Fifth Meeting

"Let's eat."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He heard the sound of a rolling suitcase come to a halt.

"I'm serious. I'm hungry."

He shrugged. "Then you can go eat. I'm going home."

"Really? You're going to be this childish?"

He turned to look at Temari, who stood at the corner of the street with a hand on her hip and the other holding the suitcase behind her.

"You've threatened me."

She waved his claim away as if she were swatting away a pestering fly. "If you're going to be so upset about it, I'll treat you to lunch."

He watched her carefully for a moment to judge her intentions. He got nothing. "No thanks."

"It's my way of saying thank you for getting my luggage back."

"If you were really so thankful, you'd leave me alone."

She smirked and tilted her head. "Exactly, I'm not so thankful. But I'm thankful enough."

"Still: no thanks."

Before he knew what was happening, she had latched onto his wrist with her free hand and dragged him behind her, just like she was dragging her suitcase.

"You're acting like you have much of a choice," she told him over her shoulder, as she lead the way to a ramen shop just a few feet away.

She was right; he was acting as if he had much of a choice. And he really, really didn't. In that day of getting to know Temari, he already knew that much: if she wanted something, she would have it, whether he gave it up willingly or not.

The owner barely glanced at them as they entered the store and Temari led him all the way to the back, where a tiny booth stood. She slid into a seat before staring at him and bending his will and body to her command. He soon followed suit, sliding into the seat before her, and tried not to meet her gaze.

"Tch," she mumbled, picking up a menu. "Don't act like a man condemned."

"It's a pretty accurate description of my life at the moment."

"Just accept it, okay?"

"Accept what?"

"The lunch." She gestured at his side of the table. "I mean, if this is the way you act all the time, then no wonder that girl you love so much didn't marry you."

He was annoyed. He didn't really like being reminded of his romantic failures in the realm of Ino. "Let's talk about you, shall we?"

She shrugged. "I'm not as interesting." She went back to reading the menu.

"Your accent is strange."

She stopped reading to look at him. "Really."

"Are you really a country bumpkin? You don't seem like one"

"You've seemed to have analyzed me pretty well. You tell me."

He stared at her for a long moment. She didn't look very Japanese, but she didn't look very much anything else, either. What he had sworn to be dyed had actually been very real, so he couldn't doubt the blueness of her eyes or the tan of her skin.

"No idea."

She smiled, a ferocious looking grin that almost made him leap back out of his chair. "Good."

"Will you tell me?"

She shrugged. "What do you even want to know?" She raised a finger in the air to flag down a waiter, who leaped to her side so quickly Shikamaru bet the guy had been hiding in one of the cracks in the floor.

"Where are you from?"

"Earth."

It was extremely difficult to keep from rolling his eyes at everything she said. She was an extremely infuriating creature. "If you're not going to answer, you should just say so."

"See how annoying one-worded answers are?" She pointed her chopsticks at him. "Now you know how I feel."

He didn't want to admit that as stupid as their conversations he was actually extremely entertained.

"Where are you from?" he tried again.

"Seoul. You?" She put her chin in her hand as she leaned her elbow on the table.

He was genuinely surprised. "You're Korean?"

She glowered at him. "Don't make it sound like such a bad thing."

"Wait, really?"

"A fourth."

"What else?"

"Half Japanese and a fourth Swedish." She leaned away to allow the waiter to place their bowls on the table. "And you?"

"Full Japanese," he said, giving her a smirk.

"Cute. Where are you from?"

"Nara."

She hummed, clearly pleased. "It fits you, actually."

"You've been there?"

She nodded. She took a sip of her soup and grinned. "It's delicious."

The rest of the meal was silent. He took the opportunity to take better looks at her as she enjoyed her ramen, which she made a clear point of enjoying to the fullest.

Temari was unlike any woman he had met so far. Granted, most of the women he knew were friends of Ino's, but Temari was so unlike Ino, in almost every possible way, that he was almost convinced that Temari was a part of a whole different species. She didn't bother to appear delicate as she slurped her noodles and chugged her tea. When soup ran down the side of her mouth, she wiped it away with the back of her hand. A strand of her unruly hair fell out of its ponytail at the top of her head, and instead of tucking it back, she only blew it away and continued to eat. She didn't bother continuing the conversation; she didn't bother reprimanding him when she caught him staring at her; she didn't even give the waiter a second glance as he hovered nearby, watching her every move, refilling her cup of tea even before she could notice it had emptied.

