Stand By Me

Chapter 22 - Zoom Into Me

''Is there anybody shouting, what no one can hear? Is there anybody drowning, pulled down by fear? I feel you - don't look away.''

Temari woke when she felt herself being lifted. Two masked men held her arms as her legs dragged along the floor, out the door of her cell, down the hall. She tried to fight them off but she couldn't, she had no idea why, she just couldn't summon the strength.

She did manage to open her eyes a fraction. The room was all white and very bright.

''Secure her in the chair. We'll get some information out of her before Madara-sama sacrifices her.'' came a male voice.

They lifted her into a cold steel chair and strapped her in.

''Whats your name?'' the man demanded.

Temari made no effort to answer.

''Wake her up for fucks sakes! Wake her and give her a shot of Curare*!''

Temari felt a sharp prick in the crook of her elbow, and slowly the haze around her consciousness faded.

''More!'' the Shadow ordered. ''I don't have all day.''

Temari felt the needle press in deeper and she awoke suddenly.

The Shadow straddled a chair in front of her, leaning his arms on the back of it. She stared at him, her lids half open.

Suddenly, she snapped his fingers in front of her face repeatedly and she yanked her head back, just an inch, she could feel a numbness setting into her body, but her mind was alert.

''Nice reaction. Real nice.'' he said with a nod.

''Now, lets begin shall we?''

Temari already knew she wasn't going to cooperate, so she closed her eyes. Not happening, fucker.

''We both know the only reason you escaped the destruction of Suna was because Madara-sama allowed it. What we wanna know is, how exactly did you escape? How did the nin from Konoha escape?''

She knew the answer to the first question. Their family had a secret bunker below Suna, they'd hid there and then accessed the tunnel system.

The second question? As far as she knew only Uzumaki Naruto and Sakura escaped. She had no idea how though.

''Give her a dose of truth serum.''

Temari pursed her lips as the drug was administered.

She felt a haze, but she had no chakra she burn it away.

''Now, how did you escape Suna?''

Temari managed to sputter something unintelligible.

''Fuck. These fucking Shinobi. Prepare a dose of Anectine*.''

''How much?'' another asked.

''Just...over the recommended dose.''

Temari could feel her heart speeding up.

''How did the Shinobi escape Konoha?''

''I...dont know...'' she muttered.

He watched her for a moment, his masked face tilting to the side.

''Give me names. Who survived?''

He could see her frown in an attempt to stop the words.

''Haruno Sakura, Gaara, Kankuro, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke...''

''Where are they?''

She said nothing, her eyes squeezed shut tightly. He stood up, slapping her across the face.

''Give it to her.'' he said with a curse; leaving the room with the slam of the door.

Temari felt the prick in her arm again and then hell came over her. First, there was an unbelievable pressure on her muscles as if water was rushing into every part of her body. And then there was a pressure on her chest, and her lungs began to get heavier and heavier. She tried to breath, but her chest felt to heavy to expand. She tried to scream but nothing came. She tried to thrash around but a drug had paralyzed her.

A panic came over her with a raw intensity. She knew she needed to stay calm, if she panicked her air supply would deplete faster, but right now she couldn't bring herself to calm. She felt her tears wet with her tears as she again tried to thrash and scream. Her endless scream yelled in her head, until darkness overcame her.

x-x-x-x-

Shikamaru remember the first time he saw Temari. It had been during the registration for the Chuunin exams. All the girls he knew, either became ninja to impress a guy or were ninja trying to get a guy. Same thing to him really. He had interest in none of them. Take Ino for example. She starved herself and took excessive care of her looks, used expensive shampoos and shit, for what? She was a ninja. Eating was required to get strong. Wasting your money on girly things was a waste too, because you could be buying weapons and things you actually need. Then, he saw Temari. She hadn't even spared him a glance. But then again, he was used to that. Sasuke usually had the attention of all the females in the vicinity. Except, Temari wasn't looking at the Uchiha. She had a large fan next to her, a finger stroking over it while she'd spoken to the guy next to her, he had a thing next to him, covered in bandages. Her brother, Kankuro.

