This was it. Shikamaru and his two companions waited silently at Suna's first gate. Neither of the sand siblings had uttered a word since the three of them had arrived, and it was slightly starting to irritate him. Sure, he enjoyed silence, but this just wasn't the time. He fidgeted slightly with both hands in his pockets, leaning back against a nearby tree. It shouldn't be taking so long. Geez, and theses were the guys who told them not to be late…

A shaded figure stepped through the entrance, a brown cloak covering his being. "Follow," It was a simple command. He turned and headed straight back where he had come from, obviously expecting them to listen.

Shikamaru couldn't help but think this over. Here they were, following some unknown shinobi out of the village, to who knows where. And with the Kazekage no less! What was Gaara thinking? However, taking more time to think about it, he came to a conclusion. What else could they do? Temari was their prisoner, and they wanted Suna to break alliances with Konoha… Maybe he shouldn't be one of the ones to go.

He shook that idea from his head straight away, as the three of them slowly trailed behind their escort. Like he could leave this to someone else. It was Temari, he had to be there.

"Wait here." Their escort ordered blandly as he strode off.

They had been traveling for around an hour and a half when the shadowy shinobi lead them to a large cave. Around them were large boulders that seemed as if they would break away if the slightest of tremors hit them. Not a very logical place for a group of people to be standing in. However, what else could they do but obey? This was most likely getting on Gaara's and Kankuro's very nerves, as it was his.

Gaara stood frowning slightly against one of the edges of the rock. Kankuro was pacing around, muttering silent curses as he trailed, eyes narrowed. Shikamaru himself wasn't too far from either of them. For a moment, he would take up the pacing. A moment later he would realize what he was doing, than lean up against the rock opposite Gaara. A moment again and he would become worried or agitated and start up the pacing again. This definitely had to stop.

Right as he was about to begin his pacing again, the three of them turned at a slight noise from behind them. It was as if his enemies had read his mind and thrown one of the worst situations at them he could have thought possible. Over twenty shinobi stood at the entrance of the cave, each posed in a particular fighting stance.

He knew they shouldn't have trusted them. No, scratch that. They didn't trust them from the beginning.

Anger flashed on the sand sibling's faces. Shikamaru's mirrored them as well, though Gaara's face wasn't as direct as his older brothers.

It didn't take a genius like himself to know that they were greatly outnumbered. Even with Gaara, they stood out matched.

Shit, what the hell were they supposed to do now?

Temari cursed, slamming a manacled fist against the stone wall of her prison, gaining a slight red mark on her flesh in doing so.

She cursed over, and over, and over again. And when her 'caretakers' finally thought she was done, she cured a bit more, just in spite of them.

"When I get out of this, I am going to personally pound you into the ground myself, you shit heads!" Temari promised with venom, overly pissed as she stared at one standing against the opposite wall.

Again, for about the hundredth time that day, the shinobi in charge of her sighed. He tuned his blond head—one that could make any normal girl swoon—towards her. "Listen, if you don't shut up—"

"Why don't you come in here and make me!" Temari call from behind the bars they had put her in. Above that, they had fricken' chained her to the stupid wall!

His eyes narrowed into slits. He had had just about enough of her. Opening the door, the man strode in, locking the door behind him.

"What? Are you afraid I might get away?" She mocked, a smirk placed on her features.

He ignored her comment, coming up to her. "Listen, bitch," He started, slapping her across the face. The impact was strong enough to draw a bit of blood from her mouth. "If I tell you to do something, you damn as well had better do it." He gritted his teeth, sending another slap across her other cheek.

Temari seethed, staring up into the man's face. "I'll do whatever I want." She objected, spitting blood into his face. God, she wished she could just get her arms loose and punch him square in the face. Cocky bastard.

The man sneered, wiping back blond locks from his eyes. The shinobi's eyes were a bright hazel in color with elegantly set eyebrows above. His lips were strong and firm, matching the overall look of him. The only thing that argued against him was a stray scar that moved from his left cheek into his hairline, just missing his eye. His skin tone suggested he spent a good share of his time in the sun, and his well-toned muscles agreed with his body quite nicely.

