A/N: And here's the moment many of you have been waiting for- the appearance of Temari. I'm glad you've been enjoying the story thus far, and I hope you like this chapter as well. Tell your friends, if you do. grin

"Oh man, it feels so good to be done with that mission!" Naruto said with a grin, stretching his arms above his head. "That took forever! I never thought we'd get that old geezer here."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You know, part of being Hokage is being a diplomat," he said sourly. "Besides, that 'old geezer' was the emperor's father-in-law. He might not have an actual title, but he still holds quite a bit of power."

"Whatever," Naruto said with a wave of his hand. "Are you hungry?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I guess so." He scanned the street of the foreign town, looking for a booth. "There," he said, pointing.

"Looks good to me," Naruto agreed.

"You always think it looks good, so long as it's passably edible."

"And I never starve, do I?"

"No, but you complain about it all the damn time."

The two young men wandered over to the booth, placing their orders and taking their food away to stand at one of the tall tables set near the street. Naruto was slurping his noodles with gusto, unruly blonde hair tousled by the wind. "Today's Sakura's birthday," Naruto announced. "Can you believe she's nineteen?"

Shikamaru looked at the blonde, face devoid of expression save for his customary sullen look. "Naruto, we're all nineteen."

"I know, but it just seems so old! We're all jounin, Chouji's getting married, what else is next?"

Shikamaru sighed, slowly chewing his food. He couldn't believe Chouji had proposed to Naomi. They were all so young! But, Chouji had been with her for years and was convinced that she was the one for him. Shikamaru supposed she was. His friend hadn't wanted to take the jounin exam, in the end, because he was worried that more dangerous missions might take him away from her permanently, not to mention the emotional scars he still harbored from the Uchiha retrieval mission. Naomi had patiently encouraged him, however, and now he was one of the shinobi elite. Things had gone well for him since he met her, and Shikamaru was happy for them.

Things had gone relatively well for Shikamaru as well. Upon his completion of the jounin exam he had been immediately been appointed a captain of his own team for his first few missions. That was way more trouble than he wanted, but he was used to putting up with bothersome things. He still wanted nothing more than to just lie around and watch clouds, but he wasn't dissatisfied with his life, either. Of course, Ino still went from guy to guy, chewing them up and spitting them out…. Well, that wasn't true, either. Guys had been dumping her as of late, and Ino would never tell him why.

He was jolted out of his reverie as he suddenly felt a disturbance in the air around him, meeting Naruto's eyes for a split second. He pulled off a kawarimi and reappeared a few yards away, adrenaline coursing through his system. Naruto was only a handful of feet from him, also keyed up and alert. Suddenly laughter rang out and a few familiar faces appeared. "It's been a while," the busty blonde said with a snort.

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto said with a grin, going over to the Sand shinobi and clapping him on the shoulder.

Gaara's mouth twitched at the corner, which passed for a smile. "Hello," he said, face immediately turning serious.

"You sure grew up," Temari said, her full lips twisting into a smile. Shikamaru held his expression carefully still as she openly looked him up and down.

"Is it only you two? Why are you guys alone?" Kankuro asked, looking around.

"Yup," Naruto replied. "It was an A ranked mission on the client's request. They wanted jounin for a simple escort and were wiling to pay for it. The Hokage thought it would be wasting resources to send more of us."

"You have a reputation," Gaara said.

"You guys do, too," Shikamaru answered. The Sand trio had been friendly ever since the Uchiha mission, but he was still uncomfortable around them. He was especially ill at ease around Temari. She was always so grabby.

"So why aren't you guys ANBU?" Naruto asked, and Shikamaru felt like slapping his forehead. He wanted to jump in and say something snotty, but that would have been too much trouble.

"Because we have a reputation, too," Kankuro explained. "Our weapons are all so obvious that any targets would immediately know who they were dealing with. Besides, we don't need to hide behind a mask."

"That's why you wear makeup, right?" Gaara asked dryly. Shikamaru actually cracked a smile. Gaara still scared the hell out of him, but he couldn't say he didn't like the guy.

"Shut up," Kankuro growled.

"So why are you guys here?" Naruto asked.

"For the same reasons you were. We delivered a client safely," Gaara responded.

"Cool. Now we can go hang out," Naruto grinned. "It's been way too long! You should come visit us, the next break you get."

Temari suddenly shot forward and grabbed Shikamaru's arm, giving Kankuro a significant look. Kankuro sighed. "Hey, Naruto, you wanna join us for dinner?" he asked.

"Sure!" the blonde cried, and immediately fell into step.

"Hey, you just ate, idiot," Shikamaru growled.

"We're going to go shopping," Temari declared, and towed him in the opposite direction.

"What? Why?" he complained, regaining his feet and following her.

"Because that's what I feel like doing. And then you are going to buy me dinner."

Shikamaru groaned, but he decided against saying anything else. It was definitely way too much of a bother to try and arguing with her. After all, he had never gotten anywhere arguing with Ino, and Temari was somehow a million times scarier. He was really starting to understand exactly why his dad was so whipped.

