The SKEP- Chapter 24

Chapter 24- Plans

“Temari?”
“Hmmmwhat?” Temari looked up lazily. Man, was it comfortable to lie in Shikamaru’s arms, on his bed, with nothing to do for the next two days!
“I’m gonna visit my parents this Sunday. Would you like to come with me?”
“Oh!” She sat upright. “Sure. Is it a special occasion?”
“Yeah, it’s the anniversary of their marriage.”
“That’ll be fun,” Temari smiled. “I’ll buy them flowers.”
Shikamaru laughed. “That’s a good idea!” Then he pulled her down again, but before he could kiss her, there was a loud knock on the door.
“Hey, turtle-doves!” someone yelled. “It’s Friday night, what on earth are you doing in your room?!”
“Ino…” they sighed at the same moment. The blonde opened the door and peeked inside.
“Sorry to disturb!” she grinned. “Sakura and me are joining the others at Ichiraku’s, wanna come with us?”
Shikamaru slowly got to his feet. “Alright,” he said. Temari straightened her hair and got up too.
“Should I change my clothes?” she asked. Ino shook her head. “You look fine.”
She examined herself. Jeans, purple top, her hair loose. She shrugged, it was okay. Sakura laughed. “Don’t be so unsure, get some confidence! Your hair looks really nice when it’s loose.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. Sakura wore her favorite dress, bright red and reaching to her knees, with skull charms as decorations. She looked gorgeous, and again Temari felt so very dull. She didn’t say so, though.

