Thanks for your reviews, guys! I'm feeling particularly inspired, so you get another chapter quick this time!

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Burning Leaves - 4

Nara Shikamaru woke up to a steady, buzzing vibration that shook his whole chest. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with a wide yawn. The buzzing stopped for about a second, then resumed just as annoyingly as before. The problem wasn't that the sound was all that loud, it was that vibrations placed directly over one's lungs were rather difficult to ignore – and that was exactly why he made a habit of sleeping with his PDA on his chest.

One hand picked up the Blackberry and held it above his face, where his heavy-lidded eyes lazily brought the screen into focus as he muttered to no one, "It has to be after midnight... Who's calling?"

The pixels formed the word "Chouji", answering him silently. Had to be something at least vaguely important, then, so he turned on the speaker phone. "Yeah?"

"Hey, sorry to call you at this hour." Right on cue, Shikamaru yawned dramatically, to show that Chouji wasn't entirely forgiven. "We ran into an... old friend of yours, and thought you'd like to know."

Why both a smile and a sense of dread passed through him at the same time was something only he'd ever know, but the tone that he followed with made his feelings clear to Chouji. "Really, how troublesome. Where do you want me to meet her?"

Chouji gave the name and address of the hotel she was staying at, along with instructions to meet them in the parking garage.

"Basement level 3, Northeast corner?" Shikamaru guessed.

There was a pause as Chouji verified the location, his voice muffled by a hand over the phone, then spoke clearly again. "She only laughed."

"She would," he sighed. "I can be there in thirty. Go get yourselves some coffee." He hung up, heaving a sigh and rubbing his eyes again. "That woman... She'd better be glad tomorrow isn't Monday."

He knew it was Temari because she was about the only "old friend" he had aside from Chouji and Ino, and was certainly the only one of the bunch who'd demand to have her presence known at 1:30 in the morning. He pitied whoever lived in his old apartment, because they'd probably received a rude awakening close to midnight.

He sat up, leaning against the back of the futon he used as a bed. Normally he left it folded flat, but he'd needed the extra seating for a casual meeting a few days earlier and hadn't felt the need to convert it back yet. After all, the seat left more than enough room for him to lay down. His shoes were ready at his feet, right where he'd left them, and he slipped them on. His blanket fell to the floor as he stood, and he made a face at it, kicking it under the bed and out of his way. Crossing the room to look in the mirror, he scratched at the stubble on his chin – not enough to be worth shaving for her – then slipped into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

His apartment overall was quite tiny, but it had everything he needed and that was good enough for him. On one side was his kitchen, with a small island serving as a breakfast bar, at which sat two stools. On the adjacent wall, beneath the large picture window, was his futon, better known as his bed, and across from it, between the doors to the bathroom and the closet, was his couch, better known as his bed when he had company. A coffee table separated the two right now, but spent most of its time in the vacant corner. The large plasma TV on the wall across from the kitchen was mostly for show – full-service satellite came free with his rent, but he seldom watched anything aside from the news.

He pulled his hair up into a ponytail, ignoring the loose wisps that fell at the nape of his neck. He yanked at the bottom of his well-wrinkled shirt then buttoned it most the way up, discarding the tie that was loose around his neck. He wore more or less the same thing every day, and wasn't one to bother changing before he went to sleep.

He'd have to win the lottery two weeks in a row before he bothered to change clothes on account of her. And he'd never bought a ticket in his life.

Jacket on and keys in hand, he left the building, regretting answering the phone before he'd even made it to the parking lot. This evening wasn't going to be worth the loss of sleep.

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Naruto made a point of not going to bed on Saturdays until he knew his next door neighbor was home. It wasn't that he was paranoid, or thought he was going to be robbed, or anything like that; it was that the kid had a knack for getting himself in trouble, and Naruto generally was kept up past midnight by one thing or another anyway.

