Disclaimer: n. - the act of disclaiming; the renouncing, repudiating, or denying of a claim; disavowal.

It's short and it isn't good, but at least it's here.

*ACTION*

*Head Bong*

Konoha

"Hello my darling," Kiba smiled, leaning over the counter to kiss Ino. "I am amazing, did you know that?"

She laughed as she stepped out from behind the counter. "No, I wasn't aware."

"Well you should take a note because it is official," he grinned lopsidedly. "Isn't that right, Akamaru?"

The giant dog yipped gleefully, his tail beating steadily against the floor.

"He's biased," Ino pointed out shifting a display a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "And what exactly has happened to convince you of your awesomeness?"

"I just got assigned to lead a training squad on a survival mission. Teaching a bunch of genin extra survival tactics. My first major leadership position," he kissed her again, dangling a take-out bag in front of her. "And I brought you lunch."

"That's amazing," Ino replied, her excitement for him clear. Reaching for the take-out bag, she moved to sit behind the desk. "Are you nervous? Awe, how did you know I loved this salad?"

"I'll never reveal my sources," he laughed.

"So are you?" she prodded breaking into her lunch.

He scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile. "Heh...maybe a little. I don't think it's more than I can handle, but the idea of having genins' lives in your care is… well it's a sobering realization. It's always sobering. Taking them out of the country always comes with extra risk, well you know that."

This was one of those moments she realized how much they'd all grown up. His recognition of how important a mission like this was even if it wasn't the flashy, high ranking kind he usually wanted. It made her smile softly.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," he told her his smile falling. "I was hoping I'd be home longer, but Tsunade wants us gone and back while things are calm. You know how seldom that happens."

Her smile was sadder when she said, "Oh, well, it is a great opportunity. How long will you be gone?"

He looked like a toddler who had been caught in a lie and was being forced to apologize. She did not have to be able to read body language to see how uncomfortable he was. Kiba's entire body held tension and nerves as he mumbled, "At least a month."

Ino grabbed his hand and pulled him close. She stood up on her toes, placing her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her to deepen the kiss. They'd been going in such a causal way that she was surprised at how sad his impeding departure made her. To see and feel him express that same sadness shocked her. They hadn't been back from their trek to Suna long enough to fully explore the parameters of this new relationship.

When he backed her against the counter, she went to break the kiss. Anyone could just walk in on them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Akamaru nudge the deadbolt with his nose and turn the Open sign around. She wasn't sure why she was surprised. When the big white dog laid himself in front of the door facing the opposite direction she almost laughed. Kiba's attention pulled her mind away from the nin-dog's actions.

*Head Bong*

Land of Fire

Kankuro and Tenten had been enjoying a relatively leisurely pace as they crossed through the Land of Hot Water. They'd spent a night at a hot spring and were developing a decent friendship. Tenten couldn't believe how much she was enjoying herself. He was a great sparring partner, fun to talk to, and he made her laugh.

They'd finished setting up their camp for the night. In friendly territory once more she felt herself relax. Every time she crossed back into the Land of Fire a pressure she didn't notice released. She wondered if Kankuro still felt uneasy being in friendly territory, but not home. How anyone would be relaxed in the desert, she didn't know. In all honesty, she couldn't truly imagine him letting his guard down anywhere, he was like Neji that way.

She was about to ask him about his homeland when he broke the silence.

"Not in a hurry to get back to that boyfriend of yours then?"

She was taken aback. They hadn't mentioned Neji since the beginning of their mission. To a point, their mission had been so much fun it had put her relationship problems completely from her mind.

"What makes you say that?" she asked feeling off guard.

"You had us stop and make camp with almost two hours of sunlight still left in the day. It's not like we need the rest. Now that we're back in the Land of Fire pushing all night wouldn't put us in any danger. We could be back in Konoha before morning," he reminded her. "If we'd been travelling at your break neck speed we'd probably have been this morning."

She could feel herself flush. She'd been unconsciously slowing down. When she realized how much she was dreading saying good bye to him she felt ashamed of herself. She ought to be hurrying home as quickly as possible once the mission was over. Her village needed her back not turning her current mission into a leisurely vacation. Beyond that, Kankuro's village needed him back too.

