It's getting hot in here, I make no apologize for the next few chapters so...
Enjoy!
Dark widened eyes stared into the heat surging over the sand dunes ahead, hot wind blowing the light chocolate bangs from Matsuri's forehead, her brows set in concern. The sun had risen, and upon her and Yukata's orders, from Temari, they were to wait at the end of camp for their Lady's return come morning. Excited for the secret mission placed on them the morning noise starting to become noticeable in the waking camp, making the two uneasy.
"Isn't she supposed to be here by now?" Yukata whispered looking back to check if anyone had noticed them ducked behind the last tent in the grounds.
"Yeah, but Lady Temari told us to wait until sunrise and make sure no one notices us until she gets back from the Land of Rain" Matsuri remained attentive to the horizon ahead of her.
"What if she was hurt?" Yukata's voice rising in a sudden worry "Or they captured her?" Matsuri's hand quickly clamped over her friend's mouth putting a finger to her lips to shush her.
"No way that could happened Lady Temari would never allow that, she'd like Lord Gaara always perfect" Her voice set in determination, if not a little dreamy too at the thought of the Kazekage, hiding her worry well behind it. Yukata pouted under her friend's hand and pulled Matsuri's arm down to give a small smile as if that could help soothe her own rising concern. Their eyes fell to the darkening image blurring the hot lines of the mirage and both gasped when the glint of a metal fan shined at them. "See I told you Yukata" she whispered quickly looking around before stepping towards Temari as she passed the dune.
"My lady you're safe" Yukata gasped covering her mouth as to not scream and rushed to her companion's side staring up into the narrowed teal eyes, although uneasy each held the stare down towards them, awed at their commander. Temari had stopped before them and pulled her, now dry, scarf from her face and gave her students a grin, gentle.
"Your mission was a success, ladies" They beamed up at her and followed her focus as she turned to the camp, still barren of activity "Anyone notice?" Matsuri shook her head quickly
"No, my lady we made sure no one disturbed your tent during the night" Temari nodded once and stepped forward prompting them to follow at her side. Making a path around the camp avoiding any unwanted attention, having gotten quite good at sneaking around recently, she slipped into her tent with the two following. She hadn't wanted anyone to know about her journey to the Land of Rain as it could have led to a whole unit being pushed to follow her. It was a mission she needed to do on her own, as she needed the information on the Rain to remain with only herself, not even her brother knew about last night's endeavor. Yet she found a small sense of comfort in knowing Matsuri and Yukata had been there to help her, they would have sent word to the commanders if she hadn't returned on time, always having a backup plan. Once inside she let out a tired sigh and removed her scarf turning to her students, knowing what was to come from her disheveled appearance.
"Remember this stays between us" The two nodded in unison, taking every word to heart, although she could feel the long silence as they waited for her to speak further. Amused she grinned defeated by the awaiting stares "The Land of Rain is very muddy"
"Did it rain a lot?" Yukata interjected eyes wide awaiting a story.
"Did you battle Rain Shinobi?" Matsuri gapped and both stilled standing straight when Temari raised her hand to stop them.
"Yes and no. I found one of your outpost camps located near the Rain village and a few reports of interest" She made sure to keep who was with there to herself "the specifics don't concern you two understood?" They nodded looking disappointed at the lack of detail but nonetheless recovered quickly following her order. Temari set her fan to the side speaking as she pulled her muddied braces off "I'll need you two to keep busy today, so don't slack on your training and don't bother any of the commanders as we prepare for tomorrow" She paused and tugged on her damp hair untying the tuff and letting the sandy hair fall "and get a bath ready please" She muttered glaring at the mud on her hands. The girls nodded at their orders and turned to leave
"My Lady would you like us to inform you when the Leaf shinobi make it?" Yukata asked glancing back, taking Temari's short nod as an answer and leaving her. With the two gone Temari let out the breath she'd been holding, at least her return went without a hitch, and the unwelcomed blush she'd carried since the ledge on her cheeks retuned. Absently she wanted to be back there with him having enjoyed herself to much, infuriating herself even more at the thought of it, why did she give in the first time anyways? She gave in and the fact she wanted to burned her more than the desert sun.
