These Foolish Things Chapter 5: The Ice Queen & The Sexist King, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I deny myself from owning Naruto & Company.

THESE FOOLISH THINGS

By ardenilia

STORY SYNOPSIS: What foolish things you ask? Falling in love blindly is one of them of course. Because of this, Temari knew better not to ever trust any man again. Well, that is until Shikamaru came along and voluntary playing a role inside her life; from an 'enemy' to a friend and protector. Just when she thought the windows of her sealed heart will finally be opened once again, her past life and his supposed 'future' came to shatter their dreams and hopes together. AU fic. Modern settings.

Future Pairings: Will soon be revealed gradually. Yes, ShikaTema will not be getting all the limelight to themselves.

Author's Note: For you guys who are not familiar with my other stories, you need to know that the words in italics are flashbacks unless there's a year written for a certain part.

I'd like to personally thank and dedicate this chapter to all of my reviewers namely t3ddiE0x, LaZyEnErGeTiC, kitsune203, Super Lucky Tiki Charm, '.Serene. Panda.', Yazumi skulls, Dev and Kat, Gaa Saku, Rama chan, Kisshu-luv, fullmetalchick101 and animefireiceprincess. I can't thank you guys enough and you guys are really the best! I love you all!

Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 4

The Clash of the Ice Queen & the Sexist King

Tokyo, 2006

Present Day

"Are you sure you're gonna be fine Hiro-chan?"

"Yes, mummy. You can go to work now" Her son chirped happily as he hugged Temari for the third time this morning. The blonde could only cross her arms and gave Hiroshi a hesitant look. "I can stay here for a few moments if you want to"

The five year old shook his head while giving her an adorable smile, receiving a ruffle on his raven-colored bangs in return. There was a gleam of assurance in his ebony orbs. "Don't worry, mummy. I can take care of myself"

"I know you would, baby" She groomed his navy blue uniform and tightened the cute, matching tie with much pride.

Hiroshi's cheeky, lively face creased into a sulk. "Don't call me baby at school"

She giggled softly at her son. "Sorry" His attitude reminded her so much like her brother, Kankurou on their first day in pre-school more than two decades ago. So, they stood there together, watching other parents trying to get their hands (and legs) off of their kids. Some crying and teary-eyed and all of them clinging on their parents' feet like their lives depending on it. Deep inside, she couldn't be more grateful that her son is quite braver than she taught. Josie's well-damned right.

A woman of late thirties walked up to the still, perfect statue of mother and son.

"Good morning, ma'am"

"Good morning. You must be the headmistress"

"Yes. My name is Miyoko Sanada. It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Hai, same here Sanada-sensei. I'm Temari and this little man here is my son, Hiroshi" Temari gave the kind and friendly-looking woman a bow and pulled her son closer.

"Aah…Hiroshi-kun, are you ready to start school and have lots of fun with your new friends?"

"Hai…sensei" He looked up at his mother and embraced her legs since he's only as tall as Temari's thighs. She placed a quick peck on her son's head before waving him off, as he walked away with the headmistress. A reflective sigh escaped her glossy lips, knowing that her son's in safe hands.

It's already past 9.25 am when her silver Lexus drove into the underground car park. Office hour will be starting in five minutes and although she had an excuse if she happened to be late that day, but she had a reputation to keep. For four and a half consecutive years, she had never acquired a single red mark on her punch card, ever. Not to be boastful but she had always been a self-disciplined and organized person, ever since she went into kindergarten, much to the contrary of Kankurou. 'Speaking of that brat, how are he and Gaara doing?'

There was a black Sedan in front of her, moving at a snail speed. Well, this was certainly not a very 'fun' way to start your day at the office when you only have 5 minutes to kill. Oh, second thought…make that LESS than five minutes and this jerk is so gonna ruin her day.

She pressed on the horns, albeit softly but still could magnificently threw any passers-by to jump in shock. A few seconds and still no response from the driver upfront nor did that dude bothered to increase his speed a little bit and Temari did not like this 'ignorance' at all.

Shikamaru tried to remain calm but still he felt slightly agitated when he got honked by a car behind him. He took a quick glance from his rear-view mirror and he could make out that the driver was a young lady and a quite impatient one at that. Oh great, your day couldn't get any worse. You've been thrown out of your own bed this morning by your nagging mom at 5 o'clock in the morning, got another helping of lecture on the importance of punctuality on your first day of work at a new place when you just placed your butt at the dinner table, got pestered by the old lady next door who's keen on fixing you up with her niece and NOW you've got a lady who found honking at your butt…er…car's butt a very enjoyable thing to do and just would not leave you alone. Great. And people asked him why all women were 'evil' to him? Shikamaru groaned to himself. Gee, go figure.

