AN: man, sorry about the wait everybody. I had just finished writing the first part of this chapter about two days after I posted chapter one when a narcoleptic Armenian fell through my roof and stole my inspiration. (heh, sorry. I just finished watching Moulin Rouge) Anyway, to make a long story short, I had writer's block for the first couple of weeks , but I tried to finish this chapter even with my muse missing. It didn't turn out so well and I avoided posting it until my muse returned, along with my editors. Anyway, sorry this took so long to get out. Hope you read and enjoy this next chapter.
(only one more chapter of introductions. Then the story actually begins. o.O )
Chapter 2: The Bothersome Girl and the Cloud Gazing Genius
Shikamaru lay perfectly still, staring at the sky above him. It was evening and the day had finally cooled off enough for him to partake in his favorite pastime without roasting to death. Though there had been no clouds earlier, a line of the fluffy white wonders had slowly crept over the horizon as the day passed.
His mind began to drift, as it always did when he watched clouds. As he lay there, the voices of several people slowly made their way out the open window and up to the roof to push their way into his consciousness. He noted that the voices belonged to Choji and Ino. As always, Ino seemed to be complaining about something and Choji was making grunting noises every now and then to give the appearance that he was listening. Shikamaru briefly considered helping his friend slip away from Ino's steady stream of complaining, but let that thought pass easily from his mind as their voices began to fade.
Again, he let his mind spread out to encompass the world around him. Now that Ino and Choji had moved on, he could hear the rustling of the leaves in the nearby trees. The sound of car motors from the city could be heard as well, though the traffic was far enough away that it was only a soft thrum. The only other sounds were coming from the building's roof.
The smooth rhythm of breathing and timed thumps that always accompanied Naruto's training sessions had lately become a sound as normal as the wind in the trees or the distant sound of motors in the city. The past few months had turned Naruto's training from a hobby into a religion.
Shikamaru sighed. 'Idiot,' he though. 'If Yondaime had meant for the leader of the gang to be the strongest, he wouldn't have chosen you, Naruto. It takes more than that to be a leader.' Scowling, Shikamaru turned his eyes back to the far off clouds. Most people didn't know why Yondaime had picked Naruto. The least he could have done was pick someone that wasn't so dense. Still, Shikamaru could see why Yondaime had picked Naruto and, though he would never admit it, he agreed with his former leader.
As these thoughts swirled through his mind, a different sound began to inch its way into his thoughts, struggling to be noticed. Succumbing to its insistence, Shikamaru turned his attention to the noise that was becoming just as familiar as the sounds of Naruto's training.
The soft roar of a motor was growing louder and louder by the second. Without looking, Shikamaru already knew that this sound did not belong to a car. The base was just far enough away from the city that hardly any cars passed by.
The building had been intended for the workers of a nearby factory to live in, so there was really no reason it needed to be near the rest of the city. However, the factory had shut down only months after the construction on the apartment buildings had begun. Being so far away from the city, there had been no reason for them to complete a building that would be so undesirable for most people to live in. Luckily, the Shinobi weren't most people.
No, this was not a car approaching. It was a motorcycle. A scowl fell across Shikamaru's face as he though about the bike's owner. "Such a bothersome girl," he muttered.
Cutting her engine, Temari slowly cruised to a stop in front of the old apartment building. She slipped her rose tinted sunglasses from her face and glanced around. The place looked the same as it always did; a half finished building, boarded up in many places, and surrounded by tall leafy trees. And, as always, her gaze was inexorably drawn to the wooden swing hanging from one of the trees.
It seemed odd and out of place to have a swing outside the headquarters of one of the biggest gangs in Konoha, but then again, many things seemed out of place with this gang. The people, for one, were not the sort that she had become accustomed to during her time with the Sand. Sure, there were many tough guy sorts that were the kind of gang members she was used to, but there were also the others.
Since the three gangs had combined, Temari had started to notice just how different the Leaf was from both the Sand and the Mist. They seemed to accept almost anyone. Hinata was proof enough of that.
Temari's forehead creased, as she thought of the shy girl that had surprised her more than anything after joining the Shinobi. She had never seen anyone so timid, let alone a gang member.
'Oh well,' she thought with a sigh. 'There's plenty of other stuff I need to worry about besides who I think should and shouldn't be in this gang.' Temari dismounted her bike, flipped its kick stand down, and headed for the lobby door.
Looking around the now familiar lobby, Temari spotted Kankurou sitting on one of the moth-eaten couches talking to Kiba and Shino, an old black and white TV playing in the background. Surprisingly enough, Kankurou had become quite good friends with the two aberrant youths over the past few months. Not that Temari was jealous or anything.
True, she hadn't developed any close friendships within the gang yet, but that was understandable. The Sand gang had always been a way to escape her other life and nothing more. The Shinobi, she was sure, would be the same. Besides, someone had to keep an eye on things at home.
With that thought, Temari was reminded of why she had come in the first place. She strode over to the three friends and placed her hand on Kankurou's shoulder.