When they arrived at Ichiraku’s bar, the first thing that shot trough Temari’s mind was that she wanted to get away from this place. There was loud music playing, some people were dancing at a small floor, there were bars and mirrors on all sides of the place, it was crowded and very warm.
The feeling faded away when she looked around better. The music was loud, but it was a good song, and although there were many people indeed, it wasn’t like you couldn’t move at all. She had seen worse at the airport.
All others were already sitting at a table. Sakura immediately sat next to Sasuke and Naruto, and Ino was taken to a quiet corner of the table by Kankuro.
Tenten waved to Temari, and she raised her hand in a greeting as well. The brown-haired girl wore her hair in two elaborate braids, ribbons woven trough them, and her top was cut breathtakingly low. Temari sat down next to her.
“Special occasion?” she asked. Tenten shook her head.
“No, I just felt like dressing up.”
“Well, it looks great,” Temari smiled. She looked around and noticed some things. Hinata was sitting on Kiba’s lap, for one. Of course everyone knew they were together, but the girl was always careful not to show many signs of affection in public. She was just too shy, but now she was, although blushing fiercely, feeding Kiba little bites of her bread roll. And Kiba enjoyed it greatly, apparently, because he only interrupted her now and then to kiss her. Temari caught Shikamaru’s eye and gestured discreetly towards the couple. A quick smile graced his lips, then he continued chatting with Chouji. The other boy was acting a bit restlessly, constantly stealing glances at the girl on the other side of the table. Ino.
Temari leaned towards Tenten and whispered:
“Do you know whether there’s something between Ino and Chouji that we don’t know?”
Tenten looked up and glanced at them. “Chouji likes her perhaps, but I don’t think Ino will answer those feelings,” she whispered back. “You know she planned to keep it low with the guys for a while.”
“I know, she dumped my brother. Well, that’s too bad for Chouji,” Temari said. “I think they’d be cute together, a person like him deserves to be loved.”
“Hmm, yeah,” Tenten answered. “Hey, how’s your work in the bookshop going?”
“Great! It’s really fun, and it pays nicely too.”
“That’s good. I’m still looking for a job, maybe I can become waitress too. Sakura says she enjoys it.”
“I suppose it’s a good job,” Temari said. At that moment, the door of the bar opened again and two persons came in. Tenten looked up and smiled. She waved.
“Neji! Lee! Over here!”
The boys looked into their direction and came towards the table. They sat down at the other side of Tenten and Neji said:
“There was police at the campus again.”
“Oh?” Tenten asked. “Is Sasuke really getting arrested now?”
Lee shook his head. “No, but maybe his brother is. Some members of the Akatsuki gang are already taken away, as well as a few younger people. That girl Tayuya too.”
Temari turned her head towards them, her eyes gleaming.
“Finally!” she said.
“You seem to be quite hateful towards that person,” Neji stated. Temari nodded.
“Yeah, I know it’s not very nice of me, but she really caused me problems. I’m happy she’ll be gone so I won’t be bothered by her anymore.”
“I see.”
Tenten laughed. “The more you love one person, the more you hate another! Really, I’m happy I don’t have to worry about that!”
Temari glanced at the girl sideways. Tenten had told her she would really like to be in love, then why would she say otherwise when Neji and Lee were there?
Neji raised an eyebrow. “Everyone craves for love, even you, Tenten.”
“Could be, but happiness does not depends only on that.”
Lee caught Temari’s eye and smiled. Temari directed her eyes at Neji and Tenten, looked at Lee again and sent him a questioning look. Lee winked, and Temari hid her laugh behind her hand.
Tenten cut off her discussion with Neji:
“I’m gonna get us some drinks.”
She stood up and walked to the bar. Temari began some small talk with Neji and Lee, but that was cruelly interrupted when they heard Tenten yell:
“My eyes are up here, you pervert!”
Neji quickly turned around, and nudged Lee’s shoulder. Tenten came back without drinks, fuming.
“Damn that guy, only looking down, as if I’m nothing more that some…” she muttered, her cheeks red with anger. She fell down on her chair again, still frowning, and Neji and Lee looked at each other. Neji gestured towards the bar, his jaw clenched. Lee nodded. Then they stood up and went to the bar. Tenten followed them with her eyes, and her expression quickly softened.
“Oh, those guys…” she said. Temari quietly said:
“Well, with that shirt of yours, you’re kind of asking for it…”
The girl pouted. “Still, that’s no reason to be so rude. But,” and her eyes lighted up, “have you seen Neji and Lee? Oh, that look in their eyes!”
“Don’t tell me you did it on purpose?!”
“Of course not, what are you taking me for? But it’s still great to see, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t know they were so protective of you.”
“Well, we’ve known each other since kindergarten. Kinda like Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji, we’re also always together.”
“I see.”
Neji returned, his face blank, with only hints of a satisfied smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Lee however was laughing, looked at Neji and then rolled his eyes at Tenten and Temari. Temari smiled, and said:
“Well, I guess I’ll have to get my drink myself then. See you later, Tenten!”
Tenten greeted her and Temari stood up. She walked to the bar as well, but wasn’t surprised when she saw no one there. She just went to another counter and bought a soft drink.
When she arrived back at the table, she noticed Kankuro quietly talking to Ino. The blonde had a sad expression, but shook her head determined.
“I just want some rest, please understand that,” Temari heard her say. “I don’t want to be ‘that girl with the boyfriends’ all the time. I hope you don’t feel rejected. It’s not because of you, really, you’re a great guy, but I just want to take a break.”
Kankuro sighed. “Well then, if you insist. Just know that I still like you a lot, okay?”
She smiled. “I’ll remember it. Hey, you know, Kiba has a sister who…”
Temari decided to leave her brother and her friend alone with their love-troubles and walked over to her own. She sat down next to Shikamaru, but he was still in a quiet conversation with Chouji. Temari concentrated on her drink and amused herself by watching Kiba and Hinata. Damn, that girl was cute, Kiba was one lucky guy. She wondered whether Naruto regretted turning her down, but decided it was none of her business. All this couple-talk too, seriously. The only thing people were thinking about was who was going out with who. Temari sighed and set her empty glass on the table. She was glad all trouble between her and Shikamaru was over now.
She was yanked out of her thoughts when Shikamaru placed a hand on her arm.
“Earth to Temari, do you hear me?” he asked.
“Loud and clear,” she laughed. “Sorry, I was thinking.”
“So I’ve noticed. Do you want another drink?” he asked.
“No, thanks. There is something else I’d like, though…”
One of his eyebrows was pulled up. “And what could that be?”
“You,” she smiled. “Come, let’s dance.”
She dragged him to the dance floor, laughing at the face he made. He muttered something like: “I don’t like dancing at all,” but Temari ignored him and pulled him along.
“Here, this song is great. Just move to the rhythm,” she said. It was fun to see him try. She swayed her hips, feeling a little of her confidence returning when she noticed some guys stealing glances at her. Shikamaru noticed too, and glared into their direction. Temari laughed and just continued dancing. The song that came next was a slow one. Shikamaru suddenly grinned and grabbed her arms. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. The music was soft and the rumor around them became quieter too. They moved slowly, close to each other.
“I thought you hated dancing?” she whispered in his ear.
“Not this kind of dancing,” he answered.