Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Blonde Genius ❯ Seven Deadly Sins ( Chapter 4 )

[Disclaimer] Temari and Shikamaru are not my characters, and neither are any of the other characters in this fanfiction. They are all copyright of Masashi Kishimito.

 

[Author's Notes] I know that Gaara is very out of character, but I deliberately made him a bit more violent since he will gradually play a more important role in the story. Also, I wanted to deeply apologise for having not updated in such a long time, that's why I've posted Chapter III and IV so shortly after one another, and made this one extra long. Enjoy, and please leave a review! I'd like to know what you think can be improved, and all suggestions are welcomed, too! ^^ Maybe I'll even use an idea or two. Also, for those of you who know their anime well enough, I have a pleasant little surprise regarding the school play!

 

Chapter IV - Seven Deadly Sins

 

The tension in dorm 139 was quite high, especially because it's two inhabitants, Nara Shikamaru and Kazeo Temari, no longer spoke to each other.

 

Naturally, this didn't mean that the eccentric, blonde-haired Kazeo Temari had forgotten what her raven-haired roommate Shikamaru had done the day before; she still hadn't gotten a good revenge for him tying her hair to the bars of her bed.

 

Nara Shikamaru, on the other hand, was struggling with his newfound competitiveness, since it was so unlike him- not to mention the fact that his dorm mate had shamelessly humiliated him several times the day prior.

 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

 

Letting out a stifled groan, Shikamaru buried his face deeper into the pillow and smacked his fist down on his alarm clock.

6:15 am. He made sure to set his alarm off fifteen minutes earlier than his troublesome roommate, because she was just the kind of person to spend at least forty-five minutes in the bathroom, taking a long shower before elaborately brushing her hair, teeth and doing… Whatever.

Tiredly, he turned onto his back and rubbed his eyes before sitting up and yawning slightly. Languidly, the fifteen year-old stretched and slid off the edge of the bed. He cocked his head from one side to another so that a few sickly CRACKS sounded, before raising a slender brow.

 

Why were there sounds coming from the bathroom?

Shikamaru turned his head towards his dorm mate's bed- and found it empty?

Must've gotten up earlier than me on purpose…

With a scowling expression, he ran a hand through his dark hair and staggered over to the other bed, straightening out the sheets Temari had left so carelessly creased. He couldn't help that he liked things to look proper and monotone, right? This sucks. Why does she have to be so messy?

 

In fact, Ms. Kazeo wasn't very messy at all- she just left some things lying here and there like every other person, right?

Well, to Nara Shikamaru, it was very aggravating. If only she would be a little more like him, they'd be able to get along fine, right?

Ironically, they did share their dislike for this place.

 

So… What was the first class today?

Boredly, the boy dragged himself over to the class schedule he'd hung over his desk and let his dark eyes investigate the information pasted on there.

Music, eh? …Never did quite understand why a useless class like that is a compulsory subject…

Then, he suddenly remembered. The bet.

A grin crept onto his pale face.

“We trade places. You will become top student in P.E., Music, and join the Drama class after school, and I'll get the highest grades in Literature, Maths and History. And the first one who fails will have to pay whichever price the winner wants them to pay.”

 

Oh, he remembered Temari's words, alright. And he was going to win, too. Maybe Shikamaru was a relaxed, disinterested boy, but he had his pride- and even though he didn't much like to show his intelligence, he was certainly not going to let a second-rate, self-indulgent person like Kazeo be better than him. No, not her.

 

Drama was going to be hard, though. It was a class for which students could sign up voluntarily, -it was taught by Mitarashi Anko, right?- and apparently, Temari thought it to be `fun' or something like that. Why else would she have signed up?

Blegh…

He had always loathed school plays when he was younger, and still despised acting to this day. Then again, his dorm mate would have to struggle with Maths-- and even though Gai-sensei was very energetic, he was also very strict, so it'd become nice and difficult for her.

Hah, she won't even make it to top student of even one of those classes!

Donkey Queen'll be in for a nasty surprise. Yeah, I think I'll call her that. Donkey Queen.

 

To much of his surprise, Shikamaru heard the door of the bathroom open less than ten minutes later- she must've gotten up really early, he mused inwardly.

Almost immediately, Temari's typical scent of cherry blossoms and roses forced it's way into the dorm, followed by the `Donkey Queen' herself. Her blonde locks -which she'd certainly blow-dried- were still a little bit damp and stuck to her neck here and there, but even this early in the morning, Kazeo Temari managed to have an `I'm-better-than-you'-look about her.

Gah, it aggravated him to a whole new extent!

“What?” Came the irritated voice of the female as she grabbed her necktie off the desk and effortlessly tied it- something with which her dorm mate had a bit more trouble. Intentionally, she had left the top two buttons of her shirt undone to show the prominent lines of her collarbone-- and of course, violate the dress code further than she already did by shortening her skirt. The necktie was also left hanging loosely so that it didn't spoil the view on her somewhat pale skin. Quite clever, indeed.

 

“Nothing,” huffed the boy discontently.

