Tsunade bustled into the hospital room, gave Hanabi a short stare, then ignored the genin who was currently braiding Sasuke's hair into tiny plaits. With little bows on the ends.

The Hokage pulled up a chair next to Sasuke's bed and stared at him a moment. "The swelling is going down some. We should be able to remove the breathing tube in a day or two. You're out of danger. Right now we're just making sure that your veins don't become compromised by the swelling."

Sasuke flicked his head upward, toward Hanabi.

Tsunade chuckled. "Okay, you're mostly out of danger. Do you want me to place an ANBU guard in here to protect you from the genin?"

He groaned and turned his head away, wincing as this pulled on the hair Hanabi still had hold of and wasn't letting go.

The blonde sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay, what gives? You see, I don't buy your act."

Hanabi sat still and let go of Sasuke's hair, hoping that she wasn't about to get thrown out of the room. This conversation was far too interesting to be kept out of it now.

Sasuke nodded toward her again, but the Hokage wasn't biting. "So I send her out of the room, she's a Hyuuga and a ninja. You don't think she won't find out what we're discussing? In fact, let me call in Sakura and a few others just so we have plenty of witnesses and we're clear on everything." Tsunade sighed and settled down. "Just tell me why you did it?"

"Uhm, Hokage?" Hanabi asked in a whisper. "He has a tube in his throat. Can't talk."

Tsunade reached into her pocket, pulled out a cloth and unwrapped it. There in her palm was a valve of some kind. She reached toward Sasuke and popped it over the tube. "There, now he can talk. I don't want to leave it on too long though, as it makes breathing more difficult."

"Son of a ….."

Tsunade reached over and grabbed the valve back off his tube. "Uh, no language of that nature little genin. Much too coarse for you." She then replaced the valve.

Sasuke growled as Hanabi looked puzzled for a moment then her face cleared. "He never took the chuunin exams over again! He's still a genin!"

"You…." He coughed to clear his throat. It was hard talking through a tube and a valve, and she wasn't kidding about it making it harder to breathe either. "I made it back?"

Tsunade grimaced. "Tentatively. You're on serious probation. The council has found it in their sympathetic little hearts to take you back. Though, you pick up where you left off. Genin."

"Then it was worth it." Sasuke sighed happily despite the horrid way he felt.

Hanabi pointed at him accusingly. "You …He …NO!"

"Lost on purpose just to make nice with the council? Look all humiliated in order to get some sympathy?" Tsunade clucked her tongue. "Yes and no. It was more that he held his cool and didn't turn it into an all out battle. He didn't fight back, that much is clear. He rattled Shino's chains, he taunted, he acted the jerk and he made a move for his sword. He tried a simple eye-contact genjutsu that didn't work. But why didn't he use any of his more lethal abilities? He wasn't trying."

Hanabi pouted as she crossed her arms, then grinned. "But he didn't reckon on being allergic to the kikai bites, did he?"

"No." Laughed Tsunade, completely amused. "No, I don't think he counted on that. He probably got more than he was counting on."

Sasuke pulled a frown, and it hurt. He groaned.

Tsunade shook her head. "No, don't try to hide it. Sure, you bounced into a wall to look more pathetic, especially once you realized the kikai weren't eating your chakra. But you realized something else too, didn't you?"

The Uchiha forced a shrug. "Not to piss off Shino more than I have to. He ...he wasn't showing all his fighting moves either." Sasuke admitted reluctantly. He'd been caught in a trap that he hadn't wanted to avoid. But looking back on it, he wasn't quite sure how he could have avoided getting caught like that. He'd be thinking about it though, that's for damned sure. No way would that same move catch him twice.

"You underestimated him."

Sasuke nodded sharply, though with great reluctance.

"And you're back in Konoha, little genin. You achieved your goal." Tsunade flicked one of his hives rather roughly and he squirmed. "Was it worth it?"

"I hope so." He managed to get out before coughing again.

"Oh, and thank you." Tsunade stood, stretching as she yawned. "I appreciate you not summoning Manda in the middle of my village."

He debated not telling her, but in the end he couldn't let the comment pass. "Manda's dead." Sasuke told her, still not sure how he felt about that. The giant snake had been evil, sure, but part of him missed that crafty old serpent.

