Chapter 3- An intriguing person.

Temari entered the library and took off her coat. She wiped the water from her face, and silently cursed the rain. In the desert it was dry at least. Boiling hot, but dry. She welcomed the warmth inside the library.

The woman behind the counter looked at her curiously. Temari greeted her friendly.

"Good afternoon. Could I sit here to work?"

"Sure," the lady said. "You can sit over there." She pointed to some tables with comfortable-looking chairs, and Temari wondered why there was no one else. It seemed very pleasant here.

She sat down at one of the tables and took her notebook. She read through what she already had written, and looked up at the bookcases. It wouldn't be very hard to find what she needed, there was an entire department about the local traditions. She got up and started taking books off the shelves. When she had almost more books than she could carry, she went back to the table and opened the first one.

Shikamaru ran towards the entrance of the library. He hadn't really planned on going there, but it had started to rain heavily and the library was the closest public building around. Still, he didn't like to be in school when he didn't have to. But at least it would be quiet there.

He quickly closed the door and shook the water out of his eyes. The lady at the counter greeted him. He greeted back and looked around for a comfortable chair. There were a few nice seats in the back, but there already was someone sitting there. At first he sighed and wanted to look somewhere else, but then he recognized the new girl. He remembered calling her scary, but maybe she'd turn out to be okay. He walked towards her.

"Hey," he said. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure," she answered, and looked at her book again. She was taking notes, and Shikamaru was amazed to see someone actually study. No wonder she was a challenge for him.

He tried to see what kind of book she was reading, but it was laying flat on the table so he couldn't see the title. Then he'd have to ask her. Troublesome…

"What are you reading?"

She looked up, surprised. "Oh, something about the traditions of Konoha. I have to write an essay for my school in Suna."

"I see. How's it going?"

She shrugged. "Okay. But some things are a bit unclear. Hey, you seem to know a lot. Could you help me out with some things?"

He considered it. There was nothing else to do, it was raining outside and she seemed like an interesting person. Strange as it was, he wanted to know her better.

"Of course, ask whatever you want," he said. He walked around the table and sat next to her. "Eh, Temari was your name, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it is. And you're Shikamaru." It wasn't a question.

"Yep."

She smiled at him. "Well then, what is a Hokage exactly?"

He rested his chin on his hands. "Long ago, when the villages still consisted of ninjas, the Hokage was their leader. The strongest ninja of them all. But in fact, he was just sitting behind a desk all the time and giving orders."

She laughed. It was a pleasant sound. "Oh, in that way," she said. "We had Kazekages. They say my family descends from one."

"Cool. My family is pretty old too, but nothing special."

"Too bad. But it's not really important, isn't it?"

He shook his head. "Nah."

She pointed at something in the book. "Could you explain me that Will of Fire thing?"

"Sure. Well then, the Will of Fire…"

--

She was good company, though Shikamaru still thought she was scary. But he observed her closely and discovered many other things. She played with the purple beads on her hair ties when she was talking. She didn't smile much, but when she did it was genuine. She bit her nails. There was a trinket hanging from her cell phone, shaped like a small fan. She was almost as smart as he was.

He was fascinated.

After a while, Temari absently checked the time. She gasped. "Shit!"

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"I said to Sakura I would be back at five, but it's a quarter to six already!"

"So what? I'm late all the time."

"But I'm not you. And she said Ino was coming too, now I'll make a bad impression!"

"Ino?" He laughed. "I know her. You don't have to worry about her."

Temari calmed down a bit, and sighed.

"Okay then. But I'm still going back now. Too bad, I liked talking to you." She took the books and replaced them on the shelves.

"Do you have enough for your essay now?" Shikamaru asked.

"Eh, I don't think so. I'll come back tomorrow."

He scratched his head. "Should I come to? I mean, just to help you, of course…"

"Oh yeah, sure! That'd be great!" She smiled at him. "See ya tomorrow!"

She took her coat and left the room. When the door was closed again, Shikamaru blinked.

