A/N: Ok, time for the cliffie to be answered! Hooray! You'll get the general gist of what the poison is supposed to do in this chapter. A little fluff and more action await you in the next installment of the fic formally known as AoL. Hope you like..

Shikamaru stood there, shocked at what he had almost just said. His palms were sweating and he could feel his heart thumping against his ribcage, threatening to tear free and flop all the way back to Konoha. What the hell?

It had seemed so natural. He didn't really have any idea what he was going to say, but he felt in control. Next thing he knew, he was about to say something he would have no doubt regretted. I was going to tell her that? I don't even know if that's true. Looking at his feet, Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair.

Besides, she'd just laugh in my face anyways... Unaware that he'd suddenly frozen up, Shikamaru was startled by the inquisitive sound of Temari's voice. She had her head cocked to the side and was looking directly into his eyes, searching for some answer. For some reason the eye contact made his heart beat even faster, and he felt his breathing quicken. What's with this?

"You feeling all right there? I knew you were fragile, but..."

The way she trailed off and left him hanging with that smirk of hers... it sent him spiraling downwards in a nosedive. His teeth clenched and he felt the corners of his mouth slightly. Suddenly the pain that had been with him before Temari had come was back in full force. All the self doubt and insecurity stormed through his mind, nearly sending him to his knees.

It was as if a floodgate had been opened, as a thousand images of lovers coursed through his mind's eye coupled with random portraits of people pointing at him and laughing, each one a painful reminder of the love he had never had. Why is this happening now? Nobody else cares, so why should you? Get a hold of yourself and stop being a damn drama queen!

In reality it was only a split second, but to him it seemed like hours that he stood there, doubled over, struggling to regain control of his emotions. Finally, he straightened up and regained his normal expression. He had been so close to snapping and... He didn't know what would have happened. I wouldn't have just broken down and cried, would I? Ugh... I need to get out of here before I do something I'll regret. He shook his head and gave Temari a shrug.

"I'm fine. I'm going to get something to eat."

Forcing himself to make a dignified retreat, Shikamaru slowly counted to five, then bent and picked up Chouji's package of potato chips. Putting on his characteristic slight smirk, he tossed the bag up in the air and caught it deftly.

"Heh. Thanks, Chouji."

Assured he'd put on a convincing façade, Shikamaru made a slow and purposeful bee-line for the puke-green flap that marked the tent's exit. Closing his eyes to shield himself from the brightness, the chuunin stepped outside, and exhaled deeply as a cool breeze soothed him.

He realized just how much he'd been sweating, and wiped droplets from his forehead. Sighing, he looked up at the sky, where two clouds floated, separated by a thin line of blue sky. The wind had some strange effect on them, blowing them closer and closer together, before tugging them apart. Troublesome clouds.

Biting his lip in thought, Shikamaru thrust his hands into his pockets and stared down at the earth in front of the tent in deep speculation. What was on that Senbon?... I don't feel like I'm in pain, but there's something... Like a fog in my brain that keeps me from controlling myself. If I let my emotions run rampant, bad, bad, BAD, things might happen. Especially with the Sand-witch...

Realizing he had just been standing there, Shikamaru began to slowly move forward, still examining every speck of dirt on the ground. He was surprised when he ran into a plump, rounded figure... that smelled like sake. Lots of sake. Eyes rising, Shikamaru caught sight of Hebezuma and raised his hand, beginning an apology.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't see–"

The rotund balloon of a man just stared at him for a moment, obviously befuddled by the spirits he'd consumed. Then a glint of recognition appeared and a fat finger was thrust in the chuunin's face. Blinking in confusion, Shikamaru took several steps backwards, but found the meaty digit still threatening to... Pick my nose? Poke out an eye? What's his problem?

Even through his drunken stupor, the caravan leader managed to find an outlet for whatever frustration had been mounting inside him. That outlet happened to be a certain spiky haired leaf ninja. For a moment Hebezuma just stood there, eyes white with anger, snorting, like bull doped up on testosterone. His face grew redder and redder until Shikamaru swore he could see steam come out of the man's ears.

Shikamaru retreated a few more feet and found himself right back in the place he'd been so desperate to escape only moments earlier. A dozen pairs of eyes caught sight of the spectacle, before turning away in a hurry, so as not to provoke the wrath of the pudgy human porcupine.

"Oh-HO! Well, well, well! Sleeping hic beauty decided to wake up, did hic she? Do you know how much time we've lost because of you?!?" Shikamaru stiffened and he felt his eyelid twitch. What did he call me?

