Let me start off by saying that I am soo sorry for taking a whole month to update the new chapter! Before I could even start writing this chapter I let my computer die and the charger stopped working! I had to wait until my second paycheck of the month because you guys I have bills to pay, so that I could finally buy myself a new charger. Anyways, let me continue off by saying that this may be the longest chapter I've written so far for this story. Don't get used to it lol. I found myself writing up a storm, I must say I really enjoyed typing up this chapter!
Thanks so much who have stuck by me this far! I promise there's sooo much more to come!
Thank you for your reviews, faves, and follows! They make me want to keep going with the story even more! I appreciate it soo much!
Well I'll stop taking up your time. Let me know what you think! (:
The sandy streets of the Sand Village buzz around busily. It's the luncheon rush hour he presumes, as many shinobi walk around with sticks of foods from various stands. A group of men and women around his age pass by them chatting away. The world was unaware of the rigid way their bodies walked next to each other, for the first time there was awkwardness between them. Shikamaru's eyes wander around looking at anything but Temari. Resting inside his pockets are his fidgety hands, sweating bullets.
He never thought walking with Temari, such a simple task, could turn out to be so troublesome. Which was strange because everything about Temari was troublesome. He matches his own steps with hers as they travel through her beloved village.
Following such horrid silence he figures Temari got frustrated because she decides to break it first, "So… Why is the Hokage's adviser so far from home? With the Hokage the Leaf has, he needs all the help he can get."
"I'm here on business." He sees her raise up a questioning eyebrow.
"Merchant business?" she asks.
"Nah, bargaining is such a hassle. I'm here to prepare for the Chunin's exam. Naruto thought it'd be a good idea if I came to work here with you, that way we can extend the days we lost." He tunes out the same lie he told Fuyumi, it was his idea. "Gaara said we could start tomorrow."
"Hmm, guess that Naruto can think after all." Temari's voice shows indifference.
At this point he doesn't know where he stands with the troublesome woman. She was full of surprises. Just like her mood swings…
"So, for how long are you here for?" she extends an arm pointing, her hand waves at his figure.
Just as they are about to turn right on another loud busy street he answers, "For about a week, give or take. Naruto just said to try to do as much as possible. No real deadline. We do still have about four months anyways."
"Hmph."
Shikamaru knows Temari's understood perfectly his words by her annoyed sound, he doesn't want to do paperwork; he was after all a lazy ass. Knowing her though, she'll MAKE him work. She always had the ability to drill his brain into gears.
Temari and Shikamaru once again are accompanied by quiet. His eyes roam around to avoid eye contact. The Sand Siblings home is deep at the end of the village, a long walk much to his dismay. A mansion so large yet he happens to be perfectly familiar with every room it contained. Courtesy of the many meals he had been invited to throughout the years.
They begin to pass shops that assure him they are almost at their destination. He'd brought it upon himself though; after all he was the one who offered to walk her home. That did not make the Sand kunoichi happy, he was the guest in her village but for a lazy guy he too can be insistent.
But every now and then she'd never fail to interject, "You know, it's not necessary for you to walk me all the way. I've lived here long enough not to get lost."
"I know." Was all he said
Again… No noise came from either of them.
He takes a long sigh; thankfully the villagers are too rowdy for her to notice. Building inside his head for the past few weeks was a large sticky web of confusion. Shikamaru has had time though to sort his thoughts out. Through the nights he had no choice BUT to think because his sleep would never arrive.
Yeah, he had admitted to himself that when it came to human emotions it wasn't so easy to turn it off like he'd like. As the hours of darkness stretched through the days he rewired himself back into his usual self. He went back to his usual routines aside the one from work. Like visiting his mother, playing with Kotori, hanging out with his friends, and giving back Fuyumi the little attention she required from him. He was numb again and that was enough for him to finalize that whatever Temari did with her life was not his business. A visit to his father and sensei's graves was all it took to completely snap him back to reality. He'd chosen his path, and he'd accepted it. There was no turning back now…
Before he realizes Temari is atop the third beige grainy stair, closed behind her is the maroon door that opens to her living room.
"Well, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." She says shortly and turns around.
Before she can though Shikamaru blares out awkwardly, "I…" she stops in her tracks "Does it make you uncomfortable. Being around me?" he asks rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, his head looking down at the grains of sand that threaten to get in his sandals.
She looks at him completely bewildered than says, "No. Why would it?" then hesitantly continues. "We are friends.?" She makes that last part sound more like a question but he's sure it was meant as a statement.
