Title: White Roses

Pairing: Shikamaru/Temari

Disclaimer: I do not own Shikmaru or Temari of any other character from Naruto.

White Roses

Ino was arguing with him. Then again, it seemed like Ino was always arguing with him over something. And as a matter of fact it seemed that there was always some woman in his life arguing with him, Mom, Ino and Termari...

Temari, he mused. Odd that his argument with Temari was the reason that Ino was now bickering with him herself.

"I'm telling you Shikamaru, as a woman and your friend, it's a stupid idea...," Ino prattled on.

Her voice had a high pitch to it, it reminded him somewhat of a mosquito. He tried to ignore it and sighed, "Look, is it too much to ask? Just.. do it...okay?"

"Well, I really don't see the point. A simple apology, admit you were a jerk and flowers. Problem solved. Why do you want to ruin a good thing? No girl would understand."

Sweat soaked from the heat of the summer afternoon and this seemingly endless tongue-lashing Ino felt compelled to subject him to, Shikamaru Naru crossed the line. "Should I take my business elswhere?" He couldn't help sounding peeved.

Ino's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in a thin line. "Fine!" she snapped herself and Shikamaru would have sworn the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees from the ice in her voice alone. "What kind of a vase would you like?"

"Clear. One of those flutey-shaped ones." He motioned to the one he was interested in on a display behind the counter.

"It will take me a little time to arrange them. Do you want to wait?" Ino asked, her tone still chilly but not as brittle as a second ago.

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." He had thought she would just stick them in the vase along with his request, add some water and he'd be on his way.

"You can pick out a card and fill it out while I work." She pointed to a display case of small florist's cards.

"What should I say?" he asked as he perused the selection of blank miniatures with faint floral designs at the corners and edges.

"How about 'I'm a jerk' or 'I'm sorry' or 'You were right'," The sting had left her voice now and her chiding was gentle. "You know," she mused as she worked, "I could design my own line of apology greeting cards. And not a single one of them would have 'Let me explain' on it. A little clatter and a flourish of ribbon and she was done.

"There," she said proudly, showing him her finished work. The white roses were artfully arranged, interspersed with sprigs of greenery and baby's breath, a narrow silver and white bow at the neck of the vase. And true to his request, the vase was filled with ice cubes. The overall effect was refreshing especially considering the heat wave Konoha was currently experiencing.

"Perfect," Shikamaru acknowledged. "Thanks, Ino."

"Hmm," she shrugged, "White roses? Devotion and humility. I think you knew exactly what you wanted to say."

Shikamaru's grin was almost bashful and Ino couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I still don't get the ice cubes, they'll be half melted by the time you get there in this heat but good luck," she waved after him as he left, the bell of the door jingling as it closed behind him.

When Temari answered her own door, she was more than a little surprised to see him holding the clear glass vase full of white roses and … ice cubes? She watched a trickle of condensation as it ran down the vase to Shikamaru's hands. Her eyebrows quirked up in curiosity.

"I'm sorry," he said simply as he handed them to her.

She gave a half smile as she accepted the vase. "Sooo..., do you think I need to cool down after last night?"

Shikamaru shrugged, and said "Maybe I'm just planning ahead," as he leaned forward and softly kissed her.