I do not own Naruto. This one has some references to my previous fanfic "another game"…you might want to start there first if you haven't already read it. Also again, I don't know anything about shougi…sorry if the moves make no sense.

Xxx Temari xxx

I hastily left the room and bee-lined it to my bedroom. That BASTARD how dare he flirt so blatantly. The scene of Ino looking hungrily into Shikamaru's eyes with his arms around her shook me to my very core. I had just a few minutes ago felt so safe in his arms, but that had made me doubt everything he had said and done in the last year. I angrily took my hair down and roughly undressed throwing my clothes to the ground before I slipped into bed. I turned restlessly as images of Shikamaru with Ino continued to flash through my brain. "That bastard! I'll show him, I'm going to…I'm going to…"

"You're going to what?" A teasing voice called from my window.

Looking up, I saw him gently smiling as he perched in the moonlight on my windowsill. He effortlessly stepped in as I sat up in bed, covering myself with my blanket. Softly placing his hand on my head he stated, "Don't fret you frantic woman. I put her to bed then headed straight here." He brought his hand out from behind his back and presented me with a dozen desert peonies.

He replied with "I was there when you and Ino were arguing about what the most beautiful flower in the world was." He took my face in his hand as he said this.

Swatting him away I growled, "You bastard! Don't think you're forgiven with just flowers

He laughed then stated. "I'm sorry you're upset. But do you really think I could be capable of cheating? It would be the definition of troublesome. Can you imagine how much effort it would take to make two women happy? Temari, trust me." He pulled me in for a kiss, the intensity of which made me forgive him completely . Of course he didn't need to know that yet.

As he released me, I sighed and quietly stated. "You're not completely forgiven. But thank you for the peonies . Now go."

"I'm staying." He said challenging me.

I refused him with "You can't, I already told you no one can know about us. We'll spend some time together tomorrow after the afternoon meeting."

As he moved in for another kiss he countered with "Does your household have the habit of checking in on you after you've gone to bed?" I shook my head. "Well then, no one will bother you tonight. I promise, I'll leave before dawn."

As I suspiciously glanced at him, I whispered, "Gaara's room is next door. He'll hear us."

Lifting an eyebrow he teased me with "What kind of things are you thinking about that would be loud enough for Gaara to hear?" I turned bright red at that statement. He softly picked up my hand and placed it on his cheek. "It's been so long, I just want to be near to you. Just let me sleep next to you. Anyway, I'm too tired to try to do anything else. This meeting in secrecy thing is totally exhausting." With that statement he laid back on the bed with his hands behind his head as he closed his eyes.

"Fine, but only if you PROMISE no naughty stuff AND you leave before dawn." I acquiesced and laid back down turning away from him. He got around to the other side of the bed and lifted the covers to slip in next to me. A chill? Oh crap.

"Temari, you're not wearing any clothes?" He stated with a shaking voice as he stood at the side of the bed peering at me.

I gasped and immediately pulled the covers around me. "Is this still payback for that Ino thing? You do realize you're torturing me." He flatly stated as he removed his shirt then slipped in quietly next to me.

Brightly bushing I sent him a threatening glare,"You promised."

"I know." He sighed rolling his eyes. Laying his head down on my pillow he pulled me with the blanket next to him. Kissing me once on the cheek he smiled before wrapping his arms around me (over the blanket) and saying "Goodnight."

When I woke the next morning he was gone. I lazily dressed and found a vase for the flowers before heading down for breakfast. This was our favorite meal. For us it was the only time of the day we had to be alone with each other. Gaara was already sitting down with some Konoha coffee in which he had placed a few of those edible clouds. I grabbed myself a cup and sat next to him. Taking in the aroma I sighed with contentment. "I can see why you like Konoha so much." Gaara stated in greeting.

"Yeah their coffee is the best." I answered smiling. We enjoyed the peace of the morning, that is until Kankuro came barreling in.

"Temari." He stated in all seriousness. "How do I get into that blond girls pants?"

I choked on my coffee with that statement. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I want her." Kankuro said back.

I sighed and knocked him on the back of his head. "Stop being so disgusting you man whore. If you're interested in her, why don't you try getting to know her and find out what she likes? That's my big sister advice."

"Hmm good idea." He said after considering this for a moment. "This will be fun. But help me get that bored looking skinny dude out of the way. She seemed to be into him last night. You owe me for that double guard duty I pulled for you a month ago"

I was surprised when Gaara interjected with "Temari doesn't have the luxury to whore around like you do. Don't you remember her promise to me? " He took a sip of his coffee. "And you, if you're not more discreet… you'll make a similar promise."

Kankuro shuddered at the thought and began to bargain. "Gaara, I'm not telling her to sleep with him. I just want her to distract that fellow to get him out of the way. You know, talk a little, flirt a little…plus don't you think it would be reassuring to our countrymen to witness the development of close friendships with the Konoha nin? It would further cement in them the security of our peace treaty."

I looked at Gaara as I got Kankuro a cup of coffee and took out some fruit. He continued to drink his coffee in silence. When he reached the end of his cup, he stood to leave. In the doorway he paused saying "Do what you like Temari. I trust you. But Kankuro…please behave."

As Gaara left the room, Kankuro let out a whoop and looked at me with an excited puppy expression. "Temari, please help me get that guy out of the way." I looked back at him with a glower and he offered. "I'll do your guard duty for a month."

Harumphing, I waited a few minutes before "Deal."

Xxx Shikamaru xxx

The morning and afternoon meetings were REALLY boring, but we did make some progress on some of the concerns Suna had regarding the conditions of the treaty. We probably wouldn't have much more work to do here, but I was hoping what I had planned out would allow us to stay longer. As we were filing out of the meeting I glanced at Temari. She met my gaze and smiled. My heart fluttered in anticipation, we'd be together in a few minutes.

