The characters gather together and interact for the first time

Chapter 3: Meeting point

Kurotsuchi was atypically merry. The further she got from Iwagakure, the more relaxed she felt. Sagan also looked like he was relaxing more in her presence — getting used to her, getting used to being in the presence of a princess. On the other hand Ittan remained unaffected, just like a rock — serious, silent, observant, calm — unshakable. She found him to be a very reliable shinobi — she kind of liked that, it was calming for her. Kurotsuchi wasn't restless in general, but the unknown could make her slightly nervous. She was aware she wouldn't have any problems getting along with whoever they sent. She was certain she was going to befriend the women and maybe to organise a short love affair if anyone with the right point of view and that she liked enough was interested. She would never do such a thing with subordinate shinobi though, so Ittan and Sagan were out of the picture. She chuckled — she had a mischievous side she controlled perfectly in her Granddad's presence. But he was far away and she could just be… herself.

"I am wondering how many people would be in that group," Sagan shared. He already dared to ask something without starting to apologise before and after the question…a few times…

"No less than 11 and no more than 23." Ittan replied without really looking at him. Instead, he was scanning the surroundings meticulously to assure their safety.

"That's quite a range."

"It is, isn't it?" Kurotsuchi smiled. "But it is more interesting this way, don't you think? Now we can speculate and guess. And even if we do, probably none would get the right number."

Sagan nodded. Ittan glanced at her sceptically — as the good shinobi he was, he was not fond of guessing. He preferred facts.

"I think it is safe to decrease the range to 18-21," he said.

"Why do you think this way?" the woman asked, truly intrigued.

"It's three of us," he replied. "I think it is less likely for a Kage to send less people than the optimum team—"

"That's 15 people, Ittan…" Kurotsuchi interrupted him.

"That's correct." He looked at her calmly, visibly untouched by her interjection. "But I am almost sure Raikage-sama is going to send 5 people as he is overly proud to settle with less than the maximum. Which makes 18 people."

The woman nodded thoughtfully — he was right. The pride of Raikage A was a well known fact.

"I also think Hokage-sama is going to send more than 3 people as well, as the final battle in the war was fought by Konoha's shinobi. I may be mistaken about Hokage-sama though."

"That sounds about right," Kurotsuchi said.

"It is highly possible for the other villages to send 4 or 5 people as well for other reasons." Ittan shrugged.

Sagan remained quiet throughout the conversation.

"Should we make a little bet?" The woman's eyes flickered with a mischievous flame but Ittan shook his head.

"I don't gamble," Sagan firmly replied.

"Has anyone told you how boring you two are?" she frowned and with an emphasised sigh paced ahead.

As the group got closer to the meeting point, Kurotsuchi found her mind drifting to the people she knew would take part in the mission. She thought of Nara Shikamaru as an interesting human being, a smart one. Sometimes the way he spoke was enthralling, and the points he made were always on the spot, but he liked to keep his distance more often than not. His company was alright, although his sarcastic type of humour was not exactly her type, the same way his physical appearance was not really her type. Chojuro, on the other hand, was way more attractive for some reason she couldn't define, and was a nice target for teasing — his reactions were really fun, always. She felt her lips tug into a smile even now. Her mind wandered to Shee of the Kumogakure. He was usually silent, but she suspected sometimes this type of behaviour was due to a simple desire to stay away from casual interactions. However, his behaviour might tend to shift if he was no longer around strangers, eventually. He might remain at a distance as well. Kurotsuchi found Temari and Kankuro fun, most of the time. Temari, a woman of strong will, had won Kurotsuchi's respect before the war had even begun. Kankuro had a spirited and sometimes twisted sense of humour, much like her own, and she looked forward to bringing in on her mischievous games.

She smiled impishly, put her hands behind her back and, surprisingly for both men, started to skip down the path just like a pixie.

