Well, I finished this about a month ago, but Evercold took quite a long time. As a matter of fact, I got impatient, and decided to update this chapter un beta'd. I'll update the beta'd version as soon as Evercold finishes it, so please overlook all my terrible mistakes! You have absolutely no idea how many times I rewrote the Sasu+Naru/Deidara fight. Well, just watch! I hope it doesn't overshadow Shikamaru and Temari's part, which is all things considered more important.
Chapter 8: Red sky at night, sailors delight
- I've been waiting...
Despite the blood coming from the possibly lethal wound on his side, despite the pain, despite the obvious danger that came with fighting an Akatsuki member, Sasuke smirked.
The skin of his left side had been obliterated and charred by the explosion but the blood made it impossible to asses just how deep the wound was, and Sasuke doubted that it would ever return to it's previous smooth state as he bit back the pain. It could have been much worse if he hadn't torn of his shirt right before the explosion. His shirt – or rather, what was left of it – laid discarded somewhat to his left, in the small crater that the explosion had created. That blonde Akatsuki member, Deidara was it? Apparently wasn't as stupid as he had lead them on to be.
Looking at the blonde who's shape was barely visible in the smoke that had accompanied the explosion, Sasuke could see that his loss hadn't been in vain though: Even though his attack had given Deidara an opening to attack him, the blonde suffered quite a bit too from his punch. His arm had been fractured at the very least, and with some luck he had done some damage to the man's rips too.
At the very least, Deidara's body would not be able to survive a fight that came down to stamina and brute power, which just happened to be their specialty. But still - Sasuke launched himself out of the way of a burst of an incoming clay spider that would have killed him if it exploded from this distance – dealing with an Akatsuki member, the crème de la crème of the rogue nin business, was no easy feat.
They only needed speed, timing, a little bit of luck, and if only the blonde would stop with throwing explosives at them so the smoke could clear and he could communicate with Naruto, they would win.
Probably.
"Take this, Uchiha!" Deidara shouted at him, and it occurred Sasuke that he had become his favorite target.
He cursed and jumped out of the way of a larger explosive, this time shaped as a larger bird. So much for clearing the smoke. From behind him, Sasuke caught sight of Naruto stumbling backwards, holding his abdomen as though in pain. Apparently Naruto had not been in time to get away from the explosion himself. They shared a glance, knowing that they might have underestimated the blonde bomber.
Sasuke held his wounded side with his hand and hissed; he didn't have time for all this thinking. They didn't have a plan, and improvising was one of their other strengths so brooding wasn't really the best thing to do right now. Drawing his sword, the Uchiha leapt at the enemy, focusing on speed and actually landing a blow. The time for defensive maneuvers and avoiding hits was over and it was about time he landed some hits of his own. He moved incredibly fast, twisting, flipping, slashing through clay before it could form an explosive, slashing at limbs that seemed constantly out of his reach. His body was little more than a blur, leaving trails of blood in its wake. The only signs of his katana were brief flashes of light and drawn blood. But Deidara was not a bad fighter either; on the contrary, the man seemed to deflect any blow and close every opening Sasuke could have possibly taken.
So much for luck.
"Are you sure you can look away?" a rough voice growled close behind him. His blood running cold, Sasuke whirled around to face Deidara, who's smile had some of that twisted essence that Sakura had mastered over the years. "Those little eyes of yours don't see everything, now do they?"
Sasuke turned around gracefully and answered those pretty words by spitting some blood in the blonde's face, loving the way Deidara's face contorted in anger. He smirked, lips all bloody and body heaving in exhaustion but still dangerously deviant against a man that should in all meanings be his superior. "You little shit!" the blonde yelled indignantly, all mirth on his features replaced by boiling anger.
"Sasuke, look out!" Naruto's panicked yell reached Sasuke's ears just in time. He spun around and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the hit. The explosion, coming from a clone that had apparently snuck up behind Sasuke, would have done more than just some serious damage; apparently Sasuke had finally managed to piss Deidara off enough to make him go kamikaze, although through clones.
"Where the hell were you?" Sasuke hissed to Naruto, who landed close to him.
"Fighting his clones, mostly." Naruto retorted, slightly irritated. "Oh, and let's not forget, saving your ass. He won't let me stay near you."
Alone, Sasuke's chidori could split mountains in two. Alone, Sasuke's sword could go one and one and one, causing a thousand deaths. Alone, Sasuke's bare fists could do irreparable damage in 0.3 seconds. Together, just the two of them but favorably all three; world reign was within their reach. And Deidara seemed, despite his hot-headedness seem to get that. Before Naruto could even finish his sentence, an explosive was planted between the two of them, forcing them apart once more.