He followed her down the street, silently watching as she went from booth to booth, much like the civilian women he had observed. She held up a necklace, its sparkling gems matching the dark blue depths of her eyes, the lower part of the piece resting in the cleft between her breasts. He swallowed hard.

"Well?" she asked. "Do you like it?"

He shrugged and watched as she lowered the necklace even further into her cleavage, blushing as he realized she was tracking his eye movement. "Nah," he finally said. "Too flashy. Doesn't suit you."

She raised an eyebrow, placing the jewelry back in its case. "How about this?" The next necklace she held up also sparkled in the light.

"Still too much," he replied.

Her brow furrowed. "Then you pick," she growled, dropping the necklace onto the black velvet.

He perused the jewelry, putting pieces aside, then sorting through the finalists. "Here," he said, holding up a choker of spherical agate beads spaced wide along a pale brown silken cord. "This is perfect."

Temari took the necklace from him and put it on, studying herself in the mirror. The pale reddish color of the swirls in the agate matched her complexion. It encircled her neck perfectly and made a feminine but strong statement. "Buy it for me," she commanded, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

Shikamaru silently pulled out some money and handed it over to the shopkeeper. The necklace really did look good on her. He didn't necessarily want to be buying gifts for a semi-stranger, though. He needed to be saving for the future, as troublesome as it was. "I need to get a wedding present," he told her.

"Friends?"

"Yeah."

"Which one's your friend, the man or woman?"

"Man."

Temari narrowed her eyes. "The fat kid?"

Shikamaru also narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, if you're small-minded."

For a moment it seemed as if she was going to hit him, but smiled slowly instead. "Okay. I know just the thing."

Shikamaru scowled as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the street again. After what seemed like years they finally arrived at a booth filled with worked silver. She pointed at a medium-sized silver bowl, its rim cut at a slant so that one side of the bowl was higher than the other. "He'll take that," she told the merchant.

"How much does it cost?" Shikamaru asked, but was handed the package instead. The bowl was very heavy. He groaned as he pulled out almost all of his cash and handed it over. It really was a pretty gift. He trudged out of the shop and stood in the street, slouching with the package under his arm. "I don't have enough money left to take you to a fancy place to eat," he told Temari.

"You actually remembered that?" she said, raising both her eyebrows.

"I'm not stupid," he growled.

The gaze she fixed upon him was suddenly very serious. "I know," she replied softly. "Let's just stop by a noodle shack."

They wandered for a little while more, browsing a stall piled full of scrolls and miscellaneous weapons, among other things. The town's lines were softening in the light of the sunset, Temari's hair glinting different colors depending on how low the light was. "Here?" he asked, and she nodded, allowing him to follow her into a small café. They ordered, for he found he was a little hungry again, and sat outside at one of the tables. The wood of the tables was weather-beaten, and the rattan of the chairs was worn, yet the atmosphere was cozy and comfortable. Not that he cared about cozy. He noticed that she was trying to catch his eye and he looked at her, wondering if she expected him to do something. A slow, sly smile spread across her face, and she shifted a bit so that her breasts were resting on the tabletop. He narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. She seemed about to say something when their order was called out, and he nonchalantly got up and retrieved their food. They ate in silence, eyes locked, until finally Temari had finished and rested her chopsticks across the rim of her bowl.

"You know," she said softly, her voice almost a purr, "You're the only man who ever truly bested me."

"Bah," he grunted, shoving away his plates. "I was thirteen."

"Well, I was fifteen, and would have been a chuunin long before if it hadn't been necessary to monitor Gaara constantly."

"Hn."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're still just as lazy now as you were then, aren't you?"

"I don't see the point in being any other way."

"Is everything truly such a bother?"

He smiled faintly. "Absolutely."

"Is nothing worth the trouble?"

"Nope. Not that I've found."

She studied him for a few moments in utter silence, people walking past them in the street. The sounds of birds were carried to his ears on the light evening breeze, and the fading light of the sunset was reflected in her dark blue eyes. He sighed and crossed his arms behind his head when he felt something brush against his ankle. Passing it off as his imagination, he looked up at the sky, trying to find the first faint stars appearing. The sensation moved from his ankle up his calf, pushing the fabric of his pants aside all the way up to his knee. It felt suspiciously like toes being run across his skin. Looking across the table at her, he scowled slightly. What was going on?

"Are you involved with anyone, Shikamaru?" she murmured, half-lowering her eyelids. The sensation of toes caressing his leg continued.

He sighed. "If I said yes, would you stop?"

"No," she whispered.

"Then it's too much of a bother to even answer you," he muttered. He hated to admit it, but her touch was actually quite nice. A girl had never come on to him before. He wasn't sure, however, if he liked where it was going.

Temari frowned slightly, gripping the flesh of his relaxed calf muscle in her toes. "Are you playing hard to get or are you really just that hard to get?" she half-growled.

"The way I see it, starting something with you would just cause me a lot of trouble," he said.

"Am I not attractive?"

Shikamaru barked a laugh. "You don't need to play those sorts of games with me, either. I know you're smarter than that."

