Author Notes: Done! This arc only I mean. There's still many, many more chapters coming up… although it may take sometime. Thanks to everyone for their very helpful reviews. You made sure, that I didn't stray away from TemaShika's personalities. Also kudos to bienstitch for guessing the movie the chapter earlier was taken from. There's also another line taken from one of my favorite TV-shows included in this chapter, though it may be harder to guess.

Some of you also mentioned that the Sand siblings were kind of o.k. about Shikamaru and their sister. To which, I would reply, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I'm also really sorry about the spacing between paragraphs. It just seems so squeezed up and makes it hard to read.

And yes, "He swallowed the groan." Not groin. Sorry.

Shikamaru's Greatest Plan: The Troublesome Week,

Chapter 12: Taking the Blame.

He rubbed his sore jaw as he walked on his way to meet the Konoha mediators. They had probably left without him; it was almost 11 now. He sighed; the Godaime would definitely hear about this when he got back. Then it would be Shikamaru this, Shikamaru that….

Troublesome, he thought, and all because of that nutcase of a woman.

Thankfully his cheek wasn't swelling, or he'd have to explain how he came back with a swollen face in a peaceful non- combat mission. He tried to focus on coming up with explanations for the Godaime as to the many things he was sure Tendo-san would report about him. But like this morning, his thoughts just kept going back to one person. He sighed; he just couldn't win. No matter what he did, things just seemed to get more and more troublesome.

Anyway, he thought sourly, what did it mean if the girl punched you after you kissed her?

Flashback

He pulled his lips away from hers, breathing hard. Unbelievable. Who would have ever thought that kissing a girl would be so… so…

He opened his eyes to look at Temari, but her eyes were still closed. She was still leaning on him slightly, also breathing heavily. Her cheeks were flushed, which only made her look more attractive. It crossed his mind then, glancing at her lips, to go in for another one. Her body was incredibly warm in his arms. But it wasn't an unpleasant warmth, he thought, it was the kind of heat that he could feel in his blood, coursing through his veins and it felt … nice! He never imagined that kissing Temari would be this un-troublesome.

She opened her eyes slowly and blushed even more, realizing he had been watching her. He had to admit; sometimes the coy look worked on her. He had never seen her act so shy, and it kind of excited him. He gazed at her, completely entranced by her green eyes.

Which was why he didn't see the left hook coming.

Stupid, stupid.

Back to Present

How could he let himself be taken in like that? He shook his head. It was the oldest trick in the world; a woman using her feminine wiles to catch the man off-focus. And he completely fell for it. The number one supremely un-romantic, dislike-all women guy.

And it didn't end there. After socking him, she started throwing whatever she could lay her hands on, at him. He had barely escaped, running as fast as he could from the projectiles aimed at him. He hadn't even been able to catch a glimpse of her face as she tried to nail him. In his mind, he knew he had to escape before she got to her fan.

So he ran and ran, stopping only at a safe distance from the house, when he was sure she wasn't following up. Crazy woman. What the hell was her problem?

Was he that bad a kisser? Well it was his first time… so maybe admittedly his technique wasn't the best. But it didn't seem that bad. And it wasn't like she didn't enjoy it. Heh, Shikamaru grinned to himself. Maybe he had forced her slightly into the kiss…

But, he damn well wasn't the one who wrapped her arms around his waist.

Troublesome woman. When he didn't kiss her, she got mad. When he did kiss her, she still got mad. He sighed wearily; how had men ever been able to deal with women?

Anyway… here he was at the government building, where another troublesome woman awaited. Or not. He walked in and looked around. Nope she wasn't here at all. He should have known.

Oh well, at least he would have some peace on the way back. Turning to go, a voice called out to him, "Nara-san?"

He turned back to see the desk clerk holding a piece of paper in her hand. She asked again, "Gomen, are you Nara-san?"

