Okay, here's chapter three, a day late. Sue me.
Chap. III: The Results
"Until Sunday I'll be waiting for an answer
I guess that yesturday's not good enough for you."
"You're way too deep to swim
Back up again
But somehow I can't find
The moment you said goodbye."
– Excerpts from I Hate This Song by Secondhand Serenade
She sat down at the kitchen table, rubbing her eyes tiredly. When Kankuro continued to watch her, Temari pulled out the pencil and paper from her notepad and read it reluctantly.
1. Is he on time?
Yes, thought Temari sardonically, he was definitely on time.
She wrote a tiny Pass next to the number one.
2. Is he dressed nicely?
Temari closed her eyes and envisioned Shikamaru's outfit. She could see the clean collared shirt as it rested idly on his shoulders. She copied the previous answer next to the number two.
3. Does he act like a gentleman?
She thought back. He hadn't held out the door for her, and he hadn't pulled out her chair for her to sit in. He also wasn't very polite the entire date.
This time she wrote the word Fail.
4. Does he seem interested in me?
5. Does he make entertaining conversation?
These two also earned a Fail. He had barely talked to her the whole night, and when he had, it hadn't been anything like she had hoped for.
6. Is he the jealous type?
When the man with the menus had started showing a bit of interest in Temari, Shikamaru hadn't looked up once. He hadn't noticed, and if had, he didn't care. Temari took this to mean that he wasn't the jealous type.
Confused, Temari stopped. Was that a pass or fail?
She decided that her perfect man would show a little jealousy and be afraid to lose her, but not so overly jealous that he socked the other man in the face. Since Shikamaru fit into neither of these categories, she decided on failure.
7. Is he scared of commitment?
Temari had once read something somewhere that if a man responded with negativity towards another couple's commitment level, then he was secretly insecure about commitment himself. Given the way he responded to the couple's actions in the restaurant, Temari settled on another Fail.
8. Is he trustworthy?
Bitterly, Temari remembered the waitress. Shikamaru hadn't blinked an eye at her, though she was definitely pretty—did that mean he was trustworthy?
Not necessarily, Temari thought. But Shikamaru had never stopped to gawk at passing girls before. And Temari had so far trusted him with her few visits to Konoha.
And Pass was written.
9. Does he offer to pay the bill?
Temari smiled at this. He hadn't even thought about paying the bill before hand. And he was supposed to be intelligent!
Fail.
10. Will he walk me home?
She stopped again. He had walked her home. She thought for sure he'd fail this one. But she couldn't say she wasn't slightly flattered by this. He hadn't complained once on the way either, which was nice. And at the last moment, when he had watched her so intently—it was the only part of the night she had felt a connection.
Slowly, thoughtfully, she wrote the small word next to number ten: Pass.
"Well?" Kankuro asked impatiently, waking her from her thoughts. "What happened?"
"Kankuro," Temari responded slowly, looking up and away from the test designed to ruin her date. "Kankuro, he failed. Shikamaru failed."
Shikamaru opened the door to his own house slowly and slipped inside. There was dim moonlight casting through the window, tinting everything in the hallway with a deep, blue-ish color.
He leaned against the door and breathed out. Tonight had certainly not gone as planned.
Beforehand, he did have some theory that Temari wasn't going to make this easy on him. Of course she would set up a test for him to pass. Of course. That was simply the kind of challenging, troublesome person she was.
Shikamaru hung his coat on the hook by the door and removed his shoes, setting them beside his mother's dainty ones and his father's larger ones. He stuffed his hands in his pockets—one closed around his empty wallet—and took off down the hall.
It was only about nine. Shikamaru figured his mother and father had gone to sleep early on purpose, and he didn't mind. It was better than being bombarded with questions upon reentering the house. He was silently grateful.
As he opened his room and stepped inside, Shikamaru noticed that the moonlight was fluttering through his own window as well, making carved strands of light on his carpet. He went to the window and opened the blinds completely so that the entire room was flooded with the beautiful light.
It had only been fifteen minutes ago that Shikamaru had been standing outside Temari's house dropping her off. Ino had mentioned something about the proper way of dropping a girl off from the first date… was he supposed to kiss her at the end of the night? Was that what Ino had said? He couldn't remember.
Shikamaru sat on his bed, looking around at his very plain living quarters. There wasn't much to his room, save for a dresser, a desk, his bed, and some pictures in frames lying about. Clothes littered the floor and ninja gear was splashed across the desk, but it was home.
What will happen, Shikamaru wondered, peering out his window impassively and taking a glimpse of the stars, if I failed Temari's test?
