A/N: I seriously did not realize it was over a year since I last updated this story. I am SO SORRY! I hope there are still some of you willing to read this. I am really grateful to those who left reviews and messages in my inbox telling me to update and how they love the story. You guys have motivated me to try and finish this story. (fingers crossed)(hopefully I still got my writing mojo) Thank you very much to all of you! :)
"Where is she?" Shikamaru muttered. He had been wandering around the corridors looking for the blonde ninja. Knowing that they needed to talk about what happened last night. He knew her well. She was not going to be easy to deal with until he cleared things out with her.
Wild cheers exploded from the inner walls of the stadium which made him pause and pivot towards the noise. As he reached the arched doorway, his dark eyes instantly pinpointed the dirty blonde beauty in the middle of all the chaos.
"Who's next?" Temari hollered, hefting her fan over her shoulder with ease.
He continued to stand in place, wondering what in the world was going on.
Kankuro took notice of him, smirked, and commented, "About time you got here. She's destroying them all."
"What do you mean? And why is that?" the leaf ninja replied in a wary tone. A sense of foreboding crept up his spine.
Kankuro's eyebrow lifted, amused. "You really don't know?"
"I have an idea but..."
"Good. Then all you need to know now is she's defeated about twelve soldiers and she's still raring to go." Kankuro savagely enjoyed the effects of his words as Shikamaru swallowed visibly.
Kankuro cupped his hands around his mouth and roared, "Okay soldiers, all of you, out!"
At that, everyone halted and with obvious relief, they started to shuffle out. Plenty of them glancing at Shikamaru and whispering.
Shikamaru stiffened until the last of the soldiers passed through the exit.
"What did you do that for, Kankuro?!" Temari growled.
"Don't beat him up too much, Tem. Remember that he still has a tournament to attend!" Kankuro chuckled as he went off.
Shikamaru turned to face Temari fully. "I'm not here to fight."
"That's too bad. You may leave then."
"We need to talk."
"This is not a place for such activity. This venue has one purpose and one purpose only." A cool gaze Temari sported.
Shikamaru paused, taking in her unyielding stance. He murmured, "So be it. I'll give you what you want."
He strode towards her with unnerving determination in his eyes. Her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed. He felt a sense of perverted satisfaction in making her react that way.
And before he could take another step, her fan snapped open and swung. A tremendous gust of wind almost flipped him over but he stood his ground, bracing his hands and feet into the sand. He grit his teeth, trying to think of what to do.
Her wind was relentless however. It went on and on. And there was nowhere for him to go because it was an open desert arena.
0000000000
She smirked. She knew she had him. It was her territory.
Until he collapsed onto the ground. She stared. Unable to believe it. Was it a trick? It must be.
Yet his body remained on the ground like a lightweight puppet abandoned by its master. It started to roll about and smacked about. Dirt all over his face. And entering his clothes.
She refused to get near. If she got near enough, she knew his shadow technique would get her.
But what if it was not a trick? What if that witch last night had somehow sapped his energy?
The thought just made her more furious. At the witch? Or at him? She did not know.
The frustration of not knowing her own feelings just made her lash out more.
Her gust grew steadily stronger. And his body lifted and smacked to the back wall of the arena then slipped down like a ragdoll.
She stopped. No matter if there was a chance that he was conscious. She was not this cold of heart.
"Get up and fight!" she yelled in frustration. "I know you're not unconscious."
He did not make a single twitch.
Worried but still suspicious, she took a few steps towards him.
In an instant, she was paralyzed. At her peripheral vision, she saw him rise from the ground and walk towards her. She shook with fury and embarrassment.
Her glare burned.
"Sorry, Tem. This was the only way," he said unapologetically with a slight grin.
"Let me go, you cheat," she spat.
"Hey, I got you good and you know it. In a real battle, there are no rules and you'd have been defeated."
The glare that she shot him might as well have roasted him on the spot. Her silence however signaled her reluctant agreement.
If he was trying to win her however, he was not doing a superb job at all.
"Okay, I'll let you go if you let us have a proper talk." A few seconds after he released his shadow bonds however, she sprinted forward to charge him.
Knowing her, he captured her yet again.
"Tem, you're making me do this the hard way."
"You know you'll run out of chakra soon enough."
"True. Which is why we talk now."
She shrugged.
"Why are you being so stubborn?" he grumbled.
She glared at him. "There is nothing to say."
"On the contrary, judging your behaviour, it's the exact opposite."
"There is nothing wrong with my behaviour."
He raised his brows incredulously. "You just trounced twelve soldiers, according to Kankuro."
"It's called exercise. You might wanna try it sometime." Temari drawled.
"No thanks," he said with a shudder. Then he threw her a calculating look. "We exercise enough together, don't you think."
He felt her transformation from haughty heatedness to cool disdain.
"I have had enough of this empty conversation. Let me go before I lose it."
The icy tone made him pause and hesitate. He withdrew his shadows reluctantly.
As soon as his shadows loosened, Temari attacked head on. In plain combat. Leaving her tessen behind her, she threw a full force roundhouse kick to his head.
Having anticipated that, Shikamaru ducked in the nick of time. But she followed through with a spinning back hook kick, he hopped backwards, his head just barely escaped.
Growling, she threw a combination of straight punches and undercuts and various swings. He managed to block almost all of them until one went past his defences and caught him in the solar plexus. He doubled over. Looking up, he saw her expression did not change. Not a hint of triumph.
"Don't pretend you're defeated. Let's continue," Temari spoke without emotion.
He was not fooled. His breathing was uneven. "Are you truly mad at me about last night? You know me. You know I wouldn't betray you. You know that. Why are you acting this way?" he asked with a hint of pleading and breathlessness.
There was beat of silence. A hint of emotion stirred Temari's face against her will. "Do you think I want to act this way?" she whispered harshly. "Do you think I want to act like a deranged woman? A lunatic?"
He didn't answer. He waited, coaxing her to go on.
"That woman," she spat. "She described all the ways you touched her, just as you've always touched me. Said how much you enjoyed it. How full of animation your face was."
He winced.
"I just can't comprehend why one of the greatest heroes of the Shinobi War couldn't detect that it wasn't me. Maybe you just went along with her scheme?" she sarcastically said.
"You know I wouldn't!" he protested. "You yourself said that it was her craft. Something she has been doing for years. Disguising as other people down to their chakra. How could I have known that it wasn't you?"
"Instinct. Gut instinct. Every ninja has been taught to listen well to their gut."
He heaved a huge sigh. "Temari, instinct versus a perfectly honed skill can very much fail. And has been proven to fail at times."
"You sound more defensive than apologetic," Temari deadpanned. "A mark of a person with guilt."
He gritted his teeth against the unfair verbal jab. "I am sorry that you had to see that. But I am not sorry that I acted that way. Because I had no reason to believe that it wasn't you."
"Enough." Darkness descended over her facial features. "Leave me alone."
"Temari." Shikamaru stepped forward, a hand reaching out, concerned and bewildered.
Wild, enraged sparks flew from her eyes, stopping him in his tracks.
Resigned, he turned and left.
Dropping to her knees, she started to shake uncontrollably and punched the sand repeatedly until her energy was completely drained and she lay limply in the dirt. Uncaring of all the sand seeping in through her clothes.
She stared blankly into the horizon for a long time.
"Stupid," she whispered before closing her eyes.
A/N: Thank you for reading! :)