Normal

"Speech"

Thought

Kyuubi

Warning: I do not own Naruto (Damn). Rated "M" for language and Adult Situations.

Chapter 41: It's Only Lunch

Gaara sat at his desk reading over reports from Suna. Everything seemed to be quiet in his village. There was a report regarding a sighting of a member of Akatsuki. After further investigation it was found that it was an imposter. Gaara sighed; there was something about the Chunin Exams that brought out the crazy people.

There was a knock at the study door. "Enter." Gaara continued to read over the scrolls.

Temari entered with a tray. "Good morning Gaara. I brought you some breakfast and some tea." She set the tray down and stood over him scowling.

"Thank you Temari." Gaara knew she was scowling at him and didn't look up from his scroll.

"You were up all night again, weren't you?" She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"You ask me that every morning Temari. Do you honestly believe I am going to give you a different answer?" He reached for his tea.

"I thought we came to Konoha so you would talk to Lady Tsunade about finding something that would help you sleep." Temari looked concerned.

Gaara looked up from his scrolls. "We came to Konoha to enjoy the Chunin Exams, spend time with friends, and meet the rest of the Nara family." He sipped his tea again. Temari blushed slightly, but kept her scowl at her younger brother.

Gaara let out another sigh. "I spoke to Lady Tsunade just after the Akatsuki incident a few years ago. There was not much she could do beyond medication and the suggestion of a few sleep jutsu. She said the nightmares and old fears should fade with time."

Temari hung her head guiltily. She loved her younger brother deeply. She had seen Gaara at his best and seen him at his worst. She wanted to see him happy, but most of all, she wanted him to be able to have a restful sleep with out waking from his nightmares.

"Temari?" Gaara snapped her out of her thoughts. "I will ask her again." He gave her a genuine smile. She nodded and turned to leave. Gaara sipped at his tea. "Temari?"

"Yes?" Temari turned.

Gaara stood from his chair and looked out the window. He did not want his sister to see the pink color that was in his cheeks. "Where does Shikamaru-san take you for lunch?"

The blonde Sand ninja became annoyed. She put her hands on her hips. "You may be Kazekage Gaara, but what Shika-kun and I do…"

Gaara took a deep breath before he interrupted her. "What you and Shikamaru-san do is none of my business. I merely asked where you and he prefer to eat lunch."

Temari blinked. "Oh…" She relaxed. "Well, there is a nice restaurant on the west side of Konoha that serves just about everything." She stared at him curiously.

"I'm looking for something quiet and out of the way." Gaara crossed his arms and stared at the Hokage monument.

"Quiet and out of the way?" Temari raised an eyebrow. "Who is she? Is she from Konoha? Do I know her? Does she come from a good ninja family?" She asked with enthusiasm.

Gaara turned and glared at Temari. The older Sand sibling jumped slightly at his glare. "I'm sorry Gaara."

Gaara relaxed his glare and turned back to the window. "It is alright Temari. It is only lunch."

Temari smiled. "Ok… It's only lunch." She turned to go out the door. Kankuro stood with his ear pressed to the wall. When he saw Temari he straightened up acting like he was just passing in the hall way.

The eldest Sand sibling eyed Kankuro. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." He lied.

The blonde grabbed her brother and dragged him rather violently to the living area. She finally let him go.

"OW! What the hell did you do that for?" Kankuro yelled at her.

"Shh! Not so loud." Temari looked back at the hall way. "What do you know about the mystery date?"

"About as much as you do." Kankuro stuck his hands in his pockets. "Go ask Naruto or Myra-san. They may know. Gaara's been around them a lot lately." He started to walk off.

Temari grabbed his arm. "You don't think it could be the Ravenheart girl?" Temari said hopefully.

Kankuro's eye twitched. "Weren't you the one that told me that Shikamaru interrupted Naruto and Myra-san before the reception the other night?"

The blonde girl pouted momentarily; then she put her hand on her chin in contemplation. "I forgot about that." A few more moments of deep contemplation and Temari got an evil smirk on her face.

"What are you plotting?" Kankuro squinted at his sister.

"Hmm. Just a little recon mission." She walked to her room. "I think I will make Shikamaru take me to lunch today." Temari smiled deviously shutting her door behind her.

Kankuro looked worried. "This could be bad, but fun to watch."

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Sephie had left the apartment a few minutes early to allow Myra and Naruto some "quality" time with each other. She had come to Konoha to keep Myra from going completely insane. Sephie had expected Myra to have locked herself in a room somewhere, only coming out when she was forced. To find Myra happy, hunky, dory and attached at the hip to Naruto had shocked the blonde girl more than anyone but Myra could understand.

