Chapter 13: By Your Side Again
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I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
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"—me." Itachi finished, pulling off his hat. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and backed away, confused and suddenly a little frightened.
In a second, Itachi made a quick hand movement, causing Shikamaru to take a battle position, but soon Itachi disappeared into a puff of smoke.
And there stood Temari, clad in Akatsuki robes, smirking at him.
His eyes deceived him, he was sure. He stepped back, blinking, then panicked.
"Show your true form!" He said cautiously, narrowing his eyes and raising his arms to fight. Temari scowled.
"Seriously, what a crybaby, through and through. It's me, dumbass!" She said, punching him in the shoulder. He blinked, then grinned sheepishly. Suddenly his face hardened, as if he just realized something dark and painful.
"What are you doing here? Are you trying to get killed?!" He whispered fiercely. She stared up with a glare, looking genuinely taken aback.
"Aren't you going to thank me? Tsunade cast me away from efforts to save you, I come anyway, and you're not even acting grateful?" She said, looking up at him seriously, a glare entering her suddenly befuddled eyes. His face darkened, then he took on a look of surprise.
"They know?!" He asked, then shook his head. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter anymore. They're still safe. But you—You have to get out of here. Please. People will be killed, Temari! Can't you see that that if I make a single mistake, my whole village is gone?" He said, throwing his arms up in the air hopelessly.
"They'll find the headbands!" Temari hissed in a low voice. "But now, we need to get you out." She pulled on his Akatasuki robe, nudging him to follow. Suddenly he turned to her, his eyes bearing a strange, dark new look to them.
"What makes you think I want to go?" He said bitterly. "These people became my comrades while Konoha had a funeral for me instead of sending search parties." Shikamaru said harshly. "Temari, the circumstances of Konoha turning against me...my mind isn't made up yet." He said, shaking his head. She stared at him in utter disbelief.
"Are you telling me you want to be an S-class criminal, because your village didn't send search parties?!" Temari cried, fury flushing her face and gracing her eyes. He decided only to stand, fists lightly clenched, and stared at the shadows coloring the gray wall of the room. "Look, either you're having a midlife crisis, or your IQ just dropped to about 10." Temari said bitterly.
"I dislike the second choice. And this could be a midlife crisis. Ninjas only live to be about 30." Shikamaru said in a curt tone. Temari's face flushed, then she took on a softer face. 'Oh no. If that goddamned crybaby isn't going to come, I'll make him, one way or another...'
"If you don't come with me to sneak out, I swear I'll walk out there, reveal myself, and get myself and most likely your village killed." Temari said with a small smirk, an unreadable glint in her eyes.
Shikamaru looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Then he took on a troubled look.
"I'm in something troublesome again, aren't I." He stated, throwing her a look that said 'why me?'. Then he shook his head. 'If she came this far...man, she must be in a really troublesome mood to get me back, what am I thinking, to not take the risk? Even if it is way too troublesome for comfort?' Temari stared, waiting for an answer, leaning on her ever-ready fan. He looked down at her and smirked.
"Alright, but we're going to need a plan. Drill this into your head—I'm not repeating any of it again. If Tsunade-sama thinks that you're headed to Suna, we need to work fast—"
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Tsunade sneezed, causing many of her un-signed papers to float to the floor, onto even more papers. This caused her bang her head noisily on the desk in frustration. Shizune looked at her disapprovingly.
"Maybe you should go relax for a little bit. I can finish some papers—"
"Hokage-sama!" The door was flung open, stopping Shizune mid-sentence. There stood Iruka, flushed and worried. In his right hand was a forehead protector. Tsunade looked up, dazed.
"Yes?" She asked drowsily. Iruka brought the headband forward, opening his mouth to speak.
"I was readying the Genin headbands to be given out, and one fell to the ground." He started. "Then the metal protector cracked and broke off, and something began seeping out of a hidden chamber." He said, flipping the metal off of the headband he was holding. Inside was a small net, holding a lethal dosage of poison. Tsunade blinked in shock, eyes widening.
"But that—" She said, getting up. She turned to Shizune.
"I need a team of ten to fifteen ANBU headed into the forest, now! Mission is to find Temari and retrieve Shikamaru Nara from the Akatsuki." She said forcefully.
"Hai." Shizune said, running off to alert the ANBU. Then Tsunade turned to a startled Iruka, her face full of guilt.
