Kankuro scratched his head and looked helplessly over at his brother. For his part, Gaara felt just as perplexed as his older brother looked, he just didn't bother to show it.

"Flowers?" The puppeteer wondered aloud.

Gaara shrugged and turned away from the perplexing delivery. "They must be for you. I guess you were considered 'Hot' last night after all." He said in an insulting manner. "No accounting for taste."

But the puppet user just shrugged off the jibe. "I don't think so. TenTen doesn't seem the type to send a bunch of lilies to a guy. A brace of weapons maybe, but hardly flowers. Unless they were really weapons in disguise. But these smell real enough."

"You looked like you were having fun last night." Gaara said soberly as he headed toward the kitchen where the scent of brewing tea drew him like a siren's call. The smell of the tea mingled with the scent from the lilies and while he would have thought the two would clash …they didn't somehow.

Kankuro grinned and stretched as he yawned. "We have a date later today." He bragged.

"I meant with Neji." Gaara poured his tea and took that first grateful sip.

"No, I don't have a date with him." Kankuro laughed mockingly. "Though it looked like he wanted to set up a date with me. To fight that is."

"Like I said. Having fun." Gaara pointed out as he headed back toward his desk. Only to draw up short as he saw the large arrangement of lilies still sitting square in the middle of his working space. He frowned at them just as someone knocked on his door.

Matsuri, Suzue, and Harumi slipped inside and the red-head bit back his instinctual groan. He gave his brother a look silently asking why he couldn't just kill off his fangirls.

Kankuro laughed and shook his head before grabbing some toast and heading toward the door with a small wave. He stopped, only because the girls didn't move out of his way. They stood fully in front of the doorway, blocking the exit. He frowned at them, but they weren't paying him any attention at all.

All three girls were glaring …at the flowers.

"Yamanaka's family owns a flower shop, right?" Suzue scowled gloomily.

Kankuro's eyes widened and he turned a wide grin on his baby brother. Pointing at Gaara, he crowed, "SCORE! You were the hottie, not me!"

"Hot? As if you could hold …a ….a …" Harumi trailed off as she finally looked at the now barefaced and hood-doffed shinobi. "Kankuro? Is that really you?"

Gaara sighed. "I should have unmasked you years ago, it might have saved me from this trio." He muttered mostly to himself.

The puppeteer shook his head. "No. No, they're all yours. I've got a date already and I'm keeping her. Three months be damned and screw the rules."

"Hyuuga?" Gaara temporized.

"Dead, if he bothers to interfere." Kankuro shrugged and muscled his way through his brother's fangirls to the door. "I'll try to avoid an international incident. Maybe."

"Or at least hide the body." Gaara said, only half-joking.

Matsuri scowled at both guys, leaning against the door to keep the puppeteer from opening it. "We've heard about the 'undateable' list in this town. Ridiculous! And to think these Leaf girls want to add you two? NO!"

Suzue stalked over to the arrangement of lilies. "Did that blond cat send you these, Gaara?"

"Kazekage-sama." Gaara said softly to himself. He'd allowed the people of Suna a lot of personal attention and familiarity of address over the years. At first it had been to help overcome the 'monster' image. Now it was habit. But right now, hearing his name drop so casually from the brunette's lips just didn't sit well.

Harumi grunted and misread his meaning. "Gaara's right! I mean, the Kazekage-sama. We need to be addressing him formally in front of these Leaf twits. Uphold the image of the office."

Gaara didn't bother to correct her assumption.

"There's a card." Sneered Suzue as the other two girls rushed to her side.

Kankuro paused, an eyebrow raised as he looked over at his brother. "You didn't look for a card?"

"You didn't either." Gaara shrugged. Truthfully, it never occurred to him. "I've never gotten flowers before."

"Me neither." Kankuro admitted, wandering back over toward his little brother.

Sorry to bore you into slumber, hope you'll forgive me

Ino

Suzue and Harumi laughed and congratulated themselves in knowing that Ino wasn't any TRUE rival for 'their Gaara's' affections.

Only Matsuri and Kankuro looked startled. "Asleep?" The puppeteer whispered huskily.

Gaara refused to answer, or even meet his brother's eyes as he returned to the kitchen for a refill on tea that he didn't need.

Beside the other girls, Matsuri's world crumbled and unraveled. Gaara had …fallen asleep? With Ino in the room? The former student stared at where her sensei had disappeared into the kitchen. She tuned out the stupidity of the other two fangirls as they dismissed the Leaf kunoichi as a 'twit'.

