Summary: Paired with Whispers of the Party, recommend you read both!
PAY ATTENTION TO DATE! I normally don't do stories this way, because quite frankly I get annoyed with it, but this one does have that so pay attention!
Just a warning! This story starts on Day two, and then goes back to day one with Shika! If you're wondering why I didn't just switch the chapters, its because I have writer OCD syndrome and it was driving me insane to have them odd T-T I think I even added a few short fillers just to even it out with the actually planned ones
Also just for Kicks, Kankuro is older in this one than his siblings so no-one get mad at me! But Temari is a year above everyone else.
Chapter One: Puke
Friday, February 22 : Day Two
Lights hummed with electricity, covering the white and black checkered walls with a florescent effect on the entirety of the room. The blonde girl sitting absentmindedly on the pale floor couldn't decide if the look was welcoming or nauseating. Then again, everything was nauseating lately.
"Temari!" called a loud voice pounding at the door, "Are you dead?"
Temari groaned, heaving herself off the floor and walking to the sink, "Shut-up Kangy and let me wash my hands!"
"Don't call me that!" Her brother replied weakly, "Just hurry up!"
Rolling her eyes at her own reflection, she quickly washed her hands and face before rechecking her hair for the hundredth time since three am.
Opening the unlocked door, her brother peeked in warily, his features switching from irritation to concern at the sight of her. "You alright?"
"Never better freak." She replied, shoving him aside with a playful smirk.
"Would it kill you to be a woman?!" Kankuro called after her, reassured by her act, before locking the bathroom door behind him.
She flipped him off through the walls before entering her bedroom, sighing she leaned on the door relaxing her sore back against its hard surface.
Her room was much darker compared to the intensity of the bathroom, of course the think purple of the curtains heavily contributed to the total absence of light. At the beginning of the summer when her and her siblings first moved in, Temari was intent on having the plainest room possible, until about a month or so ago when she was struck with the sudden inspiration to make her room royal purple and black,
A "unique combination" as her youngest brother Gaara observed, their Father couldn't help but subtly criticize her after the comment, expressing his distaste for the colors together. A girl should have white, that was his weak argument, but Temari only glared it off stating simply, "I'm the only one who has to look at it."
The truth was, she chose those colors for one reason only, and she was in love.
Walking home one afternoon, thoroughly pissed, glaring at everything that bothered to make contact, she spotted a yard sale. For Temari, this was a rare event to witness, something she only heard about in the passing of conversation. So when the tables cluttered with various objects came into view, she made no hesitation to inspect the area. Shifting through old electronics, jewelry, outdated shoes, and children's toys, until she reached the very back corner of the yard, by that time she was mostly bored with looking at the clothing that dominated this area and was about to turn around until something caught her attention. Reflective light bouncing off a mirror captured her, dragging her over to inspect the oddly squiggly shaped black dresser with stark royal purple accents. She paid for the furniture on the spot without a single thought other than the decision to build herself a whole new world with this single act marking her new beginning. She would erase it all, everything that had been bothering he for the last couple of weeks and move on.
After calling Kankuro, then arguing with him for what felt like an entire hour to get his ass up off the couch, then winning with the loss of next month's allowance, then pacing impatiently up and down the sidewalk while Kankuro made the drive down in his attention grabbing pick-up truck, then having to shove the damn dresser onto the damn truck wearing nothing but heels, then helping with the unloading of the heavy prize, then arraigning it in the center of the left wall walking in, and then digging through her wallet for the amount owed to Kankuro who suddenly wanted a bit of an advance.
Then, then, after all of the pestering annoying irritating "then's", Temari set out to complete her goal.
She went on a spending frenzy. Hiring workers to paint and re-carpet her room, which took two days of suffering in the spare guest room, and going on a shopping spree for new furniture to fill in the time. Until, finally, she stood in her room, complete and more amazing then she ever dreamed. She remembered letting herself fall on her new queen sized bed for the first time, it was like ascending from the heavens into the soft grip of clouds. It was her prize, her brand new start.
Now looking at the room, she wondered what kind of new start this really was.
Later that day:
Look at it. The soft color of its insides, the sweet exotic aroma, the way it turns into mush with even the slightest touch of pressure, "Are you okay Temari?"
Snapping out of it, Temari realized she was watching her friend Hinata consume a banana with a little too much enthusiasm, "Uh, yeah, I'm just kind of hungry, your banana is distracting."
"But you don't like bananas." Hinata replied with a concerned look across the table, beside her Tenten eyed Temari carefully. Was it a bad idea to invite them over? Mused Temari, they were seated at her dining room table, playing cards and having a good time, well at least they were when Temari wasn't acting suspicious.
