The Shogi Mate: Part Two, and the Conclusion.
"Stop playing around," Temari said, angrily. "If you want to finish the game, just do it."
Shikamaru shrugged. "But I don't want to," he said.
The shogi game was wearing on and on--even with Kankuro's tricks, Temari was having a hard time breaking through Shikamaru's seemingly impregnable defenses. It seemed like he had countermoves for every move she made, and that his mind was formulating reactions for any ploys she might attempt. Now her forces were scattered, half of them slaughtered; and though she could not see any immediate dangers to her 'king,' Temari had a suspicious feeling that Shikamaru might not see the same--that he probably knew a way to cleave into her side's heart.
"Then I give up," she said, scooting away from the table. "This is impossible."
"Not really," Shikamaru replied. "Look--you could've moved all of these here, launched this here, and that would've set up a nice hit into my ranks."
Temari looked at where he was pointing; he was right. Why didn't she see this before? "But what would you have done if I did that?"
"Well..." He picked up a piece, and sent it two spaces ahead. "That should set up a nice counterattack."
She rolled her eyes. "Why did I even bother?"
"Whatever." He yawned. "You leaving soon?"
Shrugging, she replied, "Tomorrow morning. I still have to get the Hokage-san's reply."
Shikamaru nodded. He thought about their game of shogi--it had been a pretty good game, and she had put up quite a fight. He peeked outside--the sun was setting now. The game had taken a couple of hours, not because of any fault on his part, but because Temari had taken so much time with each of her moves. Normally, he was annoyed with anyone who took more then ten seconds coming up with the next move; but whenever he played against her, he found himself going... lenient, because the game always became so much more interesting. Not to mention that she looked---alright? kinda pretty?--when she frowned or concentrated, her brows furrowing a bit, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Whatever. He stood up. His legs creaked in protest.
"My legs fell asleep," Temari said. She tried to get up, only to stumble and fall, laughing. "God--I feel like I'm drunk."
Remembering his drinking bout with Chouji and Kiba a month ago, Shikamaru smiled. "This is absoutely nothing compared to drinking. And are you hungry?" His stomach growled a bit in assent.
"You sound like it." Temari, now on her feet, bent down and retrieved her fan, and fastened it across her back. "The usual place, then?"
"I was thinking more about ramen."
"Ramen? Not at the Itadaki place?" Looking a bit suspicious, she peered into his face. "You're not trying to sneak in a date, are you?"
"What? No."
She looked relieved--but was that a flash of disappointment? Hoping that the same emotion wasn't mirrored on his face, he led her out the door.
"So, what happened, afterwards?" Asuma nudged Shikamaru playfully. "I'm all ears."
Team Asuma still met once a week in the Sunagakure-style barbecue, the Sand Lamp. Shikamaru frowned as Choji laughed and picked up another giant piece of meat, dripping with soy sauce.
"Nothing," he said. "We just went to the Ichiraku, had some ramen, talked a bit, and--"
"Did she cross her legs like this?" Asuma crossed his fingers to suggest that Temari had, um, showed... her undersides. Under her thighs. God, this was getting uncomfortable.
"No," Shikamaru said. "We didn't do anything."
"So is that what you're angry about?"
"No!"
"You know," Choji said then, "you're always cool about these kind of things. Remember when Master Asume had his little indiscretion with Yuuhi Kurenai?"
"That's Mistress Kurenai to you, punk," Asuma said.
"Whatever," Shikamaru said. "Listen: she's just a friend. I have no feelings whatsoever for her, and I like her no more then I like Ino." Then he looked at the two sitting across the table, staring right over his shoulder, and sighed. "And damn it, Ino's standing right behind me, isn't she?"
The girl in question punched the back of his head, sending his face crashing into the table, turned, and left. Shikamaru rose up with a bloody nose and chased after her.
Asuma and Choji, now alone, shrugged and continued eating. Hey, it'd be a waste not to eat...
Temari decided that thinking about Nara Shikamaru was like thinking about a giant, black ball of cotton dripping with soporifics. It bore no use--there was no point in it. At least, that's what she told herself. No point whatsoever. Right...
The Godaime hadn't been in her office, so she was stuck in Konoha for one more night. Not that she minded, but still, the delay was quite upsetting in that she had told Nara that she was going to leave that very night... it would be uncomfortable to see him again. He might think it was a lie. But why did she care about what he thought?
She had been walking back to the inn when she spotted a little place called the Sand Lamp. She immediately identified the scent of spices in the air--gods, it was a Sunagakure grill! Though she loved the forest setting of Konoha, the foods here always tasted so bland, with fish and ramen and rice and those just about being it.
Give me a nice shank of roasted mutton any day, she thought.
Then a blond-haired girl rushed out of the restaurant. Temari hid herself. She identified the girl as Yamanaka Ino. And following her was... Nara Shikamaru.
Stifling the sudden rise of anger, she stayed hidden, and listened.
"You're supposed to be a fucking genius!" Ino cried.
"I know."
"Well, well, you never get the hint, do you!"
"I did, actually."
That seemed to stop the Yamanaka girl in her tracks. Temari watched with narrowed eyes as Ino turned and started walking back to Shikamaru, who stood with his hands in his pockets. Temari realized then that he was going to do nothing while Ino did something...
"Oh no you don't," Temari said out aloud. "You better not punch him."
The Yamanaka girl stopped, and turned towards the sound of the voice. Shikamaru, on the other hand, suddenly looked like he was going to be sick.
"Punch him, and you die," Temari said.
"You're Temari," Ino said calmly. "Right?"
"Yeah," she replied, thrown off by the other girl's lack of enmity.
"Look," Ino said, "I got nothing against you--I mean, you didn't hear this idiot, did you?"
"What... what did he say?" Temari took a quick look at Shikamaru, who looked like he was going to faint.
"That he liked you no more then he did me."
Something telepathic seemed to pass between the girls then. Their eyes locked, shared some mutual pain, and turned towards the token male of their little triad. Shikamaru gulped, and tried to run away.
The key word being 'tried,' that is.
"Don't fuck with that chick," Kiba said knowledgeably from the bed next to his. The dog-face's date hadn't gone very well, either, judging by the numerous stitches covering his body.
Chouji snorted. "Well, yeah."
Shikamaru sighed and turned back to the window, where numerous clouds, fluffy and white, were passing overhead. It was going to be a long day; after all, with three broken ribs and two shattered legs, he wasn't going to go anywhere...
A/N: I have no idea if policies allow me to write down replies for the reviews here, so I decided to be safe and just replied to all of the reviews with the, well, the reply button. Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I think I got everyone--if I missed you, all I can say is that I'm an idiot. Thanks for reading!