A short silence passed in which he had taken his readied supplies off his desk and headed towards the bathroom-- only to be paused by the other's voice when he was just about to enter the chamber.

“What are you, some darn housewife?”

“Huh?”

“Don't make my bed and pretend as if I'm some kind of messy pig!”

The dark-eyed boy arched a brow, “but you are a messy pig.” Not awaiting the reply to that, he hurried into the bathroom and securely locked the door, only to hear something heavy being thrown against it less than a second later.

 

“Messy pig. I'll teach him what messy pigs do with dorky boys,” hissed Temari under her breath, whilst she tied her hair up in the usual four little buns and cursed him inwardly with every swear word she knew.

Her vicious glare had soon moved down to her own class schedule, which -unlike Shikamaru's- had carelessly been shoved into her math book.

Music, eh? Then, an idea hit her.

Dorkface can't become top student if he doesn't come to class.

A smirk appeared on the girl's face as her dark eyes shifted from the chair in front of Shikamaru's desk to the doorknob of the bathroom.

 

-

 

“Is everyone accounted for?” A little silence as Sarutobi Asuma shoved a piece of gum into his mouth, bitterly chewing down on it as his eyes went over the list of students he held in his hands. The Music classroom was enormous; at least twice the size of a regular classroom and with the seats placed as if they were in a court room or something like that, the teacher's desk of course occupying the `judge's bench'. Well, at least there was more than enough room to play pretty much any instrument(ruling out a few like the drum set).

 

Frowning, Temari leaned a bit to her right, where Hinata was seated.
”Why does he chew gum in class? If the students can't, then a teacher wouldn't be allowed either, right?” She whispered quietly.

“Oh, that's nicotine gum,” replied the short-haired girl quietly, “Asuma-sensei is always smoking, so the school council decided that he can only smoke outside of the building now; he must not be having an easy time.”

The taller female had to quickly stifle a snicker as she shot a glance at Asuma-sensei, who was now almost desperately chewing the gum over and over again.

 

“Hmm… I'm missing Nara-kun. Has anyone seen him? … Kazeo-chan, you share a dorm with him, correct?”

Innocently, Temari raised a brow, “Yes, that's right, Asuma-sensei. When I left for class, though, he was still in the bathroom.”

And he will be all day long now that I've locked him in. She quickly looked down to hide the satisfied expression on her face.

“Well, that's certainly odd.”

“I was thinking the same thing, sensei. Well, maybe he felt sick--? He sure stayed in there quite long.”

Asuma shook his head lightly to himself and shoved a second piece of gum into his mouth.

 

“Well, class… Today we're going to be studying the possibilities of a symphony when it is played by another instrument than intended. So, I want you all to get one of the cello's standing against the wall behind me and have a look at your books on page thirty-seven, where we can find Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, a piece meant to be played on the piano.”

Wish I had a cigarette now… Oh, man. It's going to take them ages before they can even play a clear note.

 

Cello's? They can afford expensive instruments like cello's for a whole class? Geez, no wonder this school is so hard to pay for!

Visibly annoyed, the blonde girl got up and joined the rest of the class to get a cello. When she had only just reached out to take a hold of one of the monstrous instruments, though, she paused and glanced back. Finding it hard to clear the surprised expression on her face, Temari's narrowed gaze followed the ebon-haired male who entered the classroom quietly.

 

He set his bag down next to the only empty seat remaining, which -unfortunately- was directly to the left of his roommate's seat.

“Sorry for being late, I-“

He wouldn't tell, would he?!

Luckily for Temari, Asuma-sensei cut Shikamaru's sentence off, “That's fine, Nara-kun. Kazeo-chan already told me that you might be feeling ill.”

“Yeah,” muttered Shikamaru, shooting a glare towards his dorm mate, “.. Ill…”

“Well, glad to see you feel well enough to attend class nonetheless. You can get a cello from the wall behind me and open your book on page thirty-seven.”

 

-

 

“Temari-chan?”

“Hmm?”

“I was wondering,” Hinata started, biting gently on her lower lip, “how are things between you and Nara-kun now?”

The taller girl frowned, “why do you ask?”

“Uhhm- Ah, well, I noticed that you were both trying really hard to play the song right, and… Well, I guess it's a bit unusual to see Nara-kun so… Motivated.”

A quiet chuckle passed Temari's lips, “No idea how that happened all of a sudden. I must've inspired him with my hard work!”

Big, FAT lie. But Hinata seemed to be buying it. And that was good, no?

 

“What's our next class again, Hinata-chan?”

“It's Literature. Did you start on the essay about William Shakespeare yet?”

A twitch of Temari's left eye. She'd completely forgotten about that- and how was she going to be able to follow Kakashi-sensei around if he disliked her for being late on handing in that essay?

“When did it have to be handed in again?”

“Next Monday.”

Better get to work this afternoon- no, tonight. I have to get started on monitoring the sensei's movements, after all.

Aww, her first week of school and an essay already?

Well, it was no wonder- the school year had already been going on for over a month when she arrived, right?