He then registers through his head that it was him over thinking everything because Temari appeared oblivious to what really was his internal battles. He supposes maybe he's not as collected as he thought he was.
"Yeah… Friends…" he reassures her.
The last word breathed out from his lips almost seems to have been carried along with the heavy burst of wind that blew past them…
Awake at the job for twelve hours, with only a quick lunch as a break and no naps in-between, his mother would be proud. Temari sure knew how to overwork a person. Usually when the work gets done back at the Leaf they have an eight hour shift, not including their hour lunch, and all those twenty minute breaks every two hours. He was in her territory now, which meant whatever she says goes. Not that it mattered; it generally was like that anyways.
At least the atmosphere around them had changed, doing all those written assignments really did require a lot of time and although they were quiet most of the time, the tension was gone. The two of them became so engrossed, he'd never worked so seriously, yet it felt comforting. Temari was an easy person to work with.
Despite the fact that they got ahead in just a day's work and it'd give him a chance to slack off for another month until her next visit; he was more than thankful when she declared that they'd done enough for the day.
"Where are we going?" he questions Temari as they step outside the Kazekage's building, a chill runs up his spine as the chilly air hits him. The nights were always so cold in the Sand.
"I'm going home." She emphasis.
At that point he makes up his mind, noting he has nothing better to do than going back to the inn. "I'll walk you then."
"Not this again." she groans and stops to cross her arms. "You don't have to walk me Shikamaru. Your Inn is on the other side of the village. I get it your parents raised you to be a gentleman. They'd be so proud." He's sure she's being sarcastic.
"Tch," Shikamaru scoffs. "I'm not that easy to get rid of. Besides I got used to your bitchiness long ago. You don't scare me anymore. Well not as much." He finishes as he grabs her arm so they can continue on their path.
He notes that her skin feels warm yet from the goose bumps he feels the woman has gotten cold from the sudden change that the warm building provided them with. The sudden grasp though ignites a fire in his stomach, one that gets extinguished as she pulls her arm away angrily. Regrettably though some other parts of his body don't get the same memo.
"Fine! But if I so much as hear a wine about all the extra walking you did-!"
He doesn't let her finish. "I got it. I got it. Troublesome woman."
They continue on bantering like their usual selves. Temari snaps in annoyance and his indifference tone of voice pisses her off more. As she keeps on ranting about who knows what as he has blocked her out for the time being he sighs mentally. When he gets back to the inn he was going to need an ice cold shower, and if that didn't work he would just have to fend off for himself. Which he really hoped it wouldn't come to that because it just meant more work even if it was meant for his bodily release.
Groups of women shriek with excitement at the new stock of jewelry the stand Shikamaru is currently observing. He frowned at the over chatter that bothered his ears. Mumbling a few incoherent words he hears Temari give a slight laugh at his torture.
"I blame you." He glares.
"Oh, whatever. I only made a suggestion. You willingly agreed." Her mischievous smile says otherwise.
The woman had given him the bright idea that because it was almost Christmas he should buy Fuyumi a gift from her land; objects from foreign places were always interesting and rarer to find. Plus she had impolitely added that he shouldn't be such a "dick," her words not his, because he hadn't gotten her anything yet. Temari had triumphantly guilt tripped him into going where no other man should be forced to go. A place crowded with women booming everywhere about the newest styles.
"My man! Looking for something in particular? I've got all sorts of accessories! I have rings, earrings, necklaces!" The man has turned his attention to him away from the shrieking women; being the only man there he was bound to stand out. He looks around his age, his eye glasses make his eyes scarily big, and his dark brown hair spikes up messily everywhere. "You name it I got it! I even do special orders! So! What can I help you with!?" by the way his voice resonances he can tell he knows what he's doing, it's so loud he wants to shrink away from the crowd in fear, the man may be too convincing and he only brought a certain amount with him.
"Umm… I'm looking for umm… Something in green?" That last part sounded more like a question to himself instead of the seller.
"What kind of green!? I've got neon green, forest green, dark green, lime green, fern green, Dartmouth green, yellow-green, light green, pine green, sea green, shamrock green, lawn green, jungle green, and regular green." The last color is said with a long let out breath.
Shikamaru stared startled at the man as he spoke too quickly. "Uh, light green."
"Alright bud," he says with a click of his tongue, "and what particular jewelry were you looking for."
"Umm…" Shikamaru scratches his head pensively and thinks that a ring would give her the wrong idea… "A necklace."
The salesman goes to one of the corners of his large glass stand and begins fidgeting with one of his many keys.
