I am awful aren't I? I haven't updated in forever! I kept thinking I would and I kept tweaking the chapter over and over and over and I finally gave up and decided it was fine like this. But I am so going to finish what I started. I have a planned ending to this I just have to write it! So enjoy! A quick note about recent manga chapters, THIS DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT RECENT CHAPTERS. I wrote this like 6 months ago when I wasn't even fully caught up with the manga. So if you aren't all the way caught up to the manga or only watch the anime your pretty much covered (unless you only watch Cartoon Network... I don't know who does that anymore...I enjoy watching the English dubs for the entertainment value but they've like pretty much stopped at episode 203 and I haven't seen a new episode in weeks. I know on Viz Media's site they have all the subbed Shippuuden's episodes but they haven't caught up dub-wise. Ah, well.) ENJOY!

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They got to the barbeque restaurant, sat down and ordered enough for everyone. Of course they had sat with Choji and Ino on one side and Shikamaru and Temari on the other. Shikamaru was not too thrilled. He was already angry at her for dragging him around all day and going through all of his money, this was they last place he wanted to be right now. Ino and Temari started gossiping away at things that had happened in the village since last time she had been there.

"So how was dinner last night?" Choji whispered across the table hoping the girls would be too distracted to hear.

"You don't want to know. The only thing you need to know is disaster." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Well, it wasn't too bad between you and Temari was it? You're still on speaking terms today, aren't you?" Choji asked.

"At the most. We made up, but we got in a huge fight in front of my parents. And then today, she went through all of my money!" Shikamaru groaned.

"No way!"

"Yeah, he totally fell for her and he still had no idea of the crush she had on him. You should see her. She's just been so happy lately."

Ino and Temari's conversation started to drift over into their own.

"Guys…Girls, whatever. The whole restaurant doesn't need to know about Naruto and Hinata's relationship, okay?"

"We aren't that loud, Shikamaru!" Ino snapped back at him.

"You don't even know how loud you can get, Ino." Shikamaru replied.

"Whatever, anyway…" Ino delved back into their gossip.

"Girls…" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. As soon as their order arrived he lost Choji as a conversation partner. Choji was solely devoted to concentrating on the barbeque. The girls were deep in their conversation and so Shikamaru sat silently eating his barbeque.

"I totally forgot, Shikamaru. I brought a gift for you!" Temari suddenly remembered. "I was going to give it to you this morning…" She brought out a small package from her weapons pouch.

"What?…" Shikamaru was stunned for a moment. He put down his chopsticks and took the package. It was fairly heavy for it's size…

Shikamaru looked at the card that was pinned to it.

Thought you'd like this when I saw a merchant selling it in Suna a month or two ago.

He gently pulled away the delicate paper. It was a box with the Sand village symbol stamped on it. Shikamaru opened the box to reveal a set of beautifully polished Shogi pieces all made of jade.

Shikamaru was speechless. Hell, he couldn't breathe. Damn it, Shikamaru. Breathe. In, out. In, out. They were only shogi pieces. Beautiful shogi pieces. And it was as if she had known he had lost some the other morning. Maybe she could read minds. God, they were wonderful. Now he felt stupid. Ridiculously stupid. He didn't get anything for her. Nothing as good as this.

"I…uh…er—" Shikamaru stuttered.

"You didn't have to get me any thing, and anyway you're gifts were everything you bought me today." Temari smiled. She was an official mind reader. That would make things a lot scarier around her.

"But…"

"Wanna go try them out? I've been brushing up on my Shogi skills, and I'm not half bad." she suggested. In fact, he did want to go try them out. Now she could read thoughts into the future. He was extremely scared. "Shikamaru…!" Temari called.

"Oh, no! I think he caught the fainting bug from Hinata!" Ino called.

"No!" Shikamaru woke from his daze. "I mean, yes! I want to go try them out!" Shikamaru told Temari. "Sorry, for leaving halfway through lunch."

"More for me!" Choji snatched the barbeque that had been grilling for Shikamaru.

x

Every piece lined the board perfectly. They looked even more beautiful set out on the board than in the box as they sat outside of his house playing. His Dad was still on a mission and his Mom seemed to have run out to do some errands.

"They're your pieces. You move first." Temari offered.

"You move first, you'll need it." Shikamaru told her.

"Confident?" Temari asked as she moved a pawn forward.

"Just to let you know, I have never lost a game of Shogi." Shikamaru told her as he folded his hands underneath his nose after moving one of his own pawns. "Your move."

