Fate or Not?

Chapter 2

Unfortunately she run out of hot water and now icy cold one stared pouring over her head and body. She jumped out of the shower and started cursing. It really took her by surprise, which turned out to be a good thing. It was like the cold water shook off previous thoughts and she was finally able to focus on everything she needed to do.

***

At 12am sharp she knocked at door of Hokage's office.

"Come on in... Oh Temari, just on time. Please take a seat" Grey haired man acknowledged her presence.

Temari slowly approached chair in front of Hokage's desk. "I would like to skip the small talk and go straight to the point of this meeting. Is that ok?"

"Yes, of course." She replied.

"As I said that night, you will work here in office with us. Your main responsibilities will be handling paperwork regarding finished missions that Shizune or Shikamaru give you and organizing Chunin exams. That's all we need right now. But this doesn't exclude occasional missions if needed. Do you have anything to add?" Lord Sixth asked calmly.

"No, but if you need anything else, please let me know. I'm here to help after all"

"That's great!...Oh and your office is ready, Shizune will take you there now."

"Temari, one more thing. Since today is Saturday I want you to take the rest of the weekend off and start fresh on Monday"

Temari stood up "Hei". Very tired-looking women approached her and they left.

"Oh Temari-chan, we are very grateful for your help."

"Shizune-san it's my job and it's no secret I have many friends here so there was no reason for me to turn this down" Temari kindly smiled at the assistant.

"Here is your work place. It's not that spacious, but it'll work for now"

Temari studied the small room. Shizune was right, it wasn't spacious at all. There was barely place for small work-desk and one chair also the walls were covered with shelves reaching the ceiling. But it looked intimate and very cozy which Temari really liked.

"It's perfect, don't worry about it." She entered the room and started tracing the edge of desk. She indeed meant when she said it was perfect. Shizune was looking at her and suddenly remembered "Yes , I knew I was forgetting something ." She said all worked up. "If you need any help you can come to my office which right next to Hokage's or you can go to Shikamaru's. Which is coincidentally across the hall" Shizune winked at her and pointed to the closed door behind her.

"Oh, ok... Thanks, I guess.." Temari was desperately trying not to lose her mind because how many times they mentioned him already.

"If that's all, I'll go now. Please excuse me, but I have a lot of work"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'll stay a bit longer and I'll go myself. Don't worry"

Temari watched as Shizune was moving away then she turned to face her new office. I'll be fine here. She taught as she sat in her new chair. I just need to get familiar with everything.

***

Temari was aimlessly wondering through town when she heard familiar voice.

"TEMARIIIII" Ino was running towards her. "I am so glad to see you. When did you come? And why?"

Even thou Ino can be irritating, Temari was so relieved when she heard her voice. All her worries were wiped away.

"Hi. Yeah, I just came this morning. And the answer the second question...Hmm... I moved here. Surprise?"

"WHAAAT?!!!" Ino screamed. "Why didn't you tell me? Or TenTen? She was in Suna not long time ago. Oh my god! Does Shikamaru know?"

All these questions overwhelmed her, but she didn't mind, she got used to it. "Well to be honest I didn't even know. This is sort of a mission. I am here to help Hokage's office with all the work, since, you know..."

"oh, YES. Right, you are here to help with paperwork? I totally forgot!"

"Wait, you knew?"

"Well I wouldn't say I knew, but Hokage mentioned that we might need help from other villages and he also mentioned your name alongside with other possible candidates." Blondie quickly explained.

"Oh I see..."

"So where do you live?"

"I am temporarily stationed in Blossom hotel until I get an apartment."

"Oh, well, that's great... I mean if you want I can talk to my mum and you can move with us? We could use your help in Flower shop, you know"

"Oh no there's no need for that" Temari was truly touched with her friends proposal.

They continued walking down the unusually busy street. It looked like everyone in Konoha was there. Kids running, people talking and walking in hury. It looked so much different than Suna.

" As much as I would love to stay here and chat with you, I have something to do." Ino exclaimed suddenly. Temari looked at her with obvious curiosity.

"I mean you can come with me if you want, I guess... But you see it's sort of personal metter"

"Are you meeting with that annoying brat Sai? Do you have one of yours famous romantic dates I heard of? Is he going to propose, maybe?" Temari couldn't help but to tease her friend.

"Whaaa..what, no... No...NO!" Each no emphasized a bit differently than the previous one which only added to Ino's apparent embarrassment. " I am not meeting Sai, not that that's your business. Today is Sensei Asuma's anniversary of death. I am going to cemetery with Shikamaru and Choji. Maybe Kurenai Sensei and their daughter Mirai will be there too... That's why I said it's sort of personal matter"

"Oooh, I see. He died just before the war right?"

"Yes it was great tragedy. He was the son of the Lord Third and his wife Kurenai was pregnant at the time."

" Yea, I remember it. You took it pretty hard?"

"Yes, all of us were devastated. He died in our arms, we are still grieving him. But I think Shikamaru was affected the most. He almost lost his mind back then. You know, Asuma Sensei was like an older brother or second father to us, especially Shikamaru. He looked up to him and respected him very much. Asuma Sensei even asked Shikamaru to take care of Kurenai Sensei and their unborn child as his dying wish, that's how close they were." Ino was looking at the ground, her face showing nothing but sadness.

"I get it. And sorry about the teasing. I'll go grab something to eat."

"Well, do you want to go out tonight? I'm already meeting the girls.." Aparent excitement showed itself on young girls face.

"yes that would be great. I think we all need to let go some steam"

"Then 7 o'clock tonight? I'll come pick you up"

"That sounds great!" Temari showed one of her signature big smiles as she waved to her friend that was already lost in the crowd. 

A/n: Hi everyone, first of all thanks for reading.

Second of all, I have this story half-written in my drafts and I finally decided that it was time to publish first two chapters of this story. Btw this is the first story I've ever written and English is my second language. So please let me know of any grammatical errors that I've made or if you have any preferences or ideas regarding the plot.

And please vote or coment if you want me to continue posting.

Bye.