And, judging by Ino's glare as she and a couple of other girls passed Hinata and Temari by, the latter one's arrival wasn't very much welcomed.

 

“You shouldn't mind that Ino-pig; she's just jealous,” sounded a light-hearted voice from behind the two girls.

Haruno Sakura.

Oh, yes. I forgot about her- Hinata-chan told me that she's really smart and studious. Good thing we only share the Literature and P.E. classes. Didn't like her to begin with.

Temari'd hardly been listening to the conversation which took place between Sakura and Hinata at all; that was, until the pink-haired girl turned to the blonde one.

“Mind if I steal Hinata from you during Literature from now on? She told me she had some trouble with translating a few of Shakespeare's sonnets, and since I am the top student in Literature… Well, I'd like to help her.”

Temari narrowed her eyes a bit when Sakura emphasized her good grade, but to show some good will, she nodded.

“Agreed.”

It wasn't as if she cared about whether she had to sit alone or not- it was all the same, anyways.

 

“Good morning, class. So, how are the essays coming along? Remember that they have to be finished and on my desk by Monday.” Kakashi-sensei then turned to the chalkboard and wrote the name `Shakespeare' down in that humongous, sloppy handwriting of his.

 

“Please all leave your books closed. And… Let's see if you memorized everything correctly.” Naturally, the grey-haired man himself had a book in his hands- but it was certainly not anything about William Shakespeare. No, of course not! It was `Come Come Paradise'.

“So, can anyone tell me Shakespeare's four principal tragedies?”

 

Obviously, the teacher was surprised when he saw more hands go up than just Haruno Sakura's. In fact, Kazeo Temari and Nara Shikamaru also had their hands raised.

Shikamaru-kun? Odd that he should be motivated about anything... Remarked the man inwardly, completely oblivious of the glares which were being exchanged between the two occasionally.

“Uhhm, yes-- Temari-chan, can you tell us the answer?”

 

Ugh, why does he call his students by their name that easily?! I still can't believe it…

The girl stood up from her chair and nodded, “Lear, Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet are usually reckoned Shakespeare's four principal tragedies.”

“That's very good, Tema-“ But Kakashi was already cut off by his student's voice before he could finish the sentence.

“Lear stands first for the profound intensity of the passion, Macbeth for the wildness of the imagination and the rapidity of the action, Othello for the progressive interest and powerful alternations of feeling, and Hamlet for the refined development of thought and sentiment.”

 

A silence passed in which even the teacher seemed a little bit surprised. It wasn't until Temari had sat back down that he scraped his throat.

“An excellent answer, Temari-chan. Impressive.”

“Thank you, sensei.”

 

So you're going to play it that way?

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes a bit.

 

“Well then. Can anyone tell me from which story this quote is; `How poor are they who have no patience'?”

Immediately, the same three hands shot up again to have the majority of the class seem just as surprised as Hatake Kakashi himself.

“Shikamaru-kun… Please give us the right answer.”

I'll beat you at your own game, Kazeo. A glance was shot towards Temari, who was granting him a vicious glare.

“It's from Othello, Act two, Scene three.”

“That's very… Specific. Thank you.”

 

Looked like even Haruno Sakura would have to be careful implying that she was the top student.

 

-

 

“Hey, Nara-kun! Not so fast!” Huffed a chubby, red-haired boy as he swiftly waddled to Shikamaru's side. Chouji let out a heavy sigh once he'd caught up to his friend, “where are you going? The school exit's the other way, you know. Your last class just ended, no?”

The fifteen year-old inhaled deeply and hung his head low in a defeated way, “gah, I wish it did… Gotta sign up for Drama class, though.”

 

“DRAMA CLASS?!” Chouji slapped a hand in front of his mouth to stifle his laughter, only to receive a death glare from his friend.

“Say it a bit louder so the whole building can hear it, will you?” he muttered sarcastically.

“What's all of that about, Nara-kun? It's not like you at all.”

Naturally, Chouji knew nothing. Not only was P.E. their only shared class, but Shikamaru deliberately kept their little bet to himself- and he'd just have to trust that his dorm mate was doing the same, right?

Sure, it provoked some odd stares to see someone other than Haruno-san constantly raising their hand to give the right answer, but there was no turning back now. Besides, if he won, Temari would have to pay any price he wanted her to, correct? So he'd just make her request to move to another dorm!

Not a way in hell that Nara Shikamaru himself would leave the dorm; he had been there first, after all.

 

“I know it's not like me-- I just have my reasons, alright?” Through some miracle, he managed to prevent his tone from becoming harsh.

Chouji shrugged, completely unaware of his friend's annoyed mood, “If you say so, Nara-kun. Well then, I was going to ask if you were going to come along to my place, but I guess you're too busy. See ya.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

This had only spoiled the dark-eyed boy's mood further; Chouji only lived a few blocks away from St. Kitawa's, so he didn't have to stay in the dorm building and could just walk the distance within ten minutes- and he had this magnificent chess board. If anything, chess was an activity Mr. Nara favoured to do in his spare time.

