Elementary, my dear Naruto

IX. Temari's mission

"What are you doing here?" he greeted her gruffly.

She laughed softly. "It's nice to see you, too." She stood there all cocky and attractive one hand on her tilted hip the other holding her oversize fan at her shoulder.

For the first time in his life, Shikamaru felt heat rise in his face. He generally allowed nothing to bother him. He was a master of his emotions. Why was it that Temari was the only one who could possibly catch him off guard?

He cleared his throat. "Sorry about that. I simply find your appearance unexpected. I hadn't thought that far in advance."

"And here I thought nothing could surprise you," she teased.

He was still feeling edgy and off-balance—and he didn't like it. "Well, I haven't seen you in awhile so this is a considerable surprise. You don't come to Konoha for the chûnin exams anymore."

"You noticed? I'm flattered."

He frowned to disguise his unaccustomed feeling of fluster. "That's my job. I'm paid to notice anomalies."

"Now I'm an anomaly. You certainly know how to charm a girl, Shikamaru," she continued her teasing tone enjoying his discomfort. Now that he had finally achieved an interesting age of maturity, she was determined to make their interactions more memorable.

He shrugged. "Sorry. They don't teach us that at the ninja academy."

"Practice should make perfect. Be my guest. You can practice on me all you want," she told him in a huskier voice than usual.

"T-e-m-a-r-i—"he stretched her name out in an exasperated manner. He didn't know how to react to her uncharacteristic behavior. She was acting like—like—like a girl. He didn't know whether to be shocked or intrigued.

She sighed. Why were men so stupid? "Fine. Be that way. Must I stand here at the door or can I come in? I've been traveling all day. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, come on in." He held open the door and watched her move forward. On her the hip swaying action was more subtle and sensual than it had been with the innkeeper's daughter. He really liked her narrow, black skirt with the suggestive slit. Now suddenly the most apt description in his head for Temari was sexy. Maybe it was her flirtatious teasing. She'd never done that before. He'd found it distasteful coming from the females in this village, but from Temari he'd found it oddly alluring. He reached up to rub the back of his neck. He felt as if something tight was trying to cut off his breathing, but there was nothing there except the very loose collar of his vest.

She swung her oversize fan from her shoulder to prop against the wall, and sat down on the only chair in the room. She crossed her legs allowing the slit side to fall open. Her shapely legs were displayed to maximum advantage and she idly swung the propped up slowly one up and down. "Three futons? There are three of you from Konoha here?"

"Ah, four actually," he watched her leg swing. It didn't seem to matter that she wore regulation ninja footwear. His eyes were irresistibly drawn to the very feminine and shapely form barely disguised under her chosen ninja gear. "You know we usually have one kunoichi in the group."

"That's right, you do, don't you." She relaxed against the back of the chair and studied his lanky, loose-limbed figure. He was taller than her brother, Gaara and slimmer than her brother Kankuro, but she liked those differences. She never thought she'd find a guy three years younger and from another hidden village so attractive, but she'd loved the way his mind worked. That had caught her attention from the first time she'd fought him. And his sharp mind still held her interest after all the years she'd known him—and now that he was all grown up she was even more interested. "Is it that blonde waspish team mate of yours?"

"You mean Ino? Ino Yamanaka? No. I'm here with a different sort of team." He shut the door and leaned back against it with his hands in his pockets. He could have sat down on one of the futons, but then he'd be looking up at her. He'd decided she already had too great an advantage on his senses and thoughts to give her a physical one, too. He tried to look and act casual, but he was feeling a tension he'd never felt before.

"Are the two of you a couple yet?" Temari decided not to play any games to find out what she wanted to know. She was more comfortable with the direct approach any way.

"What?" This question hit Shikamaru by even more surprise than anything else she'd said since he'd opened the door. She was the only woman of his acquaintance that could keep him on his toes mentally.

"Don't act so astonished. She struck me as a very possession girl. I could see she was too superficial to find your other team mate—Choji?—palatable, so that only left you."

He laughed much harder than the idea warranted. It released some of his pent up tension. "You've really got the wrong idea. Ino's never been particularly happy with the team she was originally chosen for. Neither Choji nor I have ever measured up to her standards."

