.Goosey Goosey Gander.

'Whose house is this?' Temari asked as they climbed out of Shikamaru's car at a largish house surrounded by flashing cars.

'I don't know,' Shikamaru replied.

There was a slight commotion in the house, and a uniform came stumbling out.

'I can't do this, not again. I can't take this,' he muttered as he made his way to a car, tear tracks scalding paths down his cheeks.

'Konohamaru?' Shikamaru asked, surprised.

Konohamaru halted near them and lifted his head to glare at him.

'You,' he whispered hostilely, 'It's your fault.'

'What?' Shikamaru said, confused.

'You didn't find the person who killed my cousin, and now they've got my grandfather,' Konohamaru accused hotly.

'Your- oh shit, Konohamaru. I'm sorry,' Shikamaru said, glancing towards the house.

'You're sorry. You're sorry. It's your fault. If you'd have done your job properly, this wouldn't've-' Konohamaru cut himself short.

'Konohamaru, I was working with what I had! You can't blame me!' Shikamaru exclaimed.

'Then who can I blame?' Konohamaru demanded loudly, 'Who else can I blame?'

Shikamaru didn't have an answer. Konohamaru snorted bitterly.

'Give me someone to blame, Shikamaru. Give me someone else to blame,' Konohamaru told him coldly, 'Please.' And he walked away.

'Fuck,' Shikamaru muttered, and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

'Is this…' Temari stopped.

'Hiruzen Sarutobi. He's the next victim,' Shikamaru said darkly, glaring at the house as if it had caused him personal insult.

Temari thought of the old man she'd seen choking back tears at his granddaughter's funeral earlier that day and kicked a stone.

'Babies and old people. Bastard,' she muttered. They stood there in silence for a minute or so before Shikamaru sighed.

'Come on, let's get this over with.' He started moving towards the door, Temari following close after.

Inside the house, the foyer was bustling with people.

'Neji!' Shikamaru called, spotting the CSI. Neji looked up and nodded. He issued some short instructions to his colleagues before heading over to Shikamaru and Temari.

'Temari, this is head CSI, Neji Hyuuga. Neji, my partner for this case, SPD Lieutenant Temari Sabaku,' Shikamaru gave a perfunctory introduction, before turning his full attention to Neji. 'What happened to him?'

'You know who it is, then?' Neji asked.

Shikamaru shrugged. 'Yeah, bumped into Konohamaru on the way in, got an earful. What happened, Neji?'

'Again, it seems to be a fall. It looks like he fell down the stairs. Samples are being taken from the blood on the stairs to compare for DNA, but… It looks likes it's going to be Sarutobi's,' Neji finished.

'Fell down the stairs?' Temari asked.

Shikamaru sighed. 'I suppose there's absolutely no chance that this was an unrelated accident, a horrible coincidence?' he asked tiredly.

'I don't believe in coincidences,' Temari murmured.

'Me neither,' Shikamaru replied.

'Yeah. Sadly, there's no chance of that,' Neji reaffirmed their beliefs- or lack thereof. 'Follow me,' he said, and walked towards the wide white staircase. Temari and Shikamaru followed after.

'This was pinned to the banister. It's been photographed and documented,' Neji said, handing Shikamaru an evidence bag with a note in it.

'What does it say?' Temari asked.

Shikamaru sighed and passed it to her. 'It's a nursery rhyme. A fucking nursery rhyme.'

'Goosey goosey gander, whither shall I wander, upstairs and downstairs and in my ladies parlour,' Temari read.

'There I met an old man who wouldn't say his prayers, so I took him by his left leg and threw him down the stairs,' Shikamaru finished bitterly. 'The bastard's fucking playing with us. Asuka had Rock A Bye Baby.'

'I remember you saying,' Temari said.

Shikamaru shook his head. 'Just. Was anything else found?' he asked Neji.

'Nothing so far, but we can't be sure. We'll know more once we get everything analysed at the lab,' Neji said.

'Are you done with the body?' Shikamaru queried.

'Just about. Sakura just needs to confirm time of death, and then she'll get it back to the morgue to do a full autopsy,' Neji replied.

'Why hasn't she already done that?' Shikamaru asked crossly.

'I got lost, I got lost, I'm sorry!' Sakura cried, rushing in with her bag. 'I won't be long. Is it really Commander Sarutobi?' she asked breathlessly.

'Yes. Please, Sakura, get this done as fast as possible. It's first priority,' Shikamaru told her.

'Of course! Oh, I can't believe it. It's so terrible,' Sakura whispered, before heading towards the body.

'How is she an ME? She's so full of empathy and compassion,' Temari wondered.

'I don't know how she manages to stay so upbeat. I've often wondered about it, as have all our friends, I guess,' Shikamaru remarked. 'Come on, let's take a look at the body.'

Temari winced at the sight of the old man lying in a pool of his own blood, his limbs bent at odd angles. 'It never gets any easier,' she said.

