Moments

Chapter 2: Rumor

Three weeks seemed almost too long to wait, and yet time flew by like crazy. Probably because Shikamaru was busy. In these three weeks, he'd seen off and welcomed back all the messengers he sent out. Sai visited the Hidden Mist, Sakura was sent to the Hidden Stone, mostly because the old Tsuchikage requested the best medical-nin to treat his back. And at least Chouji returned from the Hidden Cloud. He was the one to change the most because of this trip. When they met up at the gates, Chouji couldn't stop talking about the girl he met there. It was kind of strange to listen to his old friend talking about anything but food. Chouji even asked to be in Hokage's escort together with Shikamaru for the Five Kage meeting. Kakashi allowed it, murmuring something about the "youth" again.

When the time has come for the three of them to leave, it was hard to tell, who waited for the trip more.

They've arrived hardly on the appointed time, despite all the anticipation.

"Please, excuse us." Kakashi said to Raikage, who went out to meet them at the gates. "Other Kage already arrived?"

"You're not the last one to come." Raikage said smirking in his beard. "We've got the message that the Land of Wind is currently under a heavy storm and that cocky brat Kazekage is going to be late."

Shikamaru didn't let himself to show his disappointment.

"We would be pleased to show you the village for the time being." It was Raikage's secretary who started speaking now. "We'll inform you once Lord Kazekage arrives."

The guide appointed to the Hokage's team was the girl named Karui. And, if Shikamaru remembered right, it was the very same woman Chouji talked non-stop about. Kakashi decided to stay in hotel, while Shikamaru tagged along with Chouji. Even though Hidden Cloud village was so different from anything he saw up till now, it still wasn't enough to impress him. Especially not when his plans got ruined by the weather.

"What's up with him? Is he always spacing out like that?" It was Karui who asked. Probably she thought that he was too much in his thoughts to hear that.

"That's because his girlfriend is still not here."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, you know Temari of the Desert."

Shikamaru tried to pretend he didn't hear that, even though it was hard to control his face from blushing. Was it that obvious for Chouji all along? Then Ino must have figured it out right away. Damn.

"Are they together? I mean he doesn't look like much..."

Chouji laughed.

"And what about you? Are you single?"

"Well, of course..."

Shikamaru suddenly felt himself a third wheel.

He should've stayed in the hotel.

It was already past nine in the evening when dark skinned white haired Omoi showed up.

"The Kazekage has arrived."

"This late?" Karui asked.

"Yeah. It was the storm, you know. Ah, what would I do if I'm stuck in the middle of the sandstorm? I'd probably die for sure..."

"If you don't stop blabbering, I'll kill you right now!" She clenched her fist, gathering all her patience not to look violent in front of Chouji.

"Anyways, Raikage ordered everyone to come back immediately." Omoi didn't even pay attention to his teammate's anger burst.

"Roger." Chouji said.

Shikamaru looked at his friend. If it was him, he'd probably be scared as hell right now, seeing Karui's behavior. Temari in her destructive mood will give him chills even after all this time. But Chouji didn't seem to care at all. As easygoing as he was, he would never complain about girls being scary. Did he even notice it? Shikamaru doubted that.

By the time they've reached Raikage's place everyone was already there. Mizukage - beautiful woman in her 30ties – was as relaxed as ever. Tsuchikage - very old man with big red nose - the rumors went on that he soon to be replaced by his granddaughter. Raikage – the blonde man with dark skin – was impatiently waiting for everyone to gather. Total opposite from him was Hokage - white haired man who was hiding half of his face. Kakashi looked like he was about to fall sleep. It was long past the time when such meetings were an awkward formality, right now all Five Kages were close enough for casual conversations and laughter. The only people who didn't participate in it were Sand Siblings. A simple look was enough to deduce that they were exhausted. Pale skin, dark circles under eyes and frail attitude made Temari look just like her youngest brother, although they hardly had anything similar in their appearances. Kankurou's makeup was half ruined, making him look even scarier than he usually was. It was only Gaara who could go without sleep for days, due to his experience with Shukaku sand spirit, and yet he looked that he was hugely deprived of chakra. They weren't even talking among themselves.

"We shall start the meeting now." It was Raikage.

"It's late already, why don't we rest for a night and start the meeting early in the morning? Just look at poor Kazekage." Mizukage said in her usual manner.

"No, don't mind us." Gaara said in a frail voice. He wasn't the loud type to begin with, but now you had to strain your ears to hear him speaking. "It was us who brought up the topic, we shouldn't be the one to delay it..."

"You're so sweet, Lord Kazekage." Mizukage gently smiled. "But it pains me to see you as exhausted as that."

"I must agree with Mizukage on this point." Squeaky voice of old man Oonoki cut in. "We'll need you at your sharpest for the meeting. Let's postpone it till morning. Moreover, my back will kill me if I sit for too long this late at night."

