A Little Harmony
Shikamaru/Temari
Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language

Disclaimer: I don't own characters.

- - -

CHAPTER FIVE

Temari sighed as she leaned against a tree, watching the group of string musicians a few feet away setting up. She was supposed to meet Shikamaru and company today to practice "their" piece... like they'd been doing for the past week and a half, preparing for the exhibition-slash-competition this Friday – which was, coincidentally, only three days away. Though he didn't really look it, Temari could tell – or rather, feel – that Shikamaru was rather excited.

That just made her predicament worse, really.

She was not looking forward to the inevitable confrontation at all.

The truth was, she'd just had lunch with her brothers and their manager Baki­-san. Last week when he'd shown up out of the blue, he'd told them that a special underground rock "contest" – a sort of Battle of the Bands type of thing – was going to take place at the end of the month over the course of two weeks. The Chuunin, it was called, was going to be an important step for Sabaku. Bands from all over the world were coming to Japan and all of them, generally speaking, were of the highest calibre. If Sabaku managed to pull off an excellent show then, they were going to be looking at international recognition and a possible deal with one of the world's most important and major music labels. Though Sabaku was somewhat popular now, it was only in Japan – where the three of them had grown up – and also a few cities back home in the States. This was a chance that did not come too often and the three of them had jumped at the opportunity.

At the time, Temari was relieved it wasn't going to clash with Shikamaru's thing. Though she knew she was probably going to be as busy as hell with all the practicing and rehearsing going on with two different parties, she had no doubt that she could handle it. You see, Baki-san had said their show was going to be on the 21st.

"Had" being the operative word.

Funny how these sorts of things always seemed to happen, huh?

This morning – think five-ish. Yeah, ridiculous, ain't it? – Baki-san had called and asked to meet them for lunch. He had "excellent" news, apparently. Through his "connections", Baki­-san had "discovered" that a major label was going to be present for the show on the 19th – how he found this confidential information was not something the siblings questioned; it wasn't the first time and though they were thankful... they knew they'd rather not know about Baki's "information network" – and so he (somehow) managed to switch slots with another group; one that apparently did not know about the aforementioned major music label.

And now, Temari was forced with the task of informing Shikamaru that, sorry, she wasn't going to be able to make it on the 19th for the 53rd Annual Konoha Strings Ensemble Exhibition and Competition. Not that Baki-san or Kankuro or Gaara knew...

Sadly, even if she'd wanted to, Temari couldn't have said anything against Baki­-san. For even though he was basically working for the group, he was pretty much in control of everything – more than anything, it felt as if he was the employer and they were mere underlings. Besides, she knew Kankuro would not hear anything of Temari ditching for some string quintet... and she was rather scared of Gaara.

And, really... she was pretty excited about the Battle of the Bands, too. If she were completely honest with herself, she had to say that she was... well, a rocker. She enjoyed playing the strings, yes. Especially in a group – it felt different. It was relaxing; something like a stress-reliever of sorts. However, it had always only been a way to pass the time and keep herself from being bored... that and it gave her an excuse to see Shikamaru. She hated to admit it... but really, one of the few reasons why she did all this was... well... him.

Anyway, she was a rocker by blood (well, not literally)... even if she forced herself to want to sacrifice her joy for Shikamaru, she wouldn't have been able to. Besides, why would she do something as stupid as that? Point of the matter is, this was a chance of a lifetime for Sabaku... as much guilt as she might feel ditching Shikamaru, she knew she would regret giving this chance up even more.

And so, with such a conclusion in front of her, she leaned back again, shut her eyes and sighed. This was not going to be a good day.

What she hated the most was the fact that she was going to have to disappoint Shikamaru.

... That was it, really.

Now, she didn't really know why. She just didn't want to. Disappoint him, that is.

She looked over at Shikamaru again. There was something about him that was... really... different. Temari didn't know how else to explain it or describe him. For years, Temari had always been Sabaku no Temari, the rocker girl. All the guys she'd ever dated only looked at her because she was – apparently – a sex symbol. She was hot, she was good at the bass, and she was strong. Probably a lesbian. That was what everyone said and that was probably the only thing everyone ever knew about her. Temari never talked much to strangers, nor did she talk much with her siblings – in all honesty, she lived in an environment that was not entirely conducive to productive or meaningful conversations. And yet, here was a complete stranger... someone whom she'd decided to hate since day one... and he somehow managed to... read her mind. She didn't think he was psychic or anything, possibly just over-intuitive; however... though she knew he was probably not doing it on purpose...