Another honk made him jolted on his seat.

"Yeah…yeah lady. Don't get over-excited" He glanced into the small mirror again, muttering, "I'm driving too here. Jeez, where are the empty parking spaces here when you NEED one?" He scouted around the filled spaces amongst the seas of vehicles of many colors and kinds.

A stray cat (wonder how it got there?) ran across in front of his car in a flash, causing him to step on his brake automatically, making the car halted to a sudden stop. There were sounds of screeching tyres followed by a sound of honking. Again. Guess, Shikamaru wasn't the only one experiencing the impact.

A door of the car was opened. Sneaking a peek at his side-mirror, a golden-haired woman walked out of the silver car and walked out towards his direction. 'Oh shit! She's gonna kill me! Damn troublesome woman. Lord, you could've chosen another day to punish me' Still, as lazy as he could be, he stepped out of his vehicle and found himself face to face with a furious looking, although quite attractive and well-endowed looking female. The dark-haired man slapped himself mentally. Damn it, Shikamaru. Attractive? Well-endowed? Are you blind? You're talking about an annoyed, fuming, hot-tempered person who looked like she's gonna morph into a rabid hell-cat anytime soon and claw your heart out. Shikamaru gulped.

"What do you think you're doing buddy? You could've dragged us into an accident!" The woman spoke harshly at him, hands crossed in front of her chest. -cough- Why am I staring at her chest again? Oh yeah, to prove that she's a woman. First time they've met and she already called him 'buddy' while almost shouting at him. Women, he could never understand them.

She snapped her hands in front of his eyes. "Hello? Over here" Temari rolled her eyes in disbelief. Did this guy just stare at her breast? What a loser! All men are the same. She bit on her lower lip to help restrain herself from lashing out at this guy. When she looked at his boring facial expression, she wanted to strangle his scrawny neck because she thought that he was mocking her and not taking her seriously.

He muttered "Troublesome woman" under his breath while looking like he just wanted to get his butt out of there and find some spot to sleep.

"Listen lady, there was a cat and it just ran across the lane all of a sudden"

"A cat?" This man is ridiculous! "That's the stupidest reason I've ever heard"

"Hey, that's the truth"

"Hnn…whatever. If you're looking for a Sunday drive, this ain't the place. My granny could drive faster and better than you" She turned around hastily, the sounds of rustling fabric reached his ears. The woman stormed off towards her luxurious car.

Woman or not woman. Shikamaru was not a person to admit something that he didn't do or intended to do. "I have no intention to provoke you, lady, although it'll be quite interesting but that is so troublesome. Anyway, I'd love to meet your grandma. I bet she's a nice old lady"

The blonde woman snorted in reply before she got into her car.

Shikamaru looked at his first 'acquaintance' until she drove off in a terrifying speed, leaving clouds of smokes and dust to him. He coughed while managed to say "Troublesome".

Then he looked at his wrist watch. 9.32 am.

'I'm late'

The President's secretary took the time to personally show him around the office and introduced him to the prominent figures in the company. After a brief meeting with the head of the company, it was still a surprise to know that the President was a woman. He had heard from his father and his business partners that Tsunade-sama was one of the most successful and beautiful women in the business & corporate world in Japan. Although the picture is quite different with the one he's seeing right now. Tsunade looked like as if she had just woken up from the piles of paperwork on her big table. Thankfully, the flaxen-haired woman was in a good mood so, he came clean about the part where he was late because of an encounter with a mad person, much to Tsunade's amusement.

After a few short introductions with the board members, Shizune-san led him to the 25th floor where he would meet the Executive Director that goes by the name of Hatake Kakashi. As a matter of fact, they stumbled upon him when he was on his way out to the restroom. The silver-haired man had most of his face covered with only one eye visible but overall Shikamaru knew he was a good and responsible leader.

Kakashi took out his usual reading material from the pockets of his dark gray jacket causing Shikamaru to raise his eyebrow in confusion and Shizune to sweat-drop. He's a grown man and he's well aware of what kind of book his boss is actually reading. 'At least he's honest'

A few minutes later, they made a stop in front of a door that bears a black and gold-intricate sign of Assistant Executive Director. Shizune knocked on the door twice and after receiving a reply from the inside, she opened the door with the never-fading smile on her sweet, radiant face.

