My first Temari and Shikamaru fan fic. I've always thought those two were meant for each other, but it's only now that I thought 'hey, maybe I should write a fan fic about them.' Yeah, I know. I rule.
………… means a short time passed (about 4-8 hours)
means a long period of time (about 10 or more hours)
Shifting Sands
Chapter one- My Little Brother
The sun shone on the black surface of Temari's fan. She was cleaning the huge weapon while basking in the sunlight. "Yo, Temari." Kankuro said, jumping down from a rooftop. Temari stopped what she was doing and turned to her brother.
"What is it?"
"That kid from Konoha is here to see you."
Temari stood up, "Again? What does he want?"
Kankuro shrugged, "He didn't say, just like always."
Temari sighed and lifted her fan. She left Kankuro and started heading towards the Sand village gates. She saw a figure start to appear before her as she neared the town walls.
"What do you want now?" she asked.
"I need some extra help." The boy said. He kept his hands in his pockets. He seemed to be bored.
"It's always the same thing. Don't you have other allies?" Temari leaned on her fan and yawned.
The boy sighed heavily, "If you don't want to do it, then say no."
Temari thought about it. She had nothing else to do. Besides, she always loved a good mission.
"All right. I'll come along."
The boy half smiled, "Okay then. First we need to go back to Konoha."
Temari nodded and followed him out her home. They walked quietly through the woods towards the leaf village. All the while Temari tried to keep herself from asking something, but she found it harder every minute. The thickening silence was starting to drive her crazy. The boy didn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact, he seemed to like it.
Finally, Temari could take it no longer. She opened her mouth to speak, "Hey, Shikamaru," The boy looked back at her with question on his face. She half smiled, "Why do you always come to me?" Shikamaru looked up towards the clouds and sighed. The he turned back to Temari and smirked, "Because…I don't trust anyone else."
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"I'm glad you decided to help," Shikamaru said as they stood in front of Konoha. Temari looked at the floor, "Yeah, well…whatever." Shikamaru shrugged and stared at the gates. Temari was starting to wonder what he was waiting for.
She got her answer as two other leaf ninjas walked out the village. One was Hyuuga Neji. He looked like he had better things to do with his day. The other was Haruno Sakura. She was eager to leave the village. She hadn't had the heart to leave after Sasuke left, but now she was ready and willing.
"Okay, the teams together. Let's go." Shikamaru led the way back into the forest. Temari's legs were still a little tired from the first walk, but she didn't complain. It was either this or nothing. She rather do this.
"Where are we going?" she asked, realizing she had no clue.
Neji spoke, "We're going to find a missing person. He left to collect some herbs and hasn't returned since."
Temari slammed her fan down, "You mean to tell me that this is what Shikamaru need me for? This mission is lame!"
Shikamaru groaned, "It's more than that. There are rumors that a sinister group is kidnapping people for some experiment."
"Our true mission is to find the organization and destroy it." Sakura finished.
Temari looked at each face. None of them seemed really into the mission. They all looked bored. "Do we have any clues to follow?" She asked to brighten the mood a little. "There was an article of clothing at the last kidnapping," Neji said, "It had an odd powder on it. After searching the evidence found at the other kidnappings, we saw that the powder was on all of them." Temari sighed. She was hoping for a more eventful mission, but this would have to do. She just hoped there would be some ass to kick.
"This was where the last kidnapping took place." Shikamaru pointed to a clearing. Small mounds of purple powder littered the grass. Temari walked over and leaned to touch the powder. "Don't do that," Shikamaru warned, "Who knows what it does." Temari rolled her eyes, "I know! I was just going to…take a closer look." Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have time for this.
"Let's just go already. The powder leaves a trail." Shikamaru began walking deeper into the woods. Neji and Sakura followed obediently. Temari looked at the powder a little longer. "I know I've seen this somewhere before…." She muttered. Finally, she forced herself to follow the others, even though the familiarity was eating her up inside.
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"The trail still goes on…" Shikamaru was bent over the purple substance. He was starting to wonder how long this would go. "We've been walking for hours…" Sakura sighed. Even though he didn't show it, Neji was tired as well.
