Someone had to resort to 'extreme' means to get me to upload today. Please send a mental thanks to my friend for my finally getting this chapter done! Phew! Sorry for the month and a half (?) wait!
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Just when I thought he could not surprise me again, he goes and does this, Temari thought in awe as she was spun around the room in Shikamaru's skilled arms.
Looking completely unaffected by the huge crowd, Shikamaru had placed his hands on hers and around her with a straight back and a confident stance. She followed suit, feeling strangely attracted to this new side of him. As the first notes of the waltz resounded into the air, he led her gently around the dance floor without missing a beat or taking even a tiny stumble.
It was not as elegant or refined as Takeshi's dancing skills but there was no doubt that Shikamaru knew the steps and techniques to this style of dancing. The footwork, the twirling, the leading.
What's more was that he looked quite at ease. It made her stare as if she was seeing a stranger in front of her. And it was really quite peculiar because she never would have pegged him for a dancer.
"Isn't it unladylike to maintain an open mouth, Princess?" Shikamaru teased with a smirk.
Startled and slightly embarrassed knowing there was a full crowd watching, she shut her mouth and studied him. There really was more to know about this man. "Don't call me that. And how are you able to dance like this?" she demanded.
He let out a soft snicker. "Took you long enough to ask," he said. And as soon as he did, he twirled her several times, rendering her incapable of replying for a while. It was just like him to ignore her impatience and answer her at his pace.
When they came face to face, Temari said breathlessly, "Tell me."
"I'll tell you later. For now, just enjoy this, okay?" Shikamaru had just given her a strange look. Like a mix of conflicting emotions. She wondered at the switch of emotions.
Thus she kept quiet and let herself be lead to dance and be lost in this new facet of this man. Which was both beguiling and frustrating. A bunch of questions were threatening to burst forth but she held them in.
How many more things did she not know about this man? With every new detail, she craved for more.
And he was really quite good at dancing. It bade her frustration good bye and she started to smile genuinely. And every time he twirled her about, she felt a rush of joy. And every time their eyes met, her heart raced faster than the beat of the song.
It was possible to keep falling for the same person. It was an incredible and overwhelming feeling.
And it was downright scary to think of losing him. And this tournament could definitely tear him away from her.
"Don't think. Just dance," Shikamaru murmured. Looking into his concerned eyes, she knew he felt the same desperation.
The weight of the ordeal hung like heavy mist in the mountains.
As they danced, she got a glimpse of her brothers. Kankuro had audaciously winked at her. The clown. Gaara had a tiny smile on his face that was detectable by only those who knew him.
And she remembered that she was also doing this for them.
They had to win.
With determined faces, they glided around the ballroom in perfect sync with the tune and no one could say that they did not make a wonderful scene. With Shikamaru, her steps were lighter and she felt absolute freedom in her movements.
As they danced, she saw the elder's frowning face, the look of delight on some people's faces, and the criticism on others.
During the last few minutes of the song, the elder signalled towards the crowd. Pairs joyfully joined the dance floor and the space filled up fairly quick.
The energy of the crowd was infectious. Soon, Shikamaru and Temari were also smiling and laughing.
Until someone bumped into Shikamaru's back. He stumbled forward a little bit but he caught himself and regained his footing. Then another man dug an elbow into his side none too gently. Shikamaru grunted and bore the pain. He saw a third man was trying to trip him and he swayed Temari away from the attack.
Temari and Shikamaru exchanged looks in realization, knowing that it was another trap. They also noticed that the elder and council members were turning a blind eye to their situation. Not surprising.
They continued to dance but inched away from the bullies. Yet the men continued to catch up to them.
"Wait, let me handle this," Shikamaru said before a shadow shot out from under his feet and made a swiping arc. The series of bullying men fell forward into their dance partners. Some cursed, some yelped.
Temari chuckled. Served them right.
Then her eyes narrowed as the men tried to get close once more. Shikamaru's shadow twisted about their legs and made them bump and stumble into each other. The men swore soundly as they tried to detangle their legs from each other. Some ended up kicking each other in the mess. Some crawled out of the fiasco. Some were pulled out by their female dance partners.
As soon as they did, determination was still on the men's faces and Temari knew they would come at them again.