His eyes narrowed again. Placing a firm grip on her jaw, he pulled her forward until her face came level with his own. "You are lucky they didn't call in one of the other guards. The others are loose with their drinks, and have a knack for getting in trouble with women." He looked her square in the eye. "I might not be able to get you out of here untouched. So please don't continue to provoke me. I might become tempted enough to leave for a while." Letting go of her, he left, locking the door behind him.

All Temari could do was stare.

"Shit," Kankuro cursed aloud as he pulled up another attack with his puppets. He was already soaked with perspiration, as were his two companions, and it seemed as if the amount of enemies never ended.

Shikamaru shared his enthusiasm, pulling a kunai up to block as a particularly tall shinobi came up against him. Gaara was on his own, dealing with five guys at once. They definitely needed to figure something out, and fast. If they waited too long, it might not end up well.

Gathering up some chakara, Shikamaru sent out a quick shadow, attempting to capture both the shinobi in front of him, and one of the ones attacking Kankuro. If he simply stalled at least one of them for a few seconds, the others could deal with them in a short matter of time.

Shikamaru paled as his attack failed to catch both shinobi. The tall one only a few strides away from him was still coming, blade in hand.

As if he had just realized something important, the attacker froze in mid stride. He stared blankly at Shikamaru for a moment, and then let out a slight smirk.

What the hell?

Quickly, the shinobi turned and went straight for where Kankuro was. With a cry, he lunged himself at one of the other shadowed shinobi, lodging his blade strongly into his companions back and out his chest, causing a wail of pain to come along with a flash of blood.

This only seemed too familiar… with shocked eyes, Shikamaru tuned quickly to the entrance, where multiple shinobi lay dead. Both Ino and Choji grinned back at him.

There was simply no time to ask questions as an enemy came charging at him. This time, Shikamaru caught him. Choji came up and punched the frozen shinobi with an enlarged arm, sending him straight into the rock with a sick crack. With a quick wave, the large shinobi from Konoha went back to work, throwing punches and kicks with deadly effect.

What a powerhouse. Shikamaru thought as he flung a kunai at a back-turned enemy.

Quickly after the Konoha reinforcements arrived the battle ended. Shikamaru's friends had taken the enemy shinobi completely by surprise.

A problem arose as Shikamaru wiped away the sweat off his brow. What were they going to do about Temari? Gaara seemed to have the same idea.

"It is obvious now that they never had any intention to negotiate at all." Gaara stated blankly, not showing his weariness though they all knew it was there.

What he had said left an open mark for the subject of Temari. Shikamaru couldn't help but think about what they would do to her. Had they even kept her alive in the first place? If they were planning to fight all along, what was the point in keeping her alive?

Unfortunately, Shikamaru couldn't think of a single one.

Temari's head shot up as she heard the door of her prison slide open. Makoto—the blond guard—entered silently, a blank look set upon his features. Coming up to her sitting form, he gazed down at her with unwavering hazel eyes.

"I am afraid I have some unpleasant news for you." He started, placing his arms across his chest. "You are to be discarded immediately. Either you let me complete my job without trouble and I do it quickly, or I call in one of the others. It is your choice."

Temari didn't know how to handle this situation. Wasn't she a prisoner? They couldn't kill her unless…

Shock filled her eyes quickly before she rid herself of the emotion and glared at Makoto. "You can't."

Unexpectedly, Makoto smirked. Leaning down so that he was level with Temari, he gripped her tightly by the top of her head and jerked back, pulling hard at her own blond locks. She bit back a scream as he pulled back. "Oh really?"

Pulling a kunai from a pack in the back of his belt, he traced her neckline gently with it, causing only the slightest of a scratch. He lightly trailed down, until the tip of the blade was directly over her heart. "Don't tempt me, bitch."

Anger flooded her senses, overflowing throughout her mind and clearing out any reasonable thought. "Like I said before, bastard," She spit at him again, hitting him square in the face. "I'll do whatever I want."

With a slight noise of dismay, Makoto stood, replacing the kunai back where he took it from. "Suit yourself. I warned you." And he was gone.

Temari heard a loud blot of drunken laughter as the large wooden door outside her cell closed shut, leaving her alone to think of what she might have done.

Oh shit.