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Hope you all enjoy part 2
The throbbing in his head is immense, his mouth dry and tongue heavily. He groans and instantly regrets the pitiful noise that manages to escape; he wants nothing more than to curl up in the dark and be left alone.
Instead a coughing fit begins, slow at first then quick to build. Violent hacks now rip through his body while he vaguely hears someone call out when he sits up. His stomach lunges in protest at the movement and the bucket that is placed in his lap arrives just in time for him to hurl.
The bile burns his already ruined throat as he gasps, struggling to suck in air, but even that is excruciating.
Everything hurts.
"Take it easy, just breath."
He only barely makes out the voice, shuttering for a moment before lifting his head, eyes heavy with exhaustion, "Kankurō?" He pushes out through broken lips.
"You were poisoned you need rest." The sand ninja explains as he sits back in his chair.
"Where are we?" He asks glancing around the room, knowing he's not in Suna.
''At a village over a day out from Suna,'' Kankurō confirms his suspicions. ''people were kind enough to let us stay. I didn't have enough time to get you home," he adds at the inquisitive look.
Shikamaru nods silently in agreement wheezing slightly through the pain. "Where's Ino and Chōji?"
Kankurō sighs as he jesters over his shoulder, "they didn't want to take the other room."
He chances another glance, turning his head in the direction of the darkened corner where they rest in a pile of blanks. Eyes quickly scanning them over, he's pleased to see that the only wound seems to the one he had inflicted.
"Don't do that again," he mutters out as best he can turning in Kankurōs direction.
"Excuse me?" Kankurō challenges, with a slight snarl as he sits up.
Shikamaru for his part remains unphased by the tone. "Don't use Ino as a human shield again.'' He says coughing as he leans into the bucket.
"Great way to thank someone who just saved your ass," he bites out in turn. "Twice I might add."
"That's not—" Shikamaru starts, swallowed up by another hard coughing fit that inevitably triggers puking.
Kankurō cringes through the whole ordeal before leaning in to take the bucket, neatly depositing an empty one in its place as he stands. He moves across the room without a word, opening the door to shove the puke filled bucket into the unsuspecting hands of his subordinate. "Clean this out and bring it back," he orders, then mutters something else that Shikamaru doesn't quite make out, shutting the door without waiting for a response.
"Kankurō," Shikamaru calls out weakly, clearly determined to have this conversation.
''Look, save it," Kankurō snaps, cutting him off as he sits back down, pointing over his shoulder. "She already told me you were going to bitch me out for doing that with her. So I've already heard it. You guys freakin' weird." He grumbles folding his arms over his chest as he settles back into the chair.
"She what?" He asks sucking in air and eyes widening, he can only imagine the rambling Ino went on.
Kankurō grins knowing the slight crack in his voice, knowing it's not due to the poison. "Yeah can that girl talk," he says grin growing. He knows he shouldn't aggravate him given the circumstances but he's not about to pass on messing with Temari's boyfriend.
''She droned on and on. 'Shikamarus really not going to like that','' he says voice going up a few octaves, mocking Ino. '''You completely messed up our formation. Shikamaru is the one who's suppose to watch me. Chōji got stabbed because he thought I was back in my body. You interfered on generations worth of teamwork, blah blah blah''' he leaves out the part where she tangents into their fathers, their shared losses and the sudden responsibility of being the heads of their clans. ''If I didn't know better I'd think there was something going on between you two.'' He says with a straight face and a slight glare, biting his tongue to keep the grin from splitting across his face; and really the knock at the door is unexpected but it's all he can do to keep from laughing as he gets up when Shikamaru jumps at the sound.
He returns a moment later with the other bucket, then begins to pull stuff out on the nearby table. Letting the silence hang a little longer.
''It isn't like that,'' Shikamaru says spitting into the bucket, head still throbbing, and voice almost gone. Truthfully he's ready to pass back out.
''I know,'' Kankurō responses with a small smirk as he begins to mix things into a glass, deciding to let off on the teasing with how weak he sounds. ''Temari explained how you guys work when I mentioned how I didn't like how close you two were.'' He walks back over with the glass holding out the purple liquid in some sort of offering.
''Our relationship doesn't work if we don't trust each other.''
''Funny,'' Kankurō laughs. ''She said the same thing, right before she punched me.''
Shikamaru shakes his head with a hint of a smirk as the small chuckle he gives turns into a cough ''sounds like her,'' he says reaching out to take the glass, stopped short when Kankurō pulls it back out of reach.
''Just something to keep in mind,'' he says with the best menacing grin he can he can manage, unable to avoid one last jab. ''The guy that knows how to treat the poisons knows how to administer them.'' He pushes the glass forward again, the purple liquid sloshing unappetizingly. ''And I could always use a new puppet.''