She couldn't help but... notice it.

See, no one ever knew what she thought. No one knew what she cared about or her opinion on things...

And no one has ever really showed that they actually cared either.

... Well... until...

Eventually, Shikamaru's voice interrupted her thoughts, forcing her to stop her contemplation of the situation and calling her over – a bit too excitedly in Temari's opinion, though to the untrained ear, Shikamaru probably sounded bored. She decided to completely stop pursuing the train of thought she was just riding – it was getting much too dangerous and strange, and not to mention alien. And about not being able to make it on the 19th, she'd talk to him after today's practice – maybe over a cup of coffee or something.

Or maybe tea. Yes, maybe tea would be better. She'd been told once that tea helped with the nerves.

Not that she was asking him out or anything retarded like that. Hell no.

She pushed herself off her perch and grabbing her double bass, she made her way to Shikamaru.

She hoped things didn't get too difficult.

- - -

It was strange.

After practice, Temari had looked at him oddly and asked him if he felt like having a cup of coffee, or something. That was actually exactly what she said, "Do you feel like having a cup of coffee... or something?" Shikamaru stared at her for a while and after concluding that nothing fatal could come out of having an innocent cup of coffee, he said yes, in fact he did feel like having a cup of coffee... or something. And so, here they were now, sitting opposite each other... having a cup of coffee. And not something. Well, at least he was. She, for reasons Shikamaru didn't want to bother deciphering, was having tea.

Temari looked like there was something she wanted to talk about, this much Shikamaru could tell. Anything more than that, like what it was she wanted to talk about, for example, he had no clue. Not knowing something like this made Shikamaru feel very uncomfortable and he, quite honestly, did not know how to act around her at the moment.

That and the fact that their little tryst in her hotel room last week was still – quite embarrassingly, really – fresh (and made doubly so because of his blasted memory) on his mind.

In more ways than one.

You see, he'd never noticed her before. He knew she was hot and sexy. Definitely pretty. Ino and Sakura had bombarded him and the other guys this information a long time ago. He'd noticed that first night he saw her play her bass at their gig that she was indeed rather beautiful – in a strong, mature type of way. But, Shikamaru was never attracted to women like that. Nor was he attracted to women of intellect either. As far as Shikamaru was concerned, women were conniving, cunning and most definitely annoying – this opinion was probably influenced greatly by his present girlfriend, poor guy – he could live without the inconvenience of having to handle them, really. Intellectual women were a pain because they thought they were so smart that they just had to freaking share their opinions. He was then forced to listen and give them comments. Pretty women were a pain because they spent half their lives flirting.

Conclusion? Women – in general – were annoying.

And so, he was surprised to find that he didn't really mind Temari – and she was both beautiful and intellectual, as far as he was concerned. He was even more surprised to realize that he was slowly getting attracted to her. However, the most surprising was the fact that he found her... well... exciting. And really, not a lot of things in this world interested the Nara, and even fewer things excited the boy.

As far as women were concerned, Shikamaru thought he pretty much had them figured out. He knew why they did that and he knew why they did this. You see, women were amazing creatures – they never wasted a single action. Everything they did had a reason and a purpose behind. Now, whether this purpose or reason is noble or not depends entirely on the type of woman. Anyway, Shikamaru thought he understood women. But then, Temari came along and he couldn't read her. Usually, women were as easy to read as books. To him, anyway. Their emotions showed on their faces and their meanings blatantly displayed themselves in their body language. But... Temari? He couldn't read her. Not really, anyway. There was something seriously mysterious about her.

And she was more than just intellectual – she was brilliant. She was a genius... and she wasn't stuck up about it. Whether or whether not it was because she wasn't aware of it herself was really irrelevant, as far as Shikamaru was concerned. He knew she probably did know she was good, and he appreciated that humility in her. If she didn't know, well then... he liked that innocence.

