Eeep. My reviews have halved. I did something bad (turns into a Chibi screaminpsiren and cries). Neeeeeeevermind, I still love y'all XD! This chapters a bit shorter but I wanted to have some fluffiness before we get into a Hell of a lot more angsty territory. Plus (and I hope no one decides they hate me for the randomness of it) I had the image of Hogo trying to make Gaara laugh in my head for ages and it WOULDN'T GO AWAY, so I thought I should just give into it. And I thought poor ol' Shikamaru and Temari needed some love and attention. I dunno what it is recently but I've been developing an insane desire to glomp Naruto, mostly cuz I'm not giving him enough to do in the story. Any suggestions of what to do to get Naruto and Rock Lee more involved are more than appreciated.

mellyd - Yay glad you liked it :D. NejiHina are just so cuddly! I'm tempted to duct tape them together and leave them in a room, they'd soon get over their shyness mwahahhaahhaaa.

Jaques Rico - I presume you prob won't be reading any more of this considering your reaction to the Hyuugacest but you reviewed anyway so kewlios; I wouldn't normally go woot for incest but Neji and Hinata have Chemistry baby!

cheh - WHOO glad you liked it, yay fav chapter! (bounces) Hopefully I'll be able to find a circumstance where Neji can beat Kouki up, I'm sure I'll manage it heheheheee. Still not sure what I'm doing about Hinata's hero-worshipping of Naruto so I thought having her want to leap away but then not doing it cuz Neji seemed to want her there (yum yum) kinda illustrated how torn she's feeling about things, even if she doesn't realise it herself.

blackeelamgal9 - I outdid myself, I outdid myself (does a moronic dance) Thankee soo much XD!

AnimeSiren - I shall endeavour to make all other chapters as good XD! Thankyooooo

Random Person - HEHEHEE, so glad someone else found the lean musculature as entertaining as me. I can just imagine Hinata thinking 'wow, Neji's got nice muscles... NOIDIDN'TJUSTTHINKTHAT' etc etc hehehee

Burn it to the Ground - Thankyooo, I was thinking about how the sandstorms might make the shukaku play up inside Gaara and how Hogo would deal with it etc. Plus I wanted them to fight again cuz I like making them fight mwahhahaaa. I'm so mean! XD

Kimahrigirl - EEEEEEE, you're saying stuff I've written is perfect! (blushes) I have a follower, eeeexcellent, about time! (hands over the regulation uniform for all followers) You get to choose the colour though XD. Thankee very much, I always think its bad when pairings just suddenly launch into the story too fast so I'm glad you like the pace!

Anyways, enjoy peoples!

"Why do you always wake me up first Temari?" yawned Shikamaru blearily, stretching expansively and scratching his fishnet-covered chest. She smirked in response, pulling the door open wider and allowing sunlight to swiftly fill the room as he shrugged on his jacket, wincing at the golden light. The woman really was shameless - he had started getting dressed right in front of her, hoping to balk some embarassment out of her but she had clearly seen it for the challenge it was and hadn't budged an inch from the doorframe, merely raising a sardonic eyebrow. Well, after she'd done THAT he could hardly show his own embarassment now could he? It was an irritating note to start the morning on, having to feign indifference when a girl as beautiful as Temari was standing watching you put your clothes on. What a troublesome woman.

"Because, in case you'd forgotten, you're team leader Shikamaru. Plus you seem to take twice as long as everyone else to be dragged into the real world."

He was shook out of his thoughts by her retort and shot her a lazy glare before attaching his weapons pouch and following her out into the early morning sunshine, travelling towards the courtyard where they had all convened the day before.

"Did you hear about the disturbance last night?"

Shikamaru's brain was instantly alert and curious "Disturbance?" he repeated, keeping pace with Temari, hands idly in his pockets. She flicked him an amused smile, eyebrow raised in challenging derision.

"Of course, you were probably fast asleep by then. Kouki and Neji nearly had an altercation - Hogo and Gaara stepped in to stop Kouki, and Hinata stopped Neji."

Shikamaru pondered this slowly and deliberately, chewing the thoughts over. "Hinata stopped Neji? I wouldn't have expected that - it's not like her to get involved in personal fights, especially one that Neji's involved in." Temari nodded her agreement but continued, "It's more than likely that she's the reason they were fighting. Apparently when Gaara arrived she was clinging on to him like her life depended on it. Neji could have easily got her off him, but didn't. And as for Kouki," Temari let out a light laugh "Let's just say he has a reputation. He's made plenty of passes at me."

