days later, Shikamaru was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The whole time the sun was shining and beautiful clouds were dancing in the sky. It seemed like heaven laughed at him. In such weather it was real torture to hold him prisoner.

His mother enjoyed the fact that her son couldn't persuade Ino to go out with him right away. But it was important to her that he even had a date with her. Maybe then she wouldn’t have to worry about the clan anymore ...

Shikamaru had been waiting for the call all day. Not long more and he would be lying outside in a meadow. He would feel the sun on his skin, the wind blowing through his hair and he would watch the clouds in the sky. Soon he would dream to himself in the shade of a tree, and sink deeper and deeper into his dreams.But now he was still sitting in his room. For the past three days he had done everything to keep himself happy. He had played shogi until he had tried all of his strategies and developed a suitable counter-strategy for each. He had counted the seconds for hours until he fell asleep. He had dug out all of his fondest memories until they lost their luster.

With all these things he could have passed the time now, but he just sat on his bed and thought of the only memory that was still as beautiful as ever. His thoughts only played for a brief moment, a seemingly unimportant event.

In front of him stood a young woman who smiled confidently at him. It wasn't that mocking grin that one was used to from her. This time it was warm and there was real joy in her eyes. At this thought Shikamaru felt a slight tingling sensation on his skin. He knew exactly what that meant and this realization made him despair every time.

At the moment, however, he was busy with other things.
With every minute a piece of hope left him. It was relatively late, 6 p.m. Ino would certainly not call again. At that very moment he heard the doorbells downstairs.
He didn't know if it was really Ino, but he ran down the stairs and literally threw the door open.

Shikamaru couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him was a blonde Kunoichi in a dark kimono. She looked at him in amazement at the disappointed expression on his face. "Really, you couldn't have looked happier," Temari greeted him acidly.

The Nara could not think clearly, he was so surprised. He had expected everything, except HER. How she stood there, in the light of the setting sun, with her hair that shone golden and her angelic face. The memory of the smiling Temari danced through his mind again. There were many small butterflies fluttering around in his stomach as he was still staring at them.

Temari waved her hand in front of his face. "Earth to Shikamaru. Is someone at home? Hello?" Only now did the addressee seem to realize what he was doing. He quickly took the familiar, bored position and tried to appear annoyed.

“What are you doing here?” The mocking grin spread across Temari's face as she replied, “Oh man, you forgot. We have to prepare the Chunin selection exams, you genius more than a stupid "Ah". In fact, thanks to his sentence, he had forgotten to take the exams. He should remember it just because of her.

Temari sighed. It almost seemed as if Shikamaru's IQ was suddenly on the same level as Naruto's.

"Well, actually I wanted to ask you if you would like to have something to eat with me, but apparently you are not exactly happy about my visit."Temari wanted to have something to eat with him? Did he miss anything? On the one hand he was really happy about it, but another voice reminded him of Ino. She might not show up anymore, but if she did, then he could prepare himself for a mighty lecture. So he had to choose between a date with Temari plus rebuke from Ino, and a date with Ino.

Dream? Or nightmare? It was up to him ...


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Tired, the Kunoichi reached the gate of Konoha. She had been on the road for three days and now she was finally here. She was walking a little too fast to look relaxed. Izumo and Kotetsu also noticed this.

"Hey Temari! Why are you here already?", Kotetsu called out to her. Izumo laughed and then said cheekily: "You have to hurry. Your Shikamaru-chan is waiting for you." He pretended to try to kiss his partner.

Temari tried to ignore her, but her face turned fiery red. Why in God's names did everyone assume that she was in love with Shikamaru ?! It was true, but why did everyone know? She didn't look at the two of them anymore, which only made them laugh.

She hurried through the gate. Maybe she just imagined it, but if even the two had noticed something, then there must be something to it. After all, she had next to nothing to do with them.

She stopped against a wall and leaned against it. Did that mean that Shikamaru knew? He didn't have such a high IQ for nothing. Oh no, he wouldn't want anything more to do with her! Temari always bugged him. How many times had he told her that she was exhausting and annoying? A wave of panic rose inside her. She had never had such feelings, which could be so strange and painful. What should she do? Your odds were about 1 in 1,000. 000 that he was in love with her too.