In any case, he really wanted to know what it was Temari wanted to say.

To be completely honest, it was bothering him to his wits end.

"So..." he ventured, no longer able to endure the rather awkward silence that had settled fifteen minutes ago.

"So..." she replied.

Shikamaru sighed. It was not like her to be so... reserved. Usually, she said what was on her mind, just like that. More than anything, it felt as if she was thinking of the best possible way to explain to him a very sad situation. Shikamaru was doubtful whether Temari cared much about his feelings, so he wished she'd just get it over with. He had no clue why she was dilly-dallying.

Eventually Temari sighed and put down her cup. Leaning back, she opened an eye and considered him. He raised an eyebrow.

"This Friday... I won't be able to make it."

Shikamaru almost dropped his cup.

"Wha-!"

"Shikamaru!" an overly sunny voice interrupted them.

"You're too loud, dobe."

Shikamaru turned around to see Uchiha and Uzumaki walking towards them. He groaned. Now was so not the time.

"Man," Naruto continued, reaching Shikamaru and draping his arms on his shoulders from behind. "When Ino told us that you were cheating on her with another blonde, we thought she'd gone crazy."

"Na... ruto..." Shikamaru's eyebrow was twitching.

"You're talking too much, usuratonkachi."

Naruto acted like he didn't hear Sasuke. "I mean, seriously. The Shikamaru we know and love doesn't do that kind of thing." Naruto looked up at Temari, grinning. "Apparently, you have a fetish for blondes, eh?"

"Ino... was it?"

Naruto's eyes opened wide when Temari spoke. Ah, he finally recognized her.

"Y-you... you're...!"

Temari raised an eyebrow and smirked at Shikamaru.

"She's... blonde?"

Naruto pointed at her, wide-eyed, and said in a relatively loud voice, "You're Sabaku no Tema-!"

Sasuke, having the presence of mind not to be a complete idiot, grabbed Naruto and covered his mouth.

"I said: you're talking too much, aho."

"Mmmpf!"

Temari laughed. "I see you do have friends who know me."

Shikamaru rubbed his temple. "Naruto, would you sit down and keep quiet? You're attracting too much attention."

Naruto managed to get Sasuke off him, but not without a glare.

"Ah... uh... okay," Naruto scratched his head. "But you better tell us what in the hell is going on, man."

Sasuke nodded. "Agreed."

Fifteen minutes later, after having explained to them the situation, Shikamaru found Naruto laughing his head off and Sasuke being... well... silent, really. He appreciated Sasuke's maturity, at least... not so much Naruto's though.

"What!" Naruto was laughing. Hard. "And Ino was freaking out, man!"

Shikamaru had to prevent the urge to sock Naruto one.

"Hahaha! Wait 'till the others hear about this one! Shikamaru cheating on Ino with... Temari!"

Sasuke rolled an eye. Temari was looking very amused.

"So that was what was going on! Who'd have thought that she was Sabakuno-sensei's daughter!"

Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were both members of the orchestra, by the way. Sasuke played the violin, Naruto, the flute.

Shikamaru sighed.

"I'm glad you finally understand." He looked up. "Don't tell me Ino's been spreading that crap around?"

Temari laughed. "Crap, eh?"

Shikamaru winced. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto blinked.

"Anyway," Shikamaru continued, trying to change the subject. He thanked the lords Naruto was an idiot. And also for the fact that though Sasuke was more perceptive, he was also at least more considerate. He eyed Temari. "I hope I heard you wrong about this Friday."

Temari looked away.

"Something... came up. I'm sorry."

Shikamaru stared at her. "What!"

Something! Please tell him she wasn't planning on leaving it at that.

"Temari!"

A voice that shouldn't have been familiar (but then was) interrupted yet again. Shikamaru groaned. What was it with people and interrupting today! This time, he didn't even bother turning around. He knew they were coming over.

"Whatchoo doin' in a place like this?" Kankuro stood in front of them, Gaara right behind. "We were wondering where you disappeared off to after lunch and... Shit! Is that a double bass!"

