A/N: I had to update this chapter because I got annoyed ash by a teenie error I saw. Enjoy:)
Times were changing, it was a figment of one's imagination as everything at this time was nothing but a blur. She hadn't seen her lover in five months, yet today was the day they would see each other again. She was asked by Godaime to come by the village to discuss some public affairs. They had written to each other, but letters weren't as often as she would have liked, but it wasn't either of their fault. Both villages had their ninja go through a period of extensive training to prepare for anything. When the letters they sent finally reached one another, it had been two weeks since they had written them. Eventually she accepted defeat and stopped writing to him to focus on her training with Baki.
She hadn't received anything much like the skull she got on her balcony the last night they were together, but she grew more alert since then. She refused to open her balcony doors and slept in a room closer to her brothers to avoid a curious mind taking over. Although she wasn't physically receiving anything, her dreams became more vivid as the months went by.
Ever since that night, her dreams would consist of her walking through a misty forest at the crack of dawn. There would be scythe blood markings on each tree she passed, as if whoever was leaving them meant to do so to find their way back- or to lure someone closer to them. She never found out who was the cause of these markings because by the time she was out of the forest, everything went black and the only thing she saw was someone licking blood off of what looked like the same scythe used to mark the trees before waking up.
Temari had contemplated on asking a fortune teller what these dreams meant, but she was fearful this information would get back to her brothers and Baki, so she remained quiet and tried her best to ignore them. If something like this came out, she was sure the council would have immediate protection around her at all times- which is something she really wanted to avoid considering her relationship.
It took her two days to get to Konoha. She was dressed in her black kimono and red obi paired with some black sandals to complete the look with her fan propped behind her. Her hair was up in four pigtails with her bangs pushed to the side and her Suna headband on her forehead. Upon arrival, she expected to see Shikamaru, but was surprised to be greeted by Sakura instead. Although it wasn't who she was hoping to see, she gave her fellow kunoichi a warm smile and walked with her to see Godaima.
Konoha was pretty lively in the late morning. The birds were chirping, children ran around playing tag, restaurants were booming with the smell of dumplings and ramen were present in every walkway. There was trouble brewing, but Konoha continued its day-to-day activities to keep the villagers calm while they handled things behind the scenes.
"How are things in Suna?" Sakura was in her everyday pink vest and black shorts as she walked next to Temari.
"Boring. All I do is work. Do you want to stop by a tea house or something before we see Lady Tsunade? I'm starving." Temari could feel her stomach growl. Food was really all she wanted right now and her snacks throughout her trip did her no justice.
Sakura nodded as they walked towards a nearby tea house.
Temari enjoyed talking to Sakura. She never had a problem with her and she always showed her kindness when she didn't need to. Temari's exterior was tough to get by at first glance, but Sakura wasn't quick to judge her. Intimidation was fueled by jealousy and Sakura saw them as equals rather than enemies.
The tea house was only a block from the Godaime residence so they stopped for a drink and bite to eat. The tea house wasn't that big, but it had a seating area on the inside that could accommodate up to 15 people.
Temari and Sakura had ventured in and talked about life over tea and sandwiches. What was supposed to be a quick stop into the tea house, turned into a two hour conversation and a whole lot of laughter filling the restaurant.
"-We have all these restaurants in Konoha, and the first thing Naruto wants to do is get Ramen! I was all like: Ramen? Out of all things? You just got offered a 5 star meal and you choose something for 1,000 yen instead?" Sakura flared her nostrils as she described the day she saw Naruto come back.
"That Naruto kid was always weird, but I have respect for him. He really changed my brother. But that's beside the point, RAMEN? What were you offered?" Temari's elbows rested on the table with her hands pushing against her cheeks. Sakura was an extremely animated and talkative person, but no matter how boring the story was, she managed to get her attention and hold onto it.
Sakura huffed and leaned in closer to Temari. "Two words: Wagyu Beef."
Temari let out a chuckle before reaching down to take another sip of her tea. Underneath her cup she noticed a small napkin that she could have sworn wasn't there when she originally got her tea.
Temari paid no mind to the weird instance and picked the napkin from under her teacup in an attempt to use it.
She froze.
How?
It was a small bloody heart imprinted on the napkin with the words "Soon, my love" written underneath.
Temari's face grew pale like she had seen a ghost. Her mood instantly changed from fear to anger as she held up the napkin in the air.
