A/N: Hey all, here's chapter 2. My chapters will be getting longer from here on out.

Also, I'd like to thank xenu1275 for not only being my first reviewer since I've been back on but for also giving me mature, positive feedback. Thanks a lot.

And thanks to all of my other reviewers for their feedback as well. I really appreciate you all taking the time to comment.

One last note, this chapter contains spoilers for the Hidan and Kakuzu Arc in Naruto Shippuuden. Be advised.

And with no more stalling, Chapter 2: Setting up the Pieces.

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Breakfast passed quickly that morning. Shikamaru and Temari spent the time catching up and trading stories about the three months since they had last seen each other. Temari reported that Suna's ninja academy was thriving and the students were stronger than ever. She had been on a few combat missions here and there, but Gaara seemed content to use her for diplomatic purposes rather than fighting. She didn't seem to mind her more peaceful position and she told Shikamaru that she fulfilled her duties well.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru, having already written to tell her of Asuma's death and the defeat of the two Akatsuki members responsible for it, reported that nothing too special had happened to him. He had volunteered to work at Konoha's academy more often and was getting ready to move out of his parents' home. His father had been supportive, but his mom was a wreck, even if she didn't show it outright. Other than that, he told Temari that life had been pretty much normal.

Ordering some hot tea for the two of them, Shikamaru settled into his seat of the booth they shared in the restaurant. While the weather was cold outside, the interior was well insulated and rather toasty. Shikamaru tugged at his collar gently before sighing in defeat. He unfastened his flak jacket and set it down beside him.

As he took the vest off, his shirt rode up on one side, revealing part of his torso. Temari took the opportunity to sneak a peek at what little she could see, noting that his frame was toning up nicely. But as she looked over his abdomen and chest, she spotted the beginnings of a deep scar that started near his navel and disappeared under his raised shirt. She only saw it for a moment before he straightened out his clothes, but her interest had been piqued.

"That's a nasty cut, Nara," she stated as she poured herself a small cup of tea, taking a sip. "Where'd you get it?"

Shikamaru blinked, glancing down at his shirt, knowing full well what she was talking about. While he had told her that he was volunteering at the academy more in addition to his other duties, he had failed to let her know that he had been taking on more and more missions for Konoha. That particular scar came from what was supposed to be a C-rank combat patrol of the Fire Country's border with the Land of Rivers.

~~*******~~

"Ino, Choji, anything to report?" Shikamaru spoke into his headset as he pushed off the branch of a tree, landing on another. He and his old squad mates were scattered in the forest, looking out over a wide river that had similar woods on the other side. It was the the River Country's official shared border with the Land of Fire, and the site of their mission.

"Nothing yet, Shikamaru," came Choji's reply around a mouthful of chips.

"I don't see anything either," replied Ino.

Shikamaru sighed softly, thinking to himself, 'The Hokage said that there were "numerous reports" of unknown shinobi in the area. They supposedly aren't linked to Akatsuki, but they're causing trouble north of here, especially in the Mountain Country and the Land of Grass. Of course, when we get here, they're nowhere in sight. What a drag.'

As he prepared to move deeper into the woods, Ino's voice came through his headset in a hushed whisper, "Wait. I see something across the river. It looks like three… no, four of them."

Shikamaru swallowed, scanning the opposite shoreline for a glimpse of the contacts. It didn't take him long to spot a young female ninja, about three years younger than he was, standing near the opposite shoreline and looking out over the water. She wore a thick set of shoulder pads, which Shikamaru noticed quickly. "Do you two see that girl on the riverbed?"

Choji responded in a moment, "Yeah, I see her. Check out those shoulders. Do you think she's from the Earth Country?"

Ino took the time to respond, "No, I don't think so. Shinobi from the Land of Earth usually only wear one shoulder pad."

"We can't just take that as a given," Shikamaru interjected, "The Land of Earth could have changed its armor for certain squads of ninja. And for all we know, this could be a friendly group having nothing to do with the Earth Country or our targets. Our mission is to get information and get back to the village, remember?"

The three fell quiet for a moment before they heard Choji crunch down on another handful of chips as he spoke, "Yeah, maybe. Still, we should… Whoa! I'm under attack!"

Shikamaru gasped, bolting from the branch he was standing on and making his way toward his best friend. It didn't take long to find him, as Choji was leaping backward over the ground as an arm shot up from the dirt to try to grab him. Whenever the chubby ninja would land, the attacker would reach up from the earth and try to drag him under again, only to retreat underground with each failure.

Despite the attack, Choji didn't seem worried. In fact, he was smirking as the attacker kept trying to snag him. After a near miss, he jumped high into the air and pushed down off a branch, hurling himself toward the ground, and calling out, "Spiky Human Boulder! Take this!"

