Saturday went by really slowly, (Y/N) kept thinking about Shikamaru and Temari's date. She kept obsessing over how it would go, and if Shikamaru would suddenly stop talking to her after the date. (Y/N) felt that even if she wasn't on that date with Shikamaru instead of Temari, then she would be able to keep being friends with him at least. She had a fear that Shikamaru would suddenly not have enough time to hang out with (Y/N). Eventually though, Saturday passed on and Sunday morning came. (Y/N) woke up way later than usual, it was 11 am. She actually stayed up worrying last night about Shikamaru and Temari. But that was last night, it was a new day, and she wouldn't have to worry too much about the date because she was hanging out with TenTen herself. (Y/N) smiled to herself, and got straight into the shower. When she got out, she got dressed for the occasion and then went out to the kitchen to eat lunch. After lunch, (Y/N) did her chores for the day.
Time Skip - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chores, studying, and watching television, was what had become of (Y/N)'s first half of the day. It was almost evening, which was around the time that she and TenTen had decided to meet up. Because of that, (Y/N) quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up her makeup. She then dashed to the front door, and started walking towards the nearest bus stop, which was around 10 minutes away. Soon, she made it to the bus and stood up since the bus was crowded and filled with other people. In a few, (Y/N) got out of the bus and started walking toward the small bowling alley. When she reached the inside, she quickly sent a message to TenTen to let her know she was inside. She got a text message saying, 'look up', and so she did. TenTen was there smiling, and waved her over. (Y/N) returned her smile and walked over to her.
"How are you doing (Y/N)-chan?" TenTen said as she wrapped (Y/N) in a hug.
"I'm good at the moment, what about you?" (Y/N) replied.
"Me too, anyways, let's get to it, right?" TenTen points at the bowling balls.
(Y/N) nodded. She grabbed one of the balls and started bowling. (Y/N) was not good at bowling whatsoever. TenTen on the other hand was amazing, her aiming was always on point. TenTen couldn't help teasing (Y/N) throughout the whole time, and (Y/N) whined playfully.
"You should teach me instead of making fun of me." (Y/N) said, laughing.
"It would be impossible to teach you." TenTen replied.
Motioning TenTen, with a ball in hand, (Y/N) said, "Awh come on, no seriously come over here."
TenTen laughed, "Okay, what?"
"Like, at least guide me, I don't know, or give me some advice."
(Y/N) gestured at her hands which were holding the bowling ball.
"You want me to hold, I mean, guide your hands into the bowling pins?" TenTen cocked her head.
"Yeah, basically, help me win against you." (Y/N) burst out laughing.
TenTen laughed as well, "Wow, alright."
They finished their game, and since it was later, they decided to eat dinner. Once they found somewhere nearby to eat on their phones, they went straight there. Reaching the restaurant, they were seated and they browsed the menu.
"Wow, even though there was no wait, this place kinda seems fancy..." TenTen pointed out.
"Mhm."
'Shikamaru and Temari have probably started their date by now...'
"What am I thinking?" (Y/N) said.
"What?" TenTen asked, clearly confused.
"Oh, oops haha, I thought out loud." (Y/N) quickly said.
Brushing it off, TenTen asked, "Okay... anyways what are you getting?"
"Oh, I don't know yet, I need a few more minutes."
(Y/N) wondered, yet again, why she had thought of them. She feared that she was beginning to become obsessed with Shikamaru. Why couldn't she focus on the now, on who was in front of her, and why couldn't she just not like Shikamaru?
"Excuse me, I've got to go to the restroom."
(Y/N) got up, and tried to walk at a normal pace, and when she got into the restroom, she looked at the mirror. She noticed her tears.
"When did I start... oh god I hope it happened after I got up..." (Y/N) mumbled.
She wiped her tears, and opened the faucet. (Y/N) rinsed her face, and hoped that her face wouldn't give her a way. (Y/N) fixed her posture, and walked out into the restaurant and back into her seat. Just as she sat down, someone came to attend them and get their orders. TenTen didn't notice anything different with (Y/N).
They went on with their dinner, making small conversation here and there, but ultimately it finished after only an hour. Out of the restaurant, just casually walking around the place, (Y/N) noticed something. She heard certain voices, or she thought.
'No, it can't be.'
It was then when TenTen asked something.
"Hey, do you wanna get ice cream? I know this really good place where the ice cream is so creamy. Plus, it's near to this really pretty place where they light it up. It looks especially beautiful at night."
"Uh, yeah, sounds awesome, is it far though?" (Y/N) asked.
"On foot, yeah. We'd have to take the bus, are you okay with that?" TenTen confirmed.
"Sure, let's go then."
'But what if it was that. I need to know.'
"Actually, TenTen, I need to use the restroom real quick, I'll run to the nearest bathroom and you get to the bus stop. It shouldn't take me more than five minutes, but text me if the bus is at the stop and I'll come running. At that time, buy me a minute to run back, okay?" (Y/N) explained quickly.
TenTen, a little startled, nodded, "Um, sure, of course."
