Notes: So I'm back. Yeah. I finally cuaght up with the manga (and by caught up I mean read most chapters since the Hidan arc-thing) so I hope I get most Naruto-verse stuff right, though still feel free to point out errors. To Curtis Zidane Ziraa, I fixed Shikaku's name (in the er... one place I used it) to match what was in the manga. Also, good job guessing one of the references in Chapter 3 (It was the title, to Les Mis). If anyone else wants to guess, feel free. That was the least obscure one so far, though one of the refrences in this chapter is pretty mainstream, or as mainstream as a musical can get.

Thanks for the reviews. They are much appreciated. If you think I have written this theme to death, please say so, as I still have more ideas and will just keep going.

My apoligies to Temari for her limited appearence in this chapter- this one's been in my head the longest and I wanted to make up for my previous abuse of Kankuro.

Reviewing the Situation

Shikamaru yawned and slouched against the wall to the Leaf Village, "At least she arrives at a reasonable hour," he thought, looking up at the afternoon sun. He was supposed to meet the Sand Ambassador (always Temari) at the gate. He vaguely realized he was early and turned his attention to the clouds. He idly grasped an object in his pocket.

After a while, Shikamaru spared a glance down the road. A figure in black was visible, a figure with a black hood (with ears) and a backpack of scrolls. Shikamaru stood up reluctantly, cursing to himself.

"You're not Temari," Shikamaru commented when the figure reached him.

"No shit, genius," Kankuro replied angrily, knocking Shikamaru out of the way with his shoulder.

"Geez," Shikamaru grumbled, "Something wrong?"

"None of your business," Kankuro snapped.

Shikamaru dug his hands in his pockets again and decided to push his luck, "So where's your sister?" He tried his best to sound casual.

"None of your-" Kankuro began to repeat himself but seemed to remember he was supposed to be acting as a diplomat and stopped, "Temari was tied up in her duties at home, so the Kazekage decided to send me instead." He still sounded bitter.

Shikamaru's face fell the slightest bit. He had thought Temari looked forward to her time in the Leaf a lot, even enough to make of point of coming. Perhaps he had been wrong. He clutched the box in his pocket.

Kankuro kicked a dirt clod, "Listen," he spoke quietly, confidentially, "You guys are friends, right," Shikamaru nodded hesitantly, "My siblings sent me here purposely in order to get rid of me." Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in half-hearted interest.

"They thought I was causing trouble," Kankuro threw an arm around Shikamaru's shoulder, "You see there's this guy, he's an ambassador too, from somewhere, I don't really care where, and he's been in the Sand for these economic negotiations," Shikamaru did not like where this was going, "and these negotiations have been going on forever, 'cept he's not really interested in diplomacy so far as I can see, he's just interested in Temari," Shikamaru nearly choked on air, "He's creepy, and not in a good way, like me, but in a bad, bad way" Kankuro shook his head, "Temari was acting totally into him, right, so I started bugging her about it, and she agreed with my assessment of his non-existent character, but said she's being nice to him for the sake of the negotiations," Kankuro, seemingly perturbed by Shikamaru's lack of comment, suddenly stopped in the middle of the street and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You don't know what any of this means!" he yelled hysterically in Shikamaru's face, "My sister is whoring herself out for a trade treaty!" He was shaking Shikamaru rather violently.

"Kankuro," Shikamaru spouted in an attempt to get him to stop, "I'm sure things aren't as bad as they seem. She probably secretly appreciates your concern, but thinks you're interfering with her plan, which she has completely under control," Shikamaru rubbed his temples, trying to rid himself of the nausea and saw Kankuro seemed unconvinced, "And if he touches her, I'll help you beat some sense into him," he added for good measure.

To Shikamaru's surprise, Kankuro laughed, "Actually, that makes me feel better, thanks Nara," he thumped Shikamaru forcefully on the back.

"If you ask me, it's a dumb strategy, intimidation I always say…," Kankuro babbled, starting for the Hokage's office once more. Shikamaru followed, head bowed, hands in his pockets. He only wished his words had made him feel better.

---

Later, Kankuro and Shikamaru exited the Hokage's building, with the former mimicking Tsunade, " 'You're not Temari.'- Well I should hope not! Geez, it's like you guys have a monopoly on her or something."

