Summary: "I don't want to have anything to do with this person, Shikamaru," she stated in a low voice.
"I understand… But… Considering our goal to keep the peace and improve the trade and political relationships between Konoha and the rest of the villages, I must ask you to make amends for the time being and hold it until the mission is over. Then, if that's what you really want, I'll do everything in my power for you to never communicate with him ever again."

Author's notes: I know that this has become too long and has been read by a very small number of people (probably ones that have been following the story from the start), if any at all. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter :) And I'd like to kindly remind you that comments as a form of feedback are welcome :)

Chapter 25: Time For Boarding

Sagan seriously started to doubt whether he knew anything about the kunoichi with whom he was currently paired for a mission. Truth be told, this particular part resembled more of an errand than an actual mission, but her uncharacteristic demeanour fascinated him nonetheless.

Ruka had been mainly shy, kind, cheerful, and lighthearted during the whole time they were in the bigger group. She even made the impression of someone with not very good orientation, lacking social skills and experience, and even being absent-minded at times. But that image crumbled to the ground once she had to take charge and step up.

As fragile as she looked at first sight, delicate and sweet, Ruka went straight to the docks with no hesitation. Her chin was lifted up confidently as she walked between rough men that were twice her body size and looked like they could crush her like a bug on the wall. She neither flinched nor winced, even once, though there were many ogling looks shot her way.

Ruka stopped amidst the chaos and quickly assessed the situation as her eyes skittered over the people and the piles of wooden crates. Her gaze fixed on a tall man with a worn coat and weathered features from the years spent around the sea. Before Sagan could realise what was happening, she hissed, "Stay close and do not talk. Trust me." Then she slank forward between two groups of people. He followed.

A few determined strides took her right in front of the man, and she poked him in the arm instead of calling for his attention verbally. His surprise was almost amusing when he looked down at her face.

Her posture remained relaxed and confident; her voice was sweeter than a caramelised apple, and the smile never left her lips. She asked for places on the last boat for the day, and it seemed like she got the right person — the boat captain.

"There are no places in the cabins, woman!" the captain snapped at her. "Everythin' was booked yesterday. That ritual draws tourists. We'll even do more courses today. And the next few days."

Despite his astonishment at her cheekiness and lack of fear, he didn't seem overly cooperative. But his words didn't do anything to deter her. If anything, Ruka kept full control and didn't react to his attempt to scare her off.

"Oh, I understand, sir," she assured him. "But you see, Chojuro-san" — she emphasised his name — "hired me to ensure his travel to Kirigakure tonight. His group and he will arrive in the afternoon and just have to get on the last evening boat. They are expected by Mizukage-sama tomorrow morning."

The captain's coarse features softened just a little. "Lady Mei, eh?"

Got you, Ruka smiled inwardly.

"Yes. He needs to get to her and... You wouldn't want to make him and his teammates run on the water on foot, would you?" Her voice caressed the ears like a velvet ribbon. She had hit the right spot, and she knew it.

"Of course not!" He frowned, his eyes sparkling.

"Then, why don't you check one more time and try to find places for Chojuro-san and his eighteen teammates? I'm sure he wouldn't mind any places you can give him."

The man squinted his eyes at her. In the usual case, a woman would run in fear from him, or at least tremble under his stern look. And yet this tender, frail-looking one stood tall and calm, her smile unwavering. It was unusual, unsettling, and, at the same time, fascinating. But he wasn't drawing back just yet. "How'd I know that you're not lyin'?"

"Sadly, I can't prove it until he arrives," she replied, her smile even widening while her cheeks flushed in charming pink. "But you can sell off the tickets at the last moment if I do lie. There are always people waiting for last-moment free spots, right?"

The captain slowly nodded, crossing muscular arms over his wide chest. "Right," he agreed. It was true that he wouldn't lose anything, no matter who showed up or if anyone showed up at all to board his boat. But if the woman was telling the truth, he would be proud to take Chojuro on his boat and please Lady Mei.

Ruka lifted her chin. "So… Would you try and find places?"

The man heaved a sigh, relaxing his shoulders in resignation. "I've got three empty cabins," he mumbled. "They're the smallest. Five beds overall."

"That sounds wonderful!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands happily. "I'm certain he will be extremely grateful for your consideration and kindness."

