Competition
Temari dragged her gigantic iron fan behind her, leaving a jagged line drawn on the ground as she strode with purpose towards the edge of Konoha.
Once she reached the woods, she swung her fan and released a strong gust of wind. Immediately, the area around her was cleared, numerous trees were cut down from its trunk and flew for a few metres before falling back to earth with a loud crash, creating a mini earthquake.
She was about to raise her fan for another round when Shikamaru suddenly appeared in front of her, gasping for breath while stretching his hands sideways to stop Temari from unleashing another attack at the innocent greenery.
"Get away!" Temari growled.
"I said stop."
"Get away or I'll let you damn well fly." Temari's meaning was obvious when she lifted her fan in a warning gesture.
Undaunted, Shikamaru turned slightly to be able to point with his thumb at something at his back, at the tallest tree standing just about five hundred metres away from them, "Tch, notice that tree? I have something inscribed on its trunk."
"So?"
"I'm not gonna write it down again."
Temari raised a questioning brow at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru shrugged, bringing his arms down at his side, his face wearing a blank expression.
"Oh," Temari muttered before finally smirking. "I see."
Shikamaru crossed his arms behind his head, shifting his eyes sideways with a careless attitude—not letting on his embarrassment.
"Really? This I gotta see," Temari shouted her intention as she dashed towards the said tree.
Once she reached the huge wide tree, she went around the lower trunk searching for the inscription. Not seeing any, she climb one branch up then another then another. She found it just as Shikamaru appeared at the foot of the tree, looking up to her.
She laughed at Shikamaru as she glanced down from her perch. "You couldn't make it more obvious?"
"Tch. Just be glad I did it, woman."
"Aw, I could do better," Temari declared.
This time it was Shikamaru who raised a brow. Trust the woman to answer back this way. "Leave it to you to make this into a competition."
Temari gave Shikamaru a full grin, baring all her teeth with her eyes crinkling at the sides before turning once again towards what was written on the tree, tracing with her fingers the characters carved in the wood—it said:
The Puzzle
.
L1_L2_L _L _L _L _L _L _L _I
***L _I******************
***L _I******************
***L _I******************
***L3_L _L _L _L _L _I******
Across
1. The boy
3. The girl
Down
2. It beats
.
—o0o—
~3 2 12AF~
A/N: Review? Answer?