Word Count: 24,059

Narrator's POV:

Hello again. I am the unnamed narrator. Today I will be telling the stories of two people. One of them, being Nara Shikamaru.

Now, his starts with his mother and his father. His father was... very similar to our young genius. In fact, Shikamaru got his lazy nature from his father, Shikaku. While his mother, Yoshino was very.... different. She would always be nagging the two.

However, despite their lazy natures. When they needed to, both could be there for those who mattered to them. They were dependable, and trustworthy when others needed them to be. Shikamaru was born as an heir. The heir of what, you ask? Why, the Ino-Shika-Cho Company of course. Weird name right?

(A/N It is not weird! It's just.... creative!)

(Narrator: You mean you were rushing while writing this chapter and forced yourself to come up with something?)

(A/N *blushes* N-no! Shut up!)

Anyway, the origin of the name of the company in quite unique. You see, Shikaku's two best friends, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Akimichi Choza, decided that when they graduated college. All three of them would start a business together. All three of them of course controlled their own respective branches. However, Shikaku was the main CEO.

Now, at a very young age Shikamaru had been deemed a genius. With an IQ of over 200 by the time he was thirteen. Classes always seemed to bore the Nara, he often slept through them. However, how he managed to ace every test and worksheet set in front of him was an ever growing mystery.

This was very good however, for his two best friends Akimichi Chōji and Yamanaka Ino. The names sound familiar, no? That's because they are the children of Shikamaru's own best friends. All three were heirs to their father's company. Because of this, they were introduced to each other at a very young age. Since then they became close, and although Shikamaru would never say it out loud. He was glad to have them. Even if they did cheat off his worksheets and tests.

Now, up until recently, Shikamaru's life hasn't been too exciting. He never took interest in any girl. So he had never had a girl friend before, despite Ino's many tries to set him up with somebody. However, it was only a couples months into his senior year that things go interesting.

There was a transfer student from Suna. She moved to Konoha with her two brothers, Subaku No Gaara, Subaku No Kankuro, and then her. Subaku No Temari.

Some of you reading this might be thinking, "Oh! It's going to be love at first sight!"

Sorry. But it was nothing even remotely close to that.

Shikamaru woke up to the unpleasant feeling of somebody poking him. He lifted up his head to find the source to be Kiba, who was sitting behind him. An old friend of his whom he currently disliked for waking him.

"What," Shikamaru said dryly. Kiba merely pointed to the front of the class room.

Shikamaru followed his gaze. His eyes widened at the sight of a sandy blonde he had never seen before. She had bright teal eyes and a facial expression that said, 'I could be doing something better with my time'. Shikamaru couldn't agree more.

Kurenai Sensei gestured to the girl, "This is Subaku No Temari. She is a transfer student from Suna."

The blonde nodded to the class, "Nice to meet you all. I hope we get along fine." Her voice was.... Sassy..? Shikamaru wasn't sure on how to describe it. But for some reason, he found himself liking the sound of it.

"Thank you, Temari-San." Kurenai Sensei gestured to the empty seat besides Shikamaru. "You may sit there for now."

'Great.' He thought. 'She seems like the type of woman who would nag me for everything.' Shikamaru inwardly sighed as she took the seat next to him and Kureni Sensei started the lesson.

Shikamaru laid his head back onto the table, using his arms as a pillow he slowly started drifting off to sleep. That is, until he felt somebody slap his arm. He looked up to find Temari, was that her name? Anyway, she was glaring at him.

"You should pay attention to the lesson," she whispered harshly. Shikamaru couldn't help but roll his eyes. "No thanks, too troublesome."

He heard her scoff as he laid his head back down. "Your the lazy type? What's your name?" Shikamaru turned moved his head so that he was relaxing, but he could see her.

"Nara Shikamaru."

He watched with slight interest as her eyes widened. "N-nara Shikamaru?" He raised a brow at her, "Yeah. What did you hear something bad about me?"

She lightly shook her head. "No, quite the opposite actually. I heard I was going to be battling for the top spot in class with you." She tilted her head, and Shikamaru blushed.

