Thanks Lilac Rose6, for your review! It encouraged me to write the next chapter (and kinda reminded me of this story's existence...heh, heh...) so here it is! This one was originally going to be just the first bit, but after seeing how short it was I thought of that idea and wrote it. Now it's over 2500 words! I'll warn you now, Gaara may be a bit out of character. If he is, I'm really really sorry but he kinda had to be for the idea to work. He wouldn't have been as out of character if I had just stuck to the first bit and not added on, but I figured I'd give making a longer chapter a try. Probably a bad idea but I still like it so I'm sticking with it. I'm prepared for the worst, so I'll be fine!

And for fans of the pairing, this chapter kinda focuses on Shikamaru/Temari. I couldn't resist!

Taking Sides

"Thanks again," Shikamaru said, facing the three siblings with his back to his village. "I had to ask you guys to teach at the Academy 'cause we're a bit short-staffed at the moment. I'm sure you would have rather gone sight-seeing-"

"No problem," Temari cut him off, "I helped out 'cause I enjoy it." Although it wasn't just teaching the kids that she enjoyed, not that she'd ever admit it.

"Same here," Kankuro agreed. "Besides, these kids are the future of the Leaf's military power. It was a good opportunity for us to evaluate them."

Figures he'd turn it into an advantage against a possible future enemy, Temari thought exasperatedly, though she knew Kankuro secretly enjoyed teaching the kids. He always said he didn't like children, but that was just to appear tough. Truth was, Kankuro loved kids the most of the three siblings. Not that that said much, since Temari had little patience for people weaker than and not as smart as she, and Gaara was just beginning to learn to care for people other than himself.

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied. Temari figured with his observation skills he couldn't have missed the hinted meaning behind Kankuro's words. But if he noticed it, and whether or not he knew it was just a joke, he didn't act as if he did. "Well, careful getting home."

"Okay," Kankuro said, and the three turned to leave. Knowing she couldn't miss a perfect opportunity to tease Shikamaru, she stopped and turned to face him.

"I'll see you next time you need to be rescued," she taunted. "Just let me know and I'll come. You big cry-baby."

If he was bothered by the insult he didn't let it show. He simply smiled. "You girls are all alike. You had to get the last word in, huh?"

Him and his sexist comments. Temari simply laughed and turned to catch up with her brothers who were quickly shrinking down the path. She was rather glad her brothers were out of earshot of their conversation. They might...misunderstand.

It took her only a few graceful leaps using her ninja speed to catch up to them. She felt relieved now that the mission Lady Tsunade had sent them on was finished, although not necessarily completed. It hadn't been very difficult, at least not for them since they had come in fresh and ready for battle and had easily defeated their opponents. Unfortunately Sasuke couldn't be brought back to Konoha, but at the least everyone was alive and recovering.

But when she noticed the grin on Kankuro's face her relief changed to fear.

"Wanted a few seconds alone with your boyfriend?" he taunted.

Temari's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. She huffed and turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't notice. "He is not my boyfriend! He's not even from Suna! Why would I get myself mixed up in love between two different countries?"

"But you do like him, don't you?"

After making sure her cheeks were their regular colour, Temari turned around sharply and whacked Kankuro on the head with her fan. "Would you shut up? I do not like him!"

Kankuro rubbed his head, which was beginning to sport a slightly comical round bump underneath the black hood he wore, but his grin still remained intact. "I knew it," he said to himself. Temari heard, but chose to ignore it for now. She didn't want to injure her brother too badly; otherwise she'd have to carry him during the entire three-day trip back to Suna.

It was silent for a bit during the trip, something Temari was very grateful for, until Gaara spoke up in a quiet voice, almost unable to be heard. But Temari did.

"Kankuro is right."

Temari was shocked to say the least. Her eyebrows raised and her mouth dropped open as she tried to say something. "Wha—But—You...I-I don't—Argh!"

Kankuro snickered at her flabbergasted look, and even Gaara's mouth twisted into a small smirk. Temari fumed and proceeded to smack Kankuro again, in the same spot as before. The small bump had now turned into a large oval-shaped ball that stood taller than the cat ears attached to his hood.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, putting a hand to his head again. "Stop hitting me! And why don't you hit Gaara?"

It was a pretty stupid question. Even if it was only a harmless, playful hit Gaara's sand would protect him, so there was no point in her even trying to give him a soft flick to the forehead.

