"Hey! What jutsus is the legendary sanin teaching Naruto?" I bet its super-pervy! Well, I'm not letting him beat me! I'll develop my own sexy jutsu!"

Had it been anyone but him in the situation, he would have found this hilarious...

"Are you sure it's only one more year? I hope your right I miss him so much! Can you ask around to make sure it's true?"

"But who would teach it to me? No one knew it but him... Do you know the sexy jutsu? Probably not, you're too lame."

Shikamaru tried desperately to ignore Konohamaru and Moegi with little success. As he lay in the shade looking up at the golden sky, they sandwiched him in with their loud and obnoxious questions. Bunch of brats. Udon had decided to be quiet and let his nose drip from a distance.

"I bet you I miss Naruto-kun more then Sakura-chan does! She's ugly. Don't you think Sakura-chan is ugly, sensei? Cause' she is!"

"Hey, Shikamaru! Are you listening to me? You better not try to ignore me! Iruka sensei can't ignore me so what makes you think you can, huh huh?"

The chuunin was beginning to grit his teeth as he was slowly slipping away into madness... He would at least stay sane enough to think up a good "I resign from being a recreation sensei" speech... It had to be something good to convince Asuma sensei and his dad.

"I bet you when we see Naruto-kun again he'll be all big and strong! I can't wait to feel his muscles! You should start lifting weights, sensei. That way you won't look so weak in front of him.

"Shika is a loser! Shika is a loser! Shika is a loser! Shika is a loser! Shika is a loser! Shika is a loser!" Konohamaru sang his taunts.

"Okay, Shikamaru, this is what we'll do... Just punch them in the face. I know it's troublesome to be so violent, but think about it... not only will it teach them never to be pains in the ass again, but you'll definitely get fired for child abuse. You can't lose. It's brilliant. Okay... on 3... 1...2..." Shikamaru had actually taken his hands from behind his head and made a fist with both of them.

"I can't wait until I become a genin! I'll get strong enough to kick that Orochimaru's ass myself! And then Sasuke AND Naruto will be so happy with me, because I'll smack Sasuke back to his senses!"

Just when Shikamaru was about to carry out his most deviant plan yet, the children who were playing suddenly shouted with glee. The chuunin also felt the vibration in the ground from their footsteps and decided to sit up to see what was going on. They appeared to be surrounding something or someone like a pack of excited vultures. Shikamaru uncurled his fists (for now) and used his hands to push himself off the ground. He walked over to the back doors of the Academy, where all the children had gathered.

"YAY!!!! It's the team from the Hidden Sand Village!!! They came to visit us just like they said they would!" Shikamaru heard one of the children exclaim.

He hesitated for a moment, though he didn't know why. Shikamaru then took a deep breath, put his hands in his pockets, and walked on.

"What? You guys didn't think we would keep our word? We would never leave you guys hanging!" It wasn't that cheerfulness didn't suit her, but Shikamaru was not used to hearing such light-hearted talk from the woman's strong, cool voice. "Now kids, where has your cry-baby sensei run off to?"

At that question, the group of children all split apart like the Red Sea to reveal Shikamaru to the woman who was asking for her.

He had not seen for a year. Temari… she made one helluva an impression on a guy considering she hadn't changed one bit. Her feet were still covered in the usual shinobi footwear, exposing her toes. She was wearing the same fishnet stockings over her left thigh and right shin, which Shikamaru always thought were very unnecessary. Above the fishnet stockings were the same black trunks, which were covered by the same violet skirt-tunic ensemble. The same light-purple sash (also unnecessary in Shika's eyes) was tied about her waist, and her forehead-protector was worn in the same fashion, covering her neck. Her hair was still in the same messy pigtails. And that same fan was folded in its place, strapped behind her back... if it was all the same as before, why did Shikamaru feel his heart drop when he saw her? Why did those sandals look so "different" on her feet? Tch, whatever.

"Ah, and here is the cry-baby now!" Temari stared at the object of her ridicule with her head tilted slightly to the side and with her palms firmly pressed against her hips. She stood with more weight being placed on the left side of her body, so her left hip was slightly more elevated then her right. She was smiling at him with an "under-handed" smile... like one that an infamous criminal would possess. The word "sassy" didn't quite do Temari much justice, but it would have to suffice.

"Hey." Was his response, as he finally made his way right in front of the three siblings.

"Yo." Kankuro nodded to Shikamaru, his hands inside the pockets of his black body suit, and the freaky puppet cocooned on his back.

"..." Gaara nodded his head as well, but didn't drop his eyes from Shikamaru while he did. His arms were crossed, and that sand gourd took up his entire back. Shikamaru was still a little nervous around him.

