"Lazy-ass genius," Temari grumbled aloud as she carried a passed-out Shikamaru across the sand. "You can't even make it to the Hidden Sand Village without someone propping you up. I swear, if you weren't injured, I'd beat the tar out of you."

She had already cleaned and wrapped his wounds at the forest's edge, taking great personal risk to do so considering how hostile the territory was, and all that remained was to get to a safe place to rest for the night. Glancing down the Leaf-nin, however, she couldn't help but chuckle, musing, 'Huh. When he keeps his mouth shut, he's actually pretty good company. I'll have to tell him that when he wakes up.'

She took a moment to look him over, wanting to make sure his bandages didn't need changing. His skin was pale and slightly clammy, but she had seen shinobi in far worse condition. As lazy as he was, Temari knew he'd muster the will to pull through. His death would be troublesome for a lot of people, herself included. As much of a pain as he could be, he was her friend, after all. As she looked ahead, she sighed in relief upon spotting some trees in the distance, signaling the presence of the oasis she had been looking for.

It didn't take long for Temari to haul Shikamaru to their destination. She took off her outer cloak and crumpled it up before setting it down near the water for him to use as a pillow. Once it was set, she laid him down, trying to make him comfortable as he remained unconscious. Sighing, she then kneeled down next to him and removed one of the packs she was carrying. Inside was a heavy blanket, which she withdrew and cast over Shikamaru, tucking it under him to keep the cool night air out. When he was settled, she smiled softly, finding contentment in the fact they were both safe and sound.

But she could see Shikamaru was in pain. His brow was furrowed and his face was tense, obviously still feeling the effects of the battle. To try to make him comfortable, she reached behind his head and undid his ponytail to let his hair fall down. To her surprise, his hair was soft and rather pleasant to the touch. Temari heard him sigh softly when his hair fell, and, acting on instinct, she began to run her fingers through it. Shikamaru sighed once more, his face relaxing at her actions, looking more content with each passing moment of her attentions.

Temari chuckled softly, murmuring softly, "For an idiot, he has his moments." The peaceful expression on his face was what some would call cute. Temari wasn't about to go that far, but she had to admit, seeing him so at ease was a nice change from his usual bored frown. Stroking his hair one last time, she decided to get comfortable so she could keep watch for the rest of the night. It would only be dark for a few hours, and a soldier pill would be enough to keep her awake for the remainder of the night and the next day, which would be more than enough time for Shikamaru and her to get back to Suna. Once they were there, he could heal up, and they could begin working on battle plans for breaking the blockade.

Temari set up her sleeping mat to give her a cushion to sit on, and then fetched some water for her canteen. Sitting back down, she popped a soldier pill into her mouth and hastily ate it. After she took a drink to clear the bitter taste the pill left, she settled in, ready to keep watch for the rest of the night.

When the dawn broke, Temari sighed, looking at the horizon behind her to check for any signs of enemies. Upon seeing the coast was clear she slowly stood up, packed up her sleeping mat and approached Shikamaru, who was still sound asleep. She felt a pang of regret that she couldn't let him rest and heal longer, but she figured once they were back in her village, he could take his time to recuperate. Suddenly, the regret she felt was quickly outweighed by a sense of mischief. Kneeling down, she leaned close to him, bringing her mouth within an inch of his ear. Taking a deep breath, she readied to shout at the top of her lungs for Shikamaru to wake up.

But before she could manage to scare her sleeping friend, she soon found her body unresponsive to her commands. Her eyes scanned her surroundings wildly before they fell to the ground in front of her. What she saw told her everything she needed to know; Shikamaru had her. Her own hands were formed into the Rat seal, and her body was locked in place. Shikamaru grumbled softly, murmuring, "Why couldn't you just nudge me awake like a normal person?"

He sighed, blinking his eyes open and slowly standing up, forcing Temari to do the same. Rubbing his eyes to clear his vision, he immediately took a step back upon catching the look on his "ally's" face. He could see the murderous intent written on her features, and there was no doubt in his mind that he'd have to plan up an escape plan while his shadow held.

His dead increased as he realized she had gotten stronger since their last meeting. Even in his weakened state, he figured he should have been able to hold her with relative ease. He found that was not the case. With each passing second, he could feel his control slipping over her. Temari's menacing tone didn't help him keep calm as she spoke through gritted teeth, "Let me go, Nara."

Shikamaru took a long step back, forcing her to do the same.

He swallowed, speaking softly, appearing to keep his cool demeanor, "If I let you go, you're going to hurt me. That's not a great incentive."

Temari almost growled, "You're damn right I'm going to hurt you!"

Another long step back.

She frowned as the distance between them increased, but her voice calmed somewhat. "I know you, Nara. You have limits. Just think about how much worse it'll be if I have to wait until you run out of chakra."

A very long step back.

Sighing, Shikamaru tried another tactic, "Think about it. You tried to get one up on me, I just beat you to it. Fair's fair, right?"

Temari struggled harder against the shadow binding her, "Not by a long shot. Better make up your mind, Nara. I can feel it starting to give."

Shikamaru swallowed hard, noticing that her look of anger was slowly turning to one of eager anticipation. He could tell she was looking forward to enacting her revenge, and he was sure he wouldn't enjoy it in the least. Upon thinking the situation over, he quickly decided that running would be his best bet. He recalled losing most of his equipment during the run through the forest, which gave him an advantage. While he fled the camp, she would have to grab her things and pack them up before giving chase. It was a long shot, but it would give him time to think of a new plan to make sure he lived. With his decision made, he decided to use what time he had left to start running. Shikamaru sighed, then took a deep breath before he took another step back, readying to turn tail.

