Average
"MY DEAR YOUTHFUL BLOSSOMS! THE DATE FOR THE SEMI FINALS HAS BEEN SET!"
Cheers went around the group as Gai literally back flipped into the Den wearing that ridiculous green leotard.
"IT SHOWS US THAT YOUTH HAS PREVAILED AND SHALL CONTINUE TO DO SO!"
He punched the air before spinning to give Shikamaru a thumbs up and smiling at him.
"PLEASE ORGANISE A COACH!"
Shikamaru nodded and got to it.
After their warm-ups he went outside to look after the timing for the runners and to help set up the equipment for long jump. A few members talked to him, but he hadn't made much of an effort to socialise with anyone much.
"Hey, Shikamaru?" He turned to see one of the members running towards him.
He was honestly surprised that everyone seemed to know his name.
"Yeah?"
"Um..." She awkwardly tucked a strand of her thin hair behind her ear. "Gai wanted me to ask you if you were willing to um, work Wednesdays as well?"
Shikamaru thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I can do that."
She nodded and began running back to Gai, glancing back at him twice as she ran and almost tripping over her own feet the second time.
He heard a low chuckle behind him.
"Looks like you've got yourself an admirer, Shikamaru."
"Shut up."
Temari laughed and ruffled his hair.
"I'm messing with you kid. Not that she hasn't been checking you out..."
He rolled his eyes and smirked at her.
"Is someone getting jealous?"
"As if, but she's been showing up to training a lot more than before... Suspiciously only on the days when you're working... Just sayin'"
He snickered.
"It must by my charisma."
"Mmm, I'm sure." Temari said sarcastically.
"Hey!" He laughed, pushing playfully her as hard as he dared risk(which wasn't hard at all).
"I'm messing with you kid. You're very charismatic."
They looked at each other blankly for a split second before bursting into another bout of laughter.
"Screw you, Temari."
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
She tried(and failed) to control her laughter as she choked out.
"You wish!"
Taken aback by her joke, he put on a face of mock offence.
"Excuse you, I have standards."
"Beggars can't be choosers, Shikamaru."
Damn she was good at this.
"You would know."
They continued their exchange until Shikamaru was gasping for breath.
He'd over done himself and he had to head back into the Den to sit down.
Temari walked with him but left after a short moment.
She had a competition coming up after all.
He gazed out the window as they practiced their long jumps, paying a slight bit more attention to a certain blonde than the others.
His breathing had been getting a bit more restricted in the past weeks, but it hadn't had too big an effect on him until he'd been laughing with Temari.
O
She had taken to walking him home after training sessions, something which he complained about a lot.
"Normally it's the man who walks the woman home."
"I wouldn't trust you to walk me home. You're useless."
"Wow. Thanks."
In reality, he was glad to have company. More specifically, her company.
They got to his front door and Temari stood a bit further back, waiting for his mom to answer the door before leaving.
When Yoshino opened the door, she waved to Temari and asked if she wanted to join them for tea-an offer which Temari always politely refused.
After that, Temari would leave as always and Shikamaru would go up to his room to sleep, but that day was different.
"Really Temari, I insist!"
Temari shrugged.
"My brothers are away at the moment, so why not?"
She stepped into the house and took off her shoes.
"Hello, Mister Nara."
"Shikaku will do just fine,"
"SHIKAAAA!"
Shikamaru groaned. Ino was visiting.
"Hey man."
And Chouji too it would seem.
"Hey guys," he said as he walked into the sitting room to see the two of them sitting on the couch.
Ino was filing her already-perfect nails and Chouji was eating crisps.
"Hello Shikamaru's friends," Temari said as she walked in behind him.
Ino stared at her for a split second before grinning knowingly at the two of them.
"Hello pretty blonde lady who has apparently stolen my Shika's heart."
Temari stared at her and Shikamaru went bright red.
Chouji chuckled.
"She's only joking, that's how she greets Shikamaru's other friends."
Ino turned to him.
"What other friends?"
"Remember when he introduced us to Naruto?"
Ino smiled widely.
"Ohoho yes I do..."
Temari cleared her throat.
"Eh, well I'm Temari. We're not exactly um, friends. But yeah. We know each other."
"We know who you are. Yoshino loves you. She was literally talking about grandchildren before you got here."
Shikamaru wanted to die.
"Ino's just kidding, don't mind her."
Shikamaru introduced everyone properly before sinking down onto the sofa beside Chouji.
"How about we go out for bbq tonight?" Chouji suggested.
Ino squealed in delight and Shikamaru agreed.
"You should join us, Temari. We'll go after tea."
"Sure, why not?"
After an awkward cup of tea, the four of them headed out for dinner.
Shikamaru had never felt so normal in years.
A/N: I'm on my midterm break wooohoooo!
Idk about you guys, but I honestly love Ino and Chouji sosososo much, Ino bashing makes me sad, cos she's got to be such a lovely friend to Shika. Chouji is just adorable all the time, I love him :)
I also hope that you guys like the story so far!
A few people have sent me pm-s about how MND has affected you or your families, and it's honestly so lovely for you guys to have taken time out of your lives to praise my work and thank me for writing, even though I honestly deserve none, but thank you so much and I'm really glad that my story has impacted people in any way, that was my goal ;)
Also, this week was EB awareness week here in Ireland, so please support any EB charities if you can! EB is a very rare condition which is better known as the Butterfly disease, I won't talk much about it, but please research it if you're interested.
Okie, the reviews!
whattadragg~I really like you my friend! I'm glad you agree that Temari's reaction was good, I seriously hate it when people act differently towards someone after finding out about a condition they have, because it's still the same person, you just know them better. I'm not gonna suddenly start being careful around someone because of their favourite colour, so why should I change my attitude towards them if they have a disease? Thank you for the review, you are absolutely lovely!
a01 (guest)~ noooo please continue! This wasn't written to be a depressing story, don't worry- I'll let you in on a little secret *whispering * this is a story about happiness!
I would answer others, but I've already made this fairly long, so I'll hold off.
Thank you for all the reviews, I know I haven't gotten through all of them, but I don't want to make this too long. Idk if people even read this. Oops.
So yeah, please follow/ fave and leave a review!
~Lee