"You know why," Temari said, not wanting to bother explaining it to her brother who she was sure had forgotten the reason why. It wasn't surprising; he often forgot things like that.

Kankuro grunted and crossed his arms, looking rather childish. "You just favour Gaara over me."

"True," the blonde kunoichi responded, causing Kankuro to pout further. If she didn't know better she would have thought Kankuro would start crying. Luckily for her he wasn't that childish. Anymore, at least.

Suddenly the puppet master had a devious grin on his face that Temari did not like one bit. He leapt over to Gaara and whispered something in his ear, and her two brothers went on ahead so there was enough distance between her and them to converse in secret.

Temari really didn't want to know what they were plotting, so she held back. She just hoped Kankuro wasn't poisoning Gaara's mind. One Kankuro was more than enough for her to handle. Two was just unthinkable.

After a few moments Gaara turned and disappeared into the forest, and Kankuro held up a bit to rejoin Temari. He still had that grin on his face, though it was more controlled than before.

"What are you planning?" the Sand kunoichi demanded, her face twisting into a look of suspicion. "And where is Gaara going?"

"Nothing, nothing," her brother replied nonchalantly. "Gaara's just going to get some firewood for when we stop to make camp."

Surprised, Temari looked up to the sky. Sure enough, the sun was beginning to set. It was later than she had expected. Turning back to Kankuro with a wary look, she replied, "Alright, I'll believe you for now. But you're up to something, and somehow you got Gaara involved in it."

When Temari turned away she could see Kankuro's smirk return from the corner of her eye. Just as I thought, something's up. I just have to figure out what.

The sun had set by the time Gaara had returned with the firewood. Temari watched him carefully for any change in his usual behaviour. He seemed the same for the most part; he was still as silent as ever, doing what he was asked without question and involving himself in conversation as little as possible. Despite his change, he was still having a hard time getting used to caring for people other than just himself.

But something was bugging Temari. Throughout the entire evening he had a smirk plastered on his face. It was small, almost unnoticeable, but with Temari's sharp eyes and extensive knowledge of Gaara's expressionless face after being around him so long it was almost impossible for her to miss.

Both her little brothers were definitely planning something. But Temari hadn't the slightest clue what, and that was what scared her. The older of her two brothers was extremely deceitful and mischievous, as she had learned from experience, so she had to be on her guard at all times.

Throughout the evening nothing unusual happened, other than Gaara's smirk which still bothered Temari greatly, and soon they were settled in to sleep. Temari had volunteered to take the first watch, even if it was pointless with Gaara's insomnia, but she had insisted he needed rest, even if he couldn't sleep.

With the worry of Kankuro's plan being put into action Temari was twice as alert as usual. Who knew what her brother could be planning? She certainly didn't want to find out, but if she had to know she didn't want to find out the hard way.

Thump...thump...

Her entire body tensed upon hearing the noise. It sounded like quiet footsteps, designed to blend in with the sounds of the forest, but with her skills she easily noticed the difference. The forest was rather quiet that night, so it wasn't too hard for her to pick up a distinct noise like footsteps when otherwise all she could hear was the quiet rustle of leaves in the wind.

Quietly, so as not to draw her brothers' attention, she slipped her fan out of its resting place and held it at the ready. She shifted her position into a half-crouch, not wanting to let the person know she was onto them but needing to be ready to dodge or attack at a moment's notice.

Soon she could see the figure in the distance, a dark shape among shadows. Were it not for the pale moonlight she probably couldn't have distinguished the shape at all.

As it drew closer she sent chakra into her fan, preparing a wind attack to catch the person off guard. Once they were close enough she sent a gust of wind their way in the blink of an eye. It hit its target dead-on.

She heard a cry cut short and a quiet thump as the person hit the tree. A bit ungraceful for a pursuer, ninja or not, but she supposed it could happen to someone who wasn't as experienced as jonin or even chunin when it came to being surprised.

Temari prepared her fan for another attack when the person cried out, "Wait, Temari! Stop!"

How do they know my name? Then she recognized the voice and it hit her.

"...Shikamaru?"

The figure picked itself up and leapt down from the tree, walking forward into the moonlight. Temari could now clearly recognize the signature pineapple hairdo and look of boredom. It was Shikamaru, alright.

"Yeah, it's me," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Sorry about that, but I wanted to make sure I didn't draw the attention of any unwanted company."

Temari nodded in understanding, though she was utterly confused at why Shikamaru had followed them all that way. "And the same to you for attacking like that. I wouldn't have attacked if I had known it was you, Shikamaru."

