"She'll be there you know" Choji stated mildly
Shikamaru hesitated "…so?"
"Come on man, you know you like her, you can't ignore it"
"I don't have to ignore it because I don't like her. We dated once, it was for fun. Now we're over. It's not a big deal Choji. I'm not going to that party."
"Awh but its Valentine's Day, maybe you can hook up with someone else"
"I don't want to hook up. I'm not going and that's final." Shikamaru finished, crossing his arms.
"It's V-day, who knows what could happen." Choji casually remarked
Shikamaru sat up slowly and looked around. He was in some sort of living room filled with pink paper hearts and balloons. Glancing down he saw the various heart-shaped foods on top of a heart covered table cloth set up on the coffee table next to him. He turned to look at what he had been laying on. An overstuffed leather couch with pink and red heart pillows at each end. A groan escaped him as he realized he was at Ino's party.
"Troublesome…" he muttered to himself.
The place seemed pretty empty until he saw Ino walk in leading Kiba and Naruto from the direction of the front door.
"Oh! Shika!! You're awake great! Choji had Lee bring you an hour early so you'd wake up here and not be able to leave" Ino chirped
Great I'm a prisoner Shikamaru thought
Grumpily Shikamaru grabbed a chair and sulked to the nearest corner. Sitting down he watched as the room filled up. He pretty much avoided everyone only mumbling an occasional 'Hello'. He hadn't wanted to come to this party; it was just an overplayed card holiday anyway, what makes it so important? He sighed.
I'm just grumpy. Just because I'm an average brainiac that no girl wants, it makes me sour on this day. …Wasn't Temari supposed to be here…?
Of course that wouldn't matter much, it's not like they're dating. So maybe he had a little crush on her still. So what?
She's still troublesome. Hardly feminine, well except for the skirt…Either way not my type. Way more trouble than she's worth…
Glancing sideways, Shikamaru noticed Ino swaying over to him.
"Hey Shika…you look kind of lonely."
"Hey Ino…"
A sparkle touched her eyes as an idea formed "Why don't you dance with me?"
"Wh-" He couldn't finish even a word before Ino answered for him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the dance floor.
"Ino this is a slow song" Shikamaru uttered, as if it would make an antiquate excuse
"I know" she replied stepping into his arms.
Ino slid her own arms around Shikamaru's neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. A subtle flowery and recognizably sweet feminine scent drifted from her hair. He acknowledged how warm and comfortable she was in his arms.
This is what a girlfriend should be like, gentle, girly, nice. Nice? What does that mean? Temari wasn't nice, she was harsh. Though she could still be sweet…
Pushing gently away from Ino, Shikamaru walked back to his seat. Just as he sat down a hand landed on his shoulder. He shot up and turned only to find himself face to face with Temari. She was a bright red only Hinata had been able to achieve.
"Hey Shika…"
Shikamaru just stared back, completely shocked. Why was she talking to him?
Breathe; get your heart rate down. It's the shock. I don't like her…
"Ano…Happy Valentine's Day…"
Swallowing the lump on his throat he responded "Happy Valentines Day"
"Oh hell I can't deal with this awkwardness!"
Shikamaru chuckeled "You always are so blunt"
"Not with everything!" she smiled "I have a secret"
His questioning look made her continue "You'll want to know what it is"
"Oh is that so?"
"Mhm! But I'll only tell you if you dance with me"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow "But you hate dancing"
"You don't" was all she responded before she ran out into the middle of the room where everyone was dancing
Curious, he followed after her not yet realizing he was becoming less grumpy. It wasn't a slow dance so the awkwardness didn't recur, it was just fun. They talked and caught up as they danced. By the end Temari was smiling and laughing and even Shikamaru had a grin on his face.
"I'm glad you're not as grumpy anymore"
"Me? Grumpy? When was this?" He teased
"Awh come on you know you're having a good time" Temari said almost hopefully
"Yeah yeah, you know that can happen when you go to a party" he retorted
She watched him closely for a moment "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure Mari"
"I never meant to get so involved with you"
Here comes the grumpiness again…
The look on his face must have given it away because she continued "It's all your fault really, I don't know what you did but you always made me feel nervous and safe at the same time, got me dizzy, helped me see everything clearly…" she trailed off
He had no idea what to say "What's the problem then? And what's this stupid secret?"
She didn't continue, she simply walked over to the CD player and put in a CD she pulled from her small purse. Suddenly the song "Accidentally in Love" came through the speakers. She stayed next to the player watching him quietly. Shikamaru made his way over to her and whispered "What's the problem?"
She only smiled and replied "What's the problem, I don't know, well maybe I'm in love"
He broke out into a smile and kissed her, "We're accidentally in love"
She glomped him and they both laughed and walked out into the night to his favorite star watching spot.
A/N:: disclaimer:I do NOT own any characters or the song mentioned in this one-shot.
If you want to check out the song I used as inspiration ^^ ::
Song: Accidentally in Love Artist: Counting Crows