"Ye, we'll see about that," he said, sounding a bit grumpy.

"Have a most pleasant day, sir!" she wished him, bowing politely as if he were true royalty.

The captain tried to keep a frown, but Ruka could see the wrinkles around his mouth deepening… just a bit. It felt different to communicate with someone who wasn't afraid of him but, at the same time, gave him credit for who he was — a captain with years of experience.

Ruka smiled, grabbed Sagan's elbow, and dragged him away towards the more civilised part of the village.

If Sagan hadn't witnessed the conversation, judging only on Ruka's expression, reactions, and words, he would have thought that the captain was the nicest and most helpful person on earth for offering not one but three cabins. Especially if taken into consideration the crowds moving around and the potential interest in the boats travelling back and forth between Kiri and The Land of Lightning.

When they gained some distance from the docks, he finally dared to speak. "That was quite an impressive game of pretend," he whispered.

She chuckled. "Why do you think I was pretending?" Ruka glanced at him playfully.

Sagan came to a halt, gaping. Opening and closing his mouth, he seemed helpless. "You don't... behave like that?"

She turned over her shoulder and smiled, taking pity on him. "I just gave him the respect he deserved."

"That's not what I mean..." Sagan countered.

She shrugged. "We, people, are multidimensional. Different situations call for different demeanors. And even if I'm shy by nature and could afford to be shy in the bigger group, here I had to step up in order to get the job done."

He let out the air he had been holding, resuming walking. "So... you didn't know that man, did you?"

She shook her head. "I've used his boat occasionally but never really spoke to him. It was never needed."

"Then how did you know what to tell him?" Sagan wondered aloud.

Ruka hummed. "He had a scarf hanging from his pocket."

He looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"It had Kiri's sign on it. So, if he was going to back down, Chojuro's name was one to go for. And mentioning Lady Mei, of course. Fortunately, I didn't have to lie about him coming to the village."

"I can say we got lucky. But the boat we needed could have had a captain from the Lightning Country instead," Sagan said as if thinking out loud. "They wouldn't be impressed by Chojuro's name, right?"

She shook her head and agreed with a small smile. "No, it wouldn't press the right spot."

"Then? What would you have said then?"

Ruka chuckled. "Then I would have used Shee-san's name."

Sagan choked. "Really? Aren't you afraid of him? That he may get mad?"

She tapped her chin with a single finger. "I think he would have understood," she said with conviction. "He might be a bit... short-fused on occasion, but he isn't unreasonable, Sagan-san," she added.

The man pressed his lips in a fine line and shrugged. "I guess."

After reaching the most crowded street, he curiously looked around, beating down a yawn. "Now what?"

Ruka dodged a group of really disoriented tourists and hooked her hand around Sagan's arm. "Let me take you to my favourite place to have a meal?" she suggested. "We have some time to kill."

His face flushed in intense red, and his body stiffened from her touch. He barely nodded. "Okay."

Ruka smiled sweetly and nudged him in the right direction.

Sleep wasn't as good a place to escape as Kankuro had hoped. The pain was so strong and persistent that he couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. Rather, he was just squeezing his eyes shut when he wasn't in a state of feverish nap. The sensation seriously tested his motivation to prove a point to Tenten. Mainly because she didn't want to see it.

Kankuro had stubbornly refused any chakra treatment or pain relief. He only let Ameno bandage his knee and neck, and that was all. He chose to suffer through Temari's deep frown. Even though she obviously disagreed with him, she reserved the vocal version of her opinion for later.

His other teammates were smart enough — or considerate enough — to spare him any comments, unwanted opinions, and even looks of pity or sympathy. Except Kurotsuchi... being herself. She walked up to him and patted his back.

"Well," she said with a smirk, slowly kneeling in front of him. "I reckon you've found her secrets."

He gave her a bitter grimace while looking straight into her pink eyes. Eventually, he nodded curtly.

"Then I don't really have a choice but to announce you as the winner of our little bet, don't you think?" She leaned in, her smug smile intact. "And promise that your" — she paused, taking twisted pleasure in his frown — "private matters will remain untouched by me."

Kankuro huffed, trying hard not to show his relief.

"Or you wanna keep going?" She asked, mocking.

"I'll take the win."