Tsunade nodded. "I knew that, actually. I just wanted to see if you'd tell me, or let me go on thinking you had access to that murderous giant snake. Still, I'm sure he wasn't the only summons left to you by Orochimaru. Though the others might not be quite as impressive."

Sasuke didn't answer as she'd hit far closer to the truth than he cared to admit.

"By the way. When you get better, you'll need to meet up with your new teammates." Tsunade smiled evilly, even though he couldn't see her.

"New team?" Sasuke frowned. He hadn't gotten that far in his planning.

The blonde whistled innocently as she opened the door to the hallway. "Hanabi's team as a matter of fact, she's down a member right now."

Sasuke and Hanabi both stiffened at those words. "Tashiro really decided to quit, did he?" The Hyuuga heiress asked, resigned.

Tsunade nodded. "How perfect is it that we have one extra genin right when we have one opening for a genin?" She paused and stared at Sasuke a moment before continuing, ignoring the fact that he couldn't actually see her right now. "Hanabi is your team captain by the way, so play nice Uchiha."

He groaned and said a few bad words. Hanabi reached over and grabbed his valve, pulling it off as he started coughing again, this time sounding worse than before.

"You might not want to put that back on, Hanabi." Tsunade said as she stepped out into the hallway. "That way no one can hear him scream."

Hanabi paused and sent Tsunade a long measuring look. Sasuke stilled, waiting for whatever awful thing these two had in store for him.

Tsunade grinned at Hanabi. "Team Leader? I think the nurse might have some nail polish to match those ribbons you've put in his hair. They say that a manicure and a pedicure always make a patient feel so much better."

Hanabi grinned as strangling noises came from her newest team member. The door shut behind Tsunade as Hanabi stared gleefully and maliciously down at Sasuke.

o.o.o.o.o

"Do you want any tea?"

"Fuck you." She said, though without much heat.

Shino paused while reaching for the tea service already sitting on the low table. Temari hadn't raised her voice, but then she didn't need to in order to make her feelings known. Her voice had been as sharp as razor wire. He let his hand fall back to his side.

"Why?"

Shino looked away, out the large window. The same window they'd been sitting in front of when she'd fallen asleep in his arms. How could it have been only a month ago that she'd first spoken to him, asked him to escort her to the Winter Festival? The same festival he'd just ruined for her. He winced slightly.

Temari crossed her arms and stared a hole through him until he turned back to look at her. "I'm not going away. I promised your father that I wouldn't attack you with my fan, but that's all I promised."

The Aburame heir nodded. "Nice to know he cares."

"No, he's on my side." Temari smirked. "He just asked that I leave his study intact. There are quite a few valuable and breakable antiques in here."

Shino looked around carefully, noting a few things. "He doesn't trust us much. He moved grandmother's vase and the more delicate ceramics out of the room. My mother's loom is gone too."

Temari chose a seat and sat down, crossing her legs as she did so. She'd changed out of her fancy kimono for the festival and now wore a sturdier dress, one that offered more warmth. Still, there was a fold in the skirt and it fell open as she sat there staring at him. That one sight of her leg, a long line of flesh in mesh stockings had him swallowing hard.

She sneered at him and flicked the slit in her dress closed.

Shino managed to uncross his eyes, grateful for the dark glasses that kept her from knowing where he was looking. Oh sure, she'd probably guessed, had maybe even done it on purpose …but she didn't know it'd worked.

Temari sighed and sat forward in her seat. "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing." He answered truthfully. "Nothing."

"Alright, what did you do wrong? Cheat on me?" She asked sharply. Actually she didn't believe that this was the case. Not with Shino. But after the debacle with Shikamaru she just had to know if there was another girl in the picture.

Shino grunted in derision and shook his head.

"Good." Temari sighed, something deep within her loosening up a bit as that particular worry was laid to rest. "For the record, your father didn't think that was it either."

Shocked to the core, Shino just gaped as he shook his head at her. "My father?"

"I like your father." She told him simply. "He's a good man."

So am I, he responded, if only in his head. "No. My father is a very private man. The whole clan is as a matter of fact. He would never discuss personal issues with …"

"An outsider?" She guessed, her temper starting to flare again.

Shino nodded in spite of himself. "He would see you as such. You're not an Aburame."

