II.
Kankurou watched Shikamaru writhe on the sands, caught in the throes of a nightmare. His body was weakening despite the food and water the Suna ninja had pumped Shikamaru full of, and Kankurou could no longer watch as Shikamaru arched, spine curving to the breaking point, before thankfully relaxing, chest rising and falling sharply. The puppeteer hadn't counted on Shikamaru's resolve, the other boy deigning to suffer through the nightmares that subject himself to the release sex could give him. What Shikamaru lacked in physical strength he sure made up for in stubbornness. Kankurou himself couldn't go two months without something, be it a warm body in bed or his own hand. The Suna ninja had been certain Shikamaru was like every other young, red-blooded shinobi in that he would go for any body that was nearby, especially in his state.
But Shikamaru had proven him horribly wrong, threatening the other boy with jutsus Kankurou was positive the other made up, but the Suna shinobi was cautious by nature. And he liked having all his limbs and other assorted body parts.
Shikamaru arched again, and Kankurou was certain he heard a snap. He shifted over, waited for Shikamaru's body to go limp, and reached out to touch fevered skin. Chakra slowly moved through the boy's system, Kankurou checking for internal wounds.
Shikamaru's fist slammed into Kankurou's nose.
With a startled - and aborted - cry, Kankurou jerked away from Shikamaru, and hastily pulled a kunai, metal striking metal as Shikamaru lunged at him with a kunai of his own. The Konoha nin's eyes were wild with madness, his movements sharp and jerky, and Kankurou realized something.
Shikamaru was getting off on it.
"Shikamaru! Calm down!"
"Told you not to touch me." Shikamaru snarled, lunging again. Kankurou rolled out of the way, and laid simple chakra lines in the sand. He only got one shot at this, and if he missed...
Well, he didn't want to lose his head.
And he didn't want to break Shikamaru's legs.
Shikamaru lunged again, incensed with drawing blood from his prey. Kunai clashed and sparks flew in the growing light, two ninja dancing around each other, one trying not to die, and the other trying to kill. Kankurou ducked, grabbed those threads of sand, and pulled. Shikamaru's body flew up in the air like one of the Suna shinobi's puppets, pulled taut and then trussed up, arms tied behind his back, ankles tied together. Shikamaru shrieked and writhed. Kankurou let him, keeping his arms taut and his hold tight on the threads, watching the sands bite into pale skin not covered by flesh, beads of red staining the crystalline sands.
"Now, I'll let you down, on the condition you stay calm."
"Don't touch me. I don't want you touching me!"
Kankurou slowly approached Shikamaru, lowering his body to the sands beneath him, letting the chakra-sand ropes binding him loosen. Shikamaru struggled free and darted away from him, staring at Kankurou with narrowed eyes. Kankurou raised his hands in front of him and stilled.
"I won't touch you. Just let me make sure you're not hurt."
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Don't touch me!" Shikamaru tensed, relaxing only when he realized the other wasn't moving toward him.
"All right, I won't touch you." Kankurou conceded, moving a little closer when Shikamaru seemed to allow it. "I'm going to take you to Sunagakure. We're going to get you help."
"Help?" Shikamaru asked in a small voice, watching Kankurou draw closer to him, then kneel down, arms outstretched.
"Yes. Help. We'll get you help, and then we'll get you an escort back to Konoha. Trust me, Shika. I don't want to hurt you." Kankurou reached out to place his hand lightly on Shikamaru's shoulder, and caught the fist that came his way, letting go when Shikamaru jerked on his fist.
"You won't touch me again?"
"No one will touch you. Come on, if we don't hurry, we'll be walking through the hottest part of the day."
Kankurou moved away from Shikamaru, watching him struggle to his feet. Kankurou packed up camp, and decided to keep the water and food on his person. He wasn't about to deprive Shikamaru of his weapons; he'd tried just before getting water from the oasis. Shikamaru was quite willing to help him do that, bodily throwing him into the pond, shouting that if Kankurou tried to touch him again, he was going to cut off everything important to him, from his fingers to his pride. Kankurou let him keep his weapons, and changed tactics. He kept the food and water, which kept Shikamaru leashed to him. At least he would be sure the Konoha shinobi wouldn't wander off.
When the sun reached its zenith, the pair was almost at the gates of the Sand ninja village. Kankurou waved a hand to the guards, and looked back at Shikamaru, gesturing for the other to come forward. Shikamaru stepped forward, and jerked back when one of the guards appeared by his side, hand automatically flying to his kunai pouch. Kankurou whipped Karasu out of his bandage-pack and put the puppet between the Suna guards and the ailing Konoha ninja.
"Don't touch him," Kankurou ordered, using Karasu to urge Shikamaru to his side, returning the puppet to the bandage-pack, not taking his eyes off the guards. "He's with me. I'm taking responsibility for him. Now, one of you, get your ass to Konoha. I want you to speak to the Hokage herself, tell her that Shikamaru's in Suna. Make sure you speak to the Hokage herself. I don't care which one of you goes, draw straws, having a drinking contest, whatever, but you're to bring back an escort."
"An escort?" One guard questioned, looking at his partner, then back at the boy who was ordering him around.
"Do you want me to tell the Kazekage you nearly killed one of his allies? Because, well, I am a performer." Kankurou grinned. "And I am his brother."
Kankurou thought that was the fastest he'd ever seen those guards run.
Shikamaru was beside him still, shaking.
"Come on, Shika. We need to get you out of the sun."
Shikamaru followed obediently, brown eyes on the puppeteer's back as they moved through the village, toward an apartment building near what Shikamaru supposed was the Kazekage's building. Kankurou led him up two flights of stairs, down a hallway and into a large flat that was sparsely furnished with a couch, a television set, a stocked kitchen, and a workbench for what Shikamaru assumed were the elder's puppets. Kankurou dropped his packs by the door and removed his sandals, Shikamaru copying and following him into the den. Karasu's case was set down by the worktable, and Kankurou turned toward Shikamaru.
"All right. Let's get you a bath, and we'll go see Gaara."
Shikamaru's eyebrow quirked up. "Shouldn't we have gone to see him when we first arrived?"
"Do you want a bath or not?"
"...Bath sounds nice."
"Good," Kankurou said too cheerfully, gesturing for Shikamaru to follow him. The Konoha ninja was escorted through a bedroom and into the bathroom. A shower was conspicuously absent, Shikamaru noticed, a large tub set into the floor. Kankurou knelt to start the water flowing.
"Get undressed, Shikamaru." Kankurou said, rising and turning to look at the Konoha nin. He was met with a look of skepticism, and smiled like the cat that had caught the fattest mouse with a broken leg. "Want me to help you?"
"Want to lose your balls?"
Kankurou wisely retreated from the bathroom, closing the door behind him. It was going to be a long, long day.
