Indefinite Relations

by InkMaster27

Shikamaru may be the laziest at his high school, and does everything he can to skirt trouble; but somehow, trouble still finds him. Whose very name is Temari, the one and only person he can't seem to settle his sentiments towards. Is she just some annoying girl or a friend worth holding onto? Exploring the depths of their friendship, he will eventually find his answer.

6. Regrettable Choices

Hi guys! Sorry for being so late on updating, I had this huge project to complete and I must say, it was challenging. It also had me go through so many challenges and crappy checkpoints which sort of sparked the fuse on what I plan to have Shikamaru and Temari go through during a certain festival program - enjoy and I hope it's worth waiting for! I'll try to get chapter seven out as fast as I can; thank you for being patient and enjoy!

RECAP:

Temari had always thought Shikamaru was a lazy bum with a cold shoulder; but he has recently shown a warm side to his seemingly lazy and bitter edge and has appealed to Temari to some degrees. However she still believes he's a notorious lazy ass with stupid logic; a guy she'll never fall in love with! However there is still the mysterious photo-taker on the loose and Ino seems to be bent on winning her side of the bet she had made prior to all of this about Temari and Shikamaru - swearing that the two would hook up before the end of the year. However on Temari's agenda, she didn't intend to sweep it out to start booking it up with dates with the Nara jerk ...

Shikamaru has always seen Temari as a troublesome, irritable, and loud speaking b*tch. However he's seen her soft side; scared, thoughtful, and oftentimes honest. However those were rare moments, but he lately, he couldn't stop thinking about her. What if these feelings MEAN something? Shikamaru is scared to find out, but when the chance arises, will he be willing to find out? He struggles to understand his own feelings and deal with the troublesome girl that has now become the center of his thoughts ...

---

Chapter 6: Regrettable Choices

"Why are there so many god damn people?!"

Temari hissed to herself as she glared through the crack in the door to the thick crowd that clouded behind their café. No doubt that half of the people were here to indulge themselves in the chance to take glorious pictures of Temari and the others; she wasn't surprised to find them mostly consisted of junior girls – any girl obsessing over one of the hottest boys in school would no doubt miss this opportunity to take a photo.

Temari stepped back and slid the door closed again, glaring at the clock as it seemed to tick down the seconds like a time bomb; why was it so fast?! Temari tugged at the hem of her dress, feeling exposed as her legs were revealed from the mid-thigh down, why was this necessary, she had no freaking idea. But one of these days, she'll round up all the seniors who made this and punch them in the faces – hard.

Temari was tempted to tear the bunny ears on her head to shreds as she heard a soft chuckle behind her. She glared over her shoulder at Shikamaru who lazily sprawled himself across three chairs, grinning to the ceiling as he snickered at Temari's previous comment, "Oh Temari, you're so funny sometimes."

Temari continued to glare at Shikamaru; his bunny ears bent over his face irritatingly.

"In what way?"

"Everything."

"You just shut up and sleep Nara; then we'll see who's funny when you roll over and fall on the floor."

"Ha-ha, so tempting."

Ino shouted from across the room to Temari, "Oi! Temari! Shikamaru! Don't get started, it's annoying when you two bicker like a frustrated married couple-"

"Clam it Ino!"

Ino rolled her eyes as she dropped her attention back at her phone, shaking her head as she played a game app on her touch screen with Kiba at her side probably playing the same game. Choji was discussing the last minute details with the senior cooks as Lee manned the cashier. Neji was fussing over Tenten's cat ears as Naruto and Hinata were playing an interesting game of thumb war; Hinata seemed to be winning every single time. Of course, Sasuke was running around the room trying to escape Sakura who chased after him with a teasing giggle; when would that girl ever realize that he has no freaking interest in her? Temari crossed her arms and sighed as she leaned up against the wall, closing her eyes briefly to soak in the moment; beyond this door, she was going to face public humiliation. The things she had to do for a grade … a measly, pathetic, project. She doubted it was worthy of being called a project; more like a death sentence.

Temari opened her eyes before looking up at the clock, cursing as she shouted to the rest, "Guys! It's almost time to open!"

Frantic scrambling broke loose as everyone jumped to do their jobs; Naruto and Hinata broke their hands apart as they ran to tell the seniors. Neji finally dropped his hands from Tenten's hair before working quickly with her to make sure everything was in order; pushing in chairs, smoothing down table cloths. Kiba and Ino tucked away their phones before warning Lee with the news as Temari swiftly pulled out a stand up chalk board; which served as their menu by the door. Shikamaru lazily got up from the chairs and sighed, "I never have time for myself."
"Shut up Nara and get in position!"

"Chill it Temari! I'm coming, I'm coming."

Shikamaru pushed in the chairs and walked over to stand beside Temari as the rest lined up next to them, ready to properly address their customers as Kiba and Ino took their positions by the door, ready to slide them open. Temari watched the clock tick down … ten … nine. .. eight …

Neji messed with Tenten's cat ears again as Naruto grabbed Hinata's trembling hand reassuringly, giving her a soft smile and an inaudible whisper in the ear; which miraculously stopped the trembling in her hands.

Seven … six … five … four …

Sasuke was tempted to scratch Sakura's hands off his arm as Kiba and Ino stood by the door apprehensively.

Three … two … one …

Ino and Kiba slid the doors wide open and Temari started the chorus with the others shouting loudly over the crowd's cry of surprise, "WELCOME TO SWEET TALK CAFÉ! ENJOY YOUR TIME HERE, PLEASE ENTER IN A CALM, ORDERLY FASHION-"

Shikamaru suddenly grabbed Temari's arm, pulling her back as the others moved backwards with them, "Sh*t! Make a run for it!"

The junior girls lost their minds; they screamed as they stampeded inside the café, phones whipped out and others holding out their digital cameras high over their heads. The others moved towards tables to claim seats and wait to be served as Temari and the others tried to calm the junior girls. Temari shouted loudly, "Please! Take a seat, we will serve you shortly; please, don't climb on tables, please, don't touch that!"

Sasuke was swarmed by girls and was clawing past them for air and sanctuary. Naruto cornered himself and Hinata in the far corner in order to protect her and not really himself, as the girls clawed at Naruto screaming for a pose of some sort. Kiba was trying to calm the girls down as they demanded a photo be taken by each and every one of them, and of course … Shikamaru was up on the tables jumping around shouting curses at the junior girls as he tried to dance away from their grabbing fingers.

Temari looked up to the ceiling sighing.

"By the love of God …"

"ENOUGH!"

The junior girls stopped taking photos and turned to the familiar bellowing voice; principal Tsunade had entered. The angry woman shouted red faced at the girls grabbing the boys screaming on the top of her lungs, "IF YOU'RE NOT HERE TO BUY SOMETHING, GET YOUR REARENDS OUT OF THIS CLASSROOM – ON THE DOUBLE, NOW, NOW, NOW!"

The junior girls whined in protest as they were marched outside; few were able to grab a few seats giggling to one another as they shared their catch of photos. Principal Tsunade turned to Jiraiya (who was standing by amused by the girls) with a sour expression, "First of Jiraiya, you're doing a h*ll of a job keeping things in order."

"Hey, it was funny!"

Temari shook her head as Jiraiya went into a long discussion with the principal on how all of this was 'acceptable' and someone elbowed Temari as she redirected her attention at whoever it was.

Shikamaru eyed her strangely as he jerked his head towards the tables around them, "Excuse me but waitress? We've got work to do."

Temari flustered as she fished the notepad out of her apron pocket before muttering, "Geez! I know, just give me a second alright?"

Temari and Shikamaru began to weave their way through the crowds at the tables asking for orders and serving drinks. Shikamaru was always sure to stay close for whatever reason that Temari wasn't sure of. He would occasionally suddenly shift in front of her from certain boys which tempted Temari to ask him about it; but he didn't look at her as he dealt with another customer's order.

Temari's wrists grew sore from carrying trays and her fingers now cramped trying to write all the orders down quickly as she her legs ached from running back and forth from the tables to the kitchen just to transport the order and deliver available orders to the customers quickly. Temari knew she wasn't the only one though; Sasuke was tugging at the collar of his waiter uniform as Sakura gasped to keep up with the flow of orders. Neji fought to help Tenten as he dealt with the barrage of customer complaints as Naruto patiently (surprisingly) helped Hinata with the orders she was taking from certain customers. Kiba and Ino seemed to do fine; quick on their feet and fast speaking and writing with blinding speed, they were able to work efficiently with dead accuracy – some of the qualities Temari would die for right now. Shikamaru wasn't doing very well; not to mention most of the customer complaints were coming because of HIM.

Temari listened to a customer protest in anger as Shikamaru asked for her order, "What do you mean I can't have any lemonade?"

"Because, like I told you, WE'RE OUT AT THE MOMENT. Unless you want to wait ten more minutes for the next batch to come around, you're currently out of luck."