Temari leaned back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head and smiling up at him. The move tightened her dress across her chest and revealed a bit more of her rather nice curves. Her figure was spectacular in his opinion, neither small nor overblown. Perfect. Like she was in his eyes. He turned away, cursing his fate. Why had she been put before him? Taunting him with what he wanted, and could not have?

"Kawazu."

Shino spun around looking like someone had just run him through with a spike. He sputtered as he looked first toward the closed door where his father had left the room, then pointed a finger at Temari, though he couldn't seem to formulate a solid thought, much less words.

"Kawazu." Temari rolled the nickname around on her tongue, as if savoring the sound. "Your mother called you that as a baby, against your father's objections."

The bug-nin sank absently into a near by chair, his mind reeling.

"Frog. You're mother called you a frog." She grinned over at him. "I hear that you kicked your legs just like a little frog and your eyes followed your father's kikai all around the room. Just like a little frog intent on his first meal."

"Frogs eat bugs." He said, totally inanely. Then he stiffened and stared at her. "There's no way my father told you that, you must have found out from someone else!"

Temari pursed her lips, as if lost in thought. "Well, that could have been a story your mother told me. I get them all confused. Was it she or your father that told me about the time you set a trap for the kikai? You wanted a hive just like your dad's and wouldn't accept his word that you weren't old enough yet."

Shino's hand shook and he clenched the chair rail to keep from letting her see how her words were affecting him. His parents had opened up to her? Shared stories of his past? It could only mean they approved her, as a long-term prospect ….as a prospective bride. Suddenly he felt like throwing up. How was he going to let her go again?

Temari suddenly stood and stalked over to him, leaning over him as he sat in his chair. She stared into the blankness of his sunglasses and growled. "You pulled away from me. You let me go, let me walk away. You ended things. So why in the hell did you attack Sasuke?"

Suddenly the air around her crackled with the buzzing energy of Shino's temper as the kikai reacted to his own reaction to that particular name.

o.o.o.o.o

Hana missed the step on purpose, falling 'accidentally' into Neji as he escorted her back home.

He grinned, not believing her supposed clumsiness even for a second. The Hyuuga wasn't a prodigy for nothing, he took her cue and ran with it as he slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Careful there."

"Careful where?" She grinned into his face and stole a quick kiss. "There? Why, do you bite? A lot of my patients bite, I'm used to it." She said, referring to her veterinarian practice.

"Oh?" He teased and snapped at her nose, giving her a smile as she laughed and jerked her head back at his sudden movement. "Do they lick too?"

Hana caught her breath as she stared at him, almost daring him to back that last question up. He leaned forward and slowly drew his tongue across the seam of her lips. She shivered, though not from the cold weather.

Neji drew back slightly, leaning his forehead against hers. "What else do they do?" He asked naughtily.

The dark-haired kunoichi thought it over a moment, then whispered in his ear. "They whimper a lot after I neuter them."

Neji's pale eyes went wide as he jerked back, staring at her. She nearly fell down laughing at his expression. The Hyuuga groaned and shook her gently. "That's not even remotely funny!" He said sternly, which only set her pealing with laughter all over again. "Really, not funny." He muttered.

Hana grabbed a lock of his hair, pulling on it to bring his ear closer to her mouth. "Yes it is." She whispered and lightly bit his ear lobe.

Neji shivered this time, his knees weakening. So, this is what TenTen had meant. The sheer volume of heat and desire that flooded his system as Hana purred and continued nibbling on his ear. It was different. What he and TenTen had had together had been special, and it still was. But when they'd kissed there'd not been this explosion of utter need between them. Not like it was with Hana.

"I want a real one." Neji asked, suddenly serious, the words out of his mouth before he could talk himself out of it.

Hana pulled back at his tone and gave him a puzzled look. "A real one?"

"A real date. No pretending, no nothing except you and me on a date. Not as a favor, not as a bribe, just us." Neji felt the moment slow down as she contemplated his words. What would she say? He was younger than she, but not by that much. Would it matter?

"I …I don't know." She said, shaking her head negatively. Neji felt his stomach clench, then she continued. "You are on the 'undateable' list after all." Hana kept her face deadpan for a few seconds until his expression caused her to lose it completely.

