Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
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"Shikamaru's sister." Tenten said disbelievingly.
"Yeah…" the three other girls sat in the booth, each in a daze as they processed the information Choji had given them after Soraoi and Shikamaru left to see the Hokage.
"I didn't even know he had a sister." Sakura commented.
"Neither did I." Ino stared at the wall in front of her, wondering why her teammate had never told her about Soraoi.
Choji was obviously Shikamaru's best friend. They had been best friends since their academy days, but Ino had known the both of them just as long. Sure, they hadn't become friends until they were placed in the same genin cell, but all three of their father's had been friends since their genin days, so naturally Ino, Choji and Shikamaru had spent a lot of time together growing up. They'd practically grown up together. So, how was it that Ino had never met this Soraoi? Why didn't she even know about her? This was definitely something she was going to have to talk to Shikamaru about.
"She's very pretty." Hinata said in a small voice.
"Yeah." Sakura nodded her head in agreement.
"She doesn't really look like Shikamaru though" Ino observed.
"Are you saying Shikamaru's ugly?" came a voice from behind the four kunoichi.
"Temari?" Tenten turned to face her best friend.
Whereas Neji was known for holding grudges, Tenten had never been one to stay mad at anyone. True, she had been disappointed after her loss against the older kunoichi at the Chunin exam, but she had never felt any animosity towards Temari. If anything, she had admired the woman who had beaten her. They'd seen each other a handful of times afterwards, and later, when Temari became an ambassador to Konoha, they had gotten to know one another better and became good friends, much to displeasure of Ino, whom Tenten had also befriended, along with Sakura and Hinata.
"Hello Tenten." Temari smiled, walking over towards the girls. "Hello Sakura, Hinata, Ino." Temari greeted the four Konoha kunoichi as she took a seat next to Tenten.
"Hello Temari-san" Hinata replied.
"Hi Temari" Sakura smiled uneasily as she looked over towards her best friend.
"Temari" Ino acknowledged the older girl, but only out of courtesy; on the inside she was smoldering in anger.
It wasn't really that Ino hated Temari, but it bothered her how Temari would cling to Shikamaru. She didn't know why that was though; it wasn't like she liked Shikamaru or anything. That lazy ass? The very idea of her liking that lazy bum was ludicrous; or so she told herself.
"So Temari" Tenten interrupted the awkward silence that fell upon them. "You're here for the festival, I take it?"
"Yeah, my brother's and I are here with Baki." Temari explained.
"Oh? Where are Gaara, Kankuro, and Baki-san anyway?" Sakura asked, looking around for the three shinobi.
"Apparently, even though we've been here many times over the years, Tsunade-sama feels the need to give us escorts." Temari wryly replied, "So Gaara is with Naruto, Kankuro is with Kiba, and Baki is with Genma."
"So, whose you're escort?" Hinata shyly inquired.
"Well, it was supposed to be Shikamaru, but with his sister showing up, I doubt he'll be coming back like he promised." Temari confessed.
"So YOU know about his sister?" Ino asked.
This did not sit well with Ino. Just moments earlier, she'd found out about this new sister; even though she and Shikamaru had been friends since they were very young children, and yet here was this foreign kunoichi, who they'd only met a few years ago, and yet she already knew about Soraoi. How long had she known about her? Had she met Soraoi before? Were they friends? How much did she know? The anger that had been building inside Ino, since the moment she had heard Temari, was now replaced by a deep and painful sadness. If the older kunoichi knew about Soraoi, that meant she probably knew more about Shikamaru than even Ino herself; which meant that Ino had lost. What it was she'd lost, Ino couldn't tell, but she felt it in her heart; she'd never even been a match for the older girl.
"Yeah, they came into the Hokage's office while we were in there." Temari explained, purposely leaving out the fact that up until that moment she had never even known that Shikamaru had a twin sister. "Is that who you were talking about before I arrived here?" Temari asked.
"Yes." Hinata replied.
"Well, you're right, she's definitely a lot prettier then Shika." Temari replied. "And she must be pretty powerful too." She added.
"How so?" Tenten wondered.
"Well, for one, she's a jonin." Temari noted.
"She is?" Sakura was amazed. In part, she was amazed that anyone as cute and tiny as Soraoi could become a jonin at such a young age, but she was more surprised that Temari knew this.
"Yeah; and even more impressive is the fact that she trained under Tomoe." Temari was certain at least Tenten would be as impressed with this piece of information as she had been when she heard it. Tomoe had been one of Temari's idols when she was younger. It was said that Tomoe possessed the strength of 10 men. Once, she had even taken down an entirely army with one swing of her sword. Temari had been shocked to hear that she'd been so easily defeated by a few rouge ninja's. It just didn't seem plausible.