The girl frowned at Shikamaru, stubbornly snapping back, "But I want LEMONADE!"

Shikamaru's expression turned sour as he mentally thought to himself, "Oh my God … this freaking b*tch just won't stop will she?!"

Shikamaru slipped the notepad back in his pockets as he leaned across the table to glare at her angrily, the girl's friends giggling as they admired his smooth back as he leaned across them, "Look, when I'm telling you to either pick something else or wait for the next ten minutes for your f*cking lemonade, I mean for you to stop-"

"-Here you go miss. Your lemonade."

The girl looked up in mild surprise as Temari swooped in to place a glass of lemonade before her, whipping out the rest of their orders as she stood up and apologized for Shikamaru.

"Forgive him; he's a bit on the sour side today."

Shikamaru gave Temari an incredulous expression before exclaiming, "What? I feel fine thank you, this b*tch here is just being such a-"

Temari grabbed Shikamaru's ear in her left hand, twisting it painfully while forcing a smile on her face, forcing him to bow with her in apology at the customers who watched Shikamaru fluster in both anger and pain with giggles. Temari dragged Shikamaru off to the side as he broke free from her pinching fingers.

"God Temari! Don't f*cking do that to my ear! I don't need to get it pierced TWICE thank you!"
Temari tucked a tray under one arm as the other sat planted on her hip accusingly as she scolded Shikamaru, "You sir, need to shape up. You want us to get a good grade? Then for the love of God, STOP pissing off the customers! We're being graded on service too you know!"

Shikamaru snorted, "Yeah, I know, I'm not stupid Temari. But that girl was just being a total b*tch-"

"SHIKAMARU NARA!"
"I'm just stating the facts!"
"Pull yourself together and suck it up! Deal with them, all of them! We need to do this right so we can get this all over with, so stop making such a scene and think for once!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath as Temari stood tempted to slap the boy. Why was he being so irritatingly impossible today?! Today of all days! Ino rushed past the two and barked angrily, "Oi! Lovebirds! Stop bickering and start taking orders! No time for you two to be loitering around!"
Temari angrily shouted back, "Again, we're NOT dating!"
"Forget it Temari; let's just get back to work."

Temari watched Shikamaru grumpily slip off to take another customer's order as she shook her head. She muttered to herself as she walked about taking orders and avoiding sprawled legs from tables.

As the minutes turned into hours, more and MORE people flooded in; pictures were constantly being taken by the bright flashes that flared up from tables and irritated customers kept waving in the air asking for service. With the wild and almost unbearable conditions, Temari and the others sped up; wiping tables clear, retrieving dishes, taking orders, serving; it was a blur to Temari and a constant, repetitive course of action; ask, get order, serve, clean tables, take back dishes, ask, get order, serve, clean tables …

Temari stacked the dishes on her tray and turned and rushed towards the kitchen, running into Kiba who was walking in the opposite direction straight at her with his tray piled with a new order. His eyes went wide as Temari noticed him approaching and attempted to stop before she collided into him.

"Sh*t! The dishes!"

The trays collided in a loud bang, the dishes flipped over and breaking into a million shards on the ground. The drinks spilled on the ground and Temari felt herself slip and fall down towards the glass.

"Crap…"

---

Shikamaru knew she was growing steadily tired. He could see it on her face; with every tray she lifted and served, her smile grew more forced than ever. It was tiring enough already for her to act with courtesy when serving, but now it was getting wild with the people piling in and demanding service. Of course there was more pressure for everyone now that Jiraiya's seniors had came in to watch their performance to grade them for participation and efficiency. Shikamaru did his best not to smack every girl he served with his tray as they made annoying comment about him or asked for a picture. He forced himself to keep calm and mannerly turn them all down asking simply for their orders.

He was serving another table when he briefly looked up to check on Temari; she was wiping down a table as fast as she could as a few customers called out to her for refills. She nodded to them all, a bit overwhelmed as she quickly pushed the dirty dishes on her tray and turned and started speed walking for the kitchen. Shikamaru already knew what would happen the moment he realized that Kiba stood in her way trying to squeeze past tables with a tray cluttered with drinks.

"And can I have a- hey! Hey you, where are you going-?!"
Shikamaru threw down the notepad and ran towards Temari, a few shocked customers watching him as he ran towards Temari and Kiba who collided loudly with glass showering down on the two. Temari slipped on the drinks and screamed in surprise as she fell towards the ground – where the glass was.

Shikamaru came just in time; grabbing Temari he covered her with his arms as he shielded her from the glass as they fell to the ground together. The glass didn't affect Shikamaru much, since he wasn't wearing anything as exposing as Temari, he was pretty much protected by the long sleeved clothes he wore. But nevertheless, the glass bit into his skin wherever it reached; his face and hands. He winced as he laid there with Temari – unharmed – in his arms with the customers exclaiming in surprise.

"Holy sh*t!"
"Are you two alright?!"

"Where's the nurse?!"

"Someone, go find the nurse!"

"Get a broom, clean up the glass!"

Kiba flustered as he apologized to Shikamaru and Temari, "Oh my God, I'm soooo sorry, sh*t, I'm sorry!"

Ino came storming over and whacked Kiba on the head with her tray, barking at him as she exclaimed, "Yeah, you better h*ll as sh*t be sorry! Now you better go get the f*cking broom or I'll beat you to death until you can't stand!"

Kiba whined as he was herded to the back to get a broom by an angry Ino as the others watched with concern. Naruto covered Hinata's eyes as Sasuke curiously observed the two on the ground with a very stunned Sakura next to him. Temari looked at Shikamaru with wide eyes from where she lied next to him and asked softly, "S-Shikamaru … oh God, are you alright?!"

Shikamaru grunted, unsure of how to react as he gingerly touched the cuts on his face.
"Hmm … I wonder, am I?
Temari's face evolved into an angry expression.
"God, Shikamaru! Don't do something stupid like this! Why do you have to do things you're not obligated to do you big idiot-"

She was beginning to get up in anger and Shikamaru grabbed her again, forcing her to fall back into his arms as she fell there stunned. He growled in her ear, "Idiot … you wanna get glass on yourself? Take a look around – glass everywhere."

Temari eyed the ground next to them and saw the ground peppered with glass shards. If she had gotten up, more than likely she'd fall on the glass and Shikamaru's efforts would've been in vain.

"Oh …"
"Yeah, who's the idiot now?"

"Shut up Nara!"

"Not to mention I've haven't heard a thank you from you yet. I just got myself injured for your fat ass you ungrateful b*tch. Of course, all I'd get out of you is a command to shut up."

Shikamaru didn't mean to make his words sound sour; but he was a bit angry that she was acting this way. Why did he have to come over and put himself in this position? He didn't know; maybe he felt obligated to, but whatever the reason was, he did it and she wasn't thanking him.

"Hey, I didn't mean to, I, Shikamaru I'm-"

"Forget it."

Temari eyed Shikamaru as he looked away from her, clearly angry at her as she fell silent. What did she do wrong?! Sure she didn't say thank you yet, but why was he so sour about it? Boys like Shikamaru, she'd never understand.

Sasuke and Sakura aided Shikamaru and Temari to their feet as Ino observed Kiba when sweeping up the glass around them, constantly whining as Ino harshly pointed out his poor sweeping abilities. Sakura swiped glass from Temari's dress as she fretted over her, "My God Temari! When you were about to hit the glass, I thought you were done for! But then Shikamaru came just in time to save you; did you say thank you to him yet?"

Sakura looked between the two; the sour expression on both of their faces as Temari awkwardly spat, "Thank you Nara …"

Shikamaru snorted, turning away from Temari as Sasuke eyed him strangely.

"Whatever. Just take better care of yourself, there's no way I wanna do this sh*t again for someone as ungrateful as you."

"Hey-"

Suddenly the nurse came running in and the students running along stride with her shouted to her as they pointed at Shikamaru and Temari.

The nurse confirmed that Temari was fine and ordered the area to be thoroughly swept and cleaned of glass before marching Shikamaru off to her office. Temari glanced at where the seniors stood who eyed her with something she couldn't identify as they flipped through their papers in a clipboard and marked a certain sheet who she suspiciously felt was hers. Temari now felt terrible; first she pissed off Shikamaru by not being grateful when she was, and now the seniors was probably counting off points on her grade just because she wasn't showing gratitude – why did everything go downhill when she didn't bother saying a simple 'thank you'?! Why didn't she?

The others urged Temari to get back to work, forcing her to help the others for the lost time they had wasted when cleaning up and sending off Shikamaru to the nurse.

---

"Ouch!"

"Tut-tut, what did I tell you? I told you it would hurt."
The nurse chuckled as she shook her head, the tweezers in her hand releasing the glass shard she had plucked from Shikamaru's hand, adding it to the pile of glass shards in a plastic container to dispose of later. Shikamaru sighed as he relaxed his hand again, letting the nurse search for other shards working quickly to remove all the glass.

