Disclaimer: see part 1.

Of Sand and of Leaf

Part 2

Minor Inconveniences

By Random1377

Standing on the summit overlooking Hidden Leaf Village, Shikamaru could not help but smile. All of his teammates had made it back alive, if not in one piece. True, three members of his five-man team were laid up in the infirmary under fairly intensive care, but other than some psychological issues Naruto seemed just fine – and Lee had come out of the affair almost entirely unscathed.

That had to count for something, right?

"You've done well," Tsuande had told him upon his return. "Things should be calm for a LITTLE while, God willing, so take it easy… visit your friends."

Well that got boring pretty quick, Shikamaru told himself, shaking his head as he stepped away from the edge. Neji doesn't have much to say, Kiba keeps asking when he can get out, and Chouji wants me to do something about the food they're giving him. Not a single one of them wants to talk about what happened out there. Makes for pretty short visits.

Plus… there was Shikamaru's other problem.

"Come out!" he called suddenly, his voice expressing all of his annoyance. "I know you're there."

"Only because I want you to."

Shikamaru jumped, whirling around at the laughing voice behind him. "This is getting old," he said flatly, irritated by the sudden appearance of the blonde standing less than a foot away from him. "And why are you here, again? Don't you have your own village??"

Folding her arms, Temari gave him a smug grin. "I'm an ambassador," she informed him smoothly, "and even if I wasn't – I'm at war."

"Right," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "How could I forget?" He looked the young woman up and down, assessing her carefully and coming to the conclusion that she was definitely cracked. Who in her right mind declares herself to be at war with the person she supposedly likes??

Plus the fact that she follows me around town, Shikamaru thought, barely repressing the urge to roll his eyes again. What a hassle…

"Temari," he pointed out, "there's a name for people like you."

"Determined?" the genin guessed, arching an eyebrow.

"Stalker."

Temari's smile widened. "How cute," she said dryly, "the rabbit in the snare bares its teeth. Don't worry, little rabbit," she leaned closer to him, her eyes dancing with mischief, "I never toy with my prey."

"You know," Shikamaru said lightly, "your 'love is war' comments are really starting to get on my nerves. Rabbit? Prey?? Feh… just leave me alone."

Though he had not thought it possible, Temari's smile grew even more. "I thought it would be hard to get to you," she said boldly, "but for all your so-called tactical genius, you start to buckle under the least amount of pressure."

"Only when I'm being pressured by a crazy woman who won't leave me alone," Shikamaru replied turning his back on the genin. "Find someone else to play with, mighty huntress."

"…it's you I want."

Shikamaru frowned at the seriousness in the young woman's voice, but shrugged it off as another facet of her psychosis. "The feeling's not mutual," he said, regretting the harshness of the words, but finding himself at a loss for another way to get through.

Really, he thought, starting to walk away, I never asked you to like me. You just-

His train of thought was violently derailed as Temari's slender arm suddenly snaked around his waist, pulling him back against her body.

"You'll see," her voice resonated in his ear, soft and almost painfully intimate, "I'll make you see that I'm worth looking at."

"You-"

Shikamaru cut himself off as he whirled to face the blonde genin, finding the air behind him empty, the lingering feeling of her arm on his waist vanishing like smoke in a breeze and leaving him inexplicably chilled. He glanced all around – discretely of course, so she would not see him looking – and tried to figure out where, exactly, she had gone to ground, but he could not pick her out of the surroundings no matter how he tried.

Why me? he thought irritably, I'm not even the kind of guy to have girls swooning over me – that's Sasuke's role.

The thought of the Uchiha Genius, as he had been known in Shikamaru's household, was enough to sober the chuunin. After all… the mission to recover the young man had not gone EXACTLY as planned.

Finding that it was actually easier to think about his current problem, Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets. "Don't watch me from the shadows when I'm at home," he said softly, knowing that his voice would reach Temari's ears. "I won't forgive that."

Making his way home, Shikamaru's mind was filled with questions of why. Why was she so fixated? Why was she so persistent? Why couldn't she leave him alone? And why, in God's name, was he still thinking about it??

Forcing his mind around to other topics (the weather, birds, painful torture) the young chuunin finally reached his family's house. Mom should be home already, he told himself, and dad should be back from work pretty soon. I wonder what we're having for dinner. Well, it's barely lunch time, but she likes to start early sometimes.

He rolled his shoulders to loosen them, finding that thoughts of mundane things like dinner and his family made it much easier to avoid thinking about, "Temari?!"

"Ohayo, Shikamaru-san."

"Welcome home, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's eyes shot from his mother, to the invading Sand nin, and back again, his mouth working for several moments before he managed to push the words, "Why is she here?" out.

"Don't be so rude," his mother admonished playfully, "I've read the reports of your mission – she saved your life. The least you could do is be courteous."

Recognizing the edge of command in his mother's voice, Shikamaru's shoulders slumped. "Welcome to my home," he said listlessly, trying to make his tone at least polite. "May I offer you something to drink?"

"No thank you, Shikamaru-kun," Temari said breezily, the triumph in her voice annoyingly obvious to Shikamaru's ears. "Oh, is kun ok? San is so formal."

