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Of Sand and of Leaf

Part 1

Declaration of War

By Random1377

Shikamaru laced his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, blocking out the sight of the pouring rain, if not the sound. "Kyaa," he sighed, ignoring his companion's disgusted snort, "what a hassle."

"Hey," Temari shot back, "I'm not too happy about this either."

Cracking one eye open, Shikamaru glanced over to the branch the genin girl was sitting on. "At least you've got shade," he pointed out, looking up at his own makeshift shelter of branches and leaves – a very leaky assembly, but the best he could manage in the downpour.

Temari pointedly refused to look up at her unfurled fan, smiling sweetly as she replied, "I offered to let you share, but-"

"You said you'd stab me if I touched you," Shikamaru cut in dryly. "Not much of an invitation."

"You would have been fine if you'd have kept your hands to yourself," Temari countered, bristling slightly.

Shikamaru chuckled darkly. "Yeah," he admitted, "but if I stretched the wrong way in the middle of the night, I end up with a slit throat." His brows drew down. "…probably try to do it even if I didn't touch you."

"What was that??"

"Nothing!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Temari finally glanced up. "…offer still stands," she said absently, shooting the young man a glance from the corner of her eyes.

"Pass," Shikamaru yawned. "Water dries easy enough, but blood is a pain to get out of clothes."

"I wouldn't hurt you," Temari said, now clearly annoyed, "god, get over it!"

Shikamaru grinned. "I meant your blood."

Temari rolled her eyes. "Oh stop posturing," she growled, "it doesn't suit you, you know."

"Yeah, you're right about that," Shikamaru conceded, "must be hanging around with Naruto and Sasuke too much."

Trying another tact, Temari offered him a sly smile. "You're gonna be cold over there," she pointed out, "stop being macho and come on over here – I promise I won't draw your blood."

Shikamaru pursed his lips. "No thanks," he said coolly, mentally adding, You're trying too hard – definitely up to no good.

As the genin lapsed into silence, Shikamaru decided that he would be sleeping lightly this evening. As he closed his eyes once more, however, Temari suddenly spoke up. "It's too bad it's raining," she said casually, "it's a pretty night."

Pretty? Shikamaru thought. Boy there's a word I never thought I'd hear out of HER mouth. She's too… too ROUGH.

"There'd be lots of stars out tonight."

"Big fan of stargazing are you?" Shikamaru mumbled, realizing that she was not going to be quiet. For whatever reason, the young genin was in a talkative mood – and as much as he longed for a quiet moment to contemplate all they had seen and done, Shikamaru felt that the only way to get it would be to let the Sand nin get whatever was on her mind off of it.

Temari shrugged. "Yeah," she said coolly, "kind of. What about you?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes, much preferring to discuss retrieval plans, should any of his teammates be captured, or medical preparedness, should they be badly injured. Twinkling specks of light up in the sky were pretty far down on his priority list.

"Eh, I could take it or leave it," he said absently, "certainly not the kind of thing that makes much of a difference on a night like this."

That shut you up; he thought tiredly, feeling oddly disappointed as the girl fell into silence once more. Normally I wouldn't mind talking about the stars – they're not so bad… but man, there's a time and a place!

"You're kind of a jerk."

Shikamaru snorted. "Goodnight to you too," he replied calmly.

When he got no reply, Shikamaru relaxed his body, preparing to sleep – but not too deeply, just in case. She's just like my mom, he thought disgustedly, pushy, arrogant, thinks she knows everything… man, why couldn't I be out here with someone like Hinata – she's quiet as hell. Of course, she's caught up on Naruto – he's the only one too stupid to notice it.

As his breathing grew more even, Shikamaru found his thoughts turning to more serious matters. Naruto was a long time finding his way back – and so far, Chouji, Kiba, and Neji had yet to catch up, a fact that filled Shikamaru with much concern. Had it not started raining nearly the second they had defeated the Sound nin with the flute (he never had found out her name) he would have struck out immediately to find them.

Might as well get SOME rest, he thought, feeling the pleasant onset of sleep, won't be any good if I go to find them and get slaughtered by the first genin that I come across. Yeah, Temari's with me, and she said Gaara and-

A faint, uneasy feeling broke his train of thought – not a sound, really, but more just the sensation that something was a little off… and that kind of sensation was the kind that any shinobi alive past the age of four paid attention to very carefully.

He opened his eyes cautiously, already starting to move as he realized that there was someone looming over him. ­F-fast! he thought, instantly awake, but finding himself pinned to the tree by lighting-quick hands and knees. Ok, he thought, amazed that he was still alive, find the shadow… find his shadow – damn it, it's so dark! Can't pin the shadow if I don't know which one it is!

