A/N: Following along on my Naruto AU fics, I got the idea for this from Asuma's line in their battle about how they think the same way. Told in Temari's point of view.
"You ready, Tema?" No 'Hello' or 'How was AP English' from my brother. Just 'you ready?' For what? Calculus class? His stupid jokes? Gaara got himself a woman?
"For what?"
"Don't you have a calculus test today?" Oh yeah. Leave it to Kankuro to know my schedule better than I did.
"Yeah. But I'm not worried. I'm ranked first in that class. Mr. Yashamaru told me last week." My textbook felt fairly light for a change. Last year, the pre-cal binder alone weighed twice that. Though it may have been because I take too many notes. They really helped me get my brain around stuff.
"You still can't beat Gaara though. He took it sophomore year." Kankuro walked beside me, glaring at a dark haired freshmen boy who'd been staring at my legs. Some days, I appreciated my brother.
"Freshmen year." A voice growled from directly behind Kankuro. I had seen my youngest brother walking up besides him for some time while the dark haired one had been oblivious. Gaara was always good at scaring Kankuro, a reason to appreciate the red head too.
"Whoa, Gaara. Didn't see you. You come to wish Temari here good luck on her test?" Kankuro eyed his brother, hoping for an answer that could lead to revenge.
"She doesn't need it. I came to tell you one of your friends," Gaara spat the word, "wanted to see you. Something about a new kid."
"Oh yeah, that's right. You've got a new girl in your calculus class and apparently she's wicked hot." Kankuro grinned. Kankuro and his girls. The boy did not know how to control himself.
"Great. Bye." I flashed them my 'shoot-me-now' smile before turning into the calculus room. Upon entering, I was surprised to see Mr. Yashamaru out of his seat and talking to someone. Someone who was sitting in my seat.
Now I'm not usually one that complains. I've got fairly decent housing, a dashing set of brothers, a wicked elite school, and some rather nice attributes. But my calculus seat? That was mine. I could stare out the window during the boring classes and no one would care. And now my seat was his.
"Hello, Temari. This is Shikamaru Nara. He just transferred here from Konoha. He requested a seat by the window so I just moved you up one." Mr. Yashamaru flashed me a smile. Oh no. Even with a perfect view of the window, this new seat was not my back one. I already hated this Shikamaru and we hadn't even spoken yet.
"Hey." My eyes shot daggers at him, even as I took the seat one in front of him. The rest of the classes filed in, yet no new girl appeared.
Wait… I turned to take a look at Shikamaru and found his black eyes staring back at me. The boy had a spiky brown ponytail, earrings, and wasn't that tall. Plus he seemed to be the only new kid around. Look's like Kankuro's friend was wrong. The new kid was clearly a well-built boy.
"You ready for the test today?" I questioned with a sweet smile. Let's see how he does under pressure.
"Not really. I wasn't even taking calculus at my old school. This school is troublesome." His voice sounded as bored as he looked. Mr. Yashamaru then handed out the tests, even handing one to Shikamaru, asking him to 'do his best.'
Thirty minutes into the class, I handed my test in, laughing silently during my walk back to my new seat. My classmates had no idea what they were even attempting on their tests. My laughter stopped when I caught sight of one Shikamaru Nara staring out the window.
There was no possible way he was done. He hadn't even taken this before. Was he really not even going to try? That boy must be a complete idiot. And worse, a complete idiot in my seat. I hated him.
Z
"Alright, class. I graded your tests over the weekend and they were fairly good. Even two over 100 scores. Well done." Mr. Yashamaru was beaming. One of the scores was obviously mine. But who was the other? I watched carefully as he handed the tests back. No one looked overly excited or smug when they got theirs back. Whose was it?
"Nice job, Temari." Mr. Yashamaru smiled, handing over my 102 test. I was mentally giving myself a pat on the back. It stopped as I heard his next words.
"Well done, Mr. Nara. What lessons where you on in your old school?" Mr. Yashamaru plopped the paper on Shikamaru's desk. 105. It didn't make sense.
"I wasn't taking it," Shikamaru drawled lazily. 105? There was no way some transfer student was going to beat me. Not at calculus. This was war now.
Z
"Shikamaru!" I called out, following him after class in the hallway. He turned, surprised to see me. He even stopped right in the middle of the hallway, ignoring the oncoming traffic.
"Yeah?"
"Can I talk to you?"
