a/n welcome back and sorry for the long wait! I've been working hard on "Song of Aether," which has been kicking my ass :X Though I finally got that fic under control, praise the gods!

Thanks for all your wonderful reviews and PM's! I love you all! And after much ado, here is the latest installment o Zombie Plague-enjoy!

;D

Chapter Ten: Searching

"Gods-damned lack of chakra! Gods-damned hard to find Nara," Temari seethes to herself. After a warm bowl of stew—real food! Real food that didn't make her want to upchuck!—she had waited in the inn until the sun had set for Shikamaru to return. He never did.

Now, brimming with impatience, Temari is scouring the city for the slacker. But perhaps Temari should have enlisted Ino's help, because Temari's chakra isn't stable enough to do a proper search; the gods know she's tried, but every time she reaches out with her chakra it seems to crackle and fade around the edges.

Nevertheless, she checks all the quiet places, the sandy hills and serene rock gardens, all in vain. She loops back around to the inn, but no one is home. At last, she makes her way back to the Kazekage's tower, utterly defeated.

Perhaps the gods don't want Shikamaru to know? Temari yanks on a ponytail and stomps up the stairs to her apartment. She's ready to go to sleep. All this searching and emotional upheaval has left her exhausted.

"Temari-sama," booms a voice, startling Temari out of her thoughts, "the Kazekage-sama has been looking for you—there's an emergency meeting being held." The guard bows towards her deeply; she had been so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't seen him until he had spoken.

"Thank you, Kari-san; please let Kazekage-sama know that I will be there momentarily." Before the guard can protest, she slips into her apartment and closes the door behind her. Gods, she's too tired for this shit; still, if Gaara has requested her presence, it must be important. She splashes her face with cold water, smooths down her frizzy hair, and strides back out into the hall, hoping she looks adequate.

When she opens the door to the Kazekage's office, she is assaulted by a scream: "I don't care what the agreement says, Lord Gaara," Sakura shouts, her cheeks flushed an angry red. "Shikamaru here—genius boy—was supposed to have negotiated my term down to six months instead of one year. And I certainly don't want to be an ambassador on rotation here! I belong in Konoha—"

"But Sakura-chan—"

"Naruto, if you so much as say one word—one word!—I will kill you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you and Gaara-kun are planning something. Yes, don't think I don't know about your frequent Hiraishin trips between Konoha and Suna! Your teleport jutsu leaves a residue, and I know you've been up to something."

"But Sakura-chan—"

"Don't you Sakura-chan me, numbskull! I'm here as Tsunade's representative, and as such, I have authority over you—Hokage-elect or not!" Sakura huffs.

At that moment, Temari pushes the door open all the way; she looks at Sakura and Naruto quizzically before addressing her brother. "You wanted to see me, Kazekage-sama?" Her eyes flicker to Shikamaru, but she wills her face to remain expressionless; after all, business before pleasure. Or in this case, business before torture.

"Please have a seat, Temari-sama," Gaara intones. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks to Ino-san," she replies evenly. "Naruto-san, Sakura-san, it is a pleasure to see you again."

Sakura spares her a grin. "I'd like to meet with you and Ino after the meeting, Temari-san. She's informed me about your…condition."

"That would be most gracious of you," Temari replies slowly. "Tell me, Sakura-san, what seems to be troubling you? And please, take a seat; you must be tired from your long journey."

"Tired? More like nauseous from the Hirashin ride," Sakura grouses as she flops down in her chair. "Temari-san—or should I say Temari-sama? No, Temari-san is all right?"

Temari nods and Sakura continues, "Temari-san, I believe that this contract is null; Shikamaru should never have been imbued with the Hokage's power in absentia. That is because of his personal relationship with you, Temari-san. I believe the Kazekage-sama has used this situation to make the negotiation a slaughter for Konoha. Your thoughts, Temari-san?"

Temari mulls over her words carefully. To her right, she can feel Gaara's unblinking gaze boring into her, and across the table, she can feel Shikamaru's equally disconcerting stare.

"I'm afraid you are correct, Sakura-san," Temari replies slowly. She swallows before continuing. "Perhaps it would be best to re-negotiate the contract; I would not want to be the source of a rift between Suna and Konoha."

"The contract has already been signed in blood by Shikamaru, who had full power of proxy," Gaara rumbles. "It is binding."

"Dammit Gaara—" Sakura breaks in, but Naruto catches her arm and speaks instead.

"Sakura, everything in the contract looked good to me—"

"Naruto! Do you understand how angry Tsunade-sama is right now? You're the one who pressed to have team Ino-Shika-Cho deal with the negotiations, against Tusnade-sama's better judgement! And you—"

"I agree with Gaara," Naruto retorts hotly. "Er—I mean, Kazekage-sama. The contract stands. If you ask me, every single one of those clauses makes perfect sense—"

"Perfect sense? Like giving away the secrets to our barrier jutsu—"

Temari breaks in before the Sakura and Naruto can continue. "Excuse me, honored guests, but it seems that you are of two minds. It would strengthen your position if you would discuss the matter privately, and then return to our counsel. I would like to make a motion to table this discussion until tomorrow morning. Honored brothers, what say you?"

