Disclaimer: Same as before
FYI: Everyone for nostalgic purposes is in the original outfits you saw them in for the first time. We've also decided to drop the formalities (aka: san, chan, sensei) it just makes it easier in case we forget. We may put it back in later, but we'll tell you before hand.
Let me just say….I LOVE OUR REVIEWERS! They give me the inspiration to keep writing. So without further ado, on we go!
Chapter 4: Minutes into the Assignment
Minutes into the assignment, Shikamaru's mind was already attempting to see the loopholes in their situation. 'What a troublesome task,' he thought to himself. He reviewed their only two rules: no chakra and no touching their own squirrel. 'Wait,' he thought suddenly. 'Kakashi said no touching your own squirrel, yet we are allowed to touch others' for the sake of capturing them. If we form an alliance with one of the other teams, we can switch squirrels and be able to touch our charges for the remainder of the week. The trouble is catching our flag without touching it to trade with the other team…'
Minutes into the assignment, Temari dreaded the prospect of having to chase a tree climbing rodent for seven days. 'There must be a way to stop it without having to touch it.' She thought back to how her brothers use to catch animals when they were younger. She could picture Gaara maniacally laughing over the lifeless carcass of some freshly "squeezed" beast. She shivered slightly, wrong brother. Kankurou on the other hand, had actually made a few crude traps in his history of hunting. Most failed miserably to catch anything, but one in particular she remembered almost working quite well. If she could just make a few adjustment…what she need was a net…
"Shikamaru, give me your shirt." Temari demanded suddenly.
Both Neji and Shikamaru stopped abruptly in their tracks.
"Come again?" Shikamaru asked baffled.
"I've thought up a plan to trap our squirrel, and I need something to act as a net. Thus, I need your shirt." Temari said placing her hands on her hips.
Ignoring the demand for his shirt, Shikamaru replied, "if you can trap it, we will find another team and swap flags with them. That way we don't have to worry about constantly following this one all week long. Neji, which team is the closest to us?"
"Shino's team's squirrel darted off in the same direction as our at the beginning of the assignment, so they should be fairly close to us." Neji stated.
"Good, then you and Temari will go to them after we catch our squirrel and present them with our plan. Now, why do we need my shirt?"
"Because, your shirt is the most like a net." Temari said matter-of-factly.
"Why are you being so troublesome?" Shikamaru looked her over. "Your shirts made of the same material as mine."
She raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that I take off my dress just to take off the shirt underneath it?"
"Yes," Shikamaru insisted stubbornly. "It's the same as me taking off my vest to take off my undershirt."
"No, believe me, there are two things under this shirt that would most definitely make the scenarios very different."
An awkward silence overtook the group. Even Neji had a slight crimson tinge to his cheeks after that outburst. "Just give her the shirt." He mumbled to Shikamaru.
Minutes into the assignment, Gaara was contemplating every way he could put and end to the miserable life of this pitiful creature…
"So, has anyone thought of a plan?"
…And he wasn't talking about the squirrel.
"We've already executed the bulk of our plan. Now we just have to find a way to incapacitate the movement of our flag." Shino shifted his gaze from Ame up to the tree they were standing under.
Their squirrel had stopped there minutes into the assignment.
"We've already started a plan?" Ame looked puzzled. "What have we done?"
"I placed one bug on our flag and one on another when they were still in their cage. This way, we can track and opposing team's squirrel, giving us an advantage over the others. I would have placed one on each flag, but a large group of bugs coming from my direction may have been a bit suspicious." He said.
"Wait, how can you use your bugs?" Ame had gotten herself into an interrogational mode. "Didn't Kakashi say that that was unable to happen?"
"Ame," Shino reverted his gaze back to her. "How long have you known me?"
"'Bout six years."
"And in that time you've known me, have I ever needed to use chakra to deploy and communicate with my bugs?" He finished impatiently.
"No, I s'pose not." Ame thought about it for a second. "It almost seem like we're cheating though. I mean, you can still use your power without using chakra."
"No, it's not cheating." Shino replied. "Look at the abilities of each team. Almost all of them have at least one person capable of using regular techniques without using chakra."
