Temari carefully advanced toward the doors, while she took in the stranger's appearance through the glass. He had rather pale skin, especially in contrast with the jet black hair that framed his face. It was an elegant face, almost feminine. He wore a forehead protector with a symbol which she recognized as that of Konohagakure, from the Land of Fire and it had a deep scratch through it. She saw now that the red shapes on his cloak were clouds.
Temari had reached the door, lifted her hand and took hold of the doorknob. His stern-looking eyes appeared to be some sort of Kekkei Genkai, which she didn't recognize. They had red irises with strange markings in them. Slowly she turned the knob, opened the door and stepped out.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Would it matter if I told you?" he replied after a short silence.
"You're right, I don't care who you are. Judging by your outfit, you must be pals with that bomber. So you know where my brother is?"
"I do."
"Huh! I suppose I'm going to have to make you tell me, aren't I?" Temari looked defiantly into the crimson eyes and leaned on her massive fan.
He smiled coldly. "I thought you wanted him gone? Didn't you tell him to get lost?"
"What are you talking about, of course I did, but it's just an expression, idiot," she retorted venomously, but fell quiet, "how did you know I said that?"
The dark-haired man didn't answer, but after a moment stretched his arm behind him.
"He's over there."
"What are y-" Temari started, but was dumbfounded when her eyes followed the direction of his finger.
The light of the barely risen sun showed a huge labyrinth spread out at the foot of the hill on which the two were talking.
"What the hell?!" she yelled at the strange shinobi, "How did that get there?"
"It was always there."
"Shut up! I know the view from my room and that" – she pointed at the structure below her for emphasis – "was never there."
But then she realized that not only the distant part of her view had altered. They were no longer standing on her balcony. She looked behind her: the entire village had disappeared! There was more that wasn't right in this picture: night had just fallen, how could it be dawn?
"What the hell did you do?!" she yelled as she backed away and got into her fighting stance, with her fan ready to strike. The cloaked man was not impressed.
"You have thirteen hours to solve the labyrinth before your brother beyond saving."
"What..?" Temari muttered and grew pale, "What are you doing to him?"
"Our aim is to extract the Ichibi from him," the crow-man explained.
"He'll die!"
"You have thirteen hours…" he repeated and spontaneously dissolved into a cloud of crows.
Temari moaned desperately. I've got to stay calm… thought to herself and sighed, How hard can the labyrinth be? I've found myself in worse surroundings.
She walked up to the high labyrinth wall and could find no entrance. It was too high for her to jump on and somehow she wasn't able to climb it, using her chakra either. When she looked around for other options, she saw someone standing by a pond. She marched toward the figure - which, she soon saw, was a guy - until she realized what he was doing. From crotch height a trinkle of "water" trickled into the pond.
"Er… excuse me," Temari muttered from a safe distance.
"Hmm?" the fellow looked around at her and grumbled "Oh, it's you."
Temari instantly knew that she didn't like this guy one bit. He had sharp, but indifferent eyes, looked moody and lazy and his hair was stupid, too. It was combed and tied back tightly, high on the back of his head. Other than that he was actually kinda good-looking, but good looks do nothing when one's attitude is rotten. He was rude as well: he didn't even bother speeding up the process of passing water and when he finished he took no further notice of Temari. He just found a comfortable spot on the dry earth, lay down and started looking up at the sky.
"Right. I need to get into this labyrinth, can you help me?"
She got distracted for a second when a pretty little blonde, long-haired fairy, flew past her and smiled sweetly at her. It wore a purple dress and its hair in a high ponytail, while bangs covered one of its blue eyes. All of a sudden there were dozens of the creatures all around her.
"So sweet!" she whispered, in awe.
Temari suddenly heard a small shriek and a soft thud of something hitting the ground.
"Fifty-seven," the inactive bloke mumbled.
Temari realized that one of the fairies had dropped from the air. When she went over to the little creature to check if it was ok, she saw that it had been caught in a weird kind of net, made out of something black and transparent.
"Hey! What d'you do that for?" Temari was sure Mr. Disrespectful over there had something to do with the trap.
"Poor thing…" she said in a soothing tone as she picked the little bugger up. "You're such a dick, you kno- Auch!" she dropped it, "It bit me!"
The cloud-gazer snorted. "Mendoukusei… What did you expect it to do?"
"I dunno, grant wishes or something," she shrugged.
"Huh! Shows what you know… Fifty-eight," he added when his set-up immobilized another bug.
"Those pests are suckers for pudding," he grinned smugly at Temari.
"You're shameful."
"No I'm not, I'm Shikamaru. And who might you be?"
"I'm Temari."
"I knew it... Fifty-nine." One more victim.
"Do you know where the door to the labyrinth is?"
"Maybe."
"Well…? Where is it?"
"Sixty. Hurray," he cheered emotionlessly. "Where's what?"
"The door!"
"What door?"
Temari let out an exasperated grunt. "It's hopeless asking you anything!"
"Not if you ask the right questions," the smartass noted and added, barely audible: "Troublesome woman…"
"How do I get into the Labyrinth?" Temari sighed, pretending not to hear the insult.
"Ah, now that's more like it. You get in there."
As if lifting his arm to point was too much trouble, he merely turned his head slightly to the left and nodded at the wall, or rather, at what was formerly a wall.
Two heavy wooden doors had appeared, which opened outwardly from the middle. Thick mist rolled through the opening, as if a Kirigakure ambush was waiting for her around the corner of the entrance.