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Shikamaru POV

Anyone who knows Temari knows she's quite a damn taskmaster. But even Temari no Sabaku needs to sleep at some point. It was eleven at night before she allowed me to stop researching this damn project. It was all beyond troublesome, but on the plus side, it did mean that we were excused from school. Only a few minutes after we'd stop working, a ninja in a full hazmat suit, the design similar to that of the rain village's chunin uniform, arrived. He was able to transport into the room, bringing along a couple of scrolls that, thank the gods, contained futons, pillows, blankets, toothbrushes, and all the other necessary items.

"Any word on when we can get out of here?" I asked the ninja.

"Medical nins will come in the morning to check you two out." He responded. Temari furrowed her brow, then asked the guy,

"Wait, we're not in any danger of being actually poisoned, right? I mean, it's not a risk to wait overnight?"

"Well there's risk in everything… But you are both safe, this is simply a precaution. There's no way that the two of you are going to die or even get sick from the poison, in all likelihood."

"How can you be sure?" I asked. The poor dude must have felt like he was being interrogated, Temari and I were creeping up on him from both sides of the room, and we weren't exactly being fair in asking questions. It's not like he gave the orders to keep us locked in the blasted room.

"Because the type of poison that the ninjas who invaded use are the kind that kill instantly. We have a suspicion that the poison was expired and that's why it didn't kill you two, but there is a slight possibility that the two of you are immune to the poison. If that is the case, then you two pose a threat to the rest of Konoha."

"And how would we have immunity to this poison?" Temari asked. The man sighed, relenting to his fate of being mercilessly questioned. I pulled out a seat for him.

"Close proximity with poison over an extended period of time. If either of you uses poison in your everyday life, now would be the time to speak up."

"Wait, what happens if only one of us is immune and the other isn't?" Temari asked, concern growing in her voice. I wrecked my brain trying to understand where she was going with this. She didn't use poison in her jutsu, we'd sparred before, I would know.

"We aren't exactly sure, but most likely the one that wasn't immune would have died by now, so there is no need to fear this." She let out an exhale of relief. "But there's no reason for you two to fear, we are bringing in a young poison expert for the investigation. Plus, we have the hokage on our side, and she's the best there is in finding remedies!" The man gave a grin, closing his eyes happily.

"This young expert, where's he from."

"Temari we should leave the guy alone."

"No, I need answers. Tell me, where is he from?"

"Suna."

"Is his name Kankuro?"

"I believe it is, yes. Why, do you know this young lad? Apparently he's quite skilled with not only poisons, but he has a following for his puppetry." Temari and I both blanched. He began to say something else about his qualifications but Temari stopped him abruptly.

"Know him? I fucking can't get away from him." Temari crossed her arms and held her head high. "This genius poison expert that you speak of is my idiot brother." The man looked shocked, and once he recovered, he bowed, albeit clumsily, in submission "You may go now, shinobi. Your answers were sufficient, you are dismissed."

"Yes, my lady." And with that, he disappeared. My face must have looked pretty idiotic. I was very, very confused. Why was this shinobi addressing her so formally? Why was Temari responding to it? If I had called Temari 'My lady' she would have knocked my teeth out. This girl was so troublesome. Even me, the supposed genius of Konoha, was a bumbling idiot once it came to her.

"Temari-"

"Don't. We are not discussing this. We are going to continue acting as we always do. You heard nothing." The way she spoke was startling, to say the least. Sure, Temari was demanding and bossy all the time, but the way she spoke now sounded, almost, regal. As if she'd been giving orders her whole life.

We set up our futons as far away from one another as possible. After all, it was unorthodox to have a man and a woman sleep in the same room. But I had to maintain my gentlemanly manners throughout. We kept our eyes adamantly away when we had to change into pajamas, and we tried very hard to fall asleep without anymore interaction.

"Goodnight." I said awkwardly. What was I supposed to say when yet again, everything was all messed up?

Temari POV

Fuck. God fucking damn it. Fuck. Shit. Shikamaru and the rest of Konoha were supposed to live their lives in ignorance of my family life. I started my relationship with Konoha saying point blank: My dad's dead, I don't care, I have no money, I need money for my brothers. But now, this idiot village just couldn't keep away. I don't want everyone to know all my secrets. All that I've been through; what my brothers and I have endured. It's a pitiful story, but it's not in the no Sabaku nature to want pity at all.

But I was a fool to think that this- this charade could last any longer. The secret was coming out, and it was probably going to turn my life upside down again. I was thankful that I did have the time to make friends while I had the chance. They knew the unadulterated me. They knew me without the corruption that the damn politics of my village placed on all my relationships with my peers at my old school. And while all these relationships were built on the truth, it was still an unstable foundation. I didn't give them the whole truth, because I wanted to live my life normally for a little bit. But it was selfish, I know. It wasn't fair to the people of Konoha, who deserve to know the whole truth, and it wasn't fair to my brothers, I was in Konoha making friends while they were in Suna, probably struggling as all hell.

I didn't sleep a wink that night. I was far too troubled with the knowledge of my impending political and social doom in Konoha. It was silly to wish that it wouldn't end, but my brother was coming and there was nothing that I could fucking do about it. Hopefully, this time, I wouldn't have to go through the same heartbreak that I did in Suna.