"This isn't funny! Do you see me laughing? Who does this type of stuff?" The tea house was quiet as the other patrons in the restaurant looked at her confused.
A waitress took that as a sign to get her another napkin, not realizing what was on it from a far.
Sakura held onto Temari's arm trying to calm her down. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Temari paused and for a few seconds it seemed as if she was having a panic attack. She couldn't speak. Her eyes grew weary.
Whoever doing this was doing it in some sort of fucked up name of love. The message was clear. This person wanted her. But they were stalking her in broad daylight.
"Temari?" Sakura was growing concerned and proceeded by placing a hand on her forehead. "You can talk to me, what's wrong?" She took the napkin from Temari's firm grip and looked at the napkin.
"What the hell? Who would do something so gruesome? This isn't the way to profess your feelings." She looked around the restaurant seeint if anyone looked suspicious, yet there was nobody to be seen that looked or felt like a threat. Sakura placed the napkin back on the table and took Temari's hands into hers.
Temari quickly regained her consciousness and locked eye contact with Sakura. Her body felt cold. She wasn't sure how to feel or react. A number of emotions flushed through her body but the most prominent one that pushed through was paranoia. She gripped the outside of her pocketed kunai as anxiousness ate her up.
"Calm down Temari, you don't confront, you kill. This person will be revealed soon."
"I-I think I'm being stalked. I'm not sure…but you can't tell anyone." Her voice was low. Temari tried her best not to let her emotions flood out in front of Sakura. She was frightened because this was the type of enemy she could not see, yet they saw everything she did.
She began to describe what had happened to her five months prior and the vivid dreams she would have everyday after that. Luckily, Sakura vowed not to tell anyone for the sake of her privacy being interrupted by constant protection despite not knowing how to help her. Temari knew she could fend for herself but it was hard not knowing who her stalker was and what the ultimate goal was. It was a hidden enemy and she had no idea what to do about it. She wasn't being harmed by this person, but that was blood on the napkin, that was blood on the skull, in her dreams it was blood. So by default she knew it could be a threat.
Temari thought to herself as she noticed the people around her staring. "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy."
"I wish I could help you interpret them, but the only logical explanation I can think of when it comes to your dreams is stress. Have you been stressed out about something? As for the notes, maybe you just have some weird secret admirer? Who knows, maybe he's just really shy and doesn't know how to approach you."
Temari rolled her eyes.
"Useless. Two creepy gifts and some bad dreams aren't enough to get a logical explanation. Secret admirer? With BLOOD? I think whoever this is loves me so much they could kill me. Bullshit." She thought to herself.
Before Sakura could say anything else, the door of the tea house was pushed open by Shikamaru himself.
"-Where have you been? Lady Tsunade was expecting you over two hours ago." Temari quickly hid the napkin and glanced over to him surprised.
"Thanks for meeting me at the gate, crybaby." She rolled her eyes. "Sakura said you slept in."
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "Yea, I did- but you're the one who has Lady Tsunade waiting so it doesn't matter where I was at."
There was a long pause as the two lovers gazed at each other. They hadn't seen each other in almost half a year, and their first conversation was banter. He was in a black turtleneck and his green vest with his hair up. Looking to his ears, you could see that his silver loops were replaced with silver studs giving him a more mature look.
"You look great." He took a gulp trying to be sweet only for it to come out awkward.
Sakura quickly caught on and gathered her things. "We'll catch up soon Temari! Sorry for holding you so long."
Sakura bent over to whisper in her ear before departing.
"Chamomile tea works best when I'm stressed."
Temari gritted her teeth and stood up as soon as Sakura left. Was she really going crazy? Was she hallucinating? She looked over to Shikamaru who was watching her every move by the entrance. He looked like he was in a fairly good mood and thankfully didn't pick up on her recent panic attack.
"So are you going to walk me there or are we just going to have a staring contest?" She giggled and nudged him on the side.
The two walked out of the tea house and began to walk in the direction of the Godaime residency. Out of nowhere he grabbed her hand and turned a corner going the opposite direction. Temari furrowed her brows.
"It's over there! Where are we going?"
"She's not expecting you." He gave her a smirk and kept dragging her behind.
"I didn't actually sleep in… okay well I did- but I set something up for us."
Shikamaru wasn't one to plan romantic things for the two, so she instantly assumed that they would just relax at his place. They would usually spend their time together by cloud watching or playing several rounds of shogi at his house followed by cuddling on the couch.