He heard the familiar rumble of the large engine and peeked out of the balcony. The red Chevy pulled into the driveway, its headlights off so the owner didn't alert his parents to his late arrival. Naruto rolled his eyes and headed for the door, pulling the blankets up around Hinata's bare shoulders carefully before he left the room.

"Oi, Konohamaru!" he called quietly across the lawn as the boy exited his car. He looked back at Naruto, flashing a less than enthusiastic grin.

"I had a race tonight, bro!" he announced, leaning against the door of his car.

"I'm guessing you lost?" Konohamaru had a habit of not coming home at all on the nights he won.

"Yeah... but it was to some hot bitch with an even hotter Porsche!"

Naruto sighed but was unable to stop himself from smiling. "In other words, you didn't stand a chance?" he teased, throwing an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders and lightly punching the side of his head.

"Hey, man! Don't rub it in," he whined, trying to wiggle free of the man's grip. "She was all fired up trying to find some guy, and I thought that'd make her sloppy, man! Not my fault!"

Naruto chuckled, mussing his friend's hair before releasing him. "Yes it is. Your own fault for underestimating the power of a woman scorned!" He grinned, about to add some to his words of wisdom when he noticed for the first time the sizable bruise on Konohamaru's jaw. "Hey, what happened there? That chick do that to you too?" He was trying not to laugh, knowing that the injury had to hurt.

"Naw, man... That was Akiko's doing. She figured losing the race and her didn't hurt enough, had to make her point."

That made him wince. Akiko was – or now, had been – Konohamaru's girlfriend for a good six months, and had followed him even before that, since the day he got his license. The girl had a temper, though, and a reputation for being fickle. "Eh, you're too good for her anyway," he offered, attempting to cheer the boy up.

"Yeah, man, I am. I'll find a new girl. I'm gonna get a legal chick this time, man!"

Naruto chuckled and patted the kid on his head, shoving him towards his own house. "I'll round up the boys and we'll hit the town next Friday, what do you say?"

He lit right back up, grinning widely. "Hell yeah, man! I'll be there!"

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The sound of the back door opening this late at night really didn't surprise Tenten, even after a glance at the clock revealed it to be nearly 2AM. She left that door unlocked as long as she was in the shop, even after the shop was closed and the front doors bolted. Her eyes rose from the engine she was working on to the monitors on the wall, locating camera number six of the eight her garage had.

The blue uniformed man sent her into a flustered panic. Immediately she began throwing papers into drawers and locking them, then tossed some coats over a box in the closet before locking it as well. Taking a few deep breaths and straightening her stained shirt, she popped the door to her office and peeking out, offering, "Hello?"

"Hey," a familiar voice called back, sending a shiver up her spine. Still rigid, she headed into the expanse of the garage, not ready to believe it until she saw his face herself.

"...Kankurou?" she breathed, staring at the officer before her.

He tipped his hat and snickered. "Surprised to see me? The place looks real nice." He paused, looking her up and down, and she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow under his gaze. "You're looking pretty nice yourself, actually."

"Well look who's talking."

There was silence for a moment as he looked around, chortling to himself about this and that. She sighed, prompting him to look back over at her.

"So you're all back in town?"

"Sure am. I've been here for a couple weeks, but was steering clear so nobody knew." He smirked, then frowned as he added, "Wait, 'all'?"

"Your sister came through here two hours ago on a war path. It's taken me most this time just to clean back up."

"Ohhhh... Sounds like her." Quiet reigned in the garage again, and she did nothing but stare at him the whole time, watching as he pulled his cap off for a moment to scratch his head and then replaced it. "...What?" he finally asked when he realized she was staring at him.

She sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose, smearing a line of grease down one side. "You're gone for three years... Haven't even visited in over a year... And you waltz back in here and just look at the cars?"

"Well," he said, his voice dropping to a low rumble as he stepped closer, "I was just making sure there was nothing illegal around here. Wouldn't want to be associated with anything..." another step, and another, so that he was peering down into her eyes from mere inches away, "shady."

