Disclaimer: . . . One day. You'll see . . .

Britni: Those bastards decided to go celebrate having not killed Shikamaru, and didn't invite me. So I used my spare time to type up the final chapter to this story. Hope you enjoy!!! (stalks off to take anger out on some unsuspecting citizens)

oooOOOooo

True to his word, Gaara was waiting patiently at the hotel when three forms materialized in the gloom at the edge of the living area. The doors to the balcony adjoining the room, which the Kazekage had graciously left open, clicked shut quietly behind his siblings and their guest. It took no more than a semi-conscious thought because rippling streams of sand moved sluggishly along the carpeted floor, creating a surreal, animated webwork under their feet.

It was only one thin tendril that retracted from the doors, but countless others writhed soundlessly below. And the sand was vibrating with anticipation for more orders. Blood ones. Gaara could feel the element almost aching for death and the thick crimson liquid that gave life and snatched it away. Too long under the influence of Shukaku had tainted the impulsive protection of sand that took refuge in his gourd. His mother's sand. But it was only a whispering want that the scarlet-haired shinobi had learned to block out as a child. The sand would not reach out unless he wished it and no thought was required to keep the dangerous substance creeping guardfully on the ground.

It stayed there now as Gaara watched uneasiness and unsurety slip into the gazes of the other three. His own cradled his sister's dark emerald eyes when she whipped her head up from studying the moving floor to stare intently at him. Temari wasn't quite prepared for the respect radiating in his bright irises. She cocked her head lightly in curiosity. Gaara vividly recalled the confrontation that had transpired only minutes before, and though his face retained its resolute heartlessness, his gaze held a soft warmth as he consciously praised the kunoichi before him.

The Kazekage had acted upon impulse. As he looked back on his actions, he knew them to be foolish. He had only heard a declaration that his sister would leave them on the fault of one lazy genius. No more. He had been deaf to the reasons behind this possibility; couldn't even recall now if his siblings had ever discussed them. Then again, the boy doubted he would have believed them even if they had. His sister? His Temari, who could fall victim to no other's will, who's temper flared at the slightest sign of insolence, who's bite could be just as deadly as her bark. Gaara, despite the beliefs of those around him, understood what love was. But Temari and love, the kind that involve much more than a simple fondness of friends and family, were two subjects the ex-jinchuuriki would never had found himself capable of stringing together in the same sentence. At least, not until he had witnessed it with his own eyes. When he had set off with the intention of killing a certain member of the Nara clan, Gaara had not possessed the knowledge that love was what threatened his family, not Shikamaru.

Temari and the indolent shinobi had always bickered. Fighting was in the Sabaku nature, and the do-I-give-a-damn personality of Konoha's genius stoked Suna kunoichi's anger to the point where it seemed to never die. And yet, somehow, the impossible had occurred. Temari and Shikamaru had fallen for one another.

Gaara chided himself for not seeing it the moment he entered the clearing. Not having expected to see his family there, the fact that they had been and were protecting the shadow wielder should have been his first and only clue. The young Kazekage had refused to accept the telltale signs, however, and restrained his own sister. In doing so, he had hoped to get to the bottom of the frustrating situation as well as prevent Temari from interfering. Gaara had held faith in his kagutsu-controlling brother, thinking the puppeteer to have tagged along to keep their sister from doing something foolish and likely help his brother to show the Konoha kid what happened to those who dared to jeopardize their family. This assumption had been drawn from the look of utter loathing the puppeteer had been boring into the back of the other jounin's head when Gaara had snook up undetected.

If the way Kankurou had rounded savagely on his younger brother was any hint, Gaara had assumed incorrectly. His lips twitched in amusement now as he remembered the heated, one-sided conversation his brother had forced him to endure.

Kankurou growled his frustration. A strong hand reached into the weapons pouch strapped to his thigh to retrieve a single kunai knife. It pierced through the air a moment later only to gouge itself harmlessly in his brother's protective sand, inches from his temple. The puppeteer smirked triumphantly as Gaara's bright eyes widened in surprise then narrowed dangerously, his head snapping around to gaze expectantly at the painted jounin. His sand melted down and took the kunai with it. That little ruse had succeeded in catching his attention.

