All caught up for the moment, enjoy this next instalment

Spies in action

And more

The encampment was a maze, each tent hindering and helping as the two slipped past unsuspecting patrols. Temari led the way her body slithering past each pathway silently eyes darting from side to side as she quickly chose the next path to take. Shikamaru followed behind keeping his pace with hers and never breaking a beat, to be caught meant death. It was motivation enough to follow the brisk movements of the woman before him. When she finally stopped, he ducked behind the crate to her side and listened to the patrol.

Two sets of feet scratching the rock below as the shinobi emerged walking away from them and continuing down the path. Temari raised her hand and pointed crouching as she slipped to the next path him following close behind. The large tent in the center, was a war room larger than any other tent in camp and faint voices sounded inside. Temari stiffened as she pressed her back into the barrels beside the tent the sound of the captain inside echoing outside.

"Bastards" She heard the hiss from Kurotsuchi, the Tschuikage's granddaughter and the commander of the troops "If those damn idiots thought it was smart to engage a full Sand patrol, then they didn't deserve to be on the front" a pause then a stammering from a man.

"But Lady Kurotcuchi, they were merely newly appointed chunin" He began and the sound of a fist slamming into the table silenced the room.

"Their rank doesn't matter to me, do you know what this means" another heavy pause one where Temari glanced at Shikamaru who narrowed his eyes under his hood listening intently "if we engage both the Sand and the Leaf we'll be pulling our strength away from the Rain, and we need reinforcements there" A sigh then silence.

"My Lady I believe that the troops at their borders are smaller than we believe" the same man spoke. "Intel reports a little over hundred for Sand and two hundred or so for the Leaf. We have over seven hundred able shinobi ready to strike"

"Don't speak about the Leaf" a groan escape Kurotcuchi "Their captain has beaten our odds more than once" Temari caught the small smirk on Shikamaru's face, the comment filling his ego, and rolled her eyes as she continued to listen.

"Ah yes the Nara boy I remember his father Shikaku's during the third great war" A long sigh and a shuffle of paper "He's as feared as he was respected, if his boy is anything like him, he'll be merciless"

"Please just because they call him a genius doesn't mean he is one. There see that, when he knocked down the canyon pass, he closed off our only entrance into the Land of Fire, so we'll have to impose a new entrance point, closer to the Sand. We can avoid passing through the Land of Rain. This way we can take our army around when they engage and pick off the remaining troops. If the sand wins we might have a bit of a struggle" she heard a short laugh "I heard the Suna princess and prince are there leading the army" Kurotcuchi sighed "I can't stand that woman" Temari bit back a grin under her mask "She alone could take down half the troops if we don't plan it carefully, wind users like her are too dangerous to come close to, we'll need long distance fighters for her unit" A pause and a shift of the tent as someone entered.

"My lady we have reason to believe that our troops near the Rain have been attacked" Kurocuchi gasped

"How?"

"The communications have stopped; it's been nearly two days since our last update and the three hundred shinobi there haven't made it to our borders yet"

"Damn it" The two leaned back into the crates as the shuffle of the tent was heard and the voices became faint. Temari waited a moment and glanced around the edge before crouching low and turning the corner slipping into the tent. Standing her eyes widening to the maps placed before her. Shikamaru followed quickly sharing her expression as they both stepped forward looking through the figures and drawings on the map borders.

"Look for reports about troop movement, and anything regarding the march" Temari whispered finding a few pages of interest and immediately skimmed them, slipping past page after page. Shikamaru remained quiet eyes darting to the figures as he finally slowed his own search and leaned over the table looking at the number of troops sent on the map in the middle. Temari glanced up from her search her fingers pausing on a page and watched as his jaw clenched tightly reading the movement of the figurines. His eyes furrowed and moved from the marks drawn symbolling the Rock's army then the figures resembling the Leaf and Sand. Temari glanced down and noted the outnumbered troops on both their sides slowly she set the reports down.

"New route, they are splitting the troops in two waves" he muttered and looked at her. She tilted her head and stepped in closer to him peering down. The Stone troops split around the rain and met in the middle between the Sand and Leaf border where their camps stood. They were planning to merge the armies together around the rain, avoiding the unnecessary conflict there, and instead strike both enemies as one unit instead of two separate ones. Before that a small unit was to engage both sides and bring the Sand and Leaf against each other, where the rest of the army would take over the remaining troops that lasted after the battle. Her eyes widened and he straightened looking at her with his own form of realization. They were pinning their enemies against each other before they slipped in to pick off the survivors.

"One second my lady" The call from a man outside caused them both to stiffen. "Forgot the report on the new arrivals inside" the tent entrance shifted. Temari reacted quickly and tugged Shikamaru's sleeve pulling him down with her as they crouched under the table just as the shuffle of feet entered. She bit her lip holding her breath and unconsciously gripped his sleeve tighter closer to her side. He didn't move either jaw clenched and a bead a sweat dripping from his temple as he glared at the legs of the man entering then paused searching the table. "Now where did I put, ah yes here" Another moment and the legs turned leaving out the entrance, oblivious to the two below.

Temari let out her breath and brought a hand to her chest attempting to calm her pant down. Shikamaru dragged a hand on his face resting it on his chin and peeked over at her hand on his sleeve. She turned looking at her hand, when the silence of the room continued, now white with her tight grip on him, and slowly glanced up at him meeting his dark eyes widened with surprise. A long moment passed neither blinked or moved, her fingers went loose, and he swallowed. They both turned away quickly her arm retreating to her side and the heat rising to her cheeks burned her under the mask. Shifting away Temari slid up from under the table her body stiff and inhaled to compose herself. He followed behind turning his red face towards the table clearing his throat.

