I do not own Naruto….I usually hate adding a bunch of ocs, but I need pawns so…

Xxx Shikamaru xxx

I snuck away… my hair, ears and every pocket filled with sand. Temari…she could have been gentler. I trudged back to our hotel and opened the door to my room only to be met by…

"Welcome!" Before me stood four scantily clad women, all were blond, fit and beautiful. At that sound Chouji popped his head out from his room with four equally beautiful women hanging onto him. Excitingly he explained "They're a gift from the Kazekage to help us enjoy our stay." A sing song female voice called from inside his room. "Chouji the meat is getting cold." He smiled widely before calling out "See-ya Shika." and slammed the door.

I looked back into my room and one of the girls was walking toward me, her hair was done up like Temari. She grabbed me by the jacket and pulled me into the room. "I'm Kayano, look at you…you're so sandy, let's take a bath." She traced her hands down my arms and proceeded to remove my jacket and shirt, when she went to unbutton my pants. I flashed her a smiled and asked "What exactly did the Kazekage order you girls to do?"

"He ordered us to make sure you felt welcomed and to provide for your every need." A girl came from behind and wrapped her arms around me before whispering "and we are to obey your every command."

Smirking I said, "I thought you would say that. We have a similar service in Kononha for our more ahem, needy dignitaries. I looked at the girl with the Temari style hair and swept her into my arms, my face just inches from hers. "I'm a needy dignitary." I stated as she blushed and gasped.

"In fact…I need my laundry done, the room cleaned, this message sent to Konoha, gift shopping done for the Hokage…" I rattled off a list of tasks for them to do as they all stared at me in silence, shocked at my reaction. After I had planned out menial jobs for all of them. I shoved them out the door and took a shower. Well that was a very amateur move Kazekage-sama, a very amateur move indeed.

Xxx Temari xxx

The afternoon meetings were particularly drab and my mind kept drifting back to the horrible luck we had today. I couldn't believe Gaara showed up when he did. I guess I would have to think up another place for us to meet. While it would probably be fine to be seen together now, revealing the true closeness of our relationship was an entirely different story. I looked across the table at the Konoha nin, and was surprised to see that familiar "O" that Shika subconsciously made with this hands. Scrunching my nose, I wondered what he was thinking so hard about.

The meeting ended and we were ushered into dinner. The seats had been shuffled so that Kankuro now sat between Ino and Shikamaru. Halfway through dinner, a gaggle of half naked tarts strutted in...these were the girls who entertained the more… boarish dignitaries. We always had them "work" in groups. It was safer for the girls, and the men tended to like having a selection. This group looked very unusual: they were all blond and surprisingly haggard looking. They crowded around Shika, and started draping their limbs around him. A vein popped out on my forehead as I started to get irritated by this. Suddenly … poof … he disappeared?

"Are you four done already? Here's the next list of things I need you to do for me." Came a voice from behind them. The blonds looked up towards that voice and when they caught sight of the stack of papers he held, their shoulders slumped. "I hope this doesn't take you all night, but I really do need all these things done before morning." A few of them started crying when they took the papers and left the room.

From my side I heard Gaara speak. "It seems as though you are making good use of my welcoming gift to you Nara san."

Shika answered with a bow and "It was extremely thoughtful of you to send them to me Kazekage-sama."

I flashed a look of anger at Gaara…HE sent those girls to Shika? Gaara looked at me with a flat expression and stated "I wanted to help Kankuro too. Why are you upset about it?"

Oh crap…I covered with "I'm just annoyed by those girls, don't they have any self respect?" Kankuro answered that with "Temari, jealous much?" Before I could jump over the table and clobber him for that, Gaara placed his hand on mine. That's right, we were supposed to be composed here. He glared at Kankuro, who shrunk back in response.

The rest of the dinner finished without incident. Surprisingly Ino and Kankuro seemed to be getting along fairly well and Chouji was distracted by the food. As dessert was taken away, I looked up at Shika and said "Nara san, I would be honored if you would accompany me on an evening walk." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kankuro giving me a 'thumbs up.'

Before Shika could answer, Gaara piped in with "Actually Nara san, I was hoping you would play more shougi with me tonight. "

"Kazekage –sama, I'm sorry but you have a prior engagement tonight." Rang a sweet voice. A look of annoyance flashed across Gaara's face before it was replaced by his usual stony expression. He turned towards Miyako, his secretary saying. "I don't recall an appointment."

The poor girl shook in her shoes as she continued "I'm sorry, it was a very last minute appointment and I was just going to tell you about it. It is for the Suna theater with councilman Takeda." Hmm , Takeda…he was the man most uncomfortable with our new treaty and one of the most vocal in our recent meetings. "He wanted to show you he will always support you, even though he has been difficult in congress." She finished quietly with "Kazekage sama it would be an insult to refuse."

