A/N: I'm baaack. And I still haven't finished that ObitoRin one-shot. I will someday.

Thanks to the reviewers- pgwchaos, Malkloc, Skuld's Sentaro 6, The Anonymous 1, nonengel, and Naru-Rin.

On with the story!

Struggle

Chapter 6

-START-

Temari groaned again, placing her hand on her forehead, and sat up slightly, only to be a little dizzy. Her head throbbed uncomfortably, making her head like a fog; she couldn't quite recall exactly what had happened… She pushed off the light blanket that was covering her body, she felt extremely hot; not a comfortable hot either; it was uncomfortable burning sensation from the inside out.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura was immediately by her side. She removed Temari's hand in order to test the warmth of her body. She was a bit surprised to feel that Temari was quite warm; above normal levels.

Temari thought for a moment, trying to summon up the right word for her situation, "…nauseated." She said after some silence. Was that the right word to use? She thought so, "…and hot." Naruto popped up behind Sakura, his blue orbs looking down at Temari with vivid concern.

"Is she all right, Sakura-chan?" He asked, peering down at Temari curiously; like a child. Temari almost smiled through her condition, the genuine concern on his face was a bit…what was the word for it? Temari couldn't pull it out because her head gave a particularly nasty throb.

Temari moaned and leaned down, "This is going to be a long day…"

-------

Tsunade groaned as she looked at her desk cluttered with papers. "Damn you Kakashi!" She hissed out to the empty room. Kakashi's request involved just as much paperwork as her normal duties. "Fuck this—"

"Tsuande-sama…" Shizune's voice warned, from behind. There was the sound of a fist hitting a palm, and Shizune's face was dark and her eyes red as she came up behind Tsunade.

Tsunade sweatdropped nervously.

-------

After an hour and a half, Temari was now able to stand up for short intervals without feeling dizzy. However, her head still throbbed and her body still felt heated. She had downed quite a few glasses of water in an attempt to cool down, but nothing was working thus far; so she had began avoiding all contact with the other members of the group, they didn't need to worry any more about her condition than they already were.

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi had been spending Temari's recovery time as planning and caring for the injured member, no matter how much she said she was okay. Temari coughed and pounded her chest lighting with her fist, and when she opened her eyes again after coughing, she noticed all focus on her. She resisted the urge to glare heatedly at them, and turned to the other side of the clearing.

They were wasting time here. The bandits were moving quickly, and they were stranded here, all because she was injured. She slammed her fist into the tree next to her, and she could almost feel each pair of eyes on her. She pulled her knuckles away from the tree trunk and cleaned off the splinters with a brush of her fingers. Small fragments of wood stuck up out of her skin; causing small pricks of pain in the said areas. She sighed and plucked out the annoying slivers, and turned towards the rest of the group.

"We have to get moving."

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Tsunade snored loudly, head on the desk with her hair bedraggled. Papers were strewn across the desk's surface, books open on random pages, and some of the books had small markings and notes on the sides. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic; oblivious to the incoming danger.

"Tsunade-sama…" A dangerous voice warned. Slowly Tsunade awoke with a groggy sigh; she turned to look at Shizune, who seemed to be more irritable than usual. Tsunade wiped the ink off of her cheek and gathered up papers and books. "Where are you going…?" The voice had lost its intimidation; and now it was just a casual curiosity bubbling from pale pink lips.

"To find somewhere less distracting to work." The more work there was to be done, the less motivated she was. If she wanted to help Kakashi and his team, she had to get out of there. And she definitely wasn't telling Shizune where she was going; the secondary purpose of finding a less distracting place to work was getting away from Shizune and her scary mood-swings.

Shizune stood with her mouth slightly agape as she watched the 5th Hokage leave the room. It was too late before she realized the purpose in the Hokage's departure; causing her to hold her fist up in anger, a vein popping out of the back of her hand.

Tsunade found the nearest bar with ease. Settling herself at a table she opened one of the books and used her index finger to search through it. She hadn't worked this much since she did Lee's surgery three years ago…what a drag… She pulled out her notes and looked over them. Nothing. No records, no birth certificate, no identification, no nothing. Either Kumori was a fake name or--…

She paused.

She looked everywhere except one place. She couldn't believe it took so long to figure out, it was almost a no brainer. But she had never considered the possibility, and she had a feeling that nobody else had either.

She hadn't checked those listed under deceased.

------

After awhile of nonstop convincing, the group had continued on. Sakura was looking through a small booklet, trying to determine which place to go to next. Kakashi was reading his usual Icha Icha Paradise, while Naruto was walking slightly behind Temari, so he'd be the first to detect any abnormalities. Temari was concentrating on maintaining the slow pace, while battling slight dizziness that she associated with having a minor concussion. She assumed that Sakura also had the same assumption, but neither females said anything.

Sakura merely understood Temari's desire to not become a burden. Sakura herself had the same problems awhile ago, and she respected Temari's determination. The will of both of the girls had won out over Sakura's medical side, and Sakura remained silent about the worse points of Temari's condition—the males of the group would trust the medical nin.