He was absolutely terrified of her. He didn't like it when things went against their nature, or when he could barely understand them. Shikamaru was a man who prided himself in being able to understand and label most things accurately, and this girl was going against everything he knew about women.

But as terrified as he was (really, her earlier grin could scare a yakuza—hell, he wouldn't have been surprised if she was a yakuza), he was secretly a tiny little bit awed by her.

She finally broke away from her bowl to stare at his.

"Your soup is cold."

He nodded, lifting his spoon. "It's alright."

"Were you really staring at me this whole time?"

"Just trying to figure you out."

"And did you?"

"A little."

She laughed. "I should make it harder for you."

"Don't worry," he said, slurping some noodles. "You already are."

She seemed to appreciate the answer. She leaned back against her chair to watch him eat his now-cold lunch, with no intent to make him hurry.

Had he been eating with Ino, he would have had to forego the rest of his meal to make sure Ino didn't grow bored. Temari was so unlike her.

"What?"

Shikamaru paused with his noodles in midair. "Huh?"

"You're staring at me again."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I know I'm really pretty."

He shook his head. "That's not it."

She frowned.

"I was thinking that if I were with Ino right now, she would have asked me to go."

Temari was silent for a long while, making Shikamaru worry he had compared her to the wrong person. Not that he could really blame her—all he'd been doing was moping about a girl who had broken his heart by choosing his best friend. He didn't think anyone would want to be compared to that type of person.

But then she said, "Look, I get it, you're in love and shit with some worthless floozy—"

"She's not a floozy. Who even uses the word 'floozy?'"

"—But not every girl is going to be like her. So, do yourself a favor and get on with the next step: stop comparing her to everything. She isn't perfect. Far from it. So accept that other women will have flaws and that she, too, had them."

"I know she did."

Temari pretended he didn't say anything; instead, she pushed his bowl forward, edging it closer to him, nodding at the chopsticks still poised in midair. He followed her advice and went back to eating.

It was silent as he finished, but just as he slurped the last of his soup,

"Where are we going next?"

Then it was ruined.

He didn't answer her immediately. He wanted to wait. A few hours. And hope she got the point.

Thankfully, his phone rang. It was a shrill ring tone, the only one he could hear when he was sleeping, and it vibrated violently in his pant pockets. When he finally dug it out of his pants and looked at the flashing name, he knew that he'd never been more thankful for his mother's incessant calling until that very moment when he needed her most.

"Mom?"

"SHIKAMARU!"

He jumped at the sound, moving his phone away from his ear. He could still hear his mother's voice clearly, even though it was a good two feet away from him.

Temari stared at the phone, curious.

"Where the hell are you? I've been calling you for hours! Don't you check your phone? Ino called me to tell me you've gone missing. What the hell were you thinking? I know you're in love with her, but I was worried sick! We thought you might have committed—"

"Mom. I'm alive."

"Where are you?"

"Don't worry, Mom."

"Nara Shikamaru—"

He winced. He hated when his mother used his entire name. It usually meant he was in big trouble and about to die.

"Mom, I'm kind of busy right now."

Temari pointed at him. "Why don't you just tell her you're near Nara and that you'll visit?"

"Shikamaru? Who's with you? Is that a girl?"

Shikamaru scowled at Temari, shaking his head curtly. She was going to mess things up if she spoke again.

Temari clearly understood what he was trying to get across

And ignored it.

"Go on," she prompted, nodding at the phone. "Just tell her you're going to visit. We're close to Nara, aren't we?"

He put the phone against his chest, trying to muffle the sound Temari was making so that his mother wouldn't hear her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Temari pointed at the phone. "Your mother thought you committed suicide. Don't you think she deserves a visit?"

"It's none of your business! Are you willing to go with me?" He frowned and glared accusingly at her. "Wait, you don't even seem like a family person—why are you encouraging this?"

