Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Temari and Shikamaru.

—o0o—

Monster

Temari is a monster and she is cursed. If she falls in love and the object of her affection doesn't return her feelings, the object will become a monster himself.

For all her monstrous appearance, Temari has a heart…Knowing the consequence, she holds herself aloft, not desiring to love anyone. For her affection will never be returned.

But one day a human deems to sleep unwelcome in the patch of woods which is her territory.

Growling, showing off her stained, cracked fangs towards the trespasser, Temari is amazed that he neither scurries away nor beg for his life. Instead, the trespasser merely raises a thin brow upon seeing her appearance.

Her appearance? Temari with her unkempt dirty blonde hair, unbounded and making a halo around the back of her head. Her face is covered with blotches of red crusted wounds, with her sharp greenish-blue eyes rendering her face more terrifying. Aware of this, Temari pulls back her chapped lips once again baring her brown-stained canines to intimidate the trespasser as she raises her hands, their sharp talons at a ready to claw him.

But the unwanted visitor merely ignores her. Her loud, guttural growl has spooked the birds, making then fly off the nearby trees but it does nothing to scare him away.

Shikamaru sees the hag and her awesome fangs but he's too lazy to be afraid of anything. The clearing in this part of the woods is the best so far that he has encountered. "Tch, you can rest here too if you want. This place is big enough."

Temari is taken aback by the offer. "You're stupid," she can't help but remark.

The trespasser, a normal looking human just shrugs his shoulders and leans back. Crossing both arms behind his head as he closes his eyes.

Temari, angered and astonished, opens her mouth wide and with a gush of exhaled air, she screams. The wind around the clearing picks up. The dried leaves, sticks, and pebbles all fly off the ground and around and around it goes with the air to be dump on the sleeping form.

But Shikamaru doesn't stir. The air has cooled his heated skin; the earthy smell released is a welcome scent, reminding him of his home—and home means his comfortable bed.

Temari, about to raise a hand with fingers splayed wide, sharp talons out and deadly, suddenly stops.

The trespasser is now snoring softly. It isn't conversation he's making but the noise coming from his lips makes Temari feels like she has company.

She never had company before.

Allowing him to take a nap, she watches him. Noticing how his dark eyelashes fall on his cheeks, curling up softly and hiding her hideous image from him. His lips are better than hers, not dry and well hydrated. The same red bows are neither smiling nor pouting. Then his hair, he has such beautiful hair. The dark strands collected into one ponytail, springing up like a painter's brush as if they have a life of their own.

Temari touches her own dull hair and tries to comb with her fingers the tangles off them when finally she realizes the train of her thoughts, making her hiss. And with her sharp intake of air, she has awakened the sleeping man beside her.

Shikamaru opens his eyes, meeting the angry eyes of the hag. "So you're still here," he states offhandedly.

Temari's scowl deepens and her brows knit into an irritated frown.

"Don't do that to your face. You are frightening enough without adding that expression to your face."

"You're calling me ugly?" Temari rasps.

Shikamaru rolls his shoulders, not caring if he has insulted the hag but he is nothing but honest. "No. Frightening is different from ugly. And you must be really beautiful before the curse did that to you."

Temari lifts astounded eyes at the trespasser. Her heart has suddenly skipped a beat before settling to its normal steady rhythm.

—o0o—

~6 20, 22 12 AF~

~U 7 8 12~

A/N: I seriously need to stop adding more to my plate…but this is the only fic I like to do at the moment.

This one will have a companion fic—hopefully—for Bleach. I'm planning on doing an Orihime-Ulquirra version. I'm actually excited about it. Orihime and Temari are so opposite, I want to see them act the same role.

Oh well, review.