Sagan looked at the other man with raised eyebrows. Ittan frowned. He didn't like Kurotsuchi's smile… It was a boding problem…

Tenten was sitting on a low branch, slightly swinging her feet. Her hands were mechanically working on sharpening one of her favourite kunais. The noise of scraping metal was rhythmic and somehow calming. She was trying not to think, but to focus on the action. She was successful to some extent, but only just. When she let her guard down, the memories of her late night dreams haunted her and caused her to shiver. When the war ended, she was having those dreams every single night and she'd wake up with a scream every time she saw Neji die. Every time this happened, she had the feeling she was going to cry, but she never could — the tears simply refused to come. Then she was just laying down staring into the darkness and it seemed to her that she could see his silhouette. When she switched on the light, of course, it always turned out to be a chair with her clothes piled on it. But her mind was able to lead her astray, she was well aware of that.

She sighed quietly and looked at Ino and Chouji. She knew the other woman well; Ino's loose behaviour towards her own teammates didn't worry her nor surprised her. Tenten was simply grateful for the hug, even though she would never admit she needed it. She slightly smiled to herself. All of that… gathering, travelling… It was going to be a valuable experience, she could tell. Neji was not going to like it, she could tell as well — the thought made her shake her head with a soft smile.

Chouji was sitting in the middle of the meadow with his legs stretched ahead. His big palms were placed on the ground holding his body up. His head was relaxed backwards, letting the sun caress his face, his hair so long the ends touched the grass. Ino was using one of his thighs as a pillow. She had also turned her face towards the sun, her eyes were closed, she looked calm and peaceful as if she was asleep. In those moments she felt more glad and even grateful for the close relationship she had with Chouji and Shikamaru. Every other man would take her desire for physical proximity as something more than what it really was — but both of them knew there was no other intention, though Chouji was way more tolerant to her hugs, touches and sporadic cuddles. Shikamaru just wasn't the type who let himself be hugged so much, used for a pillow, held by the hand, or something similar. Sometimes, just sometimes, he would let higher levels of physical proximity that were beyond strictly professional, but rarely — like yesterday when she held his elbow. This didn't matter though, because Ino knew he was compassionate enough to stay up the whole night with her, listening to her rumbling, when she was really upset or to come pick her up from the bar when she was too drunk to get home on her own. He stood at the graveyards for hours, wrapping his arms around her shivering and crying body after the war. He had a soft side… But with growing up it had become less visible, more focused, harder to reach.

Lee had leaned on the tree, where Shikamaru was seated, seemingly relaxed. He had his arms crossed before his chest, his unnaturally thick eyebrows narrowed while he observed Ino. He couldn't understand that — he knew she was dating another man from the village, having an intimate relationship with him. How could she possibly be treating another man so casually and close? He had his point of view on the matter — she had been ridiculous and that seemed to be almost a betrayal. He pursed his lips and turned to the seated man, trying his best to keep his voice even.

"I thought that Ino and Sai…" his voice trailed off as he asked quietly.

"Yes, she is with Sai." Shikamaru replied, passionless. He didn't bother to open his eyes.

Lee looked at the middle of the meadow unbelievingly and with obvious disapproval.

"Then why…?" he didn't finish.

"She is like that," he sighed with slight annoyance. "She does not behave like that with every man, though. She does it with Chouji and myself, because she has been like a sister to both of us. Ino is well aware none of us will think of something inappropriate or try hitting on her. Sai also knows that. She did her best to make that pretty clear for him."

Lee nodded slowly. If Ino was really like a sister to Chouji, laying on his thigh wasn't such an issue. If Lee had a sister they probably would have been even closer, considering his high emotional level. He turned his black, round eyes to Tenten. He tried to remember if she had ever let herself be so physically close without utter reason to Neji or himself — but no, she never had. She had kept emotional and physical distance as big as was needed for the good functioning of their team. Of course they would touch the other ones if one was hurt — for support or to treat the wound. And that was it - a normal team relationship. Well, if he must be completely honest, Tenten was treating him like a brother emotionally even though she was avoiding physical contact between them.

Tenten felt someone watching her. She closed her eyes for just a brief moment, trying to specify the direction — she didn't sense chakra, which meant the person deliberately had been hidden. There were a few possible actions she could take: she could wait being on alert, she could attack, or she could pick a more neutral approach while still holding her advantage. She chose the latter.

"It is about time you show yourself." Tenten, who hadn't moved or glanced away from the work in her hands, said. "Standing hidden with suppressed chakra may send the wrong message," she added, finally lifting up her kunai so she could slide her thumb over its blade, also using it for a back vision mirror to take a look around. Her voice was calm, earnest and somewhat friendly. She sensed somehow whoever was hiding didn't intend to fight.