Shikamaru made eye contact with Temari again. The children kept their mouths shut like the two young shinobi were about to have a duel.

"They told me I would find you back here. We only came to visit the kids, but I guess its okay that we ran into you."

Shikamaru smirked at her. "Tell yourself what you want. You know you're thrilled to see me."

"Hmph. You wish."

The two enjoyed a good stare down for a few moments, complete with their own competitive smiles. Kankuro chuckled a bit at his thoughts on the situation, but no one seemed to notice.

"Hey, Shikamaru! Isn't this that girl who saved your sorry butt a year ago?!"

Leave it to Konohamaru to ruin the moment. The surrounding children burst into laughter and that vein, which only seemed to make appearances during Konohamaru's antics, pulsated out of Shika's forehead. Temari knelt down to ruffle the academy student's head as a reward for the comment. Konohamaru didn't mind at all. She spoke to her brothers.

"How about you guys go and play with the kids. I'll keep the cry-baby company."

They both nodded again.

"Okay, which one of you kids wants to see me move my puppets!" The children all jumped around Kankuro and Gaara, and forgot Temari ever existed. Shikamaru was relieved. FINALLY, The Konoha corps. was out of his hair for a moment.

"So." Temari and Shikamaru seemed to instinctively walk toward the shaded area together. "How have things been?"

"Tch, troublesome... but the condition of Konoha is beginning to stabilize. Were slowly beginning to build up our former power... Our Fifth Hokage is really coming through for us."

"That's good to hear" Temari replied simply, sitting down under the first spot of shade she could find. She placed both her legs flatly on the barren ground, and kept her upper body elevated by placing her palms on the ground as well. "And what about your new job? I didn't take you as one who is enthusiastic enough to deal with children."

Shikamaru sat down beside her, one of his legs bent with his knee touching his chest and with the other leg stretched out over the ground. "Tch, don't remind me. I was assigned this job and today is my first day. Such a drag."

"Then you were forced to take this job?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Temari didn't inflect or deflect her voice too often when she spoke, so it was hard to read where her conversations were going. For instance, Shikamaru couldn't have judged the light banter would suddenly come to this. "I thought for a second that you might still be crying about failing your first chuunin mission. I thought that you decided to hide behind lighter obligations, like taking care of kids."

"..." The Sasuke Retrieval mission was still a touchy subject for Shikamaru. He looked straight ahead and frowned slightly as he spoke. "I... haven't been on a mission of as much importance as that one since then, but I have taken on a few field missions."

"..." Temari looked ahead as she spoke too. "Do you think you are becoming a stronger leader?"

"I have yet to fail a mission since then, and I have yet to have anyone die under my orders... but I need a big mission to see if I truly have gotten stronger... I think I have changed though."

"Well, one thing is certain. You definitely aren't talking like a baby anymore." Temari had been listening to the resolve in his voice, and detected no "quit" in it. Completely different from the last time they spoke. Sure, he was still the same lazy bastard who would get out of working hard if he could, but she could see plainly that she wouldn't need to worry about witnessing another 'pep talk' with his dad.

"I guess not." Shikamaru smiled again, taking Temari's comment as confirmation of his growth. "And what about you?"

Temari faced his question with a mouth full of exposed pearly teeth within a cheesy smile. "Well, you know I couldn't let the likes of you beat me in ninja rank!"

Shikamaru looked surprised. "So you're saying you're a Chuunin now?"

"That's right! Me and Kankuro have both been promoted during the Chuunin exams a few months ago."

"Right... I forgot Konoha didn't take part in the Exams this year. All the genin were too busy doing missions to restore the village."

"Yep. And you guys are lucky you didn't enter the Exams too. Me and my brothers mowed through the competition. Your friends would have just gotten hurt."

Shikamaru watched with a raised eyebrow as Gaara elevated three laughing academy students into the air with a stream of sand from his gourd. Awkward. He had that same creepy expression on his face. Shikamaru spoke with his eyes still on the former psychopath.

"Then He is a chuunin?"

"Not exactly." Temari grabbed the back of her neck and rotated her head in a circular motion a bit. Shikamaru heard her neck crack a few times from the action. "The officials of the Chuunin Exam were so impressed with Gaara's performance that they immediately put him through a special program that would accelerate him to the Jounin rank. He passed every objective within that program with flying colors."

"What?!?! You mean he is a jounin now?"

"What I mean is that Gaara is a jounin who is already getting nods from the heads of my village to become the next Kazekage!" She was speaking with pride in her brother, but Temari's eyes fled to the ground for a moment. "Hopefully he'll make a better Kage then our late father."

