AN - Hey guys! This is my first AU Naruto story. It's set in the current day real world, so if you're not into that kind of thing, you may not want to read it. I know I don't usually like this kind of thing, because if it's not done well, it can turn out pretty corny. Try to bear with me as I experiment with this idea.
I should also accredit iamsuchadonut for suggesting I write an AU ShikaxTema story. The idea of gaming came from me, but donut inspired me to think outside the usual box of the Naruto universe.
Enjoy!
1. The Undefeated
Vvvvvrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm, vvvvrrrmmmm, vrrrrrrrrm.
The distinct sound of a high-powered car engine revving up, then changing gears could be heard, coupled with the sharp sound of the stick-shift being jammed into position. The car, however, only raced across a digital road displayed on a large screen in front of the plastic race car seat. In the seat sat a bored-looking young man with long dark hair tied up in a high ponytail. His dark eyes never shifted from the screen, and his expression never changed from the barely awake look he almost always wore. His clothes were simple, consisting of a grey sleeveless shirt with a forest-green O in the center. A diagonal slash intersected the O, creating what appeared to be a "no" symbol one would typically see on a sign indicating something was not allowed (like a no smoking sign). The man's pants were simple jeans, with plain black runners on his feet.
As he was entering his final lap of the game, far ahead of the AI racers, another younger boy approached the racing pods, an awed expression on his face. Without waiting for the dark-haired man to finish his game, he approached and spoke in a high, excited voice, "Nara Shikamaru? That's you right? The undefeated arcade legend? I can't believe it's you! I've been dreaming of challenging you since I started coming here!"
Shikamaru didn't look away from the screen for even a second as the boy approached. He continued his race, switching gears as the digital vehicle's engine revved too high. As the boy fidgeted in the silence, the dark-haired man completed his lap, smashing all of the previous records displayed on the game machine. It didn't matter though, since all the records showed the same display name: Nara. Only after he recorded his name once more did the man turn to face the excited boy, his expression bored as always.
"If you want to play, I'll let you choose whatever game you are best at. It would be too troublesome if you couldn't be at least a little bit of a challenge to beat." With that, he stood and waited for the boy to choose the machines they would play on. He followed him to a popular fighting game which used the typical arcade fight sticks with three buttons and a movement stick. To Shikamaru, these games were exceedingly simple. Though he did not enjoy this particular rendition of the genre, he found every fighting game to be pretty much the same, even when it came down to the combinations of buttons and directions. With a sigh, he took his position on the right of the machine, waiting for the boy.
"I'm going to kick your ass so hard, Nara! I've mastered all of the best characters. Soon enough, I'll smash the title of "undefeated" and earn my own fame at this place, you'll see!"
"We'll see." Stated the Nara flatly.
"I'll choose Jun Liu, what about you, Nara?"
"I'll just randomize my character. It doesn't matter who I play. It's too troublesome to decide." He selected the randomize option and the computer randomly selected the little girl fighter called Mako.
"Haha, bad luck! She's the weakest character in the game. This will be a piece of cake!"
"If you say so." Shikamaru replied, positioning his hands on the buttons. His posture was slouched and his eyes were heavily lidded as if he were about to fall asleep. A small yawn escaped his lips as his opponent began the match.
3, 2, 1, FIGHT!
Without changing his facial expression or his body posture, Nara Shikamaru's fingers flew over the buttons and his wrist jerked the stick in different directions. Within seconds, he began a series of combos which left the boy unable to counter. His character bounced in the air, helpless in the endless juggle the Nara had performed with Mako, the weakest character in the game. Sighing in disappointment, Shikamaru backed his character off, giving him a chance to redeem himself.
"Hah! Don't underestimate me! That'll be your last mistake, Nara!" shouted the boy in triumph, as he made his character dash forward to begin his own attack.
Unfortunately, each attack by the boy's character was expertly dodged, blocked or reflected with perfect timing. Nothing he did could get through the older boy's rock-solid defense. After several minutes of thwarted attempts, the Nara yawned again, before performing an extremely long combination of buttons and movements. The result was a huge move in which Mako transformed into a spectral dragon and unleashed a huge blast of fire at the opponent. The single move took the boy's character from three-quarters health, all the way down to zero. With that, the match was done.
Speechless, the boy simply stared at the screen while Shikamaru turned and walked away, his expression still ever the same as before. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he stalked back to his racing game, ready to best his last score in peace.
When he arrived back at the racing sim, a flicker of annoyance flashed on his face – the first show of real emotion that day. There was someone in his pod, using his machine. Everyone at the arcade knew not to use that machine while he was there. He watched as the unknown person expertly shifted gears, opting for manual control rather than the typical newbie's automatic settings. The person took corners like an expert, cutting them just so to shave off a few fractions of a second. By the end of the game, the Nara's heart was hammering with excitement, as if he were playing the game himself. To his extreme surprise and slight displeasure, the unknown racer had bested his most recent score, beating it by five whole seconds at that. They recorded their name as "Tema".
