A/N: Huh. This one came out a lot shorter than I thought. I think it's because it's mostly dialogue. See, I don't use word count, I go by the length of the document. And I think to myself, "Hey, twelve pages! That sounds good!" But when you have a lot of dialogue, you have a lot of paragraph breaks, which means fewer words per page, I guess. Oh, well. But, yeah, this chapter is pretty much a deluge of information, with very little introspection. Prepare yourself.

A quick note: to clarify, I will not be tackling Naru/Hina in this story. I just want to make that clear, because I do have some Naruto and Hinata interaction planned in future chapters. But I know how it is when you ship a couple; you see those moments and get hopeful. I am exactly the same way. So I just wanted to be clear on that from the get-go.

Chapter Ten

Unobscured

The weight of the world came with Neji as he entered, straight-backed and serious, which almost distracted Shikamaru from the fact that both Hinata and Hanabi were following right behind him. Hinata was carrying a vaseful of flowers; she searched for a place among his indoor garden, pushing leaves and stems this way and that, before finally giving up and putting her vase on the floor beside Shiho's tree. Neji stood at attention until Hinata stepped forward, then offered her the chair Naruto had been sitting in. He remained standing, and Hanabi stopped at the foot of the bed, watching Shikamaru with a measure of concern, which surprised him. While bright and studious, she'd never bonded to Shikamaru the way that some of the other children had. She seemed to attend school for one reason only, and that was knowledge, having no time for frivolous things like socialization.

"Shikamaru-sensei, will you be in the hospital much longer?" she asked without preface.

"Well," he said, "the medic thinks I might be able to leave in a couple of days." Assuming he could behave himself when he was alone with Temari.

"That's good to hear," she said solemnly; she spoke like a tiny adult. "Our substitute teachers have no patience, and no skill at at handling the unruly boys in our class. I'm tired of the disruption."

He gave her a smile. "Gorou?"

"It's always Gorou. He refuses to focus on the lessons."

"There's your problem," said Temari. "Shikamaru-sensei doesn't have lessons."

Hanabi turned her eyes on Temari, cool and assessing. "Temari-san, is it true that you saved Shikamaru-sensei?"

Temari smiled. "It's true. And it isn't the first time, either."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed a fraction. "So you're stronger than he is."

Temari glanced at Shikamaru, meeting his gaze. Then she cleared her throat. "I guess that depends on what kind of strength you're talking about," she said.

"I'm talking about the only kind that matters," said Hanabi. "The kind that allows you to win battles."

Shikamaru almost nodded. This was Hanabi. There was black, and there was white, and all the rest was noise.

"I think," said Temari, "that Shikamaru-sensei and I are equally strong."

"How can that be? You're two different people."

"I mean to say that our strengths complement each other. We win more battles together than alone."

Hanabi grew impatient. "But I'm asking who would win a fight between the two of you. Not how well you work together."

To Temari's credit, she didn't lash out at the girl's sudden lack of respect. But there was definitely a glint in her eye.

"And what I'm trying to convey, Hanabi-chan, is that it doesn't matter, because we will never fight each other. Only side-by-side."

She didn't look convinced. "But what if Suna attacks us?"

Temari was silent for a moment, and he knew she was wondering the same thing he was. What was the meaning behind this question? Was it just honest curiosity, or had Hanabi heard something that no one in the Hyuuga household, aside from Hinata, should know?

"What makes you think Suna would attack Konoha?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Hanabi. "But they probably will one day, now that we're enemy villages. And if they do you'll have to fight against Shikamaru-sensei. Because you're from Suna."

"But now I'm a Konoha-nin. My loyalty is here."

There was a hint of disgust in Hanabi's curled lip, something Shikamaru had never seen in a child that young before. "I would never abandon my village that way," she said. "Better not to marry at all than to marry an enemy."

Temari looked like she'd had quite enough of Hanabi's precociousness. "Konoha wasn't an enemy when I married him, Hanabi-chan."

"Well, peace doesn't last for-"

"Hanabi-sama."

Neji's voice drew the attention of all, especially Hanabi. She stared up at him, eyes wide with something like respect.