"I'm not judging, I wouldn't be in a rush to go back to him either," he said gruffly, crossing his arms behind his head.

She glared at him. That comment seemed unnecessary.

"It has nothing to do with that," she bit back trying to keep the tension out of her face.

"Of course it does," he said. "You let your world revolve around him."

"I do not!" she snapped.

He snorted.

"I don't!"

"Sure," Kankuro said with thick sarcasm.

Tenten could feel her stubbornness rising sharply with the tension in her shoulders. "What the hell is your problem?"

"I don't have one," he glared, "I was just making an observation. You're the one snapping at me."

"Why don't you keep your observations to yourself. I never asked for your opinion on my love life."

He snorted again at her use of the word 'love'.

"What?"

"I thought you wanted me to keep my opinions to myself," he bit back.

"Oh!" she growled. "You're insufferable!"

He watched her storm out of the clearing and sighed. Punching his packing that he was using as a pillow, he rolled over. He hadn't meant to start the fight. He never meant to start a fire, but it seemed to be his gift. Things had been going so well. Since they'd crossed into the Land of Fire all he could think about was that they'd be separating soon. She'd go back to that the pretentious Hyuuga and he'd go home. The thought of seeing either one of his siblings fawning over their new found loves made him sour. He was happy for them, but that didn't mean it wasn't irritating. Gaara wasn't all that different with Hinata around. Gaara's feelings were never obvious. That didn't mean he couldn't see his little brother's happiness. He assumed Temari was happy, but she didn't express her feelings in the most normal way either. Family speciality he supposed.

With another deep sigh, he thought he ought to go after Tenten. His penitent for saying the wrong thing kept him right where he was. He looked to where her bag sat across the clearing and took heart. She hadn't taken anything with her. When he woke up she'd be there. Pissed off as all get out, but she'd be there.

He'd really been trying to say he was glad they'd slowed down and that he was going to miss her company. Why had he thought to start that off with a jab at her relationship?

Because he was a Sabaku. And Sabaku's didn't 'emotion' well.

*Head Bong*

Suna

"Gaara…you do realize that I can still s-see with the blindfold on?" Hinata laughed as he led her to her "surprise". He'd tied her headband securely around her eyes before leading her forward.

"Well I trust you not to peek," he said. He had thought over how to share this with her. How he could share himself with her more fully.

Hinata smiled as he walked her forward. She was eager to see what he had in store for her. He'd had an unusual glint in his eyes when he collected her for their evening. She couldn't say she was an overly big fan of surprises, but his excitement was infecting her too.

Gaara had led her to a part of town she was unfamiliar with before telling her to close her eyes. From what she could tell they'd continued towards the edge of town, but he was right, she hadn't peeked. When they stepped onto a solid surface, she was grateful. While the more popular roads were quite solid, they'd been on path where the sand kept shifting beneath her feet.

"Where are we?" she could smell the most delicious food. She suspected it was coming from the evening market vendors. The hollowness of hunger in her stomach gave a small grumble.

"Almost there."

She hoped 'there' had food.

"There's some steps coming up," he warned her.

The flights of stairs seemed to continue forever in Hinata's opinion. She couldn't think of a single building in Suna that was this high. When they finally reached the top she almost tripped looking for another step. Apologizing, he led her forwards and took the headband off.

In front of her, the desert stretched on forever. Darkness completely unimpeded except for the glittering of stars far out on the horizon. The moon, half waned, didn't overpower the light of the stars at all. It took her breath away. The expanse of the desert was awe inspiring in its endlessness.

They were at one of the outposts just beyond the town wall of Suna. It was a completely open observatory deck. Part of it was shielded by a roof and there was an enclosed room behind to shelter sentries from a sudden storm. When she turned to look at him she saw that the covered part had been set with a dinner table. It was decorated with dozens of candles casting an intimate light that didn't detract from the night sky. Flowers and food covered the table. An ice bucket with wine sat at the corner. It was the perfect intimate dinner for a special occasion and he'd put it together just because.

Hinata reached for his hand not knowing how to express how amazing this was. "I can't believe you did all of this."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. Leading her to the table, he pulled her chair out for her.