"Yeah but I haven't had them since I was a kid and I'm almost eighteen!" Temari reasoned with a shrug, "Tastes change over time, I've been thinking that trying out foods I didn't like when I was younger would be a good thing for me recently, and stubbornness isn't good all the time!"
"Right?" Tenten said with a raised eyebrow, grinning at Hinata, "You grab her arms and I'll take her temperature."
"I'm not sick." Temari glared even though that wasn't necessarily true, her back was killing her, her head was pounding, and she really just wanted to nap.
Hinata reached out and patted her on the shoulder lightly, smiling as she commented, "I think that's nice Temari." That's why Temari liked Hinata, she didn't pry and she didn't accuse, she just listened, "Here, you can have a piece; I think I brought more in my backpack if you like them."
Oh god, it's good! Inner Temari sighed with delight as the chunk melted in her mouth like chocolate, "did you invite Ino and Sakura?" Hinata asked looking at the time on her phone, "It's almost eight."
"Mmm….they said they couldn't come, Ino took Sakura to do some last minute date shopping. It seems like Sasuke invited her out randomly to make up for his blunder last weekend when he went out with the basketball team on some kind of trip with Coach Guy instead of taking her out on a date or something like that." Temari explained savoring the taste of a new yellow fruit gifted to her by Hinata. Even when it wasn't basketball season, the basketball team was always practicing, no matter the season or the time. Why? Because the only coach in the entire school, had an almighty pride in their prestigious reputation for the teams outstanding feats, and he seemed to be unable to coach any other sport with as much success.
Therefore once you signed one for basketball, you were joining a gang for life, even if you quit.
"Ugh! Sasuke, that jackass, I don't see how she can stand him!" Tenten groaned, shuffling cards with a look of distaste, "I mean come on! Really? I love her but the woman needs to be hit with a brick! You know last weekend he only "supposedly" went on that trip right?"
"What do you mean supposedly?" Hinata asked, while Tenten began dealing.
Looking around to make sure the wandering ears of Temari's brothers were nowhere around, Tenten leaned in quietly and whispered, "I heard from Neji that Sasuke told him he wasn't going on the trip and to cover for him. When Neji asked what he was doing, Sasuke said he was going out with another woman on a trip for this weekend, and didn't want anyone to know."
"What?!" Temari and Hinata gasped in unison, wide-eyed as their cards rested idly in their hands.
"How did you find out? Why wouldn't Neji tell me something like that about my friend?" Hinata questioned, frowning at the table.
Tenten only smirked and winked, "Pillow talk."
"Ew." Temari grimaced, deciding to flip the conversations focus back on the woes of Sakura's relationship, "I know Sasuke can be mean to her sometimes, but I never knew their relationship was that bad."
Tenten shook her head, "Yeah I know right? Normally anything Neji shares with me I don't tell you guys but that was just too terrible. It's not like he's married to her, so if he doesn't want her why doesn't he just break-up with her?"
"Have you met Sakura?" Temari reasoned, cursing herself. She should have known better when she ran into Sasuke earlier that weekend in the gas station outside of town that something was off, personal things her ass. Deciding that there was nothing she could do about it now, she may as well continue to fringe ignorance of his absence on the trip, this was none of her business, it was Sakura's. She would leave the couple to solve the problem for themselves.
The three girls had fallen into silence, sinking into their own individual thoughts. Biting her lip, pretending to stare at the cards in her hand, Temari studied the situation with her friends warily. Could she really share with them her new found trouble? Sure, just a few seconds ago Tenten was blabbing on and on about Sakura's issues with her boyfriend, but that was more like common knowledge amongst their circle of friends. The kind of topic that comes up in whispered conversations over the phone, or in the corners of a party, or even at the lunch table when neither were present to overhear it. Temari's issue was different, it was a true secret, something that really truly had yet to hit the gossip fan's and blow a shit storm of complications into her life.
Unfortunately, this wasn't a secret she could keep for too long, and having acknowledged that she came to terms with picking someone to tell. When she overheard Sakura excitedly boasting to Ino about the date, Temari knew it was her chance to get Tenten and Hinata over alone without insulting anyone.
Still, now that she had time to think clearly and was staring right in the faces of her two closest friends, she decided that it would be best to know for sure before bringing them into anything, no matter how scary it is.
It was settled then, she would do this alone.
This is my first ShikaXTema so be nice T-T I'm making it kind of short, maybe around 10-15chapters? So Review~!