The pursue
- I think I've never had a free day in Konoha since my chuunin exam. – Temari told Shikamaru, who was running alongside her. They were following Toru, who was leading them after the thieves.
- I don't think it's worthy walking around Konoha anyway. There's not much to see here… - He yawned.
- Really? I bet you haven't really seen many places in Konoha yourself. You don't strike me as an explorer. – She said with ironic smile. – In fact, when we get back, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do. And you'll have to come with me.
- Oh and why's that? Will you tell me now that you can't take care of yourself or you're afraid to get lost? – Shikamaru was almost laughing at this point.
- No, you stupid! – She frowned. Temari didn't like to be made fun of. Shikamaru knew it, and she knew he knew it. – It's because I will report you for not guiding me, leaving me alone in Konoha, and basically – not doing you assignment. – She said with a widest smile.
It was Shikamaru's turn to frown now. He already had a record of bailing of some assignments every now and then, simply because he was too lazy. And he certainly did not need one more.
- It's not very nice to blackmail people, you know?
- Oh but I'm not blackmailing anyone, Shikamaru. I'm just… warning. – She smiled a victorious smile.
Shikamaru only sighed and rolled his eyes at her. In fact he was glad having Temari around. After all these years they eventually became friends and he was looking forward to her arrival. He kept looking at her with a small smile, a lot longer than usual. She was so pretty with wind in her hair, determined look, self-satisfied expression. Temari turned to face him, a little confused, and asked:
- What? – She felt like that look pierced her somewhere in the stomach.
- It's nothing. – Shikamaru swallowed a gulp. He wasn't sure what just happened but that sure felt weird.
They have been travelling almost two days non-stop and all of them started getting tired. Toru informed them the thieves are very close, but they decided to settle a camp and rest a little instead of engaging into a fight now. Temari felt sleepy and tired, but she made sure not to look anything like weak as she was setting a camouflaged tent. She was eyeing Shikamaru eating his dinner. Temari couldn't really tell when did they become friends – they have met many times and fought side by side, so it became natural to hang around with him. She loved teasing and scolding him, all these verbal fights were so fun, maybe partly because only two of them could fully understand their inside jokes. She smiled to herself.