"Well, we'll see about that." Temari considered the next piece to move.

About fifty moves later Temari was chasing his king. She had captured most of his pieces. Shikamaru looked thoughtfully before moving again. At last he sighed and leaned back.

"I give up." Shikamaru shrugged.

"You what?"

"I give up. I had the next 200 moves planned out, but I'm out of pieces to use." Shikamaru explained with a smirk played at his lips.

"So this means you lost your winning streak." It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"No, I did not lose. I gave up." Shikamaru smirked at her as he put the tiles back in their gorgeous case. Temari stayed silent as she stood up and stretched. Once Shikamaru had the pieces put away, he stood up as well and she moved over to Shikamaru.

"You. Lost." She breathed, jabbing her finger into his chest and walked inside. Shikamaru chased after her and spun her around catching her lips on his. That sure wasn't what he was planning to do. He wasn't sure what he was planning on doing, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. On top of reading minds, did she have the power of mind control? Nah, that was his impulse and his mind solely. A hundred percent Nara.

"I'd call it more of a tie." Shikamaru gave her a smirk. Temari opened her mouth, but automatically closed it.

"A tie." She laughed.

"Oh, hello. I just decided to grab some things on my way through town in case—Oh! Hello! I guess this would be a bad time." Shikamaru's mother gasped and almost dropped the bags in her hands seeing her son in a tight embrace with the young woman they had dinner with the night before.

"Mom…" Shikamaru growled after jumping far away from Temari. Temari's face was actually a brilliant red.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Nara." Temari bowed her head as she slipped past her and out the front door.

"Thank you, Mom." Shikamaru ran out to chase Temari. His mother opened her mouth only to be cut off again by her son. "And no, Mom. We aren't having dinner here."

Shikamaru was able to follow her through the crowds to…where else? The rooftop where the beginning of this little adventure began the day before. When Shikamaru reached the top of the building Temari was sitting with her face in her hands her shoulders shaking. Great, now she's in a hysterical fit because I kissed her and my mom walked in on us. Why? Why me?

"Temari…" Shikamaru quietly approached her. "I'm sorry. My mom…she really has really really bad timing. I can't help it."

She didn't look up and only kept her face buried.

"Temari…" Shikamaru groaned. He timidly walked over and placed and hand on her shoulder to comfort her and she looked up from her hands and she was laughing. Laughing. Hysterically laughing, and her face was a bright cherry red.

"That was hilarious!" Temari cracked up. To think of it…when Temari ran out of the house he had seen the faint trace of a smile, not tears.

"It was just perfectly timed!" Temari continued in fits of laughter. Shikamaru smiled as he scratched his head. He wasn't sure what was so funny. It was really bad timing… not perfectly timed. "Just our luck for it to happen to us, huh?" Temari continued to giggle. 'Us'…sounded really odd. Were they considered an 'us'? Us. She was only using it to describe the two of them. People used us all the time and it wasn't considered an 'us' us. Right? God, was this what it felt like to think like a girl? It wasn't normal.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Shikamaru finally smiled at her. He waited for her to stop laughing so hard so he could talk to her.

"Well, that was an entertaining afternoon." Temari eventually settled down.

"What now?" Shikamaru asked.

"'What now?', as in: What do we do for the rest of the day? Or 'What now?', as in: What do we do now that we've kissed each other?" Temari giggled.

"Er…I was thinking more along the lines of the rest of the day." Shikamaru told her hesitantly.

"Well, if that's the case we should think about what we're going to do for dinner since you told your mother we wouldn't be eating there, you have no money, and it's getting close to dinner time." Temari told him.

"You heard me tell my mom that stuff? I thought you were all the way down the street!" Shikamaru asked.

"Your voice kind of carries when you're angry and yelling." Temari giggled. Shikamaru sighed.

"But, anyway…you're hungry now?" Shikamaru asked unbelievingly. "We just had barbeque!"

"Well, we were interrupted." Temari shrugged.

"By your gift." Shikamaru blamed her. "We could have stayed and finished the meal, but you suggested we go and try them out right away and you knew I couldn't refuse that."

"You've revealed your weak point, Nara. I have you under my control now." Temari grinned.

"I think you've done that for more than a little while now." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Oh really? I don't need just Shogi pieces to control you?" Temari asked.

"Just never mind." Shikamaru quickly realized the conversation he was getting into.

"All right, all right." Temari admitted defeat. "But still we have to eat dinner sometime tonight."

