I'm confused about this chapter. It doesn't really do what I want it to do, but I feel like I have to post it. It starts off in the right direction but sort of does a swerve the wrong way.

Do you understand what I mean?

I've decided to try and give myself more time for each chapter, otherwise my creative juices (or whatever I have left of it) will run out and each chap will be a bit…shit.

Anyway, I'll let you guys make your own minds about this.

Thank you for your reviews once again. I wouldn't be able to do this without your support. Hah, I sound so over dramatic.

Disclaimer: I'm going to lay low for abit. Make M.Kishimoto feel like I've given up on the whole 'LET ME OWN!' campaign, but just as he's comfy…BAM!

Fingers of silk and porcelain skin wandered curiously under Hyuuga Neji's shirt; travelling along the length of his lean chest and stomach almost hungrily, before yanking it up over his head with speed.

Gaara clamped his soft lips onto Neji's chest; working upwards towards his neck, then jaw, then face, before pulling the other boy into an intense kiss. He made quick work of his own top; letting it float to the ground with grace.

The pale-eyed boy pulled back-panting for air. "Hey, don't go getting any ideas, you're sister said she was going to be here anytime now."

Gaara smirked and sucked at Neji's pulse.

"Come on! We can wait till she's gone. She drove down especially to see her baby brother, I'm sure she's not keen on waiting until after he's done screwing his boyfriend." Neji's voice didn't sound as sure as he wanted it to – especially as he had to stop to pant.

"Come on baby. Does it feel like I can wait?" The red-head pushed himself down harder on his boyfriend; making sure it was enough to make Neji moan.

"Why are you so damn convincing?" Neji asked with a glint in his pale eyes.

Gaara smirked -his seductive smirk- as he popped open the button on the other boy's pants.

"HOLYMOTHEROFCHRIST!" Temari's voice was on the verge of screeching as she tried to gouge out her own eyeballs.

She had let herself into the house- spare keys are highly useful she had remembered noting. She had travelled the short distance between the front door and her brother's bedroom with a head full of naivety and non-expectance. As the blonde twisted the doorknob, she didn't think to note the thought provoking noises which echoed inside- until it was too late. Now she was pretty certain she was going to need therapy for so many years she couldn't count it in her head.

Temari had slammed the door shut as soon as she had opened it; the booming of her voice reverberating along the white walls.

There was a faint 'whoops' from the other side of the door and another voice had replied 'I told you so'

She was really considering therapy as she stood in the small kitchen; back leant against the cool fridge door and a cup full to the brim with ice and water in her left hand. She was breathing heavily and every now and then she would shut her eyes and smack the side of her head.

Gaara and Neji shared the apartment. Though it was extremely small (two bedrooms, living room and a bathroom), it was all they could afford to rent out together without having to borrow money off relatives. The couple quite liked living together in a matchbox sized house; they called it 'cosy', others called it 'delusional'.

"Don't come any closer. I don't think I can ever look you in the eye again!" Temari's voice was on the border of joking.

A good ten minutes later both boys had emerged into the kitchen -clothed and clean- and had shuffled from foot to foot not looking the blonde in the eye.

"Err…sorry sis. I didn't expect you too…erm…walk in on us like that…err"

Neji stood further back, shielded by his boyfriend. He was blushing like a beetroot and wringing his hands together consistently.

Temari sighed and pushed off from the fridge, "Look, you're a grown boy and you can do whatever you please, but please do it when I'm no where in sight. Deal?" She held out a slender hand towards Gaara and he shook it nervously.

"Yeah deal. Again…sorry…err…"

"Don't worry about it!" Her expression changed and she pulled the oblivious boy into a rib-breaking hug. His arms were limp at her sides as he tried to gasp for air. She breathed in the comforting smell of her little brother as she mumbled about how great it was to see him again.

She pulled back and punched him not too softly on the arm before smirking mischievously, "So, you top, eh?"

Gaara blushed crimson-a drastic change to his usual pallid complexion, "Temari!"

"What? Can I not be proud of my baby brother?" She squeezed his cheeks. Gaara wrenched his face out of her grasp and huffed; muttering about stupid sisters saying stupid things because they were stupid.

"Anyway, you know Neji right?" the red-head asked; trying to change the subject from his sex life and rubbing his sore cheeks at the same time.

Neji slowly appeared from behind Gaara and mumbled a feeble 'hello'. He was still far too embarrassed to look at her. If he had it his way, he'd be crawling into a hole any dying right now.

"Oh, I sure do!"

"You are so perverted."

"Shuddup! I came all the way over here for you, you thoughtless brat. Show me some gratitude." Temari placed her hands over her curvy hips and furrowed her eyebrows together. She had long cascading blonde hair which was up in pigtails today, a slender but curved figure and…big breasts. Her clothing choice for today consisted of small black shorts which hugged her behind quite abit and a long purple top.