"Behold!" Deidara yelled deliriously, "my beloved C2!"
Sasuke's head snapped around to see a giant dragon, white-hot and promising pure destruction, a little be too close for comfort, coming right at him. It was too close; there was nothing he could do from this range. It was too late to flee and especially with his aching side Sasuke would never be in time to avoid damage from an explosion of this caliber. He was done for, so he decided that he'd rather go down with a bang. Sasuke let his strained muscles relax and did the only thing that seemed logical right then:
"Chidori Nagashi!" As on instinct Sasuke activated his full body chidori, electrocuting and forcing everything within his reach to still. Deidara's face fell once again, and Sasuke smirked as the explosive refused to detonate.
Loophole, found. Now time to exploit it.
-II-
The wind wailed between distorted trunks, carrying that distinctive scent of wet wood and making sounds that could be mistaken for voices if one listened to it for a while. Besides the sound of rustling leaves, breaking branches and their rhythmic footsteps, the forest was quiet. Judging the fading light and the way it created new shadows and dark patches around them, night wasn't far away. They needed to get some place to shelter for the night, or move faster in order to get out of the musky forest before nightfall.
Behind him, Temari was taking tentative steps, clutching her broken arm to protect her shattered fingers from touching anything during their walk. She was sweating and she drew labored breaths, and Shikamaru almost felt sorry for her just before she tried to change his mind again. 'Not again…'
"I feel much better already, I just need to get out of this damn forest." She said, her voice firm, but Shikamaru didn't need to see her to know that she was putting up an act. She had been doing it for the past 3 hours, and it was getting old. "What way is-"
"Do I really need to repeat myself?" He said, marching onwards without taking his eyes off a grey flower in front of him to look at her, nor did he fight the urge to roll his eyes.
She didn't falter. "No, just-"
He interrupted her. "Your arm is broken, and so are your fingers. You can't form hand seals-" She cut him off mid-sentence.
"My legs are fine, I can still kick-"
"You don't have much chakra left, you're already too tired to run." He said, interrupting her again. He turned around and narrowed his eyes at her, seeing that she had done the same. They were obviously both on the edge and she looked ready to explode. "We can't-"
"The only reason I'm not running is because we are going the wrong way, and I'm not going to follow your stubborn ass to Konoha." She straightened her back while saying that.
He raised an eyebrow at her statement. "Are you sure I don't have to add a concussion to the list? I told you before we were heading towards Suna."
Her posture stiffened and she clenched her fists, every ounce of patience she had left lost. "I don't care where we're going!" She hissed, barely raising her voice in her anger. "All I know is that a few wounds are not keeping me from getting my brother back!"
"Kakashi and his team are very capable of getting them back, they don't need us." He replied, calmly. He turned around and started to walk again. A short silence followed, until…
"You have obviously no idea what you are talking about." She continued to hiss, and followed him. The crunching of leaves betrayed her unsteady steps as she ran to him, the sounds becoming louder with every approaching step until she walked next to him. "They are up against Akatsuki!"
He didn't respond to her jibe, and kept his look on that single grey flower from before. It only possibly aggravated her more, it seemed, but he couldn't find the strength to care about that while she continued yelling him. "One of them defeated my brother singlehandedly, and he is supposed to be the strongest of our village! If you would just tell me where they went I could-"
Shikamaru really losing his patience now. "No, you listen woman." He cut her off and kicked some leaves in frustration. "Listen to yourself. We've had this conversation eight times already since we defeated them. Listen to your body! It has a limit, you know!"
She squinted her eyes in anger and in a swift motion she grabbed his arm with her healthy one and forced him to face her. The wind that had shaken the leaves of the trees had died down, and the birds were no longer chirping. The trees stood utterly still, just like them. The only thing he could feel was her hand on his wrist, pouring her anger into it by squeezing the life out of it. He paid it no further attention. The shadows where growing larger when she broke his silence a few seconds later.
"I know that." She sighed, and when she had her eyes focused on the ground, he could see some bruises starting to show at her temple, and he mentally noted to find out if she really did have that concussion. Then she met his eyes again with renewed strength. "I know that, but what other options do I have? Do you think I could ever look either of them in the eye again if- and that is if- they return, knowing that I was dragging my own sorry ass to safety while they were risking their lives out there!" She squeezed his wrist a little bit at the end of each sentence.
He took her hand with his other and removed it from her wrist, squeezing it slightly in the process for comfort. "They are ninjas, they will manage to survive. Kankurou is strong. Team 7 is insanely strong-"
"And I am strong as well, and so are you. It is our responsibility, my responsibility to help them!" She cut him off again, and it was getting really frustrating.
