Disclaimer: The word says it out loud.
Author's Note: My deepest appreciation for gundamjunkierx780 and nannon for reviewing chapter 2. Your support gave me a new meaning in life. Although we're practically strangers but I already felt that we're best friends. Hope you enjoy this chapter because it's dedicated to both of you.
Part 3: One Heck Of A Night
The Light & Sound club was the hottest place to be in town on a Friday night. The dimly lit club was bursting with energy, heat, neon-lights and of course boozes. The occupants of the nightspot scene were mostly off-duty ninjas and a small number of civilians.
Why was she here again?
A hand tugged at hers. Sakura was practically dragging her through the entrance until they reached a certain corner of the two-level building. They were in fact from Sakura's house where she insisted in dolling up the older girl after laughing off at the Suna princess's frank confession of the awful truth; she had never went to a night club before, even at her own village!
"Temari-san, are you doing anything tonight?" The fourteen year-old practicing medic-nin dropped casually beside her while she was waiting to see the Hokage. They weren't the best of friends but Sakura was actually one of the acquaintances in Konoha that she grew to trust.
"Nothing, I guess. What's up?"
"I was thinking, how about you joined us at the club tonight? I'll bet the others would be delighted to meet you. You know, I was hoping that you might enjoy the nightlife in Konoha, because I thought that you may be lonely, being far from home." Sakura seemed reluctant when she explained her reason. However, she chose the words carefully, not to provoke the golden-haired kunoichi from Suna.
Temari would've taken umbrage because someone had just implied that she was homesick. But when she saw the look on Sakura's face, she knew the girl was trying to be nice by cheering her up. "I don't know, Sakura-san."
"Aww, c'mon. Shikamaru will be there!"
Her head shot up when she heard the boy's name coming out from the girl's mouth.
"What about him?"
Sakura put on an all-knowing smile, while wriggling one of her eyebrows. "I know you like him. Besides, Neji just got promoted to a Jounin. We decided it's the right time to celebrate."
"Oh really?"
She mulled over the tempting invitation. After a few days out for missions with some of Konoha's ninjas and being a guest instructor at the academy, dealing with noisy, unruly kids; she thought that a good night out would help her loosened the mental-exhaustion a bit.
"I don't have anything nice to wear."
"You just leave that to me."
And right now, she was walking through a foreign place, slipping through a horde of drunken men. Goodness! It's only 9 pm and people were already smashed. Temari certainly didn't like the way they leer at every females passing by, judging from the way they were acting, it confirmed one word she had in mind; desperate.
The place reeked of alcohol and mixed scent of perfumes. She did not have any idea why on earth people like being in such place after all? Not to mention, the sudden make-over she had from Sakura. The pink-haired girl was really adamant in lending her a pair of white sleeveless vest-like dress, which was too tight for her since she was actually a size bigger than the said girl. That explained why the front zipper's was slightly loosen, revealing a moderate amount of her cleavage. The denim skirt she was wearing was uneven at the hems, exposing a great quantity of flesh on her right thigh before stopping on top of her other knee. Her hair discarded the usual quadruple tails, after an extreme fight with Sakura and her brush. A white lily flower was slid between one of her ears, giving another feminine touch. To complete it all, she wore a silver necklace that rested just above the swells of her breast. But basically, the only thing that she owned on her was her underwear!
While Sakura on the other hand, donned a pink off-shoulder baby tee with the straps of her white chemise tied around her neck. The knee-length jeans clung tightly to her well-shaped hips, bringing out her still developing, petite figure every time she walked. The red loop earrings she wore glittered under the disco lights.
"How come you get to wear the jeans and I don't?"
"Nonsense, Temari-san. You have good 'assets'. There's no reason why you should hide them. You just don't know how lots of girls would die just to get in your shape."
"Huh?" Like hell, that was the reason why she had almost being molested.
"You look great. Trust me. If Shikamaru didn't bat an eye on you, he's totally blind."
"Tell me again, how old are you?"
Sakura giggled in response. "Relax, Temari-san. I'm maybe fourteen but being under Tsunade-sama's teachings, I know a lot of things than most girls my age do not. Besides, I have to warn you though. I don't know about the guys at your place, most of the guys here are single yet some of them are notorious players. They intend to have more than what you can offer. Just remember, a small drink and a dance are enough."
"I felt so naïve." Temari grunted to herself. Yes, she was seventeen but her social experiences were nothing compared to Sakura's.
"Don't be. I want you to have a good time. Who knows, you'll get Shikamaru to walk you home tonight and later on, you'll know what to d-."
"Okay. You can spare me the details. Goodness, if my brothers find out what I'm doing, my head will be rolling on the floor."
"Just don't tell them. Big sister needs to have some fun too."
