Disclaimer: Don't own.

CHAPTER 2

They were all to meet together later on for dinner, Temari had a nice private restaurant reserved just for the occasion. It would be perfect if the invitees weren't so…idiotic.

They had all spent about half an hour talking and reuniting in Gaara's office, when the Kazekage himself declared that he needed to get some work done before he could call it a day (yeah right, he doesn't think about that when it's just Hinata with him.), and ordered Temari to show their guests their rooms.

First she showed the stoic Shino his rooms, he thanked her politely and left her alone with...him. She had to admit, that the dog was kinda cute. Sometimes she swore she understood what the mutt was saying. But the guy himself? The term idiotic comes quickly to mind.

His rooms were next to her own chambers (gee thanks little brother!) conveniently, oh joy. At first, she had problems getting the door to open, seemed like it was jammed or something. Odd, never did that before. Then Kiba tried to prove his manliness to open the door. Wouldn't budge.

When they both pushed on it with their shoulders, it opened. Temari was quick to offer him other rooms, far far away from her own, but he was adamant about keeping these quarters. Fantastic. She was now prepping for the dinner in her own rooms, thinking about the little conversation she had with Kiba in private, just a scant 2 hours ago.

And ever since that little conversation, she couldn't get his words out of her mind. Damn that dog boy!

(((00))) Flashback (((00)))

After showing Kiba his rooms, and finally getting the stupid door to open, she rapidly made her way to her own rooms. But, the hand that caught her shoulder had other ideas.

"Hey Temari, you okay?"

She turned around and glared at him, "Just fine."

"So…what time do we need to be ready by? And where will we meet up at?" he asked, placing his hands in his pockets, and shuffled his feet.

Was he trying to buy time or something? No, there must be something else he wants, a girl sent to his room perhaps? She wouldn't doubt it!

"I told you and Shino earlier, you twice now actually. So listen up, this is the third and FINAL time!"

"Okay okay, calm down, jeeze!" he grunted.

She sighed, "…two hours to be ready, I'LL knock on your door, and you can follow me to meet up with Gaara and Hinata. Is there something else Kiba?"

Blunt. To the point.

"Well…you see." he hesitated, and avoided eye contact with her.

"Yeah? Out with it already?" she demanded.

"Thank you." he said, finally lifting his gaze, to meet her deep teal eyes.

"…Wha?" talk about shock, was she still alive? Weren't they like…unspoken rivals or something?

"For accepting Hinata, not many others really did that before, so…thank you. I see how you take care of her. She deserves it."

Temari just looked at him for a minute. Their eyes seemed to be locked on each other, there was more to his statement, she could tell. And she had a pretty good idea as to what it was.

"You…you love her, …don't you?"

He smirked now, and briefly looked at the floor, "Of course I do! But not like you're thinking. And don't you dare go around implying that it's like that. The last thing I need is to start a war with a pissed off Kazekage over a misunderstanding. Jeesh." he said, scratching the base of his neck.

"…Oh. Well…Hinata's a great person, and I owe her a lot. I never thought that my brother would know what love actually was."

"Yeah, she's special like that. Hinata's almost too caring to be a ninja sometimes. Don't get me wrong, the girl can definitely take care of herself. But I've noticed, for me anyway, that after a while, the killings didn't effect me the same way anymore. But with Hina-chan, she would still be really upset if she had to take a life. She'd do it, but it haunted her later."

The way he was talking, it was a whole other side of him, something she'd never even thought he might have. Something almost…she just couldn't place it.

There was a brief silence between them.

"Okay, so two hours, that's fine. We'll be ready. Oh…uh, Akamaru is allowed in the restaurant, right?"

Temari groaned, "…Yes, I made special arrangements just for him, he'll even have his own platter."

Wow, Kiba thought, that sure was thoughtful of her.

"So…I'll be the one waiting outside for everyone to finish?" he joked, and she glared…again.

"Funny Inuzuka, really. Ha Ha Ha. Keep it up, and that just may be what happens."

"Did…did you just make a joke? You? Temari of the Desert?" he mocked.

