I Just Care
Chapter 2: Feelings Revealed
Shikamaru laid on the hotel room's couch, thinking about what just had happened. He really didn't remember anything about a date with Temari. He did remember coming back from a mission with her and Neji a few days ago, though.
Shikamaru got up, took off his flap jacket, put on a normal jacket, and then walked to the door.
"Where are you going, Shikamaru?" Kiba asked.
"Out" He simply replied, and then left.
---Temari's House---
An hour and a half had passed since the phone call. It was about 8:00pm right now. Temari had gotten over her little moment. She said it was nothing, but the other girls knew it was. She decided to forget about it, though, so the girls kept on doing the random stuff they were doing before the phone call. Then, someone knocked on the door. Temari stood up from the floor, where she and the other girls were talking, and opened the door.
"What do you want?" Temari said, her smile fading away. It was Shikamaru.
"I want to talk to you" he said. Temari looked back. The girls were glaring at Shikamaru. "There's nothing to talk about" she said to Shikamaru.
"Yes there is. I need to talk to you…in private."
Temari sighed and signaled the girls to go to another room. They all stood up and went to Temari's bedroom. Sakura didn't. She took Temari by the arm and pulled her away from Shikamaru. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked Temari, who nodded in response.
"Okay, but if you need us, you just have to yell" Sakura said, and then left. Temari signaled Shikamaru to come in. He did, and closed the front door.
"What is it?" Temari said.
"Uh…I wanted to talk to you…and give you something" Shikamaru said, putting a little (but not too little) sized box in Temari's sofa.
"Well, you can take your words and your something somewhere else" Temari said, crossing her arms.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to say-" Shikamaru said, and from there you could only hear him mumble.
"What was that?" Temari asked.
"I said that I just wanted to say that-" Shikamaru said, mumbling the last part again.
"I can't hear you" Temari said.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry!" Shikamaru almost yelled. Temari laughed a little in her mind at Shikamaru.
"Well…thank you" Temari said, not knowing what to reply.
"So…yeah. I just wanted to tell you that" Shikamaru said.
"So you came all the way here just to say that you were sorry?" Temari asked, a little surprised. Shikamaru made a 'yeah, whatever' expression.
"So…yeah. I should leave now" he said, and with that, he left. That's when Temari's curiosity started to rise. She sat down on the sofa, next to the box. She untied a little ribbon the box had, and opened it to find...
"A sand flower?!" Temari thought, shocked. "Where the heck did he get this? I mean, you can rarely get these flowers today. And you can only find them in the Hidden Sand Village!"
"A-are you okay, Temari?" a voice asked her. Hinata was standing in front of her with the other girls. Temari nodded. She, then, noticed that there was a card that came with the flower. She took it. Her name was written in the envelope. She opened the envelope to read the card.
"Temari:
I am so sorry for what I did to you. I hope you can forgive me. I forgot all about…you know what. In my defense, I was on a mission. I've been so tired lately. My mom keeps on ranting to me about random things when I'm home, and now I finally had the chance to get out of my house to do the mission but get big-mouth on my squad. Sincerely, I really don't know how Hinata can love a guy like Naruto. Anyway, I promise that I will make it up to you somehow, because I don't want to lose you…
Love, Shikamaru."
Temari smiled while reading this. It seemed like he was reallysorry. She put the card back in the envelope.
"What happened, Temari?" Ino asked.
"Oh, nothing" Temari replied, her smile still on her face.
"So what do you say we continue our conversation?" Temari suggested, and she and they girls sat down on the floor again.
About an hour later, Temari's cellphone rang again.
"Hello?" she said, picking up.
"Temari! Thank goodness you picked it up!" Kiba yelled from the other line.
"What is it?" she asked him.
"Do you know where Shikamaru is?"
"Why would you ask that to me?" Temari replied.
"I don't know. I mean, he told me about…2...or maybe 2 and a half hours ago that he was going out, but he still haven't come back to the hotel."
"That's strange" Temari thought. And then it hit her.
"Kiba. I think I know exactly where he is. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay, bye" Kiba said, and hung up.
"Girls, I have to go out" Temari said, standing up.
"Where to?" Tenten asked her. Temari smiled, ignoring Tenten's question. "If I'm not back in an hour, call me" Temari said, and the other girls nodded. Temari put her cellphone on her dress' little pocket, and then left.
Temari walked around the village. She was on a place right now that was the 'barrier' between the Hidden Leaf Village and the next village.
"What the heck would Shikamaru be doing here alone at night?" Temari asked herself, walking, when she finally saw Shikamaru. He was sitting on the floor, his back in the trunk of a tree. She walked quietly, hoping he hadn't notice her.
"What is it Temari?" he asked, not even looking back.