She frowned. He was laughing too hard. What was that about? "Oh? Was she one of the girls crazy about that handsome Uchiha boy? I seem to remember a lot of giddy girls hanging around him."

"You noticed that? It was years ago."

"Everybody noticed him. Besides his considerable good looks, there was just something about him—I don't know what it was—but he had a presence. He was impressive."

Shikamaru smiled sourly. So here was another candidate for the now defunct Sasuke Uchiha fan club. Why should he be surprised? She was right. There had been a lot of giddy girls hanging around him back then. "Well, he didn't live up to his promise. As far as I know he's still out there on his own personal mission. He hasn't come back to the village since he left."

She bent her head to hide her smile at the tone of his voice. Was there really someone Shikamaru Nara was jealous of? "My brother, Gaara thought he'd be the major player in the chûnin exams that year. We paid him very close attention. And he was almost worth it. He was the first ninja who ever bloodied Gaara."

"Instead, it was Naruto who surprised everyone."

"That's right. Naruto Uzumaki." This time she smiled openly in a soft, reminiscent way that he found totally irritating. What did that mean? Was she interested in Naruto now?

Shikamaru decided it was time to change the subject. "So what are you doing in the Fire Country?"

"You didn't answer my question, Shikamaru. I won't answer yours until you answer mine. Remember what it was?"

He sighed. "No, Ino's not interested in me. No, I'm not part of any couple. I've got better things to do than get involved with Ino or anyone else," he told her impatiently. Women didn't seem to realize what was important and what wasn't. His lack of a female relationship was supremely unimportant.

She gave him a smile that reminded him of a cat finishing off a bowl of cream. How could she have so many expressions in her smiles? He'd always thought her as rather cold, practical and direct in the past. When had she developed this softer, enigmatic side? "How interesting," she purred softly.

"Hardly. Now answer my question," he demanded impatiently. The timbre of her voice was making his stomach muscles tense.

She wriggled for a more comfortable position in her seat which completely distracted him. His mind went totally blank for a few long seconds as he watched her move. "I think we might be here for the same reason," she told him finally.

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, what reason might that be?"

She laughed softly again. "You're always so cagey. Afraid of giving away Konoha secrets? Maybe I have a few of my own I'm not willing to release to just anyone."

He narrowed his eyes and studied her. "Give me a minute. Maybe I can deduce some of those secrets."

"Go right ahead. I'm not worried at all having the great mind of Shikamaru Nara thinking only of me."

And once she'd said that all he could think about was her. How could he think with her in his head so completely? "Stop that!" he ordered gruffly.

She gave him a wide-eyed innocent look. "Stop what?".

"You're flirting with me!" he accused.

"Am I? Really? Imagine that! Is that a forbidden technique?" She couldn't stop teasing him. It actually made her feel good. It had been a long time since she'd wanted to flirt with anyone. There just hadn't been anyone interesting at home. They were either intimidated by her superior mental abilities or impressed by her close relationship with the power structure of the village. Here was one man, she thought, that if he did like her would do so because and despite those very things.

He rubbed his hand over his brow and squeezed his eyes shut momentarily to center himself. Was she simply trying to confuse him with her flirtatious behavior? Did she really think she could keep her mission a secret from him with those tactics? Or was there something else going on here that made him feel curiously disturbed? "Is it something in the air or the water?" he pondered aloud.

"What was that?" She looked at him blankly. That was an unexpected response.

He removed his hands from his pockets and crossed them loosely over his chest. "Like you, every female in this village has been flirting with us since we got here. I'm wondering if it's a virus. Maybe you're infected, too."

She glared at him thinking once again that men were so stupid. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm serious, Temari. I don't get this kind of reaction from women as a rule—and never from you. Since we arrived here yesterday we've had half a dozen young women fluttering their eyes, wiggling their hips and making all kinds of suggestive remarks. It isn't natural," he said darkly. Although this was a genuine observation he'd made, he was also partly trying to find out why she was behaving in the same way. It didn't seem natural in either case, but he hoped there was a good explanation for her behavior.

"You really are serious."