Kankuro met Matsuri's eyes and he gave her a sympathetic look. She sighed and nodded, straightening her shoulders. If this Yamanaka made Gaara that comfortable …then all Matsuri could do was step aside. She'd known for a long time now that Gaara held no interest in her, but she'd hung on to hope as long as he'd remained aloof to other women.

Unlike many fangirls, Matsuri wasn't blinded by an image of who she thought Gaara should be. She saw him as he was. She admired him, respected him and loved him in her own way. She waited to be overcome with a sense of grief, but what came was a feeling of peace and completion. Sure, it hurt he was never going to look at her with love in his eyes. But the knowledge that he'd found someone soothed her like she never would have thought possible. All she wanted was for him to be happy. Though, she'd always hoped it would have been with her.

Matsuri reached out to touch one of the long stems gently. "What do lilies mean?" She asked of no one in particular.

Suzue grinned and shrugged. "That this girl knows nothing! I would have picked a cactus flower, or something more familiar to Gaara."

"Kazekage-sama." Matsuri corrected absently. "No. I meant, in the language of flowers what do lilies mean?"

"Flowers have their own language?" Kankuro asked as both the other fangirls started frowning again.

"I don't know." Harumi sighed, shaking her head as she stared scornfully at the lovely blooms.

Gaara came back into the room, looking stoic as he stared at all the people in his space. "I need to work." He announced, more to get rid of everyone than out of any actual sense of duty to mind-numbing paperwork.

"Did you know flowers have a language?" The puppeteer asked his brother with a wide grin.

Gaara gave his brother an odd look, shaking his head. "Flowers don't talk."

Matsuri gave a tired smile. "No. Each flower has a meaning when given to another person. I'll bet Ino knows all about it. I just wondered what lilies mean."

Gaara turned his jade-pale eyes on the flowers. There was a message in the flowers themselves? Was this a code he was supposed to know?

"I think we need to teach this Leaf twit a lesson!" Harumi groused, riling up her sister Suzue in the process. "Let's go!"

Matsuri frowned. "I don't think …"

"No! Go, please!" Kankuro sighed happily. "I'm leaving too. You all go search out this Ino and find out what this all means."

Gaara watched with amazement as the fangirls left him alone with his brother. Usually, they were much tougher to get rid of than that.

The puppeteer laughed. "They're gone. Lock the door, post a guard, and you'll be fine. The fangirls have a new target for a while. Poor Ino. I'm going to go find TenTen."

"Don't kill the Hyuuga unless you have no other choice." Gaara warned his brother as Kankuro slipped from the apartment. Finally alone, he sighed. Turning to his desk, he leaned in and sniffed the pretty lilies. They were nice enough, he supposed. But what did they mean?

o.o.o.o.o

"It's turning cold again." Temari shivered lightly in the morning fog, even in her heavy coat.

Shino nodded as the two ducked into the restaurant. "It's been unseasonably warm for January actually."

"It gets cold in the desert at night, but it's not wet like it is here." Temari complained. "I had to wear two pairs of socks to bed last night!"

"Really?" Shino asked, his tone sounding surprised.

Temari glared at him in his usual coat. Then she frowned. He always wore the same thing. Always. "Don't you get cold in the winter or hot in the summer? How can you always wear the same thing like that?"

"Aburame secret." He whispered, his lips quirking up into a small smile.

Instantly alert, Temari stilled. "What do you mean?"

Shino looked around carefully, then pulled her into the coat room. Slowly he unbuttoned her heavy coat as she watched him wide-eyed. "We Aburame have a little …secret." He whispered, making her shiver again, but this time not from the cold.

Shino slipped his hands inside her coat, pulling her closer to him so their lips were barely an inch apart. Temari's mouth fell open slightly as she stared at him, totally nonplussed. "Huh?" Was the best she could manage under the circumstances.

"The kikai? The bugs regulate our body temperature. We don't really feel the cold or the heat too much." Shino whispered huskily against her lips, then he closed the distance and stole a warm, lingering kiss.

The polite coughing of the girl whose job it was to collect the coats made Shino smile as Temari growled menacingly at the interloper. The kunoichi stepped out of his reach and hissed at him. "What makes you think you can get away with that?"

Shino shrugged and leaned in to give her a swift buzz on the lips. "Because you let me do that in the hallway at home, at the Hokage tower, on the training field, and …."

Temari stepped on his foot and marched on by him without a backward glance. He followed, still smiling. She pretended to ignore him as he put in a request for a table.

The coat check girl giggled, then gave an attention-getting hiss at Temari who narrowed her eyes on the girl. But the other girl only smiled wider. "Question?"