Sephie had been there before Dante and after Dante. It was a complete one hundred and eighty degree flip in Myra's personality. There wasn't an ode of doom surrounding Myra anymore and that was a good thing. "Wasn't it?"

Sephie got to the bottom of the stairs of the apartment building. She couldn't remember which way the dojo was from the apartment building. The dojo was where Gaara had asked her to meet him before they went to lunch. Sephie looked both ways, trying to remember which way she needed to go. She reached deep into a pocket and pulled out a coin. "Heads I go right, tails I go left." She flipped the coin into the air and caught it slapping it to the back of her hand.

"That is a very diplomatic way of choosing a direction." Gaara blinked at her. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, loose black pants, and his sandals.

Sephie turned and smiled at him. "Oh… Hello Gaara. Am I late… Or are you early?" She frowned. Sephie had let her hair down, but had pulled back her bangs with a few barrettes. She was wearing a royal blue t-shirt, a blue jean skirt, and blue flip flops.

"I suppose you could say I am early. I did not mean to startle you." He put his head down.

Sephie giggled. "I'm glad you're early, because I would have been very late getting to that dojo thing. I have no clue where it is."

Gaara stepped closer to her. "I thought it best I come here first. I wanted to ask Myra-san a question before we went to lunch."

Sephie started to laugh. "I think it would be better if you waited until AFTER lunch to ask her. She is a tad busy at the moment."

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Is she still training?"

Sephie nodded her head side to side for a moment. "Define training."

"To prepare oneself with a physical regiment and to learn, practice and master one's skills."

Sephie had to compute that definition for a moment before she answered. "Yes. She is training with Naruto."

"That would be interesting to watch." He blinked.

Sephie burst in to hysterical laughter and doubled over. Gaara was perplexed by this reaction, stepping closer to the laughing girl. The blonde girl stood up taking a deep breath and looked back over at Gaara. She burst into another fit of hysterical giggles.

"Training is no laughing matter, Ms. Persephone. It is something a shinobi must do to perfect the skills we are taught." He tried to explain.

Sephie took another deep breath and put a hand on Gaara's shoulder to steady herself. She looked at him with a huge smile and then she blushed. "I don't want to watch. I don't even want to know what they're doing. I just think I will stay out of the apartment for a couple of hours and leave them alone."

Gaara finally understood what Sephie was talking about and shook his head. "I see. Then it is best to wait."

Sephie straightened up and smoothed out her t-shirt. "So where are we going for lunch?"

"Temari suggested a restaurant on the west side of the village. I thought we might go there." They started to walk.

The blonde girl put her hands behind back and walked silently a step behind Gaara. There was an odd silence that built between them as they walked. Sephie was a little nervous about being asked to lunch by the stoic red head, but since he was the only one that could translate for her, besides Myra, she was stuck with him for the time being. However, she felt happily stuck.

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"Are you coming, you lazy oaf?" Temari stood at his door waiting.

"You are a troublesome woman, now explain to me why you woke me up on my day off?" Shikamaru yawned.

"I believe you owe me lunch." Temari smiled.

"I don't remember owing you lunch." Shikamaru let his eyes focus on Temari. She wasn't wearing her normal black kimono. In fact, she looked good. Of course Temari always looked good to Shikamaru, but today was a little different. Temari was wearing a lavender blouse, a knee length black skirt, and she didn't have her fan with her. "Are you asking me out on a date?" He questioned her.

She smiled coyly. "I guess I am. Wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere, unofficially?"

Shikamaru scowled. "What are you plotting?"

"Must I be plotting something to want to go to lunch with my boyfriend?" She batted her eyelashes.

"Under normal circumstances, no, but you are being way too troublesome for this to be a "normal" circumstance."

Temari turned beet red with anger. "Fine! I will go to lunch by myself. LAZY OAF!" The blonde sand ninja stormed off leaving a perplexed Shikamaru blinking in his doorway.

Shikamaru sighed heavily mumbling "troublesome" under his breath. "Hold on Temari, I'll take you to lunch, just let me get dressed."

Temari stopped in mid step turning to Shikamaru with a huge grin. "Thank you Shikamaru."

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A/N: Sorry it took so long for the update. Life has been pretty weird lately. I have the next chapter in the works and its going to be fun. Or at least I hope it will. Meanwhile, thanks to all that do review, and to those that read and don't review… Well, take the time and at least let me know you want to read more. Until next time… I shall give you a preview of what is to come.

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"Sasuke, it will work." Myra glared at him.

"You're crazy."

"We've established that already." Myra smirked.

"You're seriously expecting me to hold a transformation jutsu in a fight?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Myra.

"Yes." She said matter of fact.

Sasuke threw up his arms in exasperation. "You're crazier than Naruto!"

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Stay tuned for more!