His long brown hair instantly hardened and extended around his body, which took the form of a large sphere. He began to accelerate until it was spinning rapidly, fueled by his chakra. A second later, he crashed into the ground where the arm had last exited. His hair chiseled away at the dirt and his body propelled him deeper and deeper. After a moment, Choji's jutsu left a large crater in the ground, decimating everything in its path.

Dispelling his technique, he jumped up from the pit he had made and chuckled, "I think I showed that guy."

"You think so, huh, fatty?" came a deep voice from about twenty feet behind him.

Choji slowly turned around, speaking in a low growl, "Who. Called. Me. 'Fat?'"

An older man wearing thick shoulder pads similar to those on the young girl was leaning against a tree. Shikamaru recognized the man's arms as the ones trying to grab Choji from the ground. Making the rat hand seal, Shikamaru sighed. 'Too easy.'

A second later, the man's body went rigid. He was suddenly standing up straight, no longer leaning against the tree, and wearing a bewildered look on his face. The next voice that came was Shikamaru's. "Shadow Possession Jutsu… Success."

Choji grinned, shouting, "All right, Shikamaru! Way to go!"

Shikamaru suddenly looked bored, speaking to the captive in a flat tone, "That didn't take long. Looks like you've got some questions to answer," he paused to speak into his headset, "Ino, are you close by? We need to interrogate this guy before his friends show up."

Ino responded a moment later, "Too late! I'm dealing with two of them right now. I'll lead them to your location, you and Choji get ready."

Shikamaru tensed. He had been holding Choji's attacker for about thirty seconds. If Ino was quick enough, he might be able to grab the two she was bringing with her. The trees certainly provided enough shade to boost his techniques, but time was the real problem. Once he got ahold of them, Ino would probably have about four minutes to interrogate one of them. He knew her father had been teaching her how to look into people's minds for information, but he wasn't sure how good she was at it, or if he could hold down the attackers long enough for her to succeed.

Fortunately for them, she wasn't far away. A moment later, Ino flew through the canopy of the trees in a hail of leaves and kunai with two pursuers, boys their age, hot on her trail. As soon as they hit the ground, however, Choji was ready. "Partial Expansion Jutsu! Arms!"

Two massive arms swept the forest floor, Choji's hands catching the two shinobi and crashing them against each other. The chubby ninja chuckled, "Piece of cake. Hmm, now if only I actually had some cake..."

Shikamaru sighed in relief, extending his shadow to freeze the two new enemies in place before speaking, "Ino, see what you can do. Get whatever information you can out of one of these guys so we can report back."

"Right," she replied, walking up to the jonin and starting to make her hand signs.

Figuring Shikamaru had the new additions to the fight under control, Choji let them go and returned his arms to their normal sizes. Sighing, he looked around the forest floor, thinking for a moment before speaking up, "Hey, where'd that girl go?"

No sooner did he speak than the ground beneath his feat start to shift. Choji stumbled for a moment before leaping up into the air and toward a tree, calling out, "Ino, move it!"

The dirt beneath her began quaking as well, and a second later, the ground split apart, threatening to engulf her. She was quick enough, however, and she was able to jump away in time. Shikamaru frowned, looking around the forest for the last attacker. His search ended in a matter of seconds though, as the earth underneath the tree he was standing on tore open, sending it down.

Shikamaru barely had time to jump to another tree, but in his haste, he lost control of his shadow, freeing his three captives. In a flash, they were gone and the three Leaf shinobi were on their guard. Shikamaru took a deep breath, speaking to his squad, "They've got to be close by, so be careful. Our first target needs to be that troublesome girl. Knock her out and we can handle the rest of them.

"Right," Ino and Choji responded.

The forest was eerily peaceful as they waited. The leaves rustled gently against each other in the breeze and the river flowed slowly downstream. Shikamaru figured that if it weren't for the life-threatening battle going on, it would be a nice place to sit and watch clouds.

The team carefully looked around them, knowing an attack could come at any moment. They didn't have to wait long. The dirt beside the fallen tree Shikamaru had been standing on shifted again, and up came the jonin, two kunai drawn. Choji reacted first, using his multi-size technique on his arms to try to slam him into a nearby rock. The man jumped, however, looking straight at Shikamaru, readying to throw his blades at the Leaf-nin. Just as he brought his hands back to hurl his weapons, however, three shuriken lodged themselves in his back, courtesy of Ino Yamanaka.

The jonin grunted softly at the impact, but as Shikamaru readied to meet him halfway in the air and send him back into the ground, there was a puff of smoke, out of which sailed a tree trunk. Shikamaru frowned, "Substitution Jutsu." He paused as the log rotated and revealed two rectangular pieces of paper attached to the wood. Gasping, his eyes widened, "Paper bombs!"

