The previous night had been very interesting, but he had enjoyed it. Normally he didn't like dancing with girls. Typically Ino had to guilt him into dancing with her or one of her friends and he would always sneak away at the first opportunity. But for once he'd found dancing with a girl to be anything but troublesome. When Temari was in his arms everything just felt right. They had danced all night, and when the last song was over and it was time for him to walk her home it seemed too soon.

There had been some other highlights to the evening. As she had predicted they had been interrupted no less than five times by men wanting to dance with her. He was a bit shocked to see how much older some of her suitors were as two of them were easily old enough to be her father. Temari had explained to him that it was not considered unusual. Each time he'd felt just a bit bothered, he didn't like other guys coming over and trying to take his girl away from him. He wasn't jealous of course, he would never be jealous just because someone wanted to dance with Temari.

During the dance they had spotted Kankuro several times. Sometimes he was with a blonde and at other times he was with a brunette. They had spotted Gaara as well; he had not danced but had simply watched from the crowd. They hadn't spoken with either of her brothers. Near the end of the evening he had spotted Chouji. He and Temari had gone over to speak with him before the end of the festival. His friend was obviously unhappy, and it hadn't been hard to piece together why. He'd asked about Ino and Chouji had pointed into the crowd. He'd spotted Ino in what looked like a new dress dancing with a blonde haired boy. Chouji mentioned she had been dancing all night with three different boys. He knew of course about his friend's feelings for their teammate. He'd patted him on the back and tried to tell him that it was just a dance, he had seen Ino dance with other boys before. Temari'd had a strange look on her face and had asked if Chouji would like a dance with her. But Chouji had preferred to just stay where he was.

When he had finally gotten her home they'd shared a good night kiss at the gate and she had told him to come back over at noon so they could have lunch. So here he was approaching the Sabaku complex holding some flowers in one hand and a package with a red bow on it in the other. As with his other visits there were no guards at the gate. He had strolled to the front door where he'd knocked and been allowed in by a servant. He was expected and was asked to wait in a room near the door as they found Temari.

"Well look who it is."

Shikamaru nodded politely. "Hello Kankuro."

"So let me guess, you're here to see my sister." He crossed his arms and gave Shikamaru a hard look. "You know punk you are nowhere near good enough for my sister. If I'd known she was thinking about anything more than a having a little fun with you I never would have given my blessing."

"Then I suppose it's fortunate you're not that perceptive."

Kankuro frowned at him. "You know I really don't like you."

"That's all right I really don't care." Shikamaru answered blandly.

"You know punk if you don't watch that mouth of yours I'm going to make you regret it."

"Temari told me about the terms of the bet you lost."

"I don't need to hit you; I have plenty of other ways to make your life miserable."

Shikamaru smirked at him. "So do I." He reached into his vest pocket and produced a photograph which he handed to Kankuro.

He looked at it. "What the hell?" It was of him bowing while looking like a Shika clone. "How the hell did you get this?"

Like a magician Shikamaru made a razor thin camera perhaps two long appear and then disappear. "Having grown up with Ino I've learned to appreciate the value of good blackmail material. It makes life much less troublesome. You can keep that by the way, I have the negatives. Keep that in mind or your sister gets them."

Kankuro paled visibly and nodded as he quickly tore the picture up.

He held out the package with the bow. "But in any case this is for you."

"You think you can buy me off with some cheap piece of crap? Pathetic."

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow. "As I said I don't care what you think. This gift isn't from me."

Now the boy with the make up looked interested. "Whose it from?"

"Kiba, when he heard I was coming here he asked if I would deliver this to you along with an invitation to come and stay with his family the next time you're in Konoha. It was troublesome but I agreed."

"Kiba? Well him I actually like." He took the package and ripped it open. Inside was an ornate bottle with brown liquid. Kankuro took a close look at the label and his jaw dropped. "Holy Crap!"

Shikamaru looked at him. "I take it it's a good gift."

Kankuro continued to stare at the bottle he was holding. "Do you know what this is?"

"No idea."

