Chapter 11

"Ass, I'm not a coward like you," Temari muttered angrily to herself as with her hands directed backwards she sprinted across the desert plain. It was after several hours later when the terrain had changed from sand dunes to gigantic blocks of brown rocks did she see another person crossing her path.

Make it three persons. Two hooded nins had the third one almost down at his knees in their midst. By the look of things, the lumps and piles of pulverized rocks around showed that the battle was already raging on for hours and now, it was drawing into a close.

Temari removed the fan at her back and one of the hooded nins, that had already detected her presence, suddenly advanced and placed a kunai at the cornered shinobi's neck.

"Move and I'll kill him," growled the hooded nin, his voice booming and unnatural, as if his voice did not belong to him. An eerie wind then shifted the hood and revealed that his face was shielded further by a black and white skeleton-like mask. The nin's ensemble, that of a blood red robe with the hood, had a big black circle with triangle drawn inside clearly visible on the front.

"Ha. Just kill him," Temari snapped. "That's a Konoha shinobi you got there. See—" Temari put a finger to her forehead, pointing to the head protector she was wearing. "—Suna."

The nin who got the hostage looked at his companion and nodded his head almost imperceptibly, signalling the companion to take care of her.

"For Kami's sake, woman, go!" the hostage shouted.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" scowled Temari, opening her fan and taking a stance of attack at once when she saw the hooded companion, similarly clothed, moved to her right.

"They're not going to kill me. They need me for some absurd ritual. So forget about saving me and save yourself! Run!" the hostage shinobi again ordered.

"Ass, I did not come here to save you!" Temari was tempted to take off her attention from the hooded nin to glare furiously at the shinobi. She was not interested in saving his lazy ass. But before these cult members slash shinobis could kill him, she has something to tell him. She didn't know yet what exactly she wants to tell him though. She hasn't figured that part out yet but hell she is not like him who would just ran away after that that thing that happened between them last night. Unlike him, she's not a coward. But she's not here to save him either. "Save your own ass!"

"Tch, I know that." Shikamaru, with a sudden burst of movement, grabbed the hand holding the kunai at his neck, elbowed then threw his opponent forward over his shoulder before doing a series of hand seals that allowed his shadow to pin the opponent to the ground.

While Temari opened her fan and directed an abrupt slash of winds towards the other hooded nin but the hooded nin disappeared.

"Temari, above you!" Shikamaru warned.

The hooded nin, now four of them, was about to attack from above but before they could land a blow on Temari, four strips of shadow with sharp tips pierced each one, making the three puffed into smoke while the fourth one into a log.

Whilst the other hooded nin previously caught by Shikamaru was able to fight off the shadows pinning him to the ground since the main shadow had also branched out to protect Temari. Taking the opportunity, the hooded shinobi assailed the momentarily distracted Shikamaru, throwing fists and kicks in his direction.

"Ass, I can watch my back!" Temari yelled as she swivelled her head around searching for her opponent.

"Tch," Shikamaru could only murmur to himself as he was currently busy defending that self from his own opponent's powerful jabs and kicks.

Temari found her quarry who engaged her in a hand to hand combat.

"You can't beat these nins?" Temari chuckled, gloating at Shikamaru, noticing finally that their opponents merely occupied them with taijutsu.

When suddenly, Temari could not move. "What the—" Temari stopped laughing and glared at Shikamaru. "What are you doing?" Temari growled. She was immobilized by Shikamaru's own shadow, the black outline on the ground connected from him to her.

Shikamaru looked bewildered, staring at his own hands with the seal holding Temari. "Dammit woman, I tried to warn you. They already have me under their control." Shikamaru shook his head, trying to clear it. "I don't even know anymore if what's happening now is real or not. I—"

"Silence!" The hooded nin that was fighting Shikamaru made a slashing gesture in the air with his hand and Shikamaru suddenly doubled over almost dropping to his knees—the same position he was in before when Temari first arrived.

Genjutsu? He was under genjutsu? Temari frowned. "What the hell did you do to him?" Temari furiously asked the hooded nin, feeling the shadow holding her slacken; watching Shikamaru finally dropped to his knees on the ground and coughing up blood.

"Temari, if you're really Temari, just go." Shikamaru wiped the blood trickling down his lips with the back of his hand while looking up at the kunoichi before him. "Before they could get control of you too."

"I—you're hurt…"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Go," he mouthed and with that he threw a kunai with an explosive tag, knowing that the smoke would help Temari escape.

TBC

~6 14 12AF~

A/N: Yay, who is going to save who…

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