She left Shikamaru with the knowing that she held a little power over his will, but like a double-edged sword she was feeling uneasy at the knowledge that he'd been the one to lead. Who knew a kiss could backfire that much, exactly why she preferred to rule with power over seduction unlike some women. Vividly remembering his arms wrapped around her waist tugging her closer to his need before pulling away and leaving her, such arrogance that almost had her following after him. Groaning, opting to shut her mind off before she began to overthink the move, or start thinking when it might happened again, she focused on how she'd be making her rounds for the day and preparing to merge the troops later that evening to march to their spot for the battle tomorrow, and hopefully slip in a few hours of sleep if she could. Leaf and Sand fighting along side each other again, and every inch of her being hating the idea with each passing second.
Traitors.
Betrayal.
Savages.
The burning of remorse in her heart fighting it, at least trying halfheartedly trying, she'd be wrathful for to long. They might not attack them right after, but the scars ran to deep between their countries, after all it was one of theirs that conspired among her people. Too tired to linger on anything positive she allowed herself a moment to think about her mother, it could calm her. Soft warm smile, her kind eyes telling her it'd be alright, the demon of the desert killing her, cold lifeless gaze threatening to kill her, the sand merging with blood. Temari sunk further into the tub, the steam from the scalding water soothing very little of her newfound worry. It's like that man opened a damn door to her own personal hell, every little thing that has ever bothered her rushing out all at once, and all she wanted was to be one that ledge.
She momentarily regretted not pushing him off the cliff, but only for a moment, maybe that would have been better than the sudden warm feeling he gave her.
Why she was the one to push for a kiss the second time she knew, to hold the power, yet why was she sulking in the tub now? The heat rising in her cheeks insanely wanting to make her shout in frustration at her lack of clarity. When the time came, she'd have to do something about this, unless she'd dug her own grave with the loss of control back at the camp, the one in power was her right? Teal eyes shut and she slowly sank into the water relishing in the silence of her mind, even if it didn't last. She heard something, something distant and blurred, maybe she'd ignore it and just sink lower. Another call forcing her to rise and peek over the edge of the water glaring at the shadow behind the curtain.
"Temari you alive in there?" Kankuro called in unmoving from his position behind the curtain. With a sigh she leaned back raising her arms over the edges, narrowed eyes turned up towards the top of the sandy colored tent they had for bathing.
"What do you want Kankuro?" a weak excuse for a demand.
"I'm about to head off to the Leaf's camp with the unit, anything you need me to do before that?" The rest of his words interrupted with a long yawn "You seemed busy last night, your little mini me's didn't let me disturb you" A inward grumble they failed to mention Kankuro looking for her last night.
"Nothing that I can think of" Another weak reply promoting in a shift in the shadows position.
"You ok sis?" Kankuro hushed in a slight bit of concern.
"Never better" Hiding her annoyance poorly.
"You sound tired" That could have been it, possibly. With a sigh she lifted her head looking back at the shadow composing herself, as always, she was the elder sister before anything else.
"Little brother" her tone lost its annoyance, and her command took over, harsher than usual "Remember what I said about not striking first?" The wrath returning for retribution.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"We will in time, but after the battle it will not be smart to go against numbers that will remain larger than our own, understood?" He scoffed ready to argue and a small grin rose to her lips "I told you five years ago we'll restore The Land of Wind's power, something father couldn't accomplish on his own, but I have you and Gaara" She heard the chuckle letting him finish before speaking quieter "Kankuro the Land of Earth will soon believe Gaara is dead" Shocked silence welcomed her and a small smile rose to her lips "We will use this and drench the sand in their blood" she hissed the last part eyes glaring into her reflection in the shimmering water
"When did you get so dark?" A serious reply came and a shift in the shadow.
"I'm tired of everyone looking down on us like we did something wrong. It's not our fault all this happened" she surpassed the sinking feeling in her chest, hurt for so long "we need to restore Suna to what it was before the feudal lord and council started interfering" the thought of her country at war, because of some pretentious pigs starting to burn her short fuse. After all the shinobi fought only to appease some rich men above who thought themselves gods because of their blood, men who have never held a weapon in hand. If anything, she was deserving of her name Kaze No Megami, she fought and bled for her village, and they revered her as such. She might have gotten too good at warfare over the years, just like the women in the stories.
"Do you plan on telling Gaara he's supposed to be dead?" She smirked at the joking tone and suppressed her want to laugh.
"Of course, you idiot we are going to launch an attack on Earth soon, the Leaf won't bother us" she insulted him in a soft mocking tone before leaning back with a defeated sigh, as he put his hands to his hips finally asking the question she'd been waiting for.
