Chapter Text
Thanksgiving break, Present Day
The last three weeks had been so busy Sakura could hardly keep up. School always seemed to pick up in November, with large assignments due and a constant barrage of tests and quizzes. Combined with cheer practice and games, Sakura felt the periphery of her sanity beginning to shatter.
The only positive aspect of being so busy was that she hadn’t had time to mope about how irredeemably she had humiliated herself in front of Sasuke on Halloween. Now that it was Thanksgiving break, and she was confined to her parent's house, her mind couldn’t stop replaying the most cringe-inducing moment of her life.
Sakura had decided the best course of action was to pretend she was too drunk to remember any of it. She wished that were true. As it was, her memory was tragically intact, but Sasuke didn’t need to know that.
Even though her feigned ignorance changed nothing she said, it was a convenient way for Sakura to never acknowledge what happened. How else could she have faced Sasuke again after that??
One thing was sure. Sakura was never drinking again. Her traitorous lips couldn’t be trusted.
Part of her wanted to get the whole embarrassing secret off of her chest and vent about the terrible night to Ino. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t admitted to Ino that she liked him, and she was reluctant to give her the satisfaction of her confession.
Another, perhaps more significant, part of her wanted this horrifying incident to go with her to the grave.
For as long as Shikamaru could remember, his family had been spending Thanksgiving with the Akimichis and Yamanakas at the St. Regis in Aspen. It was one of Shikamaru’s favorite trips. Despite being generally lazy, he had been skiing since he could walk and had learned to enjoy it. He’d ski for a few hours every day, get high, hang out at the hot tub, and then enjoy nice dinners out or at the resort in the evenings with their families.
This year was slightly different. Ino was spending Thanksgiving with her mom and Kent in St. John, and Inoichi had brought his pregnant girlfriend, Ashley, in her place. Ino had been absolutely livid. On the one hand, she didn’t want to go to Aspen with her father and Ashley. On the other, she didn’t want to be isolated with her mom and Kent. Ultimately, her mom got Thanksgiving, and her dad would get Christmas, so Ino was forced to have a tropical Thanksgiving.
Life could be so cruel.
Ino had only met Ashley once, and she had told Chouji and Shikamaru that she had been “completely intolerable.” As they sat down at dinner on their first night there, Shikamaru wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but Ashley wasn’t it.
He would never admit it to Ino, but Ashley was cool. She had a badass career as a district attorney, and she had hilarious stories. She teased Inoichi mercilessly, but he still grinned at her, obviously smitten. She also managed to deal with the irritatingly subtle yet razor-sharp jibes from his and Chouji’s mothers. They were both bitter about their longtime friend being replaced with a younger woman.
Their husbands didn’t seem to mind, though. All those with a Y chromosome seemed to adore her. Chouza, Shikaku, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Inoichi hung on every word she said.
“Ashley, how will you have such a demanding career when the baby gets here?” His mother asked from across the table.
Ashley smiled at his mother as if touched by her insincere concern, “Well, I’ll have nine weeks of leave, and then we were thinking daycare.”
“Daycare?” His mother questioned, judgment oozing from her attempted innocent tone, “How interesting. I had always felt that Shikamaru turned into the smart, handsome young man he is today because I gave him so much of my attention as a baby.” She paused, picking up her wine glass, “but perhaps your method will be fine.”
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and shared an exasperated glance with his father.
Maybe it was only Chouji’s mom that was subtle.
Earlier, when they had all arrived, Ashley had also proven that she could play a mean game of chess. She had challenged him on the large marble chess set in the lobby when they had all arrived and had completely surpassed Shikamaru’s expectations.
“Do we tell Ino her dad’s girlfriend is cool?” Chouji laughed quietly that first night. Shikamaru grimaced at the betrayal Ino would feel. She had already texted their group chat that day an inordinate amount of times, whining about her trip.
“Definitely not,” Shikamaru replied. “We say as little as possible,”
It was their first morning skiing when their trip took an eventful turn. They had skied (technically, Chouji snowboarded) for several hours, getting their bodies back into the familiar rhythm to go on more challenging runs before they decided to take a break. They had separated from their parents and were just eating lunch, the two of them at a lodge on the top of the slope, when Shikamaru heard a familiar voice.
