(A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry about the long break, I was camping (w/o my computer). But now I'm back! Hope you enjoy and as always these characters and everything about them do NOT belong to me, sadly.)
Kankuro tried, and failed miserably, to not react to the dumbstruck look on his sister's face. Her slack jawed appearance was quite possibly the most comical thing he'd ever seen. But as his stifled laughter reached her ears she composed herself. She stood up straighter and narrowed her eyes, looking between the two standing on the front porch.
"You," she pointed to Kankuro, halting his laughter, "get inside." She motioned for him to go past her. With one look back to Shikamaru, silently wishing him luck, Kankuro went inside the house he hadn't seen in over a year.
Shikamaru now felt the full weight of her gaze on him. He rubbed the back of his neck, his hand coming away damp with perspiration, funny he hadn't been sweating during their entire trek to this ranch. He discreetly wiped the dampness off on his pants before shoving both hands into his pockets and finally meeting her eyes.
The teal eyes burned as she stared him down. He watched as the frozen pools melted away, the glare dimming. She reached behind her, feeling the handle of the door burn her palm as she pulled it closed, cutting to two off form the prying eyes of Kankuro.
Damn him she thought, feeling the stinging anger slip out of her body. If only he'd kept his eyes down, she could have written him off as a coward then. She could have slammed the door in his face, without a single word, and left him standing on the front porch. She could have forgot about him, made him out to be a silly little slip in judgment. But no, he had to look her in the eyes. He had the courage to come to her doorstep after what he'd done and look her in her eyes.
She simply couldn't continue her glare with those eyes staring right back at her, the brown eyed boy with the affinity for laziness had found her weakness. The sudden loss of her anger didn't prompt her to speak though, and Shikamaru didn't have any words; they were pointless in his opinion anyway. He knew that she'd react to him the same no matter what he said. So the two stared at each other in silence until Temari finally spoke, shoving her head out between them in the only peace offering she could manage at the moment.
"Thank you." She spoke quietly, not used to thanking people, it was almost as bad as apologizing. Those were the only words she had for him right now, she wasn't used to the jumbled mess that her mind had become.
His cheeks didn't flush, the way most people reacted when they were thanked, but his hand did return to the back of his head, his eyes darting down to the left, as he offered her a lazy shrug. The silence returned and dragged on until Temari made a move.
She took a small step forward, and another, quickly closing the distance between them. Her arms wrapped around him, slipping through the space left between his sides and his bend arms. She pressed her body against him, resting her head against his chest.
Shikamaru was sunned for a moment, his eyes drifted down to look at the blonde head resting against him. Trying to fight the awkwardness he wrapped his arms around her, gently patting her back. For a moment he thought she was crying, but he didn't feel any dampness on his shirt. Glancing back down he could see a small smile spread across her face.
She didn't pull away, just picked her head up to look at him. He saw the resolve in her eyes before he realized what she was doing. Standing on her toes she was just able to kiss his cheek before whispering in his ear.
"Thank you, thank you for bringing him home." Her voice was thick with emotion, though there wasn't a tear in sight.
Shikamaru didn't have a reply, he just nodded, closing his eyes as he felt the ghost of her lips against his cheek. She pulled away, smiling almost smugly as she noticed the slight flush in his cheeks. She turned towards the door and pushed it open. As she walked into the home she called out to the man standing like a statue on her front porch.
"Well, come on then, no use standing there all day long." He was startled, he'd zoned out a bit. He walked in after her, not really sure what was going to happen now.
(A/N: Sorry about how short this is, just wanted to give you guys something since it's been so long since I updated. Enjoy and review so I know how I'd doing.)