"I've made a horrible mistake." She said, sitting. Iruka nodded slightly, confused, and ran back to dispose of the headbands, keeping just one for inspection. Tsunade looked down at her papers, her face darkening. 'It is my job to trust allies and family, all of Konoha..I will never distrust any of my family again.'
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"Are you sure this is going to work, crybaby?" Temari asked, slightly unsure of what he was telling her. Shikamaru nodded briskly, his fingers fumbling out of his thinking pose.
"If we do it right, we can plan it so Zetsu's alone in the medical hall and you can transform easily. Their chakra is drained from today's mission, so they won't be able to see through it. Just act like him, got it? No troublesome temper that could get us seen." Shikamaru said coolly, eying her. She gave him a small glare.
"I resent that. Alright—Transform!" Temari whispered, disappearing in a poof of smoke after a few quick hand seals. There stood, Zetsu, who grinned at Shikamaru.
"Let's go." Temari/Zetsu said. Shikamaru nodded, the gravity of the situation making him feel slightly ill.
Shikamaru led out into the hallway nonchalantly, Temari in Zetsu's body close behind. They passed the halls with no problems, until they came to the main entryway of the lair, where all the Akatsuki except for Zetsu, who was in the medical hall after an especially gruesome mission, were standing, talking of plans. The Leader glanced up.
"Zetsu? Shikamaru?" He asked, expecting them to answer as to where they were headed.
"We're going to pick up bounties in the Rain Village." Shikamaru lied smoothly, although in his head he was screaming for mercy, trying to perfect his speech. The Leader looked at him unfazed.
"Zetsu, your wounds are healed?" The Leader asked, staring hard at Temari/Zetsu. She smirked through his body.
"Of course."
"And you wish for Shikamaru to accompany you?" The Leader asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Shikamaru is a good boy." Temari/Zetsu added with a fierce grin. The Leader stared at him, then after a moment of pure tension, nodded.
"Mission granted. Be back by sundown." Shikamaru almost gasped. Temari's lies were easy and precise, and the Leader's chakra was so drained that he couldn't see through the faux Zetsu. Temari/Zetsu then proceeded to lead the way out of the door.
They were outside in seconds, only to let out a long breath after their dangerous deeds. Temari transformed back, and laughed hard, staring at him, eyes shining.
"We did it!" She said happily. Shikamaru shook his head.
"We have to get back before they—" Their happiness was cut short from a quick bark.
"Zetsu?!" Came the Leader's voice.
"Hai." Said a wary voice. Zetsu.
The Leader. Shikamaru turned to her, startled, to only see her bringing out her fan. She turned to him, determination seeping into her eyes.
"Konoha will be dead if we flee. If we fight, we distract the leader from releasing the poison." Her voice crackerd after the word 'we'. Maybe it was because every time she was fighting, every time she had been in a battle, it was by his side.
She would be by his side until the very end.
And that was still what scared her most, that voice inside her head pulling her back into the darkness.
The voice that told her she was weak because she needed him.
He looked at her, a look of astonishment and, was that small flicker of his eyes, possibly caring?
He shook his head.
Then suddenly his hand was over hers.
It was brief, but it told her everything.
She didn't even have time to blush.
Because there standing around them, was the Akatsuki.
Temari's fan opened with a flourish, although her heart was racing a mile a minute. Shikamaru readied his palms for the Kagemane no Jutsu.
They both knew that the chances of surviving were too slim to be hopeful. They would die, two against too many S-class criminals. But something that they couldn't control told them that as long as they were by each other's side again, they would fight for whatever came their way.
Suddenly a voice cracked through the forest, a rumbling of feet and running. Leafs fell too the ground, dust kicked into the air. Everyone's hands flew to their faces, the dust clouds disorienting them.
"Damn, at a time like this! Un-fucking-believable!" Came Hidan's angry call. Shikamaru could see him scowling. Suddenly a groan came, and when the dust cleared, there stood Asuma, standing over a groaning Hidan.
Shikamaru gaped, as did Temari, and the rest of the Akatsuki, who were now staring at a team of ten to fifteen ANBU, Jounin, and Chuunin.
"You go to hell you goddamn shitheads!" Hidan called, pulling the kunai out of his chest. Blood fell to the ground, but Hidan obviously didn't care.
It was a flurry, a blur.
The battle began, the Konoha nin against the Akatsuki. Lives would be lost, blood would be shed, leaves would wither and die.
And Temari and Shikamaru were caught in the middle.
A/N: This one sucked -- Sorry! THE NEXT WILL BE SO AMAZING THAT YOU'LL DIE. ALRIGHT. TA TA FOR NOW.