During the fights, she'd faced Tenten, and he was surprised to find that Temari was quite good, at Chuunin level already. And she'd won. It was then that he'd noticed himself watching her. Though, he'd dismissed it as nothing more than curiosity. Then they were chosen to face each other in the final rounds, and he was once again reminded of her strength. He'd needed to come up with a strategy to beat her, which was not something he needed to do often (mostly since he was so lazy).

When the match was finished, his father had given him a looked filled with slight pity. One he hadn't cared to understand really.

And then the next time came that he saw her, she'd saved his life, it had of course, come with her smart mouth and sarcasm, but he'd learnt to deal with those.

Once Konoha and Suna began setting up a treaty, Temari would usually act as Gaara's proxy, bringing and taking the revised peace treaty. As if by some strange fate, he was always assigned to watch her. In that time he'd gotten to know her. Overbearing, yet blunt. She liked making crude remarks, but knew when things needed a serious or soft edge. She spoke her mind, without a care of what people thought of her. She loved reprimanding him. 'look alive.' or 'stop looking like a dead fish' were her favourites over the years. He'd gotten used to the comments. Her way of being affectionate, probably. Ino and Chouji had teased him about a crush he never had. Asuma probably understood better, he just slapped him on the back and that was it.

No, he'd never gone through the crush stage, and maybe the look of sympathy his father had given him after his fight with Temari in the Chuunin exams did make sense. Because the moment he got to know Temari, all bets were off. He'd lost his rational reasoning. He'd always wondered why his father had married such a troublesome woman. Now he knew, it wasn't something you could stop. It ran in the family. Of course, him being himself, he'd fought it, chosen to ignore it. Until the day of the final battle.

Temari had come up to him with one of her usual comments and he'd looked up at her and before he knew what he was doing, he pressed his lips to hers. And that was it. Shikamaru watched the emotions play across her face, his heart racing. Wondering why he'd waited so long? What exactly he felt for her. It wasn't a crush because he loved her. Temari had been shocked before she recovered. ''Is there no better way for you to have done this?''

''Mendokse.'' he muttered and then he pulled her to him and kissed her, holding her to him, hearing her breath rush, feeling her hands in his hair. Her lips moving eagerly against his as he explored her mouth with his tongue.

And all too quickly it was over.

x-x-x-x-

''...Dad?''

''Shikamaru.'' Shikaku replied, dropping the mask.

''What the hell is going on...''

''I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, son. Madara-sama-''

''Madara-sama!? Madara-sama? What the fuck, dad?''

Shikaku's features hardened.

''Mom's looking for you.''

''You shouldve known better. You should have protected Yoshino.''

''Where were you dad? If you hadn't left, mom wouldve been safe.''

''Madara-sama said you wouldn't understand how the world works. Its too soon for you.''

''Are you saying...you betrayed Konoha? YOU!?'' Shikamaru raged, as he began to circle his father. Shikaku watched with mild interest.

''You're too naive, Shikamaru.''

''Yeah? Fuck you.'' Shikamaru said, but the betrayal in his eyes was palpable.

As get neared the corridor, Gaara yanked him back and created another wall of sand.

''What are you doing?!''

Gaara's eyes looked years older than he was. ''You shouldn't fight your father.''

''Can we get a move on here?'' Kankuro asked, entering the next room. Shikamaru nodded, deciding to focus on the mission. He headed into one of the rooms after getting a pill from Kankuro.

He knew this guy. He was from Kumo.

Shikamaru shook his shoulder. ''I am Nara Shikamaru, a Chuunin from Konoha. You're from Kumo, no? Eat this.'' Shikamaru pushed the pill into the guy's mouth and he bit down. After a second his eyes opened. ''Motoi.'' he introduced himself.

Shikamaru nodded and released Motoi from his bounds.

''Temari? Oi, Temari! Wake up!'' Kankuro sounded near frantic.

Shikamaru was up in the next second, meeting Gaara halfway into the next room.

''Shes not responding!'' Kankuro said, shaking her.