"This is one of my favourite places in Suna," he told her as he poured their drinks. "I used to come here when I was younger."

"Its beautiful," she said, looking out at the sky again.

"Its one of the few places I had where I could think."

Hinata noticed his change in expression. Sharing things from his childhood was not easy. She'd never pushed for him to explain despite how much she wanted to get to know him. He slowly started to tell her about his childhood. About some of the assassination attempts and how Temari and Kankuro had been kept away from him as a child. Later they'd been taught to fear him, but by that point he was something to be feared.

When she saw him tensing up, she reached across the table. Folding her small hand over his, she gave it a gentle squeeze. He looked up at her and she smiled softly. They continued to eat and she told him a bit about her childhood. The happier bits she remembered from before the Kumo ninja had tried to kidnap her. There wasn't a lot to tell since she'd been so young. Glossing over some of the details, she told him about her academy days. Hinata shared the goofy antics of her year mates.

They'd finished dinner awhile ago. The plates lay forgotten alongside the mostly empty glasses of wine. A servant, or someone, had brought coffee at some point, but Hinata hadn't even seen them. A tray of sweets had shown up at some point too. When the sun peaked up at the edge of the desert Hinata was shocked. They'd started dinner quite late, but it still completely shocked her when those first tendrils of light hit the sand. If the night sky had been beautiful, this was brilliant.

"Oh Gaara," she sighed. "It's so beautiful."

He couldn't take his eyes off her as the sun rose. Its warm light washed over her face and her pale skin glowed.

"Would you come with me?"

She let out a small breath. "I—where?" She smiled and finally took her eyes off the sunrise. "Where did you want to go?"

"I wanted to show you something else, if you're not too tired."

"Of course."

He took her hand and led her back towards the village. The smells hit her nose before she anything else. Her stomach grumbled at the delicious sent of fried breads and other breakfast foods. She wasn't sure how she could still be hungry. They'd neared the village centre where the morning market took place. Gaara and Hinata jumped to the roof that overlooked the bazaar. He wanted to have a few more moments just the two of them.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" she asked.

Looking down they could see the bustling snake that market was. It weaved its way through several streets with only the vaguest sense of order. New vendors opened up down various streets as merchants came and went. The centre was always the same. Those vendors had been there often for generations. Their booths were strong and sometimes connected to the building around them. It was somewhat different than the markets Hinata was used to. She had loved watching the Suna markets since the first day she'd arrived. People watching had always fascinated her. Watching people that were so different than those she'd grown up around only made her realize how alike the two villages really were.

"Yes," he said, his deep voice very warm.

Hinata watched him as he looked down on his people. He was watching over them, she realized that was the only proper explanation.

She had shown him the isolated haven of his childhood. A place that held no truly good memories. One where he'd been able to hide in isolation. This was different. This was the place where he could be around his people. Being in the street would be overwhelming and incredibly disruptive to the market. That this was the place he'd wanted to show her made emotion swell in her chest. In one evening, he'd shown her who he was and who he had become. It was telling in a way she doubted he would ever be comfortable doing with words. She wasn't entirely certain that he could explain it with mere words. Part of her wondered if he even realized how he'd picked these places to show her.

"Hinata…"

She blushed when he caught her staring at him.

"Yes Gaara?" she prodded. He sounded very unsure of himself. It was not something she was used to hearing in his voice.

"I…I'm still not very good at expressing…" he trailed off again, making her all the more curious. "Hinata, I want to tell you—rather I think that…"

Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe what he was trying to say. He was still mumbling through the words, his eyes firmly fixed on the sandy roof in front of him.

He was shocked when the shy Hyuuga reached forward and grabbed his shirt. She placed her lips on his so suddenly that he couldn't even react. When she broke away he continued to stare at her.

"I love you too."

Gaara smiled and pulled her into him. He kissed her properly wondering what in the world he had done to deserve such happiness.

*Head Bong*

Konoha

Shikamaru was gone when Temari woke up which she was glad for as she ran to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach almost immediately.

'Nothing like consistency,' she thought sardonically leaning her head against the cool porcelain.

Her morning didn't get better when she arrived at her office and began opening the large pile of letters that had been left on her desk.

