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“You have got to be kidding me,” Temari grumbled as she assessed their situation. Her eyes raked over the walls of the cave, searching for a way out and finding none. “You idiot!” she spat, turning her attention to her counterpart, “Thanks to you, we’re stuck down here!”
Shikamaru groaned and rolled over onto his back, still rather sore from tackling her out of the path of a stray kunai. “We were being attacked. I only knocked you out of the way so you wouldn’t get hit.” His voice was apathetic, as it usually was, bouncing off the stone walls and echoing despite its low volume.
Temari’s frown deepened as she regarded him, slouching on the ground like a lazy cat. Behind her, the waterfall they’d jumped into roared with life. It was frankly shocking that they weren’t swept away by the force of it, though she guessed he must have used his shadows to latch onto the rock and pull them into the safety of the cave instead. “We could have taken them,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.
Shikamaru sighed and finally, painstakingly, sat up. His eyes were half-lidded as he regarded her, seemingly disinterested in this entire conversation. “We were out numbered. It was the only logical move.”
She huffed in annoyance and began shucking off her wet clothes. The cave was cold and even though it was summer, the soaking fabric on her skin would surely spell disaster if she didn’t handle it promptly. She accidentally caught his gaze from the corner of her eye as she stripped off her shirt. “Sorry,” she said, turning away from his reddened expression, “I know this is indecent, but we’ll catch a cold if we don’t ring these clothes out.” She placed the wet shirt next to her chest plate on the rocky ground, then stripped off her eggplant colored skirt as well. “I can use my tessen to dry them fairly well, so give me yours too, ok?”
Behind her she heard the sound of him shuffling followed by the wet slap of his clothes hitting the ground. She couldn’t help a blush from creeping across her face at the mere thought of it. She and Shikamaru had been dancing around each other for years, or at least she thought that’s what they were doing. Neither one of them had dared to make the first official move and she’d be damned if she would be the one to give in to their perpetual game of chicken, no matter how badly she wanted to.
Temari pushed her desire down, refusing to give it the time of day it yearned for, then spun around on her heel . She kept her eyes on the ground as she stalked forward to gather up his clothes, then knelt down to start ringing the frigid water out of them.
“H-hey,” Shikamaru stuttered from above her, “You don’t have to do that. Tend to your own clothes first.
She instinctively looked up at him when he spoke, forgetting the current state of undress they were both in. Her face lit up like a neon sign when she realized what this looked like—her on her hands and knees, clad only in her bra and panties, while he stood in front of her in a soaked pair of boxers. She quickly released his clothes and turned away, busying herself with her own garments so that he could take over without a word.
They continued on in complete silence, the tension between them making the air thick and hard to breathe. Once Temari was happy with her wringing, she laid the damp clothes back on the ground and retrieved her fan. “All set?” she asked without turning around.
Shikamaru, despite his best efforts, had not been able to look away from her since she’d handed over his clothes. He had watched her back as she worked the fabric, too focused on the way her damp skin looked in the low light and how the water droplets that fell from her pigtails resembled bits of glitter. He faltered at the sound of her voice, quickly forming a shadow to wrap around his clothing and strangle it like a boa constrictor. The water splashed against the rocks below and swirled around his feet, leaving his clothes as dry as they were going to get for now. He hesitantly took a step forward, then another and another until he was right beside her. He knelt down and placed his clothes next to hers, then stepped back so she could unsheath her fan.
The clothing was completely dry in two rounds of wind sythe’s, but she gave it one more just to be sure. Then they set about redressing themselves and trying not to catch each other's gaze.
Temari was the first to try and side step the awkwardness, going to her pouch to retrieve a packet of onigiri wrapped in large banana leaves. “Here,” she said as she handed him one of the triangles, “You should eat.”
Shikamaru shook his head and waved her off. “I’m fine, you should have them.” She rolled her eyes and tossed the food at him wordlessly. He grabbed it midair on instinct, but caught her wrist when she tried to give him another. “Seriously, I’m fine.”
Temari’s eyes met his in the dim light of the cave, assessing him with far too much scrutiny. He nearly flinched away when she lifted a hand to his cheek, too used to the bite her palm left behind after a well placed slap. This time though was rather different. Her soft, slender fingers caressed the skin of his cheek, gently as if she had a nurturing side. From the look in her eyes, he began to think that maybe she did, deep down underneath her aggression, there was a girl that could perhaps even care about him.
“We were running around quite a bit in that heat,” she finally said, “You much longer than me. You look a little dehydrated, maybe a bit dizzy too. So eat.”
The last part was a command, her tone firm though the feeling behind it was surely one of genuine worry. Shikamaru swallowed, suddenly unnerved by her gentleness and nodded. “If you say so.”
They ate quickly, both of them assessing the cave and attempting to devise a plan suitable enough to get them out of there safely. “We could try our hand at swimming,” Shikamaru offered around a mouthful of salted salmon onigiri, “It’s not too far of a jump to the basin and then it’ll be a short swim to the shore.”
Temari flushed, suddenly embarrassed. “I…I’m not a very good swimmer,” she confessed reluctantly. She hated admitting to any shortcomings, but realistically she’d probably drown if they attempted that plan.