"So... then he has 'it' under complete control?" Shikamaru cursed himself for speaking so plainly about the demon inside Gaara.

"Yes." Temari took a breath and raised her head again. "You know... it seems that my brother is way more in control of the demon's power then he once thought. When Gaara finally decided he wanted to be the sort of guy who is devoted to helping others, it seemed that the monster in him just lost the will to kill."

"Hmm... That's good to hear." Shikamaru and Temari smiled at each other again. They didn't turn away.

"Her eyes... there so strange. I can't figure them out. The color is so deep and blue, but definitely not like any ordinary blue. It's like a mix of deep blue and black, like outer space. I've never seen anything like it... it's almost like it has its own light to it. So freaky. So hard to look away."

Temari's smile was beginning to disappear, while redness arose on her cheeks.

"His iris's are so beady and dead looking. It's like someone painted them on his eyeballs. Gross. Just what is he staring at anyway?"

Temari turned sharply away from Shikamaru and focused on a line of children waiting for their chance to ride on the back of Kankuro's puppet. There. NOW she was ready to talk.

"What!?!"

"Tch, nothing." Shikamaru laid his back on the ground with his hands in the back of his head like before.

"Hmph! Anyway, what time is this recreations class over?"

"About 5 minutes."

"Great. Because you're starting to bore me."

"No one asked you to sit with me." Shikamaru spoke nonchalantly with his eyes closed.

"Excuse me?!" Temari raised her voice slightly and pierced Shikamaru through with a dagger-sharp stare. Shikamaru opened one of his eyes slightly.

"I said your welcome to sit somewhere else if you think I'm 'boring you'."

"And what makes you think I'll move just because you want me to?"

"I never said I wanted you to move." He closed his eye again.

Though her face was flushed with anger she couldn't help but argue on. Truth be told, she loved the way this anger felt.

"Good. Because I'm staying right here. After all, I sat down here first."

"Hmph. suit yourself."

"Fine."

Shikamaru just sighed, eyes still closed. "Bratty women always try to have the last word."

It was silent for a moment... "You are so hopeless."

Shikamaru just shook his head, and remained quiet. Temari smiled, being satisfied that she felt she was getting to him. She took off the huge fan from her back, and placed it down beside her. She allowed her arms, which she was using as support to sit up, to slide down to the ground. She crossed her ankles, and was now lying beside the fellow chuunin. She saw his eyes were still closed. She placed her hand on his shoulder and shoved him suddenly. The shinobi's whole body shifted under the force of her push. When Shikamaru opened his eyes he saw Temari lying with her eyes closed and her hands behind her head, looking innocent.

"Tch." He simply got back in his original position, and closed his eyes as well.

Udon sniffled uncontrollably as he whimpered and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"What's the matter with you, kid?" Kankuro responded, looking down at him.

"Y-Y-Y-You guys are leaving now, and I didn't get a chance to ride your puppet!" Udon broke out into a nasal-congested cry after those words.

Recreation time had ended. Shikamaru sensei and the children were now just outside the entrance door to the Academy, seeing the Sand Siblings off. All the children looked as though they were burying dead puppies.

"Stop that crying, kid!" Kankuro spoke harshly. "Your gonna be a genin soon. It's shameful for a shinobi to cry."

"Besides... It's not like we are not going to visit you again." Gaara spoke. "We will return. Someday."

"We'll be back next week."

Gaara and Kankuro immediately looked at their sister after she decided what bthey/b would be doing next week for them.

"We will?" Kankuro spoke up.

"We will start coming around every now and then, so start expecting us." Temari smiled at Udon, who smiled back. The children's faces lit up like Katon jutsu.

"Uhhh, Temari? Do you think we have enou-" Kankuro stopped his sentence in its tracks when he noticed that his elder sis was looking at that recreations sensei again. He grinned from ear-to-ear. "OHHHHH... I get it now."

"WHAT do you 'get now'?!" Temari looked over her shoulder and sent a chilling gaze to her brother's direction.

"Heh heh heh... Never mind."

"..." Though chills were still proceeding from her glare, she spoke on. "But for now kids we must be leaving you. Good bye, and show us the new jutsus you learn next week!"

As Gaara and Kankuro began to walk off, the children all shouted their good-bye's.

"Later. Cry-baby." The words came out smooth as butter to Shikamaru, and he almost blushed at them.

"Later. Brat"

They shared one last-second "smirk" toward one another before the sand kunoichi followed her brothers out of the Academy area. Shikamaru figured that his first day on the job was a successful one. It could've been disastrous had they not shown up... The children all turned over to Shikamaru to await his next instructions.

"... Oh yeah, CLASS DISMISSED!!!"