"Shikamaru's here?"

Both ninja turned to see Gaara facing them with a look of confusion, and, much to Temari's chagrin, amusement. Kankuro was next to him wearing an identical expression on his face, having been woken by Temari's attack.

"Is there trouble?" Kankuro asked, amusement gone from his face as he began taking Shikamaru's appearance more seriously.

"N-no," Shikamaru stuttered, and to Temari's surprise she saw a hint of pink on his cheeks. But as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. He turned to her and asked, "C-can we go somewhere else, where we won't be overheard?"

The kunoichi was quite shocked. Not only had Shikamaru blushed, or so she thought, but he had stuttered. Shikamaru never stuttered. Even though she didn't know him as well as others, she could tell just by his genius mind that he would never intentionally be caught in a situation where he wouldn't have something planned. On top of that, he had asked to see her alone. Temari was certain a light blush was now covering her own cheeks.

"Y-yeah, sure," she managed to reply, glaring at her snickering brothers (full-out laughing in Kankuro's case) before turning to follow Shikamaru into the woods.

Once Shikamaru had gone far enough that they wouldn't be overheard by Temari's brothers unless they had followed, he stopped and turned to Temari. She could see hesitance and fear in his eyes, and his entire body said 'nervous'. What he had to be nervous about, Temari had no idea. If nothing was wrong, why was he so afraid?

Temari had to ask herself the same thing when she felt her heartbeat speed up.

"T-Temari..." he drifted off, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. Temari could see the blush on his cheeks again, this time twice as red as before.

"What is it?" she pressed, wanting to get an answer out of the Nara. If there was something that bothered him that much, she wanted to know what it was. It would be good blackmail for later, though for some reason she had the feeling that it would backfire on her, making it blackmail for her. How she knew that, she had no clue, especially since she couldn't think of anything that would end up making her the one being blackmailed.

It was silent for a few moments as Shikamaru seemed to gather his courage. Finally he spoke. "T-Temari...I've been meaning to tell you...I was going to tell you just before you left but I couldn't work up the courage...Temari, I..."

The Sand kunoichi waited patiently for Shikamaru to finish his sentence. When he didn't give any indication he was going to continue anytime soon, she grabbed him by the shirt and shook him. "Spit it out already!"

"Temari, I...I...l-love you."

The words were spoken in a whisper, but Temari heard them as if they had been yelled in her ear. She froze, releasing her grip on the Nara. Her teal eyes were wide, and she stared unseeingly at Shikamaru. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she was going to say something but couldn't. Finally she managed, "Wh-what did you say?"

"I-I said I love you," he repeated quietly, his face turning bright red.

"Sh-Shikamaru..." Temari didn't know what to say. Sure, she liked him, not that she was ever going to admit her brothers were right, but for Shikamaru to come out and say he loved her? She wasn't entirely sure if what she felt for the lazy Nara was love or not, so she had no idea how to react.

When she heard laughing, however, her face twisted into a look of shock. When she turned to look at Shikamaru she had to blink twice to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

Where Shikamaru had just been was Gaara.

Laughing.

At her.

More laughter from behind her alerted her to Kankuro's presence. "You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!"

Temari felt her anger beginning to rise. She clenched her fists tightly, turning to face Kankuro and another Gaara. "Explain. Now."

Between bouts of laughter Kankuro obliged. "When Gaara left to get firewood, he sent a sand clone back here."—Said clone of Gaara turned into a pile of sand at Kankuro's feet—"The real Gaara was hiding a fair distance away, waiting until night to return to the campsite as Shikamaru. Man, you should see how red your face is! And the look of shock at 'Shikamaru's' confession! Hah-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Kankuro rolled onto the ground laughing, his face turning red. Temari whirled around to face Gaara, who was still laughing though he had more control over himself, and demanded, "Is this true?"

A nod of affirmation confirmed it. She stood still, taking on an appearance of calmness. Once her two brothers were finished laughing, she spoke.

"I'm going to kill you two."

Kankuro chuckled, taking a deep breath to replace the air he lost from all of his laughing. "Okay, it might be true that you can kill me, but there's no way you can kill Gaara."

"Oh, really? Why don't we find out?"

The puppet master shared a look of fear with Gaara (less so on his part) and the two took off into the trees. Temari stared after them and smirked.

Time to find out if that sand could protect Gaara from her wrath.