Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, I would have known earlier that the anime-fillers were ending in February.
A/N: I liked this chapter a lot! It's very dramatic; a turnover from all that humor. It's still a tad humorous though. Seriously, it's a pretty dramatic, great chapter! It's short though.
Published November 24, 2006
Chapter 9 - I Don't Need You
"Ja ne (good-bye)." Temari said to her brothers as she left their Konoha house. By the time she was on the streets of Konoha, it was already dark, and the stars were out. (A/N: Actually, I don't think I've never seen stars in the sky in the anime episodes.) It was night-life. Bright neon lights were gleaming and families were eating dinner inside restaurants.
A long ten minutes later, Temari ended up at her apartment. She was living on the top floor and took the stairs, very slowly. She sighed heavily. "What's the point?" She spoke out loud to herself. "I'm just going to mope around wondering about him." Even though she didn't think it was helpful to go inside, she went in anyways. Temari, as slow as ever, slugged her way to the couch. She lied down and looked up at the ceiling.
Silence was getting to her.
"That's it! It's too damn quiet in here!" She shouted out loud in the empty room. Temari sat herself up and turned on the TV. "Boring, pointless, stupid, unrealistic, dull, not worth my time." Temari described as she flipped the channels. She sighed and turned off the TV. "Hmm…'boring, pointless, stupid, unrealistic, dull, not worth my time'…yup." Temari nodded to herself. "Shikamaru has made my life boring; it's pointless to try and fix our relationship, I've been stupid by not telling him before, Ino and me are rivals in an unrealistic battle for love, I am dull for not noticing a relationship that could be nothing more than friendship, and thinking about any of this is not worth my time." Temari related her words describing TV to her life.
"This is sad…I'm comparing TV to me." Temari talked to herself. Then she stood up and walked towards a window. She sighed again. "The stars are so bright tonight, but they aren't making me feel any better. They just remind me more of him."
Temari walked herself back to the couch and lazily slammed her butt down. She fell on her side and looked at the wall in front of her. She stared off into space. "What is wrong with me?" She said monotonously. She turned to look up at the ceiling again. "What am I doing?" She sat up again. "I'm supposed to be the strongest kunoichi in Suna! I can't let a boy distract me from being a great ninja! Damn it, I don't need a guy to be there for me, be my side, and save me when I'm in trouble. I can stand tall. By. My. Self!" She nodded confidently. "I've done everything else by myself. I barely knew my mother, I rarely talked to my father, and I've had to take care of my brothers by myself. If I could endure all of that, I can surely go without a mere date with Shikamaru. Who cares if he's awkward after he says no to me? I'll still be the same! That's all that matters!"
"Yup." Temari said as she stood up and walked to open her fridge door. "Ahah! I knew this would come in handy." She took out a rather large store-bought bourbon cake. (A/N: My mom and I make bourbon cake a lot…it's delicious!) "Just what I need!" Temari looked for a clean fork, but after ten seconds of looking around she sat back down on the couch and ate her cake with her hands.
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"I'm home!" Ino announced as she opened her front house door. "Hmm? Why are all the lights off?" She asked out loud in case anyone could answer. She shrugged it off and turned on the light. "Mom? Dad?" Ino walked deeper into her house. The first room she walked into was the living room. It was empty. Her dad wasn't reading the newspaper or watching TV. Then, Ino walked into the kitchen. "Mom?" She called out, even though she could see no one was in there. She did notice a note though.
Ino picked up the plain colored paper and read it out loud. "Dear, Ino, I'm sorry your father and I are gone. Your father won free tickets for a vacation at the Moonlight Tokyo Hotel. (A/N: lol. That's the same hotel from my Fanfic Not a Relaxing Vacation! Just a little advertisement.) We are both very sorry we couldn't bring you along dear. We'll be gone for five days. I've prepared some food; it's in the fridge. It should last five days. If not, there's some money in the freezer you can use. Love, Mom." Ino sighed again. "I guess it's just me then."
Ino walked towards the fridge and opened it. "Yuck." She closed the fridge and opened to freezer. "Here we go!" She took the money out of the fridge and put it in her pocket. "It's too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. But I'm hungry now…" Ino sighed once again. "My parents aren't home; I might as well take advantage of that." And that's what Ino did. She picked up a spoon and went back to the fridge and opened the freezer door. She took out a carton of 'Double Fudge Brownie' ice cream (A/N: That's one of the ice creams I have in my freezer…along with Vanilla, Berry Rainbow sherbet, and Orange Cream sherbet.) and sat down on her sofa.
"Ice cream. Is. Good." She nodded to herself. She needed some comfort food to get Shikamaru out of her mind for a couple of minutes. "A brain freeze is just what I need." Ino said as she continued to scoop big spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth.
"You know what? I don't need him! I'm perfectly fine without him! I've known him long enough to know that he's too lazy to change anything about himself if I do or don't become his girlfriend. I shouldn't be worrying! I try to keep myself slim just for him, and what do I get? Nothing! I'm never doing anything like that for a guy again! I could be eating ice cream everyday if I wanted to but instead I worked out everyday and barely ate a meal, just for him! Boy was I stupid!" Ino shook her head at herself. "Ice cream, you truly are my best friend!" She said which makes you wonder what exactly was in the ice cream.
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"He should be glad he has me around! I can't believe I wasted all this time trying to get a younger guy. He's not even that great. Sure he's a genius, but he's a lazy bum! Who would want someone as lazy as him for a boyfriend?!" Temari crossed her arms and pouted. "I could've gone out with hundreds of guys who asked me out. Heh, even Kiba's better than Shikamaru! At least he'd know how to treat a woman." She snorted.
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"I was so stupid! I knew he wouldn't answer my question because he wouldn't read it until a year later! Why did I let myself think that he might read it sooner, who knows?! He doesn't even know how lucky he has it! I waited for him for so long! He wouldn't even be a good boyfriend! Why should I want him to be mine?! Even Naruto's better than Shikamaru! Stupid Shikamaru! He doesn't know what he's lost. At least Naruto would always be there for me." Ino snorted as she continued to eat her ice cream.
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"I even tried to change myself for that teme (bastard)! He's gotten on my nerves so many times; he's lucky I liked him enough to not kill him yet! I was trying to be so nice to all of his friends! I even went so far as to meet his parents when he had to run an errand. His mother can be so annoying! She's as aggressive as me! Shikamaru should be grateful I didn't get into a fight with her. Tch…changing myself for a guy…how pathetic." Temari scowled.
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"I've known him forever! He doesn't deserve me! I could get any guy I wanted and I choose him of all people! Shikamaru should be thankful I chose him, but instead he has to decide between me and Temari! That's messed up! I've done everything I could to help him when he was feeling down. He's been getting on my nerves for years but I didn't beat him up as much as I could've! Damn feelings got in the way! I should've beaten him up when I had the chance. Tch…saving myself for him…how pitiful." Ino snarled.
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"I don't need him! I never needed him! I was happy without him! I'll be happy with whatever stupid decision he makes!" Temari pushed over a coffee table in front of her with her foot.
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"I don't need him! I haven't needed him as a boyfriend before and I won't need him now or ever! I'll survive with whatever brainless choice he makes!" Ino threw a couch-pillow at her TV.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! It was very short, but I thought it was great!