"Morning Temari-san. I'd like to introduce you to our new legal advisor"

The woman who was sitting on the chair with her back against her new visitors, turned around with a beam on her beautiful face. "Morning, Shizune-san"

Her eyes went wide. His mouth gaped open.

"YOU!" They hollered in a perfect unison; tone and expression.

Now, Shikamaru knew what people meant when they say 'save the BEST for last'. Man, he got the BEST shock of the century. He wished he could drop dead on the floor that time and never wake up until next year.

He rubbed his aching head as soon as he loosened his black silk tie. Lines started to appear on his clear forehead and he yawned boringly. It's no use moping in aggravation but Shikamaru had to admit that Destiny had a really funny way in his messing his life. Who knew, on the first day of his new job, he got into a verbal sparring with one of his supposedly 'new' colleague.

"YOU!"

There was a long pause as they glared daggers towards each other. If looks could kill, both of them would've turned into dust and the cleaner would have a very hard time to scrub them off the floor.

The woman asked suspiciously at him. "What are you doing here?"

He adjusted his necktie a little bit. "Duh…I worked here?"

"Liar. I've never seen you before!"

"I just reported in today"

Before the mad woman from the car park could utter more word, Shizune beat her into that. Apparently, Shizune was clueless to the death-defining situation at that moment.

"Anou…Temari-san. I was just going to introduce you guys to each other but it seems that you've met before. Anyway, Shikamaru-san this is Temari-san, the Assistant Executive Director. Temari-san, this is Nara Shikamaru, our new legal consultant"

"I can't believe they picked you!"

Shikamaru grinned smugly. "You just can't help it, can you…'Temari-san'?"

"Anou…Temari-san, Shikamaru-san…" Shizune looked quite confused as she tried to break the soon-to-be argument as she realized that their banter had started to attract unwanted spectators amongst the staffs at the level. Alas, it was a futile attempt as she stared at them, completely not missing any one of their words.

"I still haven't forgotten about this morning, you cocky Pineapple-head!"

"Tch…you left me suffocated back there"

(Insert a chibi Shizune here). "Anou…minna-san…"

Again, no response. Shizune started to feel that she had become invisible despite the reddening of her face because of embarrassment. 'Tsunade-sama's not gonna like this'

"Stop making idiotic reasons, moron"

"Really, I thought that was the term they used to call the person that you saw in the mirror this morning, you mad woman"

"I don't think I'm gonna like you!"

"The feelings mutual"

"Yo, what's going on here?" A low, gravelly voice interrupted the conversation before it took a worst turn. Shizune was so glad when she saw the face of her savior. 'Thank goodness you're here, Kakashi-kun'

Kakashi cleared his throat a little bit as he walked into the room to see a fuming Temari, a bothered-looking Shikamaru and a glaring contest to-the-death between them. "Shizune-chan, I believe that you'd want to show Shikamaru-kun his office, am I right?"

The black-haired young woman's blushing face turned a shade deeper as she bowed down to Kakashi in respect and in relieve. "Hai…Kakashi-san. Arigatou. We'll be making our way now. Ikuze, Shikamaru-san"

Shizune unexpectedly dragged the young newbie away from the room into a destination that he's not aware of but nevertheless much to his liking. Before he disappeared with Shizune-san, he posed a glance from the corners of his eyes and he saw that Kakashi had closed the door from the inside of the room. He weighed the possibilities that he might be messing with his boss's most trusted subordinate…or maybe more than that.

His small, dark orbs lingered around his new office. The spacious room reeked of fresh paint and Shikamaru still thought it was quite comfortable, compared to when he had been at the hell-cat's room before. Speaking of the hell-cat, why on earth did they put his office just a few doors from her anyway? 'Dammit, why am I thinking about her again?'

He sighed and muttered 'troublesome' for the umpteenth time that day.

The door was rapped from the outside.

"Yes…Come in"

The door was opened and a man who looked no older than Shikamaru appeared. He had spiky yellow hair and toothy grin on his face as he stepped into Shikamaru's office.

"Good morning, Shikamaru-san"

"Hai, hai…good morning"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you. Kakashi-sempai asked me to drop by and give you this. Here you go, Shikamaru-san" Naruto handed a few thick books to him. From the titles, he could see that they were documentation of the company's policies, laws and cases records.

