-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
Shikamaru
Two weeks. We've been out here for two whole weeks! This was totally ridiculous and a drag. I didn't think it would take this long to train someone. Kankuro seems to be doing the best out of the three, amazingly. He's got Naruto training him so I thought he'd do the worst, but Temari is actually doing the worst. I don't know why exactly either. All I've seen is that when she tries to attack me she's distracted. Makes me think she's not taking this very seriously. Gaara, on the other hand, seems to be taking this training session seriously, which is good… I guess.
The time was nine thirty-three at night or somewhere around there. We had all just had dinner about an hour or so ago. Now we were sleeping near the Memorial Stone as we have been doing for the last two weeks. I can't say that it's been a good night's rest out here. We've had to take like a day off to heal completely from some of the training sessions. Yeah kunai can do some serious damage during training if you aren't careful. I didn't really want to worry about injuries, it makes me start to think about how we should have brought along Sakura since she's the Genin medical shinobi and all.
I stared up at the stars wishing there was a cloud to stare at instead. They were more interesting than stars. The fire behind me crackled slightly, it was dieing out indicating that everyone was going to go to bed. Good, that meant I could go to bed too. I turned over and covered the blanket over my head. Maybe about a minute or so later I thought I had fallen asleep, but I heard some rustling from behind the Memorial Stone that woke me up fully. I sat up wondering what it could be.
"W-what! G-Gaara!"
Oh it's just the Sand Shinobi. No need to be worried. I rested back down on the ground and covered my head once again.
"Temari, that look on your face, it means you've thought about it."
"Kankuro! Shut up!"
Oh just go to bed already. I'm trying to sleep. I sighed wishing they would just shut up.
"… … NO! I WILL NOT SLEEP WITH SHIKAMARU!"
SAY WHAT? I bolted up and looked toward the Memorial Stone. What the hell just came out of her mouth? I got up and walked over to there looking behind the stone. "What are you guys doing…" All three of them jumped when I talked. Temari seemed to be blushing, though in this light it was hard to see. Gaara and Kankuro I could tell were starting to grin. I stared at them confusingly. "Why are you guys still up…"
"No reason really." Kankuro answered me. Temari turned away from me.
"Well, then just go to bed. We still have training to do tomorrow…" They nodded to me and laid down. "Oh and what's all this nonsense I keep hearing?" I heard someone gasp loudly and also someone snicker. I sighed and shook my head turning around walking back. "Whatever, just go to bed." I got to my bed and plopped down sighing again.
Man, either I'm dreaming or the people here are just all insane. I looked toward the ground as silence fell around the camp. My eye caught onto a small movement, a bug. No wait… that's a spider. Eh, strange I don't remember there being spiders in this area… Oh well. It doesn't really matter. I watched the spider a little bit longer then drifted off to sleep.
-oO0-o)
Training seemed to get a bit harder for Temari since that night I heard her and her brothers arguing. She was focusing less and less. Man, what a drag to be stuck training her. She needs more concentration…
"You need more concentration, Temari." I said to her after a bit of her failing to make contact with my kunai.
"Don't you patronize me about concentration! You're the one that has none!" I stared at her like she was crazy, and then it hit me. My head started to hurt slightly, but I ignored it. She was referring to something in the past. I just knew she was. Man I wish I never had lost my memory, and then maybe I wouldn't be training this girl. I sighed and shook my head at her.
"Just try to at least make contact with my kunai. Then maybe I'll say you don't need more concentration…"
"THAT'S IT!"
"Huh?" She threw down her kunai and ran over to her fan. She grabbed it and opened it up. "AAH!" I dived into the water as I heard her yell out.
"WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!" Gusts of wind started to blow everywhere above me. The wind was so strong that some of the trees fell over. I stayed down in the water where it was safer.
Man she's so violent… Why do women have to be so annoying… A couple of more seconds and the wind settled down. I came up for air and looked over at her. She was really ticked off by the look of it. I sighed and got out of the water and headed over to her.
"Sorry, sorry. I won't say that again then." She grabbed my shirt and pulled me into the air slightly.
"You better not or next time I won't let you escape from that move!"
"Alright already! I get it, just put me down." She threw me down crossing her arms. About a minute later the others came running over to see what was wrong. Gaara and Kankuro sighed greatly after seeing the damage.
"Temari, stop being so violent. This is a training session, not a killing session." Kankuro placed his hand on her shoulder, which was immediately shrugged aside.
