"Did you're mom just walk in on… us?" Temari said sleepily, sounding slightly amused as she rubbed her eye with her hand.

"You think that's funny?" He scoffed at her.

"Well you'd think she'd have figured it out since you weren't down on the couch." Temari sat backwards and pulled the sheets with her to cover the top of her body.

Shikamaru got out of bed to look for clean clothes, which he found in the laundry basket. "You don't get it. My mother… She… She's very temperamental. She's probably thinking up about two hundred ways to kill me right now."

Temari let out a small laugh. "Really? I couldn't tell."

He continued to dig through the laundry basket without looking at her.

"Don't worry," she said playfully, pulling herself to sit on the edge of the bed and crossing on leg over the other. "I'll make it up to you."

He looked back at her with an eyebrow raised, then gave in and smirked back at her. "Well, get dressed. My mother's making breakfast; let's hope she doesn't poison it."

--

Once they walked down into the kitchen, Shikamaru's mother smiled at them as if nothing was amiss as she worked over a frying pan.

"Good morning, Temari. I'm just making extra for you now. I'd forgotten you were here because Shikamaru wasn't on the couch—"She stopped herself and shot a deadly look at Shikamaru before turning her attention back to her cooking.

"Wasn't on the couch, eh?" Shikaku said as he entered the kitchen. "It does look like no one settled into it last night."

Temari blushed and looked at the floor, and Shikamaru made the mistake of looking at his father, who gave him a sly smile and winked at him before taking a seat at the table. Shikamaru groaned inwardly and sat down as well while Temari sat across from him. His mother brought over the first few pancakes and offered them first to Temari, then to Shikaku. Temari had taken the first two, and Shikaku had taken the last three, giving Shikamaru a cheeky grin. Shikamaru scowled and rested his chin on his hand.

Yoshino went back to the stove and poured more batter into the pan.

"Don't worry, there's more coming," she said over her shoulder with a smile. Shikamaru glanced across the table at Temari who looked from him to his mother and back to him with a shrug. His mother should have been yelling, or bitter at the least, but she was acting as if nothing had happened. Shikamaru was beginning to wonder if she really was going to poison his food.

She finally came back over with the next few pancakes after Shikaku had started up a conversation with Temari about the weather in Suna. Yoshino smiled warmly at Shikamaru and offered him the pancakes. He grimaced as a charred smell wafted passed his nose.

"I'm not that hungry," he said.

His mother's face turned stern. "Shikamaru."

He forked a few of the burnt pancakes onto his plate with a sigh. His mother went back to her smile and set the last few pancakes onto the table. Seating herself, she stuck her fork into the edge of a pancake at the bottom of the small stack and drew it out onto her plate. It was perfectly golden. Temari covered her mouth to hide a smile and Shikamaru heard his father snort as he tried to suppress a laugh. His mother seemed to not notice.

Shikamaru looked back at his own plate of burnt pancakes and grabbed the syrup from the middle of the table to smother them so that the charred taste wasn't as noticeable. He cut off a piece and stabbed it, making sure to keep his eyes on his plate when he put it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly at first while he started to cut another piece.

It wasn't that bad.

--

Kankurou held up a picture of him with a girl from his village. He sighed at it longingly. The girl had thrown her arms around his neck in joy after he had given her a coveted birthday present. His face was shocked and he despised the blush across his cheeks. It had been his sensei that had taken the picture. But his sensei hadn't known. And more importantly the girl hadn't known.

That hug meant so much more to him than a thank you.

He put the picture back on his chest of drawers and groaned when he remembered a certain plant in the hallway that needed feeding.

--

After having to force feed himself a burnt breakfast, Shikamaru had left the house before his mother had another opportunity to silently tell him how angry she was. The Hokage had asked to see him, as his mother had told him through his door before she… Well, anyway he had a good excuse to leave and Temari figured she should tag along since she needed to let Tsunade know she was heading home today.

"So," Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I'll be seeing you in a month."

"I'm not gone yet," Temari chuckled. "Stop acting so miserable."

"Easy for you to say," he growled. "You're not the one that has to go home and put up with an insufferable woman that wants to see you in pain."

"Hmm," Temari smirked. "That sounds an awful lot like me."

"Tch." Shikamaru stopped and knocked on the door to Tsunade's office.

"Come in!" They heard sharply from the other side. Shikamaru opened the door and let Temari walk in first, then followed after her and let the door fall shut behind him. "Ah, you both came, good."

Shikamaru and Temari exchanged looks and then looked back to Tsunade.