“Well, if it isn’t my homecoming date,” he turned to see Temari, fully decked out in ski pants and boots and a thermal top. Her helmet, jacket, and gloves were discarded beside a chair about ten feet away.
“Temari,” he and Chouji both said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m guessing the same thing as you,” she smirked. “Are you guys here through Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah, until Saturday,” Chouji nodded.
“Us too,” she looked around for a minute, trying to locate her family. “You both remember Kankuro—" she waved at her brother as he walked back to their table, and he noticed them with a flash of recognition. “—and that’s my youngest brother Gaara.” She motioned to a red-headed boy trailing behind Kankuro.
Shikamaru suppressed a grimace as Kankuro approached them with an irritating grin.
“Yooooo, what’s up, what are you guys doing here?” He grabbed Shikamaru’s hand and clapped his back like they were old best friends and then moved on to Chouji.
“Our families come here every year for Thanksgiving,” Chouji explained warmly, clearly not feeling the same animosity for Ino’s probable one-night-stand that he did. “What about you guys?”
“Our dad tends to switch locations each year, but we usually go skiing for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Last year, I think it was Telluride…” Temari trailed off, looking for confirmation from her brothers. Kankuro nodded, and their youngest brother slowly made his way over to where they stood. In contrast to Kankuro, he barely cracked a smile and only introduced himself with a silent half-wave of his hand before returning it to his coat pocket.
As it turned out, Temari’s family was also staying at the St. Regis. It quickly became evident that the family were avid skiers, and Temari politely invited them to join them on their next run down the mountain after lunch.
They ended up skiing together for several hours. Shikamaru was impressed as Temari glided through the snow effortlessly with impeccable form, courtesy of what must have been a lifetime of practice. Her brothers were equally adept, and he was for once grateful for all of the ski lessons his parents had forced upon him as a kid.
The five had a surprisingly good time together and made plans to meet up after they had dinner with their respective families. Despite Shikamaru’s derision for Kankuro, he softened when he learned they had a shared interest in one of Colorado’s finest recreational activities. And Kankuro was willing to share.
That first night, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara sat outside, bundled up on their balcony, sharing the excessive amount of contraband Kankuro had managed to get his hands on. Though Kankuro made a big show of skipping over Gaara, saying he didn’t want to ‘corrupt’ his baby brother (who was only a grade younger than Shikamaru). Gaara was unfazed, staring at his phone like he could care less about being there.
Kankuro’s ears seemed to perk up, much to Shikamaru’s chagrin, when Chouji mentioned Ino’s name in passing. Chouji explained how she was exiled to St. John for the week, and they were spending their first Thanksgiving apart.
It was only when Gaara wandered off to bed, and Chouji and Kankuro ambled down to the lobby to find impromptu snacks that Shikamaru had a moment with Temari that shifted the dynamic between them.
They were still on the balcony, buried in their puffy coats and hats. Temari had a fuzzy blanket pulled over her lap. She turned toward him as the others disappeared through the sliding door.
“So I kind of got the impression that things didn’t exactly go the way we talked about with Ino,” he knew she was referring to the night of the homecoming dance. He’d considered making some kind of “move” but was unable to find her. It wasn’t until the next day that he learned why. It seemed like maybe Temari knew why, too.
He shrugged, “Things worked out the way they were supposed to,” he wasn’t sure he believed that, but he wasn’t about to mope about it.
“Yeah?” She looked at him, encouraging him to keep going.
It was weird confiding something he’d never spoken a word to anyone about to someone he hardly knew. For some reason, it was easier. It would have held so much weight if he’d talked about it with Chouji, but he didn’t care as much talking to Temari.
“We’re nothing alike. She’s one of my best friends, but she drives me insane. I honestly don’t understand her most of the time. She’s not the type of person I should be with.”
Temari’s eyes shifted from the darkness beyond the balcony to his own. “I guess that’s her loss, huh?”
Shikamaru shifted in his chair, choosing not to say anything. A part of him was just trying to save face with Temari. He didn’t want her to think he was pathetic, pining after Ino. Another part of him meant what he said, though.
Ino infuriated him with her drama and cattiness. They would be a terrible match.
“So, what type of person should you be with?” Temari’s unwavering voice broke the silence, and Shikamaru blinked in surprise at the bold question.
