CHAPTER 8 - Who's That Boy?
The quad continued to explore the mall, shopping from at least 10 different stores and spending a buttload at each. Each store they stopped at, Ino would squeal and make Shikamaru hold her bags, while Sakura would follow her and make Shikamaru hold hers too. He really wasn't having fun, atop of that he was losing money, considering Ino kept insisting Temari had to have certain items.
As the day progressed, Ino and Sakura went to go shop inside a lingerie store in which Shikamaru refused to go inside. And so he waited at a bench outside the store with the bags he carried for them, while the girls went inside. After a few minutes, Temari decided to head out, standing in front of the bench that Shikamaru was sitting at.
He looked up at her. "What? Ino send you out to mug more money from me?
Temari moaned, shaking her head. "No, no, it's not that," she told him. "I needed a break from all the shopping, I feel like my brothers would genuinely think I turned into a Barbie doll if I came home with any more bags."
"I get it," Shikamaru turned away. "It was a fun day for me too, spending a lot of money and all."
The blonde had to admit, she did feel bad that she was spending a lot of money on Shikamaru's money, even if he did have more than he knew what to do with. She took the bags with her newly bought clothes in it, and pushed it towards him. "Here."
Shikamaru looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Go return it, I don't need any clothes anyway." She told him.
He sighed, regretting the half-jokes he said out loud. "No, no, it's fine," He would turn his head again. "It looks good on you anyway." He spoke a bit quieter.
Temari smiled sweetly, "Hey, thanks Shika-baby." She playfully punched his bicep, joking around in a Kin-like tone.
"Yeah, yeah," He rolled his eyes. "Might change my mind if you keep up that voice."
From afar, Sakura and Ino looked through the mirror of the lingerie store, seeing Temari and Shikamaru smiling and being all cute.
"Oh my gosh, he so likes her." Ino said out loud, still facing the two through the window.
Sakura looked over her shoulder, smiling. "Oh? How could you be so sure?"
Ino glanced at her best friend for a second before looking at the pair again. "You can totes see it, Shikamaru never smiles when it comes to women."
The girl with pink hair made a face, she wasn't wrong. Shikamaru always threw in many comments about how women were "such a drag." Although it annoyed the girls at times, they mainly took it as his version of humor and smacked his head a few times for it. However, this time he seemed to really be enjoying the company of their new friend.
All of a sudden, a brown haired boy broke between Shikamaru and Temari, and the girls saw him excitedly hug Temari.
"Yikes." The two said at the same time.
Ten Ten climbed an employee's chair, trying to reach for a pair of spandex shorts. She looked down at them, remembering how Shikamaru told her that Temari used to do volleyball at her old school. She smiled to herself, looking down at her three friends. "Hey, what do you think Temari's size is?" She called down to them.
The three wondered to themselves, before Kiba spoke. "Probably a large," he pointed up. "Not that she's fat, but she's gotta have something to fit that ass snug in."
Hinata blushed, while Neji hit him lightly on the chest as a small punishment. Kiba laughed to himself while Ten Ten also hid a grin, she reached for a pair of large, black, spandex shorts before stepping down from the ladder. "Alright, let's look for some socks, knee pads, and a sports bra."
Neji would take the pair of shorts from Ten Ten's hands, raising an eyebrow. "So, what are we exactly shopping for?"
"They're not for me, they're for Temari. Just decided to give her a small welcoming gift, you know?" She told him, before walking to a section of knee pads.
Hinata smiled. "I think that's really nice of you, Ten Ten."
"See? Your cousin gets it."
Neji rolled his eyes. "Looks like we're going to be all responsible to make sure we have no conflicts on a day that her game happens to be on, what if she doesn't even make the team? Let alone even try to tryout."
Ten Ten turned, pausing her browsing. "Oh, she will."
"Temari! I can't believe I'm seeing you again! It's been years!"
Temari smiled at her old friend. "It's nice to see you again, Senta."
Shikamaru looked at the two, seeing that Temari seemed to have at least one friend who was good to her at her old school. He just sat on the bench, seeing a whole spam of text messages coming from Ino,
'What are you doing?'
'HE'S STEALING YOUR GIRL!'
'DON'T JUST SIT THERE.'
"Temari! Let's catch up! There's a small food stand on the floor below us, let's go eat some sweet bread!" Senta smiled excitedly.
Temari grinned widely. "Sure, why not? Let's go." About to walk away, she then turned to Shikamaru. "I'll see you later, Shikamaru. Thanks for the clothes." Senta and Temari then proceeded to walk to the escalators of the mall, heading to the floor below them. As soon as the two were out of sight, Ino and Sakura made a whole beeline to Shikamaru.
"A girl makes you smile that wide and you let her go with some other guy!" Ino growled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She exclaimed while whacking him in the head.
While Shikamaru tried to dodge her attacks, he scratched his head. "Jeez, it's not like he just came up asking to fuck or anything, they're simply just two friends wanting to have a good time."
Sakura smirked. "So, you don't mind if they're together?
Regret stormed Shikamaru's mind, looking at his friend in suspicion. Did he like Temari? No, there was no way. He considered them pretty good friends, but not exactly going to that far of a level yet. "They can get married on a beach and I wouldn't care, besides she's not exactly my type of woman."
Ino sat beside her best guy friend, shaking her head disappointedly. "You will never get a woman with that attitude."
Although Temari had been surprised and happy that she finally was able to see her friend Senta again, she did start to miss Shikamaru's company a bit more. Nevertheless, she would pop a piece of fried dough into her mouth, chewing as the sugary contents danced on her tastebuds.
"And so, that's how I got away from being suspended!" Senta exclaimed, talking as if Temari was as interested in him when they first saw each other again. The brunette looked worriedly at his friend, placing a calm hand on her shoulder. "You alright? Temari?"
Temari shook out of her imagination, smiling sweetly to Senta. "Yeah, yeah! T-That story was great, Senta..."
The male took a sip of his lemonade before moving his hand to her hand, linking their fingers together. "Tell me what's wrong."
Once again, Temari refused anything to be wrong. "Senta, I promise you, it's noth-"
"You like that boy? Don't you?" He cut her off, smirking as she looked at him with widened eyes.
At this point, Temari began to rethink everything that happened since she came to Konoha Hall. The first drive home, the way Shikamaru seemed to always be the person she enjoyed company from, how he was smart, intelligent, leader of many groups, and he was genuinely good looking to her. Not only that, but at times she recognized that he seemed to be genuinely interested in her too. Even then, Temari had always liked it when Shikamaru was there, anywhere. She blushed, not knowing what to say to her good friend.
The blonde breathed out, removing her hands progressively from the touch of Senta's hands, placing her own on top of her knee which was crossed on top the other. She looked deeply into her friend's eyes, before smiling proudly and nodding. "Yes, yes I do."
Senta's eyes twinkled, grinning as he pulled his friend into a tight hug. "Temari, I'm so happy! You've always had issues when it came to committing yourself into relationships and here you are-"
"Woah, woah, woah," Temari cut him off, waving a finger. "It's not a relationship, who even knows, he may not even like me."
The boy eyeballed her, making a shape with his lips as if he was telepathically telling her that she was way too beautiful inside and out to ever be denied by a girl. "I think you'll do fine, and also, I have something to tell you too..."
Temari listened in, leaning a bit forward, a serious expression arose on her face. "What?"
"I'm gay."