"Kakashi, what about you?" Raikage was irritated.

"I think we all deserve a good long sleep before we start the discussion. I'm with majority on this point."

'Just say that you want to sleep yourself.' Shikamaru smirked.

"Fine!" The head of Hidden Cloud village wasn't happy at all.

"I am very sorry about that," Gaara lowered his head.

"Don't be, Lord Kazekage." Mizukage smiled again. "Just make sure you can wake up on time."

Gaara gave a simple nod.

"We'll start this meeting tomorrow seven in the morning." Raikage concluded, swallowing his anger. "No excuses to be late this time."

With that everyone started to leave.

"Temari." Shikamaru called out. It was the first time when he noticed how the other representatives of the Union would look at the two of them. 'They all think we are together!' Shikamaru realized. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, and yet Temari here didn't care about any on it.

"What's wrong?"

"It's unusual for you to be late. What happened?"

"The storm went on for three days. We didn't have another choice but wait it out. I guess continuing the journey without any rest at all didn't actually pay off." She seemed to fight urgent need to yawn.

Now looking from up close she seemed even more tired. Her skin was dry from dehydration, and sand mixed up with her golden hair and clothes.

"You should take a rest then."

Shikamaru heard Tsuchikage's granddaughter giggling as she passed by them. Omoi gave them understanding look plus thumbs ups. That moment Shikamaru decided that he liked shy Chojiro the most.

"What's up with them?" Temari looked confused.

"Who knows..." Shikamaru lied. A sudden thought made him realize that it was all Chouji's fault. And Karui's big mouth, of course. To think that the rumor would spread this quickly.

She turned around to look at her brothers.

"We should be going now. Till morning then."

"Yeah, rest well."

Two people he didn't want those rumors to reach were in the very same room after all. And both of her brothers were looking at him impatiently.

She waved goodbye and joined her family.

"Good for you." It was Chouji who put his arm on Shikamaru's shoulder.

"Chouji, stop spreading troublesome rumors, will you?"

"Aren't you two together?"

"No, we're not."

"Well, you certainly do look like a perfect couple." He laughed. "I mean, nobody was surprised at all. Most of the people would say something like 'I knew it!' or 'Weren't they together from the start?'"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes up.

"What a drag..."

Chouji was laughing.

"If both of her brothers kill me, I'll certainly blame you for that."

"Is it really not true? You can tell me, you know. We're friends after all." Chouji's eyes were glittering with laughter.

"No. Not... yet..." Shikamaru averted his eyes. It was strange to talk about it to Chouji.

"Aha! I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"'Not yet' and 'not at all' are two totally different concepts. Then, my words are not entirely wrong."

"Chouji..."

"What?"

"What's your deal with Karui?" He just wanted to change the subject and that redhead was the first one to come up to his mind.

"She's amazing, you know! She was my guide around the Hidden Cloud last time. And I feel like we hit it off immediately. Plus, she's such a great cook! You should try her..."

The old Chouji is back. Endless food talk felt really nostalgic. 'When did we start to talk about anything else than food?' Shikamaru wondered.

The five Kage meeting started seven in the morning without further delay. The information leakage was discussed, as well as the methods to protect the communication from any interference. After that followed some minor details like Chuunin exam time and location, and the preferred agenda for the next Union meeting.

When they've left the conference room, it was already past noon.

"We'd like to invite all five Kage to the official lunch together, before you start you journey back." It was Raikage's secretary who said that.

With just this official mood disappeared. Kage escorts would casually group up for the lunch as well. Gaara was dragged along with the other Kage, Kankurou was discussing something with Darui.

If Shikamaru wanted a chance - this was it.

"Hey," he approached Temari.

"Oh, Shikamaru? What's the matter?" Casual serious tone of voice. And yet Shikamaru could already feel all the staring.

"Do you want to... grab a lunch together or something?"

All the pressure made it even harder.

"Yeah, sure." Not a slightest change in her voice. It's a good thing she doesn't know... "Let's go then."

"Hey, Temari!" It was Kankurou's voice. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

Kurotsuchi, Omoi and even Chouji started to giggle at Kankurou's confusion.

But, to Shikamaru's relief he didn't follow.

This whole mess is getting way too troublesome.

It was just as usual. A simple talk about some work related issues, just a little bit more relaxed atmosphere. If those guys were eavesdropping they would probably be disappointed. To tell the truth, Shikamaru was disappointed too.

"You're not listening." She wouldn't ask such obvious thing, since she already knew the answer.

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

Was it even ok to tell her that?

"I kind of have a feeling..."

"What?"

'Just spit it out, you, coward.'

"It just doesn't feel like a date at all." There, he said it.

"Huh?" Temari seemed surprised.