"Uh-huh," Shikamaru knew this all too well. Kankuro was about to go on when they were mobbed by Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and Ten Ten.

"Hi, Shikamaru! Hi- you're not Temari!" Ino blurted. The quartet's happy faces immediately fell.

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Kankuro asked, annoyed.

"Sorry," Ino apologized, "It's just that we were looking forward to going shopping with her." The others nodded in agreement.

"Temari? Shopping?" Kankuro laughed.

"Sure," Sakura nodded, "We always go when she's here."

"Well, she couldn't come this time, she was held up with business at home," Kankuro told them in amazement.

"Oh, that's too bad," Sakura replied sincerely.

"Hey, you just want to come because she has a lot of money," Ino accused.

"Well, you just want her to come so you can try to give her a makeover again."

"At least I use my own money."

"There's this great sale on weapons down at our favorite place," Ten Ten covered nervously while Hinata quelled the argument by pointing out she was incredibly rich and offering to let Ino give her a makeover, "She'll be disappointed she missed it."

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Temari you were looking for her," Kankuro said awkwardly. With that, the girls were gone as quickly as they had appeared. Kankuro gave Shikamaru a weird look. Shikamaru shrugged before leading Kankuro to his hotel.

---

The next morning found Kankuro and Shikamaru playing shogi. Iruka had told them Anko and Genma, with whom they were supposed to meet, had been called away on a mission unexpectedly. Instead of trying to get a head start on other work both boys had silently agreed to put it off.

Kankuro was surprisingly good at the game. Shikamaru had thought Temari had been joking when she told him she got most of her shogi experience from matches against her brother. Apparently not.

"Well, at least I got some good games out of this," Shikamaru sighed to himself. Kankuro had quieted down some, though he was still giving the occasional grumble about "the stupid, slimy, son-of-a-bitch" laced with plenty of "ungrateful" and "Kazekage-my-ass".

The crunching of chips announced Choji's arrival, "Yo, Shikamaru," he greeted, "Oh! Hi Kankuro."

"Yo," Kankuro replied, seemingly placated by the most polite of reactions to his presence. Shikamaru only nodded.

"Iruka found the paperwork from Genma. Anko's is still who-knows-where, but he wants you to get started on what we have."

"Sounds like a drag," Shikamaru sighed, moving one of his game pieces at the same time, "Game over," he announced.

"Dammit," Kankuro spat. Some trip this was turning out to be.

---

By the time Kankuro and Shikamaru exited the academy, it was nearly dark again. They had gotten relatively little accomplished between Kankuro's constant muttering and occasional need to throw things at the wall added to Shikamaru's inherent laziness and the fact he seemed to be moping about something or other. They walked in silence, the trees rustling quietly in the wind.

Suddenly, a body swung down from one of the tree branches, "Hey!" Kiba shouted right to Kankuro's face, "Where's Temari?" Akamaru barked.

"What am I, chopped sushi?" Kankuro's voice cracked.

"Indeed," a calmer monotone affirmed. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Sorry man, no offense, me and Shino just thought she could help us out with something," Kiba was still invading Kankuro's personal space.

"My apologies, dog breath, she got tied up at home."

"Perhaps you would like to join us for training tomorrow afternoon," Shino broke in.

"Yeah!" Kiba nodded excitedly, "That would be great! We could probably get Lee and Neji to come too!"

"Okay, sounds good," Kankuro sounded a little happier, probably looking forward to being able to take out his frustration on an unfortunate sparring partner.

"'Kay, seeya at the grounds!" Kiba yelled, running off. Akamaru barked and followed on his heels. When Kankuro and Shikamaru turned around Shino had disappeared.

The two continued walking, "That reminds me," Shikamaru spoke flatly, "I'm supposed to see if you want to go out with the guys tomorrow night." Kankuro eyes him suspiciously.

"You usually take my sister out drinking?"

"No," Shikamaru denied, "She usually has a slumber party with Ino and them."

"A slumber party?!? But she's old" Kankuro's face screwed up into a scowl, "You Leaf people are turning Temari into such a girl."

---

Shikamaru had successfully evaded going to train with Kankuro and the others. He had not however, been able to successfully avoid his mother.

"The Sand ambassador is here again, when can we have her over for dinner?" Yoshino veered away from the subject of Shikamaru's dirty laundry.

