Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Temari rolled over to her side to see a shirtless Shikamaru. "Oh, Kami! Please tell me this is all a dream?" The blonde said out loud as she raised her hand to her forehead.

"If it's your dream, then it's mine too." Shikamaru mumbled groggily.

Temari closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please tell me nothing happened, and we wind up just sleeping on the bed."

"Well, there is a good chance of that since both of our clothes are still fully on. I imagine that we both passed out from a spiked drink, judging by the pounding in my head." The black-haired man commented as he tried to not look as flustered as he felt. For some reason, this sand nin always found troublesome ways to worm into his life and mind.

Quickly getting out of the bed and straightening her clothes, Temari said, "Let's just forget this happened, Shika. I don't think it would benefit either one of us if we brought this up again."

'I know what she's saying, but I wonder what she would do if I did bring this up again though?' Shikamaru asked himself. He was curious about her reasoning, but it was too early to deal with a pissed off Temari.

"Fine. Whatever you want." He agreed.

"No get out of my apartment so we can start training this morning." Temari commanded.

"Can't we just sleep a little while longer? I'll move to the couch?" The sleepily eyed man begged. It was before 6 in the morning.

"NO! What if someone sees you leaving my place? I should have never invited you in last night."

"Tsch, whatever. See you in a couple of hours." Shikamaru replied as he exited the apartment.

Temari lost all her gusto that she had stored up. "Damn, that was a close one." With a deep breath, she rose from her position. "Time for tea, a bath, and I'll meet that lazy man."

A two hours later, Temari was making sure everything was set up for when Shikamaru arrived. Three of her weapons today were formal dining table with all the specialized utensils used at meetings, a specialized robe like Gaara tended to wear when he met with the other lords, and a radio for music. Shikamaru had to learn the fine dining and dancing techniques in the weird robes before they could move quickly on to the major list of do's and do not's of the mission.

The man of the hour was speechless when her arrived in the little groove where Temari had everything set up. He wondered further into groove through a bunch of tree to see Temari changing behind a make shift changing room. Quickly, he turned to the other way to give her privacy and to hid his blushing face. He'd never live down the teasing if she saw him.

Ignoring the new presence she sensed, Temari quickly finished her changing. Once she emerged from behind the make shift partition, then she threw a slight glare at the new arrival. "It's your turn now, Nara."

A fuzzy clouded his brain for the moment until her words sank in. "What! Why do I have to get changed?" Shikamaru asked as he looked at his own clothes. He was dressed in his normal shinobi outfit.

"You are not going to be able to wear that," Temari gestured to his whole figure, "when we travel or socialize with the nobles. You need to get used to moving around and being in these robes." She said as she handed him a dark blue robe with white wisp on the back.

"Clouds?" He asked suspiciously. Why would she choose clouds of all things? "Are we from a new village on this mission?"

"No, you idiot! I just thought you would appreciate the idea but apparently not, Crybaby." Temari growled. He didn't know how hard or long she looked for the right robe for him.

"Tem, what's wrong?" He noticed the scrunch between her eyebrows, which normally meant trouble for him.

"Get changed, Nara. We don't have much time to teach you everything." The blonde sand kunoichi commanded as she gave him some privacy.

A few minutes later, Shikamaru emerged looking like a new man. Temari was shocked at just how well he filled out his new outfit. The boy had definitely become a man; although, this wasn't the first time she noticed it, especially after the encounter this morning.

"Are you ready to begin?" She asked as she gestured for him to take a seat at the small table with every dinner utensil and glass present. Shikamaru nodded at Temari and took a seat.

"The first lesson is mastery of the table. You've had some experience since you are the Nara heir, but these nobles are nothing like you're used to. One mess up, and they will call you out. Hell, they may even kick you out if you insult them." Temari suggested as she watched Shikamaru gulp a little bit. She hoped that she put the fear of Kami into him.

"Temari, I know how to eat properly. Do you think I'm stupid?" He asked her.