"Hold on" he shifted his tone wavering on angry "how do you know all this?"
"I did a little sneaking around last night" her smug reply received with an annoyed huff
"Where did you go?" She chose to chuckle and ignore him leaning back further.
"Shouldn't you be halfway to the Leaf's camp to get your ambush ready?"
"Yeah, but you better tell me about this later Temari" He grumbled and pulled away hesitantly from the curtain "I'll see you tomorrow on the battlefield, sis"
"Be safe Kankuro, I love you little brother" she called out the quite returning as she sank back into the muddied water, tempted to sink back deeper into the water to silence the bothersome thoughts.
The kunoichi passage went as is
A woman's tongue both seduces and kills men, their sweet song spoken drowning the men to their deaths.
Their lips a reminder to breath after the embrace of a kiss before the betrayal.
Their legs guiding those who cannot see, those who cannot escape.
Their bodies entwined in an endless push and pull for power.
Their eyes that tempt even the most powerful of men to their knees to bow before the goddesses before them.
A woman's smile to break a man's spirit.
"What are you reading?" Temari slammed the tattered book shut and turned her glare to her door at Kankuro, betraying her unease at her brother's sudden appearance in her room.
"What do you want?" She demanded sitting up from her bed, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. The mention of a kiss making the twelve-year-old become engrossed in the old book she had found in the extensive library in her father's study. The cover was about kunoichi, so she'd been curious to see what it had to say, it's not like she knew what was written inside could make her blush in embarrassment, if not a little wonder behind the words.
"I'm hungry and Uncle isn't home can you make me something?" Kankuro yawned disinterested in her motion to slip the book under her pillow as she sighed.
"Why can't you just make something for yourself?" she crossed her arms her eyes a warning to him to leave, but he wasn't budging.
"Because last time I did I started a fire and you got mad" He shrugged
"You burnt toast Kankuro" Visibly irritated now Temari groaned and pushed off the bed passing him.
"Can I have some onigiri Temari?"
"Fine, but don't bother me when I'm in my room anymore" Temari grumbled slipping into the kitchen with him tailing her annoyingly.
"What was that book?" Kankuro tugged her sleeve brow raised as he smirked at the fuming rage coming from his sister.
"Nothing that concerns you" She chose to zone out his nagging questions after that taking to her role as sister. Absentmindedly remembering the words of the passage written by a now dead kunoichi from hundreds of years ago. Stories, poems, and hymns written about great kunoichi that could only be deemed as having powers from the goddesses. She almost felt giddy to return to her book and continue to read, yet little did she know what those words would mean to her later.
The rustle of leaves blown by the lazy waving breeze shifted the shadows below the worn dirt trail up the hill as the pebbles shifted under the sudden weight. Halfway to the Leaf's camp the tattered, dirtied cloak came off Shikamaru's shoulders, to troublesome to remain drenched on his way back, and now rested in an arm. Not to mention the few stinging gashes to his arms he'd gotten from Temari's assault, yet he could forgive it after all what was the point of holding onto anger, it wasted to much energy and was counterproductive. Another annoying wince from the tear in his shoulder as he shifted uphill, that woman would kill him he was sure of it. It was a game after all, like shogi, she was playing him.
He'd have to be an idiot to think her flirtation worked over the years, scratch that, he was partially an idiot he fell for it more than a few times, like a rose she was filled with beauty, but her thorns hurt. Just about most of his thoughts currently came back to her kiss on that ledge, no wonder kunoichi were so useful when it came to certain intel missions, he might even go as far as saying he understood woman a little better, that being very little. He halted glaring ahead of himself for a moment, confirming that she would be the end of him if he allowed her to, logic fighting other urges one being the embarrassing blush on his cheeks. Pushing forward with a groan he figured a small part of him wouldn't mind it, after all she had now pushed into his mind without so much as a question of if she was allowed to. Not that she would ask anyways, she seemed to be the woman who would kill you if you looked at her for too long, yet he'd stare at her even now.
Eyes like rare gems, lips as soft as silk, a smile so innocent where he didn't hesitate to pull her close to him.
A glare so ruthless she could burn you with a single look, lips turned mocking her fallen enemies, a smile so cruel that he was sure could kill him.
