Author's notes: well it's been a while since the last update. Too much homework but I finally got some time and finished writing the second chapter to this story.
Chapter 2 : The meeting
Finally the sand village became visible to the two man group heading there. After 3 long days their destination seemed a few steps away."I guess in about in hour we'll be arriving. My sister should probably be locked in her room wallowing as usual" Kankuro said "I know you won't tell me what you'll do but, be gentle with her idiot"
"Yeah" Shikamaru lazily agreed
At last the duo arrived to the village. It really hadn't been that long since Shikamaru was there, since the last battle was recent but it somehow seemed quite different. Maybe it's the peace that the town exhales, the feeling of the people living their lives fearless. But the atmosphere seemed denser.
A while passed following Kankuro until they finally stopped in front of the sibling's house. Shikamaru had never been here. It was a huge house but what's to expect from the family of the village's Kazekage, it seems like it was damaged in the battle though, since many parts of it seemed to have been completely reconstructed.
Kankuro quickly opened the door and made a remark to himself about how good it was to be back. Shikamaru had felt calm during the trip, but the moment he crossed that door his heartbeats seemed to have doubled in speed.
"Go upstairs. First door to the left" Kankuro said closing the door behind them
Shikamaru nodded slightly and headed for the stair. His nervousness grew even bigger then. He couldn't understand why though, he replayed all the possible scenarios in his mind over and over again. But after all women sometimes seem to break the rules of sense and that was probably the reason.
Shikamaru stood a few seconds in front of the door of Temari's room, hesitating. Finally on a moment of brief braveness he opened wide on a quick move. What he found in that room was a Temari far from the one he remembered. Her hair was undone, her bed was too, and the whole room seemed like a mess altogether. She was lying in her bed facing down, and even though the door made noise when it opened she didn't notice (or care).
"Umm" the sound of a familiar voice made Temari raise her head. When she realized it was Shikamaru she stood up
"Shikama-" Shikamaru quickly approached her and sealed her lips with his index finger
"Shhh. You don't need to say anything" Temari seemed a bit confused by this action "I just want you to know I understand how you feel"
Moving his hand away Temari grunted "What are you talking about idiot? What are you doing here" Shikamaru fell into complete confusion
"Umm I don't think this is how it's supposed to go" he whispered to himself. Temari's face was nowhere near a desperate lover but more like an annoyed girl in that time of the month.
"Ahh mission" was the first thing he could think of since Shikamaru definitely knew something wasn't going as planned.
"What do you mean you know how I feel? How could you!" The girl yelled
"Uhhh ah I mean I understand what depression is and I know it's hard and..." Shikamaru's mind seemed foggy and unfocused. Not even danger of death would do that to him but this situation somehow made him more worried.
"I came here for the huh, mission and I ran into your brother and he told me you were acting strange so I figured I come visit you" A quick excuse Temari seemed to have bought.
"Since when do you care…" she said moving towards her bed again
"Aww come on, what kind of answer is that to a nice gesture like this" he muttered sarcastically, but Temari didn't answer.
"So listen, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" he said having the feeling she wouldn't
"You… could never understand…" she said on s weak slow voice "besides it's none of your business!"
A small silence passed, while Shikamaru tried to figure out a way to make her talk.
"If you just let it out you will feel better. Trust me. Whatever you say to me here will never leave this room, just let out some steam" he finally said
Shikamaru's voice tone was serious and comforting, some of this made Temari feel somehow secure.
"I don't know if I can trust…"
"You know I can be trusted. I'm not stupid enough too tell anyone what you would tell me. I'd be dead and that'd be troublesome"
A small smirk lightened up Temari's face.
"So tell me, what's the reason for all this?" Shikamaru felt brave enough to ask again
"The reason…" she started to say
"Yeah?" Shikamaru said on suspense
"The reason is… I lost my fan!" she yelled
Shikamaru's eyes widened and gave the illusion of leaving their orbits.
"Y y you lost your fan? Is that why you are depressed?"
"Yes… my very first fan I lost it… after the battle I came back here and it was gone… I loved that fan so much"
"Damn Ino! I'm going to kill you!" he whispered after he got confirmation of the terrible mistake "I can't believe I came here thinking she was like this for me… seems so stupid when I think about it now… but it made –"
"What did you say?" she asked
"Ummm nothing" he replied nervously "Anyways… really? So much for a fan?
"It's not just any fan. It's a very precious gift given to me by my father" her face reflected true sadness "I didn't' even use it that much anymore since it was a little torn and old from all my fights but still… it had a special sentimental value"
Shikamaru though for a while and figured out that since he was here already it would've be a bad idea to try and help. After all everything he had planned had gone to the drain in an instant. And even tough they never really existed, the though of Temari having those kind of feelings for him changed the way he saw her.
"So where have you looked for it?" Shikamaru asked the blonde girl
All over the house, a little outside, but no luck… I have no hopes in finding it outside since I doubt it would grow feet and go outside. That's why I'm giving up hope… but I'm having a hard time…"
"Why aren't you telling anyone?"
"I feel most people would think it's stupid to be depressed over something like this…" she said "besides I'm trying to forget… I have to stop thinking about it…"
Shikamaru remembered the outside of the house. It seemed like it could've been under attack and the fan could have ended up outside somehow. Maybe if they looked more carefully into the surroundings they could have a shot at finding it.
"Let's go look for it" Shikamaru said surprising Temari for a second but soon returning to her passive mood.
"I told you it's no use… It's gone" she said throwing herself at the bed again
"So you say you love this fan so much but you give up hope?"
"Go away… I'm doing fine…" she said waving him off, slightly annoyed.
Shikamaru's gaze fixed at Temari's face even though she was looking away
"Fine" he said while he headed for the door, he seemed somehow angry.
After he left Temari was left confused about what he would do now.
"He's probably gone… he'll be returning to Konoha" she though "or could it be that he… is going to…" she stopped that last though "no… that would be really unlike him…"
But then again Shikamaru seemed unlike him since the moment he walked to that door. Different from the lazy ass she was used to. And what's this about caring and trying to cheer her up that's not him at all.
"Something's going on here" she concluded
"I'll go and look for Kankuro. Maybe he has something to say."
Well I know it was probably an unexpected turn if you read the first chapter of this fic, but hopefully it was executed properly. I have more than half of the final chapter done already so I expect to update in less than a week this time. See ya.