Shikamaru was not surprised to feel a surge of irritation cut through him, but allowed no such thing to show through his normal laid-back indifference. "I'm surprised you didn't take him up on it. Heir to the Jiyuujin clan, he'd be quite the meal ticket." he stated dryly, giving her a baleful smile. She stopped short and gave him a long and calculating look, and Shikamaru wondered whether he'd gone too far. Granted most of their talk was teasing banter but that had been downright cutting. Well, that he could accredit to the irritation he was feeling, although Temari was hardly the one he wanted to direct it at. They continued to simply stare at each other for a while, and he was both relieved and unprepared for her to grin once more and turn and carry on walking. She was more thick-skinned than he'd thought. He tried to keep the tinge of admiration out of his gaze as he followed that long pretty back with his eyes.

"Maybe I thought I could do better than a meal ticket." she called back breezily.

He blinked and then sighed wearily, starting to follow once more. "Yes I remember, five men better than me in one street." he repeated, just about comfortably getting the rhythm of his steps once more only for her to spin on her heel and stop once more. Shikamaru wobbled slightly at the abrupt stop but otherwise retained his balance, allowing Temari's hard gaze to drill into his skull. When she took a step forward he readily reversed, hands still in his pockets, until he found his back to a wall. He gulped nervously at the irritated expression on her face but otherwise tried to retain his composure, although his inner monologue ran along the lines of - please don't hit me with the fan, please don't hit me with the fan, bad for diplomacy, don't hit Shikamaru with the fan.

"For a smart man you really are hopelessly clueless aren't you? Haven't you got it yet?" she growled, eyes levelling his. Shikamaru then found a whole new reason to be nervous as he realised just how close they were. The part of his brain that wasn't still preoccupied with the mantra of self-preservation noted that she smelt absolutely delicious, and her mouth looked just as tempting up this close.

"Haven't I got... what?" he asked uneasily, trying to stop his gaze from straying to her mouth although the rest of him was very much enjoying her proximity. Granted it was undoubtedly proximity that meant she was going to eviscerate him with Slicing Winds, but he could enjoy it while it lasted. She rolled her gorgeous blue eyes and drummed her fingernails on the end of her fan in irritation. Much as all Shikamaru really wanted to do right now was lean forward and kiss her, get a taste of those beautiful lips, the sensible, strategic aspect of his personality realised how inadvisable it was to kiss someone who probably wanted to kill you at this point in time.

"You'll work it out, Team Leader. Maybe if we're both lucky, you'll work it out before you go back to Konoha. Cause if you don't..." At this she stepped even closer and Shikamaru had to plaster himself to the wall to keep any distance between them, her mouth so close to his, her smell. Her chest skimmed against his momentarily and he nearly hit his head against the wall to create a negotiable distance, refusing to look down at where her body was tantalising close to his. The heat of her was like a tingling sensation, a thousand fingertips across his skin, perhaps even more tormenting than if she had actually been touching him. 'Oh well, its a good way to die.' His brain thought numbly, eyes literally unable to look away from her mouth now, her hot breath tingling against his lips.

"If you don't... I'll be very, very mad at you Shikamaru."

His body was exceptionally disappointed when she put distance between them and carried on down the walkway, and his brain... Well his brain wasn't involving itself in things as he continued to glassily stare into the distance.

"Are you coming teme?"

Snapping himself out of it, he shot her another glare as he rubbed the back of his neck "You're..."

"Troublesome? I know, now let's move." she chuckled, bopping him gently on the back of the head with the end of her fan.

Hogo didn't recall ever feeling as old as she did this day. It was a day she didn't expect to survive. All the resignation, the disillusionment, that the last few days had forced into her had condensed into a hard, bleak determination, terrifying by its very lack of negotiability. Today, she would go and save her father. There had never been any question of it. Today, she would betray and lie to the friends she had created. Today, she might die. She lined up the facts with something approaching disinterest, knowing them and the pressing weight of their importance, crushing her, but knowing nothing would change them. With that knowledge of their irrevocable nature, there was no room for fear, or for doubt. There was room for remorse, but that she was not allowing herself to feel although it attempted to creep around the edges of her determination like obtrusive fog.

