Moments
Chapter 6: Exam
Gaara was looking at the long list of names right in front of him.
"You did a great job." He said.
It took her whole six weeks to gather. With the information provided by Sasuke Uchiha bit by bit they've started to discover the leads needed. Leads connecting to the actual identities of the rebels. The list was long, but it wasn't complete.
"What are you going to do about them?" Temari asked. "We can't arrest them right now. Those evidence will hardly be enough."
"You're right." He turned around and looked in the window. He always did that when he was thinking.
"How's the preparations for the chuunin exam?" He asked eventually.
"It's going as planned."
She would never complain that tracking down the rebels as well as the preparation for the exam were hard to combine. She had to give up a large portion of her sleep, but it was fine this way.
"Hmm..." the starry sky was reflected in his eyes. "Can we use it? The exam, I mean. To lure them out."
"You already tried that before. Do you remember how it ended?"
He was her brother after all. He didn't listen at all.
"It won't be like the last time. But if five Kage are coming, they won't be able to miss the opportunity."
"It would be stupid of them."
"They won't have another chance. The best way to destroy our alliance would be during the exam. They will attack. It doesn't matter whether we think it's stupid or not."
"Should I send a message to the other villages?"
"Baki will handle that."
That was rather new.
"I need you and Kankurou to find their hideout."
"Any additional forces?"
"No, just the two of you."
Even with the list there was no telling who could be a spy. The most loyal of the Sand shinobi were not trusted at the moment. And sending two of his siblings like that...
"What if we fail?"
"You won't."
Gaara was looking right at her. It wasn't a plain belief in his eyes. He simply knew they will succeed.
"When they attack during the exam, we'll behead them. The three of us."
"The other Kage won't be pleased to share the seat with your clone."
He smiled lightly.
"They'll understand."
Two girls were waiting at the gates, as genin groups from Hidden Leaf reached the Main Gates. The Sand village didn't change at all. Huge walls around it to block disastrous winds, small stone houses that were of the same color as the sand around and the sky without a single cloud. The only thing that was different were the people meeting the guests at the gates.
Two girls - one with long hair, the other one with the sort hair - were waving at young genins as they've came closer. If Shikamaru wasn't mistaken those were the very same girls who adored young Kazekage the most.
"Welcome to the Hidden Sand village!" The short haired exclaimed.
"We're here to guide you to your rooms. The exam will start in two days; you'll have enough time to rest."
"Please, follow us."
The two of them never stopped talking. It was strange to see people this cheerful around Hidden Sand. And still something didn't feel right. Seeing those two taking up the job that was supposed to be done by Temari or at least Kankurou was wrong. Sand Siblings were up to something, and Shikamaru didn't like the feel of it.
"Hey, aren't you that guy?" Short haired girl moved closer to Shikamaru.
"Yup-yup, the intelligent guy!" Long haired followed.
The both of them were just a perfect example of the girls Shikamaru hated.
But since they've came closer...
"Are you on the exam team now?" He asked.
"Of course we're not. It's just Baki-san was too busy to meet you himself."
"Baki-san?" He couldn't remember who that was.
"Gaara-sama's teacher, he is responsible for the exam this year."
"Huh? What about Temari?" He shouldn't have asked that.
The look on their faces changed from cheerful to sly.
They started giggling.
"Temari and Kankurou are not in the village at the moment." A male voice interrupted their fun.
"How come?" That was rather strange especially in these circumstances. Shikamaru frowned.
"They're on a mission."
It was the man with half of his face covered, Shikamaru remembered seeing him during Sand's attack on the Leafs. So his name is Baki.
"Aren't they supposed to be with Gaara?"
"Kazekage is in his office."
None of this made any sense. But on the other hand storming Kage's office and demanding answers would prove itself useless as well. After all, Gaara wouldn't tell him a word.
'What are they planning to do?' He still couldn't let go of the thought that something is wrong.
So, the chuunin exam has probably started. Temari thought to herself as they've been hiding behind a huge dune of golden sand. If she calculated correctly, by this time the survival test would be over. Not being able to participate in it kind of made her feel sad.
"You sure it was here?" Kankurou whispered, although there was nobody around.
"Yes." It was hard enough to trace back their information leakages, but if most of them were concentrated in the village itself, a tiny minority would lead right here. The methods she had to use were not legal at all, but Gaara never cared about that. As long as it did the job.
"There's nothing here."
Temari didn't reply. She was listening. It was just as he said, there was nothing in there. Desert wind faced no hindrances, even those that were hidden from one's eyes. They could use the mirage to cover themselves, but the wind will reveal it anyways. He had no eyes to be deceived. So, if it's not genjutsu, there was only one place to hide in the middle of the desert.
