Author's Note: HUGE 'Get well soon' dedicated to my lover-Beta who is deeply ill at the moment. They still have no idea what's wrong with her, but it's not good. So let's hope she makes a recovery, or I'm lost for a steady plot line. Other then that, I have no news… Except that the next few chapters are ShikaTema littered. Not on purpose, but those accidentally romances that happen from time to time.

Mayab: The NaruIno is very important later on, so there was a reason for that. Although I HATE Ino, she needs to die, seriously. And stay away from Shikamaru! Yea, the guys are all kind of different then Roy and Spike… Well… Kinda. And I think I love you! You know who Faye is! -glompcling-
Queen of the Bobs: AWESOME! I'll read some of your fics in the future. At the moment I'm kind of obsessed with House M.D. fics.
Biacebaolck: petpetpet Poor Shikamaru, trying to conceal his inner TRUE self. A down-right dirty perv.
skywind1010: Wow… thanks for the lots of favorites.
Crystal Jaganshi: Yea, it's Cowboy Bebop.

Current Listening: 'Real Folk Blues' (Cowboy Bebop ending) Mai Yamane and the Seatbelts

Shikamaru cringed under the evil look of Kurenai as the two of them arrived LATE to class. She motioned to the two remaining seats side-by-side towards the side of the room. Making a reach for the window seat, he was disappointed when Temari landed it with ease. She had tried harder then him anyway.

Time seemed to slow and suddenly stop as he passed by the desk of a certain student. The once warm summer breeze blowing in through the windows got chilly and he could have shivered. Daring himself, he slowly looked to his right and saw the blazing red hair of Temari's fearsome brother Gaara. If that troublesome woman didn't kill you, he surely would.

Inside, he felt his blood freeze under the icy glare Gaara produced. It wasn't obvious to the momentary onlooker, but Shikamaru saw it. The light crease in his brow, and the small twitch in his lower lip. The look of pure death in his dull, lifeless eyes. He felt himself grow small and weak in just that one gaze. The boogey-man was a fear for five-year-olds, Gaara was one for the high schoolers of Konoha High. Paling, he took a seat beside Temari and sat completely rigid beside her. One false move and he thought the worse.

Staring straight ahead at the board, he tried to concentrate on the lesson and not on the pounding headache he was getting in the back of his skull. It was almost like Gaara would transplant pain in ones own mind just with a tiny frown.

In time, he started to relax again and lean back in his chair. Under the table, something brushed his knee and he looked down to the pleated uniform skirt that was Temari's leg. (Yes, they do have uniforms. Stereotypical Shojo-anime ones with the short skirts and knee high socks, yadda yadda. You know what I'm talking about.)

Temari looked down at the simple motion and drew back a little. It wasn't anything huge, just a small brush. She had played with fire much bigger and brighter then this. But there was a certain friction that jolted through her that sent her radars flying. What was this guy's name again? Shikamaku… No. Shikama… Shikama… Shikamaru!

Catching his gaze, they held eye contact for a moment before he lost the staring contest and looked away. Ha, wimp. But she couldn't help but to avoid his direction and turn towards the windows, feeling her face heat up. Odd, such a juvenile and girlish action that was produced by a simple glance. Really, his Shikamaru Nara, whoever he was, was going to be a problem.

"Temari, since you seem so incredibly into the lesson, why not answer the problem on the board?"

Her attention was split from the guy next to her and onto the board. Without even looking, she felt herself sink into a pile of embarrassment. Math, Algebra, Calculus, whatever the hell class they were in, she sucked at it. Numbers just never mixed with her.

The question on the board was just a simple review of last year's lessons, things she had slept through and had no idea what they were. 'Ah crap, why do they put the letters in the problem too? I thought math was numbers, not with a side of English.'

"We're all waiting Temari…"

The rest of the class had turned in their desks, awaiting an answer from the cornered blond. She stumbled over a few words and frantically looked for a quick way out of her situation, but nothing was there.

"It's undefined." Temari stifled a gasp and looked to Shikamaru as he blurted out the answer. He was looking at the desk like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Kurenai flickered her gaze from Temari to Shikamaru and back again before turning her back and erasing the long list of numbers and letters that had once been on the board. "Good job, Shikamaru was it? But next time, I hope you remember your correct name and answer when called upon."

Shikamaru tried and failed horribly to hide the raw pink in his cheeks. Why had he mortified himself in front of the entire class? And for who? The bitch with the attitude next to him? She was gaping at him with a lack of words to say. How annoying, so have someone staring at you. But it was his own damn fault. He had brought it upon himself. Heh, he never answered questions in class. It was too troublesome to actually raise his hand and explain the answer to the question. It was far more easy to sit back and watch everyone else squirm under the spotlight and in the end get it wrong. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to see Temari in that position.

Damn woman. Making him go out of his way for her. And he had ONLY just met her. It only made it worse to think about. And now, he was once again feeling that headache in the back of his brain from the 'I-shall-kill-you-now-with-my-omen-of-death-eyes-that-will-freeze-you-over-into-all-hell-and-back-for-associating-with-my-sister-you-no-good-rotten-…person,' glare that Gaara was once again aiming in his obvious area.

"Why in the hell did you do that?"

Shikamaru groaned and glared at her. So now he was getting scolded by not only her brother for HELPING her, but her as well? It just didn't seem fair.

"Because, you didn't know the answer."

"But now I look ridiculous in front of all these people. I have an image to uphold."

He grumbled a few incoherent things and she narrowed her eyes. "You talking about me there Nara-boy?"

"Whatever."

"What?!"

"…"

"Answer damnit!"

Temari restrained herself from grabbing him by the collar and throwing him out the open window, and instead settled for glaring at the board in an attempt to look like she was paying attention. He had chosen the wrong day to piss her off.

Watching her closely, he was sure to make a mental note and avoid her after class. A locker didn't seem like a good place to spend third hour. Luckily, he didn't have time to make another mistake because she refused to look or talk to him all the rest of class. No, she preferred to let him suffer in angry silence thinking of all the ways she could twist and turn him in inhuman ways. Until the bell rang at the end of fifty minutes and they were free to continue their first day.

Temari surprisingly didn't wait around to pin Shikamaru into a wall and beat him senseless. Instead she stormed from the room, shoving past everyone in her path. At least for now, he was safe, so there was no complaining on his part.

Author's Note: Temari is just so easily angered. But, It's fun to write, so kudos to her, one of my favorite Naruto characters. My other favorites… Well, it becomes apparent through my writing who I hate coughINOcough and who I don't hate. Oh, and the review number needed for chapter 7 is 5 more.

I finally got over 1000 hits!!! I'm soooooo ecstatic!!!