Gaara was silent for a moment as he glared down the table at Shikamaru. The electricity between the two was evident throughout the room. "I guess we will need to postpone our next game Nara san."

Shikamaru replied with "I cannot wait Kazekage sama."

Xxx Gaara xxx

"Kazekage sama, I'm so excited you could join me in my private booth. I hope you do not misinterpret me being vocal in congress as rebellion. I love our land as you do and want us to make the right decisions for it. " Takeda flightily stated.

" I know Takeda that you only have good intentions. Thank you deeply for you invitation tonight.'' I dutifully answered.

The older man smiled and continued with " I'm realizing more and more that those Konoha nin are very kind hearted. If the three here are any representation of thier village I do think we made the right decision in establishing this treaty. In fact it was that Nara Shikamaru that suggested I invite you tonight to honor you." Continued Takeda.

I sat there with that noisy Takeda while we watched the theater. Pressing m y hands together I began tapping my fingers as I processed the events of the day. That Nara, he was good. He had managed to deflect the seduction technique. But he wasn't only playing a defensive game. Takeda was a very well thoughtout offensive move.. A familiar feeling of excitement stirred my bones. This was going to be really fun.

Xxx Shikamaru xxx

We walked out together me with my hands in my pockets keeping just a few steps behind her. She started giggling then really started laughing. "Temari?" I inquired.

"I'm sorry, I suddenly recalled those poor girls faces when you gave them that stack of things to do. Shika, that was too funny." She explained. We walked towards the edge of the village, an area she felt would give us a bit more privacy. When we could no longer hear the sounds of merriment and chattering voices, she paused to allow me catch up and linked her arm with mine. "What were you thinking about so furiously at the meeting this afternoon?" She sweetly asked.

"Gaara knows." I blurted out. "And he doesn't like it."

"What are you talking about, he doesn't know anything. There's no way he could." She replied as we walked arm in arm in the moonlight. "Shika, you always overthink things. "

I shook my head and stated, "Temari, didn't you notice how all those girls he sent kinda resembled you. And he's been coming between us all day…the shougi match, the oasis, tonight."

"Shika you really do read too much into things." She scolded. "This is almost as bad as your so called insight about Naruto and Hinata."

Hmm, convincing her was probably hopeless. Even though she had witnessed him do unspeakably horrible things…at times he was still just a little brother in her eyes. I guess I was on my own with this...how troublesome.

Temari stirred me out of my thoughts when she placed her soft cheek up against my arm. I looked down to take in her face in the moonlight… what a beauty! "Come here you troublesome woman!" I demanded before wrapping her in my arms and losing myself in her kisses.

Xxx Temari xxx

I estimated that we could only get away with an hour and a half together before someone would become concerned. My chest hurt slightly when he pulled away, put his hands into his pockets and fell behind me again. I too hated keeping this a secret. Yesterday I admit the sneaking around added a bit of a thrill, but today this was just … troublesome.

He walked me home, looking up I noticed both Kankuro and Gaara had their room lights on. I chuckled when I thought how pissed Kankuro would be in the morning. The fact that he was already home, meant he hadn't made any progress with Ino. In the protection of the shadows of the doorway Shika came closer, but before he could take me up in his arms the front door flew wide open.

Gaara stood there in in his pyjamas arms crossed. "You're late, we were just going to go look for you."

"Aah, sorry we just lost track of the time." I apologized. Bowing toward Shika I formally stated "I hope you enjoyed the view of our village at night Nara san." Gaara hooked my arm and pulled me into the house before slamming the door in his face. I was a bit flushed from our most recent encounter so quickly escaped to my room so as to evade further questioning from Gaara. As the door closed behind me I leaned up against it and placed my hand over my heart…it was still pouding out of my chest.

Xxx Shikamaru xxx

The evening walk left me in a terribly good mood. I could still taste her and smell her. Walking home I wondered how risky it would be to try to sneak back to her tonight. In the end I decided not to risk it since Gaara looked particularly irritated. Chuckling I wondered if he enjoyed the theater. Entering my door, I was surprised to be met by four shirtless men ranging from tiny and very feminine to tall and very muscular. The 'tall, dark and handsome' one spoke saying "The kazekage sama sent us to welcome you since you seemed dissatisfied with our sisters." I stood in the doorway for about a minute in shock, before shaking my head. That Gaara, now this was the move of a sore loser. Stepping into my room I proceeded to dispose of these nuisances the same way I did the previous.

SCORE: Shikamaru 1 Gaara 0

references my other fanfic another game