"While I appreciate your contribution to the conversation," he said, "your father needs us all back home as soon as possible. I'm afraid I'm going to have to direct the questions from here."

Hanabi nodded once, turned cool eyes on the group at large.

"Also, Hanabi-sama, I was wondering if you'd do some investigation for me. I need a list of everyone that checked into this hospital in the last two days. Would you like to try and retrieve that?"

"Using which methods?"

"Whichever methods you deem appropriate. Although I'd ask you to refrain from immobilizing anyone."

"I'll do my best, Neji-nii-san."

"Thank you."

Hanabi left the room, and Neji visibly relaxed. It was subtle, but his shoulders dropped a little, knees softening.

"I apologize," he said. "This wasn't the time or place for those particular questions."

Which, Shikamaru noticed, was not the same thing as saying that she shouldn't have asked them at all.

"To be honest, it might not be the best time for mine, either," he said.

"I understand," said Shikamaru.

"Hiashi-sama is understandably curious to know your version of yesterday's events. The news came into the Hyuuga building through different sources, but the details never matched up."

"There's not much to tell," Shikamaru admitted. "Danzo called me into his office to clear up the 'problems' with Temari's citizenship..."

Neji's eyebrows raised. "So he did approve the marriage, after all."

"Well, yeah," said Shikamaru, "but at that point did it really matter? He had me attacked not five minutes later."

"In the stairwell."

He nodded. "By a woman dressed as Anbu. Her personality was very characteristic of Root, though. I was wounded; Temari got there just in time to get me to the hospital. I would have died if she hadn't been there, and no one would know a thing. Danzo probably would have had my body disposed of and I would just be a missing-nin."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "So Danzo wasn't actually present for the attack."

Shikamaru scoffed. "Of course not. Is that what people are saying?"

"Some are. The story keeps changing."

"No," said Shikamaru. "He didn't get his hands dirty."

Neji glanced at the door, seemed to satisfy himself that they wouldn't be interrupted. Then he lowered his voice. "I'm going to be frank," he said. "I trust you. I have no reason to believe that you're lying to me. But your story is missing one key piece of information, and until I have it I have no choice but to remain skeptical."

"And that piece of information would be...?"

"Why the Rokudaime would attack you in the first place. It's ludicrous of you to expect me to believe that the fear of having Temari-san in our village would be strong enough to cause him to act in ways that would dissolve his base of support. Do you realize how concerned Hiashi-sama must be, to send me here today?"

Shikamaru wanted to sigh, but he stifled it and nodded instead. He knew where this line of questioning was going, and the problem was that he still hadn't decided whether or not Neji should know the whole plan.

But Neji saved him from having to make the decision.

"This is what it comes down to, Shikamaru: I know you better than most of the people in this village. I've served under you, and I've also had the pleasure of having you serve on my squads. And when you come home with a wife at sixteen, it makes me wonder what happened to the Nara Shikamaru I thought I knew. You may expect the rest of the village to believe that you would voluntarily get married so young. I don't."

Hinata briefly caught Shikamaru's eye and gave him an apologetic look, and he felt his control over the situation, if he'd ever had any, slipping away. Dad wasn't here to tell him whether or not Neji was safe to confide in, but he had to let instinct guide him. And one thing Dad had said two days ago was that the most important thing for Shikamaru to do was to be transparent. He couldn't redirect or lie to Neji right now; Neji would know. That left him with with no other options.

"You're right," he said. "It was an order to marry Temari." Temari glanced back at him, eyebrow raised, and he hastily added, "Not that I regret it."

Neji sighed, actually leaning against the wall a bit. It was probably the least guarded Shikamaru had ever seen him.

"That just begs the question, doesn't it?" he said. "You certainly weren't following Danzo-sama's orders."

"They were my father's."

Neji looked up at Temari. "I'm going to assume that you got your orders from someone else. The Kazekage?"

"Yeah."

He lifted a hand to his face, covering his eyes. Exhaled.

"How long do we have?" he asked.

"We don't know exactly. Suna's waiting word from Dad, but he hasn't told us when."

