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A Little Harmony	By : antagonist Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1177 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
A Little Harmony

Shikamaru/Temari

Humour, romance, a bit of angst, fluff, eventual lemon, language
Disclaimer: I don’t own characters.
-               -               -
CHAPTER SIX
Leaning against a white bench in the park and feeling the warm sun against her neck, her face and the bare arms she’d draped along the bench behind her, Temari closed her eyes. The heat was pleasant and welcome; it had a calming affect and she appreciated it. A cool breeze was also present to prevent her from feeling too hot... all in all, it was a beautiful day. She almost sighed.
Pity it had to be a bad one, huh?
After that black-haired guy in blue practically tore off Gaara’s arm and left him unconscious, he’d grabbed the loud, blond one and carried him on his back out of the cafe. In the meantime, she was still on the floor staring at Gaara, unmoving and unable to do anything. Eventually, she became conscious of Shikamaru tugging her elbow, telling her that they needed to get out of there before the police showed and also of Kankuro, finally showing signs of his maturity, taking Gaara and carrying him out as well. Temari was half-aware of the fact that she’d been ushered into a taxi and then led through hospital doors. A nurse had offered to check her out to see if she was okay and of course Temari merely brushed her aside, finally regaining control of her mind.
Three painful hours later, Kankuro and Temari found themselves sitting beside a still unconscious Gaara’s bed in one of the hospital’s private rooms. Shikamaru had gone to check on the fellow called Uzumaki. Temari had mixed emotions about watching her brother – she’d hardly ever seen the boy sleep before; what with his having the constitution of a shark and everything... so, his being unconscious sort of made him look... peaceful. For once. She thought the look rather suited him.
Temari had been staring out the window when Gaara finally came to a little while later. He apologized for causing a ruckus. Kankuro told him off for being an idiot and letting things get out of control. Temari remained silent. Later, Kankuro took the dreaded but sadly inevitable responsibility of calling Baki-san. The three of them knew there would be hell to pay when the man found out about Gaara’s presently useless arm. Temari was grateful for Kankuro’s taking charge. He was generally a laid-back guy, but when things went wrong... you could definitely depend on him.
Temari was silently considering whether she or not she should bother calling their father, when Gaara spoke up.
“I apologize for what I did.”
Temari looked up, eyebrow raised, “You already said that. Forget it.”
“How is the blonde one?”
Temari almost smirked. Was Gaara concerned about someone else?
She shrugged, “Dunno. I’ll ask Shikamaru when I see him.”
Gaara considered her for a moment. “You said it.”
“Huh?”
“His name.”
It was a small one... but Gaara was definitely smiling – given, it was more of a sneer than anything. Temari suddenly felt awkward.
“I’ve no clue what in the hell you’re talking about,” she stood up. “Well anyway, now that I know you’re not dead, I’m gonna go see if our insurance company covers lapses of insanity – honestly Gaara, you chose a horrible time to let your inner-demon out.”
Gaara looked away. Temari could see he was trying his best to move his fingers. He couldn’t.
She smiled, “Don’t strain yourself. It’ll take a while to heal. Actually, you’re pretty lucky. The doctor says with the pressure that was put on it and everything, you could’ve had some permanent damage. I suppose that Uchiha guy just wanted you to let go of his friend.”
Gaara looked at Temari again. “Are you saying I’m supposed to thank him?”
Temari felt brave for once. The boy was lying in a hospital bed attached to about a zillion little wires and machines – he couldn’t hurt her... not yet anyway. “Yes. I think you should. It wouldn’t hurt, you know.”
Gaara didn’t say anything and continued staring at her. After having her fill of the blank stare, she turned around and started making her way out the door. Gaara called out, “Temari... on Friday...”
She paused, but did not turn around. “Don’t worry about it, dude. We’re still going, of course. I’ll have Kankuro play your solos while he’s on the drums if I have to... We’ll be out there playing our souls out.” For you, she’d wanted to add but thought she was getting corny and emotional enough as it was. To be completely honest, never in her life had she been so frightened before. When Gaara passed out, she felt the wind knocked out of her. Instinct told her to murder the boy who did this to her baby brother, but reason told her not to and told her that it was the only way to calm the raging Gaara. The effect of this inner-battle?
