MUHAHAHAHAHA……………..HA! Panda-chan here with the second instalment of 'Star Gazing'. I have to say, this whole story turned out to be much longer then I thought it would be, about 10 pages in Microsoft word to be exact, BUT that just means more to read and enjoy 3. Anyway, I hope you like this part!
Oh and btw, about the prank that Temari pulled on Kankuro……well I'll leave that up to your imaginations D but lets just say it had to do with a hot spring and angry girls XDDDD.
Disclaimer: Seriously, do you people LIKE crushing my dreams? I don't own the anime/manga Naruto or any of its charries nor do I own any of the songs mentioned. I DO however own Kousa the hamster XDD.
Now, ON WITH THE STORY!!
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"Alright, heres the house." Temari said as she opened the door and stepped inside. Shikamaru followed behind her, shutting the door as he did so. He took a couple steps forwards to find himself in a rather large living room. In fact the house itself was quite huge, but then again what would you expect from a house that the Kazekage and his siblings live in? Anyway, back to the living room.
The carpet was a dark sandy color and quite soft. There was a large wrap around couch that had, if you where to be sitting in the middle of it, a matching loveseat to the left and a lazyboy to the right. All three pieces of furniture were turned so that they face a decent sized flat screen T.V. A wooden coffee table sat in front of the wrap around couch and two smaller coffee tables sat in between the couch and the loveseat and the couch and the lazyboy.
To the left of the living room was an open kitchen/dining room with wood flooring, granite counter tops, and stainless steel appliances. There was also an office directly to the left of the entry way and to the left of the office was a set of stairs that went up and one that went down. Temari was standing by the ascending staircase, arms crossed over her chest and waiting for Shikamaru to finish looking around.
When he noticed this, the shadow manipulator immediately adopted his bored look again and walked over to Temari, who rolled her eyes a bit before going up the stairs, motioning for him to follow. The upstairs was nothing special, four doors and a hallway with the same carpeting as the living room. As you walked up the stairs you were met with one door, then turned sharply to the right. After you took the sharp turn there was a door to your left and then another right turn and a door at the end of the hall way and other door to your left.
"Whats downstairs?" Shikamaru asked, his voice carrying and ever so slight hint of curiosity as they passed the first door and stopped by the second.
"Kankuros room and another guest room." Temari said as she opened the door and motioned for Shikamaru to go inside. He did so with a nod and set his backpack down on the bed, looking around the room a bit. The bed was about a queen size and was pushed up agents the wall in the far right corner of the room and had a comforter that looked as if it was blue tie-dyed with dark blue sheets. There was a closet to the left, opposite the bed, and a wooden dresser pushed up agents the wall by the foot of the bed, to the right of the door. The carpet was the same though.
"The room at the very end of the hall is Gaaras. If you value your life, don't go in there. Mine is one closest to yours, opposite Gaaras, and the bathroom is the one closest to the stairs. Make yourself at home and if you need me I'll be in my room." Temari said as she walked away and into her room, shutting the door behind her. There was a light 'click' and Shikamaru suspected that she had locked her door, meaning that she wanted to be left alone. He shrugged it off and began unpacking, although a small part of him worried about Temaris strange behavior towards him. Usually she was smiling, grinning, and teasing him about one thing or another. Then he would say 'troublesome woman' and she would whack him with her fan and get all angry. Now though, she seemed as if there was just……nothing. It was like she had just gone hard core shinobi and went totally emotionless, which he found bizarre considering that she was laughing hysterically not half an hour ago. Perhaps he should ask her whats up………….but that could wait until later. Right now he wanted a nap……..
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ARGH! Whats wrong with me! Temari thought as she paced the floor of her room. Her little hamster, Kousa, watched his mistress from his caged, his dark red eyes following her back and forth as she paced. Temari then went over and opened the cage, taking out the sand colored hamster and sitting down on her lavender comforter that had little fans all over it and stroking him. She sighed a brought Kousa up with her hand so the he was at eye level with her now.
"What should I do Kousa? Just being around him is bringing up the feelings again! And I thought that I had finally got them under control!" Temari exclaimed to her hamster, who only blinked. She often talked to her hamster, not really having anyone else to talk to, but she did it in privet when no one else was around. God if her brothers found out about her talking to Kousa they'd never let her live it down.
