The long-awaited (Ha ha, long? Really? Try no waiting at all. Try no one actually wanting to wait for it.) sequel to "His Favorite Food" is right here. I struggled with the title: Ten Steps to TenTen; Ten For Ten; etc–until finally I came up with The Ten Step Program. I liked the idea because the previous one was more sexual-sounding than it actually was, and this title suggests drug-rehab or something. I think it's also a good reflection on how much more…logic-oriented Shikamaru is.

Chouji thinks with his stomach, his heart, his emotions; Shikamaru thinks with method, logic, strategic observations.

Now, as for the topic of Chapter Titles, these are like most of my other fics–based off of freakin' song titles. But this time around, they aren't just song titles, oh no!

They're song titles of Elvis songs! Because whenever I think of Shikamaru, I think of Elvis Presley. Not really, but it's oddly fitting for him, don't you think? I started out just taking this phrase for this chapter title and it clicked–now all the chapter titles are named after Elvis songs. Heh heh.

This one I first heard about from Ocean's Eleven. I'm lying. I actually heard it in dance class. We were going to dance to a remix of this song, but since we weren't good at dancing at all and the song was faster than she (the teacher) liked, she changed it to something crappy. I think she changed it to something like Love Is a Battlefield, and not the one you're thinking of. (We are strong, yadda yadda yadda, No one can tell us we're wrong, yadda yadda yadda. Not that one.)

Either way, I have fallen in love with this song, and it became the title of this. It's oddly fitting, since the conversation between TenTen and Shikamaru in this chapter isn't so much a conversation as it is an interrogation.

Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a bit more serious: trust me, the others get pretty funny.

I mean, come on. It's supposed to be a comedy: so why am I learning how to play shogi just to give Shikamaru a bit more a tactical mind-set using it? This is boring. Ugh… When he says, "capture their weaknesses and use those against them to tear them open even more to see how they were" he's referring to the fact that in shogi, when you capture a piece, you can put it back in the game and use your opponents captured pieces against them. Unlike in chess over here, where once you take them out of the game, they stay out. (Unless you play like me and my brother. We do the whole "pawn reaches the end of the line and turns into a piece that was removed" thing. If that's legal in chess, then oops. I don't really give a crap about board games anymore.

The Ten Step Program
"A Little Less Conversation"
Steps One and Two

"I wouldn't want to live with regret… Even if Hinata doesn't like me, at least I'd have told her… At least I wouldn't be looking back on it and wishing I had for the rest of my life…"

Shikamaru sighed, looking up at the sky. He couldn't do this… At least, not the way Chouji had suggested. He was way more methodical then Chouji. Chouji was a bit more bold in that department, when it came to seeing something he wanted and going for it. He couldn't help but wonder how that was working out with Chouji. He'd left about thirty minutes ago; maybe he'd found Hinata and was already confessing his feelings to her…

He sighed, grumbling and rolling over. Who was he kidding? He was terrible when it came to girls. Sure he could observe them, and sure he knew how to read people, but TenTen…TenTen was an enigma. He had to find out what she was feeling first before he made his move. He had to stay two steps ahead of her. It was just like a game of shogi. He'd move his pieces, test out his enemies weak points, capture their weaknesses and use those against them to tear them open even more to see how they were, learn how they moved, how they reacted, how they responded. Sure, he'd make some sacrifices, but he'd never do anything so stupid as to let his king go unguarded…

He stood up, sighing. The way he saw it, there were ten chances to get to her. Ten different ways of moving in her direction, so he had to figure out which would be the most effective. He'd start out small at first, then he'd become more aggressive when it was needed. Just like in shogi.

Well, that was that. The first step was to get to the bottom of this whole Neji question. He'd seen them together, talking and laughing and eating together. What did he mean to her? Were they dating? What exactly was their relationship? All of this, he needed to know all of this before he decided how to move next.

