The Shifting Sands
Chapter four- Safe Return?
Ino walked quietly back towards the Konoha village. In her hands she held a lovely set of flowers. "These will be perfect in our window." She said, referring to her mother's flower shop.
Suddenly, a soft tapping began to invade her thoughts. "What's that noise?" Ino turned in it's direction and gasped, "It's that sand villager!"
Temari was running amongst the treetops. Every now and them a small tap was heard as her foot made contact with a branch. "Why is she going to Konoha?" Ino thought to herself as she saw Temari enter the village gates.
…………………………………………………………
"You guys will never believe what I saw!!!" Ino cried, running to her friends.
Kiba, Hinata, Naruto and Choji were in the alley, doing pretty much nothing. Ino's news just may be the highlight of their day.
"What?" Choji asked, opening a fresh bag a chips.
Ino groaned, "How come everytime I see you, you have a bag of chips?"
Choji put a few chips in his mouth. "Because I always have them handy."
Ino frowned as some chips spewed from his mouth, "Girls don't like fat guys, Choji. Just like guys don't like fat girls."
Choji swallowed, "That's not what Shikamaru said…"
Ino snapped her fingers, "Oh! Shikamaru!!!"
"What about him?" Kiba asked.
"I saw him talking to the sand villager!" she said, excited.
Naruto laughed, "Yeah. What else is new?"
Ino rolled her eyes, "I wasn't done, Naruto! It's what they were talking about that was interesting!"
Now Naruto was interested, "We should go to my house and talk."
Everyone agreed. They were sick of standing.
…………………………………………………………………….
"While I was out picking flowers, I saw Temari running into the village." Ino continued eagerly. Hinata walked around the table, placing a drink in front of everyone.
"Shouldn't Naruto be handing out the drinks?" Kiba asked, picking up the orange soda, "After all, this is his house."
Hinata didn't know how to respond, "Um…well…I…"
"Who cares?! Back to my story!" Ino was more excited than any of them have ever seen.
Hinata, relieved to be saved by Ino, sat back down to hear the rest.
"Anyway, I saw her run into the village. She scoped out Shikamaru and began talking in rapid session. I just had to get closer and eavesdrop."
Everyone leaned on the table, ready to hear the rest. Ino continued, "So I got closer and heard her saying something like "So, who would you see?". Shikamaru looked up at the clouds and muttered something. Whatever it was, it made Temari smile. Then she said, "Come on, you can tell me!" so Shikamaru……
(flashback)
Shikamaru looked back at Temari. No longer did he deny his feelings for her, but a part of him wished she would find out for herself.
"I'd see a beautiful girl." He said sarcastically.
Temari rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean! Be more descriptive!"
Shikamaru shrugged, "Well, It's getting late, so I should-!"
"It's not even close to noon, let alone the evening! Don't you dare move a muscle!"
Shikamaru sighed and resumed his seat on the handrail. Temari tapped her fan impatiently.
"I'd see…."he began slowly. Temari's eyes widened with anticipation, "Yes?"
Shikamaru smirked, "Well… I think I'll keep it secret."
"Hey!" Temari pouted as Shikamaru got up and began to leave. Not wanting to be left behind, she followed Shikamaru out of the village.
"What could they have been talking about?" Choji asked, finishing his chips.
Ino shrugged, "I must have missed a lot of information, because none of that made since."
Naruto nodded in agreement. So did Kiba. Everyone looked at Hinata. She didn't nod.
"I take it you have some sort of clue, eh Hinata?" said Kiba.
She nervously played with her fingers. "Um…well…sort of."
Ino slammed her hand on the table, "Spit it out!"
Everyone looked at her, shocked.
"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly, "It's just that this is the most exciting thing to happened to me all month…"
Hinata nodded, "It's okay…."
"So, tell us what you know, Hinata." Naruto egged her on.
Hinata blushed, "I don't know much…but I overheard Neji talking to Sakura one day….they said something about a 'guy with many faces'. Apparently he has the ability to be beautiful or ugly…or something like that…"
"Wow…I wonder who has THAT kind of power…" Ino pondered.
"Do you know where those two went?" Choji asked suddenly.
"Huh?" said Ino.
