Hey! So, this is a one-shot. Un-beta-ed, but waiting to be, so if you read it in a week or so, it'll probably be a tad bit better, but I am bored, and too lazy to wait for my beta to get back to me.

This was meant to be an actual story, but when I wrote down the summary, it was like, 'Luc, wtf, you know you can't write a story!' So, here is the summary. I write in scenes when I do a summary, so here are the scenes. Enjoy, and PLEASE review.

This was written this morning, so be kind. Warning: a little fluffy (right? since when do I get fluffy?), though really strained. try to understand where the characters are coming from.

The Prisoner

She wasn't his prisoner to begin with. In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place. It was Ino, her father, and his own compassion that gotten him there in the first place. Or, in more accurate terms, it was Ino's father's insistence, Ino's annoying demands, and his own reluctance to pose any argument that had gotten him there in the first place.

But either way, he wasn't supposed to be there. He was neither a guard nor an interrogator, and had no real business speaking to any prisoners at all. That was how he saw it.

And he had ignored the few that had come in throughout the past week. In fact, he had been so ignorant; he had been sitting on a metal pullout chair, legs resting on the table, and his head down while he fiddled his hands when she walked in.

As Inoichi grew older and his own mortality began to dwell on him, he realized he needed to find his own replacement. Ino, he had demanded, was to come in for a few weeks and learn all she could about the interrogation department, or rather, all she had yet to learn. Ino was a trained nurse, soon to be doctor, but she had come anyways. It was her job, her purpose as a part of the Yamanaka clan.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, just had nothing else to do. And since Choji was gone until next week, Ino had asked that he come along and keep her company. And so, here he was, sitting so calmly on the rickety chair when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Oi, Nara, check out the babe."

Shikamaru shrugged away the comment, choosing to continue wringing his hands instead.

"Fine, whatever. But you're missing out. She's a looker, even with all those stitches." Ruseyi, the guard next to him, said.

Shikamaru was used to this, Ruseyi, the older, timid guard commenting on the coming prisoners. They were in the interrogation building, meaning that every person entering was of interest to the land. No petty criminals, only direct enemies of Konoha came here.

"I'm sure," Shikamaru said, never one to be interested in women. But he did look up, at the last minute as she turned the corner. She was, as all are, led by two ANBU officers gripping her arms. And though he could not see it, he knew her hands were chained as well.

He could see the short robe and pants she was wearing- white, cotton, non-descript. It was what they issued criminals exiting the hospital. And he could see, her hair was combed and her face clean. And Ruseyi was right; she was attractive, as far as he could tell. It was only a glimpse, but he saw her profile for an instant, the blue thread of stitches going down the whole left side of her face. Goddamn, her face had been sliced right open.

Taking a sudden interest, Shikamaru's brows raised. He sat up straighter in his seat, collapsed his feet to the linoleum floor. It was only for an instant, and it was through a good three inches of glass, but he could recognize that face any day. "What?"

"I told you," Ruseyi said, running a hand over his cheek, "she sure is something."

Shikamaru's breath stopped. It couldn't be. She couldn't be here, in Konoha, in prison. They had a treaty, an alliance with Suna. She couldn't be here.

"What did she do?"

Ruseyi shrugged, "I don't know. Probably killed someone."

Shikamaru took a breath, and then another, and then another until his breathing was erratic. Temari. No. He stood up, kicking back his chair. "Where's Ino?"

"Uh," the guard frowned, "calm down, kid. The lady is a prisoner, not a damsel."

Shikamaru clenched his fists, ready to break through the glass separating him from where they took Temari. But then he took a deep breath. Who said that really was Temari anyways?

Temari was in Suna, she had to be. No way would Gaara ever let her be arrested in the Leaf. And no way would she allow herself to be arrested. She was stronger than most of Konoha's own ANBU.

Who was he kidding? Why the fuck did he even care? What had Temari ever done for him anyways? And god knew, there was no way it was her. Naruto was still friendly with the Kazekage- any news about Gaara that was significant enough for Temari to be an enemy of Konoha, well, Shikamaru would have known about it.

"Aye, Nara, sit back down." Ruseyi said, "she's not worth it. If you're going to go after a girl, try Ms. Yamanaka. Now she-"

"Yeah," Shikamaru said, taking grabbing his wallet from where he'd left it on the desk. "Can you tell Ino I left?"

