V: A Gathering

It was early morning and Shikamaru was getting ready to leave his home for the Hokage Residence. He had already showered and dressed and was slowly making his way to the front door. He could hear the increasingly familiar sound of his mother vacuuming the house.

Passing by the living room on the way to the front door, Shikamaru heard the vacuum stop and his mother call out to him. "Shikamaru, a letter came for you. I left it on the table."

"From who?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know," Yoshino replied. "There was no name and no address."

Shikamaru walked over to the table and picked up the letter, removing it from its envelope. It was a cream color and heavily embroidered to a rather tasteless degree in Shikamaru's opinion. He opened the letter and read it out loud. "Shikamaru, you are invited to dinner at Yakiniku Q restaurant tonight at seven o'clock. Dress casually."

Yoshino perked up. "Oh, a dinner date? Some girl have their eye on you? Is there a name?"

Shikamaru balled up the letter and threw it in the trash. "Nope, but Ino sent it."

"Ino?" his mother asked. "How do you know?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Firstly, only she would use a letter like that and think that it was stylish. Secondly, she chose Yakiniku Q, one of our old favorites."

Yoshino walked over the trash and pulled the letter out. "Does she want a date with you?"

Shikamaru let out a short laugh. "No. At a guess, Sasuke's probably back in the village and she's planning some kind of big reunion. Sounds like a drag."

"Are you going?" Yoshino asked as she read the letter herself.

"Might as well," Shikamaru said, "if I don't Ino will nag me about it to no end and that would just be even more trouble."

Yoshino threw the letter back in the trash. "Shikamaru, when are you going to find a girl?"

Shikamaru started his walk back towards the front door. "I told you, Mom, that isn't for me," he said as rounded the corner into the hall.


Today had been a particularly long day for the organizers of the Chunin Exams and Temari was looking forward to getting the day done. As the clock hit 6:30 Temari left her office and made her way to Shikamaru's.

Temari knocked on the door frame and peeked in. "Hey, you feel like getting dinner?"

Shikamaru looked up from his desk. "Oh, sorry, I can't do that today."

Temari was surprised and a little deflated, though she tried not to show the latter. "Oh, why not?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Ino's got some big plan set up, I'm sorry."

"What?" Temari asked mockingly, "she you're girlfriend now?"

Shikamaru smiled. "Ha, no."

Temari took a seat in front of the desk. "Well, that's good."

"Oh?" Shikamaru said. "Is it now?"

Temari was surprised that she had said that. "Oh. All I mean is that…what I mean is…you two just don't seem like a good couple."

Shikamaru let out a short laugh. "You can say that again."

There was a knock at the doorway and Temari turned in her seat to see Ino come into the office.

Ino walked up next to the desk holding up a card of some kind. "Hey, Shikamaru, did you get one of these weird invitations?"

Shikamaru looked at the card and back at Ino. "Yes, you sent them."

"I know so, so weird, rig-," Ino said melodramatically before pausing. "Wait, you knew? How?"

"Because I know you," Shikamaru replied as he stood up. "If we're going to do this then let's go. Such a drag. Sorry Temari."

Ino smiled sweetly. "Oh, Temari can come, I made a reservation for her too!"

Temari was surprised by that. "Oh, you did? Guess I…better come then."

The trio left the Hokage Residence, heading towards the restaurant. As Temari and Shikamaru walked together side by side she noticed Ino stealing side glances at them, but when either her or Shikamaru would make to ask her about it she would look away and barely suppress a girlish giggle.

"Here we are," Ino said as they arrived at Yakiniku Q. She ushered them inside and took them to their reserved spot, a single long table in a room meant for private gatherings. Ino took a seat 4 spots in from the outside and motioned for Temari and Shikamari to take a seat.

Temari shot Shikamaru a questioning look and responded by shrugging and taking a seat two spots from the end. The Sand kunoichi sat next to him at the the end of the table.

Ino leaned on her elbow as she turned her two companions. "So how long has this been going on."

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. A few months?"

"Oh," Ino said, "so it started after Temari came to work on the Chunin Exams."

"Yeah, what did you expect?" Shikamaru replied.

A waiter came by and provided the three with drinks of water. Shikamaru went ahead and took a sip.

"So what made you finally ask her, or anyone really, out?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru tried desperately to not spit out his water as the shock hit him. "What? We're not dating, Ino!" he said after he managed to swallow his drink.

"Yeah," Temari added, "geez, how can you think that?" She then turned away from Ino in a show of disdain, though really she was hoping to hide her reddening cheeks.

At that moment Choji walked into the room. "Hey there, everybody. Thanks for the invite Ino."

Ino let out a dejected sigh. "What? You knew too?"

Choji laughed as he took the seat between Shikamaru and Ino. "Yes, I did. It had you written all over it."

"Hey," Ino said, "Shikamaru was just telling me that he and Temari aren't dating. Do you believe him?"

"Hm," Choji said as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I wasn't expecting that, but if Shikamaru says it then I believe him."

Shikamaru smiled at his friend. "Thanks Choji."

Choji closed his eyes, moving his hand from Shikamaru's shoulder to his own chin. "Though, there must be something there. After all, you've shared so many meals together."

Shikamaru sighed while Temari clenched her fist. "Hey, you stupid idiots!" she yelled. "Stop trying to read into something that isn't there!"

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Temari turned to see Sai coming into the room, followed by Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.

"Oh, no," Ino replied as she patted the open seat next to her, "come on, Sai, sit next to me."

