Disclaimer: see part 1.

Of Sand and of Leaf

Part 3

The Woman Temari Respects

By Random1377

Surrounded by friends, with his bento sitting comfortably in his lap, Shikamaru found that he was finally able to relax. He had found TenTen, Hinata, and Naruto sitting around in what had become their favorite lunch spot – a small clearing in a little copse of trees, not too far from the ninja academy. He had been oddly hesitant about joining them at first, feeling a sudden, unexpected twinge of discord at seeing the three genin talking and having a good time, but TenTen had spotted him before he could slip away, and waved him over with a happy smile.

What WAS that all about, Shikamaru wondered, finally getting around to taking the lid off of his bento. It was almost like I didn't belong here.

He pushed the thought aside, glancing around at his friends as they talked about mundane matters. Or rather, while Nartuo and TenTen talked about mundane matters.

Hinata pretty much just nodded and avoided eye contact with Naruto.

So clueless, Shikamaru thought, shaking his head as Naruto gestured extravagantly with his chopsticks, caught up in telling an eager TenTen about his encounter with the legendary nin Orochamaru. She's not even trying to hide it – she's just too shy to actually come out and say 'I like you.' His brow drew down slightly. Naruto's lucky.

"Hey Shikamaru," TenTen said, calling him out of his ruminations, "have you seen those three Sand nins walking around town? Naruto said they're representatives, or something – is that true?"

Shikamaru blew out an exasperated breath. "Yeah, I've seen them," he muttered, pulling out a pair of chopsticks, "…more than I want to."

"Yeah," TenTen nodded, thinking that his complaint was the same as hers, "they give me the creeps – especially the one with that puppet."

"Kankoro," Naruto said helpfully around a mouthful of udon, "but he's nothing compared to Gaara – stay away from that guy."

TenTen looked incredulous. "Nothing??" she echoed. "Did you see what he did to that guy in the chuunin test?"

"Yeah," Naruto shrugged, "but when he fought-"

Suddenly he cut himself off, drawing his bento closer to his chest as he stared intently into the foliage around them, his eyes narrow and watchful.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, looking around the peaceful clearing in confusion, "is something wr-"

"Rasen Bento Kage no Jutsu!!"

A blink… and it was all over. TenTen and Hinata yelped in surprised, covering their faces as something dark passed over them, all of the assembled shinobi (save Naruto) drawing weapons as a chill wind snapped through their midst.

"L-look at that!" TenTen gasped, pointing to Shikamaru's bento.

All eyes were fixed on the small box as it spun in the chuunin's lap, a light zephyr lifting from its sides as its rotation slowed, and finally stopped, leaving it facing the young man with the hinged lid open invitingly.

Shikamaru's brows drew down – not in surprise, like Hinata and TenTen, but in anger. "Where's my lunch?!" he demanded, looking all around. "What is this? This isn't mine!"

"Looks good, though," Naruto offered, reaching with his chopsticks for a tempting piece of okra. "Mind if I-"

From nowhere, a kunai tore through the air, slicing the young genin's chopsticks in half. "Don't touch things that aren't yours!" a voice boomed from the shadows. "That's Shikamaru's lunch."

"The same goes for you!" Shikamaru grumbled. "Where's my lunch?"

"Oh man," Naruto groaned, covering his bento a moment before another gale-force wind touched down directly in the middle of their small group. "You're gonna make me spill, damn it!"

The wind faded, leaving a smiling young woman crouched on the ground in front of Shikamaru with one hand planted flat in front of her and the other clutching a huge fan over her back like a shield. "You saw me," she grinned at Naruto, "not bad, kid."

"You're not THAT much older," Naruto pointed out, pulling a spare set of chopsticks out of his pocket, "now stop with the wind crap – you're pissing me off!"