Slightly offended at the desecration of his machine, Shikamaru took the seat next to it, which was identical to the one he typically used, but not his. The two games were connected in order to allow players to race one another. He threw in a coin and turned to his opponent. His eyes widened slightly in astonishment as he beheld the image of the mysterious racer.
It was a girl.
Her hair was the colour of sunflower petals, arranged into four identically sized ponytails, with some hair left out to frame her face. Her eyes were a deep sea-green, and radiated a strong air of confidence. She wore a tight fitting lavender tank-top with the graphic of a white and purple folding fan on it, and a pair of denim short-shorts. He long pale legs extended into the driving pod, and on her feet were a cheap pair of purple flip-flops.
"Did you get a good look? Are you gonna race me now, or continue staring at me like an idiot?"
Her harsh voice yanked him back to his senses, and he turned back to his screen. They both selected their cars and modifications, selected manual transmission, then agreed upon the most difficult track in the game. He glanced at her briefly as she was preparing for the race, noting her rather pleasant curves. He almost forgot what he was doing as he heard the countdown blare out of the pod's speakers. He turned around in time to begin revving his car, and soon enough the race was on.
It was a close race the entire time. The woman started out in the lead, but Shikamaru's car had a higher acceleration rate than hers, so he soon overtook her. Unfortunately, her car had a better handling, so she took corners much easier than him, so she made up time there. Due to the nature of the track, corners were extremely common, and by the last lap it was obvious that she was going to win. She was several seconds ahead of him, and there was little he could do to catch up. As the race came to an end, all Shikamaru could do was stare at his screen in awe, unable to move.
"Good game, kid. That's the best fight anyone has given me in a while. What's your name?"
After a few seconds, he turned to face her, his expression still shocked, "Nara Shikamaru."
"Mine's Temari."
"Play me again. Different game." He demanded, his sentences lacking proper grammatical structure.
"….Well, I'm not sure. I was going to get something to eat…"
"One game." He offered.
"Alright, one game. You choose." She said, stepping out of her pod and glancing around the large arcade. She followed Shikamaru to a set of two guns mounted to a single screen. The goal of the game was to shoot as many zombies as possible without falling victim to the hordes. The game recorded the number of kills. If the time ran out, the person with the highest number won. If a player died, they automatically lost.
"Ah, Horde of the Dead. This is a good one, but I prefer the sequel with aliens. This will do though." She said, taking her position on the left, and leaning forward to press the plastic rifle against her shoulder. As she leaned forward in the proper gunner position, Shikamaru had an excellent view of the large fleshy mounds protruding from the top of her low-cut tank top. He took a moment to admire the pale flesh before shaking his head and positioning himself likewise at the right gun.
"There they are, get ready hunters!" the game indicated, as the first zombies began to appear.
As each new target appeared, both Shikamaru and Temari systematically eliminated them. Occasionally, both competitors would take aim at the same target, never knowing who earned the point because they were required to quickly move onto the next. The guns swivelled back and forth over and over as each of them moved to target the next zombie. Soon, the enemies flooded the screen and they had to move faster to keep from being overwhelmed. The left side of the screen was clearly more populated than the right, with Shikamaru clearing enemies slightly faster than his opponent. Despite the nature of the competition, he took a shot every few seconds to help clear her side of the screen and thus keep her from being overwhelmed too soon. Each time he did it, her posture became more and more rigid. Finally, the game's waves ended. The score was 157 for Temari and 162 for Shikamaru.
Crossing her arms over her large bosom, Temari glared at the man next to her, "If you hadn't taken my targets, I would have been able to beat you easily. Tch." She turned her head away slightly, before continuing, "One more game. I want to play DDR."
The challenges continued, with the wins going back and forth for hours. Temari won DDR by only a few more "perfects" than her opponent, but the next game went to Shikamaru, who sunk three more baskets than Temari. After three solid hours of non-stop competition, the pair were exhausted, and their stomachs rumbled in protest.
"Phew, I don't think I've played this long in a while… I can't believe we're still tied, but I'm hungry."
"Same." Shikamaru said, his words short as ever.
"You know, I have a bunch of consoles back at my place with way better games than these. I'd love to challenge you to some Smash, and maybe some Mario Kart. Heck, I even have some of the older Mortal Kombat games. I can grab a pizza for us and we can finally find out who the better gamer is." Temari offered, leaning against the air hockey rink.
Shikamaru crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "You place, huh? As long as it isn't too far away to make it troublesome to get home. I haven't played Mario Kart in quite some time."
With a grin, Temari slapped her dark-haired opponent on the shoulder, "It's just over one block from here, come on! We can stop to grab pizza at Frank's on the way."
With that, the pair exited the arcade and headed into the bustling street. While they were inside, the sun had begun to sink, turning the sky several shades of pink and purple. They must have been in there all day, and it was now just past dinner time. It's odd how time seems to pass faster when someone has a good competitor to make things interesting.
The Nara quirked a slight smile, his lips twitching up subtly at the corners.
Interesting indeed.