The L Boogie- ACTION! RAAA! ACTION! ROOOOAAARRR! ACTION! YEAH!
Well…kinda. This chapters action packed baby! It's good to get it up and running to. Sorry if it's taken a little long…I just had to work thing out slowly to try and get them as natural and believable as I could. I sorta feel like I copped out on the ending a little…but then again, I do like to leave some things unsaid. Still, this almost completely wraps up this whole first arc. There should only be two shorter chapters left, and then we'll get onto some more plot thickening.
Ummm…let's see now…thanks for the reviews…and if you read it, and you like it…please review it! I love reviews! Enjoy.
Legal Jargon- I don't own Naruto. The world, the characters, the…well…everything. Except for the Author Created stuff. So don't try to sue me, cause you can't get blood from stone.
The Darkhorse: A Naruto Fan Fiction
Woodland Battlefield, part 2
A tremendous wind approached the four enemy Nin as Temari brought her fan around. Junko and Seiko darted out of the way and took cover against the ground. Yashimanji began to march against the powerful force, shrugging off the repeated blows caused by the Chakra that was folded into the wind. The third woman took shelter behind Yashimanji, and was able to move up along with him. Upon the backswing of her fan, Temari took a step forwards as she sent forth another burst of the hurricane winds. Immediately following, she made a quick dash forward, and with the wind as her momentum, thrust her fan into Yashimanji's stone like body, knocking the golem of a man off his feet and into his own teammate.
Deciding that a strong beginning offense would be her greatest strength, the Suna Nin took another swing of her fan, this time directing the wind at her feet to kick up all the loose dirt and leaves along the ground in order to conceal herself without dropping a smoke bomb. As the four enemy Shinobi began to recover from her assault, they were alarmed at her lack of presence.
" She's gone? Great job guys…way to lose her." Seiko growled.
" Don't blame me child! I do not hide from my enemy unlike you!" Yashimanji bellowed.
" Yeah…that's right. You walk straight into her attacks and let yourself get thrown into your own teamates." scolded the masked woman.
" Only because you are weak. I will not be faulted for your carelessness, Nanakoi!" Yashimanji shot back at the masked woman.
Nanakoi? She's the Rogue from our village….
From points unknown, Temari watched with narrow eyes as irritation welled up inside her body. Her pride as a Shinobi of Suna suddenly became on the line as she had a more personal stake with the rogue from her own village. The quartet continued to argue as they moved closer together in a circular formation. Suddenly, a trio of smoke bombs fell from the treetop. Immediately, Temari dropped down from above and gave priority to Yashimanji, as she brought her giant fan down upon his head, dropping him prone along the ground.
Taking a step to her left, she swung her body around with the fan and slammed it against Junko, tossing her aside. A quick turn on her heel, she opened her fan and summoned a wind strong enough to blow Seiko back a few yards into a large bush. Finally, she had Nanakoi separated.
" Nanakoi Satori…YOUR MINE!" Temari shouted with a grin as she lunged at the woman from within the smoke.
Her shoulder collided against Nanakoi's side, pushing them both out of the cloud. As this occurred, Temari dropped a paper bomb along the ground behind them to ward off any immediate pursuers and buy her another moments worth of time to attempt a take down of the S class Ninja. Continuing to follow her momentum, Temari spun her heel around and smashed it as hard as she could into the body of the Suna rogue. Following up with Kunai knives, Temari frowned with displeasure as the body of the woman disappeared when struck by the bladed projectiles, leaving only a wooden log in her place.
" Damn it." she spat, darting directly away.
The other three Ninja's were already almost up, though since Yashimanji was the slowest of the group, she raced his way and leap frogged over the stone skinned man, leaving a second paper bomb stuck to his back. As it detonated, luck decided to smile upon her, as the flash from the explosion revealed Seiko's position to her as she was preparing an ambush. Before she could land a preemptive blow, she caught sight of a long and slender glimmer sweeping around from just behind and to her right. Temari closed her fan and held it out just in time to block a swing from Junko's scythe, however she was not lucky enough to avoid being caught inside the blade of the weapon, and felt her body pull backwards towards the dark haired Kunoichi.
Taking in a deep breath, Temari thrust her arms and fan forwards against the blade of the scythe, with flexing her leg muscles and fight against Junko's entrapment. She found marginal success as she pulled Junko off balance enough for her to escape from the inside region of the scythe, however as she tried to make a break for it, she tripped on the cord of a whip. Falling forwards was to her benefit, as it allowed her to catch a glimpse of the caltrops left in the ground. With a well placed pair of hands, and a skillful twist in her hips, she avoided the trap.