Some of the Rookie Nines were there. The younger girl took the time to introduce her to her friends. Some of them were faces that she remembered during the Chuunin exams like Shino the bug-controller, Tenten the bun-haired girl who she defeated during the preliminaries, Rock Lee was there too. The ones she could remember were the only ones who had an encounter with her and her siblings. They all too abandoned their ninja uniforms for casual attires. Temari couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that Rock Lee, yes, Rock Lee, the fuzzy eyebrows was donning a pair of slacks and shirt. Whoa, she had certainly given the Taijutsu specialist less credit than he deserved.
At the cushion seats, Shino sat at one end, followed by Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Tenten and Lee. They were quite friendly, by asking about her well-beings after they met during last year's Chuunin exam. Things appeared to be slightly cold and remote, but it couldn't be any worse. Old history aside, Temari had found a way to be comfortable around the Konoha ninjas. Well, at least with some of them.
Sakura dragged Temari to seat with the rest, settling herself between Temari and Shino. They all started conversing on casual stuffs, topics regarding their latest missions and social matters. After placing an order of a mild wine, Temari let her body rested against the soft cushion while joining in the conversation. "I guess, you guys sure are 'advanced' than us in Suna…"
Kiba, who had been talking to Shino, or rather to himself turned his head towards the golden-haired girl and asked, "You mean, advance as in?"
"Well, you guys are fourteen but then again you have admission to night clubs and booze. Back at my village, places like these are filled with drunken, old men who had problems."
The brown-haired young Inuzuka cackled out loud. "These are one of the advantages of being a Chuunin, regardless how old you are. But there's a condition though, those under 17 cannot order, let alone consume alcohol. We still can enjoy our time here without the booze. This level does not serve alcohol to those under 17. And the level upstairs are for the high-level ninjas and it's totally off-limits for us, unless you have someone from up there, inviting you personally."
Rock Lee continued, "Besides, the music's here great. It's just time to relax and spend some time with friends. Although Neji's here quite lucky though, he's the only one who'd become a Jounin. He was supposed to be up there with the rest of them."
Neji just shook his head upon hearing his teammate's statement. "I don't even know anyone up there except for Gai-sensei but I don't think I wanna go there when they got drunk."
"Yeah…" a rather giggling Tenten joined in the conversation. "…I heard they like to do crazy, wild things when they were drinking. Too bad, most of them were really good looking guys."
Everyone was unaware, except Sakura and Temari that Neji had been glaring at Tenten when she said those words. "Are you that blind, Tenten?" Neji scoffed at the brunette girl.
'He's jealous'. Sakura and Temari thought in unison.
"Hey, guys! Sorry we're late," a voice spoke up from a direction.
All of them looked up to see Ino and Shikamaru approaching the table, with Ino's hands clutched tightly against the boy's arms. As a matter of fact, she was dragging the bored looking boy. Sakura's eyes looked disbelievingly at that intimate gesture while Temari pretended that she hasn't seen anything at all.
Shikamaru tried to run away when he saw the latest addition to their casual group, but Ino tightened her grip, causing him to flinch. Ino glared at the Suna kunoichi, although it was actually well-hidden but Sakura knew her better than that.
Kiba asked the newcomers, "Where's Chouji?"
Shikamaru scratched his neck in an attempt to hide his aggravation, "He's down with food poisoning."
'Yeah, right'. Ino felt slightly guilty for lying to Shikamaru about Chouji being sick. Their third teammate was actually at home right now, probably watching TV. He would've feel hurt if he knew that Ino didn't invite him on purpose. Sometimes, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Protecting her love interest. She heard that Temari was in town and she knew that Shikamaru was on 'friendly' terms with that Suna girl. That could be a threat to Ino's latest crush since Sasuke ran away from the village. And if Chouji tagged along, all of her plans will be ruined.
"Ino…" Sakura stood up from her seat. "Can I see you for a moment?" Her tone was somewhat icy, hidden under a cheerful façade whenever best girl friends would want to have their secret moment.
"Yeah, of course. I was about to say the same thing…Sakura"
Sakura dragged her away to a certain corner, far away from the others. After making sure that they are not within hearing range of the others, she pushed Ino into a wall.
"Ino-pig, what do you think you're doing?"
"What is wrong with you, Forehead-girl?"
"Hey, I asked you a question first."
"I'm trying to hang out with you guys?"
"No, Ino. Why are you clinging on to Shikamaru like 'eew'?"
"Like what? We're lovers?"
"Please don't use that word. Why do you like to steal other people's boyfriends?"
"WHAT! You mean like you and Sasuke-kun?"
"This is not about me. Temari-san and Shikamaru had something going on and I don't want you to ruin it."
"Oh, come on. You think Shikamaru wants a girl like her?"
"Don't be a bitch, Ino. You only like Shikamaru because after Sasuke-kun left, he was the next asserted prodigy despite being the only one who got promoted to Chuunin. You don't really like him for who he is. He's only like a trophy for you to keep. Find somebody else that you could play with."
