92

I would especially like to thank Pink Shirt

for the help with the translation - Thank you ^^!

Also for the help with the Chapter's name :)

Unlucky

That was her last night alone under the night sky and sparkling stars. She was about to spend the following nights either alone or with Kankuro in the bed and she really came to like the idea. One thing was sure- she really liked his company.

Tenten has taken shelter between tree branches so she could regain some of her strength for the rest of the trip. She had set a few traps around her because… well, because just in case. She was in a striving need for rest and was about to fall asleep when sharp pain pierced her shoulder. Her eyes opened and she jumped right on her feet.

"Dammit!" she hissed.

She was under attack. She was frantically looking around the shadows, trying to locate her attackers. How many were they - two? Three? She was so exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally, that she just wanted to flee. Her arm was hanging helplessly near her body. Now was really a bad moment for a battle. But it wasn't her choice at all, it was theirs.

There was whooshing. An explosion came from her right side and she knew what that sound was - one of her traps had triggered. She succeeded in resisting an armed attack meant for her head. There was another whooshing causing her ankle to bleed. And there it was - wearing an evil smile, a white face appeared in the close distance just in front of her. Tenten squeezed tight a kunai in her right hand and however hard and painful it was, she still rolled up a scroll, opening it. Her resistance was well measured and she succeeded in fatally wounding one of her attackers. She had possessed a really strong offence , allowing her to decrease the number of her attackers quickly, as Amani-sensai had said to Kankuro. However, he had stated that her defence was full of great flaws - in less than 30 minutes her lungs were fighting for every breath… Her whole ribs were bruised and hurted badly, her ankle was twisted so she couldn't use the right leg to support herself. Her wounded shoulder had stopped pulsating already and now was just painful. Her movements were getting slower and slower… Her enemies were coming closer and closer since she failed to keep them away.

She was falling… An image appeared in her mind just before the hands of death took her in the nothingness. This image stood in the famous "cool guy" pose and Tenten recognised her teacher right away. Then she saw Lee… Neji… She saw all of her close people, even Tsunade-sama… All of those images were passing by frantically in her mind, all those people she said goodbye to just two days ago. Clear enough she saw him too. She didn't say goodbye to him… No, that was not true, she did say her goodbye when he was leaving, fearing he would be the one not coming back. It turned out she would be the one not coming back… Her lips curved in an insane smile moment before hitting the ground for the last time. A faint whisper came out - "Goodbye.." .

"Tenten!" someone shouted when she had already fallen into the black beyond. She didn't hear him.

The scream almost seared his chest. It felt as if he was dying there, with her, instead of her… And if she died, he was most probably going to follow her. But there was no time to think about this now. He had to try helping her as fast as possible. He just wished it wouldn't be too late while taking the scrolls off his back.

"Kankuro?" Tasura-one of his teammates-asked, preparing for further actions on his right side.

"Tenten-sama!" -his other teammate whispered, standing just beside his left shoulder.

"Take care of the one at the back," he hissed. "I am going to fight the other one."

They nodded, frowning expressions on both of their faces. Then they attacked.

"Karasu!" he quietly ordered, unfolding one of his scrolls. His crow puppet, possessing a lot of hidden weapons and poison gas, appeared in a little white cloud. "Kuroari!" he whispered again, summoning his second puppet. "Sanshuo" the last puppet appeared.

Давай :)

The first move he chose to do was moving Sanshuo to Tenten's location, shielding her.

"That was meaningless," the foreign shinobi tried to mock Kankuro. "The little one gave out a good fight, but she's dead now. And you left yourself with no defence."

"I don't need any defence," he gave him an evil smile. Then he narrowed his eyes and let tiny chakra threads connect his fingertips to his puppets. "There is no need to defend from corpses… and you are exactly that."

"She is from Konoha, you are from Suna…" he said. "You should be grateful."

"But yet, I am not."

"You really seem a bit angry… Maybe I have killed a friend of yours?" the other shinobi laughed.

"Oh, it is way worse…" Kankuro focused and prepared to take down his enemy. "You were fighting my wife."

The foreign shinobi could only show a brief surprise before starting to run away from Karasu's deadly blows.

Kankuro had already foreseen his next move, sending Kuroari into the right direction, but the other shinobi dodged that one as well. But, the foreign shinobi had forgotten about the third puppet. Kankuro moved it, hitting him surprisingly and then tackled him down inside Kuroari.

"Farewell," he said coldly. Then he disassembled Karasu and jabbed the sword, attached to its head, right into Kuroari. Blood was leaking rapidly on the ground under the puppet?

Kankuro dismissed his puppets, took his scrolls back and looked at his teammates- they had finished their mission quite fast as well. He stepped closer to Tenten's body and carefully turned it - at first glance she looked dead. He stood there numb unable to do anything.

His teammates approached as well. Tasura was the first one to react properly and bent down near the woman's body. He leaned over her chest and really carefully listened for heartbeats. He was silent for about a minute…

"Kankuro, she is still alive, but barely…"

Hot tears ran down his cheeks, showing the relief he suddenly felt. He gently grabbed her shoulder and shook her even more gently, calling her name.