"She'll never forgive you." Kankurou trying to take the opportunity to try and reason with him. But when he lowered his arm, for his sand had solidified by this time and no longer required his orders, Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow in question. Why would she have to forgive him for eliminating the boy who was threatening to steal her away?

Kankurou saw the confusion and couldn't withhold his mirth, his deep laughter rumbling in his chest as he held his stomach. Gaara frowned. Being laughed at was not an experience he planned to deal with. When the puppeteer glimpsed the boiling irritation, he held up a hand in surrender and did his best to control the amusement by clamping his painted lips shut for a few moments. Gaara waited patiently for the explanation.

Kankurou smiled knowingly. "You haven't figure out why Temari would leave, have you?" When Gaara said nothing but instead narrowed his stare, Kazekage signal for 'get to the damn point', the kugutsu user's smile broadened. "She loves him."

"I don't believe you." His reply was immediate and self-assured. Kankurou bristled at being accused of lying, and when his younger brother shifted his attention back to Temari and Shikamaru, his temper snapped and he renewed his yelling with vigor.

"Damn brat!! If you make any move towards that rotten bastard," Shikamaru frowned at this, "Temari will leave for sure! I know you want us to stick together, but if that idiot gets hurt," again he received a fierce look of spite from the Konoha shinobi, "Temari will be pissed. You have to trust that she would never abandon us for some lazy prick like him!" At this point Shikamaru gave an exasperated sigh and determinedly tuned them out, putting his hands together and turning instead to a daze Temari. "She has feelings for him, however bewildering that is, and she'd never forgive us for beating the hell out him. No matter how appealing the idea is." Kankurou muttered the last part and turned a resentful stare to the Konoha jounin. He noticed the shadow stretching across the lush clearing and narrowed his gaze, catching the attention of Gaara who brimmed with hostility when he caught sight of it.

Then Temari's fury cut through the air, catching them all off guard. Gaara, most immune to his sister's wrath, was the first to brush her off and therefor receiving the brutal focus of her displeasure. When the Kazekage locked gazes with the confined Temari, he knew Kankurou had not lied to him. Love, and a devotion to protect that love, had burned within the recesses of her dark irises.

Gaara's smile faded. He was still as perplexed as his brother as to how their sister had fallen for the likes of the leaf jounin. He was lazy, unmotivated, complained incessantly, was rather chauvinistic, and enjoyed the company of a large boy that never seemed to stop eating and a girl who was the very definition of annoying. His only good trait was his intelligence.

The three others looked expectantly in his direction, Shikamaru attempting valiantly to ignore the malevolent sands slithering and shifting around his feet. Gaara flicked a critical glance at Kankurou, relaying a silent message to the puppeteer by frowning at the shadow wielder with skepticism. The puppeteer gave a nod that only his brother could discern, and discreetly reached for one of the scrolls strapped to his back. Standing behind his sister and the supposed genius it was easy to have his movements go unnoticed.

But Temari had detected that some unseen message had passed between her brothers, and wearily took a few steps to the side so the she could keep a cautious eye on both of them. Kankurou wasn't able to hide his intentions quick enough and her temper sparked. Her lips parted to ask what the hell he was doing, but the words never came out.

Gaara was behind Temari, surpassing her height by a few inches. None of them had witnessed the Kazekage form the seal required to shunshin. Instinctively, Shikamaru stepped forward when the kunoichi's sage eyes widened with surprise but in the next instant seven hidden blades barred his way, each of which he knew was coated with a deadly poison. The Konoha jounin wasn't utterly dense and moved back obediently, away from Temari and her younger brother. Slowly, the weapons retracted to melt back into the hidden compartments of the duo puppets now arranged strategically at his back. Had it not been for his current position, held captive by two of the most formidable males in the Wind country in a hotel full of Sunagakure's most elite shinobi, he would have adorned a lazy grin. So much for Kankurou being on their side.

Temari tensed as the puppeteer summoned Karasu and Kuroari, only leaving out Sanshouuo because the salamander's size and weight would give it difficulty maneuvering within the confined space and likely wake the slumbering guards on the floor below. Kankurou could feel his sister attempting to drill a hole in the side of his head with the intensity of her enraged gaze, but he ignored it. Instead he kept his concentration focused solely on his puppets and manipulating the thread-like chakra strings emanating from each of his fingertips, trusting Gaara to sooth their sister's suspicions. Two scrolls, now blank of the black ink writing that had only recently been inscribed upon them, lay unfurled and presently disregarded behind the puppeteer.