And Temari was fighting a grin from appearing on her face, "It happens time to time."

Kiba chuckled, and smiled at her with amusement in his gaze, "Really Temari, thank you for taking care of Hina-chan for me, for us. Shino doesn't show it much, but he really cares for her as well. She's like family. And hey, you're family now too!" he said huskily, swinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Interesting Inuzuka, I never saw you treat our cousin Neji this way."

He mocked gasped, and removed his arm from around her, "Another joke, stop now Tema-chan, I can't handle anymore."

"What did you just say?"

He looked around sheepishly, "That I can't hand…"

"No, you called me Tema-chan." her voice was lighter than usual, purely from the shock her system just took.

He laughed and took her shoulder in his hand. She found his touch warm and almost protective, "Of course Tema-chan, we are friends."

"Uh…we are?" she gave him an odd look."Sure. I know I'm a bit brash at times, maybe I say inappropriate things, but still. We've all been through a lot over the years. You gotta know Temari," his voice was taking on that seductive, husky tone it always took, as he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I wasn't lying when I said I'd follow you anywhere, or that I'd love to know what other little noises that loud mouth of yours can make." he pulled away, and their eyes locked.

He smirked at her stunned expression, and she watched as he turned calmly and walked away from her. All she could do was stand there in the damn hallway. Still just stood there after he closed that cursed door to his rooms.

What the hell?

(((00))) End Flashback (((00)))

Thinking back on his words, she was still caught off guard. And was not looking forward to knocking on his damn door. If they could even get the thing opened. Good, maybe he will have to just stay behind while everyone else had a nice meal.

Smirking, she finished dressing in her black spaghetti strapped dress and put on her heels. Taking a last glimpse in the mirror, she took a deep breath and left the safety of her rooms. She walked slowly, comfortable in her shoes, and stopped at Inuzuka's door. She knocked quietly at first, then more firmly. She could tell he was trying to open the blasted door, and of course, it wasn't cooperating.

So then she started pushing on it, while he pulled. And what do you know? The damn thing magically decided to start working!

End result? A startled Temari directly on top of a grinning Kiba. Her face was just over his shoulder, right next to his, his hands on her waist, and hers against his chest. Both panting hard as the air was knocked out of them.

A slight cough could be heard behind them. Then Temari felt a cold nose on her arm, she turned and saw Akamaru. Then turned her head awkwardly to look behind her.

"Don't mind me, I'm not even here."

"Kankuro, don't. Just don't." Temari managed between breaths.

She made the mistake of looking at Kiba's face. This was a mistake, because of course his eyes were there too. And now her own gaze was locked with his. So now she was staring at the boy who was currently attempting to seduce her, his dog who kept nudging her, he even gave her arm a soft little lick. And she couldn't do a damn thing about it. Not yet anyway. She was still trying to get her breath, she took a deep sigh and went to get off the Inuzuka.

But Kiba had other plans, he rather liked having the hot tempered sand kunoichi on him, and preceded to wrap strong arms around her small waist. Earning a gasp from said kunoichi. He knew his friend Kankuro would be grinning like the wildcat he is.

"You alright there Tema-chan?"

She nodded dumbly, then the real Temari came out. Pushing off of him and started screaming, "You filthy dog, get your hands OFF ME NOW! And get that mutt to stop licking me!"

Kiba scowled, "Hey! He's just checking to make sure you're alright! Thanks Akamaru, you check on her, what about me?"

Akamaru glanced at him, and turned back to Temari, trying to get her attention again.

Temari felt a little guilty for yelling on about the mutt, when he was only making sure she was okay. She bent over and actually gave the dog a few pats to his head. Akamaru barked loudly, and started wagging his tail. Temari smiled a little at him.

Then she turned and stared angrily at the pup's owner, "Let's just go."

A/N: Heehee, so OOC, but I enjoy it. Hopefully you will as well. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, thanks! Oh, and please let me know your opinion on the fic. Even if you don't care for it, let me know what I could do to make it better.

Uh...No. Tema isn't falling hard for Kiba just yet, but what's wrong with a little attraction, huh? Too fast? Guess it's too late now.