Temari

I rushed down the stairs and into my new flat, breathing heavily and laughing. My evil grin shone on my face. Tonight I won. He was powerless. He lost his control – which he never does. Now he lost it to me. I hoped my mirth mirrors his confusion.

I have never felt so aroused in my whole life and I'm surprised at myself I found the strength to leave when I decided. I wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt. The mere thought of a feeling of his penis pressing against me stung like a blade in my loin, arousing a pulsing heat wave inside me. My hands and legs felt numb and weak, my fingers were trembling and my heart was racing with itself. I didn't even know one could feel like this towards someone, I thought, wandering to bathroom to change my soaked underwear. My previous relationships were a joke, comparing to how I feel about him now. And we're not even in any relationship here… Nevertheless, I felt proud for taking over him and being able to control myself at the same time. This felt like a good revenge and I liked it.

I lied in my bed, thinking about what could develop here, still a bit surprised at myself for getting a crush on him. When I think back, there was always something between us, something quite different, but I thought it's a part of having a male friend. I never thought of him as anything more than that. And what was going to happen now? One night stand? Friends with benefits? That was undoubtedly possible and desirable, but I did not want that. I was tired of men craving me because of my body and running away as fast as I showed the real me. But wasn't this different? – I asked myself. We know each other for more than 7 years and we became friends when were just kids and he kept hanging around with me even though I was teasing him all the time. He'd call me troublesome and then escort me to the gates in the early morning. He knew me, he knew how angry and uncontrollable I could be, and he still was there, walking carelessly next to me, handling my anger and calming me down effortlessly. I realized he knew the real me, the one others hated – and he never ran away, never really complained, never said I should change. This was indeed different about him. About us.

One thing I was sure of – I have a friend who is crazy enough to like me the way I am. And for some reason I liked him as well, even though he's lazy, unmotivated, and unnervingly slow. Well he's fun to tease. And maybe the reason why we liked each other was that we accepted each other the way we were, unlike other people, who tried to reproach us from who we were. Well maybe I'm varnishing it a little bit, as he really dislikes the troublesome and bossy part of me and I keep nagging him to be more productive. But for some reason that doesn't affect anything negatively…

The alarm woke me up and I felt like I've fallen asleep just 5 minutes ago. After somehow reaching the shower I wandered into the kitchen to make myself some coffee, and realized I have none. And I didn't have anything to eat as well. Well, stupid me. It seems I had more important things to think about yesterday than about future's Temari.

After checking myself in the mirror I took my fan and went outside to look for a place to eat. I turned around to check Shikamaru's windows and saw him in the kitchen, probably pouring coffee in a mug. For a second I regret my decision to move out. I walked towards the center, not knowing that Shikamaru lifted his head up and frowned, seeing a girl with a big fan on her back going somewhere from the direction of his building.

After I had some nice breakfast and strong coffee, I headed to the Academy. I had arranged some plans with Kakashi-sensei today as I found out he was one of the people who contributed the most to making the curriculum of Konoha's Academy. We agreed to meet at 8 o'clock in teacher's room as he didn't have any lessons in the morning. I was pouring come coffee into two mugs when Shikamaru came inside the room.

- Good morning. – He said to everyone.

Most of the teachers nodded and he had a small chat with Kakashi, but I could feel his eyes on my back. I turned around, gave Kakashi a cup of coffee and looked at Shikamaru, politely nodding. My face was unreadable while his cheeks reddened a little and to that I answered with a little smirk, turning around to sit at the table. Kakashi-sensei joined me and Shikamaru headed to his lesson.

- What's up with you two? – Kakashi asked like he was asking me about the weather.

- Ee…. N…nothing… Why? – I could feel my face heating up and was surprised for him noticing something and for bringing that up so bluntly. He was much older than me but behaved as cheeky and straightforward as if we were the same age. It felt weird but I figured I could get used to that, he seemed like a fun guy.

- Besides the sparks flying between you – nothing. – He answered playfully, not really waiting for my answer.

I just stared at him, confused and embarrassed, when he took out some papers from his bag and began telling me about the subjects on the curriculum and why he came up with them.

We had a nice discussion for two hours and he told me about the entrance procedure, class and group formations – they were not random and were made specifically, taking into account what kind of three man cells the village needs the most and also counting in the abilities of children and their characters.

- For example, the team of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji – he began, as my heart skipped a beat upon hearing his name – was formed because of legendary team formed by their fathers. They had similar abilities so we figured they will work just fine as well and I think we got it right. They are a great team. At least they used to be.

I kind of sensed he brought this up on purpose to see how'd I react. I was trying to be calm but I felt my heartbeat fasten anyway.

- …used to be? – I asked.

- Yes, because now Ino and Shikamaru strictly refuses to attend any missions together without any official explanation. Tsunade scolded them both for being very unprofessional but they didn't change their minds. – Suddenly he leaned closer to me and locked his cheeky eye with mine: - You don't know what happened between them, do you?

I started laughing after realizing he's actually trying to get some gossip.

- You're not a very typical kind of teacher, are you, Kakashi? – I smiled at him, still surprised.

He shook his head and told me in his official voice:

- I don't know what you are talking about, Temari – san.

We both started sniggering.

After the talk we both went outside – he had to meet up with his students and I headed to the city center to do some shopping. After I came back to my new home I prepared myself some dinner and sat down with a bundle of papers, carefully making plans for the Suna Academy. I smiled to myself – I felt happy coming here. Everybody has been so friendly with me. And Shikamaru… well that was something making me feel warm inside.