The rest of the group were standing on alert the moment Tenten had opened her mouth. A dark skinned, red haired woman emerged from the shadows, a katana handle visible over her shoulder. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, her face was calm.

"I am impressed," she confessed and looked at Tenten with her amber eyes.

Karui had gone ahead to scout just after Shee had told her the exact location of Konoha's shinobi. She was extremely careful, she wanted to go back to the rest of her group without being noticed, but the kunoichi seated on the branch had sensed her almost immediately. Karui was mostly surprised by the lack of sharper reaction. That told her the woman was really confident in her abilities to react and protect her comrades.

Once she was on display, she was able to take a better look at Konoha's shinobi, sizing them up.

Her gaze was dragged to the middle of the meadow right away — the woman who shifted her position from comfortably laying down to crouching and ready to act, was somehow familiar. The man who kept seated — not really. Her eyes switched to Shikamaru Nara — she recognised him immediately, then shifted again to the strange vision in green, who was also familiar to her, though she could not remember what his name was.

Ino got up, still looking at the newcomer with narrow eyes. It seemed like she was trying to remember something, then she smiled a few seconds later.

"Karui, yes?" She waited for a nod and continued joyfully, "I would never forget Naruto's face after he met you," she grinned and Karui realised she had been returning the grin, quite sincerely as well. "That's a compliment, by the way," she added laughing.

"Thank you." Karui stagily bowed, returning a more neutral facial expression. Her slender but muscular legs came to vision briefly when she made a half-mocking curtsy. "Now, if you would excuse me… I need to go back and get the rest of Kumogakure's entourage. I will be coming right away."

She turned around and disappeared silently back into the shadows.

Tenten slid her thumb over the blade again, then put it back in the bag and got out another kunai. She continued to sharpen the new blade with the same diligence and routine. She felt tense. Last time they gathered with shinobi from other villages, it was to go to the battlefield. She knew, of course, they were not going there, but the tension was haunting her and wouldn't leave her to rest.

"Well, Kumo's group is here already." Lee nervously slid his hands down his green jumpsuit. He felt uncomfortable with Karui's gaze. Her eyes reminded him of Tsunade-sama's eyes, Fifth Hokage of Konoha. She was a scary woman for a lot of reasons and maybe that was his association to Kumo's kunoichi.

"Not only them," Ino had closed her eyes and her hands were set before her chest — that was her way to focus. "I can sense three people in the northwest. They should be here in about 15 minutes if they don't stop. Karui approaches four more people in the northeast."

"Do you sense more people in the east or the west?" Shikamaru asked, opening his eyes.

"Not yet." Ino frowned from the effort to focus more and to reach even further away. "No, I am sorry."

"Fine, it doesn't matter. Technically it is most probable for them to get here by noon, so there is enough time." Shikamaru relaxed his head backwards again. Lee, on the other hand, couldn't really relax and just kept leaning against the tree trunk, standing. "Even if they are late, we should leave for Suna tomorrow morning."

"So we can meet them up on the way?" asked Lee.

"It is possible," Shikamaru mumbled, somehow distracted.

Chouji assessed that the time was about right to set up a fire and make tea. It was, after all, a nice tradition honoured in every single hidden village. He had kneeled down near the rising flames when a noise of branches shifting made him turn halfway — enough to see but still not enough to be threatening. He sighed and slowly got up on his feet as if he were following some deep-seated instinct. He towered in the middle of the meadow, his hands resting beside his body, emphasising that he didn't have any weapons in hand. His height and weight weren't something one could just miss or ignore, so he had learned to act carefully and to clearly show his intentions from afar, especially when they were not to harm.

The Kumogakure group should have entered from the northeast, but the branches moved in the south. Even in friendly cross-village missions, the shinobi was not less than a shinobi, so such an appearance wasn't unexpected.

Omoi was the first one to show up cautiously and nod restrainedly. Karui appeared right after, bravely brushing past him to settle herself in the middle of the meadow. She was met by Ino's warm smile.

"Welcome!" Lee waved with his typical enthusiasm, gaining glances from the two newcomers.

Shortly after the rest of the group, represented by three more shinobi, stepped onto the meadow. They exchanged polite nods with their respective teammates from Konoha.