SPLASH!

Shikamaru blinked, looking confused as he sat in a shallow mixture of water and sand. When his eyes found Temari, the first thing he noticed was the fact that she no longer seemed angry. Instead, she looked as if she was having a hard time not laughing, wearing a knowing smirk on her face. Before Shikamaru could ask what was going on, she chuckled, slowly moving toward him and speaking up, "Looks like I got the last laugh after all."

He glanced off to his left and realized that he wasn't actually in the oasis. Upon seeing the confused look on his face, Temari smirked wider as she spoke, "The sand here is loose. You fell right through it and into an underground river feeding the oasis. Smooth, Nara."

Realizing he was beaten, Shikamaru simply rolled his eyes, grumbling as he replied, "Yeah, yeah, you won one. Now help me up, I want to get going."

Laughing, Temari reached down, lending him a hand and helping him to his feet. "Fair enough. Let me pack up, and we'll be on our way."

Once he was settled, she quickly packed her gear up and wrapped her light cloak around herself. After refilling her canteen, she gestured for him to follow as she set off into the open desert once more. They moved at a slow run, and despite his injuries, he didn't lag much at all by shinobi standards. Then again, Temari figured that as lazy at he was, if he went any slower than normal, he'd be moving backward. It wasn't until night fell that he finally stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. Temari stopped immediately, turning to face him, her tone slightly irritated, "We're almost there. At the rate we're going, it won't even be 20 minutes."

Shikamaru hesitated, then nodded, breathing deeply, "Fine, fine, troublesome woman. Just give me a minute. I'm not exactly in great shape here."

Temari smirked, moving toward him, "That's because you sit around and watch the clouds all day instead of doing actual work." When she reached him, she unzipped his chuunin vest and tossed it away with his jacket, earning a very confused look from Shikamaru.

He cleared his throat, taking a step back, "I've been able to dress myself for a while now, thanks."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing his mesh underlay and yanking him toward her, using the last remnants of sunlight to look over her his red bandages. Sighing, she reached into one of her packs and murmured, "Thanks for letting me know your wounds had started to open again."

Shikamaru grumbled, leaning back, relaxing as he spoke, "If I had said anything, you would have yelled at me for breaking stride.

Temari nodded, starting to strip his old bandages, holding fresh ones in hand as she retorted, "What's your point?"

"What a drag," he replied lazily.

It only took a few moments for her to wrap the new bandages around his wounds. When she was done, she gestured to his leg, "You got hit there, too. How are you holding up there?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "It's fine." The last thing he needed was for her to yank off the clothing covering his leg wounds.

Nodding, she took his word for it and grabbed his jacket and vest, handing them to him. She let him dress once more before she took off again. Shikamaru followed behind her, and within a few minutes, they could see the Kazekage Palace in the distance. When it came into view, Temari sighed, sounding relieved as she spoke up, "Here we are. Just in time, too. I didn't want to have to spend another night outside."

Shikamaru nodded, taking in the sight of the massive village from the distance. As they neared the front gates, he asked curiously, "So, how is this going to work? Will I meet with your council to discuss strategy?"

"When the plan is finalized, yes," she answered, nodding to the guards as they let her pass.

'Uh-oh,' he thought. Clearing his throat, he pressed for more information, "So, who will I be working with? You?"

Temari nodded, waving casually to a few more guards as she and Shikamaru entered the village proper. "In part. But this is important. We'll also be working with—"

"You know, Temari," said a loud, slightly gruff voice. "You don't have to go to other countries to beat someone into being your boyfriend. I'm sure there are plenty of guys here you could harass instead."

'Great, just what I needed,' Shikamaru thought as he groaned inwardly. 'Kankuro. This is not my day.'

Before Temari could ready her tessen for a proper, physical response to her brother's taunt, the sand swirled up into the air in front of the three shinobi. When it settled, they could clearly make out Gaara standing before them, gourd and all. His eyes flicked to Shikamaru for a moment before he approached Temari, speaking softly, "Welcome back, sister. Your assignment went well?"

Temari nodded, smiling at her younger brother. "It went fine. The Hidden Leaf Village sent a strategist, as requested. Shikamaru will be helping us break the blockade."

Shikamaru instantly felt the full force of Gaara's gaze as the young Kazekage turned to face him. The Leaf shinobi bowed politely, managing to mask his nervousness as he spoke up, "I'll help however I can."

Gaara nodded, his eyes locked with Shikamaru's. Despite the somewhat stern look on his face, the Leaf-nin could see that he had calmed a great deal since the attack on Konoha, especially their "encounter" in Rock Lee's hospital room. Gaara casually crossed his arms, speaking softly once more, "You're injured. Rest tonight. Tomorrow you can get to work."

Shikamaru nodded, feeling a little more at ease as he responded, "I appreciate it. But before I settle in, I'd like to meet the people I'll be working with to break the blockade, if it's possible."

Temari shrugged, "You already have. It's going to be the four of us."

'Oh, fun,' he thought sarcastically. 'How troublesome.'

A/N: Well, that was Chapter 2! I honestly didn't anticipate it ending like it did (I originally had a much different direction the story was going to be in), but I couldn't resist bringing the sand siblings in. Fun times ahead in Chapter 3: Troublesome Work