Chapter 35

Back to the Sand

After about 20 minutes Shikamaru showed up with his supplies and met Temari at the gates to the village.

She looked happy. Shikamaru wondered if it was because she had gotten homesick while she was in the leaf village. He figured he had plenty of time to ask her about it on their way. "You ready to go?" He asked her.

"Sure," she answered and they set off.

She was wondering for a while if Shikamaru liked her, and he was so quiet that she knew she would probably never hear it from him. One way she came up with was trying to see if he would escort her back to her village. They both knew that she didn't really need an escort, her strength was greater than or equal to his own. It was nice to see though, that although he knew this he didn't argue about it. And when he behaved like that, helping her out when she didn't need it and also when he came to talk to her during rebuilding only to have nothing to say, that's when he showed her that he liked her. Thinking about that made her smile.

Shikamaru noticed her smile for the second time during their short journey and had to ask. "Hey Temari, are you pretty happy to be going home?"

"What," she asked, she had been lost in thought.

"To be going home, are you pretty happy about it?" He asked again.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I am." She answered as her smile faded. She looked over at Shikamaru and saw the confused look on his face. "I do miss being home, but I'll also miss the Leaf." She added.

Shikamaro nodded, he wondered what else she was thinking about. He wasn't expecting for her to leave or that he would be escorting her back, but he liked spending time with her.

After they had been walking for several hours he began to ask her about some thing on his mind. "Why didn't you mention that you wanted me to bring you back?" he asked her point blank.

She wasn't expecting this question and wasn't sure how she should answer it. She asked him to see if he liked her enough to drop everything to be with her, and she could see that he did. Trying to make it sound different than that would be difficult. "You've been so busy…" she faltered.

She wasn't a very good liar. She stopped walking for a moment and wondered if she should just tell him, but then quickly decided against it. What if he acted weird about it, they still had a day and a half before she got home.

"Do you need to rest?" he asked her, surprised that she stopped.

"No," she said as she picked up the pace again.

Shikamaru could tell that there was something she wasn't saying but knew she probably wouldn't tell him. "I have been really busy lately," he added, "but it's okay, I don't mind." He smiled at her.

She was relieved not to have to explain and smiled back at him.

They were silent for several hours until Shikamaru let her know they had reached the half way point and could rest for the night. Temari was starving and was happy to get a chance to rest.

"Do you want to cook or collect wood for the fire?" he asked.

"I'll cook," she stated as he handed her a bag with the rations.

"I'll get some wood and start the fire," he returned.

She sat down with the rations and tried to figure out what to pair together. The food that Shikamaru had for rations was different than what she was familiar with in the Sand Village.

After a few minutes Shikamaru returned and started laying out the logs to prepare the fire. Temari was looking at him as he laid out the logs, noticing how strong his arms looked and how focused he was. She was still looking at him when Shikamaru noticed and looked over at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Just waiting for you to start the fire," she covered as he turned back to working on the fire and she continued staring at him.

Once he got the fire started he came and sat near Temari while she started to cook. He watched as she tried to figure out how to cook the rations he packed. He could tell she didn't know what she was doing but he thought it was cute. After a few minutes he started laughing.

"Let me help you Temari," he said as he reached for the spoon. He grabbed onto the spoon and had his hand over hers as he stirred. He couldn't tell in the dark, but she had started to blush. He reached for other rations she hadn't used and added them. "Now go ahead and stir this up and it should be done." He said while smiling at her.

He really liked Temari but was doubtful anything could ever work out between them. They came from different villages, had different sets of rules to live by, even if it was a united shinobi world now. He understood that the villages banned relationships between outsiders to protect their juitus, but he wished things could be different. It was hard because he didn't feel like he did with Temari with anyone, and that's why he didn't mind coming with her, even with no notice.

They ate in silence, both with a lot on their minds. After they were done, they laid out their beds on opposite sides of the fire. Temari got into her bed right away and Shikamaro put another log on the fire before he rested for the night. They both laid awake for hours before finally falling asleep, thinking about the day ahead of them tomorrow.