"Ugh…..my head hurts…….." Temari said after a pause as she placed Kousa back in his cage. Unlocking her door she slipped out and over to the bathroom, grabbing a bottle of Advil before slipping back into her room and shutting the door, but not locking it this time. After taking the little brown pills she dug in the pocket of her black kimono until she found her iPod touch ((A/N: YES they have iPods because I'M the writer and I say so. MUHAHAHAHAHA……….HA!!)) then plugged it into her iHome. She set it for shuffle and smiled a bit as the song 'Given Up' by Linkin Park began to play. That particular song seemed to fit her mood right now. She then went over to her off-white dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas and began to change.
In the room next to Temaris, Shikamaru groaned and opened an eye as he glanced sleepily over at the wall that separated the two rooms. He could hear the music and it had woken him from his nice nap. Why can I never get a decent amount of sleep around her……? Were the lazy ninjas thoughts as he opened both eyes and got up from the bed with a grunt and walked over to the wall.
"Oi, could you keep it down?" he said, rapping his knuckles on the pale blue walls. However the music didn't let up so he knocked louder. Nothing. With an irritated sigh he opened his door and went over to Temaris. He placed his hand on the door knob, turned, and pushed, expecting it to still be locked. However, it wasn't locked and the door flung open……….reveling Temaris bare back. She slipped a grey tank top on, just seconds after, and then turned to see a stunned looking Shikamaru…….who was blushing just ever so slightly.
At first her face showed shock, then embarrassment, then anger. "Shikamaru…..What. Are. You. Doing." She said in a dangerous voice, one that could scare even Gaara senseless.
"Uhhh….I-its not what you think! I-I just opened the door and….your music……..I thought it was still locked and-" Shikamaru attempted to stutter out, but he was cut off.
"OUT!!" Temari yelled, pushing him away from the doorway and slamming the door in his face, making sure she locked it this time. Shikamaru blinked before slowly backing away into his room, shutting the door quietly and sitting down on the bed, placing his head in his hands. Crap, he had really messed up this time. How was he going to fix this one?
Temari let out a breath as she heard his footsteps retreat and his door close before collapsing agents her door, sliding down until she sat on the floor. She hadn't meant to yell at him like that and she knew he hadn't been there all that long but she was just a bit shocked that the boy she……..well that she liked had walked in on her while she was getting dressed. She should have let him explained himself though, she had been a little too harsh. Aww, man, how was she gonna fix this one?
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Dinner was quiet uneventful, unless you count watching Kankuro devour pizza in event. Hearing an excited shout form Kankuro, Shikamaru had come down the stairs to see him holding three pizza boxes. The puppet master had quickly looked through all of them until he found his favorite and then took the box to the table and began to eat, without a plate and rather messily.
Shikamaru sweat-dropped and went over to the remaining two boxes, looking through each of them to decide what he wanted. He was actually surprised to find that one of them had his favorite, pineapple and bacon, on one half. The other half was plane pepperoni which, if he remembered correctly, was Temaris favorite. The last box was just plain cheese. Seeing as Temari was the only one in the house who knew what his favorite kind of pizza was, he assumed that she was the one who had ordered it. Quietly he searched until he found a plate, grabbed a couple pieces, and then sat down at the small table as far away from Kankuro as he could. He began to eat slowly, hoping that Temari would at least come down for a second grab a piece of pizza. However, his wish did not come true.
As soon as Kankuro was done, he threw away the empty pizza box and disappeared down the stairs again, much to Shikamarus relief. During the time he had taken to eat his own meal, still waiting for Temari, he was somewhat surprised to see Gaara grab a couple pieces of cheese pizza before disappearing up the stairs, presumably to his room. Huh, so he does eat after all………looks like Kiba owes me some money….. Shikamaru thought with a slight chuckle as he placed his plate in the sink and then went back upstairs. He paused in front of Temaris room and contemplated knocking on it….but decided agents it. She may still be mad if she was avoiding him so much that she didn't even come down to eat. With a sigh he continued back into the guestroom, shutting the door and flopping back down on the bed.
After only a couple of minutes Shikamaru heard a soft click, a door opening, and then footsteps. Blinking he got up from the bed and opened his door………just in time to catch a flick of gold before it disappeared down the stairs. Huh, so she had been waiting for him to come back up before going down? Was she really that mad? With another sigh he shut his door and flopped back down on the bed. Perhaps he should talk to her, apologies for walking in like that. It would be a pain, but he would have to do it if he wanted to have a peaceful time while he was in Suna. Not to mention there was this little nagging voice, that sounded suspiciously like his mother, that wouldn't leave him alone about the whole thing and was making him feel worse and worse about it all the time. This voice had even prevented him from going back to sleep! So, he reasoned, if he wanted any peace at all he would have to talk to the Wind Mistress, but he would do it after she had eaten, he had found she was usually calmer and more rational on a full stomach….
