Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto

Chapter 1: A New Mission to Konoha! (Rewritten)

Temari walked into the room of the Kazekage to see Gaara standing and gazing out at the village through a window. "You wanted to see me, Kazekage?" Temari asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Gaara?" He asked, "We're siblings after all."

"I'm sorry, Gaara, it's just that well you are the Kazekage now," she answered.

Gaara simply smiled and continued, "Konoha is throwing a festival in honour of the peace between our nations. They want a Sand representative to be there and help organize the event."

"And you've chosen me?"

"Yes, you will head to Konoha first thing tomorrow."

"Of course, Kaze …" she stopped herself and smiled, "Gaara."

After days of travel Temari finally reached Konoha. "Haven't changed much, have you?" Temari said to herself, but a voice up ahead shouted, "Temari!" Temari looked up to see Sakura running toward her and waving. They greeted each other talking about Temari's trip while heading to the Hokage to let them know she had arrived. As they turned a corner there was a flash of pony-tailed black hair that crashed right into Temari! The two fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. "Sorry," a male voice said, "But I'm in a bit in a hurry."

"I can see that," Temari answered and she was just about to ask who he was since the voice sounded familiar, but was interrupted.

"There you are!" a high, pitched girly voice shouted.

"Man, this is such a drag," the male voice said, "Gotta run!" And before Temari could get a good look at him he ran off and soon after a figure with shiny, blonde hair also ran in the same direction. "Well, that was weird," Temari said, "Do you know them?"

"Well, the girl was most definitely Ino," Sakura answered, "While the guy I didn't really get a good look at him, probably Ino's next victim."

"Victim?" Temari asked.

"Yeah, every few months she gets this new huge crush on a guy and will do absolutely anything for them. It only makes it worse when you play hard to get like that guy was doing." Temari sighed; she really hated the way girls always swooned over a guy just because of their looks. She was more a girl of substance, she wanted a man who was hard working and had the brains to match. While thinking these things the two had already made it to the Hokage's office where Lady Tsunade greeted them and welcomed Temari back to Konoha.

"I trust the Kazekage has already filled you in on the details?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes, he has," Temari answered.

"Very good," Tsunade said, "Izumo! Kotetsu!" Suddenly two jets of cloud erupted on either side of Lady Tsunade and out of them came two Konoha shinobi.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," they said.

"Inform the festival committee that the Sand representative has arrived," Tsunade instructed, "And that their first meeting will be tomorrow afternoon!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage," they replied and disappeared in yet two other jets of cloud. Just then a knock sounded on the door. "Lord Hokage," a voice said and Temari's eyes widened for it was the very same voice that belonged to the guy who bumped into her earlier on!

"Speak of the devil, come in!" Tsunade answered. The door opened for what seemed a lifetime to Temari who was waiting in anticipation to see whose familiar voice that was. When it was completely open who stood in the doorway, but the lazy cloud gazer. "Shikamaru Nara, your festival co-organizer."

"Hey Temari," Shikamaru greeted, "So your my Sand co-organizer, huh?"

"So I'll be working with Shikamaru, huh?" Temari thought, "This will be interesting."

"You'll also be staying with Shikamaru in his apartment," Tsunade announced.

"What!" The two exclaimed in unison, "Why?"

"Well, it'll be better for you to get to know each other since you'll be working with each other for a period of time," Tsunade explained, "Oh and you can also do extra planning right into the middle of the night."

"Aw man, this is such a drag, I just got the apartment and a troublesome woman is already moving in," Shikamaru complained as he sighed and turned toward the door, "Follow me." Temari did as he said and they both exited the building. Tsunade then sunk back into her chair and sighed.

"Do well you two," she thought to herself, "Man I need some sake." She then went and opened a secret compartment in one of her drawers. There lay a bottle of sake. She picked it up and shook the contents. "It's almost empty," she said to herself, "Oh well, might as well make the most of it." Just as she started pouring it down her throat with one experienced flick of her wrist, the door flew open and the sake sprayed all over her desk before she could swallow it!

"Lord Hokage!" The chunin shinobi said as he stepped through the door, but suddenly stopped taking in the scene.

"Don't you knock?!" Tsunade yelled, "That was my last bit of sake! I'm going to kill you!" Meanwhile in another part of Konoha, Temari and Shikamaru walked the streets. There was an awkward silence between them and Temari was getting uncomfortable. She made a few half-hearted attempts to break the silence which soon fizzled out until suddenly her stomach growling decided to do the job for her. "You hungry or something?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well yeah, obviously," Temari retorted. Shikamaru looked around and saw that the Ichiraku Ramen place was near.

"This is such a drag. C'mon let's go eat," he said and she had no choice, but to follow. They were halfway through their awkwardly silent meal when Naruto suddenly burst into the ramen bar and when he saw the two a big, cheesy grin grew on his face. "I knew it!" Naruto exclaimed, "You two ARE a couple!"

"What!"Temari scoffed.

"Shut up, Naruto," Shikamaru grumbled, "Can't a guy have lunch with a girl without everyone thinking it's a date? So troublesome."

"Hmph, well one day you'll see," Naruto insisted, "And you Shikamaru will not be able to weasel your way out of it! Believe it!" Angrily ordering the Miso ramen, Naruto slurped his noodles beside them while shooting disbelieving glances at them every few seconds.

Shikamaru surprised Temari by paying for the meal before she could even reach for her pocket of money! Leaving Naruto with a knowing smirk on his face, they continued towards Shikamaru's place. Temari complained, "I could've paid for myself y'know."

"A woman shouldn't have to pay, even a troublesome one like you," was all Shikamaru said. Even though he called her troublesome, Temari couldn't help but blush at his gentlemanly ways.

To Temari's surprise, Shikamaru's place was untidy, but not as bad as she had imagined. Her eyes swept past the kitchen and the small, but comfortable living room to notice with relief that there were two bedrooms. Shikamaru waved her to the room on the right and started to turn away when he noticed just in time that she hadn't seen the small step.

"Wait there's a step!" Shikamaru cried, but it was too late! Temari had already tripped and was falling towards the floor, but his strong arms caught her just in time! "What a drag," he said, "A troublesome and clumsy woman." Temari then noticed how close they were, close enough that she could feel Shikamaru's warm breath on her cheek and it made her blush furiously.

"Are you alright?" Shikamaru asked, "You've gone all red."

"I-I'm fine," Temari replied. A sudden movement caught their eye and both looked to see a pair of dark blue eyes below a mass of spiky, blonde hair peeping through the window.

"Naruto!" they shouted.

A/N: So there you go chapter one and for those who've already read this you might've noticed that I meshed the two previous chapters into one with a few adjustments. This was thanks to someone giving me advice that I needed to start with more of a punch! Reviews are much appreciated!

-Born in the Flames