Sands of Time, Winds of Change (5)

I don't own Naruto. If I did, all my favorite pairings would have already happened!

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Shikamaru woke up to see the team all getting ready to hit the road, except for Temari, who was snoring on his shoulder. Naruto smirked at him.

"Just keeping watch, eh, Shikamaru?" He said with a laugh. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"So troublesome..." He said, putting his hands in the air.

"Is that the only thing you can say?" Said Temari with a yawn. She sat up and stretched. "So anyway, how many days till we get to Konoha?"

"About five." Neji said. "Judging on the trails and weather."

"FIVE DAYS!" Temari said wildly. "That's insane! We'll never get there in time!" Neji sighed.

"If they can hold them off long enough then we'll be okay." He said curtly.

"What if they're already—" Kiba started, to be cut off by Naruto.

"They're fine! Don't think like that!" He said, sounding pained. He looked angry and depressed, and went to sit down under a tree. Shikamaru looked at Temari, who nudged him towards Naruto.

"Troublesome woman." He murmured, before sitting down by Naruto.

"Naruto. Our village has many strong shinobi. I'm sure they are fine. And if we save them, heh, we will be heros! And you may be Hokage..." Naruto brightened.

"Really? Okay, then let's go. We're gonna be heros, believe it!" He said, jumping onto Akamaru. Everyone smiled and jumped on.

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That night, the Team was so tired that half of them fell asleep on Akamaru. Neji, Temari, and Shikamaru were awake, and they got off and left the others to sleep. Shikamaru moaned and layed down.

"Riding on a dog is so troublesome. I'm gonna take a nap." He said, and stretched out on the ground.

"I'll take watch alone, then." Temari, said. It had become regular for both Temari and Shikamaru to take watch together at nights that they made camp. They usually talked, conversations ending with a snore from Shikamaru.

"Maybe I should take watch tonight." Neji said, staring Temari in the eye. She glared.

"And why is that?" She said defiantly. Neji grabbed Shikamaru and took him a few feet away from a fuming Temari.

"You shouldn't let her take watch alone. She may be...planning something."

"What?" Shikamaru said, suddenly awake.

"She's not one of us. She's from Suna, who's currently not our allies. What if she's spying for Gaara?" He said in a low whisper.

"That's impossible. She wouldn't do that!" He said in an angry hiss. His hands began to fist together.

"She did it before. She obviously takes orders from the Kazekage easily, as she showed us in the war against Konoha!" Neji said. Suddenly Neji seemed to have a point.

"She's trying to change." Shikamaru said. Neji shook his head.

"I'm just saying...it's not safe yet. Until we know she's not acting."

"Fine." Shikamaru said, and walked over to her and sat down to take watch. Neji went to set up a mat to sleep on. They sat in silence for a while, before Temari turned to him.

"You don't trust me...do you." She said softly. He shook his head.

"It's too troublesome to discuss it." He said, curtly ending the conversation. She nodded, and looked away. 'Thanks for sticking up for me...' She thought, hiding a secret smile.

---

The next few days went well, the six traveling quickly. Choji hardly complained about the lack of the amount of food for a feast (that made Shikamaru slightly scared), and Neji didn't accuse Temari of anything, only sending her sideways glances with narrowed eyes.

"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.

"No." Shikamaru said.

"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked again.

"Shut up." Shikamaru said. "Troublesome idiot." Naruto sighed.

"I'm sooo bored. We need some action!" He cried. Akamaru snorted as he walked in his lazy wallop.

"We'll get enough action when we get there, I'm sure." Kiba said.

"So do you know anything about this village?" Temari asked. Shikamaru shook his head.

"No one does." He said. "Except for they've got to be skilled, because that cloud thing definitely must have taken a lot of chakra. And that they have good military strategy, I suppose. It seems so troublesome that they went through all of that just to attack Konoha out of the desire for more land." Everyone rode in silence for a while.

"What if it's Orochimaru?" Naruto asked softly. Choji shook his head.

"He wouldn't have a smart army." Everyone laughed except for Shikamaru.

"At this point, it could be anyone. We shouldn't be laughing when we're the ones getting beaten easily." He said. Everyone quieted.

"We have two more days, right?" Temari asked. Shikamaru nodded.

"So we're just gonna waltz in there? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that's not gonna work if they've already overpowered Konoha's forces." She said. The others stared at Shikamaru.

"If they're fighting, we fight. If it's been turned into a Ryuu outpost...we run." Everyone gaped.

"Just give up? Are you crazy?"

"Would you rather die?" Shikamaru said angrily. Everything turned silent. "That's what I thought."

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Ohhh, what's in it for Konoha? Tune in next time!

WudaiMarsWind