He walked off, off to go find her. He passed by Chouji a few times, and he looked flustered in his endeavor to find Hinata. At one point he considered helping him out or wishing him luck, but he was too busy for that.

And that was when he saw her–she was standing by a tree, all by herself, sorting through her scrolls, by the looks of it. He smiled a little as he watched her, noticing how there were a few locks of brunette hair falling out of the buns in her hair… He gulped, swallowing all insecurity in him. This would require tact, a fast mind, and best of all–acting.

He thought calmly about what he'd say to her, then approached.

"Hey, TenTen…"

She looked up at him for a moment before giving him a queer look. "Hey, Shikamaru… What are you doing?"

He smiled, looking arrogant. He couldn't let her know how much he wanted to have a civil conversation with her, not until he knew if there was even the slightest chance that they'd be able to become anything closer than friends. "Just taking a walk, when I happened to stumble across you looking lost. Need help with your scrolls?"

She raised a brow, smiling back at him with contempt. "Ah, no thank you. I'm afraid this is a bit more advanced than you might think… You might not be able to handle it…"

He didn't want to admit he was slightly hurt by how stand-offish she was being, but he knew it was only because he was acting so arrogant. Before he could even reply, she looked at him, staring him in the eye with more contempt than he was used to.

"On your walk, did you happen to see Chouji walking around?"

Shikamaru nodded his head, a little confused and betrayed. Why was she always asking about Chouji? Did she like him or something? "Y-Yes. I did."

She pursed her lips, giving him a long look before looking back at her scrolls. "I suppose you know he's looking for Hinata. I certainly hope you at least wished him luck. Something about the way he was moving told me he was planning on telling her something important… He was desperate enough to try her house, too… When I asked him if he tried there, he said that was the first place he looked…"

Shikamaru hid a smile behind a hand. Sure he felt guilty about not wishing Chouji luck, but he couldn't help but admire that about TenTen. She was good at reading people, she had a way of thinking that he found attractive–she was smart and dedicated…

"You listening to me, or are you too reclusive to even finish listening to people's conversations?" He looked at her, and she continued. "That's the most annoying thing about you, Shikamaru. You think you're so smart and so perfect…" She shrugged her shoulders, finally deciding on stretching her back. She leaned back, her voice growing even higher at the affect of the movement on her ribcage and, thus, her lungs and the way the air came out of her throat. "People like that are so boring, you know. I'd like to be as perfect as the next person, but perfect people who act all high-and-mighty are just…boring…"

She cracked her neck and looked back at him, eyes smoldering. "They're too predictable…and that's boring."

Shikamaru had to fight the urge to agree with her whole-heartedly and get into the conversation. He cleared his throat, ready to unleash Step One.

"Step One: Ask her about Neji."

"And another thing, I'd say you're too lazy for your own good. You can't expect to get better acting like that. I mean, when was the last time you did some serious training? Yeah, it's great you've got such a high I.Q., but that shouldn't excuse you from normal training…"

"I heard from Chouji that you were going out with Neji… Are you?"

She froze, staring him right in the eye. For a moment she looked as if she were trying to come up with something to say to that, trying to figure him out, but that moment soon passed. Soon, however, it was replaced by a sly smile on her face. Shikamaru paled, fearing she'd seen through him already.

"What do you care, Shikamaru? I never took you for one to care about dating and stuff like that… Sure, I can see Chouji being a concern for you, but he's your friend. I'm certainly not a friend…"

Shikamaru nodded, leaning back against a tree coolly. "I was actually interested, because if that were the case, it would mean there were two minor characters involved with each other…"

She looked at him, agitated. "You're a minor character, too, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru waved a finger. "Not technically. Technically I'm a supporting character. Though there's hardly any difference, it's the difference between being killed off senselessly and being saved for later use somewhere…"

TenTen laughed. "What, so you think I'm going to be killed off?"

Shikamaru swallowed. Now, that idea was dreadful. She was too beautiful, too smart, too everything to be killed off. He had to save himself, quick! "I certainly hope not. After all, who else can I count on to be just as much of a jackass as Neji?"