"He's my best friend. I knew him longer than that Suna girl does. Why did you bring her here anyway?"
"She's my friend and I invited her along."
"I'm your best friend and you chose her over me?"
"My best friend is someone who cares about other people's feelings and she's not a selfish person. You're everything but that. Not anymore. And I thought you would've changed for the better when Sasuke-kun left. I guess, you've just become worst…" Without another glance, the pink-haired walked away with a regretful expression on her face, leaving a very befuddled girl behind.
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"So, are you two together on a date?" Temari asked the dark-haired boy in front of her, hands playing lazily with the mini umbrella in her glass.
Shikamaru slumped on his spot on the cushion, trying to stifle a yawn. "Not in that kind of way."
The golden-haired girl crossed her legs together displaying lots of skin on her killer-legs, distracting some of the guys who were in the middle of their conversation. "Then, blondie wouldn't mind if you walk me home, right?"
"What? Why?"
"While I'm still in Konoha, you were entrusted to be my escort. Besides, you still owe me for that day when you left me waiting for several frickin' hours just because you don't have the decency to tell me that you're off-duty."
"Wha-?" Shikamaru realized that the rest or actually Kiba, Neji (although he tried really hard to hide it) and Shino (maybe he was peeking behind those dark shades) were drawn to both of them. Or maybe drawn to her legs as they fixed their eyes at him before settling at her.
"Fine. If you promise to drop the subject, I'll walk you home. You're a really troublesome girl to deal with." He subdued to her proposition unenthusiastically. One hand moved to cup his sulking face. It's not like he despised Temari or anything but having to handle another girl would be too much for him. Ino had started to show her interest in him ever since two years ago, just after Sasuke left. And she had started to become more 'aggressive' when she heard about Temari came to his rescue and her stay at the hospital when Chouji's in the O.R. She was a little bit clingy and already acted as if they were actually a couple. He was just fourteen for Kami's sake! Why did it have to be him?
Besides, he still hasn't found the 'urge' to be in a relationship just as yet. He had grown up seeing his dad got whipped by his mom and he didn't think that he wanted to be in that position. Not exactly. But right now, he had two girls who were scarier than his mom after his ass and a boy could only take so much. Why can't they just leave him alone and let him enjoy his cloud-watching?
Temari would've smirk with relieve when knowing that Shikamaru's still unattached but somehow, the nature of his voice was the least encouraging. 'Why can't you try to see me for the person that I am before making a judgment, Crybaby? You won't even see me as a friend.' She wished she could blurt every single word of it to the young Chuunin, but in some way it would mean swallowing her own pride. That would never be happening when her pride's been blighted and her ego was still recovering.
Love takes time. She had heard that once from somewhere and she would place her bet on that saying. She'll wait for the day when he realized that she's worth all the troubles.
The occupants of the table saw Sakura advancing with a faceless look. No one dared to utter a single word because they knew she was capable of tearing down the whole place in a jiffy. She wasn't known as Tsunade-sama's apprentice for nothing. From what it seems, she might've been in a mild misunderstanding (argument) with Ino.
"Temari-san, do you wanna hit the dance floor? It's getting 'crowded' here anyway."
The golden-haired girl shrugged. "Sure, why not."
After they left the table, Kiba let out a small whistle while patting Shikamaru on the shoulder. "You're a lucky guy, man. That's one hot girl you have there."
"You're drunk, Kiba."
"Hey, I've only been drinking sodas since I came here. By the way, she's not all about looks, she has…" The dark-brown haired boy tapped his head. "…intelligence. She could have any guy she wants but do you realize that she's always by your side whenever she's here?"
"…"
"I never hear you complained about her being annoying as much as you complained about Ino."
"Hey, since when are you interested in my personal life?"
"Since we've become best buddies."
Suddenly, Ino appeared out from a certain corner looking very uptight.
"Oi, Ino. What happened to you?"
"Shut up, Ki-ba."
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Break it off, boy
Coz you've got me feeling naughty
I wanna know, boy
If I could be your shorty?
Set it off, boy
Make me hot all over my body
Break it off tonight
The neon lights were flashing fiercely on the dance floor and the hip music was blasting throughout the stereos. The two girls were drowned in the seas of youths, moving their bodies to the rhythm, indulging in their own worlds. The DJ kept spinning the records and the turntables, calling out for everyone to bask in the energy and sound with his artistic hand gestures.
In the crowd, Sakura was almost shouting to get her message across. "Temari-san, I'm sorry if you felt uneasy about just now. I never thought Ino would be doing such a thing."
"Relax, Sakura. I'm not bothered at all. Let's just have fun, okay?"
The two stunning girls moved to the beat like they owned the dance floor, earning several glances from their peers and not forgetting strangers as well. "I must say, you have a pair of dancing feet." The young medic-nin complimented the Kazekage's sister.
