11. Bar Talk

"For once in your life, try not to be late, okay?" Ino nagged on the phone.

"Yeah, fine I'll be there. I'll see you later." Shikamaru said on the other end and she heard the dial tone as he hung up. She sighed; her teammate just hadn't been himself since the end of the war. It had been almost a year now and Shikamaru still seemed, for want of a better word, weird. He'd thrown himself into work, swapping his old laidback personality for a more driven one, which Ino supposed wasn't the worst thing, but it still wasn't natural to see him like this. She knew better than anyone what it was; Shikamaru wasn't the kind of guy who was going to talk about how he felt about losing his dad, even though that was probably the worst thing in the world for him. To cover it up, and to spend less time at home, he was going into overdrive.

She'd done the same thing herself for a while; she knew it was totally normal to try and avoid confronting it but it had got in the way of her work. How could she examine other people's minds when her own was so troubled? She was working through her grief but wasn't so sure he was doing the same.

That's why she'd arranged a little get together tonight. She figured if he wasn't going to talk about it then the least she could do was distract him for a night. She'd co-ordinated their whole Academy class to go out for drinks at a bar. After all, who was going to say no to a little drinking on a Friday night?

She was out in the market doing some shopping for her mom when she saw a familiar face. "Temari! Hey!" She waved at the blonde from across the street and went to greet her. "What brings you to town?"

"I'm just preparing for the first Shinobi Union meeting. We've got a lot going on right now and liaising between our villages beforehand cuts down the work for when we're actually there. How are you?" Temari asked.

"I'm fine thanks. Yeah I've been hearing about all of this from Shikamaru, he's really not enjoying the late nights."

"Well, that makes two of us." Temari chuckled. "At least he gets this weekend off, I'm working straight through. Tonight's the only break I get until next Monday."

"Tonight?" The cogs turned in Ino's head. Temari was free. Shikamaru was also free. Shikamaru, she was pretty sure, liked Temari. And the whole point of tonight was to relax him... "Do you want to come out for a drink with all of us? We're all heading to the bar after work."

"Um..." Temari looked unsure. "Are you sure you want me to come to your guys' night out? I mean I don't really know everyone that well. Also I'm on duty and I probably shouldn't..."

"Oh come on!" Ino dialled up the charm to 100. "We're all friends here don't worry. And besides, you need one night of fun before you start a week of flat-out work. Trust me, it'll be great. Shikamaru's coming too so there will be at least one person you know."

Temari sighed and smiled. "Screw it, I'm in. When and where?"

Shikamaru walked to the bar after work. When he walked into the dimly lit room he heard his friends making the most noise in the whole bar right at the end. He strolled over, not really knowing why he was here except for the fact that Ino insisted and he felt bad bailing on her again.

"Shikamaru! You made it!" Ino bolted over and gave him a crushing hug, clearly a little uninhibited already. Shikamaru made his usual apologies for being late but she waved him off. "Doesn't matter," she said, "Now let's get you some booze so you can stop being so grumpy!"

He chatted and laughed at Naruto and Kiba having drinking competitions and generally had a good time. But still as he sat at the bar nursing a drink with his group's usual chaos unfolding around him, he felt a little empty. He couldn't explain why or what the feeling was but it was definitely there.

"Mind if I join you?" He heard her gritty voice and turned in his chair expecting to see her in her usual attire. However, as his head turned over his shoulder he was met with something he'd never seen before. Temari stood behind him in a plunging black jumpsuit, hair up in a loose bun with a few strands tumbling down her jawline and dangling earrings that contrasted her light features. He had honestly never seen or pictured her wearing anything other than her usual clothes but he had to admit it; she looked stunning. Apparently she'd stunned him out of words as he sat there just taking in her new appearance.

"Temari, you're here! And looking amazing, damn!" Ino once again sauntered over, giggling. She looked over at her dumbstruck teammate. "What's up with Shikamaru?"

He bounced back into action when he heard his name. "Huh?"

"I think I broke him," Temari whispered to Ino, as confused as she was. "You okay Shikamaru?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just... didn't expect to see you here." He cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Ino invited me," Temari replied apprehensively, "I thought she checked it was alright?"