As she suspected, they approached the Nara residence. However, instead of stopping by his room he took her straight to the back leading them to the Nara clan forest.
The forest was beautiful this time of year. The leaves were bright green and the sun reflected off of the water giving it a crystal shine effect.
After what seemed like several minutes of walking, Shikamaru brought them to a halt.
He had led them to a clearing by the lake where he had set up a picnic blanket in the grass. There was a shogi board in the middle along with a bottle of sake and some mochi.
"It was a drag trying to convince Lady Tsunade that you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. I wanted to spend some time with you before you got busy." He looked over to a blushing Temari and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
"Our communication these past few months wasn't the best. I wanted to make it up to you."
Temari smiled and tilted her neck to plant a kiss on his lips. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing long rounds of shogi, a whole lot of sake, and stories about what had happened when they were apart. She hadn't told Shikamaru about her stalker yet and she wasn't sure if she was going to. She didn't want to bother him or freak him out since they lived two days away from each other when they were apart.
The sun was setting on the lake. It looked as if the water was dancing in fire as the wind blew. The two had been making out for a while after their last shogi match wrestling tongues before Temari finally gave up and let him consume her.
She wasn't one that could exactly hold her liquor correctly, so at this point she was pretty tipsy and stumbling with her words. She would be in and out of consciousness frequently but managed to fill the gaps with giggles.
"I'm gonna go for a swim. You wanna come?" She parted her lips from his and let out a grin.
Temari enjoyed swimming in his lake because she knew nobody else went in there unless given permission from Shikaku. His parents had given Temari permission to come and go as she pleased because she didn't seem to be a threat to the clan. The clan thought she was a perfect fit for Shikamaru despite them never confirming their relationship.
"Aren't you a little too drunk to be swimming? Plus you know I don't care to swim, Temari. But I'll happily watch from over here while I read my book. Please be careful."
Shikamaru pulled out a book on different types of Chakra and pointed to it.
Temari placed her hands on her hips and shrugged. "Suit yourself, crybaby. I'm perfectly fine."
Her back was facing Shikamaru as she untied her obi and let her kimono drop to the grass. Her skin was glowing in the reflection of the sun and shined with every brief movement. She took off her headband and hair ties tossing them behind her.
"Well this is a first, you never go in just your bra and underwear." He let out a devilish grin and fling shot one of her rubber bands at her ass.
"Ouch. Thanks for that." She rolled her eyes and pulled her black thong down giving him a full view of her big rear. "You aren't patient. Now help me unclasp my bra."
Without hesitation, he got up from behind her and helped her unhook her lace brassiere letting it pile onto the rest of her clothing. Before letting her get in the water, he slapped her ass leaving a red mark, and in return she let out a soft moan.
Biting his lip, he whispered to her "When you're done we'll go back to my room" before sitting back down to his book.
When they had started meeting up with each other, Temari never saw Shikamaru to be the aggressive type when it came to sexual intentions. She assumed he would be shy, inexperienced and uninterested. But after teasing him a few times, and some conversations about it, he had surprised her the first time they did it. He took full control not giving her any say in what they did- soon becoming addicted to her behind the scenes.
She took a step back before running and diving into the clear lake. Her hair brushed up against her shoulders as she would scope the bottom of the lake. The feeling of the water on her bare skin was something she loved because she rarely had things like that in Suna. They had swimming pools and bathhouses but nothing compared to swimming in a natural lake with fish and other small mammals. She swam to the surface, chasing the setting sun above her, letting her breast sit on top of the water when she broke through pushing her hair behind her ears. Shikamaru caught a glance of her and let out a warm smile. This was their idea of peace and serenity. Freedom and privacy was something she rarely got, and he promised her she would get that every time they were together.
"This is all that matters to me. Us, relaxation, away from the world." She thought to herself. Temari sunk back into the water to glide across the bottom. The lake was fresh and clear enough to keep her eyes open as she swam.
As she was swimming, she noticed something at the bottom of the lake. It looked like a circle with an upside down triangle on the inside. As she got closer she noticed that blood was fuming from the circle bringing her to a panic. The only time she had seen that type of symbol was when someone was about to perform a ritual. She swam away as fast as she could only to feel herself choking on water from fear. Luckily she was able to clasp her hands above the water making enough commotion for Shikamaru to help her.
"Temari!" He screamed as he threw his book and ran to the water to try and save her from drowning.
Black.
