Chapter 3: She Copied Me!
Kankuro opened the door to the Kazekage's office. "Hey, Temari, I've got more paper…NOT AGAIN!"
Kankuro dropped the large stack of paperwork and rushed out of the office, heading off to find his sister, who had ditched her duties; again.
(&)
Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru walked through the halls towards the Kazekage's office. Just then, Kankuro came walking briskly around the corner.
"H-Hey! Aren't you the puppeteer guy? Kankuro-san? Gaara's brother and Temari's sister?" Ino called out. Kankuro stopped.
"You're the ones they sent from Konoha, right?" Ino nodded. "Okay, then. I'm actually off to find the substitute Hokage right now. She's disappeared again, but I think I know where to find her. You can just wait here…"
"No, no, we'll come with you!" Ino insisted.
"Okay, then," Kankuro shrugged and headed towards the abandoned playground he and his siblings used to play at when they were kids.
(&)
They approached the playground, and they could hear yelling and little kids' voices. An older girl with sandy blonde hair was teaching a young boy how to swing. The boy had light blonde hair (like Ino's) and blue eyes.
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?" Kankuro yelled at the girl. "And aren't you supposed to be at the academy?" he yelled at the boy. The girl turned towards them, and Shikamaru stepped back in surprise.
"Kankuro, it's Saturday! Can't you cut us some slack?" Temari complained, swinging higher. She had changed her hair style, but otherwise only the color of her outfit was different; it was not black, and her hair was only in two spiky pony tails.
"No! The ninjas from Konoha are here!" Kankuro shouted.
Temari opened her eyes and looked down on them, waving. "Hey! Well, if it isn't Pineapple-head!" she laughed.
"Y-You're dead!" Shikamaru exclaimed, eyes wide.
"You know, I don't die so easily. Ino-chan! It's good to see you again! Is it true you're dating that dog boy?"
"Y-Yeah!" Ino said.
"GET DOWN FROM THERE!" Kankuro yelled again.
Temari thought for a minute and then answered, "No."
"You have paperwork!"
"I feel sorry for Gaara. You say he has to do this paperwork all the time?"
"No, usually he has me do it, but…"
"You do it."
"WHAT!"
"You do it."
"NO!"
"Why not?"
"The same reason you don't want to!"
"So? I'm the one who has to play Kazekage while Gaara's gone, right? So you do the paperwork!"
"How'd you work that out! The paperwork's part of being Kazekage!"
"Tell Gaara that."
The two siblings just glared at each other before Kankuro made a move to raise his hands to perform a jutsu. "Argh! Temari!" Kankuro couldn't move. The three ninjas looked to the ground.
"W-WHAT! THAT'S MY JUTSU!" Shikamaru yelled. How had Temari done that?
"I copied you. Of course, I can just barely hold someone for a minute. That's all I can do."
"But…without a Sharigan or bloodline limit…"
"When I was little, I enhanced my hearing an eyesight. However, my smell and touch went down quite a lot," Temari explained.
Kankuro and Temari glared at each other as Temari slowly stopped swinging. "You don't even care about Gaara, DO YOU! You're GLAD to get rid of him!" Kankuro shouted. Temari looked shocked, and quickly lowered her head. She stood up and walked away.
"Don't you think that was a bit…harsh?" Ino asked Kankuro meekly. He just stared at Temari's retreating back with surprise. He had been expecting to get an answer out of her, possibly even make her do the paperwork, but…
Shikamaru just watched Temari leave. How? That had been explained, but it seemed like the answers were impossible…
"Hey, Shikamaru, you okay?" asked Chouji. "So she's the one you were supposed to kill? Didn't do a very good job of it…"
"Shut up," Shikamaru snapped, heading off towards the hotel (the same way Temari went) to think things out.