CHAPTER 16 - Moving On

'Damn that Sasuke.' Shikamaru thought to himself as he sat on a bench outside of Temari's apartment building. He didn't think Sasuke took it so literally when he mentioned how him and Temari had to talk things over, but to his mistake, it definitely was.

"We're here." Sasuke told the two, in which Temari walked outside the car.

Shikamaru looked down at his phone, not realizing Sasuke had been staring at him to exit the car as well. Sasuke then grabbed his phone, unlocked the door, and put his phone into one of Shikamaru's backpack pockets. "Get out."

The genius was baffled, completely on the verge of freaking out. "Oh you gotta be kidding me!"

And to think, that wasn't even ten minutes ago.

The two awkwardly sat next to each other on the same bench, leaving a rather large space between them. Neither of them would stare, nor even want to talk. They simply sat in silence, but of course, it wouldn't last.

"Temari?" Shikamaru called out worriedly.

Temari, cross legged and armed, turned over to him. "What?" She spoke in a rather aggravated tone.

Shikamaru held his head back, swallowing. She really was a different person when she was mad. He didn't want to push her buttons, but Sasuke was right; they did have to settle things.

"I feel like you know what's going on," Temari told him. "And I completely understand."

He blinked, confused on her unchanged demeanor. "If that's the case, why don't you tell me?"

Temari opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again as she did not want to sell out the girls. Considering Shikamaru was the closest to Ino, he would of suspected her first. Therefore, she would stay silent, acting as if she was ignore me.

"Tayuya... was it about her?" He asked again, surprisingly unfazed. At this point, he figured that she had overhead what Sasuke had said when they were still at the school. As he kept getting the silent treatment from her, he decided to talk his way into the conversation.

"Listen, Temari," Shikamaru stood up, turning around that way he was looking down on her. "I can't lie, Tayuya was special.. to me. I don't know about you, but the moment you go through your first heartbreak, it's tough. And I know that probably means nothing to you considering, well, I gotta admit, you're way stronger than I am!"

She continued to look straight ahead.

Shikamaru sighed, sharing a small smile. "My point is, that was the past. But I'll never forget the time she held my hand, became my first kiss, and literally everything. It's been over a year, and the fact that she is in almost all of my classes doesn't help me either. But Temari..." He would take a seat close to her, inserting one of his hands slowly into one of her own, raising it up and squeezing it gently. "I'm willing to look past all of that. Because I do like you, I really do."

Temari turned her head a bit, meeting her gaze with his. When she did this, he seemed to have completely smiled and took her willing eyes as a sign that she understood.

"So? What do you say-" Shikamaru spoke, immediately getting cut off by a hard slap to his face.

Completely in shock, he looked up to her. He raised up a hand to the area of his cheek where she had slapped, looking up to her to see her angrier than ever. Her facial expression showed the complete opposite of what he had suggested before; a harsh, twisted, grimace.

"Is that what you take me as, Shikamaru?!" She yelled at him, both hands curled into fists. "Let me tell you something about me. I have never experienced any aspects of a relationship. Back in Suna, everything was about guys staring at asses and how many girls they can screw over in a week. But I would of never also thought that guys, even ones you think that would have good intentions, think that just because they can't get over their ex-girlfriends means they can simply use other girls they got close to as a rebound, well you're wrong. You're so fucking wrong."

As Shikamaru listened to her, his eyes grew wider and wider. He had never seen this side of Temari, and damn he hoped to himself that this was just a lesson.

Temari took a quick breath, about to walk into her building with the motive of leaving Shikamaru there dumbfounded, but turned around to express her anger once more. This time, she felt the water well up in her eyes, feeling the tears forming at the very edge. "And to think, I thought you were the best guy besides my brothers and Baki that I had ever came across. I hate the fact that I can't believe I considered myself liking you, because while you were considering me as a second option, you were my first. You were always my first."

And with that, she turned around as she felt the teardrops begin to fall, and sped walked to the lobby of the building. She began to wipe them away, thinking to herself that she was way stronger than that. However, she had failed to convince that notion of herself, in which she dragged her feet to the stairs and stopped mid-level to fall to her knees and ball into them.

After about a close hour of walking, Shikamaru had finally arrived back to the campus of the school. Never did he once look up away from his feet, for he was in such shame that he didn't think he deserved to see the shining view of the night sky.

He approached the dorm building, entering the doors casually as he tiredly walked up the stairs. After what felt like forever, he made it to his dorm room to find no one but himself. He figured that his friends had went to go do something during the night, but he was thankful for the peace. In which, he took it to his advantage and let a tear roll down his eye. It was as if nothing mattered to him more than Temari's feelings. The two of them hadn't even known each other for a year, but for some odd reason, it felt like they've known each other ever since he had met the rest of the gang. It was so unusual to him that he grew conscious of that feeling.

Shikamaru felt his phone vibrate, reading the text message, in which read:

'Shikamaru! How are you...' - Tayuya