"It is our responsibility to complete this missions, and you throwing yourself into a battle that you can't win is not within the allowed causalities." He bit back, and tightened his grip on her hand. They were ninja. They could argue, even fight without making much sound. But they were still human.
He felt her hand clench in his. "You coward! A mission is not the first priority of a ninja, it's his teammates!"
The word echoed through his head, though not in Temari's voice.
'Coward!' A deep voice.
'Stop being a coward!' A disappointed woman.
"I'm a first-class coward" Himself.'
He felt his eyes widen in surprise of the familiarity of the accusation. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before, he had even acknowledged it in the past. 'In the past.'
He narrowed his eyes slowly and really had to restrain himself from shouting out right then.
"Exactly woman!" He hissed angrily. "So just think for a second, and don't let your emotions get the better of you. Your arm is broken, I have a concussion and we're both out of chakra. Do you really think we would be of any help?"
He waited for her witty come-back, but all he got was a quiet, shaky voiced "What..?"
His brows drew together. "You haven't even thought about it, have you?" He asked in silent anger and disbelief. "They are up against Akatsuki, not the most honorable group of missing nin, and they will not hesitate to use our weakness against us, or against the others!"
She narrowed her widened eyes. "But,.."
"No buts! I'm sick and tired of having this conversation over and over again!" He said, and threw his free arm in the air. "You know, I would rather go out there and help them as well! I feel the same loyalty towards team 7, and I don't like doing nothing either!"
"But, then-?"
"But don't you get it? We already know that the Akatsuki don't follow the laws of nature, physics or logic, do you really think two exhausted, wounded ninja could just walk in the fight, and come out alive? We would probably drag our friends down with us as well. We would be a liability! So stop overestimating yourself and accept it!"
His shout echoed through the woods for a few more seconds until the last remnants of sound disappeared with the light. Temari's muscles had gone limp, and it seemed as if all the energy she had possessed before had totally dissolved into the thick, musky air of the forest surrounding them. She kept her gaze focused on the little flower, avoiding eye contact, but Shikamaru didn't need to see her eyes to know they would be red rimmed with defeat and exhaustion. They just stood there for a few more seconds, his eyes on the sky looking for some clouds, but the high trees formed a ceiling of leaves above him that kept him from finding such comfort.
"Troublesome woman" The sound dissolved into the wind.
When he felt her fisted hands open, and lose grip of his hand, he turned around for what seemed the twentieth time since they started arguing and started walking. He imagined Temari's face lighting up again when he grabbed her hand tighter in the progress and forced her to keep walking.
"Let's find some kind of shelter." He said dismissively, and for once Temari didn't argue or even answer.
He found his shelter in the form of a hollow tree. Together they ripped some of the dead wood of the tree and positioned it just so it extended the area that would protect them far enough for the two of them to sleep under without having any trouble from the weather. Lying underneath their makeshift ceiling, he could still see the sky a little bit, but he didn't mind.
They didn't really speak again, just quietly shared the chores of making a campfire and getting something to eat. After they had eaten and the campfire protected them against the cold of the night and the animals of the dark, they went to sleep.
Temari lay just an arm's length away from him, alternatively staring at him or the campfire, and he pretended not to notice. He wanted to ask about her arm, about her chakra, but he knew they would most likely argue about that again, so only closed his eyes and wished her a halfhearted good night.
"Sleep well."
She just groaned in response and turned away from him. He shrugged it off and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to come. It did not happen immediately. For the early part of the night, Shikamaru lay inhumanly still, drugged by sheer fatigue but kept from falling into slumber by a feeling nagging at the back of his head. He counted the stars without opening his eyes, knowing that the leaves would keep him from seeing them for real anyway.
In the hours later, when he suddenly realized that his eyes were open yet closed, he had a lucid dream. At first the images where his own, memories of the trees and his childhood. Of Ino who had helped Chouji climb a tree so she wouldn't have to climb it herself, and of how he fell out of it when he had finally reached the first branch. But then the lights that eliminated the tears on their faces started to fade, one by one.
And there was that shade of red. Ruby?
He was suddenly on top of the same tree, two cloaked companions at his side, looking at a mountain that loomed ahead of them. They viewed, from a distance, the wild river that originated from the mountain a strange sight. Its water was clear blue and the shores slightly red, big red bushes adorning the sides of the river. That shade of red again, was it scarlet?
He felt the imaginary wind on his face as his body started to move towards the river. As they drew nearer, he began to see that was had originally appeared to him as clear blue, turned out to be slightly purple, and under that sticky red color, 'was it maroon?' there was a hint of green from the grass. The bushes weren't bushes either it turned out.
