Chapter 12
When the smoke from the explosive tag cleared, Temari still stood her ground, scowling at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru stared at the blonde kunoichi, disbelieving. "Dammit woman, why didn't you…"
Temari remained defiantly glaring at Shikamaru while the two enemy shinobis flanked him as they watched her.
"Kill her," the hooded shinobi on his left ordered Shikamaru.
"No! I'd die first!" Shikamaru suddenly clenched his teeth, his shoulders tensed and his hands fisted at his sides, seeming to fight something within him.
"Ass, if you die in the hands of these two imbeciles I'll kill you myse—oomph." Abruptly, Temari was grabbed from behind by the clone of one of the hooded nins. A white piece of cloth, heavily impregnated with a powerful chemical was shoved in front of her, covering her nose and mouth. It made her lose consciousness fast.
The last words she heard were the ones Shikamaru was shouting. "Let her go or I'll swear—"
She wanted to bash his head and lecture him, "Baka…you should have stayed in Suna longer then you wouldn't need to swear at anyone." But even before she could raise her fan or open her mouth to tell him that, the drug had taken effect.
—o0o—
She was on her way to that hill again, asking Shikamaru if he was really her boyfriend.
The Konoha shinobi hesitated to say yes then admitted that no, he was not her boyfriend.
Then she felt his touch, his body pressing her on to her bed. It made her feel alive; like she found herself whole again, not a part of her missing…And she just knew she had felt this way before….But why did it feel this way?…Being this close to him, skin to skin, felt so damn familiar…She felt complete, the feeling of restlessness gone.
When suddenly, bam, there was the realization that she couldn't allow him to die. Simplythinking about him dying made her feel so cold. Her skin crawling; her heart beats and she could feel each slow, forceful thud hitting her ribcage and she could taste fear in her dry mouth.
Hell! These were all confusing. Temari moved her hand to her head to ruffle her mop of blonde hair in frustration and anger—at least she tried to—but something held her back. Opening her eyes, she immediately looked above her head. Her arms were spread apart in a wide V and both her wrists were shackled, a heavy metal chain manacling each wrist to the rocky wall of the cave, the same thing with her feet.
"Good you're awake," Shikamaru spoke from across on the other wall. The chains holding him were similar to hers and appearing freaking brand new.
Temari just glowered at Shikamaru, still unreasonably furious with him. Then she swivelled her head around, noticing that the cave was lighted enough by two torches hanging via the jutting rocks on two opposing corners. The interior of the cave was recognizable. It was one of the caves on the south border of Suna. Good, they—she—wasn't that far from help…not that she'd need help.
All of a sudden, Temari heard footsteps approaching. "Shhh," she warned, needlessly silencing Shikamaru.
"We don't need the girl. We should just dispose of her," a voice, forcefully trying to sound menacing, said.
"We need her. Hidan-sama's 'killer' will do anything we ask for her," the other replied, sounding more boisterous.
The enemy nins' footsteps then gradually faded, with their words becoming less and less distinct as the two drifted away from where she and Shikamaru were tied with the metallic chains.
Hidan? The circle with the triangle drawn inside it on the enemy nins' robes should have clued her in—the symbol of Jashin. Dammit, Temari thought. Why did she miss that!
But what do they want with Shikamaru?
"What do they want with you?" Temari rasped. She needed facts if she was going to get herself and him out of here. The crybaby couldn't be depended upon to save his own ass.
"Tch, you don't know?"
"Would I be asking if I already know?"
"Do you know the Akatsuki? Hidan?" Shikamaru fired.
"Of course!" Temari snapped.
"How about me?"
"You?" Temari hedged. "Of course!"
"What do you know about me?"
"Aside from your name, your—"
"My name?…Heck! A lot of people know my name."
"Alright, ass, I'll tell you everything I know about you. You're a fucking lazy bastard that prefers napping and playing that stupid board game than training. You don't have the balls to fight me and you cry like a little girl. Furthermore, you're three years younger. You're as old as my baby brother—"
"I didn't know that my age bothers you that much."
"Your age doesn't bother me! Why should it? You said so yourself, you're not my boyfriend. We are not in a relationship. Not now. Not then."
Shikamaru just raised an eyebrow.
"And you proved it when you didn't even bother to say goodbye after what happened between us. What do you think I was going to do? Demand something from you that you weren't ready to give just because we slept together," Temari sneered. "You were such a coward. You didn't even have the guts to ask me what I felt after. You didn't even realize I was so damn confused." Temari stopped as she realized what she had just said.
"Temari, listen—"
Not wanting to hear his excuses, Temari swore, "Dammit, I don't need to listen to you. I finally figured the answer myself. I just need to sleep with another guy and I would know for sure that whatever I felt, I would feel it again—with anyone."
Shikamaru pulled at his restraints in frustration. "You call me a coward? What do you call whatever you're doing right now? You're denying even to yourself—that I'm important!"
"No, you're not!"
"Yes, I am. To you. If I wasn't what were you doing following me back to Konoha?"
"I wasn't following you! I—I have a mission in your village."
"After months and months of waiting for you to go back to Konoha, you suddenly have a mission there now?"
Temari's eyes spitted fire. "Yes," she scowled, lying through her teeth.
"I know you well enough that I could tell when a stupid lie just passed through your lips. But let's pretend I don't." Shikamaru inhaled a deep breath, easily calming himself. After a while he slowly smirked, having the face of someone about to utter checkmate. "So what are you doing here with me in this cage after I told you to go, countless times?"
Temari's mouth hanged open for a moment, unable to answer; when abruptly, still glowering at Shikamaru fumingly, she shouted, "Guards! Hidan's supporters! Or whatever the hell you call yourself, I need to pee!"
Shikamaru chuckled. "Just admit it, I'm important to you."
"Guards!"
TBC
~5 24, 6 24 12AF U 6 30 12~
A/N: Woot reviews made me update faster :P…It's only Intertwining Fate's turn supposedly this weekend.