Amai, the friendly type he was, tried to set up an informal, social base for their common mission with a kind of shy smile. He headed into the open, approaching Ino. He quietly reminded her about their cooperation during the war, not that she had forgotten about it. Even if she were assigned to a different division, her abilities to give first aid brought her to the Medic Division when the situation called for it. Every bit of help was heartily welcomed, especially if it would save yet another shinobi's life. Ino immediately smiled softly at him and offered him a cup of tea. When he accepted it, she turned her attention to the others still standing near the trees.

"Would you like to join us for some tea, gentlemen?" Ino asked, smiling.

Instinctively, Omoi and Atsui looked up to Shee, as if they were asking him for further instructions. Shee gave them an almost-there nod while heading to the fireplace himself.

Atsui looked around, searching for familiar faces. His eyes had landed on Tenten — he didn't remember her face in detail; he didn't know her name either, but he remembered her chestnut-coloured hair, tied up in two symmetrical buns over the top of her head. Most of all, he remembered her fierce attacks during the battles when they fought side by side in the First Division under Darui's command. He remembered her heartbreaking scream, which later on turned out to be because she had lost her dear teammate. Atsui remembered vividly her immediate expression of pain, helplessness, and anger. Her features seemed much softer at the moment, as a few tiny locks fell down around her face, framing it.

Sensing his gaze, she took a deep breath; only then did she lift her head. She looked back at him carefully and eventually nodded with a slight smile. She recognised him too, he could tell. Atsui bowed slightly in answer, earning a wider smile on her lips. There was no need for anything else; they didn't feel the need for forced words — the words would come naturally with time.

Tenten went back to her original actions, which were something routine and familiar that calmed her. She couldn't help but feel tension again with the people gathering around. Sharpening her kunai served more as a coping mechanism, rather than something she really had to do at the moment. However, her ears were trying to catch on to the conversations going on around her.

Shikamaru slowly got up on his feet, cautiously looking at the newcomers. His memory was helpful enough to give him their names, their initial divisions during the war, and some facts about them, at least for some of them.

Chojuro and Ruka had turned slightly north to avoid a rock mass. Climbing was always an option, of course, but neither of them felt like doing so, and they also didn't mind procrastinating. They weren't actually late, per se, so they were walking moderately slowly and talking quietly. Ruka was thoroughly explaining how the sea ray's poison acted on one's body, and Chojuro was carefully listening and asking a lot of questions. Their communication was easy and natural, as if they were longtime friends and not two or three day acquaintances. It really was weird — the weirdest thing was that they did not feel the slightest physical pull toward each other. That was such a relief; it meant they didn't have to feel uneasy and could just let themselves be in each other's presence.

They simultaneously stopped, feeling alert in intense anticipation. Chojuro stepped in front of Ruka with obvious determination, taking out Hiramekarei. Shortly after, they both were welcomed by Kurotsuchi's wide grin. There was a teasing flame in her pink eyes.

"Well, if that's not Chojuro from Kirigakure!" she said, distinct mocking in her tone.

He let the sword's apex lean down and his face could not be read. The man knew she was an excellent kunoichi, that she would inherit the Tsuchikage position from her grandfather, but her personality made him feel extremely uneasy. She could be really serious, he had seen it. He had seen her fight and he definitely didn't want to fight against her even though he was ready to do so, if he had to. There was something in her eyes that made him worried when she decided to joke around or mock him. His tiny back hairs stood right up…

"Kurotsuchi-san." He nodded politely and put Hiramekarei in its place on his back. Then he stepped aside, letting Ruka line up with him.

"Oh, a girlfriend?" Kurotsuchi's lips blossomed in a mischievous smile.

"I am Ruka, Kurotsuchi-sama. I am here by the orders of Mizukage-sama." She was speaking slowly, clearly and emphasised politely.

"I see." Her smile somehow softened. Her eyes drifted to Chojuro yet again. "I guess we are here for the same purpose?" The question was obviously for him.

He nodded, then he greeted the other two men with another nod.

"Maybe you won't object to moving together from here on? Or maybe you need some rest? We have just finished our little break."