Upon steadying herself back on her feet, she whipped open her fan and blew the caltrops back towards Junko with a mighty wind, turning the typically passive pieces of shrapnel into a very dangerous hail. Before she would take any damage from the flying caltrops, Junko made a quick series of hand signs, then pulled her scythe around.
" Massive Scything Blade Jutsu!" she shouted.
The blade of her scythe grew to much larger proportions for just a brief moment as she used it's girth to shield her body from the projectiles. Now, free from both the Scythe and the Whip, Temari was forced next to deal with Seiko as she sprung upon her, hoping to sneak in a quick attack. A brief glint from behind Seiko revealed a half a dozen senbons hiding in her shadow, so Temari had to time her next move. Once Seiko was within striking range, instead of swinging her fan to knock the beastial woman aside, she planted it by her left foot and opened it to it's full breadth, using the momentum from the other side of the fan to knock the woman away. Ducking down, she took cover as the senbons bounced harmlessly her weapon.
The hard thumping of footsteps on the ground heralded a quickly approaching charge from the stone skinned Yashimanji. He smashed through her cover and reared his head into Temari's ribs, flinging her off to his left. Although she landed hard against the ground, she was able to roll into recovery quickly, as Yashimanji began to charge at her again. With a brief look around her, she could see Nanakoi stalking up from behind, while Seiko and Junko began to flank her on each side.
Damn it…I'm surrounded…
Her body stiffened upright as the four had completely surrounded her. She spread her arms out with her palms facing outwards, increasing the width in her stance as well as dropping her height with a slight bend in her knees.
" Give it up, Sabaku no Temari…" claimed Nanakoi.
" Yeah. Give up and we don't rip your pretty little body to shreds." clamored Seiko.
" Enough you guys…let's get her taken care of this quickly. That Nara guy is still around here too." Junko insisted, resting her scythe along her shoulders.
Yashimanji stepped up towards her, placing one of his rather large hands along her slender neck.
" How about I break every bone in her body? I'm sure that Otagakure would still accept her, so long as she is breathing…" the large man offered.
" Yashimanji! Shut your mouth!" Nanakoi scolded loudly,
" I do not fear you woman. No one standing here can even scratch my body…so why hould I give a damn as to what you say?" he shot back, his face looking more grim.
Their gazes locked as the others took glances between themselves. With such a distraction, Temari knew she would only have this one chance.
This'll take a lot of chakra…but this is my only chance…
Quickly, the blond Suna Kunoichi gathered up a great deal of chakra. Then, while making hand signs on each of her hands, she took a step towards Yashimanji. As he began to ready himself for an attack., she made another series of hand signs on each hand while turning on her heel 180 degrees and taking another step.
" Ninja Art, Whirlwind's Step!" she called out.
As her body turned, tornadic winds picked up around her, spinning well over a hundred miles an hour. She continued spinning on her heel with each step she took, darting through the S rank ninjas while the high speed winds surrounded her body and tossed them aside, allowing her the freedom to move about. As the quartet made another advance against her, Temari took a few more steps into them, spinning and turning her body as she went with her arms still outstretched, summoning her wind and using it to hurl them aside. But after another series of uses, she found herself lacking for chakra as well as physical stamina. She slumped against a nearby tree as the four rose to their feet and took formation on the ground.
" That's rather impressive Temari…never knew you had it in you." Nanakoi mocked.
" Sh…shut up…" Temari spat, with labored breathing.
" Alright…that's enough. You've about exhausted your chakra…so why don't you come with us while you're still alive…"Junko sighed.
Temari took a weary step backwards as the three Kunoichi's began to surround her from the front. Another step back and she was blocked off by the massive form of Yashimanji. Before she could back away, his palm shot out and gave her a very hard shove backwards, launching the blond hard into the ground. With her chakra depleted, she was slow to stand up, and even worse was that she was completely surrounded.
" We're taking you with us woman. I most certainly hope that the reward on your head from Otagakure will be worth it considering what it has cost me…" Yashimanji exclaimed as he towered over Temari.
She clenched her teeth as his large hand came forward and began to grasp at her. With nowhere to go, she decided that it might be in her best interest to set off the remaining paper bombs she had in her possession.