"Shikamaru and Temari...where'd they go?"
Ino shrugged, " I figured I was already doing something bad by eavesdropping, so I decided not to follow."
Though everyone agreed with her choice, they silently wished she did follow. Where did they go?
…………………………………………………………………………………
Blonde hair fell across Temari's neck as she bent over to pick some flowers. She had let her hair free of the bands that once held them together. Shikamaru watched her from a little distance. He smiled as she looked at the beautiful plants.
"How'd you find this place?" Temari asked, basking in the beauty.
Shikamaru shrugged, "I was taking a walk…and I came upon this."
Temari looked around, "It's so unreal…" she said softly under her breath. A large mountain looked over them as a waterfall filled the silence. Flowers decorated the ground with the various colors.
"Hey…" she said suddenly. Shikamaru walked next to her, "What?" Temari pointed to a cave. Shikamaru's eyes widened, "I never noticed that before…." They walked closer to it, pushing long branches out of their way.
"Should we go in?" Temari questioned.
Shikamaru shrugged, "Why not?"
Temari stood frozen as he trudged forward.
"Temari? Are you coming?"
Temari remained frozen. "Why do I feel like this will be the last time I ever see you…?" she thought to herself in horror.
"Temari?"
Temari snapped out of her thoughts, "Oh! Sorry…yes, I'm coming…."
…………………………………………………………………………………..
They walked deep into the darkness. Dripping echoed throughout the cave.
"I can't see…"Temari said, sounding more worried then she meant to.
"I know," Shikamaru said, sliding his hand against the wall, "Just stay calm…"
It felt like they've been walking for hours when suddenly, Shikamaru heard something.
THUD!
"Temari?!"
"I really could have found a better way of breaking these…" she muttered.
"What?" Shikamaru followed her voice. He didn't stop until he tripped on a pile of rubble. "What the-!" quickly, he flipped in order to avoid damage. His footsteps echoed as he walked closer to touch the debris. He gasped as familiarity struck at him, "This….this is the same boulder…" he said, his voice slightly shaking. :
"He'll be behind that barrier." Temari said, pointing to a stack of boulders. Shikamaru walked up to it a placed an exploding tag on it. It sunk inside. "This is a genjutsu." Temari explained, "I think I pointed to the wrong set of boulders." Shikamaru sighed, "Well, I only have three more exploding tags. You better know which one is the real one."
Temari inspected the other sets of boulders carefully. After about an hour, she became frustrated. "Screw this!" she pulled out her fan and sent a strong wind throughout the cave. Only one set of boulders collapsed.
"It's that same boulder Temari knocked down!" Shikamaru stood up, his heart pounding, "We're in the Black Sun's hideout!"
"Temari!" Shikamaru was greeted with silence.
"Temari!" He looked around, hoping somehow he could see through the dark.
Suddenly, he felt alone. It was such an eerie feeling…as though it was constricting his very lungs.
Not letting the feeling get to him, Shikamaru used his memory to guide himself throughout the cave. He had to find Temari.
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
"You're okay…."
Temari had tears in her eyes as she held him close to her. Though he didn't hug her back, she knew he was just as happy. Suddenly, sand began to enclose her. She took a step back and let it form a barrier around him. Soon, it went back into it's gourd.
"You….I…I'm so happy…" Temari found it hard to make sense…the moment robbed her of logic.
"Stop acting so stupid," he folded his arms and looked away, "No one can kill me that easily."
Temari walked closer to him and played with his red hair. He gently pushed it away.
"Sorry…I'm just relieved, is all…" Temari said, smiling broadly. She thought she'd never see him again.
"Temari!"
Temari turned as Shikamaru appeared in the doorway.
"Gaara!" He said as he laid eyes on Temari's brother.
"A konoha ninja?" Gaara said disapprovingly. All because he was no longer their enemy, didn't mean he had to like them.
"We have to go quickly!" Shikamaru said with extreme urgency.
Temari understood. She realized were she was not too long ago:
"I can't see…"Temari said, sounding more worried then she meant to.
"I know," Shikamaru said, sliding his hand against the wall, "Just stay calm…"
Suddenly, Temari tripped on a couple of rocks as she walked blindly into the cave.