He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Not bothering to change into nightclothes, Shikamaru lay down on his bed and rolled over to face the opposite wall. It, like everything else in his room was tinted a deep blue.
How will I react when she tells me I lost?
The next morning was as bright as it ever had been. The sun alone awoke him, leaving him blind and awake only unwillingly.
Slowly, gently, Shikamaru rolled out of bed, got dressed, and tumbled down the stairs for breakfast.
When he entered the kitchen, he was not surprised to see his mother cooking. She always cooked, and, whatever it was, she was determined he ate it. He always did. She was such a bother when she was angry, which was very often.
Shikamaru slumped into a seat at the kitchen table, drumming his fingers on the smooth wood as soon as they touched it.
His mother threw him a dangerous look. "Don't get impatient," she snapped.
That was his mother, welcoming as always. But he stopped drumming his fingers.
Yoshino flipped the frying pan, which he could now see held pancakes. Her dark hair was tied up in a knot atop her head, and she looked like she'd been awake for a while now. Of course, she always was the first one up in the house anyways.
"Morning, Mom," he mentioned.
Yoshino smiled at his politeness, and asked, "How did your big night go last night, honey? With that girl from Suna?"
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, laying his head down gently on the table. When his mother eyed him precariously again, he added, "I mean, it was awkward. And uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me."
Even though she said she had a good time, Shikamaru thought wryly, it was really quite easy to tell when Temari was lying.
"Oh, but Ino said it was the girl that wanted you to go with her in the first place," Yoshino said curiously, flipping another pancake and laying it gingerly on the plate beside her. "She doesn't even like you and she demands a date of you? How rude." Yoshino shook her head sensibly.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He was suddenly feeling rather defensive of Temari, though he was unsure why his mother's comment had triggered it—for, with all due respect to the Sand Ninja, Temari was indeed rude, to a certain extent.
Or perhaps she was pushy. Or controlling. Demanding?
Deciding troublesome was the proper word for the woman, Shikamaru lifted his head and his mother set down a full plate of pancakes and syrup. Lazily, Shikamaru picked up his utensils and began to eat.
Yoshino sat opposite him, folding her hands benignly in her lap.
"Are you going to see her again today?" she asked.
Shikamaru took a heavy swallow, and said, "I have to. I was assigned her guide while she's in Konoha."
"Right, right," Yoshino replied distractedly, and then suddenly she was sharp again when she said, "Don't you dare be rude, young man, I don't care how many times she stands you up I do not want you showing bad behavior around another country's—"
"Yes, Mom," said Shikamaru dully as he arose and stooped towards the sink to rinse his plate. Behind him, his mother was still declaring her dislike for Shikamaru's poor conduct around people who mattered. He decided it was not a good idea to point out that he acted the same around absolutely everybody, and instead left the room and headed out the door.
Konoha was just waking up at this time in the morning. Shikamaru never willingly got out of bed unless he had to, and today, he had to. Temari was waiting, he thought grimly, though that prospect didn't sound exactly euphoric.
He made his way through the streets, past people setting up carts outside to sell things, past people leaving their houses to get to work, past businesses opening and children playing, until he made it to Temari's tiny house.
He was about to knock on the door when he heard a small voice coming from around the corner… and it sounded as though it was crinkled with static.
"She didn't! Kchtt!"
"I'm afraid," said another voice gravely, "She did."
Curiosity grabbing him by the collar, Shikamaru peeked around the wall. Fully clothed and with his back to Shikamaru, Kankuro stood there holding a tiny, black device that seemed to be a walkie-talkie. Withdrawing himself from the corner and out of sight, Shikamaru pressed himself against the wall and listened carefully.
"Oh, my GOD! KCHTT!" someone shrieked through the walkie-talkie. Shikamaru suddenly realized who it was, and wondered why on earth Ino would be talking (secretly, he assumed) to Kankuro by means of a second-rate communication toy. He barely had time to ponder before Ino gave another yell:
"AND WHY," she thundered through the static, "DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFORE HAND?"
"Shhh," snapped Kankuro, "Temari will hear you. And speaking of which, Temari would have noticed something was funny if I suddenly pulled out a walkie-talkie and was all, 'excuse me I have to now inform Ino of your decision to ruin the date'—"
"You could have done something while she was sleeping!" hissed Ino. "Kchtt!" she added angrily.
"Shut up," Kankuro replied crossly. "This was your idea in the first place, you can't expect me to take all the blame—that test was really hard anyways—"
"Oh no," Shikamaru heard Ino moan feebly, "all our efforts will be for nothing, then!"
Shikamaru blinked. Ino's idea? Their efforts?
What had they been planning?