The music was entering its last phrases, Temari noted. Time to make a big finish.
"Shikamaru, twirl me and hold on."
He nodded and promptly executed. As Temari spun, she let out a wave of wind strong enough to knock the men onto their behinds.
As they fell, the space around the two cleared and the whole crowd was able to witness their finishing move as the last note hung in the air. The crowd broke into a thunderous applause as Shikamaru bowed and Temari curtsied.
Temari glimpsed Takeshi's glowering form at the side of the ballroom. But he soon disappeared.
As he did, they were given the go signal to venture outside. There was a lack of expression on the elder's face.
As soon as they were alone into the midst of the various statues, Temari grinned and announced, "Well, that was fun."
Shikamaru smirked, "That it was."
"Good work."
"You didn't do so bad either."
"I was the best, of course."
"Definitely."
They both chuckled.
"Tell me how you learned to dance?" Curiosity and impatience had Temari blurting the words out.
A smile that was not quite the smile she was hoping to see on his face appeared. "Dad. He taught me since I was a kid."
His father. Shikaku. Who died in the latest war. She swallowed. "I thought it would be your mother."
He smiled wryly. "Yeah that would be what everyone would think. And dad would probably prefer it that way too."
"But of course you would not."
He made an affirming sound. "No one else knew that he could dance. But it was somewhat a pride of his as well. So it was quite a contradiction."
"Why didn't he want anyone else to know?"
"Male pride, I suppose. Ninjas did not dance or something along the lines. That was the old way of thinking."
"I see."
Shikamaru suddenly grasped her hand while looking up. "It was the one surefire way to calm mom down and to make her happy."
Temari smiled sadly. It was a bittersweet memory.
"You know what else he said?"
"What did he say?"
"Dad said that he taught it to me so that I could also use it on my own troublesome woman." Shikamaru looked at her and grinned even though it didn't reach his eyes.
Temari squeezed his hands and closed in to give him an embrace. "Well, he did right."
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When Shikamaru made his way back to his room, he entered his room and was about to take his clothes off when the door slammed shut. He spun on the balls of his feet, about to lower into a fighting stance, when he stopped short to see Temari in front of him.
He relaxed, chuckled, saying, "Eager tonight?"
Either he or she would usually go to each other's room around midnight to lessen the risk of being seen by others. She was early by a quarter of an hour.
With a cat-like smile, Temari strolled towards him with distinctly swaying hips.
He stared as she came closer. There was a certain hypnotic allure to her movements tonight. And there was a rather feral gleam in her eyes that he couldn't quite look away.
"Tem?" he asked uncertainly as she placed a hand on his chest and started caressing.
"Shhh," she hushed him as she began to push him backwards towards the bed.
The back of his knees hit the side of the bed and she gave a rough shove and he landed smack at the center of the bed.
He never minded her rough tendencies, he actually expected them. It meant that he did not have to do much because she took charge and he absolutely relished that.
He watched with lidded eyes as she hovered over him by the side of the bed.
A slow smirk spread over her face as she toyed with the buttons of her dress.
"What are you waiting for?" Shikamaru huskily asked before he started to reach out for her.
She pushed his hands away, tsking. But a second later, her leg swung over him. Straddling him, she unbuttoned her clothes while keeping eye contact with him.
As she did that, he crept his hands along her lower legs, climbing upwards.
She was completely bare when she parted her dress and he clutched onto her thighs, fingers digging hard.
Leaning towards him, she placed his hands on her hips, then grasping them to flatten them over the planes of her abdomen, she slowly slid them upwards towards her chest until his hands were cupping the mounds.
The door creaked open and he whipped his head towards it.
He watched in horror as Temari entered the room and froze.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Temari almost roared, hands clenched into fists.
Shikamaru shoved away the Temari on top of him and stared between the two.
The Temari next to him hastily put on her clothes and was about to make her way towards the window but the Temari who just entered the room let out a gust of wind which sent the other Temari sailing through the air and smacked hard against the wall.
Shikamaru was able to hold onto the frame of the bed but now a sinking feeling filled him as he realized that he had been seduced by a pseudo Temari.