''Temari?'' Gaara called, going closer. ''Pick her up, Shikamaru. Kankuro needs his hands if we're gonna escape.''

Shikamaru nodded, lifting her up. She was cold to the touch, but breathing.

''Lets go.''

The others had already escaped through the tunnel system and with Kankuro leading they crawled inside, Gaara sealing it up with sand and they crawled through to the other side.

Outside though, came the reason why it'd been so easy. The other would-be sacrifices were frozen in place. A hundred, maybe more, Shadow were waiting.

''Set down the sacrifice and face your punishment.''

Kankuro was cursing, Gaara's face was set in a scowl and Shikamaru clutched Temari closer.

''If you do not set her down she will be splattered with your blood. You decide.''

Shikamaru mentally went over their options. None of them ended well.

Shikamaru saw a flash of orange and an army of Narutos charged in with random battle cries.

''Gatsuuga!'' Kiba yelled and a bark echoed thereafter.

They noticed Sasuke too, his sword catching the light of the moon now and then.

''Dynamic Entry!'' called Rock Lee, sending a Shadow flying.

Kankuro dove right into the battle, using a puppet to send explosive tags into the chaos. Gaara created Sand Hail and Shikamaru took off towards the Forest of Death with Temari on his back. Two Shadow blocked his path and Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. Setting Temari down wasn't an option. Shit. He twisted her over so she was hanging over his left shoulder, before taking out a kunai. He threw the kunai at them and they dodged, but of course it had an explosive tag around it that was set to go off when it passed and/or came into contact with a heat signature.

''Bubun Baika no Jutsu!'' A large hand knocked them away and Shikamaru saw Chouji, the Akimichi gave him a nod and a smile.

''Thanks Chouji!'' Shikamaru took off again, making for the training grounds.

Chouji covered him. Soon, the whole team had broken away from the battle and was right on their heels. He could hear them following while taking out enemies.

''Shikamaru, we're going through the Forest of Death, we know the area better and we'll be able to shake them!'' Kiba said, as he came up to Shikamaru on Akamaru's back.

Shikamaru nodded. ''That's what I was planning.''

He wasn't so sure though. If Madara had Konoha Shinobi on his team, they may be in trouble.

Once they all made it to the Forest of Death, they could hear the numbers behind them dwindling. Sasuke sent a large fireball at them and Gaara used the surrounding ground to send a large wave of sand at them.

It was smooth from there on out, until they reached the border. Five Shadows were waiting. Shikamaru was sure his father was among them. He gave Temari to Kankuro. ''Go ahead. We'll catch up.''

Kankuro took his sister, but hesitated. Gaara gave him a nod and Kankuro took off. Chouji and Rock Lee followed to cover him.

There was a second as Kiba, Shikamaru, Gaara, Sasuke and Naruto stared off at the Shadows. And then the attack began. Shikamaru dodged the shuriken and sent a kunai at his attacker. He could hear Kiba and Akamaru making an attack to his near right. The man he was facing wasn't his father. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not.

x-x-x-x-

Sakura paced around the small hospital. Sasuke, Naruto and some of the other guys took off to cover Shikamaru's way home. Not only did Tobi want Naruto, but most likely he wanted Sasuke dead for what he'd done too. They were strong. They were capable. They were her teammates, her family. Oh Kami...

''Sakura.'' a hand on her shoulder stopped her. ''Both Sasuke-san and N-Naruto-kun are both capable ninja.''

Sakura pursed her lips. Hinata was right, of course, and it calmed her down a little. She nodded. ''I know.''

Sakura sat down. Her heel began tapping on the ground impatiently. One thing Sakura hated was sitting down, doing nothing, when things needed to be done. Fuck, she was going to go crazy. She'd wanted to go with them but Naruto had said she needed to be here at the hospital, ready to help them if need be. She wanted to be out in the battlefield. How dare they leave her behind...again.

''Sakura...'' she looked up and Hinata was holding a cup out to her.

''Tea,'' she explained.

