collection of anecdotes/mini-oneshots. re-editing 2020. most chapters titled from various alexz johnson songs.

a/n: this is canon-divergent if Danzou was successful

Thief

There was a soft thud.

It wasn't quite loud enough for Shikamaru to think that their camp had been spotted — if there were people getting ready to attack, he'd feel the energy, the whine of the trees, the silence of abandoning animals — but it was certainly enough out of place to put him on guard; even more so than he was already.

He stiffened, but didn't turn around. Instead, he continued circling the path of his sentry duty, albeit much slower and with a careful gait that he hoped would make him appear unaware in case the thud was caused by someone with less-than-amicable intentions.

The forest was thick and dense as it surround his wayward trail. It was as good a hiding place as Kakashi and the other jonin could come up with in a hurry. Supposedly they were somewhere near Ame, but Shikamaru hadn't been paying much attention to their current geography the past two weeks. Ame was somewhere the Anbu following them might hesitate to look, as Konoha wasn't on good terms with most countries in the area, which he assumes is why they'd chosen it. But he doesn't know. They haven't been telling him much.

Now, on his evening sentry duty, he was set to walk the west perimeter of their camp, done one way in only fifteen minutes, and then walk back, over and over, until night hit and he'd be relieved.

He hadn't been assigned the west side before. He didn't know this stretch. And he didn't know this forest well enough, no matter where he was within it, to know the sounds the forest made with any intimacy. So he was unsure whether or not the noises following the thud — the small scratching and what sounded like the latching of a buckle — were part of the forest itself, or an unwanted guest.

Not wanting to risk it — though he was aware that most Anbu, most Root, that is, would already have attacked — he used a shadow to pin a kunai to a trunk in the area the noise had come from.

"Wrong tree, idiot."

His pulse jumped as a figure leapt down from somewhere in the canopy of leaves.

Before his eyes had even leveled with hers, Shikamaru was stalking forward with urgency, forcing Temari to walk backwards until she was pinned between himself and a large tree.

She let herself be walked backward, he knew — she was easily capable of digging in her heels and holding her ground (or by using any other means) —, but she didn't fight him as he pushed her into the tree trunk.

It was only a moment before his hand was covering her mouth, his form pressing tightly against her own. Had he been less occupied, Shikamaru would have reveled in the contact. Their proximity had rarely been so intimate, and he could easily feel every inch of her front pressing sharply into his. But he was otherwise occupied, and the thought didn't even occur to him.

Looking past her and into the woods, he narrowed his eyes, scanning for anything out of the ordinary, before coming back to bore his gaze down into hers. "You can't be here, Temari."

He knew he sounded harsh. Angry, even. And it surprised her. He could tell by the way she was frowning at him. But then she took a deep breath — chest, ribs, pressing into his own with her inhale — and relaxed in his grip. Slowly, without backing down, Shikamaru slowly removed his hand.

"I am here to help."

"We don't need you."

It must have been clear to her that Shikamaru was probably in little condition to argue. He knew there were dark circles under his eyes and a rumbling in his stomach. He knew she was taking in all these things too.

"The average lifespan for a missing-nin in Konoha is three weeks. In Suna, it's two. You have used up both. According to statistics, you have only seven more days at best, Shikamaru."

"We have the top shinobi in the village, give us more credit than that."

"But you also have a lot of lesser ones. That's a lot of people in need of protection. How good are the top shinobi when they're saving themselves and others? Our scouts say that thirty of the condemned one-hundred made it out of the village. Danzou is sending out all of Root after you guys. Ten experts won't cut it. I can help."

He was aware of all of it. They all were. Everything she said was true. And as he thought through every scenario he could, he couldn't see a solution. He couldn't determine a course of action. None, in any projection he made, were met with success.

"Temari."

"I'm not going to leave."

"So what? We're going to need Gaara's help when the revolution begins. He can't just send his jonin away to join Naruto right now."

"Danzou already had his men search all of Suna. Gaara is playing it safe for now. He doesn't need me."

"Your people need you more than we do. Go home, Temari."

"I'm not leaving," she said again. Sharper this time, though still hushed.

He leaned closer, close enough that he couldn't bring her features into focus. "We don't need you."

"You need me!"

"I don't need you hurt."

This time, his expression was enough to make her stop. With one last lean, this time stronger and likely painful, against her, Shikamaru took a step away, averting his eyes to the ground.

"I can't have you here, Temari. Don't you understand?"

"Then come with me." His head snapped up. "Come with me, back to Suna. Sneaking you in is easy. Keeping you there is easier."

"I can't."

"I'm not leaving you, Shikamaru." Her voice raised the slightest amount and it worried him. Anyone could be listening. "Either I stay, or you come with me."

"We can't do that." There was a pause and he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking behind him to the path he'd been following.

"I can't leave you here, Shikamaru!" Temari took two steps forward and grabbed his vest, pulling him back to face her. "You'll die. Don't you understand? You'll die out here."

"Not anytime soon." It was a lie. They both knew it.

She dropped her head to his chest. "Please." She'd never touched him like that, though they had both always known that one day she would. She had never been vulnerable before him, though they had both always known that she was. That, when they were older, they'd find a way together. They'd already had their conclusion set.

That's why she says it, even though she's never begged for anything before; even though she will never beg again. She said please even though she knew he would never say Yes.

She knew the conclusion to the conversation before they'd began, just as much as she'd known that he loved her.

Shikamaru sighed, letting her request hang in the air even though there was only one answer he could give.

He looked up at the branches above him, baiting his breath for three more long moments before placing his hands on her forearms and pushing her away. "We each have our places, Temari. Yours is with your family, in Suna. Mine is with my family, here."

Her eyes were hard. Angry.

He reached up and laced his fingers through the hair that had dropped out of its hold to fall against her neck and pulled her head back into his chest. "You know that."

Muffled in his clothing, "Shikamaru—"

"Temari. You need to go."

She didn't move. Neither did he.

Finally, carefully, he shifted, holding her to him as he brought his lips, chap and dry and painful, to her forehead.

Temari pulled away first. When it came down to it, she was always the stronger one. She stepped back, out of his reach. And then, with one last look his way, she turned around.

Shikamaru took in the line of her shoulders, the curve of her back and sweep of her neck.

"Is she still alive?" Her voice is quieter now. There is no chance anyone else will hear it.

"Yes."

By the time they decided to run, by the time their imminent demise was plain, Ino had been unconscious. Shikamaru managed to carry her out. It had been too late for Choji. He didn't make it.

"Do you want me to take her?"

Yes. And no. She'd be safer in Suna. She could recover in Suna.

But he was selfish. And Ino was all he had. He couldn't do this without her. He couldn't do this on his own.

And she wouldn't have gone, if given the option. She'd never leave his side. Now, she too, only had him.

"No."

Temari slowly exhaled. "That's all then."

Still, without turning back, Temari walked toward the tree she'd descended from not five minutes before.

"I'll always come back to you." He said softly. Temari stopped walking, spine rigid. "We will take back Konoha."

Then, slowly, as though thinking through whether to put her eyes on him for what may be the last time, she looked over her shoulder. Her eyes, when they met his, hurt.

"When Naruto is ready, we will — Gaara will — be there."