"Naturally."

"Well, I haven't been in the village long enough to witness any aberrant behavior on behalf of the female denizens, so I can't answer for them."

"What about your own behavior?"

"I hardly think I'm on the same level as the females of this village. You'll have to draw your own conclusions. But, Shikamaru?" she paused to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"I have most definitely been flirting with you. Read what you want into that." She no longer sounded flirtatious or sexy, but he found her blunt statement just that. However, he wasn't sure how to respond. He was literally thrown for a loop. So in order to give himself time to stew over this new and interesting development, he changed the subject again.

"You're on the track of a Sand ninja, aren't you?"

She sighed and straightened up. All the fun and games were over. They were now getting down to business. "Maybe."

"You didn't come here alone, did you?"

"No, I brought a chûnin candidate with me."

"In other words—a genin."

"Those words hardly do him justice. He's the most promising genin we've had in quite some time—since Gaara, I'd say. And he's only 11 years old."

"That's it? You only brought one 11 year old genin with you?" he asked in disgust.

"He's really very talented," she pouted attractively. What was it about Shikamaru that made her want to try out all those feminine tricks that she'd never even considered using on anyone else?

"So what? He's still only 11. You should have better back up than that, Temari. You're the Kazekage's sister. Don't they value you enough to provide you with a few more ninja—at least of chûnin level?" he asked sternly. He shouldn't worry about her. She wasn't his responsibility. But how stupid could the Sand Village be to send her out tracking that big ninja on her own? The fact that he was dead should mean that he wasn't a very skilled ninja, but until he knew the quality of the man's assassin he couldn't make that assumption.

"Are you worried about me?"

"What if I am?"

"That's really very sweet of you, Shikamaru, but I can handle myself." She really was touched by his concern. She didn't consider it a slight on her abilities. She thought it was the concern of someone who actually cared about her—maybe not as much as she'd like him to, but it was a start.

"Maybe you can." He considered her objectively. "My guess is that you're not supposed to bring him back, but just track him—find out where he's going. Am I right?"

"Track who?" she asked innocently.

He chopped his hand in the air impatiently. "We've already established that. You've been following a renegade Sand ninja, but you're over a week behind him. What took you so long?"

She glared at him. "It isn't easy when you don't learn right away who he is, why he left and you have absolutely no idea where he's going. Even the great Shikamaru Nara would have taken a few days to figure it out."

He gave her a genuine smile now that he had her on the defensive. It wouldn't be good for his ego to allow Temari to retain a superior position for too long. He realized that whatever relationship they might have in the future, it wouldn't last long if he allowed her to set rules and control the game. He was the type of guy who usually followed the path of least resistance, but that didn't mean he wanted to be bossed around too much. But he thought he was smart enough for that not to happen even with a girl as shrewd as Temari.

How strange! It suddenly occurred to him that he was thinking of Temari and the future in the same train of thought. When did that happen?

"So who is he and what did he do?"

"You mean you haven't figured that out yet? You astound me, Shikamaru," she said truculently.

"I haven't even begun to astound you, yet. Now stop playing word games with me, Temari. What's going on?"

She uncrossed her leg, bent over, set her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her cupped hands. "His name is Hidekatsu. He was an average chûnin—nothing special—but he thought he was. He was becoming more and more disgruntled with the types of missions he was offered. He complained all the time. His team mates didn't even want to be with him anymore. He was finally relegated to guard duty. Of course, that made him even more grouchy and belligerent."

"Yeah, I've met those types before. We've had our share of renegade ninja. It's more unfortunate when some of the best ninja become turncoat."

"In this case, it turned out to be bad enough. He was set to guard our museum. We have a number of valuable and rare exhibits in the museum. My family had allowed several relics to be displayed there."

"So this is personal?"

She threw him a quick look. He'd figured it out already? She really did admire his mind. And how nice that it was housed in an attractive frame, too. She didn't consider herself exactly shallow, but beauty and brains were a difficult combination to resist. "That's right. He almost killed the museum curator and stole a valuable relic that belonged not only to the Sand Village in general, but my family in particular. I couldn't care less about him, but I must have that relic returned."