"What I needed to talk to Shikamaru about has to do with you," Tsunade said to Temari, answering their questioning looks.

"What about me?" Temari asked, still confused.

"It seems that there are some rogue ninja that have been seen around the border between the Fire Country and Wind Country. I'm sure you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, but nevertheless Gaara has sent a request that I send an escort with you on your return to Suna."

"What?" Temari sputtered. "What does he think I am? A twelve year old?"

"You're sending me?" Shikamaru asked quietly beside her.

"I see your genius skills aren't lacking," Tsunade smiled. "But yes. Temari and you seem to have built up a friendship by working on the Chuunin Exams and, quite frankly, I can't really spare anyone else right now."

Shikamaru sighed. "Is that all?"

"No. You are to leave with Temari whenever she is ready. You can rest up in Suna for a few days once you arrive, and then return. But I'll be asking you to go back as our representative to travel with Gaara on his way here for the final matches of the Chuunin Exams. Or," Tsunade paused and Shikamaru groaned. "You can stay in Suna until Temari makes her way back with Gaara."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"You don't have to tell me your decision right now. Just send me message when you get to Suna to say whether you're staying or not."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, you're dismissed."

"Actually, Tsunade-sama," Temari began, "I'm heading back today in a couple of hours. I'd like to thank you for your hospitality," she said with a short bow.

Tsunade smiled. "Not at all, you're always welcome here. Besides, according to Anko you should be thanking Shikamaru."

Temari stiffened and felt the heat rush to her face. Shikamaru stood beside her uncomfortably.

"We better get going," he said, turning to leave before Tsunade could inquire further.

--

Gaara stood on his balcony, overlooking the bustle of the streets below. His gourd was strapped to his back and he had all of his usual attire. He had discarded the itchy Kazekage rob in his room, preferring to be seen in regular clothes like the rest of the villagers. It made him feel more like he was one of them.

He had heard lately that there were rogue ninja between Konoha and Suna, but he didn't doubt that his sister could take care of herself. The real reason he wanted an escort from Konoha to accompany her was because he was hoping it was someone he could talk to about Temari's strange behavior. He was still contemplating about her mood the last time she had been home. And he was still determined to find out why she had changed.

Surely an escort and representative from Konoha would know what recent events could have made his sister act so differently.

--

Shikamaru stopped a few meters from his house and groaned.

"Stop being such a crybaby," Temari shoved him playfully and walked passed him. "What more can she do to you?"

"You have no idea," he muttered nonchalantly under his breath. He walked up to her on his doorstep and opened the door to let her in.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru cringed at the sound of his mother's voice coming through the kitchen. "I put the laundry in your room. I'm busy today so I need you to do it for me."

"Troublesome woman," he sighed.

"Shikamaru?" His mother called again.

"Hai, I heard you!" he yelled back impatiently.

"Don't use that tone with me, young man."

Shikamaru ignored her and headed up the stairs while Temari held back a snicker.

"Shikamaru, are you listening to me?" Yoshino continued, walking out into the main room to see him heading up the stairs. She huffed and Temari looked at her apologetically before following after him.

Shikamaru opened his bedroom door and groaned.

"Now what? It can't be that bad." Temari came up beside him and looked passed him into his bedroom. He scowled at her when she started laughing. There were five laundry baskets on his bed, waiting to be folded, as well as the disheveled one on the floor that his mom had left there that morning. He let out a heart wrenching sigh and headed over to his bed, dumping out the closest basket and setting to work. Temari sat up onto his bed and helped him fold t-shirts and pants, and putting them neatly back into the laundry basket. That is, Temari put hers in neatly and ended up having to straighten up most of Shikamaru's work.

They moved onto a second, darker wash load of clothes, which contained clothes much the same as the first, only with a few socks and boxers, which Shikamaru quickly grabbed and stuffed into one of his drawers.

By their fourth basket, Temari reached for a brightly colored one that Shikamaru had been avoiding. Before he could protest, she dumped all its contents onto the bed and smirked, holding up a frilly pair of underwear and a matching bra.

"Shikamaru, I didn't know you wore lingerie," she grinned mercilessly at him.

He felt his face heat up even more than it had when she had dumped the basket full of his mother's undergarments onto his bed. "I didn't know you wore lingerie," he shot back at her, motioning to a bra on his floor that she had forgotten to retrieve that morning. Her grin fell and she glared at him. He ignored her, smirking triumphantly as he started to pair up more socks. Temari took to pairing and folding all of his mother's lingerie and he did his best to seem unbothered by it.