(Y/N) sighed, she mumbled 'thank you', and started running to where she thought she had heard the particular voices. She made it to the place, but she could no longer hear the voices anywhere near there. Had she imagined it? (Y/N) looked around her, trying to convince herself that she didn't imagine it. Once again, she sighed, and then walked away, back to TenTen. As she slowly walked back, (Y/N) stopped in her tracks when she heard a hearty laugh.
'That sounds like... Temari's laugh...'
(Y/N) shook her head, she thought she must've imagined such things once again. She kept walking, a little bit faster than before. Then, again, she heard Temari's laugh, just a little fainter than the other one. She walked back, and the laugh became a little more audible. (Y/N) didn't imagine it. She frantically looked for the source of laughter, but then had to aimlessly search because the laugh stopped. After a few minutes of searching, (Y/N) gave up. Walking away, she heard Temari's laugh once more, and it was much clearer. She kept walking through the brightly lit alleyway*, and she spotted the outfit that she had picked with Temari. There they were, Temari and Shikamaru sitting down eating, sitting on stools. She couldn't see the tops of their faces because of the curtains, but she could only imagine what they looked like. She quickly scurried off to where she couldn't be seen, and to somehow catch their conversation. With the business of the alleyway, (Y/N) could only hear a sort of muffled version of the conversation. She decided to get closer.
"So yeah, that's why I've always disliked squid." Temari said, happiness exuding from her voice.
"Wow, what an explanation." Shikamaru lightly laughed.
Their conversation stopped momentarily, and (Y/N) figured that they were eating. She felt a sense of jealousy rise up.
"So, did the place satisfy you?" Shikamaru casually asked.
"Yeah, the food's really good, actually, and so are you." Temari said, speaking a little faster at the last part.
(Y/N) could hear Shikamaru coughing.
"Did I catch you off guard?"
(Y/N) just knew Temari was smirking playfully by the tone of her voice.
"Only a little." Shikamaru said.
Temari laughed, "Only a little?"
Shikamaru laughed with her, "Oh, shut up."
(Y/N) had heard enough, she walked away, feeling her face to be hot, and tears oh-so-threatening to stream down her face. She picked her pace up when she heard Shikamaru's distant voice say 'the date was definitely not a drag'. Once out of the alleyway, she started running for the bus station. (Y/N) could definitely feel a few stares as she ran like there was no tomorrow. She stopped running as she saw TenTen in the distance. She caught her breath for a moment, and checked her cheeks for tears. She wiped at her tears, breathed deep breaths, trying to stop her crying. Then, (Y/N) jogged to TenTen. TenTen seemed a little bit irritated, but sighed in relief when she saw (Y/N).
"Where were you? It's been fifteen minutes, and I texted you 10 minutes ago."
"Wait, what?"
(Y/N) checked her phone. It had been 15 minutes, and TenTen had texted her multiple times 10 minutes ago. She must have been so immersed, no, obsessed with looking for Shikamaru and Temari. (Y/N) gasped, she was about to apologize when TenTen said,
"We missed the bus, I held them up for a minute but then the driver said that I couldn't wait any more."
"I'm sor-
"(Y/N), I thought you blew me off." TenTen seemed upset.
"TenTen, I'm really sorry, I am."
TenTen sighed, "It's... it's okay."
"So, do you still wanna go?" (Y/N) asked carefully.
"No, we'll go another day, I'm a bit tired."
"Okay."
Time Skip - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Y/N) was at her house, sitting down on her bed, facing the ceiling. Her mind was absolutely spiraling.
'I shouldn't have eavesdropped.'
Everything felt jumbled, she felt horrible for multiple reasons. Hearing what she heard really made the feeling of jealousy grow even bigger, and she couldn't believe that she basically ruined the hangout with TenTen. Just listening to the clear chemistry that bounced off of Shikamaru and Temari's conversation made (Y/N) wonder if she even had any chemistry with Shikamaru, and if they did, why did Shikamaru not like her? And with what happened with TenTen, she felt so much guilt. If (Y/N) hadn't gone looking for Shikamaru and Temari, she would have never felt the immense sense of jealousy, and she could have been eating ice cream with TenTen, having a good time, not feeling guilty, but feeling a moment of joy. Now, (Y/N) was angry thinking about it.
"Shit!"
(Y/N) rarely cussed, but she felt like screaming. How could she let these emotions take over her? She stood up and started pacing around the room. (Y/N) placed a hand on her forehead as she paced. So many thoughts in her head passed by, the more negative ones stayed in her head.
"Ugh, I hate this feeling."
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(11/15/21) - narut2mh
This is a late update, but I hope you guys don't mind too much :0. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter as well, and thank you for sticking around. See you in two weeks!
Feedback is very welcomed.
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*Just a little fun fact! For context, I try my best to have authentic, Japanese elements in this story, so I try my best to research about certain things. Obviously, since I wasn't either born or raised in Japan, I won't get the best depiction, but I will try my best. For this, I consider this story to have both American and Japanese elements, even if the story is set in Japan. Anyways... Back to the fun fact: I used the Sankaku Chitai alleyway, which is in the sangenjaya district, as inspiration/reference on where Shikamaru and Temari were at.