It's the beginning of June and we're having thunderstorms in California. Can anybody say "climate change?"Anyway, I was reminded of Haruhi (from Ouran High School Host Club) and her fear, which in turn reminded me of TaintedMoonlight's inspired scene in A Stupid Excuse for a Fairytale (if you haven't read it yet, do so… after you finish this story of course), which helped inspire this. So, I dedicate this story to TaintedMoonlight whose gentle (?) insistence helped convince me to finally post a story (you can call off your muffins now), and whose tales have thoroughly entertained us all. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. You can tell because Sasuke is still running around causing trouble (take that however you want).
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"Can I come in?"
Temari's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but quickly narrowed in suspicion. "What?"
"I said," the lazy man drawled, "can I c—"
"I heard!" she snapped, moving away from the doorway to let Shikamaru enter. She was just surprised. This was the first time he had ever been in her room at the consulate. Although they were good friends, she had never invited him in and had never expected him to invite himself.
She paused in her thoughts as he strode over the threshold. It always amazed her how, even with hunched shoulders, he could glide as he walked. Over the years she had watched him grow into his body: from an awkward, lanky adolescent into something more of a graceful man.
Temari couldn't help but smirk. If he knew what she was thinking, he'd probably disagree that a man is not supposed to have grace or any other sort of feminine trait, and then start sneaking that man-woman crap into their conversations for the rest of the day. It irritated her how he wouldn't come out and directly argue. Instead, she had to be constantly looking out for sneak attacks.
At least it kept things interesting.
"Well?" She turned towards him after rearranging a look of annoyance on her face. "What do you want?"
"Let's have some tea," he murmured flatly, making his way towards her kitchen unit.
"What?"
"I said—"
She growled and brought out her tea leaves as Shikamaru set the water on the stovetop. A short while later, they were sitting at the small, low table where Temari would usually eat her meals alone. Various reading materials were spread across half of the tabletop, which Shikamaru cleared off to the side without as much as a glance in her direction. She frowned, but bit her tongue to prevent herself from launching into a lecture about going through personal things without permission.
"Not going to say anything?" He was staring at her with that dark, steady gaze again. It was so unnerving how it seemed he could look straight through a person, yet still be bored with what was in front of him.
"Say what?" Was her face heating up? How silly. He was just looking at her. It seemed like this happened more frequently as of late.
"Something about me moving your things," he offered, still holding her gaze. A look of confusion must have crossed her face because he continued to clarify. "It's been a long day. You're tired. I expected you to tell me to leave you alone so you could rest."
Was he implying that she had a choice in the matter? He had been the one who came barging in when she was already burnt out and irritable. It hadn't felt like she could just tell him to buzz off…
Then again, she couldn't remember the last time it felt okay to have him leave her.
"Would you have gone?" No way was she going to acknowledge his strange influence over her.
A smirk graced his lips and amusement seemed to bring his eyes alive for a moment. "No. I'd like to think I'd stick around anyway."
"Like to think?" she echoed in an unbelieving tone.
He finally averted his gaze. "I'm not sure what I would've done if you had asked."
"What is that supposed to…?" Temari trailed off. She had just followed his gaze, which had naturally gone to the window, to the clouds outside. Temari mentally kicked herself. She had let him distract her so much she hadn't noticed the storm brewing outside. Instead of the typical white puffs she had become accustomed to, the sky was dark and rain was already pattering against the window.
Temari's grip tightened on her cup of tea. So that was the reasoning behind this unexpected visit. Did he honestly believe that she needed—
Crack!!
Temari swallowed hard. Don't react. Don't react. Don't—
Boom! An intense rumbling filled the air. It almost seemed to shake the glass of the window pane. An unintentional yelp leapt from Temari's throat. She allowed herself to close her eyes, but the rest of her body remained frozen, still determined not to show fear.
