A/N: It's been quite awhile since I've written a fic, so I thought I'd begin working out my creativity with a simple task: the 50 themes, 1 sentence challenge from livejournal using the Epsilon theme set. I believe the majority of these are post-war, save for one. Can you spot it?

#01 - Motion

Admittedly, Temari is rather grateful that her boyfriend has his gaze glued to the path before them, for she blushes so ferociously the instant he wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her close.

#02 - Cool

"I'm totally cool," Shikamaru mumbles beneath his breath, and his wife can only smile rather ruefully, taking her husband's hand in her own, carefully unwrapping his fingers from around the shougi tile.

#03 - Young

Newly born is the infant placed in his arms shortly after cutting the umbilical cord; it isn't out of fear that Shikamaru hands their son off to his exhausted wife, but purely out of love, wanting her to be the first to truly hold and comfort him.

#04 - Last

He is her first choice—her only choice—rather than her last, something he has grown accustomed to in his childhood, always picked last when playing with the other children due to his lazy nature and supposed lack of physical strength.

#05 - Wrong

She's (usually) never wrong, something he is thankful for, even as he stands before an incapacitated asshole, fists clenched at his sides; she speaks softly near his ear, palm flat against his chest, "Shikamaru, you'll always have me."

#06 - Gentle

"No one has ever touched me so… gently," she tells him one evening as he holds her close to his chest, hands gentle against her skin, and his heart soars.

#07 - One

"She's the one, Dad," he grins, even if he's in the heart of one of Konoha's most depressing places, "I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

#08 - Thousand

"In one thousand lifetimes, it'll always be you, Temari."

#09 - King

The king—the future generations of the shinobi world—and a portion of that important piece sleeps soundly between both his mother and father.

#10 - Learn

Though he doesn't appear to be too enthralled by the idea of learning his father's favorite pastime, he accepts the lessons, if only to see Shikamaru's face light up, and though she'd jokingly rolled her eyes at her husband's enthusiasm of teaching their young son the rules of shougi, Temari smiles as she watches her boys from the entryway.

#11 - Blur

Her opponent is blown away in a blur, colliding with the trunk of a tree with an echoing boom that startles the birds of the forrest; Shikamaru can only observe his wife in awe, fighting the urge to dash to her side and kiss her.

#12 - Wait

"Wait, wait—" but her lips press against the line of his jaw as she pushes him into one of the Hokage Tower's bathrooms, and he can't help but thank a god he doesn't believe in for the surge of hormones coursing through her pregnant body.

#13 - Change

Neither of them could foretell the types of people they would become when in a relationship; in fact, it comes as somewhat of a shock to their friends when they learn that Temari and Shikamaru are incredibly affectionate with one another.

#14 - Command

"I want to hear you moan my name," he instructs, thrusts agonizingly slow, right hand gripping at the leg wrapped around his waist; and though she bites her lip to suppress the urge, he buries himself so deep inside of her that his name erupts past her lips.

#15 - Hold

He's small and wrinkly, and she swears that he could be squashed just as easily as a snail beneath her foot, but he resembles his father so much, even at the age of three-and-a-half days, but those eyes are all hers, her husband points out, and she can't help the smile on her face.

#16 - Need

He doesn't need her, he tells himself for the thousandth time that day, yet still it does nothing to cushion the blow that is pushing her away.

#17 - Vision

She's beginning to picture it, a life with him, here, in Konohagakure; he is her family, providing an endless supply of unconditional love that she knows spending her life with him will be happier than she ever could have imagined.

#18 - Attention

He trails kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, and to her breasts, paying very close attention to her body as he carefully removes each article of clothing.

#19 - Soul

There's no doubt about it—he is her soulmate, and she is his, evident in the ways they know each other better than anyone else, better than themselves.

#20 - Picture

Discovering the framed photo of his friend's wife and their infant son on Shikamaru's desk prompts Naruto to ask, "when did you become such a sap?"

#21 - Fool

With an IQ of over 200, Shikamaru is renowned as a genius, but when his girlfriend kisses him, his mind goes blank, and he's reduced to a blubbering idiot in love.

#22 - Mad

"I'm mad at you," she lazily mumbles, stifling a yawn; his arms wrap around her, his lips press to the back of her neck, and he asks her, "how about now?"

#23 - Child

"What's that, Tou-chan?" asks a two-and-a-half year old Shikadai, holding an opened condom wrapper in one hand, and the actual condom in another; Shikamaru can only answer, "Balloons for adults only," as he snatches the items from his grasp—his wife can only laugh.

