The streets of Konohagakure were almost always far from desolate. And, today was quite no exception; dogs were barking from high windows, citizens were waving at each other as they careened through their daily routines, and children were playing 'ninja' in the alleyways.
Of course, there were some kids who weren't just playing ninja – they were ninja. Two in particular, in fact, were there that day, strolling through the streets without much care. One was a local, a boy of sixteen who went by Nara Shikamaru, son of Nara Shikaku and his troublesome wife, Nara Yoshino.
Actually, troublesome didn't quite cover it. Shikamaru's mother, well, she was downright, insanely scary. But, for the Nara boy, he wasn't sure who was scarier – his mother, or the eighteen year-old girl standing on his left side?
After all, Sabaku no Temari was someone who you never underestimated when it came to someone who could potentially inflict a whole lot of pain on you. To make things worse, Temari was one of the only people in the world who could keep up with Shikamaru's wit. And it drove him nutty…
"Troublesome girl, why do you insist on walking so fast?" Shikamaru grumbled, giving a slight pout of his lips as the woman clad in a purple kimono shot past him. His irritation grew when Temari merely waved her hand over her shoulder, as if blowing off his question.
Surprisingly, though, she did stop walking for a moment to turn and answer him. It didn't surprise him when her answer had a sharper tone to it than Temari tended to use with most other men.
"I'm a woman, not a girl. And it seems you forgot that your Hokage, Lady Tsunade, specifically called for us in her office. Seriously, for a genius, you're actually kind of stupid."
"You realize that doesn't make any sense, right?"
"Whatever," she barked, rolling her teal eyes as if she was annoyed – though Shikamaru could easily tell she was amused by the way the ends of her mouth creaked up in a tiny smile. He still hadn't figured out a lot of things about Temari; for instance, around other men their age, Temari was quiet and respectful, like a woman should be (in Shikamaru's eyes, at least). But when Shikamaru was guiding the sand ninja through the streets of his home village, Temari wouldn't hesitate for a minute when it came to slapping the back of his head whenever he said something rather out-of-line.
"Why are you so unfriendly to me, Temari?" the tall boy asked, throwing his arms behind his neck, a habit of his when he was bored or relaxed. He pretended like he wouldn't care what she answered, but he did sincerely want to know. He might be a genius with an IQ over 200, but even he couldn't understand the mentalities of the female race.
Temari sighed and put a hand on her hip, and afterwards started to laugh. "You seriously want to know why I am so mean to you, Nara boy?" Her gaze matched his and Shikamaru couldn't help but notice the humored, challenging look she seemed to be giving him. Still, he lifted a brow in answer, waiting to hear what she had to say.
Instead of hearing her answer, he instead suffered an infamous smack on the back of his head, and immediately he regretted asking Temari such a personal question. "Ah, jeez, troublesome woman! I swear…"
"I'm mean to you because I like your mom, Yoshino, and I owe it to her to be one of the women who puts you in your place. You're a lazy, selfish slob who needs something in your life to motivate you," she spurted out softly, almost a bit creepily… Shikamaru waved his hand in the air to stop her from saying anything else that might be too troublesome to bother with.
"Nyaha, Temari, I understand! Now, let's just get to Tsunade's place, alright? Then you two can go and PMS together in a corner." As he shoved his hands in his pocket, he just barely missed the swiping hand that aimed for the back of his head, and he smiled.
"Thanks for coming, Temari and Shikamaru. Though, it would have been nice if you had gotten here a little sooner."
Both Chuunin and Jounin respectfully bowed to the beautiful woman sitting cross-legged on a swivel chair. Temari had heard rumors about this woman, such as her actual age, which was slowly starting to advance towards her sixties. She wondered how she stayed to young-looking, and then remembered what Shikamaru had told her a couple of days ago – Tsunade was actually a cheater, and used her chakra to keep her looking young.
"Forgive me, at least, Lady Tsunade. I made sure to teach Shikamaru a lesson about keeping you waiting," Temari replied with a sincere, apologetic smile. Shikamaru huffed and shot Temari a look of remorse, and rubbed the back of his head.
