am." She heard the sincerity but ignored it.

"Look, I'm trying to apologize here, the least you can do is look at me." He grumbled. Grumbled! As if she were the annoying one.

She snapped her head to look at him, and was pleased to see he was startled, "Oh, I'm sorry," she put as much acid into her words as she could muster, "I thought I was doing you a favor by not pestering you with my annoying eyes."

She knew it was petty, but she was still super pissed at him. Let him stew in his misery, she figured. That'll show him.

There was silence for a few more seconds as she glared at him. His face turned slightly pink and he avoided her eyes. He seemed to be struggling to get his words out, but Temari was not prepared for what he said.

"Your eyes are beautiful."

That threw her off guard. She fought the butterflies and the blush and kept her composure, scrutinizing his actions.

He seemed sincere enough. He had turned bright red and was pointedly not looking at her.

Deciding to throw one final test at him, she snorted and turned away from him. "Gotta say, lame attempt at backtracking Nara."

"I'm not backtracking," he said instantly, and she heard that annoyingly prideful note to his voice. "I standby what I said, your eyes are annoying, but they're beautiful too, really."

She turned back to look at him, confusion now battling anger for the status of her main emotion. He was either rambling and trying to defend himself so he wouldn't get hit, or he was trying to tell her her eyes were annoying because they were beautiful.

Temari didn't know which scenario she preferred. The first wouldn't change her current opinion of him but the second would uncork a whole mess of stuff inside her that she wasn't sure she was prepared to deal with.

"Now you're just making no sense," she told him, "I'd quit while you're ahead before I start hitting you."

Shikamaru continued as if he hadn't heard her, "I guess they're annoying because they're beautiful," he said, sounding like he was realizing it for the first time.

Oh.

She just stared at him, unsure what to say.

He saw her looking at him and turned red again. "It's just, what I meant was, uh, y'know, when we're talking about work and stuff and I have to concentrate on that, it can just be annoying because your eyes...well, they're really pretty and sometimes I get distracted." He gulped and scratched the back of his neck, "I really am sorry if that's why you're mad at me. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I was mostly talking to myself anyways."

Temari's mind reeled. She had to make sure she wasn't dreaming, because everything was going rather...nicely. Her eyes distracted him? Because he thought they were beautiful?

That inner part of Temari began tapdancing again, and she didn't stop it. She felt her face heat up a bit and tried her best to stifle it.

Still, Temari fought a mischievous grin, I should make him squirm, just a little more before I forgive him. He deserves it.

"That was the sappiest thing I've ever heard," she told him, smirking.

Mortified wasn't a strong enough word to describe the look on Shikamaru's face, and Temari almost felt bad. Almost.

"Y-yeah?" He stammered, pointing at her face, "Why are you blushing, then?"

It seemed two could play at this game. He was a genius after all.

She blanched, "I'm not blushing!" she said forcefully, much more successful at keeping her voice steady, "You're the one who's as red as a tomato!"

He hung his head, looking like a scolded and defeated child. "Only because you insist on making my life so troublesome." Was he actually pouting?

He had been through enough, Temari decided. Time to grace him with her forgiveness.

She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile when he looked up at her. "Thanks, crybaby. That..." her mind suddenly went blank and she felt her face burning once again. Had she ever blushed so much ever? "well, that means a lot ot me, that you think my eyes are nice."

He was speechless for only a second before his cocky smirk returned. "Now who's the tomato?"

It was a good comeback, though she'd never tell him, and she squeezed his shoulder, delighted at his wince. "Shut up," she couldn't get the smile off her face, "Let's get back to work." she gave him a sly look. "Try not to get lost in my eyes."

Once again, she won the battle of words.

Three days later and it was time to go back to Suna. Things had been pretty good over the last seventy-two hours, in Temari's opinion. He had boldly slid into the same booth as her the next time they had gone out to eat after he apologized, and she spent the entire meal trying not to blush whenever their thighs or arms touched.

She also found she was more comfortable with physically teasing him. It's not like she got enjoyment out of touching him or anything...

Okay maybe she did a little, but that was fine, she told herself. Besides, he liked it too.

He also stayed later every night until she left, insisting that he walk her home. Temari pointed out that Konoha was about as dangerous as a day-care, but he brushed her words aside.

