The next morning Shikamaru came to collect Hidan form the police department.
'Ready to continue the trip? ' Shikamaru was in a good mood as he was thinking about all the time he and Temari were going to have.
'Sure…can't wait till I'll be surrounded with you guys again. Kinda missed the gay atmosphere.' He rolled his eyes lazily standing up.
'Naruto is not going….' Shikamaru bite his tongue.
'The blonde is not going? Who will join us than? ' He raised his eyebrow.
'Well…Temari…' He was starting to think that that might have been a wrong decision as Hidan had obviously a crush on HIS Temari.
Hidan smirked and laughed. 'Then it's Fucking going to be fun…too bad not for you.'
'What do you mean by that? ' He frowned his forehead.
'I'm mean that it's not the greatest pleasure to travel with a furious woman.' He looked at Shikamaru amused.
'Furious? What the hell are you talking about?'
'About cheating on someone's feelings. Lying? Ever thought about it? I guess that's not what girls like, but you might not have know that …well it's not your fault you usually don't get any.' He smirked even more pleasured with what he said.
'Lying?! Cheating?! What the hell are you talking about?!' Shikamaru was getting furious at Hidan as he had no idea what the man was talking about. He never cheated on Temari, or even lied to her.
'I mean your secret untrue crush at that Konoha chick! She fucking found out about her !'
' Bastard! Stupid motherfucker! ' He got inside his cell and was about to kill him if he only could.
'It's not my fault. That Naruto-kid told her. Looks like she's free now. She will be so mine. ' He teased him more looking for a quarrel.
'Keep your dirty hands off her! If you touch her..IF YOU DARE! I swear I will make you wish to be dead.' Shikamaru was standing face to face with him.
'You really like that bitch don't you?' Hidan smirked. ' That's also one of the reasons for me to take it me Nara.'
He got smashed in the face. Hidan was lying on the floor wiping the trickle of blood that started flowing down of the corner of his mouth. He smirked.
'She's that damn crush of yours…Hm…that's going to be fucking fun you know? '
Shikamaru was ready for the second smash when he heard a sweet voice shouting at him from behind.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?! Are you mad?! What's going on in here?! We should be already on our way, not playing childish games here!' Temari was furious at Shika not only for that before but now also for hitting Hidan and being late. She hated when someone was late and Shika knew that.
'I was just shutting his huge mouth.' Shikamaru felt uncomfortable and tried to read Temari's face. ' Is she really angry at me? How should I explain it to her?'
'I swear I will do both of you in if you won't move!' She hissed. They got ready really quickly feeling that Tem was talking serious.

As they started their journey the brunet started feeling even worse. He felt guilty that he made such a mess and he couldn't really find a logical excuse for what he said. Should he just tell her the truth? Absurd! He couldn't just tell her that he….he…..' I….do I?' Shikamaru just realized what was going on. He never thought why he felt so strange with her and couldn't stop thinking about her. It knocked him out. ' I love her…' He never thought something like this could happen to him. He wasn't really interested in girls and he never bothered about feelings and such stuff. Was his father right? But what now? Should he just tell her, or keep silent? 'Does she feel the same for me? ' ' Damn..' He whispered and Hidan who was walking in front of him just turned around and smirked at him almost knowing what he was thinking about.
Shika was really inexperienced in this field. Even a genius like him reached with this the border of his knowlage. Love was something he had no idea of. But they had definitely to talk to each other. He walked up to Temari.
'Hey..how's it going? '
' Fine.' She cut him off trying to ignore him.
'Well you're not really talkative today, aren't you? ' He smiled slightly.
' And since when are you such a chatty Cathy?'
'Well I just have the feeling you're somehow angry at me…' He looked at her begging.
'You have a freaking good feeling…' She looked at him angrily. ' Why did you lie to me?!' She stopped. Hidan looked amused again, he decided to enjoy the show.
'Lie? What do you mean by that ? ' Shika hoped Hidan was bluffing.
'Fucking don't play the innocent! You know exactly what I'm talking about! I thought we are friends!' That hurt her. She never told anybody but somewhere inside of her she wished that there would be something more than just friendship between them since their first meeting. She liked him. He wasn't that bad looking, no, he was quite handsome. Now that he was grown up he even caught her eye. He was intelligent and funny if he wanted to be. That laziness of his was something she could defeat. But it looked like it wasn't meant to be.
'You mean that stuff with Ino?' He said quietly.
'Yes! Why didn't you tell me when I asked you about her ?! And that bullshit about how not matching you two are!'
'I just…' He couldn't tell her that he had forgotten , that would be unrealistic. And if he told her he lied about her to them he would have to explain why he did that. That was all way too troublesome for him. But he had no choice. ' I lied…but not to you.'
'What do you mean by that Nara?' She had that killing look again.
'I mean …I lied to them because they pushed me. I don't have a crush on Ino…'
' But you were certainly fantasying about someone Nara! You wouldn't get that red otherwise. Who was it? ' Hidan caught the chance and pushed him again into a conflict situation.
' Who Shikamaru? The truth now…' Temari looked at him.' If you are my friend tell me.'
His heart stopped. He panicked. ' What should I do?! If I tell her the truth and she doesn't feel the same I will have to forget about her. A disaster! And if I lie to her again and she again finds out it will be even worse! But what if she feels the same for me? If I tell her there might be a happy end for us but if I lie it might be the end. '
'Shika?' She looked begging at him and Hidan was about to explode out of curiosity what was going to happen. ' Well…I see…you can't tell me. So it was just my imagination of our friendship…I'm sorry for troubling you.' She said sadly and turned around to continue the walk.
'No! ' He caught her wrist. That touch was so different to Hidan's. It was tender and warm. Like he was worried and he cared. She turned around.
'What is it?'
'Temari..I can't tell you because I have my serious reasons for it..it's not because I don't trust you.'
'What reasons could that be!? Shikamaru it's just a name! What speaks against telling it to me? '
'It's…because….' He looked at the staring Hidan what made him feel even more uncomfortable. Shika pulled her close to him and whispered on her ear. ' it's…you.'
Temari took a few steps back, she stared at him with wide opened eyes. If she would be thinking clearly she would be expecting him to say so, but in all that anger she never considered what her answer on that confession should be. What should she say?
Shika was even more nervous than she was. He thought he was going to explode. Hidan was only staring at them smirking and she looked at him with that surprised facial expression.
' Are you kidding me? ' She mumbled.
'No I'm not.' He sighted. 'You lost it Shika…'
' So why were you lying to them?! Are you ashamed of me or what?!' She was blushing.
'No! Never! I mean I just didn't want them to know!' Shika tried to explain somehow.
'Why?! I mean Naruto is your friend! Why aren't you honest with your friends?!'
'Ugh! Woman! Way too troublesome! ' Shika couldn't stand it any longer.
'Pfff!' Temari turned around taking offend.
Hidan walked up to Shika laughing. 'You seriously have no idea what to say to a girl, don't you? Stupid moron.' Hidan caught up with Temari still laughing.
Shika was feeling quite stupid. Why did she get offended ? Did he say anything wrong? And how does she feel about him? She didn't gave him any answer! He caught up and wished to clear that all till the end of the trip.