Ame listed them off. "Kiba's team- well, I suppose he could sniff out all the squirrels, plus he has Akamaru; Naruto's team- they have Lee who has developed his own way of fighting without chakra; Neji's team- well, they're all smart; Sasuke's team-…?"
"Remember how I said 'almost all teams'," he was about to continue speaking when Gaara held up a hand for silence.
He points towards two figures waking toward them. He recognized his sister and the other to be her new teammate.
"Umm…Gaara?" Temari started timidly.
"What do you want?" He barked back.
Temari seemed to lose her nerve at that point and Neji continued for her. "We have a proposition for your team…"
After Neji relayed the plan to the team, Gaara immediately consented without waiting for the input of the rest of the team. Shino, it was decided would stay with Temari to capture their own squirrel, while Ame and Gaara were to follow Neji to where Shikamaru was waiting with their captured flag.
FLASHBACK
After Shikamaru finally consented to using his shirt, the team had been faced with yet another problem: what to use as a container for the squirrel? Temari's eyes were scanning the camp, looking for anything that would be able to hold a squirrel for long period of time. Her eyes fell upon one of her teammate's travel packs.
"Give me one of your packs." Temari made another demand looking straight at Shikamaru.
"No way, we used my shirt." Shikamaru said indignantly.
Temari eyes shifted over to Neji who stood there, eyebrow slightly cocked as if daring her to ask him for his bag.
She sighed. "Fine," and loosened the drawstring of her bag and emptied out the contents onto the forest floor. "Now I need some sticks to line the inside of my bag with. That way, it will be heavy enough for the squirrel to not be able to knock it over and durable enough so it doesn't try to gnaw through the fabric."
"So exactly what kind of trap are we making?" Shikamaru asked.
"It's really quite simple." Temari said as her team helped her locate sticks to place inside the bag. "We'll set your shirt on the ground under my bag which will be face down with one side held up by a thicker stick than the ones we're using now to fill up my bag."
"Let me guess," Neji cut in. "We then place some sort of food under the upturned bag and tie some wire around the outside stick. Then wait for the squirrel to fall for the bait and pull the sting, therefore trapping the flag inside."
"Exactly."
"What if the squirrel hits the stick on the way in and the bag falls before the squirrel is underneath?" Shikamaru was doubtful.
"Then we'll set it up again." Temari stated matter-of-factly. "This creature isn't a genius, it will fall for the trap again."
"But what i-" Shikamaru began.
"Everything we do is going to take some risks." Temari snapped. "Or do you have a better idea in that big head of yours?"
He was silent.
"We need bait." Neji observed.
"Chouji gave me a bag of chips before we left, we can use that." Shikamaru suggested.
"Do squirrels even eat chi…"
"It's all we have." Neji interrupted. "It will do. Let's set this up before our charge decides to move."
"Right." The other two say in twin sulking tones.
END of FLASHBACK
In the sporadic light that made its way past the dense canopy of leaves, the trio walked in complete silence. Ame, who had already suffered enough silence for the day, quickened her pace to catch up with Neji. Ame was starting to speak when Neji beat her to it.
"You're lucky." Neji said as he saw her by his side.
"What makes you say that?" She saw no reason for her to be bestowed with the title 'lucky'.
"Since you moved from team to team when you were younger, you already had a relationship built up with almost anyone they put on your team." He looked truly sincere.
She shot a quick glance over her shoulder at the red head following in their footsteps. "Almost," she echoed.
Neji gave a crooked smile realizing who the 'almost' was referring to. "You know, he had gotten to the point where he was actually a decent guy. What did you do in such a short time to end that?"
"Nothing!" She exclaimed. "That's the thing. I've done nothing to him and he's been treating me like I spit in his cereal or something." Ame was pleasantly surprised. Even though she had been on Neji's team quite a few times, he had never initiated a conversation with her. "Things must not being going well at your camp."
"What makes you think that?"
"Well in the six years I've known you, this is the most you have ever spoken to me at one time. I always thought you thought me intellectually incompetent."
"Anything is better than those two." He said, his face falling back to its routine seriousness.
"O-oh." Ame said, letting the derision sink in.
He turned his head to look at her. "It's called a joke, Ame."
"Neji, jokes are meant to be funny." She said while shaking her head. "Besides, you laugh at jokes, and your still not even smiling."
