a/n: It kind of ends awkwardly, but I want to post something and I'm not sure how to end it. This universe is a highschool au, but it's in the same universe. It always irks me when YA books have these incredibly powerful people who like, don't go to highschool. Like how terrifying would it be if there was a freaking wizard who could kill you with a wave of his wand, but he didn't know who Hitler was. You know? So I just made the Naruto universe into one where Shinobi have training along with learning in a classroom, like they did in the academy. If that doesn't make sense, please tell me. Please review! I don't have any motivation to write unless I get reviews tbh!
About three quarters of the way to the Nara compound, I was convinced I'd never make it; it would be easier to just walk home. To start off with, I picked up that Konoha isn't very big, only slightly bigger than Suna. This meant that a stranger carrying a huge bag and a fan wasn't a common occurrence. I guess I was literally the talk of the town. People stared openly and they made it painfully obvious that they were all whispering about me. I didn't really mind much, I was pretty used to it. During the last part of the school year, last year, gossip had been so bad that when my brothers and I were out in public, we'd wear masks (or stupid makeup and a hood since Kankuro couldn't just act like a normal person) so that the press or angry townspeople wouldn't harass us, as if we had had a hand in our father's horrible politics.
The actual bad part of the trip started shortly after people started clearing out of the streets. I was born in Suna, and didn't know better. Before I knew it, I was about the only person in the street, and then lightning struck. I wasn't scared exactly, I only jumped like two feet. But I'd never seen thunder before, so it's possible that I was slightly concerned. Now, if any Konohan born person was still on the street, they'd have the decency to run for cover. I not only didn't know what to do, but I'd have nowhere to go even if I did know what was about to transpire. Well, it started raining buckets and I was head to toe drenched. I kept lugging my bag around, grunting every few seconds. The wind kept pushing me around, to the point that I was pretty sure that the stupid way-too-heavy-for-its-volume trunk of mine was the only thing keeping me grounded. I'd never seen so much rain, or water, in my life, surely this isn't natural.
After thirty painful minutes of struggling, thinking that I was going to drown, I finally made it to their stupid compound. I mean, sure, it was one of the most beautiful homes I'd ever seen, lots of open space, beautiful trees, the most gorgeous wooden home. It was quite picturesque. But it was still stupid because it was two freaking miles from the stupid, stupid, station.
Then, suddenly, I was hit by a wave of a different emotions. I wasn't nervous, no. I was just feeling slightly ill. My legs were shaking, not because I was cold, and my stomach was turning. I shyly walked up to the door, and hesitated before giving it a light knock. I heard some commotion on the other side of it, and then a very beautiful (probably much prettier than I, considering I probably mimicked the appearance of a wet dog at that moment) woman opened the door. She, too, looked disheveled, but she looked nice that way. A strand of brown hair had fallen out of her neatly pinned back style, she wore an apron that was slightly soiled from cooking, and she was slightly out of breath.
"Oh please don't tell me you're Temari no Sabaku."
I openly gaped at her words. At that point, I'll admit, I was ridden with anxiety. I was broke, in a foreign country, and I knew no one within a thousand miles. And the only person that I could depend on begged for me to be someone else. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I just.. um..I don't think we...uh" The woman looked surprised and then shook her head.
"Oh honey, please come it, come in!" She pulled me and my trunk into the house. "SHIKAKU! SHIKAMARU! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT! AND BRING SOME TOWELS!" I flushed at realizing that my manners must have seemed so rough, dripping on someone's floor.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to show up like this, I just didn't have anywhere to go, I'm not exactly sure where the school is."
"There's no reason to be sorry, if anyone, us Nara's are at fault. We thought you were coming in tonight, we were going to all pick you up from the station. I can't believe you walked two miles on your own! And with those huge bags...amazing. You must have a lot of will power, missy." My lips crept up into a smile.
"Oh, it's not problem, Mrs. Nara." It was absolutely a problem and I'd sooner gouge my own eyes out than do that again, but my mouth betrayed my thoughts out of respect, "If you'd point me in the direction, I'll just go to the school to clean up, I feel bad dripping all over your floor." The woman's response was interrupted by the sound of two bodies running down the stairs with towels. They looked comically similar. The older man had two scars on his face and a spikey ponytail. The younger donned a replica style, but his face was perfectly clear of any blemishes or scars. Once they got to the foot of the stairs, they openly gaped at me. I reddened, remembering my wet dog appearance. I was sure my stupid ponytails were drooping, unlike those two guys. It's a good thing I rarely wore makeup, because it would have been drooping, too.
