Naruto Fortune

Disclaimer: Like every other work on this site, I declare that Naruto does not belong to me, okay. Ino, Temari, Tenten and Hinata would have more character development by now if I did (especially Tenten, poor girl does not even have known family members).

Birthday tribute to Temari! Congrats on the reintroduction in the manga 453!

Oops, spoiler. Do not worry; there will not be any in this fic.

-0-

She was there again, within the confines of the flower shop Ino proudly called her second home. It was a slow day and now she was the only other person in the shop. She came nearly any time she could, which was whenever she was in town, yet no one but Ino herself knew she ever came. The young shopkeeper never told anyone yet, but she had no plans to tell. The guest had some face to save, after all.

"What flower is this?" the older woman held up a stalk of something red and yellow.

"Tenjikubotan (dahlia)," the shopkeeper's daughter answered, head resting on her hand and smiling coyly, "it means 'good taste'."

"This one?" She held up another one, yellow this time.

"Furijia (freesia)," she laughed, "means 'childish or immature'."

"Suitable for Naruto then," the woman stood up, gently grasping the flowers in one hand and her wallet in the other, "I'll take these and a couple of stalks of—'

The woman was interrupted by three girls dashing into the flower shop, panting in their desperate need for oxygen, before the walnut-haired one reached up and pulled the shutters of the flower shop entrance down with a deafening metallic slam.

"Forehead-girl, Hinata-chan, Tenten-san," Ino rushed out from behind the counter, stuffing the money the customer had handed over in her apron pocket, "what in the world are you three doing?"

"I suggest you let your customer leave first through the back door, Ino-pig," Sakura patted the small of Hinata's back after she began coughing. Temari released her henge, a disguise she had set for her privacy.

"What can you guys talk about that you can't tell me?" she questioned. Tenten waved it off and whipped out broken pieces of burnt bones from her pocket, catching her breath.

"The bones don't lie, we're all screwed," she stated flatly. The two blondes raised their eyebrows.

_And these Konoha girls think _I am _weird._

"Let me e-explain, T-Temari-san," the one with dark long hair straightened her posture, in the presence of an official from Suna and remembering her strict Konoha clan etiquette, "Tenten-san here tells fortunes. This is one of her m-methods: reading the cracks that form on bones heated on a fire…"

"And the reading says we're all in deep shit," the pink haired one completed Hinata's sentence for her. The blonde with shorter, darker hair's eye twitched. Fortunes, omens, myths and legends. To her, that sort of stuff was all old wives' tales, imaginative bull.

"I'm out of here," she made for the now sealed entrance with her flowers, resuming her disguise and ready to smash the shutters open if she could not get them out of the way,

"Ino, keep the change!"

The next thing she knew Sakura was sitting on her after a big tackle, locking her arms behind her back, her new henge had deactivated, and a long string of expletives were escaping her dry lips, leading Tenten to cover the innocent Hinata's ears. Sakura leaned down to whisper threateningly in her own ear that if she did not cooperate, she was done for as well. Calming down, Temari shut up and Sakura let her stand up.

"Gather 'round, girls," the brunette huddled with the other four girls like a football team before a game, "Listen up, Naruto and the gang were hosting a 'confession night' at their guy sleepover thing. It is like a truth or dare thing. They have to confess to liking a girl and then prank her on a date. Either they do that and have every other guy see it for laughs or they have to treat everybody else to a meal, no holds barred. Or streak through town, which they will definitely not have the guts to do. Naruto though, I am not so sure, but that is not the point."

"Then what _is_ the point?" Ino hissed.

"And how the hell did you find that out from bones?" Temari folded her arms, still holding her flowers.

"The bones told me," Tenten answered, "I was bored that night-- finished polishing the old weapon collection. The bones said something about guys and then I remembered Shikamaru mentioning something like 'troublesome party at Kiba's tonight' while talking to Neji. I checked out the place and bingo! Anyway, the boys are expecting total public humiliation, but I fell off the roof before I could hear them confess. Darn barn owls. We need to come up with a plan so they'll be humiliated instead if we get asked out."

Temari smacked her own forehead.

"Why do I bother listening to you guys if it's about this shit? Chances are no one's asking me out, so you girls worry about your own problem."

Ino grabbed the woman's wrist before she could make a break for the entrance again, partially for fear that she would have to replace the shutters if the angry female chose to rip them apart.

"Listen, princess. We're all women here," her manicured eyebrows furrowed, "and I don't care if where you come from you have a 'be a selfish a-hole' policy. We have to work together. Do not be so pessimistic; as much as I hate to say it you are beautiful, and the only person I know who is smarter than you is Shikamaru himself. Think about it, what if someone _does_ ask you out?"

"No man would be insane enough to; it's all lies," Temari wrung her wrist free and lifted the shutters up, henge resumed yet again.

"Like I said: keep the change."

-0-

"Temari."

"Un?"