She couldn't help the small feeling of sadness as she walked with him to the gates. She noticed he looked especially glum today, and she had a warm feeling that it wasn't just because of the early wake up call.

"It's only gonna be a month until I'm back, stop looking like a kicked puppy," she teased.

"Tch, I think you're giving yourself too much credit here," he smirked at her. She almost told him that he was purposefully walking slower than usual, but abstained. That would've wiped the smirk off his face real quick.

Instead she smirked back at him. "I'm not," she purposefully sounded extremely cocky since she knew it would bug him. "Poor Shikamaru," she continued, "he's gonna miss me and my beautiful eyes. What shall he fill his days with while I'm away?"

He chuckled then, and the warm feeling in her chest grew larger. She so rarely got him to laugh.

"You make me sound like a damsel in distress." He said languidly,

Oof, he walked right into that one. "Well you are a crybaby," she bumped his shoulder with hers.

He just shook his head, and tsked.

Hah, checkmate.

They had finally reached the gates. He stopped walking and Temari took two steps ahead before turning to face him.

"Okay, so I'll be back in a month," she told him. "Make sure those reports get to the Raikage, y'know, the ones for the Cloud genin? He'll get super pissed if he doesn't get them on time. And also-" She stopped, seeing that he was staring at her and giving no indication he was listening to her.

She fought back a smirk and poked him on the nose. "Helloooo, Earth to Shikamaru? Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" he mumbled, staring dumbly at her.

"I said make sure to get those approved files of the genin of the Cloud back to Kumo in two weeks. The Raikage will be all over our asses if he doesn't get them in time."

"R-right," he stammered, "you got it."

Temari looked at him, that idiot totally just got lost in her eyes, just as she was always teasing him about. What a sucker. "What's the matter with you?" she asked with a teasing grin, "you weren't thinking of doing something dumb like kissing me, were you?"

To her surprise, he flushed. "N-no!" he said, way too quickly.

She couldn't hold back the laugh at his reaction, and for the first time in her life she felt that warm feeling in her chest expand throughout her body. It made her feel bold and in power, and she liked it.

"That's a shame," she slowly, fixing him with a slightly smoldering look, "because I don't think I would've minded if you had been."

Shikamaru was quiet for a second. "Well if that's the case then," he eventually said, his tone so overly-suave that she almost laughed and smacked him.

But then he took a step forward.

Wait, he was kidding, right?

Panic flooded her systems for a second as she assessed him. He was definitely kidding, she deduced, feeling a pang of disappointment that she tried to tell herself wasn't there.

Hmph, well if you mess with the bull you get the horns, and she was done lying to herself. She wanted a kiss.

He was just about to step back and laugh it off when she reached forwards and grabbed his face. She took two steps towards him and planted her mouth on his.

At first it felt like she was kissing a doll with how lifeless he was, but she put that down to shock when he finally kissed her back. It was good. Really good. She lost herself in it and only when she started to really crave oxygen did she separate. She knew she was grinning like an idiot and red-faced but she really didn't care.

Shikamaru was openly gawking at her, lips slightly swollen from their rough kiss and face redder than she had ever seen it.

"That," she panted, trying to recompose herself, "was very nice." She straightened and slugged him on the shoulder. "I might just have to do that again with you sometime," she told him, reaching out with her pointer finger and closing his open mouth. He looked so cute. "See you in a month." She gave him one final wink and, satisfied with how things went, turned and left.

She fought the urge to look back to see if he was there as she walked, but eventually lost the battle and turned around, convinced that he would be gone.

But no, there he was. Still staring after her. He even waved to her.

She froze, blushing. Unsure how to respond without damaging her dignity, she just grinned at him and waved back.

She held her burning cheeks as she turned again and continued walking, trying not to squeal like a child. Everything about that was amazing. The kiss, his reaction...oh yes, he would definitely be waiting for her. After all, the kiss was pretty damn good.

She allowed herself a happy sigh as she walked through the forest, bound for home.

She hoped the stupid grin on her face would wear itself out before she got back to Suna...

So yeah, I tried to keep the overall feel of the chapter kinda similar, like having some similar lines. I hope you guys enjoyed it! If you liked this you should check out my two other ShikaTema stories, because you'll probably (hopefully) like those too! Ciao!