Ever since she was a young child, thunder frightened her. The first time she had heard it, a vicious storm had ripped through her parched homeland. To her vivid imagination it was a roaring, all-powerful enemy. The villagers around her had been panicked as well. Flash floods seemed imminent. However, something much worse happened.
Little Gaara had been frightened too. He had achieved full transformation and had killed 14 people before the night was over. Looking back on the terrifying ordeal, Temari was sure that this was when their father decided the boy was too dangerous. Thunder was therefore ingrained in her mind as a threat, a demon.
Many years passed before she had to endure the horrible booming again. On a mission her team came across a Kumogakure ninja who specialized in lightning jutsu. When he called upon his powers the air would vibrate with that terrible sound, attesting to his power. Temari found that the noise could still make the hairs on her neck stand up, even after she had grown strong. The lightning user was human though. It eased her mind to know that she could easily smash his skull in with her fan.
But then she came to Konohagakure. During the late fall it was commonplace for a few thunderstorms to pass through the skies. For years she only visited during the summer months when the weather was clear, but this time she had to extend her stay on Gaara's orders. When she first spotted the darkening skies the day before, she had been excited to experience rainfall while not having to travel through it for a mission. That evening, however, was filled with flashes in the sky and loud crackling. It was clear by morning, yet it was then that she discovered she still had yet to conquer her single, ridiculous fear. It was just noise after all.
Just noise, and yet… What scared her most was that it was something she couldn't fight against. Something she couldn't frighten away with threats. Something she couldn't destroy with her fan. Something she wasn't used to. Something she was powerless to stop.
And of course he had to be there to see her like this. He who would gaze at her with those bored eyes that saw through her carefully constructed facades as if she had no training as a kunoichi. He who had somehow weaseled himself into her life, so that when they were apart she still thought about him on a daily basis. He who gave her such strange feelings in her stomach every time he gave that certain smile.
Temari's eyes shot open in surprise as she was forced back to reality by the feeling of his arms pulling her closer to him. Her cheeks were surely burning now.
"How… how did you know?" Temari wondered aloud.
"I could tell you didn't sleep last night. I knew you weren't up late working since we had everything prepared for today's meetings, and I knew you would have tried to sleep so you would be awake for your presentation," he explained simply. "I figured the only thing that could have kept you up—"
"Was the thunder," she finished. After a moment's consideration though, she frowned. "But couldn't you just think I wasn't used to the noise? What made you think I needed you here….?" She trailed off; her stomach knotting up at the realization that she had just admitted she needed him.
"Ah, well…" He suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Let's just say your brother and I were talking…"
"I'm going to kill Kankurou. Or at least a few of his dear puppets." She growled.
Shikamaru's tone was amused. "Hn. So the real culprit would go free?"
"What!?" She turned to see him more clearly. "G-Gaara told you!? I didn't realize he even knew…"
"He didn't mean to say anything. He just happened to mention that you two share an uneasiness associated with certain weather. He must have realized his mistake because he didn't go into specifics and quickly changed the subject."
Still frowning slightly, she began to ask how he could remember something like that when he hadn't been to Suna to visit Gaara in two years, when the room was lit with white light and the clap of thunder blocked everything else from her mind.
He held her protectively so that her ear was pressed to his chest. He covered her other ear with his hand as he felt her begin to relax, listening to his heartbeat. There was another flash and Shikamaru began to softly hum a simple tune to conceal the calls of the storm.
Temari peered up at his face, surprised. He had always said he didn't understand music. She supposed that was why she could see a pink tinge to his cheeks. And yet, if what he had explained earlier, about how he had known about her fear, was true…
"Thank you," she murmured, a small smile forming on her lips. Perhaps he wasn't bored with what he saw in front of him when he looked at her, and perhaps the things she couldn't fight, the things she wasn't used to, the things she was powerless against, weren't all bad things.
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So what'd you think of my first story? Any suggestions on how to improve would be lovely. Any general reviews will be adored. Any flames will attacked by my legion of angel gingerbread men.