Neji groaned as he watched her almost collapse as she laughed so hard she seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. "I thought this date tonight was to get me off that list?"

Hana waved one hand at him and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her into his arms. He nestled his face into the crook of her shoulder. She was taller than TenTen, though he still had the height advantage. She snuggled closer to him. "You know, I might keep you on that list." He grinned, not falling for it this time. "Except for me of course. You still need more lessons in kissing."

Neji grinned and ran his thumb down her ribs, making her shriek and jump away from him, swatting at his hands. He watched her, delighting in her presence.

The light flickered on and they both stilled, stifling their laughter. Tsume opened the door, staring out after them, her nin-dog at her side. Kuromaru looked out at them and shook his doggy head, then headed back to bed. Tsume sighed and did the same.

Neji and Hana looked at each other and grinned. "Tomorrow? Dinner?" He asked.

Hana nodded and that simple gesture made him grin the whole rest of the night.

o.o.o.o.o

Hanabi frowned at the stained sheet as she heard the door behind her open again. She wasn't surprised, the nurses had been checking on Sasuke pretty regularly. She moved in front of the bed to hide the evidence. The bright pink evidence.

"Hinata?"

The genin spun around, startled.

"No, my mistake. Sorry. You resemble her from the back, sorry about that."

Hanabi nodded, slightly in awe. This man was the infamous copy-ninja after all.

Kakashi gave her a smile through his mask. "Do you think you can leave us alone a moment?"

Hanabi nodded mutely and handed him the speaking valve.

Kakashi looked down at the small item in his hand, then up at her, his one visible eye clearly puzzled.

"Oh!" Hanabi jerked slightly. "That goes on the tube so that he can speak. That is, if you want to speak to him. Oh, but of course you do! How stupid of me, why else would you be here? Unless it was to fight, but that …I don't mean that you would attack anyone who was hurt and injured. I don't mean that! I just mean that …. Oh crap!" She turned red and ran from the room.

The copy-nin watched her go with a small smile. "See? Now that's the proper way for a genin to greet me. All nervous and so eager to please that they fall all over themselves. Not like other genin I once knew, setting up a chalkboard eraser so that it fell on my head."

Sasuke gestured toward his throat.

"Oh right." It took a moment, but the copy-nin got the speaking valve in place. "There."

"That was Naruto who did that." The croaking sound of the voice sounded strange, as if it weren't really Sasuke in the hospital bed.

"I wouldn't be able to recognize you, what with the hives and heavy lotions if it weren't for your need to place blame anywhere but at your own feet. Though I find you're quick enough to take credit when it's due." Kakashi paused. "Nice hair bows."

Sasuke growled, then coughed and choked. Kakashi waited for him to finish before speaking again. "I hear you're back in the village."

"I hear you didn't want me back." The Uchiha croaked, his voice very rough sounding.

The white-haired shinobi nodded and took a seat. "No. I didn't vote in your favor when the council asked me."

"I don't blame you." Sasuke said, hiding his hurt at those matter-of-fact words.

Kakashi sighed. "You think it will be that easy? You betray the village, no strike that, you betrayed me. Sasuke, you betrayed me and took everything I taught you, including my own personal jutsu and joined our sworn enemy. A man who murdered our Third Hokage. Now you waltz back after Itachi's death and expect everyone to forgive and forget?"

Sasuke groaned. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not, and that's the problem." Kakashi sighed and rolled his neck, trying to ease some of the stiffness. "You wanted power, you got power. You wanted revenge, you got revenge. You wanted back in Konoha, and now you're back. Tell me, what could you possibly be sorry for?"

"You. Naruto. Sakura. Everything."

Kakashi stood and looked dispassionately down at his former student. "You may have wormed your back into the village. But you will have to try a lot harder than that to gain my trust, much less my respect."

"Harder than this?" Moaned Sasuke, trying vainly to open his swollen eyes.

The copy-nin laughed. "You may have fooled the council members into thinking that was a real fight. And you may have fooled the Hokage into thinking you didn't fight at all. But I know you, Sasuke. You weren't fighting back, not at first. But when the kikai swarmed I recognized those hand seals you were trying to form. Fire jutsu. It would have been a good move, if you'd managed to form any of those seals."

Sasuke groaned.