Swaying unsteadily, Hebezuma waved his hand at Shikamaru's hair. Frothing at the mouth, the small man threw his hands up in the air.

"Didja even take the hic hic HIC time to style your damn hair? What is WRONG with YOU!?!"

In him, Shikamaru felt something throb, a piercing pulsation at the back of his head. The small voice that sometime reminded him of his own stupidity was back, but now it wasn't so small. Shikamaru tensed as he heard a distorted version of his own voice inside his head, mocking and enticing him at the same time.

'You save his life, and this is how he treats you? You never fight back. That's why everyone's always giving you grief about everything you do or don't do. Strike back. Just once. I promise it will feel good.'

Sakura, sensing the tension, had jumped between them and was doing her best to steer Hebezuma towards a medical cot. Shikamaru felt his eye twitch again and noticed his fist was clenched as well. What is this? This isn't me... He was surprised to find himself speaking. Keeping his voice dangerously low, he called out to Hebezuma, a strange smile on his face. Just once. All right. Just this one time.

"What was that? You seem to have a lot of fun with insults for an insignificant smelly drunk."

For a moment, Shikamaru felt a sense of immense relief, like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He shuddered slightly, basking in the feeling of power he had missed out on for so long. Then he returned to his senses, and felt a pang of regret. What did I just do? Who cares if he deserved something like that, I still shouldn't have said it...

The chuunin's moment of regret was interrupted as he felt something wet strike him in the forehead. Staring in disbelief as the caravan driver finally let himself be led away by Sakura, Shikamaru slowly reached up and wiped the loogie from his face. There was a moment of calm, before the voice was back, this time screaming for blood instead of insults. Trembling in silent fury, he had time to wonder what exactly it was he was going to do, before it took over. Shikamaru felt his hand contort and reach for the kunai at his side. Oh, crap. The Lady Hokage is not going to like this. I am so dead. 'Maybe so... BUT HIM FIRST!'

Pupils rolling back into his head, Shikamaru drew the knife and made a blind dash for Hebezuma, intent on skewering the fat man. He imagined a steady stream of blood flowing from Hebezuma's torn flesh, and a sadistic smile flashed across his changed face. A picture of the man lying on his back, mouth agape and eyes sightless, flashed through Shikamaru's mind's eye. YES! He heard Sakura let out a little gasp, and saw Hebezuma start to turn his head. Then...

Then Shikmaru landed hard on his back, and a slender but strong hand knocked the kunai out of his hand, sending it skittering across the dirt floor. Confused at the failure of his assault, Shikamaru looked up at Temari, who had him pinned down. The Kunoichi had tackled him at the last moment, preventing him from plunging the blade into Hebezuma's chest. She remained on top of him, holding him in a gentle but firm grip.

Shikamaru started to snarl, but felt the fire within him start to cool, and the fog dissipated within his head. Relaxing his muscles, he was reduced to sweating profusely and wondering what was going to happen now. What have I done? Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before looking up, expecting to see some sort of fear or anger in Temari's eyes. There wasn't any. Temari stared down at him, a look of wary concern in her teal eyes.

She slowly let her grip on his arm and shoulder loosen, finally letting go completely. Her pupils remained locked on his, silently searching for some sort of explanation for what had just happened. At last, she spoke so only he could hear her, choosing her words carefully.

"I might not know a whole lot about you, but from what I've seen, you aren't the type of blockhead that goes around spontaneously assaulting the clientelle... What exactly just happened...?"

Temari? Quiet and concerned? Maybe I hit my head when she tackled me?... 'Heh, speaking of which, she's still on top of you...' Realizing the voice was right, Shikamaru, felt his body twitch a little.

Who the hell ARE you and where did you come from? The voice laughed heartily before trailing off. 'Oh shut up and enjoy the situation! Damn, you really need to learn how to live a little.' Shikamaru tried his best to maintain his dignity, but he felt a tiny shiver go up his spine as the girl on top of him shifted her weight. 'See what I mean?'

Shaking his head to clear away the voice,Shikamaru wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead before thinking of an answer. It was like he hadn't been in control. It was like he was a puppet, and someone or something else was pulling the strings. Yet it had been him. He had felt the pleasure of the idea of inflicting pain on Hebezuma, the weight of the kunai in his hand, and the feel of rough dirt between his bare toes as he had charged.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, trying to gauge the best possible way to say what he meant. Before he could come up with the words, Ino, who was oblivious to the spectacle that had taken place, was standing beside Temari, grinning gleefully down at him. Completely ignoring the frozen-in-shock figures of her best friend and current employer, Ino whistled at the situation she saw before her. Ugh. When the gossip queen gets her claws into something like this, everybody finds out. How troublesome.