"Though I must say; once the students came running into my office, I've never seen so many girls distressed."

The nurse smiled at Shikamaru.

"You're quite liked among the girls."

Shikamaru sighed, "They really have no reason to, I'm just a lazy unattractive bum anyway."

"Nonsense! From what I've heard, you're the smartest and most understanding young man among all the other juniors here."

Shikamaru kept silent as the nurse began disinfecting his cuts.

"Though I must say … you came a long way from being completely washed out and being notoriously mischievous, to being a well liked genius."

The nurse joked around again as she added, "I'm surprised you haven't dated any girls yet."

"Please, girls are just a waste of time."
"I'd like to disagree."
"And why would you say that?"

"Don't you like that sand district girl?"
Shikamaru blinked in surprise as the nurse continued with a smile, "I must say, it always makes me smile when I see the two of you walk down the halls together whenever you're patrolling the school or going to class. You two seem so happy whether you're bickering or conversing to one another; you're always smiling around her. It'd be nice if you two were dating."

Shikamaru blushed, grumbling to himself as he replied, "I … I don't like her like that … I'm just … a friend I suppose."

"Say that all you want Nara, you'd be surprised at how many kids your age quickly discover the silly notion of 'friendship' with the other gender, is just a lie."

The nurse smiled as she applied the last bandage on his hands and teasingly added; "Besides, if you don't act quick enough, someone else might snatch her up before you do."
Shikamaru flustered, "Nurse! I have no intentions of dating her, please don't get any silly ideas of some romantic drama between me and-"

"Good luck with her! Now shoo-shoo, and don't get hurt no more! I've seen you too many times when you were a freshman; have a good time during the festival Nara!"

The nurse successfully herded Shikamaru out of her office before closing her door, laughing softly to herself. Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, wondering just how many teachers thought the same way the nurse did …

---

Finally the café closed, giving the exhausted juniors a chance to have their own fun during the next two days which was left of the festival.

Ino satisfyingly sat down in one of the empty chairs and sighed, fanning herself with a menu sighing, "God … how satisfying is it to see all these empty chairs?!"

Kiba nodded, "No kidding …"
Naruto leaned across the table mopping his forehead with a towel as he mumbled, "Yeah … hey, has anyone heard from Shikamaru yet?"

Choji checked his phone and shook his head, "He hasn't contacted me about anything yet. I hope he's alright."

Sasuke snorted as he leaned back in his chair.

"Nara has always taken care of himself; I wouldn't be too worried about him."

Ino glared at Kiba as she threw her menu at him, "Yeah, WE ALL HOPE HE'S ALRIGHT."

"Hey! I never meant to trip up Temari which made Shikamaru dive in like a madman; don't blame me for something Shikamaru did out of love!"

There was another crash of glass as everyone glanced at where the sound emanated from; Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Oh geez … "

Temari had dropped a glass cup she was wiping and she mumbled a soft apology as she went to get the broom.

Naruto grinned slightly, "Heh, guess Subaku can't handle the thought that Shikamaru just might be in love with her."

Kiba chuckled, adding teasingly, "Yeah, who would've thought that the lazy bum would fall head over heels for such a hot head-"

"UZUMAKI! INUZUKA!"

Temari chucked a tray their direction – which connected with Naruto's head – and roared, "SHUT UP YOU F*CKING IDIOTS!"

Ino watched another tray sail over the room to take down Kiba (who was laughing at Naruto) as she sighed.

"Honestly, you two make it sound like Temari and Shikamaru are getting all chummy over one another; though it is true-"

"SHUT UP INO!"
"Don't forget Temari, that bet is still on, so naturally I'm going to take Naruto and Kiba's side on this."

She winked teasingly at Temari.

"Sorry!"

"Why you …"
Hinata tapped on Temari's shoulder who turned to look at her slightly agitated by the roaring laughter coming from the rest.

"T-Temari, d-don't you like S-Shikamaru?"

"Eh?"

"H-he's not a bad person so I-I was just wondering w-why you don't seem to l-like him."

"W-well, it's not that I don't like him, I just don't LOVE HIM, I only appreciate him as a good friend. Honest Hinata, we're only friends."

Sakura snickered.

"And we ALL know how THAT is going to last."

Temari began chasing Sakura with another tray as Kakashi entered the room.

"Alright now, group number four, here are your grades."

Everyone crowded around Kakashi as he handed out slips of papers with their grades printed out. Ino and Kiba cheered happily as they received full marks; obviously for their efficient efforts. Sasuke and Neji, indefinitely, received full marks as well. Tenten received a ninety five (since she had trouble with a few customer complaints) and Hinata received the same grade (Naruto always had to help her since she was shy). Naruto surprisingly got a hundred, and Shino (who Temari forget was even here) also received a hundred for helping Lee with the orders and cashier work. Long story short; nearly everyone got good grades. Kakashi handed Temari's last, watching her skeptically as she looked between her grade and Kakashi.

"Please tell me this is a joke."

"No, unfortunately, it's not."

Ino hopped over and snatched her grade slip out of her hands and asked, "What did you get Temari?"

She stared at the two digit number on the paper as Temari snatched it back, flustering angrily as she hissed, "INO!"

"Holy sh*t! Kakashi, why did she get a sixty five?!"

The others eyed their teacher with incredulous looks as Ino pushed on, "Temari worked just as hard as us! Just because she collided into Kiba earlier and –"

"Don't ask me why her grade is like that; I had Jiraiya's seniors grade her."

Ino fumed as Hinata looked over at Temari sadly.

"I-I guess that means y-your Saturdays will be spent being t-tutored by teacher Guy …"

Temari remembered the threat that was made that had driven her to do her best during the grading; if she failed, three hours of her Saturdays, for the rest of the year, would be used to be tutored by teacher Guy … NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Kakashi sensei! Please! DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS GRADE! You know I don't deserve it!"

Kakashi shook his head, "Unfortunately Subaku, I can't do anything to change it. I wasn't there when you were working in this café of Jiraiya's, but whatever the seniors gave you, I'll have no choice but to trust they did it out of just judgment."

Temari looked over to where Jiraiya's seniors stood in the far back of the room; they glared at her with venom practically dripping out of their glares as they held up a small sign that read: "F*CK U, U UNGRATEFUL B*TCH!"

Temari wanted to march over and murder them all; how dare they give her a bad grade just because she seemingly ruined the relationship between her and Shikamaru – WHY WAS EVERYONE SO F*CKING SENSITIVE ABOUT THE TWO OF THEM?!

Ino saw the note the seniors held up and grinned, the grin mirrored on several others as Sasuke and Neji rolled their eyes.
"However, Subaku, I understand that most of Jiraiya's students are … opinion driven."

He eyed the students who quickly whipped the sign behind their backs whistling innocently to themselves playing with their phones in their hands.

"That is why I managed to speak with Principal Tsunade, and she has agreed with me that you wouldn't need to take tutoring sessions with teacher Guy. Besides, Guy has too many students who failed booking the three hours of each of his Saturdays in the rest of this school year; he himself is a bit sour about it."

Temari sniffled, "But-but- my grade-"

"Don't worry about it; the Principal was just trolling with you guys – it's not a grade at all."

Kakashi left the room before anyone had a chance to explode in anger. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

"Geez, what's with all the commotion in here?"

Everyone turned to see Shikamaru walking inside; bandages on his hands and face as he gave everyone a bored expression.
"Well? Anyone care to explain-"

"IT WAS ALL IN VAIN!"

Shikamaru was now jostled by the shoulders by a furious Kiba as he wormed his way out of his grip slightly shell shocked as he asked, "Um … why?"

Sasuke irritably crushed his plastic cup he was drinking water out of and growled, "The teacher … told us the principal wasn't going to make this a grade in the end."

"Eh?! Principal Tsunade?!"

Everyone grumpily nodded; Shikamaru glanced around and asked curiously, "Um, has anyone seen Subaku?"

Naruto blinked.

"Eh? Temari? I could've sworn she was here a moment ago …"
Neji jerked a thumb towards the door.

"She slipped out a moment ago."

Shikamaru wordlessly exited and everyone looked at one another, grinning they shrugged to one another; the seniors in the far back furiously texting posts on their phone about a Shikamaru and Temari drama moment. Shikamaru scanned the crowds for the four ponytails as he searched the crowd. He wanted to catch up with her and tell her that he was sorry; he felt terrible for snapping at her because he didn't get the thank you he must've been wanting subconsciously when he saved her from getting hurt. Now if only he could find her …

---

Temari left the school premises to seek refuge in the playground down the block as she settled in a bench near the slides; now she wouldn't need to be bothered by anyone and take this time to rest. But she mostly left because once she heard Shikamaru's voice enter the room, she found herself propelled out the door and out of the school. She didn't want to have to face him, it was bad enough she didn't say thank you when she should've, not to mention now that everyone was a bit sour at her just because she pissed the Nara kid because of it. Urgh! Complicated situations like this …

Temari shivered, the cold evening wind making her curse – why didn't think of grabbing a jacket before running outside mindlessly?! It wasn't the fall season for nothing. Temari curled up in a ball rubbing her arms muttering to herself disappointedly. She watched the kids play on the playground noisily, their parents off to the sides watching or videotaping them with smiles all around.

