Belong

Part 2: It's How I Feel

"Yes ... i feel the same way."

She couldn't make the thoughts go away nor how they made her feel it was like her brain hit the repeat button. They kept ringing in her head, those words she uttered. She still questioned if she made the right decision. She'd came here to heal, to be rid of the negativity not for love or a relationship.

Kankuro out of love gave him the greenlight to move to another place for some time. She left her brothers, her friends and the good citizens of the Hidden Sand Village by themselves, sure Gaara is there and will do anything even go to extreme lengths to protect the village so will Kankuro as well. But she felt like she deserted them, despite how unhealthy it was for her being there she still loved her home. Instead of  doing all she could to get better so she can head back home, here she was getting involved in the very same thing that led her here.

No doubt she felt it was selfish of her, but the heart wants what it wants. And maybe, just maybe it'll be different this time, she laughed at how naive and hopeful she was but she just couldn't help it.

---------

"What?!"  She exclaimed.

"Yeah." Shikamaru says, scratching the back of his neck. A gesture he seems to do when feeling embarrassed.

"Well, this is a jaw dropper, Shikamaru. I mean, i know I advised you to tell her but I wasn't sure if you'd actually go through with it. It's so out of character." Ino says. "But I'm so happy for you. Although i have to say, i never thought she'd ever feel that way about you. I'm so glad you two are together. You must really like her if you actually went ahead with what you did."

"Yeah, she's... really special." He says looking down at the ground.

"I can tell. But I know what you feel is more than that, right?"

"What do you mean?" He asks and finally faces her.

"I'm saying I know you and if you just... 'liked' her, you wouldn't have had the heart to do it. You would've just dismissed your feelings. But you didn't, you actually went up to her and showed her how you feel. So that's why I'm asking, how does she really make you feel?"

He was amazed at what she'd said. He knew it shouldn't be a surprise considering they've known each other basically their whole lives but he was still amazed. But she was right though.

"When I'm with her i get this feeling, i get this need, this urge to protect her. I realized it when we were in the Hidden Tree village. Ever since then, i haven't really been the same. When I'm not with her, i feel like.. Like a part of my life is missing, a part of me but it's entirely different when I'm around her, it's quite the opposite. That's how I really feel about her. At first it was a drag but now I've accepted it and I'm glad that I did. She can be a difficult sometimes but it doesn't change how i feel, it's almost the opposite."

"That's so beautiful. But how're you going to sustain your relationship when she goes back to the Hidden Sand?" Ino asks.

"I don't know. I guess we'll manage."

"Why is she even here in the first place. It's almost like she lives in the Leaf now."

"I don't know. She never told me why." He half lies.

"Well, i think it'd be wise to make the most of it while she's here."

"What?"

"I'm saying spend as much time as you can with her while she's in the village. Maybe you can buy her flowers when you go see her today after training and since we haven't been assigned to any mission yet, you could take advantage of that."

"Buy her flowers?"

"Yeah, that's what girls like. Trust me." Ino says confidently.

He just knew flowers could be a bad idea. What if she didn't like them or what if he gets her flowers she didn't like. He found it silly, ruminating on the thought of getting her flowers or not. She'd always seemed so stoic. But still, she followed Ino's advice anyway.

The training with his team went well, he didn't zone out like last time which consequently ended up with him getting hurt and he was thankful. As soon as training concluded he hurried to get those flowers, it wasn't a lot of them but it wasn't a few of them either, they were just enough. He still found bringing her flowers silly, perhaps because he wasn't the type to actually bring anyone flowers but...

"Im saying spend as much time as you can with her while she's in the village."

Ino's words rang in his head. He still didn't understand why Temari was here but it no longer mattered. There was no telling when Temari will up and go back home, he knew that. And so he hurried to her. He'd been fighting the urge to see her anyway.

Before he knew it, he arrived.

"Hey." A voice calls out, with his fist just a few inches away from the door.

It was her. She still looked as beautiful as ever with her tied in four ponytails wearing a white blouse and a short skirt showing off her legs and with a fishnet showing on her right thigh.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost." She says as she steps closer to him. "I thought I told you to stop staring at me like that."

"I forget." He says with his usual smile.

"What's that?"

"Oh these. Here." He sticks out his handful-of flowers to her. The embarrassment was evident on his face.

"I never would've taken you to be the type to bring a girl flowers." Temari says in between her giggling. "You should see your face."

"I just thought I'd bring you some."

She loved making him feel uncomfortable, it had always been amusing seeing him this way even in their younger days she'd tease him even when she wasn't aware of it. She loved antagonizing this lazy idiot in front of her.