"Thanks Naruto-kun. Please have a seat. And I hope you could just call me Shikamaru. I think honorifics are really a hassle"

Naruto nodded in understanding before he took a spot on one of the cushioned chairs in front of the table. Although the dark-haired man had only reported today, his leadership and inter-personal skills were highly-developed and visible. He felt that his respect for the young, new officer had risen to a higher level. 'He was quite humble for a person with a high position'

He suddenly remembered another thing that he wanted to talk about with Shikamaru.

"Anou-sa, Shikamaru"

"Yep, anything wrong?"

"I just wanna say sorry for Temari-san's behalf…" Naruto let out in a slow, easy drawl although quite hesitantly at first.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow in a 'huh' expression. "Why are you apologizing for her? You have anything to do with what happe-…heh, how did you know?"

"I kinda over heard, basically the whole floor did"

Shikamaru dropped his head on the table. "Oh man…the first time we've met and I've embarrassed myself in front of the whole office. What's next? A pack of rebelling feminists?"

"…I though you guys were old friends?"

"I just met that she-devil at the parking lot this morning and believe me, I've never met a more troublesome woman than she is"

"Heheh…you did? By the way, they don't call her a she-devil. The guys called her an 'ice-queen'"

"What did she do to you guys?"

"She cursed us a lot" Shikamaru burst into a loud mirth. "Seriously, she did. I have to go through the same nerve-racking process every time I went to see her. Believe me. Writing reports are much more fun than submitting them to her. Just ask the guys, they all were really petrified of her"

"Feh…she's just PMSing"

"Every time?"

"If you guys can't stand her, why don't you report this to the higher-level?"

"No matter how strict and cranky Temari-san can be, she's an extremely hardworking and dedicated woman and she is highly-respected amongst the board members. She's just cold towards the guys, especially the slackers. Besides that, she's nice to the ladies"

"That is still discrimination, Naruto"

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders while brushing his spiky hair. "Nah…there must be a reason why she's being the person she is. Sometimes, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her"

"…"

"I'm in no position to tell you about other people's personal lives, but Kakashi-sempai had once told me that Temari-san had been in a hard and difficult situation when she was younger. She's just afraid of having the same thing happened to her again. I felt like I dislike her harsh ways but sometimes I just think that she needed someone to complement her and show her that life has so much to offer"

Shikamaru relaxed against the chair as he listened to his new colleague's opinion. He realized that although Naruto didn't want to admit it but secretly, the blonde, happy-go-lucky lad had always thought of that 'ice-queen' as an older sister. From the one conversation, he had learnt a lot about the young man in front of him. His father died when his mother is still carrying him and she died when she gave birth to him. Poor kid. Ever since, he lived with his uncle, Iruka who happened to be an old friend of Kakashi.

Despite the loud and sometimes obnoxious exterior, Shikamaru knew that Naruto is a great and caring person and a good friend to boot. At least there's someone that he could be friends with here.

Later on that night, Shikamaru got back to his parent's house just in time for dinner. His mother, Yoshino had been preparing a specially-made chilli mackerel in the kitchen. He could smell the spicy yet deliciously inviting aroma drifted through the air. There are times when he thought his mom was bossy, annoying and loud. Despite all facts, she never failed to show that she loved him and his father more than anything in the world. She liked to push his buttons all the time but she knew how to cheer him up after a hard day at the office; by making his favorite dish for dinner.

"I'm back…" The words fell slowly from his lips in his usual lackluster tone.

Her mother's head appeared from the doorjamb, taking a peek to see who it is. "Aye, you're back already?" She received an annoyed mumble in reply. An amusing grin etched on her slightly aged but beaming face.

'Do you want me to be some place else, mom?' His mouth was itching to let those words out but alas, he knew better. He wasn't called a young genius for nothing. He had enough of lectures for today and he's getting tired. "I thought you're the one who called me to get back home straight away and never go astray down town?"

"I don't want you to waste time doing useless things out there when you could have a proper rest at home, young man. How's your first day of work in the new place?"

"So-so. Besides, I went to have a tea, whatever with a few colleagues"

"Good. You should invite them over for dinner or something, sometimes"

"Yeah, I'll invite Naruto and a few of the guys one day"

"Guys? Don't they have women at the office?"