As they got closer to wherever they were heading, Shikamaru saw that one gray flower again, coated with that red liquid, the only living organism in contrast to all the bodies that were littered around the river.
Mercilessly, his dream-self looked around, and he was no longer in the forest, but somewhere else. He tried to close his eyes but found himself unable to control the body, and was forced to watch the scratches, scars, open wounds and the blood.
The hand moved and he cringed mentally as his finger was dipped in blood, feeling the liquid sliding down his skin. So much blood, more than water. He could almost hear the screams and painful last breaths the owners of the blood had drawn.
He suddenly realized that he was very nauseous, and the feeling rushed through his body in a vicious surge. He felt the body, his body, fall down, rolling on his back on instinct. He saw red, and tasted it too. Something hit his side, and Shikamaru could feel the agony coars through his body like blood. The same cursed red liquid was smeared across his face and neck, his clothing, and almost every part of his body now. Apparently, someone had stuck a kunai in his side at one point. The entire world was spinning, and with his blurry vision he couldn't see much more than the clouds and white clouds in a crimson sky, lighting up in the breaking dawn.
And then there was nothing but the sound of birds and leaves and the musky scent of the forest. The leaves lashed against each other like a quiet drum roll that foreshadowed an event. He took a few more seconds to regulate his breathing and then sat up and took a look around.
Still the same trees, leaves and that familiar smell of the forest. Really, nothing had changed apart of the fact that it was no longer dark, but the first morning lights were already lightening up the forest. That, and she was gone.
'Mendokuse.'
The sound of a thousand birds would not have overruled the sounds of their battle. Their fists hit flesh, jutsus made contact and even more explosions ignited. The forest burned, the smoke of the fire and the explosions making it difficult to breath or see properly, but none of the three cared.
Sasuke had put his discovery to use, his lightning based moves flaring into life, crackling in the wind, contrasting the sharp sound of explosions with it's persistent buzz. Deidara had been angry before but now he was possibly livid, shrieking and yelling indignantly at the Uchiha brat and the doomed jinchuuriki.
"I'll tell you now you can't win this" He cracked, his healthy arm raised in the air like he was carrying the sun in his palm. Instead streams of clay figures streamed from his hand, ever expanding and ever explosive. "You're way too slow!"
Sasuke shot lightning ray after ray, immobilizing and eliminating one after another. But there were always more. There was always one he missed, one that came a little bit too close for comfort and would blow up say, right in his face. Deidara seemed to enjoy watching Itachi's little brother dance, and Sasuke gathered from the many comments related to his brother that not even within the Akatsuki everything was perfectly fine.
Or maybe it was just to distract him, which was whether it was intended or not, working; ever mention of his brother's name made Sasuke just a little bit more reckless and a little bit less intend on taking the safe way to victory.
"Stupid kids, go back home, your mama is calling for you." The blonde spat out manically, and both Sasuke and Naruto's rage accumulated. Sasuke lunged forward, right into the explosion of another C1, the spider exploding right before him, he could cover himself in time but it was too was agony. Despite many years of keeping himself under control, not even Sasuke could prevent the raw scream that tore through his throat. Beside him, he could hear Naruto do the same, though he could barely register anything through the overwhelming pain. His arms had been scratched before, cut open and had bled profusely, but now the protectors had been ripped to shreds and along with them not a fit of his skin. He had to bite his cheek to keep himself from screaming, not only from emotional but also physical pain.
Deidara stared down upon him mockingly. "Oh that's right, she's dead right? Well, I could still send you to her." He added innocently, making Sasuke's blood boil. He bit back the pain and stood up, gazing defiantly into Deidara's eyes, as if to say; Make me, bitch.
- Just in time to see Naruto appear behind an unsuspecting Deidara, giving a well deserved punch to the back of the blonde's head. "That was for my mother!"
He could have just ended it right there with a ransengan, they both knew, but there both silently agreed that such an insult deserved a bloody death. Instead Naruto dug a kunai into the blonde's upper arm, twisting it with lethal satisfaction. "And that is for Sasuke's mother!" The blonde screamed and naruto visibly enjoyed it, a little bit too much because the Akatsuki member saw the chance to launch a small spider Naruto's way, forcing him to back off with a disappointed shriek.
Sasuke watched in morbid fascination as the man pulled himself together and stood up, ignoring all injury and blood and smiling, once again, like a maniac. And they called him masochistic lunatic. Deidara started collecting clay again, more this time creating not only a giant bird but also something that was so extremely narcistic that Sasuke had to blink twice to belief it.
