A/N: I do not own Naruto or any of the elements that go with it, but I still love it, to bits!
Lying down on his back on the grass field not far from the academy, with his forearms at the back of his head as his makeshift pillow, Shikamaru Nara had been watching the clouds roll by under the cerulean skies of Konoha for almost an hour – his favorite pastime.
The Chuunin exam's about to start in a couple of weeks' time - an event most anticipated by the young ninjas of the Hidden Leaf, who aspired to raise their rank to the team lead level and be given the title chuunin. Shikamaru himself was promoted to chuunin more than a couple of years ago – quite an unforgettable time in his life, actually. Not only for taking the exam itself but also for the series of events that coincided with it: the near invasion of Konoha, the death of the great Third Hokage and the return of one of the legendary sannin to fill in his stead as the next kage of Konohagakure.
A lot more happened after that, so much that the two and a half years seemed longer than it actually was. Now he felt a lot much older, though a lot much stronger… stronger than he was when he engaged into that first mission he had as chuunin – the rescue mission for Sasuke. It ended up in failure, but he learned a lot from that… just like everybody else among… What was it again that they called them before? Ah, yes, the Rookie Nine.
"But all I want, really, is a simple life," he sighed. A lump of cotton-like cloud hung over the zenith of the sky and, as he stared at it, he lifted his hand toward it, his palm wide open. Then slowly he closed his hand to a loose fist, as if trying to grab the white whimsical cloud that was clearly beyond his reach….
At last he's able to afford this rest again. It's been a while since he's able to do cloud-gazing, all because of the chuunin exam preparations. Chuunins and a few jounins from Konoha and its allied villages had been assigned to help organize the event. And now, finally, the preparations were complete. All they had to do at the moment was wait for the day of the actual exams.
Ahh, this is how life should be – he thought to himself – peaceful, no worries, not the least bit…
"Mind if I join you?" asked a familiar female voice.
…Troublesome. Shikamaru almost said it out loud. He glanced toward where he heard the voice and saw a tall blonde girl with a slightly amused expression on her face, standing just a few feet away from him. The girl was holding a bag of potato chips and a can of soda. On her back was a small backpack and what he knew to be a giant folded fan.
"Temari… no prob," he said, sporting a bored expression on his face as he slowly got up to a sitting position, Indian style. "What brings you here?" he asked as he brushed off the blades of grass from his chuunin uniform – green multi-pocket vest over black long-sleeved tunic.
"Nothing really. I was about to leave for Sand, actually, now that the exam preparation is over. Just stopped by to have some snacks before I go. I was looking for a good place where I can eat these chips and saw your place right here." With her smooth but agile movements, she sat near him, her legs folded neatly under her given the limitation of the dress she was wearing then – a plain light blue kimono inspired blouse, a dark blue pseudo-skirt cut just above the knee with high slits on the sides, and matching leggings underneath with the same length as her skirt. Temari put down her soda can on the grass and started opening the bag of potato chips while saying this. "You seemed so relaxed out here that I decided to come and disturb your peace." And with that, she made a wide grin.
"Mission successful, thank you very much." Shikamaru mumbled to himself.
"I heard that," said Temari, before she sighed. "All right, don't get mad. Apologies if I really did disturb you. Truth is, I really wanted to take a break before I go. We rarely get a taste of these chips in Suna, you know," Temari explained as she started munching on the chips. "And besides, eating with a company is always better than eating alone," she added as she offered the chips to Shikamaru.
After a moment's hesitation, Shikamaru accepted what seems to be Temari's 'peace offering' and helped himself to a few chips. But he did not say a single word all the while he was eating. Just when Temari was about to say something to break the silence, Shikamaru said "It's gonna be a three-day trip for you from Konoha to Suna, right?"
"Yup, more or less," Temari responded. She reached for her duffel bag and pulled out from inside it a bottle of water. "I haven't opened my soda there yet so I'll just let you have it. I have a bottle of water here anyway."
Shikamaru's left eyebrow raised slightly at what his uninvited company just said, but all he managed to say was, "Thanks, you're being too generous…" What's with the nice girl attitude anyway?"
Temari read his face right and almost smiled at the thought. He doesn't believe I can be nice. Was I really treating him that bad? "No problem," she replied and drank a few gulps of water from her bottle. Then she looked up and gazed at the sky. "Ahh, nothing beats the clear blue skies of Konoha. The weather here is fine too, at least for the whole week I've been here. It's springtime, after all, from what I gather. Does it stay like this through summer?"
"It will be warmer for sure, but still tolerable," said Shikamaru. Seemed to be tired of being too passive in the conversation, he asked back "How is the weather like in your village?" as he opened the soda can and drank from it.
"Ours is actually in the extremes, being in the middle of the desert and all," the young jounin responded. "It's generally hot in Suna, especially in the middle of the year when the sun gets really big up on the sky in midday." She munched on a few more chips and went on. "Then at night, the temperature drops to almost zero. At times, when the night wind catches you out on the street, you won't be able to utter a word without your chin shaking."