"Shut up, Kankuro. I know already! He just ticked me off that's all."
"Oh? That's why you attacked me with such force?" I got up and glared at her. "Cause I ticked you off? That's no reason to attack me! You could have killed me!"
"I wasn't using that much chakra to kill you!"
"You sure seemed like you were!" Naruto raced over and got in-between us.
"Hey, hey! Settle down you two! This isn't the time to be fighting! Just calm down…" We both turned to Naruto.
"Shut up!" We yelled at him at the same time, after that we turned our backs on each other and stared at the ground. Everyone around us sighed.
"Maybe you two should be apart for a minute." Neji suggested scratching his head.
"Fine by me!" We both said at the same time walking off in different directions. I could feel the eyes of everyone on my back as I walked off away from them. I placed my hands in my pockets and stayed near the river. I didn't care anymore about training Temari; it's too much of a drag to do so.
After awhile I stopped and sighed looking up at the sky. It wasn't like me to stay mad for a long period of time. I plopped down to the ground cross-legged. I placed my hands in front of me into a circle. This was where I would think of something, such as a strategy. I guess it's just an unconscious habit of mine really. I closed my eyes and thought of what I was going to do next. I stayed like that for about another thirty seconds then I opened my eyes and got up placing my hands in my pocket.
"Man, why do I get myself into these things… It's really not my style. All I can do I guess is go back and apologize to her. I'm then one that pretty much started that argument with saying she had a lack of concentration." I sagged my shoulders and turned around walking back the way I had come. Temari probably wasn't going to be there, but I'd wait for her to come back then I'd apologize.
When I arrived at the training area there was no one around, not even Temari.
"Sigh… I was right. She's not even here. I guess I'll just take a nap until she gets here." I went over to the tree and rested against it with my hands behind my head. I closed my eyes and yawned. I tried to fall asleep but I just couldn't. Temari seemed to be on my mind, which was really odd actually because I don't usually think of girls. I kept my eyes closed even when I heard footsteps approach.
It's probably Temari. I thought. Finally she's back, but I'm too comfortable to move… I stayed there waiting for her to say something. I heard her stop for a minute then start walking again toward me. Maybe she thought I was asleep. I do hope she's not mad at me anymore because I don't need some annoying woman mad at me. I heard her stop again then I felt a hand being placed down on my chest. I didn't open eyes cause it was a soft touch, not a hard one. So I wasn't really concerned with it. I did open my eyes when I felt someone breathing on me.
I looked to see that Temari's face was really close to mine. Her lips were inches away from mine. I could see that she was blushing a lot, and I felt my face warm up greatly. I could also feel my heart beating faster. I didn't move, too afraid that I would frighten her and a part of me didn't want to move. She was about to kiss me when I noticed something hanging from her neck; it was a key.
That key… it looks like… My eyes widen and I reacted before I knew what I was doing. I moved my arms from the back of my head and grabbed her arms. Quickly I pushed upward with great force which made me land on top of her. Her eyes grew wide with alarm and her breathing became slightly irregular. I stared down at the key around her neck.
"I… I… I…" She started to say stammering. I grabbed the key from her neck and held it up slightly. She stopped talking when she saw me holding it. I looked into her eyes feeling slightly upset.
"Where did you get this?" I asked angrily. She just stared at me, shocked. I guess there goes my apology… "Well?" I asked again.
"I... You gave it to me… three years ago…" I blinked and just stared at her. My anger was settling down as I tried to remember what she was talking about.
"… I gave… it to you?…"
"Y-yes… it was a parting gift when my brothers and I were leaving Konoha three years ago… Don't you remember?" Small tears were appearing in her eyes. I gasped slightly and let go of the necklace. I was making a girl cry; this was definitely not like me. I closed my eyes trying to remember, and then that's when my head started to throb and a sudden voice came to my mind.
"Shikamaru…" My head started to hurt even more. I couldn't stand it; I placed one of my hands to my head holding it.
"Sh… Shikamaru?" Temari was trying to speak to me but I couldn't hear her well. A strange voice kept coming to my head repeating my name over and over again. Then I just collapsed and fell onto Temari. "Shikamaru!" She screamed desperately. "Shikamaru what's wrong! Shikamaru!…" Her voice was starting to fade away. My mind was getting fuzzy… I remember this feeling. This pain was the feeling I got right before I remembered something. The throbbing pain that always made me go unconscious for hours. I heard Temari yell out once more "Someone! Anyone!" before I blanked out.