Temari didn't seem to care, which he supposed was because she was a woman herself; though she did jump at a few chances to tease him about a certain few pieces. He ended up dumping out the last basket, letting Temari finish the colored one, so that he didn't have to be scarred by touching his mother's troublesome underwear. He was sure that she had taking every embarrassing one that she owned out of her drawer to wash just to embarrass him like this with Temari: his mother rarely asked him to fold the laundry, and whenever she did it was usually his own clothes.

Once all the laundry baskets on his bed had been refilled with folded clothes, Shikamaru kicked the one on his floor into his closet. He then stacked two of the baskets on his bed and left his room with them. Temari picked one up as well and followed after him.

Shikamaru left his load outside a door at the end of the hall and motioned for Temari to do the same. He straightened with a sigh and went back to his room for the remaining two.

--

"You're going to Suna for how long?" Yoshino asked darkly.

"A month at the most," Shikamaru sighed. "It's troublesome, but it's a mission from the Hokage."

Yoshino had been working in the kitchen as usual, and she was now sitting at the table with her arms folded in front of her. Shikamaru knew he would have to tell her he was leaving, but he also know that she would think he had requested it in order to get away from her and spend some time with Temari.

Granted, spending more time with Temari was appealing – especially after last night – but a trip to Suna where he might end up staying for a while, and in the desert no less, was not appealing. And despite what Temari had said, he still didn't think her brother's would jump for joy to see she had chosen to be with someone as lazy as himself.

He smirked at the thought and Yoshino glared at him.

"What's so funny?"

"Huh?"

Yoshino huffed.

Temari was up in Shikamaru's room, packing. Shikamaru had decided that he wanted his mother to be around Temari as little as possible, so he had come down alone. He wasn't exactly sure of what his mother thought of her, but he didn't feel like finding out. It would be too troublesome. Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't want his mom to like Temari; he just didn't know how to go about doing it.

"Look mom," he sighed. "I'm going to Suna, and I'm leaving today: end of story. If there's anything else you want to torture me with before I go, please get it over with now so that Temari and I can leave on time."

"Shikamaru," his mother sighed sadly. "I know you're not a little boy anymore, but you're still my baby."

Shikamaru winced at her comment but she continued.

"I know you're going through that stage of your life where you're starting to notice girls and that you're going to get urges—"

"Mom!" he cut her off violently, standing up straight from the counter he had been leaning against lazily.

"All I'm saying is that I can't control how you feel, or what you might do. But I have to impress upon you that you can't always act on an impulse. Make sure that whoever you are with is someone you truly care about."

Shikamaru huffed and leaned back on the counter.

"No, Shikamaru listen to me! If you end up hurting that girl after what you did, so help me I will make you regret it."

"I'm not going to hurt her," Shikamaru almost whispered. "As hard as it may be to believe, I actually care about her."

Yoshino's face relaxed into a soft smile. "I know you do."

He looked away awkwardly and her face turned stern. "Just don't let me catch you in another situation like I did this morning! Or anyone else for that matter. What you do in your relationship is your business, but I don't need to witness it."

Shikamaru felt the temperature in his cheeks rise once again. "Can we not talk about that?" he growled, rubbing the back of his neck. His mother watched him silently. "I have to go," he said, turning to leave.

"Shikamaru?" his mother asked before walked away.

He looked over his shoulder. "Ah?"

"I love you."

"Troublesome woman," he muttered, but smiling nonetheless, before leaving the kitchen.

--

"You ready to go?" Temari asked as Shikamaru came into the main room. She was standing by the door with both of their rucksacks.

"Ah," he said, picking up his own and shouldering it. They stepped outside into warmth of the noon sun and headed towards the village gates. They passed Izumo and Kotetsu, who nodded at them in hello with slight amusement in their faces. Shikamaru decided to ignore it, but Temari smiled back at them over Shikamaru's shoulder and then put her hand on his arm to lean up and whisper in his ear.

"We get the next three days to ourselves," she said seductively, clearly putting on a show for the two watching them leave. "Alone." Shikamaru tensed and she saw his cheeks turn a shade of pink. He seemed to be blushing a lot lately. She moved away from him with a small laugh and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, grumbling under his breath about troublesome rumors.

Once they were far enough from the village that they could no longer see the gates, Temari jumped up into the trees and out of sight. Shikamaru smirked, thinking about the ideas Temari was probably coming up with to torture him on this trip. He didn't mind too much anymore when she teased him – it meant she had something better planned for him later on.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and jumped up into the trees after her.