Shikamaru sighed and pushed a couple strands of loose hair out of his face. He really didn't like being under pressure and being in the same room with eight other people, especially when he knew that a couple people were walking around each other on egg shells.
"Alright, look," he said picking up a piece of squash with his chopsticks from the large plate of vegetables next to the barbecue grill that was built into the table. "Stuff has been a little crazy in this...team...lately."
"Psh, you could say that again," scoffed Temari as she sipped a small cup of ginger tea.
"Look," sighed Tenten. "Shikamaru and I have talked over this, since we're team leaders, and we've decided that the teams need to, well, not split up, but maybe take a bit of time off from each other."
"What Tenten means to say," interrupted Shikamaru. "Is that my team, Ino, Chouji, myself and Temari, should probably keep a healthy distance from her team, Neji, Naruto, Kankuro, and herself."
"Not to mention that ever since Orochimaru attacked, we've been short on shinobi for missions."
"So you mean we might actually be sent on missions?" asked Neji. "Even though we're currently being charged with protecting Temari and Kankuro with our lives."
Tenten nodded. "We also talked to Tsunade-sama. This was her idea."
"But going on missions would put Kankuro and Temari in possible danger," sighed Ino as she munched on a carrot. "That would almost defeat the purpose of the mission."
"Half the purpose of the mission is to find out who's threatening Kankuro and Temari, which is threatening Suna," Shikamaru sighed. "To not take some sort of action and go on missions, well, it would look suspicious if anyone were watching, and at the same time we can draw out any potential attackers, not to mention split them up."
Chouji shrugged and chewed on a piece of freshly done pork. "Well," he said when he finished chewing. "Shikamaru is one of the smartest in the village. We should probably trust him. Also this was Tsunade-sama's idea, and she is the hokage."
"Naruto, don't you have something to say about this?" sighed Ino.
Naruto shook his head and drank his glass of milk silently.
"I told him if he talked, I'd get Kakashi-sensei to show him that new jutsu he was working on for dunce rookies. Much worse than one thousand years of pain."
Naruto nodded and Ino choked back a laugh. She couldn't wait to tell Sakura,
"Alright, well, I guess that's the game plan?" asked Tenten, looking at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah." He grabbed one of the two folders that he had brought with him and opened one. "Tsunade-sama has already assigned us missions. They're really simple, so we don't have to worry. Escorting, helping out around the village, stuff to keep us busy really."
"But anything that might possibly draw out any assassins at the same time," added Tenten.
Ino groaned and Naruto simply let his head fall to the table with a thud. They both remembered to their early days as genin. All they ever did before they first took the chuunin exams was babysit, clean up dog poo, and occasionally run an errand to a small village outside of Konoha.
Chouji and Neji simply shrugged and ate the food that was in front of them while Temari and Kankuro were still rather distant with each other.
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"So, Shikamaru, what's our mission?" asked Temari once they had left the restaurant.
Shikamaru opened the folder while he walked, Ino and Chouji walking behind him and Temari. "Well, the four of us are going to deliver, or more like escort a delivery, of rice wine from the Rice country. It's pretty expensive stuff, so they just want to be cautious, really. The only thing we'd have to worry about are typical robbers, which would be toast in about two seconds, even if only one of us were to go."
"So, are we taking it from the Rice country to..." Ino trailed off, slightly confused.
"We're going there and will escort it here. Then Tenten's group will escort them back since they will have a large sum of money," answered Shikamaru as he looked back at Ino.
"Why does Konoha need such a large amount of rice wine anyway?" asked Temari, her arms crossed. "Suna doesn't even order a full shipment when we do get wine from the Rice country, and we get wine once every two years."
"Tsunade-sama," sighed Shikamaru. "She won't admit it but she's an avid, and terrible, drinker and gambler."
Temari tutted. "And our advisors were worried about Gaara becoming Kazekage."
"Tsunade-sama is incredibly strong, though," said Chouji.
Temari simply shook her head and continued walking.
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When everyone had parted ways to retrieve their things, since they would begin their mission straight away, Shikamaru headed straight to their meeting place. He knew about the mission before everyone met to talk over lunch, so he packed accordingly.
He couldn't really help it, but Shikamaru was partially glad that the whole incident with Temari and Kankuro occurred. Of course, Tsunade-sama decided right away that it be best that the siblings have a bit of space time, but Shikamaru was only glad that he had gotten to see a little bit into Temari's more emotional thought process.
However, when it came to anyone's emotional thought process, Shikamaru was absolutely baffled. Sure, emotions in combat were one thing, but other than that, girls were completely foreign. The other guys didn't think he knew the same amount about girls as they did. They just assumed that, since he was a good strategist, that girls must fall in that category as well.
"Hey, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru looked up. "Hey, Chouji. Wow that was fast."
Chouji sat down next to Shikamaru. "I didn't really think I would need a terrible amount for this mission."
Shikamaru glared at Chouji. "I hope you didn't under prepare."
"No, I prepared. I just didn't pack as much food."
"Chouji," sighed Shikamaru. "Are you dieting again?"
Chouji flushed. "Maybe a little."
"Look, you're perfect for your size. You'd look so weird skinny."
"No," interjected Chouji. "Ino said I looked cute."
Shikamaru smacked his forehead with his hand. "Ino only talks to you about your weight because she's so insecure about her own, only because Sakura weighs less than her."
Chouji sighed. "I guess."
"Hey guys!"
Chouji and Shikamaru looked up and saw Ino and Temari heading towards them, their large traveling bags on their backs.
"Hey," said Shikamaru, standing up. "Are you ready to head out?"
"Pretty much," said Temari. She flipped her bangs out of her eyes. "Had to give Kankuro a hug goodbye. It's a thing we do everytime we leave each other. The last time we saw father, no one gave him a hug, and we never saw him after that."
Shikamaru nodded and Chouji just stood silently beside him. He wasn't sure how things would go on the trip, but if Temari kept pulling emotional stuff out of wherever she kept it, then things would be very interesting.
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A/n: Hey everyone! Sorry it took me a while to get this update up. I worked on the Wolf's Rain fic, and then ended up starting another one. (dies) Why me? Anyways, I just graduated from high school, finally! So, I hope to have this fic finished by the end of the summer. w00t! Read and review!