The three of them sat down at the dining table –elbow to elbow- filling their grumbling stomachs with a late breakfast. The awkwardness had died out and conversation had moved onto more interesting matters.

Gaara chewed down the remainder of his pancakes and asked inquisitively to no one in particular, "Did you hear about Naruto and Sasuke?"

Temari's face lit up a few notches, "Naruto?! Oh, I haven't seen him in like forever! Can we go to visit him today? Please! Pretty please." She batted her eyelashes at her brother.

"Err sure. But that's not the point! Did you hear about it?"

"Hear about what?" Neji had cut into the conversation now.

Gaara continued; obviously pleased that someone was taking an interest in what he wanted to say, "Well supposedly the other day at the cinemas, Shikamaru walked in on them making out in the bathrooms! They've totally hooked up! Only Sakura and Lee don't know yet."

"No way?" Both Temari and Neji asked in unison.

"I know! I was so shocked. I didn't think that Naruto would ever fall for a dude, let alone a dude who is so dark and cryptic." The red-head shrugged and drained his glass of orange juice.

"You know, Sasuke isn't all that bad. He pretends to be all tough and emo, but really he's just a messed up kid who needs someone to love him." When Temari got all psychological it was scary.

"And how would you know?"

"I know him better than you think Gaara. You may be around him longer, but before I moved up north I was pretty close to him." Temari was no liar. Before her plans had changed and she was forced to move north for educational purposes, she and Sasuke had been quite close. She was the one –other than Naruto- who could see through the mask of steel and recognise the boy behind it. He would talk to her when Naruto wasn't around. But he had never had the connection with Temari that he had with the blonde.

It was enough though. Enough for her to notice him -him and his vulnerability.

"Sure." It was a mumbled response as the red head looked at the empty plate in front of him and groaned about stupid sisters saying stupid things to try and outsmart him.

Holidays were bliss.

Holidays were lazy.

Holidays meant lie-ins.

Holidays meant that Shikamaru was a happy boy.

He rolled over on his bed and breathed in the scent that was the afternoon.

Shikamaru languidly forced one eye open to glance to the clock on the opposite wall. 1:30pm.

Hhmm. Not bad, but I could still stay in bed for another 30 minutes at least.

The brunette was staying at a family friend's house. They had so kindly offered him a room, because the man was his father's best friend and he and his wife were Shikamaru's godparents. They were generally nice people and Shikamaru didn't mind having to spend his holiday with them. At least they let him have his rest, right? Right?!

"Shikamaru! Get yo' lazy ass out of bed right now!" A thick voice echoed through the house and reached his uninviting ears.

"Geez, can't a guy get some peace and quiet around here?"

"I heard that!"

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I'm getting up already."

Shikamaru rubbed his hands over his sleep ridden eyes and yawned widely. He stretched his legs out under the duvet before whipping it off and sitting upright. This followed by lazier stretching and bone popping. The familiar sound made him smile.

The room in which he was staying in was quite big; enough room for the double bed he slept in, a double-doored wardrobe, desk, chair and a huge window which was currently open-letting breeze whoosh in and making shivers run down his bare back.

As he got up from the overly comfortable bed, Shikamaru took a detour to gaze out of the window at the outside world which called his name.

Looks nice out today. A good day for cloud watching to be precise.

These thoughts swirled around in his brain as he picked up the towel which was so neatly folded on top of his brown desk and trudged to the bathroom.

After a not so warm shower, Shikamaru was definitely awake; he sunk down into a chair at the dining table; the creaking of the chair leg on the rough ground made him grimace and scrunch his eyes up.

"Afternoon Shika. Thanks for joining us." Asuma's thick voice dripped with sarcasm as he ruffled the boy's damp hair and joined him at the table.

"Yeah, morning…I mean afternoon." The brunette rested his head on his folded arms on the table and silently cursed all.

Footsteps could be heard coming from the kitchen and a sweet voice chorused, "Afternoon Shika. Sleep well?"

The brunette lifted his heavy head to see Kurenai waddling over to him; one hand resting on her stomach.

"Yeah, it was alright. What about you? You must be getting anxious now the due date is nearing."

Her free hand ran through her long brown hair as she waddled the last few steps to the table; only for Asuma to jump up from his seat and help her into a chair.

"Thanks honey- Yeah, I am quite nervous to be fair, but I don't want to be putting any stress on you too. Why don't you go out today? Meet up with some friends or something."

Asuma nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure? I could stay here and do some housework or something for you." Okay, maybe housework was stretching it, but he wanted to sound helpful.

"Hahaaahahaa!" Asuma's laugh filled the entire room and Shikamaru was sure he could feel the ground vibrate. "You?! You do housework?! Haha! You make me laugh!"

The brunette sneered and turned in the opposite direction; suddenly finding a painting on the wall far more interesting.