She watched a mother embrace her daughter with a smile, tugging on her daughter's pigtails with a smile, tapping her on the nose as she took her daughter's hand in hers and led her out of the playground … the father walking beside them as they held their daughter's hands on either side of her as they swung their arms happily.

"Hey …"
Temari recognized the drawling voice as she turned to look at Shikamaru who leaned over with his face cupped be his hands which were propped on his elbows on the bench's edge, he gave her a look as he muttered, "… aren't you cold in that?"

Temari was out of her waitress uniform yes, but she had unwisely dressed in a thin t-shirt this morning to school because she couldn't find a clean pair of long sleeves among the piled clothes which was intermixed with her brother's clothes – she no longer had the patience of pulling out a pair of boxers each time she thought she found something suitable.

"What do you care? It doesn't matter."
He eyed her with an amused grin as he added, "Hey … are you mad about what I said earlier, calling you an ungrateful b*tch?"

Temari glared at him as he came around the bench to sit beside her, locking his hands behind his head as he leaned back, sighing.

"Maybe …"

"Look, don't take it personally. I was just spewing random crap; I wasn't feeling like myself during that time okay? So just ignore what I said …"
"Well, it wasn't just YOU who called me an ungrateful b*tch, the seniors apparently think the same way – and pretty much about everyone else."

Shikamaru smiled, "Oh, really now? I must be very influential."

"Shut up Nara; because of you, everyone thinks we're a match."

"Hmm, so it's my fault?"
"YES!"
"In what way? I didn't do anything; they simply take one look at us and they get this silly notion in their heads that we look 'perfect' together. Ever think about maybe it's just the public's opinion? There's no need to start pinning the cause of everything on me simply because you hold a grudge against me …"

"W-well, I- WHATEVER NARA!"

She flustered angrily to herself as she looked away, glaring at the bench yards away as he smiled at her.

"A-Anyway, let me just take this moment to say something very important …"
"Like what?"
"Something I should've said earlier …"
He eyed her as she turned to look at him with a slightly angry blush in her cheeks, God … her pride wouldn't let her choke it out smoothly.

"Hmm?"
"T-Thank you for … helping me out back there …"

He gazed at her a moment longer before smiling, is eyes closed as he simply leaned back on the bench chuckling, "Geez … isn't it a bit too late to be saying that?"
"H-hey! Saying it later is better than never, right?!"

"It feels better when you say it at the moment of action …"
"NARA!"
"Okay, okay, geez, I accept your gratitude, you're welcome."
He gave her a placid smile which made her blush, unnerved by his strange smile as he added somewhat slyly, "However … because you have shown gratitude to me … I'm going to expect compensation for this."
"Eh?"
He pointed at the bandages on his face.

"Well for starters, I wouldn't have had to get my face scratched up for your sake if I had known you wouldn't have been grateful about it. Secondly, you said thank you when we were alone rather than when we were in public; so that shows you're embarrassed to be seen around with me-"
"H-hey, that's not true-'
"So if you wanna prove me wrong, that you're not embarrassed to be around me and that you really are sorry, you'll give me compensation for my actions."

"You little …"
Temari bit back her next words as she sat there thinking, mumbling to herself as Shikamaru watched her with a sly grin. She then begrudgingly approved, "Fine … what do you want me to do?"
"Well, you're going to walk around with me at the festival the next two days and buy me everything and anything I want-"
"HEY! I'M A PENNILESS WOMAN AND YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING-"

"-don't interrupt. Anyway, it's either that, or you're going to have to do something else for me; which would either result in an IOU, or something far more publically embarrassing …"
He grinned at her horror stricken face as he shrugged, "But hey, I'm giving you the opportunity to choose; so there's some flexibility to this…"

"You little devious piece of sh*t-"

"Fine then, you can just consider this as an IOU you owe me later on …"
"I HATE FAVORS!"
"Then do as I say; unlike you, I have nothing in my pockets to waste; it's more appealing to have you pay for everything other than wasting my own money on myself."
"I will so murder you Nara … one of these days, I will-"
Temari sneezed, making Shikamaru jolt and move away.

"Sh*t! Warn someone before you start sneezing on other people will you?!"
"Ugh … maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get SICK so I don't have to walk around in public at the festival to pay for your lazy ass …"
Temari sniffed, rubbing her arms as she sneezed again in the other direction, Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Seriously, girls are so mindless and troublesome …"

Temari turned to snap at him, "HEY! Say something like that again and I'LL BASH YOUR BRAINS IN-"

Suddenly he pulled Temari closer to him as he unzipped his jacket, hugging her close to him as he pulled his jacket over her as she leaned against his warm chest, making her involuntarily blush as he rested his chin on her left shoulder.

"You don't even have the decency to think ahead and grab a jacket in cold weather."

"N-Nara … get the f*ck away from me …"
"You sure you want that? By the way, the temperature is dropping, if you wanna sit here in a rapidly dropping temperature of sixty degrees and under, be my guest."

He began to pull back when Temari dug her fingers in his hands, causing him to stop and keep his arms wrapped around her.

"B*tch …"

"You'll thank me later, I know you will."
"Shut up …"

Somewhere in the bushes, a camera was lifted through the screen of green leaves and zoomed in on the two, taking a precise photo before slipping away sneakily, leaving Temari to blush in Shikamaru's arms in the chilly autumn evening in comfortable silence …

---

The next day came quickly; when Shikamaru left Temari that evening, he couldn't forget about her smooth back against his chest, whenever he thought about her body against his, he kept blushing. It tormented his thoughts ever second of the night that day; he barely got the precious sleep he needed. Oh well, at least he'd have his fun teasing her today. He always liked festival days; one, they didn't have classes during the three day period, and two, the last day of the festival was on a Friday – the weekend came shortly after. So it feels like a five day weekend, which he loved since he could do whatever he wanted during that time. Heck, if he wanted, he could skip the festival and stay home. The teachers and staff wouldn't care; he was a good student, he could do almost anything he wished. Shikamaru decided he'd walk to school today (feeling productive for once) instead of taking the bus.

'Maybe I'll run into Temari …'

He stopped walking and kicked himself mentally.

'What am I thinking … why do I ALWAYS want to see that annoying, unattractive, hot head? Why … why?'

He shook his head as he sighed, walking past a few houses before someone called out to him, "Shikamaru! Oh Shikamaru, over here!"

He turned to look towards the voice, a woman stood by one of the house's gates waving cheerfully, a hand to her pregnant stomach as she smiled at Shikamaru.

"Oh, Mrs. Kurenai! I almost forgot that you lived around this area …"

"Oh Shikamaru, you're forgetting about a lot of things now sometimes, aren't you?"

"Nyeh, just a bit."

She smiled as she subconsciously rubbed her stomach, which brought up another question to mind.

"Oh right, how is your baby?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, she's due in a few months now."

"Eh? A girl?"

She looked at Shikamaru with laughter in her eyes as she chuckled, "Yes, a girl."
"Eh?! When did you guys find out?!"

"Recently. Didn't your father or Asuma tell you about it?"

"Not really …"
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head trying to recall if they ever did.

"I only saw Asuma once, and my dad hasn't said anything really. I guess it either means they hadn't told me or they did and I just don't remember."

She smiled with her hand still at her stomach as she replied, "Well, now you know. Our baby is going to be a girl."

Shikamaru gave her a small smile.
"So, what are you and Asuma going to name her?"

Kurenai continued smiling, "We're still debating over that."

"I don't blame you two; girl names are a bit more debatable than boy names – you want a girl name that's pretty and unique. Though I suppose some boy names are pretty negotiable, though personally I'd find naming a girl more troublesome."

"Do you plan on having a child of your own later?"

He flustered at her direct question, her curious eyes looking at him as he suddenly had his thoughts redirected to Temari – which he didn't understand why.

"N-No …! Well, maybe. But like I said a long time ago, just a normal girl, not too pretty, not too ugly … and...well, yeah …"

Kurenai smiled.

"Well, whatever you end up deciding to do, I hope you find the girl you're hoping for."

"Yeah …"
"Another thing, I've heard there were a few new transfer students at your school."

"Erm, yeah …"

"Anyone you know?"
"Well yeah …"
"Shikamaru … why is your face red?"
"Eh?!"

"Is one of them a special girl of yours?"

He flustered again, finding his tongue twisted as she smiled slyly.

"Ahhh … so even Shikamaru has gotten to the point of finding potential wives … this is a sign that you're no longer a child …"

"K-Kurenai! Please, that's a sensitive topic … please don't talk about it with me."

