Chapter 9
Shikamaru stared down at the file before him, one hand lay flat next to the manila folder while the other cradled his furrowed brow. His eyes scanned the sheets in front of him again and again, searching for anything out of place. It just didn't fit, Matsuri's parents crashing, driving off the side of a steep slope. Her parents were always so careful, it just wasn't possible for them to do that. It was like seeing a polar bear in the desert. Inconceivable.
So why was it so hard to pinpoint the offset? Why couldn't he find what was so wrong with the picture?
"If you stare any harder you're going to burn holes through the papers."
Shikamaru sighed and laughed under his breath. "Maybe then it would be willing to give me the answers."
Asuma stepped next to the younger man and patted him on the shoulder. "Or it would just burn and then there would go all your evidence and chances of solving whatever you're working at."
The detective groaned and rubbed his sore eyes with his palms. "I just don't understand," he whispered and blinked down at the papers.
Asuma gazed down at his prodigy, pity reflecting in his gaze. It was sad how someone so young was already having to deal with the world like this. Cruel actually, that he had to inform his best friend that her parents were dead, that the guilt was weighing heavily on his shoulders, and that he really had nothing to feel guilty for, other than the fact that he had known and had seen what had become of the loving adults.
With a heavy sigh, the Chief pulled out the chair next to Shikamaru and slumped into the uncomfortable seat. "What are you looking for, Nara. Let's see what we can dig up."
Shikamaru looked up at his boss in mild surprise. "You're going to help?"
Asuma nodded. "Of course. You're the best detective in this district, if you think something's not right, something, obviously, isn't right."
The young detective smiled lazily. "Thanks, Asuma-sensei."
A booming laugh echoed around them. "I haven't heard that in years," he said, and smiled warmly at Shikamaru. "What's with the sudden sentimentality?"
The brunette shrugged. "We haven't worked like this since you were teaching me. It felt appropriate." he smirked.
Asuma grunted and grabbed one of the papers from the files while exhaling smoke from the stick in his mouth. Shikamaru grimaced and rolled his eyes.
"I know, I know. You hate the smoke." Asuma teased and took a drag from the cigaratte.
"I can deal for now. But you have to promise to quit one day,"
A half-hearted shrug was his only answer.
XXXXXX
Temari knew something was excruciatingly wrong the minute his eyes found hers. They were taunting, teasing her in ways that were too cruel. He knew she couldn't do anything he didn't want her to do, and she knew it too. Why did he have to be like this? Why couldn't he just listen to her? Damnit, why did he have to be so stubborn and think that he knew what he was doing when the truth was, he didn't have a clue!
And to make it worse, there seemed to be a woman involved. Her small frame was positioned in front of his, and as far as Temari could tell from her reaction to her younger brother, she knew him from somewhere. Did he know what would happen by dragging innocent bystanders into this deliemma? Someone was going to get killed.
Temari shut her eyes as her brother and the strange woman stepped outside and out of her view. Her hands cradled her head and her bangs brushed against her cheeks while she stared at the tabletop. What was she going to do? She had to keep him safe. She had promised on her dead mother's grave to keep her brothers out of harms' way. She was not about to break it.
Maybe moving here had been a mistake?
With a sigh, Temari reached into her handbag and dug around for her cellphone. After punching in familiar numbers, she held the device to her ear and listened to the monotone rings repeating themselves three times before a groggy voice picked up on the other line.
".....Hello..." came the muffled and sleepy response from inside the phone.
"Kankurou, get yourself out of bed and get dressed. I'm coming over, we need to talk."
"Temari? What's going on?"
The blonde sighed at the more aware and alarmed sounding Kankurou. "I'll explain when I get there...." she glanced at the closed door of the cafe. "It's about Gaara." she added as an afterthought.
"Yeah, okay."
Temari hung up at his confirmation and grabbed her cup from in front of her. In one swift gulp she swallowed the scorching liquid and grimaced slightly as it burned its' way down her throat.
This is going to be one hell of a day.