"Well don't just stare at the poor girl, help her out! You idiots didn't pick her up at the right time, she walked two miles in this weather to get here!" She commanded so much authority that the two men jumped into action, handing her a towel, offering something to drink, taking her bags from her. I saw a twitch of a smile on Mrs. Nara's face, probably patting herself on the back for how whipped she had those two boys. "Now, Temari. I know that you have a boarding arrangement at the school, but if you ever want a home cooked meal and a full sized bed, don't you hesitate to come and take our guest bedroom. We'll keep it perfect for you."
"Oh thank you, Mrs. Nara, but-"
"And call me Yoshino, please."
"Yosh-"
"Tea or coffee?" The older man said. These people were persistent as fuck. It's a good thing, because I was totally bluffing. I wanted nothing more than to be treated like royalty at that moment because I was thoroughly miserable from having to walk all the way there. I guess they saw through my manners.
"Oh, um, tea is fine."
"I put your bag in the room. It's heavy as fu-"
"Shikamaru, watch your tongue."
"Sorry, mom." His eyes looked down submissively, but I could tell there was a slight roll in them, too. I tried to keep myself from laughing, but they were exactly as I pictured them ever since I read their letter.
"I'm sorry, my Tessen is pure iron, that thing's like fifty pounds."
"So that's what that thing was." The younger guy said unenthusiastically.
"Temari, why don't you sit down in the kitchen with us and we can talk all about it over a cup of tea."
"Actually Dad and I-"
"Save it, Shikamaru! You're walking on thin ice as it is, leaving this poor girl out in the rain." It was quite awkward to have this poor dude scolded for something that was sort of my fault. He just rolled his eyes at his mom, probably used to her yapping, but he complied. I was sort of scared of her, I didn't want to be on her bad side. That's probably why I was being so nice. Protip: Always call parents Mr. and Mrs. They eat that polite shit up like mad, I think they get a high off of saying "please, call me *insert name *, Mrs. *insert last name * was my mother-in-law. I had laid all that on Yoshino, which is why she hilariously pulled a 180 whenever she went from addressing her kid to me.
Yoshino lead me into their kitchen, which had beautiful wood floors and cabinets and large windows that looked out into a garden and a patch of green grass that some deer were frolicking in. Delicate, transparent curtains hung from the windows. They flowed lightly because of the wind outside. Everything was so precious in this house, but the protector of it, Yoshino, was splendidly stiff and stern. Despite their contrasting natures, the juxtaposition of the woman and her house was natural and homey. I immediately liked my host mother. The four of us sat down at a wood breakfast table, the older man serving us all some tea. "So, Temari, what is this fifty pound iron thing you were talking about?" Yoshino asked.
"Oh, it's a Tessen." The woman just looked more confused so I continued, "um I do Tessenjutsu, it's a martial art for war fan techniques. It has an iron frame so it's pretty heavy." I explained.
"It's lucky our family jutsus don't require a weapon. We only need to carry ourselves." The man laughed. His wife playfully pelted him in the stomach, mumbling his name, Shikaku. I sighed in relief, I didn't remember what his name was and even though I intended on calling him Mr. Nara, I didn't want to make things awkward by saying or doing something stupid because I didn't know it.
"It's not so bad. My brother, Gaara, has to carry a gourd of sand, and the other one, Kankuro, carries his puppets, but we just get used to it. It's not so bad."
"Wait, your brother is Kankuro?"
"that's exactly what she just said, Shikamaru." His mother reprimanded. He scowled back at her, then continued.
"I've heard of him, he's super popular at our school, people are trying to raise money to get him to speak at an all school meeting." I knew he was popular back home, but I was impressed that my little brother had gone international. Good for him. "wait, isn't he the son of-" Yoshino dropped her tea cup onto the table, prompting a ruckus to clean up. I had my suspicion that it was to avoid the awkward conversation topic of my father, but I was pretty relieved. That was something I was not really ready to open up about to anyone, let alone these strangers. Even if they were really nice. Well, nice to me.
Once everything was cleaned up, the conversation of school started. I, uncharacteristically, tuned out of the conversation, mesmerized by outside. Suna rarely saw any clouds, and I was amazed at how they were moving, letting holes of blue sky reappear into the sky, making the rain stop. My thoughts were interrupted by Yoshino's comment.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?"