Kurenai giggled, her fingers at her lips as she winked, "Okay, but who's to stop me if I talk about it with Asuma?"
"Oh please …"
"Assistant principals know quite a lot about school drama you know …"
"You're still a big fan with gossip aren't you?"
Kurenai smiled.

"I'm a female; of course girls like a bit of good gossip now and then, no matter how girly or tomboyish we may be - gossip is always an interesting subject."

Kurenai then shooed him away, insisting that she had wasted enough of his time and sent him on his way back towards school, after his encounter with Kurenai, now he had all these questions floating in his mind.

Who will he get married to? Does he even plan to? If he did, would he even consider having kids with whoever the girl may be? Sh*t, why was he thinking about this?! He wasn't even in college yet, he was still in high school! Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his temples he told himself, "Geez … don't bother with the troublesome details, worry all about it later ... later …"

"Shikamaru~! Hi-you~!"

Shikamaru turned to see Ino charge at him, head butting him teasingly as he nearly toppled over.

"Crap, Ino! Don't barrel into me like a boar!"

She pouted at him.

"Didn't I tell you NOT to call me a boar?!"
Sakura walked up behind her and smirked.

"You're not called 'Ino' for nothing you pig."

"Shut up forehead!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

Hinata hurried in quickly and wedged herself between the two girls with an innocent look on her face, "P-Please, we're going to have l-lots of fun at the festival, p-please don't get mad over one another … let's stay as f-friends for the festival!"

Ino tsked, turning away with a sour expression as she hissed, "Whatever, Sakura would never compare to me when it comes to become the potential and idealistic wife for Sasuke!"

Wife …?

Sakura snapped, "Shut up! You're too ugly to be suitable for Sasuke; unlike you, I'm just too pretty to even be COMPARED to you – you ugly pig!"

Too ugly … too pretty …?

Ino smirked, "Well one thing is for sure; Sasuke's offspring would TOTALLY look so much cuter with my blond hair and my eyes – who'd want creepy, pink hair when they're born?"

Offspring …?!

Sakura shook her fist at her, "Pink is a BEAUTIFUL COLOR! Plus, if the kids don't like it, they can always dye it! I'd be an AWESOME mother unlike you; you'd probably spoil them until they're all mini-Ino brats!"

Mother …?

"S-Shikamaru? Your face is red, are you alright?"

Shikamaru snapped back to reality as he eyed Hinata who stood beside him with a concerned look on her face, he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head he mumbled ,"Huh? Oh, ha-ha, y-yeah, I'm fine. I just-"

"HEY YOU B*TCHES! THANKS A LOT FOR DITCHING ME BACK THERE, WOULDN'T BOTHER TO HELP ME ESCAPE MY BROTHER NOW DID YOU?!"

Shikamaru felt his cheeks grow hotter as he recognize the piercing voice, "Oh God ... Temari…"

Temari came stomping down the road towards a placid Ino and Sakura and grabbed them both by the front of their dresses, "DON'T YOU TWO HAVE THE DECENCY TO HELP OUT?!"

Hinata raised a hand shakily, "I-I tried to ... help …"
Temari smiled at her like an angel (which made Shikamaru's stomach flip) as she purred, "Oh Hinata, you're the sweetest, most angelic one here. I don't blame you for ANYTHING, you're good with me girl …"

She turned back to Ino and Sakura and hissed with a dark, malicious tone in her voice, "BUT THESE TWO JERKS, OOOH NOOOO, THEY'RE B*TCHES THAT DESERVE TO FEEL MY FURY. THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRYTO HELP OUT …"

Temari rambled on to the two girls who appeared slightly disturbed as Shikamaru watched partially out of curiosity and the rest was amusement; it was funny watching Ino and Sakura being chewed out by someone else, it didn't suit their personalities as Temari barked at them bitter insults.

"Her brother Kankuro had tried to lock her inside the house because of the incident she had with you back at the café; he thought you two were a match and that you were saving her out of your relationship with her – he assumed you two were dating."
He jolted with surprise as he realized Hinata was still standing beside him, watching the three girls claw at one another angrily shouting at one another as she eyed Shikamaru.

"It'd be nice if you two were dating."
Shikamaru flustered (surprised that he was the one stuttering and not Hinata) as he replied stammering, "I-I, no, no, y-you see, oh God … "

She smiled at him.
"You two look so cute together."

He blushed, wondering just how many more people would tell him THE SAME DAMN COMMENT as he flustered, "Hinata … I'd say the same thing about you and Naruto."

He found a new comeback as she blushed wildly, looking away as she fingered her lips with wide eyes.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about-"
"You like Naruto right? You two would look AMAZING together."
He smirked at her as she squirmed in her spot, "Nara, please keep quiet, I-I don't want Ino and Sakura to hear about this and tease me about it again …"
He snorted, "Then don't do the same to me about Temari."
"I wasn't teasing you two-"

"Forget it Hinata, just forget it."

She slightly pouted but kept quiet about it, soon after Temari finally realized Shikamaru was there and stopped dead in her tracks.

"Oh … sh*t …"

He waved at her with a notorious grin on his face, "Yo."

She turned around stiffly and muttered, "Please … tell me that, that Nara kid isn't there …"
Ino bluntly kicked back, "Oh he's there alright."
She stood there silently before she suddenly broke into a run, followed closely by Shikamaru as she screamed, "NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-"

"SUBAKU NO TEMARI; GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE-"

"I WON'T PAY FOR YOUR SH*T, I WON'T, I WON'T, I WON'T-"

"GET BACK HERE!"

"ACK! WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FASTER?! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

In the end, Shikamaru had successfully dragged her back towards the school by one of her pigtails (thank the lord for her pigtails) as she whined about her unwillingness as Ino and Sakura stood to one side smirking with sarcastic remarks. Even Hinata didn't want to help.

"Hinata~! Why~!"

Temari whined for Hinata's help who mercilessly didn't reply or try to help; she secretly wanted Shikamaru to get closer with Temari and if it meant having her be dragged off by him, so be it (she was always careful not to show her devious side to anyone though …).

"Seriously! I'm not that big of a money spender alright?! I won't make you pay for a lot of stuff-"
"How the hell am I supposed to believe a word of your mouth?! You hang around Choji all the time; we ALL know how much he spends money on food! There's a TON of food at the festival, I bet you stuff your face crazy like he does, but never have the money for it – YOU'RE GOING TO PURPOSEFULLY STUFF YOUR FACE WITH ALL THESE EXPENSIVE SH*T-"

"Shut up and just buy me some Taiyaki."

"Screw your Taiyakis …"

"For that, you're going to buy me five."

"Sh*t!"

"Watch your mouth; or everything is going to double."

"H-Ha! Like you could eat twenty or even ten of those-"
"I could always invite Choji over-.'
"HEY YOU! FIVE HERE PLEASE!"

He watched her amused as she bitterly opened her purse and pulled out the money as the senior handed her order, who begrudgingly handed it to Shikamaru. He was certain that he'd have his fun with Temari for the rest of the day.

---

Soon enough, Shikamaru walked around the school premises with Temari pointing out certain stalls he wanted to buy things from (typically mainly only food – less troublesome to carry since he'd devour them) and eventually he heard about the second floor.

"The second floor had a variety of games and programs; it's fun, it's new, and it's only from now and tomorrow – go and try it out!"

The senior shoved a flyer in his hands as she went off to say the same phrase to another person, he examined the flyer and didn't bother to read the programs and games; all he saw was the high prices. Temari came back with some dango, she eyed the flyer and saw the large numbers and paled, "Crap … Shikamaru, you're not thinking about the second floor-"
"Come on, let's go."
He bit off his share of the dango as Temari mumbled curses behind his back, which he made a mental note of so he could make her do something embarrassing for him.

The second floor was naturally very popular; crowded and loud and extremely noisy, Temari had some trouble following after Shikamaru.

"H-Hey! Nara! Where the hell are you-"
A hand grabbed Temari's and gently pulled her through the crowd, she realized it was Shikamaru and not some molester and she relaxed. She let him navigate her through the crowd and eventually they stopped at what she noticed was a haunted house. He stood there grinning at her as he pointed.

"I want you to go in there."
Temari took one look at the senior at the front door (who had some EXTREMELY convincing blood on her face with what appeared to be a real knife she was playing with) and paled.
"Okay, this isn't part of the deal, I was supposed to be BUYING things, not doing sh*t-
"You are. You're BUYING your entrance fee into that, I'll be waiting out here for the priceless results."

She crossed her arms stubbornly and snapped, "Hell no!"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Oh well then. If you went in there, I was going to let you off the deal and you can go have fun-"
"HEY YOU! GHOST GIRL! GIMME A TICKET IN THERE, I'M DOING THIS SH*T!"

