VII: Until Next Time
"Wow, these Chunin Exams have been great," Ino said as she leaned back in her seat, "and this final match should be good."
"Yeah," Sakura replied as she leaned forward against the railing in front of them. "The organizers did a great job."
Come on!" Ino said with a smile. "This is Shikamaru we're talking about here, you should never doubt him."
Sakura chuckled. "I didn't, this was just beyond what I had already expected."
Ino nodded. "Ah. I understand what you mean. I think Temari's been a good influence on him."
Sakura looked over her shoulder at her friend. "You still think there's something going on between them?"
Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. I mean, they still eat out together very often and she's eaten dinner with his mother at least once."
Sakura turned to face Ino. "How do you know this?"
Ino smiled. "I have my…unique ways."
"You've been using your jutsu to spy on them?" Sakura asked.
"Hey," Ino said, "I've got to look after my boys."
"…I think you're taking it a little too far," Sakura replied.
Temari sat in her seat in the Tobirama Senju Arena in which the final rounds of the Chunin exams were being held in a special box reserved for the organizers of the exams. Above and to their right was the place reserved for the Five Kage and to their right, on the same level as the exam organizers, was the box for the Feudal Lords, minor village leaders, and other important officials.
The final matches had come to an end and the Hokage was preparing to give his closing address. Temari leaned against the railing, bored and listening to the conversations around her.
"Well, that was rather dull," Darui said off-handily.
"Nonsense," Kitsuchi replied, "there was a lot of promising talent on the field during these exams and the final rounds seemed popular with the audience." He turned to Shikamaru. "I must say, Shikamaru, that Konohamaru Sarutobi kid was quite impressive, well ahead of the rest of the crop."
Shikamaru shrugged. "He's the Third Hokage's grandson and he's received personal training from Naruto, what do you expect?"
Akira leaned on the rail next to Temari. "This is a fine stadium, isn't it? Well suited to an event such as this."
"Uh-huh," Temari answered.
"Still this place has a dark history," Akira continued, "this was the place where Orochimaru started his invasion of the Hidden Leaf, was it not?"
Temari closed her eyes, thinking back to a much darker period of her life. "It was."
"Ah," Akira said, "and if I remember correctly, you were here when it started."
"Yes," Temari answered.
"Must have been terrible," Akira said, turning around so that her back was against the railing. "The Third Hokage and Fourth Kazekage were both assassinated by Orochimaru, hundreds of people died. And to know that you betrayed the Leaf on the manipulations of that man."
"Still, it wasn't all bad," Temari said, "my brother changed after that, and he became Kazekage. Our relations with the Leaf took a short term hit but they came out stronger than ever…and I met-" Temari stopped mid-sentence and looked over her shoulder at Shikamaru, who was busy with a conversation with Darui and Kitsuchi.
"He's important to you, isn't he?" Akira asked.
"Yeah," Temari replied quietly, mostly to herself.
"Exam organizers, get up here!" Temari heard the gruff voice of the Raikage call out.
Quickly the five stopped their conversations and made their way up the stairs connecting their box to the Kage's.
"I'd like to congratulate you all," the Raikage said as they all gathered, "for your hard work these past few months. In a limited amount of time you managed to pull off something that had never been done before."
"Yes," the Tsuchikage stated, "these exams were a success well beyond our expectations."
There were collective murmurs of "thank you" from the organizers.
"I'm very proud of all of you," the Hokage added. "You all worked very well together."
"I agree," the Mizukage said, "this was proof that the Five Great Nations can continue to work together in times of peace. I look forward to when we host the next exams."
"I won't have to organize those too, will I? That would be such a drag," Shikamaru said.
Kakashi smiled and chuckled. "No, I don't think so, Shikamaru."
"Good," the chunin replied.
The Raikage stood up. "Well, I believe that we are done here for the day. Let us adjourn."
On that cue the Kage and the exam organizers began to file out of the stands, leaving the arena. Gaara remained in his seat, so Temari stayed as well. Shikamaru also seemed slow to leave. When they were the last three there the Nara Clan Head decided that it was time to go.
With a lazy wave as he walked, Shikamaru said, "see you later."
After Shikamaru had left Gaara stood and started to walk out, Temari joining him. When they exited the stands they were joined by Kankuro.
"I think that went well," Kankuro said.
Gaara nodded. "Yes, I believe so."
Kankuro came in step with his siblings, walking on the opposite of Gaara from Temari. "We leaving tomorrow morning?"
"Yes," Gaara answered.
"You must be happy to be going home, Temari," Kankuro said to her.
"Yeah, sure," she replied.
"What," Kankuro said, "you've been away from the village for six months and you don't miss it?"
"No, I do," Temari said, "but…"
"But…what?" Kankuro prodded.
"You've grown close to Shikamaru."
Temari was snapped out of her quiet state by her youngest brother's statement. "Um…yeah, I guess so."
"Oh, close in that way?" Kankuro asked, coming across to playfully nudge his sister with his elbow.
Temari pushed him away forcibly. "Not like that! Stop it!"
"Hey," Kankuro said with a shrug, "it's nothing new. I remember back when we were sent as backup on the Sasuke Retreival Mission you were adamant about being the one who saved him."
