["shit, are you bleeding?"]

A hand flying out, nearly catching her in the chest, was the only reason why Temari stopped talking.

She knew him well enough. Whereas once there may have been a question – or even defiance – at his gesture, this time, she fell silent. He was still, still for even Shikamaru, and from her slight angle underneath his nose, she could see his eyes move. They swept the thicket and the forest they were patrolling, and while they were once chatting away, challenging the birds and the wind in volume, now they were muted.

Temari trained her ears, trying to pick out what had alerted him. Granted, he spent a lot of time in the wood. Forgetting for a moment that he was a Nara, the entirety of Konoha's territory were woodlands – and to her desert-trained ears, even the slightest rustle of bushes was enough to mask the sound of approaching enemies.

Well, she was getting better at it – but against the singing songbirds and the moving greenery, she couldn't pick out anything strange. Temari was beginning to doubt it was a sound, but rather, a visual – trodden grass, twisted branches, snapped twigs.

And then, Shikamaru's chocolaty-brown eyes narrowed.

She watched as his fingers, lithe and slim, form the familiar seal of his shadow jutsu. Her own reached for her fan – but the shaking of his head distracted her.

Part of Temari was still astounded that she didn't feel the urge to yell, to complain – but she knew better than anyone that the sound of her fan would definitely be audible in these woods.

Shikamaru couldn't tell her to not be prepared, though, so Temari shot him a hard look and left two fingers lingering on the latch. And then she turned forward.

From her peripherals, she could see blackness extend from their feet, slithering like a snake advancing its prey. The inky tendrils slid past them and into the bushes – and with a twitch of his eyebrow, the shadow split in two.

A second passed before a grin spread on his lips, and Shikamaru stood up slowly – deliberately. And then his eyes darted to the side, like a magnet, and he stood still.

As if answering his gaze, a kunai came flying at him, exactly from the spot his eyes had snapped to. Maybe she was listening too hard, but the sound spurred her forward – as soon as the kunai surpassed him and headed toward her, with one giant sweep she batted the kunai out of its trajectory. It clattered noisily to the side, spinning in place as it harmlessly scored the ground.

One glance at Shikamaru told her that the sudden attack didn't faze him, and once Temari dragged her eyes down did she realize the shadow had split into three. Before she could voice the question, the sound of three separate crashes answered her. Three ninjas, wrapped almost entirely in black, were dragged out of the woodland.

"Takigakure," said the shadow-nin, his voice already growing bored. But Temari could detect another note underneath it; a bit of pride, if not dismissive. And then his tone grew serious, darker. "Do you guys really have the audacity to be picking a fight so soon after a war?"

Temari didn't bother pointing out the fact that the captured ninja couldn't reply even if they wanted to, not with the thick black ribbons that obscured their mouths. He carried on regardless, his voice growing deadlier. "None of us have forgotten that you didn't participate in the war, and speaking of which – we have allies."

He turned his shoulder to her – and for a moment, Temari was caught a little offguard, if only because he seemed to be handling the situation so well. And in a surprising show of humility – or something,she wasn't exactly sure – he gestured his head towards her. "And because of it, we're not afraid to help each other, both for rebuilding and fending off intruders. And not all of them are nearly as forgiving as we are."

At his words, irritation and pride spiked at her stomach, both of which only managed to confuse her. Either way, with her fan extended and her annoyance piqued, Temari sank onto her haunches – but then the shadowy tendrils retracted, the ninja falling.

The Takigakure nin gave him a look, as if calling his bluff, but then his shadows reared back – like a snake ready to strike. It was all that was needed before one shouldered another, and the three threw glares, but as Temari raised her fan, the three bounded away.

And Shikamaru, once again, threw out a hand to stop her.

"Are you kidding me," she hissed, but with his limb in the way, she didn't dare to perform any jutsus.

His eyes rolled towards her. "They'll pass the message along."

"I really would've preferred them dead – that would send an entirely different message."

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket, the exhale aimed upwards as he tilted his head back. As she locked her fan back under the latch across her back, from the corner of her eye she could vaguely detect a faint trace of red.

"Shit, are you bleeding?"

It could've been a trick of the light, but even beyond the way it reflected off the facets of his skin, the scarlet was still visible. And even still, his expression remained neutral as he reached up and brushed a thumb against his cheek. The kunai must've scored there, she realized, when the kunai had flown to him. "It's nothing," he drawled, snapping her from her thoughts.

She narrowed her eyes. "You could've avoided it."

He shrugged. "But if I did, I wouldn't have been able to get him, too."

Temari's nose scrunched – more because she didn't understand, but it was Shikamaru; therefore he was probably right, after all. For a moment, she did consider challenging him, but then she thought the latter.

She wasn't concerned,or anything. Definitely not. And it's not like she hadn't seen blood before. But against his skin, so fair it was like he'd never seen sun before, the crimson streak was much more prominent than she had first expected.

And then his eyes caught hers, and her cheeks flamed and her fingers twitched, but she didn't care. Not much.

So she turned away first.

"It doesn't look deep," Temari said conversationally. He only hummed in thought as he fell in step behind her.

The thoughts were there – that much she couldn't deny. Concern that went beyond friendship, that touched places that she allowed during the war – only because it was a war. Now that it was over, she didn't know if she were allowed to feel them anymore.

But if it meant she'd react at the sight of blood – and not just any blood, but his, she wondered if it was simply all too troublesome.

And the groan that came with the realization of her thoughts reverberated through the forest, and out of sheer horror, she refused to explain the reason behind the noise that had burst through her lips.