18+ only for mature audiences, contains lemon in later chapters. You have been warned.

Shikamaru

'Ah, waiting here is such a drag.' He thought as he waited for the suprise guests Lady Tsunade had assigned him to escort that day. He was standing by the village gates and then saw three figures that he instantly recognized.

"Hey there stranger." Temari said with a playful smile.

"Well I wasn't expecting the Kazekage and the Sand Siblings to be arriving here, I assume that your the special guests Lady Tsunade wanted me to esscort these next few days?" He said still a little confused about what they were doing there.

"Ha!" Kankuro snorted. "Good guess Ponytail, now is there any place that we could go to eat. I'm tired of eating roots and over cooked fish." He squinted his eyes at Temari.

"God Kankuro! You don't have to be such an asshole!" She yelled at him. "Shikamaru took time out of his week to escort us around, you should be thanking him not insulting him. And maybe the fish were over cooked because you caught the tiniest ones. I'm suprised you even called them fish!"

"Hag!" He yelled.

"Idiot!" She yelled back.

'Oh man what have I gotten myself into. If they keep yelling like this the whole village will get a headache.' He thought trying to figure out a way to stop them.

"Thats enough." Gaara said. Shikamaru would never stop being amazed at how much respect those two had for him. Even after all these years, and into their twenty's their relationship was as strong as ever, they all knew their place.

"Sorry." They both replied in unison. But that was obviously not the last time they would be arguing these next couple of days.

"So, what are you hungry for?" Shikamaru asked hoping to cut the tention.

"Well I remember this village having the best barbecued beef place, and there sake was pretty good too." Said Kankuro.

"Eh, we always have barbecued beef back in the Sand. What about that ramen shop here, I remember that was pretty good." Temari argued back.

Gaara interrupted. "I will go with Kankuro to get barbeque, and if you don't mind Shikamaru you will take Temari to the ramen shop. We will meet you over there when we are done."

Shikamaru agree'd. He had a feeling that Gaara had, had enough of the arguing for now so he just went with it. It would be too much of a hassle to do otherwise anyways.

As they walked to Ichiraku Ramen he couldn't help but notice some people their age had a colorful flyer. Apparently Temari had also noticed.

"What are those flyers for?" She asked him curious.

"I'm not sure." he answered back. "But it's probably nothing interesting."

They arrived at Ichiraku, ordered their meal and sat there. Shikamaru looked at Temari and that's when he saw what she was wearing. It was one of her usual kimonos. This one was black with a low neckline like her other one, but it was short, really short. He then noticed she was wearing shorts underneath and she had her usual mesh leg guards on. He was relieved that she was wearing shorts but also a little disapointed. His eyes followed the edge of her kimono to her legs. They were so powerful looking, muscular but also very feminine, he had a hard time looking away from them until she spoke.

"Hey, is there something on my leg or what?" She said only joking, but the way she said it Shikamaru knew that she liked him admiring her. She always had.

They finished their ramen quickly.

"Well, since we finished so fast do you think we should go find the other two?" Shikamaru asked, he didn't really feel like it but it was his duty.

"Ya, I guess we should. Hopefully Kankuro is being responsible and not drinking to much sake, that idiot seems to think this is a vacation."

"What are you guys doing here anyways." He asked as they got up and started walking, realizing he still didn't know.

"Well," she replied "Lady Tsunade wanted to talk to Gaara about their alliance and how to make it more powerful. She suggested trading some of their most powerful Shinobi for a year and then trading them back after the year is up. Hoping to maybe trade some techniques and then bond the two villages even more."

"I suppose that would work." He said choosing his word carefully.

"Yes, but Gaara is only willing to trade Shinobi that volunteer. He doesn't want to take away people who have serious commitments to the Sand. Like Shinobi with wives and children." She said.

"Well, that is understandable." He replied.

They were about to turn a corner when Tenten almost almost crashes into them.

"Shikamaru! I've been looking for you everywhere! And Temari you're here too, this is great!" Tenten said smiling and clearly excited about something.

"What's going on Tenten?" Shikamaru asked knowing Tenten, she was obviously up to something.

"Well, I wanted to give you one of these." She handed both of them one of the colorful flyers they had seen earlier. "I'm throwing a party and wanted to invite you, and Temari now that you are in town you can go too."

"Do I have too." Shikamaru and Temari said at the same time.

"Yes you both do. And don't worry, it's more like a get-together than a party." She said.

"For some reason I don't belive you." Shikamaru replied.

"A party, now that's what I'm talking about." Kankuro said while him and Gaara rounded the corner.

"Hey, you guys are here too!" Tenten practically squealed and handed Gaara and Kankuro each a flyer. "It would be so cool if the Kazekage came to my party."

"Gaara doesn't have time for that kind of thing." Temari said.

"I think I will go for a few hours." Gaara said as if Temari had not said anything.

"Yay! Thank you Gaara, well I'll see you all later." She smiled and waved goodbye.

"Well if Gaara's going I guess I will too." Said Temari. "What about you Shikamaru?"

"Of course Ponytail is going to go if you are, you guys are up each others butts every time we're out here." Kankuro said laughing.

Kankuro's teasing didn't bother Shikamaru, but he couldn't say the same for Temari.

"Shut the hell up Kankuro! At least I don't freeze up around the opposite sex!" She

yelled at him clearly embarrased.

"Bitch!" He yelled.

"Asshole!" She yelled back.

'Here we go again' was all Shikamaru could think. And the he heard loud laughter behind them. They all turned around to see Ino, Sakura, and Hinata walking together and holding shopping bags.

"Hey you guys!" Ino yelled at the gap between them.

"Hey." They all replied. Shikamaru looked at the group he was with and saw that Kankuro stood there very still. He wouldn't have noticed if Temari hadn't said that opposite sex comment. It was kind of funny seeing him like this.

"What are you guys up too?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well were shopping for Tenten's party tonight... are you guys going?" Asked Sakura in return.

"Yes, we are all going." Gaara said. Shikamaru had still not made up his mind but he did want to see Temari in a party atmospher. He wanted to see her let loose a bit.

"Temari!" Ino said excitedly. "Why don't you come shopping with us! It will be fun, and it's been a really long time since we've hung out."

"I don't know shopping isn't my thing." Temari replied.

"You're coming whether you like it or not." Ino said in a stern voice, and hooked her arm around Temari's so she wouldn't make a run for it. She looked at the guys. "Don't worry we'll have her back real soon, see you later." Then she paused and looked at Kankuro up and down, then looked him in the eye and said. "See ya later Kankuro." In a lighter voice, winked at him and then walked off with the girls.

Shikamaru heard an audible gulp from Kankuro. Ino had a weird sixth sense for guys who were shy around girls. She liked to taunt them a little. He almost felt a little bad for Kankuro but it's not like he wouldn't get something out of the taunting. And Ino wouldn't do this to someone she didn't already have her eye on. 'Looks like this party is going to be less of a drag than I thought it would be.' He thought.

He showed Gaara and Kankuro to the hotel they would be staying at and then left after telling them to contact him if they need anything. He then decided to go to his appartment and rest before getting ready for the party that night.