"We should stop for now and continue tomorrow." Shikamaru concluded. He stood up and rolled his shoulder, "This is getting really annoying. It seems like an endless trail." He noticed that Temari didn't say anything for the past couple of hours. He saw her staring into the distance. She seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"Neji, set up the tent. Sakura, you can get the fire started." Shikamaru ordered. They nodded and got to work. Shikamaru tried to do his part, but he couldn't stop worrying about Temari. She looked really out of it. "Temari." He called. She turned to him slowly. It took a few seconds for her to register who she was looking at. "Yes, Shikamaru?" "Are you okay?" he asked with more concern than he meant to show. Temari smirked, "Yeah, I'm fine. Do you need help with the camp?" Shikamaru nodded. She leaned her fan against a tree and helped Neji set up the tent. Shikamaru saw she wasn't really into it.
"There!" she said as the tent stood. Sakura had the fire going strongly. The camp was complete.
"I think I'm going straight to bed." Sakura said with a yawn. She was up all last night trying to forget about Sasuke. She desperately needed sleep.
Neji looked up at the dark sky. "I think I will too." He was fatigued too.
Shikamaru followed Neji's gaze. He relaxed as he saw the gray clouds floating across the sparkling sky. Temari watched him and smiled. She loved his simplicity, yet he was still so perplex. Something about it made Temari respect him more.
Neji and Sakura entered the large tent. Temari took a seat next to Shikamaru. Even though she was looking at the same sky he was, she couldn't get the same calm feeling. She still remained a little tense.
"What do you see in the clouds?" she asked.
Shikamaru shrugged, "Their just so…lazy. I feel like one of them."
Temari smirked, "Yeah, you sort of are. But you're still different."
"How?"
"For starters, you have a brain."
Shikamaru laughed. Temari was shocked. She had never heard him laugh before.
"I guess there's a first time for everything." She said, smiling.
Shikamaru turned away from her. He surprised even himself with the laugh. And to top that, Temari's smile was disarming.
"….." Temari heard Shikamaru mumble something.
"What? Speak louder."
"You're similar to a rose." He said, still turned away from her.
Temari was confused, "How?"
"You have a tough personality just like the rose has thorns. But you know what?"
Shikamaru finally got the courage to look Temari in the face.
Temari watched him expectantly, "What?"
Shikamaru smiled. It was a real smile, not a sarcastic one.
Then he said softly, "You're both beautiful."
Temari's face burned as Shikamaru stood up. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "Maybe we should go to bed too. I don't want anyone falling behind tomorrow." Temari nodded and stood up as well. She looked at everything but Shikamaru as he put out the fire. Then they walked to the tent opening and crawled inside.
Temari smiled as she closed her eyes. She thought about Shikamaru's comparison. Like a rose…
"Let's get an early start." Shikamaru was first up. He was ready to continue following the trail. Neji was out after him. Then Sakura. Somebody was missing. "Where's Temari?" Sakura asked looking around. The others looked around as well. She was nowhere to be found.
Shikamaru noticed small footprints in the dirt leading to the right. He motioned for the others to wait as he followed the faint trail. "Temari?" He called as the prints began to disappear. Suddenly he saw a figure appear in the brush. It was Temari. She was holding some of the purple powder in her hands. Her face showed a lot of worry.
"Temari, we're about to go." Shikamaru pushed the leaves out of his way and walked closer to her. When she looked up at him, her expression took on its normal appearance.
"I think we should get more help." She said with urgency.
Shikamaru was confused, "I think we have enough."
Temari shifted the powder between her fingers. The way it moved wasn't like powder at all. Shikamaru realized that it was sand. Purple sand.
Temari explained, "This is the sand of Taiyou no Kuroi."
"The Black Sun…?"
"Yes. He left the sand village a long time ago to pursue his dream of being the most powerful ninja in the world."
Shikamaru sighed, "Don't they know that never happens? It always fails."
Temari nodded, "But this ninja is dangerous. His sand is not normal, as you can see. It's made from human remains."
Shikamaru froze. "The kidnapped people…"
"I'm probably holding their flesh right now."
Shikamaru groaned as he let it all sink in. He was hoping that this would be a simple mission. He hated putting his team in danger. "Do you know where he hides out?" He asked. Temari nodded, "It's not far from the sand village." The team was way past the sand village. It would be hours before they reached it again. "How far away is it from the sand village, Temari?" Temari thought about it. "We're close to it…just a few more feet ahead I think." Shikamaru was relieved. He was tired of walking.