For Sakura's sacrifice, Temari was grateful. She was already being more of a burden than help; therefore defiling the original idea. She, however, didn't believe in apologizing for her lack of help. She would work harder.

Kakashi turned to the group, "I think we should rest for a little while." His one exposed eye looked at each person in turn, but lingered on Temari for a longer period of time, "We all could use some rest after the ordeals of the last few days."

The blonde Suna nin felt complied to argue, "The more time we waste the harder it will be to catch the thieves!" She protested, digging one heel into the dirt pathway below her feet. Her whole body was rigid with her rebellious instincts; she was stubborn to say the least.

"It'll be easier to catch them after a good night's rest." Sakura interjected. Her medical side was winning over this time; she had made a quick decision that rest would be best for all of them—none of them were immortal. But there was no doubt that Temari felt herself responsible for them wanting to rest.

"I'm fine!" Temari snapped at the pink haired girl. The medic frowned deeply, her green eyes sparking intelligently, even as they narrowed. She didn't take being yelled at kindly.

"A minor concussion is not the definition of 'fine', Temari-san." She said with a dull tone to her voice. She waited for the yelling in the general direction a certain male blonde.

"NAAAANIIIII?" Right on schedule, "Temari! You—"

Temari turned on Naruto with a hard glare, causing them both to shrink back. Temari because of another hard throb, and Naruto because of an icy glare. Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances, and with a silent nod they both agreed.

"We're resting and that's final." Sakura said, pointing to a place on the map, "We can stay at an inn here. It's not very far from here either." She turned back, and started walking, Kakashi following her. Defiance reared up inside of Temari, but she held it back. If she had gotten that beaten up by one thief, imagine what would happen if she tried to go after them all by herself. She'd be lucky if she lived.

------

That night, the rooms were split up—Sakura and Temari in one, Kakashi and Naruto in the other. Sakura sat on the bed cross-legged, facing the older girl who was also sitting cross-legged on her bed, which was directly across from Sakura's.

"What's your problem?" Temari asked irritably. Ever since the beating, she had been experiencing migraines. It wasn't a pleasant experience; the sensitivity to light and sound were getting to her, making her more irritable than usual. She wasn't a stranger to pain, but something about migraines was worse than getting stabbed multiple times.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked, avoiding Temari's rude behavior. She gazed at the older girl with an analyzing look.

"Oh, just dandy." She responded sarcastically, "Never felt better in my life." She stood up and began walking around a little to stretch her abnormally tight muscles. This mission wasn't doing anything good for her health. She'd probably have to have a nice, long vacation after this one.

"You shouldn't ignore advice when it's given to you."

Temari rolled her eyes at the pink haired girl. Her level of authority—if anything—was lower than even Temari's. She was in no way compelled to obey any of Sakura's 'advice', prized student of Tsunade or not. She was just another spoiled brat trained by a great ninja; raised in a peace-ridden country. Her level of irritability was rising by the moment. "I'm going out for fresh air." She mumbled with an angered tone. She left no room for argument by leaving the room immediately after her announcement.

She took a few turns and ended up at the stairwell. With a sigh, she began her ascent. The more she moved, she discovered—and the closer she got to fresh air—the more she wanted to climb those stairs. By the time she had reached the roof, she was pumped. She strode confidently out onto the roof, and leaned on the railing, letting the wind caress her face.

What would she have been like if she had been normal?

It was a question that often rose when she thought too much. Would she be the same way if she had not been a ninja? If she hadn't been the daughter of the Kazekage, maybe Gaara could have led a better life… Maybe their parents would still be alive, and be different than they were.

Maybe.

She tried to imagine herself in the place of the endless amounts of pedestrians, doing normal, routine errands. Going to school, getting a non-risk job… It seemed boring.

She sighed again, the headache was gone, she noted with some relief. She turned, knowing full well someone was there, "Hello Naruto." She leaned back on the railing behind her. There was quite a perilous drop behind it; but she wasn't afraid of heights. Nah, she was a ninja of the great Hidden Sand. She wasn't afraid of a little drop.

"Hi." He came and stood next to Temari, folding his arms and leaning against the railing, looking down. "I was thinking…" He paused, and Temari shifted. She was now looking below with him, "About earlier, during the fight with Kumori." He sounded serious for once, his blue eyes clear; not glazed over with false enthusiasm.

"What of it?" Temari asked, wrapping her slender fingers around the top of the railing. Her normal atmosphere of defiance and uneasiness was reduced to nothing but a serene appearance.

"Why didn't you let me step in? It could have prevented a lot of things."

This made Temari sigh for the third time; "I wanted to do it myself." The whole issue had been completely egotistical, if she was going to go down, she wanted to go down with style.

"Don't do that again." His voice was laced with worry. Temari almost giggled, but she settled for a small smile. "Sorry to burst your bubble Naruto, but I need to protect myself."

"Don't worry, Temari, I'll protect you."

-END-

A/N: I would like to give special thanks to those who review constantly; like Ranko and Uozumi, to name a couple. Don't forget to review. Come on, it'll hardly take any time out of your life; if you have enough time to read, you can review. It's a simple concept, really.