"You're leaving?" The guard's frown deepened and he crossed his arms. "Uh, yeah, I'll tell her."

And with that, Shikamaru walked out of the front office and out into the daylight.

He really didn't have to see her. It wasn't his job. Hell, it wasn't even close to his job. He had nothing to do with people like her. Nothing to do with her.

But then why did it bug him so much?

Why was the possibility that it might be Temari unnerve him this way? Sure, they had been close, once. Once, a long time ago, she had been his friend. But they weren't friends now; they hadn't been for a while.

Maybe, it had less to do with Temari and more to do with the fact of who she was- as in, why was she here? What did that mean, for the Leaf, the Sand, their peace?

Shikamaru grimaced in front of the mirror. What the fuck was he thinking? He was an adult now, for Christ's sake! He had no fucking business thinking about Temari and matters that didn't concern him. If Shikamaru trusted anyone, it was Naruto, and Naruto would have been the first to know that Temari was here, if it even was Temari. And if it was, well then it meant no threat, as Shikamaru hadn't been made aware of it.

Rubbing his temples, Shikamaru sighed. It would be too long a night if he dwelled on the afternoon.

Shikamaru was at Ino's door early, the second time in his life he'd ever awoken with the sole purpose of greeting someone else. Only last time, he had made it more casual, hanging around by her door before she'd opened it. Now, he stepped right up to the mat and rang the bell.

"Shika?" Ino asked, still in her pajamas as she opened the door, "what are you doing here?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Morning," he said, mouth dry, "I know I said I'd come to the interrogation department with you for the next few weeks, but I was, uh, well, wondering if I could have the day off."

Ino crossed her arms, "excuse me?"

"Just the day, Midori is home, and I, well."

Ino huffed, blowing a short strand of flaxen hair off her eye, "you said you'd come every day, Shikamaru. Who am I supposed to talk to?"

"I don't know, how about your co-workers?"

"Don't be smart," she said, pushing his shoulder. But then she smiled, displaying a line of perfectly straight teeth. "Fine. But you did promise, so I expect to see you there tomorrow."

Shikamaru gave a sigh of relief and turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strutted away from the Yamanaka compound.

But it was no use. Ino had not said anything about Temari, and for a moment there, Shikamaru was sure that the blond woman was someone else, but it was in Ino's eyes. The sterile blue color was not bright, instead, glassy and fogged.

Oh, fuck.

"The woman who came through on Wednesday," Ruseyi murmured after finishing his mid-afternoon break, "the blond?"

Shikamaru stirred, hoping the topic would be forgotten about. "Who?"

"The pretty one, you know, with the stitches?"

Shikamaru sipped his coffee and frowned, "no. Don't remember."

Ruseyi gave him a yeah-right look, but then continued, "well, anyways, word is that she is refusing to eat any food. It's been three days, and yet, all she drinks is water."

Ignoring the sudden stab in his guts, Shikamaru feigned a shrug. "She won't live long on water."

"No," the guard agreed, sighing. "She is refusing to talk as well. Mr. Yamanaka tried to find out some information, but apparently he got nothing."

"Really?"

"Well, rumor is."

Shikamaru frowned, "what did she do?"

"I don't know, no one with that information speaks to me. But when I find out, I'll tell you."

Shikamaru paced the hall. It'd been four days since she'd come in, four days since he'd avoided seeing her. It would have been a lot easier if he had no idea she were here, if he had never come to the Intelligence Division in the first place. But now he was here, and so was she.

Her hair as matted, so far away from the shiny locks it had once been. Half her stitches were undone, dried blood caked onto her brow and cheek. What had been a soft face was now hard, stretched, the bones in her cheeks hollow.

He worked to normalize his breath. She was only a prisoner, nothing more. They would have showed leniency towards her if she were innocent, she was Temari.

But good god, she was so far away from the woman he knew. He might dislike her now, but he owed her this much. He owed her this decency.

"Temari," he said slowly, the word tasting funny in his mouth. "Temari."

She glanced up at the sound of his voice, teal eyes wickedly bright, as sharp as they had been when she was fifteen. They wandered over his body. He was heavier now than he had been then, bigger, less clean-shaven. She ran her eyes down his form, and then, after only an instant, she looked away.

"Eat your food, Temari." He said, surprised at how even his voice sounded when his pulse was throbbing in his ears.

There was a noise down the hall, a shuffle of feet. He didn't actually have permission to be here. "Tem," he said softly, strained, "please, just eat something."