A fucking migraine that was killing her.
But that was beside the point. For the first time in her life, she’d seen her brother defeated. Hurt, even. If she had been any other weaker woman, she would have probably cried. Thank god she was Temari.
A soft whisper – which sounded louder than anything else Temari had ever heard before – relieved Temari and all the worry and fear she’d experienced in the last four hours evaporated into nothingness: “Thank you.”
And with that, Temari shut the door behind her and leaned against it for a while, a stupid and meaningless smile plastered on her face.
On her way out of the hospital, she encountered the Uchiha. He apologized for having ruined their lives and asked if there was any way he could repay them. She refused his offer of paying for Gaara’s hospital bills, saying that it would probably be too much for him to handle since Gaara was – naturally, of course – staying in one of the more expensive and exclusive rooms. The Uchiha had smirked and tried to retort but Temari cut him short by saying that if he wanted to repay them, he should stop by Gaara’s room before he left for today. He’d looked at her strangely before finally agreeing. She also heard from him that the Uzumaki guy was doing fine – a little bruised and mangled, but it wasn’t the worst shape he was ever in. She was glad. Well, sort of.
She left the hospital, still not feeling any better than when she first got in, and walked around to calm her nerves. While she was talking to the Uchiha, she had been fighting the urge to slam him against the coke machine and tear his arms out – it was rather tiring. Somehow, her legs led her to the park, which was strange since as a child, she’d never liked the park much... and yet now, she felt like she was spending half of her time there. She smirked when she realized she’d reached the white bench Shikamaru had given her that drink just last week – the day she’d managed to get herself into this mess.
There was something seriously wrong with her.
Maybe she really should’ve asked the nurse for a mild sedative or something. It would’ve at least helped ease the headache that was throbbing in her head a freaking mile a minute. She must’ve been acting strange because of the headache. Yeah... that was it.
She let the sigh escape. Today was not a good day.
“Stop sighing. You’re making me feel worse than I already do.” A moist, cold metallic object was against her cheek. She popped open an eye to greet the familiar voice with a heated retort.
“If you think buying me a can of pop’s gonna suffice as an apology,” she said, taking the can anyway, “you got another thing coming.”
Shikamaru sat down beside her. “I know, I know.”
Temari didn’t move but continued staring mindlessly at the clear sky. She wondered momentarily when she’d started feeling so comfortable around Shikamaru. Sitting beside him like this felt... almost natural.
“How’s your brother?” Shikamaru said at length.
“He’ll survive.”
“I’m really sorry about what happened... Naruto doesn’t listen to anyone once he’s lost it.”
“Forget it. Everyone could tell Gaara provoked him. Besides, it’s easy to tell which side got hurt the most. How is Uzumaki?”
“Oh he’ll live. I have a feeling he’ll probably try to settle things with Gaara though. That’s just the type of person he is – he hates unsettled... disagreements.”
Temari nodded. “Sounds like a pretty decent guy.”
Shikamaru chuckled. “Yeah...”
Silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable one exactly... but both of them knew there were still things to be said.
“This Friday-”
“About Friday-”
They both stopped short and another silence followed. Shikamaru was the one who broke it.
“You’re still going, aren’t you?”
Temari looked at him, surprised. How did he seem to know her so well?
“Of course.”
“We could win, you know; our quintet.”
“It’s your quintet, Nara. Not mine, and most definitely not ‘ours’.” Though she probably did like the idea.
Shikamaru laughed. “It’s my music and not yours, huh?”
Temari said nothing. Eventually, Shikamaru yawned and stretched.
“I have to say though,” he said, probably trying to change the subject. “I was really surprised with the way Gaara acted out. I knew Naruto was bound to do something like that... but your brother... he seemed so...”
Temari laughed. “Surely it’s nothing new.”