"A whole lot of them. In fact, I've had a trouble with a mad woman at the car park this morning, she scorned at me, made me late and somehow I found out that she happened to be the E.D's assistant, and she scorned at me again. But, anyway most of the women are either getting on my nerves, boss-" He obtained a very fierce look from the older woman. He shook his head. "…I mean they're my boss, higher level, whatever…What's up with you asking about the females in my office all of a sudden, mom?" He placed himself at the square-shaped table while his eyes glued to his mother's back. She was stirring something on the stove but that doesn't mean that the conversation had ended. Still, with her back against his direction, Yoshino spoke up. "Shikamaru, I'm tired of having Mrs. Tanaka next door pestering me about coaxing you into dating that goody-goody, doe-eyed, stuck-up niece of hers. If you keep having those sexist comments of yours, you're really getting on my nerves"

10 years ago, she would have smacked him hard at his head but now, her son's already a grown man. She can't just resolve into using her old tricks to put some sense into him. It might not seem like it, but as the time goes by, Yoshino learnt to tackle issues with him by having a mature and open conversation.

"Troublesome, noisy old woman"

"Shikamaru!"

"Hai…sorry, mom. The truth is I'm too lazy to find a girl. I just can't help it. Besides, a man can survive being a bachelor for a very long time"

"What am I gonna do about you? I'm getting older day by day and I'd like to see that you settle down-"

"And give you lots of grandchildren to play with…but I'm just 25!"

"-I'm not finish! Don't cut into my words, Shikamaru"

"Jeez, sorry…" He rested his hands on the table, cradling his slightly unexcited face, although you could see that he actually tried really hard to pretend that he's into the conversation.

The older woman's shoulder-length hair bounced when she talked, ignoring her son's façade. "As I was saying, you should start thinking about getting married"

He sighed, signaling his defeat. "Alright, mom. If it's gonna make you happy, I'll let you do whatever you want and I'll think about it. BUT, make sure that she's not too beautiful and not too ugly, okay?"

Yoshino just shook her head in reply.

Shikamaru hadn't known a lot of female figure to be comfortable with in his life. The only female that he could understand (or tolerate in that matter) was his mother, his old Maths teacher Matsumoto-sensei (that's because she could put up with him sleeping during her class because he happened to be a top scorer in the subject) and Ino, his childhood and also a family friend. The last time he saw her was the moment he sent her off at the airport. She accepted the offer to pursue her fashion & designs advanced degree in Paris. It has been four years now and he wondered how she was doing abroad. She sent him letters and e-mails sometimes but he was either too busy or too lazy to reply back to her.

Heh. For all the times he'd spent with Ino and Chouji during their high school days, he swore that the blonde who happened to be a former cheerleader and prom queen was really loud, rambunctious and annoying at times. But, nevertheless they were best friends and he couldn't deny that he had missed them both a lot now that they're far away.

Tenten rolled on the floor of the living room, clutching her abs as she burst out with laughter. Temari just gave her an 'are-you-for-real' look while Hiroshi who was grossing over the evening drama on the TV just looked clueless at both of the women.

"Tenten! I'm serious"

The brunette wiped away some tears as she took in some air. "I'm sorry, it's just…fu…really amusing. He's the same guy who you met at the parking lot?"

"Yeah, and then I told him "Stop making idiotic reasons, moron" and you know what he said back to me?"

"What?"

Temari did her best in imitating the said man's voice. "Really, I thought that was the term they used to call the person that you saw in the mirror this morning, you mad woman"

"He did? Wow, that's the first time a man dared to spew out to you. He earned my respect"

Temari let out a loud huff as a sign of frustration. "Tenten, I thought you're on my side?"

"I am. So what's his name? Is he cute?"

She flipped the pages of a woman's magazine subconsciously while she tried to recall the day's events and namely a person with dark hair tied in a high ponytail which resembles some kind of a fruit. "It's Nara, something but if he wasn't that cocky, I'd consider him to be 'not-that-bad' in the looks department. All I know is that just remembering his smug face, I really want to poke his eyes out and his internal or-"

Tenten cleared her throat. "Tem, we've got a kid in the house"

Hiroshi blinked in confusion at his mom. Temari laughed nervously as she took Hiroshi and placed him on her lap. "You don't hear anything right, Hiro?"

"…a bit, not much"

"Well…heheh…Let's off to bed, then. We've got to make an early start tomorrow. You did have fun at school right?" Hiroshi nodded while stifling a yawn. "Mommy, I've made a new friend. His name is Hideki"

"Really?" After making sure that Hiroshi had been distracted from their previous conversation, she mouthed 'later' to her brunette friend who just shrugged in return. She made her way upstairs, leaving Tenten to her musings at the living room.