She placed a dirty hand on the stone and used what looked like a surprising amount of strength to lift herself into standing. With steady, dignified steps that she shouldn't rightfully posses, she walked over to the bars.

He was a good half-foot taller than her now, only a few inches past where he'd been before. But she didn't let anything as trivial as height deture her. "Get out of here, Nara" she said plainly, "you have no business being here."

Like he had so many times before, his hand slipped through the bar and placed itself against her cheek, a thumb running over the open wound. "Temari," he said, the words slow, painful.

"Get out of here," she said again, this time more harshly, pulling out of his grasp.

With nothing else to say, or rather, nothing he wanted to say, Shikamaru turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

"I remember her," Midori said, pushing her long hair back into a clip. "Blond …bitchy, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, lying back against his pillows, "yeah, pretty much."

There was silence for a few moments as they both fell into their thoughts before Midori spoke again, "wait, I remember her very well. You used to talk about her all the time."

"What?"

"Well, as much as you talk about Ino and Choji."

Shikamaru frowned, "I don't remember." But he did. He had pushed the memory aside for so long, he had thought it would go away. But no, there it was, in all its glory: Temari. Such an old name on his lips.

"She's eating," Ruseyi said nonchalantly, "the blond."

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked, raising his brows. It was getting late, where the fuck was Ino?

"Yeah. I'm glad. I kind of liked her."

He gave a small frown, "she seems dangerous. Sunagakure ANBU, right?"

"Is that right? Ms. Yamanaka told you that? Damn."

Shikamaru nodded. She had joined the ANBU forces only a year after she had left Konoha- word got around. That is, if she still was ANBU.

"Well, that sure paints her in a different light. They're brutal over there." When Shikamaru didn't answer, Ruseyi continued, "Rumor is, they use rape as a means of torture."

Wrong. They raped as a means of training. He knew.

"That's fucked up."

"I know."

Temari didn't say anything when he came by the next night. She didn't say anything as he pulled out a chair in front of her cell and sat until morning. She didn't say anything even though she knew that neither of them were asleep.

"It's been almost a decade," Ino said, "what did you want me to say?"

"You don't think it would have been helpful to know? She was my friend."

"Was, she was your friend. I am sworn to secrecy, Shikamaru. I couldn't say anything to anyone, much less you."

"And since when do you follow protocol, you stupid woman!"

"Hey-" Choji cut I, holding up his hands, "stop it you two."

Ino threw up her hands and let out an exasperated sigh. Shikamaru just crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes until Choji continued.

"Look. I know I miss a lot last week, but here's how I see it: Shika, she was just trying to protect your feelings. And Ino, you know what she-" he swallowed, "you should tell us what happened."

Ino blinked, and then nodded, eyes filled with sympathy and struggle, "she… she was caught sneaking into town and then she- well, she attempted to break into the Hokage's office."

Silence. And then: "what?"

"Naruto was going to try to reason with her, but she killed a dozen guards, and he was forced to take serious measures."

"But it's Temari," Choji said, eyes wide in surprise, "Gaara's sister."

Ino ran a hand through her long hair, having stopped wearing it in a ponytail years ago, "Gaara doesn't answer for Temari anymore. She is the elite ANBU, like what ROOT was, I guess. I don't really know, you guys. She's been classified as a missing-nin."

"No," Choji said slowly, "missing-nin? Temari? No way."

But Shikamaru gritted his teeth, answering: "it's been a long time," he said slowly, "I have no idea who she is anymore."

He stretched uncrossing and then recrossing his legs. It was raining outside, the heavy drops splashing inside her open window.

"Temari," he said, speaking for the first time in hours, "you should wash your face."

She glanced up at him from her position in the corner. "Not as good looking to you anymore, am I?" She muttered, cocking her head.

"You're dirty," he responded, "Hokage-sama treated your wounds instead of letting them go uncared for. You might as well show the same respect."

She gave a low chuckle, "respect? Naruto imprisoned me, gave me over to Morino."

"You killed twelve guards." He said matter-of-fact.

She glanced away, giving him a view of her uninjured profile. "Naruto is a… a good friend to my... my brother."

"So you tried to kill him?"

"No," she said sharply.

"Well then, what were you doing?" Why was he asking this? He didn't care. He didn't care about her.

She didn't answer, instead curling down to the floor and falling asleep.