A second later, he leapt away from the branch he was standing on. Two seconds later, the branch was gone, blown clean off by the force of the massive explosions. The burst of air swept Shikamaru back through the forest and away from his team. He landed hard against the trunk of another tree and looked around to try to find the enemy shinobi. As he searched the forest, he heard the distinct sound of another explosive tag igniting above him.

Shikamaru didn't stick around to see exactly where it was, instead choosing to jump to the forest floor to avoid the blast. As soon as he left the branch, however, he saw the ground underneath him shift and what he assumed was the real jonin emerged from the dirt. Realizing he had fallen into a trap, Shikamaru's mind began racing. Watching the man, Shikamaru saw the enemy begin cycling through hand seals.

He knew he needed to act fast, and in a lightning-quick move, he reached out, dragging his fingers along the side of a nearby tree. He concentrated his chakra into his fingertips and tried to latch on, but as he was about to grab hold, the paper bomb that had been above him detonated, pushing him just a bit harder toward the ground. As he expected, he couldn't stop himself, but using what little leverage he had, he jerked his body into a different position, flipping around so that his feet were raised into the air and his head was closer to the ground as he fell.

This proved to work a great deal in his favor, as a massive spike of earth erupted from the dirt between him and the jonin, impaling the air Shikamaru would have occupied had he not slowed himself down. The downside, however, was that Shikamaru was still very close he to air he was about to occupy. At the last second, the tip of the spike had curved toward Shikamaru as it passed by and tore through his flak jacket, his shirt, and even slashed his skin from his abdomen up to his heart. But Shikamaru was relieved. It could have been much worse.

Thinking quickly, the genius put a plan into action. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he collided with the spike and crashed into the ground. The next sound he heard was the jonin chuckling softly and walking toward him, speaking in his deep voice, "So, it seems that the Hidden Leaf Village has taken an interest in our operation. Too bad you're all they can offer us for fun. Perhaps your death will send a message to the good Hokage to leave us alone. We have no qualm with her. Yet."

Shikamaru panted softly, grunting as he forced himself to his knees, speaking in a shaky voice, "What… What are you doing here? What are your people up to?"

The man laughed, answering him from around the spike, "I don't think I'll be answering your questions. Any last words?" he asked as he rounded the pillar of earth he had created.

Shikamaru's scared face turned into a smirk as he murmured, "Yes. Ninja Art: Shadow Sewing Jutsu."

The jonin only had a second to notice that Shikamaru had formed the bird hand seal with his fingers. A moment later, it was his turn to scream as four shadowy tendrils lifted from the ground and impaled his shoulders and legs before diving back to the earth, locking him in place.

Shikamaru ignored the blood on his own chest and stood up, looking the man in the eyes, memorizing his features before speaking, "You and your group have been troublesome. But now you're under control and my friends will be done with yours in a few minutes."

The jonin winced softly in pain, his eyes wide with shock as he realized he had lost. But, like Shikamaru, his face of fear soon turned into a smirk of confidence as he opened his mouth and shouted as loud as he could, "Squad! Retreat!"

Shikamaru frowned, "We still have you. As long as you're our prisoner, we don't need them."

Still smirking, the man replied, "Oh, you still have me, do you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his body began to glow with a blinding blue light. It was intense enough to force Shikamaru to look away, and though it only lasted for a moment, when the Leaf shinobi looked back, the jonin was gone. His clothes remained in a pile on the ground, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shikamaru frowned deeply, knowing what had happened; the enemy had chosen suicide over capture. It was a ninja's death.

As the adrenaline in his body faded, Shikamaru groaned in pain and leaned back against a tree. Ino and Choji appeared next to him in a moment, looking frustrated. Ino was the first to speak, "We had them taken care of, but all of a sudden, they took off, and – what in the world happened to you, Shikamaru?!"

She had seen his injury.

Shikamaru waved her off, speaking softly, "Don't worry about me, go after them. We need a prisoner."

Ino rolled her eyes, walking up to him and focusing her chakra. A moment later, her hands were covered by a pale green light and she began to tend to his gash, "No way. If we chase after them, you're going to bleed out. Choji, keep watch and make sure they don't circle around and attack us. This is going to take a while."

~~*******~~

"Nara, are you listening to me? How'd you get that scar?"

Temari's voice shook Shikamaru back to the present. Blinking, he shrugged gently, "Oh, that? I got it in a sparring match with Tenten a couple months ago."

He wasn't sure why he had lied to her. He assumed it was because it would have been too troublesome to explain the entire story. However, a small voice inside his head told him that it was because he didn't want to worry Temari.