After about two hours of sitting and staring up at the ceiling, Shikamaru growled a bit and sat up. What the heck was taking her so long? She should have been up by now. This is such a pain…. He thought as he pushed himself off the bed and opened his door. He made his way over to Temaris room and knocked on the door. No answer. Knock louder. No answer. Knock louder Door swings open a bit and Shika peeked inside………….to find the room empty. Great, now he had to go look for her….
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Twenty minutes later he had checked every possible place in the house for Temari to be, and had found no trace of her. Shikamaru sighed in irritation, maybe she was outside then? Standing up from his spot on the lazyboy he walked over to the sliding glass door that connected to the kitchen, pushed aside the curtains, opened it, and then stepped outside. Wait, why did he even care so much about finding her? Why did it bug him so much that it was possible that she was mad at him? He paused as he began to think this over. Was she more than just a comrade to him? Had he become…..attached to her? Possibly even like her? If there was a light bulb on top of his head, it would have started to glow at that point. Everything sort of fell into place after that, everything made sense. But nothing could ever happen between them right? They were form different villages after all…….but what if there was some way? Would he take the chance? And more importantly, would she be willing? Shikamaru shook his head to clear his thoughts a bit, no use in getting ahead of himself, he still had to apologize for walking in on her.
It was dark out now so it took Shikamaru a while for his eyes to adjust, but the moon and stars were bright. He actually found himself lost in the beauty of the clear, cloudless night sky for a few moments before he mentally smacked himself, he was here looking for Temari not to look at the sky! It was then he spotted a figure on the roof, a figure that was definitely NOT Gaara. Blinking a bit, he collected chakra to his feet and climbed up the side of the house and onto the roof. As he got closer he confirmed that the figure was, indeed, Temari. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way over towards her.
"Hey…." His voice was soft and quiet, but it still caused Temari to jump a bit in surprise and, strangely enough, she felt as if her heart had skipped a beat….
"Don't sneak up on me like that Nara!" she snapped a bit as she looked up and over at him, however her voice carried more surprise then anger. No, she wasn't really angry with him at all, she just hadn't been expecting him to be there……..not that she was complaining though…… ARGH! There were those thoughts again! Why wouldn't they just go away? They weren't meant for each other, nothing could happen between the Kazekages elder sister and a Chuunin from Konoha. It was just so wrong on so many levels………. So why did she feel this way towards him? If she couldn't banish her feelings she would have to hide them, put them behind a carefully constructed wall just like she always….
"Oi! Temari!" Shikamarus voice snapped her out of her musings and she blinked at him. "You were staring at me again, that's the second time today that you've spaced out while looking at me. You sure your ok?"
Temari mentally kicked herself for being such an idiot and merely nodded, looking away and back up at the stars, drawing her knees to her chest. She then heard Shikamaru sigh a bit and plop down next to her on the roof.
"Look, I'm sorry. Ok?" he said quietly, glancing over at her. Ok, she hadn't been expecting that one.
"About what?" she asked curiously and slightly suspiciously, raising an eyebrow and tuning her head so that she could look at him, resting the side of it in he knees.
"About walking in on you………" he said quietly and hesitantly, looking down and blushing ever so slightly. Temari blushed a bit as well dropping her eyes.
"Oh……don't worry about it…." She said, dismissing the subject. In all honesty she had totally forgotten about that incident by now. Lifting her head she turn it and then tilted it upward so that she was gazing at the sky again.
Shikamaru blinked a bit, she was acting…..different. He was sure she would be angry about that, but instead she had just dismissed it as if it were nothing. That was not very Temari-like but he let it go, everyone was entitled to be out of character every once in a while he supposed and he really didn't want to make it a big deal if she wasn't going to……that would just be to troublesome.
"So what are you doing up here anyway?" he asked curiously, looking back over at her.
"Star gazing."
"Eh?"
"Star gazing. What, you thought you were the only one who liked looking up at the sky?" she smirked and snickered a bit, Shikamru frowned.
"No, I just didn't expect you to like looking up at the sky." He said, turning his attention to the heavens as well.
"I guess your right, but I don't do it very often. Usually just when I have time." Temari said with a slight laugh. Silence then consumed the two as they gazed and the twinkling white dots that spanned across a sea of dark blue. It wasn't an uncomfortable, feel like you should say something but just can't think of something to say, silence but a relaxing one. Both seemed to be alright with not speaking as well, just enjoying the others presents.