If they think they're going to just give me to the Sound, they've got another thing coming…
As she reached for the remaining bombs, Seiko darted forwards and grabbed Temari's forearm, digging her nails in enough to draw blood.
" Oh ho…no you don't! We prefer you alive and in one piece…though…I doubt anyone will care if you're missing an arm…" she laughed as she brought one of her blades up and against her elbow.
As the blade of the claw pressed against her skin, Temari shut her eyes and prepared her body for the damage. A moment in absolute darkness passed, and then she felt a powerful force breeze by her body. Immediately, she felt her arm free up which provoked her to open her eyes. To her surprise, all four of her assailants were laid out across the ground. As they got up, Yashimanji lowered his shoulder and threw his body at Temari, in hopes to settle the score for whatever had hit him. She braced herself yet again, not having reclaimed her stamina or agility yet. Before the giant man would reach her however, a wall of darkness swept upwards from the ground and surrounded Temari, stopping Yashimanji in his tracks. The remaining three enemy Kunoichi took a defensive position as the wall cleared away, revealing an awestruck Temari and a fearsome looking Shikamaru.
" What…the hell…" Junko began to say, taking in the Shadow Nin's visage.
Certainly, he still looked the same. However there were two very notable things about him at this time. One was the patterns of blood drawn across his face. The other, was the monstrous looking entity enshrouded in darkness standing just behind him. Well over seven feet tall, it had long black spines protruding down from it's head, almost like hair. It's arm was raised in their direction while it's palm and outstretched fingers faced towards the four enemy Shinobi. Every other feature on it's body aside from it's cold blue eyes was completely definition less.
" Wha…Shikamaru?" Temari asked warily, unsure of what her comrade had done in his absence.
He looked her way, and opened his mouth to say something, until a jagged opening appeared in the creature face, as it's deep voice filled the silence.
" Finish it." it commanded.
Shikamaru's expression dulled slightly, however he began making a series of hand signs as Temari watched on carefully.
What's this? Those signs are typical of a summoning Jutsu…so did he summon that thing to come aid us?
Immediately, once she thought he would be finished, the hand signs continued, and changed into another very recognizable series as well.
Transformation now? What the hell is he doing?
Finally, after finishing the typical seals for a transformation jutsu, he continued again. Now, he had switched to an unfamiliar series of signs to Temari, finally ending with him holding his palm outward.
" Forbidden Art…" he began to say.
Forbidden Art? What does he think he's doing?
Shikamaru knelt down to the ground and placed his hand on his shadow, causing the line of blood drawn on his face to glow faintly.
" SHADOW TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!" he shouted.
Briefly his eyes closed and black tendrils shot out from the creature standing over him and began to wrap around him like chains. Immediately, his eyes shot open, filled entirely with the same darkness the creature seemed to be made out of, with the exception of a pair of cold blue iris glowing from deep within. The creature's body began to shift, and melted into Shikamaru's own shadow as the chains disappeared and released the young man.
" Temari…" he said, his attentions not turning away from their enemy, " stay back. This Jutsu's a tad dangerous and I'm not used to it yet…" he cautioned.
Unsure of what else to do, she complied and took refuge a short distance behind Shikamaru.
" Alright you four. I'll say this once. Get out of my family's woods." he warned.
" You…YOU!" Yashimanji began before he threw himself at Shikamaru.
Throwing a single hand forward, a group of large, shadowy spikes ripped upwards from the ground and smashed into the stone skinned man. As he was sent flying quite a ways back, the other three began a counter assault. Nanakoi's whip ripped through the air and attempted to strike Shikamaru in the neck. Before it would hit however, a shadowy tendril swept it away and pinned it to the ground.
From his peripheral vision, he caught a pincer attack by Junko's scythe and Seiko's blades. He reached out to each side with his trench knives and was able to stop both attacks with an unnatural strength. In an even greater display, he thrusted his shoulders outwards and pushed both of the women backwards onto their rears. Following up, he reached to his shadow and pulled it up off the ground. It flowed and flapped like a blanket in the wind, and with effortless force, he tossed it at Junko. Unable to recover before it enveloped her, she disappeared underneath it's darkness, only noticeable from her rampant screams and thrashing about.
" Oh…God…LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" she cried out.