"What?" I was slightly confused, not having paid attention to the conversation, but then I caught on that everyone was looking out at the clouds. "Oh yes, we don't really have them in Suna."
"Well it's clearing up, maybe Shikamaru can take you out to go watch them, then you can see the town." Shikaku reasoned.
"Oh, that's right. You like cloud watching, don't you? You said so in the letter." Yoshino's face paled. I was worried that I said something wrong, but then she turned to look at her son, who sheepishly looked down at his tea.
"Shikamaru."
"Yes, mother?"
"Please tell me you didn't send that letter."
"Mom, I-"
"Tell me you didn't send this poor, lovely girl, that horrible letter." Yoshino looked like she was going to explode again, but mercifully, Shikaku intervened.
"Okay, I think Temari's had enough. School doesn't open for another few days so you're going to have to stay here for a few nights. Shikamaru put your stuff in your room, why don't you show her where it is, huh Shika?" His son nodded and obeyed, mumbling about how women were troublesome.
He led me out into the living room again, and up the beautiful staircase, then into the first room on the left.
"Here's your room." He opened the door into a simple but appealing room, then tried to leave. I stopped him.
"Wait—I've never seen a house this big, can I follow you back? I'm gonna get lost."
"Troublesome woman. Don't you want to settle in first? My mom's going to force me into going out to show you the town later, might as well rest."
"First, don't call me that. I'm very low maintenance. Second, what am I supposed to do to settle? I'm only staying a few days. And thirdly, I'm not your mother or a task master or anything like that. If you don't want to go out with me, don't. I'd rather be alone, anyways."
"That makes two of us."
"I'm glad we see eye to eye."
"Not really, you're pretty short."
"Why, you!" He promptly left, doing exactly what I asked him not to do. Stupid teenage boys. There are plenty of guys who would love to take me around the town. Well, I mean, I'm sure there are, I think they're just scared of me and my family. They probably all hate me because of my dad. But besides that, someone is bound to want to take me out.
Fuck that kid. He doesn't know the first thing about me. I don't like him a bit. Total fuck boy. I mean, his mom is nice and all, but he's just plain old rude and sexist.
After thinking about how much I hated him, I decided to give a shot at "settling in". I was used to living a pretty fast paced life, and was startled that the family just gave me down time. It was nice, just unexpected. I thought that they'd be asking me to do chores or something. Being idle wasn't my strong suit. I didn't want to unpack because then I'd just have to repack in a few days. Napping was out of the question. So I just laid on the bed, thinking. I hated it. But I thought, anyways. There was something in this house that was conducive to thinking and being lazy. I thought about my brothers and my father, I thought about Suna, and then I thought about Konoha and my new jobs, and lastly, I thought about school. Then I was done with thinking and I sat up. I saw that only ten minutes had passed. I mumbled a "fuck this" and got up. I changed into some clean clothes, then I let my hair down, letting it dry. It would probably poof up in a few minutes. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Then I put my hair up into one ponytail. It was low and most of my hair was falling out of it since my hair was too short, but it would just have to do for now. I opened the door to leave but on the other side was Shikamaru, just about to knock on the door.
"can I help you?"
"Let's go to town."
"excuse me? I think I'd win!"
"No, troublesome, I'm going to show you around town."
"I said don't call me-"
"Oh, Temari!" Yoshino interrupted. "Let Shikamaru take you around, it will be fun!"
It took a human braver than me and Shikamaru put together to deny this lady.
"I suppose, that would be okay." I replied. Shikamaru smirked.
"You might want a coat." Yoshino said, then left to another room.
"eh, I don't need one, let's go."
"No, you probably need something bigger than that, it's like forty degrees out."
"I'm fine, really."
"Why do you have to act tough, just bring a freaking jacket!"
I desperately wanted him to just drop it, but he didn't, so I just admitted why I was being so stubborn. "This is the heaviest thing I own." I looked away, it was kind of embarrassing. I mean, I was only wearing a three quarter sleeve shirt.
"How does that—you know what? Never mind, take this, trouble." I guess that stupid nickname was going to stick. He took his army green vest and black turtleneck off, giving it to me, and went to another room (probably his) to grab a new coat. I put on his dumb turtleneck and it was too big. It was comically poofy compared to the tight leggings I was wearing. I slipped on his vest and then promptly crossed my arms, so that he'd understand that I was pissed. He walked out of his room wearing a brown wool coat and a dumb expression. He looked surprised at something.
