Chapter 19- The question

"Hey, Kankuro?"

Temari sat down on her brother's bed and bit her lip. Would it really be okay to ask him? She didn't want to get Shikamaru in trouble.

"What's it?" Kankuro asked, still looking in the mirror. "You better hurry, I managed to get a date with Ino so I don't have much time."

"Congratulations," Temari said. "See, I wanted to ask you something, but I'm not sure..."

"Well, spill it."

She took a deep breath. "Do you happen to have any condoms?"

He had been doing his hair but dropped the comb. "Excuse me? What does it matter to you what Ino and I do?"

She became very red. "Nothing, it's not about you! It's for me!"

He quickly turned around. "You?" he asked. She nodded, looking at the ground and clutching the sheets. Kankuro was silent for a long time.

"So, you're really serious with Shikamaru…" he said finally. She nodded again, still not brave enough to look at him.

"Are you really sure you want it? Do you trust him?" he asked. Now she raised her head.

"Yes, I do."

He sighed. "Okay then." He bent down and rumbled in a drawer, then tossed two packs of condoms to Temari. She grabbed them and quickly put them in her pocket.

"Thanks," she whispered, and stood up from the bed. He looked at her a little sadly. "My baby sister…"

"Hey! I'm over eighteen already!" She narrowed her eyes. "By the way… What exactly are you going to do with Ino?"

His ears turned red and he quickly moved her towards the door. "Nonyabisnis," he mumbled, and she laughed while she stepped out of the room. "Haha, my baby brother! Oh, now I wonder what Gaara is doing while we're not there!"

--

Temari had dinner with the other girls, in Ino's room this time. She couldn't help but giggle inwardly every time Ino bragged about her date for tonight. Then suddenly, the blonde turned to her.

"Hey, Temari, what should I talk about with him?"

She was taken by surprise, but quickly recovered. "Oh, what it's like in Suna, a bit about music and family… I think he's more interested in you, though," she winked, but Ino pretended not to get the double meaning. "But I can't talk about myself all evening!" the girl exclaimed. "Well, of course I could, but I don't think he'd like that…"

Temari shrugged. "Just see where it goes, just don't do anything stupid."

Ino laughed: "Don't worry, I won't!"

They finished dinner and Temari went to Shikamaru's room. Below her stomach something was trembling, and her heartbeat was faster than normal. She knocked on his door, but tensed when he opened the door. She swallowed.

"Hey," he said. "Hey," she greeted back, and followed him inside. She fell down on the bed, but immediately regretted that. Was it too much of an invitation? She felt her heart beat loudly.

"Say, are you alright? You look very stressed." He sounded concerned.

She exhaled. "I'm fine, just a little nervous." Then she took one of the packs from her pocket. "Here, I managed to get them."

"And I don't have to fear for my life?" She shook her head. He took the pack from her hands and laid it on the table. Then he sat down next to her.

"There was a very interesting theorem today, about the perimeter and surface of squares."

"What about them?" she asked. He started explaining the proof of the theorem, and then Temari told him about the cells she was growing.

"… And if everything goes well then I should have a carrot in a few weeks!"

"But what would you do with that carrot?" he said, leaning closer to her.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, smiling slyly. "Maybe I could try to change its DNA so it becomes purple?"

"Now that would be useful," and he kissed her lips. She answered. He started removing her hair-ties and the dark blond tresses fell over her shoulders. She continued kissing him, but hesitated when she felt his fingers sliding down her body. He stopped.

"Are you really sure?" She took a deep breath, then kissed him again.

"Yes," she whispered.

--

The next morning, when Temari walked into the college hall, she was greeted by her fellow students:

"Hey, there's the Desert Queen!"

She sat down at a table and asked: "Since when am I a queen?"

The girl with curled hair laughed. "Since your attitude is that of a queen! Don't you like the ring of it, Temari, queen of the desert?"

"I sure do," she said. Then the lesson started, and she went away to check her cell culture. Desert queen… She felt flattered the others called her that.