"Still, the kikai were interfering, I understand. But what about some of your other jutsu? Those gleaned from Orochimaru? Some of those don't require seals. What happened?"

Reluctantly, Sasuke answered, more from habit of honoring his sensei than for any other reason. "I don't know. I could tell the kikai weren't eating my chakra, but ….but the bites were burning and I could tell something was wrong. But when I tried to activate some of my moves, nothing worked right."

Kakashi nodded. "You just earned one honor point with me for telling the truth. For that I'll let you in on what must have gone wrong. You're one in a million Sasuke, allergic to the kikai destruction beetle bites. Their venom is usually inert, but with you it caused a reaction. That reaction interfered with your chakra flow and your ability to manipulate it. Almost like a poison. And the number of beetles made the poison in your system nearly overflow your veins. I think, if the fight had continued, you might have found a way around it. Still, we may never know."

"I'll find a way around it." Sasuke vowed harshly.

The copy-nin chuckled without humor. "Planning on fighting Shino again? I thought you were one of us once more."

Sasuke shrugged. "I am, and I'll keep to that, I swear."

"Sure, now that Itachi is gone and there's no more pressing need to betray us. But …what if that should change? How do we trust you again?" Kakashi stopped, turning away to look out the window. He really, really wanted to welcome his former student back. But he fought that feeling. Sasuke hadn't earned that yet, not from him.

"One honor point, huh?" Sasuke took a deep breath, the valve on the tube in his throat rattling a bit. "How many do I have to earn?"

"One million." Kakashi answered without thought. "You're on your way with that one point. Don't louse it up."

"I've been placed on a genin team." Sasuke said, trying to draw Kakashi into a conversation about something other than his betrayal of the village. "Hyuuga Hanabi's actually."

"I want you to stay away from Hinata." Kakashi said quietly. "Don't think I haven't heard what you're up to these days. She's made it clear she has no interest in you."

Sasuke frowned, turning his head slightly. "I have just as much right to court whomever I please as anyone else."

"Wrong." Kakashi sighed. "You gave up that right when you left. If the girl returned your favor, that would be different. But I hear from Kurenai that the girl has never been happier than with the beau she already has. So leave her be."

"I saw her 'message', the colors she was wearing with her kimono." Sasuke grimaced. "But I want honor points for letting go of her. Ten points."

"You never had her, so letting her go is no hardship."

"I needed her. Eight points?"

"Four." Kakashi sighed and stood up. "You can have four if you leave Hinata alone."

"I was going to anyhow." Sasuke taunted lightly. "After I saw how close she was snuggled up to the Akimichi."

"Minus two points for trying to play me." Kakashi grinned as he stood. "Before you protest, it's my point system and I have final say."

"So, with my original point plus four and minus two, that gives me a grand total of 3 points." Sasuke laughed. "Only 999,997 left to go."

Kakashi paused at the door. "Why is the sheet over your knees stained pink?"

"Nail polish. I may be down and unable to see, but I can still break a bottle of nail polish before some genin punk paints my toes with it."

o.o.o.o.o

"Shino? Just tell me. I can handle it, whatever it is. But if you don't tell me your parents will hate me forever, for I will gut you. Froggie."

The Aburame heir winced at the nickname as it fell from her lips. Lips he wanted to kiss, but couldn't. Finally he cleared his throat. "I can't date you anymore."

Temari frowned sharply, pulling away so he wouldn't see the hurt in her eyes. She'd been prepared for this, but the reality of hearing it from his lips hurt far more than she'd anticipated. "Just tell me why. Is it my Suna accent? My looks? My attitude? What? Just tell me!"

"I can't date you anymore because ….because …I can't let you go."

The blonde turned around, furious beyond belief. "Shino, that makes no fucking sense! You let me go BECAUSE you can't let me go?"

"I love you."

Temari tripped and nearly fell into the tea service. Shino jumped up, but she'd caught herself before actually falling and held up one hand to keep him from touching her. She banged her ears a moment, then poked a finger into each one. "Say that again, because it didn't sound right."

"You heard me."

"SAY IT ANYWAY!" She screamed, uncaring of anyone upstairs who might actually be sleeping at this late hour.

Shino walked up to her and took off his concealing glasses. Dark chocolate eyes appeared to be melting as they stared into her confused teal-colored orbs. "I love you."