"That was scary." He mutters.
"You're such a crybaby!" Temari cackles at his torture, he opens his mouth to say something rude but as if on cue the man comes back with a velvet covered box set filled with sparkly necklaces.
"Go ahead and take a look at these. If you find anything call for me I'll be right over at that other corner." He says as he points and walks directly towards a young woman who waves at him wanting to purchase a large white diamond rose for her hair.
"Shouldn't he be more careful? People can easily steal from him like this." he says as he begins examining the sparkly gems in front of him. He swore their shining brightness was starting to give him a headache.
"You shouldn't underestimate people so easily Shikamaru." The woman states.
"Sounds like someone already tried to get away but failed?" he asked.
"Yeah." she laughs lightly. "That was a sight to see."
"Well, good for him I guess… You know, a little help would be nice."
"Sorry. I don't know what your girlfriend likes. Besides I don't even like jewelry. So flashy."
"YOU made the suggestion of stopping by here."
"I only made the suggestion. You could've picked buying her something else." She shrugs.
That troublesome woman…
Within the masses of gold and silver he opts for a simple necklace. It didn't stand out from the rest. It was a thin silver chain that held onto a light green circular pendant. He holds it up in his hands and nods at Temari so she can call the man back, he's done enough strenuous activity for the day, there's no way he's going to scream out for the attention of a man being attacked by a herd of troublesome women.
As the man takes his gift so he can wrap it up Shikamaru swears that the throbbing headache wasn't from the glittering of the objects in front of him anymore. In fact it was probably a punishment for the grinding of his brain because no matter how much he twisted around his thoughts he realized he knew nothing of Fuyumi.
Point him out to the cemetery, Shikamaru thinks, it's his third day playing Temari's slave. He feels the work he's done for the past three days is enough hard labor for the rest of his lifetime. Under no circumstances should any male with the lazy Nara gene should be put through this torture.
After some time (reminding himself that it's only been three days yet felt like eternity) he got used to the late nights spent in one of the Kazekage's offices. Really though it was just a small cramped room with a table in the middle and a chair on each side. Shikamaru stares outside through the large window longingly, the night sky looked inviting but he knew better, it was probably freezing cold out there already.
"Well what do we have here? Is my sister working you to the bone?" a smirking Kankuro appears leaning at the doorway.
"That's an understatement." Shikamaru grimaces.
Temari stops writing with her pen only to glare at him and glances back down at her papers. "What are you doing here Kankuro?"
Before he answers Shikamaru sees him raise a hand in acknowledgement at two male shinobi that pass by, then he walk towards them placing both hands at the end of the table.
"Well its way past nine and you've been here since eight in the morning." Kankuro frowns. "And then I decided." He then smiles as he claps his hands in excitement, the evil one Temari inherited as well, and points at the two of them, then points with both thumbs at himself. "WE are gonna go get plastered."
Temari and Shikamaru stare at him; questioning looks adorn both their faces.
"Is that really a good idea? Look at him," Temari points at Shikamaru. "he looks ready to pass out. Aside from that, he doesn't drink, there's no fun in that." She then shrugs.
Kankuro smacks his chest leaving Shikamaru almost out of breath, "Oh come on man! You got to let loose sometime!"
Rubbing his chest. "How so? By getting foolishly drunk and doing embarrassing things I won't remember tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Kankuro replies as it were the most obvious answer in the world.
He thinks about his suggestion a little bit and what good could from this. "Will this get me out of work tomorrow?"
The rolling of Temari's eyes doesn't go unnoticed.
"Yup! We might need all day to recover! The bar closes until 2 and who knows maybe we can continue afterwards!"
Before Kankuro even finishes talking he's up from his chair.
"Let's go then." Says Shikamaru.
"That's the spirit!" Kankuro exclaims while pushing him towards the door, he sure is in a hurry, probably in case he changes his mind. "Come on sis! Vodka and Tequila are waiting for us!"
Shikamaru hears a silent but deadly "morons".
By the time they get to the bar it's already ten, Kankuro ushers them quickly into their stools right next to one of the bartenders. According to Kankuro they shouldn't waste precious time considering they only had four hours to make liver damage, his words exactly.
He takes tiny sips of his nasty beverage, beer, there was no way out from this one. All three Sand siblings were scary equally. On the condition that he could get out of work for a day, the two of siblings had conspired that he drink four beers at least, one for every passing hour. They were being "lenient", lenient my ass, he thought. But desperate times called for desperate measures. Without one day of whole sleep he doesn't think he can make it for the rest of his remaining days at the Sand.