Kankuro was referring to the big case which Temari had accidentally left partially open. She hastily shut it, huffed and chose not to answer Kankuro's question. Kankuro looked at Shikamaru.

"Man," he said, grinning. "You're somethin' totally different if you got Temari into classical music."

Temari kicked him from under the table, causing him to yelp. Gaara... smirked. In the meantime, Naruto was busy staring open-mouthed at the two new members of the party. As far as Shikamaru was concerned, the table was getting way too crowded. Kankuro grinned at Sasuke and Naruto. "Scooch over, wouldya?"

Naruto and Sasuke obliged, still staring – well, at least Naruto was. Gaara remained standing.

"Temari," he said, looking at his sister. "Perhaps it's time we head back?"

Kankuro moaned. "Must we? I just got to sit down!"

Gaara chose to ignore him. "We really need to start practicing for this Friday. Baki-san said so."

Shikamaru looked up. "What's happening this Friday?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Temari wince.

Gaara looked at him, then at Temari. "Has my sister not informed you?"

Shikamaru worked to control his patience. He was, really, generally speaking, a patient guy... in truth, more patient than most. However, at this moment in time... Gaara was driving him mad.

"I do believe," he said, matching Gaara's tone – something the other boy obviously did not fail to notice. "She was about to... until the both of you decided to interrupt us."

Kankuro looked at him. "Dude, watch it."

He sounded more concerned for Shikamaru's safety than for Gaara's pride.

Gaara eyed him.

"The three of us have an important event we must attend."

Shikamaru stared at Temari again. "How about the competition!"

Temari continued looking away, still not meeting his eyes. She looked guilty.

"Competition?" Kankuro inquired, curiosity piqued. Looking at Temari's double bass, he squeaked, "Like, an actual... classical music... competition... thing?"

Naruto was the one who answered. "Yeah. They're doing this string quintet for some strings competition at school this Friday."

Kankuro burst out laughing. "You're kidding!"

Temari gave him the evil eye.

Kankuro continued, waving her away. "Man, Temari, if you were that bored, you could've told me!" Shikamaru who was originally looking helplessly at Temari, turned his attention towards Kankuro. "I mean, you'd think you would've been busy enough with all the practicing we've been doing the past two weeks!" Kankuro, apparently, found the whole thing amusing. Shikamaru didn't.

Shikamaru's eyes opened wide. "Two weeks?" He looked at Temari. "It didn't just... 'come up'... did it?"

Temari bit her lower lip and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. But, truthfully... it really just came up... sorta... and-"

Shikamaru stood up, slamming the table. "You're kidding me!"

She was lying. Kiba, Shino and Hinata and... he was looking forward to Friday! They sounded good! If they were lucky, they could even win it... more than that... he wanted to play on stage with her... She said she'd do it... she couldn't just...

Gaara coughed and looking directly at Shikamaru. "I suggest you control your temper, Nara-san." He emphasized the salutation he used on his name. "My sister cannot help-"

Shikamaru looked at him, almost bored. "Can't help?" Shikamaru had to laugh. Where had he heard that one before? No one in this world seemed to like taking responsibility for their shit. It was always... I couldn't help it... or I had no choice. It was sickening.

Naruto spoke up again, startling the group and breaking the tension and unease that followed Shikamaru's question.

"Anno sa," he said looking at Gaara, Shikamaru and Temari. Kankuro was still laughing. "Anno sa. It sounds to me as if Temari-san had made a commitment already, right? So... shouldn't she, like, stick with-"

Gaara interrupted him. "Are you serious?"

Naruto looked at him, surprised.

"Temari... ditch the band... for a strings competition?"

Shikamaru eyed Gaara. Admittedly, he did not know Gaara all that well... however, this was not a reaction he was expecting. He looked at Temari who looked a little concerned and at Kankuro who had suddenly stopped laughing and seemed to be gripping the edge of the table.

Gaara laughed. It was a cold, scary laugh.

"Simpletons," he said, smirking at Naruto. "You just have no idea how important the Chuunin is for us."

Something caught Shikamaru's eye. Oh shit. Naruto was shaking.

"It doesn't really matter if Temari had – stupidly, might I add (here he looked at her) – already made, what did you call it? Oh," Gaara continued, glaring at Naruto. "A 'commitment'. This is not a chance that we can easily pass up."