"It kind of feels like usual. Nothing really changed."

"Then... what would make it more like a date to you?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know. Normal stuff, I think. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, something like that."

It took her longer time to process this.

"So..." she finally said. "You asked ME out on a date because you wanted to do all these things with ME?"

Straightforward as usual.

Shikamaru panicked. Her thinking wasn't wrong at all! It wasn't the way he intended to put it, but what she said was the only logical conclusion one can come up with. 'Oh, crap! What the hell am I doing?! She'll kill me if I don't come up with a decent answer! Think, you, idiot!' he thought, but his mind remained blank.

Then all of sudden he saw her hand stretched across the table to him.

"I don't know about other stuff, but this should be ok."

Shikamaru's confused brain stopped working at all. Was she serious? It was impossible to tell. And yet, knowing her character, it was likely for her to tease him like that. Girls in general were too troublesome to deal with, but this particular one would beat them all...

Serious or not?

The pause was getting too long.

And yet, she enjoyed his confusion. As next moment she started laughing.

"You should have seen your face." It was the only thing she managed to say.

Serious or not?

Well, there was the only way to know.

Temari's stretched hand was now lying on the table as she laughed.

He decided to risk it all.

She stopped laughing the second their hands touched. She was still smiling with tiny drops of tears in her eyes. She did look surprised, but yet somehow satisfied.

"Now this feels more like a date to you?" She asked.

So she was serious. And she didn't kill him. Those two were definitely a good sign.

"Yeah."

"So, how was the Hidden Cloud?"

The three of them were sitting together in their usual spot at the barbecue shop.

Ino, their teammate, was always too curious.

Chouji was busy eating, so... time for a little revenge.

"Chouji found himself a girlfriend there."

The look on their faces was probably just as astonished as the one Shikamaru had when he made Temari laugh to tears.

Chouji swallowed the meat he was chewing at the moment and grabbed a glass of water.

"Really?" Ino asked still amazed by the news.

"That's not true!" Chouji exclaimed. "She was just a nice person and a marvellous cook!"

"Oh my God, he found a girlfriend!" The look on the Ino's face was the one of a proud parent.

"I'm telling you, you got it all wrong! I don't even know what Karui-san thinks of me..."

"So her name is Karui-san. Good, this is good, Shikamaru."

In her little universe, he probably was Chouji's father.

"Right, you should be asking about his girlfriend instead!"

"Oh, come on! Everyone knew about him long time ago, but Chouji and a girl! This is huge!"

Chouji was blushing all over and eating twice as fast as usual when Ino attacked him with thousands of questions. Maybe it was wrong of Shikamaru to say that, especially considering the amount of money they'll have to pay today.

"Where is the waitress?" Chouji suddenly exclaimed. "I need more meat. I'll be right back."

He literally escaped.

Ino was laughing.

"Isn't he the cutest?"

"Yeah."

She turned her eyes to Shikamaru.

"So, what's your problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why the hell you and Temari are still not together?"

"How do you know?"

"I can see it all over your face. So why?"

"It's... complicated."

"Well, of course it is. Why don't you try putting it into words?"

"It just feels like there's no progress at all. And we're still at the same place as we were before I asked her out for the first time."

"I think, you're wrong here."

"Huh?"

"Well, how should I put it. It's all about the defence, you know."

"Defence?"

"The walls people build up around their hearts, they're meant to keep everyone else away. To stay unhurt and block out any emotions and feelings. You would expect someone like Temari to have loads of those."

"So, what am I to do now?"

"To make some progress, you'll have to break through those. Crawl under her skin, reach out to her true self and pull her real heart out. Only then you'll be able to see her girly face. "

That was something impossible to imagine.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! Listen, girls are all about the defence. To get her heart all you need to do is break through them. Once you see her 'girly face' it's pretty much your win! Attack when she lowers her guard! Take her by surprise! Once you see her face bright red - she's yours!" Ino winked and gave thumb up.

"She'll kill me if I try to do something like that."

"You can't know for sure. She might surprise you. She's a girl after all."

Shikamaru wasn't so sure about that either.

"What are you two talking about?" Chouji came back.

"Relationship advice. Want some?" Ino smiled brightly.

Chouji's smile disappeared from his face.

Author's note: Not gonna delay this any further. Truth to be told, most of the chapters just need one final review. That's probably because the way I'm writing is kind of strange. I mean, my last chapters were ready before those in the middle, lol. Now that I'm binding it together with one storyline, it's different than writing it from the scratch.

Couple of words here! I love this chapter. I love how Ino is a relationship guru here, haha. And I love Temari's teasing side. You can't expect only one person making all the efforts, now can you? Sometimes you need a little push...

I'm hopeless, after all.

Hope you've enjoyed it. The rest is coming soon.