"Behold, my greatest creation! Moi, only in the most pure of forms!" The blonde roared, droping his dramatically expanding creation on the ground as it shaped exactly like him, only quite a lot bigger.
But none of that mattered to sasuke as he suddenly realized that this fool was a dangerous one, and that this clone could obliterate him within seconds if he didn't flee right now. Which he did, hearing Deidara chant 'flee, puppet, flee' like lunatic. In the back of his vision he could see Naruto do the exact same thing, setting up some shields in the progress as well. Sasuke would have to rely on speed alone and used some of that infamous swiftness to put quite a lot distance between him and the giant clay monster until-
The blast was greater and more potent than any he had ever seen before and shattered the ground beneath it; the giant clone of himself apparently was just as explosive as the blonde's temper, only then materialized. This time they couldn't entirely avoid damage and they were both launched backward by the force of the explosion. Sasuke's back hit a tree that shattered in the process, his lungs burning with every breath he took, shivering. His arms and tight burned painfully, making him feel dizzy in a way that did not suit Sasuke. He never liked being inferior, being weak. He had to get up. As the blast faded away, he turned to Naruto who seemed to have the same problems. They had been lucky to have fled in time, but luck always was a part of battle, and a part that Sasuke exploited to it's fullest if possible. All around him other bomb and mines started exploding, forming a battlefield without any safe spot.
And still the blast's power shook the forest around them, filling the clearing with dust and rocks and the wood of shattered trees.
But apparently that wasn't the end of it, their opponent had decided that the more the merrier also went for bombs. Sasuke hit the ground hard after another narrow escape. Sooner or later, one would hit him and he would be done for. What would have frightened and discouraged other only pleased Sasuke. The cracking of his bones was welcomed as he was thrown away once again, along with the sound of Naruto hitting the ground next to him.
"Sasuke," He yelled at him over the noise of the explosions. "I got a plan!"
Sasuke looked at Naruto with suspicion. Naruto's plan were always full of risks and with a low survival rate that tempted Sasuke like nothing else. The gleam in those red eyes was nothing short of alluring when the boy offered one of his rare schemes. They both knew that this was not the time nor the place for something risky, but it logic didn't stop Sasuke from nodding in agreement. The movement was short, but enough for Naruto, who dove at his teammate and tackled him to the ground, both to discuss said plan and to avoid a gruesome wound from one of the many bombs.
Deidara was mad, mad with the power over his puppets as they danced to avoid his bombs. It was a beautifull sight indeed, and for once he could sympathize with Sasori-danna; he could do this forever. On the other hand, he thought as the blonde boy barely avoided one of his mines ignition, he had to end this fast before it became boring and the moment lost its beauty.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto. "Ready?"
Naruto nodded as his eyes hardened with determination. "We only have one chance at this."
Sasuke felt that odd feeling crawl at the back of his mind; they both knew that that statement wasn't true, that there was always more to give. That feeling of eternal power, laying well within his grasp but with terrible consequences, drove him mad with delirious glee. It was true, this plan had only one shot. Akatsuki broke the laws of physics and Nature, but they could go beyond that, but at a price. But, and Sasuke could feel the mark on his shoulder itch deliciously, they could do so much more if they would just give up that one thing that kept them on the right side of sanity.
"I told you now, you can't win this!" The Akatsuki member cracked madly, hopping on to his bird and giving live to another clay creature. "Give it up jinchuuriki, you're way too slow for my art!" But Naruto wasn't listening by now, and for that Sasuke was glad. His clones aided Naruto and within seconds his most powerful attack shrieked, spinning into life.
"Hurry!" Naruto yelled over the noise of igniting explosives. But despite the urgency in his voice, Sasuke could see it in his eyes, too. "For fuck's sake Sasuke, he's not gonna miss this time!" Sasuke made the hand seals and waited for the perfect moment, watching half heartedly as another dragon-shaped explosive approached them.
"Wait for it…" Sasuke shouted, counting down mentally until- "Now!"
Without another thought or word Naruto threw his attack toward the bird hovering above the dragon that carried Deidara. The exact moment Sasuke saw the fourth's famous jutsu leave Naruto's hand, he forced a gigantic amount of chakra into his lungs, and shouted "Katon: Karyū Endan!" as if he had been saying it his entire life.
The flames hell itself spat out of his mouth into three directions to vaguely resemble a dragon before merging with Naruto's own attack.
They had combined attacks before, but never on this scale, and the damage was greater than either of them could have ever imagined. Sasuke watched with a wicked grin on his face as the blazing orb obliterated anything within its path to the stupefied blonde.