"How do you know about his place?" He asked as they headed back to the camp. Temari cast her eyes down, "He almost got Kankuro once. It was dumb luck that I was able to rescue him." Shikamaru realized that it was something Temari didn't want to talk about, so he got off the subject. Instead he looked up at the trees covering the sky.
"Are we ready?" Neji asked as soon as they reached the camp. Shikamaru nodded. They made sure that everything was packed, then they followed Temari to the Black Suns hideout.
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"Here we are." Temari pointed to a huge cave. The inside was dark and damp. Water dripped from the ceiling and echoed throughout the cave.
"It looks like a dump." Sakura said taking a step inside. Neji followed along with Shikamaru. "Temari, are you coming?" Shikamaru's voice joined the water's echo. Temari nodded slowly. Then she followed them inside.
"It smells too." Sakura held her nose. After a few moments of not breathing, she released it. " I guess I'll just have to deal with it." She concluded. The others nodded as they tried to ignore the stench of dried flesh.
"He'll be behind that barrier." Temari said, pointing to a stack of boulders. Shikamaru walked up to it a placed an exploding tag on it. It sunk inside. "This is a genjutsu." Temari explained, "I think I pointed to the wrong set of boulders." Shikamaru sighed, "Well, I only have three more exploding tags. You better know which one is the real one."
Temari inspected the other sets of boulders carefully. After about an hour, she became frustrated. "Screw this!" she pulled out her fan and sent a strong wind throughout the cave. Only one set of boulders collapsed.
"Well, that saves me some tags." Shikamaru said with a smirk. The ninjas followed her through the opened path. Temari continued to blow away the boulders until they came to a new room.
The air was so thick, it could easily be seen. An evil aura was clearly evident in the darkness. The stench was nearly unbearable.
"Well, well, well…if it isn't the helpless little girl…" a voice darker than hell echoed. Temari felt something crawling up her spine. Long, skinny fingers traveled up to her neck. She was too stunned to move.
The voice laughed, "Remember Kankuro…? I almost had him." The others still hadn't noticed him. His fingers lightly held Temari's neck. She could feel his horrid breath upon her skin. "But his sister saved him! You saved him Temari-chan…do you remember…?" Temari nodded. The hand tightened, "I want you to say it. I need to hear your lovely voice." Temari gulped, "Yes…"
The others heard her speak. They looked over to see her frozen in her spot. Everything else was darkness. "Temari! Are you okay?!" Shikamaru's voice no longer echoed. That meant something was in the room. Something big.
Suddenly the darkness shifted into a human figure. A man dressed in a dark cloak appeared behind Temari. His willowy fingers were pale with a tint of purple. His face was hidden behind a mask.
"I see you brought some more sand for me…" the figure snarled. His very presence was nerve racking.
"It's not for you!" Temari said, trying to regain her attitude. The closing hand around her neck made her choose otherwise.
"T-Temari!" Shikamaru tried to find a way to help her. He didn't see any.
"Now…I'll say it again….you brought some sand for me, right?"
Tears burned under Temari's eyelids, "Yes…it's for you."
Shikamaru and the others watched in shock as the man tossed Temari to the floor. "Thank-you, Temari-chan. I really appreciate it." Globs of purple sand began to come out of a sack on his waist. Even though the sack was small, the sand was endless.
"Let my dark sand consume your flesh. I want to be stronger!" The sand attacked the konoha ninjas. They quickly dodged, barely making it with their lives.
"Hyah!" Sakura lifted a heavy boulder. She effortlessly threw it at the sand ninja. Before it could touch him, the sand split the rock into billions of pieces. "Feisty…Black Sun likes…" the man licked his lips as Sakura scowled.
Suddenly, the Black Sun disappeared. It was almost like he was never there at all. "Neji!" Shikamaru called. Neji nodded, "Byakugan!" he scanned the area. His eyes only saw piles of bloody flesh in the dark room. He felt his stomach churn.
"Nothing, Shika-!" Neji was caught from behind. Black Sun's sand attacked from Neji's blind spot. Before he could even react, the sand wrapped around Neji.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow grabbed the Black Sun's. The sand left Neji and splattered to the floor. The Black Sun was under Shikamaru's control now. "Time to end this!" Shikamaru made him reach into his weapons bag and pull out a kunai. "Wait! Shikamaru don't!" Temari cried from the corner. It was too late. When the Black Sun's kunai went through his stomach, Shikamaru felt the pain.
