OK, so I know I am a big fat liar with my pants on fire, but please understand. To be honest I couldn't find where to go with the story but once I knew I typed like a maniac. I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy reading it just as much! :)

And thank you SO much for being so patient. I will not give up until this story is finished!

Disclaimer: No reason to say this is mine, since obviously it isn't...

Chapter II: "Mind over Matter"

The color of Ms. Yuhi's hair was a shiny coal black and it curled in an unruly manner. Temari wondered how someone could get their hair looking so unkempt yet so beautiful and natural. What's more, Ms. Yuhi's hair was so dark it seemed to reflect blue shades now and then if the light hit it just right. She was a beautiful woman with maroon eyes so light they reflected red; it was alarming to see red eyes like hers at first, but once she smiled you noticed the rest of her perfect features. Everyone in class called her Kurenai, and Temari quickly learned her favorite color was red for she wore a red dress, red shoes, and red lipstick; she even hung paintings containing mostly red (all done by Kurenai). She was kind and expressive toward her students, and she let them talk aloud while they painted. They had been assigned to paint anything they wanted in water colors today since it was still the first day of school. As much as Temari liked this class, Temari's comfort zone was ruined when she realized that boy was in her art class as well. She had learned that his name was Shikamaru, and so far she had been grateful not to have him in any other classes, but here he was, sitting two rows in front of her, in the only class she wasn't going to bore Temari.

They hadn't spoken since homeroom when Tenten introduced them. Shikamaru had given her a small hello with a troubled look while she had only nodded back at him and proceeded to ignore him the rest of the day. What was she supposed to do? Ask him if he remembered her? Ask Shikamaru if he remembers watching her walk out of the cabin with Hidan following her with a huge grin of triumph on his face? Ask him what he thought of it? If he had thought about it often after the night it happened? After all, it was obvious the boy knew who she was. Temari could tell he had recognized her, and he seemed as eager to stay out of her way as much as Temari was keen to avoid him at every corner. So why should she even try to know what he thinks?

As Temari drew a light blue sky, tainted with yellows and oranges from the sun, a cold thought came over her. How many people had Shikamaru told about the incident and her? The thought was so overwhelming and nauseating that a big shiver went through her. Should she do something about it? Talk to him before anything bad happened?

Temari looked over at Shikamaru who was making pathetic attempts of painting a shogi board with pieces on it. His chubby friend sitting next to him joked about Shikamaru's lame painting skills. Shikamaru's friend didn't seem to be much of an artist himself. His drawing looked like a 5th grader had been asked to paint his favorite foods. Shikamaru joked back; his features seemed much more relaxed than when he had seen Temari.

Temari kept staring at his back trying to figure this guy out. Her mind began to reel in answers and possibilities. There were only two options a guy his age would do. One option being he would tell the whole school by spreading a rumor about of what had happened over summer and maybe even adding unnecessary gossip. After all, it was the beginning of the school year and juicy gossip was welcome to ears who longed to hear the gossip they had missed over summer. Option two was that he would only tell his close friends, and be honest in what had happened in Camp Suna, not making up pointless rumors that might ruin her more. Either way, both options involved Shikamaru telling someone what had happened and Temari was not okay with that. It was just a matter of time before he told someone and there went her reputation like it had in her old school.

In a way, Temari didn't want to confront Shikamaru, she wanted to believe that he could keep his mouth shut, but she knew that would be asking too much of a high school teenager. She knew better, and one way or another she would have to find a way to talk to him. But for now she could relax and paint Suna's landscape. There would be plenty of time to talk to him later. Temari figured that Wednesday would be a good day to talk to him.

Of course, Shikamaru had noticed that Temari was in his art class the second he walked into the classroom. It felt like daggers were being thrown at him every time she looked his way. That girl sure had a powerful aura about her, but Shikamaru knew to keep his distance from those sorts of girls.

He smiled at Kurenai when she greeted him. Suddenly, it seemed to Shikamaru that he knew too many secrets. About the new girl Temari; about Asuma's love for the art teacher, Kurenai; about Choji's crush on Ino, the most popular girl in school (also one of Shikamaru's oldest friend besides Choji); and even how Tenten and Neji spent their study hall making out in the third floor's supply room, that wasn't used except by the science teachers when they had labs. If fact, he even knew about some secrets from the juniors since he had been in their grade once. He knew that contrary to popular belief, Ino was still a virgin, Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend besides Sasuke, and Naruto had fallen in love with Hinata on his sixteenth birthday (took that dimwit long enough).

