32
The Most Troublesome Gift
Kankuro and Tenten were walking shoulder to shoulder towards the apartment. There was a comfortable silence between them that neither of them wanted to break at the moment. The man smiled, causing the girl to become curious about that smile. And still she didn't ask anything.
Few minutes later he reached for her hand but the reaction surprised even her - she pulled her hand if she was touched by a fire.
It was strange, she was convinced it shouldn't be a problem. At the end all of this was just a mission - untypical, uncomfortable, but still just a mission. And it is just a mission, why does it feel so…real? - she thought sadly. The sensation of tightness till almost painful extent in her stomach wasn't imaginary at all… And those exaggerated reactions of hers - he wanted to just hold her hand, that was not a big deal.
"Are you all right?" He asked.
"What? Am I…?" She flinched when his voice took her out of her thoughts as it was a kick.
He frowned, looking around defiantly and slightly angrily.
"I hardly see anyone else around," he said, turning to her, catching her eyes with his. "Of course I mean you. There is no one else here I would be concerned about or interested in."
Tenten blinked a few times as if to catch up with what he was saying. He had just stated he was interested in her. How was she supposed to take this information in? Was there deep meaning or it was exactly what he was saying? And this would be - he would like to know what her current emotional status was…
Meantime the young man crossed his hands in front of his chest, which was a visible sign of annoyment. He didn't have a really patient nature, even if he kept this nature tamed and controlled the last couple of years. Sometimes he just couldn't submit the rising rage fast enough.
She had noticed his wilder nature already. Tenten thought that he is unlike Neji, who always has perfect control over his emotions. Do I really think of Neji at this particular moment? - she scolded herself. The girl should think of him at all, nor to make a comparison between the two men at all… Obviously Neji was better at that…
Tenten decided she will go with the question Kankuro asked and will not dig in it, trying to find meaning he never put in.
"I am… fine. I am sorry about that…" She lifted the hand he tried to hold and smiled apologetically.
"All right." He sighed and stuck hands in his pockets. She looked really… distraught? Or maybe worried? The man didn't want to make it worse, whatever it was, so he decided to let her adapt with her own pace, to give her time:
"Look, I have a little mission left. Kurenai-sensei had planned it last week for today. I am going to finish it, so you will have some time for yourself, to prepare… Is that ok?
His offer sounded surprisingly wise and considered. Even kind… Tenten nodded with gratitude.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome." He smiled slightly. "I can see you need more time. If I can give you a little more of it, I do not mind doing so."
She looked into his eyes for a moment. Slight smile blossomed on her lips.
"I appreciate it." She whispered, unconsciously bowed slightly and hurried to her apartment. She had quite a lot of things to go through. She was going to stay quite a long time in Suna…
...
"Shikamaru?" His mother asked quietly when he rushed into his parents house and went right to his former room.
The young man didn't live in his parents home for a few years already. He had a little apartment, really little one, but it was on the last floor of one of the tallest buildings. He was alone there. And he could watch the night sky whatever he pleased to do so.
"Just hold on, mother." He shouted and shut the door.
His mother was carrying a laundry basket to the inner house yard. Frowning, she decided to question her son in detail ... But later on ...
Shikamaru stood up in the middle of the room and forced the memories to flow, to bring him back in the desired time. And that time was exactly his 16th birthday…
It was really early in the morning, before even his mother started to walk around the house. His father sneaked in his room. He handed him a really small dark blue bag. The boy, then asked him:
"Dad, what is this thing? It looks troublesome…"
And his father had smiled widely, replying:
"This is the most troublesome thing in the world, son."
"What should I do with it?" Shikamaru had asked boringly. If it was troublesome, he didn't want to know what it was. He had already decided he didn't want to have anything in common with whatever it was.
"I don't know. Whatever you want."
"Where do you have it from?"
"My father gave it to me on my 16th birthday."
"And he told you to do whatever you want with it, right?" Shikamaru yawned.
"You bet he did." His dad nodded.
"And what did you do with it at the end? I mean, apart from giving it to me…"
"Oh, I gave it to your mother. I was absolutely sure that was the right thing to do." Shikaku smiled.
"Dad.. Do you have any idea what a stupid thing jave you done then?" The boy shook his head and rubbed his still sleepy eyes.
"I wouldn't say that." His dad got up and ruffled his hair, then went out.
Shikamaru got up and unceremoniously tucked the bag somewhere.
And he never thought about it again… At least he never did till today.
