A/N: Gotta give my love to one of my favorite pairings ever! It's gonna happen more and more too. They're just too cute with their inability to talk about their feelings. So, Gaara isn't going to make an appearance again until later chapters. He'll be mentioned of course, but never given any credit. Right now it's all about the Princess. Don't you worry your pretty little heads, he'll come back soon!
After their bath in the hot springs, and Temari finally getting Setsuko to calm down enough that she could actually hold normal conversations with her, the two girls were sitting outside Amaguriama. The sweet shop has two locations; seeing as they were already at the hot springs district, they chose to eat at the one located nearby. As Temari had a sweet tooth for sweet chestnuts, it was mostly her choice to eat there. Setsuko didn't mind though, as she looked through the display of choices, she couldn't help but feel the need to buy one of each.
Temari sighed and dropped her head at the un-Princess like antics Setsuko was pulling. "How exactly do you even plan to eat all of those?"
"One at a time!" Setsuko exclaimed happily shoving a sweet dumpling in her mouth.
The two women sat outside the small shop, enjoying their food when Temari suddenly began to get the slightest of red tint to her cheeks. It quickly faded when she spoke, "Shikamaru!"
With a dumpling stick sticking out of her mouth, Setsuko looked over her shoulder to where Temari was looking. Only a few feet behind them was a young man no taller than 5'5", with sharp black eyes and black hair slicked back into a spiky ponytail. He wore a simple long sleeved black shirt, matching pants and sandals, with green lined mesh armor. An army green flack jacket was fastened around his upper body and his hands were lazily stuffed into his pockets. He seemed to have a look of utter boredom etched on his face as he stared up at the clouds that slowly floated by, but when he heard his name called that expression changed; he seemed a little surprised to see Temari. Setsuko looked back at Temari as he walked over to them; she seemed a different kind of happy now that this guy was here.
"Temari, I didn't know you were here," he said as he finally reached them.
"I just got into town earlier today," she replied with a half cocked smile.
Setsuko watched as he shifted his weight to one leg as that bored expression came back to his face. "What are you doing here? Did something happen in the Hidden Sand?"
"No, I'm here as an escort for her." Temari pointed to Setsuko who was still chewing on a dumpling while she continued to stare up at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru looked over at the young blonde, raising an eyebrow in curiosity at her. Slowly Setsuko pulled the stick free, finished swallowing her dumplings and smiled, "I'm Princess Setsuko of Aisugakure."
His normally vacant eyes widened in shock. A Princess here, out in the open like it was nothing?! "Princess?!" He looked over at Temari as if asking if she were telling the truth.
"Mhm!" Setsuko nodded, still smiling, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "I'm supposed to meet with your Hokage later this week, but I've never left my village before so Temari is showing me around until then."
Shikamaru eyed the Princess wearily. "She's been in Suna the last few days meeting with Gaara, and I was asked to accompany her here." It was hard for him to read this Princess, but he could tell when Temari was lying to him. However, he wouldn't press the matter because there had to be a good reason for it.
"I hope you've enjoyed our village so far," he said, being respectful to the ruling dignitary.
"Oh I have! Although…" she paused, furrowing her brow as she thought about her earlier encounter. "Some of the ninja here seem…rude."
Shikamaru looked at her curiously. "Naruto was the first person she met. It was…interesting," Temari said, answering his silent question. Hearing this he sighed heavily, knowing Naruto didn't make good first impression on anyone.
"Hm, well I gotta go. My mom wants me home for lunch and if I don't get there soon…well it'll be a real drag," he sighed, saying his goodbyes and beginning his walk home.
"Uh, Shikamaru wait!" Temari shot up from her seat and jogged after him.
Setsuko looked on in confusion as she watched the two talk to each other privately. She wondered what they could be talking about. A few minutes into their conversation, Setsuko noticed the look in Temari's eyes as she stared at Shikamaru. So she had a crush on him! She smiled to herself as she stuck another dumpling in her mouth; how cute! She had no idea that Temari had feelings for anyone, let alone someone from another village. That must have made it hard for them. Using her free hand as leverage, she leaned back on the bench she was sitting on and stared up at the clouds. So far away from each other and yet their feelings still flourished. She wondered if they were dating or if they hadn't quite gotten there yet.
What about her? What was she to do about her own feelings going crazy right now? She was torn and still in love with Maki but at the same time, she was feeling something for Gaara. In his own, grumpy, weird way, he was compassionate and gentle. His stupid red hair was kind of attractive too. She giggled to herself as she thought about before they had left three days ago and how she had tried to make it seem like that was a character flaw. The way his sea green eyes had sparkled the night they went to the beach together was dreamy. And she could see it; little by little, he was opening up to her. Maybe Temari was right; she could still love Maki, but move on and let herself possibly love someone else. Even though it felt like she was leaving him behind, she knew Maki would have wanted her to be happy and love again.
Temari walked back over and Setsuko looked at her, "Ya know, if you wanted to be alone with him you could have just said something."
Her whole body froze, her face turning red. "Shh!" Temari forced a handful of sweet chestnuts down Setsuko's throat so no one would hear her.