He nodded, then dropped his hand. "Are you expecting me to keep this from Hiashi-sama?"

"I don't know," he said. Then he sighed and ran his hands down his face. "I don't know anything. You know as much as Temari and I do, at this point. We're solidifying our relations with Suna and taking down Danzo. That's all we've been told."

"Which puts you in a difficult position."

"You have no idea."

"Neji-nii-san," said Hinata, "please don't mention this to my father. Shikaku-san is going to tell him soon, but..." She glanced around at the group self-consciously, as if suddenly realizing she was the center of attention. Then she finished in a smaller voice, "...but he's not ready yet."

Neji stared down at her. Blinked once.

"How do you know about this?"

Guilt flashed in her eyes, and they dropped to her lap. "I've been working for Shikaku-san," she said.

"Hinata-sama," he said, voice quiet with disbelief. "Do you know the ramifications of that?"

She said nothing.

"You're the Hyuuga heir. To act independently of your father..."

"...should make it clear to you how important I think this is," she finished for him. "My loyalty to Konoha is greater than my loyalty to my father. To anyone else."

It was something of an explosion for Hinata, and she dropped her eyes to her lap again in embarrassment.

"But with all due respect, Hinata-sama, my concern is specifically over whether or not this is best for the village. Is a regime change really in their best interest, considering how much danger a war will put them in?"

"My dad thinks he can do it without loss of life," said Shikamaru. "And I trust that he can."

"No offense to your father..." he began, and he glanced around at the white walls, at the forest of "get well" flowers. "But have you noticed where you are?"

"Yes. I'm in the hospital. Which is a lot better than a hole in the ground."

He felt fingers brush his knee through his blanket. He couldn't see Temari's hand or her face from this angle; she was sitting beside him on the bed, but facing Hinata and Neji instead. But her fingers reminded him of what she'd said before: I'm glad you didn't die. They were saying it all over again. It was reassuring to know that she felt that way even when they weren't in the process of kissing each other, but it was frustrating to be unable to respond. His hand was quite close to her, as well, but it was nearest to a part of her body that she might not appreciate him touching. Even if it was just to say, I'm glad you came for me.

"I don't know," said Neji. "I understand your position; I'm not going to say that the idea of supporting a hokage that would try and have you assassinated just to protect his job is one that appeals to me. But I need to talk to Hiashi-sama about this."

"Assassinated?" asked Temari. There was a hint of laughter in her voice. "What do you know, Shikamaru? You're moving up in the world."

"How exciting for me."

"Who else knows about this?" asked Neji, and Hinata glanced up at Shikamaru. In that instant, he could see the same resolve in her eyes that he was also feeling: that it was one thing to admit to treason, but something quite different to implicate other people.

So neither of them responded. And after a moment Neji nodded with grim, if slightly insulted, acceptance.

"Don't take it personally," said Shikamaru. "It's not you I'm worried about."

"No, I understand. I'm not so much offended as I am frustrated that it's come to this."

Shikamaru had to agree.

Then door swung open and Hanabi walked in, followed by Naruto and Sakura. Hanabi was carrying a file, but with none of the arrogance characteristic of a young ninja student successful on a mission. Shikamaru assumed that the only emotion she would have displayed would have been disgust at failure. It was as if succeeding was simply expected.

"There haven't been many patients admitted in the time frame you specified, Neji-nii-san," she said.

"That's fine," he said. "Your father will be pleased, nonetheless."

Shikamaru had to ask, although once again he felt burdened by present company to be as obscure as possible with his language.

"Are you looking for the same person we're looking for?" he asked.

"Yes," said Neji. "If she was injured, there's a chance she was admitted."

"Oh, she was injured," said Temari, "but I think it's a lot more likely that she was treated privately.

"Just covering our bases."

Sakura approached Shikamaru with a white plastic bowl that could only mean one thing: food. The minute he laid eyes on it, it was as if the burden of secrets and treason were nothing at all. Food was here, and his basic human instincts were overriding such unimportant matters as a reclamation. He knew it was ridiculous; he had an IV pumping into his arm, didn't he? But it was as if his stomach was saying, "It won't matter what happens tomorrow if you starve to death today." And he was in hearty agreement.

