What the hell is this?"

Gaara had led her past their apartments, and to an unused area of the living quarter building. The hallway had been dark and with a dusty smell that let Ino know that it hadn't been used for a while. She had remained silent when he had took them to the end of a hallway and opened the door.

She was staring at a room that had obviously been thoroughly cleaned and done so recently. The smell of said used cleaner still hung in the air despite the open windows. She automatically scanned the area for anything or anyone threatening before taking a more thorough look around.

The only light was come from two small lanterns on either side of the room. There was a mattress on the floor, possibly, underneath all the blankets and pillows that spilled onto a carpet and small table that held food and drinks. When she cautiously leaned forward to peek into the open door way she saw a small bath tub and quickly leaned back out into the hallway. She wasn't sure she wanted to enter this scary domain.

Soft lighting. Check.

Food and drinks. Check.

Incredibly soft looking sleeping area. Check

Cozy bathroom. Check.

"Holy shit this is a seduction room isn't it?"

Gaara had been in the process of closing the windows, he had probably kept them open to air the room out, when she exclaimed out loud. It was a bit gratifying to see his head whip around to stare a bit wide eyed at her before quickly turning away to finished his task. She couldn't help the teasing tone as she finally stepped into the room, closing the door and bending down to take her shoes off.

"Gaara you dirty bird you, finding an out of way place to bring the innocent little girl to fall under your spell. What would those old biddies say to this I wonder?"

His shoulders were tense as he latched the last window before turning to give her a bland look. She giggled before heading to the bathroom. Sure enough, there was a long shirt and shorts set out by the tub. She poked her head out as she began unzipping and unwrapping her outfit.

"Even brought me a change of clothes. Look at you, covering all your bases."

She laughed as he closed the door on her.

…..

She found him following her brother and the leaf princess. She followed undetected for a minute before realizing where her brother was leading Ino. Having seen the rather intense protective streak that they had towards their team mate, Temari stepped out before actual blood shed would happen. Or worse. Her brother's feelings getting hurt.

"Lurking in the shadows as always Shikamaru."

He turned to her in a way that suggested he knew she had been there all along. That rankled but she pushed that aside as he turned to cast one more glance at the disappearing figures before letting out a huge sigh while slouching against the wall and giving her a dark look. She waited until he spoke with irritation. It was the little pleasures right?

"Well, aren't you going to demand to know about Ino's relationship with me and Chouji? Or nag me about letting them have their little affair or some shit."

He might not have realized, she thought a little sadly, how lost he looked at the mention of those two's little 'affair'. An expression similar to the one that Kankuro makes when Gaara reaches out for Ino without a care or thought.

Suddenly her earlier insecurities seem so foolish. Standing in front of him, she grinned a little and crossed her arms across her chest while remembering of Ino's earlier words and tactics.

"Poor big brother, terrified that the big bad wolf is going to lure her into the dark forest and devour her whole?"

She almost flinched at the stare he sent her; it was so beyond his usual indifference. It also let her know she was close to the mark. Softening her voice she leaned forward just a little towards him.

"Shikamaru….they are adults, what will happen will happen."

He began to shrug before stopping half way to straighten up and look away from her. She waited until the he slipped his hands into his pocket and began to walk away.

"That's an incredibly civilian thing to say Temari. There are rules here that need to be reinforced, for right now at least, or else it can cause a lot of trouble for everyone involved."

Spinning on her heel she quickly caught up to his surprisingly ground eating stride.

"They are stupid you know, they will work it out."

When he simply rolled his eyes she thought for a moment about why it seemed so important to convince him that this wasn't a disaster waiting to happen. Once they reached a deserted training area, did she speak.

"You know, she was doing really bad for a while."

She sat down on a piece of rock and waited until he slumped down on the ground opposite of her and leaned back on his hands. He had gotten control of his face it seemed because he was sporting his cool mask.

Sighing, she reached up and began taking her ponytails down as she continued.

"She tried to warn us about working with children. Before that there were some…higher ups at the hospital didn't want her there to begin with, so when Gaara told them to give her allowance of hospital protocols and stuff they made it even worse for her. She fought back…sometimes loudly and violently, but she worked her ass off for all the patients. Ino was gun-ho from the start about training medic-nin and improving everything. But….the children bothered her."

Uncaring of how she looked, she began to vigorously scrub her fingers through her loose hair. It was an effective style for her bristly hair but man did it feel good to let it down after a while.

"She blames herself for the girl, she always did when someone died under her watch."

Shikamaru was watching her with a particular look on his face. Pausing Temari realized this must be the first time he had seen her with her hair down. Suddenly feeling a bit awkward she ran a hand through it one more time to settle it down before dropping her hands in her lap.

"After they found the ninja who kidnapped her, they taunted her and …she did some scary mind jutsu and destroyed them. But then…"

Her eyes had trailed away from the quiet man in front of her while she spoke; gazing out at the darkened sky. It was uncomfortable in general to talk about emotional stuff, especially for a woman who had to grow up fighting all emotional instincts to prove that she was worthy to a group of hard headed men. It almost felt like she was degrading Ino by speaking of a serious emotional break down, but still, Shikamaru was basically family.

"Yeah, she builds it up and lets it break her down. In reality, most shinobi end up doing that."

Feeling tired she just nodded. Looking back at Shikamaru now, Temari waited for several minutes until he sighed tiredly and dropped harshly back onto the ground to stare up at the night sky.

"And Gaara?"

The defeat in his voice made her smile and stretch out a foot to kick the bottom of his gently.

"Got her angry, got her to cry rather hysterically, broke furniture, and" the last whispered as she met his sideways stare "was everything she needed even if she didn't know."