My Boss The Genius
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PART ELEVEN
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"SHI-KA-MA-RUUUUUUUU!"
When the doors blasted open, Temari's first instinct was to duck under her desk. Shikamaru's, apparently, was to smirk from where he leaned against her desk.
"Yo, Ino, Lee. Need something?"
Temari climbed out from under her desk, slightly miffed that she had reacted so drastically to what was now registering very clearly as Ino's shrill scream. The paler blonde in question was standing in the doorway, her face red with fury. Temari was quite sure that by now, Ino would have already run up to Shikamaru and given him the strongest dick kick she could possibly muster, if it wasn't for the… strange looking man with his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her back.
"M-Miss Ino! Please don't interrupt Shikamaru while he's working!" The man pleaded with the cutest puppy dog expression Temari had seen, if it wasn't for the fact that his hair had been cut with a bowl and his entire outfit was green.
"DAMN IT LEE, LET ME GO—"
"Now, now," Shikamaru interrupted, putting down the files he was reviewing with her only seconds before, "Let's all take a nice, calming breath shall we?" His smirk was widening, and Temari knew without a doubt everything he just said was purposely said to irk the fuming blonde in the doorway. Temari was pretty sure Ino was about to spew fire at any moment.
"Y-yes, I agree with Shikamaru! This can't be good for your blood pressure Miss Ino…" the man, Lee, Temari presumed, said. He had quite a solid grip on Ino, and didn't seem to be expelling too much effort into keeping her still. Temari wondered what kind of hellish regiment he went through to acquire the strength to restrain a hellcat like Ino.
"Excuse you?" Ino hissed, stopping her struggling and turning her neck to glare at Lee, who was looking quite terrified. "Blood pressure? ROCK LEE ARE YOU CALLING ME OLD?!"
Temari ducked under her desk again as Ino began chasing Lee around the room, throwing at him everything she could get her hands on. Shikamaru promptly joined her under her desk, sighing into his hand. "Troublesome," he muttered.
Temari looked away from him, the both of them cramped in the small space under her desk. She stared resolutely at one of the walls, trying not to be affected by the hypersensitivity along her legs, a sensitivity that was caused by Shikamaru's leg pressed up against hers. It was warm through all the layers of fabric, and firm. He probably did a bit of working out, maybe some running, Temari thought. He would have to, given his position in the FBI.
He was so close, Temari thought, hearing his head shift and then feeling his breath wisp across her neck. He started talking about those files he was reviewing with her, but Temari couldn't concentrate. If she just turned her head quickly enough, he'd never realize how easily her lips would brush against his "by accident." It was so tempting. Just once, Temari told herself. Wouldn't it be nice to know what it was like, just once? And she could dismiss it so easily. He would just take it as an accident. They couldn't avoid it, being cramped together in such a small space.
Her heart was catching in her throat, she could feel it. But then again it was beating so loudly in her ears. Her cheeks flushed with anticipation, the excitement of this daring act she was going to go through with. Her fingers dug into her palms, and she closed her eyes tightly. Her head swung towards him—
"SHIKAMARU! YOU ASSHOLE!"
—and then swung right back when Ino appeared in front of them both. She was deathly furious. Without another pause for breath or thought, Ino reached out and fisted Shikamaru's shirt in her hand, hauling him out from under the desk. Temari watched as Ino pulled him into a standing position and started yelling at him. Temari watched their legs, still too shocked to climb out from under her desk.
She had been… so close. But it still seemed to be too far.
Resigned to this turn of events, Temari crawled out from under her desk, dusting her skirt off. Ino still had the collar of Shikamaru's shirt gripped with her manicured nails, and she was shaking him to and fro, still ranting. Temari made a cursory glance around the office and found Lee with spinning eyes passed out in a chair. She'd barely been able to piece together what happened (considering Lee's red cheeks, Ino probably slapped him into unconsciousness), when a hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her out the office building.
"Hey! I need her!" Shikamaru called out from somewhere behind Temari, and her cheeks turned pink at the exclamation. (He said he needed her!)
"Well too bad! She's mine for the rest of the day!" Ino snarled from where she was in front of Temari, pulling her along. "You can have Lee, you obstinate old man!" Ino stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru, like a child with a grudge. The doors slammed behind them before Shikamaru could reply, and without another thought, the two of them were in the elevator, making the trip to the first floor. Temari was still unsure exactly how and why this all happened, and turned to address the paler blonde with an entirely puzzled expression. Ino just grinned.
"We never really got to talk," she said. And somehow that was perfectly fine with Temari.
They ended up at the nearby mall, just the two of them, and Temari was somewhat nervous. A part of her wished Tenten was there, but she had been assigned elsewhere once enough time went by and Hidan hadn't shown his face. The incident at the bridal store was ruled unrelated to the Red Clouds, and Shikamaru had no choice but to reassign Tenten somewhere else. Only Ino kept her guard because she had ties to the unsolved case. But as Temari could tell, they were pretty lax with that security too, if Shikamaru just let her walk out with only Temari there.
Although, Shikamaru told Temari beforehand that Hidan had been spotted somewhere in Europe, so that was also why security grew a little bit more lax. Regardless, Temari was glad she didn't have someone constantly looking over her shoulder. It almost meant that she had to be more aware of her own surroundings, now that there wasn't a pair of eyes watching out for her. But Temari could handle herself just fine. She didn't need an extra pair of eyes.
The mall wasn't bustling with people, as it was early afternoon on a weekday, which made Temari feel a bit better. The less crowded it was, the easier it would be to spot potential threats. Ino didn't seem to worry that someone was going to assassinate her at the mall though, merrily prancing into a dress shop with Temari close at her heels.