"Hope you like lemon," said Sakura.

As if it mattered.

She placed the bowl of gelatin on his table and rolled it until it was above him, then handed him a spoon.

"Take it easy, okay?" she said. "Don't inhale it. You can have more in an hour if it goes down easily and stays there." Then she turned to the Hyuugas and smiled. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come back another time. We're having an experiment."

Hinata stood from her chair and bowed a little. "Get well soon, Shikamaru-kun."

"Mm," he said. His mouth was already full of gelatin. It was, without a doubt, the most delicious thing he'd eaten in his entire life, and he didn't even like sweet stuff.

"I'll be back to speak with you as soon as I can," said Neji. "If I can."

He understood. There was every chance that the Hyuugas would decide not to support Dad and the reclamation. If that happened, it would no longer be possible for Shikamaru to meet with Neji or Hinata. Even if Neji made the same choice Hinata had, to act on his own, he would still have an image to maintain. Public interaction between them would drop to nil.

Sakura gave Shikamaru another stern warning to take it slow with the gelatin, then followed the Hyuugas out, which left him alone with Temari and Naruto again.

"What do you think he's going to do?" asked Temari.

"I'm not sure," said Shikamaru. "I'd like to think that he'd join us, but he'll have a lot of pressure on him from his family."

"His superiors."

"Right."

"You don't have to worry about Neji," said Naruto, eyes flashing. "He's on our side."

Shikamaru ate his gelatin without responding. It was in Naruto's nature to be so optimistic about people, which had its upsides and its downsides. But in critical moments such as these it was better to be a little cynical, so that you wouldn't be blindsided by someone you thought you could trust.

"What if he doesn't join us?" asked Temari. "Is he the type to rat us out?"

"No," said Shikamaru. "That's not a decision he'd make on his own. He'd leave it up to Hiashi."

There was a heavy silence in the room that was enough to out a damper on his enjoyment of his gelatin. The truth was that this hospital room provided a sense of surreality in the midst of severity. It was easy to pretend, with his food and his woman and his current lack of responsibility, that he was safe, that all of the particles of his life weren't rushing toward an epic collision.

So leave it to Naruto to scoot his chair over to the bed and begin setting up the Shougi board with a devious look on his face.

"You and me," he said.

"Me?" asked Shikamaru. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah. You said I'd never lose again."

Shikamaru let a laugh escape. "That's not what I said."

But Naruto was insistent, so Shikamaru finished his gelatin while he got the board ready.

Ten minutes later, an extremely disgruntled Naruto put it away.

O O O

It was nearing dinnertime when Naruto finally went home, which left Shikamaru and Temari with about three glorious minutes alone. Shikamaru continued with his efforts to move as little as possible and let her have her way with him, but she irritated him by being way too careful with him, as if she were taking Sakura's orders even more seriously than he was.

"It's not my mouth that's injured, you know," was what he told her, to which she only smiled.

And then Dad walked in, which he'd pretty much already expected. It was starting to feel like everyone he knew was in on some sort of cruel plot to keep him from having too much time with Temari, but it's not like he hadn't known Dad was coming. And it was dinnertime; visiting hours would be over soon. It was either come now or not at all.

Dad brought food from Mom for Temari, which she took graciously. Shikamaru suspected it had more to do with her loyalty to Mom than her respect for Dad, though, but he was glad that the atmosphere stayed congenial.

Dad seated himself beside the bed, and for the first time in Shikamaru's life, he noticed a hesitance as Dad lowered himself. A slowness. An awkward bend in the knees. For the first time, Dad seemed like and old man. But how could that be? Dad couldn't be old; he was only in his forties. Shikamaru was still a kid, at least in the sense that he depended on his parents for things like housing him and washing his clothes and preparing his meals.

But when he looked at Temari, he realized that she hadn't been a kid in years. She didn't have a mom to wash her socks or get mad when her room wasn't clean. And he'd married her. Not to be his mom, but to be his wife.

