Hello Darlings! Did you see my new picture? It is of my beloved piggybank Ton-ton! (guess where I got the name)

This chapter is for sylversmith, who said:

"...another idea I had for a story...is if Temari had a jealousy moment with Ino...I always see Shikamaru and Ino as brother/sister more than romantically involved, but I think that it's very easy for people in long distance relationships like Shikamaru and Temari to misconstrue situations, and I could see Temari making assumptions and acting before getting all the facts (downfall of a strategist I guess)."

And as soon as I read this I went "Yes. This.", but it took me a while to get around to it. But here it is!

It didn't end up like how I had intended for it too (nothing ever does), but I hope all of you enjoy it!

Sometimes, mostly on mornings like this, Shikamaru found himself questioning his friendship with Ino. He'd been having a perfectly lovely morning, sleeping in since he had gotten home from a mission the night before, dreaming happy dreams of clouds, when all of the sudden it was all interrupted by his friend shoving an ice cold water bottle onto the bottoms of his feet—one of the things he hated most in the world—waking him up while cheerfully and loudly explaining that she wanted the old team to get together for lunch at this cute little cafe that had just opened up.

And gosh, wouldn't you know, his mother had loved the idea so much that she had given Ino the key to his apartment. He knew that she would have been able to eventually break in even though she was more skilled at breaking into minds than homes, but it was the principle of the whole thing. And not only did she now have his key and refused to relinquish it, he also couldn't say anything to his mother about it.

Well, he could, but he wasn't stupid enough to do it.

And so that was how he found himself staring at the bright and colorful menu of some healthy-girly cafe, waiting outside in a line that moved slower than a lazy snail. And Choji wasn't there yet, so the only one who Ino had to talk to was him.

Yeay.

"-And then Sakura and I looked at this guy, who had the weirdest mustache I have ever seen, I mean, it curled and everything, and there were some crumbs in it so it was seriously disgusting and gross, and I said—Choji! Good, I thought you weren't going to make it in time for us to order."

Shikamaru could only sigh gratefully as his friend came over to wait with them, since he actually pretended to care about whatever Ino was talking about and payed attention to her, which would get him off of the hook. This was a happy thought that he carried with him for a few minutes until he felt Ino plaster herself to his back, her arms coming up over his shoulders to lace over his chest.

"Hey, can you buy for me? I left my money at home." She asked sweetly, and he could only sigh. He wanted to tell her to ask Choji since he would try to buy her the entire store if she asked since he was for some reason madly in love with her, but he had been told about his best friend's feelings in the strictest confidence, so he couldn't point it out even if it was completely obvious. And he couldn't just say no, because then she'd tighten her arms and have him in a choke hold until he said yes, something he had learned from experience. And while the choke hold was easy to get free of, the nails she'd use to latch onto him in revenge were painful, so it was just easier and less troublesome to go along with it and but her her a damn fruit salad.

"Fine." He grunted, and out of the corner of his eye he spotted four dusty-blonde pigtails slipping around the corner, and he let a small smile momentarily twitch the corners of his mouth.

She didn't quite understand why she was so mad. Well... She did, but then she didn't.

There was no reason for her to be so upset at seeing Ino all wrapped up around Shikamaru. After all, they were friends.

But what kind of friend goes up and wraps herself around a person like a damn vine and whispers in his ear?

And it wasn't like she and Shikamaru were in an actual relationship anyways. So what if they'd had sex a couple of times, they hadn't made any promises. In fact, if she wanted to, she could go and find someone who was a bit older and had more experience and the stupid genius wouldn't have any right to say anything. She actually should go do it just to make a point, though she didn't quite understand what point.

Instead, she let herself into his apartment.

She knew that it would be better to go to her hotel and distance herself, and she meant to do that, to leave his place and go to where she held just a bit more power. But instead of to the door her feet led her on a path back and forth over the smooth hardwood floor and she started to gnaw on her thumb nail, a nervous tic she had thought to have gotten rid of when she was a child because Gaara told her it annoyed him.

Well, evidently since her brother wasn't a homicidal maniac anymore, she was back to the habit.

Really, so what if he was sleeping with that little blonde? She couldn't even hope to hold a candle to her. The thought of Shikamaru switching over to Ino was laughable because he'd have to be an idiot to give her up for someone who was obviously faking all of her experience.

But... They were really good friends, and their families knew each other well. Maybe they were in a serious relationship that they could actually label as a relationship. After all, they were able to see each other practically every day, as opposed to the couple of days every month or so she spent with him. And if they were in a relationship, it was probably based on feelings and they could go on dates and do that disgusting stuff some couples did like plastering themselves to each other's backs. Maybe they were in love.