Naruto looked at him, standing up. Sasuke held him back. "Hinata-chan and Kiba and Shino... even Shikamaru... they worked so hard for Friday," he said, his voice slightly shaking. "Temari-san, can't just freaking ditch them last minute!"

"But she can. And she is going to, stupid," Gaara eyed Naruto. "Your... strings competition. It happens every year, doesn't it? This doesn't. You can always just join it some other time." He grinned at Naruto. "Or is it you need my sister and her talents to win? Are you all that pathetic?"

As Shikamaru feared, Naruto snapped.

"Why you little-!"

Naruto shook Sasuke off and lunged at Gaara who was taken by surprise, and caused the both of them to fall over backwards and turn over the table behind them. Temari cursed. Kankuro called for Gaara. Sasuke tried to reach Naruto but was beat to it by Kankuro who was desperately trying to pull the blonde off Gaara. Amazingly, the redhead had remained silent... so far. Shikamaru, however, felt a sort of dread he could not explain. Something was definitely coming... and that something told him that Naruto had done the wrong thing by jumping at Gaara.

"Get off me!"

Kankuro finally let go of Naruto, barely missing a punch that was aimed at his face. Naruto resumed his attentions towards the boy underneath him. Grabbing Gaara's collar, Naruto said through grit teeth, "When you make a promise... you better do whatever you can to friggin' fulfil it. That's what promises are, jackass."

Gaara looked him in the eye. "You're naive, aren't you?"

Naruto's grip hardened, his other formed a fist, ready to flatten Gaara's pale face... but a hand stopped him – Gaara's hand. Holding Naruto's wrist with one hand, Gaara used his legs to knock Naruto off him and turn him over. Twisting Naruto's arm, Gaara was now on top of a writhing Naruto who was facing the ground. Gaara used his right hand to push Naruto's face into the tiled floor, while his left continued twisting his arm.

"Oh shit," Temari said under her breath. Shikamaru looked at her. She looked way too concerned considering they were guys and this was a very guy thing to do – particularly in Naruto's case anyway.

"Promises," Gaara said, his voice totally different from what it was before. "Ha. You've got to be kidding me."

"Gaara," Kankuro said, reaching out, only to be shut out by his younger brother.

"Shut up. Stay out of this."

His voice had acid.

"Promises are for wishy-washy idiots."

Sasuke watched as Naruto cursed and writhed underneath the surprisingly strong and agile boy. Shikamaru knew Sasuke wanted more than anything to jump in and beat the living daylights out of Gaara, however the Uchiha knew better. Not only would Naruto hate him for interfering in his fight – he probably wouldn't be able to afford both his and Naruto's bills if they were ever sued.

Sasuke's fists grew tight, his nails almost drawing blood. He was fighting the urge. Losing quickly, true... but fighting nonetheless. Shikamaru hoped to god Sasuke would be able to restrain himself until he thought of a way to get the two of them calm again.

Eventually, Naruto managed to lift his face off the ground, enough to be audible. "Just 'cause you're all a bunch of rock stars," he said, disgust dripping in his voice, "you think you're all that. Give me a break. Sabaku ain't all that popular anyway."

Gaara's grip on his blond hair tightened.

"You have no power here, bastard. Go to hell."

Gaara's face changed dramatically – it was unrecognizable now. Turning Naruto over and gripping his collar, Gaara growled. "Say that to my face, you son of a bitch."

Naruto smirked at him. "Look who's talking, mother fucker." And with that, Naruto spat on his face.

Gaara's eyes widened and his pupils grew dangerously small. Shikamaru could see his knuckles going white as he gripped Naruto's shirt harder and harder, as if trying to control something. Shikamaru was suddenly scared for Naruto's life.

Without warning, Gaara roughly let go of Naruto, causing him to hit his head on hard tile. Naruto cursed under his breath. Gaara stood up and started making his way out of the cafe. Naruto called after him – stupid little idiot! – rubbing his arm which looked like it was bruised. "Running away, coward?"

Gaara stopped.

"No," he said, not turning around. "I was hoping you'd agree to taking this outside."