And there was no way that they'd continue to live at home once the reconstruction was done. They'd move out as soon as they had a chance; he doubted Temari would stand for less. In fact, if things progressed without interference he might actually have a kid of his own before a year had passed.

Which would make Dad a grandfather.

Shikamaru studied his father, noting how tired his eyes were. The strands of gray at his temples. He didn't know if it was really age making him look that tired; it was probably due at least in part to the stress of organizing the reclamation and the threat of being discovered. But the fact was, something major had shifted in the order of things in his family. Shikamaru couldn't really call himself a kid any more, whether or not he felt like one. He'd been thrust forward, promoted overnight from kid to husband. Not a father, yet. No child to push Dad into Jii-chan's old role of grandfather. And yet the sentiment was the same, and it was something that Shikamaru couldn't deny. He was Dad, now. And, in many ways, Dad's time had passed.

And suddenly he felt embarrassed, and regretful, that the weight of all of this was on Dad's shoulders. It's not that Dad was weak or useless, but Shikamaru couldn't help but feel like he and his contemporaries had really dropped the ball on this issue. Neji was an exception; he was beholden to Hiashi. But that wasn't true for people like Naruto or Sakura. For Chouji or Ino or Kiba. And there was no excuse for the way that they'd all rolled over and played dead under Danzo's command. No excuse for letting it go this far. None of them were kids anymore, and it was time they stopped expecting the "grown-ups" to take care of all of their problems.

Dad grunted a little as he got settled in his chair. "Your mother will be here to see you in the morning," he said.

"Okay."

"She's not taking this well," he said. "Not that I blame her."

"She had to know something like this would happen to me eventually."

"Well, I suppose she's always considered the possibility that you might be injured or KIA, but I don't think she ever suspected that I would be to blame." Dad's brow grew heavy, and he let out a long, weary sigh. "I'm sorry that you're in here, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru wanted to give the standard "It's not your fault," but in this case saying such a thing would just be disingenuous. He didn't know whether Dad was feeling guilty over the danger Shikamaru was in because of his role in the reclamation, or if he was more specifically regretting holding Temari back yesterday. But, regardless, he was right; it was his fault Shikamaru had been wounded. That didn't mean it wasn't necessary, though.

Shikamaru yawned and stretched his arms a little, trying to work out his stiff, aching shoulder. "It's fine," he said. "Looks like I'm going to live to be beaten again someday."

Dad smiled a little, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm doing my best to make sure that doesn't happen."

Through all of this, Temari was silent. She was eating her bento, focused intently on every single bite, never looking in Dad's direction. Shikamaru doubted that it was accidental, and it felt like something he was supposed to be trying to fix. But he had absolutely no idea how to go about doing that.

So he brought up another subject, hoping Temari would get interested and participate.

"Neji was here," he said.

Dad nodded. "I spoke with Hiashi this morning and encouraged him to come see you. I'm glad he did, even if it was through Neji as a proxy."

"I told him about the reclamation."

"Did you."

"He figured most of it out on his own, but, yeah."

"That's fine," said Dad. "I'll be talking to Hiashi myself pretty soon. It won't be a point of contention for long."

"What do you think the Hyuugas are going to do?"

"I think that, ultimately, they'll join us. It may be a last minute decision, though. Speaking of which, Suna is on their way."

Temari glanced up from her bento. "Already?"

"I know it doesn't seem like it from the outside, but we're getting very close. And Danzo's getting desperate; Chouza's team stopped a second attack on you last night. Danzo knew you were both in the hospital, and he tried to take advantage of that."

Shikamaru glanced at Temari, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"You were here last night?" he said.

She shrugged, as if that wasn't the important thing. "You were critical."

"Where did you sleep?" He brain conjured images of her crammed onto his tiny bed beside him while he was unconscious, which didn't seem likely.

She snapped her fingers. "Knew I forgot something."

Huh. She'd been awake with him all night. Guess she'd had plenty of time to think, if nothing else.

"So," said Dad, "Suna will be here in five days, although I'm expecting Kankuro sooner than that. He'll be the liaison between the armies once Suna is traveling and can't receive transmissions."