Seiko leapt over Shikamaru and made an attempt to grab the shadowy blanket off her teammate, however found she was unable to even grasp at it. Worse off now, a black hand slid up her body and wrapped itself around her neck. It's grip was tight, and quickly began to incapacitate the woman. As she keeled over, Shikamaru felt a movement behind him, and turned in time to block a short series of attacks by Nanakoi, who in which he fended off by creating a large wall of darkness and slamming it into the masked woman. It continued to push against her until she was trapped between it, and a large tree. It slowly began to squeeze the life out of her as she struggled to pull herself free.
He turned now to Temari, whom which came out of her cover and retrieved her fan.
" Are you alright?" he asked.
" Sure. But…" she began.
" This? It's…" he started to explain before the appearance of a large shadow on the ground alerted him to danger.
Above their heads, a large rock was falling. Shikamaru reached upwards with a single hand as a dozen other shadowy hands took to the air to stop it's descent. Before he would put it down, the rock split apart and exploded, prompting Shikamaru to pull together another wall of shadows to protect them from the debris. Then, a powerful fist broke through the confines of the wall, colliding with Shikamaru and pushing him back a couple of feet. Following through with more attacks, Yashimanji began clubbing at Shikamaru with his large powerful fists, knocking the smaller Shinobi around and eventually to the ground.
Now prone, Shikamaru had to suffer at the wrath of Yashimanji's feet, as he continued to stomp on the small of his back over and over, pressing hundreds of pounds of weight repeatedly into him. The ground around the pair began to crack and eventually a crater was starting to form. He groaned and coughed as the larger man began to dig his heel into the prone Ninja's side, trying to crush the life from his body.
" YOU WILL SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY MEN!" the stone giant exclaimed, hammering his heel into Shikamaru's body again.
" No…you…can't…you…" Shikamaru struggled to say while he was being thrashed.
Temari, not wanting to watch anymore, threw caution to the wind, and despite her dire lack of chakra, advanced on Shikamaru's attacker. Landing her fan into the back of his head, she realized that he was becoming pure adrenaline by this point, and the blow seemed to not even register. Again, she swung the large weapon, this time planting it in his side. Though it had no effect, it did garner his attention long enough to cause him to swipe at her with one of his massive fists. Effectively knocking her away, her body bounced along the ground until it hit a tree, where the breath was knocked from her body in a whispery cry. Suddenly, a pulse shot through the woods. A massive build up of chakra began to eminate from under Yashimanji, and in an instant, Shikamaru opened his eyes to reveal the brightly glowing cold blue rings.
" ENOUGH!" he bellowed as he waved his hand an two dozen large shadowy chains ripped up from the ground and pulled Yashimanji off of him.
Despite his immense strength, Yashimanji could not pull free, and before long he found himself suspended in the air as more and more chains began to form, trapping him in something akin to a spider web.
" Fool. Do you know what you hath wrought?" Shikamaru asked, with his voice intermingled with the monster from before.
Temari stood up slowly to witness this strange, new, powerful, and terrifying Shikamaru. A part of her held him in awe, while another felt that this change was abrupt, sudden, and very uncharacteristic. He held out his hand while a long black spear began to form. Pulling back, he lurched his body forwards and threw the weapon with a great deal of force at the helpless Yashimanji. It struck against his stomach, and to both his own and Temari's surprise, it pierced through his rock like skin. As it stuck out of him, a small trail of blood dribbled out along the shaft of the weapon and began pooling on the ground. Despite his cries and his struggling, Yashimanji could do nothing to escape.
Again, Shikamaru stabbed him through with another spear, this time imbedding it in his shoulder. A loud popping sound tore through the air as it separated his bones and split out of his skin. As Shikamaru began to form a third spear, Temari rushed in front of him and grabbed a hold of it, hampering him from throwing it.
" That's enough Shikamaru! This isn't like you!" she yelled, looking him in the eyes.
His cold, newly blue eyes stared back without pity before he shouldered her off of him.
" Enough woman." he dismissed as he began to draw back the weapon.
Not willing to allow such a comment to sit unanswered, Temari did what she believed to be the dumbest, and yet most right thing in her life at the time. Drawing her fan back, she slammed it against the back of Shikamaru's head, knocking him off balance.
" Don't you dare think I'll let you get away with that. I don't know what's going on with you Shikamaru…but I won't tolerate that kind of crap!" the blond spat.
" You…" he said, standing up quickly, "…you really just did that?"