"They're underground."
"Troublesome guys, aren't they?" Kankurou exhaled.
Hearing that word almost made Temari twitch.
"Prepare your puppets. We have to make sure."
Kankurou reached for the summoning scroll. The dolls he called out for looked like four giant spiders. A new invention he was actually proud of. As his work now included terrorists' annihilation, espionage had become an essential part of it. Those clay spiders were equipped with radio transmitters. People do drain inspiration from unexpected sources. These ones in particular was copied from Deidara's explosive spiders.
Kankurou put on the earphones and attached chakra strings to his puppets. The next moment they've started moving, crawling their way down in the sand.
Temari was left on guard.
They couldn't afford to make mistake this time around.
"You sure of it?" Gaara asked with a troubled look on his face.
The road back took longer, than Sand Siblings expected.
"It's underground. Connected all the way to the village. It must be in some of the basements, that's why we could never see them leaving the village." Kankurou replied. "My strings couldn't reach that far, but I'm pretty sure of it."
The second part of the chuunin exam was over two weeks ago. Genins stayed one more month in the village for additional training, before the third part begins. And yet, Sand Siblings have hardly thought about exam at all.
"We can safely suppose, that they have means of reaching the arena this way too." Temari added. "That's how they plan to attack."
"I see." Gaara turned around to look at the sky again. It was an hour before the sunset. "The place in the desert. You sure it's their head?"
"There's no doubt about it."
"Temari. Locate the underground passages to the arena and contact other villages' representative. Let them take the guards for us. We'll be moving out as soon as you're done with it."
"Roger."
"Kankurou, I'll need a full report on their hideout location and plan."
"All right."
If you expect the danger, it's easier to guard against it. It's the unknown that scares us the most. As long as you can see the next move, nothing will surprise you.
And right now Temari knew exactly what she was looking for.
There were six hidden underground passages around the arena, that probably were leading straight to their hideout. The whole network was built right under their noses and they haven't noticed a thing.
That though was making her angry.
"Temari-san!" The group of children surrounded her. They were this year's genin, chosen to participate in the exam. She remembered their faces. One of the girls had a tessen similar to the one Temari had.
"Did you make it to the finals?" She asked.
Kids started to talk, all at once, trying to explain everything that she'd missed. Nothing made sense at all, but it didn't matter.
They must come out victorious for the sake of these children.
"Temari-san, let me show you my new jutsu!"
Shikamaru was walking around the arena, then he heard voices.
He didn't know what exactly brought him to this place, maybe it was for the sake of reminiscing that time he took part in the exam himself. It wasn't his favorite memory at all, since starting from that day on, his life became troublesome as hell.
"... new jutsu!.."
Shikamaru came closer to look at the arena from the spectators' area. Bunch of kids gathered around a golden haired girl with a huge fan on her back. One of them went on to perform some jutsu. It was still raw, incomplete and kind of useless. He was too far away, but he expected Temari to use the very same words to give this kid a lecture.
'When did she come back?' He thought looking at the arena where show off section turned out into full-fledged training. The kids gave their all to bring her down, and yet she didn't even need to use her tessen to attack back. Plain taijutsu was enough.
One of the girls looked up and saw him.
"Look, it's Shikamaru-san."
Temari turned around and their eyes met.
'That might have worked. With a different opponent, though.' Shikamaru thought, as the kids tried to attack her when she's distracted. 'Too naive' that's what she probably thought, knocking each and every one of them down.
Even though they were defeated the kids still looked at her with the admiration. It was long past the time Sand Siblings were feared around Hidden Sand Village – they were heroes now.
"When did you come back?" Shikamaru asked when she climbed up the stairs to his place.
"Just a while ago." She said with that straightforward look on her face. "How's the exam?"
"Troublesome."
"Figured."
It was almost two months since they've last met, yet it felt like it was just yesterday.
"And your mission?"
"Same." She smiled.
"You're leaving again." It wasn't a question.
"There's something we need to take care of."
"Anything I can help you with?"
"You can help me to pass down a message to the other Kage."
"What is it?"
"This arena has six underground passages. On the day of the final match certain group of people are going to storm the place. Take them down before the audience noticed the ambush."
So that's what was actually going on.
"And where are you going then?"
"To take care of one annoying matter."
He knew she wouldn't say anything else. Well, in this case attacking headquarters would be the most logical course of events. Was it what she was doing up till now? She wouldn't say even if he asked.
"Those kids adore you." He said instead.