He obviously wasn’t going to tell her his most personal musings on his ‘dream girl,’ so he did what he did best and gave her a lazy answer. “Someone easy,” he said, not giving a second thought to the double entendre. At Temari’s amused snort, he instantly corrected himself, “—not like that.”
She laughed. “I know; I get what you’re saying. Poor choice of words, though.” She nudged him with her foot, amusem*nt lacing her laughter as his cheeks flushed. “Maybe you’re too smart for easy, though.” She added, “A big brain like that’s gotta be challenged.”
He fixed her with a wry smile. “I prefer to conserve energy,”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she smirked, tossing him an amused glance.
He laughed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I just wouldn’t want to wear you out skiing, is all,” she gave him a deeply contrived look of innocence.
“Sure,” he allowed disbelief to bleed into his tone.
It took Shikamaru a few days to realize that they were flirting. Or maybe it just took a few days for their repartee to evoke any emotion. He ended up spending a lot of time with her throughout the week. They skied together on Tuesday and Wednesday. Usually, he and Chouji went with her and her brothers as a group, but they managed to find themselves alone a few more times. They had formed a habit of getting their own chair lift, acting like it was happenstance. At first, he didn’t think much of their ongoing banter, but the more time they spent together, the more he developed a certain awareness of her—of his reaction to her.
He had been trying to impress her, which was a level of effort he wasn’t used to. Maybe that was why he had jumped at her offer to play chess. It was possibly the nerdiest way to impress a girl, but she had offered—and it was a talent of his...
They had been walking back to their rooms after a long day of skiing when they passed the decorative marble chess table near the lobby. Temari nudged him, brushing her puffy coat against his,
"I bet I can last at least ten moves before you win,”
Shikamaru laughed, looking down at the teasing curve of her lips,
"That’s a short game; I would hope you can last ten moves,”
“I’m just being realistic. I’ve only played a couple of times, and it sounds like you’re tough competition.”
“Let’s say fifteen,” he bargained.
“Twelve,” she argued.
“Well, what are we even betting on?”
Temari chewed on her bottom lip in thought. After a minute, she looked up at him, eyes glittering with mischief. “Loser has to bring booze to the hot tub tonight.”
Shikamaru could theoretically steal liquor from his parents pretty easily. That said, his mother could be a terrifying woman, and he’d rather not risk her wrath. He would just have to win quickly, which he was sure he could do.
“Thirteen.” He leveled her with his gaze.
In the end, it had only taken the co*cky genius ten.
Temari waded into the hot tub a few minutes before she had told Shikamaru to meet her there, anxious to leave her dad’s suite before he noticed one of his bottles of Dom Perignon intended for Thanksgiving had disappeared. It had been dark for several hours, and snow flurries lazily made their way toward the ground and water around her. She was waist-deep in the perfectly hot water, attempting to take the black foil off the top of the bottle, when she saw Shikamaru walking toward her.
That first night they had gone to homecoming together, she hadn’t felt much for the dark-haired boy. She had thought he was attractive and kind, but she hadn’t thought about it too much. Something about seeing him on this trip made everything different. Every moment she spent with him made her more and more giddy to be around him. She couldn’t wait to see him every day, and even though they would both be leaving in a few days, she couldn’t stop herself from indulging her new crush.
Tenten and Sasha had told her he was brilliant and played chess and lacrosse, but aside from that, she hadn’t really learned much about him the first time they met. This trip, she’d gotten to admire him. She had thought she might impress him skiing, but as it turned out, he was easily as good as her. He kept up with her on double black diamonds at Snyder’s ridge— his form flawless.
She could tell she had impressed him too, and she’d be a damn liar if she said she hadn’t been showing off. She hated moguls, but she’d taken the bumpiest route possible earlier that day just to prove she could.
Temari liked him, and the week was halfway over. A large part of her wanted to wait for him to make a move, but she sensed some insecurity on his part. He was so confident in chess and skiing that it had been pretty easy to tell he was nervous about taking things farther.
She considered the fact that she was two years older than him. She hadn’t really noticed when they hung out together—he was as mature as the guys in her own grade—but it made sense he might not have as much personal experience with romantic endeavors. The idea filled her with a strange boldness. There was a certain power in knowing she was more confident in herself in certain areas. He walked over to the hot tub and smiled at her, situating himself on the ledge. She moved through the water toward him, carrying the champagne slightly above the water.
