Note: I don't own Naruto. If I did own Naruto, there would be some changes…

A New Era of Cooperation

"No." Shikamaru said flatly, without even a seconds pause to consider the proposition. "Absolutely not."

"Listen Nara, I'm not really giving you a choice in the matter." said Hokage Tsunade, more then a little irritated at the tone the young man was taking with her.

"I REFUSE!"

"I'm the Hokage, dammit! You can't refuse me!"

"You'll just have to have ANBU murder me then, because there is no way in hell I'll be a part of that stupid team."

"I don't see what the big deal is... Suna is our ally now, after all."

"You don't see what the big deal is!?" Shikamaru howled, jumping to his feet and pacing back and forth across the room in agitation. "You plan to put me on a team with the two most troublesome women I've ever met... No, the two most troublesome women on the whole damn planet!"

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru, startled. She had never seen Shikamaru this motivated about anything...ever. She smiled widely.

Shikamaru, observant as ever, noticed her smile immediately. "What the hell are you smiling at?" Shikamaru demanded, stopping his rant in mid-breath.

"Oh, it's nothing."

Shikamaru scowled. "Oh, it's something."

"I just never thought that you would fall for one of your teammates..." She said, smiling even more widely at Shikamaru's expression. "How cute!"

Shikamaru started at her, dumbstruck. "Hokage, I think you've confusing love with FEAR. If I end up on a team with Ino AND Temari, they will kill me."

"Then I guess you'll just have to get stronger."

"You cant get stronger when you're DEAD."

"Alright Nara," Tsunade said, with a smirk still playing on her lips. "If you'll admit that you have a crush on Temari... then I'll consider letting you off the hook." Shikamaru stared at her, completely stunned. Tsunade could actually see him start to sweat.

"Alright Hokage," Shikamaru said, carefully looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one could hear what he was about to say. "I have a... that is to say... I uhm... IlikeTemarikindaalittlebit." He mumbled, his face turning red.

Tsunade almost laughed out loud. This was the most fun she had had in years! Shikamaru, who had helped defeat two extremely powerful S-ranked Akatsuki members only a month before, was deathly afraid of assertive women.

Of course, the Hokage had no intention of allowing Shikamaru to weasel his way out of this assignment. The Kagekaze had specifically requested him after all… besides, being on a team with Ino and Temari would be good for him. Still, she had to wonder what Shikamaru would be willing to do to avoid being teamed up with assertive women. She smiled even wider, as she thought of Shikamaru streaking through the Konoha town square naked…or, better yet, doing all of her paperwork for a month.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch it?" She asked, egging him on, and turning him an even deeper shade of crimson.

"I like Temari, dammit! Now let me..." Shikamaru stopped as he heard a small noise behind him. With finely-honed ninja reflexes, he spun around and saw Ino and Naruto peeking through the door. Their faces disappeared a millisecond later, but it was too late.

"Aww man," Naruto said, as his shadow sealed both him and Ino to the ground. "We are sooo busted."

"It was worth it though... can you believe that Shikamaru has a crush on-"

"WHAT DID YOU HEAR!?!" Shikamaru yelled, as he tore open the door and faced the two eavesdroppers.

"Not much," Naruto said looking at his feet to avoid eye contact with the very angry Shikamaru. "Just the part about...you know... the stuff?"

Shikamaru groaned loudly, as he released them from his shadow possession jutsu. "Naruto, you are such a terrible liar..."

"Seriously Shikamaru, it's no big deal." Ino said, trying to smooth things over with her teammate. "It's actually very romantic... two ninja from different villages, trying to kindle their love in spite of adversity... It's like a romance novel! Oh. My. God. I can't WAIT to tell Sakura... or actually, maybe I'll just tell Tenten and keep Sakura out of 'the loop' ...yeah..."

"Temari huh?" Naruto said wistfully. "She's a fox..."

"Whose a fox?" Kiba asked, also walking into the room.

"Haven't you heard!?" Naruto yelled, getting overly excited as usual. "Shikamaru has a girlfriend!"

"Who?!" demanded Tenten, climbing into the Hokage's office via the open window.

"Temari, the sand ninja!"

"Really?!"

"Yes, really! Only don't tell Sakura, we're keeping her out of the loop."

"Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"I w-w-wanted to s-s-see what all the commotion was about."

"Shikamaru has a girlfriend!"

"Hey guys, what with all the commotion in here?"

"Kakashi-sensei! Shikamaru has a girlfriend!"

"What! Who?"

"Temari!"

"Ooo... she's a fox."

"Hey guys, I just heard that Shikamaru has a girlfriend!"

"Hey Neji...yeah, and she's a FOX too!"

"DEMON FOX!?! WHERE!?!"

"Calm down Lee, we're talking about Shikamaru's girlfriend!"

"Ohh... is her fountain of youth overfilling with the youthful power of youth?!"

"I guess you could say that..."

"SHADOW POSSESSION JUTSU!"

The entire crowd looked up at Shikamaru and quieted down as their shadows bound them to the floor.

"Alright people," Shikamaru said, addressing the mob. "Let's straighten this out before it gets any further out of hand..."

"Dude, your girlfriend is HOT!"

"SHUT UP! Look, she is NOT my girlfriend. I don't even LIKE her."

"Awww... Shikamaru, you don't have to be embarrassed." Ino said, sympathetically.

Shikamaru groaned. This rumor wasn't going to go away... How troublesome. "Everyone leave!"

"Uhm... we can't leave, you have to release your shadow possession jutsu first..."

"Release! NOW go!""

The crowd shuffled quietly out the door.

"So Shikamaru," Tsunade said, once they were alone again. "Since you don't have any feelings for her... I guess there's no reason that you can't be on a team with her."

Shikamaru sighed. "This whole thing is so troublesome..."

"I'm not thrilled about this either, but we need Suna's help to stop Akatsuki. The Kagekaze and I hope that this combined Suna and Konoha team will create a new era of cooperation between the hidden villages. No more questions! Go get Ino, you two are supposed to meet Temari at the Konoha inn... five minutes ago. You had better hurry."

"Hang on though... This team only has three people: me, Ino, and Temari. Whose the fourth person?"

"The Kagekaze said that the fourth person would be announced when the team meets up at the Konoha Inn. Now hurry up already! I have work to do!"

Shikamaru groaned once more… this is was quickly becoming the most troublesome assignment imaginable.

Authors Note:

This is my first story… so I'm not really 100 sure how the 'system' works on this site…If I say anything absolutely stupid, feel free to call me a noob or whatever. Constructive Criticism is very welcome.

Oh yeah, and if you're wondering about what happened to Choji… he got put on Team Guy after Neji got promoted to chuunin.