All she saw was black before waking up in one of Shikamaru's shirts in his bed with a heating pad on her stomach. Yoshino was across the bed in Shikamaru's recliner rocking back and forth while she knitted a scarf. Without lifting her head, she looked around to see Shikamaru sitting with his back faced towards her on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. She could hear Shikaku in the hallway. It sounded like he was talking to some Elders regarding the Nara clan forest.
When Temari saw the ritual at the bottom of the lake, panic struck her so hard causing herself to choke on water and faint. Shikamaru got to her fast enough to save her from drowning. The blood was noticeable, and once he saw that it wasn't coming from her, he surrendered to his parents and Asuma begging for help. Her heart was beating slow, and she was alive. That's all that mattered to everyone. It was now a waiting period to see when she would wake up. Shikaku and Asuma scoped the lake to see the bloody ritual and called for back up. With everything going on, they all kept this instance a secret, knowing it could effect a lot of people if it got out to the villagers. There was no sign of where this came from and who's blood that belonged to. It was a mystery in itself because the Nara clan forest was heavily guarded and it would have been extremely hard to get inside.
When Temari regained consciousness, she place a limp hand onto Shikamaru's back
When Temari regained consciousness, she placed a limp hand onto Shikamaru's back. His body twitched to her touch, turning around to look at her. He looked like he had been crying for a while based on the redness around his eyes.
He called out to his dad and Asuma letting them know she was awake. Shikaku was trying his best not to stress out. He stood up tall and firm and let out a low tone.
"Is there something you need to tell us, Temari?"
And at that point, she knew there was no escaping. She explained to them everything that had been happening from day one and that she had no idea who was preying on her. Asuma and Shikaku quickly picked up the pieces and came to a conclusion before she could even finish talking.
"The symbol you saw is used as a ritual for Jashin. The people that follow him are crazy assuming that they can escape the fear of death by slaughtering others. There's only one person I can think of that performs this ritual, but nobody knows where he is and what his intentions with it are."
Shikamaru looked down at Temari with clenched fists. "Do you know him? Don't lie to me."
Temari was taken off guard by his statement and sat up, throwing the heating pad off her stomach.
"Do I know him? Are you seriously going to ask me this question? Of course I don't know him! If I knew him, he'd be dead by now!"
Shikaku, Asuma and Yoshino awkwardly stared at the two bickering in silence.
"Well you didn't tell me about the skull and the note, you didn't tell me about your dreams, you didn't even bother to tell me about the napkin at the teahouse- were you going to even tell me about this if you made it?!"
Asuma chimed in trying to de-escalate the situation. "Shikamaru, you can't be so hard on her. You know she has more important priorities in her daily life. This isn't something she can just stop to worry about. Suna has her running back and forth between villages, this is not something people should be paying attention to right now because other peoples' lives are at stake."
Shikaku and Yoshino both agreed with Asuma through a small nod.
Shikamaru, still not understanding the situation, huffed and left the room with Asuma following suit.
Temari cupped her hands around her whole face.
Shikaku placed a hand on her shoulder and Yoshino moved from her seat to lean into her at the end of the bed.
"You were doing the right thing." He chimed. "Just try to stay as alert as you can. These are strange times we live in. He'll get over himself. Men need strong women to keep them stable."
He patted her on the head and exited leaving his wife and her alone in the room.
She stood up, but before exiting she looked over to Temari with a warm grin. "I chose you for him before he chose you for him, even if you both won't confirm your relationship."
At the end of the bed there was a white scarf folded as a gift for Temari.
Down the hall Asuma was talking to Shikamaru trying to explain to him why it's best this type of thing stay on the low. Shikaku stood behind with his arms crossed.
"So how am I going to protect her if she won't tell me these things are happening? I'm assigned as her official escort and she won't even let me help her."
Asuma and Shikaku burst out laughing after his last line.
"Escort, huh." His mentor simpered in Shikamaru's direction.
"You do realize she has murdered people right? She was raised in Suna, you were raised in Konoha. She is trained to kill, not capture. She can handle herself." Although Shikamaru knew Asuma was right, he couldn't help but feel terrified himself. He knew he hadn't been training as much as he should have been, but he felt like he had an obligation to do whatever he could to help her.
By the time night struck, Shikamaru finally decided to come back to his room only to see Temari was gone. She had folded his shirt and left a note on the bed that stated she had went to the residency assigned to her.
He let out a deep breath and and collapsed on his bed.
"I fucked up."