Suddenly those absurd passages about love and romance he'd read from sheer boredom made a tinge of sense to him, she being the enemy aside, he'd probably follow that woman to the end of the earth if he didn't know already that she'd probably kill him when he reached her. When did he get so soft, men didn't swoon over woman like this right? He should have listened to his father more, old man had some good points, then again, his mother was a whole lot of rage and fury so probably not good advice to follow. The mention of a gentle smile bringing another unwelcomed heat to his cheeks. He'd make a mental note to think on this another time as dropped his head in defeat, even his thoughts were being troublesome. His mind elsewhere he almost didn't notice the shift in the trees and soft thuds drop behind him, by the weight woman no doubt.
"Shikamaru where have you been all night?" He almost cringed at the sound of Ino's demanding voice behind him, of course it'd be her, of all the people to see him like this. He didn't have to even look back to read the shift from anger to concern as she continued speaking rushing to his side "What happened to you?" As he'd predicted her face fell at his muddied appearance "you look like you fell off a cliff" to his other side, stepped Sakura looking just as worried as he rival, he only replied with a tired sigh.
"I did actually" a simple lie to appease them, seemed to usually work when they pestered him, not like he could really go into detail about his night.
"Where were you?" Sakura held his sore shoulder stopping his slowed pace with a grumble.
"Land of Rain it doesn't concern you two" quick to finish his reply he chose not to move as Sakura wasn't exactly delicate when she initially grabbed him.
"What were you doing there, isn't that where the Akatsuki are?" Sakura glared at him prompting in his attempt to pull away, as he knew he'd be stuck to his spot by the grip.
"It's where the Earth's outpost was, I managed to get a few recent reports and I can't tell you two about it" Simple reply falling to deaf ears it seemed as the two turned to each other than back at him unhappy with the answer "come on give me a break" he muttered and rubbed his neck choosing to avoid the burning glares from the two.
"You went alone?" Ino crossed her arms.
"And didn't tell anyone?" Sakura proceeded to mimic Ino. Great stuck between a rock and two angry women, he very much wanted to be back on that cliff now, at least that angry woman smiled.
"Kakashi knew about it" he crossed his arms attempting some authority "And we both agreed I'd be going alone to search for intel" They faltered and looked at each other before nodding and coming to his sides allowing him to push forward and walk again.
"What about these wounds they don't really correspond with a fall?" Sakura eyed his torn sleeve pulling his cloak away and handing it to Ino as she lifted his arm to examine it "Were you in a fight?"
"Yeah, not an easy one" Ino gasped raising her fist at him as he groaned pulling away from her when she shouted.
"Shikamaru, I told you not to do anything stupid and here you are doing stupid things" She would have hit him had he not already looked like he'd been beaten.
"Ino Sakura" his voice rising slightly at the irritation of the situation "Let it go alright" Might not have been his best move to make as they went silent and glared at him. Since when was he so moody over a few nagging questions he paused and looked between them a bit guilty defeated by the warning from them "At least let me look through the reports before you start asking will you? At least give me that" A rather long uncomfortable pause followed his halfhearted plea. Yup as he'd confirmed he knew nothing about women except their anger. Ino turned her nose up and pressed on walking away intent to ignore him while Sakura sighed.
"Whatever you found out there I hope it gives us a lead" following at his pace as he looked at the tents hidden among the woods.
"So far nothing solid" he muttered "The troop sizes have gotten bigger though, about another two hundred added to the ranks"
"Please that's nothing" She smirked confidently prompting a groan from Shikamaru.
"It just means we'll have to add more into our troops with Kurostuchi's main army, leaving less units with Kakashi" he sighed proving the battle ahead would be more difficult than he initially thought "if the decoys are as big as I predicted it'll be a tough fight considering we have to cut our defense down" They passed the guards posted outside the clearing, promoting a curious stare from the two, and entered the busy camp, no one turning to meet them as they went around busy preparing.
"Well don't worry about it because Tsunade had sent a few extra units our way this morning" they stopped Shikamaru looking at her surprised "thought you read that scroll?"
"Probably came in yesterday evening" He grumbled dragging a hand over his face and rolling his shoulder at the irritation. Secretly grateful, however, that Tsunade had their backs covered by sending reinforcements to help their numbers problem. Sakura nodded and guided him to sit at one of the crates beside the medic tent
"Go ahead and sit back while I get some bandages" She put her hands on her hips glaring down at him "You know you've been getting a lot of injuries lately"
"It's war, what did you expect?" He rolled his eyes fishing a cigarette from his vest, avoiding her obvious statement towards the matter. At least he'd been caught by the more rational woman, Ino would have probably nagged him for the rest of his life.