"Well, I don't have any money on me. I suppose we could go around, knock on people's doors and beg for food." Shikamaru said sarcastically.

"That sounds lovely," Temari replied with an equally sarcastic remark.

"I can't believe your hungry. I'm full." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Mm, I say we take a long walk around the village—"

"So we can buy more things for you? I told you I'm broke!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"No, we don't have to go through the shopping district! We can take a walk through the emptiest alleyway for all I care!" Temari protested. "You didn't let me finish. We take a long walk so your lunch can digest and head back to my apartment so I can grab some money for dinner. My treat since you've already bought me everything I need." Temari smiled.

"You still have money you could have been using this whole time?" Shikamaru asked incredulously.

"Yes, my brothers always make sure I have enough money whenever I leave the village." Temari replied. "Even a little shopping money here and there." Temai grinned.

"Then how come I still had to pay for all that shit you didn't need today?" Shikamaru asked.

"I ran out of the money I had on me today!" Temari explained.

"Yes, we could have gone back to your apartment…hell! We were back there right before lunch to drop off your things." Shikamaru groaned.

"I wanted to pace my money to make sure it lasts me. And besides…I do need 'that useless junk'. They were souvenirs for Gaara and Konkurou." Temari told Shikamaru. He couldn't exactly picture the Kazekage with cheap merchandise from Konoha's merchants sitting on his desk. Maybe he could see Konkouro finding more enjoyment out of things like that, but not Gaara as much.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's just go." Shikamaru stood up and stretched. When they got back to her apartment for the second time that day Shikamaru waited outside.

"You can come up for a second, you know." Temari offered.

"That's okay." Shikamaru awkwardly refused. Temari smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, whatever. It'll be a minute." Temari told him.

"Yeah, sure." Shikamaru leaned against the building. In a few minutes Temari had rushed out of the building with her money

"So, where am I treating you tonight?" Temari asked.

"Where ever you want." Shikamaru shrugged.

"You're the escort!" Temari reminded him.

They decided on a small restaurant at the end of the shopping district with hardly any people in it. The front was lit with strung paper lanterns and the inside wasn't lit any better. They both ordered simple dinners and they were both quiet as they ate it. Maybe Temari really was hungry and would rather eat than talk. Or maybe there really was nothing to say between them. Shikamaru frantically searched for dinner topics when Temari spoke first.

"You should come visit Suna more often." Temari suggested.

"What?"

"You know. I always visit Konoha. It wouldn't kill you to drop by when your on the way back from a mission."

"Well, most of the time you're only in Konoha because it's your job because of the Chûnin exams." Shikamaru rebuked.

"But—"

"Temari leave it. If you're looking for another argument you won't find it here." Shikamaru stopped her before it was a repeat disaster from last night. "Y'know, the Chûnin work should get done at some point…" Shikamaru changed the subject.

"Come on, Shikamaru. We have at least one more day before we have to absolutely get it done."

"All right, I just don't want to be yelled at by the Hokage when it isn't done. I can imagine her now." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "'I should assign a different escort! She gets no work done when your around!' I guess I just bring everyone down with my laziness." Shikamaru sighed. Temari giggled.

"It's not your fault Shikamaru. I promise I'll get it done. After tomorrow, okay?"

"Why? What do you have planned for tomorrow?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing much. I don't know. I'm just not ready to start doing anything yet." Temari grinned.

"Okay. I just hope you didn't spend all that money today." Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Why?" Temari asked.

"Well, if you plan on being here an extra few days you'll need some money, right?" Shikamaru asked.

"I suppose…"

"I'm not giving it to you." Shikamaru told her.

"Don't worry." Temari smirked at him. "I'm only playing with you. I've got plenty. Remember, I'm paying for tonight."

x

As they exited the restaurant, Shikamaru escorted her home. They agreed to meet the same place they did that morning and Shikamaru said goodnight quietly as she went inside. Instead of going directly home he ended up winding through the village to allow him to think. Today had definitely been interesting. It was hard to think that she was going to leave again in a couple of days to return to Suna. Of course she would return for her usual Chûnin exam business but was that enough? He thought about what Temari said over dinner. Shikamaru hardly ever went to Suna. She and her brother's were usually in Konoha when they visited. And now that they were…well, a little more friendly than usual she would be pestering him more than ever about visiting. He supposed it would work out in due time and he shouldn't worry about. Finally, Shikamaru cut through a few alleyways and arrived home.

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Reviews are appreciated. :)