Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I make Temari swear and whip Shikamaru to death…isn't that what love's all about?

A/N: I'm going to high school! lol. No durr. But anyways, I'm going to my first-choice high school that's like the top high school in the city! (What a show-off!) Well, yeah…just wanted to fill this author's note up. I'm gonna miss so many people! 

Published March 26, 2007

Chapter 25 - Forever

With Ino, Tenten, and Naruto…

"Why didn't we think of that?" Tenten said. "It's so simple!"

"Exactly. All we have to do is ask Shikamaru and Temari. I mean, just look at them. They're the exact opposites and yet they have an everlasting relationship." Ino said, sounding smart.

Naruto nodded his head. "So all we have to do is ask them what they do?" He asked.

"Yup. We can learn a lot from them." Ino admitted.

"Okay!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Dattebayo! Let's go!" Naruto stood up, with Ino and Tenten following suit.

Ino knocked on the door closest to the three loners.

There was no answer.

Ino shrugged at Ino and Naruto. She tried opening the door. "Hey…the door's unlocked." Ino twisted the knob, opening the door wide.

"You damn ass!" Temari shouted at Shikamaru. "Get back here!"

"Kagemane no jutsu (shadow copy technique)!" Shikamaru said, with his hands in position. "I said sorry!" He said, turning to run out the door. "Huh?" Shikamaru stared at Ino, Naruto, and Tenten. "What are you guys doing?" He asked, out of breath.

"We should be asking you the same thing." Ino said, crossing her arms.

"What is going on in there?" Tenten asked.

"Probably more smexing." Ino whispered loudly to Tenten.

"Eww." Naruto commented.

"Don't be so immature, Naruto." Ino crossed her arms.

"Umm…so why are you here?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, we w--" Ino started.

"Oh, crap." Shikamaru let go of his shadow. "Damn it. I gotta go." He ran, actually really ran, to the elevator, pressing the down button repeatedly.

"Get back here you dumb-ass." Temari ran after Shikamaru.

"Oh, Kami. I've always been too lazy to ask you for anything. Now, I need something. Anything! Please!" Shikamaru started begging. He continued to press the down button repeatedly, even though he knew it wouldn't help.

As if Kami was answering Shikamaru prayers, the elevator door opened, with a group of rude American tourists came running out (A/N: xP lol.).

'Damn.' Temari thought. She moved out of the way as the swarm of people ran through the hall.

Shikamaru slid into the elevator as quickly as possible and pressed the close button constantly until it finally closed. He sighed in relief. 'Great…now that I've avoided her now, I have to find a cure for her itching or…I'm dead.'

"Damn, that Nara." Temari cursed.

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked, noticing Temari's redness.

Temari glared at Naruto. "Shikamaru…he's dead meat."

"Maybe they were smexing too much." Ino whispered loudly to Tenten.

"I heard that. If Shikamaru was less of a lazy-ass, maybe that would be true! But no…he had to be a nice guy and give me an allergic reaction!" She said angrily.

"Wow…that's quite a predicament." Ino bobbled her head.

"Yeah…no wonder you're trying to…kill him?" Naruto assumed.

"Yup. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a certain genius I need to hunt down." Temari said.

"See ya!" Ino and Tenten waved goodbye.

Naruto had his hand on his chin. "Wait a minute. What are we going to do now?!" He realized.

"Oh, crud…he's right." Ino said.

Tenten sighed. "I guess it's back to sulking." She sat back down on the floor.

Ino and Naruto followed suit.

'Where would Temari never find me…?' Shikamaru asked himself as he stood in the elevator. 'What's the most out-of-character thing I would do?'

Just then, the elevator doors opened with a group of annoying little boys running in, playing around and chasing each other.

'Yeah! That's it!' Shikamaru found an idea. He quickly pressed one of the buttons on the elevator and waited to get out of the, now crammed, elevator.

'I haven't seen Ino in a long while…I wonder if something happened.' Chouji wondered. 'No. Ino's a strong ninja. She can surely take care of herself.' He told himself. 'Yup…'

The elevator door opened as Shikamaru sighed in relief. 'Finally, I got away from those troublesome kids. Now, I'll be able to stay away fro--'

"Took you long enough." Temari smirked. "You're such a troublesome kid." She said, leaning on a game machine with her arms crossed.

Shikamaru sighed. 'Just because I'm three years younger than her, she has to call me a kid…'

"I'm thinking more like you each minute, huh?" Temari stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "Of course you would go to the one place you'd be too lazy to go to. The arcade is pretty troublesome…but I guess you didn't think I would've thought of that, huh?" Temari sighed falsely. "I am hurt, Shikamaru." She said sarcastically. "You're not giving me very much credit." She pouted mockingly.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. You're smart; I admit it."

"Thank you. But you know, you're still gonna get your butt kicked." Temari stuck out her tongue childishly.

Shikamaru sighed. "Awww man."

"You whine too much!" Temari said. "Now, get me something to stop this damn itching!" She commanded.

Shikamaru sighed. "You whine too much." He mocked. "There is a probable cure. All you need is this." Shikamaru took out a small brown star from his pocket.

"What the hell is that?" Temari pointed to the star.

"It's a star anise." Shikamaru said.