Temari raised one eyebrow in an almost dare. "If you feel brave enough to ask."

The girl chuckled. "My younger sister is a kunoichi, she graduated a few years ago. She got a copy of your 'undateable' book, and we've all heard how you've all got new guys."

"Go on." Temari said, softening her tone a bit. "You have someone you want added to the list?"

The coat check girl nodded. "Two actually. But what my sister really wants to know, is who's left? She doesn't want to step on anyone's toes as she just made chuunin. So …who's still out there?"

Temari laughed outright, drawing admiring glances from several males in the vicinity. But only the one in the dark sunglasses dared to walk up beside her and slip his arm around her waist. He glanced at the other girl curiously.

The Sand kunoichi grinned and allowed Shino to guide her into the main dining room. "Send the names of the two 'undateables' to Sakura, she'll know what to do. As for the other …the alternates are Lee and Sai. Oh, and Naruto …he'll be off probation soon enough."

Shino gave Temari an odd look as they headed toward their table. "Looking to trade me in already?"

Temari shook her head, pursing her lips together. "Try and drop me and I'll kill you." She warned with a dark look promising pain and suffering.

"You only had a humiliating picture drawn of Shikamaru." He pointed out reasonably as they settled into their seats.

Temari growled at him in a very menacing manner, making his spine tingle with appreciation. "If you did that to me, I'd have you drawn, quartered, and leave your intestines out for the ants while you still lived."

Shino actually laughed, reaching out for her hand across the table. "Ah, you do care." He sighed happily. "And the ants were a nice touch."

Temari pulled back, looking all strange. He blinked. "What?"

She stared at him. "I do care. More than with …oh crap. I just mean … I …care." Temari looked away as she realized suddenly and with great clarity, that if Shino cheated on her she wouldn't just be angry. She'd be murderously furious.

Shino stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Me too."

o.o.o.o.o

"Sakura!"

The pink-haired kunoichi grinned as her blond teammate ran to catch up with her.

"Whatcha doing?" Naruto asked her as he fell into synch beside her. He walked along at her side, his hands up behind his head in his usual casual pose.

"I need to check on some linen. Our usual supplier hasn't been very conscientious with quality lately. Tsunade wanted me to check out another store and compare products." Sakura explained.

"Boring!" Naruto sighed. "Why don't you come train with me instead?"

"Translated, that means you're going nuts waiting to hear if the council will let Sasuke back in the village and you want to get your mind off of it all." Sakura teased him, stopping to look her long-time friend and teammate in the eye.

He cackled and shrugged unrepentantly. "Don't tell me you're not nervous about it too."

Sakura sighed and shrugged. "To tell the truth, Naruto, I'm not sure."

"WHAT?" He asked, goggling at her in shock. "But …but …you're the one who made me promise to bring him back and …and …."

Sakura shook her head. "I know. But ...that was a long time ago. I've changed. He's changed. Everything's different. Except you. You're stronger, sure. But ...you're the best friend a girl could have." She said, completely meaning it. Sure he was dense and clueless at times, but he was brave and strong and willing to put aside his own personal feelings in order to save hers.

"Gee thanks, Sakura!" He grinned widely at her, eyes closed with happiness. "Do you want to …."

"No." She smiled at his suddenly crestfallen look. "Friend, not boyfriend." She reached out to brush some imaginary dirt off his coat. "I care for you deeply, but not like that. You know that too."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto grumbled, having heard this a million times before. "But it's not as if gorgeous and strong women just fall from the sky around ….around …here." He trailed off uncertainly. "Is that …Hinata?"

Sakura turned and spied the Hyuuga kunoichi staring at store's display. The pink-haired woman chuckled and nodded. "Yep."

"Wow." Naruto moaned as his eyes widened. "She's really pretty."

Shocked, Sakura stared at him in surprise. "She looks the same as she always has."

"No." Naruto shook his head, still watching the long-haired Byakugan user as she spoke with the shop clerk. "Something's different. She's …amazing looking."

Curious, Sakura turned to look at Hinata and was about to argue the point when she realized what the change was. It wasn't what Hinata had done, but what she wasn't doing. She wasn't stammering, she wasn't looking away, and she wasn't turning red. Sakura grinned. "She's in love. That'll change a girl."

"Love?" Naruto shook his head. "Wow. I wish I'd seen her first. Why do I never get a chance with the great looking girls? I never get to meet them first. No girl ever looks at me like that. Especially not ones like Hinata."

Sakura sighed and knocked him down just for the hell of it. She stalked away after giving him the evil eye. "I almost felt sorry for you, you know. Told a few girls you were available, or would be in three months. But now I see you really DO belong on probation!"

"Whatja mean by that?" Naruto winced and rubbed his aching head. "What'd I say?" He wondered absently.

o.o.o.o.o

"Have a seat." Hiashi gestured politely. "Tea? Some breakfast?"

"No, thank you." Sasuke said quietly.

"Now. I have cleared my schedule to speak with you today. I believe you said it was a matter of importance?" The Hyuuga spoke carefully, taking a seat not at his desk, but beside his visitor.

Sasuke nodded. "I trust you've heard the council's decision regarding my request?"

"Indeed." Hiashi nodded in return. "How does that affect me and mine, however?"

"Alliances. Possible alliances. Specifically with your elder daughter, who is no longer your heir I believe?" Sasuke said, then without further ado, outlined his requests and how agreeing with him would benefit the entire Hyuuga clan.

Hiashi listened intently, weighing every word carefully.

o.o.o.o.o

Kankuro slipped up behind TenTen and wrapped his arms around her, only to find himself hugging a log. He grinned at the replacement jutsu and turned to look for his original target.

"Having fun?" TenTen smirked, leaning against the wall of the apartment lobby.

The puppeteer smiled back at her and held the log tighter to his chest. "Your first present to me! I'll treasure it always."

"Jerk." She groused, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Throw that away and let's go eat some breakfast."

Kankuro frowned. "Throw it away? Are you crazy? This was a gift from a beautiful girl. I never throw gifts away."

"You get many?" She asked pointedly.

He shook his head. "One of my first. And the only one that means anything to me."

"Oh?" TenTen shook her head. "And what does that log mean to you?"

Kankuro held it out like a baby he was inspecting. "This is cedar. Quite the thing for carving."

She blinked. "You're really going to keep it, aren't you?"

The puppeteer tucked the short log under his arm and held out the other arm for her. "Feed me first, then I'll tell you all the things I can do with this baby."

"Good with your hands are you?" She said, then nearly choked as she realized what she'd said and what the innuendo must sound like.

Kankuro waggled his eyebrows at her. "Oh. You have NO idea how good I can be with my hands."

TenTen shivered under his suggestive look. Then she grinned. The perfect gentleman that Neji was, he would have ignored her words or taken them only at face value. Kankuro was another animal entirely. And she wasn't sure how to handle him or how to take him at times.

It was thrilling.

"Lead on." She said, taking his arm.

o.o.o.o.o

Ino knocked on the Kazekage's door, ignoring the odd looks from his guards. She had butterflies in her stomach. As she waited at the door, she went over her speech in her mind. She was going to tell him she was sorry for boring him to death last night, and that he could request another escort if that suited him.

Not that she looked forward to seeking out Lee or Sai. It seemed every available kunoichi, and even some civilians, had been asking about the alternates on their list. Ino had steered quite a few toward Lee and Sai in the past few days. Maybe she should go to the Winter Festival alone? The thought did NOT appeal.

Gaara opened the door himself, scowling at her. "About time."

"Huh?" Ino said, then walked inside and unwrapped herself from her heavy coat. "I'm here at the time you said yesterday."

"What kind of lily?" He asked her, staring holes through her head.

"What?" Ino frowned, then sighed. "Oh! You got the flowers."

Gaara nodded and held up a book. "Are they Calia, Tiger, or Day Lilies?"

Ino reached for the book he was holding, but he pulled it back out of her reach. "What is that?" She asked.

The red-head sighed and led the way into the main room, sitting down at his desk and staring at her flowers. "I had my guard go to the bookstall to find this. It's about flower languages or some such." He admitted reluctantly, his voice gruff.

"Oh." Ino's jaw dropped. He was trying to figure out the message behind the flowers? How sweet! Unless, unless …he didn't WANT the message to be too gooey. "What do you want them to say?"

"No." Gaara turned the full force of his gaze on her, pinning her in place. His eyes took in every nuance of her stance, her expression, and if his eyes lingered on her figure a bit too long …he sighed and turned away. "What did you MEAN them to say?"

"Happy birthday." She said quietly. "I looked it up. Today's your birthday."

Gaara's stomach tumbled into freefall as he turned wide eyes on her. "My what?"

"Birthday." She smiled and walked over to the flowers, tweaking the arrangement some. "Someone's been in these."

"The fangirls." He admitted absently.

Ino smirked and looked around. "They're gone." Somehow, it didn't sound like a question.

Gaara nodded. "They're looking for you probably. You are armed, right?"

The blond nodded. "Always." She leaned in and sniffed the lilies. "I love the smell of these flowers. They're one of my favorites. I don't get to send them usually. Because of the message they imply."

The Kazekage frowned and opened his book, pointing toward a passage. "So. For my birthday. Which I never celebrate …you were trying to say, what? Beauty, Flirty, Maiden Charms? None of those make sense."

Ino giggled and turned bright eyes on him. Gaara stilled, the sound of her laughter soothed him somehow. This was much better than her over-bright and almost frightened smiles of yesterday. "Well?" He asked, feeling the bite of curiousity.

"Beauty is for Calia lilies and Tiger lilies mean wealth and pride." Ino said with a glint of humor in her eyes. "But these …" She touched the flowers gently. "These are general lilies. Nothing special."

"Nothing special." He echoed, feeling a bit disappointed in that answer. Did that mean he meant nothing to her at all? Not that he was LOOKING for anything. He didn't have room in his life for such nonsense. Still …nothing special? "I see." Gaara nodded. He should have known better, instead of trying to read too much into the unexpected gift.

"Your fangirls already found me this morning." Ino smiled at him as she dropped that bombshell on him. With seeming casualness, she headed toward his kitchen. "I smell tea."

"Help yourself." He said while following her. "Wait. They found you?"

"Don't worry, they're still breathing." Ino found the tea cups and poured herself some. "Tea?"

"I already had some." He admitted reluctantly. "So …so what happened?"

"Matsuri is talking to Lee and the other two are getting stitches." Ino shrugged with a small blush.

"They attacked you?" He growled, his gaze narrowing dangerously.

Ino sighed and gave him an embarrassed look. "They attacked each other. That's my official story and I'm sticking to it."

Gaara gaped at her a moment before remembering just what kind of family jutsu she possessed. Mind control. He coughed and almost smiled. "Stitches?"

"Not very many." Ino shook her head sadly. "Matsuri stepped in and prevented too much damage."

"And now she's talking to Lee?" Gaara asked, still unsure.

Ino shrugged. "She'd heard you speak well of Lee and that was good enough for her. The other two might be harder to convince. Still, for today the lilies worked."

"Yes. No, wait. What?" Gaara sighed and went back to his book, picking it up to flip through the pages. "What do the lilies have to do with the fangirls? I thought the flowers meant nothing special."

Ino shook her head and laughed, following him back to the main room. "No. I said the lilies were just general lilies and were nothing special in that they're not a specific type of lily."

Gaara found the right passage and read for a moment. Finally he looked up at her, struggling not to smile full out. "General lilies mean …"

"To keep unwanted visitors away." Ino finished for him with a suddenly solemn look. "That means fangirls and escorts alike. If you want."

Suddenly feeling over his head, Gaara gave her an unreadable expression. "What do you mean by that?"

Ino sighed unhappily. "I bored you last night. I talked so much that you fell asleep. I'm …embarrassed and I hope you …well, anyway …I wanted to apologize. And I wanted to tell you that if you want a different escort I'd be happy to explain to the Hokage that …"

"No."

"That you wanted someone different …" She continued unabated, not really registering his comment.

"No." He said again, louder.

" …and that way she could …wait. What?" Ino blinked over at him, finally stilling her mouth.

Gaara shrugged, feeling unsure of himself. "Thank you?"

She stared at him, for once silent.

Still out of his depth, the red-head nodded toward the flowers. "I like them. I like the fact that the trio isn't here." He paused, but she didn't say anything, so he cleared his throat. "And I like that you are."

Ino blinked hard.

"Here that is." He looked away, uncertain. "So …I have to go to the Councilor Takao's home in about an hour for a formal call. You'll escort me?"

Ino nodded, still quiet.

Gaara got up and put the book down on his desk. He lifted one hand to trace the stem of one lily and then looked over at Ino. "I don't celebrate my birthday. Ever."

"I'm sorry." She choked out with a faint blush, embarrassed at the gaffe.

"But if I did …" He said slowly with a softer look in his usually hard eyes. "If I did, I'd tell you I liked these."

Ino watched him walk away as a slow smile spread over her face, a smile that matched the warmth rising up within her. His reaction was completely different than she'd imagined.

He was completely different than she'd imagined.

o.o.o.o.o

Well? I know, I know ...Naruto still doesn't know about being 'undateable'. I moved that back out of this chapter, too much going on. But he'll find out soon, I promise!

As always, reviews are appreciated and opinions matter! THANKS!