Before Shikamaru could say a word, his mother waved one hand. "It's fine," she said brightly. "Though he won't let me call him that – he's a big, important chuunin now, and-"

"Aww, mom!" Shikamaru groaned. "Come on!"

"I understand," Temari said, nodding her head sagely. "He's like that with me too." Shooting Shikamaru a needle-sharp glance from the corner of her eyes, she added, "You should make him show me around town."

Shikamaru paled. Mom'd make me do it, too, he thought disgustedly, barely keeping himself from sticking his tongue out as she mouthed, 'I'm not in the shadows.' This isn't a girl – it's a demon sent to kill me!!

"On second thought," Temari said unexpectedly, rising to her feet and giving Shikamaru's mother a polite bow, "maybe another time – I should really be meeting up with my brothers. Thank you for your hospitality." Stepping past Shikamaru as his mother told her to drop by any time, Temari whispered, "Your mother's very nice, Shikamaru-kun… I'm jealous."

Normally, Shikamaru liked to think about what he would say before speaking – it saved him the hassle of blurting things out and getting in trouble – but Temari was already moving past him, and if he hesitated with this barb, he would never get another chance… so he turned his head, making sure his words were for her alone, and replied to her quiet comment.

"I thought by now you'd already have plans to make her your mother-in-law."

Temari's step faltered slightly, her back instantly tense… and for a moment, Shikamaru thought she might actually snap and attack him – an oddly welcome idea, he thought suddenly, as it would give him more than ample excuse to throw her out. The genin's back relaxed, though, and she glanced at him over her shoulder, her eyes bright and assessing.

"How do you know I haven't?"

Shikamaru just snorted. You haven't, he thought confidently, watching the girl make her way out of the house. Otherwise you wouldn't have been so freaked out when I said it.

"I like her."

Of course, Shikamaru thought wryly, turning back to face his mother, she's just like you. No, wait – she's like you only worse… which I didn't even think was possible.

His mother watched him closely for a moment, then clucked her tongue and turned away, heading for the kitchen.

"What was that for?!" Shikamaru demanded, following her. "You don't know what she's really like, mom – that girl that was just here wasn't the REAL Temari of the Sand… she was just pretending! She's not that polite – really!"

His mother was smiling. "My, my," she said airily, "this is the most worked up I've seen you since Kiba's puppy chewed on your favorite comic."

Shikamaru bristled. "Kiba set Akamaru on it because I wouldn't let him read it," he said hotly, "and that's not what we're talking about right now!"

"If you say so, dear," his mother murmured.

Great, Shikamaru thought, grinding his teeth in frustration, now I'm 'dear,' so she's pretty much already ignoring me.

His mother, however, was watching him from the corner of her eye, suppressing a grin at the chuunin's obvious irritation. Very little broke through Shikamaru's thick veil of mildly annoyed indifference, she knew all too well. Certainly, he complained a lot, and had a tendency to be somewhat lazy… but as his mother, she knew that he was really very level headed and cool under fire, so to see him this flustered – by a girl, no less – was somehow quite satisfying.

Not that I want my son to be unhappy, she thought pragmatically, but too much indifference leads to apathy – and I don't think for one instant that that girl was trying to deceive me. She made it very clear, while you were away of course, that she was very interested in you – said it flat out, actually, asking if it was in any way objectionable, since she didn't want any bad blood between our houses when she took my son. Very bold. Her smile widened. Yes, I like that girl just fine.

"I'm going out," Shikamaru announced.

"It's getting close to lunchtime," his mother said calmly, "here, I made you a bento."

Shikamaru sighed, reluctantly accepting the small black box. "Mom," he said with some exasperation, "I'm old enough to make my own lunch."

His mother's lips compressed to a thin line. "Yes," she admitted, "but you didn't."

"I was going to get some ramen!"

"Homemade lunch is better for you."

"Mom! I'm-"

"A terribly important Chuunin," his mother cut in dryly, "I know."

Seeing the area around his mother's eyes starting to tighten, and recognizing that this argument could only end badly for him, Shikamaru held the box out in front of him and bowed formally.

"Thank you for the meal."

Beating a hasty retreat before the woman suddenly 'remembered' some chores he had to do, Shikamaru started off towards the small grove of trees outside the ninja academy. With any luck, he thought optimistically, I'll be able to eat lunch with someone I can actually talk to!

Deliberately ignoring the sensation of eyes – Temari's eyes, specifically – tracking his every move, Shikamaru headed down the street, determined to have a quiet, enjoyable lunch.

Continued…

Author's notes: I dunno… what can I say here that has any real value?? Ok umm, how about a preview of next chapter? Cue Announcer Voice – "While eating lunch with his friends Naruto, Hinata, and TenTen, Shikamaru is faced with a sudden and unexpected attack, and only Naruto seems to be immune!! On the next episode of Sand and Leaf – Lego my Bento! Temari's awesome new technique!!" Ok, that's not really the title of the next chapter, but it sounds like it should be, doesn't it?

Mild pre-read on this chapter was courtesy of Six String Samurai. Rock on… or something.

Feedback is always welcome on any site with reviewing capabilities, or by e-mailing me directly at random1377(at-symbol)yahoo(dot)com.