She held out the piece of paper towards him. He took it, a little surprised, thanking her. She nodded and went back to her desk. He unfolded the paper, wondering what this was about. Surely it couldn't be that Yara again…

No… it was actually from Tendo-san. It seems the mediators were still in meeting. And requested his presence when he felt like arriving. Hmmm… this woman had quite an acid tongue. He grinned; for some reason, he didn't feel so put out this time. As he made his way up the stairs, he wondered why it was that he was feeling so cheerful. It was sort of eerie…

3 Hrs Later

Well… at least that cheerful feeling was gone. He groaned to himself as they left the room, trying not to yawn in front of everyone. 3 hours… Kami… 3 troublesome hours! And he still wasn't sure what had been the issue. Never again, he thought, never again would he put up with this nonsense. Next time they wanted to huff and puff, he would recommend straight–up war.

Tendo-san and the other mediator, (whose name he had never bothered to remember) were still talking to one of the lords. His cheerful mood earlier was gone now, and he felt a little gloomy, realizing he still had to spend the journey back with them.

Oh well… at least he was out of this troublesome village. And he didn't have to deal with her anymore. Without meaning to, he found himself glancing around surreptitiously, wondering if she was around. She had said that she had to meet the advisors right?

Are you crazy Shikamaru, he thought crossly. Why the hell would you want to see her again? She'd probably try to hit you with her fan. The best thing to do was to avoid her completely.

That crazy, troublesome woma-

Shikamaru paused.

"Nara-san." came a voice behind him.

Shikamaru had to admit.

He wasn't that disappointed to hear her voice.

He turned around slowly, trying to come up with some sort of game plan. He looked at her with the laziest expression he could muster, throwing in a yawn for extra effect. She looked at him solemnly, without any emotion.

Ok… so she didn't look angry anymore. And she wasn't flinging things at him. Mood change again? Now it was her turn to play the impassive character this time. She looked at him calmly, without even the slightest bit of emotion. It was hard to believe what happened this morning had happened.

Well, she looked different; he thought to himself, it looked like the usual Temari was back. The sulky frown was gone, as were the worried look in her eyes that he had noticed so often the last few days. He gave her a quick once-over, (discreetly of course). The skirt was as short as ever and the fan was back in place. Her hair was also arranged in her usual ponytails.

He also tried his best not to look at her lips.

People were beginning to stare at them now since they were not doing anything other than look at each other. He realized he had to make the first move or they would be staring at each other till kingdom come, and tongues would start wagging. Troublesome woman, he thought, feeling annoyed.

"Hai?" He said languidly. She narrowed her eyes just the slightest bit before replying, "The package that belongs to Yamanaka-san can be collected now."

Package?

What she was talking about, he thought confusedly. Who was Yamana- Ohhhh… Ino... and her stupid roses. He had completely forgotten about them. So many things had happened since he handed them off to Temari. He was amazed that she remembered.

Damn it, he would have to carry that stupid thing back all the way. And why did she suddenly bring it up in front of everyone? "Ok…" he replied, albeit warily. "Where is it?"

She replied in the same detached tone, but he could suddenly see a smirk in her eyes. "The roses are still at the botany. You'll have to go there to get it."

Some of the people, who had been listening, gave him a queer look when she mentioned roses. Shikamaru had to take a deep breath, trying not to growl out loud. He clenched his fist forcing himself not to glare at her… Typical woman… he should have known she'd pull some stunt like this.

"Yosh…" he replied, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. It wouldn't benefit him to do or say anything to her now with so many people around. He nodded a curt goodbye to her as Tendo-san finished and came to stand next to him, hoping that she would go away now.

"Do you know the way?" She asked again, raising her eyebrows. Oh my god didn't this woman ever shu-… Shikamaru paused, realizing that he didn't know.

Shit.

"Nara-san?" said Temari a little louder this time, enough for everyone to hear. "Do you know the way? Once again, that compassionate look was on her face. He felt like reaching out and hitting her. Who the hell was she trying to kid??

Damn her, thought Shikamaru. Now everyone was listening and waiting for him to answer. Tendo-san was giving him a scandalized look for taking so long to answer. Tch… Temari knew he didn't know. She was doing this on purpose.

He opened his mouth to answer but was beaten to it by her, "If you're not sure, I can take you there."