"Yes, please, by the myriad gods in heaven, I don't want to hear Naruto and Sakura screeching at each other anymore," Kankuro grumbles. "Gaara? Can we table this until Konoha figures out what the heck they want?"

"Granted," Gaara rasps. "Dismissed."

"Naruto, I will meet you back in my quarters in two hours—and if you're not speaking sense by then, so help me Kami, I will beat it into you," Sakura mutters. Her compatriot merely roles his eyes and disappears in a yellow flash.

"Please excuse my teammate; he is more gracious than a leader ought to be," Sakura says with a grunt. Then, "Ino, come with me; I'd like to do a complete medical analysis of Temari-san. I understand she is pr—" Sakura breaks off at Temari's panicked look and recovers quickly— "Er, that Temari-san has Plague. By your leave, Temari-san?"

"That's fine with me," Temari whispers, cold sweat beading on the back of her neck from Sakura's almost slip.

Ino clasps Sakura on the back. "Yep. Sure thing, Sakura. Choji, Shikamaru, let's meet with Sakura and Naruto in their rooms in two hours as well, hey?" Ino says with a smile.

Choji nods. "Sure thing. I'll pick up dinner. I'm famished!"

Temari rises from her chair and eyes Shikamaru. He's more taciturn than usual—she hasn't heard him say a single word—and he won't look up at her. He rises with leaden movements to follow Choji, who has already exited, but Temari strides forward and catches Shikamaru's sleeve.

When he looks up at her, Temari is taken aback by how terrible he looks. His eyes are red-rimmed with purple bags underneath, as if he hasn't slept in a week, and his cheeks are gaunt. "You look like shit," she blurts out.

"Thanks," he grunts. He tries to jerk his arm out of her grasp, but she holds on tightly.

"Meet me later tonight—after you work things out with your team," she whispers, her whole face flushing. She can't get another word in edgewise, because Sakura and Ino have caught up with her and practically sweep her off in the direction of the hospital.

It is only when she's half-way there that she realizes she has not given Shikamaru a place to meet her. Gods, I'm so stupid, Temari thinks bitterly. If my soul were placed in a fish, it would drown.

Shikamaru is walking with Choji, his hands full of take-out containers. "Are you sure we need this much food, Choji?"

"Shikamaru, of course we need this much food! We can't have a productive meeting if everyone is hungry; besides, a couple of things in there are for a snack before the meeting."

Before too long, Shikamaru and Choji are lounging in the common room, Choji slurping up a bowl of noodles while Shikamaru stares listlessly at the wall.

What the hell did Temari mean, meet me later tonight? Where? Exactly when? And most importantly, why? If nothing else, Shikamaru is a man of precision, and the nebulous, whispered request has left him confused.

He had spent the better part of an afternoon avoiding Temari; it seemed like every time he had moved out of her way, she had stumbled onto another one of his hiding spots. It was as if Temari had a sixth sense about where Shikamaru was. He's not going to flatter himself by thinking that she was actually looking for him; no, it is probably quite the contrary. No matter what Shikamaru does, no matter where he goes, he will always be in Temari's way.

"Something eating you, Shikamaru?" Choji says around a mouth full of noodles.

"Mmmmm."

"You can talk about it, if you want."

"It's nothing." Shikamaru falls back into his chair and taps his fingers nervously on his knee.

They sit like that, in strained silence, until Choji finally puts aside his styrofoam cup of noodles and mutters, "It's about Temari—"

"Choji, I'm the reason she's dying."

Choji blinks at his best friend for a minute, processing what he has just said. "Temari's dying?"

"Damn it, Choji, that's why I signed that damn treaty without thinking! I can't let her die, Choji! It's my fault—"

"Wait a minute here, Shika. Are you sure she's—"

"Yes. I looked at her medical records. She was very close to dying, at the very least; if it hadn't been for Ino insisting on an exam, Temari's liver would have imploded, or something. Dammit," Shikamaru snarls, rising from the chair and pacing. "It's my fault she has the plague in the first place."

"Shikamaru…Temari was trying talk to you all day. I think she has something important to tell you."

"Tch. She hates me. She hates me," Shikamaru mutters, "and I don't blame her."

"Shikamaru, why—"

"Because I gave her Zombie Plague, that's why!" Shikamaru snaps, rounding on his friend.

Choji isn't cowed; he stares at Shikamaru for a long, long time. Finally, he ventures, "Shikamaru. You're not looking underneath the underneath here—"

"She wants to meet me tonight, Choji. But I can tell you what she's going to say. I've been nothing but an asshole to her; when she needed a friend, that's when I was a cretin. She's going to let me have it," he mutters, pacing the length of the room again.