Shikamaru lay in bed, hands behind his head, sheets pulled down to his waist. The light in the living room was on, but he didn't feel like getting up to turn it off. A slim hand rested on his chest, Midori sleeping peacefully, her large, fierce eyes shut. It had become more common as they got older, but it was still rare to see her so peaceful. She was always hard and kind of scary when she was awake.

He sighed, brushing a stray dark hair from her cheek.

It had been a good night, according to her. Apparently, he'd hadn't made love like that to her for years.

It was so good, she had fallen asleep right afterwards, completely worn. He, on the other hand, could not fall asleep at all.

It had to do with Temari. That was something that hadn't happened for years- thinking about Temari. Not like this, at least. Not thinking about how he awoke a few ours past midnight to see her washing her face in the dropping rain. Not thinking about how the water dripped from her lips, slid down the skin of her neck to disappear into her robe.

Not thinking about her. It was something he was used to. Thinking about her brought old thoughts, memories to his head, something he had grown out of a long time ago.

Midori sighed in her sleep, hand moving up to his cheek and she stirred awake. "Hey," she whispered, deep voice still hoarse.

He smiled down at her, "hey."

"Do you still hate her?" Choji asked softly, avoiding Shikamaru's eyes.

He thought about it for a moment, then answered honestly, "yes."

He was mad when he walked into the building. He was mad when he had walked through the doors and headed down the hallway. He was mad when he realized that, the moment he walked through the gates of Konoha after a two-day mission, he was heading to the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force first rather than home. He was furious: furious that he didn't turn around and go straight home, back to Midori, back to his own property, but most of all, he hated that he didn't want to do any of those things.

So when he finally entered the dungeon hall she was kept in, he was even more furious to hear screaming and clanging. Shit.

A guard, one he didn't recognize, flew from her cell and crashed back into the stone wall opposite.

Shikamaru ran up, smelling the mix of dirt, sweat, and small amount of blood before he saw her.

She was standing in the middle of her cell, three guards on the floor below her. She was fighting a fourth, who stopped the instant he saw Shikamaru and managed, "she had a knife," before she knocked him out with one well aimed kick.

His heart pounded, the blood hard in his ears, face heated with pure rage. And as she turned on him, ready to advance, she stopped short, seeing it was Shikamaru. But that didn't matter, he was too furious to care.

"You had a knife?" He spat, walking towards her with determined steps. He grabbed her arm hard enough to leave a heavy bruise. She cringed at his voice, but he didn't stop, throwing her around like a rag doll, slamming her body against the wall. Taking the stance quickly to avoid him hurting her anymore, she put her hands on the stone and spread her legs, moving her chest far enough away for his hand to reach her stomach and chest.

Without a word, he began patting her down. His hands circled her arms down to her wrists, and then over her hips, around her stomach. The only sound in the sudden silence was her pants and his moving hands.

He reached up to her chest, running both his hands over her chest, her shoulders, and then, as easily as a normal pat-down goes, he touched her breasts. It was quick, but he could feel her shift uneasily.

"I'm clean," she whispered between pants, but he only gripped her harder, wrapping his hands around her ankles and continuing up around her calf, her knee; her thigh.

"I don't trust you," he managed, attempting to contain his fury.

He moved round to her other leg, and then, after no pause, he ran his hands over her rear.

"I'm not ly-" her voice was cut off in a gasp as his hand cupped her groin, tightly holding the spot between her legs.

The anger, rage, unconscious fury was taken from Shikamaru as he realized what he was doing. It had been an intense pat-down, but she had hidden a weapon, she had tried to escape. It was protocol.

But this wasn't. His hand, lingering, his breath coming in ragged heaves. She was too hot there, too warm. Heat he wasn't expecting to feel, and the surprise caught him completely off guard. So did her next movement, as she pushed herself closer to his hand without thinking.

She was so… so… Christ, how he had wanted to take her right there, dig his fingers into her waist, growling at her to come for him.

"Temari," he was able to whisper after a few attempts, "I- I'm," but his hand didn't move away. Instead, it only squeezed harder, the beginnings of wetness coming through the white cloth. "I'm-" before he could say anything, four more people came crashing down the hall.

Shikamaru was shaken to his senses, and as if he only now realized what was happening, he jumped away from her, landing a good yard from where she stood, hands digging into the stone.

"She's clean now," he said, louder than was called for. And with that, he walked out of the cell and past the guards, ignoring her as she was handcuffed again and smacked.