In the privacy of the lab she touched her lips and marveled at the memory of Shikamaru. She had never felt more like a woman before. She could have as many eighteenth birthdays as she'd want, but only now she felt… mature, feminine. Would he feel like that too? Only the mature part of course, she was pretty sure he wouldn't feel feminine. She smiled while she made a note of the cells, and still smiled when she joined the other students again. The others saw, but didn't say anything. Only the tall guy asked:

"Something good happened?"

She nodded. "Yes," and leaned over her notes again. Then she walked towards one of the computers to enter the data, and he couldn't ask any further.

When her classes ended, she checked her watch and saw she had to hurry. Her first day in the bookshop would start in half an hour, so she quickly dumped her books in her room and went to town.

"Good afternoon!" she greeted Hanzou.

"Hello, Temari," he answered. "I've got a nice job for you, could you put these books in the shelves? Alphabetic order, please."

"Sure," she said. She took a look at the huge pile of books and sighed. Oh well, she'd start at the top.

Later, one of the other shop assistants found her completely lost in one of the books. She tapped on her shoulder and Temari yanked her head up.

"Sorry!" she said quickly. "I'll continue…" The other girl smiled.

"Don't worry about it, it happens all the time. We all love books, that's why we're here. But could you help out at the cash desk for a moment? We're quite busy."

"Y-yeah, of course…" She followed the other, and looked at the till.

"Have you worked with this before?" She shook her head.

"No, but it doesn't look too hard. I'll manage."

"Okay, if there's any trouble, just ask."

"Perfect."

She helped a few costumers, and quite quickly got the hang of settling accounts. Soon she worked as smoothly as if she had never done anything else. Until a girl entered the shop. A whistling, red-haired girl.

She dropped a book on Temari's desk and grinned. It was a manual: "How to get your boyfriend (in ten easy steps)." Inwardly, Temari rolled her eyes.

"That's seven fifty, please," she said, keeping her cool. "Is it a gift?"

"No, but I guess you could use it," Tayuya said when she counted down the money. "Or actually, then the title should've been 'How to keep your boyfriend', shouldn't it?"

Temari sighed. "Listen," she said, "I don't know what you're thinking, but there's absolutely no chance that you'll ever get between Shikamaru and me. And please leave now, there are other customers waiting."

"We'll see about that. Goodbye, Sand Witch."

Tayuya left the shop and Temari shrugged. That girl really was troublesome, as Shikamaru would call it. She'd better just ignore her.

--

Meanwhile, Shikamaru was doing his best to comfort a very sad Chouji.

"I'm sure it's only a fling, she's had so many guys before…" he said.

"I know," Chouji said, resting his chin on his hands. "I wish she'd stop that."

"She's only looking for the right one, and maybe that really is Temari's brother. You never know."

"But still! I know I can't force her to stop going after guys, but why doesn't she ever notice me?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but closed it again. Chouji sighed.

"I understand, I'm no looker. Still I just can't help but feeling over-protective of her, almost possessive."

"Well, we were practically raised together, Ino's sort of a sister to us. Like the two of us are almost brothers."

He smiled. "The way I feel about her is not quite the way a brother should feel."

Shikamaru shrugged. "If you see how protective Kankuro is towards Temari, you'd start to suspect things too if you look at it like that. Really, that guy's so troublesome…"

"Well, he's got Ino now."

"But with Ino you never know how long it'll last. I mean, remember Sai?"

Chouji nodded with a dark look in his eyes.

"And Sasuke, and all the other ones…"

"Yeah, I know she came over them too, but it just worries me that she's so wild. She might get in trouble."

"I'm sure she can take care of herself, and even if she couldn't then you can go and save her like a knight in shining armor, and everyone is happy. So don't worry."

"Thanks," Chouji said, and Shikamaru stood up. He went towards the door, but Chouji said:

"Hey, Shikamaru?"

"Hmm?"

"Did something good happen with Temari?" He quickly turned around.

"Why'd you think that?"

"You seem a bit absent, and you smile constantly. That's not common for you. And I saw Temari beaming too, but Kankuro looked a bit frustrated…"

"I see. Actually, yes, something good happened."

And with that, he turned around again and left the room. Chouji grinned.