Now that was something he definitely didn't want! He shook his head vigorously. "Daijoubo… I'll find my way. You don't have to trouble yourself."

"No," she replied infuriatingly, "It's no trouble."

This time, Tendo-san beat him to speak, "He'll be very grateful Temari-san." She bowed slightly to Temari who bowed back to her graciously. "Now, Shikamaru-kun," Temari bit a smile back at the name, "Temari-san has been nice enough to show you the way to pick up your package. Please hurry up and meet us at the gates after you're done." She had said it smilingly, but the word 'hurry' was sharp, like a knife almost.

And Temari stood at the side, pretending to looking benevolent, as though she had just done him a very big favor. He couldn't even glower at her. Trapped… all he could do was nod gloomily and follow her down the stairs.

Shikamaru decided as they were walking, that he was not going to talk to her. Not a word. He made sure also to keep a healthy distance between them. Admittedly, he was sulking, but this woman was too complicated to deal with. He didn't know what was going on in her head, and he didn't want to find out. Chances were that it would only make things more troublesome for him.

Temari didn't say a word either, watching Shikamaru sulk and smiling to herself. He was purposely looking the other way as they walked. It was kinda cute, she decided, the sulky look was strangely adorable on him. She had always thought guys who did that were brats… but Shikamaru was different. Considering the events of the last few days, she knew he definitely wasn't some immature brat. He did it just because he was Shikamaru.

The silence was not altogether comfortable, but it was nothing she could do then. It was hard for them to talk as openly they sometimes did when there were so many people around them. After all, he was still a shinobi from another village… and she didn't want to seem overly friendly to him.

Not that she had been. She had made sure to keep her distance in public. Always making sure to be formal and mean to him. In private however… She was still mean but…

Temari blushed to herself, and shook her head trying to clear away the thoughts.

Shikamaru glanced at her, out of the corner of his eye. Did she have a smile on her lips? He wasn't quite sure. She was also giving the same silent treatment back to him which made it hard to gauge her current emotional level. Although….he bet that any minute, she would probably say something troublesome and insulting.

Temari continued to ignore him, although she did greet a couple of people as they walked, even pausing to chatter a little. Which of course meant that he also had to stop and wait. And she didn't even bother to say sorry or anything when they continued. He clenched his teeth as she gave him a nonchalant look.

Well this was getting boring… Even if it was kind of fun to try his patience. Temari supposed she could be the bigger person this time; after all… she grinned slightly, who had ever expected him to be such a good kisser?

Without turning, Temari suddenly said, "Oi… how much longer are you going to sulk scardey-cat?"

Shikamaru sighed.

See?

"I'm not sulking woman." He replied grumpily.

Temari gave him a 'oh-please' look. "You are so sulking. Just like a girl."

He bit his tongue; it wasn't worth answering and continuing this troublesome conversation. Let her have her way. He would be gone in a few more minutes. There was no need to fall to her level.

Temari was surprised at the lack of a reply. Surely he wasn't really sulking? They reached the botany and she opened the door and motioned for him to follow. Again, he did without saying a word, which left her disappointed.

They went up and she grabbed the basket that she had prepared for him earlier. He was glad to see it wasn't Ino's garish basket that he had been forced to lug around earlier. Hmmm…. That was nice of her to change it. Should he thank her?

"Is your jaw still hurting?" She said, not looking at him directly. Heh, he smiled this time; she was looking a little unsure. Not so confident anymore eh…

He grinned back at her this time; realizing that it was a rather nice thing for her to do. She didn't really have an obligation to do it, but she still had. And she even made sure he brought it back. She wasn't all that bad, he thought. For a crazy, troublesome woman. She could be nice when she wanted to be…

And besides… flirting with her was un-troublesome sometimes. He could spare a little time out of his daily schedule for it. He didn't answer immediately, purposely pausing to make her a little more nervous, before giving her a roguish smile, "Not from the punch."

Her mouth dropped open when he said that, the implications hitting her instantaneously. She turned to stare at him, a little shocked, before breaking herself into a smile and rolling her eyes.