"This is Black Label scotch, it's the best in the whole world and this bottle is seventy years old! I told Kiba when I was carrying him back to Konoha that it's my favorite liquor. But how the hell did he get this? Scotch this old is impossible to buy you can't find it anywhere for any price."

"Well the Inuzuka clan is known to have a very large private stock of spirits. I presume it came from the collection. Since it's so rare you will want to save it for a special…"

Kankuro twisted off lid and brought the bottle to his mouth. He took a healthy swig before pulling it back and coughing. When the boy was done coughing his face was a bright crimson but he was smiling. "Kiba buddy! The next time we get together we are going to so party." The boy looked over to Shikamaru. "Now why couldn't sis have fallen in love with him instead of you?"

Shikamaru's eyes exploded from his skull and he thought his heart might have stopped. "What?! What did you say?"

Kankuro hadn't meant say that, but seeing the Leaf nin's reaction he decided it was a good slip. "See you later punk." He took a second swig and left.

Shikamaru wanted to grab a hold of the doll user and shake him until he admitted whether or not that last comment had been serious. He found it very hard to believe that Temari would admit such feelings to Kankuro. But then he was her brother, they were bound to be close. Then again it was clear to see that Kankuro might just be having some fun with him. Either way he doubted he could get any kind of straight answer from him.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was about ten minutes later when the most beautiful girl in the whole world walked into the room. She had on a simple light blue sundress and was carrying a large picnic basket in both hands. She smiled at him, and he knew this would be a good day.

"Hey Shika, I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I was just getting our lunch packed up."

He reached over to take the basket, and unlike last time she let him. "Did you make your chicken?"

She gave him a pleased look. "Of course, since our last picnic went so well I thought we could have another."

"Well I'm sure the food will be great and I couldn't ask for better company." He let out a small sigh. "But a picnic just isn't the same without grass to lie on and clouds to look at."

She gave him a little grin. "Well Shikamaru I'm afraid I can't do anything about clouds in the desert but there is a spot with some grass you can lie on."

He looked interested. "Really? I thought Suna didn't have any parks."

She shook her head. "It doesn't, at least not like the ones you have in Konoha. We do have monuments that are open to the public but none of those have grass. In case you haven't noticed we are in a desert. People don't waste water here, especially not for esthetics."

"So what is this place?"

"Come on you'll see." She took him down the hall away from the front door.

"Is it very far?"

She chuckled. "Well not too far, hopefully you have enough energy to make it."

She took him all the way through her house and then out a back door. When he stepped outside again he suspected he knew where they were going. Outside the back door there was a paved walkway that led to a circular brick enclosure. It was about twenty yards from the back of the house. It was a wall about the same height as the outer wall and made of the same colored bricks. As he got closer he judged that that it had a diameter of about ten yards. The path led to what seemed like a solid iron door with a large brass handle. He noticed there were sheets of paper covering the wall; he thought they were messages of some sort. When they got closer he saw what they really were.

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Temari are those explosive notes?"

"Yes they are."

"There must be hundreds of them!"

She nodded. "About three hundred actually, I had them all connected by chakra strings so if one goes they all go."

He stared at her with an open mouth. "Woman you've got enough explosive here to level a building!"

She got a hold of his arm and got him moving again. "Relax it's perfectly safe. They are connected to a special warding jutsu that will only go off if someone tries to go through, over, or under the wall or tries to cut the strings. I'm the only one who can deactivate the jutsu so I'm the only one who can go inside."

"What could be so important that you would go to so much trouble?"

"I'll show you." She said happily. They got to the door and she ran through about a dozen hand signs. There was an audible, 'chunk,' and she reached out to open the door. Just before going inside though she looked back at the house. Looking at the second story she spotted him at one of the windows and waved.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Damn it! That is so not fair!" He shouted like a child that had just been put in the corner.

"Is something wrong?" Gaara approached his older brother.

Kankuro waved to the window. "Just look!"

Gaara reached the window just in time to see Shikamaru enter and the door close behind him. "She has invited Shikamaru into her garden." He looked at Kankuro. "So?"

"So?" Kankuro looked hurt. "She has never invited me in there and I'm her brother."