“Do you want to do the honors, or should I?” She said in greeting, giving him an impish look. He looked down at her with that sexy, effortless grin on his face.
“I think you should open it since you brought it.” He shrugged.
“Okay, but you have to actually get in,” she said, putting a hand on one of his calves and tugging gently. She internally berated herself for being so actively aware of touching him. It was just a leg. He nodded and, slid one hand under his shirt and tugged it over his head. Temari tried to be subtle as she admired his toned body, but she knew she was being somewhat obvious. She supposed it was okay, though, she didn’t plan on ending the night in subtlety.
Temari popped the cork as Shikamaru slid into the water, and they watched as thirty dollars' worth of bubbles overflowed into the pool. Temari took the first swig, letting the bubbles burn her tongue, and passed the bottle to Shikamaru, sinking into the water in front of him so it just covered her shoulders.
“What’s your drink of choice, usually?” She asked conversationally, trying to ease some of the tension of the new situation.
“I’m honestly not a huge drinker,” he smiled with a slightly guilty look on his face, “it’s smoking that gets me—if you couldn’t tell the other night,”
“Ah, so you’re a Colorado boy at heart.” She laughed lightly.
He chuckled, “I mean, I’m a minor in possession here, but I’d be a minor in possession of an illegal substance back home. Probably not great either way.”
“It sounds like your dad could probably help you out if it ever came down to it,” she thought of his dad’s law firm with Chouji and Ino’s fathers.
“My mom would kill me. I don’t even want to think about it.” Shikamaru laughed nervously and handed her the bottle back.
“What about you? Is Dom your go-to?” He tilted his head toward the bottle in his hand in emphasis.
She laughed, tossing her head back, and then fixing him with a seductive grin, “I don’t know, maybe I’m more of a sub,”
Shikamaru snorted champagne into the hot tub, and Temari cackled indecorously, more at his flustered reaction than her mediocre joke. His cheeks turned pink, and he looked away with a shy smirk.
”Interesting balance of perversion and dad joke vibes.”
She laughed, the tips of her hair dipping into the water,
“It’s what I get for spending so much time with my deviant brother. I’m an expert at making people uncomfortable.”
She paused biting her lip as she thought about his original question. “It’s probably a bit on the pricy side for a go-to drink,” Temari moved closer to where he was sitting under the guise of putting the champagne bottle on the ledge of the hot tub. Instead of moving back to where she’d been before, though, she stayed close to him, letting her knees brush his, feather-light beneath the water.
”True,” he acknowledged softly, his gaze on her sharpening.
The bubbly alcohol was heating a path from her throat to her stomach, and the hot water was striking next to the thirty-degree air. She felt heat, unrelated to the water, spread over her as she caught his eyes. It was completely dark aside from the glow of the hot tub and the brightness that reflected in his gaze.
She tentatively moved closer, gauging his reaction as her fingers brushed over his forearms and grazed his biceps. She heard him take a shaky breath as he watched her, but he did nothing to stop her. She took it as a good enough sign and unhurriedly brought herself closer until her arms touched his shoulders. They both had just the tops of their shoulders exposed to the icy air. He was still seated, and she floated in front of him with her knees bent to keep her mostly submerged. Her legs knocked into his as she moved closer, and in a moment of boldness, she let her thighs part to straddle his lap to get close enough for her lips to approach his.
Her heart was beating wildly, but she felt confident. She knew he wanted it too. She felt like she stopped breathing the moment before she brushed her lips over his, light at first and then a little more firmly before she moved back to catch his eye.
They looked at each other for what must have only been seconds, but it felt longer, grins spreading over their lips before she brought her lips in to kiss him again. His arms moved through the water and slid over her waist, pulling her against him.
The kiss became all-consuming as he responded. She could tell he was new to kissing—not because he was bad at it— just because it shifted from hesitant to frenzied so quickly. His hands were in her hair, tugging her closer. It was more urgent than she expected, and she responded by trying to slow it down with deep, languid movements. She let her legs float around his waist as his hands squeezed her hips and moved gently up her back. She grinned as she felt him become more relaxed and intuitive.