Shikamaru took a bandage to his knuckles, ignoring Choji's look. The mirror was stained with blood now, not to mention that a good section of it was littering the floor.

"She'll be gone soon," was all his friend said, "and then you can forget, again."

"I hate her, Cho," Shikamaru said, relishing the pain in his hand, just like he had relished her pain as he felt her.

"I know," Choji said, bending down to pick up the larger scraps of glass. "Go home, Shikamaru. Go home, shower, eat something, and then go get some rest."

"I can't," he whispered softly.

But Choji only patted his teammates shoulder, "what else can you do?"

They used to work well together. They used to work very well together.

The Sasuke Retrieval Mission had been a failure in all accounts accept for one: their excellent teamwork. And then again, only a few months later.

And then more often, every few months.

And then there was that night, somewhere in the Rain, when he had taken the bed because she insisted on the floor. But then she had crawled in beside him, shivering by the window as the snow fell through the cracked glass.

He hadn't meant to become aroused. It wasn't on purpose. It rarely was.

He was thirteen, barely old enough to be interested in sex. But god, was he interested. Of course he was. And as much as he denied it, as much as he hated her, she had been the object of fantasy on more than a few nights.

He had stumbled out of bed, hands by his crotch. He had paced, he had rubbed one out in the bathroom, but never did it go away. Finally, without another choice, he had gone back to the bed, attempting to lie as far away from her as possible.

But no, she eventually felt it sometime during their sleep.

"God," she had said, a slight laugh to her voice as she stirred him awake, "I had no idea I was that attractive."

He groaned, pulling a pillow over his face as he blushed. But the next thing he knew, she was on top of him, hair out and brushing his face. She smirked, and then ran her hands down his chest and into his underwear.

Shikamaru had gasped, trying to sit up and move away, but she only pushed him back down.

"Don't you want me?" She whispered with a coy grin.

"Fuck, Temari, I-"

"Shh," she said, lying back down besides him. "I can't sleep if you're hard all night."

"I'm sorry," he tried, again attempting to move away from her, but she just squeezed his cock until it hurt so badly, he was immobilized.

"Don't be," she said softly, "it happens. I'll help. But then you have to promise to go to sleep. We're busy tomorrow."

"What?" He asked quickly, but she was already moving her hand up and down, in circles, like a massage he had never experienced. "Temari," he snapped, breath getting heavy, "what are you doing?"

She put her free hand on his mouth, covering up his groans, "helping you."

Shikamaru tossed around that night, the sleep Choji had recommended not coming. He couldn't forget about it. The image, the feel wasn't going away.

She was hot down there, so damn warm. God, he hadn't been this uncomfortable in his whole life. He had lost control, a control he hadn't even known he had. He hadn't thought like that, about her, in years. He hadn't known he'd been restraining himself.

He'd just been so angry. So damn angry. He hadn't even realized he could get that furious.

"Still hate her?"

"More than ever."

A group of birds flew from the nearby tree, and the two men turned to watch, letting the silence linger or a few more minutes.

"Have you told your wife yet?"

"No."

"Oh, yeah," Ruseyi said, filling out some paperwork. "I heard what happened in the cells last week."

"She killed two people."

"She probably would have escape too, had you not been there." Shikamaru shrugged, but let him continue, "seriously. I had no idea you were any match for her. I mean, I know you are a well respected jonin, but still, I mean… wow."

"She was weak." Shikamaru muttered. "I probably am not that good."

"Still. But don't worry, they moved her to a more secure area."

"They should. I wouldn't trust her."

"Yeah," Ruseyi put his pen down and licked his lips. "Figures."

It was the first time in almost half a decade that he had thought of her while masturbating. He thought about how her lips had felt on him with he was sixteen, how her hand had caressed him when he was hardly a teenager, and how she had felt against his hand, all wet heat.

Midori had to know he was jerking and she had to know that he was thinking about someone else. She always knew things like that, no matter how hard he tried to hide them. Then again, he had never tried to hide something like this. But the erection wouldn't go away, and he was too nervous to utilize her help, not sure how strong his will was to call out the right name.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Hey," Naruto said, losing his grin. "Have a seat."

Shikamaru glanced at the chair and then shook his head. "What is it?"

"I- I uh…"

"What?"

"It's about Gaara's sister."

Shikamaru stiffened slightly, "what about her?"