Temari brimmed with anger. Her dark irises flashed dangerously and her fingers clenched. What the fuck were her brothers trying to pull?! Had Gaara not been standing at her back, she would have already smashed her painted sibling through the wall with a violent gust of wind. He was supposed to be on her side, damnit!! Not helping their younger brother murder a boy she had grown to love!

Keeping her feet planted firmly in their offensive stance, Temari whipped her head around; the worst of her sordid vocabulary on the fringes of her tongue. Then they were gone. Vanished. Forgotten. When her emerald gaze collided with Gaara's brighter one, all the boiling anger drained from the kunoichi's thoughts. All of the brutal intent swept away in a tide of understanding and trust as the fondness in his green stare struck her. Gaara smiled when he sensed his sister had calmed. It was only a meager upturn at the corner of of his lips, but it was a smile all the same. His voice was low so that only she would hear his words.

"Trust me, Tem." For a moment she did not respond. Then with a faithful smirk and a nod she stepped to the side, her muscles now relaxed and her doubts suppressed. She trusted him.

Gaara wasted no time, ready to get this entire ordeal over with. His icy gaze connected with Shikamaru's and for one silent moment the Kazekage simply studied the other, smile no longer brushing his lips. Crossing his arms, he finally broke the silence and addressed the Nara shinobi.

"Do you love her?"

"Yes." The reply was immediate and firm, and Gaara accepted it with a nod.

"Will you take care of her?"

"Yes." Again a sure, crisp response. Again a nod.

"Can you make her happy?" Shikamaru smiled slowly and his gaze drifted over to Temari, who was now leaning patiently against the far wall with her arms crossed over her chest and draped in shadows. Their eyes met.

"A difficult task, but I think I'll manage." Gaara's lips twitched in amusement as his sister frowned behind him. The red head fathomed that the Konoha jounin would pay for that slight later, and flourish bruises sometime tomorrow. He nodded approval of the response.

"Then you have my sanction." With that, Gaara turned and proceeded towards the hall that their bedrooms branched from, an official dismissal of the conversation. It was a silent message for Shikamaru to 'get out'. On his way to the dark corridor Gaara paused long enough to accept the loving embrace given to him by his sister, who had shoved off her position against the wall. Then he was gone.

In two steps Shikamaru stood in front of Temari, entwining his hands around her waist and claiming her plush lips with his own. The raging fires that simple contact ignited were difficult to ignore, but the jounin the jounin reluctantly pulled away from the kiss after a few seconds. He was well aware of the puppeteer's scowling presence this time. He brushed his lips over her ear, sending a shiver coursing through her body. "Your entire family is deranged." He only just managed to finish the amused whisper before he was forced to dodge a dynamic punch aimed for his abdomen. He was at the balcony door an instant later and easily tugged it open, his back to the room. One hand shoved into his pants pocket, he raised the other and offered a lazy farewell wave and made to jump off the ledge and head home.

A quick succession of pops and creaks suddenly sliced through the serene silence. Karasu and Kuroari discharged the sockets connecting their wooden limbs to their bodies, Kankurou directing the crackling symphony with the deftness of the kugutsushi he was. Before the Konoha jounin could react, two blades caressed the sensitive skin of his neck while three more fought for the best angle in which to pierce his chest and sink into the recessing of his beating heart. This new, unsuspected threat effectively held the leaf shinobi prisoner while Kankurou came up silently behind him, stopping inches away. Temari made no move to interfere, but instead gave an exasperated sigh and disappeared into the shadows of the hallway; intending to get some damn sleep before sunrise. She trusted Kankurou as much as she did Gaara.

No one but Shikamaru heard the puppeteer's threat.

"You might have our blessing, asshole, but if you hurt her, you'll die a slow death. Got it?" For emphasis, the poisoned blades prodded his olive-hued jounin vest. Despite his vulnerable position, Shikamaru managed to adorn a lazy grin. They're all worse than my mother.

"Got it." The weapons retracted with metallic 'shinks' and then Shikamaru was gone.

Yawning, as though he had not just threatened someone's life and welfare, Kankurou locked the doors and headed off to bed.

The End