"This is my first time dancing actually. I thought I might be making a fool out of myself. But Sakura, you're not bad either."
They danced while talking to each other, unmindful to the others. It seems like they were really close friends and this had only caused Ino, who sat amongst their group to be in a really bad mood. She had to compete with an 'outsider' for her best friend's attention and a boy. Again.
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A loud laugh erupted somewhere around the club, a level up from the ground floor to be exact. A group of the elite ninjas were lounging around at the center of the table, drinking merrily, talking loudly and really enjoying their night. But for them, the night had only started and there were a lot of things would be happening soon.
Kotetsu, Izumo, Raidou and Genma sat side by side on a very long leather bench, looking really hot and tempting to the eyes of girls and er…queer guys alike. Kurenai sat really close to Asuma while Anko snuggled comfortably into Ibiki's bigger frame, both looking really much in love with each other. Gai, who unfortunately still wearing his spandex suit was coaxing Kakashi into a drinking contest, only to be ignored by his eternal rival who was too busy reading his book.
Kotetsu lifted his beer mug and spoke up, "You know, it's too bad that you didn't invite Shizune along, Genma…"
Izumo clanked his glass with Kotetsu and laughed, "Hey, Kotetsu. You don't think he was rejected by Shizune…"
"Again!" They hollered in unison before taking a swig of the bitter liquid. Everyone guffawed when hearing the antique from the two assistants of Godaime. Genma bit the cigar on his lips, stifling a laughter when they were making fun of him. "Hey…" he drawled lazily, taking a puff from his smoke. "…she's a really sweet girl, but I don't think Hokage-sama would approve of her coming here. By the way Kotetsu, she's really not your or my type."
Kurenai crossed her arms, a few lines appeared on her forehead. The crimson-eyed beauty was definitely uncomfortable hearing these guys talking about her friend like that. "Get real, you guys. If Tsunade-sama ever heard of what you're saying, you'll be dead."
"Well, she's not here ain't she?"
"Hey Anko. Won't you stop rubbing yourself against Ibiki? You're burning our eyes out." Raidou sneered at the couple. Seriously, those guys need to get a room before they scar everyone mentally. Ibiki remained cool but Anko just stuck her tongue out at Raidou.
"You're just jealous, Raidou."
A new song was played by the DJ. After hearing the rather explicit lyrics, the ever smart-mouthed Raidou found another issue to talk about.
"Man-eater? Somebody tell me, why on earth are they playing this song?"
The female Tokubetsu Jounin glanced unwarily at him, "It's a cool song. What? You want them to play the "Lady-killer" song? Heheh…As if…"
"Okay, everybody. Don't even start it." Asuma interrupted the banter before it took a worst turn. If his memory still allowed it, he could clearly remember that the last time they hang out together at this place, they ended up with a really huge bill for thrashing up the place because of a simple verbal argument that turned into a brawl. They were ninjas, after all. He continued talking to Kurenai after seeing that Raidou and his gang had their attentions side-tracked by something and Anko got distracted by Ibiki.
Izumo tapped Genma on his shoulder and say, "Yo, Genma! Do you think you can get a girl out of this club with you before midnight?"
"Heh…of course I can. How much are you gonna bet on it?"
"I'll give you fifty bucks for that."
"How about a hundred then?"
"Hey, don't be pushing your lucks too much."
The handsome dark-brown haired Jounin grinned smugly at the challenge. "Izumo, you're talking to the "Prince of the Night" here. There's never a woman who'd find it in their hearts to resist me."
Kotetsu butted in, "There's one. Shizune."
"Except her of course. But anyway to top it off, I'll bet that I could get the lucky lady into crib as well tonight."
"You're really full of yourself huh? Well, best of luck buddy."
"There are a lot of 'fishes' down there." Raidou fixed his gaze on the dance floor. "Would you look at that?"
All four pairs of eyes moved to the spot Raidou was pointing at. Izumo's mouth gaped open, Kotetsu almost spilled his drink and Raidou just stared without an expression while Genma just smirked.
"Do you mean Sakura-chan, Raidou?"
Kakashi looked up from his book when he heard his former student's name was mentioned. "No one's getting near my student."
Kurenai spoke up. "Or mine"
Followed by Asuma. "Or mine."
"Or my beautiful and youthful student, Tenten." Alright, no one needed to know where that came from.
Everyone sweat-dropped and looked at Gai in disbelief.
"What?"
"Never mind, Gai. By the way Kakashi or anyone, we're not talking about your students."
The four infamous womanizers of Konoha continued their observation. The others couldn't care less what they were doing. It's like their norm every time they came here; hunting for their latest sexual escapade.
"She's one hot mama, baby."
"Look at her legs, man."
"She's a bomb. Look at her bod-dy."
"Wait, she looks familiar."
