Shikamaru

As we silently ate the dinner in our room, I was trying to figure out one thing. I could feel Temari is still quite distant from me, exclusive, and she's not willing to open up. She does kiss me back gladly and with equal emotions, but it's only those moments I can feel I'm seeing the real her. The shields are dropped and her eyes are speaking something her mouth never does. And it's not only passion between us. It feels like she's somewhat afraid of me, mentally or physically.

- Do you trust me? – I asked. She raised her eyes up to meet mine and cocked one eyebrow up.

- Why?

- Just curious. Do you?

- I guess so. – She replied after pause.

And that was what I expected to hear. If she had said "yes", I'd have thought she was lying. So the main question now was why doesn't she trust me fully. I wish I could simply ask her that directly, but I knew she wouldn't answer.

Temari rose up from her chair and went to the bathroom. After a while she came back, having changed into her pyjamas. She wore short red shorts and a tight black blouse, without a bra, of course. The sight took away my ability to think and I froze, staring at her breasts moving with every step. She was extremely good looking and had a great body, and she knew it. She also knew what effect it has on me and eyed me with a little sly smile. Confident, flirty, seductive, yet distant, keeping herself away and suspicious.

She jumped in the bed and soon I followed, lying on my back with my hands crossed behind my head, I stared into the ceiling and tried to think like her and understand her. Right now she was tossing and turning, demonstratively awake, slowly shifting closer to the middle of the bed and towards me. Clearly, she expected me to do something, however I didn't want for her to think all there is for me is physical attraction. To me this wasn't just some temporal passionate fling. I liked her and I wanted to know her, to talk to her, to be with her. The problem was, I couldn't find a way to break her shields. When she finally fell asleep, I carefully hugged her and didn't let go until the very morning, when she woke up surprised to find my arm around her and her back close to my chest. She smelled like honey.

The sun was rising and Temari stood in front of the window, staring into bright orange light, blasting from the outside. It colored her face with warm shades and I looked at her curiously while she was gazing somewhere. I rose from the bed and stood behind her, glimpsing at the contrast of the orange sky and black trees. I put my palms on her shoulders, near her neck, then lowered my hands towards her waist. She didn't move but I noticed goose bumps emerging on her soft skin. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her closer. She leaned her head back, resting it against my shoulder, and I kissed her head. I wished I could hold her like this forever. But we had to get moving as we still had two days of travelling ahead of us.

The following two days were similar. The weather was cold and sometimes it would start raining. I noticed Temari shivering from time to time, as she wasn't used to such temperatures and wind. However, she didn't complain, her mood was always light and she kept teasing me about everything she could think of. She was fun to be around and the time flew, so on the afternoon of the third day we reached the village of Hot Springs.

It was located between several hills, therefore the temperature here was higher and the wind was not as strong. We crossed a river on the way, and the water was vaporing, causing a thick mist along it's way. All the rivers here were hot-watered and they even in winter they wouldn't freeze up. We continued the road that led between small buildings. The village wasn't very colorful. Most of the houses were painted grey and only small souvenir shops stood out with their bright assortment. The place was full of people, not only natives but a lot of tourists as well, and everyone was really friendly and happy. Every 50 meters we saw an advertisement of hot water baths and I noticed Temari eyeing those with sparkles in her eyes.

At the end of the village we reached a grand hotel where the masquerade was about to take place. It was a massive building with many small premises surrounding it. It was really fancy inside – the ground of the hall was covered in red carpet, the walls were painted white and glass chandelier hung from the ceiling. On our left there was a big banqueting hall where we assumed the ball was going to take place and on our right, in the corner, we could see a cafeteria. There were glass walls in that corner so people could adore the view while eating. And the view was pretty amazing: it oversaw the place where one of the hot springs emerged from the ground, and it was shooting sprays of water high into the air. Then the water fell down and flowed into a river, but it left a trace of it in the air – a column of steam, that was very well visible in a chilly weather like today. Temari gave me an excited look, and I chuckled. I bet she didn't regret coming here.

We went up to the reception and the lady there was very glad to see us, just like every other guest, I presumed. She handed our keys and explained the directions to our rooms, as well as other information, like when the dinner starts and so on. The masquerade was scheduled for tomorrow but many of the guests arrived today to look around the village and possibly enjoy the hot baths, so the organizers prepared a dinner for tonight and a concert.

Then we headed towards our rooms and while on the way we decided to skip the concert and ask for the dinner in our rooms so we wouldn't be seen together by other people. We weren't sure if our target group arrived today but did not want to risk it.

We got two rooms next to each other, and when we slipped our keys in the locks, our eyes almost fell out from its sockets. It was the fanciest place I have ever stayed in. A huge white covered bed, flat screen TV, a window from the ceiling down to the ground with the view to one of the hills. Soft brown carpet, new flip-flops and bathrobes and towels and everything. And the bathroom was all in black and white tiles with silver covered taps and door handles and other details. The bathtub was big enough for two people. The floor was warmed up from below and I just stood there for a moment, warming my feet up, when I noticed my reflection in the mirror and decided I needed a shower.