Chapter 1

All Temari could think of was him. He haunted every thought that popped into her head. He crept into her mind more than he ever had. Shikamaru had even began to show up in her dreams. He would always been wearing his normal clothes, but something was different. Maybe it was his eyes. Maybe it was the way he held her. Maybe it was the newly added softness to his voice when he called her troublesome. Those dreams were beginning to bother her more and more lately.

She approached the Konoha gates earlier than expected. Usually, she arrived two hours later. "Oh well," she thought to herself, "I guess I will just go to the hotel on my own. He usually makes the reservations early anyway, so why not save the trouble of waiting at the gates doing absolutely nothing.

She followed the street that her and Shikamaru had always walked through and finally reached her hotel. She went to the counter and asked if he had a reservation for her.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we are currently filled. We had to move some people around because of a bad leak in the roof from a storm two nights ago. Please forgive the inconvenience," the man replied.

"Well, where else am I suppose to stay?! I'm the Kazekage's sister. I had to travel tree days to get here and you don't have a room for me?!" She hollered.

"Please, Temari-san, forgive us, but we have no room."

Enraged by the current events, Temari stormed out of the hotel and walked blindly through the streets. Soon she remembered why she still needed Shikamaru to guide her around. She had horrible sense of direction and only succeeded in making herself impossibly lost. She growled at her stupidity. She should have remembered how to get out of where she was. The sun was setting and she needed to find Shikamaru. She sighed. She must have been wandering around for hours.

"Temari-san?" Someone called from behind her. She turned. It was Neji. "What are you doing here alone? It's not a good part of town, you know. Where is Shikamaru? Shouldn't he be with you?"

Temari explained what happened about her arriving early and about the hotel room. "Oh," Neji replied, "Well, let us find Shikamaru. He might let you stay at his place for the time being."

"Thank you, Neji. By the way, what were you doing around here?" Temari asked.

"I was sitting on the roof admiring the sunset when I saw you pass by on the street below. I decided to stop you before some poor, unfortunate soul became the victim of your wrath."

Temari smiled. Neji was actually an okay guy to talk to. At least he was considerate enough to help her find her guide. They soon found Shikamaru sitting by the Gates, looking lazily down the road.

"I think this belongs to you...," Neji smiled, snapping Shikamaru out of the trance he was in.

"Temari?" Shikamaru asked, looking at her in shock.

"Yea, I got here early, so I decided to go to the hotel and see if my room was ready. Unfortunately, those people had to move people into my room due to a leaky roof, so I don't have one. I got mad and decided to walk around and got lost. Then Neji found me," Temari said.

"Thank you, Neji. If there is anything I can do, let me know." Shikamaru stated.

"Well, if you let Temari-san stay with you at your place, we will call it even."

Temari blushed slightly at the thought. Luckily, Neither of them noticed. Shikamaru sighed, "I suppose I have to now. How troublesome. Thank you again, Neji. Come along, Temari. My hous is this way."

Temari followed after Shikamaru. She glanced back at Neji, who gave her a thumbs-up and mouthed 'Have fun.' Then Temari's face really turned red. 'Why would he do that?' Temari thought.