 

But nooooooo! He had pretend as if he were an exaggerating idiot in that troublesome Drama class!

Aww, man. How annoying.

 

Why is it so damn hard to keep up with that man? I followed him throughout the entire building and he's done nothing special at all- why do I have to watch a boring person like that, anyways? Darn you with your missions, Gaara.

Temari currently found herself hurrying through the hallway so she could make it in time to Drama class, which was all the way down to the first floor.

 

By now, she'd reached the first floor and was pretty much storming through the hallway- until a familiar voice made her freeze in place, irises dilating.

“Temari.”

An unpleasant feeling rose in the pit of her stomach, pumping a familiar feeling of fear through the girl's face as she hesitantly turned around.

“G-Gaara.. -?”

 

-

 

“Is everyone here? Then I would like to start this year's first Drama cla-“

“Wait!” A female voice had called, hence interrupting Mitarashi Anko's sentence rather rudely. The Drama teacher pursed her lips discontently as she turned to see Kazeo Temari hurrying into the school theatre.

“S-Sorry for being late,” she huffed, clearly out of breath from a long run.

The teacher sighed and shook her head in a berating manner, “it's alright, but try to get here on time from now on. You can join the others in one of the seats.”

 

Shikamaru raised a brow when his dorm mate hastily seated herself in the chair right next to him- but she didn't seem to pay her choice of seat much attention, being much too busy catching her breath.

 

“Alright, then. Now that everyone has arrived, I would like to make some things clear. First of all, no `sensei'-ing me. Just call me Anko, alright? Good.

Second….”

Yet, the raven-haired boy had already lost his attention for the teacher; currently, he was preoccupied with quite something else, namely his roommate.

Temari seemed not to notice much as she listened to what Anko said, which gave Shikamaru more than enough time to wonder about the nasty red mark which became visible now that her cheeks cooled down a bit.

Did she trip or something? But then again, the cheek's an odd place to fall on.

He quickly turned his eyes away when his dorm mate thoughtlessly wiped a hand past the red spot, where now an ugly bruise was beginning to form.

Not feeling like receiving a glare, though, the boy decided to no longer ponder this and returned to listening to Anko.

 

“… So, since there's a very big number of students who have signed up for Drama this year, we'll have to do try-outs so I can decide who is going to be in the class. To those of you who don't make it; we still need understudies, light and audio managers and of course, décor-builders. I'll start handing out papers with some random lines on them in a minute, so please read them thoroughly before you line up backstage and perform one student at a time.”

What? So Kazeo's not even in the Drama class yet?

Shikamaru grimaced slightly, one which didn't go unnoticed by Temari.

 

“If you screw this up, dorkface, you'll lose the bet, because there's no chance you can become top student if you don't get in,” she muttered underneath her breath.

“Don't worry,” scowled the boy, shooting a silent glare at her, “I'll make sure I will only get bigger roles than you… Donkey Queen.”

 

Of course, Temari would have to worry about the very same thing- especially because Yamanaka Ino was also trying out. Typical.

Well, it was best to ignore that insolent snob for now and concentrate on getting into the Drama class, which was rather hard because Ms. Kazeo had seemed preoccupied from the very moment that she had walked into the theatre.

 

At the moment, a long row of students -Temari only recognised her dorm mate, Ino and that TenTen girl- was lining up backstage, most of them already quietly rehearsing their lines by mouthing them anxiously and making some gestures every now and then.

Disapprovingly, the blonde-haired youth looked down at her paper; it showed a few lines of the new play the qualified students were going to be working on.

So it's called `Seven Deadly Sins?' Interesting…'Based on the adventures of Edward Elric and his little brother Alphonse'.

Apparently, the name of the character whose lines she was to bring to life was `Riza Hawkeye, First Lieutenant in the National Army'.

A frown.

Yet, Temari couldn't help her curiosity and leaned forward a bit to glance over Shikamaru's shoulder -since he was standing right in front of her-.

Greed, hmm? Must be one of those Sins he has to quote. Why do I care, anyways? He won't get in, and if he does, he'll only get a tiny part.

 

“Next up, Nara Shikamaru.”

 

-

 

“Ugh…” Wearily, the boy dropped down onto his bed, just content with his face resting against the soft sheets for a little while. His ears picked up the sound of the entrance door of their dorm closing, and before long, Temari's flowery scent caught in his nose as she passed him by and dropped her bag down next to her desk.

He would've expected some insulting remark about his involuntary little performance in Drama class, but fortunately, none came.

The silence that fell, though, was probably even more troublesome.

 

“So… How'd you get that bruise? Smacked your head into a locker or something?” He inquired, -almost with an air of innocence, though there was that typical bored Shikamaru-undertone in it- tilting his head up.

“I slipped and fell,” came the absent reply.

“With those shoes and the roughness of the floor, it's nearly impossible to slip- and even if the remote chance of that happening could be the case here, it's just unachievable to land in a way that you would just get that one bruise on your cheek.”

“Don't try to look so wise, dorkface!” Came the violent sneer as a few books were slammed down onto her desk and she flopped down in her chair.