Setsuko flailed around as she tried to swallow everything in her mouth.
"I don't even like him. We're just friends." Even though she was saying it, her face was still red.
Finally, Setsuko was able to swallow. She panted and took long, deep breaths of air now that nothing was preventing her from it. "You could have killed me just now!"
"But I didn't." Her red face was slowly fading into a small blush as she took a bite of her own sweets, smiling.
Temari had already fallen asleep when Setsuko snuck out of her room. She crept through the living room of their suite, the moonlight shinning through the open window. Dressed in a simple pair of black shorts, a loose red t-shirt that hung off her shoulder and a tank top underneath, Setsuko left their hotel room. As she stepped outside, the pale moonlight reflected off her skin, seemingly giving her a soft glow. Lacing her fingers behind her back, she began walking down the road, looking at all the shops there were to see in the Leaf Village nightlife.
She saw a few couples arm in arm, a few drunks stumbling home, even fewer groups of friends and a few people by their lonesome. Her eyes traveled to the various lights that lit up the streets from businesses open late and wandered into a small bar like building with banners hanging where doors should be. The sign on the front said 'Ichiraku Ramen'. The inside was quaint and small, having only a bar and a kitchen and the décor was plain. It was kind of cute though. Her long hair was placed into two loose pigtails that lay over each shoulder, so luckily they wouldn't be caught in whatever she ordered. She was greeted by the chef and, from the way they talked to each other, she could only assume his daughter.
"Good evening," she replied courtly, smiling at them as they excitedly welcomed her.
"What can we get you?" the chef asked.
"Well, I'm new in town so…what would you suggest?" Setsuko gave a sheepish giggle and sunk in her seat a little, feeling awkward.
"House special! Coming up!" he replied excitedly as he instantly went to cooking. "Ya know, this is a favorite among one of my best customers. He swears by it!"
She leaned against the bar and smiled, "Oh then it must be terrific! I can't wait to try it."
Listening to the people outside and the sounds of the cooking equipment, Setsuko seemed lost in her own little world. She was content right here. This was how her village should be; full of life and bustling with people. The sounds of everyday things happening behind her brought her a strange sense of comfort. They were things she wasn't used to and only dreamed about. Yes, she dreamed about a life other than her own. She hated being what she was. She always had to be someone she wasn't; although that usually failed miserably anyways. All she wanted was to be a ninja, go on missions, protect the people she loved, and have friends, maybe a boyfriend, the things most people took for granted. It wasn't like she wasn't doing any good in her position now, but it was a lonely existence. She wanted to laugh with other people, run to someone for comfort when she was hurting and be treasured in some way by others.
"Here you are," the man said as he set down a large bowl of ramen in front of her, bringing Setsuko out of her thoughts.
Her eyes were wide, "Oh, thank you!" She bowed her head in thanks and picked up her chopsticks. Taking her first bite, she gave a happy squeak at the pork taste that exploded in her mouth.
"Hey old man Teuchi! Can I get a bowl of pork ramen?" a loud and annoying voice said from behind her, walking in and taking a seat a few stools away.
Teuchi turned and greeted his favorite customer, "Oh hey Naruto! I was wondering when I was would see you."
"Yeah, Grandma Tsunade sent me out on a mission with Kiba and Shino earlier. It was a dumb, boring job and I just need to relax," he replied with a groan of exhaustion, even though he just said the mission wasn't at all strenuous.
Setsuko glanced over at him from the corner of her eye, slurping the ramen into her mouth. Naruto's ears perked up at the sound and he whipped around with a smile beaming on his face.
"I know that sound anywhere! What flavor a-" he cut himself off when he saw just who was sitting next to him. A glare replaced the beaming smile instantly. "What are you doing here?"
Setsuko turned up her nose and huffed at him, turning her back to him.
Naruto visibly shook with annoyed anger at her attitude. "What's your deal?! Why are you being such a brat?"
Her chopsticks were quickly and suddenly pointed in his face, causing him to jump the tiniest of bits. Her head snapped to look at him, a glare of her own thrown towards him. "You molested me earlier today. I have every right to not like you."
"That was an accident!" he shouted as his face turned red and he stood up from his seat. It was the strangest thing, deep within the recesses of his body, Naruto could feel the Nine-Tails stir a little at her glare.
Again she turned up her nose and turned away from him. "You didn't even apologize."
He threw his hands up in the air with an incredulous look on his face. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! I did so!"
"Apologize properly and I might forgive you," she said matter-of-factly, taking another inhale of noodles.
Naruto flopped down into the stool he was sitting on and crossed his arms in a huff, turning away from her. "I already did."
"Then if I ever see you in Aisu, I'll put you to death." She looked over at Naruto with a cocky smile before turning to Teuchi and his daughter. "Thank you for the ramen, it was truly delicious." Setsuko bowed her head and stood, placing her money on the table. Just before leaving, she stopped, holding the hanging banners away from her face but never turning back. "Oh, I put enough to pay for Naruto's meal also."
Without another word, she left, leaving Naruto just a little dumbstruck by her kind gesture seeing as she was being so rude just seconds ago.