It was hard to stay as close to him as she wanted, as the water kept encouraging her body to float upward. With a frustrated sigh, she anchored her grip on his shoulders and ground down into his lap, trying to counter her own buoyancy.
Shikamaru smiled against her lips. “I'm definitely doubting the whole sub thing,” he laughed as he moved his lips closer to her ear. She tilted her head and grinned as his lips moved down her neck, “I might have stretched the truth a bit to make the joke work,” she giggled.
They kissed in the hot tub for another twenty minutes before they were overheated (in multiple ways). Temari felt lightheaded and knew she’d probably faint if she stayed in the hot water any longer. They had become painfully worked up, and they would either need more from each other or very, very cold showers. It was Shikamaru who suggested they cool things down, literally and figuratively. He helped her out into the freezing cold air, and they both wrapped themselves in towels that were too small to protect them from the winter air biting their cold skin.
They rushed inside and took the stairwell back to Temari’s floor. He stopped her before they opened the door into the hallway and gave her one last open-mouthed kiss as she leaned against the wall. She nipped his lip playfully before pulling away and giving him a coy smile. They held hands as he walked her to her door, and she was overwhelmed by how much she wanted him to stay. Instead, they said goodnight, and she tried to be completely silent as she slipped into her room in the darkness.
Before she could even shut the door fully, she saw her brother come into view. He slid into her room, followed by Gaara, before closing the door behind them. Temari’s eyes widened as Kankiro smirked at her, and Gaara looked at her with a lone raised eyebrow.
“Where the hell were you?” Kankuro asked, looking a little too self-righteous. Temari tried to hold her stupid, girly smile in, but she couldn’t. She was grinning ear to ear, so she buried her face in her towel instead.
“Okay, who do we get to beat up?” Kankuro joked, apparently reading through her late-night giddiness. He nudged her so she’d look back up at them. Gaara’s expression was still quizzical.
“Oh, shut up, it was super sweet. Nothing to beat anyone up over.”
“You’re hardly wearing anything—I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘sweet.’”
Temari wrapped her towel around her tightly, scowling at her brother, “What, you expect me to swim in a t-shirt?”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Kankuro shrugged, looking to Gaara for approval with an annoying smirk on his face.
“Okay, you two leave now. I'm freezing and need to change.” She tried to say seriously, still trying to squash her damn smile.
“Mhmmm, night, big sis,” she heard her brother tease as they both walked out the door, giving her looks.
Finally, alone, she went into the bathroom to peel off her bathing suit. She grinned wildly as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t have much more time with him, but she would make the rest of this week count.
Ino had never realized a Caribbean vacation could be so miserable.
She, Kent, and her mother were sitting at a beach bar flipping through menus, driving her insane. Kent’s love of diet and exercise fads had caught up with her mother, who was trying to find anything on the menu that would fit her new diet. Kent had opted for a grilled chicken sandwich- hold the bun and a protein shake he’d brought in his Blender Bottle. Her mother was having a more difficult time.
“It’s just awful. This is what’s wrong with America. Everything is so fried. You’d think with all the celebrities that come to St. John, they’d have a smoothie bar or something.” She complained, never taking her eyes off her menu.
Ino had fond memories of ordering conch fritters with fries the last time she had been in the Carribean with her parents. Now her father was off in Aspen with his pregnant girlfriend, and her mother was afraid of conch fritters and fries because they’d been fried in “inflammatory seed oils.”
“So, what exactly can you have on this diet?” She asked, irritated. So far, she had only seen her mother drink a putrid-colored smoothie that supposedly cleansed her body of heavy metals and celery juice.
“Organic, local fruits and vegetables. You should really listen to this podcast with the Medical Medium, Ino. He’s incredible. You would not believe all the dreadful toxins we put into our bodies.”
Ino had already Googled the guy. A man who did not go to medical school but instead derived his medical knowledge from spirits. She would not be listening to the podcast.
“But you’ll still drink tequila soda?” She asked her mom, indicating the irony of drinking alcohol— a known poison, but obsessing over the cleanliness of her food.
“The tequila is made from organic agave,” her mother explained, looking irritated that Ino would question her. “And we’re on vacation.”