Tsunade gave a hearty laugh and sat back in her chair, while Shizune, her closest associate, had to keep a gentle hand at her mouth to keep from giggling and interrupting the meeting. She was holding Tonton and standing at the left side of Tsunade's desk.
As if on an invisible cue, Tsunade cleared her throat and leaned back over her paper piles that were covering the whole entire surface of her desk, and picked up one file in particular. Shikamaru knew what was coming and sighed.
"Konoha has a mission for you two," Tsunade announced, licking a finger and turning the corner of a page.
Immediately Shikamaru raised his right hand as an early apology and spoke, "Temari is from Suna, and just because both countries may be at peace now doesn't mean we are doing each other friendly favors. Is it a good idea to send off a Jonin from another village to do our work?"
Temari glanced over at Shikamaru, feeling a small stab of pain that he would say something like that. Surely by now he trusted her? Then she reprimanded herself; Shikamaru was merely stating the obvious. Temari was an ambassador in Konoha and even she was surprised to see that Tsunade was willing to put her trust of Temari over her village.
It was almost as if the Hokage could read the sand ninja's mind, and she quickly cut in to prevent a misunderstanding.
"I'm not stupid, Shikamaru," she said with a smile. "Temari isn't here to be a slave to Konoha. She is a royal ambassador and she is the older sister of the Kazekage. However, as soon as she arrived here in Konoha I sent an express message to Lord Gaara requesting that while Temari was staying in my village, that she be granted permission to accompany any of my ninja on missions I happen to send them off on. He replied with a simple answer: 'I grant you permission, Lady Tsunade, for you to send my older sister off on missions while she is away. Since she is visiting she can be of help for the tasks that you desire. But if she dies I will have to kill you.'"
Temari looked flabbergasted that her youngest brother would threaten the Hokage of another village, especially one that Suna had just been at war with barely three years ago. Trust was something took lots of time, patience, and hard work to regain, and it had not come to pass just yet.
But Tsunade looked far from angry, and in fact, she was beaming with pleasure. Apparently Gaara's threats didn't affect the Hokage's nerves too much. "So, Temari, that means I have your brother's permission to make you Konoha's slave. Do you agree to comply with my future orders, assuming that they be under the proper lines of dignity and respect?"
Temari smiled and bowed. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I will work for you while I stay in your village."
Shikamaru watched Temari bow and couldn't help but wonder how much time they would be spending together on this mission. Which reminded him. "So, what is our mission?"
Tsunade nodded and looked back to her paper. "It's a simple B-ranked mission. Normally I would have ranked it as C, but because of the circumstances and location of the mission, it may end up being a bit more difficult. Your job is protect a small family of three and help the head kill a pack of wolves that has been threatening their safety and killing their livestock. Apparently the wolves are not afraid of humans and has tried to attack the family once before. The family has come all the way from the Land of Snow by boat and will take you to their home tomorrow morning. Do you accept?"
"Sounds troublesome, but easy enough," Shikamaru replied, nodding his head once. "I accept."
"I accept," Temari echoed, nodding her head.
"Good. Now, because the two of you are among the last remaining, available ninjas who can take on a mission, I'm hoping you will finish this mission as fast as you can. Naruto and your other friends have been busy with missions, too, and most of them still haven't returned from the most recent ones. Still, there is no time limit on this mission, so take as long as you need to kill these wolves and make sure the family stays safe."
"How troublesome. I have to go all the way to the Land of Snow and deal with you, Temari," Shikamaru complained, giving a heavy sigh. Temari leaned over and whacked the back of his head. Again.
"The man who hired you is named Genzi. You will find him at the docks tomorrow, 5 A.M. sharp, Shikamaru," the Hokage emphasized the lazy Chuunin's name, to make sure he got the point: no being late. "You are dismissed."
Author's Note: My first real Naruto fanfiction. I hope you like it :)
It's also dedicated to my fellow author, Iwannabeamongoose, a very kind fellow. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be writing this story. THANK YOU. ♥