Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.
Forward: I don't know how much of a surprise this one will be, but I definitely know that I had fun writing it! I'm also relatively early in the series right now, so some characters might have developed and I haven't seen it yet…
"Looks like you've got nothing left to hide now, huh?" Kiba began eagerly, the moment Shino had left the room. It unnerved him to know that one of his best friends has been harboring a crush for game was restricted to leaf village ninja's only, the better.
"Shut up, neither do you." Temari sneered, returning back to her earlier point. "Neither does eyebrows over there or fatso. Why should I go?" She pointed out logically, feeling her heart begin to thump painfully against her chest. She wasn't ready for this yet, there were still too many people in the room. Besides, there was no way she was risking rejection in such company.
"What did you just call me?" Chouji spat out, his face turning a deep shade of red. It wouldn't have surprised anyone if steam were to start shooting out of his ears any secondnow.
"Not a smart move…" Shikamaru muttered, watching his best friend warily. He was ready to clamp down an angry Chouji if worse came to worst, but he was hoping it wouldn't come to that.
"Why should you go?" Ino sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe because nobody wants you here." Temari's eyes narrowed dangerously at the insult.
"Well maybe I don't want to be here either" Temari replied, her voice cool. There was no way she was backing down to this bratty bitch who clearly thought way too highly of herself
"This is pointless." Sasuke finally interrupted the girls glaring fight, refraining from rolling his eyes. "If nobody wants you here and you don't want to be here, then obviously you should be the next to go." Temari felt her stomach twist as she realized the corner she now found herself in. There was only one choice, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"Fine!" Temari shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "I picked Shikamaru." There was a long pause while everyone took in the new information.
"I CALLED IT! NOW YOU OWE ME A NIGHT OF FREE RAMEN, SASUKE!" Naruto shouted, grinning and pumping his fist in the air. Temari facepalmed, already embarrassed at her vulnerability.
"Do you ever keep your mouth shut?" Sasuke muttered, also embarrassed. Meanwhile, Ino had burst out laughing and was glaring at Temari maliciously.
"Shikamaru?" Ino giggled, watching Temari with glee. "You expect Shikamaru to like you? After you just called his best friend fat? Wow, you're stupider than I thought!" Ino shrieked, bursting into another round of laughter.
"Well, he is fa-" Temari began to defend herself, before everyone stopped to glare harshly at her. Temari rolled her eyes. If they didn't want to face the fact and wanted to coddle the fat kid, that was their own business. "Fine. Whatever. Shikamaru?" Temari asked, feeling her nerves flare back into life. Being made fun of by the leaf shinobi might not be so bad if she knew that Shikamaru returned her feelings. His was the only opinion that really mattered in this situation.
"This is so…tedious." Shikamaru muttered, scratching behind his neck, clearly uncomfortable. He'd never asked for this, never asked to be chosen. In fact, he avoided women and relationships with the opposite sex like the plague. Wooing women was no concern of his and yet it seemed like not doing anything was the biggest turn-on for women. Just look at Sasuke!
"Yeah, and your answer…?" Temari continued, just wanting this to be over at this point. She didn't want to drag this out any longer than needed, even if that meant getting turned down.
"Thanks, but…" Temari cringed, knowing what was to come. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now. It's too much effort." Okay, so it wasn't the answer Temari had expected. Still, she was rejected.
"That's seriously you answer?" Temari asked, incredulous. Rejection, she could take. Being told she wasn't good enough, she could take. But he was too lazy to go out with her? Seriously?
"Clearly you don't know him as well as you thought." Ino smirked, glad that her partner had rejected the sand girl. She didn't think she could stand if she had to deal with Temari and her teammate sucking faces on a daily basis.
"Yeah, whatever." Temari sneered. "Well, now that I've thoroughly wasted my time." Temari snorted, wanting out of this situation as soon as possible. Humiliation was never a fun emotion to experience and Temari in particular had never done well with it.
"You're not going to stay to see who else voted for Shikamaru?" Sakura piped up, watching Temari curiously…cautiously. Temari snorted, staring at the pink-haired girl like she was crazy. Why would she want to stay for the chance to hear that Shikamaru might return some other girls feelings? Sure, he had voted for Sasuke as a wasted joke. But, knowing him, that could have just been Shikamaru being a coward. She didn't want to find out.
"Is my name still in there?" Temari pointed out slowly, talking to Sakura as though she were dumb. Why the hell would she want to sit here and suffer for another round? Sakura shook her head, looking miffed at having someone speak so condescendingly towards her. "Looks like I don't need to e here anymore, then." That said, the last of sand ninja's were gone and it was only the leaf ninja's left.
Ending Note: I hope I got Temari in character and I didn't make her too mean or anything. I hope you liked the chapter! Sorry it took me so long to update.