When the waiter came, Ino ordered her own plate of conch fritters and a virgin pina colada. Ino had always been vain about her body, but she refused to diet like Kent and her mother. At least not while she was with them. She wanted to make it clear that she thought they were idiots.
“Whatever,” Ino rolled her eyes.
Temari had been forced to spend all of Thanksgiving day and evening with her dad, stepmom, and brothers, but they couldn’t stop her from sneaking away that night. Tomorrow was their last full day in Aspen, and she didn’t want her Thanksgiving fling to end. She was reasonable—she knew it wouldn’t last when they left for Suna and Konoha, but she wanted to enjoy it as long as possible.
“You can answer that if you want,” she nodded toward his phone, glowing from an incoming call from Ino.
“That’s okay, she’s fine. She’s just calling to complain.” He had already told Temari about Ino’s first Thanksgiving away from them with her mom's boyfriend.
“I get it. It’s weird when your parents start dating. I hated it at first.”
He looked over at her, entranced by the way she glowed in the firelight. “When did your dad marry your stepmom?” He asked
“I was twelve. Not a fun age to begin with,” she laughed softly.
“Did your mom ever remarry?” He asked, brushing his hand over hers absentmindedly.
“No, she died giving birth to Gaara,”
His mouth parted slightly in surprise. “I’m sorry,” he took her hand gently, and despite making out with him the night before, the brush of his fingertips over hers felt deeply intimate.
She didn’t want to talk about that—to end the night on such a heavy note. She changed the subject, squeezing his hand and holding it in her lap.
“Hey, so what if…” suddenly, she felt nervous and awkward, but she didn’t let it show aside from the slight blush that was hopefully concealed by the flickering fire light, “what if the next time I visit Tenten, we hang out?”
Her heart beat faster as a tiny smile crept over his lips, “you’d want to?”
She couldn’t suppress the silly grin tugging at her cheeks at his ridiculously unwarranted insecurity. As if she hadn’t flirted with him, made the first move, and made her attraction to him very clear the night before.
“For someone so smart, you need a lot of hints,” she smirked, biting down on her laugh to suppress a giggle.
And to be clear—Temari almost never giggled. The fact that she was reduced to a giggly, flirtatious, blushing mess was wholly unnatural and a bit horrifying for her. She tried to hide it as well as she could to keep her dignity intact.
Shikamaru’s thumb rose to where her lip was pressed between her teeth, and he ran the pads of his thumb over it until she released it with a quiet gasp.
When he leaned forward and captured her lips in his, it was different than the night before. Calmer—sweeter. They were more emotionally connected, whereas the night before had been more physical. She felt slightly dizzy as she felt his fingers tangle in her hair.
It was amazing what could happen in a week.
Thanksgiving dinner had been annoying, frustrating, and different, but it hadn’t been tragic. Why was Ino panicking like something horrific had happened?
They had had Thanksgiving dinner at one of the resort’s restaurants, just the three of them. It had been lonely and quiet, and Ino scoffed at the limited food on her mom and Kent’s plates.
She tuned out her mother as she talked about the gorgeous real estate she had seen along the coast on her catamaran outing that day. She couldn’t stop thinking about Aspen—what they had done last year and what they were doing this year without her.
Immediately after dinner, she tried to call Shikamaru, but it went to voicemail.
Her eyes started prickling with frustration. Couldn’t he ever answer his damn phone? Didn’t he know how horrible this week had been for her??
She tried Chouji, and relief filled her when she heard his voice. She wasn’t even annoyed to hear chewing and smacking over the phone.
“Are you still eating? It’s like ten there?” She mused.
“I ordered extra to go.” He explained, mouth clearly full.
“Chouji, I—“ Ino felt her voice crack, and a sob escaped her.
“Ino, what’s going on?” Chouji asked, voice suddenly clear, unencumbered by food.
Her voice shook, “Everything’s different, and I hate it. What if I never have Thanksgiving with you guys again?”
“We missed you too much. We won’t let that happen.” He reassured her gently. He had always been so caring and sweet, and she missed him desperately.
“D-did my dad seem happy?” She choked back more tears, trying not to overwhelm Chouji by crying in his ear.
“Yeah, he seems happy, but I know he wishes you were here.” Her attempts seemed to be for nothing; her sobs broke through, and she started crying even harder.