XXXXXX
She hadn't expected him to be right there when she began heading through the doors to work. In all honesty, she wasn't expecting to see him at all. That wasn't considering her secret desire to see him, to get a peek of his oddly intimidating eyes or shock of blood red locks.
"Gaara?"
A smirk played at the edges of his lips, and Matsuri swallowed. Guilt pricked lightly at the back of her mind, reminding her once again that this man was at her parents' grave site and had distracted her from the pain. In a way she was grateful, but she was also frustrated. She was supposed to feel bad for not being torn up into thin, little pieces that day.
"Matsuri,"
The brunette effectively ignored the jolt of electricity that shot through her when he said her name. It was nothing.
She cleared her throat as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. "What....What are you doing here?"
He raised a brow at her question, giving her a look that seemed to question her intelligence. Her cheeks tinted pink at the gaze and she fidgeted under his eyes.
"I was having breakfast," he answered her. "With my sister."
Matsuri found it odd to picture him having a family meal. He just didn't seem to fit the profile at all. To her, Gaara seemed more like the type to ignore anothers' presence and leave them behind in the dust to be ignored and left unbothered by his uncaring person. Was it even possible for him to to be a caring and compassionate individual?
She nodded slowly. "That's nice." Lifting her wrist up for inspection, she glanced at the time before looking back at him pointedly. "I'd like to stay and talk, but I'm late as it is."
He nodded absently his eyes boring into hers, hardly listening as his thoughts were on someone else. A spark of irritation bit at Matsuri and she frowned. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, stepping around his blocking form. "but I need to go."
Again he nodded, humming his acknowledgement and stepping far enough away from her to give her access to enter the building, but enough lack of room to where she would have to touch him as she went in. Matsuri had a feeling it was done purposfully, and as she looked up into his eyes, now gazing openly at her, unsettling her slightly with the intensity that burned in their depths, she knew she was right.
It was hard to ignore the heat of his body as she squeezed by him, barely brushing against him, but she forced herself to take a deep breath and walk determindly through the door. A deep chuckle dragged her eyes back to him to see his lips quirked slighly upward and gleaming eyes narrowed with dark humour. Matsuri tore her eyes away, refusing to stare at his inhuman beauty.
Instead, she quickened her pace and fixed her gaze straight ahead to the counter where her shift would begin shortly. A part of her yearned to turn back and follow Gaara to where ever it may be that he was headed, but the more logical part of her took control and commanded her to forget him. He was nothing, just a person in the crowd.
A person that had effectivly drug her from a heavy and depressing grief. A person who burned her thoughts into licking flames. A person that was slowly but effectively becoming a main part of her wonderings to a point that, inwardly, she desperately wanted to find out just who he was. To discover his secrets, his thoughts, his wants.
"You okay there, Matsuri?"
Matsuri blinked quickly and looked up into the concerned eyes of Michi. His brow was furrowed, shoulders hunched as he leaned down toward her slightly, and a crooked, nervous smile on his lips.
She shook her head. "Oh, yes. Yes, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm a bit...distracted is all." she said quickly, returning a twitchy, anxious smile.
He nodded solemnly. "I understand what you're going through," she doubted that. "My own parents passed away when I was seventeen. Hard times."
Be that as it may, she wasn't seventeen, she was an adult. She wasn't Michi, she was herself. And she knew he didn't have a clue as to what she was going through. It was impossible for someone to feel as much confusion as she did.
Instead of voicing her thoughts, Matsuri only nodded to him. "Thank you, Michi. I appreciate it."
His smile widened. "You're welcome. Come on, let's get these people their orders before they start complaining to the Head." he laughed, his hazel eyes shining gleefully at her.
Her lips formed a smile of their own accord as she followed him and began ringing up orders of the line of waiting customers.
XXXXXX
"It could be nothing, you know. I wouldn't put much thought into it."
Shikamaru nodded at the Chief's words. "True, but it could also mean everything."
Asuma sighed. "Well, in any case, we won't know until the results come back from the lab."
"So we should just not touch anything else until we have the confirmation."
