Let Me Be Your Shadow
A/N: Naruto Universe Property of Kishimoto
Chapter 2
Despite my hopeful wandering around the village, I didn't manage to "accidentally" run into Shikamaru. The people here were kind, and good natured. Pleasant weather and easy living made the Konoha villagers pleasant and warm, unlike the weather-beaten folks from home that wore grimaces like the Leafs wore smiles day by day. At first the people found me cold and distant, and avoided by piercing gaze a little nervously, to be honest, I was a little taken aback that they didn't glare right back at me. But once I realized that people here aren't always defensive against each other, I relaxed my rigid mask and allowed a lazy little smile to replace that tough smirk I've been known for.
After I furnished my apartment with the help with some chuunins, I joined a defensive jounin squad that patrolled the village at night and took care of domestic conflicts during the day. Living was easy, if not boring.
I took a liking for a woman name Yuuhi Kurenai. She was 32 years old, a slender creature wrapped in bandages. The welcome I received from the other jounins was less than enthusiastic, Gai and Kakashi gave me dirty looks, which I ignored. Asuma didn't even look in my direction, chain smoking in the corner from my arrival to the meeting room to my hasty departure. I nearly lost my nerves and asked the smoke-shrouded man about his former student, but choked before the first word formed in my throat. As I clattered down the stairs, Kurenai caught up with me.
"Temari!"
I kept walking, not wanting further harassment, subtle as they may be.
The sound of swishing wind whistled behind me, and she was standing in front of me a moment later, giving me an open smile. "They were jerks back there, I admit. Please accept my apology from all of us."
I looked away, smiling as best as I could without meeting her eyes. "Thank you."
She placed a hand on my shoulder, "would you like to go out for some sake? Let's celebrate your arrival," she smiled again, "or just anything really. Do we really need an excuse to get drunk?"
Her humor was infectious, and I laughed hesitantly.
Kurenai peered at me, "I remember you from five years ago, Temari. I have a good memory, and you weren't always this timid."
"Haha, I was an obnoxious little bitch back then, I've learned my manners."
"We'll see about that after a few bottles of sake."
And that's how I made my first friend in this village.
On my second week in Konoha, I had my first fight since my arrival. After my patrol shift, I didn't immediately leave my post in the pine tree, but sat gazing into the glowing sunset. A feeling of nostalgia came upon me, and I felt tears gather in my eyes. Thankfully none of my colleagues remained, and I was spared the humiliation of such display of girly weakness. They've yet to come to know me, and I would've hated to give them the wrong impression about me. If anything, this was a vulnerability. As an elite shinobi, weak spots are to be exposed to no one. In this world dominated by men, I could allow no female softness to take advantage of me.
To distract myself, I concentrated on the fluffy clouds overhead, and imagined them into different shapes. Slowly the gold-tinted shapes shifted into rolling sand dunes glistening in the sun as ribbons of sand swirled over them…it wasn't working. Shaking my head angrily, I stood up and prepared to head back into the village.
"STOP!" A pair of kunais exploded out of the shadows in the forest, shining like darts of fire in the fading sun.
I caught them easily with two fingers, and threw them at two more incoming kunais. The weapons clanged almost musically at midair before falling. I seized my fan and pull it out from my belt. Though annoyed by this attack, I was grateful to be on familiar ground. Combat was one thing that I was sure about, something that I excelled at. A comfortable tenseness heightened my senses as I stood ready.
"Why are you here, you Sand bitch. I remember when you're people wrecked our village only five years ago," a slender figure of a woman walked into the light, flanked by a large dog. I noted the bright red strips that were painted on her cheeks, remembering vaguely of a certain Inuzuka clan that Kurenai told me about.
"You're…Inuzuka Kiba's…sister," I squinted in effort to remember. "Right?"
She squared her face, throwing out her (expansive) chest. "State your purposes here."
"Why?"
"Because I think you're spying for your village!"
I gave her a dispassionate look. Such a simple creature, I thought, feeling annoyed.
"Are you dense?" I felt around my pouch for my passport, feeling a peculiar sense of déjà vu. "Here," I held up my card, "you Hokage officially accepted me to your village and made me a Leaf, you have no reason to attack me, nor suspect me."