"What a woman…"

Temari ran towards Sakura's house, her coat flapping behind her. The rain had stopped and the sun shone through the clouds, making the pools on the street sparkle like crystal. The water splashed up when her feet came down to the ground, soaking her shoes.

When she finally put her hand on the doorknob, she took a few deep breaths. As soon as her heart had a normal rhythm again, she opened the door.

Ino's coat was already hanging from the hat rack. She hung hers next to it, and stepped out of her shoes. Then she went into the living room.

"Hey, Temari!" Sakura and Ino were sitting on the couch, holding teacups. Sakura waved.

"Hi, Sakura. Sorry I'm late!" Temari said.

"Oh, never mind," Sakura smiled. "You were lucky it's not raining anymore. Do you want some tea too?"

"Sure, I'd love to."

Temari sat down on a chair next to the couch and greeted Ino.

"Hi," the blonde girl said. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, I was in the library and I met a boy from our class there. He told me a lot I could use for my essay, and we had a nice talk."

Ino seemed curious. "A boy? Who, Sasuke?"

"No, Shikamaru."

She laughed. "What's so funny?" Temari asked.

"Nothing! I just can't imagine having an actual conversation with Shikamaru. That guy is too lazy to even open his mouth!"

"Well, he was very friendly to me." Temari shrugged and Ino tilted her head. She eyed the foreign girl inquisitive. But before she could say anything, Sakura came back into the room. She handed Temari a cup of tea and sat down on the couch again.

"So, Ino. What was all that fuss about that Sai?"

"Well, I met him yesterday in town. At first he was quite annoying, but then I noticed those dark eyes and…"

Temari wanted to slap her forehead. She gave up talking with Shikamaru for this?

At least he knew some interesting subjects, and he was smart. It was strange to see how he could be lazy and brilliant at the same time, she still hadn't figured out how he did that. But she had noticed many other things about him. He arched his eyebrows in a very funny way, and when something was bothering him, he would roll his eyes and say "troublesome," which seemed to be his favorite word. He complained often, but he didn't whine. He stared at the sky a lot.

She took another sip from her tea. Although she didn't want to admit it, that guy fascinated her.

--

The next day, it was mister Sarutobi who announced a test. They had to study two chapters, long ones. Everyone sighed, and Naruto complained loudly.

"We just had a test for English! We can't have another one so soon!"

Kiba yelled back at him: "In case you didn't notice, the teachers don't care!"

Hinata, the shy one, timidly said: "Please, Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun, don't yell. Tests have to be made, and we can only do our bests…"

Kiba sighed, quickly changing his mood. "You're right. I better start studying a bit earlier now, last time I screwed up…" Naruto, who also had a low mark at English, slammed his fist on the table.

"Okay! I'm gonna work hard for it! I'll proof I'm not stupid!"

Hinata smiled admiringly, but Sasuke laughed sarcastic.

"That's going to be difficult for you then, idiot."

Temari turned to Shikamaru, who was sitting two rows behind her.

"Last time we were both unprepared. Wanna see how it is when we do prepare?"

He was resting his head on the table, but opened his eyes a little wider at the sound of her voice.

"Uh? Yeah, sure…" He wanted to doze off again, but suddenly snapped up his head.

"Hey, Temari?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you gonna work in the library again today?" He did his best not to sound suspicious, but Chouji stopped eating his crisps and looked at him.

Temari nodded. "Yes. Will you help me again?"

"Sure. I'll see you there after school, okay?"

"I'll be there."

Shikamaru rested his head on his arms again, and continued to stare out of the window. After yesterday's rain the weather had changed, it was sunny now. The only clouds in the sky were little plugs of cottonwool, which were very sleep-inducing.

Chouji started eating his crisps again. He looked at Shikamaru, who was already snoozing again, and then at Temari, who was diligently taking notes. Shikamaru, laziest student of the class, was offering to help her, while she seemed to be the perfect student? Why would he assume she needed that? Chouji took another bite. He would find out eventually.