'Why the hell am I blushing? She is kinda cute with her head titlted like that though... Nope. Nope. Nope.'

Temari continued, "I guess I pictured you differently." Shikamaru was fighting the weird feeling in his stomach. He was rather confused at why and what it was and meant.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Were you expecting a nerd with glasses, feverishly taking notes 24/7?"

"Actually...."

"Figures."

Temari huffed. "Well you can't blame me. I mean, an IQ of over 200? You've got to be bullshiting me."

"'Fraid not," Shikamaru turned his head back the other way. "Now will you let me sleep?"

"Fine. Whatever. Just know that I'll be taking that spot at the top away from you really soon." He heard her declare proudly.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied, before mumbling, "Troublesome woman."

See? Definetly not love at first sight. But, I'm aware that there are some very hardcore shippers out there who will still argue with me. Not that it matters to me, the Narrator, in the least.

Anyway, Shikamaru and Temari ended up devolping a love-hate relationship. Even though they had only known each other for a couple weeks, they grew close  while competing in the top spot of theri class. This however, brought up some issues for Shikamaru. And by issues, I meant Temari's younger brothers, Gaara and Kankuro. 

It was the week before the date of Tenten and Kankūro's "outing". That's when it happened. 

Shikamaru had just walked out of his fourth period classroom when he was met with the faces of two over protective brothers. He sighed and noted he was going to be scolded by Temari about being late. About a week ago, Temari suggested that he should join her on the roof for lunch. They had been doing that ever since.

Gaara stood defensively, arms crossed and glare included. While Kankūro leaned against the wall with his hands shoved in his pockets. 

"What do you want with our baby sister?" Kakūro spoke up first. Shikamaru raised a brow at them. "I thought she was the eldest?" 

Gaara growled, "Answer the question." 

Shikamaru held up his hands in surrender. "Nothing. She's just a friend." 

"It better stay that way!" Kankūro yelled, moving from leaning off the wall to stand next to his brother. Gaara nodded, "I agree. I would not like to see my sister get her heart hurt from some lowly boy." 

Shikamaru hummed. "If I had a kid sister I wouldn't want her to get hurt either.  Dealing with it would be too troublesome." 

"Is that all she is to you then?!" Kankūro got in Shikamaru's face. "Just some troublesome girl?!" 

Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed. "No. I care about Temari. She's a good friend and I wouldn't purposely do anything to hurt her. Ever." Shikamaru was getting furious, and his last word came out like venom.

Kankūro's eyes widened at the tone in his voice. Gaara set a hand on his brothers shoulder. "That's enough, Kankūro."

The brunette nodded, "Yeah, yeah okay."

After the brothers were satisfied, Shikamaru made his way to the roof where he met a furious Temari. He got an earful about being late and his lazy nature.

Then- oh wait.

Why not?

We're not there yet?

Oh, I see. Of course Author-chan.

The Author told me I'm forbiden from saying anything else. Or else it would ruin the story. And we dont want that.

Now then. After all that about Shikamaru, I wanna tell you about Subaku no Temari. You know the basics. Temari is a transfer from Suna. She moved to Konoha with her two brothers, Kankūro and Gaara.

Temari's mother had died during child birth while giving birth to Gaara. Leaving them with their father. He was a fairly wealthy buisness man, however. He was known to be cold hearted. Temari, being the eldest of the three.

After that, Temari became an over protective older sister. She would cook for the three of them. She would force them to do their homework and chores. Long story short, they ended up moving to Konoha when Temari got in a horrible fight with their father. Of course Temari's original plan was to go alone, but that didn't go too well with her brothers.

"What are you doing?"

Temari froze at the sound of her younger brothers voice. She shook out of her state and continued packing her clothing in a duffle bag.

"Leaving," she blankly replied to Gaara.

Gaara stepped into Temari's messy room. Careful not to step on the throwing darts that littered the floor under the dart board, he sat on her bed.

"To where exactly?" He questioned. Temari blew a strand of stray hair out of her face. "Why do you need to know, Gaara?"