Gaara allowed his lips to twitch perhaps a quarter of an inch. "It's not as though she invites everyone. So far as I am aware Baki and I are the only ones ever allowed inside."

"And Shikamaru," he said petulantly. "Why does she let him in but not me?"

"She probably does not believe he will step on her flowers. If you had not done that she probably would not have gone to the trouble of putting a wall around it to begin with."

"I was seven!"

"And you have matured so much since."

"Hey I am mature now I don't do childish stuff anymore!"

Gaara stared at him. "You eat the chocolates from her admirers."

He dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "I'm doing her a favor; everyone knows chocolates make you break out."

"Yes I always think what a thoughtful brother you are when I see you shoveling a handful of candy into your mouth."

Kankuro looked back out the window again. When he spoke it was with a more serious tone. "Gaara what do you think of all this? She says she loves him, she dances with him for the whole festival, and now she invites him into her secret garden. Things are getting serious."

"I know, Sulamon was asking about it last night. One of the people she turned down for a dance was his grandson."

"Well that's just great." He muttered. "Gaara what are we supposed to do if he asks her to marry him?"

"He is only 13; he cannot marry her for sometime yet."

"What would you say though?"

Gaara looked out the window. The garden was the one place he could not look into. He had experimented once sending his third eye. His chakra had tripped the jutsus and the whole thing had blown up. Fortunately he had been experimenting when Temari was out of the house. He found himself wanting to know what was going on. "I do not know yet. Shikamaru and I really do need to have that talk."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Wow, this is beautiful."

She smiled at him. "I am glad you like it." Inside the wall were a dozen palm trees. Their green leaves stretched out and formed a green canopy overhead blocking out most of the harsh sun. Throughout the area were shrubs all with different colored flowers in bloom. And just as she had promised there was thick grass covering the ground. With the shade it was much cooler and felt more like a typical summer day in Konoha as opposed to a vast oven.

He spotted some white flowers and went over to take in their sweet scent. "Jasmine, like the flowers I brought you."

"Thank you for those, normally I get roses."

"I'll get you roses next time."

She shook her head. "No, I like the flowers you picked for me."

He smiled. "I got them because they reminded me of your perfume."

"You seem to know a lot about flowers."

He shrugged. "Some family friends own a flower shop so I learned a bit here and there." He did not mention Ino.

She took a cloth from the top of the basket and spread it out. "Come on lets have our lunch."

He sat down next to her and helped put out the plates of food. "You know this really is amazing, this is the first green I've laid eyes on since arriving here."

"Well I've always loved flowers and I enjoy being surrounded by beauty."

He looked directly at her. "Yes it is very beautiful here." At his words she turned a slight shade of crimson. There was a momentary silence. "Temari?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you like me?"

She gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

He leaned back into the soft grass and turned his eyes upward towards the green and blue. "I mean why do you like a lazy Chunin from another country when you have your pick of any guy you want?"

She stared at him. "You ask some really stupid questions you know that?"

He looked at her very seriously. "Temari you are the most beautiful and amazing girl I have ever met and every time I'm with you I can't believe how lucky I am." He grinned. "Even when you are hitting me with that damn fan of yours. I just think you are absolutely wonderful and I ask myself what I ever did to deserve to be with someone like you. I wonder what I could ever give you."

She got up and sat down in the grass right next to him. "You know for a genius you can be pretty damn stupid sometimes. You want to know what you can give me?" With a finger she poked his forehead. "This. You can give me yourself. Give me your time, your attention, your affection, and be there when I need you and I will never ask for anything else in this life."

"Temari I…"

She put her hands on his cheeks and leaned close to whisper to him. "Don't worry about other guys or what anyone else thinks. Don't worry about being from another village. Don't worry about any of that and don't you dare ever wonder if you are good enough for me. Don't ask me what is in my heart when I look at you, I don't have the words to tell you." She shut her eyes. "Do we have to talk about this? Couldn't you just be kissing me now?"

He put his arms around her and pulled her down into the lush grass as he kissed her soft lips. She could feel his love for her in his kisses and in the way his arms held her tight. She longed with all her soul for time to stop and to have this moment for always.