"Is this better?" He said through a clenched tooth smile.
"Oh gosh! No! I take it back, never smile again!" She laughed, covering her eyes in pseudo fright.
"…I take it that was a joke?" He had dropped the toothy grin for a more characteristic smirk.
"Can't put much past you can I?" She said laying the sarcasm on heavy and lightly punching his shoulder.
"Spare me," they heard a voice say behind them.
"Excuse me?" Ame said, she had almost forgotten Gaara was behind them.
"Could you carry on you flirting some other time when I'm not within earshot?"
"Whatcha gonna do about it? Are you going to send you sand at me? Oh, wait, I forgot, you can't." She stuck out her tongue at him.
Her gesture was greeted with a murderous glare that send a shiver down Ame's spine. She turned back around and motioned Neji to walk a bit faster.
"You call that nothing?" Neji said as they briskly walked away.
"I was provoked!" She shrugged.
They reached a clearing where they found Shikamaru sleeping against a tree with a travel pack balanced on his stomach.
"That's a great way to get it stolen." Neji looked at Shikamaru with distaste.
"What stolen?" Ame inquired.
"Our squirrel is in that pack." He answered.
"…What do you say we have a little fun?" Ame smiled mischievously, looking into her pack and grabbing a large felt tip pen she usually used for marking paths or trails.
Neji consented with his usual crooked smirk and Ame slowly crept over to where he lay sleeping.
She had just brought the tip of the pen within an inch of his face when she heard, "Shikamaru, we're here," in a raised voice.
Gaara had just joined them.
Shikamaru's eyes shot open, catching Ame quickly throw something back in her bag.
"Can I help you?" Shikamaru tilted an eyebrow.
"Yes, you could not fall asleep when you are suppose to be on watch." Neji stepped forward into Shikamaru's field of vision.
"HE FELL ASLEEP?" Temari exclaimed coming into the clearing with Shino. "How could you do that? Anyone could have come by and stolen that pack and it would have been your fault!"
"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru yawned while standing and walking closer to the group.
"Don't you 'yeah yeah' me." Temari said, indignant.
"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru teased.
Temari took a deep relaxing breath. "Here, hold this," she said through clenched teeth as she shoved something at Shikamaru.
It was just then that everyone noticed Temari had been holding the other team's squirrel with her bare hands.
"And what am I suppose to do with this?" Shikamaru asked dangling the unconscious squirrel from its tail.
"Oh, I have a great idea," Temari yelled exasperatedly, "why dont you shove it up your-"
"Finely toned ass?" Shikamaru suggested.
"I-I, well…completely missed what I was going for." Temari stuttered out, her face growing scarlet.
"Of course I did." Shikamaru replied quickly tossing the squirrel to Neji. He turned his back on them and walked back towards the bag, exaggerating his hip movement in the process. He then made a show of slowly bending down to picking up the bag. Shikamaru walked back towards them with a smug grin on his face. He proceeded to walk over to Ame. "Here Ame, I captured this just for you."
"Umm…thanks?" Ame received the pack and inched further toward Neji, who promptly stepped in front of her mouthing to Shikamaru, "what the hell?"
"Hey Shino," a low-pitched whisper said at his side. Shino slowly turned his head to Temari trying his hardest to shrink further into his coat. "Yes?" He asked nervously.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?" She had the audacity to run one finger up his sleeved arm.
(Ame distinctly heard Gaara mutter under his breath in plain disgust, "Oh God, is this all you people do?")
"You're speaking to me now," he said much more curtly than needed and jerking his arm away.
"No, silly! I mean…" she raised her eyebrows at Shikamaru, "alone."
"I'd really much rather stay with my team."
"Oh, come on," she quickly grabs the back of his coat in a vice-like grip and starts moving towards the denser tree area with him in toe.
Shino glances pleadingly at Ame mouthing, "help me."
"I can't," she mouthed back. "If I move, it may provoke him." She nods her head in Shikamaru's direction.
Knowing full well Gaara would not step in, Shino accepted his fate and moved on his own after Temari.