Her flowers stood in a tall, slim vase on a cupboard, and Temari was making some tea for Shikamaru, who had stopped by her inn room to drop off some documents she had left behind at the office.

"I was wondering…" he nodded in thanks as she set the tea set on the table and poured him a cup of the steaming freshly brewed green tea before sipping her own cup, "are you free Saturday night?"

She choked violently, and when she recovered shortly afterwards, stared blankly at him.

"Excuse me, but I believe I misheard what you were saying. Could you repeat that?"

"I was thinking of discussing work," he rephrased his question, "…over dinner on Saturday."

His hands made a gesture like holding a bowl in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other, but she still looked nonplussed. Her teal eyes were animated, observing the surroundings of the room to see if someone had made him say that and was hiding somewhere, waiting for a laugh. She focused back on the younger man sitting before her when he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Uh, need I repeat that? You're going to have to answer me you know."

"Yes, no, maybe, perhaps, possibly, probably, lemma check my schedule, why, why not, let me think about it," the woman stiffened, obviously flustered and her teacup nearly cracking under the pressure of her strong, thin wiry hands. Her teeth bit onto her tongue after she was done with her sentence. She continued to stare impassively as if nothing had happened while he mentally analysed her behaviour.

"So is that a yes or no? Usually the Hokage lets you have a weekend or two off if you wanted so…" he tried again. The woman looked into her teacup, pondering her decision. She regretted not staying to hear the plan the girls had for the boys. Was Nara participating and planning to prank her too? Or was this purely for the sake of a less awkward way to discuss the (huge amount of) work they had for the upcoming chunin exams? She had known him for a while now, and she figured he would rather give up his salary than do something as troublesome as ask a woman out for no particular reason. Then again, he did enjoy a bit of mischief every now and then being the young man he was (simple stuff like scaring Ino with a cockroach placed in her weapon pouch), so…

"I don't believe a simple yes or no question needs a hint," he quipped sarcastically.

_The little prick. That is _it_._

"Sure. Name your time and place," she finally answered.

"Seven at the yakiniku place. You know where it is, right? I've taken you there before," he sipped his tea nonchalantly.

Unbeknownst to the Nara, the Sabakuno had a plan up her elaborately decorated sleeve.

-0-

"Right, let's get started."

Flak jacket hanging off his chair and a couple of blue manila files on the table, Nara Shikamaru stretched his arms a bit before opening a file. He reached out to Temari requested for a pen, which she removed from her belt pouch and handed to him. With a click from the item of stationery, he scribbled something down. She noticed he seemed more interested in the work then both the food and her combined. If he wanted to focus on the work, he could have discussed it at the office. It was her day off—he should be playing shougi, or having a nap, and she would have her weekend ice cream in front of the telly with a good book. Despite how she had heard numerous times that her intelligence was one of the closest to his, for some reason she could see no logic in the way he was acting lately. Her whole world revolved around logic, and she realised that every person she met had his or her own pattern of behaviour. Naruto alternated between hyperactivity and righteousness and enjoyed ramen at Ichiraku nearly everyday. Gaara had his early morning black coffee and some breakfast, usually bread and a preserved meat product, spent the rest of the day with his Kage-related work or tending his cacti, and was a calm but blunt person like herself only he disliked anything sweet. Shikamaru's pattern of behaviour was napping, shougi and more napping if he was not working or with his friends, the last of which she had few. With his so-called 'energy-efficient' way of living and the pattern she recalled, something like now was an abnormality. Abnormalities flummoxed her if she could not find their cause and eradicate them. The world was all regular patterns and it should stay that way.

The evening had been uneventful, so to speak. Half was discussing work, half stuffing their faces. When he said he had wanted to discuss work over dinner he stuck to it, except maybe for the odd joke thrown in for the sake of entertainment. More importantly, he had not done anything suspicious to prank her or something like that, so Temari mentally chided herself for suspecting her closest friend of such felony. In her mind, however, was the lingering thought that something was wrong, that he was up to no good. She perked up when Shikamaru put his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked and hands used to support his chin.

"Well, it's been great having you for company," he began, smirking slightly. The manila folders were at the side of the table where wood met window, the grill was devoid of any sizzling, but still a bit warm, flame put out, plates empty and stomachs full. Suddenly the cacophony of voices in the restaurant dimmed down as Temari focused on her companion's next words, strangely unwilling to ignore him.

"I half expected you to turn down my offer, and I bet you're probably wondering why I bothered to ask in the first place."

She remained silent, gulping.

"The thing is, all these years I wanted to hate every woman I thought troublesome. They made my life a living hell and naturally, I wanted to hate you too at first. You were the spunky type, and I told myself 'I hate spunky', but my opinion of you was not set in stone. Turns out, you were different. You were someone who could actually understand how I thought, and I admired your determination, which I lack."

He paused to let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"I don't know what it's like to like someone, but in short, I think I like you."