"Come on let's get going before they come in here again" She turned to the table her words a command once again the same harsh woman he'd been following when they first entered the camp although the faint outline of a blush peeked through the mask. Temari avoided looking at him as she slipped a few papers his way and went to the entrance. He folded the pages and stood to her right watching her glance out before disappearing. With a sigh Shikamaru slipped out glancing down the path and crouched following her to the side of the tent.

Distracted for a moment she didn't notice the pair of shinobi marching down the back of the tent. The blush had burned, her cheeks tingling and her teeth grinding against each other. She felt as if she'd been humiliated, again, and her mind lingered back to the day the ambush had occurred. She was at a loss for words, she'd just have to kill him after this right? That would stop this undesired feeling rising in her chest, the flutter in her stomach making her clench her fist slightly. Temari noticed to late the distant chuckle from the enemy, then a tug back her body falling against something rough, and her waist being encircled by a strong arm. Shikamaru clamped a hand over her mouth stifling her shocked gasp and pressed his back firmly behind the crates stilling his body, hers shuddering against his as the steps of the guards came closer. Her eyes shifted quickly to the pair as they walked past their words sounding over her breath against his hand.

"I heard that Kurotsuchi is making us wait here a few more days before we set out to the front line" one spoke nudging his companion who laughed, unaware of the two spies they passed.

"Just imagine the faces of the Leaf and Sand army when we show up" he raised his fist his voice one of superiority "After they fight, we'll just be cleaning up the mess left behind, imagine how easy of a victory it would be"

"I'll say, we'll be hero's back home, and we'd have barley done anything" the two laughed turning the corner and leaving the pair once again in silence. Temari stiffened and glanced down at his hand as it slowly pulled away hesitating a moment before dropping to his side. She could feel Shikamaru holding his breath behind her, yet his arm remained around her waist. Her composure returning, being her unforgiving temper, she raised her arm and shoved her elbow back feeling him stifle his painful groan and release her allowing her to glare back at him. He met her eyes with an annoyed look but neither spoke, with a sharp turn she pushed away from him and began to move. With a faint grin he leaned up and followed her.

Without further incident the two had managed to sneak and in out the camp unseen, making their way back up the cliff and to the edge as they peered back into the enemy's settlement. Temari glanced over at her rival beside her, his body stiff the light from the cigarette shining lightly on his cheek and narrowed eyes turning from the ground to the dazzling starry night, a silent rage enveloping him. She glanced passively at the outline of his features, even slouched he was taller than her, his stance confident, sign of a true captain, ready to fight till the end. Her eyes shifting a moment to his lips slightly slack as the cigarette hung loosely from them. She instantly turned her gaze back to the warriors below the heat rising to her cheeks again.

"They are pinning us against each other" She muttered slipping her scarf from her face, finally breaking the tense silence. The smirk that graced his lips turned to her and he lowered his gaze.

"A respectable tactic" He sighed took a huff and raised both his arms to rest behind his head once again relaxed, as if he didn't have the odds against him. She didn't have to say anything as she knew the outcome that was to follow this, she'd fight she knew she would give everything she had for her people. A flash of her fellow comrades lowered her gaze somberly at the realization of what was to come with this final battle. The sigh from Shikamaru pulled her focus back and she listened quietly as he spoke "it'll be troublesome" he hummed and dropped his arms knelled on one knee. Temari turned back watching as he shut his eyes and linked his fingers together, her head tilted observing his sign.

She remembered this, the move he made before he went against her during their battle years ago. Even cornered he managed to find a way to outsmart her, a small bruise to her ego still lingered in the back of her mind at the loss. Her body tensed when his eyes slowly opened focused and clear his fingers pulled apart and he rose glaring down the cliff. Temari smirked she rarely lingered on others intelligent potentials but in him she acknowledged it and crossed her arms expectantly.

"What's the plan?" He lazily met her gaze and grinned a small flash of amusement behind his eyes.

"You're not going to like it" although a cautious warning his lip twitched when she chuckled short lived but genuine.

"I've had to deal with worse, nothing surprises me anymore" His face fell as her smile widened nose scrunching slightly with her delight towards his surprised look.

"Well, I believe the only way we can counter is to fight alongside each other" He waited, testing her mood "As allies" he finished, her face softened and she looked thoughtful considering for a moment. He pulled his eyes away forgetting he was staring again and with a dramatic sigh from Temari he glanced back cautiously.

"Three days, I have to run this by our Kazekage" Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and he cringed back under the suspicious gaze "If Gaara approves, this means we'll be merging our forces, after eight years" Rubbing his neck Shikamaru smiled weakly, managing well in holding the glare.

"That should be easy enough, right?" he heard another light chuckle escape her lips, the sound keeping his eyes trained on her for a moment before looking away quickly, then a pause.

"Oh, and Shikamaru?" He glanced over her expression deadpan, no emotion under the stare.

"Yeah?" he asked warily.

"I'm not going to call you captain" With that she turned on her heels and began to head back. He stared after her dropping his arms at his side his chest tightening slightly, mind returning to the gentle lips turned up and the mesmerizing giggle following it. Who would have thought the cruelest kunoichi of Suna could smile so beautifully?