Temari laughed.
"They remind me of certain genins from Hidden Leaf. Just as spirited."
Those certain genins did not include Shikamaru for sure. Probably, she was talking about Naruto, Sasuke or Lee. Shikamaru was never among the spirited ones.
"You're actually good with them."
She gave him a strange look.
"I would expect you to use the word 'merciless' instead." She chuckled.
Well, that too.
"Promise me one thing." She said looking at the arena.
"Mm?"
"That nothing will happen to these kids during the exam."
He just nodded.
It was actually their turn to protect children. Just few years ago they were the protected ones. When did the tables change? Well, you can actually name quite a lot of the moments that lead to this. You don't become adult by just aging up or by acting like one, he went through a painful lesson to understand that. And yet, realizing yourself as an adult was different from understanding that you're not the kid anymore.
You're not a kid, when instead of being protected you are protecting. You're not the kid, when instead of being taught you are teaching. You realize you are not the kid anymore is when the kids are looking up to you instead of playing with you. And it's sure is tough when a little children start to call you 'uncle' or 'auntie'. Because that is the precise moment when you know, that you're not a kid anymore.
That's how he felt, watching young genin prepare for exam. Shikamaru looked at Temari.
Well, she never looked like a kid to him. Was it because she was older? Or maybe because she had two younger brothers? Or because she grew up without mother, so she had to learn to be one? He couldn't answer that one.
Shikamaru remembered the picture he saw on Kazekage's desk. The mother who decided to protect her child in her death. It's probably what any mother would want to do. Knowing that you're going to die for sure, the only thing you want for your kid - is to be protected. His teacher, Asuma, was like that too. To protect the future generations - that's what he left Shikamaru with.
The Third treated every member of the village as his own child. Does Temari feel the same about those children?
"Last time..." he said, still a bit confused about how exactly to put his thoughts into words. "When you told me about your mother. I was wondering... if it were you, would you do the same?"
She turned to him.
"Without hesitation." The smile on her face was almost like her mother's. "If I'm ever to become a mother, then I'd choose to protect my baby forever. Even in my death. That runs in the family, after all."
If all mothers were to die protecting their children, then who would protect them?
Who would protect her?
The desert wind was playing with her fringe. Golden strands would find their way back into her eyes, no matter how many times she'd try to toss them away.
With just that Shikamaru came closer and hugged her. There was nothing much left to say, except for:
"Be careful on your mission."
"Always." She said hugging him back.
In the middle of the desert stood a single man, holding two fingers on his right eye. He didn't need to look around, since his older brother and sister took out all the guards around. Enemy's main forces went to attack Hidden Sand village, there was almost nobody around. And yet, he was concentrating on what was happening below him. Panic, chaos, fear, as they knew what's going to happen.
He knelt down touching the scorching sand below his feet. And the desert will listen to him. It always does. The sand would wrap around the hidden tunnels, rooms, exits for thousands of miles from here. And then everything will collapse, burying people inside as if they've never existed. Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead. He suddenly felt like losing his ground.
"Hey, don't overdo it." It was his older sister grabbing his right arm.
"And why exactly did you needed us for?" And older brother grabbed his left arm.
They didn't let him fall.
"Let's go back. " He knew exactly, how everyone will react seeing his sand clone falling apart in the middle of the exam.
When the Sand Siblings returned, everything was over. With one move Gaara destroyed all their underground network. Those, who attacked the arena had nowhere to run. Most of the Hidden Sand villagers just felt enormous impact, as if an earthquake hit the desert. They had to make a convincing story for Kazekage leaving in the middle of exam, though. Other than that, the fight near the hidden doors remained a secret for those, who weren't actually fighting it.
Author's note: This chapter is special. Because of the mere fact that I wrote it last. I guess I'm not a person, who writes in order, but rather driven by inspiration. All sot of scenes played out in my mind. And when I started this particular chapter I had no idea what it's gonna be about. So I let my imagination guide me instead. It's funny, how I can just see it all in my mind as if I'm watching a movie. Sometimes I'm surprised of what I'm writing myself, hehe.
This is a story chapter. Not a romantic one. Sorry about that. I kind of wanted to give them one month together… but this one scene is better than a month, after all. It's never about quantity! Quality that counts, isn't it? By the way, if you say something like "it's strange that Shikamaru doesn't remember everyone's names"... Well, to tell the truth I only learned Baki's name after reading Gaara Hiden... So I think remembering minor characters names for him will be too troublesome, hehe.
For those who wonder. It's not over yet! Most interesting is up ahead! Don't miss it!