Choji lets out a long sigh. "Shikamaru. Calm down—"

"How can I be calm—"

"I said calm the fuck down!" Choji shouts; as he's intended, it startles Shikamaru into shutting up and standing still. "Listen to me, Shikamaru; just trust me on this one. You're going to meet with Temari tonight, and she's going to explain everything to you, and you're going to be fine—"

"I can't think under these conditions, Choji. I'm going out. Tell the rest of the Konoha team that I'm doing something important, and whatever you guys agree to is fine by me—"

"But—"

By the time Choji replies, Shikamaru is already out of the window and gone. "Geez, for a genius, you're not being very smart," he grumbles.

"Choji!" Ino calls, storming through the door to the apartment. "Where the hell is Lazy-Ass?"

"Shikamaru? He's gone," Choji replies with a sigh. "He's not going to make it to the meeting."

"Excellent. Okay, coast is clear guys—meeting at our place!" Ino cries. She is followed by Naruto and Sakura, which doesn't startle Choji.

No, it's the fact that Gaara and Kankuro follow closely behind them that makes his eyes go wide.

"I call this meeting to order!" Naruto calls jovially.

"Shut up, idiot," Sakura grouses.

Choji gives Ino a quizzical look. "Wha…?"

"Naruto and Gaara are fessing up," Sakura shouts. "These two idiots have been plotting something all along. Geez, Naruto, I really—"

"There's no time, no time!" Naruto shouts. "I've got to make this confession quick, and then I need all of you to help!"

"Naruto," Ino breaks in, "what kind of hair-brained—"

"It's not hair-brained," Gaara rumbles. "It's actually quite brilliant."

"See? That's me, the brilliant Hokage-elect, Uzumaki-Naruto—"

"Naruto, if you want to survive the night, spill the beans and do it quick," Sakura snaps. "And Choji—pass me a container of noodles?"

Wow, does Temari feel like an idiot. She keeps hearing Sakura's voice shouting at her in her: What the hell do you think you're doing, endangering yourself and your child like that? Need I remind you that the baby you're carrying has dual citizenship with Konoha, and if I ever hear that you're endangering its health again, I'll have you tried under Leaf law!

At least Ino had calmed the irate medical ninja after Temari had received her verbal lashing. "I was ridiculously close to injuring either myself—or the baby—or both," Temari muses to the night air. Who knew that livers were so important? Who knew that her baby's chakra had been destroying her liver in the first place?

Anyway, it doesn't matter, because Temari is officially an ass. She sighs and puts an arm around her stomach. It's starting to protrude, not a lot, but just enough to be visible.

"I'm really sorry, Plague. You're not even born yet, and already I feel like a total failure." Shaking her head from side to side, Temari walks aimlessly through the dark city streets. When she stops, she is surprised to find herself at the foot of her mother's grave.

She kneels on the cold sand, wishing she had thought to bring incense or some kind of offering. "Hey mom. Good news, I guess. I'm pregnant. Of course, I almost killed the baby through my own stupidity, and the father invariably hates my guts, but other than that, everything is fine. Yep, just…dandy."

Temari exhales sharply and leans her forehead on the cold tombstone. "I don't know, mom. Why'd you have so many kids? Babies are wrinkly, and freakish. Plus," she whispers, "the last one killed you."

Temari squeezes her eyes shut. "Why'd you have us all so close together, mom? One after the other? You weren't a cow; it was having us all too close together that killed you." Temari remembers when Gaara was born; well, it's a vague memory, she was only three at the time, but all the same she remembers: the horrible screams from the operating room, and worse, when the screams stopped and the tiny, infantile wailing began.

When the hospital doors had opened, her Okaasan was covered with a white sheet, and her new baby brother—he was so small then, so fragile looking—had been invested with the one-tailed beast.

Temari can remember, a little bit, what her mother had been like. Short brown hair, always smiling; very kind, and soft; nothing like how Temari is now. Besides the tiny bulge of her belly, Temari is craggy like a rocky outcropping and harsh like the sand; she does not know how she is going to swing this whole motherhood-thing.

"Okaasan, I wish you were here," she whispers, her breath fogging in the cold night air. "You'd know what do to."

But the tombstone doesn't say anything back to her, no matter how she presses her forehead into it. There is only silence, the stars winking into existence over her head, the waning moon rising in the east. Temari places her hands on her belly.

"I don't want to die, mom," she whispers, afraid; childbirth isn't a battle where Temari can rely on her skill to vanquish her enemies. It is something entirely out of her control, and no amount of skill, jutsu, or chakra is going to save her.

"I don't want to die," she repeats, louder this time; there is a gust of wind, which whips her hair and her loose fitting cloak.

"I won't let you die," a voice calls behind her, and for a moment, Temari is convinced that it is her okaasan's voice coming from beyond the grave. But when she turns around to investigate the shadows from whence the sound came, it is definitely not her mother.

"Shikamaru," Temari croaks. "How much of that…did you hear?"

a/n thanks for reading! Please review;)