"The others are waiting."

She barely glanced up as Gaara entered the room, continuing to wrap bandages around her legs. "I know. Sit down, this will take a while." she said briefly, nodding towards the bed. She could sense his surprise at her request - normally she didn't ask him to do anything - and he slowly complied, his gaze on her as she methodically went about her task. She was grateful she had something to occupy her as she felt that intense stare, winding the bandages, tightening them, winding them. She had expected that he would be ignoring her after last night. That would have made it easier perhaps. Gaara would be angry with her, if she died. She had no intentions of doing anything less than fighting until her last breath was gone, but the possibility was there. She was going alone after all. She snuck a peek up at him through her eyelashes, the disarrayed red hair, those eyes that didn't miss her glance. Beautiful, damaged Gaara. She felt an almost insane cheer spread through her, and it was not the first time she had felt it. It was the feeling that always came with being swept along by the inevitable. She had no control over what would happen other than through blood and sweat and combat. Some very familiar allies, but ones that worked for the other side as well. There was no time to be afraid of anything. Not even the man she was in love with.

"Do I make you unhappy?"

She found herself in that moment of surprise, returning his gaze, the challenge in it. She didn't need to question what had inspired him to ask that question, didn't need to do anything other than answer the truth, because she couldn't lie to him.

"No." she replied truthfully "You don't make me unhappy.".

He nodded slowly, as if considering this information and storing it away in his brain. "I've seen you... With other people. You seem to smile and joke with them. I thought that I must make you unhappy." His tone was impassive, and for once Hogo could not tell if this was feigned indifference or not. Not for the first time, she wondered whether Gaara was capable of empathy, of seeing her happiness as anything other than a concept. She finished one leg and proceeded to the next, Gaara's gaze following her movements.

"Yes, I do laugh and joke around with other people. Or I did. The times that we're in make it harder for me to find things to be happy about. When I'm with you though... It seems rather childish to be fooling around all the time." she said after a while, knotting the top of the covering bandages but continuing to stare at her leg. Normally she would not have risked such honesty, such an exposure of her feelings. Such feelings felt laughable now when she stood to lose so much.

"There's nothing childish about happiness."

The determined note to his voice was enough to picque her curiousity. She wanted to ask when he had felt happy, if at all, or whether he spoke relative to what he knew from other people. More than that, she wanted to know if her happiness actually mattered to him. She felt that idiotic calm rising up in her, as though her brain and her heart wouldn't let her forget what day it was. Today... Today, she could afford to be a little stupid. As long as she was still here, and not in the desert abandoning her friends for her clan's needs, then she could indulge herself a little. She could be selfish and idiotic. A small smile spread across her face as she looked up at him once more.

"I'm glad you think that. Then you won't mind if I do something very foolish."

His eyebrows rose in questioning even as she was leaning forward and placing her hands on his ribs. "What are you doing Hogo?" he asked simply as her fingers started moving. "I'm tickling you Gaara." she replied just as simply, but with an absurdly broad grin on her face.

The look on Gaara's face was one of sheer confusion and Hogo could not help laughing as his brain clearly tried to deal with the odd response his body was giving to the fluttering motions of her fingers. A bewildered frown spread across his face as his jaw tightened and his body tensed

"I.. I don't think I like it..." he said, his voice sounding strained as she continued to tickle him, fingers scurrying over his ribs and stomach. Hogo could barely contain herself from laughing hysterically at how adorably puzzled he looked. "You look so cute when you're confused!" she giggled, earning a focused look and a frown. "Cute? I am not..." he managed to choke out before a strangled laugh came from his throat. "This... feels really strange..." he said through gritted teeth, completely non-plussed by the idea of having laughter forced out of him. But Hogo was being characteristically belligerent and he found himself laughing whether he liked it or not.

Through that ridiculous calm Hogo realised that everything would be okay now, because she had made Gaara laugh. Whatever else happened today, she had that. Seeing that expression on his face, the confusion as she gave him an entirely new experience, was worth it. Along with being in love with him, it was just one more thing to keep locked inside her as a private moment of happiness.

You don't make me unhappy.