''Thanks Hinata.'' Sakura managed a smiled and slowly sipped her tea, at least she was doing something.

x-x-x-x-

Naruto was in a tree, gathering chakra for his senjutsu. He had three clones fighting for him, which would buy him some time since his opponent would have to figure out who is the real one. He felt the familiar heat around his eyes and he knew that he'd entered senjutsu mode.

''You've become quite good, Uzumaki Naruto.''

Naruto wheeled around and came face to face with someone familiar. Someone he'd seen before.

Morino Ibiki.

''From the look on your face I can tell that you recognize me, good, we don't have much time.''

Confusion crossed Naruto's face.

''Tobi's Guard is made up of Jounin and ANBU from all of the hidden villages. Some, he'd recruited during the war, other, more loyal Shinobi were taken during the destruction. Of course, they would never betray their villages. Tobi used a Sharingan technique to place them under a Genjutsu. A seal in their minds will lock away any rational thinking, turning friend into foe.''

''How are you able to-''

''Im one of the best interrogators in the world. I work with these things everyday. Its easy to notice something out of place and disable it.''

''How can we disable it?''

''Without knowing how you'd be wasting your time. Bloodline-limit users will be able to locate and disable it. Sharingan and Byakugan.''

Naruto nodded.

''None of our Shinobi came willingly. You must tell Tsunade-sama.''

Naruto nodded.

''Times up.''

Naruto's clones disappeared and so did the Ibiki in front of him.

He jumped from the hidden protection of the tree and met Ibiki's eyes through the mask. An almost minute nod passed between them and then a scream came from their right.

Sasuke had impaled his enemy with a Chidori-electrified sword. He tossed the guy off carelessly and appeared at Naruto's side.

Ibiki looked around, the only Shadow left besides him was the one facing Shikamaru. The masked man jumped away from Shikamaru and gave Ibiki a hand signal and then they disappeared.

x-x-x-x

Sakura stepped out of Temari's hospital room, closing the door behind her and facing Gaara and Kankuro. She noticed Naruto and Sasuke lingering down the hallway.

''What is it?'' Gaara asked, noticing her reluctance.

''Im so sorry,'' Sakura began, her voice thick with emotion. ''Temari is in a coma.''

She saw the life drain from them but she continued anyway, ''Its a psychologically induced coma. The interrogation drugs were top class and accompanied with the strain her mind was already under, it had no choice but to shut down.''

It was Gaara who answered, but she was sure it was only because as Kazekage he was expected to act calmly in situations such as these. ''When,'' he cleared his throat. ''When will she wake up?''

''I've only heard of cases like Temari's. They're very rare, but...'' Sakura stopped, her throat tight. ''In all the cases, the brains of the patients...stopped functioning completely. Within a few days.''

Kankuro collapsed, sliding down the wall and onto the floor. Gaara just stood. Completely still.

''You-'' Gaara began and Sakura nodded. ''I'll try everything I can, I will not give up on her.''

''Can we go in and see her?'' Kankuro asked, his voice rough.

''Yeah,'' Sakura stepped aside. They entered the room and shut the door behind them.

For a moment she stood there, listening to the silence around her before she fell against the wall, covering her face with her hands. A shudder went through her. She couldn't let Temari die, she just couldn't. Temari hadn't given up on her, she'd searched until she'd found Sakura.

Sakura owed her, she needed to save her. Tsunade had always warned her no to get too personal on a medical case, but right now, personal was just what the situation called for.

''Sakura.''

Two large, warm hands covered her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face.

Dark eyes stared into her's. ''Sasuke...''

She stepped towards him and pulled herself into him, burying her face in his chest. Sasuke was still for a moment before he put his arms around her shoulders. And for a while they just stood like that. Together.

''When you can't breath, I will be there..Zoom into me.''

x-x-x-x-

Oki, took a lily break, but I'm back! Hope yu liked this chapter! Please review!

Next chapter up soon!

Anectine - succinylcholine, a strong muscle relaxant that makes one feel suffocated and drowning. The person feels terror at thinking he is dying.

Curare - to paralyze the body.

Zana-Lee

xoxo