"For you to be smarter" she smirked knowingly and pulled away headed inside the medic's tent. With a sigh he slipped the lit bud at his lips and pulled the vest off inhaling sharply at the ache on his shoulder, and his mission was to protect her from getting killed, sarcastic even in thought, no one seemed to mention anything about him dying. Setting his cigarette aside he stripped the damp muddied shirt dropping it to his side and glaring down at the gash, long and thin but man did it sting.
"Shikamaru when did you start stripping" The barking laughter of Kiba followed by an actual bark from Akamaru "What the hell did you do man?" Turning his gaze towards the two he quickly darted his sight to Kankuro, inwardly wanting to slam his head into a wall at his presence, choosing to hold the death glare from the painted sand shinobi for a moment, seems the siblings both shared the need to intimidate with looks alone.
"Nothing important" he turned back slipping the end of the cigarette back into his mouth and puffing, choosing to remain impassive over the situation. Not like he could hide from the probing eyes of the painted shinobi anyways.
"Kinda looks to me like you got your ass kicked" Kankuro grunted with a smirk at the end no doubt eyeing his wounds, wounds to familiar not to notice. He chose not to answer and continue his lazy turn back to Kiba as he joined in with a short chuckle, probably wanted to have said the same himself, before speaking.
"So where did you run off to last night" Shikamaru tensed slightly "you look like you got dragged through the mud" he leaned in sniffing and shook his head "smell like it too" It became hard not to notice Kankuro tilt his head and stare at him no doubt suspicious, making him internally uneasy, he chose to shrug brushing off the question. No need to cause anymore skepticism among them.
"Don't worry about it" He leaned back casual, if not relaxed, dismissing the questions Kiba had lined up "Just watch the border"
"Shino will send word when were finished, shouldn't be more than a few hours" He nodded to his captain.
"Good just make sure to send word before tonight, we'll be stationed near the Sand's border by then" He raised his hand in a lazy wave and turned away opting to avoid the stares and enjoy into the silent clouds above. Sakura returning as they left, bringing him back as she set aside some bandages glancing between the cuts before pressing a cloth to wash the dry blood off.
"You know I've seen these types of wounds before" She muttered keeping her tone quiet and no doubt knowing what he was thinking. He opted to avoid her silent stare and keep his eyes to the ground completely ignoring the will to flinch at the stinging touch. "Shikamaru when did you see her?" he could have avoided it, the question, yet he pondered a way to explain, after all Sakura wasn't an idiot, he couldn't just avoid it with a simple wave of his hand.
"Last night we snuck into the camp" he muttered keeping his voice low, dark eyes glued to the ground avoided her hesitance to move her hand over the wound for a second "turns out the Akatsuki got to their Kazekage" He narrowed his eyes at her gasp which she quickly stifled under her hand.
"You mean" she leaned in whispering "They took the one-tails from him?" He nodded "Shikamaru we have to tell"
"No" he looked up at her quickly, glare quieting her confusion "Not right now, all this can wait until after tomorrow" He looked back down ignoring the sting of the smoke in his eye "you've noticed how their attacks have been fewer in the past few months" Sakura slowly nodded continuing her cleaning thoughtful on his words "if word gets out to any of the other nations Suna will fall"
"Why are you protecting them?" she paused again eyes furrowed in concern.
"Why do you think Tsunade put me in charge in the first place?" he rested his chin on his hand, allowing her to think on it for a moment "My mission as the commander was always to keep peace, that's what I've been doing the past four years. If any of the Kazekage's siblings die by our hands there will be a full force attack on Konoha and we can't have that" she leaned back eyes widening and shocked at the realization.
"So" she stammered, no one knew about his intent over the years, and to share it now would create a panic and he didn't need that at a time like this "what you've been just making sure Temari and Kankuro didn't die the entire time you were here?"
"To put it simply, yes" He blew at the end of the cigarette remaining impassive.
"So why did she attack you now" A faint grin rose to his lips, no doubt she saw it and slowly returned to her cleaning.
"She was mad" he grumbled, dropping his amusement, remembering the attack that caused his current injuries. The silence for Sakura slowly waking his unease as he met her wide eyes blinking slowly before she answered.
"Shikamaru" she ventured slowly reading into his defeated sigh as he glanced back up into the sky, like he thought to himself before he was in trouble.
"Apparently women like you when they try to kill you"