"Temari couldn't come. They sent her brother instead," he told her.

"Oh, what a shame," Yoshino patted Shikamaru on the back in a sympathetic manner.

"You have no idea," Shikamaru thought.

"Maybe he would like to come for dinner," Yoshino brightened. Shikamaru frowned, imagining Kankuro growing more and more irritated at his mother's ramblings about Temari.

"No, I don't think he would."

---

Yoshino had extended an invitation anyway, as Shikamaru found out when he and Choji met everyone at the bar and grill that evening.

"Oh, great, something else not to look forward to," Shikamaru inwardly groaned as he swilled his drink at the bar. Rock Lee had made the mistake of asking Kankuro about Gaara, whereupon the letter began ranting to Lee, Kiba, and Shino about the issue at hand.

"It's completely ridiculous," Kankuro sputtered, "and totally uncalled for for them to send me away." Lee nodded understandingly. Kiba was preoccupied wolfing down a set of ribs rather messily. Shino said nothing. He seemed to be doing more looking at his drink than consuming it.

On the other side of Lee, Neji was vaguely listening to the one-sided conversation. He had already downed several drinks, but he seemed strangely unaffected by them. Choji was way ahead of Kiba in terms of rib-eating, downing another set in between replying to Naruto, who was really trying to have a conversation with Sai, who was mercilessly taunting Sasuke. Shikamaru groaned and took a gulp of his drink.

Choji seemed to notice his friend's moodiness as unusual, but upon Shikamaru's unresponsiveness, allowed his teammate to stew.

"It's like they don't tell me anything anymore. Temari could be dating some loser for real and I wouldn't even know! Gaara could be planning to invade this place again and I wouldn't find out 'til I was up to my elbows in blood!" Kankuro went on. Shikamaru winced, hoping no one had taken that the wrong way. A quick glance around told him no one had paid it any mind.

Shikamaru sighed. It was going to be a long night.

---

Shikamaru's nose was very close to touching the bar. He had not actually had that much alcohol, but he was tired, exasperated, and surrounded by idiots. Well, perhaps that was a bit harsh, but he was definitely sick of the noise. Kankuro's rant had turned into general complaining about how underappreciated he was and how nobody ever listened to him.

"I'm not askin' for a medal here," he hiccupped, "Just a simple 'thank you' once in a while 'ud be nice, ya know, maybe a vacation." Kiba and Naruto were quick to sympathize with him. Lee was trying to convince them they were in fact highly valued, nudging the steadily-drinking-but-still-totally-sober Neji for help.

That left Choji, Sai, Sasuke, and Shino to have a very disturbing conversation about the artistic value of decomposing food. Shikamaru was not sure which was worse. At least in the latter group no one was completely inebriated. The enormous amount of food Choji had eaten probably helped, and Shino was still having a staring contest with his beverage.

"But it still smells," Choji insisted, picking at the remains of his meal. Shikamaru could not fathom how he still had an appetite.

"I'll prove it when I become Hokage!" Naruto insisted somewhere to Shikamaru's left. He could sense Lee nodding.

"You're missing the point," Shino insisted off to the right.

"I believe it," Neji told Naruto mock-seriously.

"Actually, I agree with fatso," Sasuke sounded surprised at himself.

"I know, right. Hey!" Naruto responded.

"Who're you calling fat?!?" Choji exploded.

"Naruto, you may be a complete idiot, but I'm behind you one hundred percent," Kiba gestured in his friend's general direction.

"Sasuke, just because you are insecure about your masculinity doesn't mean you have to try to make others feel the same way," Sai scolded. Choji was momentarily stunned by the insult to Sasuke.

"Thanks, Kiba, I knew I could count on you!"

"I'm still going to get you!" Choji started again, making a lunge.

"I, too, will help you to reach your goal, my friend."

It was then the inedible portions of Choji's dinner went flying, followed shortly thereafter by most of the other things on the bar. Choji had jumped over Shino and Sai to get to Sasuke, though thankfully remaining his normal size. Sasuke deftly moved out of the way, accidentally-on-purpose tripping Sai in the process. Sai knocked over Shino, who hit Shikamaru, who in turn fell into Naruto, ending with all four of them on the floor.

"Hey, what was hat for?" Naruto whined as Choji tried to tackle Sasuke again. Naruto proceeded to jump into the budding fight.

