Fairy Godmother Shukaku
Chapter 10: They Cantaloupe
A/N: I think my problem is that I actually love this pairing... which makes it hard for me to make fun of it. All the other pairings I ship, I do for their utter crack/humor value... but I like these two. Seriously, as Hidan would say.
"You seem... cheerful tonight, Temari," Itachi observed. They were in his room and he was fairly sure it was late, after midnight. He didn't know exactly, nor did he want to. The later it got, the sooner Temari would kiss him one last time, slide out of bed, and vanish like a guest in a murder mystery, no matter how he tried to stop her. She needed to get home before her brothers noticed she had been out all night, she would say.
Temari smiled sleepily and continued running her fingers through Itachi's hair. She was happy. She and Shikamaru and Kankuro had played Mario Karts before she left to meet Itachi, and Shikamaru had won, and in the process hit her so hard with a controller that he left a mark. An odd thing to find comforting, but what about Temari's life was normal? She now had a friend, a lover, and some control over her life once more. There may have been a way for things to be better, but she couldn't think of it right now. Of course, she was tired and not in a thinking mood, that may have had something to do with it.
Itachi was not happy. He was certain that Sasori, expert on all things Suna, was right and that Temari would know where to find the ichibi demon, and he was equally certain that she would be willing to help him steal it. But once he had it, he would have to leave her. And if he didn't find it, he would be recalled and have to leave her. Either way, he was screwed. Or, rather, he stopped being screwed.
"I'm always cheerful when you're with me," Temari finally murmured.
"That was a delayed response if I ever heard one."
"Oh, hush," she responded, kissing him once on the back of the neck. Itachi tensed; he knew what that meant. "Good night, Itachi. I have to go."
"No," he whispered desperately, turning to grab her arm and pull her back into the bed next to him. He knew it was useless. She would laugh, tease him a little, then leave anyway, like she always did. He had stopped trying to keep her after the first couple of times, but now, when he didn't know how much longer they had together...
In a surprise turn of events, Temari snuggled closer, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, keeping her there. "Just a few more minutes... just a few," she murmured. Once she would have left, fighting her desire to stay with her fear of being found out by her demonic fairy godmother and angry, overzealous brothers, but now that she was no longer toying with Shikamaru's affections, the fear was less urgent. There was no reason for them to resent Itachi now, right?
"Itachi, were you serious, do you really want to meet my brothers? Because Shikamaru's backed off, and... you're important to me, and my family is important to me... I want them to know about you."
"And once they know about me, you'll be able to spend the night, right? The whole night... fall asleep with me and everything?"
"Yes,"
Itachi began to sit up. "I want to meet them right now, then."
Temari laughed and pulled him back. "There is one thing you need to know." She took a deep breath. She trusted Itachi now, she knew he wouldn't stop caring about her when he found out, but still, it was hard. "I haven't told you everything about my family."
"There's more? Aside from the druggie homicidal uncle, curse-spewing dead mother, absentee father, crazy-powerful, semi-sane, and bratty brother and romantically-inclined intelligent family pet?"
"About that crazy-powerful, semi-sane, and bratty brother and the romantically-inclined intelligent family pet... do you know what an Jinchuuriki is?"
Itachi's heart started pounding. It made sense now. He had wondered, but never mentioned, of course, why his strong independent Temari would be so afraid of upsetting her little brother, why she would allow him to push her around. In some of her stories, she almost made it sound like he would murder her. But even she had the right to be afraid of a demon. "Yes..."
"Well, my baby brother, Gaara, is one," Temari said. "So if you go to meet my family, be prepared for Shukaku (that's its name) to be there, too. He lives on top of Gaara's head, and he's really really crazy... probably from being cooped up with Gaara for so long." She braced herself for any questions. She was determined not to hold anything back.
"How many tails does he have?" Itachi asked. Temari blinked. That wasn't the type of question she had been expecting.
"One... how many did you think he had?"
Itachi started laughing. What a solution, deus ex machina had never looked so good. He turned over completely so that they were eye to eye. "Temari!"
"Yeah?" Temari asked uncertainly.
"My organization, they sent me here to look for the Ichibi, what did you call him? Shugacube?"
"Shukaku."
"Right. They had me looking for an old teakettle."
"Old information; he's been with my brother for over a decade now."
"Yeah, I guess. Temari, run away with me," Itachi whispered. "We'll lure your brother out to our hideout, extract the demon, and you join us. Get out of this village, travel, do things, be together..."
"Itachi..." Temari hesitated. He kissed her, which didn't help her with the decision-making process.
"Come with me."
"If you extract Shukaku, Gaara will die. I can't..."
"Temari, you tell me all these stories about your childhood, how hard you try to take care of your brother, and he still treats you like shit. For God's sake, you're so afraid of him that you won't even spend the night with your boyfriend for fear he'll find out. I don't want anybody treating you like that."
"He's my brother, and I love him, no matter how he treats me."
"You're the only person I've ever cared about, and I love you, and I can't sit by and let him abuse you just because you think it's your duty to your family. You've done all you can. Kankuro's old enough to take care of himself, and Gaara doesn't deserve—," Itachi stopped himself. He had almost said that Gaara didn't deserve to live! No way to win over Temari.
"So they take me for granted once in a while. I'm glad that they can. I want them to feel like I'll always be there."
Itachi was going mad with frustration. "I would never take you for granted, Temari. You would never be afraid of me. I love you." He put the emphasis on "I", hoping to get across that her brothers didn't. Nobody who loved her could be so cruel to her.
"I love you too, Itachi," she said fretfully.
"Then run away with me!" he pleaded. "The Akatsuki will find the demon with or without you."
"You– you wouldn't tell them about Gaara!" she said, starting.
"My mission here was to find him. I'm sorry you're caught up in this, Temari, but it's how it played out. Your brother and I are on different sides. Please,"
Temari broke from his grasp and rolled on top of him, pinning him to the bed. It was a hand-to-hand combat technique that had its fair share of uses in the bedroom... but this time she meant it in all sincerity.
"Itachi, listen to me," she growled. Itachi actually cowered. He had faced horrors beyond description in battle without turning a hair, he knew that he could defeat this little kunoichi without using one tenth of his chakra, but he had never seen anything so terrifying and malignant as the light in the back of Temari's eyes. "Never try to harm either of my brothers, or you will die, because I will kill you. No emotion, no bond that you think exists between us will save you. If you force me to chose between you and Gaara, you will lose. Gaara is my family, my flesh, my blood, a part of me more important than myself. You're some dope I met at Starbucks. Do you understand?"
Itachi looked at her with the most pleading he could conjure up from the depths of his tormented soul, and while most girls would have melted, Temari just shook his arms painfully.
"Do you understand?"
Itachi didn't respond, and Temari threw herself off of him and began to get dressed. He got up as well, of course, and tried to grab her, but she kept shaking his hand off violently.
"Temari!" he called as she opened the door.
"Goodbye, Itachi! I've got to get home to my ungrateful jinchuuriki brother!" Temari shouted, slamming the door so hard that the cheap art on the wall fell off and knocked over the bedside lamp. Baki had taught her that as a stress-relief method. It was very effective.
His (Itachi's, not Baki's) first reaction was to run after after her. He had gotten halfway out the door when he realize he wasn't wearing any pants, and had to quickly shove the lower part of his body behind the doorframe, as the other hotel patrons were checking to see what the commotion was. She was gone. Sighing, Itachi began to search for his boxers.