When logic fails ...

Unfathomable Glances

His gaze fell on the clock—it was nearly midnight.
So much for this job being uneventful: on his very first day, he already had two overtime hours under his belt. At least he could get them paid out, and honestly, he needed every bit of extra money, since his scholarship barely covered the basics.

Slowly he got up, circling the desk. "Theoretically you should have access to everything again now...," he said, reaching for his bag. "And if something's still missing, my colleague will be back downstairs in the morning."
Temari rose as well. "Alright. Thanks a lot for your help..."

She took a few steps toward him, but failed to notice the small stack of files lying on the floor. Her foot caught, and she lost her balance. Instinctively, Shikamaru's hand shot out, grasped her arm, and with a swift movement steadied her.

Their eyes locked in that second. For a heartbeat, there was nothing but the other's gaze. Temari's look was suddenly intense, and Shikamaru's pulse surged as a strange tingling spread through him. A new sensation, something he had never felt before, rushed over him.

He swallowed, cleared his throat awkwardly, and took a step back. "Uh... I... I should probably get going," he stammered, clutching his bag more tightly.
Before she could respond, he had already reached the door, slipped into the corridor, and left the sudden closeness behind him.

Never before had he felt something so overwhelming, and somehow her nearness and her eyes had unsettled him. Women had always struck him as mostly troublesome, and she—Temari—was no exception. The way she tried to pull him into conversation even while he needed to concentrate was proof enough of that.
Yet at the thought of her, a stirring feeling he didn't recognize rose within him.

Even on the way home, he couldn't escape these thoughts. His mind wandered back to their strange encounter that morning and then to the hours spent with her sitting so close. He had felt her steady gaze on him the entire time. Why she had looked at him so intently, he couldn't explain.

At least it didn't make any sense.
He had only solved her problem, and from what he'd typed she had understood at most half. Unlike most clients, she hadn't thought to leave him alone. Normally, he preferred that—it allowed him to work without distractions.
And still, there was that fleeting moment he couldn't shake off, that fraction of a second before he left, when her green eyes seemed somehow changed.

He went over the few facts he knew about her, trying to make sense of them. But no matter how he tried to fit them into a pattern, they didn't align. He found no rational explanation that satisfied him.
So he decided to set the thoughts aside. He would make an even bigger effort to avoid her now, since he had neither the time nor the capacity to deal with something like this. He had to succeed in his studies—an extra semester was out of the question financially.

Once through his front door, he stopped by the mailboxes. Casually, his eyes scanned the nameplates lined up there.
Fourth floor, T. Sabaku. And just like that, she had wormed her way back into his thoughts.
Shikamaru groaned quietly and began the climb upstairs.

Exhausted from the long day, he dropped onto his bed, but the sleep he craved refused to come. Instead, all he could see were her green eyes, studying him in a way he couldn't quite define.

Finally, with a sigh, he reached for his phone and typed: Temari Sabaku Konoha University into the search bar.
Maybe his circling thoughts would ease if he understood her better.
The results appeared quickly.

Temari Sabaku—law student from Sunagakure, until a year ago head of the debate club, also known for her involvement in various campus projects, and in her second semester she had launched an initiative for endangered species. Her name, in short, was no blank slate on this campus—whether at events or as a contact person for new students. Temari Sabaku seemed deeply engaged in social causes.

He lowered the phone for a moment, wondering if this already bordered on stalking, this level of research into his neighbor.
Shaking his head, he picked it up again. Even if it did, the information wouldn't do him any good. He would only use it to avoid her more effectively. It wasn't as if he intended to follow her around.
So he kept reading.

Temari Sabaku came from a respected family of lawyers in Sunagakure and would most likely join her father's firm after graduation. On campus she was known as popular, reliable, and at least recognizable by name.

Shikamaru set the phone down again.
A realist like him knew when to stop overthinking. So he did—at least he tried.
Even if she had noticed him in some way, it would remain at most a superficial neighborly connection or, at best, a passing acquaintance. Nothing more, from his perspective.

She was older than him, from a good family, always surrounded by people.
He, on the other hand, came from modest circumstances, scraping by on a scholarship, and only sought out company when it involved a gaming night with his friends. They were, in short, as opposite as two people could be.

And yet his gaze lingered longer on the screen than he cared to admit. The photo showed her as he had perceived her too: poised, confident, impossible to overlook.

He finally set the phone aside, but the image lingered in his thoughts. For a long while his mind circled around her, until sleep at last claimed him and brought the peace he had been waiting for.