Suddenly, it occurred to Shikamaru what Dad had said before. "What do you mean, Danzo knew we were both in the hospital? How do you know what Danzo knows?"

"We have an informant among Danzo's ranks. He isn't as close to Danzo as he used to be, but he's been a wealth of information at great personal risk."

"But who could it possibly be?" asked Shikamaru. "Can't be Root. Even if they could be persuaded to care, they can't talk about Danzo."

"Very true," Dad said seriously. "But one can learn a lot from the things that can't be said."

Shikamaru could only think of one member of Root who had any sort of bond with Team Kakashi, and who might possibly choose to betray Danzo in favor of the coup.

"Sai?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else, but Dad gave half a smile.

"That I couldn't say."

They chatted for a little while, made small talk while Temari sat in virtual silence. It was a mark of the fact that they both knew how dire things had been for Shikamaru that they were both willing to talk for talking's sake. Eventually, though, Temari excused herself to go down to the coffee machine, leaving Shikamaru alone with Dad. He didn't waste the opportunity.

"Why did you stop her?" he asked. "You knew I was waiting for her."

Dad nodded. "I knew. You had it figured to the minute, didn't you?" He actually sounded a little proud, which only confused Shikamaru more.

"So, then, why?"

"I was counting on her being late. She wasn't late."

The answer made him uneasy. It wasn't like Dad to play dumb like this, which meant he really, really didn't want to tell him the truth.

So he caught Dad's eye and held it. This was one time when he wasn't going to stand for being kept in the dark.

Dad exhaled heavily. Sank back into his chair. "I always knew Danzo was going to try and have you killed, Shikamaru. Long before I sent you to Suna, your mother and I knew this would be the result. And we also knew that the attacks would be the most crucial part of our campaign. It was necessary to let Danzo dig his own grave yesterday. There's no need to continue to allow the attacks to get through; the damage to his reputation has largely been done. But one was necessary. And if Temari had stopped it, we would have been forced to allow the next one."

Shikamaru sat in stupefied silence for a long minute. Not stupefied that Dad had allowed it, but stupefied that he hadn't seen this coming a mile away. Of course an attempt on his life would do the most damage to Danzo's reputation. But never in a million years would it have occurred to him that Dad would purposely put him in that much danger. Because he trusted him.

He was trying not to get angry; he knew that Dad was only doing what he had to to protect the citizens of Konoha. It couldn't be easy for a father to give his son up for sacrifice, to possibly lose him forever. And what was Shikamaru's life, if not a sacrifice for the people?

But he couldn't help it. He was angry, largely because he felt so helpless. Because he'd been lied to, instead of simply trusted.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked.

"There are a lot of reasons I couldn't tell you," said Dad. "But the main one is because I needed you to have a genuine reaction to the attack. You've been under extreme scrutiny by the Hyuugas, probably more than you know. And Neji, in particular, is unmatched in his ability to detect deceit. Until he'd spoken to you today, it wasn't possible for you to know that the climate around the attack had largely been controlled for your maximum safety. For example, Ino was waiting on the bottom floor, just out of sight, to come in after you should Temari not show up on time, or to help Temari if she did. You were in danger, but not nearly as much as you thought you were."

"So, you didn't tell me so that I could lie to Neji."

"No," said Dad. "The things that matter are still true. Danzo still wants to kill you, only now that the citizens are losing faith in him he has less motivation to do it on the sly. Neither you nor Temari, nor anyone else, for that matter, will be safe until Danzo is replaced."

Shikamaru didn't respond. No wonder Dad felt guilty that Shikamaru had ended up in the hospital. It was humiliating to think back on yesterday morning, when he'd been calmly giving his plan to Dad, never realizing that the whole time he fully intended to sidestep it if necessary.

But even more annoying than that was this stupid feeling of guilt. He'd had this conversation not six hours ago, with Temari. Only he'd been on the other side of it. And, yes, he had to admit that it sucked being the puppet. Which only supported his resolve to never deceive her again. It wasn't worth the nagging, for one thing. But she was right; it was cruel.