Shikamaru was on the verge of demanding his old lunch back when TenTen suddenly spoke, her tone as cold as a winter storm. "It's YOU," she said, her tone brittle as her hands itched towards the shirikens secreted about her body. "I still owe you for the last time we met, you Sand b-"

"Uh-uh," Temari said, whipping the fan off of her back and flicking it towards TenTen so that the edge stopped an inch from her throat. "Don't start something you can't finish, little girl."

Things seemed tense as the two girls shot daggers at each other with their eyes, and looks may have escalated into something more physical had Shikamaru not said, "Oi, stop causing trouble." When the Sand genin glanced his way, he held up the bento with one hand, leaning back on the other as he blandly asked, "What's this supposed to be…? And where's MY lunch?"

Temari pulled her fan back, furling it and setting it within easy reach before sitting down at Shikamaru's side. "I made you a better one," she said matter-of-factly. "It's only proper, after all, since-"

"Wait," TenTen cut in, glancing at the still-flabbergasted Hinata and the casually-eating Naruto. "Is it just me?" she said angrily, "Or is this Sand freak actually HITTING on Shikamaru??"

Naruto shrugged. "Got me," he said, slurping up a piece of tempura, "I don't know much about that kind of stuff."

Obviously, four minds shot back in perfect synchronicity.

"…what?"

Ignoring the look of bafflement on Naruto's face, Temari said, "It IS what it looks like… I've decided that I want to be with Shikamaru."

TenTen's response was eloquent, and to the point.

"Why??"

"Hey!"

"Well, no offense, Shikamaru-kun," TenTen said with a nervous smile, "but you're… you're kind of a slacker… and… and you complain a lot. I mean, well, you're cute and all – but you're just… you know what I'm trying to say, don't you Hinata? Back me up, here!"

Hinata, who had been looking at Naruto as if she'd finally figured out that no amount of subtlety would EVER get his attention, and perhaps more direct action was in order, shook herself and stared down at the ground, blushing fiercely as she was forced to speak.

"T-TenTen only means that… you don't seem like… you're interested in dating," she said haltingly, "that's all. Please don't be offended, Shikamaru-kun."

"Would you all stop calling me kun?" Shikamaru complained, rubbing his face tiredly, "I'm at least two months older than all of you, you know."

Temari smiled wolfishly, settling back on the grass and discretely covering his hand with her own. "Not me," she said simply, "now try your bento – it took me all morning to make it."

"…I thought things were peaceful there for a minute."

"Grr."

"If I try it, can I have my own back?" Shikamaru asked doggedly.

"No," Temari said whimsically, "I was going to give the other one back if you didn't like this one… until I realized that you would say you hated it even if it was the best thing you'd ever had."

"Wow," TenTen muttered, trying hard not to sound impressed, "she DOES know you pretty well…"

"If you're worried about poison," Naruto piped up, ignoring Temari's look of indignation, "I'll be glad to try it for you. We're friends, after all."

"No thanks," Shikamaru said dryly, "I've seen you 'try' things."

With a gusty sigh, he set the bento in his lap, pressing his hands together and muttering, 'Itdakimasu,' under his breath before tentatively picking up a piece of hotdog (carved into an octopus, naturally) and popping it into his mouth. Trying to ignore his audience, he selected several more morsels from the box, chewing each with the same, careful precision.

Unable to bear the suspense, TenTen blurted, "Well??" shooting a glance at Temari that clearly said, 'bet it's awful!'

Shikamaru kept his head down as he continued to eat, his mouth barely moving as he whispered, "It's… not bad."

"Bah, watching people eat is boring," Naruto announced suddenly, "let's go watch the new trainees – Konohamaru's usually good for some laughs… kid still thinks no one will notice a rock with eyes crawling across the grass."

TenTen – anxious to be away from the Sand nin – agreed almost as fast as Hinata, and together, the three excused themselves, leaving Temari and Shikamaru alone.

"Now there's a girl that knows the man she wants," Termari muttered, watching Hinata until she disappeared into the distance.