He began to snicker, until it erupted into and out and out cackle. Shikamaru spread his arms out as the shadowy tendrils darted about and collected the other three enemy Shinobi, all whom which were struggling to survive. Suspending them high off the ground with the long black shadowy chains, the possessed Shadow Nin reached out and restrained Temari almost instantaneously, and forced her to watch his handiwork.
" Watch woman. Watch and see what I can do. See how weak you are, at that you cannot bear to cause harm to those who would harm you. Though you'd liken to kill them…you would not cause them to suffer? Such is the weakness of the heart…weakness of the human…" he began to say as the chains coiled around all the enemy Shinobi's necks and attempted to hang all four at once.
Temari struggled to free herself, but her body was tired from fighting and even more so from her lack of chakra. She bit her lip and tried to look away, but the monster her friend had become refused to let her. As the seconds ran on, their enemy began to lose the life from their bodies, and Temari began to fear the worst.
But, in a flash, the chains broke and their barely breathing bodies fell to the ground. In the moonlight appeared the silhouette of a Ninja. The twin swords this person wielded though were not the most concerning factor. Neither was in which the speed in which they had arrived and attacked with. No, the only real feature of this mysterious Ninja was their bright red Sharingon Eyes.
" No way…" Temari began to say, before the marks in the mystery Shinobi's eyes turned sharper, " Mangekyo Sharingon…"
As Temari stared back, the world around her began to become hazy. Though this person wasn't looking at her, she feared she was being caught in a Genjutsu. And with her arms restrained as they were, she had no way to break free from it.
" You…who are you?" Shikamaru asked in a low voice, now almost completely taken over by the monster's own.
The figure stared back as a gaping wound appeared across Shikamaru's body. The chains binding Temari suddenly broke free and allowed her to pull away just in time. Now, he began to scream, and his voice was filled with an inhuman cry as the shadows gathered around him and lashed out at everything. Temari opened her fan and used it for cover, but was becoming overwhelmed quickly. Yashimanji, Nanakoi, Seiko, and Junko all decided to make a hasty retreat while the fifth Shinobi watched on as Shikamaru had a meltdown.
It was then that Temari felt the approach of a quartet of Shinobi, with one she was specifically intimate with and had been expecting. As they came into the clearing, she was relieved to see the Shadow Clone she sent to go find help had found Tsunade and Kakashi as she hoped, as well as Gai. The clone disappeared, returning some chakra back to Temari while Tsunade scouted out Shikamaru and decided to handle that problem instantly. She made a dozen hand signs as she cleared the distance from behind him, then pulled back her fist.
" Ninja Art! Shadow Sealing Fist!" the Hokage called out whist launching it into the back of Shikamaru's head. It knocked him forwards and rocked him into the ground.
The shadows he had summoned all dissipated as he lost consciousness. Immediately, Gai and Kakashi took an aggressive forward stance in an attempt to confront the mysterious Sharingon bearer, however the Shinobi gave them a warning glare before turning and retreating as well.
" Tsunade-sama…" Gai asked immediately.
" Don't follow them. Things are bad enough as it is. Let's get these two and get out of here. We'll figure out what's going on after that." she ordered.
" Understood!" the pair said in unison, as Gai collected Shikamaru while Kakashi went to check on Temari.
" What a mess…" Tsunade commented before the five of them took off, " Let's head back to Shikamaru's apartment so we can get him looked at."
With that said, Tsunade, Kakashi, Temari, and Gai headed back to Shikamaru's apartment, with him in tow.
A short amount of time passed, and before long, Shikamaru slowly awakened. He was quick to realize that he was finally back at home and laying down on his sofa. The two men and two women gathered at the table looked his way as they heard him stir, only to see him still asleep and continued their conversation.
" Anyways…that's what happened." Temari reported.
" Well I suppose I should tell you…Otagakure has made a request to have to brought to them in order to try you for your supposed crimes. Obviously it's got to be more than just that…however they're staying fairly tight lipped and they're being persistent about it. The Kazekage has declared that he will not hand you over, and has made the point that a deeper investigation should be made. They haven't really gotten back to us on that part yet. Is there anything else that you can think of? Did they attack Shikamaru just to get to you? Or could they have been after him as well?" Tsunade asked with a strong concern.
" I'm not certain. Since I was not there for the entire conversation, I can't fully say." Temari explained.