Temari shivered a bit and hugged her knees closer, the desert may be brutally hot during the day but at night it could get quite cold. She mentally chided herself for not bringing a sweater with her. Her movement caught Shikamarus eye, though, and he turned his gaze from above to her now…..then blushed a bit. It was at that moment that he noticed that all she was warring was a grey spaghetti-strap tank top and a pair of purple pajama pants with little skulls on them. But what caused him to bush really was the fact that her hair was down, the longest strands barley bushing her exposed shoulder blades as it framed her face that was bathed in the dim creamy light of the moon. She looked absolutely beautiful, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. Before he could even register what he was doing, he was leaning closer to her.
"Temari….." Shikamru soft and quiet voice got the Suna nins attention, since when did his voice sound so….tender and caring? Curiously, she turned her head to ask him what the heck was wrong with him…….when soft lips connected with hers. She froze, eyes wide, not sure how she could react. Her rational side was yelling at her to push him away, tell him how stupid he was. But her instincts told her to kiss him back, show him that this was what she had wanted for so long.
After a few moments of her not reacting, Shikamaru pulled away and looked down. "I'm sorry…….I don't know what came over me……I just-" he was unable to finish however, for Temari grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back to her, pressing her lips to his, a bit rougher then he had done. After a second, his brain registered what was happening and he kissed her back, smiling slightly into her lips as his eyes closed.
Her hand let go of his shirt in favor of playing with his hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck. With a quick flick of her wrist she took out the band that held his hair in that odd ponytail that made his head look like a pineapple, allowing his dark brown locks to fall just above his shoulders. She ran her fingers through it then, surprised at how soft it actually was. One arm of his traveled around her waist while his other snaked up towards her head, tangling his fingers in her hair and pulling her head closer, deepening the kiss. Only when their lungs cried for air did they pull away, but only just enough so that they could breath.
"This is wrong…………so wrong on so many levels……..so why does it feel so right?" Temari whispered breathlessly as she attempted to catch her breath, her lips still only centimeters from his.
"I don't know." Shikamaru whispered back, just as out of breath as she. He rested his forehead agents hers and looked directly into her blue green eyes. She nearly gasped at the intensity of his gaze and if it wasn't for the fact that there was a softness along with it, as well as the fact that he still held the back of her head, she would have looked away at that moment. She could clearly see he really did care about her immensely, but this was just not right for so many reasons.
"But we can't…….there are so many reasons why-" She began, but she was cut off but his lips as they pressed to hers in a soft kiss.
"We'll find a way………..somehow……." he whispered, pulling away again, but just enough so that he could see her eyes.
"How?" she questioned, her rational side taking control yet again. "How would this possibly work? We're from different villages, I'm four years older then you, I'm the-"
"We will find a way. I don't know how, but we will." The determination in his voice and eyes took Temari by surprise. She looked at him, searching every corner of his face for even the slightest hint of doubt, only to find more sureness and confidence then she had ever thought possible of him. With a sigh she nodded, giving in, for once actually not feeling like arguing with him.
Gently Shikamaru kissed her forehead before shifting positions, pulling her to sit in his lap and resting his chin on her head. Temari buried her face in his chest, sighing contently.
"You know, I think I like star gazing more than cloud gazing." Shikamaru said with a smirk, causing Temari to laugh a bit. Perhaps this wasn't as wrong as she had previously thought…..
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"Kankuro remind me why we are here again?" Gaara asked calmly, looking over at his older brother with a raised eyebrow.
"To get Temari back for that prank she pulled on me!" Kankuro said, glancing over at Gaara before turning his attention back to the video camera that he was holding as they both watched the scene playing out on the roof before them. How were they spying you may ask? Well they were ninja! They had used their amazing skills to stand on the outer window seal of Gaaras bedroom window and were peeking over the side of the roof.
"Yes, but why drag me into it?" Gaara asked.
"Because I needed your window seal, now hush up before they notice us!" Kankuro said, this time not even looking over at the young Kazekage and just waving his hand a bit. "Hehe, this video is going all over youtube….."
Gaara sighed irritated and shook his head. Why was he stuck with such insane siblings?
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Hmm, now that I think about it, maybe I should write a companion fic that shows what happens after this……….eh, I don't know. What do you think? Click the prudy, shiny purple button bellow and tell meh if you think I should or not XD!