"Or the lack of affirmation."
"You don't know that."
"Neither do you."
Shikamaru stared hard into the dark eyes of his boss, his friend, his teacher. His mouth set in a grim line, his hands clenched at his sides. He had believe that what he had discovered meant something. He had to. Asuma could believe or not, but Shikamaru was positive something was wrong with the situation.
And he would find it sooner or later.
He owed it to Matsuri's parents. He owed it to Matsuri. He owed it to himself. He had to be able to prove to everyone that things like this just didn't happen. Everything had a story behind it, nothing just happened on a whim. There was always a background to it.
Even the dead told a story, and he wasn't going to stop reading this one until the end was reached.
"We won't know until the results come back from the lab." Shikamaru said, repeating Asuma's words slowly, as if testing the on his tongue before nodding respectively to the Chief. "Then we will wait."
XXXXXX
Kankurou stared warily at his sister as she finished her story, having relayed everything to him quickly so as to not waste time. She had called in late to work, at which she got a short scolding but was told to come in a soon as possible. He had called in sick.
"And then he just left?" he questioned, running a hand through his messy brown hair.
Temari nodded tersely. "He just left."
"So who is this girl?"
"I don't know, that's what's bothering me, aside from everything else." she sighed. "He is always so careful, never getting involved with anyone. So I wonder what has caught his attention with this girl."
Kankurou shrugged. "Maybe you're over thinking it, Temari. She could just be some stranger that he wanted to dangle in front of you."
"But why would he do that to me?" she snapped. "It would have made much more sense if he would have done that to you since you both are men. But to me?" she shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. "It just doesn't make any sense."
"It's probably just another one of his games. You said yourself he hasn't had any jobs, so maybe he is just bored and needing some type of entertainment."
Temari's eyes snapped open. "A game?" she hissed. "This isn't some game, Kankurou! This is his life! He could be killed for what he is doing."
"Or someone else could be." he countered. "He's an...." his eyes darted around his small abode quickly out of habit. "An assassin, Temari. Don't you think he knows what he is doing?"
"He doesn't, that's the point!" she snarled harshly. "Neither of you understand! You have now idea how many times I've saved his hide!"
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe he could have handled it?" Kankurou raised a brow at her, his eyes hard. "Don't you think he could have gotten himself out of trouble?"
"Yes, but that's not - "
"Don't tell me you forgot how he was when he was a teen."
Temari grimaced at the memories. Such dark and dangerous times for all of them. He had been so volatile, still was to some degree. Getting into so many scrapes and deadly situations that it had almost drove her crazy with frustration and worry.
Yet he never failed to get out unscathed.
"Temari, stop worrying so much." Kankurou said quietly. "I'm worried about him too, but maybe he knows what he his doing, alright?"
Temari set her jaw and glared at her brother silently.
Kankurou sighed heavily and dropped his head to stare at the floor at his feet. "We just need to talk to him, both of us. Together."
Temari turned her head and looked out the window onto the busy streets. "It's almost like he wants me to know that he's up to something. That he is starting a mess of things that will drive me over the edge."
Kankurou glanced up at her. "It wouldn't be the first time. He did that a lot when he was younger."
"Maybe..." she turned back to him, her blue-green eyes worried and dull. "Maybe he's slipping back into his old ways?"
The younger sibling shrugged, his face serious. "He has nothing better to do, does he? The only thing we can do is not try to provoke the descent."
Temari bit her bottom lip harshly. "I hate his job. I hate it."
"So do a lot of other people. And most of them are a pile of ashes or laying in the bottom of a wooden box six foot under."
Temari smiled half heartedly at his crude humour before looking down at her hands and whispering quietly, almost to herself, "If things start to get worse, to the point where we might not be able to save him, what are we going to do?"
Kankurou stood from the couch and walked around the coffee table to his sister. She blinked up at him, startled slightly, as he reached down and took her hand to drag her to a standing possition. His dark eyes bore into her lighter ones before he wrapped her in a strong hug.
