"What's wrong?" Shikamaru could sense that something was off, the way Temari was looking as she sat by the window, staring at the skyscrapers from far away. She looked up and blinked, clearing her throat.

"I need to tell you, something." She paused, he could see that her hand was shaking a bit.

Almost out of instinct, he reached over and took her hand. "Tell me."
"It, it's my dad." Temari closed her eyes. "He wants to meet you."

"Oh, that's it?" Shikamaru arched an eyebrow.

Temari shook her head and freed herself from his hand. She walked up to the window and wrapped her arms around herself.

"You don't know him." Temari shook her head. "Besides, my brothers too."

"True, I've never met them before." Shikamaru shrugged as he walked up next to her.

"Terrible things happened before, to …" Temari blinked. "To the guys I used to date."

"Oh?" Shikamaru arched an eyebrow, his slightly smug look wiped off his face. "How many… guys are we talking about?"

"A few." Temari said without much hesitation. "We all have our past, Shikamaru."

"And how did those … relationships end?"

"Not very well," Temari blinked. "Let's just say some of them ended up in the hospital."

"Fuck," Shikamaru said, reaching out and held her gently by the waist. "Don't worry, I am pretty good at fighting, contrary to common belief."

Temari shook her head as she smiled painfully. He gently held her hand as his arm encircled her waist.

"When are we going to meet your dad?"

"He wants us to go to Suna, at around next week." Temari blinked and turned around at him. "You don't have to go if you can't make it, I'll just say that you have work or something."

Shikamaru raised a finger and pressed it against her supple lips.

"I'll go." Shikamaru smiled at her. "It's only fair for me to meet your family, after I've met yours."

Temari smiled and pressed her head against his chest. "Thank you."

"Don't be silly," he sucked his teeth and wrapped his arms around her. "Troublesome."

"Oh and there's something else."

"Yeah?"

"They are going to issue an official statement for us tomorrow," Temari looked up. "So you'd better be prepared for a lot of paparazzis tomorrow."

Shikamaru frowned. "What's your schedule tomorrow?"

"I'm going to a casting tomorrow," she said. "After that, I'm probably going to have the entire day off."

"Oh," Shikamaru looked away, his hand resting on his chin.

"You thinking of something?"

"Yeah," he replied. "My friends are having a party tomorrow, you wanna come?"

Temari smiled at him. "Sure, if that's your way of introducing me to your world."

Shikamaru grinned before pressing a kiss atop of her forehead.

He noticed that Temari was frowning slightly, he smiled at her.

She gasped as he held her by the waist and lifted her up, her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck as he did.

"I know something that'll cheer you up," he grinned devilishly as Temari stared into his dark brown eyes.

Something about this man never fails to cheer her up.

Perhaps, this time it would be different.

He is the right one.

He waited at the entrance of the building, situated at the less than prosperous part of town, he wondered how a girl like Tenten could live here alone, as he looked around, the men crouching at the staircases of buildings were giving him less than friendly looks.

He crossed his arms and leaned against his car, as he looked up, he found a surprised Tenten staring at him, holding two bags of groceries in her hand.

"Neji? Why - what are you doing here?" Tenten shook her head. "You shouldn't be here."
"You shouldn't be here,' he repeated, arching an eyebrow. "This is no place for a young woman to live."

Tenten laughed. "I grew up here," she looked around. "It's always been like this."

She folded her arms in front of her chest. "Anyway, why are you here?"

"I wanted to apologize," he said hastily. "For everything."

Tenten arched an eyebrow, slowly she raised her hand and cupped it against his forehead, leaving him looking stunned and embarrassed at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Tenten frowned, looking genuinely worried. "This isn't the Hyuga Neji I know."

"I…" He sighed exasperatedly. "I have two proposals to make."
"Pro-proposal?" Tenten blushed, shaking her head wildly. "So-sorry, please continue."
"Either you invite me up to your place," he paused. "Or let me take you out for dinner." Neji straightened his jacket. "I feel like a talk between us is long overdue."

Tenten looked at him and shook her head. "Don't you remember?"

"Huh?"

"Naruto's party tomorrow night," Tenten laughed a little. "We can talk there tomorrow night, besides, I have something important to do right now."

"So important you don't have to eat?"

"I've got something ready," Tenten grinned, nuding the groceries. "Besides, don't you have a lot of work to do?"

"How do you know?"

"Erm," Tenten stared at the ground as a hue of pink covered her face. "You said so last night."

"Oh," Neji blinked, staring down. "If that's the case, I'll pick you up tomorrow for the party?"

"Oh, if that's not too inconvenient for you," Tenten smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
Neji stared as Tenten turned around and walked back into the building.

Something felt bittersweet in his mouth.

Does she think of him as a friend? A romantic interest?

He was pretty sure that Tenten liked him, he had always knew.

The ever so thoughtful extra bottle of water at practices, how she anxiously searched for first aid kits whenever he got hurt, and her attending every single game he played - all of these were too obvious to not notice.

He was the one who ignored all these signs, thinking back now, he was such a fool.

He clutched his fists tightly as he sighed softly.

The right person might have been there, all along.

But now, he might have lost her, right after he realised.

Author's note:

Two very different directions for our two couples ... and finally, more characters will appear in the coming chapter(s) to come!

I hope you enjoy reading it - sorry for these recent two chapters being a bit short.

Anyway, thank you for the love and support xoxo Will update ASAP!

V.S.V