Shikamaru brought a bite of rice to his lips. "Only Naruto doesn't know," he muttered, "she's a little pathetic about it."

"No," Temari said seriously, "her I can respect. She doesn't move all that fast… but she never stops, she never gives up, and she doesn't try to hide what she feels – even for a second." She glanced at Shikamaru, nodding her approval. "In this kind of warfare, she's the kind of competition I fear the most."

Shikamaru gave her a sardonic stare, setting the half-eaten bento to the side. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

Temari averted her eyes. "Just one more sign that you don't know anything about me," she countered bluntly.

"Fine," Shikamaru said, exasperated, "tell me something about yourself."

"Nope."

"Huh??"

"I said no," Temari murmured, rising to her feet and brushing fragments of crumbled leaves off of her backside. "You don't really want to know, you just want me tell you something so you can pretend to think about it and get me to shut up."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, I DO want you to shut up," he admitted, "I can't argue with that."

Putting her hands on her hips, Temari stared out at the horizon. "I won't give up, you know," she said quietly, "no matter how mean you are to me, I won't give up until you really see me."

"I'm not being mean to you," Shikamaru said levelly, "I'm just not interested in you."

Temari glanced at him over her shoulder, her voice entirely serious as she replied, "Yes you are."

"Whatever."

Shrugging indifferently, Temari turned around and dropped into a crouch, resting her hands on her knees and staring into Shikamaru's eyes for a long moment. "Just look at me sometime," she said bluntly, nearly making him jump with the force in her voice. "I'm worth seeing, Shikamaru-kun."

Squirming uncomfortably, Shikimaru muttered, "Whatev-"

Temari's hand flashed out, covering his mouth firmly. "I'll make you a deal," she said quickly. "Spend the next three days with me – and really TRY to see me. If you still think I'm too 'aggressive,' after that, I'll change. Deal?"

Waiting until his mouth was free, Shikamaru asked, "So you'll leave me alone?"

"I didn't say that," Temari replied, her lips quirking up at the corners, "what I'm saying is… if you don't like me the way I am in three days time, I will MAKE myself into the kind of woman you DO like." Her eyes flicked to where Hinata had disappeared into the distance. "I'll be just like her, if you want me to – and if you STILL don't like it after another three days, then I'll leave this town, forget we ever met, and you'll never have to see me again."

Shikmaru pursed his lips. "So… six days," he said skeptically. Not that you'd be able to be like Hinata for three MINUTES if your life depended on it, he added mentally.

"Barely a sliver of a lifetime," Temari confirmed. "Come on, Shikamaru-kun – what do you have to lose?"

"Six days," Shikamaru replied instantly, lacing his hands behind his head as Temari's face darkened with anger, "but if you're serious about all this, why don't you reverse the days and try being like someone else first?"

Temari frowned. "Then you'd never see me," she whispered seriously, "and that's all I want."

"Yara, yara," the chuunin sighed, "you're such a pain. Alright, six days it is… but I hope you're ready to pack, because-"

He was cut off as Temari suddenly darted in and swiped another kiss from him, grinning as he cursed and wiped at his mouth.

"Stop DOING that!"

Temari was already rising to her feet. "Come on, Leaf-Sensei," she said brightly, offering him her hand and pulling him effortlessly to his feet.

"Come walk with me for a while…"

Continued…

Author's Notes: Yara, yara, I hope I'm using yara, yara right. In case anyone truly cares,

Rasen Bento Kage no Jutsu roughly translates to Spiral Lunchbox Shadow Technique. Unless I've been misreading translations again – which is a very good possibility. Only Temari can utilize this horrific, lunch stealing technique! …then again, she's probably the only one that wants to.

Six String Samurai provided some valuable insight on this chapter… much of which consisted of repeatedly saying, "You better not try to steal MY lunch, or I'll mess you up!" …some people.

Feedback is always welcome on any site with reviewing capabilities, or by e-mailing me directly at random1377(at-symbol)yahoo(dot)com.