Chapter 14: Beginnings
Choji sighed and looked at his watch again. His stupid friends were late again and he was pretty sure he could figure out why. He decided to just order without them and get a head start on the barbeque, since he was going to make them split the bill anyway.
About twenty mins later, Shikamaru and Ino turned up at the restaurant not even looking apologetic for being almost half an hour late. Didn't they know he didn't like eating alone? It just made him more anxious and that meant he needed to eat even more. Selfish jerks.
"Sorry we're late Choji, we just got caught up," Ino said sliding gracefully into the booth.
"Yeah, this double date thing turned out to be less of a drag than expected," Shikamaru chimed in while Choji stayed quiet. He knew they weren't to blame; they were all growing up and had busy lives and it was becoming harder and harder to find time to spend together. What was worse was the fact that both Ino and Shikamaru were dating people now, so Choji either had the choice of fifth wheeling or staying out of it all together. But staying out of it meant being distanced from his two best friends... the whole thing was a mess, but that was life. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
As for himself, Choji didn't have any romantic prospects right now, nor could he imagine ever having any. He knew he was a big guy, and the kind of person people would see as a friend, not a boyfriend. Girls would call him a sweetheart, the nicest guy, but he knew what that was code for. It meant he was a friend and nothing more. He sighed again.
"Choji? What's up man?" Shikamaru nudged him with his shoulder so Choji gave him a soft smile.
"Nothing, don't worry about it. So what did you guys end up doing on your date?" As Ino dived into the details of their first double date with Temari and Sai, Shikamaru couldn't avoid the hint of sadness in Choji's smile as he listened. He'd had a plan in the works for a while now, and maybe it was time to set it in motion. He smiled to himself and slid out of the booth.
"I'm just going to the restroom, save me some beef okay?" He said, as Ino continued her story.
"I make no promises!" Choji called after him. He could only shake his head and chuckle. His friend really hadn't changed at all.
He went to the back of the restaurant where Choji and Ino couldn't see him, opened his frequently contacted and called his girlfriend from the top of the list. She picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"
"Hey Tem, it's me."
"Yeah I know, I have caller ID. We live in the 21st century Shikamaru." He rolled his eyes so hard she could practically hear it over the phone. "What's up?"
"Well, you know how your friend's in town tonight? And you guys were gonna go out for dinner anyway? I was thinking, why don't you come have dinner with us?"
"So we can crash your old team dinner and awkwardly laugh at in jokes we don't get? I think we'll pass. Although it is sweet you want to see me again after spending the whole day together."
He laughed. "Well yeah, you are my girlfriend after all. But this isn't really for me..." he trailed off hoping she'd get his gist.
As usual, she cottoned on faster than expected. She smiled a scheming smile on the other end of the phone. "Oh okay, well should I tell Karui to wear something slutty?"
He chuckled nervously. "You know, Choji's an easy-going guy, I think slutty might just scare him off. I on the other hand have no problem-"
"Goodbye Shikamaru, see you in a bit." He let himself smile at the playful lilt in her voice before heading back to the table.
Although he was enjoying being with his friends for a night, Shikamaru couldn't stop his leg twitching with nervous energy. He knew this was a risky move; either Choji and Karui would hit it off spectacularly, or Choji would end up hating him for ambushing him with a pretty girl. Either way, Shikamaru just wanted his friend to be happy, and he was willing to suffer the consequences if this went badly.
He saw her immediately when she came through the door. He couldn't help it; her hair always seemed like a beacon to him and he noticed it instantly. Right he thought to himself game face on.
"Temari? What are you doing here?" he said as normally as possible as Temari and Karui neared the table.
She shot him a glare. He was definitely going to pay for breaking up her night with her friend. "Well, we were hungry and decided to come get some food. We had no idea you guys were going to be here too." To Temari's credit, she was an amazing actress. She sounded as defensive and annoyed at usual. Nonetheless, Karui rolled her eyes next to Temari.
"Well you should join us! Come on there's plenty of space." Ino chirped enthusiastically as she scooted in so she was facing Choji.
"Actually Ino, I was hoping you could show me where the restrooms are. Karui, you don't mind sitting with Shikamaru and Choji for a bit right?" Temari smiled, and all but physically manhandled Ino out of the booth and put Karui in her place. "We'll be back in a bit!"
Karui sighed as she slid into the booth so she was halfway opposite both Shikamaru and Choji. To say it was awkward would have been an understatement, but thankfully Karui piped up before Shikamaru had to intervene. "So, I haven't seen either of you for a while. What's been going on with you?" Choji looked at Shikamaru. God, he was going to make this difficult.
"Not much really, just lots of missions and not much time for anything else." Shikamaru said.
Karui laughed. "Yeah, you're lucky you work with Temari or you'd probably have a hard time seeing each other if your schedule is anything like hers."
"Yeah, that's probably fair. I think the last we properly talked must have been Naruto's wedding right?"
"Oh yeah! God, has it really been that long? I don't think I saw you there, Choji."
The sudden mention of his name made him look up from his food. She knew his name? He half spluttered out his response from the surprise. "Y-yeah, I don't remember seeing you either, Karui."
A silence settled briefly on the table. Shikamaru started panicking; was he going to have to do all the work here? Then he had his lightbulb moment. Talk about food. Choji was born to talk about food, he could do it in his sleep and probably sometimes did. "Man, the food at that wedding was amazing, right Choji?"
"Oh yeah, I've never eaten so much in my life! There was food everywhere they really went all out. They has shrimp and sushi and barbeque..."
"And those ribs! Did you try the ribs?" Karui chimed in. Yes! It's working! Shikamaru thought to himself.
"Oh yeah I forgot about those! The best thing there was the cake though. I've never had a cake like it, they said it was a speciality from somewhere and I can't find it anywhere in Konoha."
"It was from Kumo," said Karui, almost sheepishly. "Did you really like it?"
Worried he'd said something wrong, Choji tried to backtrack a little. "Yeah, why? Did you not like it?"
Karui smiled a huge, ear-to-ear grin. "No, it's just that I made it! I'm so glad someone who eats so much good food liked it!"
"We're back!" Ino said in her sing-song voice as her and Temari slid in next to Karui. Shikamaru just gave her a smile and raised his eyebrows a little. She knew what it meant; things were going according to plan.
"Goodnight guys!" Ino called as she walked into her complex after they walked her home. Despite being in a war together, Choji and Shikamaru still felt the need to walk her home whenever they went out. She'd never told Shikamaru, but she thought it was the sweetest thing, and it made her like him even more. With just the four of them left, Temari laced her fingers with Shikamaru's and he put his arm around her in response. They weren't usually this couple-y when other people were around but they figured if they walked together Choji and Karui would have to walk together too. It didn't work though; Choji stayed well apart from her even though they were talking and she was clearly making him laugh. Shikamaru looked down at Temari and kissed her forehead.
"Come on guys, at least wait till the two of us are gone," Karui smirked.
"I second that," Choji said, raising his hand which made Karui laugh.
"You know, I think we will do just that. Come on, Shikamaru, feel like a walk by the river?" Temari gave him a soft smile and held out her hand. He gladly took it, keen to leave his friend alone but also to spend some time with his girlfriend. Karui was right, they barely had any spare time for each other.
They left Choji to walk Karui home. Shikamaru knew he was too much of a gentleman to do anything tonight but it was better to leave them alone anyway. He sat by the river in the dark with Temari sat between his legs, cocooned by him. He relished the feeling of her in his arms. They were growing up and it was hard, sure, but he couldn't help feeling that even though it was different and so much more of a drag, it was a pretty good life.