To Tango
The scorching sun's rays beat mercilessly on Shikamaru as he jumped along the sand. He paused only to drink from his water canteen and check his position.
"Damn this sun. 'It'll be easy' she said! 'You'll hardly break a sweat'! My ass!" said Shikamaru, "I've broken more sweat then Chouji when he goes jogging."
Shikamaru became aware that he was standing next to two very vicious cobras. They had coiled themselves around his feet and now hissed menacingly at him.
"And to top it all off, I'm tied up by a pair of snakes! Damn you Tsunade, how you talked me into this I'll never know!"
Flashback
"Either you go or I'll rip your lungs out!" screamed Tsunade.
"Ok." replied Shikamaru meekly. Happy that she let him keep his precious organs.
End flashback
"Oh yeah, that's how"
Shikamaru spared no more time and strangled the two snakes with his shadow. After a quick lunch, which consisted of snakebobs, Shikamaru made his way to the sand village. After he showed his papers to the guards he looked around the city.
'Wow what a dump. No wonder Temari lives here.' he thought. 'All it needs is a landfill and you can change the name from the sand village to the slum village.'
"Hello their sir!" said a girl sitting at a counter.
"Hi there!" replied Shikamaru. 'Oh boy a local!'
"Admiring the view I see."
'Hardly.' thought Shikamaru. He observed the girl and found her to be just like the rest of the sand villagers. She had dirty blond hair, slightly tanned skin, and an average figure. The only thing that set her apart from the rest of the villagers was that she wore colorful clothing. A sharp contrast to the villagers' plain colored robes.
"You wouldn't happen to know where the Kazekage's office is?"
"So you're an outsider! The Kazekage's office is up that street." she said. Shikamaru thought he caught her checking him out.
"Thanks." he replied.
"You're welcome, hot stuff!" said the girl winking at him.
'Ok…I'm out of here'
Shikamaru made his way to the office, stopping only to untie himself from a clothes line that he accidentally got tangled up in. The Kazekage building was a dome made of sand bricks and crude mortar. As he stepped into the dome shaped building he was surprised to find the interior wall to be smooth and spotless. There was, in fact, no trace of the crude exterior walls.
"It's limestone." said a voice from behind him.
Shikamaru turned around to face the stalwart eyes of Gaara.
"Kazekage-sama I was just…"
"No need for formalities. In your own words, they're a drag." said Gaara, then seemingly forgetting about Shikamaru he turned his attention to the walls. He seemed to scrutinize them intensively.
'Weird.' thought Shikamaru. Suddenly Gaara turned back to him.
"It cost me a lot to redecorate the office, but it was worth it, don't you agree?" he asked.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama." said Shikamaru, and to himself thought. 'Is Gaara trying to… act normal?'
"Forgive me if this seems out of the blue, but I saw you admiring the walls and I decided to strike up a conversation. My siblings refer to it as small talk, is that correct?"
Shikamaru would have laughed at another person for such a question, but when he saw the darkness behind those eyes he checked himself. Gaara had changed for the better but he was still…well he was Gaara!
"Yes Kazeka-"
"It's Gaara."
"I mean yes Gaara."
"I trust you didn't come here to admire the sand. I'm sure Tsunade "persuaded" you to come here."
Shikamaru thought that, for a second, a smile had crossed Gaara's lips. Gaara rarely smiled and when he did there was usually a good reason for it. Lately, all the leaf village's ninja had seemingly been in on a joke that Shikamaru did not understand. Whenever he came near they all seemed to be on the point of bursting.
"Yes, she does have her ways" said Shikamaru. He instinctively clutched his bruised elbow.
"Well I don't want to be keeping you. I'm sure you're tired after your journey and wish to relax, eat, perhaps see some old friends…"
At that Shikamaru stiffened. Gaara noticed the change but went on as if nothing was wrong.
"Your rooms are in our private mansion, the housekeeper will give you the keys."
"Thank you Gaara." Shikamaru stood up and was about to leave.
"Shikamaru, since you're going there now I hope you wouldn't mind telling Temari and Kankuro, in these exact words, 'One more and I'll kill them.' "
"Uh, yes sir"
"Good day, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru quickly left the room and walked out of the office. As soon as Gaara was sure Shikamaru was gone he broke out laughing.
"Ah yes, Tsunade your plans are fool proof! Hahahahahahaha! With any luck this just might work!"