"Yeah, well, he's lazy good-for-nothing anyways," retorted Kankuro, "You know he failed, right?"
Shikamaru didn't hear Ino's response. Oddly enough, the comment, "you know he failed, right?" bothered Shikamaru much more than hearing how useless he was.
It never bugged him, to fail at something. In fact, he failed at most things he attempted—this was mostly because he hadn't the focus to see anything through. But, if he had wanted to succeed—he would be able to, right? He always went into things with that kind of confidence. If only he wanted to try, he certainly could come out on top.
But women? And much less, this woman? Was he to assume that he had failed to court her, but he could have if he had simply wanted to?
And failing… would that mean he lost to her? Shikamaru let out a small "tch" of disapproval at the thought. Losing was one thing, but losing to a girl was entirely different.
Ino gasped at this exact moment. "Oh, my God," she whispered, so shocked she even forgot to keep up the enthusiastic stream of "kchtt's" she was supporting. "Oh, my God! Shikamaru—he's going to be so crushed."
Kankuro's voice sounded distant, somehow, to Shikamaru. "I thought he didn't like her anyways?" he asked, confused. "That's what you said. But obviously," he added, probably accompanying it with a roll of the eyes, "we had to try and set them up. What if they're not even compatible? Maybe Temari's right."
What if she is wrong? thought Shikamaru.
"Whatever," Ino mumbled miserably. The static crackled sleepily. "Just have Temari get on with dumping him. I saw him leave his house about twenty minutes ago. He should be reaching your place about now."
"Shit," Kankuro cursed, "Right, I should get back inside."
Shikamaru heard a click, and knew that the walkie-talkie had been turned off. A door slammed—ensuring that Kankuro had safely returned into the house through the conveniently located back door.
Leaning against the wall, Shikamaru mulled over everything he had just heard. Ino and Kankuro had been setting them up? Well, that seemed like the typical Ino thing to do. Shikamaru didn't have the patience to wonder what had suddenly possessed Kankuro to take charge in his sister's love life.
More importantly: What was he going to do about the situation?
He waited for several, long minutes before he finally had his decision. He put on a straight face and knocked four times on the door.
It swung open. The woman standing there met his gaze.
"Morning," he muttered.
She didn't look any different then he'd ever seen her—same clothes, same hairstyle, same headband, same Temari—but, knowing what she was about to say to him, she seemed different. Everything seemed different, as though the world had promptly begun turning the opposite direction.
And then, unexpectedly, the hundreds of thoughts that raced around his mind were narrowed swiftly down to just one.
She was going to dump him.
"Hi, Nara," she smiled. She smiled. Was that pity in her eyes? Shikamaru felt sick thinking about how sorry she must feel for him. He didn't feel sorry for himself, so why should she feel sorry for him?
She was going to dump him.
"Should we get going? Tsunade wishes to discuss with you what you will be doing during your stay," grunted Shikamaru, his mind far beyond the scope of the Hokage and her needs.
"Yes, but, I've got to talk to you for one second—"
She was going to dump him.
Temari shut the door gently behind her as she stepped out. Shikamaru barely realized they were standing too close, and stepped back just in time to avoid her walking right into him.
Then, to his horror, she took a deep breath and began.
She was going to dump him.
"Thanks a lot for last night, Nara. It was really fun and I had a great time"—she had a miserable time, Shikamaru thought privately—"but…" she sighed. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. He hadn't ever seen Temari with so much sympathy before. "You and I are too different. I honestly think it's better if we just stay friends because I don't think we—"
Shikamaru held up a hand to stop her. She looked puzzled, but she fell silent under his gaze.
"Before you dump me," he said slowly, "Tell me: How many times have you recited the same speech you're about to give me to other men you have dated?"
Temari looked taken aback for a brief moment before she gave a quick laugh.
"A lot, actually," she said, hitting him on the arm playfully. "You're funny sometimes, Nara."
"Call me Shikamaru," he requested, "since we're dating and all."
All laughter subsided; Temari peered up at him through those deft, green-blue eyes of hers.
"I thought we established we weren't doing that anymore."
Shikamaru kept his cool. "I never said anything like that."
Temari gasped, as if to say, how dare you? Shikamaru took notice that she might be furious at him for denying her the right to deny him.
Shrugging, he hitched his thumbs in his pockets.
"We should go," he said pleasantly, "Tsunade is expecting you."
Alas! I am done. Yikes, I've only written up to chapter six so far. I need to get cracking if I'm going to continue updating on time. I've been writing pointless oneshots lately (though my latest Sai/Ino earned some appreciated reviews :D) and haven't had any time for this story ! I'm sorry guys.
Anyways, Leave me love. & lots of it (: