lostmoonchild: Thanks for the reviews, minna-san! I know, I'm shocked too that there's an update only a few short days after I last updated. Somebody's probably wondering if I feel okay and all I really have to say is that I'm waiting with great anticipation for Friday to roll around so we can head off to Rapid but until then I need something to do and I've been working on chapters so I decided to post them before I forget.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Rule Nine: Two Plus Two isn't Always Four

Temari considered it a good thing that she had vacation coming her way and that it had come two days after her brothers had read her journal and discovered her pregnancy. They had thought that they had gotten away with nothing more than the silent treatment and being forced to fend for themselves but they didn't know that she was going to get them back. Of course it wouldn't be anything that would damage Gaara's reputation as Kazekage but she would be certain that it put as much of a damper in his love life as their invasion of her own love life had.

Not all sisters were comfortable with the knowledge that their brothers knew that their sister was having sex. Then again she supposed that they wouldn't be comfortable with their sister knowing that her brothers were having sex either. Sex was just a topic that none of them really talked about and chose to ignore.

Her fingers spread across her lower abdomen as she thought about the child growing within her. Shikamaru would find out tonight and hopefully he'd be as thrilled as she was. Until then, she concluded, it would be time to take a look at the women her brothers had chosen.

Of course she had forgotten about the adopted brother that lived in Konoha. Temari groaned softly to herself as she listened to Naruto rambling about some new flavor of ramen that he had tried while on some mission. "I swear it was nothing like I've ever tasted before!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "So when I got back I immediately went to the ramen stand and started explaining the flavor and you know what I found out?"

"What?"

A serious expression showed on the blonde's face as he answered, "It was fried vegetables."

Laughter left the woman's lips as she looked at the other blonde, her eyes dancing with laughter. "You mean to tell me that you've never had fried vegetables?" Temari laughed.

"I didn't think that ramen and vegetables mixed!"

Now she was wishing that she had been introduced to the blonde before. God knew that there was some kind of miracle that he had survived this long and in retrospect it really wasn't any surprise that the man was somewhere on the small side. "Honestly, Naruto." Temari said as she calmed down. "How in the world did you survive this long?"

"Luck."

Apparently. She just wondered how much luck that kid had left if he used most of it to help him survive this long. "So what can you tell me about this Hinata and this Anko?" Temari questioned.

Naruto looked at her with a questioning look. "What'cha wanna know?" Naruto questioned.

"What kind of women are they? Last I knew, that Hinata girl was on the quiet side."

"She is. She's sweet and loving."

"And this Anko?"

Naruto visibly shuddered. "Psychotic," responded the blue-eyed man.

"How psychotic are we talking?"

"Licks blood off her kunai. Give her dango and she's happy. Rumor has it that she'd even kill for some."

Was that so? "Tell me more about this Hinata girl." Temari said lightly.

Naruto eyed her warily. "Why do I get the feeling that this is some kind of demented sibling payback that I'm now caught up in since I'm like a brother?" Naruto questioned.

"Because it is." Temari responded lightly. "You're younger than Gaara so you're officially the kid brother that'll do what his big sister says and your big sister demands information about Hinata."

If it weren't for the fact that Suna and Konoha were close allies, Naruto figured that he'd have reason to be afraid. "Well, there's the common knowledge stuff like she's the heiress of the Hyuuga household." Naruto said slowly.

"What about fighting? How's she at defending herself?"

"She's got awesome skill!"

As she listened to Naruto talk about the two women, Temari found herself remember a time when her brothers were first learning math. The ever simple "two plus two equals" question had always been an interesting one for them and this time she was reminding herself that two plus two didn't always equal four.

Despite appearances and popular belief Shikamaru was capable of some romance. It was usually just too much of a bother to plan anything remotely extravagant that would have the girls talking for days afterwards. When Temari told him that she needed to talk to him, he figured that he'd better do some romance in the event that she wanted to break up with him.

Normally he wouldn't do this for some girl but his Temari wasn't just some girl. His Temari was the essence of untamed beauty that wouldn't take crap from anybody. Not even her brothers got away with anything although he seemed to recall her allowing Gaara to get away with things when he had been homicidally insane. Now he wasn't even allowed to get away with the same things he had been able to before.

"Am I in the right place?"

Shikamaru rubbed his head as he looked at the blonde woman, seeing the surprise and amusement in her eyes. "It's going to be such a drag if you don't like it." Shikamaru told her with a bored expression.

"It's not that. I just wasn't expecting it."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly, resting his forehead against hers. "I figure girls don't like to break up with their boyfriends in romantic settings." Shikamaru said.

Confusion showed on Temari's face. "Break up? Who said anything about breaking up?" Temari questioned.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something important."

"Not about breaking up." A sigh left her lips. "Shika, you'd better sit for this one."

There was something going on. "What?" Shikamaru asked with a confused look on his face.

"I'm about two months pregnant."

He stared at her in shock and for a moment Temari was worried that she had somehow rendered her boyfriend completely incapable of a simple thought process. "Pregnant?" Shikamaru asked softly.

"Yep."

His eyes flickered to her stomach as if trying to see the growing baby through her skin. "Holy…" Suddenly he wasn't entirely sure if a romantic setting had been such a good idea.

As if sensing his doubt, Temari smiled and softly kissed him. "I love this." Temari told him. "Now, what'd you have in mind for dinner?"

Two plus two generally equaled four. When it came to siblings, that wasn't always the case. Sometimes two plus two equaled five or something else. The sum usually resulted in whatever the situation called for and in this case, two plus two called for five.

Kankuro, a clown by nature, chose a psychotic woman that Temari was fairly certain would happily castrate her brother if she ever caught him cheating. The woman was just too kunai happy whereas her brother was puppet happy. Somehow she could see the woman tearing the puppets apart or something if Kankuro got too involved in a project.

Gaara, distant and aloof, had chosen someone Temari was fairly certain her brother needed. That woman was gentle and loving albeit a bit shy. She wouldn't hurt Gaara and Temari was fairly certain that Gaara wouldn't hurt her. He'd be a little dense at times but there wasn't a guy on the planet that didn't have his moments of idiocy.

Then there was her and Shikamaru. Whereas she was serious, he was lazy. There were moments where she wanted to kill him but she wouldn't have him any other way. He was simply Shikamaru Nara, father of her child.

Yes, two plus two may have equaled four most of the time but there were days where nothing made sense and those were the days when two plus two made five.


lostmoonchild: And that's Rule Nine. You know I just realized as I was working on this chapter that the next one is going to be the last one? Kira, I'm hoping my costume gets lots of compliments. total, I actually hope the same for you and wish that all siblings are as close as they grow up. Hinata, I'm glad the chapter made your day. cast, really glad you love the story. Okay, ladies and gents, ja ne for now!