Shikamaru continued to stare at the door, having caught his breath, his thoughts flowing back
into his head. He could just tell she hated him, he just knew it. The logical part of his own
brain said in the dead silence: 'I tooooold ya sooooo...' He let out a slight groan and ran
his fingers through his hair, there would be hell to pay for this, he was going to die..Tayuya
was going to murder him. His gaze rose up to the window, where snow was falling gently into
piles on the ground. Christmas was fast approaching...gifts...sweets...and good feelings...
that was the point of the holiday, but Shikamaru silently wished that he could be burried alive
in the snow, so he would never have to look at Tayuya again. The door creaked open and Shikamaru
tensed up, his eyes shutting. He waited as he heard footsteps walk gently up to him, then softly
opened his eyes as he felt a hand lift his chin. Tayuya was gazing down into his eyes, her
expression unreadable. "...this...never happened.......alright Nara?" she said simply, looking
him dead in the eyes. Shikamaru quickly nodded and Tayuya, satisfied with his answer, let go
of his chin and for once, sat down on her own bed, not looking at him again. Shikamaru silently
laid back, and rolled to his side, facing away from her...that could have been worse...but now
just being in the same room as her was suffocating him...what was wrong with him...?
The next morning both Tayuya and Shikamaru awoke to find that Yoshino had gone Christmas shopping,
and that of course meant she had dragged her husband along as well, leaving Tayuya and Shikamaru
alone in the house. Tayuya and Shikamaru hadn't talked to eachother much...when they had to
it was in quiet mumbles. They didn't even make eye contact. It was now common knowledge that
the former sound Ninja was living with the Nara's. The general reaction was that the Nara family
was overtrusting and underthinking things. Ino and Chouji especially thought that Shikamaru
should have just killed her and ended things, yet as Shikamaru explained again and again, there
was no point in just killing her. Shikamaru pulled on a long sleeved black shirt with black pants
and put his chunin vest on over it. Tayuya blinked and glanced at him "Where are ya goin...?"
she asked softly. Shikamaru let out a sigh, waiting until he had fixed his vest before replying.
"Out for Barbecue with my team..." "...oh". Tayuya returned her gaze back to the book she was
reading, she really liked barbecue...but it would be too akward to go with Shikamaru anyplace
for a while. Shikamaru looked back over at her, tieing his hair "..you wanna come..?" Tayuya
set the book down and paused, thinking. "Yea...I think I'll go with ya.." Shikamaru was
thankful that Tayuya wasn't like Ino, who took forever to get ready for things, Tayuya was
already ready to go. She had decided to ditch the sound soldier uniform, it wasn't helping her
make friends here. She was wearing a long sleeve red sweater that was near the tone of her hair
and black pants with black boots. The sweater had black horizantal stripes across it and her hat
was on her head, as always. Shikamaru nodded and opened the door for her, then closed it behind
them as they both walked out into the cold Konoha streets.
Ino narrowed her eyes at chouji, who was using all his self restraint to not just dig in.
"Chouji I swear...not one bite until Shikamaru is here..." "But....Ino.." "No, Chouji." Chouji
let out a slight groan and took his hands off the table, fidgeting with them a little bit. Ino
turned her head back as the door to the shop opened and she saw Shikamaru. "There you...are?"
her voice faded off as she saw Tayuya. 'It figures...' thought Ino, her eyes narrowing to the
point it was almost a glare 'It figures he'd bring along that...' Ino didn't really think there
was a word mean enough to call her so she just looked her over once and thought 'slut...' then
turned back to Chouji "Alright Chouji n-" she blinked. The moment the door had opened Chouji
had begun to dig in, eating and eating non stop. Ino glanced away with disgust and folded her
arms, this was going to be fun... Tayuya had noticed her look and in the back of her mind was
already regretting coming here, but nevertheless, she sat down next to chouji, and Shikamaru
sat down next to Ino. Chouji didn't seem distracted by her at all, too busy eating whatever
meat he could find. Ino was giving her a straight stare, as though she was sure Tayuya would
leap up and attack. Tayuya's eyes narrowed, as she looked back into Ino's eyes. Shikamaru sighed
a little and looked between them both.
