Eva: *sighs* FINALLY, I managed to post an update before I start school... which is 2 days away. Man this summer vacation went by fast. I really appreciate everyone reading and/or reviewing this story for being patient with me! Thank you so much! Hopefully my next update won't take this long again, but with school and work it will more than likely be more difficult to update right away.

Temari walked side by side with Shikamaru through the dark streets of Konoha, their only source of light being the street lamps and the moon. By the end of the first half of the Chunin Exams, many of the tourists and villagers that normally roamed the streets had returned to their homes or inns.

"I guess this is how your village usually is at night?" Temari looked over in Shikamaru's direction.

"Yeah, more or less," Shikamaru gave a short nod.

"I have to admit, Shikamaru, you did pretty well proctoring the exams today." Temari smiled a little.

"Think so huh?" Shikamaru smirked a bit. "Thanks. I'd be lying if I said I weren't a little surprised to hear you say that."

"I'm not above giving compliments." Temari shook her head. "That shadow possession jutsu of yours came in handy."

"I'm just glad there weren't too many fights I had to break up for going overboard. It's a drag having to use it for stuff like that." Shikamaru sighed.

"I bet." Temari chuckled. "Oh, that reminds me, your birthday is coming up pretty soon, isn't it?"

"To be honest, I haven't given it much thought since I had been so wrapped up in preparing and proctoring for the first half of the exams." Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head.

"What, did you forget or something?" Temari smirked teasingly.

"Of course not," Shikamaru snorted in derision. "It's just that celebrating it hasn't been my top priority at the moment. Plus I'm not really big on birthdays, not my own anyway."

Despite the fact that Shikamaru wasn't a fan of huge birthday celebrations, that didn't stop Kaede and Choji from throwing him and Ino one at the Yakiniku Q restaurant last year.

'Maybe we could do something simple like that again…' Shikamaru mentally mused to himself.

"Fair enough, "Temari nodded. "Even if you aren't, I'd still like to get you something."

"Sure, I don't mind." Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, albeit flashing a lazy smile.

"Try to hold your enthusiasm." Temari rolled her eyes.

Temari stopped walking, causing Shikamaru to stop and stare at her in confusion. "I'll be okay from here, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru noticed they had stopped in front of the entrance to the hot springs. "Oh, all right then."

"You don't wanna go in?" Temari frowned.

"To be honest the only thing I really wanna go in is my bed. I'm dead tired…" Shikamaru yawned for emphasis.

"All right, if you're sure." Temari chuckled, taking a step closer to Shikamaru. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Shikamaru nodded before Temari gave him a peck on the cheek and headed inside the hot springs.

Temari changed out of her clothes in the changing room and proceeded to remove the ponytail holders from her hair. While she was changing, she could make out the sounds of other girls talking in the hot spring, but she blocked their voices out until she caught wind of a familiar name being spoken.

"I won't push you this time if you don't want to, Kaede."

'Looks like Kaede-san is here too. I haven't seen her in a while.' Temari ran her fingers through her hair.

Temari couldn't help but wonder what was being talked about for a moment, but she quickly chastised and reminded herself that it wasn't any of her business… that is until she heard Kaede finally speak and say something quite interesting.

"I… even though I've tried moving on by meeting or going out with other people, I'm still… I'm still in love with Shikamaru. That hasn't changed." Temari felt her eyes slowly dilate in size. "I really want to be happy for him as his best friend, but it's just so hard because I also want to be happy, with him. It's hard to picture myself being happy with someone else, but I think Sayu has a right to know how I feel too if he really does have feelings for me."

Temari took a small step back, clutching the towel close to her body. 'She's in love with Shikamaru?'

The thought of Kaede being in love with Shikamaru hadn't crossed Temari's mind. But when Temari recalled the day she found Kaede hugging Shikamaru in the library, it did give an inkling of how close Kaede was to Shikamaru. And after hearing Kaede's words about her true feelings toward Shikamaru, it only helped confirm for Temari just how close Kaede wanted to be.

'It probably wouldn't be a wise to go in there now. The last thing I need to do is have them suspect that I overheard their conversation.'

Her mind made up, Temari grabbed her clothes and changed back into them before leaving the hot springs.

Sakura and Ino remained silent for a moment before Ino decided to speak up.

"So I guess all that's left for you to decide right now is when to tell Sayu the truth."

"Yeah, I think that might be one of my harder decisions. This whole 'being honest with myself and my friends is definitely easier said than done."

"That's true; the truth can be hard to hear sometimes." Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sure you'll figure it out though, Kaede."