"No, Naruto, we must not fight our friends," Lee tried to stop him, but ended up tripping over Shino. Kiba rushed to his teammate's defense.

Shikamaru noticed a hand and accepted Neji's help standing up, "This is going to be troublesome," the Hyuga told him.

Within five minutes the situation had deteriorated even further. Shino was trying to restrain Kiba while fending off Sai's sketched bugs with his real ones. Rock Lee had apparently consumed some alcohol in the scuffle, as he was currently spouting nonsense and making things difficult for Neji, who was attempting to keep him under control. Shikamaru was trying to keep an eye on his best friend and his charge, who was currently in the middle of the scuffle, trying to catch at least some of the combatants in his shadow.

"You have insulted my youthfulness, Lee accused in Sai's general direction, "And for that you will pay!"

"Get off me, Kiba!"

"Think about what you're doing, Lee."

"That'll teach you to call me fat!"

"Shino, let me go!"

"Wow, you really lack-"

"Give it a rest, Sai!"

"Let me at 'em, come on!"

Deciding it was a lost cause, Shikamaru gave up. This was not going to end well, as Neji had so accurately predicted.

"And this is for ramen!"

"And this is for barbecue!"

"And this is for… my sister!"

"What the hell, Kiba?"

"I couldn't think of anything else on the fly. Ha, ha, Shino, fly, get it?" Shikamaru was unable to see Shino's eyes, but he was fairly sure they were being rolled behind his ridiculous sunglasses.

Kiba suddenly let out a cry as Naruto landed on his stomach. Naruto executed a sloppy summersault to get off, bowling Lee and Neji over in the process. Lee sent a barstool towards Shikamaru, but Shikamaru was able to dodge. Sai laughed and Shikamaru barely missed being hit by the artist's stool.

A bark came from behind Shikamaru, and his eyes went wide. Apparently Akamaru had heard Kiba's yelp of distress and come to his aid. Shikamaru remained still as the giant dog leaped over his head. Time seemed to go in slow motion. Neji tried to roll out of the way, but seemed to be directionally confused and ended up pushing everyone on the floor towards the bar. Shino, Sai, and Shikamaru had been standing at that point. Shino tried to warn the others, but it was too late. One of Akamaru's paws shot out and the three of them were thrown backwards into three separate tables. A domino effect ensued in the crowded space.

Back on the floor, Akamaru had landed directly on top of Choji and Kankuro, who pushed him off of them and onto Naruto and Lee. The latter two pushed back, resulting in a sort of reverse tug-of-war. It did not last long, however, before Akamaru rolled out of the melee, successfully knocking over the tables which remained standing at that point.

When Shikamaru looked up from his position on the floor, he could see nothing but the red-faced bartender, a tall, surely man, looming over them, so angry he seemed almost lost for words. Almost. He stuttered for a moment before bellowing at the haphazard group of ninjas.

"Out!"

At the end of the bar, Sasuke sipped his drink.

---

The group, sans Sasuke, reassembled outside on the street, some of them worse off than others. Kiba and Naruto looked like they had walked through a minefield. Kankuro spouted a black eye, and Shikamaru was suddenly glad the guy wore all that makeup every day. Choji had a slight limp, but was otherwise alright. Neji and Sai sported a few bruises. Shino's condition was impossible to discern. Shikamaru felt a bit guilty his biggest injury was from hitting his head on the table.

Neji looked over at him, "What are we going to do with them?" Shikamaru shrugged. He was tempted to leave everyone there in the middle of the street.

"This place sucks," Kankuro announced without warning, breaking off as if he was expecting someone to inquire as to why. Silence ensued.

"I mean, I'm banished from my own home," he continued anyway, "I trek three freakin' days to get here and the stupid examiners go away, everyone's looking for my sister instead of me, and now," he paused for dramatic effect, "I've been kicked out of a bar. And to top it all off, I've been stuck with this slacker," he indicated Shikamaru, "moping around all day with his hands in his pockets," Shikamaru stiffened, "Talk about a downer. I mean, what's so interesting about his pockets anyway?"

Shikamaru eyed Kankuro warily. When had he gotten to be so observant? And Shikamaru did not like the look on his face. Kankuro looked at Kiba and Naruto, and Shikamaru was horrified to think they might have had an idea.