That voice was a drag.

Temari smirked softly. She didn't believe him for a minute, but she decided she was feeling generous and didn't press the issue. She still had to tease him, however. "You actually dueled that girl? Why, did you lose a bet?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, taking a long sip from his tea, "You're funny."

"I know," came her reply.

"But looks aren't everything," came his.

'One point for me,' thought Shikamaru.

Temari smirked, "Oh? Then why were you staring at me back at the hotel?"

'And now we're even,' he answered himself.

He considered remarking that he only stared because she was so funny looking, but two things stopped him. First, he knew that wasn't true. Temari was quite attractive, though he would never admit it to her. Second, he enjoyed sitting down. If he actually went through with that comment, he was sure her tessen would connect with his face a moment later.

And on top of it all, he was having a relatively good time with her, which he enjoyed. As the bill came, Temari reached for a few ryō to pay for her meal. Shikamaru stopped her, however, pulling out enough money to cover the costs of both breakfasts, setting it on the table.

Temari frowned in thought, speaking a moment later, "How do you have so much spare money if you never go on extra missions? Have you been saving up?"

Shikamaru shrugged as he finished his tea and pulled his flak jacket on, "Like I said, I've been working at the academy lately. And since this is technically a diplomatic mission, I'll be getting paid for my expenses once you leave. Let's get going, it looks like it's ready to rain," he said, changing the subject.

Temari glanced out the window to see that the clouds were indeed very dark. Grabbing her tessen, she stood up and strapped it to her back, waiting for Shikamaru to get up. Her mind was still burning to know where he really got his scar, and she wasn't above making her own secret plan to find out. She hid a grin before speaking softly, "So, since you've decided that we won't get any work done today, where should we go next?"

Shikamaru stood from the booth, walking out of the restaurant with Temari at his side. He looked up at the sky, watching the thick gray clouds as he spoke, "This weather's a drag, and the clouds aren't any good for watching, either. I figured we could go back to my house and play shogi until you got tired of losing and left."

'Perfect," thought Temari as she suppressed another grin. "You're on. But since you already know you're going to beat me, how about we at least make it interesting?"

He blinked, glancing at her, "Huh? You mean a bet? I don't have that much money."

She shook her head, looking back at him as they walked, "No, not like that. Your winter festival is later this week, right?" Temari gestured around at the buildings, some of which sported decorations on them, signifying the upcoming celebration. When Shikamaru nodded, she continued, "I happen to have with me a couple of the Hidden Sand Village's finest bottles of cactus wine. It doesn't sound very good, I know, but trust me, it's one of the best things you'll ever drink. I had planned to bring them to the festival, but I just thought of a better idea. We can make a drinking game out of shogi. Every time you beat me, I'll have a few drinks, but at the end of every game, you take a drink for each one of your pieces I captured."

Shikamaru thought for a moment. His father was away on a mission, but he wasn't the one Shikamaru had to worry about. Shikaku could drink alcohol like water, so receiving a scolding from him wouldn't be very heartfelt. His mother was another story. If she caught him drinking with a young woman, he would probably have to run to Tsunade for help. Luckily for Shikamaru, his mother had left for a nearby village after he departed that morning. She was going shopping for supplies for the festival and wouldn't be back until the next day, at least. Shikamaru sensed an opportunity.

"Fine," he said, "My house is empty, so we can play there. But two conditions."

Temari nodded, "Name them."

"First, we play all day, unless something important comes up. Second, I'll drink after you take a piece that isn't a pawn. Deal?"

Temari knew he preferred the climbing silver tactic in shogi, and thus he had no problem sacrificing pawns to advance the game. His conditions would certainly delay the time it took for him to get sufficiently intoxicated, but she knew that by the end of the day, she would have him where she wanted him. The only problem was that she would be fairly drunk by that time as well. Still, she was willing to take that risk.

"Deal," she said in agreement.

They walked the rest of the way to his home in silence. The Nara house rested in the middle of the forest, away from the busy streets and training grounds of central Konoha. As they entered, Shikamaru slid off his boots and called into the house, "Hey, anyone in here?" When no reply came, he nodded, gesturing for Temari to enter.

The house was clean and tidy, and it hadn't changed much since Temari saw it one year prior. It was a simple, practical building, which seemed to fit the personality of Shikamaru and his family. The main hallway ran through the entire structure, with rooms on either side of it. On the left side of the rectangular building were the kitchen, the dining room, his parents' room, and their bathroom. On the right side was a large living room, Shikamaru's bedroom and a spare room for guests, as well as another bathroom at the end of the hall.