"THE Tomoe?" Tenten exclaimed.
"Who's Tomoe?" Sakura asked.
"Are you kidding?" Tenten looked at Sakura questioningly, "She's one of the greatest kunoichi alive. She's legendary; the only kunoichi of the seven swordsmen from the village hidden in the mist. It's said she was the strongest among them, which is the only reason they accepted her." Tenten sat in awe, "Soraoi is so lucky to have been trained by such a skilled master."
"Yeah, I was pretty impressed myself." Temari admitted, "The girl doesn't look like much. Sure she's pretty, but as a warrior, she's quite small. She can't be more than five feet, and her frame is quite petite; feminine and slender, but not very well built for a fighter." Temari observed, "But there must be something to her if she were able to live through an ambush that even the great Tomoe-sama couldn't."
"What do you mean?" Ino finally spoke up; very interested in this new girl's mysterious past.
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"She was held captive by the rogue ninja's" Kankuro told the other's present.
Shortly after meeting up with Kiba, the pair had run into Naruto, Lee, Choji, Shino and Sasuke, who were all helping each other train for the upcoming jonin selections. Neji and Gaara were there too. Neji was there to find someone to spar with since Tenten had taken off to be with the girls, and Gaara was there because Naruto was his escort.
"So what does that mean?" Naruto asked. They were all taking a break discussing the current topic of Shikamaru's sister's reappearance in the village.
"Don't be stupid dobe." Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Everyone knows what happens to a kunoichi when she's held captive."
"WHAT?" Lee also wondered. Neji only looked at his teammate. Sometimes he was amazed at Lee's innocence, but it was also one of the things he admired about Lee; no matter how much of the worlds ugliness he saw, Lee still strongly believed in the good nature of people.
Never much one for tact, Shino bluntly responded, "She was raped." before standing up and moving back to the clearing to resume his training.
"WHAT?!?!?" Naruto couldn't believe what he'd heard, "Why would you say that?" Naruto demanded.
"Because, dobe, there's only one reason a group of S-class missing-nin would keep a young kunoichi." Sasuke stated.
"It's a risk all kunoichi are aware of" Neji added, "which is why there are so few kunoichi compared to male shinobi."
"I wonder how Shikamaru's taking this." Kiba said, "I know if it were my sister…" he didn't even want to finish that thought.
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"Shiki-kun?" Soraoi whispered; not wanting to disturb her brother, who was laying next to her on the soft green grass.
"What is it?" Shikamaru opened his eyes and turned to face her.
"I thought we were going home." Soraoi looked over at her brother.
They had been lying out in this grassy field for what seemed like hours; just staring up into the clouds. Over the years, Soraoi had written countless letters to her brother, and had learned of his love of cloud watching. In her travels through the five nations and beyond, Soraoi had always found a certain comfort in that. Looking up into the sky, she had felt connected to her home.
"You know, we're a lot like that." Shikamaru ignored her question.
"A lot like what?" Soraoi asked, not understanding what he was referring to.
"The sky." Shikamaru replied.
"oh?" Soraoi inquired.
"You're a lot like the sky…" Shikamaru began.
"Soraoi… blue sky. So?" still not quite understanding what Shikamaru was trying to say. (A/N: if you all forgot, Soraoi means blue sky… at least in my own little world).
"No, I mean… You've always had an endless spirit and energy to you. Even when we were little, everyone could see your potential, which is why you were sent to train under Tomoe. You've always been… limitless… like the sky."
"And you?" Soraoi curiously asked.
"I'm more like a cloud." Shikamaru said, "I drift lazily in the wind, just letting life happen."
"You shouldn't sell yourself short Shiki-kun" Soraoi commented, sitting up from where she was lying down. "The sky's just there. But clouds…Clouds are much more useful. They provide shade from the heat; they water the vegetation that provides air, food and medicines; they're constantly changing, taking on different forms for different purposes."
"Yes, but a cloud would be nothing without the sky." Shikamaru interjected.
The pain that Soraoi had been feeling since they left the Hokage's office was forgotten for the moment, as she thought over the words Shikamaru had said. She felt touched.
"Arigato, Shiki-kun." Soraoi bent over and gave him a peak on the cheek before standing and starting to walk home.
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A/N: I'm so happy people are reading and liking this story. Thank you ThisIsntClaire, Boredwithlifeandlove, and ShikaTema.rox.like.hell for your reviews. I hope you liked this chapter too… :D and yes Boredwithlifeandlove, kudo's to you, you got it!
NEXT UP: this time for sure, I'll have Gaara and Soraoi finally talk… and some Shikamaru/Temari, at least I hope, but really, this is still in a brainstorming stage, so I can't be sure.