"Gee, Shikamaru, you wouldn't happen to be hiding something, would you?" Kiba asked. Shikamaru swore inside his head. There was no way they could have figured him out.

"No," Shikamaru mumbled petulantly. Before he even had time to contemplate using his shadow, the three of them jumped him. Choji quickly came to his friend's aid, but it was too late. Kankuro had somehow managed to reach Shikamaru's pocket and surfaced from the mass of bodies holding a small black box.

"Holy crap!" Naruto shouted, "He actually was hiding something!"

"If you thought he had nothing, why did you attack him?" Sai asked.

Naruto shrugged, "It seemed like fun." Sai looked puzzled.

"Holy crap!" Kiba yelled, "That's an engagement ring!" Kankuro had opened the box and was staring wide-eyed at its contents.

"Indeed," Shino commented dryly.

"Holy crap!" Kankuro screeched louder than his companions, "She really was dating a loser behind my back!" Apparently, even in his mauled and drunken state, Kankuro could put two and two together.

Shikamaru shared a glance with Choji; he was definitely busted, "Well, I wouldn't say… dating, uh, exactly," he tried to explain sheepishly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kankuro roared, wavering a little.

"Just that, I thought… with the different villages and such… it was kind of all or nothing?" Everyone looked at him blankly.

"We spend so much time together, you know, when she's here… It just seemed to me…," Shikamaru had no idea where he was going with that thought, but it did not matter, as Kankuro chose that moment to pass out right in front of him.

"Well," Neji broke the silence, "It seems he has spent all of his youthful energy for today." Sai looked at him strangely.

"Neji," Shino stated rather than asked, "Do you really have nothing better to do than steal other people's catch phrases." Everyone stood in silence for a moment.

"Please forgive my friend, he gets a little-" Neji interrupted Lee's apology by grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away from the scene.

"And so ends another one of the awkward sequences which make up my life," Shino deadpanned as he walked away with Kiba. Sai poked at Naruto, and Shikamaru figured they would be fine. He looked over at Choji, and together the two of them lifted Kankuro's comatose form and dragged him off to the hotel.

---

After depositing Kankuro on the bed, Choji and Shikamaru had been too exhausted to go home, so Choji crashed on the couch while Shikamaru had taken the floor. Shikamaru was still a little disoriented when he woke, but when the memoires came back to him he just stayed on the floor, hoping in vain that he would become part of the carpet.

Both Choji and Kankuro were snoring. Loudly. Shikamaru wished he had earplugs so he could go back to sleep and forget about the whole mess. After a while of mulling around on the floor, contemplating how he had botched everything, he decided to go outside to get some fresh air, think of a new plan, look at the clouds, think of a backup plan, take a nap, maybe jump off a cliff, and then think of a backup for the backup plan (several times over).

It was not particularly early in the day anymore; Shikamaru deduced it was nearly noon. He wondered how long it would be until Kankuro woke up. He contemplated leaving, but decided the consequences would be worse when Kankuro found him later, and Shikamaru was sure Kankuro would find him later.

About an hour later Kankuro ambled out onto the balcony, looking like he had just poured a bucket of ice over his head.

"Hey, man, sorry about passing out and stuff… so, thanks," Kankuro mumbled awkwardly. Shikamaru breathed an inward sigh of relief. It could have been worse.

"No problem," he drawled in reply.

"Yeah… it would be great if you could, you know, not mention it to my siblings," Kankuro continued nervously.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Shikamaru assured him slowly.

"Huh?" Kankuro looked up, "Oh, right, that… other thing." Shikamaru coughed.

"Sorry I messed up your plans," Kankuro almost whispered.

"Really?" Shikamaru let slip before he knew what he was saying.

Kankuro chuckled a little, "Yeah, really. Temari was kinda upset about not being able to come… I think she really likes it here… I think she really likes you." Shikamaru blinked. There was no way in hell he was having this conversation.

Kankuro was still laughing at his expense, "I hate to be sappy, but I do want Temari to be happy and all that crap. I can worry about threatening you later."

"Right," Shikamaru acknowledged cautiously.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kankuro snapped his fingers and Shikamaru bit back a sarcastic response.

"Okay…."

"I'll send a letter to Gaara pretending I've been injured. Temari will be here in no time!"

