the SKEP- Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Suspicions.

Tuuuuut…
Tuuuuut…
“Sabaku no Kankuro, good morning.”
“Hey, brother! It’s Temari, how are you?”
“Temari! Long time no see! We’re missing you terribly…”
“Really? It’s only been a week since I left.”
“Yeah, we manage to live without you, but I’m not used to cooking.”
“Hah! What are you making? Don’t tell me it’s pizza.”
“Nah, we only eat that when it’s Gaara’s turn to cook. I’m trying to boil some potatoes right now. But it’s hard, the water splashed all over my shirt. I should wear an apron.”
Temari snickered at the mental image.
“Well, you should practice more! How’s Gaara, by the way? Can you keep him off the alcohol?”
“Yeah, I guess. He’s in his room now, listening music, being depressed… But how are you doing there in Konoha?”
“Oh, quite good. The people are really nice, and the school’s easy!”
“Well, everything’s easy for you. I bet you’re beating them all!”
“Sure do! I’m showing them what the Wind Country is made of!”
“Sand?”
“Hahaha. But there’s one guy that’s quite a hard one… He’s damn smart.”
“A guy? How do you mean?”
“Just what I said, a boy that’s just as smart, maybe smarter than I am. But he’s friendly though, he helped me with my homework.”
“Hmmm…”
“What?”
“I don’t like the thought of some Konoha fellow with you. You said you didn’t…”
“I know what I said! But it’s nothing like that, really. It’s just homework.”
“Well, if you say so. By the way, how are the girls?”
“I haven’t really paid attention to them, but I guess you would like some of them. Though I think many may be too young for you. And all the others are… not really your type.”
“Ah, too bad.” Suddenly, she heard him curse.
“Kankuro! What’s wrong?”
“My potatoes are burning! Hey, Temari, see ya! Good luck with the boys!”
And with that, he slammed down the telephone.
Temari giggled, Kankuro cooking was something special. But what he had said about Shikamaru made her worry. It was only friendship, wasn't it? But what about the blushing? And that embarrassing accident in his house? And that happy, light feeling in her stomach every time he entered the library?
She cursed silently. She would not allow herself to lose her head, and she would not allow herself to lose her heart. But what if he…?

Girls. Such a stupid subject, Shikamaru thought. But somehow, the guys didn't want to talk about anything else.
Hanging out in town was usually fun, but there weren't many of the boys now. Everyone was busy, except for Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji and Lee. Not the ideal combination. Especially, Shikamaru mused, when it came to girls.
It was strange to see Kiba so embarrassed. He stuttered:
“I know she likes Naruto, but I can’t help it. She’s just so cute, and very funny too, when she’s not acting so shy.”
Chouji offered him some sweets. “That’s really bad. But I’m sure you’ll be alright. Crushes don’t last forever, you know.”
Kiba took the sweets and said: “Thanks. You sound like you have experience. How’s that?”
Chouji laughed. “I see Ino everyday! And every day, there’s a new guy she’s crazy about. Don’t worry, your time will come.”
“Yeah, but Hinata is nothing like Ino.”
“Hm, that’s true…”
Lee brought in his piece of advice: “If you truly like someone, it will be very hard to overcome. I’ve loved Sakura for ages, but she has never looked at me quite the way she looks at Sasuke. Yet I will never give up!”
Neji sighed. “But Lee, you never give up on anything. When a girl doesn’t like you, you just have to live with that.”
Kiba eyed him. “You seem to know about that. Is there something you haven’t told us?” Lee became very curious. “Yeah, Neji, is there a special someone in your heart?”
“No! Not at all!” Neji said, but his ears turned pink. It was a ridiculous sight. Shikamaru decided it was time to stop this conversation, before they would start on him.
“Could you please talk about something else? Women are so troublesome.”
“Oh, do you really think so?” Kiba asked. “You don’t seem to mind some Sunan company, though.”
Shikamaru shot him an agitated look, but Chouji said:
“That’s true, you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Temari. What do you like so much about her?”
“It’s not like that!” Shikamaru said. “We’re only doing homework. She has to write an essay about Konoha, and she asked me to help her. Now we do our homework together, that’s all. ” Kiba raised an eyebrow.
“Really!” Shikamaru was getting irritated. It really was not like that, was it?
Come to think of it, she was the only girl he ever had had a good conversation with. She seemed to understand everything, a bit like Chouji almost. But he would not have a tickling battle with his best friend. And only with Temari he got that funny, electric feeling every time they touched. He liked the competition they had; she wanted to win so badly. It gave him a strange feeling. But there was no way in hell he was going to tell the guys. So he changed the subject:
“Where are Naruto and Sasuke?”
Kiba leaned backwards, yawning. “I dunno,” he said. “Enjoying each other somewhere?”
Neji snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. Sasuke is studying for tomorrow’s test, and Naruto tries so too. I guess Sasuke is helping him.”
“Oh, that’s it? Just like Shikamaru and Temari…” Kiba said with a huge grin on his face.
“Will you shut up about that?” Shikamaru asked, frowning. “Or I’ll tell Hinata something interesting.” That was enough for Kiba to fall silent again. Chouji sighed.
“I guess we better start studying too…” The others agreed.