"If that happens, then we will stand beside him and fight," Temari forced back the tightening in her throat and wrapped her own arms around his bigger, muscled frame. The worry slowly seeped away at the comfort of her brother. It was nice to have someone else take control instead of trying to balance it by herself. "No one will ever tear us apart," he chuckled. "I'll kill anyone who tries."
XXXXXX
"Three gulps. Go."
Matsuri laughed under her breath before snatching her beverage and chugging the lukewarm liquid in three swallows. Shikamaru smiled as she squinted her eyes, forcing herself to not spit the drink back up onto the table and on the laughing man across from her.
When she felt that she wasn't on the verge of losing the triple chocolate coffee, Matsuri opened her eyes and mock glared at Shikamaru. "Go ahead and laugh. It'll be really hilarious when this coffee is all over your shirt with a few more condamints added than when it was first downed."
Shikamaru's chuckles quieted down, but his teasing smile was still in place. Matsuri rolled her black eyes before slumping back into her seat. "So," she started. "how has your day been so far, Detective?"
Shikamaru smirked. "Good, actually. Yours?"
Matsuri frowned as his tone turned serious and his eyes sharp, calculating. "Mine has been fine. If you want to start interrogating me, I'm going to have to escort you from the premisis, sir."
His smile faded slightly, and he shook his head. "I'm sorry, I won't question you. I just...just wanted to know you were all right."
"I am alright."
There was a beat of silence and Shikamaru tore his gaze from her to look out the window before sighing. "I believe you."
Matsuri narrowed her eyes on him, anger tingling through as the lie rang so clear in his voice it was as if someone had said that the sky was purple. She could tell that he was forcing himself to not look at her, pointedly keeping his face toward the window so he could try to convince her of the lie. There was no need. They both new what a lie it was.
She wasn't alright.
But she was getting there.
Matsuri breathed out heavily through her nose before holding her empty paper cup in her hand as she stood. "My break is over. I'll see you later, okay?"
Shikamaru nodded, turning to her albiet reluctantly. "I'm picking you up this afternoon. Naruto and Hinata want you to come by. They haven't seen you since..." he let the rest of his sentence die away as he stood, suddenly dwarfing her.
She merely nodded, knowing they wouldn't let her get away from visting them. The happy couple got what they wanted after all. Besides, she needed to get back into the swing of things. Normal was what she was craving among other hidden, secret desires.
"I'll be done around seven. I'll see you then." she sighed, turning for the counter where she could see Michi handing drinks to the customers. His russet hair fell in his eyes and he brushed it away, frustrated. As his hand came away from his eyes, he turned toward. On catching her gaze, he smiled and waved, gesturing to the long line of people waiting.
She laughed under her breath, nodding, letting him know she would be there soon. Shikamaru came up beside her and patted her on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for being annoying, I know you must want to gut me pretty often."
Matsuri looked up at him. "Pretty often." she agreed, smiling. He sighed. "I know you worry, but you shouldn't. I'm will be fine. I am fine." his concerened eyes searched hers a moment before he leaned down and wrapped her in a familiar hug.
"Be safe, I'll be back later to pick you up." he said quietly in her ear.
"Okay. Drive carefully."
As he walked out of the door, Matsuri sighed heavily. He blamed himself too much, and wasn't telling her everything. He might think himself smart, but even she could see the distant look in his eye, hear the hesitance in his voice. Sure, she could chalk that up with his guilt, but that was different. This was different. He was keeping something from her.
And she would find out eventually.
I'M SO SORRY! I haven't had interent connectivity for so long now, and it has been killing me! But I have been writing myself into the ground, and I'm still working on chapters, so expect updates within the next two weeks and a bunch of oneshots because they keep popping up and won't leave me alone. Please don't be too harsh when you review, I know it's been forever since I updated T.T It was killing me just as much as it was killing you guys. In other news, I PASSED MY EXAMS! Woo! AND IT'S SUMMER!!!!! Thank the high gods for summer break.
Okay, I'll shut up now. Review!