The ransenshuriken set ablaze was like a demon, spawn from hell. Faster than lightning and more powerful than any fire jutsu ever produced, the flames were overwhelming to any enemy and enough to reduce an army to ashes. Once the inferno made contact, it exploded with a rush of heat and blinding light, tearing up the ground with an almost human-like scream. The overflow of chakra rushed out in a spinning gale, causing a strong, hot wind to swirl around the battlefield with almost enough force to blow both Sasuke and Naruto off their feet. And all the while, dust filled the air to create a thick, heavy haze like smoke.
The smoke was everywhere, and the echo of the previous explosions still rung in his ears, as Sasuke finally moved away from their target, leaving trails of blood on his clothes.
Naruto landed one final punch on his chest, making the man's blue eyes go wide. Ribs cracked audibly. He crumpled where he stood. It seemed that his breathing was labored, likely painful. Deidara lay broken on the forest floor beneath them.
"Don't move. Or we'll make it worse." Sasuke told him coldly, and after a beating like that nobody would question the sincerity in his words. But really, it wouldn't have mattered. Their opponent's hands had been ripped off by the chidori, in his attempt to shield himself from the sudden impact. His legs had been brutally fractured by Naruto's angered fists, and by the way his eyes stared into the nothing, Sasuke figured somewhere between their assault either of them had given him a severe concussion. All together, Deidara had no intention of moving now or anytime within the near future.
Naruto appeared next to Sasuke, and outright scoffed at how pathetic a fabled Akatsuki member now looked. He almost seemed disappointed, and Sasuke admitted to himself that he had expected more as well, but he dismissed the fact. Deidara didn't say anything anymore. His face was a mask of shock and no small bit of fear. It was probably because they had taken out one of the much praised and feared 'Akatsuki members' with such ease. Really, and this was what his brother had left Konoha for?
They took off, ears ringing and eyes blood-shot from the smoke, back to wherever they had come from and to wherever they were going, only sharing some insults when they're abused lungs allowed them to.
By the time the smoke had cleared, Deidara was dead.
Really, it didn't surprise Shikamaru to learn upon waking that Temari was gone. It was as though, during the course of that dream, he had reached a point at which nothing short of the apocalypse could ever surprise him again. He had listened stoically to the waking forest around him and stretched his legs, and ran off, following Temari's trail.
Hours later, he was swearing all the way though he didn't feel any of that anger against her anymore. The way she laid broken on the ground, obviously fainted from the heat and exhaustion, her limps curled protectively around her injured arm, he couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the woman whose name he had cursed for the past hours. He could see her chest move by the labored breaths, but other than uttermost exhaustion and her injuries from earlier, she seemed okay. He bend down and brushed some hairs from her forehead, knowing he would most likely never again see the unguarded and peaceful, by some considered weak, expression on her face again. When they got out of this forest, she would most likely kill him for trying to stop her, and then bring him back alive for bringing her back to the village while she was unconscious.
With a sigh of defeat, he picked her up, turned around and retraced his steps back to the shelter, and after that, Suna.
The night sky already stretched above them like a sleek purple drop cloth by the time he found their shelter. Pale, strange colors could be seen through the ceiling of leaves, and the way they moved and shifted beyond the stars would have been a beautiful sight if the situation had been any different.
Temari had woken up somewhere during the travel, her bloodshot eyes staring at him accusingly ever since she realized where they were going. He had ignored her gaze and focused on the road ahead of him, checking his surroundings a few more times than necessary and running just a little bit slower than he could have.
He had put her down against the hollow tree and she hadn't complained. They hadn't said anything, not when he returned with the wood for the fire, or the food. Instead of starting a conversation himself, he sat down, stretched his back and winced. His hair was loose, falling around his shoulders in a sopping, sweaty mass. He reached for his face to take of his mask, but it wasn't where it belonged. He didn't remember taking it off, and it was actually the first time he realized that he hadn't worn it since the battle. If anybody but Temari had seen him this way…
Well, Tsunade was already going to kill him when he got back, so it didn't really matter anymore.
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Temari said suddenly, pulling Shikamaru out of his musings. He looked at her, seeing her fingering a fresh acorn, which was strange, since it was still summer. "Isn't that a saying in the leaf?"
Shikamaru nodded, thankful that she had breached the silence. "Yes, it originated from the time in which great fires in threatened the woods and thus our village. Then, it is said that the First Hokage picked up a single acorn from the ashes of a burned part of the woods and said that line before planting it into the ground again. That tree is said to be the tree in the middle of our village, and if you find the first acorn, it is a good omen for the rest of the year."
