Hey all, this was inspired by the amazing Unmotivated Genius and their story Forbidden Fruit, so if you haven't read that already, go read it! I know that was supposed to be a crack pairing and don't get me wrong, I'm a ShikaTema girl for life but man, it just got to me and I just couldn't let this one go so this monster of a fic just happened ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In the past (wayy back in the day when I last published) I've had trouble with getting a big old idea into my head, starting it, then letting it die before even coming close to finishing, so I've done myself the favor of waiting the vast majority of this before putting up the first chapter and am uploading it all at the same time (so if anyone ends up reading this, you're welcome, I've saved you the wait/frustration of my own flakiness). The story comes to a natural pause/semi-ending at chap 11, which is completed, but I will be adding more after that as well, just wanted to give you a fully formed story line before posting!
Enjoy!
"Tsunade-sama," Shikaku greeted the Hokage as he walked into her office.
"Good morning Shikaku," she responded, "I know it has been a while since we have sent you out of Konoha on a mission, given how much we've needed you here in the village, but we are sending you with a team to Suna on a diplomatic mission."
Shikaku raised an eyebrow at this. It had indeed been a long time since he had left the village. It seemed there was a never-ending stream of small crises that meant that the Hokage's chief strategist and close advisor was always needed on hand.
"I'm sure you understand the importance of this mission," Tsunade continued, fiddling with the papers on her desk as she spoke, "our relations with Suna have been rocky at best over the past few years, but an alliance with them is vital to maintain peace and stability in the region."
She passed him a file, which he flipped open and began to read over. He would be negotiating terms of trade and free travel between the two nations, but clearly the main purpose of the trip was symbolic. What better way to prove trust than to send a top strategist with only a small team of chunins to a foreign nation. He had done this type of mission before and it generally involved just as much tea drinking and sight-seeing as it did negotiation, and no fighting whatsoever if all went well.
"The expected timeline of the mission is one week," she continued, "and in turn Suna will be sending a party to visit Konoha in a month's time. Is everything clear?"
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," he responded, bowing to her before leaving. He would look over the file more closely later, before heading off the next morning. He was glad to have the opportunity to travel outside of the village.
He loved Konoha of course, but watching his son come and go constantly seeing new places was reminding him of the days before taking his position as a strategist, when he too spent most of his time traveling. As "troublesome" as missions were according to his unmotivated son, they kept him on his toes. The new situations were always intellectually stimulating. Each mission was a problem to solve, like a game of shogi, except more dynamic.
"So, when will the Konoha delegates be arriving?" Temari asked as she walked into Gaara's office. She knew that the team should be arriving in the next few days. Ever since Gaara had become Kazekage, Temari had taken a leading role in the country's diplomatic relations… which unfortunately meant lots of bureaucracy and long meetings.
"They should be arriving this evening," her brother responded, "However, it seems there is a sandstorm coming in from the east that will intercept the route from Konoha to Suna. They are most likely unaware of the storm, and are unaccustomed to desert travel, so I would like you go out to meet them and escort them the rest of their way to the village."
Temari smirked at this. Of course the Konoha nin would be caught off guard by the storm. Even in the best of conditions, the land of wind was harsher than the forests of the fire country. Vegetation was sparse, with no towering trees to shade you as you traveled. Many foreign shinobi were also slowed and tired by traveling through the sand as they didn't realize you should to concentrate the chakra in your feet, much like when walking on water, to avoid slippage. Water was a precious commodity, with creeks that trickled during the wetter season but disappeared during the dry season, and very few natural springs. Not to mention the giant scorpions.
She had spent her fair share of time working border patrol before her promotion to jonin. On border patrol, you basically spent your time rescuing travelers and merchants from their own stupidity and ill-preparedness. Last time, she had ended up carrying two dehydrated spice merchants to the village and after a day in the hospital, they had even had the gall to complain that she hadn't bothered to carry their wares as well.
"Hai, Gaara," Temari responded, "I will leave immediately to catch them before the storm does."
Temari left the Kazekage's office and went to grab some supplies. A days' rations, extra water, a few vials of scorpion and snake venom antidote… She hoped the Konoha nin had adequately prepared but she took the extra precautions anyway.
She tightened the red obi around her kimono, attaching her tessen to her back, and headed out into the desert.
Shikaku headed out the next morning with his team. He had worked with Izumo and Kotetsu before. He appreciated Izumo's analytical skills, and it was always useful to have a water user around in the desert, and he and Kotetsu worked well together.
It was about a day's journey from Konoha to the border of the Wind country, where the trees gave way to desert. Though they could have traveled farther into wind before losing the light, Shikaku opted to camp on their side of the border. Camping in the desert was not pleasant. The sand got everywhere, and the wind could get strong enough to blow your tent away. He preferred the familiar geography of the forest.
The next morning, they headed off at dawn. He knew that travel through the desert would be strenuous for them all, but especially the less experience chunin, and hoped to arrive at the gates of the village before nightfall.