"Who cares? She's prime for the picking, homeys."
Genma, who had been quiet since then took out the cigar he was smoking and threw it onto the ashtray. His eyes narrowed with a feral glint. "She's perfect. I'm gonna get her up here."
The other three glanced at him with fires of anxiety in their eyes. Don't tell us that he's actually thinking of…
"Are you sure, Genma? I don't think you wanna dig that."
"I know who she is."
"I was only joking about the bet, Genma. You don't have to take it seriously."
"Okay. Alright then, I'm just inviting her here for a chat. That's all."
'Genma's playing with fire.' Raidou, Kotetsu and Izumo shared the similar thoughts in their heads. He's actually thinking of fraternizing with Sabaku No Gaara's sister. No one in their right mind would do that.
Well, better make sure to call the casketing services by tomorrow morning.
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"Let's play Truth or Dare."
Anko scoffed at Izumo. "You guys really are short on brilliant ideas, huh?"
Temari sat silently between Genma and Raidou, just the opposite of her recent sparring partner, Kakashi. Yup, the first thing that she wanted to do when Genma introduced her to the rest of the group was to make a run towards the nearest exit. After leaving him during their sparing session, she swore that would've ticked him off. But alas, after thinking it through, he wouldn't be so stupid to do anything to her, not in front of his friends of course. Besides, he was acting as if they had only met just now.
She could see Kakashi was stuffing his head into the orange book that he always had with him (or hang his dear life with). If only she didn't felt so awkward being with the rest of her new acquaintances who as far as she can remember, were the people that she met during the previous Chuunin examinations. The only person that she really had ever talked to would be him but the scarecrow's so into reading, she thought that he would make a good monument for a library. Yeah, library for the pervs.
Why did Sakura let Genma drag her upstairs anyway? Oh yeah, she needed to work things out with Ino and having Temari there won't help at all since the Yamanaka girl hated the sight of the fan wielder kunoichi so much.
Temari posed a glance to the group of Chuunins down there, where she had a perfect view of them from where she was sitting.
"Okay then…" Izumo smiled, "I'll start first." He twisted the empty bottle and it spun around a couple of times before the lid halted and pointing straight at Asuma.
The chain-smoker could only scratch his head in confusion. "I guess I'm the 'lucky' number one, huh? Okay, Truth." Afterwards he just shrugged, waiting for the 'deadly' answer from anyone of them.
Looking dead serious, Ibiki, yes everyone it's Ibiki, the master of Torture & Interrogation decided to do the honors of asking the first question of the night. "Asuma, have you gotten into Kurenai's pants yet?"
"WHAT!" The two owners of the mentioned names cried out.
"Why did you pulled me into this Ibiki?" exclaimed Kurenai while fighting of a creeping blush on her cheeks.
"Sooner or later, we'll find out. It's better now than never. Come on Asuma, we're helping you out here."
Asuma covered his reddening face with his hands. Suddenly he felt that he wanted to quit smoking all of a sudden if that's the price he had to pay to get his butt out of there. "It's personal, guys. I'm not gonna tell everyone." The question was a lot harder than the monthly Special Assessment's evaluation, or whatever it was. It's putting his and her relationship at stake.
"You chose Truth. You're not gonna back off from it right now, Asuma?"
"Yosh, Asuma. Reveal your hidden desires of youth's springtime, my friend." Gai gave him the 'nice guy' pose and his teeth glittered under the spotlights.
Everyone looked at him suspiciously; even Temari seemed to be drawn to the juicy details of Shikamaru's sensei's love story.
"We haven't done anything, yet if that's what you guys meant. We're still getting to know each other and I want it to be based on a good friendship first. I don't want to rush things if only to regret about it later," Asuma explained slowly in the same time, avoiding eye contact with the beautiful kunoichi next to him.
Under his mask, Kakashi smiled. That was a really good answer and frankly, he was surprised that Asuma would think of the most brilliant and honest reason without giving out any details. He and Asuma are really the best of friends, if there's anything happening between Asuma and Kurenai, Kakashi would usually be the first to know.
"Okay, my turn." Asuma smirked wickedly when he was off the hook. He spun the bottle around and it moved, searching its next 'victim'. Soon, secrets were revealed (like Gai confessed of having a crush on Suzume, the special kunoichi class teacher. Everyone felt sorry for her) and stupid dares were done. After almost half an hour later however, Temari happened to be the bottle's latest accomplishment.
Genma was about to open his mouth and ask when Anko cut him, "Since this is the first time we have Temari-san here with us, we're gonna be nice to her, okay everyone?" She received several grumbles of protests in retort. Temari sighed gratefully. At least Anko's a thoughtful person to the 'newbie' of the group.
"Tell us because there are just some of them here who really badly wanted to know, what type of man do you prefer AND name us one person you'd like to get laid with here."