It's not like Shikamaru lived for gossip and was constantly eavesdropping or making up rumors; for the most part he just stumbled into awkward situations which gave him hints as to what was going on in other's lives. Like the time his science teacher had asked him to fetch some microscopes for the class and he had walked into Neji with his hand up Tenten's blouse while they kissed passionately. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to see that and if he could have avoided it he would have. Shikamaru had also always been quick to catch on. It wasn't hard to connect the dots every time Asuma came late to school (which was rare for him), and on that same day Kurenai would wear a scarf or some sort of turtle neck to cover up her hickeys. Naruto's case had been obvious to everyone but Hinata (poor couple needs some serious help in the right direction). There were also times that he knew about things because people trusted him as a friend and would tell him his problems. That's how he had come to know about Choji's and Ino's secrets. He hadn't asked them a thing, and truthfully didn't want to know, but he couldn't help but listen to his best friends' troubles.

So it wasn't as if Shikamaru was looking for gossip; gossip always found him and he thought it to be a drag. Besides it was just so troublesome to know so much at times. It was his knowing so much that had gotten him into being a senior in the first place. It was knowledge that had him in this situation.

So when it came to knowing about this new girl called Temari, Shikamaru decided to do what he always does when he knows a new secret. Keep it bottled up and not tell anyone about it. No need for him to overthink the situation and do something about it. Mind over matter, that's always what he told himself every time he was too lazy to do something about a problem. Things would work out by themselves.

"What is that? A wigi board?" Choji joked next to Shikamaru as he looked at Shikamaru's painting.

Shikamaru shoved him away and replied, "At least mine doesn't look like 5th grader threw up last night's dinner on his canvas." He relaxed at Choji's jokes but Shikamaru could still feel Temari's eyes burning into his back. God, what on earth had he done to deserve this?

"How'd you like your first day at Konoha High School?" Tenten asked Temari after school, as the two walked toward Temari's car. It was located at a rather far location from the school's main building, for they had been unfortunate in getting minutes late and, therefore, couldn't find good parking spots. 'It's all Kankuro's fault,' Temari huffed in her thoughts.

"It was grrreat!" said a male voice as a figure came up behind Tenten and put his arm around her shoulders. Temari looked over to see Kankuro smiling down at a confused Tenten. 'Think of the devil,' Temari thought.

"She's asking me dumbass, get away from her," Temari frowned at her brother's stupid move.

Kankuro, however, ignored her completely. "Hi, nice to meet you I'm Kankuro. I'm sure you know me already since we just moved to town. We have homeroom together?"

"Um, right…" Tenten said inching away from Kankuro's grip. "The same homeroom my boyfriend's in?"

Kankuro looked puzzled but he quickly recovered. "You mean that lazy ass sitting next to you? Ha! That guy looks like such a wimp."

"No, she means me," a cold voice came from behind them. The three of them turned around to look at a tall, handsome and dark-haired boy. His features were striking and winsome, but the most outstanding thing about him was his white eyes with gray irises. He was by no means a wimp much less someone you wanted to talk back to. He glared at Kankuro who immediately dropped his arm and made a little distance between himself and Tenten.

Tenten smiled and put her arm on Neji's chest as if to hold him back a little. "This is Neji Hyuuga, Temari. Sorry I didn't introduce you earlier. We've been going out since last year."

"Nice to meet you," Temari said politely. That guy was intimidating as hell. Neji nodded back and whispered to Tenten.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow!" Tenten called. "Hope you had a great day. Sit with me at lunch again!" she followed Neji (who gave Kankuro one last glare) back to a black BMW car. Temari didn't know much about cars but even she could tell it was the latest model.

"Nice going dickhead," Temari laughed at her dumbfound brother, entering her car.

"Shut up!" he groaned, embarrassed for looking so lame. Temari took the wheel and Kankuro sat next to her in the passenger's seat. "At least there are other hot girls in this school." Kankuro said with Temari half listening to him. "Man, the girls here are way hotter than the one's back home. Even the little freshmen look sexy."