"I sure hope so." Kaede sighed in exasperation.

"Well, when you do figure out when and what you want to tell him, do you plan to go to his place and tell him in person?" Ino questioned.

Kaede went quiet before her expression turned blank. "I don't even know where he lives."

"I'm sure someone could give you a lead on where he might be staying if you ask around the village." Sakura suggested.

"Now that I think about it, Lee might know since he's been training with him." Kaede mused aloud.

"So there you go! Just ask Lee if he knows." Ino concluded. "You can do that while we're out at the shopping district tomorrow."

"Wait a minute, Ino." Kaede frowned. "My plan wasn't to spend my day off shopping tomorrow. Plus I'm still a bit sore from—"

"Ah, ah," Ino waved her finger and grinned. "Kaede, last year you told me you'd make it up to me after you cancelled to go shopping with me."

"It's not like I wanted to get out of going shopping with you; I had to go on a field mission with Shizune-sensei that day. What was I supposed to do?" Kaede whined.

"All right, I understand. I don't wanna force you to go window shopping tomorrow and help me decide what kind of birthday presents I want." Ino gave a dramatic sigh. "Even though I went through so much trouble planning your birthday party, it's no big deal."

"The classic guilt trip huh?" Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Yeah, works every time." Kaede muttered under her breath.

Ino smiled in delight before she stepped out of the water. "So you'll be ready to leave tomorrow afternoon to go to the Shopping District with me?"

'After pulling a guilt trip like that, how can I say no?' Kaede stifled a sigh and nodded.

"Good, just don't forget… or stay in the water too long. Last time you almost fell asleep." Ino laughed before she walked into the changing room.

"I won't, Ino." Kaede's face grew hot with embarrassment.

"I think I'm gonna get out too. I'm starting to prune." Sakura looked down at her pruning fingers before she followed Ino's lead. "Are you coming, Kaede?"

"Nah, I think I need to soak a little longer and think some stuff over." Kaede declined.

"I see; I'll leave you to it then." Sakura smiled before she joined Ino in the changing room.

Kaede sighed in relief before she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, the image of Yasu and Shikamaru's face popped into her mind.

'I hope I'll be able to figure all this out soon…'

"Ugh, I think I soaked in the hot springs too long." Kaede trudged wearily out of her room and into the bathroom. After splashing some cold water on her face and drying off, she made her way into the dining room.

"Well, you certainly know how to take it easy on your day off."

"Good morning, Ino," Kaede looked over her shoulder at a frowning Ino.

"It's almost noon, Kaede." Ino deadpanned.

"Is it really that late?" Kaede rubbed her eyes. "I hadn't even looked at the clock yet."

"Honestly, Kaede, you're starting to sound like Shikamaru. I told you staying in the hot springs after Sakura and I left would be a bad idea." Ino shook her head in slight amusement.

"Can you blame me? I haven't had a chance to soak in that hot spring for ages." Kaede scowled, averting her gaze.

Even though Kaede knew it wasn't a good idea to sit in the hot spring for a long period of time, she didn't regret it; it gave her time to reflect on what she was going to tell Yasu.

"Well, whatever. What's done is done." Ino sighed. "I wasn't planning to leave until I had a little lunch first anyway."

"So I guess everyone else is up?" Kaede noticed that Ino was already dressed, but in a more casual attire that consisted of an orange shirt with a green outline and white pants.

"Yep, mom is out grocery shopping and dad is taking care of the flower shop." Ino nodded.

"Okay, well, how bout I get dressed and we'll both have some lunch before we head out to the Shopping District?" Kaede offered.

"That's what I was hoping for." Ino smiled. "Plus you can start looking around for a birthday gift for Shikamaru too."

"That's right, his birthday is right before yours. Do you think he'd have something planned with Temari already?"

"Even if he did that shouldn't stop you from buying him a present. Who knows, maybe your present will top hers?"

"It's not that I wanna top her gift, I'm just worried that I won't be able to celebrate his birthday the way we did last year since he's already with someone who can do that with him. I wouldn't blame him if he wanted to spend his birthday with his girlfriend this year."

"You should cut yourself some slack, Kaede." Ino encouraged. "You're one of Shikamaru's best friends, and just because he's got a girlfriend doesn't mean he can't celebrate it with you too."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Kaede smiled a little.

"Okay, now enough moping. We've got some shopping to do!" Ino urged.

Eva: Okay, so I know some of you might have seen this chapter as a filler, but this chapter is really a building block for the next few chapters. So there's more to come! Thanks for reading! ^-^