"It's fine you're my guest! Now come on, you need a drink in your hand." Ino pulled Temari away before they figured her plan out.

A few shots and one arm-wrestle with Kiba later, Temari flopped into the seat next to Shikamaru. She ordered another cocktail and looked over at him. He looked... sad. And she wanted to fix that. She hated seeing him serious at work, but she'd always figured he had more fun with his friends outside of work. Seeing him depressed at a bar with all his friends seemed criminally wrong to her. She nudged him.

"What's going on in there?" She knocked on his forehead with her glass.

"Ow! Nothing." He shot her a glare.

"So why are you being so moody?"

He sighed. He knew he wasn't the most fun guy to hand around nowadays. He just didn't want to be a kid anymore, he wanted to be as adult as his village needed him to be. He tried explaining that he wasn't going to act like a kid to Temari; she already knew all this from their numerous chats over the last year. She took a minute to let it sink in and then leaned over to him and blew a raspberry in his face.

"So what? You're twenty years old Shikamaru, you need to have a bit of fun. I know it's not easy trying to find the balance but you don't need to be grown up all the time. Our jobs are serious enough, you need to learn how to let loose when you're free. Take me, for example," she stood up and leaned against the bar proudly, "I have work tomorrow at seven in the morning. Am I letting that stop me?" She took a dramatic swig of her drink and slammed the glass down.

"Clearly not," Shikamaru mumbled.

"Exactly," she softened a little and looked him straight in the eye. "So, what do you say we get a few more drinks in you and get out of here? Do something really fun?" She smiled at him, excited but also caring and soothingly. Something about her smile put him at ease; or more simply, something about her put him at ease. He let a smile creep its way onto his face too and downed his drink in one.

"Alright, what do you have in mind?"

He woke up to bright sunshine and birds chirping. He felt groggy and dizzy as he tried to ease himself up. As soon as he was upright his head started pounding. He groaned. He'd never felt so awful in his life. He looked over at his clock and saw a note next to a glass of water.

Dropped you off here last night after you passed out. Drink this whole glass and you might feel a bit better. Had fun with you yesterday – you're a lot better company when you're drunk. See you around,
- Temari

P.S. you paid a guy 50 dollars for the shirt you're wearing. I'd make the most of it.

He looked down at the white t shirt with a very curvaceous, bikini-clad body on it. It went all the way down to his knees and he was currently wearing it as a nightie. He smacked his forehead with his palm while he wondered how long he was walking around wearing this last night. He replayed the last line of her letter and could hear Temari's smug chuckle behind it.

Suddenly the phone rang setting off needles and hammers in his brain. He stiffly leaned over to his bedside table and picked up. "Hello?" he croaked.

"Shikamaru? Is that you? Sorry to bother you on your day off but we need you to come in. We're drowning in paperwork and can't figure out your system. Can you get here as soon as possible?" a stressed-sounding Kakashi begged.

"Yep, I'll be there in ten." he managed to get out of his sore, parched throat. He rubbed his face as he put the phone down and flopped against his bedframe. You've got to be kidding, he thought to himself.

When he traipsed into the Hokage's office, dragging his heavy limbs into the room, he saw Temari sitting behind a stack of papers as high as her head. Kakashi explained where the problem was and Shikamaru quickly sorted it, wanting nothing more than to go home and sleep this off. Kakashi left for his lunch break leaving Shikamaru alone with an extraordinarily quiet Temari.

"How you holding up back there?" he called out, despite not being able to see her face.

She groaned in response. She peeked her head over the stack of papers so Shikamaru could see her pale face which was largely hidden by the huge sunglasses she'd chosen to wear. "I've had better days." She smiled at him as she slumped back into her chair and he did the same in his. "Worth it though, right?"

"A hundred percent." He smiled back. "So..." he said leaning forward in his chair, "what did I actually do last night?"

She snorted and chuckled; she had the least lady-like laugh he'd ever heard but it was somehow still relaxing to hear. He felt alive and excited for the first time in a year when he saw her devilish smile. "Are you sure you want to know?"