In fact, she hadn't been imposing her presence on him at all since they started the bet, but... He could feel her watching him from the corner of her eye, preying on him like a crafty cat, and it felt burdensome. He would be happy to get rid of the sensation. The bad side of Kurotsuchi not stalking his moves was that she was going to find herself another form of entertainment. Possibly, she would start sniffing around Temari and Shikamaru, but... On the other hand, after the initial explosion around the discovery that they had mutual feelings for each other, they quickly settled on a plateau, normalising their close interactions. That allowed them to be yet more subtle than before, and even for Kankuro it became difficult to spot their longing looks.

Kurotsuchi grinned. "Very well. If you change your mind, you know where to find me." She winked at him and mercifully left him alone.

He was glad she did. Because no matter the reactions of the group, he was still tormented by inner doubts: was all of this worth it? The chills and shivers caused by pain running up and down his body claimed it wasn't. But he knew that the physical affliction could cloud one's judgement.

Kankuro had already spoken with Shikamaru and had made clear his desire to be left without treatment. The team leader wasn't particularly thrilled by his arguments and rebutted his dissent about having a non-fully functional shinobi in the group without a necessity. He admonished Kankuro that he would turn into an impairment for the whole group while not being able to keep up the pace and cause a delay. And what he didn't say aloud, but they both knew, was that in case of a battle, he would be much less efficient than he usually would be.

However, Shikamaru decided he could let Kankuro execute his plan on shaking Tenten out of her miserable existence until there wasn't any serious indication of danger to his life. But if one appeared, he, as a team leader, was going to impose an order and force him to get healed.

Shikamaru had to do one more thing — have one more conversation — as much as he dreaded it.

Shikamaru approached Tenten. She was far from overcoming her recent breakdown, her tears still overflowing and every so often rolling down her cheeks. As a matter of fact, he knew how to deal with crying women. He had quite a vast experience with Ino, but he still preferred to avoid it if possible. However, in this case, it was not, but… well, it was a drag. But since Tenten had stopped sobbing a while ago, despite the tears, he concluded it was relatively safe to talk to her.

He stood right beside the two women — Tenten and Ino — and waited patiently for the latter to nod at him. Only then did he kneel down, facing Tenten.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked compassionately.

She shrugged, wiping her cheeks with her sleeve. "Been better, been worse."

"Do you think you are in a condition to have a word with me in private?" He kept his voice down, picking his words very carefully.

Tenten drew her lips in a fine line before nodding and glancing at her friend, who was still hugging and soothingly caressing her back and shoulders.

"I'll be right there," Ino said, deftly rising on her feet. She squeezed her friend's shoulder, physically showing support, then quickly moved away, granting the privacy Shikamaru had asked for.

"I know it's probably too early," he started quietly. "You haven't had the time to reflect on the last events... But" — he heaved a sigh — "I'm obligated to raise the issue."

Tenten's eyes reflexively drifted to Kankuro, who was lying down at the other end of the meadow.

"Yes, that particular issue," Shikamaru confirmed without turning around. "You two had a bit of an… altercation," he added calmly.

"Y-yes," she admitted. There was no point in denying it.

"I don't know why exactly you two... reached a point of collision, but it's unacceptable from a mission perspective." Shikamaru feared that her reaction may be too emotional, too loud, and resembling an outburst. He certainly didn't expect just a small gasp.

Tenten bit down on her lower lip.

"He insulted Neji," she interrupted with a hiss.

"Oh?" Shikamaru went quiet for a moment. He had heard only parts of their word exchange. And now that everything clicked in place, he could explain to himself everything that was happening in Kankuro's head. Well, maybe not everything, but the main course of his thoughts. However, he wasn't supposed to know, so he stuck to his initial plan for this talk. "Why would he do that?"

She sounded weak and tired when she answered, "I really don't know, Shikamaru. He was friendly and supportive until he just" — she rubbed her forehead — "snapped and..." Tenten shrugged, unable to comprehend the situation.

Shikamaru didn't jump into endless interpretation aloud. Instead, he waited a few moments until the woman could focus on him again and said with a sigh, "I've known Kankuro awhile now, and I can safely assure you that he isn't a person who does something on a whim. To say that what he did... There must have been a reason, even if it might not have been easy to see right away." He laid a hand on her forearm to prevent the eventual sharp reaction. "Now, I don't say it should always be a good reason. I'm saying that you may want to figure out what lies beneath his odd behaviour before drawing the final line about him."