The last thing she said seemed to have triggered a funny memory as she chuckled softly. "Heck, even Gaara isn't immune from it. I still remember the night we had to go out to the border to check on something. He was giving instructions to the Sand police, and all the while his chin was shaking so fast he was stuttering," Temari said, laughing even harder. "I actually had a hard time keeping my face straight all the while he was talking."
Shikamaru pictured the scene in his mind and suddenly found himself laughing with Temari. "You're evil. Just wait till your brother visits us here and I'll tell him how you're making fun of him," he jokingly threatened the tomboyish girl beside him, whose company he's actually beginning to like at the moment.
"Oops! Oh no!" Temari said in response, feigning to be threatened at what Shikamaru just told her, and they laughed again in unison.
Shikamaru was seeing a new side of this foreign girl for the first time, and he's a bit intrigued at it. Temari had always been just an acquaintance to him – he knew nothing more than the fact that this girl was from another village, and she's a formidable opponent in combat. This is, after all, the first time they had a "chat" like this. Come to think of it, he's beginning to like this guileless side of the tomboyish girl beside him.
"You'll only end up disappointed, though, heheh," Temari continued. "I already told him about it already, a few days after that. He even laughed at himself when he remembered it," Temari added with a grin.
"Really?" Shikamaru replied, almost skeptical. I can't even picture him smiling, he thought to himself.
"Yeah, believe it or not, he did," Temari nodded and smiled. "Gaara has changed. He's learned to open himself to the people around him. Being the Kazekage has done him good, I guess. He's still adjusting to these new things around him, but overall he's doing great – and both Kankurou and I are happy for him. We're a family, after all, and he's aware of that now more than ever." Temari was looking at the clear blue skies of the Leaf as she was saying all this, with both her hands propped straight against her back and her legs now stretched out to support her leaning form, her face a reflection of serenity and inner happiness, making her look actually younger than her years. It didn't occur to Shikamaru that he was now actually staring at the tomboy that seemed to have transformed before his eyes. Since when did she become this pretty? - he asked himself inside his head...
Whoa, where did that come from? Shikamaru caught himself just in time and was able to snap out of his mesmerized state before Temari turned her head to look at him. "How about you - do you have brothers or sisters, too?" Temari asked.
"I'm an only child," Shikamaru said in response, still baffled at his own previous thoughts. Taking a queue from Temari's relaxed form, Shikamaru rubbed the chip crumbs off his palms, drank the last of his soda, and tilted back with his elbows now propped on the ground as he stared at the clear skies once again. For some reason, he wanted to get to know this girl beside him better. There was something in Temari that made him feel like she can be trusted as a friend. She's already revealed a part of herself – something that she's not done before, so he decided to return the favor. "My mother had two miscarriages before I was born. When she gave birth to me, my father decided not to let her bear any more children."
"Good father you have then. You must be proud of him," Temari commented.
"Yeah, he's good all right. The rest of the Nara family look up to him as befits the leader of the clan, which he is." He's proud to be his son alright, he thought to himself and smiled. "As for my mother…" he continued, but stopped in mid-sentence.
He noticed Temari's holding yet another bag of snacks, chocolate pretzels this time, which she's already munching on. "Hmm?" Temari asked, urging him to go on.
Boy, she's got the thing for food like Chouji, Shikamaru said to himself, a little amused.
Temari, meanwhile, never failed to notice Shikamaru's surprise at seeing her gusto for food for the first time, and this made the girl laugh softly. "Tell me, Shikamaru, do I really look that bad when I'm eating?" she asked, chuckling.
"Huh? No, don't get me wrong," Shikamaru said in defense. "Well, I must admit I got a little surprised, that's all… It's actually nice to see girls like you who don't care much about what they should eat and what they shouldn't for fear of getting fat or something," and at that he smiled at her, his voice sounding a little bit different from the tone he always used on her, Temari noticed.
And so, this time around, it was Temari's turn to be caught off guard she almost blushed. She quickly covered up how she felt by laughing again and acting smugly. "Well blame it on the idiot who said only guys should eat anything they want, while the girls should just eat some sour yogurt so they can stay cute or something."
"Right. Actually, most girls I know think a little bit like that idiot," Shikamaru said, giving his widest grin. "A pity they don't understand what guys really wanted. I mean what's the point of us giving them chocolates and a lot of other food stuff if they're not gonna eat it anyway?" he said with a laugh.
"Hahaha! Careful there, I'm also a girl, remember?" Temari jokingly remarked.
"Of course. Girls should actually be more like..."
...You, Shikamaru said that last word only to himself.
"Like what?" Temari asked, oblivious to what Shikamaru was trying to say.
What the hell was I trying to say?! Trying desperately to cover his real thoughts, all Shikamaru managed to say was "like… you know, guy-friendly." Okay, that has got to be the lamest thing I've ever said in my entire life. I've just declared myself as the overly sensitive guy, way to go, Shikamaru. Now he wanted to kick himself for what he just said.