“I’m proud of you, class. It looks like you did your best. There are many high marks, some really exceptional.” Sarutobi looked at the list with their names. Sakura held her breath.
“Aburame, 85 points. Akimichi, 76 points. Haruno, 93 points. Hyuuga Hinata, 80 points. Hyuuga Neji, 91 points. Inuzuka, 69 points. Yamanaka, 78 points. Nara, 99 points, as I expected. Tenten, 82 points. Rock, 60 points. Sabaku, 100 points, very good! Uchiha, 96 points, and Uzumaki... see me after class.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. Then everyone started talking.
“Shikamaru did his best again! I can’t believe it!”
“Yeah, but Temari beat him. I didn’t expect that, she’s good!”
“What do you mean, see me after class?!”
“Temari, that’s great!”
“What. The. Hell.”
Temari turned around, looked at Shikamaru and grinned. She raised her hand, her fingers in a V-form. V for victory, he thought. Or the peace sign.
“How was that?” she asked, still grinning. Then she turned around again. Sakura’s mouth hung open.
“Whaaaat?” she said. “You got a higher mark than Shikamaru?”
Temari shrugged. “I told you I’d try.”
With a lot of effort, Shikamaru got up from his chair and walked over to their tables.
He said: “Congratulations. You win.”
Her eyes opened widely. “What do you mean? Are you giving up?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s too troublesome. You can still come over if you want, but I’m not gonna study anymore.”
He went back to his seat again, and Temari was silent for a moment. How could he just give up like that? She thought he liked their competition, it seemed like he had been doing his best. Didn’t he want to win from her?
Sakura whispered: “I wonder why Sarutobi is looking so distracted. I heard he and Yuuhi have something going on…”
Temari observed the teacher. He was staring pensively at Shikamaru’s paper.
“He’s not thinking about a woman,” she whispered back. She stood up and walked to the front of the class, pretending to throw something in the wastebasket. When she returned, she peeked over the shoulder of the teacher and tried to read what Shikamaru had written. She was used to his handwriting already, so it wasn’t that hard. All of his answers were short, but right. Only the last one was crossed out. Temari tried to read what it had said, and was surprised to see it was the right answer.
Why would he give up at the very end, when he had almost won?

In the lunch break, Sakura and Temari sat with Tenten and Hinata at a table. Ino was sitting with Shikamaru and Chouji on the other side of the canteen. They were laughing at something, and Ino flung her hair over her shoulder in a very theatrical way.
Sakura heard something beside her and turned around. She was shocked by the expression of pure jealousy on Temari’s face. The girl grinded her teeth. Sakura checked what she was looking at, but didn’t see anything strange. Just Ino and Shikamaru, having fun. Why would Temari be jealous of that? It couldn’t be that she liked Shikamaru, could it?