Once they were out of sight, Ame looked back over at Shikamaru. He was glaring after the recently departed pair with a look of pure anger on his face. It quickly dropped when he saw Ame staring at him. "I'm sorry about all that Ame." Shikamaru raised his hands in defeat. "Women make men do crazy things, that's why they're so troublesome." Shikamaru continued, though, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. "I'm going to get water for camp tonight." He strode to his bag and grabbed a large canteen from it. He briskly walked from the clearing the same way the two had just gone.
"Wait, Shikamaru!" Neji started then muttered to himself, "he knows the stream is in the other direction." Neji also followed in Shikamaru's footsteps.
"Don't leave me alone," Ame whispered barely audible, even to her own ears. 'Well, I'm still not completely alone.' She thought to herself. Gaara was still a few yards away. She turned to face him, noticing that he appeared to be concentrating very hard at an anthill on the forest floor. His jaw was clenched and his whole body stiffened as his eyes determinedly watched the hill.
Thinking he needed a distraction from whatever was occupying his thoughts, Ame decided to lighten the mood. "Well," she started, looking down at the pack in her hands, "I think we should name it, what do you think?" She raised her eyes back to Gaara who was already staring intently at her, stalking forward with slow steps. "You want to know what I think?" He said with a malicious smirk.
"Yeah," Ame replied wanting more than anything to back up further, but finding she was unable to. The tree at her back was proving that move to be impossible.
He stopped within a foot of her and placed both hands on the tree on either side of her face. Leaning in so that their eyes were level, perhaps to intensify his point, he whispered in a venomous voice, "don't talk to me anymore." He broke the eye contact and abruptly turned to move away.
Hotheaded as always and refusing to be scared by him, Ame yelled at his back, "that was an order, not a thought. I asked you what you were thinking."
He visibly stiffened as he heard her voice again and turned back, eyes dangerous blue slits. "I think," he hissed, "that the only reason I haven't killed you yet is because of our two countries' precious alliance. Then again, just one death may go unnoticed. Especially in such a dangerous place."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Okay, she was officially creeped out.
"I mean, we are in the Forest of Death. As the name implies, this is a dangerous place and anything could be made to look like an accident."
"You're going to kill me?"
"There are worst things than death."
"What can you do without your sand? What, finally become creative?"
Since Gaara was not far from her to begin with, it only took him one long stride to reach her back at the tree and throw a punch. Seeing it coming, Ame quickly ducked under his extended arm and tackled him from the side. They both fell to the ground amidst the noise of all the cracking dead leaves. Ame instantly realized the totality of her mistake. Not only was Gaara bigger than her, he also was stronger, much stronger compliments of the dense gourd he carted around all the time. Within seconds, Gaara was pining Ame to the ground, hands clasped firmly around her neck. Air was immediately cut off and after a few moments of struggle, she felt the world swim dangerously in front of her as her lungs ached for oxygen. Suddenly, he gasped and loosened his hold on her neck reaching for a kunai embedded deep within his thigh. Ame wasted no time freeing herself from under him and gulping air back into her body. She hadn't been conscious of reaching for a kunai, let alone subconsciously stabbing him.
"What's going on here?" Shikamaru and Neji had returned from getting water. They had apparently gone around the clearing to the stream.
"It's nothing," Ame croakily through a still slightly crushed windpipe. "We were just sparring." Even to her the lie sounded fake.
The two looked suspiciously at both injured persons.
Temari and Shino also rushed into the clearing, though not quite as shocked about what they saw as Shikamaru and Neji. Temari went to her brother's side to assist him with the kunai still protruding from his leg. Shino kneeled to check on Ame. She was fine except for large red welts forming on her neck to which Shino poured some of their team's water supply on.
"Gaara," Temari said, hoping her courage didn't give out before she could tell him a few things.
"What?" He snapped immediately.
She lost it then and answered simply, "never mind."
After helping all that they could, Neji's team decided to head off, wishing them gook-luck as they departed. Neji gave Ame one more worried glance before he followed after Shikamaru. Temari also lagged behind looking from Ame to Gaara. Gaara caught her gaze and she quickly looked away. As she left, she thought to herself, 'sorry Ame, but it's either your neck or mine.'
------------------------------
Happy Holidays to everyone! I know kinda late, but I hope it was good for everyone. Anyways, how was this chapter? Tell me if you like or dislike it. Actually any comment is nice. So please review and I'll be working on Chapter 5!