She did not like the accusation. "Actually, I'm going to Fukuoka to visit my brothers, you little baby." She turned away from him to point her nose at the sky, ignoring him. "Tch, assuming things make an ass out of you, not me," she mumbled darkly.

Shikamaru went back to the phone.

"Mom?"

"Are you with a girl, Shikamaru?"

"Mom, look, can I call you—"

"Shikamaru!"

He sighed in defeat. No way to get around it now. "Yes. I'm with a girl."

"Who is she? How old is she? Where is she from? Is she your girlfriend? Are you near Nara? Come home tonight. Do you need us to get you a ticket?"

"Mom—"

"Nara Shikamaru, I gave birth to you, and I can take it back."

"Alright, alright, I'm going."

"Bring the girl."

Temari's eyes widened just as the line went dead.

"See what you did?" He thrust his hands into his pockets, unpleased with the way things had turned out. Just like his mother to call at the worst time possible. Ever. In the history of the world.

Temari shook her head. "Hey, hey, I didn't count on being invited."

"Then why did you speak?"

"Because you were being a dramatic little prick and made your mother worry about you."

He got up and looked at the door. "Come on," he told her. Temari didn't bother responding as she pulled out a few bills and laid them on the table without so much as a glance. He walked out the door and then began to head towards the train station. He didn't care whether Temari followed him or not—she could do whatever she pleased at that point. He hoped she'd get the hint and go away (but really, he hoped she didn't).

"You really are a drama queen."

She had caught up with him almost immediately.

"You are not as charming as you like to believe you are," he told her seriously.

She pushed him with her shoulder and laughed.

Temari obviously did not agree with him on that.


He was sure that Temari had just as much money as he did, but for some reason, she still made him pay for almost everything.

"Your family," she told him as she pushed her suitcase into the storage compartment above their seats.

It had been a long time since he had gone home. Three years, in fact. He wondered what his home looked like now—had his mother turned his bedroom into a workout room? A second study for his father, who barely used his first study? A second kitchen to compensate for the overcrowded pots and pans in the first one? It was highly unlikely, but he wondered if things were capable of changing so drastically. Things on his end did. He'd managed to become reclusive in one of the largest cities in the world and Ino had married their mutual best friend, forever ruining their triangle of friendship—and his heart. If things like that could happen, he had to wonder whether such a simple thing as moving around his old stuff could to happen, too.

"You're wallowing again," Temari informed him.

He knew she was trying to be nice, which was a lot more than he deserved for being as curt and uninteresting as he was being. A perfectly beautiful woman was being nice enough to give him lessons on love he would never have figured out anyway, and he wasn't even grateful. But he was tired of it. He didn't want to hear her keep being so pessimistically optimistic about his life when he, himself, couldn't be. He didn't need some blonde girl telling him that he was going to be okay when he knew very well that he wasn't going to be.

"Can't I just wallow?"

She gave him a blank stare. "No."

"Just leave me alone, will you?"

Temari twisted a strand of her curly hair around her finger. "Alright."

He didn't expect that. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at her. "Is it really that easy?"

She shrugged and sat back in her chair, propping her feet on his lap, ignoring the look of incredulity (and disgust) he was sure was on his face. "You're right. I've never been in love. I don't know what it feels like to lose someone I intended to spend the rest of my life with. So go ahead. Wallow all you want. But stop doing it in public areas. No one wants to see you looking so absolutely miserable."

For some reason, it was oddly comforting to know that as tough as she was, Temari was also kind. Even as she snuggled into her seat and dug her heels into his inner thigh, completely ignoring how precariously close she was to his private area of maleness, she closed her eyes and allowed him the privacy he so desperately needed to think of Ino and to regret the choices he had made to land him where he was. And as the train began to move him closer to the place he had once called home, the further he moved away from the memories of Ino.

When he looked at Temari again, he felt as if his heart didn't ache as much. In fact, he could swear it felt light.


AN: Please review! It restores my Writer's HP bar. AND I NEED A FULL BAR BEFORE I CAN VENTURE ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER |end threat.