"I need to talk to you," she said, looking down into the paint covered face of her brother. A smile had been playing on Kankurou's mouth, a remnant, no doubt, of some joke Kiba had just told. The smile now slid off of his face and he turned back to his friends.
"I'll be back in a bit," he said, pushing himself up from his couch. He followed Temari to a corner and waited, arms crossed, for whatever she had to say.
"Look," she started, "I just stopped by the house and found out that Dad's coming come for dinner tonight. He's expecting us all to be there."
"Well in that case," Kankurou said, scowling, "he'll be sorely disappointed."
"I'm going."
"Have fun," he started to turn away, but Temari caught his shoulder and spun him back around to face her.
"Wait, I'm not going alone!"
"Then get Gaara to go, because I'm not."
"Right," she said with a humorless laugh. "Hellhounds couldn't get him back to that house."
"Why are you even going anyway?"
"Because the man is currently footing the bill for my bike. One hour of 'family bonding' once every few months gets me enough gas in my bike to last me until the next dinner."
"So? What's in it for me?" Kankurou asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"How 'bout Dad not suspecting that we're in a gang? How 'bout not having to go to a therapist like Gaara's being forced to do? How 'bout --"
"Ok, ok. I get the point," he said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"So you'll come?" Kankurou remained silent for a moment, staring at his feet.
"Fine," he said. "But you owe me."
"Fine," Temari responded, a wry smile on her lips. "We'll leave in ten minutes." With that, she turned to walk away, but instead of leaving the building as Kankurou had expected, she headed for the stairs.
"Hey," he called after her, "Where are you going?"
"To find Gaara," she answered.
"Why? You're not seriously thinking of inviting him, are you? Weren't you the one who said that not even hellhounds could make him come?"
"Oh, but I'm much worse than hellhounds."
"Whatever," he muttered, shaking his head. "It's your funeral."
Ignoring him, Temari opened the door to the stair well and started climbing.
Despite Kankurou's last warning, Temari made her way up the stairs without fear. Ever since they had joined the Shinobi, Gaara seemed much more under control. He no longer roamed the streets looking for fights just for the sheer pleasure of seeing the blood on his hands. That was definitely an improvement.
Once she reached the fourth floor, Temari let herself out of the stairwell. She was greeted with the smell of rot and mildew, not uncommon for this floor. Hardly any of the rooms had been finished, leaving most of them without doors or even windows. As a result, there was only one Shinobi residing there; Gaara.
One lone bulb hung from the middle of the ceiling, a pathetic attempt to bring light to this gloomy corridor. Empty doorways greeted Temari as she made her way slowly through the hall to a room at the very end. A lopsided door that looked as if it had come out of a junk yard blocked the inside of this room from her view. As Temari reached the door and pushed it open, she felt a sense of dread fall over her. A lone figure with hair the color of blood sat in the corner of the room, wearing all black and a look that chilled her to the bone. Every now and then, Gaara got into one of these moods. Temari decided to be as quick as possible.
"Dad's coming home for dinner tonight."
Gaara continued to stare at her with those eyes completely devoid of any emotion, a look he had learned from long years of parental neglect.
"And?"
"And I'm thinking that it would probably be a good idea for you to make an appearance." Gaara didn't even answer. Instead, he continued to glare at her. "Look," Temari said, eager to get out of that room as soon as possible. "Dinner's at seven. If you come, it could keep Dad off our backs for a while. Think about it."
As she turned to leave, Temari had to force herself not to sprint from the room. When she reached the hall and the door was securely closed behind her, she let out a soft sigh, calmed herself down, and moved towards the stairwell.
Opening the door, she started with surprise. A boy with black slim fitting jeans and tee-shirt and dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail was standing there looking about as shocked as she felt.
They stood staring at each other for a few seconds until the boy finally pulled himself away from her gaze to continue down the stairs. Temari remained where she was, watching the boy's back as he walked down the stairs, trying to remember his name. She stood mulling it over for a few seconds before it finally came to her. Shikamaru! That was it.
"Hmph," Temari said, glaring. "Jerk. He could have at least said hi." Pushing the thoughts from her head, Temari started down the stairs. She walked slowly, so as not to catch up to Shikamaru, but not too slowly. She still had errands to run before dinner.
AN: A quick note to explain why the Mist ninjas are now good guys.
Really, the only Mist ninjas that we get to meet in Naruto are Haku and Zabuza. They're pretty fun characters and I was considering putting them into this fanfic. True, they were never allied with the leaf at all, but it just seemed natural to have more than one gang team up with the Leaf, especially if the Sand was nearly wiped out. Basically what I'm trying to say here is that there's no deep meaning in the three groups that are allied other than the fact that I wanted to use characters from all of them. Also note that just because Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou may be the only sand ninjas mentioned, it doesn't mean they were the only ones from that gang are now part of the Shinobis, just that I didn't feel like mentioning any others.