“Alright, sorry! Geez, you're even more irritable than usual…” replied Shikamaru, pouting as he turned onto his back and stared up at the white-tiled ceiling.

 

Another one of those silences.

“… Why were you following Kakashi-sensei around all day, anyways?”

“Shut it, I'm trying to study here.”

“Can't you just give a decent answer, at least?” Inquired the boy.

“It's none of your business,” she returned in a threatening hiss.

 

“Fine! I give up!” Exclaimed the boy loudly, “I'll just stop talking to you from now on!”

“Fine!” Temari sneered.

“Fine!” he huffed.

 

And so, both parties kept to their rather impulsive agreement. It wasn't until at least eleven o'clock that Shikamaru was the first one to call it a night and went to brush his teeth, change into his pyjamas -which basically existed just out of a loose-fitting shirt and his boxers- and whatnot. He'd gotten started on that essay about Shakespeare, finished the Maths homework and History as well, and all in all, that was more homework than he'd done in the past month.

Winning the bet was one thing, but enough was enough- it would be at least midnight until he would have fully fallen asleep(hey, he couldn't help having trouble sleeping, right?), so eleven o'clock was a reasonable time to go to bed.

 

Little over five minutes later, the fifteen year-old came out of the bathroom again, only to throw a criticising glance at his dorm mate, who was still busy writing her Shakespeare essay- that thing wasn't due until Monday, right? Apparently, she took this quite seriously. Even so, he was certainly not one to start talking after that fight quite a few hours prior. Lethargically, he dragged himself to the bed and pulled the blankets back before dropping onto the mattress, more than glad to be giving his body some rest. After about fifteen minutes of blank staring, Shikamaru turned his head aside to regard his still hard-working dorm mate.

Gah, she really wanted to humiliate him, didn't she?!

Like she'll ever beat someone with an IQ of over 200… That thought was rather comforting, and with it, he felt himself becoming drowsy until sleep finally overcame him.

 

“Hnn…” Curling up into the blankets a little bit more, Shikamaru's eyes tightened. How late was it-? He was sure it wasn't morning yet. The boy forced his eyes half-open and had to narrow his gaze a little bit to clear the now somewhat blurry digits of his alarm clock.

2: 33 am? This sucks.

Yawning, he turned onto his side and closed his eyes to attempt at sleep again- but less than an instant later, they'd snapped open again.

What the hell? Where's Kazeo?

Temari's bed was empty; in fact, it had not been slept upon at all. Abruptly, he sat up and flipped the light switch at his bedside.

“Kazeo?” Still a bit sleepily, Shikamaru got out of bed, shivering a bit when his feet touched the ground -even though it was carpeted-. He'd explored the entire dorm thoroughly about three times before carefully heading out to the hallway which held dorms 130 to 145.

 

Naturally, the hall was empty… But even though he greatly disliked his roommate, Mr. Nara could not suppress his curiosity as to where Kazeo Temari could be at this time in the morning.

Surely, she wasn't the kind of person who would be making nightly `visits' to a secret boyfriend or something like that? His eye twitched visibly at the thought; alright, so Temari wore her shirt a bit too loose and her skirt shorter on purpose, but-- UGH! The mental image is stuck in my head!

Instinctively, he shook his head, only to have a few bothersome locks of raven to fall in front of his face; well, it was the middle of the night, for god's sake! He was just going to search the dorm building for a little while longer and then go to bed…

 

And hence, Nara Shikamaru sought pretty much each single floor of the dorm building… Without success. It was 3:00 am before he had given up and returned to dorm 139. His roommate would probably return soon, anyways. At least, he presumed so.

Tiredly running a few fingers through his hair, the boy crept back onto his bed and pulled the blankets over, though they didn't feel as comfortable as before now. Damn, and the alarm is set at 6:15, too, so I'll definitely not get enough sleep tonight…

So, he decided to blame it on his roommate for causing him to have to look for her. What he didn't seemed to be considering, was that he could've also just stayed in bed.

 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE- SMACK!

A low groan emitted from the pillow Shikamaru had buried his face in, making him sound more like some cranky caveman than anything else, really. He rubbed a few cold fingers past his neck, then let out another quiet groan and practically rolled off the bed. A familiar scent woke him up a bit more, though- cherry blossoms and roses. Slowly, he got up and blinked a few times to see everything clearly.

Well, he'd never expected the sound of a shower to be a relief, even if it was only a little one; he still hated Kazeo, right?

Her bed had clearly been slept upon, even though she couldn't have had more than three hours of rest. Typical. The blankets are all crumpled up again…

Well, it was just in his nature to straighten them out, `housewife' or not.

The boy was just about to pull the blankets neatly over the pillow when he froze, irises dilating slightly when he noticed the small crimson stain on the said pillow.

Blood?

A bit hesitantly, he reached out for the stain and traced his fingers over it.

Fresh? It's... Fresh?

 

Hastily, Shikamaru withdrew his now scarlet-painted fingers and wiped them clean on his shirt, almost leaping up when the door of the bathroom opened and a familiar voice sounded.