"Yeah, to kick our asses for tricking her."

"No, no, she'll be in 'big sister' mode. She'll be way too glad I'm okay to be actually angry."

"If you say so," Shikamaru conceded hesitantly.

"Good. So here's the story. You and me were surrounded by a hundred enemy ninja…." Shikamaru wondered what he was getting himself into. He could imagine a thousand different endings, none of them good. But his other option was to wait until the next time Temari came to the Leaf, and he had no idea when that would be, especially because of her current situation.

"And then you jumped in front of me, saving me from a gristly and untimely death with one of those fancy shadow techniques or whatever," Kankuro finished. Shikamaru blinked at him.

Kankuro did not seem to notice, "That way, you'll already be on her good side, 'cause she'll think you saved me- which by the way would never happen- you'll get to do your 'thing' and she'll be away from that creepy guy! It's a win-win-win situation." Kankuro was excited, and Shikamaru wondered if, but fervently hoped, he was in his right mind. Maybe Kankuro had not been the one who got drunk after all…. But Shikamaru felt a hand on his arm as Kankuro started dragging him towards the Hokage's tower to send that ridiculous letter.

---

"This is the stupidest thing I've ever done," Shikamaru mumbled to no one in particular.

"Perhaps," Shikaku answered anyway, "but it's also the smartest." Shikamaru did not have the mental capacity to contemplate that paradox at the moment, but Choji, Ino, and even Kankuro seemed to find it slightly hilarious.

The door to the hospital room opened and Lee ran in, "Temari has just been spotted outside the gates. She should be here in five minutes," he announced, panting.

"Alright, everybody out," Kankuro directed a little too cheerfully for Shikamaru's liking.

"Good luck!" Ino shouted in a sing-songy voice.

"You've got this buddy," Choji nodded.

"You still owe me for keeping this a secret from your mother," Shikaku reminded him as he closed the door on his son, leaving Shikamaru alone. He looked around nervously. He had flowers, and plenty, thanks to Ino. They were more decoration than to actually give to Temari, perhaps trying to make up for the fact he was proposing in a hospital room. He did not particularly care where it was, but he suddenly wondered if she cared. Maybe he should try to get her to go somewhere else with him. No… the flowers were a giveaway something was up, and he would be lucky if he could get Temari to be calm enough to explain Kankuro was, in fact, uninjured.

He heard rushed footsteps in the hallway. Sakura had played her part. Shikamaru twitched and concentrated on breathing and praying Temari would not be too mad.

The door opened and Temari rushed in. She took one look at the empty bed and her eyes flared up.

"I should have known," she seethed, "this was just another one of his little tricks to pull be away from the negotiations. He just can't accept he lost, can he?" She stomped back and forth in the small room. Shikamaru did not know whether she had noticed him or not.

"Temari?" he tried hesitantly.

"He's not hurt, is he?" she demanded.

"No," Shikamaru admitted.

"There was no battle."

"There wasn't."

"And this was Kankuro's ploy to get me away from the Sand and that creepy guy I'm sure he's complained to you about nonstop?"

"That was one of his goals," Shikamaru nodded slowly, "and one of mine."

"I'm going to kill- wait. One of? Yours?" Temari narrowed her eyes, looking around for the first time, "If no one's been hurt, why are there flowers here."

Shikamaru shrugged, "For atmosphere, I guess." Temari gave him a look which clearly said 'what the hell'.

"You see, Temari, when you failed to show up last week, you threw a lot of people off. We've become used to your presence. Especially me. So much that I think I'd like it if you stayed… eh… permanently," he scratched his head. Shikamaru was watching Temari carefully, but still not sure if she was going to yell at him or faint.

Shikamaru allowed himself to smirk at the glimpse of vulnerability, "So, marry me?" He lazily pulled the safely recovered box from his pocket and flipped it open with ease. Temari took a step back and blinked.

"Yes," she grinned finally, shrugging as if she had not spent the last two minutes plotting the imminent demise of one of her closest relatives and becoming engaged to a man from another village, "I will," she reached out for him, dropping her voice. "but I'm still going to kill Kankuro." Shikamaru laughed, but secretly thought about trying to talk her out of it.

He kind of liked the guy, after all.

So I guess Sasuke was back....

USR: 2 (6)