The entire house was rather dark, with only a few lights on at any given time. Temari knew the reason for this was because the lights were placed in strategic locations. They brightened up the rooms enough to see well, but they also were usually set behind objects like plants or shelves. They cast large shadows all over the rooms, turning the entire house into a weapon for the Nara clan.

Shikamaru stretched as he inhaled the familiar scent of his home. Nodding to Temari, he spoke in a relaxed tone, "I'm going to change out of these clothes. The shogi table is in the living room. Go ahead and reset the pieces. I was gonna' lose in seventeen moves anyways."

Temari raised an eyebrow, "There's someone around here who can actually beat you? Who?"

He shrugged as he disappeared down the hallway, replying as he walked, "My dad."

She smirked as she found the table and started setting up the pieces on each side, calling out so he could hear her, "Do you cry when you lose at shogi, too?"

She could practically hear him roll his eyes.

Temari looked around the room to familiarize herself with the area. It was a big space, but it was cozy. The shogi board and chairs were set against the middle of the left wall upon entering the living room. Along the back wall, there was a large fireplace that would certainly keep anyone nearby warm. In the middle of the room sat a large, cushioned green couch that faced the right wall, where a blank television screen stared back. In front of the sofa rested a short table that the family could use to rest items on while they were sitting down. The remaining wall had nothing in front of it, instead holding a number of sketches. Temari didn't recognize many of the drawings, but a few were easy to decipher. She could see some were of Shikamaru as a young boy, and there was at least one for each year of his life since then. Some sketches showed only him while others had his entire former squad, including his late mentor, Asuma. She looked over them for another moment before going back to setting up the shogi board.

A minute later, Shikamaru returned wearing black lounge pants and a gray T-shirt, looking as lazy as ever. The cold weather filled the house with a chill, and while Temari felt it, she didn't complain. Regardless, Shikamaru went to the fireplace and began to build a fire. As he stoked the flame, he noticed that she had set up the pieces for a new game and had placed two bottles of clear liquid, presumably the wine she had mentioned, on each side of the table. On the ground rested an open satchel, which he figured she had been holding under her kimono. Instead of a normal bag, it looked more like a rectangular pouch, thin enough so that she could fasten it against her back without anyone noticing, but long enough to make it useful for carrying things. What little he could see inside revealed that it was more or less her traveling bag, filled with some spare clothes and most likely a few hidden weapons.

Once the fire started up in force, Shikamaru sat down across from Temari at the shogi table. The board itself was a slab of marble embedded into the tabletop. A grid was etched and painted into the stone to reveal the squares for the pieces, and the table itself was made of a rich, dark wood. 'This family takes its shogi seriously,' thought Temari.

Even the chairs they sat on were cushioned and comfortable, perfect for long periods of playing. Shikamaru settled into his seat and looked over the board, thinking for a minute before nodding to Temari, "Troublesome ladies first."

Temari smirked in response, making her opening move.

The first game passed slowly, with both Shikamaru and Temari playing conservatively. After about an hour, however, the Leaf ninja had gained the upper hand and maneuvered his pieces into a checkmate position.

But Temari wasn't playing to win.

Knowing that the game was nearly over, the sand princess made a last ditch effort to capture some of his more important pieces. She managed to take out one of his silver generals and his bishop before he could finish her off.

Sighing, Shikamaru opened his bottle and smelled the wine to get a sense of how it would taste. To his surprise, the scent was light and sweet, not at all unpleasant. He measured out two drinks and downed them quickly, enjoying the flavor more than he knew he should. Meanwhile, Temari graciously acknowledged her own defeat and took a drink for herself. As she set up the pieces once more, she chuckled, speaking softly, "Aren't your parents going to be upset if they find out you've been drinking?"

Shikamaru shrugged, helping her set up the board, "The key words in that sentence are 'if they find out.' So long as we hide the evidence and a certain troublesome woman doesn't tell anyone, I'll be fine. Besides, Konoha shinobi aren't strangers to drinking. Look at Lee. Alcohol makes him a force of nature. Now no more stalling. Your move."

The rest of the day passed similarly. Shikamaru would win match after match, but not before Temari inflicted enough damage to his pieces to make sure he kept drinking. They took short breaks for lunch and to keep the fire going, but they spent most of the day sitting and playing friendly games. Despite his increasing blood-alcohol level, Shikamaru never broke stride. The wine was particularly strong, and Temari figured it would slow him down after a while, but if it did, he didn't show it. Regardless of her hopes, the genius kept winning games at a regular pace, forcing her to drink fairly consistently with him.

Finally, the winter sun started to set, leaving the outside dark and the two shinobi in the firm grip of intoxication. They agreed to stop playing for the time being so they could relax for a while. Temari glanced at Shikamaru's face as he reset the pieces to the positions they were in before the two had arrived. He had apparently memorized where his father and he had left their game off and was going to continue it despite knowing he was going to lose.