"I heard you stopped her escape last week."

"Ino has me helping her by the cells."

Naruto bit his lip and frowned, "I wanted to thank you. She, well, she is making it difficult for me to help her. And Gaara doesn't know. And well, Shikamaru- I'm having trouble."

"She is a difficult person."

"You two used to, you know," Naruto made a gesture with his hands and Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "right?"

"No, she is too much of a pain."

"Right," Naruto narrowed his eyes, but then smiled again, "if you weren't, well then you're stupider than I thought. Anyways, that's not the point. I don't know how much you know about the situation, but what I can say is, she is working a covert operation. She is cursed on the back of her tongue."

"You mean, if she speaks about her operation, she will be paralyzed?"

"I think it means she'll die."

"What?"

Naruto nodded, suddenly solemn again. "I can't get in touch with Gaara, but if you can find a way to remove the curse, could you? You do stupid shit like that all the time? Right?"

Shikamaru resisted rolling his eyes again, "I'll do my best." But his best wouldn't be enough, and he knew it.

She was in a new outfit now, cleaner, nicer clothes. Her hair was up in the style he was used to. She sat on a white bench, in a white room, completely invisible except for her exposed skin.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Why are you?" He asked.

"I tried to escape," she said slowly, reminding him and shooting fire through his veins, "you stopped me."

Shikamaru swallowed, "I mean, why are you in Konoha?"

She brushed an imaginary strand of hair from her face, lying down and looking at the solid colored ceiling. "I can't come back and visit? I used to come here quite often." She said simply.

Shikamaru kneeled down in front of the glass wall keeping her in, knees hitting the barrier. "You haven't come for a visit in nine years."

She shrugged, bouncing her foot in the air, "I had no reason to come."

He held his breath, "why now?"

She turned her head sideways and glanced at him, "you've grown up."

He sighed, "so have you."

"What's the date?" She asked.

"Does it matter?"

"It's your birthday today isn't it? Twenty-six?"

"Does it matter?" He repeated. She shrugged again, her lips falling into a smirk.

"I was going to come back, you know." She said after a few minutes of silence.

He had been leaning his head down, and now glanced back at her, "what do you mean?"

"To the Leaf," she said, thinking out her words patiently, "I was going to come back when you turned eighteen."

"Why?"

"You'd be ready then."

"Ready for what?"

She looked at him as though the answer were obvious, "for me."

Shikamaru gazed sideways. It'd only been a few hours since any of them had spoken, but he had needed that amount of time to get his thoughts in order.

They were both lying down now, separated only by a couple of inches of glass.

Finally, when she was about to fall asleep, he spoke, "you didn't come back because of Midori."

Temari opened her eyes, surprised he was speaking again. "Amuro? Well, you had just gotten engaged."

"I didn't know you were going to wait for me." He muttered, trying to remember that year. He had proposed, but Midori had said no. She hadn't accepted until they were twenty-two.

"I thought you were smarter than that," she said, shutting her eyes again.

"Temari," he said, louder this time, "you left. You left right before I turned seventeen. You left and you didn't come back."

"You could have come to Suna." She said with a wave of her hand, as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Why would I do that? You didn't respond to my letters, you assigned someone else to be the ambassador. You cut me out of your life with no explanation."

To his astounment, she let out a laugh, "jeeze, Nara, what did you think I was doing?"

"Being a bitch." He rubbed his temples, "Temari, why did you leave?"

She rolled her eyes, "you haven't put it together now? Fine. I was in love with you, how's that?"

He choked on his breath. "You what?"

"I was in love with you. But you were too young. I didn't want to take anything away."

"Take something away? Like what? My virginity? Fuck, Tem, do you know how badly I wanted to get on top of you?" He let out a low laugh, "god, all I thought about was how to fuck you. And then, you gave me a handjob that night in the hotel." She nodded, "and it just amplified all those fantasies. And for my sixteenth birthday when you went down on me, god, did I ever think about it."

She laughed again, loudly this time, just like she used to, "I didn't mean sex, per say. I meant, I didn't want to take away your childhood."

He just raised his brows.

"I mean, if we, well, it's too complicated. Our villages, our standing, and your age- it wouldn't be easy. Hell, it is too fucking difficult to even wrap my head around now."

"So what? I would be ready for the burden at eighteen? You could have stuck around, could have told me to wait."