Temari heard the customers nearby who had heard his confession sigh and go 'aw, that's so sweet/cute/adorable' but their whimsical expressions turned to those of horror when she found herself standing up, her glass in hand, emptied and tilted, and Shikamaru was soaked in iced orange juice. She derived a conclusion, grabbing her bag and running, just running, until she reached her inn room and nearly puked in the bathroom. Running on a full stomach tended to have that effect on people, and before she flopped onto her bed, she checked that her door was locked and the curtains were closed. Her sandals kicked off to the side of the room, she huddled into a tight ball and pulled a blanket over her cold body. He had been out to humiliate her after all, the bastard. What a sick joke that was. He had probably learnt his lesson, but her heart felt heavy. She should be relieved that she had taught him a lesson, but it did not feel like it. Rather, it felt like she had done something wrong. That night her whole world of logic came crashing down.

-0-

Temari was at Ino's flower shop, resuming the same identity she used whenever she wanted to keep her botany hobby a secret. Someone from the desert with an interest in botany would raise eyebrows in the green, forested Konoha, and the woman was obsessed with saving face. The only reason only Ino knew was the day she made the mistake of not using the disguise, on her first visit as an ambassador. She had laughed, but agreed to keep her secret so Temari would keep buying flowers from her and she would have secured a regular customer.

It seemed, however, that one look was enough for Sakura and the rest to remember the identity she preferred to assume, and all four girls (Inoichi was the one mending the shop that day) had pushed her out the back door into an alley upon sight.

"What's going on?" she demanded, releasing the henge. Sakura and Ino sighed.

"We heard what happened on Saturday from Shikamaru," the younger blonde stated seriously.

"And we're so sorry if we had put that 'total public humiliation' idea in your head," continued the bubblegum-haired one. Hinata and Tenten nodded.

"W-we were wrong," Hinata lowered her head, "Shino-kun was there, and he told me the boys had d-ditched the idea after he overheard us from his bugs."

"And I told you somebody might ask you out!"

"Shut up, Ino-pig!"

Temari felt horrible. Shikamaru was serious after all.

_Stupid_, she cursed herself, banging a fist on the wall of the flower shop,_ how could you be such an imbecile?_

"Don't hurt yourself unnecessarily."

The woman heard an all too familiar voice and looked to see Shikamaru standing beside her, closing the back door of the flower shop behind him.

"I just stopped by and Inoichi-san asked me to help him find out what you girls were up to, and I find this," he yawned to punctuate his sentence, "Come to think of it, I wanted to talk to you, Temari."

"I'm sorry for last night," she blurted out. He raised a thin eyebrow.

"Ino told me about your little…agreement. It is fine, really, but I would prefer to explain everything that _I_ did that time."

She listened. It turned out Nara had chosen the yakiniku place since it was familiar, that he had brought in doing work since it would be an easier way to break the news. The reason for the confession in the first place…

Shikamaru produced a rectangular object from his pocket. It was small and covered in pale green patterned paper with bright red ribbon.

"I didn't know what else I could give you on your birthday after all these years. I wanted to tell you something, something you would remember, and that I'm not the best person when it comes to gift giving," he confessed. Temari took the item into her hands, examining it. She shook it, holding it to her ear, but there was no sound. It was solid.

"So happy birthday, open your present."

He was blushing. She curiously peeled away the paper, and underneath was a pocket field guide to botany, with full colour illustrations and species names, common names, unique characteristics, et cetera.

"How did you—"

"I have my sources," he turned to face a rather sheepish looking Ino.

"No fair!" Ino and Sakura exclaimed, "You never told anybody your birthday but him! We could've gotten you a present too!"

"Her choice," stated Shikamaru simply. Tenten and Hinata stepped forward to congratulate Temari, who thanked them and stared at her book. Her schedule had been so hectic she had forgotten her own birthday, and now look what had happened.

"I thought you liked Ino," she looked up at Shikamaru. Said female waved it off.

"He and I are practically brother and sister, and his only purpose is to carry my shopping bags. Liking my brother that way would be…I don't want to think about it," she smirked.

"…And I also have to surrender my cash to you," lamented Nara.

"That's right."

"What I really want to know is why did you choose to tell me you liked me?" Temari continued. He indicated Tenten.

"Those fortune telling bones of hers. I had her do a reading for me on Tuesday, and she told me…that I had someone special."

"So when the bones told me on Thursday that something major was about to happen and that it involved guys, it meant this!" Tenten snapped her fingers, "we got it all wrong!"

Everyone heaved a long sigh.

"Thank you for the present," Temari planted a kiss on Shikamaru's cheek.

She liked seeing him blush.

-End-

-0-

A/N: I had not expected this to turn out this way, but then again it is my own fault for not planning before writing. In case anyone is wondering, the traditional Japanese flower language was used and Tenten's method of fortune telling was an old Chinese method, along with heating turtle shells with a hot iron, but that is general information.

Happy Birthday, Temari!


End file.

Naruto, Friendship, Romance