"Oh, no, officer," she cooed, backing towards her office, letting him maintain their distance the whole time. "You won't find anything here that you don't like." Her hand fell on the doorknob as he leaned down closer, his breath hot on her face.

The other hand rose to his chest, stroking down his sternum once, before her expression suddenly hardened. "...You fucking pig. You were gone for too long – you'll have to earn your way back in." She shoved him back while he was still off guard and slammed the door hard in his face, bolting it.

"Hey, sweetheart, I was just kidding!" he shouted through the metal, pounding on it a few times. "I just came to talk!"

Slumping to the floor, she screeched, "Like hell you did! Now get out before I call the cops... The rest of them!"

There was a sigh and some muttered cursing for a moment, and she leaned her head back on the door to listen to him better. "Hey, um, dinner? Friday? C'mon Tenten! We can start back over. You know I—"

He was cut off when she opened the door back up, the chain still attached as she peered out through the gap. "We'll see. I've got a lot of work to do tonight, though. Come back in a day or two, and we'll talk." She shut the door again, leaning her cheek against it quietly. "Three years is a long time to never come back for anything more than a quick fuck."

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The underground parking garage went down seven floors, and the third floor was usually the most packed – the first two were populated by handicapped and other "special" spots, so all the normal people went to the third or lower. Just the same, the corner furthest from the elevators tended to have a few spare spots, as well as security camera that was often conveniently out of order.

Shikamaru spotted Chouji's large truck before he saw the violet Porsche two spots away from it. A combination of habit and poor judgment led him to park his moped next to the latter. He stood up after stopping the motor, facing the familiar cars and looking for those he was meeting.

Temari was on him before he could say hello to anyone, his back shoved up against the van he'd parked alongside and her lips wet and demanding against his. He stood there, uninterested and unamused, as her leather-clad body pushed against his, her fingers fisting into his dress shirt. There was a growl as her tongue forced its way into his mouth, pillaging it for all it had to offer.

Still, he didn't react. Her growls became fiercer, her lips and teeth playing with his mouth freely until his lips bruised. One hand rubbed along his crotch, unfastening his fly and working its way in. She was trying to override his emotional detachment with instinctual, unavoidable physical reactions. He didn't move, didn't fight it, but didn't encourage her either, his hands flat against the car and eyes staring past her, at her car or, occasionally, his friends.

It took over five minutes of coaxing, but finally she obtained her desired result from him, drawing her hand away from his now undeniably hard member, and placing it opposite the other, one on each shoulder. Her lips drew from his, tongue lapping off the trail of saliva that joined them for a moment.

He tensed, trying not to pant or sigh. He welcomed the return of normal breathing for the instant he knew he'd have it.

Her knee connected solidly with his groin, and the only thing that rivaled the contortion in Shikamaru's own face was that in Chouji's as he realized what had just happened to his friend. Temari backed away, leaving the man she'd been seeking to crumple to the floor, then stepped over his moped and climbed into her car, driving off.

She hadn't said a single word the entire time.

Ino awoke from her stunned daze and chased after the Porsche her for a moment, screaming "You crazy bitch! What's your fucking problem?" However, a woman running in heels cannot catch up with cars made for racing. Frustrated, she threw her heel after the car before returning next to Chouji, who checked on the injured Nara, who looked shockingly calm for a man in his condition.

"What the hell?!" Ino was panicking still. "Why'd she do that? Oh my god, I'm so sorry Shikamaru! I wouldn't have let her find you if I'd known that was going to happen!" She continued on for a good two minutes, her words drowning out Shikamaru's low moans until Chouji handed her the keys to go start the truck.

"...So what was that?" he coaxed, helping his friend to his feet. He had to support most Shikamaru's weight for him to walk, but it seemed like all the victims of the attack would be fine with some ice and time.

"I probably deserved that," was all he would answer. "Take me home."