After Kankuro confronted her about her nighttime absences, she started spending even more nights with Shikaku. Practically every night in fact. She was more careful though. She would have dinner with her brothers, retreat to her bedroom, lock her door, and then head straight out the window and off to see Shikaku. She didn't ever ask, she just showed up at his window and climbed into his bed. He never complained.
She often snuck off at dawn to train before he awoke. He was still not completely adjusted to the rhythm of the day in Suna. The sun rose early, giving a brief window of pleasant weather before the day heated up too much to make training practical or enjoyable. The streets would bustle with activity at daybreak, then everything would lull at midday only to pick up again in the evening.
On this particular morning, he woke to find her tracing her fingers lightly against the scars that littered his chest. She was fascinated with the story of his body. Every new mark she found on him she wanted to hear how, when, and where he got it. She was a warrior at heart, and she felt like she could relate to him best when they talked about the battles they had fought in. It was uncomplicated, a way to avoid talking about family, or the future, or all those other things that healthy couples probably talked about as they lay in bed together.
Her body had very few scars in comparison to his. She was a long-range fighter and more often than not had been on a team with Gaara, who was legendary for his 'ultimate defense' making it hard for anyone to land a real hit. She wouldn't admit it outloud, but she was jealous of the markings on his body that were clear proof of how he'd fought for his village.
"Find something new?" he asked, his voice still gruff from sleep.
"No, just enjoying the view," she continued to run her fingertips lightly over his skin. She was propped up on her left arm, the tangled sheets covering her hips, leaving her upper body fully exposed. She wasn't the only one enjoying the view. "Hmm, well maybe I have found something new after all."
Her hand had reached down to grasp his growing erection. He groaned as she leaned in for a kiss. He rolled her over onto her back, grinding his hips against hers as his hands grasped her unruly hair. They kissed languidly, enjoying the feel of her body underneath his as she arched against him. Her appetite for him was almost insatiable, which served him quite well.
"It's almost 7:00 AM, we should get to the site of the exams," he pulled away for a moment, brushing her hair out of her face tenderly.
"Mmm" Temari moaned, furrowing her brow in protest, "Early morning security not our job. That's on ANBU. Feudal lords not here 'til tomorrow anyway." She punctuated each sentence with a kiss, each time with a little more fervor, delving her tongue deeper into his mouth.
She smirked as she felt him give in to her, his hands gripping her hips as he ground against her.
She felt the tip of his member against her entrance and let out a breath as he pressed into her. He moaned as her tightness engulfed him. He pressed his forehead against hers as he thrust into her slowly and deeply. Her fingernails raked across his back as she pushed back against him, repositioning her hips so he could reach even deeper inside of her. He pulled her leg up over his shoulder and sped up, and she gasped at the new angle, taking in his full length again and again.
Shikaku groaned. She knew from the look on his face that he was about to come and she reached down to touch her clit, pushing herself over the edge to come with him. His hips jerked, as he released himself inside her.
They lay there for a moment, catching their breath. He leaned in for a kiss and she moaned into his lips in protest as he pulled out of her and rolled off of her. He headed to the shower and she lingered in the bed for a while longer, stretching her arms over her head, letting out a yawn and then slinging her feet over the side of the bed. She could already hear the shower running.
"Not waiting for me to join?" Temari called after him, "Rude."
She followed him into the bathroom, working on untangling her hair as he washed.
"You've distracted me enough woman, I'm not going to let you make me late."
"I've never 'made you' do anything Shikaku and you know it," she smirked, joining him under the stream of water.
She thought of giving him a peck on the lips, but he looked distracted, and she decided to give him his space. She knew he was thinking of the exams. The first test would be today. Only the later tests would draw crowds of spectators that made it tough to manage security, but it would be unsurprising that the anticipation of all of their preparation for an attack was making him a little on edge.
Unbeknownst to Temari, even more than the attack, Shikaku was thinking about the arrival of the Konoha shinobi for the exams. It had been too easy to compartmentalize his involvement with Temari while he was in Suna, but seeing familiar faces arrive in the village, jonin team leaders he had worked with for years along with the bright faced genin that were the next generation of the leaf shinobi, had reignited the guilt he felt when he was with her.
