A/N: you made me grin too.

Chapter 12

"Beat that you bastard!" Temari summons her one-eyed weasel, Kamatari, and having a stronger wind whirl attack, she is able to throw the enemy nin several metres away. Immediately, after landing on the ground, the enemy nin jerks and clutches at his neck as if something or rather someone is suffocating him.

Temari knows that its Kamaru's doing.

Temari smirks then frowns. She still hasn't figured out Kamaru's technique even if this is their third task together since that fateful mission last year. It's like Kamaru has an invisible pair of hands that can extend anywhere. Temari's musing is disrupted when, suddenly, she feels someone's chakra approaching her at a very fast pace.

The enemy, a female shinobi, uses two hand-held mirrors to reflect a single concentrated white light beam towards Temari. Temari is able to dodge the path of light by jumping from one rocky outcrop to the next and notices that the light burns everything in its path and pulverizes even the solid stone that she has once settled on.

Temari becomes aware that even the light scattered from the main beam can at least damage her eyes and the core of light at worst can leave her literally toasted. Temari realizes that it's not safe to look straight towards the enemy judging by the way she keeps seeing a white spot after momentarily seeing the beam. She's sure she will be blinded if she looks longer than that at it but she can't wave her fan either since that will expose her to the enemy's trap and set her on fire.

Temari is able to get away and hide behind a rock boulder several feet high, confident that the kunoichi from the Land of Lighting can't discover her in the meantime. Temari closes her eyes trying to remove the white spot, subdues her chakra signature and tries to feel for the other female nin's chakra.

Temari has her eyes shut and her fan open serving as her shield even with the rock covering her. She knows that this leaves her in a defensive position but it's the best she can do while she plans her next move. The mirrors draw light from the enemy kunoichi's chakra and probably with each use its intensity will diminish. All Temari needs to do is waste that chakra by throwing targets at the enemy. She can create one or two clones at a time and use them too as her eyes since once the clones are destroyed, she will gather their memories.

Clone after clone, Temari is nowhere near the other kunoichi since she can't break through the light and do her own attack. The information returning to her after the clone is demised is of little use. It seems that the light created by the enemy's chakra is fortified by the sun. With the sun almost at its peak, the strategy of waiting for the night to come seems to be the most feasible.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, surmises that the new enemy kunoichi is isn't aware of his presence. After all, when Shikamaru has strangled her team mate, the male shinobi that Temari has attacked with Kamatari, he is already in hiding and only Temari is in full view. He has already concealed his chakra before that surprise attack with the Invisible Thread Jutsu.

Shikamaru has observed the enemy kunoichi while she's trying to burn Temari. He can't look directly at her either so he watches their feet. Afterwards Temari seems to be sending several clones as a counter attack but with no luck. Shikamaru knows that the real Temari is out there somewhere probably strategizing. He tries to find her and when he does, he notices that Temari's eyes are closed and that she's in a defensive position with her fan used as shield, a sign that Temari is having a difficult time dealing with the enemy shinobi.

Shikamaru tries to silently intervene while hiding behind another huge rock boulder himself. He has fisted several of the grounded rocks and now hurls them sideways, not daring to throw them upward so as not to give his position away. The tiny pieces of rock dust won't take long before they reach the ground but by blowing at them with chakra he is able to sustain them in the air longer. He creates invisible shadow threads in order to bind the enemy quietly but before his threads can reach the enemy, they are unknowingly dissipated by the scattered light created from the mirrors. The advantage of the shadows of being so thin now works to its disadvantage. Because of its flimsiness the shadow threads are rendered powerless even by the light that merely surrounds the main beam reflected by the enemy.

Shikamaru then decides to risk it, after noticing that Temari's eyes are still closed and that she has stopped sending clones, probably saving her energy for a later attack. Shikamaru plans to use the Shadow Sewing Technique to bind and attack the enemy kunoichi.

Shikamaru then stealthily approaches Temari's hide out to say in a quiet monotone, "Stay put," letting her know that she must continue closing her eyes and leave everything to him.

"Ass!" Temari spits in a quiet voice but she understands the underlying message.

Shikamaru returns to his previous spot without the enemy being aware of his presence. Because he has the advantage of being unknown to the light kunoichi he can better observe her. This is because since Temari has stopped sending the clones the kunoichi has also put the mirrors at her sides. This gives Shikamaru an unobstructed view of the light Kunoichi's back.

Sneaking a shadow proves to be ineffective though when the kunoichi is able to detect it and obliterate it before it could reach her. It only made his presence known to the enemy.

Then copying Temari's strategy, Shikamaru uses his clones as a diversion and to discover how thick his shadows should be so as not to be dispersed by the enemy kunoichi. After several blind attempts, Shikamaru is able to make his shadow substantial enough not to be diffused by the enemy's light jutsu.

Several thickened shadows from different directions then pin the light kunoichi to the ground. This Shadow Sewing Technique immobilizes the enemy and enables Shikamaru to attack the mirrors to smash them to a million pieces.

The enemy then swears while trying to break free from her shadow prison, "Damn you! Your jutsu is useless against mine! Your sha—"

A shadow hand creeps toward the kunoichi's neck to strangle her. While she spits and her hands struggle to remove the blockage, Shikamaru just watches her.

Afterwards Temari feels the chakra of the enemy diminishing, she immediately opens her eyes and glances at the enemy kunoichi's body lying prone on the ground and notices a shadow hand slithering fast away from the kunoichi's neck and returning and blending to form Kamaru's shadow.

TBC

1 19.3 5/11

~7 21 11AF~