She found herself being tackled and pinned on the bed, Gaara frowning down at her in clear annoyance. "I told you, that I didn't like it." he said insistently, his voice a low growl. She smiled unrepetently back up at him.

"But you laughed"

"I didn't want to. You made me."

"You're sulking."

"I am not sulking."

"Are too.."

"I am... you're an idiot."

Hogo continued to giggle beneath him, determinedly stuck in the here and now, not wanting to think of what would come to pass in a few hours time. When she focused again, it was to see Gaara looking at her very intently, his palms pressed on either side of her head on the bed.

"What?"
"You haven't told me to move." Hogo felt degrees of nervousness and tension return to her even as she evaded that devouring gaze. She wasn't about to say that she had just been contemplating retaining the memory of him laughing as steel around her resolve to return home alive. She was being selfish, she knew that and yet she could hardly pull away now without Gaara demanding answers. Keeping her voice neutral she continued to avoid looking at him.

"No. No I haven't."

"Why not?"

She cursed him a million times over for being... Well, Gaara. So belligerently curious and honest to the point of rudeness, having no interest in decorum or subtlety. With that stare still mapping every contour of her face she couldn't help but acknowledge the closeness, the heat of his hard body against hers.

"I hadn't thought to... Would you?... Please get off.. me..." the sentence trailed off into nothingness as Gaara lowered his head down to hers, stopping with scarce centimetres between them. It wasn't the proximity that had made her nervous, she was already nervous about that. It was the sudden erratic pulsing of his chakra. She recognised Gaara's chakra so well it was like background music in her conscious. Which meant that she knew what this meant all the more.

Reluctantly she dragged her gaze up to meet his, and saw what she had predicted but had still prayed she wouldn't. Pupils skittering violently across her face as he fought for control, the frown on his face one of utmost concentration, but also of confusion. His breathing was shallow as he struggled with himself, with whatever was going on inside his mind. The sinister hiss of sand dancing around them filled the room, like the death rattle of a snake. What on Earth had she done to get him so upset?

"I... I like touching you." His voice was barely above a whisper, eyes desperately latching on to her lifted gaze. She felt his right hand grip her shoulder, nails digging in lightly but enough to make her realise movement was a bad idea. She remained stock still, hardly daring to breathe, maintaining his gaze. "... Hogo... I don't want..." He couldn't seem to get his tongue around the words, his chest heaving in trembling frustration.

"... Promise me... Promise me you meant it."

When a full sentence managed to grate its way out, in so low a growl Hogo had to crane forward to hear it, she started. "That I meant what Gaara?" she ventured as quietly as possible, and even then he flinched, his grip on her shoulder tightening to crushing strength, the sand shrieking as it shot across the bed, a pit of hissing vipers, ice-cold against her cheek, her arms. It was definitely a bad idea for her to move. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, very practical fear setting her pulses racing, as well as the fact that he was clearly broaching something that made him feel vulnerable. Vulnerable enough to begin teetering precariously on the edge of his control.

There were a few moments when that balance was stretched out into painful silence between them, Hogo merely able to watch him struggle with his feelings, blue-green eyes burning every logical thought out of her. She could feel coils of grainy sand wrapping around her ankles, her wrists, teasingly cruel, digging in and then releasing. For a man who could keep his gaze so guarded, when he was unrestrained it was overwhelming.

"...That no matter what I did, it wouldn't change a thing. That.. you wouldn't leave me alone."

She knew how hard it must be for someone with a past like Gaara's to believe words like that. It would have been hard for any shinobi, who lived on a knife edge of mistrust, Hell, it would have even been hard for anyone to place their faith in such words. She knew that even though she had shown him a thousand times, she would inevitably have to show him a thousand times more before he would fully believe her. She realised that perhaps she had been being selfish the entire time she had been saying such things to him. She had strung him out on a tightrope over unfamiliar territory, with his only assurance being that she was on the other side with this elusive offer of never allowing him to be alone again. She was expecting him to trust her when the only thing he had ever received was hate and barren loneliness. More than that, she was expecting him to trust her when they were in the middle of a war provoked entirely by a lack of trust. Her heart felt like it had stopped beating altogether. She wanted him to trust her even as she was lying to him, to defend her clan.