"Sure."
"How'd you get a 105 on that test?"
"I got the whole test right and then both extra credits. It was probably the piecewise functions that threw you off if you got the second one wrong." Damn. It was the piecewise functions I had screwed up on. He began to walk away, but I kept right behind him.
"Listen, I have no idea how you're doing so well but I'd like to make a deal with you." At that he stopped again. I had intrigued the boy who was always so bored.
"And what would that be?"
"Whoever has the highest average in calculus by the end of the first quarter gets to do as they please for the second. For me, that'd mean getting my seat back. I'm not going to let you beat me, Shikamaru Nara." He chuckled lightly at me, a smirk on his face.
"Fair enough." Good. We had a bargain. I was going to get my seat back.
Z
Once the bet had been made, calculus suddenly got interesting. The normally boring lessons turned into time to taunt Shikamaru. I got called troublesome on a daily basis. Partner work was more of 'You're not finished with that yet' or 'You might want to check your work on that one.' Even he would crack a comment at me sometimes. I came to realize that he was quite the slacker, doing nothing that involved too much effort. Some days, that included writing his name on his paper.
Quizzes and tests became races to see who would finish faster. I always won this half, it was an old habit. But he always beat me on the score. I hadn't gotten an extra credit right since he got here.
The first quarter began to dwindle away, our last test on Halloween. His average was higher than me and it'd take me getting all the extra credits right or him just flat-out flunking it to change that.
Halloween's class began like a normal test day, Mr. Yashamaru handing out the packet and wishing us luck. I took my time for once, triple-checking my answers and even letting a few of the others finish before me. With fifteen minutes remaining in class, I finally handed it in, eyeing Shikamaru on my way back to my seat.
His head was on the desk, his tied back hair spiking out in all different directions. From the looks of it, he was fast asleep. With nothing better to do, I watched the minutes tick by until the end of class. Shikamaru's head lifted up with a minute to spare, the boy taking his test up to Mr. Yashamaru.
The teacher eyed the test carefully. "Shikamaru, this is blank." What? The genius hadn't done anything in the entire class period? How?
"I'll take the zero. The test was troublesome." I think Mr. Yashamaru died at that moment. No one in his calculus class had ever chosen to take a zero. It just didn't happen. I couldn't believe it either. Had he tried, he would have won the bet hands down. But now… but now I had won. The bell rang at that moment, resulting in everyone in the class to make a beeline to the door. I didn't though, wanting to rub my victory in his face.
"Looks like I'll be getting my seat back." I smirked. He didn't answer, he just kept walking. So of course I followed him. I wanted to make sure he regretted his deal.
I followed him up a flight of stairs to his locker, not really caring about being late. I was a senior, it was Halloween, the teachers weren't expecting us. Wordlessly, he opened the locker and pulled out a large textbook. I said nothing to him, realizing that I had no reason to follow him at all. I had won. I didn't even need to speak to him anymore.
He caught my attention when he slammed his locker shut and turned to me. His eyes met mine, an angry sigh on his lips. I turned away from him at this point, thinking myself very stupid. What was I doing?
"Temari." He said my name crisply, and I felt a tug on my arm where his hand had grabbed. He turned me to face him, and without warning shoved his lips on mine.
My brain wasn't even functioning anymore. He was my calculus rival, not my boyfriend. Well, I had never thought of him as that yet, but now it had to be considered in some way.
"Shikamaru." I breathed, my nose still touching his.
"Technically, I still won the bet." He laughed, pulling away from me and walking down the hall, leaving me thoughtless for the second time that day.
Z
I walked into calculus class the next morning, not looking forward to the awkward conversation that was about to unfold between Shikamaru and me. A smile stretched across my face as I passed by my normal seat. Shikamaru sat there, his eyes still out the window staring at the stormy weather. I grinned as I returned to my original seat, knowing perfectly well that I had officially won.
"Shikamaru," I whispered. The spiky haired boy turned, and I could tell his brain was already contemplating whether or not he should call me troublesome. "Let's make a bet for the second quarter."
"Alright." The smirk on his face matched my own. I could tell he liked the idea. Maybe this time I'd let him win. The last time hadn't been so bad.
A/N 2: So please review. Constructive criticism would be loved. Also, for anyone who liked my other Shikatem AU, there'll be a companion up within the next few weeks. I've already gotten it written. Thanks again for reading.