"Nara san." Gaara called out. "Would you do me the honor of playing a game of shougi with me? I have heard from Lee and Naruto that you are quite good." I stopped in my tracks and turned toward Gaara deeply bowing. This was unexpected. With my mind still in what Chouji called "love-love Temari mode" I couldn't clearly think of an excuse to get out of this. Damn that woman why'd she have to look at me so sweetly. I guess I'd just have to beat him quickly and then go meet up with Temari.

"I would love a game Kazekage sama…but know I won't go easy on you just because of your position." I stated in reply. Gaara smirked, something I had never seen or heard him do before and answered "I wouldn't want it any other way. I love a challenge."

We sat down at the shougi board that I had previously presented to him and set up our pieces. "Nara-san, what do you think of my village?" He inquired. That's weird, Temari told me he wasn't much of a talker.

As my thoughts shifted back to Temari I replied "I think your village is beautiful and exciting and even though I'm a visiting nin, I feel very welcomed and comfortable."

"Thank you I agree. You know Nara san, I love my village and have vowed to protect it even at the cost of my life." He paused to look up at me. Leaning slightly forward with a menacing look he then stated. "I will completely DESTROY anyone who dares to blemish or harm any part of my village."

Oh #$! Is he still just talking about his village? I began to sweat as he pulled the cork off of his gourd. The sand swirled around us before taking the form of a delicate hand and… "B6g."

I began to compose myself when I realized he wasn't going to kill me just yet I had completely underestimated this man. Shame on me, after seeing his match with Lee I should have known better. I was not going to lose. I started to redo the moves in my head factoring in this new variable. Looking up I met his gaze and answered with "C6h."

He sat back and began to concentrate on the board, but his killing intent continued to spill out. We spent the rest of the game in silence, and as planned I did quickly put him into check. When he realized this, he looked up and said "I enjoyed this game Nara san. You have won this match, but I would like to continue to play with. The winner of the battle between us will be the first person to win three games."

Refusing to be intimidated I deeply bowed "I would be honored Kazekage-sama."

He walked out of the room and just before leaving called back. "Now that I know your strength, I plan to take things very seriously from this point on. Be aware."

I stood, and realized that I was shaking. I had managed to endure that intense aura for most of the game, but was currently at my limit. I hastily left the mansion and felt a wave of relief when I stepped out into the sunlight. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and stuffed my hands into my pocket before heading towards our predetermined meeting point.

Xxx Temari xxx

I had gone on ahead to our meeting point knowing that even against Gaara, Shika wouldn't take very long to win. I waited in the shade of the oasis and congratulated myself on picking this as our meeting place. The oasis really was perfect, it belonged to us so no one ever dared enter. It was set quite far away from the village and up on a hill so everyone coming could be seen and everyone leaving remained hidden. There were larger and more beautiful pools closer to town so Gaara and Kankuro never came out to this one.

I saw his spiky pineapple head pop up on the horizon about thirty minutes after I arrived. Our time together would be shorter here, because of that game…but this morning hadn't Gaara told me to do as I wanted? Before we finished breakfast Kankuro had pleaded with me to take Shika out for an after dinner stroll so that he could get closer to Ino…if that fool only knew.

"Hey." He rose his hand in greeting. He looked completely exhausted? Crawling over he leaned towards me and gave me a long, but sweet kiss before plopping his head down on my lap.

"You really do love sleeping don't you?" I observed as I removed his hairband and combed my fingers through his hair.

"Mmmph." Was all he could reply with his face burrowed in my lap.

"I've got news. Kankuro's interested in Ino and he's begged me to distract you so he can get closer to her. Gaara's given the ok too. Which means, after dinner you and I can go for a walk without having to worry about being seen. " I excitingly revealed.

He turned his head toward me and smirked "Hmm, I wonder what gave Kankuro the idea that he had to get me out of the picture?"

Suddenly the image of Shika and Ino once again popped into my head. "You jerk, you planned this from the beginning?"

He laughed while saying "Well, Ino's predictable and since a lot of guys in Konoha find her attractive, I figured she'd catch Kankuro's eye. All I really had to do was compliment her outfit before leaving the hotel."

I joined him in laughing when suddenly my heart stopped. Was that a bobbing red head nearing us on the horizon.

"Uh. Gaara's here." I whispered. His eyes grew to the size of saucers. "Quick hide!!!" He looked around and shrugged his shoulders. There really was nowhere to hide around here. Oh crap that red hair was coming nearer. A thought popped into my head before I kissed him quickly, mouthed "forgive me" then kamaitachiied him with my fan over the sand dune behind us. This gave me just enough time to sit back down and pick up a book I had brought with me.

Gaara silently arrived at the pool, and sat down against a palm tree directly across from me. "Gaara, what are you doing?"

"This is a nice place for a nap don't you think Temari? Please keep doing what you were doing, I won't bother you." He stated before closing his eyes as his sand formed a nice little blanket over him.

Keep doing what I'm doing huh? Shika popped up from behind the dune, he was covered in sand. I stifled a laugh and just shrugged. He rolled his eyes and disappeared again. Oh well, there goes our afternoon together.

Xxx Shikamaru xxx

When I heard the name Gaara, every bone in my body remembered the feeling I had with him just a few minutes ago. This was not good. When I was suddenly in the air flying headfirst into a sand dune I realized this REALLY was not good! I popped my head up briefly to assess the situation and understood the afternoon I had envisioned with Temari was not going to happen. That Gaara - so that's what he meant by getting serious. Well, two can play this game.