He sat on his sofa, as faint sounds of the running shower came from the bathroom.
He fidgeted his fingers as he waited; Temari would not let him touch the storage device – she brought it into the shower with her.
He decided to wait, since she dragged him into this, she would let him know.
He has the right to know, after all, he did what she told him, hell - he killed for her.
She walked out of the shower, the light tinge of greenish blonde had faded from her hair, revealing her original, sandy blonde hair; she removed her contact lens, and showed her mesmerizing teal green eyes. She sat next to him, her legs crossed; in her palm was the device, a green light flashing.
"Phew," she sighed in relief as she stretched and plugged in the device.
Her sleek fingers tapped onto the keyboard of his computer.
He browsed briefly, there were two folders.
Project Six Paths – that was one of them - the one Temari mentioned. The other was another called Project Labyrinth.
He arched an eyebrow at the extra folder, but said nothing as Temari clicked into the folder.
Encrypted – as expected.
Shikamaru smirked and fished out a decoding device from his pocket, causing Temari to arch an eyebrow. "Well-prepared, aren't we?" She said casually.
"I minored in computer science back in university," he muttered and plugged it in.
Temari had an emotionless expression on her face, something he could not decode. "So you have."
Shikamaru decided to shrug it off. The melachonic tone in her voice that hung on the air sent tinges down his spine.
The device began to run a programme, which quickly decoded the encrypted folders, causing windows to emerge on the computer screen.
There were ten profiles – each of them had their names.
"Shukaku, Matatabi…Kurama." Shikamaru muttered as he read the names of the files.
There were names matching under each file, he quickly scanned over the information – apparently everyone was deceased, save for two.
Shukaku and Kurama.
He stared at the photos affixed.
'Shukaku' was a young man with red hair and dark circles surrounding his eyes; on his forehead was a red Chinese character 'love', he appeared uninterested in the photo, teal eyes affixed in an intense gaze.
Something about this man reminded Shikamaru of someone he knew.
According to the file, 'Shukaku' was unaccounted for.
'Kurama' was another young man, his hair blonde like yellow paint, his eyes blue like the ocean, he had a confident grin in the photo, unlike the red-haired boy. In his file, it was said that he was 'neutralized' instead of deceased.
His face was again, strangely familiar. Something
"What does this mean?" He studied the limited information on the files carefully; they were experiment reports, testing the strength and abilities of the individuals listed in the folders.
These are not some random individuals – they are all special agents, biologically engineered vigorously to be the best of their field.
But there were no details as to their abilities, their track records …
All Shikamaru knew from the brief information, was that they were extremely dangerous, and that only two of them were left in this world.
He looked up and saw Temari sitting there, silently as she studied the files.
"You okay?" He landed a hand on her shoulder.
She smiled, shrugging his hand off awkwardly. "Yeah, just that we need more information."
"Why are we doing this?" He looked at her; she stared back with an understanding gaze.
Sighing at the question, she stood up and stretched. "I am going to make us some tea, you want some?"
He nodded, and stared at her back as she went into the kitchen.
His gaze turned to the other file, quickly clicking and decoding the file, he discovered a list of names.
Project Labyrinth.
His mouth opened in surprise, as he discovered a list of names.
Strangely, his childhood friends – Yamanka Ino, Akimichi Chouji were among them.
Even more surprisingly, there was one name that he could not resist to click on.
His own name.
Nara Shikamaru.
His dark obsidian eyes widened in confusion.
His found his finger wavering in mid-air, hesitating to press onto the button.
Something told him to press onto him, another part of him was stopping him from pressing
His chest expanded as he inhaled deeply, his finger landing on the mouse.
A file popped up, his photo affixed to the right hand corner.
He saw his personal information – his birthday, his height and weight …
There were several remarks – IQ 200, highly analytical, extremely dangerous …
Status: Neutralized
What does it mean? He thought to himself, his hand resting on his chin.
What does it mean to be 'neutralized'?
Temari emerged in front of his confused self, holding a cup of tea.
"What is Project Labyrinth?" He demanded calmly, Temari tilted her head to the side, but her gaze sold her out – she knew.
"Project Labyrinth?" She repeated after him.
"It says I am neutralized, right here." He said plainly, as Temari placed the tea in front of them.
He could sense her tightening up; she did not say anything in return.
Temari stared in front at the cup of steaming tea, sitting stiffly like a statute; he could see her tapping on her lap nervously with her long sleek fingers.
"How long have we been working together, Shikamaru?"
"Almost two years." He replied, his dark eyes still fixated at her.
"How many have you killed?" Her teal green eyes shone dimly, like a vortex in a calm green lake.
"I lost count," he closed his eyes for a second, and turned back at her. "Tell me, Temari. Who are you? Who am I?"
Temari blinked and stared back at him.
"You are Nara Shikamaru." She said jokingly, a rather nervous grin on her face. "And I am Temari."
He sighed and pointed at the screen. "This Shikamaru or me?"
The man on the screen stared back with a stern gaze, but an unmatching lazy expression.
He stared into her green eyes in search of an answer, a clue, anything.
She offered nothing in return, her expression indescribable – she was sad, confused and irritated all at the same time.
"I wish you could remember," she said softly, the sarcasm fading in her voice, replaced with genuine concern. "I don't know if you will ever do."
Shikamaru felt like something was conking him on the head, he pressed his hand onto his scalp, but nothing – his mind was blank.
"I have always had that feeling that you knew me even before… before I…"
Shikamaru threw his head back and laid onto the sofa, one hand covering his face.
His head jerked up as he felt Temari's hand resting on his lap.
"It's getting late, you should rest," she said. "Go get some sleep in your room. I promise I will tell you tomorrow, I have more information back at my place."
He nodded in agreement, gently nudging her up.
Temari arched an eyebrow in confusion, only to meet his smirking face and dark eyes.
"You take the room, it is too troublesome to have a woman sleep on the couch."
He stood up and walked into the room, returning with a blanket and pillow.
"It's all yours now," he said. Temari smiled at him, and walked into his room.
"Good night," she said, as she closed the door behind her.
Shikamaru tried to look back at his life – it was already crazy enough since that night he killed that bastard – the first person he had ever killed.
But now, this woman, this troublesome woman who appeared out of nowhere and had information telling him that his past was fabricated, that everything was a lie.
But she was hiding something, something even Temari was afraid to say.
Why is she doing this?
What is her purpose?
Why him, instead of any one else on the list?
Who is he?
It appears that he had entered the Labyrinth himself, and this, this was only the first piece of the puzzle.
There is no turning back.
Author's note:
Another chapter! Main plot line appearing now! (although it is still confusing)
Enjoy! Do tell me how you feel about this!
V.S.V xoxo