Temari's head snapped. "Oh, no, don't you dare go after freshmen or sophomores; they at least deserve a few more years of innocence."

"They didn't look so innocent to me. It wouldn't hurt to try and get one of them, it's not like I'll be rough with them or—"

"Don't talk like that!" Temari suddenly blurted out. For some reason Kankuro's speech was making her stomach turn; it was reminding her of Hidan. As much as Kankuro was a flirt, she didn't want to see her brother turn out like that; she didn't want some girl to go through what she had gone through, and because of her brother! The thought scared her more than she would admit.

"What's wrong with you? Your panties have been up in a wad ever since we got here. Loosen up would you?" Kankuro said looking at his sister with a raised eyebrow. But what Kankuro didn't know was that Temari had been more uptight even before moving to Konoha. It started since that night…

The door on Temari's black Jetta opened and was shut with force. Looking through her rearview mirror, Temari saw a ill-humored Gaara in the back seat, which wasn't unusual but the purple and red surrounding his eye was.

"Oh my God, Gaara!" Temari exclaimed turning around in her seat to take a better look at his face. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing."

"That's not nothing!"

"Some blonde guy got mad at me for telling him that his birth certificate was an apology from the condom factory." Gaara said indifferently looking out the window. Kankuro laughed and called, "Nice, bro."

"Why the hell would you say that?" Temari yelled. She admited it was kind of funny, but they were here to fit in, not make bad impressions.

"He was annoying me. And I gave him a bloody noise for bunching me in the eye."

"That's my little brother! Well done!" Kankuro called in delight at justice being served.

"Did you get in trouble?" Temari shook of Kankuro's stupid remarks.

"A talk with the Principal and Saturday detention with him." Gaara said indifferently once again.

Were her brothers idiots? Temari rolled her eyes as they made their way back home to see their crazy aunt who was already frustrated with all the work she had to do and the council meeting she had missed. It took a hot bath and green tea made by Temari to get her to calm down and stop throwing curse words at the smallest things.

The next day was just like Monday had been; long and it seemed to drag on and on and on…people were still bubbly from coming back from summer break but Shikamaru felt he already needed a vacation.

Shikamaru was glad it was lunch time and just like yesterday he sat with Choji, Ino, Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata. Last year he would sit with Tenten, Neji and Lee once in a while, but now that Temari was with them he wasn't going to go within ten feet of them. It wasn't worth the trouble.

"She's staring at you again," Ino said, smiling tenderly across the table at Shikamaru as her fork played with her salad.

"Hugh? Who?" Shikamaru instantly looked over at Temari who was busy laughing at something Tenten had said.

"You know who I mean that—what's her face?—Shiho girl." Ino replied, her smile only grew larger. "I think little nerdy girl's got a crush on you."

Shikamaru look behind him to see Shiho, a junior like the rest of his friends, looking at him through her thick glasses. Once they made eye contact she blushed furiously and ducked behind her Physics textbook hiding her face, but her unnaturally green frizzy hair still stuck out from over her textbook.

"You should ask her out on a date." Ino persuaded.

"She's not really my type." Shikamaru responded. Shikamaru had often found Shiho staring at him in the library were he falls asleep during his study hall.

"What is your type, Shika? You never talk about girls you like, unlike Mr. Hormone over here." Ino glazed over at Kiba who was talking to Naruto and Hinata about the hot foreign girl he'd met over summer and the things they had done; from what Shikamaru could tell it was enough for Hinata to look like she would faint from embarrassment.

"It's true Shikamaru I don't think you've ever dated a girl." Choji said.

"You're one to talk, Choji. You haven't had a girlfriend either." Ino said loudly.

"Well a least Shikamaru has one night stands," Choji said, embarrassed. Shikamaru felt a pang whenever Choji stood up for Shikamaru and made himself look bad in the progress. It made him realize Choji was willing to put himself down to make Shikamaru look better.

Ino's eyes widened, "You never told me about those!" she looked interested now, not paying Choji any attention.