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom, shapes grew more and more distinct… and when he finally COULD see his assailant's shadow, he faltered, too amazed to utilize his shadow clone technique as he found himself straddled by, "Temari??"

The genin's face was serious, her eyes narrowed to mere slits as she stared at the surprised young man, studying his face closely. "Am I that bad?" she asked through clenched teeth, glaring at him with open rage. "Do I really make you so sick that you can't even LOOK at me?!"

Though he tried to hide it, Shikamaru's shock must have been evident on his face, for Temari continued speaking.

"Honestly – you're the hardest person I've ever tried to talk to! You're rude, impolite, and inconsiderate! And I was trying really hard to be nice to you, too! Damn it, you really piss me off! Well? Are you going to answer me or just stare at me with that stupid expression all night?"

Shikamaru's mouth – open during her angry tirade – slowly closed. "I might have killed you," he said carefully, avoiding all of the questions posed to him in favor of simple observation. "You-"

"Kill me?" Temari snorted. "Don't make me laugh. I'm better and you know it." As Shikamaru had no reply for this, Temari continued. "Answer my question… what is it about me that makes you look away every time I try to catch your eye or start a conversation? Why won't you even acknowledge that I'm smiling at you? Damn it; look at me when I'm talking to you!!"

Shrugging as best he could with his hands pinned to his sides, Shikamaru looked her directly in the eyes and whispered, "I don't like aggressive women, ok? Nothing personal."

Not expecting to hear the truth, Temari barked a short laugh. "Aggressive?" she nearly exploded. "You've only seen me in battle – how do you know what I'm like in real life??"

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" Shikamaru muttered, raising his shield of indifference once more. "You're a Sand nin, I'm a Leaf nin – what do you care if I look at you or not?"

"I like you," Temari said – her tone surprisingly cold for the words she was saying. "Who gives a damn what village we're from? You're the only person I've ever lost to, and no matter how hard I try to be mad about it, I just can't. Since when do I NEED a reason? I just like you!"

Shikamaru pursed his lips, glancing down at his immobilized body. "You sure have a funny way of showing it," he observed.

"Grr."

Temari pushed herself forward, snatching a kiss from the chuunin before he could even blink, let alone stop her.

"Love is war," she announced, rolling off of him and rising to her feet, "and I never give up once I declare war."

Instead of replying, Shikamaru touched his lips, his face shocked and disbelieving. "You… you stole my first kiss," he muttered incredulously, not terribly concerned about this fact, but definitely unprepared for it.

Temari put her hands on her hips, offering him a razor sharp smile. "What are you going to do," she asked triumphantly, "take it back?" As the Leaf nin fumbled for words, seemingly at a loss for the first time in his life, Temari's smile widened. "You're mine, Shikamaru of the Leaf," she said boldly, "you just don't know it yet."

"And you're," Shikamaru said, pausing for effect, "insane."

If the blonde was offended by this comment, she made no sign, she simply continued smiling down at him, her eyes shining with a combination of satisfaction and determination.

Still confused by this odd turn of events, Shikamaru pressed, "What possible reason could you have for wanting someone you've been with for a cumulative total of eight hours? It doesn't even make sense."

Temari held her silence, refusing to clarify her reasons for the chuunin – for now, at any rate.

Shikamaru finally snorted and put his hands behind his head. "Yara, yara," he muttered, trying his best to seem indifferent, "do what you want…"

"Oh don't worry," Temari said smugly, leaping nimbly from his tree branch to her own, "I plan to…"

Shivering slightly – and noticing for the first time that his shroud of leaves had been fortified by hand much more skilled than his own – Shikamaru rolled onto his side.

Lunatic, he thought grumpily. Why is it that I get the psycho one to help me out?? Oh well, nothing for it now, I suppose. I just need to find Naruto and the others, get the hell back to the village – and that'll be that. She'll be out of my hair.

Naturally… things would not go EXACTLY as the young chuunin planned.

Continued… maybe…

Author's notes: ok, this is what I like to call a 'tendril fic' – just a little something I put out to test the waters and see how they feel. I've got a chapter or two more planned out, but I don't know if I'll get to them… it kind of depends on how this one comes out, since I tend to write the author's notes before I finish the chapter they go to. Heh. Also, I don't really like writing about common relationships, and I don't know what's been done in the Naruto community, so if this is too cliché, someone let me know… I'll drop it.

I didn't have a pre-reader on this one, but Six String Samurai offered me some character advice and current plot info. And in case it was unclear, this is set right around chapter 219 of the manga… since that's how much I'd read when I started writing.

Feedback is always welcome on any site with reviewing capabilities, or by e-mailing me directly at random1377(at-symbol)yahoo(dot)com.