"I don't believe in omens, and most definitely not in acorns." She said with a lopsided smile, and he smiled as well for the first time. He did cringe a little bit though, when she threw it away. It was tradition, and that is always hard to ignore when it has been intertwining with your soul ever since you were young.
But now the awkward silence was broken, Shikamaru was able to speak his mind.
"I'm not even going to ask how you could have run off the moment my back was turned." He said, confronting her indirectly head-on.
"I'm not asking you about your little secret, so really, you shouldn't complain." Temari's stare didn't really change, the small smile simply fell from her face. "You knew I couldn't stay." She deadpanned.
"Couldn't or wouldn't?" He remarked, raising his eyebrow slightly. "I thought we had come to the conclusion that going after them was pointless, like you just proved."
Temari sneered, and he could see her fist clench ever so slightly, her nails biting into her palm. "You don't have siblings, so you don't know what it's like." She said after a while.
"I might not have siblings, but I grew up with two people, my teammates, and I consider them the closest thing to siblings I will ever have." He replied.
"It's not the same, you know. I didn't even see Gaara most of my childhood, and he scared the crap out of me the times I did. But even if he is scary, possessed or on a killing spree, he will always be my brother." Her tone was carefully controlled, almost forced.
Shikamaru's thoughts lingered on Sasuke for a few seconds before Temari continued. "If that blonde girl would have been a psychopath the first time you had met her, and had tried to kill you the second time, would you have befriended them?"
He didn't answer once again, letting his eyes go over Temari's illuminated skin, looking at the scars and wondering if any of them were related to this conversation. She didn't seem to notice, her stare focused on a patch of wood next to his head. Her eyes had yet to become less blood-shed.
"If your parents had told you to stay away from them, that that chubby boy was a monster, would your bond be as strong as it is right now?" She paused, but Shikamaru didn't answer. It didn't matter, because they both knew the answer. After all, he hadn't exactly defied his parents and played with Naruto back in the days, right?
When she spoke again, her voice was tone was less strident. "Friendship, it's great, just because you have that freedom. You get to choose. But siblings, to be related to someone by blood…" She stressed the last word and lifted her gaze from the ground to his face. "That can never be undone. You can never turn your back on your family, even if you hate them, or even kill them. Because their blood runs through your veins, and through your children's veins." She spat those last words out, and a vague look of reminiscence crossed her eyes.
"You can try to break every bond you have with a family member, but you will fail time and again." The "trust me, I've tried." went unsaid.
Then, the silence took over again, and he suddenly became very aware of how the wind swept through the leaves, shaking them slightly. He felt himself wanting to shake his head as well, to deny everything he had said, telling her that their bond was stronger than that, but he knew he wouldn't even be able to look into her eyes and try to start a sentence.
He almost jumped up when she spoke again. "Like I said, you don't have siblings, so you don't really know what it's like to lose them."
"But, if their blood runs through your veins, doesn't that mean that you'll never lose them entirely?" He said softly, not knowing what else to say that would not either hurt her feelings even if it made a total sap out of him.
She didn't reply, and for a moment all he did was taste the sweet, earthy air that swept gently above them. And then a small giggle escaped from her, suddenly, and he couldn't help but laugh slightly at his own expense as well. "When did you become so sentimental?" She said between the fits of subdued giggles. "I thought you didn't like troublesome things as such?"
He sighed and jabbed her healthy arm with his elbow to make her stop laughing "Maybe it's a good thing I don't have siblings. It would be too troublesome."
"Oh, mine are trouble incarnated. You don't even want to know all the stuff Kankurou and I did when we were young." She said, smiling fondly. "We skipped school so many times that the teacher threatened to inform our father. Only now I realize that he wouldn't have had the guts to go through with it, but back then, we were scared to death."
He never saw her father's face, but knowing her scary sight and the fact she was related to Gaara, really, he knew enough. "I used to skip school all the time as well, and my parents found out many times and punished me even more times, but it never kept me from skipping again." He said. "Back in the days, me, Chouji and Kiba snuck out and hung out in the woods. It was fun, I guess."
"Woods, huh." She said, and Shikamaru suddenly realized that she probably wasn't as familiar with the woods as he was. "Well, we usually tried to sneak up on training ninjas so we could try to copy them…"
He tried to picture a younger version of Temari, and felt a smile creep up his face. "Did it work?"
"Not even once. We were young, I was barely 7 the last time we tried." Her eyes suddenly became downcast, and Shikamaru felt himself look away. "I never liked being weak."
He evaded her eyes again. "There is nothing we can do right now but head back and hope for the rest."
