Disclaimer: I'll buy it one day! I'll buy it! Total donations so far: Three toothpicks, one Sasuke keychain, and a pen from WalMart! Woot!
Dedication: This one's for Knight-Of-Shadows! Thank you so much for the amazing review you sent my way!
Chapter Four: Simultaneous Discussions
"I can't believe that you have a boyfriend before I do," Tenten sighed as she walked along the borders of the city with Temari. "Plus it's so unfair that you're leaving for Suna tomorrow morning! We barely had any chance to talk!"
Temari nodded, raising her eyes to the clear sky as she replied, "I know, Tenten. These documents are high priority, though, so I can't stay here another day, even though I really want to. Plus Ryota's more than happy to keep reminding me that we have to leave. He doesn't really like being away from home."
They both halted close to a fence a few feet away from a few Academy students trying to learn how to throw kunai knives. Some children would struggle immensely while the others were already hitting the board in front of them. Iruka was trudging through those who had difficulties, gently whispering words of encouragement and advice.
Reverting back to her teasing self, Temari leaned against the old fence, resting her forearms onto the rough wood. "You know… I never exactly figured out why you and the Hyuuga don't go out. You spend more time with him than with anyone else combined!"
"Ugh!" Tenten groaned, shooting her arms in the air. "Why do you keep bringing this up? Do you have some sick fascination with Neji and I or something?"
Temari smirked as she explained, "No, not a fascination. It's just so flatly obvious that it's practically biting you both in the face."
"Just like you and Shikamaru?" Tenten countered, a victorious smile setting onto her face.
Temari whirled around, losing her smile instantly. "Excuse me? Did you just try to pair me with the lazy ass himself? What in the world made you think of that?"
Tenten only smiled knowingly as she stared at one particular little girl. She was trying to hold a shuriken and it kept falling from her hands. A little boy hurriedly went over and picked it up, showing her how to hold it in the process. But instead of thanking him, the girl snatched the weapon away and started screeching at him that she didn't need his help.
Now also leaning against the fence, the Konoha kunoichi only sighed and said, "Because before, when a guy would try to push your buttons, you'd shut him up with only a word or two. But when it comes to Shikamaru, you start yelling real sentences, you get all worked up, you don't care who is listening. You interact with him, you love the intellectual battle that you have raging on with him. It also doesn't hurt that he's a genius and can shoot back some witty answers. There's real passion there, no matter how hard you deny it."
Scoffing, Temari looked away. "Right, I'd so love a boyfriend with whom I'd fight all the time. Don't you see me with Ryota, Tenten? We never argue."
"You never ague outdoors," Tenten agreed, suddenly turning her innocent eyes towards her friend. Temari froze, keeping her eyes away from her friend, who thankfully continued, "But you barely speak to him, also."
Temari once again chose to not answer, suddenly finding Iruka's training very interesting. She saw, out of her peripheral vision, Tenten approaching and placing a hand on her arm.
"You know, to be honest with you Temari, I don't think Ryota's suitable. I don't think he loves you all that much. Are you sure he isn't with you for the political power that can be taken from being your boyfriend?" Tenten ventured uneasily.
"No," Temari murmured, looking back at Tenten tiredly. "That, I can assure you. This is not for the power."
This was just one of the afternoons where Shikamaru would voluntarily ditch his naptime. It was also the kind of moment where, wincing, he'd take out a wallet full of cash and would head out to the restaurant where his old team would meet once a week. He'd then dump all the money to the waitress, sit back, and watch his best friend chow down.
In between a couple of bites, Chouji looked up at Shikamaru and mumbled, "So, what did you want to see me for?"
It took Shikamaru a few seconds to answer. He was still unsure about everything that had happened the day before, the entire scene with Temari. Suddenly, he lunged into an explication of what had occurred, complete with the bruise, the late training, and the near kiss. A few times through the story, Chouji would actually stop eating to peer at Shikamaru, yet when the latter mentioned that Temari had pinned him against a tree, the food-lover almost choked on a piece of meat.
"You mean she has feelings for you?" Chouji stammered once he had made the food pass through with a glass of water. "Like, she almost kissed you?"
Shikamaru looked away, knowing that his best friend was only teasing him. It wasn't unusual for Chouji to tease him about the Sand kunoichi, having guessed about his best friend's infatuation a long time ago.
"I doubt it," the shadow user sighed. "It was almost as if she wanted to distract my attention…"
"And it worked, obviously!" Chouji grinned as the waitress brought them more food.
Shikamaru reached over and grabbed some vegetables, speaking in the process. "Not really. I still remember the bruise on her shoulder, Chouji. She's lying, I know it."
"Why don't you talk to her about it again? We both know that she's leaving tomorrow morning, so you can't really dawdle," he managed through a few bites.
"And tell her what?" Shikamaru groaned in slight anger. "That I know that she's being hurt by that stupid, arrogant, poor-excuse of a man and a—"
"Come on, Shikamaru," Chouji rolled his eyes lightly as he ate. "You can't be serious, right? As if Sabaku no Temari, the strongest and most headstrong woman on this planet, would fall victim to an abusive boyfriend."
"Maybe she really loves him," Shikamaru offered weakly, angry at his own brain for being unable to find a more rational excuse.
Chouji snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Well I think you're simply imagining all this drama. Or, there's the obvious solution."
Instantly, Shikamaru leaned forward, hoping his friend would agree with him. "Which is?"
Chouji stopped eating and also leaned forward seriously. "My guess is that you're overly jealous because the guy wooed Temari before you could. You have no concrete evidence Shikamaru, and you're a genius. A genius knows that without evidence, there's no criminal case." He then began to laugh and settled back.
"Tch," the lazy shinobi settled back in his chair and crossed his arms, shutting his eyes. "Troublesome Chouji. I'm not jealous."
Chouji smiled again as he resumed his eating. "Sure, Shika, sure."
A/N: Aww, an uber short, disgusting filler for you all! Don't you hate me? But to be honest, I had to write this chapter. (There was supposed to be two other discussions afterwards, one with Shikamaru and Temari and the other between Shikamaru and Tsunade. But these will be for the next chapter.) I think it ties in with the title very nicely, we can see how Shikamaru and Temari are both dabbling with denial.
On a lighter note, I'm now officially halfway on my Screnzy goal! (Well, CeltX tells me I am… hope Screnzy finds so as well…) Got 51 pages whipped up in 10 days. -Dies-. All hail the record. But be happy that I've updated, honestly. This is a little filler, just to remind you guys of this fic! XP Shortest thing I've ever posted, I think. I know it's not that good, nothing really happened, but it's –something-.
Got 41 reviews on three chapters… -Sniff- thank you all! You're amazing! I can't wait to continue with this story! As soon as I hit my 100 pages goal and it gets approved, I'm veering back here!
Enough with my ranting! I'm back to my great writer's block over my Screnzy…
Take care!