"Ass." She said coldly, but still smiling just the tiniest bit. "You deserved it you know…"

He shrugged, "It had to be done I supposed… Didn't want you to cry your heart out later…"

They stared at each other before Temari burst out laughing again. Again. Too many times he made her do that. He was getting too good at that. Luckily no one was around. He grinned lazily at her when she stopped, causing her to mock-glare at him. It was back again… this banter of theirs.

But it was also different. There was an underlying… something; he felt, a new sort of feeling abound. He wondered if Temari felt the same way. It was troublesome… and not so troublesome at the same time.

He turned to go back, but hesitated at the door. As she came up to him, he opened the door, and gestured for her to go first. She rolled her eyes, "Stop trying to be a gentleman… its soo fake pineapple-head."

He didn't reply, just shook his head wearily, causing her to make a face at him. Outside the botany, they stood facing each other. She pointed behind him, "Just follow that road and you'll reach the gates."

He nodded, and she was about to say something about the flowers when he cut in, "You aren't seeing me off?"

Temari's mouth dropped open. He wanted her to accompany him? "Baka…" She said, reddening a little, "Why should I?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Is it too tiring?"

She stared at him, now more than a little surprised, but trying to hide the smile that was threatening to breakthrough, "Poor crybaby… needs me to walk him all the way."

He rolled his eyes before muttering something under his breath and turning to walk. She waited for a few seconds before catching up. Once again, they walked in silence, but this time it was a comfortable one. There was no urge to break the silence, or to voice out on anything at that moment. It was just … nice. They still kept their distance; they had no reason to do otherwise. It wasn't like… well you got the general idea.

As they passed the market area, a voice called out to Temari. She stopped and turned as a guy came up to her. Shikamaru also stopped, wondering what the guy wanted. She gave him a look, to which he understood he was to turn away and give them some privacy. Shrugging, he took a few steps, but not far enough to be out of hearing distance. Just close enough to listen a little.

She finished whatever she was saying and said her goodbyes to him, giving him quite a big smile, he thought. He raised his eyebrow inquiringly at her, but all she did was to give him a smirk.

They continued for a few more steps before she suddenly said, just loud enough for him to hear, "A friend from the academy. We're going for dinner later."

Shikamaru forced himself not to react. He shrugged; she could do whatever she wanted, it wasn't any of his business. She gave him a knowing smirk, "He's pretty good-looking isn't he?"

Eh?? Where did that come from? Oh wait….he narrowed his eyes. She was doing it on purpose, he thought, trying to get a reaction out of him so she could laugh at him later. "If you say so… It's none of my business."

She grinned outright this time; oh, there was definite reaction all right. She purposely yawned, knowing it would irritate him, "It's just that I was forced to spend so much time with this annoying cry-baby this week… so I just felt like hanging out with a real guy this time."

Two could play at that game. "Hmmm…" Shikamaru replied, giving her a skeptical look, "You didn't seem to mind the scardey-cat this morning…"

She snorted, "Oh please…I was just feeling sorry for him…"

He laughed, "Sure, sure… I can see that. But you know what else woman?"

"What?" She replied with a disdainful look at him.

He grinned, "I was lips… but you were definitely tongue!"

Temari stiffened, outraged. "You ass-" She caught herself just about to let loose a curse. She glanced around hoping no one had seen her about to lose her temper. She smiled tersely at an acquaintance, well aware that Shikamaru was smirking away.

She hissed at Shikamaru. "Asshole!" But Shikamaru only grinned, as she continued through clenched teeth. "I did not give you tongue!"

"Ohh…," He replied with an innocent look, "then I must have remembered wrongly."

She glowered at him, "You better not tell this to anyone." He gave her an insulted look. "Please…" she said, rolling her eyes. "I know how you guys like to boast."

He groaned, "Woman, we only boast about the good things we do… not the troublesome ones."

She glared at him again from the corner of her eye, which was kind of hard to do but she still managed to. "Baka. If I so much as hear about this from someone else… I'll kill you, understand?"

