Chapter 2

Naruto still appeared to be busy with his baseball coaching. Lee and Shikamaru then decided to visit him in the field since they wanted to check how he was doing with his team.

When Shikaamaru and Lee arrived, they were in luck for a game was still in progress.

After a while, Lee, who was watching the match, cried suddenly, "Oh wow! That kid is good!" Lee then boomed towards the field, "That's the power of youth!"

Shikamaru whose eyes were wondering around his surroundings and not concentrating on the game, had to ask, "Who?"

"There, see that one with the red hair." Lee excitedly pointed to the batter.

"Yeah." Shikamaru saw a boy that was a bit shorter than the other nine or ten year old players. Probably that kid had to make it up to it by playing better or he'd be bullied because of his height.

"The kid's good. Now, I understand why Naruto is serious about this game. He probably notice too the amazing power of youth. With that kid on their team, they are gonna win."

"Tch," Shikamaru sounded puzzled. "Is there a reason for Naruto not to be serious about this kind of things?"

Lee answered with a frown, "You know Naruto seldom appears this serious." Lee placed his hands on his hips as he announced, "He is the king of pranksters and calls me bushy brows while he calls you N—"

"Come on we better wait comfortably there." Shikamaru abruptly pointed towards a patch of grass which was shaded by a tree, interrupting Lee.

"Ei? Aren't you gonna watch?"

Shikamaru shook his head.

"I'll watch the game from here. You probably have to catch up on your sleep..." Lee curiously scrutinized his friend. Ever since their other childhood friend Tenten moved away to another city, the dark haired genius had been acting strange. Nah, it was just coincidence.

—o0o—

After about an hour, a blonde man wearing an orange jumpsuit approached the dark haired young man lying on the grass.

"Hey, wake up," Naruto called, pouting, "You used to observe everything, tucking it inside that big brain of yours."

"What?" Shikamaru rubbed the sleep off his eyes before glancing up at Naruto.

"You missed the game," Naruto complained but continued enthusiastically, "It was great. We're going to win the championship this year, I'm sure!"

"Sure," Shikamaru parroted, dusting off his pants and his back. He yawned before asking, "Where is Lee?"

"There." Naruto pointed to Lee near the field talking energetically to the red headed boy holding a bat. "He's talking to Gaara."

"What did you say?" Shikamaru was shocked. It couldn't be Gaara, Temari's brother, could it? "I—I'm going to meet him too."

"Huh?" Naruto was going to follow Shikamaru but he was waylaid by two boys—one was blonde and the other had also red hair.

"Coach, you know I'm a good pitcher. You can't take me off the team," argued the ten-year old red haired one.

"Sasori, you know the rules. No fighting but you still did it anyway." Naruto tried to sound stern but he was failing miserably.

"Coach, if you take me off the team, I'll never forgive you! I will join a gang and I will beat everyone after." Sasori calmly announced to threaten his coach, adding a cold stare to intimidate Naruto. "I will start with you star player and anyone who is close to him."

"Tch, troublesome." Shikamaru, who had taken several steps towards Lee and Gaara, overheard the argument between Naruto and his ex-pitcher. Shikamaru turned back to address his blonde peer, "Naruto, I remember you are a great teacher. I never told you but I admired you growing up. I believe you have the power to convince kids to change even when other people have given up hope on them. Why don't you use that power to talk to this brat?"

"Who are you?" the other kid asked, his blonde bangs didn't cover the scowl he directed towards Shikamaru.

While the red haired kid just looked at the dark hair man dispassionately and then ordered, "Let's go, Deidara!"

"But Sasori," the other kid snivelled.

Sasori just pivoted around leaving his friend.

Deidara smiled evilly at the adults before he followed his friend.

Naruto hollered, "Wait!" to the two boys. The two boys then stopped and turned around. Naruto jogged to where they were.

Shikamaru went to the field and met Gaara. He didn't know why but before he thought he felt an urgency to meet the boy. Now, he was asking himself, what was so important that he must speak to Gaara right away? The answer eluded him.

That night, Temari visited him in his sleep but this time she appeared somewhere in her seventies.

"Wh—what happened Temari?" Shikamaru asked, unable to hide his panic. "I just saw you last night. You couldn't have aged that fast. Unlike the first, I did not see you for five nights. I—"

"Shh." Temari placed her index finger on her lips. "It's alright, Shikamaru."

"No, it's not alright. What's next, you're going to be ninety and then what? I won't see you again?" Shikamaru tried to catch his breath. "I won't see you again, aren't I?"

"There won't be a next time, Shikamaru. I shouldn't have visited you like this but I just discovered what you did and I wanted to thank you," Temari admitted, trying to form a smile.

"What do you mean no more next time?" Shikamaru frowned. "And why the hell are you thanking me?"

"For keeping your promise that you will save me."

"What do you mean? How did I save you?" Shikamaru queried, confused. The feeling that there were gaping holes in his life became undeniable. Somehow his memories were fading away, some already felt like they weren't there in the first place and some unrecognizable, like he wasn't the one that lived them.

The memories started to become unclear when he met that twelve-year old Temari and when he came across Gaara, he felt something important went missing. Worst still, Shikamaru realized he could sense that his recollections from his dreams, the ones that included the twenty-six year old Temari were changing in some indefinable way, while the thirty to fortyish Temari were vanishing, shifting to something wholly different. He could feel it—more blanks where he knew something vital happened. "Temari, what is happening?" Shikamaru raised questioning eyes to Temari, her blonde hair interspersed with silver.

"It's going to be alright, Shikamaru." The granny Temari laid an insubstantial kiss on Shikamaru's cheek and then she disappeared.

"No, Temari wait... I can't wake up. I can't wake up. I can't!" But Shikamaru knew it was useless. He was already wide awake.

TBC

~10-31.11-2 10,7 22. 9 5. 9 19 11AF~

A/N: To Effie and Timber, I bet without your reviews I would be procrastinating more...As always thanks for the motivation ~grins~.

MS, your review frustrates me...since I'm using jailbait as the prompt for a drabble, a nice topic for Shika's birthday ~in 3 days~ but the drabble still remains unfinished and unspicy to this day ~panics~

Guys, review? Concrits? Questions?