“I thought I told you to leave my bed as it is, dorkface.”

So, she'd decided to talk to him again?

The boy turned around to regard his roommate with a grimace on his face, refraining from returning an insult. Instead, he warily eyed the plaster on the side of the girl's cheek and stepped away from the bed to show some good will.

“Hmpf…” Muttering something incoherent under her breath, the blonde-haired female proceeded over to her desk to fetch the blow-dryer she'd left on it.

 

However, a hand closing around her wrist abruptly stopped Temari in her way. Narrowing her dark eyes angrily, she glared back at her roommate and jerked her arm loose.

“What?” Came the sneer.

Shikamaru shot a glare in reply, “What happened to you last night?”

“… I don't know what you're talking about.”

“That plaster. What did you do?”

Temari made a difficult expression, but had soon regained that stoic attitude of hers and tilted her head, snorting.

“I fell.” With that, she took another step forward and reached out for her blow-dryer, only to be held back a second time.

“Kazeo, people don't fall like that. I know you weren't in the dorm building at 3 am last night.”

 

Again, Temari turned, an almost scary expression on her face. Before Shikamaru was given any time to react, a bone-breaking twist to his arm and a knee into his back forced him down onto the ground.

What the hell?!

This little surprise attack sure made him look like an idiot, since he would've normally been very able to deflect it. He was about to turn and make an attempt to break free when the other's cold breath against his neck sent a shiver down his spine and caused him to refrain from doing so.

The girl's voice was a threatening whisper as she put a bit more pressure on her dorm mate's arm and leaned closer, “Keep your nose out of my business, dorkface.”

With that, she released him and got up to her feet.

 

-

 

“Nara-kun, are you listening?” A bit confused, Shikamaru tilted his head up from the ground to once more start paying attention.

“Ahh, yes… Sorry, Anko-sensei.”

“I told you just to call me Anko,” huffed the woman, “sensei makes me feel so old!”

The boy shrugged, only to annoy his light-hearted teacher further.

“Fine… As I was saying, I've decided on who can join Drama class yesterday night, and I also took the liberty of appointing the main roles to the students who made it. But since we don't have enough boys to occupy the many male characters in this play, it means that some of the boys'll have to play multiple smaller roles, and a few girls will have to play males as well. Is everyone ready to hear the results?”

Immediately, the youths became a little bit anxious, quiet whispers filling the tense air in the school theatre.

 

“The students who got into the Drama class and their roles are as follows;

Yamanaka Ino, who shall be occupying the part of Winry Rockbell. You will also have to double as Riza Hawkeye.”

“Whoo-hoo!” Cheered Ino's high-pitched voice as she leapt up from her chair to celebrate her `victory'.

“Please calm down, Yamanaka-chan, I haven't finished the list yet. You can pick your text up after I'm finished.

The second student who got in will be playing the part of Trisha Elric, also seen later in the play as `Sloth'- Congratulations, TenTen-“

On and on, Mitarashi Anko continued. Her voice now sounded almost monotone to Shikamaru. Well, until he heard a certain name.

 

“Congratulations to Kazeo Temari as well for getting in. You'll be playing the lead male role as Edward Elric, or the `Full Metal Alchemist'.”

A few jealous looks were shot towards the girl; especially from the boys who had been aiming for the role of Ed. Of course, Ino was having trouble not to laugh, since she had gotten the main female role of Winry Rockbell, -even though it was much smaller than the male roles- and her much hated schoolmate had to be playing a boy.

“Next up is Nara Shikamaru. Good job. I was having some trouble with the male roles, as I said before… So I tried to give those who had multiple roles some smaller ones.” A little grin appeared on Anko's face, “unfortunately, I was stuck with two large roles which I had to get rid of, so you'll have to be Roy Mustang and Envy.”

Gah, how could that woman treat such a thing so… Shallowly?

 

“Weeeeeeeellll!” That loud remark caused the boy to grimace and return his attention to Anko.

“Please all pick up your text and get lost!”

 

How friendly.

Sighing, Mr. Nara got up from his chair and joined the rest of those annoying students to get the papers with his text on it- Damn, he'd have to memorize every single line? Not that it was so much trouble… But still. A glare was shot towards Temari, can't believe the Donkey Queen got the main role…Just a matter of luck. Or maybe she bribed the sensei.

They'd not spoken all day long since that little quarrel in the morning, and honestly, Shikamaru didn't exactly have a desire to congratulate his dorm mate.

 

-

 

“Nara-kun.”

“Hmm?” The boy arched a thin brow and opened one eye to regard Temari, who had actually called him by his last name for once. As usual, he was lazing around on the bed doing pretty much nothing, having forced the entire incident revolving around the dispute about that plaster to the back of his mind.

“We need to start rehearsing the scenes we have together in the play.”

“… What? I haven't even read through my script yet!” Complained Shikamaru loudly, sitting up now, and naturally shooting a glare at his roommate, who was studying her own copy.

“Then I suggest you do that, dorkface.”

“Whatever… Donkey Queen.”