Ibiki looked at his girlfriend as if she had gone crazy, or in this case, drunk. "Anko, that's what you mean by 'being nice'?"
"Ibiki…shush…So, Temari-san?"
The dark green eyed-girl gulped while trying desperately to think of a good answer. "Well…" 'I can't just tell them the name of the only boy that I liked. His teacher's here.' She saw the others were anticipating her answer. Heck, even Kakashi who had been withdrawing from the game started to peek behind the book he's reading.
"…I don't know how to say this…I don't really like men…"
All mouths gaped open. A glass shattered somewhere. Kakashi dropped his book (on his lap). Gai lost the spark on his teeth.
"A-a…re you a…a…lesbian?" Someone random asked.
She pretended to look guilty while putting on a timid grin.
Kakashi couldn't fight off the surprise shown on his covered face. 'What a waste. For all this time, I thoug-…Wait…does that mean Sakura and her …'
Temari burst out into a laugh. "KIDDING! Hey, I haven't finished my sentence yet. I was about to say that I don't really like men who were too rough when handling their ladies. Got it?" They were so serious with her, they bought anything she said.
The table erupted with another loud laughter, drawing the attention of the club's other patrons. "You nearly got us back there, Temari-san." Raidou patted her back all of a sudden, surprising her and it made her spilt the drink she was having, and all of it went down into her shirt.
Raidou stared in horror upon realizing what he had done and Genma gritted his teeth on his newly found toothpick with a well-concealed enjoyment. "Raidou, you idiot. Look what you've done."
"I'm very sorry, Temari-san. I didn't mean to do that."
"It's okay." Normally if it was one of the boys, she would've punched him in the face but she couldn't really do that to the older man beside her. She wouldn't want to be in trouble with the Konoha authorities. After all, it was an accident. However, it seemed that the accident had brought out the 'kindness' in the guys where Kotetsu, Raidou and Genma were seen volunteering to help her 'clean up' the mess. More like taking the advantage to touch the Suna kunoichi's assets by wiping the wine off her chest.
Kakashi's eyes gloomed when he saw the fiasco. In some way, he felt the drive to protect the golden-haired girl from being 'harassed' by one of his friends. Thankfully, Kurenai and Anko were the most reliable females to help another female in need.
"Okay guys!" Kurenai clapped her hand twice to gain their attentions.
"Hands off. You better do so, if you know what's good for you." Anko gleamed threateningly, causing them to shudder on their seats.
Kurenai stood up, offering a hand to the younger Jounin. "Let's get it clean up, Temari-san. I'll give you a company. Besides, I need to go to the washroom myself."
She took up the offer and let Kurenai led her to a certain hallway. After both of them went away, Genma scowled. "Can't you cut us some slacks, Anko?"
"Like what? You were trying to grab her boobs just now. Can't you keep your hands to yourself, Genma?"
"Geez, Anko. Why did you get all worked up? You were okay with the other women before. What's up with it now?"
"Senbon-head, you do realize that the girls before were a bunch of bimbos and they would do anything to sleep with shinobis like you. Temari-san's not like them. She's just made Jounin and she happened to be the Godaime Kazekage's sister. You're not asking to die are you?"
"Alright. We got it." Anko could be really scary when she's pissed off.
"And, one more thing. When she gets back, you will treat her with respect and no one's giving her liquors."
Izumo looked up from his drink. "She's not under-aged, Anko. Surely she could handle a drink or two. There's no point in going to a club without booze."
"I've read her files during the Chuunin exams before and I still remembered that she's alcohol-intolerant. I don't want anyone to get her drunk. The file said that the last time she did, Kazekage-sama had to drag her back using his sand."
"You're spoiling the fun, Anko. Hey guys, let's scope the room." Izumo stood up and was followed by some of them.
A few minutes later, Kurenai appeared without Temari by her side.
"She went to see Sakura for a moment."
And true, fifteen minutes afterwards Temari approached the now less-crowded table with a very expressionless look on her face. Some of the members like Kotetsu, Izumo and Raidou were already hitting on the dance floor or hitting on girls. Temari was biting her lips nervously and stared into blank space as soon as she placed herself between Kurenai and Anko. The others were too busy talking to notice but Kurenai sensed the restlessness. Temari was alright when they parted. What had exactly happened when she went to see Sakura?
"Temari-san, something's wrong?"
"…I'm…nothing…him." She slurred subconsciously, not knowing what she was saying. All that she could feel was as if her heart had been stabbed with a blunt kunai and it was bleeding painfully through the many small cracks on the surface.
She didn't saw Sakura or any of the girls around so she decided to drop by their table and leave a message to Shikamaru. Just before she almost got to the group, she overheard the boys talking about Ino and her. Something to do with Shikamaru. She placed herself in a good distance within a hearing range, masking her presence behind a big wall.
"Why do chicks need to powder their nose anyway? They've been in the bathroom for too long."