Shikamaru looked at her, “What?”
“Oh you know; you hear it all the time in the news: ‘Oh! He seemed like such a quiet man... I never thought he’d get up in the middle of the night and molest my children!’” Temari did a sarcastic impersonation of a mother in distress. “It’s always the quiet types, ain’t it? The ones you least expect – they’re the ones who wake up in the middle of the night to kill you.”
Shikamaru stared at her, looking only a little short from shocked. Temari had to laugh.
“Gaara has issues. I’m sure you could pretty much tell.”
“Yeah... but...”
Temari smiled. “When we were kids, we’d always make our father promise to give us presents whenever he went on tours. Souvenirs, you know,” Temari began, a little unsure why she was sharing this with Shikamaru. “I’d ask for books, Kankuro would ask for some expensive collectible card or something, and Gaara, he would only ever ask for a postcard or a picture or... even just a coin from where our father came from. He was a simple boy,” Temari sighed. “Our father... he never did give Gaara anything. Kankuro and me, he’d give us everything we asked for – like he promised – plus a few extras. But Gaara... he’d always forget. He always promised, ‘Next time, I’ll bring you something you’ll really, really like.’” Temari laughed. “It’s been six years, Dad,” she said not really looking at Shikamaru any more. “When are you ever going to fulfil your promise?”
Shikamaru didn’t say anything, but Temari knew he heard her.
Promises are for wishy-washy idiots.
To be honest, it had broken Temari’s heart when she heard that coming out of Gaara’s mouth. As far as she knew, Gaara had never once made a promise to anyone – nor has he ever believed anyone when it came to promises either. Contracts and signatures had always been necessary – something as binding as the law: that was the only thing Gaara ever fully trusted. Order. Power. It was kind of sad, really.
A comfortable silence settled as both were lost in their thoughts. Thankfully, Shikamaru chose to break the silence once again.
“So... what’re you gonna do about the guitarist?”
Temari looked away. Was that really a necessary topic to bring up? She said nothing.
Shikamaru looked at her. “You have a back up, don’t you?”
Temari just drained her can and crunched it into a pulp.
“I don’t think Gaara’s arm’s gonna heal in two days, Temari.”
She stood up. “It’s none of your concern.”
Shikamaru looked incredulously at her, “What are you guys planning on doing? You gonna get Gaara to play the guitar using his mind from the hospital or something? I think a floating guitar will freak people out, you know.”
Temari sighed. Was he making fun of their current situation? A chance of a lifetime was floating away in front of their faces – caused by his friends, no less... and the idiot was laughing at them?
It irritated her. A lot.
“It’s not very funny, Nara.”
Shikamaru stood up. “Well, then... what are you guys planning to do?”
“We’ll manage. Ja.”
Temari started walking away. Shikamaru was an insensitive bastard after all – just like the rest of them.
She suddenly felt inexplicably tired.
“Wait, Temari,” he called out, reaching for her arm. She avoided his grip.
“I said,” she said quietly. She was suddenly in a bad mood. Did he really have to talk about this? “We’ll manage. Now... Bye.”
She walked away, not once turning around.
-               -               -
Kiba was laughing. It was rather annoying.
“Dude!” he said, gripping his stomach. “You look like you’re goin’ to some Halloween party!”
“It’s still June,” Hinata offered kindly, spraying more red dye on Shikamaru’s head. “Of course he isn’t going to a Halloween party.”
Shikamaru sighed.
Aburame Shino walked into the room. It had always been a mystery to Shikamaru why Shino insisted on wearing those sunglasses all the time – even indoors. Did he think he looked cool in them or something?
“Just out of curiosity, Nara,” he said, placing the bag Shikamaru had asked him to get on the table in front of him. “Why are you doing this?”
“Yeah,” Kiba said, finally regaining composure. “This ain’t like you at all, man. You actually putting sweat and blood into something?” Kiba picked up a can of spray hair dye – probably the fifth or sixth one in the bag. “So not like you.”
Shikamaru smirked. That was unfair. Surely he wasn’t that lazy... was he?