She reached for the remote and pushed the channel button several times before stopping at an entertainment channel. Her brown hazel-like eyes were fixed at the screen, but her mind was contemplating something else. If most people (especially guys) thought that her best friend, Temari was quite aloof and distant, she really was everything but that. She's very affectionate and protective of her loved ones; especially her only child and Tenten had stick with Temari through rain or shine. They've been through a lot together and she had grown accustomed and well aware of the roots to Temari's resentment towards the opposite sex. Tenten shook her head when she heard about what happened today. Poor guy.

Sometimes, it seemed unfair for Temari to channel all of her anger by giving her male co-workers a hard time and made their lives a living hell. But, it never failed to push away the tonnes of admirers she had whenever she was sent to a convention, seminar or formal parties on her own. Also, every time she managed to leave their prides injured or the worst case, broken legs or a swollen eye (for those who tried to get into her pants).

And it all started way back on that one dreadful day.

The heavy downpour outside the single-storey house made Tenten shivered slightly. She saw Haruno Sakura, a junior and also her only housemate walked out of the bathroom. "Sempai, can you turn on the heater? It's really freezing in here although I just stepped out from the hot shower" Tenten smiled at the pink-haired psychology student before she disappeared into her bedroom. "Okay, Sakura-chan"

It was 9 pm and the rain had been pouring down for almost four hours with no signs of stopping. Tenten turned on the electric heater and she could feel the heat starting to rise in the room and she would not want to be anywhere but here. Seriously, it's not advisable to be out there where you'll be catching a cold. Not at this hour.

She picked herself up from the floor and decided to continue writing her research paper in the lounge. Then suddenly, there was a frantic knock at the front door.

'Who could it be at this hour?' Although she felt suspicious, reluctantly she pulled on the locked knob. If it was an intruder or a robber, Tenten would be more than ready to take them out. But she didn't prepare for the sight in front of her;

A blond-haired woman, standing at her doorstep, sopping wet with a few luggage on her feet. Shivering, with her eyes swollen like she had been crying non-stop for one whole day.

"Temari…" She clamped her mouth shakily. This is not how she remembered about Temari. She lost weight. She looked like hell!

"Goodness, what happened to you, girl?"

Tears were streaming down her flushing face. "Tenten…I've g-got…no…w-where to go"

"Come on in. You're gonna catch a cold. Where's your husband?"

"H-he…left…j-just like that" Her soft voice began to quaver as she broke onto her best friend's shoulder. There was unmistakably a bothering warmth that she could feel when she put her hand on her friend's forehead. "Oh damn. Temari, you're having a fever. What did that bastard did to you?"

But, all she obtained were floods of tears and the sound of the pouring rain, in return.

Sakura appeared from her bedroom in a nightie when she heard the voices from the lounge. She was deeply moved when she recognized the identity of their guest.

"Nee-chan…"

"You're deep in thoughts. Something's bothering you?" A voice drew her back into reality.

"Nah, just thinking about old times, Tem"

The bluish-green eyed career woman walked down from the stairs, garbed in her PJs. "In a melancholic mood I see. So, anything interesting happened in your 'world' today?"

"Nah, nothing new. The usual things happened. But, Richard asked me out. Again"

"Your project manager? Did you have pity on that guy all of a sudden and decided to grant him his wish?"

The brunette shook her head while sneering at the same time. "Nope. No way. I prefer pure Japanese guys, preferably with long hair BUT…I just don't have much option in the workplace nor the time to find such suitable person. You understand right, Tem?"

Temari nodded with a considerate smirk on her face. "Hey, don't take it too hard. Maybe you'll meet him when we go grocery shopping. Haha…who knew?"

"Tem…I'm trying to find a decent, single guy not a house-husband"

"Well, I just don't want you to be affected with…you know…"

"We're not talking about that again, right?"

Temari was fully attentive that her personal experience might affect her best friend's outlook towards meeting someone, falling in love and settling down. She didn't want it to cost Tenten's happiness when she believed that the brunette needed someone, to love and build a family with. She just hoped that she would choose the right man.

But, sadly until then, they would remained as two hot, single ladies in town. Not that's a bad thing.

End Of Chapter 4

End Notes: Hmm…there's chapter 4. Anyway, I've planned up several situations involving the interaction between our two lead characters. If you guys have any ideas or suggestion on what situation would you like to see Shika and Tema in, please do tell me. E.g stuck in a lift together (planning that one…yup…yup), a war over the fax machine, tongue-lashing session during board meeting or sent to a convention together? Oops, I gave out almost all of the surprises! Anyway, I do appreciate your time in reading this fic.

Take care. See ya next chappie! R, R, R & R! (Rest, Relax, Read, Review)

Love,

ardenilia