Temari's eyes misted, though no tears fell. Blinking hard, she turned her back on him to stare out the window. "You have a rotten way of showing it."

Shino ran his hand through his hair and sighed, his mouth opening and words spilling out that he'd never wanted to utter. "I can't move to Suna."

"Who asked you to, Toad!"

"Frog."

"Toad." She insisted with a sneer.

Shino sighed and gave up. "Fine, Toad it is." He walked around her, putting his back to the window so he could look her in the face. Her eyes refused to meet his. "When I heard the council elder tell Ino that her request to be sent to Suna was denied, I had to face the truth. I have to let you go."

Temari sighed and shook her head. "Why though?"

"I can't go to Suna. I can't make the same kind of request that Ino did." Shino caught her shoulders, turning her so she had no choice but to face him. "I am the Aburame heir. Unlike other clans, our ninja can not be marriage sealed. The kikai are a totally different form of ninja art. It's not true ninjutsu at all. It's unique to us and …and there are no Aburame outside of Konoha."

Temari shrugged, not seeing the problem yet.

He shook her shoulders a bit. "Temari. If I went to Suna I would be facing a death sentence. I can go on missions, of course, but not for long extended times. The heart of the kikai hives is here in Konoha. Bugs don't live life spans as we do, the hives have to be tended and replenished. Even if I ran, I …I couldn't, without the bugs my system would shut down, I'd die."

The blonde kunoichi sniffed and shook her head.

"I know you can't come here, not with being the Kazekage's sister and all. Politics! I hate politics!" Shino shook his head. "We have to let go. I …I was so happy when you asked me to the Winter Festival. Date you for three months? When you chose me I thought I was the luckiest guy around. But then I went and fell in love with you and it all changed.

Temari sighed and jerked her shoulders away, forcing him to let go. "You're so smart, for a stupid jerk. You didn't even bother to ask if I wanted to move here."

"You can't." He told her.

"Idiot. You might not be able to move, but my wind jutsu doesn't need a home hive or anything of the sort. Besides, I'd already gotten permission to teach here at the Konoha Academy next year."

Shino's hands shook as he watched her walk toward the study door. "What?"

"I wanted to wait to tell you, I thought it was too soon after only dating you for a month. So I was going to wait and surprise you. Well, you surprised me first." She said bitterly.

"You're staying? Here?"

"Funny, you're usually quicker than this, Shino." Temari opened the study door.

Shino took three steps forward, a smile beginning on his lips. "We don't have to break up!"

"We already did. Scratch that, you broke us up." Temari reminded him coolly.

Shino stopped, staring at her. "But you're staying here in Konoha."

Temari nodded wearily. "I'm staying, but that doesn't mean I'll take you back automatically. You hurt me, Shino."

The bug-nin nodded, resigned. "Are you going to keep seeing Sasuke? No. You promised the other girls you would date me for three months. I want my remaining two months to win you back. You can't date anyone else until then."

The Sand kunoichi stared at him a moment, then laughed harshly. "You have some nerve, Frog-boy."

"I want those two months."

"Fine." She snapped at him. "But don't think it'll be easy to win me back!" She stalked from the room and slammed the door shut.

Shibi and his wife poked their heads around the corner from the dining room. Temari waved at them a bit blearily, wiping an errant tear. "It went well." She told them and then walked out the front door.

Shino's mother smiled. "You'd better start drafting the betrothal proposition for the Kazekage. I need to make some lists for the engagement party. Oh, and invitations! No, that should wait until I have a specific date."

Shibi shook his head at her. "It may not work out. Don't get your hopes up."

Aburame Hatsue shrugged prettily. "You heard her, Shino has two months to win her back. Have a little faith in your son."

o.o.o.o.o

For everyone who questioned the last chapter's fight scene, I've answered them through the review reply system instead of within an A/N. I won't address it here, it would take too long. I do hope though, that this new chapter cleared some of the lingering questions up.

However, any and all comments are welcome and I have to say I'm so happy that even those that disagreed with my view on the fight were all constructive, logical, and well thought out. THANK you to all who reviewed.

And as always REVIEWS are most welcome, I don't mind at all discussing aspects of my stories.

P.S. The speaking valve is based on an actual item, a passy muir valve - though I changed some things to make it easier for my story.