“It’s a woman, isn’t it?” a new voice entered their little party in Kiba’s room.
Hinata brightened. “Nii-san! You made it!”
Hyuuga Neji smiled. “I won’t let you down a second time.”
Kiba threw a sock at him. “It’s a good thing you showed – and a good thing Hinata likes you so much. Otherwise I’dve killed you already.” Neji caught the sock and immediately let go of it after realizing it was not exactly fresh off the washing machine.
“Keep your articles of clothing to yourself, please.”
Hinata chuckled. “Really, Kiba-kun.”
Kiba blushed.
“Now what’s this shit about it being a woman?” Kiba blurted, trying to get the attention away from himself. “You doing all this for Ino? You’re kidding, right?”
“Naive fools,” Chouji’s voice sounded from behind a bag of chips. He had come here with Shikamaru. “A little more to the right, Hinata-chan. Yeah... that’s it.”
“Shit, man,” Shikamaru cried, saying something for the first time. “You’re getting chips all over me!”
“Well, I’m sorry, Mr Lover-Boy.”
Kiba pointed a finger at Shikamaru. “It is Ino then!”
Shikamaru sighed. To be honest, he didn’t know why he was doing this either.
“Silly, silly boys,” Chouji huffed. “You know nothing.” He sat down on Kiba’s bed and resumed stuffing his face. Neji, Shino and Kiba all looked at him and back at Shikamaru.
“Don’t tell me you’re... cheating on Ino...”
Shikamaru looked up, tired from (and annoyed by) all the questions. Maybe he should start explaining himself?
“Ah! Don’t move Shikamaru-kun!” Hinata cried as a streak of black became visible across Shikamaru’s cheek.
Damn, it was going to be a long afternoon.
-               -               -
Temari tuned her bass and Kankuro played with the drums.
The crowd was growing restless – it was pretty obvious the third and most popular (among the girls, at least) member of Sabaku was missing on stage. People were starting to speculate on what happened and all of them wanted their precious lead guitarist-slash-vocalist. Now.
Temari took a deep breath. She looked at Kankuro who nodded back at her.
Baki-san hadn’t said anything about not going. Of course, the three of them expected as much. Gaara was alive, and so there was no need to worry – band-related things took first priority always. It was a pity Gaara could not make it, therefore reducing their chances of winning to a sad zero, but they needed to do it anyway; if only for pride.
And they needed to do it for Gaara’s sake as well.
Admittedly, Temari felt a little intimidated. Though this was (obviously) not her first time on stage, it was the first time she was meant to step up to the microphone and tell a crowd of potentially dangerous fan-girls – and they’d arrived in their colonies too – that only two of the threesome will be able to play for them tonight. She was rather...concerned of the potential outcome of the situation.
Temari hoped that Kankuro and she would survive the night.
She looked around. Quite a crowd had gathered. In front of her, about ten or so feet away, she saw the judges. All of them were dressed in a manner that screamed “Rock fan!” and they all looked pretty bored. A big-chested blonde lady was sitting down at the far end of the table looking at her painted nails while a dark-haired girl who looked much younger than her chatted away beside her.
Temari stared a little.
Was that a stuffed pig she was holding?
Next to the chatty girl sat a sinister-looking man with long hair. Temari had to suppress a little shudder when the man met her eyes. He licked his lips as he watched her. His tongue reminded her of a snake’s: long and pointy.
Yuck.
Next to him was an old-looking man with white hair. He had on some sort of make-up that looked a lot like Baki’s tattoos. She stopped to look at him; to be completely honest he looked like quite the odd one out.
Temari sighed. It was time to get to business. Admittedly, she was a little saddened, however her love of performing and the feeling of being on stage put all those emotions at bay… for now.
She stepped up to the microphone, took it off its stand and placed it near her mouth. A sudden hush filled the large hall. Everyone wanted to listen to what she had to say. She gulped on the inside.