“Oh right,” Shikamaru sighed, realizing his mistake, “You were born and raised in the desert, so swimming’s probably not your strong suit.” He popped the last bite of his second onigiri into his mouth and chewed, then stood and promptly held out his hand to her. “We’ll have to go deeper into the cave then,” he explained, “Hopefully there’s another way out.”
***
“Maybe we should call for help and hope Naruto hears us,” Shikamaru droned as he looked up at the gaping hole above them.
Temari was staring at it too—the ceiling of the cave that opened back up to the forest where they were previously engaged in combat. “If those ninja are still nearby, they could hear us instead. Then we’d be like fish in a barrel for them to pick off.”
“What a drag,” he groaned.
Temari eyed the distance between the hole and where they were standing. It had to be roughly 300 centimeters. She turned her gaze to Shikamaru, who stood about a head above her. He wouldn’t be able to reach it by himself even if he jumped, but perhaps there was another way.
“You’ll have to get on top,” he said suddenly, causing her to flinch.
“Excuse me?!”
Shikamaru shrugged, either ignorant in his choice of words or unphased by the implication. “I’m heavier than you, so if I got on top I’d crush you.” She was about to punch the daylights out of him when he paced forward and pointed up at the hole. “Even if you kneel on my shoulders, it should be enough to get you up there.”
When the realization hit her she paled. Of course that’s what he was talking about. It was the same idea she had just been contemplating when he’d interjected and derailed her thoughts. Suddenly embarrassed by the mix up, she felt her blood rush to her face again. “O-oh…right.”
Shikamaru tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you think I meant?”
Her flush deepened and she began to laugh despite her best efforts to remain stoic. “Oh nothing!” she managed to say in between frantic, nervous laughs, “Of course. That’s what I was thinking as well!”
Shikamaru felt his own face heat up before his brain could even catch up to the realization. He felt a strangled laugh of his own bubble up in his throat and force its way out. God, he was always making such a fool out of himself around her. It was like some kind of curse. “Well c’mon then,” he said as he squatted down and held out his arms behind him. He wanted to move past his faux pas as quickly as possible and get the hell out of this cave.
Temari seemed to be of the same mind, clearing her throat to ward off the nervous giggles and stepping forward to meet him. She placed the sole of her shoe squarely in his palm, then used the leverage to hoist herself up onto his shoulders. “Is it alright?” she asked warily, “I’m not too heavy?”
Shikamaru snorted as he brought his hands to the side of her calves to steady her. “Hardly. You might actually want to consider putting on a few more pounds, otherwise your own wind jutsu might blow you over.”
“Haha, very funny,” she said flatly. He got a bit closer to the wall then, allowing for her to place her hands on the stones. “It’s pretty wet here so it may be hard to get good footing.”
“So you can’t do it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
She moved her hands over the stones until she found a good grip. “Alright, I’m going to stand now and try to climb up.”
“Go for it,” Shikamaru said reassuringly from below her, “I’ve got you.”
Temari carefully brought her foot to his shoulder, standing with great difficulty and using the wall to lean on as she went. Shikamaru’s hands slid from her calves to her ankles as she moved, then held tightly, as if it would make a difference.
Although precarious, the plan seemed to be working. She was able to reach the lip of the hole with ease given their combined heights and could nearly taste the freedom she so desired. Her fingers dug into the mossy earth above them as she craned her neck to get a good look at the immediate area.
“Do you see the enemy?” Shikamaru asked, “Or our idiot team mate for that matter?”
“N-no,” Temari answered, still struggling to keep her feet from sliding off his shoulders.
Suddenly, a seaweed colored frog leapt to the edge of the hole, sitting itself comfortably in between her hands. Temari flinched, startled by the creature. “Hey!” Shikamaru called out, “don’t wiggle like that or I’ll drop you!”
“Sorry, it’s just,” she stammered, “There’s a frog!”
“A what?”
“A fro-”
Just then, the frog decided to jump, launching itself directly into Temari’s face. She screeched, her hands flying from their grip to grab at the thing. The movement, paired with her lack of something to lean on, sent them both tumbling down in a pile of limbs and swearing.
Temari winced preemptively, expecting to feel the pain of, at the very least, a gnarly bruise. Though, she didn’t feel any pain. Rather, it was quite the opposite. She felt the warmth of his chest, her face pressed against it so closely that she could hear his thundering heartbeat inside his ribcage. She felt his arms circled around her protectively, their grip almost too tight for comfort. Lastly she felt a mysterious bulge underneath her left hand.
She attempted to move the hand, sliding it up, but finding that his embrace was too tight to move the arm properly. She moved her hand back down again, then a little to the side until she heard Shikamaru groan. Temari looked up at him, suddenly concerned. “Are you alright? You broke my fall.”
“I-I’m fine, but,” he managed to get out before releasing her from his grip, “C-could you move your hand?” Temari lifted her right hand instinctively, pulling it away from his chest where it had fallen. His face remained red though, mouth slightly agape and eyes on fire as he looked at her. “The other one,” he mumbled, “This position is…troublesome.”