"But that's just it, Shikamaru. There was a girl, prettier than I am, about your age. You liked her, a lot. I- I wanted you to be able to have a life."

He thought back, "you mean the genin working under Ino?"

Temari nodded, "yeah."

Shikamaru shook his head, "well fuck, Tem, we broke up right after you left. She said I was in love with you."

Temari sighed and turned, lying on her side, "But then you met a girl named Amuro."

"Midori and I didn't get married for years after that though. You had so much time to come back."

Temari placed a hand on the glass and looked over at Shikamaru, "but you love her."

He didn't have to think about it, "yeah."

"Then I'm happy for you."

"But it was always you," he said, grazing his hand over his head.

She sighed and rolled over again, shutting her eyes. "I know."

Shikamaru watched her as she slept, her eyes fluttering as she breathed steadily. Here they were, nine years later- he was married, she was in prison, and yet, they still found a way back.

He looked her over, her cut was healing nicely, Naruto had done quite a number on her. The heave of her breasts still aroused him more than he wanted it to, the cool skin of her neck; the parting of her lips.

He had spent years wanting her. When he had had his first kiss, he had wished it were her. The first time he had sex, he had found himself imagining it was her.

It had taken her too long to come back. Too many years that he hadn't spent with her.

But god, he was so angry. He was so angry. He was pissed then and he was pissed now. She was an idiot, a stupid, fucking idiot. Didn't she know- he would always want to be with her. He was ready at sixteen, hell, he was ready at thirteen.

How did she not know that?

"I did," Shikamaru said, standing in front of two ANBU officers, facing Naruto's desk.

Naruto frowned, and scratched his head. "Leave us alone," he said to the two uniformed officers. They walked out. He then glanced up at Shikamaru, "why?"

"You said she was sealed? She is not stupid, Hokage-sama. She would not attack you on her own. And the Sand ANBU are not that stupid either."

Naruto nodded.

"I think, well, I think she was trying to protect you. To warn you."

Naruto nodded again.

Shikamaru shifted his weight from foot to foot. "So, I helped her escape. To find her brother when the time was right and after that, if she was ready, to come back."

Naruto nodded once more, but then broke out into a grin. "Oh, you two were so sleeping together."

"You're still a virgin?" She asked, sitting on the foot of his bed.

He stared, wide-eyed at the question, but then just gave a sharp nod.

She put a finger to her bottom lip, "well, nevermind then."

He could feel himself growing hard. "Nevermind? Nevermind what?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, moving onto her hands and knees and crawling towards him. "I was just wondering."

"Hey- hey, Temari, what are you-" she pushed him down, hand molding onto his bare chest.

"Isn't it your birthday today?"

"Yeah, but-"

"I guess my hand won't cut it anymore," she cut him off, leaning down to kiss his neck.

"Hey-" he tried again, "Temari!"

She pulled away and smirked. "If you want to get lucky," she said, "then you best shut the hell up. I'm trying to help you."

Knowing what that meant –he remembered it three times a day, at least- he let her continue, only muttering, "you troublesome woman," before he laid his head back on the pillow.

Her lips touched his chest, tongue running over his nipple for an instant before he involuntarily pushed his groin into her clothed crotch. She smirked against his chest, using her hands to hold down his hips.

Her tongue trailed from his bellybutton down the thin trail of hair to his erection.

"You're bigger than I remember," she whispered.

"Wha-" the words were pulled from his mouth in a gasp as she tentatively licked. "Fuck," he managed to groan.

"Shikamaru," she said seriously, glancing up at him, "try not to come, it will feel better if you last longer."

All he could do was nod. Not since she had last touched his dick three years ago, had anyone else been down there. And god, was this more than he could ask for.

And then, before he could even see it, her lips were tight around him and she was moving her head, swirling her tongue.

He let out a loud groan, throwing his head back into his pillows. Good god, her mouth. It was all tight and hot and wet, and… and… shit. He had never felt anything so good in his life.

"Temari," he said the name over and over, the word feeling natural on his lips.

Review

Okay, I KNOW I am crazy behind on TAGAMT, but this idea was running through my head last night and I just had to jot it down. But I am pretty much done with the crazy stressful part of my summer (don't even ask. well, you might, but i don't know why) so I am now relatively free to finish up my requests from that, actually finish p2 of a mistake and my nejiten excerpt, and work on my own stuff. that's the goal.

p.s. i'm all tumblr-ed now. check it out.

-Lollipop