I Just Care
Chapter 3: I Just Care

The next day, Temari woke up. And boy, did she sleep well that night. She couldn't stop thinking about the events of yesterday. Especially the mistletoe part…that was a little embarrassing. But still, she was happy that Shikamaru had apologized. She smiled as she looked around, and saw that she was in her living room, in her sleeping bag, and Hinata, Ino, Sakura and Tenten were in their sleeping bags, still sleeping. She didn't even remember that the girls were at her place. She stood up, and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After she came back to the living room, she found all the girls waking up too.

"Good morning everyone!" Temari yelled. Everyone looked at each other, some with sleepy faces, and other with confused expressions.

"Boy, boy. Aren't we happy today?" Sakura said with a sleepy face, rubbing her eyes with a smile on her face. Temari smiled back, blushing very lightly.

"So…anything special happened last night. Like hand-holding, flirting or…a kiss perhaps?" Ino asked. Temari smirked at her. "Like I'd tell you" she said with a joking expression.

"So it did happen?!" Ino said. "No…well…I mean…" Temari said, but she was cut off with the sound of her cellphone ringing.

"Who could it be at this time?!" Temari thought, but then looked at her clock. It was 11:30am. Anyway, she picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Temari? It's Shikamaru" Shikamaru said from the other line.

"Oh. Good morning" Temari greeted, putting her free hand in the back of her head. They other girls looked at each other smiling.

"Uh…Temari. There was…something last night I didn't get to do…" Shikamaru said.

"W-what?" Temari replied, her cheeks turning red.

"Well…I didn't get to…ask you out again" he said.

Temari's eyes were wide-open now. "W-what?!"

"I promise that I won't do anything stupid this time, Temari. You know I am very sorry…Would you like to go out with me tonight?"

Temari thought a little about it, but then finally replied. "Y-yes"

"Cool. See you tonight in front of Ichiraku" Shikamaru said.

"W-wait! At what time?" Temari asked, but Shikamaru had already hung up.

Temari smiled to herself. "Who was that?" Ino asked her, poking her arm with her elbow. Temari glared playfully at Ino. "Oh…like I'd tell you!" Ino faked an offended look at Temari again…

O.O.O.O.O.O

It was now 6:00pm, and Temari was in a bench that was in front of Ichiraku Ramen Bar. She brought a book, because she didn't really know at what time was Shikamaru coming, if he didn't forget this time.

"Hey there my beautiful Temari!" someone said to Temari. She looked up, and then blew opened her fan and threw a great amount of air, knocking the person against a wall.

"What the hell was that about?!" he asked her, and she smirked. "I know you aren't the real Shikamaru, Kiba!"

"Damn, how did you find that out?" Kiba said, transforming back to himself.

"Well, the 'slight'simple fact that Shikamaru would never call me 'my beautiful Temari'" Temari replied, still smirking.

"Wow. I sure should remember never to do something that makes you angry" the real Shikamaru said, walking towards Temari.

"Hm…just call it payback…" Temari said.

"What for? I never did anything to you!" Kiba said, standing up in pain.

"I know you haven't done anything to me…" Temari replied, still smirking. Kiba didn't get it, and Temari didn't have any intention of explaining it to him.

"How am I supposed to get home now?" Kiba asked, since he almost couldn't move. "Go with Akamaru"

"He's not here!" Kiba yelled at Temari.

"Well then, I'm sure Ino can help you, so give her a call" Temari said, her smirk still on her face.

"Let's go…" Shikamaru said, and started walking away, with his hands on his pockets.

"But weren't we going to Ichiraku?" Temari asked, and Shikamaru looked back. "I never said that…" he replied, and signaled Temari to follow him.

O.O.O.O.O.O

About an hour passed, and Temari and Shikamaru walked to the same place they were last night. Temari noticed that there was a blanket on the floor, so apparently Shikamaru had been here today. They both sat down on the blanket.

"Sorry for bringing you here again" Shikamaru said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm starting to love this place…" Temari replied, looking at the stars.

"That's good then" Shikamaru said, smiling, and looking at the stars as well.

"S-Shikamaru?" Temari said, and Shikamaru looked at her. "What?"

"Why did you ask me out in the first place?" Temari asked him. He stood up, and smiled "Well, at first I didn't understand it myself…" he started, and took Temari's hands to help her stand up, which made her blush. "…but I've come to a conclusion after thinking a lot about it…" Temari looked at him, as if saying 'go on…'

"I asked you out the first time out of the blue, and since we were coming back from a mission, I was sleepy and stuff, and it made me forget about it. So I apologize again for it…" Temari looked at his eyes as he talked, and then smiled.

Shikamaru looked up to the sky, still holding Temari's hands. "But this time I meant it, as you can see. If not, I wouldn't have asked you out again. The reason why I did…" Shikamaru continued, but then stopped and looked at Temari, who looked back at him. Shikamaru then did the one thing Temari never thought he would do. He let go of her hands, and put his hands around her waist. After a couple of seconds, he pulled Temari's face close to his, close enough that he could hear her breathing, and their noses touched. She put her hands in his shoulders, trying to make him back off a bit, but failed. Temari breathed nervously, eyeing Shikamaru's face. "…the reason why I did it…" he said again, eyeing Temari's face, and then smiling. "It's because I love you" he finally finished, and before she knew it, he pressed his lips against hers. She was shocked at first, but then she couldn't help herself but to close her eyes and return the gesture. She put one of her arms around his neck, and her other hand on the back of his head, as if saying that she didn't want to let go. She then pressed her lips more tightly to his. A hard, yet soft kiss. Temari's heart was pounding so hard that Shikamaru could hear it, and she felt butterflies on her stomach. After a couple of more seconds, they pulled away, but only breaking the kiss. Their heads were still so close that they could hear each other's breathing, and their hands were on the same positions as before. But then, Temari's face filled with tears.

"W-what's wrong, Temari?" Shikamaru asked, a little worried. Temari smiled at him, tears rolling down her cheek. "I love you too, Shika" she whispered, and then pulled in for another kiss, which he returned gladly. After a couple of seconds, they pulled away again, still on the same positions.

"But why? Why do you care about someone like me?" Temari asked, looking at Shikamaru's eyes.

Shikamaru looked back at Temari. "I don't know. I just care…" he replied, and then they both smiled.

After that, they spent almost all the night in that place, just looking at the stars and spending time together. Yep, this was definitely the start of something beautiful…

Finally finished it! Hope you enjoyed it! Man, I love happy, romantic endings…

I don't know if this story will have a sequel (since the ending kind of lets you wondering…), so I don't promise anything…sorry. I have a lot of more story ideas, but nothing fits for a sequel so…