"Dammit!" Shikamaru fell to the floor clutching his abdomen. Temari got up and ran over to him. "Shikamaru!" hot tears fell down her face. She blamed herself.
"Temari! Watch out!" Sakura stopped the Black Sun from grasping the sand kunoichi. She sent a jarring blow to his face. "Stupid wench!" the Black Sun's mask flew off. Before anyone could see his face, he quickly put it back on. Then he grabbed Sakura and smashed her into the ground. "Sakura!" Temari opened her fan and attacked the Black Sun. His sand spilled out and flew back. It seemed to be working.
"Oh no…" Temari's face froze as she saw the sand form into something. "It's not…it can't be…" The sand was in the shape of Gaara.
"I have him in a different chamber…" Black sun laughed.
Temari dropped her fan, "You're lying!"
Black Sun raised his hand. Temari heard a pained cry as he closed it into a fist. The sound was distant, yet near.
"That's your brother screaming. My sand is gripping his throat."
Her heart tore apart as the screams rose to a blood curdling level.
"STOP IT!" she screamed, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Black Sun uncurled his hand. The screams faded into the darkness.
"Now do you see who holds the power in this situation?"
Temari nodded slowly. Her tears splattered on the floor.
Shikamaru got on his knees, breathing hard. He looked up to see a broken Temari. "How do we know that's really Gaara?" he said in her defense. She looked at him hopefully. The Black Sun laughed, "Do you want to challenge it?" Temari's hope faded completely. "No…."
"What do you want me to do?" she asked the Black Sun. He laughed, "Do you remember saving Kankuro?" Shikamaru watched as Temari got on all fours. She crawled over to the Black Sun. Then she got in a begging position. "Temari! What are you doing?!" It hurt Shikamaru to see headstrong Temari acting like a slave.
"Master…I'm at your command." She said the words in a sickenly sweet voice. Shikamaru felt his heart break. "Dammit…." He got up and stood unstably on his feet. He noticed the kunai was still in the Black Sun's stomach. The pain was growing in his body.
"Shadow possession jutsu!" he tried again. He got full control over the Black sun once more. Temari looked at him with urgency, "Shikamaru!" He ignored her and made his foe pull out the kunai. "I know you feel the pain too." Shikamaru said. He watched blood drip from the Black Sun's wound. "Call it suicide, but your going down!"
Shikamaru made him raise the kunai again. He made sure the aim was perfect. The target was the heart.
"Shikamaru! Please don't!" Temari couldn't bear to be the reason for his death. Shikamaru ignored her and began to slide the kunai into the heart.
"8 trigrams four palms!" Neji forcefully attacked the Black Sun before the kunai made contact with the heart. Shikamaru lost control as the kunai fell to the floor. "8 trigrams eight palms!" Neji hit each spot with pinpoint accuracy. The Black sun had no time to return fire.
"32 palms! 64 palms!" He finished his move by sending the enemy flying backwards. Unfortunately, the purple sand caught him before any damage was done.
"You can blame your friends…" Black Sun said angrily, "For the death of your brother."
Temari's eyes went wide, "NO! I won't let you hurt him!"
Before she could retaliate, everything turned black. Everyone seemed to melt into nothingness as the Black Sun let the darkness devour them.
"Wha…" Temari opened her eyes as the sun shone on her face. A few moments passed before it hit her. "Gaara!" she stood up and looked around frantically. She saw the others on the floor unconscious. They were at the campsite again.
"I have to save Gaara!" she said, grabbing her fan. She left the others and ran towards the cave. "NO!" she screamed as she met with an empty clearing. The cave had disappeared.
"You fucking coward! Give me my brother!" She fell to her knees and beat the floor with her fist. Not even when her hands began to bleed did she stop.
Finally, after a few minutes, she stopped beating the grass. "Gaara! I'm so sorry…." She let her tears burn into her wounds. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Shikamaru appeared behind her. The other two weren't far behind.
"Temari…" he said. She looked up at him and gasped. The amount of anger on his face nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Temari…I will help you find Gaara." His hand curled into a fist, "I bet my life on it."
Temari felt a new form of respect inside her. Neji and Sakura slightly smiled as the two stared at each other. "I think we shouldn't get involved…" Neji suggested. Sakura nodded. She knew Shikamaru was true to his word.
Yeah! It's done. I didn't mean to type so much…nor did I mean to make so many 'time elapsed' thingies. Aw well, tell me what you think! Whoo-hoo!