Temari found herself admiring that trait in Shikamaru. No matter how lazy and bored he pretended to be, he was never afraid to lose. Whether it was in shogi or in a fight to the death, she knew that when times were tough, the Hidden Leaf Village's "number one coward," as he called himself, was anything but afraid.

She smiled softly as she looked at him in the firelight, and though she pretended to busy herself cleaning up their bottles, she couldn't help but notice the peaceful look on his face. She wasn't sure what caused the look, despite her hunch that it was the wine, but she enjoyed the sight of him being at ease.

Deciding that they had been quiet long enough, she cleared her throat and broke the silence, "Hey, go fix us some dinner. I'll finish cleaning. That's 'woman's work' after all, right?"

Shikamaru chuckled softly, "So is cooking. But beating you all day made me hungry anyways."

He stood up shakily and steadied himself before walking to the kitchen to fix dinner. She smirked as she saw him struggle, finding the fact that he was staggering oddly endearing. Reaching into her bag, she withdrew two fresh bottles of wine to replace the near-empty ones on the table.

The next part of her operation was going to require a bit more finesse. Taking the unopened bottles, she walked over to the couch and set them on the table in front of it. Smelling dinner starting to cook, she took the opportunity to go the nearest restroom with her bag to change her clothes. She stripped off her heavy black kimono and replaced it with a lavender outfit. Her top was a lighter kimono that hugged her form and ended past her thighs, with sleeves that tapered off at her elbows. To complete the ensemble, she wore a pair of tight shorts that barely showed past the hem of her top, which was fastened closed with violet sash. The outfit was more comfortable and lighter than her formal black one, and it showed more skin than her previous choice of dress. She wasn't going to be above using her charm to get her information. Shikamaru was hiding something and she wanted to know what it was.

As soon as she was set, she exited the restroom with her bag and sat back down on the couch. A few minutes later, Shikamaru entered with two trays of food, looking hungry. His plate had a healthy portion of cooked mackerel and steamed kelp, obviously prepared by his mother before she left and just heated up by him. On the other hand, her tray held a large bowl of what looked like vegetable soup. She blinked, looking at the food, surprised he had remembered her favorite meal. She cleared her throat, speaking softer than usual, "Did you make this yourself?"

He shook his head, answering in a similar tone, "No, I've never been any good at cooking. That's just something my mom made up and saved for a rainy day."

As if on cue, they could hear the clouds finally give way to rain, heavy drops pounding against the roof above them. Temari noticed the coincidence and grinned softly as she spoke, "Nice work, Nara. You can control the weather."

He chuckled, starting to eat his meal. Glancing at the bottles in front of them, he spoke, "I thought you said you had 'a couple' bottles of that stuff."

She shrugged, speaking between spoonfuls of her soup, "Yeah, a couple. Ish. Help yourself."

He rolled his eyes, "A couple-ish, huh?" he grinned softly, "But I guess it would be rude of me to turn down the offer of an ambassador." He took another bite of his meal, opened the bottle nearest to him, and took a swig before starting to eat again. Temari had to chew on her lip to keep from grinning, knowing her plan was going well.

They spent the meal in relative silence, just enjoying the food as well as each others' quiet company. Shikamaru's mind began to wander as he ate, starting to think back over the day's events. He had really liked playing shogi against Temari all day. She never won, but she was never easy to beat. A few of her maneuvers had really forced him to backtrack and think up new strategies. Still, when it was all over, he had kept his perfect record.

A few games had confused him, however. There were around three occasions late in the afternoon where she could have punched through a few of his defensive pawns and really had him against the ropes. But each time an opportunity to do so presented itself, she would instead go for his more 'important' pieces. It was true that they were nice to have, but they were never essential to his plans. All she did by capturing them was force him to drink more.

Then realization hit him.

'That's her plan. She's been trying to get me to drink more all day. This was never about shogi for her. Now to figure out what she's up to and –'

"Well, Nara, I should get going," she said, interrupting his thoughts, "This rain doesn't sound like it's getting any lighter. Might as well get wet now rather than get wet later."

'Not a chance,' he thought, ' I'm figuring this out.'

"Nah, don't worry about it," he replied, letting the effects of the alcohol slip into his voice a bit, making his tone even more relaxed and drawn out. Despite being drunk, the knowledge that she was up to something had let him regain control over his mind and send it into overdrive. He continued, "Stay here for the night and save yourself the hassle. Besides, if my mom ever found out I sent a woman home in the cold rain, I'd be in for a whole day of trouble."

Temari hid another grin, clearing her throat and speaking, "Are you sure? I don't want to cause any problems."