"What are you staring at?" He just shook his head.
"Nothing, let's go." He lightly grabbed my arm, leading me to the front door (I had no idea where it was, the house was like a freaking wooden, airy maze).
The sun had set and the stars came up. The stars weren't too visible, since it was so overcast. But the distant town had lanterns of all different colors throughout, brightening up the night. Shikamaru and I walked in silence. I didn't want to talk, anyways. Once we approached the town, I got nervous. I knew people would stare, and I didn't want to talk about why.
"Will you show me the Yamanaka flower shop and Ichiraku Ramen?"
"I suppose. The Yamanakas are family friends."
"That so?"
"Yeah, they have a girl who's our age named Ino. She's loud, but pretty. Much prettier than you." I punched him in the arm, hard.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Who says shit like that? Honestly, didn't your mother ever teach you how to be nice?" I expected him to respond, or at least laugh, most boys said hurtful shit like that to get a rise out of you, but he just shrugged and continued walking.
"You punch hard."
"I don't care about your opinion."
"Tch."
The rest of our walk was in tension filled silence, until we reached the Yamanaka's. Shikamaru opened the door for me (what the hell?) and called for Ino. She had been daydreaming behind the counter, then shot up and ran to us.
"oh my god, is this the new girl?!"
"yeah. Temari no Sabaku, this is Ino Yamanaka, Ino Yamanaka, this is Temari no Sabaku."
"No Sabaku? The name sounds familiar." She went into a thinking position, but Temari quickly put an end to any thinking about her last name.
"Yeah, I'm actually going to be working here."
"Oh, you're the girl that daddy hired? I had no idea she was the exchange student, I thought she'd be an adult. But it makes sense. I suppose you're pretty enough to be my replacement." What is it about this town and beauty?
"Is that important to arrange flowers?" Shikamaru asked exactly what I was thinking.
"No, but it does wonders for customer service. I'm so glad to not have to do this crap anymore. You'll probably do better than I do, I have nicer hair, but your boobs are bigger." Okay, people in this town are way blunt. I was known for being blunt, too, but I had to be polite, I didn't want to scare off some girl that was going to be my classmate.
"Leave her alone, Ino." She shrugged.
"Well, I have to close shop now. See you at school?"
"Yeah."
We left the flower shop and he took me closer to the heart of town. People were staring openly.
"Why are people staring?" He asked me in an accusatory way.
"I don't know. So, are you taking me to Ichiraku Ramen?"
"If you're in the mood."
"No, I just want to know where it is. I'm going to be working there, too."
"Oh." I think Shikamaru was worried that he overstepped his boundaries. Rich people were always kind of quiet when they realized that people were poorer than them, they knew it was beyond their limits understanding having to work jobs like the ones I have.
"Well, the stand's up there." He pointed to a corner where a happy looking stand stood with a healthy amount of customers and a delectable aroma encompassing it. "Do you wanna eat there, anyways? I'm kind of hungry."
"I'm not hungry." But my stomach betrayed me and grumbled. "traitor." I mumbled. He laughed at me. Wow, he had straight, white, teeth.
"Let's go eat."
I introduced myself to Teuchi and Ayame and I ordered whatever the hell Shikamaru ordered. I've never had ramen so I didn't know what was good. Our dinner was interrupted by some blonde kid who thought it was socially acceptable to wear an orange jumpsuit.
"Eyy Shikamaru. You sure are a cheap date, aren't you?"
"Shut up, Naruto. I'm this girl's guide."
"Why hello there! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. The future Hokage of this place." He said obnoxiously with a fake suave voice.
"Not with your grades, no."
"School is stupid, I have the raw power to be one, believe it!"
"No one wants a Hokage that can't pass algebra. That's why we go to school."
"What do you think, new girl?"
"I have a name."
"what is it?"
"Temari." I was glad he didn't ask for a last name. Instead, he reached into his pockets and grabbed temari balls.
"Look, Temari, it's you!"
"Wow, comedic gold. Shikamaru, can we go now?"
"See you round, Naruto."
"Bye Temari, Bye Shikamaru! Remember to use protection!" We both flipped him off and walked back home.