Gaara almost scoffed. "Your not leaving by yourself." Temari stopped what she was doing to look at him. "Yes, I am. I'm not letting you or Kankūro follow me. You both need to stay here and finish school. Your friends are here. That's the end of it."

"No," Kankūro said at he walked into the room. "That's definitely not the end of it."

Temari's gaze landed on the brunette. "Kankūro. Did you talk him into this?"

"No," Gaara held up his hand. "It was me. I over heard you talking to your friend. The one with short black hair. Regardless, your not leaving without us."

Temari crossed her arms. "Oh so it's an 'us' now?"

"It always was." Kankuro took a step closer to his older sister. Almost as if he was challenging her.

"No. Your not coming either of you." Temari was losing her patience, and it was showing in her voice.

"We can keep you from leaving, Tem." Kankūro threatened. "You know we can."

Temari scowled. They were right. When she said nothing Gaara took the chance to make their final offer.

"Either we keep you here, or you take us with you." Gaara narrowed his eyes at the sandy blonde. "We're not separating, Temari."

Temari's eyes widened, her heart clenched, and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. His words hit her like a train. She didn't want to be apart from her brothers. The only two people she really loved and cared for. The only two people who knew her pain.

A tear escaped from her eye and she let her head hang. Her arms uncrossed and hung at her sides.

Kankuro's gaze softened. "Tem,"

"Your right." She choked out. "I dont want us to separate. Ever. I'm sorry."

Kankūro embraced her, "It's okay Tem. We know your upset. Still, your so mean when your mad." He joked.

She quietly laughed. "I know. I'm sorry."

Gaara stood from her bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Stop apologizing, Temari. Your forgiven." She nodded and gave him a appreciative look.

"However," Gaara said, "you still need to tell us your decision."

"I can't stay here." Temari shook her head. "I just can't. Not with him." Her brothers both nodded, knowing she was referring to his father.

"So where are we going?" Kankūro asked.

"Konoha."

From my perspective, I find their bond simply adorable. Although, I am just a narrator. My opinion does not matter. Back to the story.

When the siblings arrived in Konoha, they felt very... out of place. It wasn't nearly as hot as it was in Suna, so it took a while for them to get used to the weather.

As soon as they arrived, Temari went searching for a job. They had about two thousand dollars to live off of. And Temari knew that wasn't gonna last them long. Not with Kankūro's appetite.

She ended up landing a part-time job Mack In The Box. While Kankūro and Gaara promised to look for jobs as soon as they got the chance.

Finally, they enrolled themselves into Konoha High. Of course there was some difficulty and quick saves. But they ended up managing.

That's when Temari met Nara Shikamaru. The smart ass genius of Konoha High. Her first impression of her futur- oops.

Yes, Author-chan. *sigh* Sorry readers. She threatened me with a knife. She's quite vicious... anyway.

Temari's first impression of Shikamari was not necessarily the best. While she could admit that he was somewhat handsome. It couldn't overlap the last ass personality he had. Which she ended up l-

Ahhh! I'm sorry!

......

.....

.....

.....

Woo! I made it out alive. Don't worry, I will continue the story. However, I almost spoiled it. So, she tried to get me.

Anyway, she eneed up hitting it off with Shikamaru. She even have him a few nick names. Shika, Deer, Bambi, and lazy ass. She thought they were creative.

Well, that's as far as I'm allowed to go. Author-chan told me she doesn't have the rest ready for me to tell you. So that's all we have for you today.

See you next chapter then. *tips hat*

~♤~

Guys! I'm back!

Holy shit I practically fell of the face of the planet for a while. I'm so terribly sorry this update took so long!

But I made it as long as I could!

That damn narrator kept almost spoiling shit too...

I should get rid of him... He knows too much...

Anyway! If you are also a reader of Facing Their Futures, my other book. I'm super sorry! I still hacnt updated. Heh.

But I really hope I get to soon!

Oh, and I didn't have time to look over this chapter for errors. So it's totally raw. Please excuse any mistakes.

So that's all for now. And as always, if you enjoyed this chapter don't forget to:

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Chow!

-O