My precious readers it is with great sorrow that I inform you that all my fics will be on hiatus. I'm an unsure of how long but at least for a few months. Just after I was getting back into it too. I do plan of finishing this though so keep following so that you will know when the next chap is out. That might not be for awhile but it will come.

Chapter 22

The next afternoon the group minus Kakuro and Gaara were sitting in a bar-b-que joint in the mall eating lunch. Kankuro and Gaara were busy at their workplaces so were unable to be with them waiting. The place was almost packed with the midday rush and they had been lucky to get a seat that could seat them all. Luckily the the crowd was lessening now that they had gotten their meal.

"I don't think I'm in the loop here." Sasuke finally stated when then had finished eating and were just sitting around enjoying each others company. "Why are we here?"

"We're scouting, well actually just waiting." Temari answered as she looked around at the other patrons for the umpteenth time. She had been doing it ever since they came in.

"Waiting for?" he prompted. He hated not knowing things. Especially things that involved him.

"Shut up and wait, Ketchup Boy." Temari said with a glare. He glared right back at her for teasing him about the amount of ketchup he used. It's not his fault ketchup is made of tomatoes and he liked tomatoes.

"Be nice you two." Ten-ten sighed from across the table. Whose idea was it to but Temari and Sasuke beside each other?

"Who are we waiting on Temari?" Hinata asked watching them with an amused look. It was always interesting when they were in the same room.

"Here they are!" the blonde said excitedly as she stared down the two that had just entered the restaurant. The others turned to look as well.

"Shikamaru and Chouji?" Hinata asked confused. Why would the possible be waiting on them?

"That's who we've been waiting on?" Sasuke asked. If he had known then we wouldn't have thought they would have been here early.

"Why are we waiting on them?" Ten-ten asked giving Temari a quizzical look.

"We need a hacker right?" she states getting there attention. "Shikamaru is good at that stuff. He does the grade changing at school for money."

"I hope you don't know this because you're changing any grades." Ten-ten gave her a disapproving look. Temari rolled her eyes.

"No but Kankuro does. He sucks at history." Temari told them. "He thinks I don't know but I do. Nobody with his level of suckage could get Bs."

"Ok but who says he's hacking corporate buildings level?" Sasuke pointed out. Hinata looked at him with a frown and Ten-ten gave Temari a skeptical look.

"He's a genius." Temari scoffed before looking back towards Shikamaru. "If he doesn't know he'll figure it out faster than us normals ever could."

"I see. Now how do you plan on convincing him to work with us?" Hinata asked

"Normally I would say by using my feminine wiles but that won't work with him." Temari stated as she smiled and waved at Shikamaru abd Choji. both boys looked shocked to be acknowledged. "Instead we should give him a challenge. Something to interest him."

"Which would be?" Ten-ten asked curiously as Sasuke watched on already catching on.

"Tease him with something he hasn't done yet that can be fun yet potentially dangerous and he would immediately class it as troublesome but the kind of troublesome that will tempt him beyond belief." Temari said giving the boys a smile again. Now Shikamaru was giving her an odd look and Chouji was blushing as they ordered. "He'll agree but first we have to corner him and ask nicely until he agrees."

"And if he doesn't?" Sasuke asked and Temari turned in her seat too look at him.

"Then we have to think about employing Gaara's unique persuasive skills." she answered and Sasuke nodded in agreement. Looking to Hinata to see if she approved.

"Lets hope. He agrees before then." Hinata stated after a sigh but agreed none the less. Violence didn't have to be the first course of action even if they were a gang.

"Good. Let her out Bunion." Temari said rising from her seat. Ten-ten got up and let Hinata put of their seat.

"Good luck." she told them as Hinata followed Temari over to the boys. Hinata have her a thumbs up behind her back without looking back. Sasuke shrugged when Ten-ten looked to him for confirmation that this might work.

Temari smiled brightly as she approached them.

"Shikamaru! Chouji!" she said cheerfully as she threw and arm around each of them. Hinata smiled and waved in greeting. "It's so nice to see you both out of school."

"What do you want?" Shikamaru asked getting straight up the point. He had know something was up before she even got up.

"You actually." the blond answered removing her hand from Chouji. She smiled at the bigger boy even as she steered his friend away. "We're borrowing him for a moment."