"Leave him alone, Ino-pig, he must have his reasons," Sakura said giving Shikamaru a knowing smile. Although Sakura's reasons for not having a boyfriend until now were different from Shikamaru's reasons for not having a girlfriend, Sakura felt the sympathy for him. Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend until now because the only one she had truly wanted this whole time was Sasuke; for Shikamaru it was only because having a girlfriend was too troublesome.

"This is our conversation, forehead. Go back to playing with your dyed hair."

"You're tan looks good on you Ino; you know orange is my favorite color." Sakura retorted. They huffed at each other and Sakura went back to talking to Sasuke. Shikamaru knew they would make up soon enough; just like they do every day.

"So what sort of girls do you go for?" Ino said winking at Shikamaru. Shikamaru thanked the angels and gods when the bell rang for their next period, and Ino remembered she had forgotten her Algebra II book at home, so Choji let her borrow his.

As she walked away Choji and Shikamaru made their way to the art classroom. Art and a few other electives were the few classes that let freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors have class together. Shikamaru and Choji had chosen this class last year for an easy A and to be together now that they were in different grades. Before entering, Choji stopped Shikamaru.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"I was just wondering why you don't like Shiho." Choji said. "I know you didn't want to tell Ino but you can tell me. Why do you avoid her so much, didn't she move here not too long ago?"

"I don't' care much about her but if you really want to know: It's just something that happened over the summer, that's all."

"Yeah?" Choji prompted.

"I don't know, she seems like a nice girl, but don't let that fool you. I've heard rumors about her. Most of all what I saw." There was another secret Shikamaru knew that he wished he didn't. Shikamaru wouldn't have told anyone about it, but Choji was his best friend and he wouldn't lie to Choji.

"What did she do over summer?"

"Stuff to me, mainly. I'll tell you later. We'll be late to class."

Temari hadn't laughed so much since her mom died. Tenten turned out to be hilarious, and she and Neji would argue about the stupidest things in the funniest manner (Tenten would always win, but mainly because Neji let her). Neji had also turned out to be much kinder than she'd imagined, although still reserved and polite. Temari thought they made a nice couple. Lee, the guy she had just met, was sort of like a third wheel for he was best friend with both Tenten and Neji. And although he was annoying with his use of language (with "the power of youth" and "never giving up" speeches), he was nice and attentive to what others had to say.

Temari was in a much better mood than yesterday, and she was really starting to enjoy the atmosphere here in Konoha. When the bell rang after lunch, she and her new friends still stayed a while longer finishing up their conversation.

On her way to Kurenai's class she thought about the party Tenten had mentioned during lunch.

"Nothing big," Tenten had said. "Just a get-together at Neji's place. We do this every year to celebrate the beginning of the school year and being back together. You'll meet more people there too."

Temari had asked when. "Saturday at 8ish," Tenten had replied. "Come over earlier so we can talk before the party." Temari had nodded and walked off.

Temari was already thinking about what she was going to wear when she heard two voices. One sounded concerned and the other was lazy, almost slurred. She recognized the latter right away. It was Shikamaru. They stood beside the art room entrance as they spoke in low voices. Temari thought of walking past them like if nothing was wrong until she caught onto what the first voice asked.

"Why do you avoid her so much, didn't she move here not too long ago?" She stopped in her tracks and stood still where she was. What were they talking about? Wait, aren't they talking about a new girl? Are they talking about her?

"I don't care much about her but if you really want to know: it's just something that happened over the summer, that's all." Shikamaru responded after a slight hesitation.

"Yeah?" the other prompted.

"I don't know, she seems like a nice girl, but don't let that fool you. I've heard rumors about her. Most of all what I saw." Her heart dropped.

"What did she do over summer?"

"Stuff to me, mainly. I'll tell you later. We'll be late to class." Temari felt her blood boil. What did that ass think he was doing? It was as Temari feared, he was going to tell his friends and add rumors to it. He was trying to imply they had done things together! How stupid she had been to think waiting to confront him was a good idea!

Temari would have to confront him as soon as possible, before things got out of hand for her.

*gasps*! Temari's obviously got the wrong idea; you can't blame her though...but maybe she's a bit to paranoid? I don't know tell me what you guys think? because REVIEWS are greatly welcomed and appreciated even if it's short ;)

-Cyan