She snarled, "It'd be too late by the time you do something."
"Don't be such a drama queen," I turned and leaped onto the next tree, intending to go home. The sound of the dogs paws scraping tree bark was subtle, but I heard it. Whipping around, I opened my fan partially and gave it a wave. The smooth steel slid warmly beneath my fingers as a blast of wind exploded through the leafs. With a yelp, the large dog flew backwards. The Inuzuka girl caught it with a grunt.
"Nice catch," I smiled, and closed my fan with a snap. Without waiting for her response, I snapped forward and slapped her hard across the face with the base of my fan. "Don't give me a reason to hate you…I don't want to hurt you."
"Confident, are we?" She wiped the trickle of blood off of her cut lip, hands reaching for her shuriken pouch.
A part of me wanted to stay and finish the battle, but inside I knew I should swallow my pride and end this without further violence. My face burned at the thought of stepping down willingly and allowing the Inuzuka woman the satisfaction of seeing me backing down. Gripping my fan tighter, I pondered a way to walk away and look good while at it.
"Eh?" I heard he gasp with surprise, black eyes wide as she stared at me. "What did you do, you bitch?"
I quickly saw that she couldn't move, hand frozen over the shuriken pouch. Her dog whined, nudging her with the tip of its nose. In a flash I understood, and my heart rate suddenly picked up pace. It was as if someone held a pillow over my face, making it hard to breathe. Reaching out a hand to steady myself against the tree, I waited for him to step out.
"Inuzuka Kenji-san," I heard his voice, flowing like dark water out of the shadows, "I assume you have a good reason to attack another Leaf shinobi."
"I'm trying to prevent a spy from harming our village!" Kenji snarled, trying to see him out of the corner of her eyes.
"How troublesome of you," came his reply, "that's completely baseless. As a jounin captain, I must punish you for such unfounded actions. Do you understand?"
"Don't pull rank on me, you little bastard!" Suddenly she could move again, but didn't attack me. We both looked in the direction of his voice, expectant.
His face emerged first, but I could barely see his features as the sunlight faded fast. He was a lot taller since the last time I saw him, a long, slender figure bearing the same slouch. I was positive that the lazy look on his face was still there. He walked over a few branches toward me, his eyes showing no signs of recognition. Feelings of disappointed fluttered within my chest as I looked into his eyes, feeling my face freezing into a grimace.
"It's Temari, isn't it?" He surprised me with a casual greeting, sizing me up with his eyes. I saw his gaze rest on my chest, and flushed angrily. "I remember our battle well. You were a fine strategist."
"Oh…no…no, um, not as good as you!" I stumbled over my words like a drunk, blushing harder than ever.
"Well, Kenji if you don't want any more trouble, let's head back to the village. There will be a small fine for you misconduct, nothing more." He was going to leave.
"Eh…" I stood like an idiot, hugging my fan against my chest until my arms ached. "I...Shikamaru-kun!"
"Yes?" He turned to look at me politely.
I fidgeted, avoiding his eyes. "It's…good to meet someone I've met before!"
"Oh." He nodded at me, "yes it is. It's good to see you Temari." Again he turned to go.
"Ah! Shikamaru-kun!" I called, despite myself, biting the tip of my tongue furiously.
He studied me, then gave me a small smile. "Yes?"
Looking down, I twisted my fingers together, "Well…it's just that…well I don't know many people in the village…and it's um, nice to see someone I remember, and…" I jerked my head up, well aware that my flushed and sweaty face must've glowed bright red in the sunset. Out o the corner of my eyes, I saw Inuzuka Kenji starring at me like I'm a complete idiot.
"Well, Temari-san, it is nice to see you again," he replied almost sardonically, before turning to leave for the third time.
This time I had lost the nerve to say anything else, only to gaze after him as he and Kenji made their way through the woods back to the village. After I lost sight of them, long after the sounds of their footsteps vanished, I finally tucked my fan back into place and began my own trip home, feeling dejected.
tbc!
A/N: It's been a while since I've updated. Gomen nasai! I like writing from Temari and Shikamaru's points of view, but please, tell me if this format works for you. If you'd rather that I only wrote from one person's point of view, please tell me.
Thanks for your support for this story!