"Alright. While the girls weren't here, I got a question for you Shika. This question is really interesting and you have to think hard before you answer."
"Hey Neji, we're talking to a genius here."
"This is not about logics. This is about your feelings. Okay Shikamaru are you ready?"
"Troublesome. Okay, humor me."
"You, Ino and Temari were on a boat and it's on fire. It's only a matter of time before the boat will be engulfed in flames and buried underwater. You don't have another minute to kill and you can only save one person and take her away with you. Now who would you choose?"
"No one? I'll save myself."
"Don't give us stupid answers, genius. Think."
There was a silence. She knew he must been doing his usual thinking pose.
"Well?"
"I wanted to save them both but if I can't, I'll take Ino with me."
"Why?"
'Yeah, Shika. Why her?' Her heart cried out silently, yearning to know his answer.
"Because I've known Ino longer than I knew Temari. No matter how annoying she is, she's my teammate and a good friend."
"What about Temari? She saved your ass before."
"She's strong and she could save herself if she wants to. She's like one of the guys. I wouldn't worry about her at all."
"But, what if she was badly injured? You're willing to let her die?"
"That's not gonna change my answer. I knew her no better than you guys, I can't just abandon my teammate for a girl I hardly knew."
Kiba barked at his friend. "Reasons, reason Shika. I think you're lying. That's not the answer that comes from your heart. Temari's gonna get hurt if she hears about this."
"No one's telling anyone else about this."
That was it. She felt cold so suddenly, her knees shaking slightly. She could see the life being sucked away from her body. Slowly, she picked up what's left of her energy and walked away.
She badly, desperately needed to 'kill' someone right there but unfortunately, she didn't have her fan and no one seemed to be having a single kunai with them at the moment. Heck, who would if you don't want to get busted at the front door and kicked out from the place? Anyway, back to her original point. She needed to forget everything fast. Now. Before she broke into a million pieces. Her turquoise eyes turned cold and remote.
"Temari-san, are you okay?" Kurenai placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and Temari looked up to her, with an unusual smile on her face. She emerged with 'evil' written in her eyes abruptly. The black-haired genjutsu specialist was dazed with the sudden change.
Before she knew it, Temari reached for someone's beer mug (in fact, it was Kakashi's and he wasn't there to stop her from stealing his drink) which was still full to the brim and drank it up in one gulp. She slammed the mug down on the table and called out something to the waiter who happened to be passing by.
"Hey, waiter! Make me a brew here…make it quick if you don't want to get kill."
The unfortunate boy trembled and gave her a quick nod before rushing away to the nearest bar. Oh god, he really needed to find another job. Serving drunk ninjas were a lot dangerous than feeding animals at the zoo. At least the lions won't kill him.
"Temari-san. You shouldn't be drinking. I've read your fil-"
"Don't trust the files. My father faked most of my data. You know, only one third of them are true…" She drawled sketchily and shook her head when she felt the early hints of intoxication. Good. That's what she wanted. Get drunk.
Hold on. What was she talking about just now?
Ugh, never mind.
Ignoring Kurenai and Anko's reminders, she posed a quick glance at the group of young Chuunins down there and saw that the girls were back on their seats. It appears that, they were continuing to play the ever classical Truth or Dare too and laughter ensued soon after. 'Yeah, whatever.' Temari rolled her eyes unexcitedly. But out of the blue, she saw Ino grabbed Shikamaru and gave him a very long smacker on the lips.
Bloody hell. 'What's going on? Why aren't you stopping her, Shikamaru?'
The ever lazy ass didn't seem to be not enjoying it let alone trying to push her away!
Genma was about to take a sip from his half full glass when Temari snatched it away and brought it to her own lips. The Jounin stifled an annoyed look at his drink 'stealer'. "Hey, that was mine."
She lost it. She swore she was breaking.
Temari scoffed back at him and raised an eyebrow slyly. "What? I can't hear you…" She took a swig of the dark yellow-colored liquid, before smacking her lips together. "You want it back, hot stuff? Come and take it."
He was more than pleased to do so if it wasn't for Anko's threatening glare at him.
Temari's voice croaked, "Who's up for another round of Truth or Dare?"
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Kakashi had been going to the washroom to freshen up before stumbling into an old friend during his ANBU days. He stopped for a chat with Yamato and in the middle of the conversation, he heard some commotion going on somewhere out there at the lounge.
"See ya later."
Kakashi shook hands with the dark-haired man and went back to his place. Just as the table came into sight, he almost tripped on his foot when he witnessed the flamboyant figure of a female, dancing wildly on their table to the tune of "Drop It On Me". Temari was dared to strut her stuffs with Anko and Kurenai trying futilely to get her down whilst Genma seemed to be really enjoying the show.
