Chapter 4: Let's Talk:

Shikamaru walked down the empty streets, thinking about everything that had happened. He looked up at the sky; it was cloudless. Suddenly, he heard a loud sob from somewhere down one of the alleys.

Shikamaru listened a while longer and decided to go investigate, turning down the alley where he had heard the crying. There sat Temari, her back to him, curled into a ball and crying her heart out. Shikamaru backed away slowly, but Temari heard him and lifted her head slowly.

"S-Sorry!" he said, stumbling backwards. Shikamaru had absolutely no experience with crying girls.

"D-Don't go!" Temari said, spinning around. "L-Let's talk?"

"O-Okay…"

"You've changed."

"So've you."

They sat there in silence, backs against the wall.

"I'm sorry for attacking you."

"Huh? Oh, I forgave you even before you 'killed' me! It was orders, and I respect that. But I also respect the fact that you were able to 'kill' me without emotions getting in the way. I know if I had to kill you, I probably wouldn't be able to finish it. I'm not strong enough.

"And if I mistakenly killed you, I probably would have turned cold and unfriendly. I probably wouldn't talk much, and seem hostile in my mourning."

"…"

"That happened to you, didn't it?"

"…"

They sat in silence again.

"I don't like this place. There's no clouds," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah. I like Konoha a lot better, but at least I can watch the stars," Temari answered.

Silence again. Then, "Why were you crying?"

"You know what Kankuro said isn't…it isn't true?" Temari asked him.

"Hm? About you and Gaara?"

"Yeah."

"It's more like I care too much. Kankuro never knew, but…we were close. Ever since Gaara was about seven."

When she got no answer, she continued, "He came to me one day, crying. He wanted to know if he was a monster, and what the matter was with him. I couldn't comfort him except to hold him while he cried. From then on, he had acknowledged me; not necessarily as a sister, but no doubt as his one and only friend. But as I said, Kankuro doesn't know." Temari was crying again.

"A-and I'm so worried!"

Shikamaru didn't know what to do, so he awkwardly took her into his arms and let her cry. "Don't worry; Gaara can take care of himself. He's not a little boy anymore," Shikamaru comforted.

"H-He'll a-always be m-my baby b-brother, though!" Temari said through her tears.

"Yeah."

"I…I'm sorry," Temari said, attempting to pull away from Shikamaru.

"No, it's okay…to cry," Shikamaru told her, holding her tighter. They stayed in that position for about ten minutes until Shikamaru realized Temari had fallen asleep.

'Shit…I don't know where her house is.'

So they remained there until the sky was dark and shone with stars. Shikamaru had fallen asleep, to. They lay there holding each other in the alley.

"Temari! Temari, where are you!" Kankuro called.

"Shikamaru!"

"Shikamaru-kun!"

"Hey, where do you think they are? I'm really worried…it's dark," Ino asked Kankuro.

"I don't know. Temari's never been out this late, either. We've checked everywhere. Let's check the streets they took on their way home again, and this time the alleys.

Five minutes later…

Chouji walked down one of the alleys, looking for his best friend and the substitute Kazekage. Suddenly, he came upon the two sleeping in a strange position. Temari looked like she had been crying…

Instead of calling out to the others, he gently shook them awake. "Hey, Shikamaru; everyone's looking for you two!"

Shikamaru woke up slowly and realized that he still held Temari in his arms, and she was starting to wake up to. He looked helplessly to Chouji.

"I'm leaving now. Come along when you're ready; don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Chouji left them, feasting on a bag of potato chips.

"H-Hey, Pineapple-head?" Temari said, standing up slowly and stretching.

"Y-Yeah?" She wasn't mad at him, was she?

"Thanks," she said, walking away.

'Women are so troublesome…' Shikamaru thought as he made his way back to his teammates.