Belong

Part 3: Years Ago

The sun beamed through the window forcing her to wake up and letting her know it's morning. She got up and looked around the room.

"Where am I?"

She asked herself, she then got out of bed and walked to the window. The morning air hit gently on her face. It felt good. It felt really good being in the Leaf for change, anywhere besides the Sand.

"Oh, you're awake. Good, saves me the trouble" A voice from behind interrupts

"Shikamaru"

"Morning. Did you sleep well?" Shikamaru asks

"Yeah." Temari responds

"Good. I thought the bed would be a little uncomfortable for your liking"

"It was fine. I slept well. Thanks"

"I made breakfast. You're welcome to join me" And he disappears

Temari POV

He made breakfast? That should be interesting. I quickly do the bed the way I remember it was last night and head to the kitchen. I find Shikamaru sitting and eating, he raises his eyes at me as I enter the room. I see another bowl of food across the table, in front of him.

"Didn't think you'd come out" He says, I can see the smirk on his face. He still has the same smirk he used to have years ago.

"But I did. Didn't I?" I fire

"Relax. Didn't mean to provoke you." He says

Narrator's(POV)

Temari sits and eats from the bowl of food Shikamaru has prepared. Silence fills the room as they eat.

"I'm gonna take a shower." Shikamaru breaks the silence as he stands up. Walks to the sink and washes his bowl. He immediately leaves Temari and goes to shower like he'd notified Temari. 30 minutes later, he's done and Temari takes a shower too. As soon as she's done too, they head out. Both continuing with their missions. A few hours go by. With the Exams due in three days, Temari works faster than yesterday

"Man! what a drag! Today she's working harder than yesterday, she's even refused stopping for lunch break. Why did Lady Hokage choose me for this mission? It's almost as if she did it on purpose"

"Hey!" Temari calls, ripping Shikamaru out of his thoughts "What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing, really" Shikamaru responds, placing his hand behind his neck

"Come on. I can tell something's up. What's bothering you?"

"Just that you have us going from place to place since this morning and you've denied us lunch"

"There's no time for lunches. The Chunin Exams are in three days, I don't have time for stops or delays" She says coldly

"Yeah, but in case you've forgotten. My assignment is to be your escort as long as you're in the village. I can't really keep up with you"

"For someone who's as smart as you, you sure are lazy." Temari states

"You don't have to say it like that. I'm just not motivated"

"That's exactly what being lazy is!" Temari spits, coming to an abrupt stop

"I better watch it around her. Women! Such a drag"

"Shikamaru!" A voice calls from the distance

"Huh!... Oh, hey. Naruto" Shikamaru calls

"What's up" Naruto asks casually

"Nothing really. So where're you guys going?" Shikamaru asks

"Just going to see Lady Tsunuade about something" Sakura responds

"So what of you guys? You on a date or something?" Naruto asks with a naughty smirk on his face

"Of course not" Shikamaru says, coolly

"Yeah, as if" Temari Responds as well, both shifting their heads the opposite of each other

"Naruto, you idiot!!!" Sakura lashes out, punching Naruto in the face "Sorry about that guys. We need to go now" She continues, clearly forcing an awkward smile at them

"Ouu! Sakuraa" Naruto complains in pain in a distance

And so Shikamaru and Temari continued walking

"Hey, I've been wanting to ask" Temari says

"What?"

"During the Chunin Exams, why'd you  give up? You had already won"

"Oh, that. Well, if I remember correctly, I was out of chakra, couldn't keep going so the only option I had was to quit."

"But you had already won. Even I couldn't keep going anymore"

"Is that so? I had planned many steps ahead I had ensnared you in. Well, what's done is done. There's nothing I can do about it now" Shikamaru says all calm

"Tch!" She clenched her teeth in annoyance

"Why do you care anyway? Me forfeiting automatically made you the winner, didn't it?"

She kept quiet as a response.

But she was hoping for more than Shikamaru had said because to her all those years ago when they fought, when Shikamaru forfeited the match even though he won, something clicked. She had considered herself as a strategist and when she was defeated by this lazy, cloud-envying boy with his blind-siding  elaborate scheming, it amazed her, or maybe more than that.

She could've asked him in the forest when she helped in defeating Tayuya but she decided against it. She remembered it well, the shocked face on Shikamaru's face when she did that jutsu, cutting down every tree around them and silencing Tayuya for good in the process. She remembered how overconfident she was or was it arrogance? When she shut Shikamaru up when he tried to advice her regarding Tayuya, how good it felt and showing how strong she was afterward. But nonetheless, she respected Shikamaru regardless of him being so lazy.