Drop it mami, drop it mami
Drop it on me, hey hey
Drop it on me, drop it on me
Drop it on me, hey hey
Muevete duro, muevete duro
Muevete duro, hey hey
The flushing girl swayed her hips and whirled around with the zipper on her tops half undone, revealing the full swells of her enticing bosom, clad in a black brassiere. She moved around gracefully like she was one of the dancers in a personal harem (In the current situation, owned by Genma). Kakashi noticed that each straight and the possibly not straight males in the level were drawn to her, eyes leering shamelessly at the free performance.
After several turns and body twisting later, she dropped on her hands and knees among the scattered mugs and glasses, baring lots of skin on her smooth thighs. Her bedroom eyes fluttered incoherently under the dim lights as she crawled towards Genma, tauntingly yet controlled in the same time. Her golden hair tumbled down her shoulders, framing her face like a halo. The taut form of her rear-end tempting to be touched as she stretched her body kittenishly across the table, earning gasps from the remaining males namely Asuma, Gai and Ibiki and several anonymous guys around. On the other hand, Anko and Kurenai had already stopped trying to get the kunoichi off; instead they held the looks of admiration in their eyes. Maybe they could learn something from this girl, even though she actually didn't realize what she was doing. Their men seemed to be mesmerized too, although they tried hard to pretend that they aren't. Excited whistles were audible amongst a group of spectators.
Who knew that the young Suna girl knew how to drive the guys wild? And people thought that she was serious and aloof 24/7.
Temari mindlessly shifted her legs to her front, facing the man who was giving her the come on look. One toned leg raised and the tip of her high-heels kicked open his thighs gently, venturing daringly to the firm surface of his thighs. Genma smirked at her boldness. This young temperamental girl was actually a vamp in disguise. He was more than encouraged to run his fingers along her smooth skin, starting from her shin.
Asuma's voice was heard from behind. "Genma, you can stop fooling around now. You know she's starting to get drunk."
"Where's the fun, aye' Asuma? Come on, Temari-chan. You know you want it."
"Genma-san, do you find me attractive?" She purred, pushing her chest forward. Pleased when his eyes fixed to the spot she was displaying.
"No."
A frown marred her face.
"You're much better than attractive. You're heaven-sent."
She giggled softly when she heard his answer. 'Men.'
"What do you want from me?"
His light brown orbs lingered across her sultry face, from her cat-like eyes to her cute, inviting pout. "You know what it is."
She licked her lips slowly, bending her body. Genma remained cool but not without making a sudden intake of breath. He got a perfect view of her ample assets. In the midst of undressing her with his eyes, he perceived that there was a very long scar on her exposed midriff, trailing down to her abs.
"Where did you get that scar?"
The light disappeared from her eyes.
"Shut up."
"What have I done wrong?"
"Stop it! I hate you."
She stood up unexpectedly, causing her body to lose balance and before she landed hard on the cold surface, a hand came to her rescue.
"Hmm…watch…where…you're going…man…" She mumbled incoherently into the obviously, taller person's shoulder blades. Her sense caught a wisp of fresh pine in her half-conscious state.
"Temari-san! I'm so sorry." Sakura bit her nails nervously as she saw the still form of the older girl in her sensei's arms. 'It's my fault she got drunk. Oh goodness, why didn't I stay with her?'
"Okay, everyone. Show's over. We're taking her back to her room, Sakura."
"Hai, Kaka-sensei."
Temari began to stir in his arms. "Back? No, no, no. I can't go back with you. Shikamaru promised to walk me home."
Sakura who was unaware of the promise, concernedly replied, "He can't Temari-san. He's already gone. He had to send Ino back."
The older girl's head dropped low. She muttered under her breath. "That heartless bastard…broke his promise again." She was awfully unaware that each spoken word went into the silver-haired Shinobi's head, considering their current proximity.
Anko and Kurenai agreed that Kakashi would be the best (in this case, trustable) person to send the young kunoichis back.
"Kurenai-sensei, do you know what made her wanted to drink all of a sudden? I remembered she told me that she can't handle her liquors very well."
"I'm not sure, Sakura. She seemed to be troubled after she went to see you."
"I haven't seen her after the dance at all until now….the girls and I must've been at the powder room…" 'What happened exactly? You looked really upset, Temari-san.'
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Author's Note: I'm pretty sure most of the readers would be saying that Temari's certainly out of her mind (or character) in this chapter. We've never seen anyone got drunk in the anime except for Jiraiya and Tsunade and I want Temari intended to get drunk in here so she could forget everything she heard from Shikamaru. (She's just pissed off, that's why she was fooling around with Genma.)
And also, I'd like to personally recommend to all my readers to check out a fic written by a dear friend of mine, Sabaku-No-Ardent. I really loved her story and I hope that you guys would give her page a visit! Thanks.
Next Chapter: The Shattered Walls…he stripped her bare till there was nothing left, not even her pride and ego.