"I don't want to have anything to do with this person, Shikamaru," she stated in a low voice.

"I understand… But… Considering our goal to keep the peace and improve the trade and political relationships between Konoha and the rest of the villages, I must ask you to make amends for the time being and hold it until the mission is over. Then, if that's what you really want, I'll do everything in my power for you to never communicate with him ever again."

She frowned. It took her more than a minute to process what she had just heard. Tenten was still very angry, and her teammate's words didn't do much to make her feel any different. If nothing else, she felt even more helpless and pressed into the corner.

Kankuro didn't have any right to meddle, nor did he have the right to say anything about Neji, especially in order to denigrate him. Or make her doubt the foundations of his love and trust. It was unforgivable. She knew that much. Even in the state she was in, she couldn't deny that Shikamaru was right — keeping peace was bigger than either of their feelings.

"Also…" His voice returned her to the present. "He refused treatment. I think you may be able to convince him to go along with the medics and let them do their jobs without the need for me to command him," he said slowly. "I could, but it would be better if it didn't come to that."

"I'm sorry, but I refuse to take responsibility for his actions and decisions," she spat, even though she was whispering. "If he wants to die from his wounds, I'm not going to stop him."

Shikamaru assessed her expression very carefully before he said anything. "Alright. You are very angry—"

"I'm furious," she interrupted, correcting him.

"And you have the right to be," he agreed. "Although, I still ask you to talk with him and try sorting this out between him and yourself. At least until the mission is over," he added in a business-like tone.

She looked at his calm face for a few moments. "And if I say no?"

He clicked with his tongue. "If you refuse, I might formally request it of you in my role as a team leader. And you may be a lot of things, Tenten, but a shinobi who disobeys her leader isn't one of them."

She crossed her arms and frowned. "What am I supposed to tell him, then?"

"I don't know. Maybe… Consider just hearing him out. Listen. Then you can tell him how you feel and whether you agree with him or not."

She snorted. Tenten didn't want to either listen to him or even get physically close to him. She wanted to erase him from her brain completely because her poor judgement of him resulted in her hurting herself. She thought he was fine, and there she was — wrong. The thought of her attempt to have sex with him brought shivers of disgust all over her body. At least it did him honour to refuse her.

But Shikamaru wanted her to try and reach a tolerable level in their interactions — since she couldn't talk about a relationship anymore — while they were on this mission. She understood it. At least, her logical side understood. As a responsible person, he wouldn't let hers and Kankuro's altercations influence the mission or the future relations of Konoha with Suna.

Tenten bit her lip and nodded. "I'll do it."

"You don't have to do it right away. But please make sure to have a talk with him at some point until tomorrow." He waited for yet another nod and slightly smiled at her. "Now have a rest. You need it."

"Yes."

The conversation was much calmer than Tenten imagined it would be. Kankuro was collected, curt in his answers, and careful in his words' choices. Even if she was looking for something to get mad at, he didn't present her with anything. But he didn't apologise for what he said earlier, nor did he show any regret for crushing her emotionally. He only claimed that she needed to see pain, one that she had caused. Then he asked her to leave him alone. Politely.

In the end, Tenten was left with a disturbing mixture of bubbling emotions, bringing her more confusion than ever. She was still mad at him, and she still didn't want to have anything to do with him. Especially after the mission. But at the same time, his bloody bandage, covering an obviously swollen knee, made her chest strain with guilt. His face, taut and occasionally twisting in ugly grimaces, caused her heart to sink into her stomach. She ignored the sensations, appearing completely indifferent..

And why did she need to see his pain? Wasn't the pain that burned like a fresh fire, scorching her insides, already enough? It was like Kankuro told her a riddle, though Tenten had no desire to play any games.

Anyway, they reached an agreement to stay at a respectful distance from each other and act as normally as was required for the mission. Until it was over.

Tenten couldn't wait to walk through the great Konoha Gates and leave this whole… thing — whatever it might actually be — behind her. For the first time since the war, she felt something clear, something not clouded by memories and dull grief. Too bad it was an urge to run away.

"This is one hell of a hungry bird," Atsui commented, mesmerised as Zorka fiercely tore a piece of flesh from the mouse with her beak while pressing the rest of the body down with her talons.