The 'ghost girl' looked at Temari and suddenly threw her knife towards her, Temari stiffened in place and didn't dare move; the knife sailed past her shoulder and stabbed the sign behind her – a sign hanging there from what Shikamaru suspiciously considered the times the same person threw the same knife at – which read "ADMISSION: 500 YEN."

"Pay the price … and you may enter at will."

The girl had the creepiest drawling voice as blood (fake blood … hopefully) dribbled over her lips, Temari nervously paid it and the senior shuffled towards the door and pulled it open a crack – inside was dark and empty. The girl held up a finger to make a point, "This will take about ten minutes; maybe longer if you can't find the flashlight and make your way back out through the ten classrooms. To escape; you must locate the key to the door and get out that way. Tip: ten seniors have been reported to have been sent to the hospital after attempting the same challenge; last year, five to ten juniors and seniors were sent to the same hospital and two teachers were rushed to the ER – good luck on that note."

Temari flustered as she shoved her inside, closing the door she locked it and went back to sit down beside her chair, pulling out a magazine and reading off it as Shikamaru heard banging on the door. The senior looked p at Shikamaru and gave him a questionable look, "Well for a boyfriend, you're being awfully cruel towards her. Treating her well?" Shikamaru blushed (for the umpteenth time) and muttered, "We're not dating; I'm not her boyfriend?"
"Eh? But you two look so perfect together –"
There was a faint scream and the girl rolled her eyes.

"Geez … that must've walked in the wrong room; I'm gonna guess that's the corpse room."
Shikamaru was tempted to throw up, 'corpses?' The senior asked another question, "So, how is she with haunted houses?"
"Well she hates the dark and she's scared of thunder and probably other loud noises."
She senior clicked her tongue, "Eesh. She's not going to do well."
"Excuse me but is it true that those people went to the hospital…?"

The senior smirked.

"Don't get your panties in a wad; she'll be fine. Unlike other cool haunted houses, ours is premature. And no, those seniors and juniors who got 'hurt' were mostly because they attempted to take out our haunted house members or jump out the window – the two teachers however were just meek about everything and fainted the moment they stepped inside, they were sent to the ER because of high blood pressure."

"Oh."

"Yeah, don't expect too much from us. You want scary sh*t? Go to the one that'll be open on the third day – it'll be outside at the creepy abandoned hospital behind the school; I've heard that's got five stars every single festival it's been open to."

There was a loud thump inside the rooms and a swearing Temari as Shikamaru heard her running away from the source of the noise; he wished he was in there videotaping it, it didn't seem at all fun having her inside without him seeing her reactions.

The senior checked her watch and shook her head, "Eesh, it's been fifteen minutes already. Your girl will probably take at the max of twenty minutes; after that, I'm gonna have to pull her out."

Shikamaru shrugged, "That'll be fine."

"Hmm. I'd recommend the other one to you two though; scary as hell."

"Thank you, but I only made her do this because I'm teaching her a lesson."
The senior raised her eyebrows at him.
"For what?"
"A lesson to learn to be grateful."
"How ironic of you to be sending her off into a haunted attraction."

"I'm a nice guy."

"Sure you are."

Suddenly there was a sound of a lock being jiggled around in the door behind the senior as she stood beside it as she watched the lock rattle around. Shikamaru gave her a questioning expression as she answered his unasked question, "It's jammed purposefully. There's supposed to be someone running head on towards her right now, hopefully it'll either make her faint or she'll be petrified when I open the door for her."

"Nice."

Suddenly she yanked the door open and Temari came tumbling out with another person who rolled out with her, Shikamaru realized it was a guy and immediately thought one thought; molester.

The boy got to his feet and laughed, his entire body was covered in black paint and was dressed in a torn black and red robe, he held a long blade (plastic probably) by his side as fake blood stained his body.

"Sh*t! She's a hell of a screamer!"

Temari curled up on the ground muttering to herself as the crowd around them moved past them, either amused at Temari or irritated that they blocked the flow of the hallway. The senior threw her magazine at the other senior.

"Knock it off Hidan, you've done enough."

"Did you hear her scream? I just talk about doing a bit of 'voodoo' and she starts screaming sh*t at me; I like screamers like her!"

He laughed as he nudged her with a foot, "Hey, hey! Get the hell up now, it wasn't THAT scary, the one at the hospital is a different story; hey chick! Get up already!"

Shikamaru pushed past him and placed a gentle hand on Temari's arm, "Hey Tem. Get up, people are staring-"

A hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat as Temari suddenly screamed, "I'LL MURDER YOU NARA, MURDER, MURDER, MURDER, MURDER-"

The senior named Hidan grinned, "I like this chick even more now."

Temari turned to look at Hidan as she cursed, crawling towards Shikamaru as he unconsciously draped his arms over hers protectively, "F*ck, get that molester away from me!"

"Molester?"

"Oh that? Yeah, I kind of had a little fun with her back there; telling her things I really wouldn't do with her."

He grinned.

"Though that might quickly change."

Shikamaru glared at him as Temari clung to Shikamaru muttering again. The senior laughed, waving in the air as he replied quickly, "JK, JK! Don't give me that look boy, she's ALL yours!"

Hidan grinned again before walking back inside the haunted house, "But you better keep your tabs on her; you never know if I might wanna hook up with her if I find out you two aren't dating."

The senior by the door whacked him on the head.

"Idiot. They're juniors?"
"Who cares? I've had my fun with a few juniors."

"You slutty piece of sh*t …"

Shikamaru ignored the two seniors and felt slightly regrettable about letting her go inside, Temari still clung onto Shikamaru like a petrified cat and he had to carry her somewhere they could rest.

"Tem, hey Tem! Snap out of it will you?"
Temari kept stunned clinging to his shirt and he sighed. He pried her fingers away and slapped her face a few times.

"Tem, Tem, Tem, Tem, Tem-"
She grabbed his hand and snarled, "STOP CALLING ME TEM DAMN IT!"

He smiled (more out of relief) as he snorted back, "Oh, you're back. Good."

Temari squirmed out of his lap and sat beside him as they watched the crowd move past them, he began to apologize, "Look, sorry for sending you in there. If I had known there was a slutty haunter and that you REALLY were scared of the dark and stuff, I wouldn't have pressured you to do it-"
"FORGET IT NARA."

Temari shivered from where she curled up in the corner, she trembled with her hands clutching her elbows – her knuckles white. He felt bad now; he meant for it to be a funny experience for him, but now he just felt like a complete jerk. He'd have to make up for it …

"Hey um, if it makes you feel better, maybe I could like you know, take you around buying things for you this time …"
Temari stopped trembling, he watched in growing horror as she put on a growing twisted grin. She turned to look at Shikamaru with a dark, evil look.

"You'll buy and do ANYTHING I tell you … yes?"
"Um … y-yeah …"

"You swear?"
"Uh … I don't know about it now-"
"GOOD! LET'S GO BOY – I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO TAKE YOUR B*TCHY ASS!"

She grabbed his wrist and yanked him roughly through the crowd, running through the halls in blinding speed that they made it there quicker than he hoped.

---

"Here we go!"

Temari cheekily grinned at him as she stood beside the door reading "Sleeping Beauty" and he eyed Temari suspiciously.

"Okay … what am I supposed to do?"
Temari smoothed out the flyer they received earlier and read the brief description of the hosted attraction, "Well it says here: Inside slumbers a 'sleeping beauty', only for males – no females please. What's the whole point? You get to play the 'prince'."

Shikamaru frowned as she grinned at him evilly, "Heh-heh-heh … I saw a couple guys a while back talking about how they got to kiss this chick … they also mentioned that if the girl actually 'awakens' to your kiss, she'll give you a prize."

Shikamaru paled.

"Uh, sorry. I don't give free kisses to people-"
"Nope! Get your f*cking ass in there b*tch; I wanna witness this. Maybe I'll be nice enough and NOT take a picture so I don't post it on my Facebook."

Temari chuckled evilly as she dragged Shikamaru inside by his collar, inside a short (like, dwarf short) senior stood in front of a curtained area as he spoke with a fake beard taped to his chin messily as he piped up loudly, "MALES ONLY-"
"Cool it, I'm not here for that kiss; HE'S here for it though. I'm just here to watch."
The dwarf senior eyed the two; Shikamaru was flustering beside her making slicing motions over his throat behind her as she cackled to herself insanely rubbing her hands together – he looked up to the ceiling and sighed, "Oh God, another one of them …"

He waved over the boy.

"Come 'ere."

Shikamaru reluctantly stepped up and he held out his hand.

"This'll be 300 yen please."
He reluctantly paid it; an evil look on Temari's face as she watched the dwarf go behind the curtains to prepare the 'sleeping beauty' and Shikamaru had to wait outside with a hand to his lips.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap-"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes-"
"SHUT UP SUBAKU!"

"GET IN THERE NARA!"

Temari pushed Shikamaru forward the moment the curtains peeled back. He nearly tripped over the short senior as he fell with his arms planted out as he grabbed the edge of the bed lying there; he glared behind him at where Temari stood but realized the curtain was redrawn. He wanted to laugh, "Heh, guess she can't witness it after all." Realizing he said it out loud he slapped himself.