Shikamaru shook his head. 'No, it doesn't. Sometimes it gets harder,' he remarked, a pained wincing smile pulling momentarily at the corner of his mouth.

Temari laid a hand on his shoulder. 'I can't imagine how hard this must be. I didn't work my father's murder.'

Shikamaru turned to face her, surprised. 'Your father was murdered? That must have been hard.'

Temari shrugged and gave a tight smile. 'We weren't hugely close. After my mom died, he threw himself into his work. It's kind of why my brothers and I followed in his footsteps and joined the force.'

'He was a cop too?' Shikamaru asked.

'Commander of the SPD for a while,' Temari replied.

'And here's you ragging at the Sarutobi's for being a line of cops, when both your father and brother occupied top position in the SPD,' Shikamaru said with a wry smile.

Temari returned the smile. 'I know the feeling of being a high powered family. I tend to gloss over the fact, though. Sometimes people react irrationally. I want to be measured on my ability as a cop, not on my family's influence,' she explained.

'That happen a lot?' Shikamaru asked.

'Enough to annoy me,' Temari replied. 'Can we get off the topic of me now, please?'

'I thought women loved talking about themselves,' Shikamaru jibed, causing Temari to punch him lightly on the shoulder.

'Is there anything more we can get here?' Temari asked, returning her attention back to the former commander's mangled body.

'Sakura, have you got time of death yet?' Shikamaru called as way of reply.

'Time of death appears to be approximately five hours ago,' Sakura replied.

'Thank you. Who was first on scene?' Shikamaru asked loudly to the people surrounding.

'I was, sir,' a younger uniform said, raising his hand. Shikamaru gave a nod and waved him over.

'Who discovered the body?' Shikamaru asked.

'Um, a next door neighbor,' the uniform replied.

'Where is this next door neighbor?' Temari asked when the kid didn't respond to Shikamaru's expectant stare.

'Oh, um, Mrs Tanketsu is next door, ma'am. First house on the right,' he replied.

'Facing the house or not?' Temari asked.

'Um…' the uniform looked confused.

'Which way?' Temari asked. 'Point us in the direction.'

The uniform flung out a hand and pointed.

'Thank you,' Temari said, turning to leave with Shikamaru. 'Well, he's green,' she muttered.

'I don't know him. Must be a rookie,' Shikamaru replied, and knocked on the door. It opened immediately to show a worried looking woman.

'You must be the cops. What happened to Hiruzen? Is he dead? Please, come in,' Mrs Tanketsu invited.

'Thank you,' Shikamaru said as he and Temari stepped inside.

'I just can't believe it. What happened? Oh, it's terrible. Did you know his granddaughter just died? Terrible matter, it really was terrible. His son had already died, but this little girl- she was so young. It was her funeral today, that's why I went over, to see how he was, to see if there was anything I could do, and I knocked and there wasn't any answer, so I just looked through the glass at the sides to see if I could see anyone, and I just saw… well, it had to be Hiruzen, who else would it be, he'd told me he'd asked his nurse to take the night off, he just wanted to be alone, and there was just so much blood, it was horrible. What happened?' the woman stopped talking and looked at Temari and Shikamaru anxiously.

'We haven't determined what happened yet. But… Hiruzen Sarutobi is dead,' Temari said softly, apologetically.

'Oh my god,' Mrs Tanketsu muttered, horrified as Temari confirmed what she'd suspected.

'Were you and Hiruzen close?' Temari asked.

'Well, not particularly, but we were friendly. I mean, we've been neighbours for quite a while, and I'd always offer to help him around the house- you know, small things- because he was just such a nice man. Did you know he was also a police-man? He used to be the commander, but he was retired now,' Mrs Tanketsu told them.

Temari bit her lip to hide a smile at the woman's verbal diarrhea.

'Yes, we know. I knew Commander Sarutobi,' Shikamaru told her.

'Oh! It's just so sad.' The woman's face suddenly took on a startled expression. 'Was Hiruzen murdered?'

'It appears to be foul play,' Shikamaru confirmed.

'Can you tell us anything you might remember, about anything that was odd. Did Hiruzen have any visitors today? Were there any suspicious cars around?' Temari asked.

'Oh, I couldn't say, I wasn't at home for a lot of the day, which is why I went over so late. I mean, I wouldn't normally, but the light was on, and he always turns it off before he goes to sleep, so I thought I'd just go see how he was, you know?' Mrs Tanketsu said.

'Yes. Do you know of anyone who might have seen anything?' Temari asked.

'My son's been here for most of the day, I'll call him,' Mrs Tanketsu smiled, then headed to the bottom of the stairs. 'Shunsui! Are you awake?'

'Yes, mom,' came a tired voice and a teenage boy came trudging down the stairs. 'Yeah?' he asked.

'My son, Shunsui,' Mrs Tanketsu introduced. 'Shunsui, these are the police, uh…' she trailed off and looked to Temari and Shikamaru for help.