As for the two siblings, they wasted no time, because even though they each were still on their first jug of beer, they had already taken three shots. Shikamaru shifts uncomfortably at the hard wood chair that feels like its splintering his ass, and glances at the other two sitting so comfortably. Kankuro sat in the middle of both him and Temari.
"Why don't you take a shot with me?" Kankuro, the peer pressure master.
"That wasn't the deal."
What he just said doesn't matter. Because Kankuro has already waved at the bartender who's mixing a drink at the far end of the bar table for two shots, with two fingers up in the air. The bartender makes a sign to let Kankuro know he's going to take a few minutes, once the thumbs up is raised he knows it's safe and turns back to his current customer. The oldest two Sand siblings are famous, drunk or not people know not to piss them off.
"I don't know how you and Temari can drink so much." He shakes his head while said woman was having a conversation with a red haired kunoichi and then he reminds him thinking this might get him off his back. "Shouldn't you be off hitting on some girl?"
At that point his eyes bulge out frantically, "I do not have a problem. But no, not tonight. I'm going to hang out with you. Because I am not a nymphomaniac." He says it loudly close to Temari's ear but only gets swatted away; she is still conversing with the other woman.
Great, the onetime Kankuro decides to act decent towards the female species was the one time he needed to act like a horn dog the most.
"You're not going to drink that are you?" Kankuro asks as he takes the small glass shot and he shakes his head; there was no way in hell…
He is presented with another beer in front of him, quickly nothing that it should be eleven then. The redhead leaves and Temari turns her attention back to them.
"Here you go sis."
Solemnly as if it were water the two down the liquid past their throats.
Another hour passes and he notes as another beer stands in front of him. By this time he has lost count of how much these two have had to drink. But he knows better by know that they are nowhere near drunk, they were maybe barely getting buzzed. One had to admire their tenacity. His father would have been out cold by now…
This time it's Temari who orders but is also told to wait as the bar has begun to get livelier and people drunker by the minute.
"So sis," Kankuro pulls forward his sister's stool chair and puts an arm around her, "you and that Ryota guy? Is it serious?" Shikamaru stiffens at the topic. "I know he's been writing to you." Alcohol made Kankuro blunter, if that were even possible, it was…
"Why would I tell you my business?"
"Because I'm your brother!"
A flat word comes out of her mouth, "So?"
"So!? I need to know these things!"
"Overly protected much?"
"Well like I said I'm your brother! I need to look out for you!"
"No! I'm the oldest so I look after you and Gaara. But what I do is my business. Also, I CAN take care of myself, what kind of kunoichi would I be if I couldn't. If Gaara can respect me enough to stay out of my life then so should you!"
"I didn't mean if he hurt you physically!"
"All right, well that's enough of a subject I don't want to discuss with you. I don't need to hear out any pointers on how to get lucky for YOU; Gaara suffers sufficiently for the both of us."
Kankuro breathes out heavily in defeat but not before asking, "Well will I ever get to meet him properly?"
Temari plays with her straw thoughtfully playing with her clear looking drink, utters a "Maybe." and turns back around to her redheaded friend who's come back taking the seat next to her again.
During the whole ordeal Shikamaru tried to block out the sounds of their voices. He hears the people in the background cheering from winning their drinking games and the catcalls every time a woman passes by the table near the restrooms. Instead it was like his brain tuned in his companions voice individually amplifying the sound of their voices to a maximum capacity. Every word slowly makes it through his ears down to the pit of his stomach. There's no turning back the night…
And so, when the two glass shots are placed next to him he takes the one that originally belonged to Temari and gives it to his neighbor, Kankuro who is finally done questioning his sister and placing his attention back on him. Only because Temari began ignoring him again for her redheaded friend.
"We going to drink or what?" Shikamaru asks looking straight at himself at the mirror across from him, dozens of liquor bottles aligning it.
Beside him an astonished Kankuro gapes at him but quickly composes himself. "Now you're talking!"
Shikamaru gulps the shot, his stomach is set on fire, but it's not enough to take down the unpleasant feeling in his gut.
"Another one!?" Kankuro seizes the moment; he only nods his head because words refuse to leave his mouth at the time. "I need two more!" he yells for the bartender's attention for the umpteenth time that night.
In front of them, no waiting this time, their shot glasses are refilled. Kankuro counts down and again he downs the burning liquid.
For the first time in his life time Shikamaru wants to drink…
Drink… So he can forget how to feel…