'Sh*t!'

He looked around hoping nobody heard that but only saw the sleeping girl senior before him – whom he was suspiciously leaning over.

Cursing he jumped back, prepared to run away but stopped himself.

"Sh*t! I REALLY don't wanna do this crap. Hold up … maybe I could LIE and tell her I did and she didn't wake up and walk out guilt free …"

He was about to step back out but the dwarf senior suddenly jumped inside and shoved him back, scaring the living soul out of him.

"No, no! I didn't' see you attempt! Either try it or stay in here for God knows how long before you gather the guts to kiss her!"

Temari cackled behind the curtains and Shikamaru blushed; the things he did for her, he hoped it was worth it, just to make her feel better, but now he suspiciously considered that she was just acting all scared back there to make him to this sh*t …

He turned back to the senior and growled. He decided to get it over in one quick blow. He scrunched his eyes closed and leaned down quickly, saying his prayers that it'd be short and quick.

Temari was disappointed to hear the dwarf senior neglect her of watching the scene, but at least she'd have the upper hand now that she knew he actually kissed a girl; so if he were to ever tell anyone about her embarrassing haunted house reaction, she'd spread this awful tidbit to the crowd. Honestly however, she felt her stomach twist at the thought of his lips on another girl … she slapped herself, the dwarf senior eyeing her strangely before talking back to his cell phone. She sighed and leaned back against the wall snorting, 'Ha! Like I'd care if he was a good kisser or not … I feel bad for the girl in there. He must suck …'

She started to think about his lips again.

'Surely he does … he just gotta …'

Suddenly here was a muffled yell behind the curtains and the dwarf pull back the curtains, surprised at the scene.

"Damn ... Tayuya, you're having a bit too much fun there aren't you?"
Temari stood slightly stunned to see Shikamaru unable to pull himself back from the girl who had reached up to grab the back of his head and keep him there as she kissed him back with a grin on her face, when she pulled back she sighed, "Yup! I've finally got a damn good one here! His lips were soft, but he was planning on pulling back, nope! Wouldn't let THAT happen!"

Shikamaru staggered backwards and Temari supported him back to his feet, he stayed there in her arms gasping for air – lipstick smeared across his lips where he rubbed at furiously. He coughed to no one in particular begging, "Sanitizer … soap, anti-bacterial wash- SOMETHING TO WASH THAT FILTHY TASTE OUT OF MY MOUTH!"

Temari stiffened; just how far did this Tayuya decide to play with him? Oddly, it made her regret she let him do this in the first place.

Tayuya, the 'sleeping beauty' senior grinned at Shikamaru with her hands planted on her hips as she purred to him, "Are you her girlfriend? I must say, she must be damn lucky- there are only so few juniors and seniors out there that are good kissers. You're among the few I've actually liked, the others I had to endure through. Yours was beautiful; soft and firm – JUST the way I like it."
Tayuya looked at Temari's red face, "You must LOVE it. I wish I had a guy like that."

The dwarf broke it up, "Now, now, get back behind that curtain Tayuya. You keep harassing the juniors about their relationship and you just may get us pulled out of the program; we only got to do this because Jiraiya sensei recommended us to the teachers and thankfully, half of them are romantic creeps. So don't blow it over for us and do your job right."

The dwarf shooed Tayuya behind the curtains (after she winked to Shikamaru purring, "Call me when you break up with her!") before handing Shikamaru his prize (which was actually a sweet looking watch).

"Here you go. And before you leave …"
The two stopped before leaving, the dwarf crossed his arms before asking with narrowed eyes, "…are you two a couple?"
The two answered in unison, "HELL NO."

The dwarf stroked his fake beard, 'Hmm … this must be one of those potential couples I've heard about.'

"Well then, friends?"
Temari eyed Shikamaru who eyed her back, they answered in unison again, "Sort of."

The dwarf nodded before asking, "Alright then, do you two get along-"
"NO."

The dwarf blinked as he calculated in his mind, 'Hmm … they'll be a tough one.'

He smiled before asking another question, "Fine then, how do you two feel about a little 'endurance test'?"

Shikamaru and Temari eyed the dwarf suspiciously before turning heel and stalking away flat out droning together, "NO."
The dwarf chased after them, "No, no, no! Wait! Hear me out; if you win this, you can actually win a HUGE prize!"

Temari and Shikamaru stopped in their tracks. They turned and asked like robotic twins, "What is it?"

The dwarf shook his head at their creepy synced replies and began, "Well, this is a test which is also being used for a study of 'relationships between good friends' by a few seniors in the school. This is basically to test the endurance of a relationship between two good friends and to see if in the end, they can STILL be cool and alright with one another other, other than storming away and screaming angrily – which would prove that they aren't good friends. Basically, you go through a series of challenges, variety of games and tests and you have to go through 'racing' competition against the other competitors. In the end, if your results turn out to pin you two as 'good buddies', you'll receive a –"

The senior coughed to one side, hiding his face from them as they suspiciously waited for the next words.

"-EXCLUSIVE chance to skip school for a few days and have fun with one another at a fully paid trip to an organized trip to downtown Konoha!"

Temari blinked; she heard about downtown Konoha – there were great attractions there and awfully cheap; to have a fully paid exclusive trip, was nearly too good to be true. Not to mention the great stuff she could shop for down there …

Shikamaru enjoyed the downtown area; great food, awesome shows, and a good natured crowd. Though it may be crowded and loud, he didn't mind it down there because it was always fun and great; he always went down there at least once during the summer with his friends, it was always fun. But with Shikamaru, he always had that 'picky' feelings about spending money; as much as he enjoyed being down at the downtown area, he couldn't do much because he wanted to save money. Now for a fully paid trip to go there … (even if it was with Temari) it was something totally not worth skipping out on. Temari and Shikamaru also found another bonus to the deal; skipping school for not one day, or two days, BUT A FEW DAYS. The challenge was on.

Shikamaru nodded, hands in his pockets, "Well, count me in."
Temari punched her fist in the air cheerily crying a loud battle cry, "BRING IT ON!"

The dwarfish senior grinned before holding out a hand.

"Well, admission fee is 500 yen per person-"

Shikamaru and Temari turned to walk away again as the dwarfish senior cried out, "M-make that just a 100 yen per person-!"

They came back and slapped it in his hands. He shook his head sighing before holding out two paper wristbands.

"Please put this on and go to where this flyer tells you to go; good luck and have fun!"

He waved at them goodbye before running back to his 'Sleeping Beauty' attraction as Shikamaru peeled off the sticky end of the paper wristband and applied it to his wrist and helped Temari with hers before reading the slip.

"Hmm. First floor, second entrance to the west wing, ah, I know that-"
Temari hissed, "So do I idiot. I don't patrol the school for nothing-"
"Yeah, but you still have a bad sense of direction-"
"SHUT UP NARA!"

There were a few seniors who watched the two stalk down the halls bickering as they spoke into their walkie-talkies, "Well, it was just as that girl told us, they're cute together but incompatible …"
"Didn't she say they were getting unintentionally chummy with one another though?"

"Yeah, the photos she sent were pretty damn straight accurate; I couldn't trace any photo shopping done to it, seems legit."

"She also said that despite being a bickering pair, they have high potential of being paired together…"

"Well we ARE testing other things alongside the endurance between dating couples…"

"Let's hope that these two will be the first we successfully pair in the end of the challenges…"

---

"Well. Here we are."

Shikamaru stopped at the second to last door at the west side of the school and double checked he didn't mistake the destination address.

"Okay, all seems to be in order-"
"Let's get this over with already; I WANNA SKIP SCHOOOOOOOL!"

Temari enthusiastically kicked the door open and was instantly swarmed by a bunch of seniors, all shouting out with cheerful cries screaming, "WELCOME TO THE ENDURANCE OF RELATIONSHIP TEST! A SERIES OF CHALLENGES TO TEST A COUPLE'S COMPATIBILITY; FUN, LONG, AND OF COURSE – CHALLENGING! THIS IS HOSTED BY SENIORS STUDYING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS SO YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO TAKE THIS TEST REGARDLESS OF ANY OBJECTIONS – ALSO, NO REFUNDS!"

Confetti flew over their faces and Shikamaru and Temari froze.

"Couples …?"

"WE'RE NOT DATING!"

One of the seniors gave them a frown and stopped throwing confetti over them.

"Huh? But you two paid for admission, aren't you two … dating?"
Temari pointed at Shikamaru and cried, "DO WE LOOK LIKE WE'RE A COUPLE?! HOW COULD A GIRL LIKE ME DATE A GUY LIKE HIM?!"

Shikamaru added in, "Same goes for me concerning the b*tchy one here."

"SHUT UP NARA, NO ONE ASKED YOU!"

