Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and never will. smile
Warnings: None.
Shikamaru and Temari
Shikamaru lay on his bed, too lazy to go and change. He was watching the clouds outside the window. The sun was burning, the sky a rare bright blue. It was hot; he thought as Ino came barging into the room.
"Oi Shikamaru! What are you still doing in bed?" Ino started, rambling on and on. Shikamaru just watched the clouds and tried to block out the sound. High school ended, college ended, but the drama never ends.
Ino and Naruto had gotten together somehow, after he forgotten his all about his crush on Sakura after seeing Ino in a bikini. Men…
Lee and Sakura are happily married; Sakura finally admits Sasuke was gay after watching him work as a slave to some middle age man Orochimaru. Well, one would presume he was after seeing how Orochimaru required him to be topless, shorts barely decent. They showed his thighs completely! Orochimaru was also seen stroking his body, pictures courtesy of a woman named Anko, who working for Orochimaru. I mean, she was his wife.
Well. Sakura didn't know it was a ploy to get rid of her and Ino, Sasuke is certainly not about to tell them. It had worked perfectly; he wanted to be alone because attention just wasn't his cup of tea.
Ten Ten and Neji had started going out, finally. Shikamaru had watched them himself, noticing the way Ten Ten acted like Hinata around Neji. Neji's patience finally wore out and he kissed her, hurting the virgin eyes of Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata and Shino who were most unfortunate to be there.
Itachi, Sasuke's brother, as well as Gaara were vying for Hinata's affections. Hinata, being Hinata, was pretty much too dense to notice and still pinning for Naruto's attention.
Kiba and Shino couldn't care less about girls, each pursuing their own careers. Shino as a bug specialist, wondering off to find new species, doing God knows what. Kiba became a dog trainer, with Akamaru helping him, many dogs were tamed.
Shikamaru remembered vaguely that Gaara, Kankurou and Temari were from some other school. How did they meet each other? Gaara and Hinata, that is.
Ino's scream pierce through his thoughts. "Oh, maybe I should have told you I was naked under the covers. What a drag," Shikamaru said, smirking slightly at the bleeding nose Ino.
"Not funny!!!!!!!!" Ino screeched, shattering every window in Shikamaru's mansion.
Yes, Shikamaru was in a mansion. He decided to use his brains for good once, and invented a new game, called Naruto. Yeah, he named it after his stupid annoying blond head of a friend. Naruto was the main character, naturally, wanting to be something called a Hokage and some thing about ninjas. Shikamaru had forgotten the storyline, because he completed it in his college year, taking courses about technology in those years.
The game was so interesting and amusing that it hit off right away. Shikamaru had gotten all their personalities and everything down in detail. He even added Naruto's favorite ramen stall, Ichiraku into the game. The game was intriguing and the players usually play it to the end. His friends played it too, if only Naruto opened his eyes wider, he would have seen Hinata's feelings.
So Shikamaru was simply enjoying life now. Sometimes, he slept the day away. He had enough money to last him a lifetime, and more coming into his pockets. He invented the game, designed and programmed it and wasted brain cells on that thing. He was given credit, naturally. Money for each one sold was a few cents, but there were already millions and millions of copies sold.
He would meet Hinata at the Hyuuga house for a delicious lunch. Hanabi became the heiress to the Hyuuga's company; it was much too stressful for Hinata. She could not understand much about the business, Hanabi was much more suited. She now worked as a person who makes lunch boxes or dinners according to request. The exact term, Shikamaru forgot. Her prices are high, because her food is good and ingredient quality only the best. Not that that stopped anyone. Customers keep rolling in and Neji helps.
Well. It's more like tries to help. He just hinders Hinata more. Hiashi, who has been acting more like a father since Hanabi became the heiress, hired Gaara. Whatever possessed him to do it was right, because Gaara was an excellent helper. Some marriage scheme in the making, Shikamaru supposed. Temari, Kankurou and Gaara are children of some big company director after all.
"Get dressed!!!!!!!!" Ino screamed into his right ear.
"Too troublesome," Shikamaru murmured into his pillow.
"Get dressed or I will help you!" Ino tried once more.
"I'll like to see you try," he said, smirking at her.
"Argh!" Ino cried and left the room.
Shikamaru wore a victory smile and stared at the clouds some more.
"GET YOUR ASS OFF THE BED!!!!!!!!!!!" someone yelled.
Kiba. Never a good sign.
A bundle of energy, just like that Naruto. They were made for each other.
Shikamaru was dressed quickly by Kiba and they went down the stars together. More like Kiba carrying Shikamaru. Well, they weren't gay but Shikamaru was too lazy to do anything on some days. Unfortunately, this was one of those days.
A tight black shirt hugged his torso, while orange flower print pants loosely wrapped his legs. Well, the person who picked was Kiba, not much of a surprise. Kiba himself was wearing a pair of blue shorts and was shirtless.
Nope, he's not a pervert. Just felt like showing his body to the rest of the world. Not.
Today's get together was situated at the beach. So Kiba figured he was going to take off his shirt later, why not don't waste water and energy to wash that shirt when he got home? Yeah, Shikamaru is rubbing off him. Yes, the beach. It was already frying in his bedroom; think about being exposed to the sun. Shikamaru is going to become a lobster soon.
It was summer vacation and most people had their weeks or days off. So today, Ino, Naruto, Lee, Sakura, Neji, Ten Ten, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Gaara, Kankurou, Temari, Chouji, Sasuke, Itachi and forced Shikamaru are going to the beach.