Chojuro glanced at the older man, who was rolling his eyes slightly in annoyance, as if he wasn't happy with the future Tsuchikage's comments. Ittan thought that the 30 minute break Kurotsuchi insisted they took was unnecessary. She had decided she needed to bathe and order them to stop and wait for her when she saw a suitable spring. So both of them had to wait patiently for 20 minutes at a 200 foot distance. They said nothing, but their expressions spoke volumes. Both of the men didn't expect such behaviour from their princess. They found her whims and odd ideas bothersome and inappropriate for her rank. Also, they didn't like to be bossed around in such a manner.

Ruka and Chojuro crossed gazes in silent communication. She nodded and he turned to Iwagakure's shinobi.

"Yes, we may as well move together. Obviously we are here for the same thing."

The newly formed, now larger group, slipped through the trees and headed towards their common destination in silence.

Ruka took a glance at all three new companions - none was familiar. They had participated in the war for certain, or they wouldn't have been here. Just…she never crossed paths with any of them. But she knew who Kurotsuchi was - Chojuro had shared some superficial information about her as he knew she would take part in this mission.

In less than 10 minutes, their group reached the meeting point, where they were expected. Sagan instinctively shrank in the very first moment — he felt threatened. While Chojuro and Kurotsuchi introduced them, he dared to look around at the faces of the other shinobi. They didn't look threatening, they were more likely… untrusting, uninterested or simply bored. His gaze dropped to the shinobi who was just getting on his feet — Nara Shikamaru, the proxy commander of his division during the war. He kind of admired him and he felt flattered he was so casually close to him. When their gazes met, Shikamaru nodded at him. Sagan replied with a nod.

Ittan also had looked around at the others, though much more calmly. There was no discomfort or disregard in his eyes — there was moderate curiosity. There was a kunoichi sitting on a low branch, sharpening a kunai, though she nodded politely at him when she sensed his gaze. There was a blond kunoichi in Konoha's uniform, quietly talking with another kunoichi in Kuno's uniform. He looked at the other shinobi from Kumo one by one until he met a familiar face — Omoi, who was in the same division as him, the Surprise Attack division. His squad was small so he remembered everyone included in it. Surprisingly, the young man from Kumo set his tea on the ground, got up on his feet and started to approach him. He stopped at a foot distance, stretching out a hand.

"I am glad to see you alive," he said quietly.

"Me too." Ittan replied and shook his hand.

Chojuro neared Shikamaru, slightly smiling and greeted him. He wanted to talk with him about something that worried him. Mei-sama had shared with him that they should follow the instructions in the scrolls even if they seem stupid.

"That's what she said? 'Even if they seem stupid.' Is that so?" Shikamaru frowned.

"Yes, and that has me worried." Chojuro admitted.

"Well, the kages could have a bit of a weird sense of humour, even if the reason for the mission would not be really humorous in the first place."

"That's right."

Shikamaru's eyes drifted high to the trees' crowns and sighed with annoyance.

"Let's wait to see what they have come up with, then we can worry about it." He looked at the other man. "If we don't have a defined problem, we can't possibly think of a solution."

That sounded logical enough so Chojuro nodded. Ruka approached him shyly, offering him a cup of tea. He nodded yet again and gratefully accepted it. She turned and headed back toward the fire. Hesitantly, she stopped near it; Chouji, who she saw for the first time, and Lee, who she kind of remembered from the war, were also around the flames. She engaged in some chit-chat with the latter. It turned out he was very talkative and it was more than enough to just throw in a word or ask a question from time to time — the rest of the conversation Lee could muster on his own.

Kurotsuchi sipped from her tea, sighing in pleasure. The conditions were not the best, but the tea was definitely a good one. And she didn't spare her compliments to Chouji, who blushed uncomfortably and looked around for Ino, being his usual saving rope if needed. And she was right there, by his side, pulling Karui's hand. She smiled.

"Chouji had always been the tea man. He makes it way better than I do," she said.

"Always is a long time." Kurotsuchi smiled slightly.

"We have known each other since we were kids." Ino shrugged, leaning her head on his massive shoulder for just a second. He didn't flinch. "We have been together since we learned how to walk."

Chouji agreed with a nod, but didn't say a thing. Even if Kurotsuchi was relatively small, he was feeling… threatened by her for some reason.