All artifice disappeared from her face, leaving in its stead an intense, hungry expression. "Let's go," she said, standing up so abruptly that she nearly knocked over her chair. Her arm shot out and gathered up her fan, strapping it to her back, and she caught him once more by the wrist, nearly pulling him over the table to get him out of his seat.

He wanted to ask her where they were headed, but it seemed like too much effort, since he was pretty sure she was going to take him there regardless. At first he thought he made her angry and they were going to rejoin her brothers, so they could all beat the snot out of him together, but instead she pushed him into an alleyway and slammed him up against the wall. Night had fallen, the darkness cloaking them from prying eyes, and with her speed and agility he knew no one had seen their movements.

"Hey," he began, deciding it was finally time to put a stop to this nonsense, when she put her hands against his chest and pressed the full length of her body against him. For all her strength, she was still soft in all the places he thought a woman should be, and he was fiercely grateful for the darkness that concealed his furious blushing. One of her hands gripped him behind the neck and pulled his head to her, mashing her face against his as she kissed him roughly. Her lips tasted of the strawberries she had eaten for dessert, still slightly cool from the ice the berries had rested in. He could smell her spicy skin as heat seemed to roll off her in waves, and his head swam as her hands suddenly seemed to be all over his body. Before he knew it his own hands started to roam, startling him as his fingertips encountered warm, bare flesh. She made a groaning noise and pushed against him more roughly, shoving her tongue into his mouth. He didn't know where to put his hands, where to put his legs. Should he press her against the wall, or should they go somewhere else? It would be stupid to get involved with her, it was always stupid for a shinobi to get involved, but he didn't think involvement was really what she wanted.

Suddenly she pushed away, her eyes shining in the darkness with something he couldn't identify. Her ample chest rose and fell sharply as she panted, her lips looking as if they were bruised, they were so dark. "Haven't you done this before?"

"Way to make a guy feel good," he grumbled, his ears burning with embarrassment. "Shouldn't we be catching up with the others?"

Temari put a hand over her face. "Oh, Kankuro's going to be wasted by now. Thank goodness Gaara's with him."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I have a feeling Gaara's pretty good at keeping other people under control. I only hope Naruto isn't sloshed, too."

She looked at him for a moment, even her posture quiet. "You're the kind of guy who's always right, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "Well, I don't open my mouth unless I know I'm right."

"Ugh, you're irritating," she growled.

"I'd say I was doing my best, but we both know I'm too lazy for that."

Temari laughed and shook her head, stepping out of the alleyway and into the street. He took a split second to adjust himself in his pants. She'd excited him, dammit. Once he was satisfied he wasn't going to humiliate himself, he joined her in the streetlight. "Okay, let's go rescue Gaara," she sighed.

"Sounds fine to me," he replied. The young woman began to walk forward and Shikamaru fell into step with her.

"I'll get you yet," she whispered.

"We'll see," he smirked, and they set off to search for their teammates.

It didn't take long, since their teammates actually ran into them. By that time Shikamaru had positioned himself slightly away from Temari, and so nothing seemed untoward when Gaara, Naruto, and Kankuro appeared. "Damn, he's heavy!" Naruto whined. "What do they feed you guys?"

"Are you calling me fat?" Kankuro slurred. His arm was slung around Naruto's neck and he was wobbling alongside the blonde.

"Yeah, you're the fattest bastard I've ever met," Naruto snapped.

"Hey," Shikamaru called out. "I thought you'd be drunk, too."

Naruto grimaced. "Nah, Gaara wouldn't let me have more than a couple."

"I figured one drunk moron was enough," Gaara replied, voice flat, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Here, you take him," Naruto said, gesturing to Gaara. Garra narrowed his eyes and Naruto backed off. "Okay, you take him," he repeated, trying to pawn Kankuro off on Shikamaru.

"Hell no. I'm not gonna be responsible for that," Shikamaru growled.

"Well, then, I guess we're staying where you guys are staying," Naruto said with a sigh. "I'm sure as hell not going to carry him all the way there and then find another place to sleep."

"Fine," Shikamaru sighed. "I'll do it."

"Why can't we just stay with them?" Naruto groaned.

Shikamaru glanced at Temari, whose eyes were glittering dangerously. "Because," he said firmly. "Book us at the place near the gate. I'll join you in a bit."

"Okay," Naruto said, handing over Kankuro, who was mumbling to himself. "You know, my sensei was a pervert, but he knew his stuff. He said that ninja had to stay away from three things: alcohol, money, and women. You gotta work on one of those at the very least, Kankuro."

Kankuro just groaned.

"Your teacher was a wise man, " Gaara said.

"I guess," Naruto replied with a grin. "Hey, it was great to see you guys."

Shikamaru waited until the farewells were finished, then watched Naruto bound away. "And they call me the lazy one," he complained.

"You volunteered," Gaara reminded him.

"Let a guy have his fun," he snorted. "Complaining makes me feel better."

"We're not too far," Temari said, gesturing.

"Thank goodness. Naruto's right, he really is heavy."

"Karasu adds quite a few pounds," Gaara commented, and led them back to the inn.