"Oh Temari-san. I don't know what he did to make you tackle him, and I'm sure he deserved it, but I think you should get off him. You could be hurting him... or worse. Are you enjoying yourself down there Shikamaru?"

He mustered an annoyed glare.

"Why don't you go find a mall out here or something? I'm sure the forest creatures would be happy to show you the way to the nearest Nordstroms..."

Ino glared at him for a moment before storming off. Temari, who had been frozen by Ino's words, stirred, and hastily got off of Shikamaru. Brushing herself off, she gave him a small smile, but he could still see the careful concern in her eyes.

"You handled that well. But, you never told–"

His eyes widened as a stick came crashing down towards his face. Raising his arm, he shielded himself from the blow, wincing at the cracking sound of wood on bone. Hebezuma, frothing at the mouth, stood above him, complete with veins pulsating in his neck. Saliva sprayed from his mouth as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

All traces of drunkenness were gone, replaced by the fiersome yappy-little-dog anger that small people with Napoleon complexes often have. Still, yappy little people can be dangerous when they're carrying canes...

Shikamaru's wry humor left him as Hebezuma brought the mahogany cane down on his arm again. The leaf nin sent the caravan driver a wrathful sneer as he caught the cane on its third descent. Twisting the rod out of Hebezuma's grip, Shikamaru hopped nimbly to his feet and brandished it. As he made a swing at the spiky haired man, a flash of black and blond came between them.

Eyes flashing, Temari showcased her strength, siezing both of them by their collars and pulling them apart. An expression of exasperated frustration on her face, she let out a sigh, eyebrows twitching in disbelief.

"What the hell is wrong with you men? For Kami's sake!" Her grip tightened as Shikamaru writhed in her grasp, swinging the cane blindly at Hebezuma. "You. What happened to Mr. Mature? Why don't you just... go over there!" Narrowing her eyes at him, she tossed him back onto the medical cot, sending him sprawling. He landed in a heap and sat up, but stayed where he was, giving Temari his best old-wet-cat look. Still, returning to his senses, Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. The boiling blood within his veins cooled, and he resumed his normal slumped position.

Hebezuma, meanwhile, was still livid. Overconfident in his strength, he was wriggling in Temari's grasp, clawing at the hand that had him firmly by the shirt. Shikamaru looked around, expecting to see everyone watching. Instead, all the ninja had left, including Sakura, and the patients were all examining their shoes or pretending to be asleep.

"You... LITTLE BITCH! Who do you think you are, you little sand WHORE?!?"

His gaze returned to Hebezuma in time to see the man slap Temari across the face. Temari simply shrugged it off and held the caravan driver even harder. As far as she was concerned, it was nothing. Then Shikamaru blinked.

When he opened his eyes again, Hebezuma was on the ground beneath him, sputtering blood from a broken mess that had been his nose. He stared up at the chuunin with wide, fearful eyes, surprised that Shikamaru had ceased beating him. Shikamaru meanwhile, stared down in incredulity. Shikamaru noticed the crimson gloop that was spread across each row of his smarting knuckles and blinked a few times, trying to figure out what had happened. Temari, who had been busy trying to tug him off, finally succeeded, and they collapsed in a heap a few feet away.

Feeling light headed, Shikamaru struggled to keep his eyes open. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Neji and some of the others enter the tent. Neji knelt by the wriggling form of Hebezuma, before turning his gaze towards Shikamaru. He had never seen the Hyuuga so shocked. The sound began to fade from his surroundings as Neji addressed Temari. Temari pointed angrily at Hebezuma, then frantically towards Shikamaru. He had never seen her lose her cool like this. He blinked hard and massaged his temples with heavy hands. He felt so tired.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly, like he was supposed to say something. His brain felt like mush, and his vision was blurring by the second. Unn... How troublesome. Men aren't supposed to faint... Shikamaru raised his head for a moment and put up a finger, like he was about to say something. Then his head fell back onto the soft earth and he blacked out.

A/N: My, my! Someone's changed, hasn't he? Well what will Neji decide to do with him? They're still only half way to their destination… Oh and I almost forgot! Last chapter's reviews brought the number up over 100! Yay! You guys are awesome, and one main reason I write is to entertain folks like you. NOW REVIEW SOME MORE! GERBIL LORD FU COMMANDS IT!