“Oh, sorry,” she said, then sat up and pulled away from him completely. It was only then that she realized where exactly her left hand had been. What had been tucked away in her palm was most certainly not the frog that had jumped at her, but a far different kind of amphibian.
She felt his hand grip her waist, then the whole arm circled around her hips to hold her to him. He was beneath her looking up, marveling at how the opening of the cave ceiling gave her the appearance of a halo of light. “Temari,” he said in a low voice, suddenly more serious than she’d ever heard him, “There’s something I need to tell you.”
She felt a wave of panic wash over her. Was he about to say what she thought he was? Was the game of chicken about to be over? If so, what would that lead to? Right here in this cave, was she even ready for it to lead to anything? Her heart began to thunder as he opened his mouth again to speak.
“I’m-”
“I’m terribly sorry,” she interrupted, “I think I squished a frog.”
Shikamaru looked back at her stunned, her words barely registering in his brain. “A…frog?”
“Yes!” she said, doubling down, “A frog jumped at me and caused me to fall backwards. Thank you very much for catching me.” She bowed her head slightly then attempted to clamber off of him. “Are you sure you aren’t hurt? We should continue to try and find another way out of here.”
His fingers clamped around her wrist in an instant, the arm he had around her waist tightening as he sat up with her. Temari gasped, unable to calm her pounding heart as he pulled her impossibly closer. The way they were sitting now, her legs straddling his hips and his arm holding her in place, caused a certain friction in between her legs that shot lightning bolts into her stomach.
“Who are you calling a frog?” he whispered.
Temari tried to pull away from him, but his grip was far too strong. He wasn’t backing down, but neither would she. This game of chicken was one she rather enjoyed and she was partial to keeping it going for as long as possible. It was not just that she was afraid of what would come after the game was over, but also that the game itself was rather exhilarating. “Well,” she said as she tried to tug her wrist away from him again, “If that wasn’t a frog just now, then what was it?”
She could see the vein in his forehead protrude in agitation, a sight that only spurred her on further. “Frogs are much smaller than that, don’t you think?” he hissed through gritted teeth.
Temari shrugged and smirked at him viciously. “I don’t know. I guess I’d say that frogs can get decently sized around this time of year.”
His eyes widened, a sort of panicked look crossing over his face. “Only decent?!”
“Yup.” With that he finally allowed her to break his grip. She fell away from him and set to wiping her hands on her skirt, as if trying to rub something off.
“H-hey! Why are you wiping your hands off like that?” he asked defensively, suddenly extremely self conscious.
Temari barely hid her grin as she continued. “Well frogs are rather slimy and disgusting aren’t they?”
“Slimy?!”
He seemed to be completely beside himself now. Temari felt rather proud of her triumph, having managed to beat him at his own game. Now all she needed to do was redirect them back to getting out of here and they’d be home free.
Shikamaru’s face changed, his outrage fading back into the serious expression he’d worn before. Temari barely had time to register the shift before he was pushing her backwards. She felt her back hit the cold stone of the cave floor, then his right hand slipped from supporting her lower back to pin one of her arms above her head. Her other hand quickly pressed against his chest, her fingers splaying out like a star fish to keep some distance between them.
It hardly mattered though, the hand providing minimal distance in what was otherwise a completely entangled embrace. Only a second passed between them before his other hand found its way to the underside of her knee. He tugged the leg upward, opening up her legs to better slot himself in between them.
She couldn’t breathe. The suddenness of the tables turning on her knocked the wind right out of her lungs. Shikamaru leaned down so that their faces were just inches apart, then ground himself forward until he was sure she could feel just how hard the aforementioned ‘frog’ had become. “Care to find out?” he asked, his voice like silk.
Temari could physically feel her brain buffering, all of her blood was either in her face or throbbing between her legs, leaving the rest of her body frozen and useless. “I…I…u-um.” He bent his head forward a bit more so that his breath ghosted over her neck, then jerked his hips forward again, grinding into her forcefully. She let out a small gasp that then morphed into a delicate moan, the sound of which only made his expression darken. She couldn’t make her brain focus on anything except right here and right now. She couldn’t be concerned with their game or what might happen next, she could only get out one word. “Y-yes.”
Shikamaru pulled his head back, then released his grip on her hand so that he could bring his thumb and forefinger to her chin. He tilted her head up and brought his own down, ghosting their lips over each other.
“HEEEEEY!!! YOU GUYS, UP HERE!” a familiar voice shouted, jolting them out of their trance. The two sprang apart from each other and turned their gaze up to the hole in the cave’s ceiling where Naruto was looking down at them and smiling. He waved his arm back and forth frantically. “I’ve been looking all over for you two! Here let me make some shadow clones and I’ll get you outta there ok?”
“O-ok,” Shikamaru answered in a strangled voice. He snuck a glance at Temari, then thought better of it considering the growing issue in his pants and looked away.
When the chain of Naruto clones descended into the cave for them to climb, Temari heaved a sigh of relief. Their game would live to see another day it would seem, though she’d be remiss to say something hadn’t changed. She chuckled lightly to herself, then muttered under her breath, “Decently sized indeed.”