Sorry it took so long to get this chapter posted! Not sure if this is a little OOC, but, blah. Just glad to have it written out, now. For all their banter and pricklyness, the Sibs do seem to have some heartfelt chats every now and then.

I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner! :)

Thanks for reading and thank you very much for the reviews!


Dim sunlight squeezed its way in through the windows, leaving faint spots of light on the tiled floor of the office.

"And Maki is currently gathering a team for the task." Temari finished explaining the situation to Gaara. "Now, all we have to do is wait, and, presumably, organize some squads to go through the tunnels in the morning."

"Yes." Gaara affirmed, "We'll just need the approval of the council tonight." (Kankuro, sitting near a window, sighed audibly at this.) (Temari hid a smirk.)

"There will be a briefing tomorrow morning and messengers are already spreading the word." Gaara went on, "So, do be prepared. And be sure to let Shikamaru know."

Temari nodded, turning to leave, the reminder that he was probably waiting back at her apartment suddenly setting her nerves ablaze.

"And… If you'd wait a moment, Temari. There's another… matter to talk about." Gaara added. Kankuro straightened from his slouch in the chair.

Gaara never stumbled around his words or blurted things out, but when he had difficulty speaking about things, his sentences slowed down considerably, as though he were carefully considering the correct wording to use in his head.

"Maybe we shouldn't ask." Kankuro spoke up. "But things have seemed… sort of… weird between you and Shikamaru." He frowned at her, "And you can't keep denying that there's something between you, because there totally is and everyone knows it."

"Essentially." Gaara concurred, bright green eyes moving back to her. "Are you alright?"

Temari felt a slight warmth in her chest at knowing that her brothers had been worried about her. She'd considered reverting to her old tactics of brushing things off and pretending like nothing had occurred, but, this time…

She sighed.

"Things have been weird, I suppose you could say. He… told me he wants a more serious relationship." She said simply.

Her brothers remained silent for a moment, before Kankuro laughed. "Wow. Bad timing. Really bad timing."

"I know!" Temari threw her hands up in exasperation, "Who the fuck asks something like that in the middle of a village crisis?!"

"Not the wisest thing to do." Gaara agreed, smiling slightly.

She felt the tension draining from her for the first time in many hours. And then realized she was laughing. "This is so stupid."

And then Kankuro was laughing and even Gaara hid a suspicious cough behind his hand.

Their mirth died down after a short while, Temari tiredly settling into another chair.

"I think, though," Gaara said, "That he must love you a lot."

Shifting her sandals on the tiled floor, Temari grew serious. "Yes... That's the problem." She explained. "You know I wouldn't leave the Sand. I couldn't leave it. We've built our lives here. And Shikamaru knows this. Which led me to a conclusion I didn't want to consider, either. I wouldn't want him to give up his life in the Leaf for my sake."

Temari rested her cheek on her palm, "I mean, having a brilliant and experienced ninja like him on the council would certainly strengthen the Sand, but it's a selfish thought - and I couldn't do that to him. He has family and friends in the Leaf whom he cares about a lot. And prospective students and duties and, even in spite of how lazy he seems, he contributes so much to the shinobi around him there. He's… a very good man. And a better person than I am."

Clenching her palm into a fist, she continued, "And I don't know whether to be angry at him or… or… I just don't know what to do. Maybe I shouldn't do anything."

"Are you thinking of breaking ties with him, then?" Gaara asked.

"I don't know." Temari said quietly.

"But is that something you want to do?" Gaara specified with concern.

"It isn't something I want to do." Saying it aloud further confirmed it in Temari's mind. In all honesty, she did still want to be close to Shikamaru. In whatever messy, difficult way it might be. She truly did.

"Then why don't you just talk to him about it?" Kankuro suggested.

"Because. It's difficult." Temari said apprehensively, "It's ridiculous enough that I'm talking to you two about it! I'm not into a lot of that lovey-dovey… behavior. I mean. I don't even know how to approach him about it and I'll just make a nervous fool of myself and I don't like letting my guard down that… much…"

"You ought to talk to him." Gaara reiterated Kankuro's words.

"Unless you want to be stuck in this situation forever." Kankuro said half-teasingly.

"I'll have to take some kind of action. I know." She said. She'd already been aware - but she'd hoped it might be easier. "And, with some luck, it might not turn out to be totally disastrous." She muttered under her breath, wondering at how her younger brothers had become better at expressing and understanding emotions than she

She found, though, that having some encouragement did help.

"Temari." Gaara spoke hesitantly again, "You do know that… whatever choices or decisions you make, if you ever do choose to leave the Sand, we wouldn't hold it against you or be upset with you."

"I know." Temari stood and felt her mouth tilt up in a smile, "Thank you, Gaara and Kankuro. For the talk."

Had she been a somewhat more affectionate person, she might have hugged them, but, instead, settled for walking over and ruffling the hair on each of their heads.

"Just don't go thinking that you've gotten wiser than your older sister, now." She said, seemingly nonchalant, as she left the room.


As prepared as Temari felt, now, walking through the windy and dusty afternoon streets, thinking over topics to discuss, she hadn't quite expected to return to an empty apartment, no Shikamaru in sight.