Well, if Shikamaru wanted to be with some little blonde bimbo that was perfectly alright with her.

Temari winced and stopped her pacing, realizing that she was a bit unnecessarily annoyed—to put it gently—at Ino while also insisting that all of it meant nothing to her. It wasn't like it was Ino's fault, they actually got along rather decently.

And it was all that bastard Shikamaru's fault.

She angrily resumed her pacing on a growl as she thought over that stupid lazy smirk of his. Before him she'd never become so irrationally angry over something so stupid. Something that really didn't matter. He didn't matter. And just to prove it, she was going to wait for him so that she could, in a nice, reasonable tone, end whatever kind of relationship they had with each other.

No. Not a relationship. Just sex.

And so when Shikamaru opened the door to his apartment twenty minutes later, she was waiting for him. She had been planning a speech out in her head as she waited and it had been a damn good one, but as soon as she saw him she was filled with the sudden urgent and very angry desire to prove a point.

Shikamaru opened the door knowing that Temari was in there. He'd been expecting her to be since he had spotted her when he had been standing outside of that little disgustingly cartoonish cafe. What he had not been expecting, however, was for her to suddenly slam the door shut before slamming him against the wall, knocking the breath from his lungs just before she attacked him with her mouth, smothering whatever words he might have said.

He tried to move his hands to touch her or maybe push her back enough to take a breath, but she hit his hands away whenever he moved them, biting him in retaliation. He had just enough time to form the realization that this was about something before she pulled back from him, pulling him away from the wall by the fist she had tangled in his shirt and then shoving him backwards with more than a little bit of force.

"Bed." She hissed, her eyes all kinds of pissed off and angry, which Shikamaru found to be both a concern and a turn on.

Later, after she had gotten up and had started to pull her clothes back on, leaving him on the bed still breathless, he managed to finally form a coherent sentence.

"So, I'm guessing that that wasn't just a new way for you to say hello." He said dryly watching her back as she stiffened and froze before continuing to hook her bra, though now her movements were a bit jerkier. After she did that she paced back and forth beside the bed for a minute, thinking, and Shikamaru just lay there watching her silently.

"Are you sleeping with Ino?" She finally asked after jerking to a stop, glaring at him with her hands on her hips, just daring him to answer.

He had barely a moment to wonder at how she could even think that before his mind connected that she had probably seen Ino plaster herself to his back. The timing was right, after all.

From her face he could tell that she wanted a serious answer, but instead all that he could give her was a smothered laugh that came out as a snort.

She stared at him for one shocked moment before gritting her teeth and stepping forward threateningly. "Did you just snort?"

"Well what did you expect?" He asked her, watching her grit her teeth, "You just asked me if I was sleeping with Ino."

"What was I supposed to think? I turned a corner and saw her all twisted around you while you just stood there like it was okay! And you two do spend more time together and aren't living in entirely different countries."

"She was trying to bribe me to get her food. The twisting doesn't work on me, but if I wouldn't have bought her anything she would have become violent and too troublesome for that time of morning. It's just something she does." He wasn't going to mention the other stuff. That was an entirely different situation that wasn't all that stable yet.

Temari continued to glare at him as she thought it over, realizing that this was most probably the truth. After all, juggling two relationships would probably be too troublesome for the lazy ass to deal with.

"I was going to end... whatever it is we have going on here when you stepped in through that door." She told him, her eyes watching him carefully. "Still might."

He knew that she wouldn't, he could see it in her eyes. The only reason she had thought it in the first place had been because she had been jealous and more than a little angry, and he certainly wasn't going to mention that. He preferred to be able to live without machines helping him.

"I won't sleep with anyone else if you won't." He said as he lay back and closed his eyes, waiting for her to make the next move.

She spent a few silent moments studying him as he lay there as if he didn't have a care in the world before blowing her hair out of her eyes and stripping down once again.

"Fine. But if you screw up I'm dragging your ass out to the desert and burying you where no one can find the body or hear you scream." She told him, her voice holding not a hint of teasing or jest, only a undeniable promise, and she smiled as she watched him pale.

There we go, hope you enjoyed.

Now, as you beloved and benevolent Goddess, I am going to try to get in a few more chapters before I start college next Friday in the hopes that it will make up for any times I disappoint by being too busy to write. (But I'll try my absolute hardest!)

Things I feel like mentioning:

1) The new Doctor was announced. I am anticipating this greatly.

2) I got a lovely plant to liven up my dorm room. I named him Mr. Tumnus.

3)I tried Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey. It was good.

See you, my lovelies!