Temari transformed herself to Sakura. "It's Sakura" she said, stopping a few feet away from Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked at her, and then stood up. "Oh really?" he said, walking to where she was. Temari was getting nervous. "Yes"
"I know it's you Temari" Shikamaru said.
"Shikamaru. It's me, Sakura!" she insisted.
"Oh really? Then why did I saw a girl in black clothes, with four ponytails, a red scarf as a belt and a giant fan transform into Sakura just now?"
"Okay, fine. You win" Temari said, breaking the transformation jutsu.
"You didn't had me even for a second there" he said with a smirk. "Why did you come?"
"To make sure you were all right. Kiba told me you still hadn't returned to the hotel, so I figured you would be here, and decided to check on you. But since I already did, I guess I should leave now" Temari replied, and then turned around to leave.
"No!" Shikamaru yelled, and held her arm. Temari turned around with a confused face. "I-I mean…" he said, letting go of her arm. "D-don't you want to stay for a while?" he said, and signaled her to sit with him on the trunk of the tree. "O-ok" she replied.
They both sat at the trunk of the tree. "Wow. There are so many stars!" Temari said, looking at the sky. "You don't see them like this in the Hidden Sand Village…"
Shikamaru smiled. "That's why I love this place. I love to come here at night. All my troubles just…go away…" he said.
"How did you know I was here?" Shikamaru asked.
"I really don't know. Maybe something told me you were here" Temari replied.
A couple of minutes passed, and there was only silence, the sounds of the night creatures, and the sound of the wind.
"Why did you really came here for?" Shikamaru asked out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" Temari asked, with a confused face.
"I know you didn't come 'just to check on me'" Shikamaru said. "Why did you really came?"
"I already told you…" Temari replied.
"I know there's more to that…"
"No there isn't…"
Shikamaru smirked at Temari. "Shikamaru, I consider you as my boy best friend, so I just wanted to check on you…" Temari said as a reply to that annoying, yet cute smirk.
Shikamaru sighed. "You don't want to tell me? Fine…I'll just poke your nose until you decide to tell me the truth"
Temari blushed a little. "What?" she asked.
"Poke, poke…" Shikamaru said, poking Temari's nose.
"Shikamaru!" Temari said, but couldn't help but smile at Shikamaru's action.
"Poke, poke, poke…"
"Shikamaru, stop that!"
"Poke, poke, poke, poke…"
Temari let out a frustrated sigh, and Shikamaru stopped poking her nose. "Okay, if you don't want to answer that, answer this: Why are you blushing?" Shikamaru asked.
"What?" Temari said, a little alarmed. "I am not blushing!" she said, and turned away.
"Damn it, Temari! Stop blushing!" she thought.
"Temari…" Temari turned around again, facing Shikamaru.
"What?"
"Why are you blushing?" he asked again.
"I…I don't know…" she replied. She looked up at the sky, and Shikamaru did the same.
"Hey, those stars look like they're forming the Leaf Village Symbol!" Temari said, pointing to where they were.
"Yeah. And those one look like the Sand Village Symbol!" Shikamaru replied.
"Yeah! But…why are they so close to each other?"
"…beats me…" Shikamaru replied.
Temari stood up. "I-I really should leave…the girls are probably wondering where I am". Shikamaru stood up too.
"Yeah, and the guys are probably wondering where I am, too. They can wait…" he replied. Suddenly, it started raining. "Oh, what a drag! It's raining!"
"Don't worry. I can cover us up with my fan" Temari said.
"No, it's alright. I like it when it rains" he replied.
"Wow. I had never felt or touched rain in my life" she said, extending her hand. "Actually, I had never even seen rain in my life"
"Really?" Shikamaru asked. Temari nodded. "It never rains on the Hidden Sand Village…"
"That explains it…" Shikamaru replied.
"So why did you really came here for?" Shikamaru asked again, smirking. Temari laughed. "You're not gonna stop, are you?" she said. "Nope" he replied.
"Well I am not going to tell you, even though there isn't another reason" Temari said.
"Oh, yeah?" Shikamaru said. "Then what if I do this?" He took Temari's right hand and intertwined it with his. Temari blushed again. "Shika…" she said.
"Still not telling me?" Shikamaru said, and put his other hand around Temari's waist.
"Nara!" Temari almost yelled. Shikamaru smirked, and looked up. Then, he got nervous. "Uuuuhhh…I gotta go…sorry" he said, and then left as quickly as possible. Temari was a little confused, until she looked up and saw the reason of Shikamaru leaving. There, on a branch of the tree, was a mistletoe. She blushed violently, and then left too.
A/N: Yay! Finally finished chapter 2! Now this story only has 1 chapter left. The final chapter is coming soon… (But not as soon as this one!) Review please!