"I don't think she can hear you. Her heartbeats are really weak and her breathing is almost nonexistent."

His teammates looked really confused seeing the emotional reaction of Kankuro.

"I must bring her to the hospital," he said, reaching out to pick her up in his arms.

"Kankuro," the other one intervened. "We must take one of the corpses with us as well."

"Yes, please take care of that, Sano." He nodded and attempted to get one of the corpses on his back.

Kankuro looked at her face. She had given her all to this battle - about 20 metres away laid the corpse of the shinobi she succeeded to take down. She resisted the attacks of the other two but not for long enough. He lifted her up in his arms.

"I need to take her to Tsunade-sama," he stated quietly, determined.

"You won't get there in time." Tasura shook his head.

"I don't know if they can help her in Suna," he said. "If we head there first, just to see she can't get help there, then it is impossible to get to Konoha in time."

"Even if you run full speed, without resting, you will need at least 30 hours to get there."

"Go with him." Sano approached, adjusting the corpse over his shoulders. "There is a patrol in about one hour. I am going to go straight to them and ask for assistance. We haven't had proper rest and we are all exhausted, but if you take turns carrying her, you will move faster."

Kankuro looked at him. He was aware his teammates had accepted Tenten as one of their own. They had no idea everything had started as just a mission. What they witnessed was only the deep and strong feelings of their teammate for this woman. They were going to do everything in their power to help him, to help her…

Tasura got up and gazed at Kankuro. They've exchanged short nods.

"Be careful, Sano," Kankuro said while looking at him. "If anything threatens you, just flee. Do not risk your life to guard a corpse."

The man nodded and without messing around he headed to Suna.

Kankuro prepared to jump ahead, Tasura followed. He pressed Tenten to his chest. He didn't even think of the possibility of losing this woman. He had just found her, shared his feelings with her, knowing they are mutual. It wasn't fair… Bitter droplet came out of his eye and flew behind him as he ran…

"What is the meaning of that?" Tsunade asked Shikamaru when finishing reading the document he had given her. "You don't have my permission! You can't just go ahead and get married!" She waved the marriage certificate over the desk. "This can't be valid."

Temari smiled and stepped forward to get shoulder to shoulder with Shikamaru.

"Yes, it can't be…" he said, scratching his nape lazily.

"You have told your parents you got married." Tsunade did her best in pulling herself together.

"That's right, we did," the man nodded and sighed.

"But this is a lie!" She frowned and put her elbows on the desk.

"It is," nodded Temari.

"Why did you lie?" Godaime narrowed her eyes.

"You know my mother, Tsunade-sama. Do you think there is anyone sane who can hold up against her pressure?" he sighed yet again. "Neither of us would survive if she happened to organise our wedding."

"We often have different opinions…" Temari said. "But this time I fully agree with him."

Tsunade looked straight at her. They were right - Shikamaru's mother was quite a vigorous woman…

"All right," Godaime seemed to have relaxed a bit. "But you can't involve me in something you have never said a word about." She gave them a warning gaze then she relaxed back in her chair. "So when are you planning to get married for real?"

"After the next chuunin's exams," smiled Temari. "If you give us your permission of course. Gaara gave us his permission as Kazekage when we were about to come here."

Tsunade nodded.

"And how exactly are you planning to let your parents know about that?"

"We are going to organise a really small ceremony." Shikamaru continued as he hadn't heard her question. "We will be sending the invitations straight to the mail boxes the day before the wedding."

"I suppose I am also going to get one of those?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled impishly.

"Nope," disclaimed Temari while Shikamaru stepped forward.

"What do you mean with nope?" she blinked in confusion.

"Well, it is simple…" He placed a letter on her desk. "We are giving yours personally right now."

Tsunade looked silently at the paper for a few moments with a snaking smile on her lips. She had no idea if her protege was going to do better in her love life than Tsunade herself, but those two have found themselves in two different villages and they were perfect for eachother. She had no intention of stopping them from getting married. Especially considering Konoha would get one so strong and fierce shinobi like Temari. She would no doubt get the respect she deserved quite fast.

"Fine… You really know how to put one at ease." Godaime took the paper and smiled even wider. "And who will be organising it? Will you be the one, Temari-san?"

"Me..?" she shook her head.

"Impossible!"

"I can only guess Shikamaru wouldn't take such a responsibility willingly…?"

"I definitely wouldn't do something so troublesome…"

"Then who would do it?"

They exchanged looks. And their looks were… Well, their eyes were flickering with that little flame… That golden little flame, reflecting the devastating fire burning in their hearts. Tsunade recognised it since she had seen it and felt it herself years ago. It had been flickering in her fiance's eyes when he looked at her…

"Sakura and Ino." Temari said shortly.

"Are you sure Ino can do the job without really ratting you out?" asked Godaime slowly.

"Oh, she surely is going to rat it out," the man slightly smiled. "So we are not really going to tell her anything. I have a plan, Tsunade-sama."

The woman raised her eyebrows. She was way too curious but of course… she had that feeling her curiosity won't be satisfied. Though she was sure worrying is useless in this case - there was a difference between Shikamaru's plans and the plans other people make. The difference was Shikamaru's plans worked.