"I should've found a better way to break these…." She absentmindedly thought to herself
That's when it hit her, "These are the rocks I broke…"
Temari quickly stood up as she heard Shikamaru say, "What?"
She tried to follow his voice. "Shikamaru!!!" Temari yelled into the dripping room. She felt her body begin to shake as no one responded.
"Dammit!" She swore. She hated being alone, let alone in a pitch black area.
She turned and used her memory to follow the path she made with her enormous fan.
"Hey!" she said suddenly. She saw a lit path in front of her. Quickly, she ran towards it. A ray of hope lit within her heart.
"Shikamaru?!" she cried, looking about the bright room. Torches hung on the walls and no water dripped from the ceiling. In fact, the only thing in the room was a large, purple cocoon.
"What is this?" Temari waked around it judging whether she should touch it or not.
Suddenly, a loud knock rang from within the cocoon. Temari jumped back and readied her fan…or maybe not.
"What?!" Temari looked around her. Her fan was nowhere to be seen.
"I must've left it outside…." She groaned. The cocoon banged again. Temari crouched down, ready for taijutsu if it was required.
"Grrr…."A low growl hummed beneath the purple substance. Temari didn't budge, but her heart was beating wildly.
"HIYAH!!"
Temari shielded her face as purple and brown sand flew towards her.
"Hmp. That was it?" A familiar voice spoke more to himself than to Temari.
Temari rubbed her eyes free of debris, trying to see who else was in the room.
"Temari?" The voice seemed to put more happiness in this then he meant.
Finally, the sand was out of her eyes. She felt it hard to speak as she gazed upon the sand ninja.
"Gaara!" She ran up to him and hugged him, "You're okay…."
"Good," Shikamaru said, relieved he didn't have to explain, "Then we should be going. None of us are a match for the Black Sun. We can't chance a meeting." Temari nodded. Gaara looked away. Though he hated to admit it, he knew Shikamaru was right.
Shikamaru picked one of the torches off the wall and started down the hallway. Suddenly, Temari gasped. Shikamaru swallowed hard as he followed her gaze. The "water" dripping from the ceiling was really blood. Corpses littered the floor. They've been walking in a cave of the dead.
"Please…let's get out." Temari said, repulsed.
Gaara didn't say anything; he just glanced at the wasteland with no emotion.
Shikamaru nodded, "I agree, Temari. Let's go."
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Just wait until Kankurou sees you!" Temari said gaily.
Shikamaru couldn't help but smile as the left the cave. "I've never seen Temari this happy…." He thought to himself.
Gaara tried to ignore her fawning over him. Temari didn't seem to take the hint as she kept hugging him and messing in his hair.
"I guess I kept my promise…" Shikamaru said with a smirk.
Temari felt a pang within her heart as she saw Shikamaru turn towards Konoha.
"Wait!" she cried, "Maybe you can walk us home…we should tell Kankurou together!" she felt herself begin to get desperate, "Maybe we can defeat the Black Sun! Or maybe…maybe…" she held back the tears that threatened to burst.
"Temari…" Shikamaru said calmly. He was always so calm, " You and I both know we can't face the Black Sun. We'll have to wait…" She watched him look up at the sky, "When I need help…I won't hesitate to ask you." She felt her heart melt as he smiled at her, "After all…I don't trust anybody else."
Temari turned away from him and folded her arms, "Fine!" she pouted, "But don't expect me to be willing!" Shikamaru nodded and continued towards Konoha.
"Temari…" Gaara said slowly
Temari wiped her tears and turned to her brother, "Yes, Gaara?"
"Shouldn't we be going? Forget the konoha ninja." He seemed annoyed.
Temari sniffed and nodded, "Right." She picked up her fan and placed her hair back into their former bands.
As the sun began to get ready to sleep, the two sand ninjas headed towards their village. Temari with a sunken heart…and Gaara with a grin…and odd, twisted grin….
o.O You don't
think it's that easy, do you? Of course, the plot only thickens!!!
Oh, and I know I did a lot of flashback thingies and "time"
thingies (as I like to call them). Tell me if their annoying…though
it won't matter cause I won't redo it. I'll just try to do less
of it in the next chapter…which I'm typing as you read.