"Don't you hate it?" She said, trying to find some eye contact.
Shikamaru continued mumbling to himself. "Maybe if we keep running, we reach Suna by daybreak. It didn't take that long to get here right?
"Stop ignoring me boy, I'm asking you something."
Shikamaru stopped and sighed, then looked at her. Under the acorn tree, Temari hadn't lost her dominating aura, despite the broken limb and the fact she couldn't even walk more than a few meters on her own. "I don't like it either. But there's what does it matter if I like it or not? A fact is a fact, and there is nothing I can do to change that. Besides, you aren't weak. You said so yourself just yesterday."
"But I am powerless at the moment." She concluded, but before Shikamaru could say anything, her expression changed.
"Unlike you" She said. Her voice wasn't that sharp anymore, but there was something accusing about it. "You seem to have recovered most of your chakra and I think the concussion is gone. Apart from the lack armor and the few wounds from the other day, you could go out there and fight them. Why don't you go after them?"
He met her eyes and smiled a bitter smile. "And leave you behind? I don't leave comrades behind, especially not when they are as stubborn and irresponsible as you are."
Her eyes went wide and she didn't immediately respond and when she did, it was slightly hesitant. "I'm sorry." It was said so softly he almost didn't hear it.
It was also so out of character that he almost didn't believe it. "…What?"
"About earlier." She continued, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them slightly, her eyes never meeting his while he kept searching for eye contact. "You were right, and I knew I had no chance. But I just couldn't… let go. And I'm sorry I left you behind, too, I guess."
Their eyes met and they both knew that it was alright between them. He knew she had forgiven him for hurting her pride and refusing to let her go to her brothers, and he knew that he really didn't like holding grudges anyway. Too troublesome.
She reached out her hand and touched his cheek, and it was only then that Shikamaru realized that they had been sitting next to each other, under the same ceiling in the same forest, the entire time. The unfamiliar gesture, the unexpectedness and the surprisingly gentleness of it were so different from everything that had went between them the past few days that he felt like the wall between them had finally fallen.
He chuckled slightly, not sure if it was because of her comment or of embarrassment or just because he was happy that the wall that he hadn't even been aware of before was gone. It didn't matter, too troublesome to overanalyze everything. "Are you seriously apologizing to me?"
"Stop smirking." She said, and he knew that the gentle hand on his cheek would turn very violent any moment now if he didn't quit. Which he didn't. "It's not like I can't apologize, it's just that I don't often have a reason to apologize."
He joked, though not entirely lying. "Yes, you tend to blame everything on anybody else."
He felt the hand that he had held yesterday, the hand that he had bandaged this afternoon and the very same hand that was touching his hand right now was very close to hitting him right now
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Relax, please. Just rest. Tomorrow I want you be able to walk on your own." He did not have a death wish after all, thank you very much.
"I can walk perfectly fine on my own!"
"Sure, sure."
They bickered until the break of dawn.
Katon: Karyū Endan: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. No, this is actually not one of Sasuke's own moves. It is used by the third hokage and has been credited as one of the most powerful fire moves and is very hard to master. I chose it over other jutsu's because it shows some of Sasuke's progress, even if probably none of you would notice it. XD
Is the Akatsuki really this weak? The answer is no. First of all, this is Sasuke's point of view, who is quite cocky. It would be out of character to make him 'admit' a beaten opponent was strong. Also Deidara is a weaker member of the organization, and it was two against one. But are they really stronger? Yes, they are stronger than Deidara, which is why I choose for Sasuke's point of view. I wanted to show how little compassion and respect there was for their enemy. They liked to play with their 'food'. This is how I try to make clear how team 7 has changed and how their mind works. Also, I expanded the fight from the original… quite a bit. It has over 3500 words now in total, which is three times as much as the original one. I still stand at my point that the fic is Shikamaru centered, but for the sake of the Akatsuki's credibility I wrote it out entirely this time. Took me way too much time, I must admit. I'm so glad Deidara is dead, he's a pain to write.
Other notes: Uhm quick update? Well, I guess I had some spare time. Don't expect the next one within the same week, guys. I'm working on it though. I hardly changed anything in Shika/Tema conversation, 'cause it was one of my favorite conversations in the fic so far, only second to the hospital conversation. (which is, if I remember correctly, in the next chapter but still part of the original story, so for me part of the story so far.) Also, the story's second anniversary is soon! Aren't you happy?
For Original story readers; as you can see, I am almost back to where I left off almost a half a year ago. Only one chapter of original story line left before you're getting brand new stuff. The story's length has doubled, and in my opinion the quality has gone up too. I hope you agree. XD