"Well this concerns me too you know, besides, they just shouted in our ears no refunds so I wanna talk out of this with some compensation. You see sir, this was all a misunderstanding, a refund is necessary at his point-"
"SHUT UP NARA AND LET ME DO THE TALKING-"

"CLAM IT SUBAKU! YOU'RE YELLING RIGHT NOW, I DON'T THINK THAT'S TALKING-"

"NARA!"

"SUBAKU YOU-"

The senior waved at the two of them to piped down, sighing he rubbed his temples and mumbled, "Geez … did you meet guys meet a dwarf senior who made you pay your way into it in the first place?"
"YES!"

"Aw geez … you two must be the 'potential' couple …"

"Excuse me?"
"Potential?! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well we're also testing for non-couples to enter the test; if you two end up dating either at the end of the challenges or in the course of a week after the test, that means we've successfully paired you two together. However if it proves that you two ARE not compatible with one another, you will be disregarded from the test results and if you win, you will still receive your prize, thought with some disappointment of course …"

Shikamaru considered the options; well one, they didn't have to be dating to enter, non couples could take it and there was by high chances that they WOULDN'T date in the end –that's just plain crazy. Also, if he took these challenges with Temari, he could see where these annoying feelings lead to – out of annoyance or possible … love? Shikamaru wanted to have the answers, so he agreed, "Okay, count me in."
Temari gawked at him.
"B-But WHY?!"

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could prove to the others at our school how INCOMPATIBLE we are? Then it'd end the silly notion that we're a couple and we wouldn't have to bother about it; seems like a good plan to me at least."

Temari clammed up and frowned, true enough, that was possible. But Temari had heard about this notorious challenging test (read it in a magazine about relationships) at her school festival – nearly ninety seven percent of the participants ended up being extremely compatible and the other three percent proved to be utterly incompatible and broke up in the predicted time frame of two to three weeks later – which was 100% dead on accurate as each and every couple that was incompatible broke up the following weeks. She heard that they were testing something new though; could non couples be predicted compatible before predicted chance of them dating? It was an interesting article, but Temari had dismissed it quickly; not thinking such a thing existed at her school and that she'd never have anyone potentially curious for her to take it with, and she forgot – the magazine came from her school so obviously the test originated from the school. It was the one she was about to take now; and how convenient, with that stupid Nara jerk. But who cares now, they said it was 'required regardless', she wasn't about to ask about the 'or else' end of it and didn't want to bother with it, so she reluctantly sighed and agreed.

"Fine … but Nara, you better get us that grand prize, and no, I REFUSE to date you in the end even if it ends up that we're 'compatible' for one another-"
"Who says I've ever planned on dating you, troublesome woman?"

"B*TCH! WHO WOULD WANT TO DATE YOU?!"

"Oh shut up and listen to the seniors already."
The seniors looked up to the ceiling and hid a smile, "Well these two will be surprised with the results …"

"Alright then, a quick guideline of the rules; rule number one – you must always be together at all times and perform each challenge together. Try to do otherwise and you shall be disqualified. Rule number two – NO CHEATING. It will NOT be tolerated and you will be immediately disqualified with inaccurate test results, so don't try it. Please. Rule number three – Have fun. This is for you guys; we still want you to have fun. If in the end, things get frustrating and irritating, use this walkie-talkie to declare yourselves as dropouts – you'll have immediately been disqualified and no prizes to you. And of course, it means you two are incompatible."

The senior handed Shikamaru the walkie-talkie and he clipped it to his belt, 'Let's see how far this goes Temari.'

'Please God, just get me that prize and count us as 'incompatibles' I don't wanna think about dating this sucker in the end if it turns out we are compatible, please, help me!'

"The walkie-talkie is also used for when the mysterious voice on the other end directs you to your next destination after accomplishing a challenge. You must do as the mysterious voice says and must complete it in the time frame appointed; if you fail to do so or try to cheat, there are seniors out there tracking you, they will stop you and disqualify you if they see anything against the rules and you two will be taken out of the program. Also, this is a protected program, so nobody should interfere; however it is a public program, so others will pretty much see you do the challenges and may or may not be questioning you two about it after the test."

Temari and Shikamaru blushed, feeling extremely self conscious now that they had told him that tid-bit; if any of the boys or girls saw the two of them performing awkward challenges … Temari felt like shooting herself and Shikamaru wanted to hide in a closet.

"Now then, please tell your walkie-talkie that you're couple number 74 and begin the challenges! Good luck and have fun!"

The seniors blew their party horns and threw more confetti before making their dramatic exit. Temari sourly looked at Shikamaru with her arms crossed before muttering, "Well, look what you got us sucked into Nara-"
"Hey, you wanted to take it too!"

"How was I supposed to know this was a couple testing thing?! I bet you knew about it; being a genius with an IQ over 200 – I bet you KNEW about it wanted me to take it with you so you can enjoy yourself-"
Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head as he lifted the walkie-talkie to his lips, "Oh be quiet already. I never wanted to get myself in this situation with you so stop thinking you're my type and get it in your head that I only want to do this so I can skip school. Are we clear on that?"
Temari frowned, somewhat disappointed in the back of her head as she snapped, "Well THAT'S a relief to hear; damn straight!"

"Good, now can we begin – CALMLY?"

"Yes, yes, get on with it."
Shikamaru turned on the walkie-talkie and spoke holding down the knob as he spoke clearly, "This is team number 74, and we've recently joined, any directions for us please?"

When he released his hold on the knob the walkie-talkie crackled back, "Great, been hoping you two would join."

Shikamaru suspiciously pinned the speaker as a male as the mysterious voice continued, "May you please pass the walkie-talkie to your female counterpart so I can verify that you two are together?"

He handed it to Temari who replied, "Here I am."

"Oh good, may I have your names please?"

"I'm Temari no Subaku."
"And I'm Shikamaru Nara."
"Thank you for your cooperation, now, may I ask your relationship?"
"NON COUPLE."

The voice didn't reply and when it did, it was coughing.

"Oh, I see. Well this will be interesting …"

Shikamaru locked eyes with Temari as the speaker continued to cough loudly, suspiciously faking it out as the speaker continued, "Ah, anyway, here is your first destination instructions, you two ready?"

They replied with a 'yes' and the voice rattled off, "Alright then, you two have received a sash from the seniors earlier yes?"

Temari looked at Shikamaru who held up a red sash, shrugging to Temari as he said, "I don't know why they gave it to me. Guess we'll find out huh?"
"Yeah …"

"If you have the sash, good. Now let me tell you the instructions: you must locate the 'Hubbub' attraction towards the south end of the field outside the school where the bigger and highly recommended games, stands, and attractions are located at. You will spend most of your time there and sometimes you will be relocated to the school from time to time for other destinations, but for now, you must locate the Hubbub attraction. While locating it, you must tie the sash around your ankles and make it there in time without taking it off – you have ten minutes-"

Shikamaru exclaimed, "Ten minutes?!"

"-good luck and have fun! See you in the next round, chao!"

Temari grabbed the walkie-talkie, "H-Hold on a second! Ten minutes isn't NEARLY enough time for us to-"

The walkie-talkie fell dead silent. Temari was tempted to chuck the device at the wall.

"Crap! What do we do Shikamaru – hey! What are you doing?!"

He quickly tied the sash around their ankles and he jerked her forward exclaiming, "I know where it is, I saw it a while back out there, it's practically one of the largest attractions there; plus I know a short cut! So please, just work with me here and let's get there on time!"

Temari flustered as he started to run, she staggered alongside him as they struggled to run in sync, bickering with one another to do it right as they moved past the amused crowd with spying seniors on their tails, making sure they'd follow the rules and silently recording details about their relationship and the challenge had now begun; the truth about the strange feelings that Shikamaru and Temari had felt towards one another would come to light, and finally, they'd understand why they felt the ways they did.

---

I'm trying my best to not say too much at the beginning (author notes) so I don't annoy you guys with the useless info you guys don't need to hear when I ramble. I might even start putting recaps at the top and all author notes at the end so you guy don't have to read it when all you came here for was to read the chapter (but if you read my author notes, great! I appreciate it).

Updating is slow for my stories because of a hug project that popped up (but it has a plus side to it, it helped inspire me to plan for the next one or two chapters about Temari and Shikamaru's compatibility test. Hopefully you guys are looking forward to that and I hope you guys liked it and are looking eagerly forward to the next chapter; hopefully this story has been worth your time in the past few chapters, and I hope it stays that way! Continue reviewing, stay patient, and keep being awesome! Please be patient as I work on chapter seven; if you wanna know when the next chapter will come out, check out my profile for any specific dates or vague planning for when they come out - also, if you have the chance, take my poll! :)

Thank you all, I appreciate you all and I hope you stay with me at the end of this story and if you like my writing, many more to come. Thank you all again and I'll work my butt off to get chapter seven delivered to you guys! Stay awesome - Pencilfreak17 out!