And with that, at least they were talking again.

 

Ed: (smacks Envy to the ground)Don't fuck with me!

Envy: Edward-kun!

Ed: (beats Envy once more)

Envy: Ed!

Ed: (sends fist into Envy's face)

Envy: Fullmetal, do you plan on killing me?

Ed: That's the EASIEST face to punch! (punches agaim)

Show your true face! You only borrow people's appearances, and manipulate their hearts! That's the only thing you can do! (beats Envy again)

Envy: (smirks) Do you want to see it so badly?

Ed: (prepares to punch again) If you can show it to me!

Envy: I'll show it to you, then!

Ed: (stops fist in mid-air)

Envy: What's wrong? You wanted to see it, didn't you?

Ed: Fa…ther?!

Dante: Envy was… The first homunculus Hohenheim created, back when he was younger.

 

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes a bit. So he was going to have to let himself get beaten up by his dorm mate? Even if it was only for show, it seemed demeaning.

 

Dante: Back then, our child died from mercury poisoning. He tried to bring him back to life, and failed.

Ed: (trembling)

Envy: And then, he abandoned me. You must understand, right? Why I hate him…(stabs sword through Ed's chest)

Dante: And so, my seven Sins will tear the wings of hope and crucify it for everyone to see! Come gather around, my precious Sins; Envy, Pride, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath and Sloth! Witness the foundations of humanity crumple and fall!

Al: Brother…

Roze: Ed…ED!

 

Ed: (drops to the ground, presumably dead)

 

(End scene)

 

A frown played across the youth's features as he put the script down and eyed Temari(who was still reading through her script), rather warily. So, my character has to pretty much kill hers? …How troublesome. That certainly won't put her into a good mood.

The boy let out a well-audible sigh and tossed his script onto the little night-desk which also held a lamp and his alarm clock before standing up and going to the bathroom in order to get ready for bed. As he closed the door behind him, though, he remembered about the night prior.

What if she was going to go out again tonight? Surely, the girl herself wouldn't tell him where she went, -she'd been acting really odd, disappearing and appearing out of the blue all day- so should he follow her?

… Well, if it came to that… I should. That's not spying, that's just showing my concern for her safety, right?

Like he cared so much about that, when it was probably a harmless thing anyways. Nonetheless, maybe it could answer some questions about Temari's IMPOSSIBLE behaviour, not to mention the origin of the wound hidden under that plaster.

 

Approximately ten minutes of utter peace passed by before Shikamaru got out of the bathroom, only to discover his roommate glaring daggers at him.

“What did I do now?!” Breathed the raven-haired boy, clearly annoyed.

A snort came in reply as Temari pointed at the script.

“Ahh… You read about the fight between Envy and Edward. Well, don't go complaining about it to me, I didn't write the script!”

“Whatever. Just make sure you study your Roy Mustang lines as well.”

“Don't tell me what to do,” protested the fifteen year-old.

Discontently, he dropped himself onto his bed and pulled his hair tie out to let the tips of those dark locks caress his shoulders, clad by a regular army green sleeveless shirt which clung rather tightly to his lithe torso. Stretching his slender frame out, the youth proceeded to pull the blankets over himself.

“If I win that bet, you're so out of here,” he added as an afterthought, ignoring the rude gesture which came in respond.

 

Within but half an hour, Shikamaru had been coaxed into the realm of sleepers, his dreamless state of rest appearing rather deep.

This was good news. Temari, who had still not changed into her pyjamas, glanced shortly at her clock; Almost midnight. Today, she and that person had agreed to meet earlier than the night before, the exact time of the meeting being half past midnight. She'd been doubting whether she would be able to make it or not, -her dorm mate had a tendency to not fall asleep until late- but apparently, it was unnecessary to cook up a whole diversion plan.

A brow was raised. It was odd that this annoying dorkface of a roommate of hers actually looked kind of cute when he was sleeping. Probably the only time a day when he was acceptable.

 

After about twenty more minutes, the female carefully slid off her bed and pulled her shoes on, before sliding St. Kitawa's typical navy school jacket over her blouse. As silently as possible, Temari crept past Shikamaru's bed and got into a little quarrel with the door.

Of course…He aaaaaalways has to lock the damn door…

Making as little a sound as she could, the blonde girl snuck out of dorm 139 and onto the hallway, naturally careful not to wake anyone. What she could not know, however, was what was currently going on in dorm 139.

 

So…She left again? Shikamaru opened his eyes halfway and stretched out before getting out of bed; he'd been feigning sleep for nearly half an hour now, and that naturally caused the boy to feel somewhat drowsy.

The fifteen year-old didn't bother to put more on than a pair of casual pants and left the dorm little over thirty seconds after Temari's little -escape-.

This way, he would be best able to follow his roommate without her noticing it, right?

The boy found himself having to hurry a bit down the hallway, though; the girl was already descending the second of the six flights of stairs which had to be taken before reaching the ground level of the dorm building.

What's up? Is she in a hurry or something?! It's like she's racing down the staircases! Gah…I LOATHE stairs.