"Well," Tsunade sighed, " I will keep your secret, but on one small condition for each of you."

They pricked up their ears and looked at her in anticipation and growing tension.

"I think now is the right moment for the bottles," Temari hissed quietly and he nodded.

Godaime had not opened her mouth yet when he placed two bottles of very, very expensive sake in front of her.

Her eyes filled with longing, she found it hard to continue. However, she managed to behave, shook her head, narrowed her brows and then went on.

"Temari-san, you will help Shizune with the documentation three times a week for four hours a day." The girl looked quite shocked. "I have a sure source of information in the face of your brother, the Kazekage. He told me that you are very capable of this kind of job."

This was true according to the piles of documentation she was given as well as additional tasks. She clenched her firsts. She was going to kick his ass once she went back to Suna. But right now she didn't have another choice but to comply.

"Fine," she said with a crooked smile.

"And you are taking some additional classes in the local school." Tsunade crossed her arms in front of her chest. "One of the teachers gave birth to her first child last week and we lack teachers anyway. I know you have experience in this field as well."

"What?!" That sounded a bit too much.

"That will be only until your rehabilitation is done, of course." Godaime added.

Temari also crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Shikamaru!"

"Yes, Godaime-sama?" He had stuck his arms in his pocket, absolutely indifferently.

"You are going to prepare for the jounin's exams." He looked slightly surprised. "It is about time for you to take it."

Temari suddenly lightened up and smiled happily. Shikamaru on the other hand looked down and turned away. Then without saying a word, he just headed to the door.

"See you soon," Godaime said and went back to her newspaper that she had put away when those two entered her office. She really wanted to finish it before Shizune came in and ruined it.

Shikamaru was walking really slowly in the hallway with his eyes looking at the floor. Temari reached out and took his hand, pulling it out from his pocket. She tangled her fingers within his. He gazed at her, desperation visible on his face.

"Temari…" he whispered.

She forced him to stop and gently caressed his cheek, smiling warmly.

"You are taking your exam, you know, right?" she asked.

"Do I actually have a choice?" he asked, raising his eyebrows ironically.

"Nope." Temari replied and headed down the hallway, pulling him behind her.

Kankuro stopped and took a few deep breaths. He looked at Tasura who was carrying Tenten at the moment - his hands were shaking. Kankuro took the woman in his own arms. He was aware his body was tough enough and could bear some more pushing and exhaustion. His teammate was in worse condition. And even though Tasura had carried Tenten just about one fourth of the way, he could barely stand up.

"We should be in konoha in about two or three hours." Tasura said. "I will be able to carry her some more."

"You won't." Kankuro denied. "What you can do is to gather your strength and reach Konoha. We will get help there. I am sure Sano had reached Suna and told Gaara what's going on. Gaara has sent a note to Konoha for sure and they expect us."

Tasura nodded, placing his palms on his knees for temporal support. Then he tried to get up.

"Let's slow down a bit." Kankuro went slowly ahead, hugging Tenten's body tightly. He felt one of his knees was unstable while walking. But he couldn't afford to take a rest - the woman's heartbeat was really hardly sensed. Her breath was almost nonexistent and he was afraid each could be the last one.

The men headed down the road. Kankuro realised terrified that the picture before his eyes started to somehow fog. That indicated a high level of exhaustion. Tasura collapsed on one knee.

Four silhouettes appeared in the distance and headed straight to the men. Kankuro wrapped his arms carefully around Tenten, tightening his hug even more and clenched his jaw. If they were about to be attacked now, the three of them were going to lose their lives.

The man gathered all his strength that had left in case he had to defend himself and Tenten. He knew he could lose his life but he would never give up. If he died, he would make sure to take at least one of those with him.

"There they are!" One of the silhouettes screamed.

"Tenten!" a female scream could be recognised.

The second Kankuro heard her name, he fell on his knees still holding his girl tightly in his arms. When the silhouettes stopped before them, he could recognize Sakura and Neji. He turned towards the other man and spoke quietly:

"Bring her to Tsunade-sama, please!" he said while gasping for air. He was gasping for air.

Neji bent down and took his teammate in his arms very carefully.

"Hurry up!" Kankuro begged and fell backwards. Neji nodded and together with one of the other silhouettes rushed forward.

Sakura bent down before him and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"What happened?"she asked.

"We were too late…" he whispered

"She was there fighting when we arrived,'' Tasura said quietly. "We found her just when she lost consciousness."

Sakura nodded and began examining the two men. She wanted to check if she could do something for their wounds there at that moment, but they weren't wounded, they were just immensely exhausted.

Slowly, Kankuro stood up on his feet helping his teammate do the same. The other man managed to stay in an upright posture for a few seconds. Although he'd tried to make a step, he fell on his knee once again.

"I think my left leg needs some more time to rest," he sighed.

Lee stepped forward and helped him to get up on his back. Kankuro nodded gratefully and leaned on Sakura. Then the four of them set off slowly forward.

Sakura glanced briefly at Kankuro a few times. She - the good and loyal friend of Tenten - had so many questions for him, but she knew well that this wasn't the right time nor the right place to ask any of them.