The man shuffled the books in one section, pulled out one titled "The 100 Stupidest Things," and opened it. As he expected, the bag wasn't moved from there. His mother may wipe the dust regularly, but she never really touched his books.
Shikamaru quickly put the bag in his pocket, put the book in its place, and prepared to meet his troublesome mother. She must have been waiting for him downstairs for an interrogation and to give him a headache ... She hated being right about these things ...
...
Kankuro rubbed his thigh. It was stupid thing to hold down and not jump aside earlier. And the result was already visible - the shuriken had scratched him. The scratch itself was unsignificantly small, but he felt something was odd. He pressed the tissue around the wound - the blood that sipped out of it had a slight green tinge. He hissed repiningly - he knew this poison. He wouldn't die from it, but it would cause fever and body weakness. If he told Tenten or Godaime, they would postpone the departure with two or three days, which on other hand would risk Temari's life. He couldn't risk it… So he would have just kept his mouth shut and suffered through the symptoms…
The young man clenched his jaw and tried to squeeze as much infected blood as possible, hoping it would decrease the intensity of the symptoms. He doubted it would have any effect now - 30 minutes have passed since the scratch and he already felt the first symptom of an oncoming fever…
…
Tenten closed the bag's zipper with a deep sigh. She had taken most of her belongings, because of the long absence. It was longer than she would like to, but… that was the reality. Maybe Suna wasn't as bad as she imagined… That wouldn't change the fact she would be something like a prisoner there for 6 or 7 months and maybe even more.
"It is really not fair…" She whispered to herself and sat on the bed with crossed ankles. She desperately looked up and stared out the window at the weeping willow outside. When she moved in here she didn't like the tree because it seemed so sad. When the time passed, the girl stopped paying attention to it. But recently the soft hanging branches were just like her mood. The tree was like it shared her pain and was crying with her during those awful nights. Somehow the willow became close to her. She was going to miss it.
Kankuro was sitting on the sofa, trying to ignore the slight burning and the throbbing in the wound area. His bag was done an hour ago, so he didn't have anything to distract himself with. He hated so much to do… nothing. The "nothing to do" was making him uneasy and nervous. Usually he would have started to pace around but he succeeded to hold himself down for now.
He was feeling somehow a bit guilty that he was taking Tenten away, but on other hand Tsunade was coming as well and his sister had higher chances for survival and eventual recovery.
The man couldn't wait to go home in Sunakagure. Every time he thought about it, he felt a stronger desire to go right away. He missed the streets, the hot sun during the day, the warm velvet nights and the night sky full of stars. And he was here for barely 2 weeks, Tenten would be away way longer than him. He looked up towards the bedroom and called:
"Tenten!"
The girl flinched at the sound of her name. His voice has yet again kicked her out of her gloomy thoughts. She frowned ready to growl angrily. Then her sight fell on the golden ring on her finger… She looked at it for some moments, she was not able to look away - even though the marriage was fake, the ring's weight was more than real.
Shaking her head, she went to the living room:
"What is it?"
Kankuro gazed at her.
"I thought… Maybe you would like to go outside and just walk around?"
"What..?" She frowned.
"I mean…" He tried to explain. "You will be away for a long time and won't see Konoha, so… I thought you may want-"
She understood him - he offered her to go out and say "goodbye" to all that she was caring for. And she was grateful to him about it.
"Kankuro…" She interrupted. "Yes, thank you."
He nodded and smiled.
The girl went to the door, opened it and attempted to exit. Then she looked back over her shoulder towards the man on the sofa - he was just sitting there…
"Hey, Kankuro," she called with a slight smile.
He gazed at her curiously. She had warm sparkles in her hazel eyes,causing him to shiver and smile back without even realising it.
"Are you not coming with me?" She asked.
He didn't really expect this question. He was thinking of that "goodbye" as a kind of act of intimacy. So he was definitely surprised she would include him in it… Plus his leg was hurting a bit more and he would love to spare himself walking right now. But…
"If you want me to come, I will." He replied.
And then he asked her a question no one had asked her for really long time:
"What do you want?"
She frowned.
"Do you want me to come with you for real or you were just being polite?"
Tenten thought about it… Did she really want his company now, or not? She dug in really deep in herself to answer this so simple question. Polite? No, she was not being polite… She actually wanted his company…
"Yes, I want you to come with me." She smiled.
He raised his eyebrows and prepared to get up, clenching his jaw as he did…