“Yo! How y’all doin’ tonight?!” she said, rock-star mode on. She was greeted by an assortment of yells and squeals. A few I love you, Temari!’s were heard, and of course the usual Marry me!’s. She smiled. Oh how she simply loved this feeling.
“’Fraid I got some bad news for everyone!” she said, not missing a beat. She was born to do this, given she was still a little concerned. She paused and waited for the yelling and professions of undying love to die down. Eventually, a silence grew in the big hall as everyone strained to hear what she had to say – obviously it was going to be about the missing band member. She took a breath.
“It’s about Gaara,” she began. “I’m afraid he’s-”
A distorted guitar sounded out of no where. She stopped and turned around to look at Kankuro who looked just as clueless as she was feeling. The crowd went wild and screams of Gaara! Gaara! began. The invisible instrument ripped out another guitar lick, and was met with squeals of delight. Temari looked to the right, toward the backstage and... nearly dropped the microphone.
Gaara?
A boy wearing a cloak that was way too big for him and a hood that shrouded his face walked into the light. Red hair and a tattoo made themselves visible and Temari heard Kankuro choke on his gum behind her. The strange boy walked and when he was just a few paces away, he smiled at Temari.
This time, she really did drop her microphone.
Echoes of the subsequent loud thud reverberated around the suddenly silent hall – was it normal for Temari to be staring at Gaara with a look that was dripping with blatant shock and something that very much resembled anger?
“Ah,” Kankuro spoke into his mic, next to his drum set, trying to apparently save the day. It did not look like Temari was going to be explaining anything anytime soon. “Gaara, sad to say ladies (and this brought back the original vigour of the crowd), has a sore throat... he won’t be able to sing for us tonight!”
Loud What?!’sand Aww!’s erupted among the audience. Temari didn’t really hear it... she was far too busy staring at Shikamaru.
What the fucking hell are you doing here?! she mouthed at him. He smiled.
Helping you out. Be more thankful, will you?
She stared incredulously at him. Kankuro covered the mic.
Uh... guys... it’s getting pretty weird...
Temari stared at him and he shrank back behind his drum set.
Right... take your time.
She turned back towards Shikamaru. Do you think this is funny?!
He looked at her. No.
She was speechless.
Come on... your audience is waiting.
Shikamaru hit a power chord, signalling to the crowd that they were ready to start. She watched him, narrow-eyed. Did he actually know how to play the guitar? She didn’t have a good feeling about this...
Em... G... Cmaj7...
Temari’s eyes opened wide.
What are you doing?!
Shikamaru looked at her. Hey... this is your show... not mine.
But-!
Sing, already.
I haven’t-!
Shikamaru ignored her, and chose instead to repeat the intro. She turned to look at Kankuro who was watching Shikamaru, slightly taken aback. He looked at her... What is this bastard playing?
She turned back to the audience. Gaara was their singer... Kankuro and Temari did nothing more than support him – as drummer and bassist. The few times they were expected to at all sing involved doing a bit of harmony; and even then those were small, almost unnoticeable parts. She looked at Shikamaru... he didn’t expect her to-
Shikamaru looked at her, bored. He started again... the audience was getting impatient.
Em... G... Cmaj7...
She took a deep breath. There was apparently no turning back.
Em “I wake,” Temari sang, a bit hesitatingly into the mic. The audience hushed and all watched her, surprised at this new development. She was never really totally confident about her voice; she wasn’t entirely sure the silence was a good or bad thing. G “up in the morning,” Cmaj7 “put on my face,
“the one’s that’s gonna get me, through another day.
“Doesn’t really matter, how I feel inside,
“‘cause life is like a game sometimes...”
Finally, Kankuro joined in, obviously improvising. She turned around. Kankuro was smiling at her, keep going. She frowned. She wasn’t so sure that she should... though, to be honest, it was rather exciting. She turned back to the crowd, and was surprised to find that they were suddenly back into rock-concert mode – regardless of the fact that she wasn’t really singing a rock song – she smiled. She looked back at Shikamaru who looked like he was really concentrating hard on the chords. Really... hard.
Something inside her clicked.
