Notes from the Authoress: Yay, the next chapter! ;D I actually don't like this one, but I don't feel like re-writing it either, so here we are.

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Naruto, and neither do you.

Chapter Four: Ask Him Out

He was her student. She couldn't ask him out…could she?

Temari was very disturbed by some weird feelings she was having for Shikamaru. She had the hots for him—he had become a little more mature since his freshman year, and although it bothered her a little, he was taller than her, which for some reason made it seem okay to want to date him.

He's only three years younger than me, Temari reasoned. It's not like I'm robbing the cradle. It doesn't sound nearly as bad if I was 26 and he was 23. Right? Right.

Somehow it wasn't as convincing as she hoped.

Temari was a confident woman. When she wanted something, she got it. (Un?)Fortunately, she was also a very smart, logical woman, and she considered many aspects before leaping into things. There were many, many aspects to consider here.

"I can always tell when you're thinking hard because your eyebrow starts twitching."

Temari looked up from the paper she was supposed to be reading, but had been staring at blankly, to see her two brothers sitting across from her at the table. She wasn't sure how they got there without her hearing—was she really that far into la-la land?—but there they were, looking as if they were about to run an interrogation. "Of course I'm thinking, Kankurou, I'm grading papers," She snapped. "Is there something you want?"

"It's a boy, isn't it?" Gaara asked shortly. He wasn't one to say much, but when he did, it was right on the money.

Temari refused to let her expression give her away. "It's none of your business if it is," She said coolly. "Now I have papers to grade, so if you two are done…"

"We are guys, if you haven't noticed," Kankurou cut her off while gesturing to himself and Gaara. "We can give you advice for guy trouble. What do you have, 'Mari? Lay it on us. There's nothing we can't help ya with when it comes to this stuff."

Temari was tempted, but she said no and went back to grading papers. In the end, it was the fact that her brothers sat there, silently staring at her, for a whole hour that made her break. She told them all about Shikamaru, and her teacher-student dilemma, and how she could loose her job over it, but then how she felt about him, and that for once it wasn't just because he was hot, but because he was smart, too, and there was something about him that made her stare when he wasn't looking and caused her hand to linger when she dropped ice down his shirt, and she rambled for nearly a half an hour before she was finished, breathing heavily and looking flushed.

"That one's simple," Kankurou said. He had been smiling through her whole story. "Ask him out."

"But—my job—"

"Isn't as important to you as this boy if you're still considering dating him knowing the consequences," Kankurou finished. "Ask him out."

Temari looked to Gaara for better advice—she couldn't believe she was trying to get dating advice from Gaara, of all people—but Gaara said nothing and she was forced to conclude that he agreed with Kankurou. She went to bed without telling them what she was going to do.

And the next day, doubts shoved away into a dark corner, she asked Shikamaru whether or not he had plans for the coming Friday.

Notes from the Authoress: Yay! The next three chapters are going to be Christmas-y (although you can't really tell from the preview below). Review!

In the Next Chapter: The best way to talk to Temari, in Shikamaru's view, was to give her a phone call. She was pleased that he took the time to talk to her, but he could also put the phone down while she talked and pick it up once it was quiet. Then all he had to do was say "uh-huh," "whatever," and "troublesome," although he was almost sure she knew he did it, because he often received a bad mark on a paper the day after he called…