 

Shikamaru had to considerably speed up his pace in order to keep up with his enigmatic dorm mate. Well, at least she wasn't paying nightly `visits' to a boy… Or, not one in this building, at least.

Get those sexist thoughts out of your head, Nara. I'm not like that pervert oaf of a Jiraiya-sensei. Can't believe they're letting a guy like that teach Advanced Chemistry, he's paying way too much attention to the girls- he'll set the building on fire one day.

Still inwardly berating himself every now and then, the boy finally finished descending the last flight of stairs and sped up his pace a little bit further so that he could still make out the shadowy features of the other on the background of a regal indigo scattered with stars and a full moon illuminating Temari as the said girl travelled down the path leading to the school building.

It wasn't until halfway down the cobblestone path that she paused, unable to shake off the feeling that someone was following. Swiftly, she turned her head… But only to discover nothing but an owl soaring through the air with a dead mouse in it's claws.

 

Phew, close call…Thought Shikamaru to himself as he finally allowed himself to breathe again and peered at his subject of attention through the leaves of the bushes in which he'd hidden. He made sure not to come out until she had long since continued her way, now turning a sharp left off the path, onto the grass and heading straight for St. Kitawa's flower garden.

This was only a sneaky little reminder of the immense size of St. Kitawa's properties, remarked the male inwardly.

There were plenty of bushes to hide in near the flower beds, so that was perfect for Mr. Nara to find out what it was exactly which caused his troublesome dorm mate to creep out at night. And… Maybe, if he was lucky, he would find out a few more things too.

 

“You're four minutes late.” The boy's voice was rather quiet and deep, but it could still clearly be heard that he wasn't very old- actually, he was most likely a few years younger than Temari herself.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes a bit and shoved a few more leaves aside to get a better view at the male who had been speaking just now. He was rather short, which only confirmed his youth. Also, dark rings were surrounding his rather unpleasant-looking eyes(he couldn't determine what colour they were from this distance), and he had the oddest scarlet symbol above his right eye. Wasn't that kanji for `love'? That boy sure didn't look very loving, with his blood red, wild hair and stoic appearance. In a way, Shikamaru found that attitude somewhat resembling Temari's own. Why would she want to date a guy who had to be at least three years younger? If he was assuming right and he was her boyfriend, at least.

“Sorry about that, Gaara.”

Gaara? So…That's his name? Kind of fits the guy.

 

 

“Any news on Hatake Kakashi?” Demanded Gaara, crossing his hands in front of his chest as he shot a glare up at the taller one.

Kakashi-sensei? …What the hell is going on here? Is that why she was following him around?

What the raven-haired male didn't see, was the somewhat anxious look of his roommate as she shook her head.

“No, he seems perfectly normal to me. Except for those horrible books about flirting and such which he reads.”

“I don't care about those details. According to the information I've received, he has some contacts.”

“Are you sure it's the right guy, brother?”

Brother? So he's her brother? A brow was arched by Mr. Nara.

“Are you saying that I'm lying to you?” Gaara's voice had now been reduced to an odd, hissing tone.

“O-Of course not,” replied Temari hastily. “I'm just saying-“

“Do like I told you, Temari.”

“But!”

“Do. Like I told you.”

 

The girl bit down on her lower lip as her hands turned into fist. “I think you're wrong about Kakas-“ Her voice was rudely cut off by choking noises as the red-haired boy lifted her up by her throat, keeping a bone-crushing grip on his older sister. A diabolical smirk played across his pallid lips, “You're not here to think, sister-dear. You're here to do as I say.”

With his free hand, he ripped the plaster off her cheek to reveal a nasty little cut there; the source of the blood on her pillow earlier that day!

What is going on here? With a disbelieving expression on his face, Shikamaru swallowed back the bitter lump which had formed in his throat.

“Now… I can do much worse than that tiny little scratch there, sister. You do remember the Desert Graveyard technique, don't you?”

A little pause, in which the taller girl painfully nodded, still attempting to inhale some oxygen.

 

“Good.”

Carelessly, the younger boy dropped his sibling to the ground, causing the latter one to cough loudly and rub at her painful throat several times before Gaara once more demanded her attention.

“Now, I think I've made myself clear. Find out as much as you can- I'll be back next week, and if you still haven't got anything on him by then…” A loud thud was heard as his foot sent Temari flying back into the flower bed several feet.

 

Who does that guy think he is?! Shikamaru gritted his teeth. He had to do something about this, even if it wasn't his business- but just when he was about to get up and show himself, he paused. Could he really handle Gaara?

The fifteen year-old was in the midst of lowering himself to the ground a little bit again when his breath got caught in his throat and he froze in place; Gaara was staring straight at the bushes.

 

-

 

[Preview for chapter V] Has Gaara discovered Shikamaru's whereabouts? If so, what will Mr. Nara do about it? Will he be able to prevail if he has to face his dorm mate's brother? And how will this affect the relationship between Temari and Shikamaru?

Meanwhile, Hinata also has something to worry about… Or rather, someone. What does Ino want with her?