He shrugged, "You're fine. Neither one of my parents will be home until at least midday tomorrow." He stood up and took their empty trays into the kitchen before returning to the living room. Deciding to make the atmosphere more relaxed, Shikamaru turned the TV on and sat down just a bit closer to the Sand shinobi on the couch.

Meanwhile, Temari noticed that he was getting more talkative and his attitude was upbeat, even if he did still sound bored. He supported that thought when he turned the volume of the TV down and started talking once more, "How are your brothers?"

Temari was stunned for a moment. Shikamaru never asked about Gaara or Kankuro. She knew they made him nervous, and she figured that he just wanted to avoid getting on their bad sides by not interacting with them. She thought for a moment before answering softly, "They're fine. Gaara's been busy lately, and Kankuro's been taking time off from missions to work on his puppets."

Shikamaru nodded, falling quiet, allowing the ball of conversation to pass to her. She thought for a moment, looking from the TV to the two still mostly-full bottles of cactus wine in front of them. Another plan popped into her head.

"Let's play another game," she said.

Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully, "Of shogi?"

She chuckled, shaking her head, "Not shogi. A game more for our age group."

He shrugged, "You're three years older than me."

"Shut up, you know what I mean," came the quick reply. "Last time I was on a mission, my squad stayed at an inn. To get to know each other, we played this game called 'Truth.' We'd take turns asking everyone questions, and everyone would answer. There are only three rules. First, you have to be honest. Second, if you don't want to answer, you have to drink. Third, if the other person answers, you also have to drink."

Shikamaru thought for a moment, considering the possibilities. While he was heavier and could physically hold more alcohol than she could, she probably had far more experience at drinking than he did. It was a risk he was willing to take. "Eh, fine," he said, "Let's play."

Temari couldn't hold back a soft smirk as he agreed, speaking as she picked up her bottle and held it in her lap, "Remember, the game is get to know one another better. Only pass if you really don't want to answer."

Shikamaru nodded, deciding to take the time to go first, "What's your biggest disappointment?"

That was an easy question for her to answer, "Getting tricked into attacking your village."

The bluntness of the statement caught Shikamaru off guard. After a few seconds, he regained his composure, speaking softly, "That's your biggest disappointment?"

Temari nodded, her voice softening, "We were completely fooled by Orochimaru. He made us look like savages and traitors. I guess… the only thing that bothered me more was the fact that everyone was so willing to go along with it."

Shikamaru looked at her for a moment before sighing and taking a swig of his wine. He noted that her tone was quieter and he swore she might have even been holding back a few tears. Regardless, when she spoke again, any hint of sadness in her voice was gone as she took the game into more light-hearted territory, "All right, crybaby, my turn. Who'd you get your first kiss from?"

She thought she could see his face get even redder than it already was, although she considered that it might have been the firelight coloring his cheeks. He paused in silent thought for a few seconds before lifting his bottle again and taking another drink, causing Temari to grin wide, "Now you have to tell me."

Shikamaru smirked at her, "Not according to the rules. My turn."

They spent the rest of the evening trading questions and answers. Shikamaru was surprised to find out that Temari enjoyed botany and traveling as well as the peaceful duties as a liaison. She, on the other hand, found out a few of his secret cloud-watching spots and learned of his favorite students at the academy, among other details. Shikamaru ended up drinking more than Temari as the night went on, but not by a whole lot. He was rapidly losing his firm control over his mind, and as he neared the end of the bottle, he knew he would need to start playing dirty to allow his body time to recover. He would have to answer any questions she asked while asking more and more personal ones of her, forcing her to keep drinking during each round.

Temari could tell he was near his limit, however. She figured she had pushed him far enough, and she was ready to strike. She sighed softly, glancing at the TV for a moment before looking into his eyes, speaking in a gentler, more caring voice, "So, Shikamaru… Where did you get that scar on your chest?"

'What?' he thought. 'Why is she looking at me like that? And why did she call me by my name? What's with her voice? What's she up to?' His mind was spinning, trying to find out what she was after. It took him a moment to realize that the buildup of the day's drinking had been leading to that simple question. 'Damn. Troublesome woman. She's got me. I have to answer if I want to keep control of my head. I could lie, but what's the point? We're supposed to be allies, friends even. And she should know about this new group if she doesn't already.'

Taking a deep breath, he shrugged, looking away and speaking softly, "I was on a mission with Ino and Choji. We were patrolling border near the Land of Rivers to try to find some ninja who'd been causing trouble," he paused to make sure she was still with him, and when he saw her watching, he continued, "Eventually, we caught up to a few of them. They were… more troublesome than I thought they'd be." He didn't say anymore after that, figuring she would connect the dots.