" This certainly is a change for the more disturbing. That many S class Ninja's…we haven't seen that since the Akatsuki…and then we have Shikamaru's new jutsu…and someone else who bears the Sharingon. Could it have been Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
" I would doubt it. This person had two arms. Sakura was the person who treated Sasuke's wounds after their defeat of Orochimaru, and she had to amputate one of his arms. I'd imagine it to be unlikely that he could have grown a new arm, or even gotten someone to replace it." Tsunade stated.
" Either way, we should inform the ANBU Black Ops immediately. Will we postpone the festival?" asked Gai.
" No. Not after what Temari said. If Shikamaru really did that kind of damage to them…I doubt we'd be seeing them tomorrow. But we will inform the Black Ops and have their Bingo Book entries updated. Is there anything else you want to say before we go?" the older blond asked as she stood up.
" That jutsu Shikamaru used…you seemed familiar with it. Can you tell me about it?" inquired the Suna ambassador.
" Only thing I know is that it's very dangerous and unpredictable. It consistently eats away at his chakra at an alarming rate, and the less chakra he has, the less control on it he can exert. What happened tonight is why I warned him against using such a technique. Are you planning to stay with him?" Tsunade questioned with a perked eyebrow.
Temari's face took on a slightly pink tone.
" Only until he wakes up. I just want to make sure he's alright…" she stammered, ever so slightly.
Tsunade shrugged gently, then headed for the door, being followed by the Copycat Ninja and the Taijutsu master.
" When he wakes up…tell him to stop by in the morning. I won't let him get out of his scolding." Tsunade said with a smirk as the three left.
" Get out of a scolding?" Temari asked before walking over to the couch.
As soon as the door shut, Shikamaru's eyes popped open.
" That damn woman knew it the whole time…" he complained to Temari's surprise.
" How long have you been awake?" she asked.
" Only for a little bit. I was hoping I wouldn't get a lecture…but it looks like I don't have much of a choice…" he revealed.
" I see. Then I guess you already know that it won't spare you from me…right?" she asked with a sadistic grin.
" Troublesome. Fine…I'll tell you. After Pain's invasion of Konoha, I got to talking to Naruto after I found out what had happened. I heard about his Toad Sage form, and as he explained it to me, he summoned the Toad Sages and then found a way to merge their bodies together in order to make himself more powerful. It's a pretty good idea…but I never really knew any real summoning jutsu's. Or at least…none to any real effect. But then Tsunade gave me the task of learning from the Scoll of Sealing…and that's where I learned a lot about summoning jutsu's."
" I had Tsunade stand in on my first, and only attempt to summon it. It was a success for the most part. We made the pact, but the transformation didn't go too well. Once we had joined bodies, it tried to take over my mind, and it didn't take too long to lose control and force Tsunade to bring us down. After than, she forbade me from using the jutsu, titling it as a Forbidden Jutsu, and had me write it down in the Scroll of Sealing." the spiky haired Shinobi explained.
" So what does it do then? Looks like it summons some kind of demon and then you allow it to possess you." she responded in question.
" That's not far off the mark. When we merge, it allows me to utilize my shadow jutsu's without any restriction. No need for hand signs or chakra build up. It all acts on my thoughts and actions, as well as gives me a physical boost. In exchange, it consistently drains my chakra…so I can't maintain control for very long. I was hoping I could dispatch those four before I lost control…but it looks like I screwed up again." he finished, bringing a cigarette up to his mouth as he sat upright.
The slightly older blond sighed, then took her fist and dropped it onto the crown of his head with a medium force. He reeled back slightly at the punishment and rubbed the now forming bump.
" Stupid. Next time you go and almost get us killed, give me a little more warning…" she scolded, walking towards the exit.
" You leaving?" he asked, almost sounding sad.
" Yeah. I'm tired. Now don't forget…festival starts around six tomorrow evening. Meet up with me at the fish scooping booths. And try not to be late." she said, walking out the door.
" Wait…when did we talk about this?" he asked.
" We just did." she called as she was closing the door.
He ran for the exit in order to further press more questions, but by the time he was outside his apartment, she was long gone. Shikamaru let out a gentle laugh as he lit up a cigarette.
Troublesome woman. Went through all that trouble today just to ask me to be her escort to the festival. Oh well…makes things a bit easier on me…
With a sigh, he allowed himself to finish his cigarette, putting the small fiery end out on the sole of his shoe before heading back into his apartment. Tossing off his Jounin Vest, he stripped down and decided to call it a night, and let his mind wander back to his time with Temari in the woods, until the peaceful and wonderful memories lulled him to slumber.