"Oh, so you two…" Karui quickly moved her pointer finger between them.

"Oh, no, no, no…" Ino dismissed the idea with a wave while Chouji shook his head. "I have a boyfriend back in Konoha," she whispered and her eyes sparkled with sadness for a brief moment.

"Having a boyfriend should really stop you from having fun." Kurotsuchi smiled lewdly and winked at her.

Karui failed to react, Ino blinked away a few times.

"Actually I can have fun and stay faithful to my boyfriend," she quietly said.

"What's the fun in that?" Kurotsuchi shrugged and casually sipped at her tea.

Karui and Ino exchanged confused gazes, while Ino squeezed Chouji's arm as a warning. She would explain to him later on in detail. He was big and kind-hearted, but naive. Ino was not going to let this woman involve him in a game and break his heart. Not on her watch.

Kankuro looked up at the sun and sighed silently. It was almost noon, so they should reach the meeting point any minute now. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder — Itetsu was walking in silence; his sister and Ameno were talking about something really quietly, so he couldn't hear. There was something different about her he couldn't quite distinguish. He shrugged and turned ahead. He had been watching Temari carefully during their days travelling and realised how much she was lacking in female company. Since he could remember, she had been there for him and for Gaara. Whenever they needed support or care, she was there — a rock they could count on. He loved his sister, but he understood Gaara and himself were not nearly enough for her to be truly happy.

He closed his eyes for a bit to try and chase away the sentimental thoughts.

The plan was to leave back for Suna tomorrow morning — all of them, the whole group. He put a hand in his pocket, searching for the scroll they should give to Konoha's shinobi. If he could, he would have opened it long ago. But only Konoha's shinobi had the instructions that would let them open the scroll safely. LIkewise, they had instructions for the Iwagakure's scroll.

Temari laughed out loud, causing him to turn again, looking over his shoulder. Then, smiling, he turned ahead once more.

"So you are taking more classes in the school?" Ameno asked.

"Yes, I hope I will be able to cut my Konoha's visits at least to half. I already spoke to Gaara and now I am waiting for his answer."

"Do you think there is someone who can take at least half of that commitment?"

"I certainly hope so…" She looked at her brother's back pointedly.

"Do you think he will agree?"

"Well, it depends on Gaara. He can be really persuasive if he has a purpose." She smirked.

"He is not Kazekage by accident, right?" Ameno chuckled.

"Yes, and he gets better with the communication by day; he is a fast learner. He can already hold his own with the Council."

"And why…do you want to cut your Konoha's visits?" Their brown haired companion whispered.

Temari didn't rush her answer. She knew well enough why she didn't want to go there often. Because of him; he made her feel uneasy. She didn't know the reason but she felt weird under his sight — naked, almost helpless, restless…

"I think that it would do only good to my emotional health to change my working field for the time being," she said slowly. She wasn't really lying, was she? Temari let out a silent sigh. She was dreading this mission quite a lot. She knew he would be there, and she won't be able to run away or hide from him. His dark, bottomless eyes were haunting her… She knew she would handle it, of course. Anyway, she didn't really have a choice, did she? She was going to stay with the girls mostly, cutting him out as often as she could. That was her plan at least. She suspected she was feeling anxious, because she grew up to harbour warm feelings towards him, different from being his friend or comrade. What she was still struggling with was identifying the changes in his behaviour… Though Ino hadn't released any details about, she had said Shikamaru's behavioural changes were reasoned, as far as she was aware. And Ino knew him well enough.

Ameno nodded understandingly.

"I just got the impression there is someone there that you… visit?"

"In Konoha?" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… A friend you share"— she stammered, searching for the right phrase to keep from sounding rude —"the accumulated burden of physiological need of proximity," she finished.

"You mean a sex-friend?" Temari grinned, causing Itetsu to flinch and turn, rattled by the words his princess used.

"Well… Yeah…" Ameno exhaled.

"No." She shook her head. "I take care of that need," Temari saw the young shinobi's upset gaze and lowered her voice in slight embarrassment, "in other ways, sporadically rather than regularly."

Ameno chuckled at the choice of words. Even if she got closer to Temari, she still wouldn't let herself talk fully free. She was still testing where the comfort boundaries were set for Temari and for herself as well.