Shikamaru had a theory about women. Keep them close, but keep them AWAY from one another. He
had formed this theory long ago, after watching the rivalry between Sakura, Ino, and a number
of other nameless kunoichi that had gone crazy over Sasuke. If they were kept a distance from
eachother, they wouldn't have to bark and scowl. "So.." said Ino, deciding to break the ice,
"So your, Tayuya.." "Yea..." replied Tayuya simply, "and?" Ino cocked an eyebrow "Oh....nothing"
she said airily, holding her chopsticks but not eating a thing. Tayuya heard the words but got
a feeling that she had indeed meant something. Tayuya's scowl got a little deeper and her eyes
became more narrow. "And you must be...Ino" "Sure am.." replied Ino, her gaze never leaving
Tayuya's. "Does Shikamaru-kun talk about me?" asked Ino with a smirk. Tayuya smirked back
"he says your ok.." Ino's smugness rose. "But...you know...I kind of get the feeling your a skin
deep whore..." Ino's eyes widened and Shikamaru burried his face in his arms. Chouji stopped
eating and stared at Tayuya then Ino, then nervously scooted over and away. Ino stood up, leaning
toward her, hands on the table "Oh is that right!?" spat Ino. Tayuya got up next and slammed her
hands down on the table, leaning in to glare at her, so they were forehead to forehead, nose
to nose "Your damn right it is!" she spat back. Ino growled "I'm getting filthy just being near
you, I'm out of here. Cmon Chouji, Shikamaru!" she walked out of the booth. Tayuya growled
audibly back at her "Bitch, I could go without a shower for weeks and still be cleaner than
you!" she spat as chouji was pulled out by Ino. Ino looked back at her, then Shikamaru "Cmon,
Shikamaru" Shikamaru didn't move, just looked back from Tayuya to Ino "Ino...come on..." he
groaned, rubbing his forehead. Ino stared, then gritted her teeth and glared at him "Fine,
traitor!" spat Ino, then turned and stormed out, pulling chouji out by the scarf.
Tayuya continued to glare at her as she left then slid back down into the booth, sitting across
from Shikamaru. Shikamaru just held his head with one hand, looking down at the table. Tayuya
blinked and looked at him "...what?" "Nothing....." "It is something...what's with the look?"
"...Nothing.." Tayuya paused then sighed "...ok..ok I lost it I know, but she started it!"
Shikamaru glanced back up at her "...right...I know..." Tayuya paused again then rested her
chin in her arms, like Shikamaru was doing. She was a little put off that Shikamaru seemed
down and upset about what had happened, when CLEARLY, Ino had been the cause of it all.
"Your not mad...right?" she asked softly. Shikamaru thought for a minute...no he wasn't really
mad, just a little exasperated at how quickly things had gotten out of hand. "No, I"m not mad
Tayuya" replied Shikamaru gently. Tayuya nodded "we might as well enjoy the food, it looks
like your going to be paying." Shikamaru blinked then let out an audible groan, 'Damnit Ino'
Dinner was done, it had been good and though his stomach was full, his wallet was empty. His
hands were pushed into his pockets and he had a tired expression. Tayuya walked beside him,
looking around at Konoha as the two trudged through the streets. "..it's a nice place I guess"
said Tayuya softly. Shikamaru looked at Tayuya and blinked. "Konoha I mean.." she added
looking back at him. Shikamaru glanced around too...with his eyes usually on the sky, he didn't
really take in the actual village itself too often, "I guess it's alright..." He blinked slighlty
as he felt her grip his arm, wrapping her own arms around it, and looked over at her. Tayuya
was sort of hugging it, taking it as they walked down and blinked back at him. "..what...it's
cold.." she said softly. Shikamaru looked back up at the sky with a slight blush. "...right"
Ino stared in disbeleif as they passed the flower shop, looking from her upstairs window at
the two. 'Sh...shikamaru and...that...wench? Theres just no way..' Ino shook with rage and
scowled at them both. 'I'll fix that...you'd better hug that arm while you can you little
whore..cause soon...I'm going to put an end to this...' Unknown to Ino, the two were not
dating, and unknown to Shikamaru, Tayuya wasn't cold. This was a sort of test run for her..
to see if she really did like Shikamaru the way she suspected she did...and judging by the way
she was blushing, the test proved positive...maybe there were really feelings there afterall.
Shikamaru and Tayuya made it home, leaving their shoes outside. The fire in the room had
heated everything to a toasty warmth. Shikamaru undid his vest and Tayuya pulled off her sweater,
which left her in a black sleeveless shirt. Shikamaru was tired enough that he just sat down
on the couch in front of the fire and leaned his head back, eyes shut. Tayuya sat down next to
him after a second and glanced over at him "So...Shikamaru...do you thi-" she blinked then
examined him closer...Shikamaru was asleep. Tayuya's eyes softened a little and she looked back
at the fire. "...I'll just ask you later..." She took a blanket that was folded up on an armchair and
wrapped up in it, then glanced at him. 'I don't think he'll mind.....' she softly laid on her side,
resting her head in his lap, curling up and shutting her eyes as Shikamaru slept on, sitting up.
"...Goodnight Shika.........kun" she said after a minute, before she drifted off to sleep as well.
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Chapter notes: I hope you enjoy this, I'm going to be adding chapters much faster now. Review my stuff, but don't flame it.