TenTen glared, making a motion as if she were about to leave. "How am I a jackass?"

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "Because out of all the girls, you treat me the worst. I can't really see why or what you'd have against me, if anything. So that leaves the question–why do you hate me so much?"

She stuttered, finding herself unable to say anything. For a moment she stood there, flustered, before she looked back at him. "What do mean? You mean you can't see what I have against you? You must've been zoning out, because I had just finished telling you when you started spouting off this Neji and me dating nonsense!"

Score! He mentally congratulated himself, getting that out of her. He grinned. "So, I suppose Chouji was wrong then? Figures. I already told you that with an attitude like yours, getting a boyfriend was pretty much an impossible dream…"

She snarled, finally taking a step toward him. "And I told you I had no interest in that nonsense. Dating is for people who feel like they need someone to be happy. Like Ino and Hinata. Girls like that are the reason why female ninjas aren't given nearly enough credit!"

"Oh, so you're a feminist now?"

"Do you know what it's like to go through school expected to have crushes on guys you hardly even talk to!? Just because you're a girl, you have to have someone you like or else it means you're lying! It was probably easy for you, since no girl would touch you with a four foot pole, nor would you touch them! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were gay!"

Shikamaru laughed. "And with the things you have against men, I'd say you were gay…"

Her cheeks flared up, and she rolled up her scrolls and put them away. She made a motion to leave, but Shikamaru stopped her with a single sentence.

"You can't deny the fact that you probably did have a crush on someone back at the Academy. It may have even been Sasuke…"

She turned to him, face bright red, her finger pointed at him threateningly. "I'll have you know that I take great pride in not falling for that waste of penis. That's exactly what he is, too. He makes a better woman than a man, and all the girls seemed to be obsessed with him. I still can't wrap my brain around that! He had no interest in girls! I hate the fact that girls automatically go for the guys who have no interest in them! It's insulting to the man as much as it is an insult to the women involved!"

He smiled, ready to unfurl Step Two.

"Step Two: Ask her if she really thinks I'm boring. Ask her what she meant back at the Academy."

"Really? So what did you have against me?"

She started to laugh, sounding slightly manic. "Wh-What!? What do you mean what did I have against you!?"

Shikamaru crossed his arms over his chest, nodding his head in her direction, his face like stone. "Back at the Academy, I overheard you talking to a bunch of girls. They started off by talking about the boys, you laughed at a lot of them, and then they mentioned how smart I was. You said I was too boring. Is that what you have against me?"

She blinked, her eyes wide. "What? You heard that?"

His eyes narrowed. "Are you kidding me? You actually thought I was asleep, didn't you? Like I'd be able to stay asleep with your girls screeching like hawks… So, is it the fact that I'm boring that you treat me so terribly? I'm a human being, you know."

She stuttered. "Did you not hear what I'd been talking about earlier? Predictable people are boring to me, and you're just as predictable as Gai-sensei. Sure it's not for the same reasons, but I can always count on you acting in a way that'll save your skin and keep you ahead of the game. Shikamaru, maybe you don't realize it, but I can pretty much tell how you're going to react to a single sentence. In fact, you're probably going to blow this whole thing off because you feel you're too good to be predictable."

Shikamaru felt a stinging in his chest, knowing she was right but refusing to believe it. After all, that was exactly what he was doing right now–he was keeping himself at a distance to stay safe. He looked away, stubborn. "Whatever. You're still a minor character…"

She nodded her head, smiling a little in his direction as she left. "Still, I have more character than you…" He glared in her direction.

"I don't just save my skin. I save the skin of my friends."

TenTen just nodded. "So you don't have to live with the guilt, right?" Before he knew it, she was gone.

It felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Part of him knew it wasn't true, but part of him knew that was another reason. He really liked that about TenTen. She was good at reading people and thinking critically.

It was the fact that she always made a habit of using it to eat at him that he hated.