Sai shrugged and did as was requested of him. Sakura and Sasuke took up the seats next to Sai. With no more spots available on that side of the table Naruto grabbed a seat across from his teammates.

Ino turned to Sakura. "Hey, Shikamaru and Temari are insisting that they aren't dating."

"Oh," Sakura replied, "really?"

Temari leaned forward to look at Sakura. "Yes, we're not dating, dammit!"

Sai studied Shikamaru and Temari intently. "Is this an example of this 'sexual tension' I've read so much about?"

"What?!" Temari exclaimed as she stood up, fist clenched, ready to pummel some sense into these fools.

Shikamaru gently placed his hand over Temari's fist. "Just sit down. Don't play their game."

Temari looked down at Shikamaru. "Fine," she said, forcing herself to calm down and sit.

"I still think you're dating," Naruto mumbled to himself.

Temari shot out of her seat again, ready to jump over the table. "What was that?"

Shikamaru reacted quickly and restrained her, holding her from behind with his arms wrapped around her stomach. "Hey, what did I just say?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?"

Temari looked over her shoulder to see Hinata standing timidly at the doorway, no doubt having just walked in on a very interesting scene.

Shikamaru looked back at Hinata and immediately let go of Temari. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to look nonchalant. "No, nothings happening, come in." Shikamaru scratched the back of his head as his cheeks turned a faint shade of red and his eyes darted to a corner of the room, trying not to look at anybody.

"Um, okay," Hinata said, looking utterly confused.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto yelled out. "You can sit by me!" Naruto slammed his hand on the open seat.

"Oh, alright," Hinata said as she slid in next to her crush, blushing and twiddling her fingers as she did so.

At that moment Kiba and Shino walked in. They took seats next to their teammate while Akamaru laid down at the end of the table.

Kiba placed his invitation on the table. 'Hey, who sent these out?"

"Ino was the one who sent out the tacky invite cards," Shikamaru replied.

"Tacky?!" Ino exclaimed.

Temari picked up the card and inspected it. "It is rather tacky."

Ino crossed her arms in contempt. "Of course you would support him."

"Why would I support him? He just happens to be right." Temari said.

Kiba looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Well, you are his girlfriend, aren't you?"

Temari hung her head in defeat, choosing not to dignify that with a response.

"No, we're not dating, Kiba," Shikamaru answered. "Just friends."

"Oh, that's disappointing," Kiba replied.

At that moment a waiter came, took everyone's order, and started the charcoal fire grills in the tables. After he had finished his work he left and conversations began again in earnest.

"So, Naruto," Sasuke said, breaking the quite,"Sakura tells me that's you've been off training. What you've been working on?"

"Mostly I've been trying to get better at gathering nature energy," Naruto answered. "Sage jutsu is really useful but it's still a pain standing still to gather the energy."

"Seriously?" Kiba said. "You're getting even stronger?"

"It may be hard to believe," Shino said, "but there is always room for improvement, because perfection is unattainable."

After that most of the table broke down into smaller conversations as the waiter came and went with orders of food and drink. Ino spent most of her time flirting with Sai, who didn't seem to catch on to what she was doing. Naruto spoke with most everyone, jumping from one conversation to another. Choji remained mostly focused on his meal, while Shino, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Temari remained quiet unless someone else spoke to them, and even then with as few words as possible.

"Hey, Naruto," Ino said, "when are you going to find yourself a girl? You're, like, the most popular bachelor in the village."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders in response. "I don't know about that. Haven't really thought about it," he said as he brought a piece of BBQ to his mouth.

"I'm sure you'll find someone, Naruto," Hinata said, nervously twiddling her fingers.

Naruto laughed. "Thanks, but I don't know. You, on the other hand. Hinata, you'll definitely find someone. You're from a famous clan, you're kind and strong, and you're super pretty."

Hinata's face suddenly turned a bright shade of red. "Y-you really think so?"

"Yeah," Naruto said as he noticed her blushing. He put a hand to her forehead. "Are you running a fever? Should we get you to the hospital or something?"

Hinata suddenly pulled back, her blushing becoming even darker. "No, I-I'm fine, N-naruto."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, if you're sure."

"You idiot," Kiba exclaimed, "she's only like that that because…" He stopped as he saw Hinata become steadily more embarrassed. "Never mind."

Temari watched the scene and silently thanked whatever gods would listen that she wasn't anything like that. Without thinking she glanced over at Shikamaru, who had quietly watched the events transpire.

The rest of the meal went by rather uneventfully. Eventually all the food was eaten and even Choji was satisfied. The bill was split 11 ways, with Shikamaru paying for Temari's meal and Sasuke paying for Sakura's.

When they left the restaurant Shikamaru escorted Temari home, as he always did. As they were approaching the hotel Temari said, "thanks for picking up the bill for me."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Hey, it just seemed the proper, courteous thing to do. And I'm sorry how things went back there."

"It's fine," Temari replied, "you'll just have to make it up to me tomorrow," she added with a smile.

Shikamaru returned the expression. "Hmph, sounds like a drag, but you got it."

Temari suddenly leaned in towards Shikamaru and pecked him on the cheek. Shikamaru jumped back in surprise before rubbing the spot where her lips had touched his skin while wearing a blank look on his face. "What was that?" he asked meekly.

"It was just my way of saying thanks," Temari replied. "But don't think anything by it," she added sternly.

Shikamaru regained his composure and smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

They reached the hotel quickly thereafter. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways until next time.