"Shikamaru." Dad's voice was gruff, and Shikamaru looked up at him, trying to hide his irritation. "You're alive," Dad said. "And everything is moving along smoothly. Don't let anger or mistrust cloud your judgment or hinder your ability to follow orders. I told you both that I would give you information as soon I possibly could, and I've done that. Right?"

Reluctantly, Shikamaru nodded.

"Remember why we're all fighting," he said. "Besides, this will all be over in a few days, anyway."

"I guess."

Temari returned with her coffee, but this time she sat beside Shikamaru on the bed again, instead of in her chair. He found that he rather liked having her there; it seemed to calm him a little.

"And now, Temari..."

Dad sat up in his chair and faced her, and she stared at him with rapidly blinking eyes. Shikamaru's warning alarm went off; he sensed confrontation on the air and here he'd been hoping to make it through this little gathering without Temari's claws coming out. He resisted the urge to cover his face with his pillow and hide.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday," Dad said.

"Are you referring to the time you tried to stop me from protecting my husband?" she asked, all ice and arrogance. He could feel her disdain like a cold slither in his own stomach.

"I'm talking specifically about the way you ignored my orders."

"You can't order me; we're both jounin."

"I'm the Jounin Hanchou."

She gave a derisive laugh. "That's a representative position. Try again."

"All right," Dad said, leaning forward in his chair. Suddenly his tone matched Temari's, note for icy note. "I'll try this, then. I am in charge of this rebellion. That means that any and all responsibility, and therefore any and all blame, for what happens during the time prior to Danzo's replacement is on my shoulders. By following your brother's orders you made the decision to join us. And we welcome you if you still want to be a part of our efforts. But you will recognize that the only authority that matters to you, until the moment Kakashi wears the robe, is mine."

Temari was frozen, hand clenched around her coffee can until her knuckles were white. Shikamaru didn't know what to say; indeed, he was wishing that he was anywhere else, and not witness to her chastisement. It was awkward, and uncomfortable, and he really didn't want to have to be forced to choose sides. So he did the next best thing to getting up and walking out: he dropped his eyes to the table in front of him and kept them there. He didn't want anyone trying to catch his gaze. It was the coward's way out, but he was okay with that.

"Please make a decision," said Dad. "Either you follow Danzo, or you follow me."

"I'm aware of my choices," she said. She sighed loudly, then said, in a defeated and disgusted voice, "I'll honor your orders in the future, Shikaku-san."

"Thank you," he said. He stood from the chair, once again drawing Shikamaru's attention to how long it took him to get to his feet. "I have to go; your mother is anxious for a report on you. Did Sakura tell you when you'll be going home?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"I'll let her know." He bowed slightly to Temari, who returned the bow mechanically. Then he headed for the door.

Once he was gone, silence grew between the two of them. He guessed she was embarrassed; he knew he was, but he didn't want things to remain weird forever. So he reached his hand over the blanket until his little finger brushed hers. He felt hers move slightly in response.

After a moment, she said, "How long until we have our own house?"

He laughed once. "At this rate, forever."

"Figures."

Shikamaru glanced at the clock on the wall: ten 'til seven. Visiting hours were almost over, which left a great, big, giant question mark hanging in the air over them both. She'd stayed last night, hadn't she? Did that mean spouses didn't have to adhere to visiting hours? Maybe she'd want to stay again. Just for a little while. It's not like they'd had any time alone to speak of all day.

Although, a part of him dreaded the first serious time they would be alone. For one thing, he was afraid that she'd insist on "talking about" what had happened between them today. That seemed like a woman thing to do. He was not interested in talking about it at all. It had happened, it spoke for itself, there was no need to delve into monologues about "what it meant" and "where we're going from here."

But he had to admit, he did wonder. Just a little. Where were they going from here? No, that wasn't the real question. He had to assume he knew where they were going. The real question was "when?" When would they get there?

"So..." he said.

"Yeah?"

He caught her eye and tried not to be embarrassed. It was just a question. There were no underlying meanings unless you insisted on searching for them.

But he ended up looking away again, his gaze falling somewhere among the flowers on the other side of the room. "Do you have to leave at seven?" he asked. She didn't answer right away, which forced him to look at her to see what she was thinking.

