Temari:
Thoughtfully I sat on the cool windowsill and cleaned my fan. Although this was already spotless, but thus I had an excuse to escape Gaara's quite deadly looks. Although his current behaviour was no longer comparable to that of earlier, but still remained this deep feeling of fear, what my brother could do next in his unpredictability. Just thinking about it gave me goose bumps.
Why wasn't she afraid? I did not understand. Unfathomable this seemed to be for me, nevertheless, everybody, no matter whether Jonin, Chunin or Genin was afraid of Gaara. Even Baki. Even if our sensei did not let himself notice this, but basically, he knew just as well as Kankuro and I this huge power deep inside Gaara not to estimate, but he was also not completely able to control it.
We had personally witnessed it. Many had died and that only because our father, the Kazekage of Sunagakure wanted to test Gaara's resilience. Even today I did not understand why he had done that. It was like an inner conflict in me. On the one hand, Gaara had done a lot of evil, but on the other hand, he was still my youngest brother and I felt responsible for him in a bizarre way. And then again there was this part of me that was so afraid of him and permanently wondered if he would do something to us one day, too. To his own siblings.
And then there was this girl, Tora I think her name was. She stood in front of him and told him her opinion. Freely. Without flinching from his manner or intimidating looks. Everyone was afraid of him. Why not her? That one question had been on my mind all evening now. Or she was afraid of something worse than Gaara. But what could it be? It had to be, because no one was fearless, right?
Tora:
Nervously, I knocked on Shikamaru's front door. The experiences of this afternoon still stuck in my limbs. The strange look in Gaara's eyes and his brother's strange behaviour. The redhead seemed cold and emotionless, but I couldn't help but compare him to Sasuke. From the outside, both seemed unapproachable, although they also seemed to have their weak points, for example, neither of them could stand criticism. Not even in the beginning. Sasuke was very ambitious and talked about revenge all the time.
Gaara, on the other hand, I didn't know very well, but he didn't seem to think much of his fellow men. He almost seemed to be indifferent to them. Only when Sasuke had asked him for his name something like interest had flared up in his eyes. And somehow, I was sure that there would be a big fight between the two. But the first place in his death list was probably taken by me. Death list. How that sounded. It sent a shiver down my spine.
All at once I hoped that this did not correspond to reality. I was not afraid of Gaara, but I had a lot of respect for him. He exuded more power, dominance, and coldness than Sasuke, which was quite a feat.
„SHIKAMARU, OPEN THE DOOR! WE HAVE A VISITOR!"
I flinched and held my ears. Man, Shikamaru really hadn't exaggerated about his mother's dominance level.
With a soft squeak, the door opened and an annoyed Shikamaru appeared. However, when his eyes caught the cake I was carrying, his eyes brightened a bit. He gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder before leading me into the big house.
Shyly I entered the dining room next to my friend. It was quite simply furnished. A large dining table stood in its centre, with four chairs around it. The smell of rice and roasted meat floated to my nose and I inhaled it with relish. My mouth was watering.
Shikaku sat on one of the chairs and looked at me with an almost analysing look. Shikamaru really looked very much like his father. Only that the older one lacked the annoyed look. I grinned. I would be interested to know what the young Nara was like as an adult. Too bad time passed so slowly when you had to wait for something.
„Shikaku, I thought I told you to set the table ... oh hello."
I looked up. A tall dark-haired woman had stepped out of the kitchen. Hands clasped at her sides, she glared at her husband. The latter slumped slightly, nodded in shock, and went into the next room. The clatter of dishes could be heard before he reappeared with bowls and cutlery.
Shikamarus mother came up to me in the meantime. All severity seemed to have disappeared from her face and had given way to an almost motherly expression. Lightly the woman bent down to me. Once again, I was annoyed that I was so small.
„So, you're Tora. Shikamaru has already told me quite a bit about you," she said kindly.
„Hopefully only good things," I said and looked sternly in his direction. Expressionless, the boy watched his mother's expression. A laugh lit up her stern features. A few dark strands fell into her face, which she immediately brushed back.
„I can see I could get along with you quite well," she replied, which Shikamaru acknowledged with an annoyed snort. Immediately, his mother's eyes darted to him and he was once again the centre of her attention. The dark-haired man didn't seem to like that at all.
„Shikamaru. Don't stand there like a fool. Either help or talk with us."
Addressed snorted.
„Girl talk. No thanks. I really don't need that."
UH. Those had clearly been the wrong words. Because all of a sudden, the aura around his mother started to get a lot darker. She slowly but surely straightened up. Her shadows became longer and the expression of her eyes sharper.
Shikaku, who came out of the kitchen with a load of cutlery, stood frozen, looking back and forth between wife and son. But he didn't seem to want to do anything about it. Apparently, Shikamaru really hadn't exaggerated when he said that his mother was in charge in the house. Literally. I would now believe everything he told me about his legal guardian. Really everything.
And all at once I began to wonder if my mother had been like that. This dominant. Or rather sensitive and understanding. Or perhaps cheeky and curious. I didn't know, could only speculate. Only Genma would be able to tell me something about her. More and more a strange feeling crept over me that I had had before. When Naruto had been in the realm of the waves. An almost painful pulling in my stomach area. And I realized that I missed my mother, even though I didn't even know her. That thought alone made me sad. I would have loved to have met her. But I would have to wait a while for that.
We had rice with beef. With salad and a good sauce. It tasted really delicious. Smiling, I watched Shikaku and Shikamaru talking about training. Thoughtfully I looked at the young Nara but didn't notice that I was also being watched.
Finally, Shikamarus mother snapped me out of my thoughts.
„Say, you two. You don't have to be so secretive."
We looked at her, puzzled. What did she mean by that? How secretly? Did she know about me? No, she couldn't. I hurriedly glanced at Shikamaru, but he shook his head almost imperceptibly. His mother had noticed the silent exchange between us and clapped her hands in delight.
„I knew it. You're a couple. Why didn't you say anything?"
My food almost came back up.
Please what?!