That sinking feeling was soon replaced by a feeling of dread as he slowly turned towards the real Temari. And soon wished he had not.
Fury filled her eyes. But they were directed towards the other Temari whose facade has now faded to reveal a curvaceous lady clothed in red satin.
"Who's that?" he blurted out.
Temari didn't flinch as she bent down and grasped the girl's hair up to reveal her face and explained too calmly, "The famed rouge mistress. A seductress for hire. An expert at copy ninja technique down to their chakra signature."
He let the facts sink in. Then he slowly said, "So someone hired her to come to me?"
"Brilliant deduction," she said dryly.
He flinched. "You're not mad, are you?"
"Why would I be? I only see my fiancé getting it on with someone else."
"Someone who looked and felt exactly like you, woman! She even moved like you!"
"You don't have very good instincts then, do you? You're a shinobi! Even if she has excellent chakra-copying technique, you should have had some way of detecting that it was not me!"
"And how was I supposed to do that? Even you can't pinpoint a specific technique that I could have used in the situation even if I had some inkling that it was not you! As I said, she looked and acted like you so I wouldn't have even thought to do anything else. " He looked at her, silently pleading with her to understand but at the same time frustrated with her unyielding stance.
"Never mind. I need to take care of this mess." Temari dragged the woman away from the room, leaving Shikamaru in the darkness of the room, feeling just the littlest of guilt.
It made no sense however. This guilt. He was fooled into thinking the woman was his fiancé. How could it be his fault?
He grasped his hair tightly in frustration. Why did women have to twist the situation about and make it more complicated than it really was? How will this affect their situation now? When he was fighting his all just for her, for them?
Wait a second. Someone tried to sabotage him.
A look of grim determination swept over his face.
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"You won't talk?" Temari said to the tied up red lady. Kankuro and Gaara stood beside her. They had brought her to the interrogation room.
The red lady just stared back balefully.
"Maybe you can leave her with me, sis..." Kankuro said thoughtfully, staring at the red lady.
Temari snorted. "Men," she spat.
"So you believe this woman was hired by the elder or any one of the council members?" Gaara murmured to Temari after they left the room.
She nodded. "Yeah."
"If that is the case, it is treason. And a clear violation of our tournament agreement."
"I know. But I don't want to win this way. The pubic won't accept such a win if Shikamaru won't show his true skills and beat Takeshi on his own."
Gaara gave a nod of understanding. "They must still face punishment however."
"Yes, but after the tournament. And after we make this bitch talk."
"But we've already tried every means short of physical torture and she won't budge. So how?" Kankuro asked.
"Don't worry I know someone who will be able to help. It will just take her awhile to get here however."
Kankuro interjected, "Oh you mean her?"
"Yeah."
"Why did they make such a risky move though? Sending this seductress woman to get between the two of you?" Gaara asked pensively.
"I assumed the objective was to make us fight upon my discovery of them tangled up in such a manner. In hopes of breaking our relationship," Temari said with a glower.
Kankuro said thoughtlessly, "Would've liked to see that! Ouch!" Temari had smacked him upside the head, glaring. "Then again, why would I wanna see her as you doing that to him?" He held his hands up in surrender.
Gaara ignored his brother, observed her and said slowly, "And did she complete her objective?"
"Of course not! Such a small, vile obstacle could not hope to break us," Temari growled.
"Then why are you so angry?" Kankuro asked, cocking his eyebrow.
"Who wouldn't be when ambushed like this?" Temari retorted.
"It was Shikamaru who was ambushed. Not that I'd mind the treatment myself," Kankuro said slyly.
"Arggh!" Temari half-screamed, half-growled in frustration at her brother and stormed off to her room.
"I do not think you should have said that," Gaara mused.
"It's not me she's mad at, trust me," Kankuro said knowingly.
"How do you know?"
"Cause that's how women are, brother. You'll learn."
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Thanks for the awesome reviewers: Gurpreet Singh, ShikaTemari, Guest one and two, SlackingNara, bunnyguest, Rose-Aki, fanofthisfiction, spilihp17, Axel0913.
Thank you also to everyone who is continuing to support this story! Sorry for the rushed notes as I still have a trip to get ready for tomorrow! Have a nice weekend everyone!