She continued walking in silence until Temari suddenly asked: "What happened with your last boyfriend? How did he cope with the news of your one-month absence?"

"He didn't cope." The woman shrugged. "It turned out his caring demeanour wasn't coming from a good type of motivation."

Temari looked at her questioningly.

"I broke up with him. Jealousy, for me, is not a virtue but a strongly repulsive flaw," she explained quietly and shivered. "I am happily single now." She smiled. "Which is good, actually. I need a break. Sometimes it is a good idea to stay alone so you can reconnect with yourself."

The blond woman nodded sympathetically and turned ahead.

Everyone halted in place when Kankuro's hand rose up with a "stop" command. They stealthed ahead and harked.

"That must be them," Kankuro whispered.

Temari listened carefully then grinned: "Yeaaaah, no mistake. I can recognise that laugh everywhere." She then took down her giant fan, accelerated ahead, opened it with a slash and jumped on it. Sometimes, rarely, she would let her more childish side take over and do something flashy and showy. After all, she couldn't see any harm in doing something funny every now and then, especially if it was easy to execute and didn't threaten anyone. Right at the moment, her giant fan was descending, aiming to land in the middle of the meeting point.

"Rooster…" Kankuro sighed and nodded to the rest to follow.

The fan advanced up into the air, over the trees' crowns, the kunoichi proudly standing upon it.

When the rest of the shinobi saw the fan, it caused different reactions: some of them recognised the fan and smiled, while others were puzzled. Some reached for their weapons but the passive reactions of the others made them halt — whoever it was, they were not here to fight.

The fan landed softly on the eastern part of the meadow. Temari jumped down gracefully, a slight smile on her lips; with one fluid motion she folded the fan and placed it on her back. When she looked ahead, she flinched, sinking into a pair of dark, familiar eyes.

"Temari," the owner of the eyes noted.

"Shikamaru," she replied and forced a smile. He wasn't smiling.

No one noticed the hitched breath in his throat when his gaze slid over her lips — they were pink, and a subtle gleam was visible under the light — her lips were coated with lipstick. The young man hardly tore his sight from her face when Kankuro and the rest of their Sunagakure group entered the meadow exactly where Tenten was sitting on the tree.

There was another round of polite introductions and nodding. Omoi slightly bowed to Kankuro, who was his war division commander. On the other hand, Itetsu couldn't really take his gaze off Shikamaru, who was entrusted with the fourth division by his beloved Kazekage — Gaara.

Ino headed to Temari and hugged her — they had become close enough during the girls' night in Konoha that she could afford an affectionate hug.

"I am really excited we will be together for a month," she quietly shared.

"I wouldn't use 'exciting' to describe all of this," Temari mumbled, but Ino smiled. The leaf kunoichi was excited because of one more thing — she was hopeful that her teammate would eventually step over his insecurities and laziness, and finally speak up.

Ino noticed Ameno standing beside Kankuro and one more young shinobi she hadn't seen before. The three of them stood close to Tenten, just a few feet away from her. Ino headed over to the newcomers and stopped to hug the woman - they had been together on the chuunin's exams some time ago and Ameno had helped Sakura. Even if she was their rival, she showed sober thinking and an extremely kind heart, both of which impressed Ino deeply. Since then, they have exchanged postcards on every common holiday.

"Tch…" Kankuro clicked his tongue and smiled. "Am I getting a hug as well?" he asked teasingly.

"Do you want to get a hug?" Ino asked him, looking straight into his eyes with her blue ones.

"Of course!" he grinned.

Surprisingly, she stepped towards him and hugged him. He stiffened, an invisible blush creeping over his face; he simply didn't believe she was asking seriously, nor that she would hug him at all. He didn't dare to hug her back, though, as he felt this would be overstepping a boundary on his part. When Ino released him, she grabbed Ameno's elbow and dragged her to the middle of the meadow to pour some tea for her.

"Be careful what you wish for—" someone said behind Kankuro's back. The kunoichi was sitting still and was sharpening yet another kunai with workout movements. When he fully turned to her, two hazel orbs briefly looked at him. "—because you may actually get it."

He got lost in her eyes for just a moment, then he smiled: "Thanks. I will keep that in mind."

Thank you:
Alezja - my compass!
and Rebecca, for all of the rest ^^