'Lieutenants Nara and Sabaku,' Shikamaru introduced.

'Shunsui, did you happen to notice anything unusual this afternoon? Anything out of the oridinary. A car, a person, anything,' Temari asked.

The boy, thought about it. 'Nah. I don't think so. I mean, there are always cars up and down the road. There was a navy car, I think, late this afternoon.'

'A navy car? A military vehicle?' Shikamaru asked.

'Huh? No. Navy as in the colour. Navy blue. It wasn't really fancy. Didn't really notice what type of car it was,' the boy replied.

'When was this car around?' Temari asked.

Shunsui shrugged. 'I don't know. It was hanging around Hiruzen's place for a while, I think. I saw it at about… six, or so. I'm not a hundred percent sure,' he said.

Shikamaru and Temari shared a glance.

'That's fine. Thank you,' Temari said.

'Hey, is this going to help you? I mean, catch whoever did this to Hiruzen?' Shunsui asked.

'How do you know what happened?' his mother asked.

'Mom, the place is crawling with cops. And I heard you talking.' Shunsui shrugged.

'I don't know. But the more we know, the better chance we have, so any little bit helps,' Shikamaru told him.

'Thank you very much for your help,' Temari said, 'If there's anything else you can think of, please feel free to call the station and ask for one of us. If we're not available, leave a message, and we'll get back to you.'

'Oh, of course, anything to help,' Mrs Tanketsu said fussily.

'Goodnight, Mrs Tanketsu. Shunsui,' Shikamaru nodded, giving a small smile before he and Temari left the house.

'Do you think the navy car belonged to the perp?' Temari asked. 'It was there in the right time frame.'

'Do you even want to imagine how many navy blue cars there are in this city?' Shikamaru sighed.

'I admit, it's not huge, and it's not really something we can search for, but it may give us more of a lead if we come across any suspects,' Temari said.

'Yeah. I get what you're saying. I mean, we still need suspects to see if they have a navy blue car,' Shikamaru replied, and looked at his watch. 'It's midnight, what the fuck can we do.'

'Get some sleep. Start with a fresh head tomorrow,' Temari told him. 'The evidence still needs to be processed, and Sakura won't have finished the autopsy soon.'

'Then we're going in early,' Shikamaru said. 'I want to get this fucker as soon as possible.'

'We're going to grab a couple hours of shut-eye if we want to be at the top of our game,' Temari replied.

'You're right. Should I drop you at your friend's place?' Shikamaru asked, running a hand through his hair as they headed towards the car.

'Why don't I just crash at your place? It'll cut down on travelling time enormously,' Temari suggested.

Shikamaru froze slightly. 'Um. I don't know. I mean, sure, but my place isn't really set up for more than one person. And you have… well, you don't have any stuff,' he pointed out.

Temari laughed slightly. 'You have a couch, and I'm pretty sure you have an extra blanket. And if I can borrow a shirt to sleep in, then I'm all set. I don't have any blood on these clothes, they're good for another wear,' she joked. 'Besides, I left my bag at your place in the rush to get here. So my keys are there.'

Shikamaru considered this. 'I suppose it would be a lot easier. And we'd be able to get to the station quicker if we were both together. It would be very time efficient,' he said.

'So that's a yes?' Temari asked, a ghost of a smile flickering around her mouth.

'Yeah, come on. I might even have an extra mattress,' Shikamaru replied, a slight smile on his face, as he started the car.

'Oh, do you know a 24-hour take-out place around here? Or a shop? We never did get anything to eat, and I'm still kinda hungry,' Temari remarked.

Shikamaru laughed. 'Wouldn't your wallet also be in your bag?' he commented as they pulled away from the curb.

'I'll pay you back as soon as we get home!' Temari exclaimed.

'Sure you will,' Shikamaru remarked dryly.

-TBC-

A/N: Yeah, so I realize this has been over a year. I've written a page within that year. I apologise. I am really sorry. But. Here it is. And I'm hoping this will be completed within the month, because of NaNoWriMo (I'm doing freewriting). It's not like I've been neglecting this story in favour of others throughout the year, I just haven't been writing much. NaNo last year broke my brain. And I've been kinda busy. What with final year of school and all.

And that Harry Potter obsession raising it's head. And the discovery of teamstarkid. Which, okay, may be why (indirectly) I have neglected my NaNo for the last few days and so am almost a week behind. Okay, 9000 odd words behind. But I can catch that up. I got totally distracted by Darren Criss and his first episode of Glee. I might have had a complete fangirl squeal over that. But, I mean, it was a really good episode just on it's own (and Darren just made it so much better) and it had that twist that was like BAM!ohshit. It was so good.

Anyway. Sorry again. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.

Oh yeah, you may ask why Shikamaru and Temari are smiling/laughing so soon after they discovered the murder? Coping mechanism. Utter exhaustion. I'm going with coping mechanism.