Suddenly, Temari felt she could finish the song after all. Somehow.
“Then you came around me, the walls just disappeared,
“nothing to surround me and keep me from my fears...
“I’m unprotected; see how I’ve opened up... Oh!
“You’ve made me trust.”
... G... Cadd9... G/B... Asus4...
“‘Cause I’ve never felt like this before...
“I’m naked around you... does it show?
“You see right through me, and I can’t hide...
“I’m naked... around you...
“And it feels so right.”
Shikamaru played a small guitar lick. Temari almost laughed – he was pretty cute.
“I’m trying to remember, why I was afraid,
“to be myself... and let the...
“covers fall away.
“Guess I never had someone like you... to help me...
“to help me fit in my skin...”
... Em... D... C...
You see right through me...
“I’m so naked around you... and I can’t hide...
“you’re gonna see right through, baby...”

-               -               -
Shikamaru almost laughed on stage. He knew she had finished the song – he wasn’t entirely sure why or how he knew; he just did. It was a risk he had to (and was more or less willing to) take. On the off-chance that she had, in fact, not finished her song... he knew tonight would’ve been the last night he would be able breathe fresh city air.
Not that such a thing really existed in Tokyo... but... that’s beside the point.
He was backstage. Somehow, he’d managed to slip away unseen by the hordes of Gaara-fan-girls, and was now trying his best to get rid of the make up that polluted his face (kind courtesy of the wonderful Hyuuga Hinata). He found it exceedingly ironic how something that took three hours to put on his face was taken off with a little ball of cotton and something called “Make-up Remover” in a matter of seconds. How did girls do it?
His thoughts suddenly flew to Kankuro.
How in the hell did he do it?
A soft knock was heard behind him. The one who knocked didn’t bother waiting for him to answer and opened the door. Geez... what if he had been dressing up or something?
“Since when did you play the guitar?” was what Temari said. Ha... no Thanks, you saved our asses or anything.
“Uh,” he said, rubbing under his left eye. Okay... maybe that eye liner thing didn’t come off so easy... “Since you played your song for me at the music store.”
She looked at him. “Where’d you get that guitar?”
“I bought it. That was the guitar you were playing, wasn’t it? I figured it was a good brand. I trusted your tastes.”
He looked at the Fender guitar bag which was leaning against the wall next to the door. Shikamaru had to admit, it was a strangely... exhilarating sensation. Being on stage and playing the guitar, that is. It was totally different from playing in the orchestra. The audience was really into the music and though they were making up lyrics and singing along like idiots they all seemed to be... he had somewhat felt a little... proud... at their attention. Unlike in an orchestra where the audience more or less seemed passive and only showed that they were listening at all in the end... a rock concert felt so much more... interactive.
But like hell was he ever going to do that again.
It was exciting... but it was too much work.
He preferred the quieter and more respectful atmosphere of the concert hall. And it was totally different music. He had to admit, in the end... Temari and he really did live in different worlds.
“What about your string thing?”
He looked up at her, surprised she bothered asking. “Neji showed up this time. You know,” he said returning to face the mirror and trying to clean his face. “I was never really into the whole competition thing – Kiba was the one who was enthusiastic about it.”
He saw Temari start.
“They why in the hell did you make me-”
“‘Cause I wanted to play with you again,” he said matter-of-factly. “I thought it would’ve been kinda cool had you played with us. Your style is distinctly different from ours; we received proper training all our lives – you didn’t. It was refreshing.”
She stared at him through the mirror.
“And... well... I like the way you sound.”
She looked away. Was she embarrassed?
Cute.
Shikamaru ventured, “It’s a great song. When did you finish it?”
She stared at the wall for a long while before answering, “Right on stage, you idiot. You put me on the spot.”
He stared at her wide-eyed. “You’re lying.”
She scowled at him. “Never do this shit again.”
Shikamaru had to laugh.
“What? No ‘thank you’?”
She snorted and turned around, walking away.
She paused. “Thank you, Nara.”
And with that, she walked away.
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A Little Harmony