All she wanted to do was fling her arms around him and crush him to her, to yell that he was an idiot if he didn't know she loved him. But that was not what you did, when the man lying on top of you was at the end of his extremely delicate, but very necessary leash. He'd probably kill her without even meaning to. The very air sparked with a dangerous charge as the sand continued to rustle around them both, filling the room with dark power.

So instead she kept her gaze as sure and as steady as it could ever be. "I promise you I meant it. And I will always mean it...". The tension did not lift from Gaara's body, and his hold didn't soften. It was only that slight puff of breath leaving his body, the momentary focus of those erratic, mad eyes, that showed the effect her words had. It would undoubtedly take more than just these words, even if they were what he had wanted, to now calm him down. Moving as slowly and deliberately as was achingly possible in her position, so as not to startle him and encourage him to crush her with sand or snap her neck, she moved her hands up. Barely even a touch, she gently skimmed her hands across his shoulders, getting him used to the touch before settling them, massaging the tense muscles with dexterous fingertips.

"It's ok... It's ok Gaara." she murmured gently, moving her hands up his neck in a simple, reassuring caress, feeling him relax with painful slowness, slumping against her as if he'd been rendered unconscious. She took his full weight with some discomfort, but nothing that she couldn't deal with as she soothingly stroked his back, her only preoccupation steadying the breathing that was hot against her neck.

"This feels good..." His lips were hot against the lobe of her ear, his murmured words sending a shockwave of sensation through her. She continued attempting to massage the tension away, feeling him sink into her even more, if that were possible, nuzzling her throat and sighing quietly. She doggedly ignored her own reaction to him, the way her heart jolted awkwardly as his breath puffed against her neck.

"Is this what happiness feels like?" he purred sleepily, his soft hair tickling her cheek as he shifted slightly, slipping one arm underneath her and hooking it around her waist, giving a quiet murmur of enjoyment as she arched up against him to make room for his arm. A small part of Hogo's brain dimly noted that she had never, ever seen Gaara this relaxed. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His guardedness seemed momentarily forgotten altogether as he acted like he couldn't get enough of physical affection, of touch. She felt her breath catch as he almost absentmindedly explored her jawline with kisses, breathing in her scent before giving her a sharp bite at her lack of response to his question.

"It's a type of happiness, yes."

"You can teach me all of the different types." It was a statement, not a question, a blurring of words in hot air across her skin, but then he didn't need to question any more.

"Say it again." he drawled against her neck, nipping at her earlobe while her tingling skin was aware of his hand lazily trailing circles on her stomach. Demanding, greedy. She dragged in a shuddering breath that he grunted quietly over before managing to get the words out

"I won't leave you alone"

"No matter what I do"

"No matter what you do."

Gaara was feeling quietly delerious, mentally lost in a fog of sweet disbelief. He was touching her, he was lying on top of her, he was drowning in her warmth and her scent and her skin, and she was LETTING him. No matter what he did, she.. she would... The words seemed so incomprehensible and yet they made his chest ache and his senses ripple with awareness. He couldn't get enough of hearing it. He raked his nails slowly across her waist, hearing her breathing start, a gesture of possessiveness.

"Hey Hogo-chan, we've beenAGHEOOAHHHHHH!"

Naruto was getting very tired of walking in on compromising situations. Last night when he'd heard the beginnings of a skirmish, and had come out to see Hinata plastered to Neji's back, had been bad enough. Now he had the image of Gaara straddling Hogo on her bed permanently imbedded on his eyelids. Maybe he should have knocked first.

"AGH, Ahehehhee ummm, I'll be just outside, sorry! Sorry sorry!" he exclaimed loudly, keeping his eyes firmly clamped shut and waving wildly by way of apology, reversing only to smack into the doorframe and give another yelp of surprise. Upon his entrance Gaara and Hogo had sprung apart, sand hissing violently to life again and spiralling around the bed as Naruto made his exit.

"It's fine Naruto. We're just coming." Gaara said smoothly and Hogo glanced up at his tone, his control and coolness firmly back in place. He didn't even glance at her as he climbed off the bed, but she didn't need him to. She realised that she didn't need words or looks anymore. She had seen a part of Gaara that no one else had, and it was entirely hers.

(grins nervously) Hehehe, I know it's a silly little chapter, but I couldn't get the idea out of my brain. Hope you liked it anyway, ANGST NEXT TIME! RnR XD XXXXX