“Hey—hey, I know what will make you happy,” Chouji said, waiting for her to quiet down. “I’ve got some gossip you’re going to love,” he said, trying to make his voice enticing. She gave him a small sniffle, encouraging him to go on. She hoped it was something good, like Ashley skiing into a tree and getting a nasty concussion. “Shikamaru has some kind of a 'thing' going on with that girl from homecoming…”
Ino’s brows furrowed. They had mentioned over text that they had run into Kankuro and Temari and their younger brother. “He wh-what?” She gasped, unable to envision it.
“Yeah, they’ve been obviously into each other all week, and when I asked Shikamaru if anything happened last night, he got all pink and awkward,” Chouji laughed loudly into the speakers, and Ino grimaced, holding it farther from her ear.
“They hooked up?” She asked, unable to conceal the shock in her voice.
“Yeah, I think so. He’s off doing something with her now.”
Ino felt her stomach tighten, and she could feel her curiosity giving away to her grief again. She didn’t say anything, worried she’d cry again.
“Anyway, I know how excited you were when things started happening with me and Sasha, so I figured you’d love this.”
Ino took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from wavering. “You're right, Chouji. That’s awesome. Thanks for telling me. I feel better. I’m gonna go.” She rushed the last few words and ended the call before her sobs could give her grief away.
She wasn’t sure why, but nothing about what Chouji told her made her happy. She actually felt worse than she did before she called. She had been giddy with excitement when Chouji and Sasha had gotten together. She had been so proud of him and had thought it was utterly adorable. Something about Shikamaru and Temari, though, was different. She didn’t think it was cute. She wasn’t bouncing with joyful gossip. She didn't feel like texting Sakura the juicy details.
Instead, she felt betrayed. Betrayed and more alone than she had ever felt in her entire life.
Ino gasped, taking in shaky, painful breaths as she let water, as hot as she could stand, roll down her shoulders. When her sobs wracked he body so much she could hardly stand, she sat and leaned against the cool tiles, willing her body to stop shaking.
She had never felt so painfully alone. She had been living in an alternate reality, and now that the truth was plain in front of her, she just felt deluded.
Her parents were actors. Her entire life was scripted. Had any of their interactions been genuine? When did everything fall apart, and why hadn’t she noticed?
She desperately wanted to go home. She couldn’t ever remember hating a vacation so much. Thanksgiving was supposed to be sharing horrified glances with Shikamaru when Chouji got up for his fifth plate of food. It was supposed to be cozy blankets. It was supposed to be Shikamaru grumbling about how predictable her Hallmark Christmas movies were and Chouji holding back tears when the protagonist decided to stay to run the Christmas tree farm. It was supposed to be her mom laughing with Mrs. Akimichi and Mrs. Nara over mulled wine. It was her dad challenging Shikamaru to a game of chess and whining for the rest of the trip after he’d lost.
The holidays were about family, and Kent wasn’t her family. The Akimichis and the Nara’s were her family. How was it that she and her mother had to listen to Kent discuss the tryptophan content of turkey while Ashley and Temari took their places in Aspen?
Another sob shuddered through her body at that. She had never been jealous or territorial, but something about Shikamaru being so happy—not even missing her—crushed her.
Didn’t he care that she was suffocating? How would he feel if he saw her collapsed on the bottom of the shower? He deserved to be filled with as much guilt as she was in pain.
It was a simple realization: nothing would ever be the same. This was just the first of all of the holidays. Thanksgiving had been different, and Christmas would be, too. She was no longer the center of her parent's world. Or her friends' worlds. Chouji had Sasha and Shikamaru had Temari. She was utterly alone, and none of them even noticed.
They were all happy. And she knew what they thought. They thought she was spoiled and dramatic because she was on a luxurious vacation crying like a spoiled brat. But what good was a vacation when you were alone? Didn’t that make her less shallow? She didn’t care about her own personal plunge pool or how towels, artfully folded into swans, rested on her bed each night. She didn’t give a sh*t about the thread count of the hotel sheets or the Malin Goetz shampoo. She just wanted to be with her parents and Chouji and Shikamaru, and most of all, she wanted Kent and Ashley to fall off the face of the f*cking earth.