Darui glanced at it, not very impressed, while Karui hummed.

"Last time I had to deal with one of these, I took a male bird named Hoi. It was a very timid creature compared to this beast over here," he added.

"It's just a bird." Darui sighed. "Nothing unusual. They all have their quirks, much like us." He paused. "But… If it does its work well, the rest doesn't really matter."

"All our messengers have been trained well," Karui said. "So... yeah, it doesn't matter."

Atsui snorted. "Of course they have."

A few minutes later, Darui got on his feet, throwing his bag over his shoulder. He fixed the ties. "Ok, let's go. We will soon catch up with them."

The others started to prepare and followed him when he started to move. They were silent, just jumping from tree to tree, focusing on the speed, while the wind swished beside their ears.

It was early morning, and the sun started to rise, colouring the leaves and making them shine. If everything was up to the initial plan, the mission group was still at the camping spot and would remain there for at least two more hours.

Karui's face lit up as they got closer. She looked very eager to meet with the rest of her teammates. A tiny smile settled on her lips as her gaze focused ahead.

Ruka and Sagan were tired, and their worry increased more and more while they waited for the other part of the group at the docks. Their teammates were late — quite late. They were supposed to arrive hours earlier, and the boat was soon about to depart.

Ruka squeezed the tickets in her hand, sighing. "I really hope we won't have to run through the sea," she whispered, her fingers slightly twitching. Her teammate only nodded.

"We are almost at the docks," Ino's voice boomed into Sagan's frantic mind, startling him. He jolted, making Ruka turn to him with her hand pressing on her chest.

"They're coming," he said, relieved.

She narrowed her eyes. "How do you know?"

He gave her a confused look. "Ino-san has just said it through the mind link. Didn't you hear her?"

Ruka shook her head, worry spreading over her face. "No…" And isn't that weird, she added inwardly.

Sagan hummed, but he didn't seem to want to make a big fuss around this. Rather, he got on his feet and started looking around, trying to see above the heads of the people who were already boarding.

In a few moments, he looked down at Ruka. "I see them."

She let out a sigh of relief and stood as well. Turning, she was trying to locate someone else — the captain heading to the bridge.

"I'll make sure our booking is still valid," she said in a low tone just before wedging herself right into a group of people. "Please bring them on board." Ruka had almost disappeared when the last words faded behind her, barely reaching Sagan's ears.

Ruka's face instantly changed from tired to worried as her sight fell on Kankuro — he was limping on a heavily bandaged left leg with a distinguishably pale face even under his makeup and extra purple lines. He was gritting his teeth; she could see his jaw muscles contracting. Her eyes drifted to the bandage covering his neck, too. As if sensing her gaze, he turned to give her a very washed-out smile in greeting. She was stunned enough to just mindlessly wave at him, unable to do anything more.

Dread and panic hit her in the chest, stilling her in place. How gruesome of a battle should that one have been for Kankuro to end up in such a state? But… No one else seemed to have any injuries, and... There were a few highly capable medics that could take care of really bad wounds. Why didn't they do it? What was going on?

Ruka swallowed and tore her look away from Kankuro. Her kind and polite nature didn't allow her to just keep staring and make a teammate feel uncomfortable. Furthermore, she had work to do before trying to gently pry for some information on the events she had missed.

Ruka headed directly to Shikamaru and confirmed a successful message transmission. Only after that did she give the boat tickets to Chojuro with a summarised version of the bargain for them. He laughed, amusement radiating from his face as he praised her creativity at having found a way to convince the captain to cooperate. As a result, she got the best option possible — booking one single-bed cabin and two more with two beds each. The rest of the places were just free space on the cold, wooden deck. But they all had blankets, so it wasn't going to be that bad. Unless they got into a storm, that was.

Once Lee's foot stepped on the board, he clutched at Ino's arm, not wanting to let go. His face gained a greenish tint, almost covered up by desperation.

"I can't help you with that," she said, her tone apologetic. "I can only pat your back while you retch your guts out."

"But you are a medic, aren't you?" he mumbled in protest.

"This is not a battle injury, Lee, nor is it an interrogation. Not my field of expertise." She hummed and added carefully, "But maybe Ruka, as a medic from Kiri, has a pill or something? She travels a lot with these boats, so at least she may know a trick or two to ease the nausea?"