"And what, may I ask, exactly is being 'guy-friendly?'" Temari asked, her eyes already twinkling with repressed laughter as she challenged Shikamaru to say more of what was obviously something he wasn't sure about. Shikamaru always had always struck her as someone with an air of cool confidence in him – a trait she respected and even admired the first time she saw it, during the Chuunin exams when they faced each other as opponents. Of the several times she had been with him since through joint missions, this was only the second time she saw him feeling insecure about something. The first one was around two years ago when she and her brothers were summoned as reinforcements to help Shikamaru's team against the infamous Sound 4. That one almost broke him down, as she recalled, but what happened at the time was more than understandable for him to feel that way.
So what is he so unsure about now? Temari asked herself as she tried to see through Shikamaru at present. Yeah, maybe I'm just overanalyzing things. She decided to brush off her current thoughts.
"Well…," Shikamaru began, quickly recovering from what he deemed as an act of utter stupidity on his part, "Some girls I know talk about trivial things – clothes, boy bands, or boys they like in school. Or worse, they talk about nothing but themselves. I don't exactly understand how the other guys can stand it," he said chuckling in disbelief.
"Come on and have a heart. Girls your age talk like that," Temari replied, trying to act like the devil's advocate in the conversation.
"So you're admitting you were once like them," Shikamaru replied back, with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
"Well, no. I wasn't. I hated girls like that in school, actually," Temari said, grinning. "I myself didn't get along well with them. All that I dreamed of from the beginning was becoming a good shinobi. Most of my girl classmates, however, dreamed of SNARING a good shinobi, haha!"
Sound of their laughter filled the air and reached Naruto's ears, who at that moment was on his way to the ramen house for his favorite snack. He looked across the quadrangle field and saw Shikamaru laughing earnestly with Temari. He then recalled what happened yesterday when he saw them together for the first time in years. He joked then and asked if the two were out on a date, but Shikamaru replied "That's not it," and Temari added she wouldn't date with the likes of Shikamaru. "Not dating, huh?" he said, chuckling to himself as he moved along.
"And you know what? One of them even thought I was a lesbian or something – they told me so after graduation – just because I never talked about boy crushes! Can you believe that?" Temari went on, her face a mixture of disgust and comic disbelief.
"Well, are you?" Shikamaru asked her in jest, his eyes glinting with humor.
Temari heard the challenge in his voice, and gladly welcomed it. With a smile that was meant to disarm him, Temari threw back a question. "What do you think?"
Shikamaru gazed at her face at the exact moment Temari smiled, so much that the impact hit him full force he got mesmerized by it. He suddenly had the urge to kiss those smiling lips.
Oh my God, is he gonna kiss me? Temari asked in anticipation. She was watching Shikamaru's face, saw his gaze dropping from her eyes down to her lips. She actually only went there to chat and somehow break the barrier distancing her from Shikamaru, because she wanted them to be friends. But what's happening at the moment was way beyond her expectation although, for some reason, she's actually liking where it's heading. For she knew she really liked Shikamaru all along.
Shikamaru's gaze went back to Temari's eyes at the same time he said "Well… I've come up with a hundred options to disprove it."
"You can start by trying one of 'em," Temari said in response, with a hint of laughter in her voice and daring Shikamaru to continue what he just started.
"I don't think you'd like it," was all he managed to say, clearly recalling what Temari just said yesterday about her not even considering to date with him.
"Giving up easily, eh?" You're a coward, Shikamaru, Temari thought to herself. But before she could think of the next thing to say, Shikamaru's face was suddenly just a few inches away from her. For the love of Kami, he's gonna do it!
For the love of Kami, just do it and kiss her, Shikamaru told himself. He suddenly shifted his position so swiftly before Temari had time to react. He saw the surprised look on Temari's face, however, and mistook it as meaning Temari wouldn't like what he's about to do… so he stopped just a couple of inches away from her face.
Oh for crying out loud! Temari sensed that Shikamaru was about to withdraw again. And so, out of desperation and pure determination, it was Temari who ended the whole thing – she planted a light kiss right on Shikamaru's lips, drew quickly back, and smiled at his eyes before she shifted her position a few inches away from him.
"Oops, I believe I better go now. The sun will be setting in a few hours after all." Temari said as she gathered her stuff and prepared to leave. "Guess we'll chat again next time," she added, her voice sounding rather happily as she smiled and looked at Shikamaru, who still looked blown away from Temari's kiss.
"See you in the Chuunin exams," she went on as she turned her back and walked along. Then, she stopped. "Uhm.. and one more thing… contrary to what I said yesterday…. I rather think a date with you would be really nice," Temari added, her face now hidden away from Shikamaru as she knew it's sporting a handful of shades of red. Then she jumped and ran off toward the woods.
"Women," Shikamaru whispered to himself as he followed her with his gaze and smiled. He then stretched out on his back once again, his forearms as his makeshift pillow, and gazed at the clouds, a smile forming lopsidedly on his lips. "I think I'll ask her out next week."