The sun rose into the clear sky as they ran. It was barely mid-morning before the heat become oppressive.
"Ah," Kotetsu sighed when they finally took a break and sat down to eat lunch, "no wonder sand nin always look so grim when I've seen them in Konoha, they have to travel through this!"
"What, you exhausted already?" Shikaku chuckled. It's true that Sand nin had quite the reputation for being stoic and severe in nature.
"At least there are some clouds on the horizon," Izumo mentioned, taking a sip of water, "it would be nice to get some shade for a bit. And there's a bit of a breeze now."
'Clouds?' Shikaku thought to himself. They were in the middle of Suna's dry season, and there was a very low probability of cloud coverage at this time of year. He looked to the horizon and noted that there was indeed what seemed to be a cloud. More likely it was sand kicked up by the winds, which were indeed picking up in speed as Izumo had noted.
"Troublesome…Let's go. We need to pick up the pace," Shikaku stated, getting up from where he had been seated, "if that's a sandstorm on the horizon, we need to beat it to Suna. We don't want to be trapped out here with just our tents."
"Shit," Kotetsu grumbled, as the team hopped back into action and headed onward.
They all knew that a sandstorm could shred their tent if it was bad enough. Shikaku started to plan in his head what they would do if caught in the storm. If only Yamato were around… the wood user could have easily built them a more durable shelter to wait out the storm. Their best bet as it was was to keep moving through it.
The winds continued to rise, kicking up more and more sand as they ran. The wind resistance, the limited visibility, and the irritation from the sand was really starting to slow them down.
'Damn it,' Shikaku thought. Shikaku took a piece of cloth from his flak jacket, making an impromptu mask to keep the sand out of his nose and mouth. They weren't even in the thick of the storm yet. The menacing sand cloud that had looked so far away on the horizon was fast approaching.
Temari ran through the desert, taking the route towards Konoha. What had started out as a calm day became more blustery as she headed away from the shelter of the village walls and towards the growing storm. She felt at home as she ran. A sandstorm was a force to be reckoned with but she was a skilled wind user and had dealt with them plenty of times before.
As the sand started to pick up she reached behind her for her tessen. Snapping it open, she swung it in front of herself, channeling her chakra and using the momentum of the natural winds around her to clear the cloud of sand from her path.
Visibility was so limited because of the storm, that she sensed the Konoha nin before she saw them. They must be struggling, she was sure, but from their chakra signature it was clear that they were unharmed. She smirked to herself, nothing like a sand storm to facilitate a dramatic entrance.
She took a moment to gauge the velocity of the wind then made few hand seals, releasing a burst of chakra as she swung the giant fan upwards. A cyclone began to grow before her, moving towards the group.
The group of Konoha nin were barely able to run in the high winds of the storm, but they came to a halt, bracing themselves as an even fiercer wind slammed into them. Shikaku went into high alert, it was clearly a chakra infused wind.
He squinted his eyes trying to see through the sand at what they might have come up against, and to his surprise, the sand began to clear, even as the wind whipped around them. As the air cleared, he saw a shinobi gliding towards them on what seemed to be a giant fan.
The wind blew harder for a moment but then dropped off. It was completely still, yet the wind continued to spin around them. Shikaku was impressed. This young kunoichi had singlehandedly created an eye in the storm raging around them.
The sand-nin hopped off her fan, and strode towards them.
"You are the diplomatic team from Konoha, I assume?" she asked eyeing them over. Kotetsu and Izumo had both drawn kunai, poised to take action.
"Yes, I am Nara Shikaku, Jonin commander and advisor to the Godaime Hokage" Shikaku had not drawn a weapon. He recognized this girl from the chunin exams. How could he forget the kunoichi that had faced off with his son.
"Sabaku no Temari," she responded with a glimmer in her eyes. 'Nara…' she thought to herself. No doubt the father of that lazy Konoha nin she had faced in the chunin exams, and who had been assigned as her escort when she last visited the Leaf.
"I was sent by Gaara to escort you to Suna. We should get moving. I can keep us in the eye of the storm as we travel, but the faster we get out of the storm the better. My chakra will run out eventually and then we'll be facing the elements on our own."
"Thank you, Temari-san, I'm sure we can get out of the storm long before your chakra level becomes an issue," Shikaku nodded to the blond nin. He had heard of her reputation, which had only grown since he watched her battle his son at the chunin exams. He could see that her power and control had grown since then.
They took off again, now with Temari leading the group. Her whirlwind wrapped around them, keeping the sand and the high winds out of their way as they moved easily through the storm. Shikaku noted the ease of her movement across the sand, and her superb chakra control as she ran. Her feet did not sink at all into the dunes, but she flitted along the surface, periodically swinging her fan to whip the winds around them back up to speed.
Her kimono fluttered in the wind as she ran, a long slit kept it from hindering her movement and revealing her toned legs. She was powerful yet graceful, and clearly in her element. She reminded him somewhat of the deer, running through the forest of his clan's compound: somewhat wild, allowing you only a glimpse before disappearing into the trees.