The grin on her face made him more humiliated than he'd ever been in his life.

"What?" he asked, annoyed. Did she have to look at him like thought she could read his mind?

"I can't stay," she said. "No visitors after seven if you're stable."

"Not even spouses?"

"No."

"Oh. So, now you follow rules?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and he realized his mistake: he was putting way too much effort into something that he wasn't supposed to care about. Irritating woman. Noticing things.

"I wouldn't stay, anyway," she said. "You're not allowed to engage in any strenuous activities."

"Doesn't have to be that strenuous," he said, which made her cackle at him and made his face warm. "I'm talking about kissing!" he said, a little too loudly.

"Uh-huh," she said. "Kissing."

"Are you going to kiss me, or are you just going to keep laughing at me all night? We're running out of minutes."

She spent the last ten minutes kissing him so thoroughly that he had no choice but to concede to himself that he would be a lot happier if he could have her here with him tonight, engaging in as many strenuous activities as she'd let him get away with. But she disentangled herself at seven sharp, stating that Ino and Sakura were waiting to walk her home.

"Good thing I'll have my entourage of dangerous ladies," she said.

"Don't underestimate them," he said.

She stuffed some trash into the ramen bag and turned to go. The sight of her walking away stirred something painful in him; it was the fear that something would happen to her during that night and that she would never come back. It was intolerable to be stuck in this bed, useless, and unable to keep an eye on her. He didn't want to let her go.

"Temari, stay," he said, just as she reached the door. "I don't care about the rules, okay? Sakura will understand; she'll probably even roll an extra bed in here for you if you ask. We'll put them across the room from each other, just like at home. No strenuous activities."

He held his breath while she watched him, paper bag dangling from one hand. Eventually she sighed, and reached up to push open the door.

"Temari-"

"Chill," she said. "I have to find Sakura and beg her for a bed. And..." Her bottom lip retreated into her mouth. "...maybe Ino will bring me some pajamas. I'll be right back."

Relieved, he exhaled and sank back into the bed. But he wasn't able to fully relax until she finally walked back in, followed by a bemused Sakura rolling a cot.

"You're going to get me fired," she said.

"But we all know that the safest thing is for me to be here, so that the nin Shikaku has watching us don't have to divide their forces. Right?"

"You can stop," Sakura said. "You already won your argument."

Temari grinned victoriously.

"But do try to remember that medics will be in and out all night, checking on Shikamaru."

"Don't worry," said Temari. "We won't embarrass them too much."

Sakura left Temari to set up the cot, and once Ino arrived with the clothes, snickering, Temari disappeared into the bathroom to change into them.

True to the deal, there were no strenuous activities that night. Not that it was feasible, anyway. Medics came in at random times to check his vitals, and besides, the room was under surveillance. And it didn't have curtains.

But that's not to say that there weren't a few languorous activities, slipped in between the medics' visits. Mostly in the form of stolen kisses. There did end up being quite a lot of talking, although none of it was of the horrifying "where is our relationship going" variety. Instead, he found out that Temari hated cooking, and was informed that if he wanted anything more complex than rice and miso in the future he would have to make it himself. And he learned that she did like the idea of children, but was nervous about bringing kids into a family with two shinobi parents. Then he discovered that the only thing she was really scared of, even after all the battles she'd been in, was grasshoppers.

"Grasshoppers?"

"Uh, yeah. You never know if they're going to jump or fly. How is that not scary?"

Shikamaru probably told her a few things about himself, too, but he found that he liked it best when she was talking, not nagging or teasing, but just talking to him while he lay there with his eyes closed. He fell asleep that way at one point, and he woke up during the medics' next visit to find her zonked out in the cot, right next to his bed. It wasn't strenuous activities, but in the grand scheme of things he couldn't complain about having Temari beside him, and knowing that she was safe.

And he learned something else that night, too. He learned that, while mind-boggling, it was entirely possible for the bossy, terrifying, troublesome Temari to exist in the same body as the one that kissed him without restraint or excuse or provocation.

And that they were, in fact, the very same person.