1) Go

Characters: ShikamaruxGaara (implied), Kankuro, Temari

Summary: Okay, so maybe challenging the Kazekage was a bad idea after all.

Warning: Spoilers (if you squint, maybe), humor, light shonen-ai

Rating: K+

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It had started out simple enough. Shikamaru was on his monthly visit to Suna (he and Temari traded off every two weeks and then escorted each other in their respective villages). Deciding that she wanted to catch him up on the gossip (not that he cared, though saying so was likely to get him a headache), Temari brought him to a tea shop and he bought tea (he always bought the tea, no matter which village they were in, because that, too, would cause a headache).

After a while of being bored out of his mind, Kankuro stumbled upon them in the little tea shop and joined them, laughing and riling his sister up, then dragging Shikamaru in on it. Shikamaru, of course, did not want to get involved (again with the headache issue), and thus distracted them with some stray gossip from Konoha (he thought he remembered Ino telling it to him over coffee. It then occurred to Shikamaru that he had an odd way of attracting abusive blondes to himself; maybe that should be remedied...)

What he did not expect was the conversation to eventually boil down to Temari and Kankuro making bets.

"You should have more faith in your Kazekage!" Kankuro said heatedly, standing and leaning over the table to glare at his sister.

Temari, across from him, had also stood and was leaning over as well. Her eyes were inches from her brother's. "Oh, please," she sneered, rolling her eyes. "Gaara's all brawns and barely any brains!"

"Gaara's a great strategist!" refuted the male.

"Yeah, great strategies. 'Kill, kill, kill- Oh, let's not forget! KILL!'" snarled the female.

Kankuro looked dumbstruck, but riled quickly. "He's not like that anymore!" he protested, and Shikamaru winced at his slightly high-pitched tone.

"Prove it!"

"Ha! I'll prove he's a great strategist, AND get money off you. Next paycheck says Gaara can beat Shika in Go!"

Temari, having pulled out her fan, slammed it's tip on the table, smirking. "You're on, Kazekage's whipping boy!"

"Whipping boy?! Why you-!"

Needless to say, they were shortly kicked out and told not to come back. However, they were not bothered by this (especially since it had happened before. Twice) and quickly set to the task of finding their beloved brother. Shikamaru wondered if they'd even bother asking him to do it, but didn't comment (other than a muttered, "Troublesome.") while he was dragged off to Kami-knew-where.

"Troublesome."

-

There was a silence that stretched on between the two males, becoming more awkward as the minutes ticked by and both shifted restlessly in their seats. Temari and Kankuro had disappeared, bored, after the first hour of the game, leaving the two to their own devices, but it was quite obvious that Shikamaru would have to break the tension soon.

How troublesome.

Gaara stirred from his almost comatose contemplative doze, reaching forward and picking a piece up. He then place it down with a soft, glassy click on the desired space. "Your turn," he said unnecessarily.

The wheels were already turning in Shikamaru's head, eyes roving over the arrow-like pieces. They fell into silence once more, the Leaf nin staring intently at the pieces. Then he realized; maybe challenging the Kazekage to an extended and drawn out game of Go wasn't such a good idea in the first place. If he moved that piece... Then that piece could... And it'd jeopardize... Damn. Knowing it was futile, Shikamaru made his move, and in the next three moves (which happened over the course of three minutes), he was beaten.

He sighed. "How troublesome," he muttered, thinking that Kankuro and Temari both would be insufferable now. "Good game, I guess. No one gives me a challenge anymore," he said in a lousy attempt at polite conversation.

The Kazekage shrugged. "I almost lost a couple times; you're pretty good at this," he responded.

Silence.

The two just stared at each other for a moment. Shikamaru sighed, shifting. "Try again?"

"Sure."

Gaara lost shortly after that, and Shikamaru hoped that Temari wouldn't be too insufferable.

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The first in a series of one-shots centered around our favorite cloud-watching, lazy Leaf nin, (I warn; most will be ShikaGaa). R&R! Don't just fave/alert!