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
"I guess you guys are leaving now…" Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro turned around to face me.
"Shikamaru…" Temari looked at me then stared at the ground.
"We are." Gaara responded to me. I nodded then went up to Temari. She looked up at me and tried to smile. I grabbed her hand, placed a key into it, and then shut it. She blinked and stared down at her hand.
"Wha...?" I let go of her hand and she opened it up. "What's this for?" She said looking up at me. I placed my hands behind my head.
"A parting gift I guess you could say. It's so you don't forget I'm still your best friend." She stared at me and I sighed. I was about to turn away when she suddenly hugged me tightly. I blushed slightly and almost fell backwards. She held onto me smiling and blushing as well. I stared down then smiled hugging her back. She let go after few more seconds and looked at me.
"Thank you Shikamaru."
"Yeah, yeah." I was greatly embarrassed after that. Then she did something out of the blue. She kissed my cheek. My eyes widen and I felt my face warm up even more. She giggled then turned around and ran off to her brothers waving goodbye. I looked after them then smiled to myself. "Have a safe trip back to Suna." I thought in my mind. I waited till they were gone to head home."
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
I slowly opened my eyes, groaning slightly. My head still throbbed, but not as much as before. I looked around to see worried faces.
"Ah, he's awake." I think that was Gaara's voice, not to sure though. I tried to sit up but someone held me down. I looked to see who it was and saw that it was Temari.
"Eh, Temari…" She smiled slightly at me.
"I'm glad you're okay. You just suddenly blanked out on me earlier."
"How… long ago was that…?" I rubbed my head as the last bit of throbbing vanished.
"Um, maybe an hour or so." I sighed closing my eyes. This memory lapse wasn't as bad as my other ones. Those usually lasted up to four hours.
I sat up forcing Temari to stop pushing me down. I held my head slightly looking around at everyone.
"What did you remember this time, Shikamaru?" I looked over at Naruto then to Gaara, Kankuro. My eyes stopped at Temari. She blinked and slightly blushed.
"It was a memory from three years ago. It was the day you three left Konoha." They gasped slightly. I grabbed Temari's necklace and looked at the key. "I remember now… I remember giving this to you Temari. You were right it was a parting gift. A gift so that you three would remember I was till your best friend." She smiled at me happily. Gaara and Kankuro had satisfied looks on their faces. Everyone else was relieved that I was okay.
"How about we take a small break from our training sessions." I looked over at Neji.
"Hmm? What should we do then…" He grinned at me.
"Let's go swimming."
-oO0-o)
I dived down into the water then came up really quickly tripping Naruto. He plunged down under and I got on top of him forcing us both down into the water. He struggled under me then kicked me with such force that I flew out of the water. I landed kind of hard on the shallow end, while he swam over next to me breathing hard. I could hear people laughing in the background. Naruto got up and made a fist at them. I tripped him and he fell backwards down onto the ground. More laughing erupted from everyone. Naruto groaned slightly and glared at me. I grinned at him and got up. I offered him my hand. Bad idea.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me down, laughing. I landed face first into the water. I sat up coughing from swallowing some of the water. I turned to lunge at him when I felt Neji grab me from behind.
"Alright you two! Settle down! Man, you guys are such idiots." Naruto and I looked up at Neji and glared at him. I struggled and Neji let me go. Standing up I placed my hand out again to Naruto and he took it for real. I helped him to his feet and sighed sagging my shoulders.
"Hmm? Something wrong, Shikamaru?" I looked at Naruto and shook my head. "Then why do you look so tired?"
"Cause I am tired, you idiot." He made a face and I pushed him into the water. I placed my hand on my left shoulder and rubbed it slightly.
"Hey Shikamaru, this is a perfect time to see how well we are on walking on water." I looked at Neji then nodded agreeing with him. I turned to everyone else seeing if they agreed as well. They nodded and headed over to the water. Well everyone but Gaara. I had a feeling he didn't like water too much. Naruto quickly got up and walked over to the deep end already standing on the water. I turned to him and rolled my eyes.
"Show off." I concentrated my Chakra to my feet then started to walk over to the water's deep end. Me eyes flickered to the water to see a spider. A sudden throbbing occurred in my head making me lose my concentration. It made my fall right into the water. I could hear Naruto laughing as I got out of the water. Temari was next to me looking down at me shaking her head. "What?"
"You seem to have a lack of concentration, Shikamaru." I glared at her then felt my head start to throb even worse.