#24 - Now
She grinds against him, kissing his neck, and he groans, "I need to be inside of you."

#25 - Shadow
As radiant as the sun, Temari's smile burns the shadows within his heart.

#26 - Goodbye

He leaves her at the village gates after each visit, just like old times; the only difference, however, is the way they embrace each other, and the lingering kiss they share.

#27 - Hide

It isn't the most ideal situation, hiding in the bathroom with the door locked behind you, but Shikadai would rather remain for the rest of the night than face the music that is both of his parents, ready to scold him for slacking off yet again.

#28 - Fortune

He walks out of the tent in amusement, hands dug deep into his pockets as he approaches his friend; he tells her of the future the elderly woman supposedly saw for him—"Naruto must've slipped her some cash because she insisted that you and I would be married by the time I'm twenty—absolutely insane!"

#29 - Safe

She returns from the bathroom in the dead of night, slipping soundlessly back into bed; instinctively, even in the deepest stages of sleep, he embraces her from behind, and Temari has never felt safer.

#30 - Ghost

Staring back at him, his reflection mimics his movements; his hand cups his chin, stroking the goatee that has begun to sprout, and he mumbles the words, "I look like my father," to his wife who embraces him from behind.

#31 - Book

He dives for the baby book, coming up several inches short, and he can only watch with a pout as his wife retrieves it from the living room floor; "These books of yours don't know our son."

#32 - Eye

The baby boy, swaddled in a light blue blanket, gazing up at his father with his mother's beautiful teal eyes, gurgles every so often, hands balled into fists, arms outstretched before him.

#33 - Never

"I'll never push you out of my life again," he whispers beside her ear, holding her close after the first heart-to-heart of their romantic relationship.

#34 - Sing

He whispers a goodnight against her lips, though he craves more, and she kisses him a second time; his heart sings.

#35 - Sudden

It's out of nowhere when he begins treating her differently, speaking to her harshly, pushing her out of his life, and though he does it gradually, it does not lessen the amount of pain she is subjected to.

#36 - Stop

"Shh—someone's coming!" he urges, yet she continues to pepper kisses along his jawline, a wicked grin forming on her face the moment his voice cracks as he informs the individual at the door that the bathroom is occupied.

#37 - Time

"We've got the rest of our lives to spend with each other, now," he informs her shortly after they've exchanged vows; "I know," she beams.

#38 - Wash

He calls it Family Bath Time, yet another cheesy line which spills from her husband's mouth, and yet Temari cherishes the relaxing moments spent in the tub with her boys, rinsing off their son's soaped-up skin after Shikamaru runs the washcloth against his skin.

#39 - Torn

"Do you think he'd like the owl more than the giraffe?" Shikamaru asks, finding immense difficulty choosing between the stuffed baby toys.

#40 - History

Shikadai can't exactly say he's surprised when his father strays from the topic of how he and Temari met, especially when he begins to educate the young Nara heir in the different types of smiles his mother has, and how Shikamaru is capable of differentiating between each one.

#41 - Power

She's arguably the strongest wind user in existence ("Naruto doesn't count," he'll say, "he has the kyuubi."), and it is something he is quite proud of, and something he brags about often.

#42 - Bother

His closest of friends mean well, he knows, but they become somewhat of a nuisance after he catches them spying on his dates with Temari.

#43 - God

"If there is a god out there… please keep my wife safe; not for my sake, but for the sake of our unborn son."

#44 - Wall

With her back against the wall and her legs wrapped around his waist, Shikamaru's hands grip at her thighs, nails digging into her skin as he thrusts into her, and Temari moans against his ear.

#45 - Naked

They've had so much sex during their honeymoon that, sometimes, she wonders what is the point of wearing clothing around the house when her she was just going to shed herself of it, anyway?

#46 - Drive

He sees it early on in their son, her drive to be the very best, and he's incredibly thankful that Shikadai hadn't taken after him in that aspect.

#47 - Harm

He murmurs an apology, noticing the wince she gives when the alcohol seeps into the wound on her cheek; in true Sunagakure shinobi fashion, the kunoichi fails to notice the sudden contortion of her facial muscles, humming in question to her boyfriend's apology.

#48 - Precious

Titanium—definitely not considered as precious of a metal as silver, gold, or platinum, but precious nonetheless, and strong enough for the wedding band of a kunoichi such as Suna no Temari.

#49 - Hunger

Hungry for more after their first kiss, Temari presses her lips to his shortly after his breathless goodbye, locking him in place as their mouths move as one.

#50 - Believe
"Do you believe in soulmates?" he asks her, tracing invisible patterns against her skin; "I do," she answers.