"No, but I think you want to complete the mission. I thought my warning was enough for you! We have to complete this as a team, and my job is to make sure you competent in all areas that you'll encounter." She countered, glaring at him slightly.

Sighing, Shikamaru mumbled under his breath, "Troublesome woman," but he did as she said.

Over the past hour, Shikamaru endured lecture after lecture on why he wasn't using the utensils properly and in the correct order. He could hear her words taunting him in his mind. "Crybaby, don't use that one! You screwed up the sequence! Crybaby, watch your sleeves! Yada… yada… yada."

Temari's voice just droned on in his head until he had enough. "Temari, can we move on to something else?" He asked aggravated. Shikamaru didn't know if Temari was making his life a living hell because she wanted too or if she was really trying to help him.

With a huff, she thought long and hard for a moment, then an evil smile graced her face. "Dancing is out next objective! Are your shinobi shoes ready to show me what you can do?"

"Kami, I think she's trying to kill me today." He muttered under his breath as he rose from the table. Turning to his blonde partner, Shikamaru asked the one question he never thought to ask, "Temari, where is Choji? If I am doing this, then why isn't he?"

The woman had the gall to laugh at him. "Choji is just my escort."

"So? I am this girl's escort!" Shikamaru complained. All this was a lot of work for one unusual mission.

"No. You're Lady Kuchiki's date! This is more important than just a normal escort mission! You have to blend in, Shika. The enemy can't suspect you as a shinobi. Hell, I even have to act like a Sand noble and not kunoichi."

"Even though everyone knows who you are, you still have to have escorts for meeting with nobles?"

"Not all the time, but with these nobles I do. I have to appear as a prim and proper lady." Temari said as she tried to hide some distain in her voice. The high level noble meetings of unmarried people were tedious, especially when have the idiots wanted her to put down her fan.

"So you're telling me, Choji is just following you around even though you can protect yourself." Shikamaru didn't think about what Temari was feeling at the moment. He just thought about how Choji lucked up on his portion of the mission.

"Yes. Choji was the lucky one." Temari smiled slightly as she knew that she would not be alone in her suffering. She could endure this with her two team members by her side.

"How do I get dragged into these things?" Shikamaru asked out loud.

Taking not time to answer him, Temari told him with a laugh, "Because you're handsome and talented, Crybaby. Own up to those traits as well as your massive brain."

"Did you just complement me?" Shikamaru asked as he walked closer to Temari, backing her almost up against a tree.

"I merely stated a fact that is observed by over half the female population Konohagakure." Temari stated as she tried to back away before she became flustered, but she hit a tree. 'Damn him!' she thought. Admitting that Shikamaru was handsome already gnawed at her nerves just as much as his close proximity at the moment. It was like her brain stopped for a minute to access the situation. If anyone saw them now, the two nin would never be able to deny that they were not a couple.

Standing in front of her, Shikamaru asked, "Why are you blushing, Tem?" She remianed silent as she tried to figure a way out. If he really wanted too, Shikamaru could use shadow possession jitsu and hold her in place. Instead, he asked, "Cat got your tongue?"

"It's warm in all these clothes!" Temari fired back as she tried to wave air into her kimono. 'Maybe I should just shove him over.' She suggested to herself, but she thought better about it. Temari was a a mature adult. She could handle a little teasing. Kami knows that she hands out enough herself.

"You're from the Land of Sand, Tem. I'm not buying that…" Shikamaru countered.

"I think it's time for a break!" Temari suggested as she slid through a small gap that she didn't notice before

"What happened to our dance?" Shikamaru asked egging her own. He liked seeing this side of Temari, and he doubted very man people ever got to see this version of her.

Shocking him slightly, Temari placed a hand on his forehead. "It seems heat is getting to you too! You actually want to work! So, go take a quick nap while I set up more training and get us some water." Temari commanded before she quickly vanished as if to get more items.

"Well, what do you know, the sand nin gets nervous as well." Shikamaru said with a light laugh as he went over to a tree. A quick nap would do him wonders, but for some reason, his mind couldn't help but focus on his blonde friend.

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