"Hinata's wedding is four months away," Ino told her, "and I haven't found a dress yet! Scandalous!" Temari watched the obviously experienced shopper filter through racks of cocktail dresses, a slight grin on her face. She had that shopper's ability to multitask; while she searched for the perfect cocktail dress, Ino began engaging Temari in conversation.
"You never told me why you moved to America," Ino said as she pulled a few dresses off the rack. Temari eyed them critically as they came out: pastel purple, aqua blue, black and cream-white dresses. The weight of one dress was certainly very light, but Temari appreciated how at ease Ino was with carrying four fancy dresses draped over her forearm. Four dresses was definitely no cake walk to carry, especially since one of them had a particularly long skirt that Ino could easily trip over.
"My brothers and I wanted a fresh start," she said to the prettier blonde. Ino looked curiously over at Temari.
"Did something happen to you in Australia?"
Temari tensed very slightly.
"No. Not at all."
Ino looked over at Temari again, but this time held the Australian's gaze for a longer time. Her eyes were questing and curious, whereas Temari's were vacant of any real expression. They stayed locked in each other's gazes for a long half minute, until Ino smiled and shrugged, going back to her dress hunting.
"Shikamaru mentioned you have siblings. Brothers?" she asked. Temari scowled.
"Yeah, two. One of them is a pain in the ass." She was, of course, speaking of Kankuro. Gaara was an angel, if not a bit (a lot) antisocial. "If I had a diary, he'd steal it every day." Ino burst out laughing at that, her arms laden with dresses as she guided them to the back of the store where the dressing rooms were.
"I'm an only child, but I've known Shikamaru and Chouji since we were kids. They're basically my brothers, so I kind of understand how you feel." Ino grinned cheekily at her as she handed her gowns to the dressing room attendant, who found a little stall for her to change in. Before Ino headed inside to try on her gowns, she turned to Temari. "You should look for a dress while you're waiting. Something cinched at the waist would look super cute on you"
With a bright, friendly grin, Ino disappeared into the dressing room and left Temari staring vacantly at the spot Ino was standing in. The attendant looked at her a bit expectantly, and Temari flushed red and left the hallway of dressing rooms. Stiffly, she pushed past racks and racks of heavy gowns and cocktail dresses. At first, it was only so she could busy herself with something other than waiting stupidly for Ino to finish in the dressing rooms, but after a while, Temari noticed how she eyed each dress more critically.
And hell if she didn't admit it to herself; she was looking for a dress cinched at the waist.
When Ino left the dressing room with none of her previously picked dresses in hand, Temari had already found one dress that seemed promising.
"Ooh, I know just the thing to wear with this!" Ino said, dashing off to another rack on the far side of the store. Temari watched her go a little puzzlingly before looking at the dress she picked. It was black and white, striped vertically with a white belt cinching at the waist. She had thought it was kind of nice; it might even make her look more sophisticated and less… dowdy. Compared to the dresses Ino picked, though, hers was much less exciting.
When Ino came back, she shoved a hangar into Temari's hand and pushed her insistently to the dressing rooms. "Try it on! I want to see!" she said excitedly.
Once faced with the mirror of the dressing room, Temari wondered what she got herself into. Sighing, she began to strip. She had thought Ino would have gone looking at the racks again to busy herself, but before Temari had even taken her blazer off, Ino's voice filtered through the curtains of her dressing stall.
"You know, you should come to Hinata's bachelorette party!" she said. Temari froze.
"M-me?"
"Yeah!" Temari could almost hear the smile behind Ino's voice, probably in the same way Ino heard the uncertainty in hers. "Tenten thinks you're a bit stiff, but I think you just need to get out a bit more. You said you moved to America to start over, right? We can help with that." There was a pause. "Besides, I'm dying to dress you up. With legs like yours, you'd be a model in no time!"
Temari blushed furiously, hidden in her dressing stall. "Thanks… Ah, but I don't think I'd be very welcome. The bride doesn't know me."
"Pfft, Hinata's like, the nicest person in the universe. Trust me, you're more than welcome."
It was at this point that Temari finished putting on her outfit, and walked outside to get Ino's approval. Ino squealed and clapped her hands in joy, making her turn to face herself in the mirror. "You look amazing!" she said.
The dress fell just above her knees, flaring out a bit to give her more mobility. The dress was pretty in and of itself, but the addition of the soft, purple blazer pulled it all together. It was short-sleeved and ended just under the built-in belt of her dress. One golden button tied it together, but Temari kept it open to let the sweetheart neckline of her dress be seen clearly. Ino had run off to fetch a pair of silver, open-toed heels, forcing them onto Temari.
"Seriously, why hasn't anyone scouted you yet?!" Ino exclaimed, her voice betraying that little bit of jealousy for Temari's long, elegant legs.
"I… wow…"
Temari didn't even know what to say. She had never cared about her appearance before, but even she had to admit she felt really pretty in this dress. Her fingers rubbed the fabric of the skirt, and mirror-her betrayed that flush of pink across her cheeks.
Wow.
"You have to get it," Ino said. "And you have to wear it to Hinata's wedding reception. I can force Shikamaru to take you as his date."
Temari's head whipped around to stare wide-eyed at Ino. What?
Ino just smiled brightly. "We can't let a dress like that go to waste! Don't worry, I can threaten him to dance with you too. I want to see that dress twirl!"
The paler blonde continued to chatter away, but Temari stayed stuck on her previous comment. Shikamaru? Take her as his date? But wouldn't Ino be his date? And why would that even be something she considered suggesting in the first place? Temari would never consider letting her boyfriend take another girl to a wedding as his date.
This woman… Temari just didn't understand her.