Oh no, not another remembrance. I closed my eyes and held my head, and then I plunged down into the water. As I sank slowly to the bottom I could hear people screaming out my name. Then I heard screaming inside my head.
"SHIKAMARU!" I started to choke then I blanked out once again…
-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-
"You guys… You guys lack concentration!" Iruka-sensei was yelling at us. And that us would be Kiba, Naruto, Choji, and me. "You can't become excellent ninjas at this rate!"
"I can't just stay put at a desk. Right, Akamaru?" Kiba responded. Akamaru responded by doing a small groan and yap. My response to what Iruka-sensei said was yawning.
"I'm hungry…" Was Choji's response.
"Sensei, please keep your lecture short." Naruto responded to him rudely. Iruka-sensei made an angry face at us.
"You guys… I'm going to have an after school class to improve your concentration!" We all groaned and said "What?" Then leaves suddenly flew at our foreheads. We blinked and wondered what was going on. Iruka-sensei did a small laugh while turning a leave similar to the ones on our foreheads in his left hand.
"What's this?" Naruto asked.
"What you're about to do is what generations of Konoha ninjas have practiced to hone their concentration. This exercise is to concentrate all your energy on the leaf on your head and mold up Chakra. It's an old tradition to concentrate on just the leaf so that your mind doesn't get distracted." Naruto made a small groan while we all kept staring at the leaf. "Only those who've worked hard on their concentration can become excellent ninjas. The Konoha (Leaf) emblem on that head protector comes from that."
"That sounds fake." Naruto said to all of that.
"Are you lying to try and motivate us?" I remarked.
"It's not fake! It's true." Iruka-sensei said angrily throwing up his right fist.
"Are you able to become an excellent ninja just by working hard on your concentration?" Kiba responded.
"An excellent ninja is one who's strong." Naruto said.
"That makes sense." Choji responded to Naruto.
"This is what I think of this…" We all looked at Naruto and watched as he blew the leave off his head. Iruka-sensei freaked out. "Goodbye, Sensei!" We all ran away and out the window.
"Hey, wait up, you guys!"
"Yeah right!"
"Don't have time to do that!"
"Hey!"
"You ungrateful idiots!" Iruka-sensei yelled after us as we fled from the school. We ran into the streets grinning like idiots, but we stopped grinning when we saw Iruka-sensei coming after us.
"Uh-oh!" Naruto yelled. "We better get out of here!"
"Then how about we split up and make it harder for him to catch us?" I suggested. They nodded and we split up. I jumped up grabbing a line above me. Then I raced across it and onto the buildings. I could hear Iruka-sensei yelling after us. I jumped into an abandoned building and hid inside its walls. I sat down slightly tired from that run. I looked at then turned around quickly when I heard rustling. I sighed when I saw that it was only a girl.
She had four blond pigtails on the back of her head. And by the look of her clothing she was from the sand village, Suna. By the size of her she looked to be about two years older than me, meaning she would be about twelve. I turned around to face her completely, slightly alarmed. She giggled slightly and I got a weird look on my face.
"SHIKAMARU!" I turned when my name was called. "CHOJI! NARUTO! KIBA!" I shook my head turning back to the girl.
"You running?"
"Huh?"
"Are you running from someone?"
"Uh, yeah I guess you could say that."
"Why?" Her questions were starting to irritate me.
"Cause I don't feel like doing what I'm told."
"And what's that?"
"Do some concentration thing." She giggled and I made a face at her.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing."
"Che, well whatever. It's just such a drag to do that."
"Oh? And running away isn't?"
"Running away is easier… And why am I telling you this? Che, this is such a drag…" I stared out the broken window and up at the clouds. I looked for some kind of shape and sat there wishing I were a cloud.
"Shikamaru." I turned around and faced the girl at the sound of my name. My eyes widen slightly.
"How did you…"
"When you turned your head when your name was called out, I figured that was your name." I blinked at her then grinned slightly. She was pretty smart… for a girl. I heard tumbling around wondering whether Iruka-sensei found me or not. I closed my eyes and placed my hands into a circle in front of me, my thinking pose. After a minute or two I opened my eyes and got up. I turned to leave, but stopped when I heard the girl speak.
"Temari." I looked at her and blinked. Then smiled.
"Temari, eh. Nice name. Well it's nice to meet you." I waved to her then jumped out the window. "I guess I'll see you later. I've got to go!" And with that I ran off away from the abandoned building.