"Fine. Maybe I will go out." He mumbled, "Che, troublesome. And I was even considering it for a moment." He said under his breath.

"I heard that!"

The water splashed and cascaded over the white bowl as a hand ran a sponge over it's surface. He tried to ignore the feeling of someone behind him planting a trial of soft kisses along his neck.

"Sasuke, I'm trying to wash the dishes." Naruto said, attempting to sound defiant.

The raven just ran his hands down Naruto's shoulders, down his sides and stopping to rest comfortably on the jut of his hipbone he had revealed.

Sasuke licked the flesh beneath his ear and groaned in annoyance when the blonde tried to squirm away.

"I'm trying to wash the dishes. If I don't do them, who will?"

Sasuke ignored the protests and snuck his hands under the other's top; soft fingers stroking the warm skin and running along the tight muscles. Naruto's stomach reacted to the cold touch and he laughed softly at the sensation. Where ever the raven's fingers touched, the skin heated up a few degrees but shivers ran down his spine.

"Have I told you, that you're a pervert?" Naruto asked, now stacking wet dishes on the drying rack.

"Mmm." He wrapped his arms around the blonde's middle and rested his head on the others shoulder; nuzzling his head in Naruto's neck.

The blonde sighed and dried his hands on the towel which lay crumpled next to the sink. He looked back to see Sasuke with his eyes closed and lips pursed together.

"Are you alright Sasuke?" The worry was kicking in now.

The raven sighed and held on tighter.

"It's ok, I'm not going anywhere. It's alright." Naruto attempted to stroke the other's back, but found it exceedingly difficult from the position he was standing in.

"That's good… I just…I like this…I want to be close to you all of the time. It's so frustrating." Sasuke cracked one eye open and looked up at the blue eyes which held such an intense gaze on him.

The blonde smiled a warm smile and kissed the top of his head; silky hair tickling his lips.

"I know exactly what you mean, but don't worry I'm not going anywhere." Naruto kissed the top of his head again and repeated, "I'm not going anywhere."

They were both broken from their private moment by the sound of the doorbell echoing through the house.

"I wasn't expecting anyone; I wonder who it is…I should get that."

"No don't worry about it, I'll go." Sasuke said as he reluctantly pried himself off Naruto and strided towards the infuriating noise which was now consistently going off.

He was preparing himself to shout off a string of obscenities to the person who very rudely interrupted their embrace, but as he swung the front door open his mouth fell open and no words came out.

"Sasuke!" He was pulled into a suffocating hug and was sure that a rib very nearly cracked. "Oh, it's so great to see you! Look at you, you look like a guy in lo-"

"Temari?!"

Temari had pulled back from the raven and glanced to where the noise was coming from. Naruto had come to see what all the shouting was about and was pretty certain he recognised that voice. His instincts were nearly always right.

"Omg! It is you…"

The blonde broke into a half hearted jog and found himself in an armful of Temari. She squeezed him tight and swung him around; his feet lifting the ground for a moment.

Once the elder put the blonde back down, she held him at arms length and ruffled his bright blonde mop.

"It's so great to see you again Naruto. Youhaven't changed at all. Actually, that's a lie."

Her gaze flicked between a grinning Naruto and a thoroughly shocked Sasuke who was standing back with his arms folded and his brows furrowed together.

"I can totally tell you're in love! It's in your eyes!" She fixed her stare back to the blonde's face and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "Gaara told me. I'm so happy for you guys. It's great news."

Naruto flushed and looked down at his feet. He wasn't expecting this. He wasn't expecting another old friend to come back into his life. And he really wasn't expecting her to know about his relationship with Sasuke.

The blonde rubbed the back of his neck nervously – a habit he had picked up – and grinned at Temari. "Err…good old Gaara, right? Err…thanks…yeah…thanks."

She grinned her face splitting grin as she skipped pass the boys and came to a halt in the kitchen. Temari stretched her arms out on either side of herself and twirled slowly around in circles.

Naruto and Sasuke had followed behind her and were now watching her twirl- quite transfixed.

"It's good to be back." Temari said as she took a deep breathe in and swung the fridge door open to grab a can of soda.

The raven was still in shock. He hadn't seen her in over two years and now she had 'twirled' back into his life. Maybe it was exactly what he needed. Maybe he really needed her more than he thought. She always knew what to say to him. What to do for him. How to treat him. He hadn't realised how much he missed that sense of security coming from someone else other than Naruto, until it literally arrived back on his doorstep.

"Who the bloody hell is it now?" Naruto muttered as he stalked back to the front door.

"Yo." Shikamaru leant against the doorframe; hands in his pockets and one foot crossed over the other with the toe facing downwards.

Tell me what you think. R&R.

"If I could dream at all, it would be about you."

Twilight, Stephenie Meyers.