A total of five cars. The first car was a black car; in it were Gaara, Kankurou and Temari. They lived together after all. Neji, Hinata and Ten Ten took Neji's midnight blue car. Naruto, Ino and Chouji rode in a bright sunny orange car. Figures, it was Naruto's favorite color. Lee, Sakura and Sasuke went on a green car. Probably Gai's influence when they went to buy a car.
Itachi preferred his trust black motorcycle and gave up his offer to sit in the green car. Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru were in Sakura's pink car. Shino had a license and money to buy a car but hadn't had the time. Shikamaru was lying in the back seat, as comfortable as one could get. That translates to not much. Akamaru on his stomach didn't help.
They reached the beach far too fast for even a short nap. "We're HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kiba cheered. Shino grunted and Shikamaru snored.
The other cars were already parked in the nearly full car park. Shino carried the beach bag and Kiba carried Shikamaru.
So, minutes later, Shikamaru was dumped on a beach mat and sheltered by a large umbrella. He was happily sleeping, until a whole bucket of cold sea water was thrown on him. "Temari," he hissed, glaring at the blonde.
"Rise and shine, cutie," Temari smirked.
"Oh shut up, and stop those weird annoying names you give me," Shikamaru told her.
"When we met, you hardly spoke four words to me. Looks like we got better, huh?" Temari said, before giving him a smile.
Shikamaru blushed slightly. It was too hot! He glances down at his clothes, and rolled his eyes. Kiba chose a black shirt on a summer day? Kiba was either very evil or he wanted Shikamaru to have a heat stroke. Shikamaru suspected it was the former.
He tore off the shirt and realized Temari staring.
"What?" he asked, the corners of his mouth turning down.
"Nothing," she replied, blushing slightly. "Just wanted you to invite you to swimming."
Shikamaru stared at her for a full minute and resumed his lying position, going back to sleep. Only to be dragged to the sea by Temari.
Cold sea water met his nose and mouth, he treads water before his lungs is filled with them. The whole group of them played with a ball, tossing and throwing it around. Soon, Lee, Sakura, Neji and Ten Ten went to build a sand castle.
Temari dragged Shikamaru away from the group, muttering an excuse. Once they were far away, Temari came directly to the point. "Shikamaru, I like you. To the point of loving you," Temari blurted out, in out single breath.
"Okay?" Shikamaru said with a raised eyebrow.
Temari felt like drowning him.
He swam back to shore, ignoring her shouts. He reached the mat shortly, being a good swimmer. Shikamaru buried his head in his knees, blushing fiery red. He liked her for a long thing now, too lazy to confess. He reasoned to himself that nothing good will come out of it when he saw her staring at Sasuke.
Temari stared at the shadow swimming away. She kept it in for so long, now she felt like she committed a sin. Tears made their way slowly down her face. Temari rushed out of the endless blue waters, seen only by Gaara. Gaara had never, not once in his life, seen Temari cried. Not when mom died, not when she took blows from his father's hand for him. Not when she was bullied by some boys, which Gaara took revenge on by beating the shit out of them. Not even when she was almost raped and killed by some drunk. Never.
Gaara left the small circle, though no one minded. He went to Temari, on their red beach towel.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Gaara asked, nudging her. She was hugging her knees, a few stray tears falling.
"If I tell you, you'll just beat the person up," Temari mumbled.
"Romance problems, I suppose. By the looks of you, you got rejected," Gaara deduced.
"Not exactly. It was just that he didn't really care," Temari sniffed.
"Shikamaru," Gaara immediately said, turning to glare at him a few meters away.
Temari gave a hollow laugh, "Who else?"
"Hey, cheer up. A guy who makes you cry isn't worth your tears, but a guy who is worth those tears wouldn't make you cry," Gaara said, staring at the now cloudless blue sky.
"You're right," Temari decided and dried her tears.
"Let's go forgot him, shall we?" Gaara said, earning a smile from Temari.
"Thank you, Gaara," she said as she sprung up.
The day went past; night came upon the little group. Most decided it was time to go and started packing. "Temari," Shikamaru said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her back to the sea.
"What? Let go!" she said, gritting her teeth.
It took all his strength to drag her in to the shallow waters, to not let others overhear. His lips crashed down on hers, sending all doubt from her brain. A few seconds past and Shikamaru pulled back.
He looked away, blushing a little. "Just wanted to tell you I felt that way too," he whispered.
Then, Shikamaru ran off. Gaara came to drag her out of her trance. "Sorry, I knew he liked you and didn't tell you," Gaara said.
"What?" Temari said.
"It was obvious. Anyway, a man with no courage is not fit to be yours," Gaara said, a small smile placed on his face.
Hinata is really doing him good, Temari thought. Gaara came out of his cold shell a lot recently. Though to Kankurou was a little harder, he was annoying like hell. He barely had enough brain cells to be alive. However, that was only Temari's and Gaara's opinion.
Watching Shikamaru, Temari knows there's much to be done before they can truly understand each other.
Shikamaru know it's going to be hard to not treat anything as bothersome or troublesome, though Temari just may change it all.
End.
I hope you liked it, and thanks for reading. Bow Smile Please review if you're not too lazy. Criticism is very much needed.
Author's note:
A guy who makes you cry isn't worth your tears, but a guy who is worth those tears wouldn't make you cry. – Is said by Kier, story: From Pauper to Princess, Author: playgroundunited, found in:
