Book Two: Unwanted Surprises

Chapter Two:
Shikamaru to the Rescue?

In this chapter, expect a brief appearance from Itachi. Sort of. I didn't want him to be completely gone from Book Two, seeing as he is the cause of all this. ;)

Disclaimer: Do we really have to go through with this again? I. Don't. Own. It.

Slowly, Temari made her way over to the hospital bed. There, she collapsed onto her back and grabbed the pillow. She sat up and held it close to her chest while rocking slightly back and forth. Tsunade walked over to her and sat beside her.

"This was obviously unexpected I guess." she assumed. "Do you wanna tell me about it?" Tsunade pat Temari on the back, and she stopped rocking. She was stronger than that, dammit. "Was it. . ." Tsunade wondered if she should go there, but she took the chance. "Was it somebody from the Akatsuki? They're criminals but. . . did any of them—?" She figured the question was self-explanatory.

"Well, I wouldn't call it rape. Not exactly." Temari mused. "I lost my memory, and one of them took advantage of that. As soon as my memories returned, I fled. But I guess he'd already left his mark."

"Do you remember which one it was?" Tsunade asked.

"Heh." a little smirk appeared on Temari's face as she remembered all the 'battles' and rivalries she had with the one that had kidnaped her in the first place and held her captive. She had been very good with holding her own and by fleeing she won the battle, but it was only fair to say that he had won the war in the end. If she ever saw him again, she'd make sure he would pay dearly and she would triumph that time. "That stupid Uchiha."

Tsunade's eyes widened. One might think they were going to pop out of her head. "You mean it was. . .?"

"That's right. Itachi." Temari nodded. "And the next time I see him I'll—"

"No." Tsunade interrupted. "I doubt you'll ever see him again, so you might as well keep all of those thoughts out of your head. I know I'd want revenge, but I don't think it'll make a difference now."

A pause came from Temari. But only for a moment before she asked the inevitable question. "Heh. I wonder how Gaara will react. I know Kankuro will be shocked for sure."

"Excuse me." Tsunade mumbled under her breath. It was clear that Temari had to stay in one place for now with supervision. Lots of it so she wouldn't go insane. She decided it would be a nice 'mission' for one of the Chuunin. The hard part would be informing her brother, expecting her to just leave her here in Konoha. Later on, though, she'd have to deal with Gaara. Who had to be at the very least a thousand times worse.

Reluctantly, Tsunade made her way into the hallway, where Kankuro had been standing against his will. It was clear that he wanted to be with his sister. "Well?" he inquired. "Is she alright?"

"Temari is pregnant." Tsunade waited for the shock to pass before she continued talking to him. "I believe Temari should stay here so that I may keep an eye on her. She isn't very mentally stable at the moment."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?" he asked her. "Is she just shocked or something? Why can't she just come home! That would be the best place for her!"

Tsunade shook her head at the poor boy. "She is no longer in any condition to travel that long road back to Suna. She made it here in one piece, but I can tell she's falling apart. It's best for her to stay in the hospital until she's had the child. I can have one of my Chuunin keep an eye on her for the next few months. Don't worry about that. What you should be worrying about is going home and telling the Kazekage." she plopped a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Kankuro." And with a nod and a wave goodbye, she walked him to the door.

Kankuro suddenly felt a wave of horror wash over him. Gaara definitely not going to be too happy about this. . .

At her office, Tsunade looked out the window, then went back to looking at the Chuunin profiles. Who wasn't busy with missions at the moment? Were any of them even the slightest bit attached to Temari to the point where they wouldn't mind watching her until she gave birth? Naruto would probably do an excellent job.

Aside from the fact that he just might drive Temari completely bonkers. Especially with all those hormones flying around in there.

Tsunade was just about to give up until the morning came. But she couldn't risk Temari doing something stupid in the middle of the night. She needed a bodyguard A.S.A.P. Suddenly, Tsunade felt a sneeze coming on. Unfortunately (or should we say, fortunately. . .) She forgot to cover her mouth and the photos went flying everywhere. The Hokage managed to catch them all, which was a miraculous feat considering she was drunk off sake.

She looked down at some of the photos that were scattered about due to her sneeze. And there was the Chuunin she had been looking for.

Dark, passive brown eyes stared back at her with a tan face and a black-haired ponytail to match. It was none other than the face of the laziest Chuunin in Konoha.

Cue the cheesy hero music, folks! Shikamaru Nara is here to save the day!

"I suppose that's my best choice. I'd better inform him of his mission." Tsunade said something to her assistant, Shizune, who nodded and walked off to tell the Nara family.

Back at the hospital, the days events were starting to wear down on Temari. She had been getting sleepier by the second and her sickness had worn off slightly now that she was lying in a comfortable bed. The blonde was comfortable enough to let sleep take over, and it was quite a relief. Until her mind started playing nasty little games.

There she was. . . back at the Akatsuki hideout with her worst nightmare. Except this time they weren't in the bathroom. They were in the room Temari resided in during the time she was forced to reside there and found out Itachi Uchiha could be in ten place at once.

But at the moment, he was standing in front of her and the only good thing she could pick out about this scene was the fact that he wasn't facing her. He was turned the other way and seemed to be deep in thought. Not that she could exactly tell. . .

Temari tried to step forward. Why, she didn't know. Normally, she'd press herself up against the wall hoping he'd go away. That would be awesome if he did.

Or it would also be even more awesome if he turned around and started doing the Cha Cha Slide!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Itachi faced her. His Akatsuki cloak was unbuttoned and he was only wearing a net top with the standard shinobi pants. His eyes were Sharingan, which pierced into her teal eyes with great intensity. Even in dream world he was the most beautiful yet intimidating human being ever. It startled Temari when he started moving closer to her, and this was when she started to back up into the wall.

Not a very smart move. Now she was cornered and Itachi's hands were flat against the wall, his arms on either side of her head. His face moved closer to hers ever so slightly. "You're starting to bore me, Temari. You don't really fight back anymore."

Temari thought in her head. She decided a nice little knee to the crotch was the best way to go since her fan was apparently not there.

Unfortunately, there was one little problem with this plan. . .

Temari couldn't move. At all.

"What 's the matter?" Itachi mocked. "Disappointed that you can't escape? That you can't fight back any longer?"

Temari let a low growl escape her throat. This was her dream! He shouldn't be the one controlling her mind! Even though he had done so not long ago. With the Sharingan. . . allowing her to believe his lies when her memories had temporarily fled. "You're the worst." was all Temari could muster without completely flying off the handle. But it seemed to get her point across okay. The Uchiha was still smirking. "You knew, didn't you?"

Itachi shrugged. "I suppose." he said nonchalantly, which pissed her off even more. "You ran off before I had time to tell you."

Temari squirmed as he tried to wrap his arms around her waist. "Get away from me! You are the most despicable creature on the face on the planet! No, stop that!" she was losing her temper at the fact that she couldn't swat his arms away, squirm, kick, or basically cause any physical pain. All she could do was yell, and that sure as hell wasn't going to stop the Uchiha.

"Temari. . ." he said in a soft voice that didn't sound like him. "Temari, wake up." he suddenly put his arms on her shoulders and gently shook her. Okay, this was getting really freaky. Until she recognized the voice as. . .

Temari's eyes practically popped open as she finally awoke. She stared up at Shikamaru, who had his same old 'Screw The World' expression on his face. "Are you okay? You looked like you were having a bad dream."

"Yeah." Temari mumbled under her breath, sitting up. "Bad dream." She shook her head and finally got it in her mind that Shikamaru had somehow ended up in the hospital room even though he had no idea she was here. "How did you get here?"

Wow, the gossip spreads like wildfire in Konoha.

Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh and pulled up a conveniently placed chair in the corner. "The Hokage told me that I had another mission. She gave me all the details about why you're here and told me to go to the hospital incase you go insane." he sighed again, but resisted the temptation to mumble 'what a drag. . .'

Temari's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. So then, you must know about. . ." she protectively grabbed the pillow and placed it over her stomach.

"Yeah, yeah." he waved it off. She loved that about Shikamaru. . . to an extent. "Itachi's baby, lost your memories. What a drag that must've been."

Some girls might've been offended that he shrugged those events off like they were nothing, but Temari was trying to forget them too, and that was the exact attitude she needed. "Yup. A drag." a new thought startled her. "You won't tell anyone will you?" she gasped. Nobody else really needed to know.

Yeah. Imagine Sasuke's disappointment.

"I won't tell. It's too much of a drag to tell anyone. Why don't you go back to sleep?" He leaned back in his chair.

Temari didn't want to go back to sleep. She knew she would have another nightmare about the Uchiha.That was currently out of the question. But she knew it would be hard to get Shikamaru to have a decent conversation with her.

"Thanks." Temari said out of the blue.

Shikamaru's left eye opened. "For what?"

"For agreeing not to tell anyone. At least there's somebody around who doesn't want to cause me any grief." for the first time in a while, Temari smiled a sincere smile.

"Women are so strange." Shikamaru mumbled to himself. "Causing you grief would be too much of a drag. Besides. . ." he went into thought, but only for a moment, "You'd want revenge."

Out of nowhere, Shikamaru felt himself being bear hugged by Temari. "You're so dense." she giggled. Temari overcame her sickness and had jumped out of her bed just to show her appreciation. Even Shikamaru would notice that.

From under the tall blonde, Shikamaru mumbled something barely audible to human ears. "You hug too tight. . ."

Whew. That chapter was a bit hard to get going, but I finally got to writing it and tried to give it that lighthearted mood. ;D Kiss, Kiss! Previews for the next chapter:

Temari's stomach had swollen a bit, so it was clear she had put on some weight, but she wasn't really that far into the pregnancy. And she hadn't even experienced the worst of it.

In a cold sweat, Temari sat straight up in her bed. Another frightening dream. They just wouldn't stop haunting her.

"Who's the father, Temari?" Gaara demanded. "I'll kill him. . ." he growled under his breath and glared out of the window. But Temari refused to inform Gaara. She couldn't take that risk of him leaving to find Itachi and getting killed. . . again.