Hmmm… that was roughly the 8th time his life had been threatened by this family.
"Hai hai…" He replied lazily. "I won't tell anyone that Temari gave me tongue."

She didn't reply immediately, instead waiting till they were in a slightly quieter alley before reaching over to elbow him furiously. He smiled to himself.

Her lips tightened into a thin line as she tried to calm herself down. "In your dreams Shikamaru…"

"Mmmm…" he replied non-committally irritating her even more.

"Loser." She said through gritted teeth. He didn't respond though the smile left his face.

"Ass." She said again, when he didn't respond, causing a vein on his fore-head to throb.

"Cry-baby."

"Pineapple-head."

"Freak."

"Jerk."

He tried to pick up his pace, but she kept up with him, without missing an insult.

"Drop-out."

"Lame-ass."

"Dimwi-"

Thankfully they were already quite near the gate, so she stopped then. He had just been about to start running from her. Looking around he could see the mediators by the side, talking to someone.

Finally… this was it, he supposed. Time for goodbye and it couldn't come too soon. As he was just about to speak, she turned and gave him a pointed look. Tilting her head to one side, she said nonchalantly, before he could come up with something, "You better not try to hang out around me…"

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I would never do something that troublesome.' Tilting his head to match hers, he replied in the same tone "You better find a boyfriend and stop bothering me."

She gave him a sarcastic look, "Oh I will… there are loads of great guys out there."

He shrugged in reply, "Good."

She shrugged back, mockingly "Good."

They stared at each other, before Shikamaru grinned at her. Heh, this was things would always be. She stared at him impassively for a few seconds longer before returning his grin. She glanced around her carefully, before sticking her tongue out at him.

He smirked at her before nodding a silent goodbye and was about to walk away, when she suddenly stopped him.

"And oh… I just want to make one more thing clear pineapple-head…" She said, smirking.

Uh oh. He didn't like the look of that. "What?" He asked warily.

She paused, before giving him a wicked grin, "You were the one who made things troublesome…"

He opened his mouth to reply, to shoot back some smart-ass remark. But he couldn't think of a single one.

Not even one.

She was right.

Whatever happened from now on… He was the one who made things troublesome. Not her. Shikamaru turned away from her triumphant smile, hanging his head resignedly as he walked over to join the mediators.

It was going to be a long, long trip home.

Epilogue

"Well she's not home, "said Kankuro gleefully. Gaara stared at him as he fiddled with Kuro-ari. "What are you doing?" He asked his brother.

"You didn't think that I would leave Temari alone with that kid did you?" He replied with a snort. "I had Kuro-ari watch them when we left."

"It's a doll." Said Gaara with a frown. "What help could it be?"

Kankuro glared at him as he covered Kuro-ari's ears. Or whatever looked like ears. "Watch your mouth!"

Gaara, held back a sigh as he watched his brother. "Anyway…" Kankuro continued, "I had a small mini-camera installed in him."

Gaara raised an eyebrow, to which Kankuro replied indignantly, "Don't give me that look. It's not for something pervy… It's for spying!"

Gaara's look didn't change and Kankuro turned away huffing and muttering under his breath. Pulling the small cassette loose from Kuro-ari, he popped it in his small hand-held camcorder. Both brothers leaned in as he pressed play.

"Wonder what that kid did," said Kankuro trying to make out the small screen, "Temari can really hold a grud…" He trailed away, as Gaara's eyes widened.

"He did what?!?!?"

The End of The Troublesome Week Arc.

In case, any of you were wondering, I mentioned earlier that the whole point of this arc was for one specific thing to happen. It's not the kiss as some of you might think. It's the line where Temari says, "You were the one who just made things troublesome…"

I know some parts have been a little childish and unbelievable, but I urge you to consider these two people and their characters as you know them. And don't expect them to start making out in the next few chapters. Temari is really very busy. And Shikamaru is just too damn lazy.

If anyone wants, I'll be happy to explain any parts of the story you don't understand if it can help you to understand the story better I guess.

It'll be hard to try and mix this with the canon chapters, but I'll try my best. So look forward to the next chapters yeah.

Thanks again for reading so far.

m.r.j