"Wha? What are you gonna do? Kill me with that thing?" (A/N: It's a reference to Japanese star anise that is highly toxic.) Temari said.

Shikamaru sighed. "Not Japanese star anise. It's Chinese star anise. It took a while to find it, but it was worth the trouble. Just put it in your mouth and suck on it for a while."

Temari looked at Shikamaru suspiciously. "Hmmm…are you sure this'll work?" She took the star anise.

"Of course! I wouldn't have gotten it if I wasn't sure. Now that would've been troublesome." Shikamaru reassured. (A/N: I just made up that the star anise is supposed to heal Temari. So let's pretend star anise really does heal her scratching.)

"Then why didn't you give it to me before?" Temari continued to doubt Shikamaru.

"Because you were trying to kill me you troublesome woman! I couldn't think straight." Shikamaru answered.

Temari shrugged. "Fine." She gave in. Temari put the star in her mouth and starting sucking on it. "Tastes like licorice." She commented.

Shikamaru shrugged. "A lot of people say that."

Temari continued to suck on the star with sucking noises included. "Come on, let's go." She said to Shikamaru. "If I'm gonna suck on this, I might as well talk some sense into the sulkers upstairs as well."

Shikamaru sighed and followed Temari into an elevator that just happened to have opened a moment ago with some American tourists exiting.

'I wonder how everyone else's life is going.' Kankuro sighed. 'I don't have a very exciting life.' He admitted to himself. 'I don't even have anyone my age around here…the closest people are Temari…and them. (A/N: 'them' is Neji and Tenten.)'

In the elevator…

"Why did you try to hide from me? You know you'll just end up in more trouble. Come on, Shikamaru, even Naruto is smarter than that." Temari shook her head in disappointment. "I am saddened by how low your IQ has dropped." She continued to tease.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Shikamaru said.

"Awww, what's wrong. Is little Shikamaru too lazy to think of a comeback?" Temari talked in a pouting voice with puppy-dog eyes.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Then he yawned. "Yes, yes I am." Shikamaru decided to say.

On the 100th floor…

"So…we just wait for Temari to come up with Shikamaru?" Tenten asked.

"I guess." Ino answered.

"Maybe it would be easier if I just talked to Neji…and you just talk to Chouji." Tenten shrugged.

"Maybe…but then again…I doubt there'll be peace in the end." Ino sighed. "I have thought a lot about me and Chouji though…and I've come to the conclusion, that I am an idiot."

"What?" Tenten said. "How can you be an idiot? You're not an idiot." She said.

"I am an idiot." Ino said again. "I made a stupid decision without thinking it through. I made Chouji my boyfriend…I never thought it through. It was just a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. You know what I mean?" Ino said.

"Yeah…I know all about spur-of-the-moment deals." Tenten sighed. "But Neji and I weren't a spur-of-the-moment kind of couple, were we?"

"Nope." Ino said, putting her head against the wall and staring up at the ceiling.

Tenten sighed heavily. "We always thought everything out. If we didn't, we wouldn't go through with it. But sadly," She looked down at her legs. ", I made a big mistake that Neji couldn't fix." Tenten looked at Ino. "Ino, here's a tip. Never, and I mean never, run back to your ex and try to patch things up with him, okay?" She said.

Ino nodded to Tenten. "Got it."

Tenten said. "Good."

10 seconds later…

"Hmm…" Tenten said.

"What?" Ino looked at Tenten strangely.

"I haven't heard Naruto talk for a while." Tenten said.

"Oh, is that all? Naruto can be as lazy as Shikamaru sometimes. He just fell asleep. Surprisingly, he isn't snoring." Ino giggled a little.

Tenten laughed a bit as well. "Well, there was something else I was thinking about." She put cuffed her hands together. "Do you think Neji and I make a good couple?"

"Of course I do! You're kind of like Shikamaru and Temari if you think about it. You're pretty different from each other, but you complete each other perfectly. You're just going through problems that every couple goes through." Ino smiled.

"Thanks, Ino; same to you. You and Chouji are just going through a small problem that every couple goes through." Tenten said to Ino.

Ino smiled half-heartedly, trying to believe Tenten as much as possible.

"Well now that we've got that settled," Tenten stood up. ", I think I've struck up the confidence to talk to Neji again." She held her hand in a fist with confidence.

"Well good for you." Ino crossed her arms with a pout. "You're going to make-up with Neji and leave me to sulk with Naruto."

Tenten put her hands on her hips. "Ino!"

"Just kidding! Gosh. You don't have to take everything so seriously." She said joked.

"Whatever." Tenten walked over to room 1000.

Suddenly, one of the most, if not the most, unexpected events occurred.

A/N: I've never liked cliffhangers, so I gave all those cliffhanger-haters, like myself, another chapter! Am I a good person or what? lol. Yeah right…I just feel bad for not posting a new chapter in two weeks! lol. You choose whichever reason you want. Maybe, I'm like the current Naruto Shippuuden animators and just like airing new episodes every two weeks and making it a one-hour special. I'm talking about Shippuuden episode 6 for those who are reading this long after episode 6 aired!

Song: Forever by Papa Roach. 'It's been a Helter Skelter the romance from the start' and 'my feelings for you are forever'. Now that's deep. lol. That was both sarcastic and true.