Summary: Title says all. I'm SLEEPY! snoore . . .
Warning: Unbeta'd

Third Party

"I mean," Chouji shrugged. "She's too . . . you know, troublesome." I cringed at the word. "So it shouldn't be too hard to get over her, right?" He finished, producing yet another crunchy treat from the bag.

I shifted uncomfortably from my position on the grass, before sighing. The good thing about Chouji was that he always had this way of making you feel better, regardless of the circumstance. "But that's the thing." Unfortunately, his magic wasn't working today. "She's the most troublesome thing I've ever come across, and yet . . . She feels so entirely worth it-" That I don't think it's even normal anymore.

I could hear him chuckle beside me. "You know, for a guy with an IQ of 200+, I would've figured you knew when you fell in love." I stiffened. Oh crap. I knew it, I knew all that 'troublesome' shit was gonna bite me in the ass one day. Suddenly, I could hear full out laughter rumbling beside me. "Dude, you are so screwed."

"Hn. No shit."

A few weeks later . . .

-At Suna-

You want to know what's scary? Despite the fact that Suna is steaming hot, contains no trace of puffy gas in its skies, and compromises of the scariest bands of people in the entire ninja world, I oddly . . . don't mind. Amazingly, I didn't find it as troublesome as I know I should.

"Oi! You coming or what?!" Tch. What has my supposedly genius mind gotten me into?

I walked without haste as Temari watched me, waiting impatiently. As she donned on an adorable scowl, I couldn't help but smile. Damn her and her constant ability to look.. pretty.

She cocked a brow. "What are you so happy about?" She asked with a mirrored smile. I shrugged, grin intact.

"Today's been-"

"Temari-san!" An unfamiliar voice rang. Whipping my head to the right, I scowled as some guy waved at our general direction, breaking into a jog towards us. Who the heck was this? I cocked a brow and strained my peripheral vision to look at Temari. The light scowl on her face was more than satisfying.

"Temari-san! I've been looking everywhere for you. Where've you been?" He flashed that wide, toothy smile at her, barely acknowledging me. Too damn perky, he was.

"Daichi-kun." kun? She bowed a little curtly, wearing a feigned smile, much to my satisfaction. "I apologize for my inconvenience, but Nara-san and I have been preoccupied preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exams." Judging from the unusual courtesy in Temari's voice, I'm guessing this guy's someone important. An ally, perhaps?

He chuckled a bit forcefully. "Oh, of course." Still hasn't noticed I'm standing right here. "Let's cut the formalities though, shall we? I've actually been looking for you to ask if," He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, if you wouldn't mind letting me take you to dinner tonight?"

He . . . He asked her . . . out? After having registered in my mind that yes, Temari No Subaku was in fact being asked out by what I can decipher by his headband was an Iwa-nin. And right in front of me, no less.

My eyes widened ever so slightly, and as I chanced a glance at Temari, I noticed she was already looking at me. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, I noted.

I had a feeling this wasn't the first time she'd been asked by Daichi-kun either.

"You know, as much as I appreciate the offer, I believe Nara-san and I are going to be quite busy tonight." She laughed apprehensively in a desperate attempt to lighten the tension. It didn't work.

"Oh, I'm sure Nara-san here wouldn't mind one night alone with the paper work. Would you, Nara?" He slapped my arm playfully (or lack thereof), as I cringed. Man, he was strong. But I resisted the urge to nurse my hurting arm.

"Actually-"

"And I don't think Nara-san would appreciate bachelors coming on to his . . ." She swallowed. "G-girlfriend." Girl-whatnow?! My head whipped towards the undoubtedly insane blonde trying to inconspicuously slip her arm around mine. She seemed to simply spit out the dreaded G-word with grit teeth. I could feel her muscles tense as she inched closer. Looking up at her face, I could trace the evident blush across her cheeks.

She was completely not herself. I didn't know if she had an arranged marriage with this guy or whatever, but to go this far meant Temari was in deep shit. And although I could think of a hundred and one things that could go wrong, I still played along.

"Yeah, what she said. So could you, you know . . . Back off?" Suddenly, I jumped as Temari pinched me, her eyes scolding.

"Forgive my . . ." I think I'm kind of enjoying this. More than I should, really. "Boyfriend," she spat. I smirked. "He's very possessive of me." A frown quickly overtook my lips. "He just can't get his hands off me. It's kind of adorable, you know." She mock-cooed, momentarily lifting her hand to caress my cheek. The second her fingers touched my skin, I knew I was blushing like hell. And from that sly grin on her lips, I knew she was enjoying it.

Damn her and her extremely troublesome plots to embarrass me.

"So . . ." Daichi started awkwardly. "You two are . . . Dating?"

"That's the plan." Temari announced proudly, patting my chest. Suddenly, I had this foreboding feeling.. This was not gonna end well.

"Prove it then." Oh God, I saw that coming.

"P-prove?" Temari stammered.

"Yeah. You know, kiss him." That too.

I sighed. Well, it was kind of fun while it lasted. But as I was about to pull her linked arm off mine, she stiffened.

"Fine."

I looked up at her. She was serious. Shit, this is not gonna end well. "Uum, T-Temari? I don't-"

"Just shut up and kiss me, Nara." Suddenly, she grabbed my arms and smashed my lips against hers. My eyes were wide, completely surprised. I was about to protest, to yell, to do anything but this! But feeling her luscious lips against mine, I guess it wasn't all that bad. And although I would've liked to think that I was going to be the man and initiate our first kiss, I didn't mind this. As long as there was lip action, whatever.

The sheer taste of her lips was . . . God, it was fucking heavenly. Her lips were soft and gentle, unlike what I would've expected. There wasn't movement and it was only a fleeting moment of touch, but fuck . . . Left me completely speechless.

We broke apart, and her grip on my arm had loosened. But for that split-second, we just stared, wide eyes piercing each other. It was like something huge had just transpired . . . Something that was gonna change everything.

All I could think of was that, did she feel that? That, that spark? That feeling of inhumane heart rates and hazy visions . . . That feeling of want and touch, growing with every passing second I stood this near to her person.

Could she feel all of that?

Suddenly, there was a loud cough, enough to snap us out of our stupor.

"Well," Daichi started awkwardly once more. "I think that was enough proof." Surprisingly, he smiled. "Good luck to you both." And then he head off.

I stared at Daichi's retreating back, refusing to meet Temari's eyes. I knew a furious blush was on my cheeks and I knew I was practically shaking with mixed delight and anxiety, but as a coward, I was scared to see what emotions currently swam in those beautiful teal eyes.

"He's a relative of the Tsuchikage." Temari's sudden voice startled me a bit. "Nephew, or something . . ." That explains why she was so polite. He was family of an important ally.

"That doesn't explain why you could've just politely turned him down, instead of dragging me into the troublesome situation." I chanced a glance at her this time, happy to find a smile on the lips I'd just touched with my own.

I half-expected her to say that they shared an arranged marriage. But being the enigma she was, Temari chose to answer quite far from that.

"Thought it'd be a lot more fun." She smiled.

Oh Kami-sama, this woman drives me crazy. She's lucky I lov-MMMMPPPPPHHHH!

A/N: As I mentioned, this is unbeta'd, so if there are any corrections, please feel free to inform me in a review. :) Oh, and do you think Shikamaru was OoC or anything?