As hoped, the day passed without any incidents, other than a few minor brawls between genin, which was only to be expected.
The second exam also went by without incident. Temari didn't bother going to see Shikaku that night, knowing that they both needed rest to be focused on the day of the third exam. The public tournament was always tricky for security. ANBU patrols were doubled.
Temari would shadow Gaara all day long, along with Kankuro—she wouldn't have agreed to anything else considering they had such strong intel suggesting he was the target. Shikaku spent the day checking up on the different security checkpoints they had established throughout the city and liaising with the division captains that were managing ANBU teams.
They had kept their tactical plan secret for as long as they could in case there was a mole in the village, and by strictly managing the flow of information and breaking down into small teams even if there was one defector, they would only be able to reveal the position of their team, not compromising the other components of the plan. If he had done his job right, he wouldn't have to lift a finger other than to assure that the teams stuck to the plans he had formulated to contain and subdue the attackers.
The intelligence they had gathered was paying off. Select ANBU had been carefully shadowing a few Suna nin they had suspected were tied to the plot. One chunin in particular had been caught sneaking around the village walls, and they had already detected and disabled a series of traps after apprehending him.
The crowd roared when the tournament began. The spectators were, of course, completely unaware of the threat. They were all hoping for spectacular fights from the young ninja, and many had placed bets on the matches. (Temari had even heard there was a pool going on how many deaths there would be this time around, which she thought was a bit distasteful… but on the other hand she was bummed that she wasn't allowed to place a bet herself as she was an official involved in the planning of the event.)
The scorching sun beat down on the stadium. The sky was clear. It was in the middle of a match between two Sand genin when Temari noticed what seemed like a large white bird gliding towards the stadium.
"Is it just me, or do birds not usually have chakra signatures?" Kankuro asked rhetorically. No, birds definitely didn't have chakra signatures, and this particular chakra signature was practically broadcasting murderous intent.
Temari drew her tessen, getting into position. What looked like a small rock dropped from the bird, right over the stadium. Before it even hit the stands, it exploded in mid-air. The stadium erupted with screams as civilians realized that the explosion had nothing to do with the match they were watching. The security teams sprang into action.
There was another string of explosions, concentrated around the boxes where the Daimyos were seated, as the bird circled above them. This lined up with what they had expected—a faint at the feudal lords to draw security away from Gaara.
As the bird circled closer, they could make out a figure in a black cloak with red clouds riding on its back.
"We need to push him away from the stadium, there are too many civilians here!" Temari called. Concentrating her chakra, she let out a gale of winds from her tessen, forcing the bird off path. On the tail ends of the wind Temari had conjured, Gaara sprung into action riding his sand after the bird.
"Gaara, don't take him on by yourself, that's exactly what they want!" Temari called after her little brother. "Damn it, he always has to be the hero."
Temari and Kankuro ran after their brother, hopping from rooftop to rooftop hot on his trail. Ultimate defense be damned, there was no way they were letting their baby brother out of their sight. They had just reached the walls to the village when they were confronted with another figure in a black cloak that blocked their path.
"Temari you go ahead and help Gaara, I've got this!" Kankuro yelled, already unfurling the scrolls where his puppets were sealed. She didn't hesitate, and hopped on her fan to glide off of the wall out towards where Gaara and Deidara were facing off. She barely made it past the cloaked figure before a long white tail appeared from under the cloak, slamming her and her fan to the ground. The sharp edge of the appendage had cut her arm, not deeply, but enough to draw a thin red line of blood.
"Where do you think you're going, girl," the cloaked figure growled.
Temari righted herself, but found that getting back on her feet was harder than it should have been.
"You want us to take you down first? No problem!" Temari released a blast of cutting winds at her opponent as Kankuro's battle puppets moved into position. She leaned against her fan, which she had planted in the sand to help hold herself upright after her attack. Panting, she realized that her vision was starting to blur. She shot one last attack at their opponent before losing her footing, everything fading to black.