"That was just to get back at him for beating me in the Chunin Exams!" Temari snapped back.
"Are you sure that was only part of it?" Kankuro asked with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Argh!" Temari yelled out as she turned her face away from her brother, her arms crossed.
"That's enough," Gaara interjected, "it's late, let's get to the hotel."
Indeed it was late in the day, nearing nightfall, and Temari welcomed the prospect of a hot shower and a comfortable bed. As she laid down to sleep that night it occurred to her that she never said goodbye to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru yawned as he stood outside of the hotel that the party from the Hidden Sand was staying, leaning against a building across the street from it, hidden in the shadows. It was mid-morning and he had dragged himself out of bed to be here on a day on which he had full rights to sleep in for the first time in more than six months.
Looking up as he heard the sound of a door opening, Shikamaru saw Kankuro stepping out of the hotel, closely followed by his siblings.
Kankuro stretched his arms skyward as he stepped outside. "We ready to head out?"
Gaara took a few steps from the door, then stopped abruptly, looking in Shikamau's direction. "Wait."
Temari and Kankuro looked across the street and spotted Shikamaru, who responded with a lazy wave.
"Hokage requiring you to escort us out of the village?" Kankuro asked.
Shikamaru started to walk across the street to join the Sand Siblings, wearing a sly, knowing half-smile. "No, it just felt appropriate to escort all the other exam organizers out of the village."
"Have you already escorted the others?" Temari asked.
"No," Shikamaru replied, "they left too early for my taste."
Temari scoffed at this, then smiled softly and shook her head.
"Very well," Gaara said as he resumed walking towards the village gates.
His siblings and Shikamaru quickly followed behind them, the Leaf shinobi walking beside his compatriots from the Sand, not taking the initiative to assume a leading position, seeing as the Sand Siblings had become fairly familiar with the village during their various visits and this wasn't a formal function.
In a short while they had made it to the village gates, having arrived there with little incident or conversation.
"Well," Shikamaru said, after they had checked in with the gate guards. "I guess this is goodbye."
Gaara gave a small bow. "Thank you. And thank your Hokage for his hospitality for me."
"Yeah, I'll see you," Temari said. "Just don't feel too lonely when you eat alone tonight," she added, smiling.
Shikamaru let out a quiet laugh. "I"ll try."
"And one last thing," Temari added. "Do take the Jonin Exams, you need to."
"Not this again," Shikamaru replied.
"Listen, I already told…" Temari started.
Shikamaru waved his hand in a dismissive manner, as if he were doing it on a whim, though in truth he had been considering it for a while. "Fine, I'll take the stupid exams."
Temari stared back in surprise. "Wait, seriously?"
"Yes," Shikamaru said with a shrug, "you've convinced me. Happy?"
Temari smirked. "Only if you pass."
Shikamaru smiled back. "Then I'll try that, troublesome as it is."
The two of them then stood there for what felt to be several minutes, smiling and staring at each other awkwardly.
"Right, um, well, goodbye," Temari stammered.
"Yeah, bye," Shikamaru replied.
After one last lingering look, Temari turned away and started walking away from the village. Her brothers turned and walked with her without a word. Shikamaru stood and watched them for a time before he left the gates himself, heading back to his home and hoping to get some rest.
Temari and her brothers walked through the forest of the Land of Fire at a middling pace, neither slow nor hurried. The Hidden Leaf had disappeared from their view and a three day trip to the Hidden Sand laid before them. As usual for these trips the trio was mostly quiet and in the silence Temari contemplated the previous six months and her impending return to her home.
"You want another long-term assignment in the Leaf?" Gaara asked, breaking Temari from her thoughts.
Temari glanced over at her brother, confused. "um…maybe. Why do you ask?"
"I just thought you might want to," Gaara answered, though the glance he made from the corner of his eye seemed to imply that there was more to it than that but her youngest brother wasn't going to say it at this juncture.
Temari thought about it for a moment. She would like the chance to visit Shikamaru again, however, it had also been six months since she had last seen her home and the first thing on her mind was returning to the Hidden Sand.
"Ask me later," Temari finally replied. "I might be interested."
"Very well," Gaara replied, turning his attention back on the long road back the Hidden Sand.
Shikamaru opened one eye and looked at his clock as he woke up. It was noon, the latest he'd been able to sleep in months. He sat up, his face illuminated by the faint light that filtered through the curtains. For a moment he considered laying back down and just staying in bed but in the end decided that he would be better off going out and doing some cloud watching.
However, he was in no hurry to do that, slowly going through the process of showering and putting on clothes, generally taking his time with every task. Eventually Shikamaru had managed to drag himself in the general direction of the front door.
As he passed by the living room he heard his mother call out to him. "You coming home for dinner tonight, Shikamaru?"
"No, I'll be eating with Temari and maybe a few other people," Shikamaru answered as he kept walking.
"Temari hasn't left the village yet?" Yoshino asked.
Shikamaru came to a stop as he realized what he had just said. Why had he said that? "No, she left yesterday morning."
Shikamaru looked over at his mother to see her smile a knowing smile, one that he found generally annoying. He resumed walking with a new sense of urgency, hoping that a chance to do some cloud watching would clear his head.