She did. Her eyes widened as she processed the information, speaking softly, "You mean someone actually… did that to you?" When he nodded, she swallowed, suddenly sounding nervous, "How bad is it? Let me see it."

He hesitated for a moment before giving in, figuring that in his drunken state, she could force him to show it to her if she wanted to. Lifting his shirt up, he revealed the long, deep scar that ran from the right side of his abdomen to just above where his heart rested in his chest. Unable to help herself, Temari reached out, gently running her fingers over the base of the scar and tracing it up to his chest.

Shikamaru wasn't sure why he didn't stop her. Whether it was the alcohol in his system clouding his judgment, the fact that he trusted her as much as he did, or because her touch felt nice on his skin, he let her explore the scar to her heart's content. When she pulled away, he lowered his shirt, exhaling deeply. They remained quiet for a moment, their minds absorbing what just happened.

Then, in an instant, Temari frowned, raising her voice and shattering the peace, "And when were you going to tell me this, Nara?!"

'I should've taken the drink. I definitely should've taken the drink.'

"Nevermind the fact that we're talking about a new enemy right on the Hidden Sand Village's border! Look at that scar! You were hurt! You…" she swallowed, looking him in the eyes. When she spoke again, her voice shook slightly, "You could've been killed!"

'Answering that question was as stupid as betting against Choji in an eating contest. I really should've just taken the drin- wait, why is she so worried? I'm fine.'

Temari was rubbing her eyes with her palms, trying to sort through the new information, "How powerful are these people that they can almost-"

"Temari," Shikamaru interrupted, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath and relax. Look at me. I'm fine. We were going to send Gaara a message about it, but after the attack, the survivors disappeared. We haven't heard any more reports of them in the area since then. And besides, we're ninja. You know as much as I do that we get into all sorts of troublesome situations. This isn't a big deal, and you know it."

Temari tensed gently as she felt him touch her shoulder, but slowly relaxed as he talked. She wasn't sure what was worse: the fact that his words were so easily defusing her anger or that his slight slur made her want to smile. 'He's… He's right. That's just a day in the life of a ninja. This isn't good,' she thought, ' I need to get myself together. Maybe I should just call it a night and get some sleep. This'll make sense in the morning.'

As if reading her mind, Shikamaru squeezed her shoulder gently before pulling back, speaking softly, "This turned into kind of a drag. How about we get some sleep and get an early start tomorrow? I'll fill you in on what you need to know and then you can go meet with the Hokage for more information."

She nodded gently, slowly standing up from the couch. As she reached for the two empty bottles in front of them, Shikamaru waved her off, "You're. Go ahead and use spare bed down the hall. I'll take care of the cleanup."

Temari glanced at him for a moment. 'He must be pretty worried if he's willing to do 'woman's work' and clean up,' she thought, smiling inwardly, 'All right, we're even.'

She nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow morning then." She took a moment to get some of the old strength back into her voice, sounding like her usual self once more, "Get some sleep. Tomorrow's a work day, and I don't want you taking breaks and trying to sneak in a nap."

Shikamaru just grumbled and nodded, and she thought she heard him mutter the words 'bossy woman,' but she couldn't be sure. She made her way to the guest bathroom to get a large drink of water in order to hydrate her body after all the alcohol. Once she was satisfied, she moved to the spare bedroom, let her hair down, and plopped down onto the bed. Within a minute, she was in a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru finished cleaning up the living room and kitchen and made sure to dispose of the empty wine bottles so his mother wouldn't find them. It was bad enough that he had invited a woman who was more or less his age to spend the night at his house. The last thing he needed was for his mom to find out that he had been drunk when he did it.

As his thoughts turned back to Temari, he found himself murmuring, "Troublesome woman. She's going to get me killed one day."

Even as he thought of his mother screaming at him for misbehaving, however, he couldn't help but smile. He had enjoyed his day with the sand princess, even at the end. He had learned quite a lot about her from the game they played as well as when she lost her temper with him. As he climbed into his bed and let his hair out of its ponytail, he forced his mind to turn off so he could rest. He had indeed gained some valuable information over the course of the day. He would organize it in the morning.

"Looks like the game's off to a good start," he murmured to himself as he wrapped the covers of his bed around his body. "I'll have to see how the middlegame starts to pan out tomorrow. For now though, I go back to being Konoha's number one lazy ninja. Life is serene."

And with that, he was asleep.

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A/N: Phew, just over 15 full pages long on MS Word. That chapter was a doozy, but once I started writing some parts, I couldn't stop. Anyways, I tried to keep them as in character as possible, but I figured that once there was some alcohol in their systems, they'd be more talkative. Let me know how you liked it.

Up next, Chapter 3: Opening Moves.