"I see. You've provided me with a very important piece to the puzzle."

She frowned at him. "What puzzle?"

"The reason why your renegade ninja was found dead."

"Dead? He's dead? What about my relic?" she asked excitedly.

"This is the first I've heard about a relic. I was sent to this village to investigate a mysterious death. No one mentioned a relic."

"Why mysterious?"

"I'll tell you about it." Now that Temari was acting like her old self, Shikamaru left the door and sat down on the futon closest to her. He no longer needed the superiority of height to deal with her in this mode. He crossed his legs and rested his elbows on his knees mimicking her posture.

"Last week, an old man walking into the village from the south came across a dead man lying to the side of the road. There was a small stab wound near his heart which would certainly explain his death, but there were other circumstances that made his simple death anything but. The man's face, hands, feet and other parts of his body had been chemically burned. He had very little blood on his clothes, they appeared new and a bad fit. Oh, and his hair had been dyed from brown to black. The villagers had no clue how to investigate this death so they sent to Konoha for help."

"How do you know he's Hidekatsu? It sounds like he's barely identifiable."

"Well, one member of my team has a blood line limit that determined the man had a fully developed chakra channel. This led us to believe he was a ninja."

She nodded her head. "That makes sense. Still what makes you think it's Hidekaktsu?"

"Well, that is an assumption on my part. You're looking for a ninja and I've found a ninja—that sounds like a match made in heaven—wouldn't you say?"

"It would certainly be nice if they were one and the same person. Half my job would be complete." She sighed. "I suppose I'll have to look at the body."

"There isn't very much to see. I don't even think his mother would be able to recognize him."

"Well, Daiki and I will just have to do our best."

"Daiki? Is that your 11 year old genin?"

"Of course. I told you I'm only traveling with one man."

"Man? Yeah, right. Where is this little man now?"

"He's checking us into this place. I told him to wait in his room until I discovered who these other ninja are. Where's your team?"

"Actually, they're out canvassing the village with the new information we uncovered. If no one remembers seeing a ninja here in the last week, then I'll have to assume he never came into this village."

"Where do you look from here?"

"We'll search around the village. There are farms in the area. Maybe the unknown ninja's destination was somewhere close to but outside the village."

"Maybe he was just randomly robbed," she suggested despondently. If that were the case she never might recover her relic unless it was sold someplace nearby.

"What is this relic? How will I recognize it if I should come across it?"

"Well, it's quite valuable. It's made of ivory, finely gilded and studded with precious and semi-precious stones."

"You're holding something back, Temari." He studied her face shrewdly. "What shape is this relic of yours?"

She blushed. "It's a fan, okay? But it's not a weapon. It's rather small—only about 20 cm. long."

"So, this mission is very personal."

"That's right. It's mine! I'm the only one in the family who uses fans. That fan was only on loan to the museum. I intended to reclaim it one day. It's supposed to have some special properties. I don't know what kind, but I always intended to find out. Now it's gone!" Her voice sounded fierce and teary at the same time.

This was another side of Temari he'd never seen before. She was a woman of many surprises—each one more intriguing then the last. He reached forward and placed his hand over one of hers' tensely gripping her knee. "Don't worry, Temari. I'll help you find it. I'm incredibly intuitive. I just know our missions are one and the same."

She raised her head and smiled right into his eyes. "Thank you. With the great Shikamaru Nara on the case, we can't fail."

"You bet." He squeezed her hand and fell into those beautiful, impossibly dark green eyes of hers. "Temari," he murmured and leaned towards her.

She leaned down towards him. They were a breath away from an entirely new dimension to their relationship when the sound of his name being called and a loud series of raps sounded at the door.

He pulled away and jumped to his feet. "Damn it!" he swore with a hiss. He heard Hinata's voice call, "Hello? Shikamaru? Choji? Naruto?" It was funny when Naruto and Hinata were interrupted at inconvenient moments, but it was anything but humorous when it happened to him.

He reached the door in two strides, but turned back to Temari before opening it. "We've got some unfinished business to attend to later."

She gave him a wide, inviting smile. "Oh yeah," she promised him. "We definitely do."