She had finally dried off and was burrowed under the covers when Shikamaru called her back. She answered after a few rings, still feeling bitter that he had been off kissing some girl while she had the worst night of her life.
“Hey, sorry I missed your call. Chouji said you’re not having the best time.” She heard his low voice come through the phone. She scoffed at the understatement of the millennia.
“Yeah, it sucks,” she said tonelessly. She had no energy to tell him everything that was wrong.
“It can’t be that bad. You love the beach.”
She rolled her eyes. “Shikamaru, you’re the f*cking worst at comforting people. You’re not supposed to invalidate my feelings!”
“I don’t know, you sound a little bit more like yourself yelling at me.”
“I hate you.” She glowered petulantly, letting his familiar laugh fill her ear.
“Did you watch your first Hallmark Christmas movie of the season?” He asked, shifting topics.
She groaned, “I didn’t even feel like doing that. It’s so freaking sunny here, it feels wrong to watch a holiday movie.”
“Oh no, not too much sun.” He teased, “You must be having a terrible time.”
“I know you think I’m crazy,” she murmured, “I know I’m supposed to be happy because it’s sunny and warm and beautiful, and there are unlimited fruity drinks, but I just want to go home.” Her voice was pathetic in her own ears, and she frowned, hearing how it wavered. “Like, I know it could be worse. Someone could be dead. Or we could be poor and have to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Olive Garden. I know that I have it good. It just feels awful.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy, Ino.” He said softly.
“Really?”
“Nah—well, not for being sad. I do think you’re a little crazy for thinking Olive Garden is rock bottom.” He chuckled. She knew he was trying to get her to laugh, but she couldn’t. “Hey, think of it this way,” he continued, trying to cheer her up. “It’s kind of like you’re the lead in a Hallmark movie at the very beginning. You know how they always start… everything sucks for the girl—she gets fired from her big corporate job, or her investment banker boyfriend cheats on her. But then she meets some lumberjack and decorates a Christmas tree with him, and she finds her true self and learns she doesn’t have to wear stilettos all the time,”
Ino had cracked a small smile, but she shook her head, sighing miserably. “There are no sexy lumberjacks at the beach, Shikamaru,”
“I’m sure even lumberjacks vacation, Ino,”
“And I love my shoes,” she cried. She could hear him sighing on the other end of the phone.
“You only have one more day, then you’ll be home,” he reassured her. He was being unusually patient with her, and just like she had when she talked with Chouji, she began to miss him desperately.
“Don’t have any more fun without me,” she said in barely a whisper.
“Never.” He promised her, though she could hear the humor in his voice. She thought about what he said and took a deep breath—just one more day.
“I miss you guys.”
“We miss you too, Ino.”
He couldn’t help but think, as they skied together on that last day, that something about Temari was so simple. She was straightforward. She said what she meant and did what she wanted. She took charge but wasn’t bossy. He liked her.
Being with her felt comfortable but also weirdly thrilling. The entire week had felt like an adventure, but he had felt relaxed and safe. Temari was fun, witty, and sexy.
She was always making fun of him, but never in ways that were actually mean. Usually, they were compliments disguised in a teasing tone.
They were each convinced the other was the better skier, but they seemed pretty evenly matched. It was Friday when one of them finally fell for the first time—Temari.
She had been ahead of him, swiveling around moguls, and she must have gotten the tip of her ski buried in the snow because she flew sideways toward the edge of the slope where the snow was less worn and more puffy. He sped up anxiously to ensure she was okay and was relieved to find her laughing and brushing snow out of her hair cumbersomely with a gloved hand.
He glided in front of her, where she lay in a tangle of skis, poles, and snow, with pink cheeks barely poking out from her goggles.
“Are you okay?” He asked, taking her in.
“Yes, I don’t even know what happened. It didn’t hurt, though,” she made no attempts to move, so Shikamaru reached out to give her a hand. He couldn’t say he was that surprised when he felt her tug on his hand, pulling him forward. He collapsed next to her with a grunt and an exasperated laugh. He turned his head to look at her guilty grin and couldn’t help but lean forward. Unfortunately, their goggles banged together before their lips could touch, and they both burst out laughing at their awkward, failed kiss.
And then he realized that being with Temari was exactly what he had told her he wanted—
Being with Temari was easy.