She knew that, and yet she was always happy to see him or to speak to him. She knew her feelings would most likely cause her a lot of pain, and yet there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe it was best if she didn't tell anyone about it. Nobody was allowed to know about it. That actually just meant continuing as before.

She had to sigh. It wouldn't work in the long run, she knew, but for now it was comforting to have a plan.

So she was in Konoha now, good. Normally she would go to the Hokage right away, but she was there very early, as Izumo and Kotetsu had already said. So the blonde girl had time to do something. But what? And above all with whom? Of course, a name crossed her mind the question, but she wasn't sure. Should she ask Shikamaru if he would like to have something to eat with her? It would be embarrassing if he turned her off.On the other hand, he couldn't say more than "no".

"All right," she encouraged herself.
She walked more slowly than before in the direction Shikamaru lived.



She had been standing in front of his house for three minutes now. Temari just didn't dare to ring the doorbell. She didn't like being scared, but it was exactly what kept her from ringing the doorbell. What was the matter with her? Otherwise she wasn't afraid either. Why did she have such a queasy feeling in her stomach when she put her finger on the button?
"Come on Temari, do it!" She said, addressing herself.

She rang the bell quickly. Immediately she withdrew her hand and bit her lip. Maybe he wasn't there ... But before she could think any further, the door was jerked open and a startled Shikamaru stood in front of her.

Piked at his expression, her nervousness disappeared and gave way to anger.
"Really, you couldn't have looked happier," she greeted him offended. Shikamaru looked like he was disappointed. Was he expecting someone else? Or was he just not happy that it was Temari? A slight tug spread in her chest. When after a few minutes there was still no answer, she began to wave her hand. "Earth to Shikamaru. Is anyone home? Hello?"

Did he really find her visit so terrible that he was already ignoring her? She wouldn't admit it, but it hurt her. Did he want her to go again?

As if he had read her mind, he recovered. He stopped staring at her and just said, “What are you doing here?” Temari's behavior had unsettled Temari, which is why she quickly came up with an excuse. She grinned cheekily at him. "Oh man, you forgot. We have to prepare the Chunin selection exams, you genius. Is that ringing?" Hopefully that had sounded convincing now….

There was another silence, which the blonde ended with a sigh. What the heck, she thought to herself. Temari gathered her courage and announced her real concern: "Well, actually I wanted to ask you if you want to have something to eat with me, but you are apparently not exactly happy about my visit."

Now it was out. Temari's nose went a little red. Such things were not easy for her, she had already noticed that. She clearly had the more difficult task here, so she didn't understand why Shikamaru didn't answer again. It was getting on her nerves. She was standing here in front of his door and invited him to dinner and he just stared. Had he forgotten how to speak, or why didn't he answer? Something in Temari wanted to scream. She wanted to yell at him until he spoke, but she quickly got that out of her mind. If she freaked out here, her chances with him would be even worse.

"Do you have it now? If you don't want to, just say it."She looked insulted in his face. Shikamaru looked as if he wasn't there at all. Sometimes he was really unbearable. When he saw her look, he suddenly seemed highly concentrated. The guy has mood swings, Temari thought.

"What? No, I can now-" The Nara couldn't finish his sentence because another voice pierced the evening.

"Shikamaruuuu! I'm here !!" she shouted.

Temari and Shikamaru turned away from each other and looked out into the street. Neither of them were thrilled with what they saw. A nicely dressed Ino ran to them. Up close, Temari could see that she had pinned her hair up elaborately. In Temari's opinion, her face was a little too much made up. Worst of all, Shikamaru looked at her surprised but enthusiastically.

"Oh, hello Temari. I didn't expect you!" Ino giggled. "Is she coming with Shikamaru too?"

Temari felt the rush of seething jealousy, which was actually not at all appropriate. After all, she had no right to do so. Did that mean that he was with Ino? Were you a couple? Shikamaru let his gaze wander completely over Ino.
“You shouldn't have made yourself so chic, Ino.” “Do you