Beyond the other messes she now had to deal with there sat a formal offer of marriage from the Land of Water that Gaara had forwarded to her.

Very obviously, she thought, the answer was no. Beyond the horror of becoming some fat lord's wife, she was also quite sure that the tiny human currently giving her heart burn would put some strain on the honeymoon this man had in mind.

By the time she had met with most of the people on her calendar for the day the sun had gone down. Her head was splitting and she was so hungry she was ready to devour the next edible thing she saw. Her food cravings were starting to kick in and she found herself thinking fondly of Korean BBQ and blueberry pancakes.

Bursting into her office, Shikamaru was disappointed to see that he had missed her. He caught sight of a very formal looking letter from the Land of Water on the desk. Not remembering any delegation meeting he was supposed to arrange for them, he quickly scanned the letter. The date on the letter was almost a week old. An irrational anger filled him that drove logic and reason from his mind. The eager excitement he had arrived with vanished as he turned and slammed the door of her office shut.

The quick walk to the Manor was enough time for his thoughts to multiple. An aggressive conga line of 'What could she be thinking?' and 'Did she even think to talk to me about this?' was marching through his head. He pounded on the door to the Manor his temperament clear.

"Shikamaru?" Temari asked sleepily having just woken up from a nap. "What are you doing here?"

"When were you going to tell me?"

Her eyes went wide, "Tell you what?"

"Don't act dumb Temari it doesn't suit you," he snapped pushing his way past her into the Manor.

She'd never seen Shikamaru angry before and it caught her off guard, "It's not an act, I'm not sure what you want me to say. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I don't know why you didn't just tell me about instead of tip toeing around it? Is this why you were panicking about our relationship? You could've just told me out right."

"Well if I'd known you were going to take it so well..." she snapped, making a mental note to murder Sakura. How else could he have found out that she was pregnant?

"Please, there's a difference between finding something like this out second hand to being told."

"Shikamaru, I'm sorry... I just didn't know how to tell you. Especially when I've already made up my mind—"

"You have?" he asked, the shock sapping his anger from him.

"Of course I have!" she snapped back.

"Were you even going to tell me about the offer or just go through with it and send me an RSVP card?"

She was confused again, "A—I…what?"

"The letter Temari! I saw the letter! I thought it was kind of ridiculous how you were panicking about the future. Now I see you were just looking for an excuse. I should've known you couldn't make a serious emotional commitment if your life depended on it."

"I—what?" she shouted back. "You're always hopping on the edge between casual and serious!"

"At least I took the initiative to tell you how I felt."

"Which, apparently, you barely meant," she snapped, folding her arms defensively across her chest.

"I barely meant? That's just like you to twist things around and make me wrong."

"It's not hard when anyone with a pair of eyes can see you're still hung up on your imaginary wife. She doesn't exist Shikamaru. I shouldn't even be surprised that you came here yelling instead of trying to fight for me! That sweet-tempered, perfect wife of yours isn't even real and you love her more than you could ever love me!" she snapped feeling the tears burning her eyes. She grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and threw it at him. The decorative crystal bowl smashed where his head had been.

He didn't even bother responding, he just turned and left.

When he got home, he was no less angry. He slammed his fist through the wall with a yell of fury.

He stood in his kitchen exhausted by his own rage. Fishing the small box out of his pocket, he opened it and looked at the small ring. It was simple, but perfect.

"How stupid could I be," he muttered to himself snapping the box shut and tossing it into the drawer. Slamming it shut, he walked away and sighed: "It was a dumb idea anyways..."

*Head Bong*

*CUT*

I fee like such a jerk. I have truly been awful at updating. We all owe Loyal596's latest review for making feel guilty enough to go and finish the latest chapter. Please note that the next one will take at least eight months. I'm writing my Honours thesis and spend very little time writing for pleasure. Thank you for your continued interest. Please review, I love hearing from you guys. Comments and criticism alike, but like mostly praise. In my rush to get the stories rolling/have enough to post, I've been Thanks again!

I actually realized that despite how much I love the pairing Gaara-Hinata, I have a hard time writing it. Neither character is really someone I identifying strongly with. Writing Temari's hot headedness and stubbornness comes much easier XD