"Um ok..." Chouji uttered in confusion as the girls leaf his friend away. Hinata had even given him a small smile. He looked back across at Sasuke and Ten-ten who were quite content to watch things happen. If they weren't worried why should be be?

"So Pineapple, do you like girls or boys?" Temari asked pulling him towards the bathrooms.

"Girls. Why-" he began to answer but was cut off by Tenari pushing him into the girls' bathroom. "What are you-"

"Shut up Fruit." Temari told him and he sighed with an irrited look. Hinata was leaned against the row of counter connecting the sinks. She had a perfectly blank look that he had never seen on her before. Odd. "We have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Shikamaru repeated with a bored look but his mind was working a mile a minute to figure out what they could possible want from him. There was nothing he could think about that they could possibly want from him unless it involved homework maybe. People just wanted him for his brain most times.

"Something to occupy your time."

"I already have something that does that. It's called sleep."

"Oh he's funny too. Knew I liked him." Temari said to Hinata. She turned sparkling eyes back to him. "Something else completely."

"Wow me." he said sarcastically.

"We want you to going a gang." Temari said bluntly. Shikamaru stated at her for a full minute just processing the statement and waiting for the punch line. It didn't come.

"You're serious." he stated and

"Obviously." Temari stated with an impressive roll of the eyes. "I don't mouth off, Brains. Hinata don't joke like that either."

"Ok." he said slowly and looking between both of them cautiously. "What would you need me for?"

"Hacking."

"How would I do that?" he asked.

"Don't be stupid, we know you can." Temari chided with another roll of her eyes. He looked from Temari to Hinata again. Hinata had yet to say anything. She merely watched with a blank look from where she was leaned quite comfortably against the counter. She didn't even seem to be paying attention and was merely staring at the wall opposite her and away from Temari and himself.

"What about you?" he asked her and Hinata turned her away from the wall. She stared into his eyes with her own pale blank eyes.

"What about me?" she asked flatly in a tone that suggested she was asking what he wanted to know about her.

"What's your part in all of this?" he asked slightly unnerved by flatness of her voice and the eery blankness of her face and the almost lifeless nature her pale eyes had taken on. It was so unnerving it bordered on intimidating. It was such an abnormal thing to see on Hinata who was usually so sweet and caring and shy. She wasn't so shy looking recently but this was no where near her usual behaviour.

"I call the shots." she said simply before turning her attention elsewhere. From the widening of his eyes she could tell he was shocked.

"You?" Shikamaru asked disbelievingly.

"Yea. Got a problem?" Temari asked instead with a glare. His attention was immediately brought back to her.

"No." he answered quickly. Nobody was stupid enough to not listen to Temari and absolute no one was crazy enough to disagree with her when she had a glare like that pinned on them. "Why do you need me though? Couldn't it have been anyone else?"

"No. We only want the best with the potential to get even better." Temari told him in a blasé manner. "Dude it's the only thing you enjoy other than sleeping."

"Say yes." Hinata told him but she wasn't looking at him. He absently thought 'that wall must be very interesting'. He looked from Temari to Hinata with a thoughtful yet bored look as he thought about the offer for another minute.

"When do I start?" he finally asked and Temari grinned widely.

"Hand me your phone." she said and immediately snatched it from him when he pulled it out. She quickly tapped her number into the phone as she spoke. "I was beginning to think I might have to use 'reason' and 'persuasion'"

"You would have punched me?" Shikamaru asked

"Punching you would be the least of what I would do to you." she told him as the took a picture of herself for the contact photo.

"You would have let her do that?" Shekakaru asked Honata. He believed that Temari would have hurt him badly. There were still rumours going around about her and her brothers and that was a few years ago. People could change but people like her would never forget how to completely destroy someone. Hinata was sweet and innocent.

Hinata turned her eyes back to him with a small smile. "What kind of boss would I be if I didn't try all means necessary?"

"Yup. She'd let me." Temari stated at his shocked look before quickly snapping a pic of Hinata and handing it to Shikamaru.

"We'll call you." Hinata stated before leaving the bathroom.

"You're taking me out to dinner this weekend." Temari told him before leaving as well.

"Ok." He muttered.