His eyes lit up in an instant as he sought Ruka's delicate frame. He spotted her beside Shikamaru and didn't waste any time getting to her.

"Ruka-chan! I need your help," he started even before he reached her.

She turned, a worried expression settling on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I get very sick on boats... I throw up and..."

"Oh, hold on!" Ruka opened her waist bag and stuck a hand in it. "Just let me find..." She pulled out one little jar and two small paper bags with colourful powders. "Ok, there they are. I can fix something for seasickness."

"You can do that, yes, but in a few moments." Shikamaru stopped her. "Now, so we can all have even chances to have a proper rest, I suggest we make a draw for the beds—"

The smooth departure of the boat and the initial sway got Lee to slap two hands over his mouth and rush to the rails. He barely reached them before throwing up in the water.

Shikamaru rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How about we assign the single-bed cabin to Lee?" He suggested. "Voting for it," he encouraged, lifting up his hand.

Seventeen more raised hands decided Lee's fate to have a tiny bed all to himself during the whole boat trip.

"I'll take him in the cabin and fix the medicine for him," Ruka said, gently pulling Lee after herself. "Come on. Come with me."

"Let's make the draw for the cabins first?" Ino asked.

Ruka shook her head. "Just leave the last one for me. It doesn't really matter." She coaxed her poor teammate, "This way. You will feel better when you lay down and have the potion I'll prepare for you."

"Hope so," he whispered in a raspy voice, holding his stomach with one hand and clutching at her elbow with the other one. There was a grimace on his face that could make anyone feel sick just by looking at it.

The rest of the shinobi came to a decision to make a draw for six-hour shifts on each bed for the whole trip of twelve hours. So there were going to be eight shinobi to take advantage of the circumstances and sleep in the cabins. On small pieces of paper was written either a bed number and a shift — first or second — or 'deck'. The single-bed cabin was out of the question. Kankuro had firmly refused to exploit the situation in his favour because of his injury. His sister did everything but agree with him.

Ameno took the last two papers for Ruka and herself. She opened one of them.

Kankuro glanced at his draw before taking off his backpack and dropping it on the planks. He reached down with a stifled groan when Temari slapped his hand away.

"You are going to cabin fifteen, bed one. I'm changing with you," she challenged in a tone that didn't allow any form of protest.

"No," he still refused, attempting to reach his bag yet again.

"I'm not asking you, little brother; I'm commanding you," she informed him, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Not going to happen," Kankuro let out through gritted teeth.

"You are not in a fit state to stay on the deck. Since you refuse treatment, you aren't in a fit state to lead the Suna squad either, so... I'm taking over." Her expression confirmed that she wasn't taking any objections; she was not backing down.

He realised that there was no way out — at least not right now, not in the condition he was in. So Kankuro decided that opposing her was not wise, nor did it have any prospects for success. With a quiet curse under his breath, he snatched his backpack and the piece of paper his sister was still holding up. "Very well," he growled. "I'll just pretend you didn't organise a riot against me."

"Yeah, do that while you go to bed," Temari said with a frown, which quickly turned into a content smile.

Kankuro moved in the appointed direction, clenching his jaw and clutching at the bag's handle. He limped slowly, leaning on the wooden walls for support and trying not to let the pain overwhelm all of his senses. In the past, there were cases when he didn't have medical treatment right after an injury. But he didn't remember it becoming that bad. Ever.

Ameno waited just a moment before handing Temari her own draw. "Let me take the deck, so you can be with Kankuro-sama. I think he might feel better if you stay with him." She grinned at her, shooting a glance at Amai. "It's much more romantic out here, anyway."

Kankuro didn't turn at Ameno's words, but he rolled his eyes. Of course, he was glad that she was considerate. He was kind of happy that his teammates had found a romantic interest in each other. But at the same time, he couldn't escape the feelings of sorry for himself, as well as envy. He knew it would pass, but right now, that hurt even more than his knee did. And the pain — oh, it was incessant, intense, and honestly torturing. Who was he kidding? The small comfort of a bed was welcome.

Common sense told him that no matter how well he pretended about coping with his wound, neither Shikamaru nor his sister would let him limp around during the ritual tomorrow. Maybe… if he used his abilities to the fullest, which were questionable at the moment, he might be able to request a replacement. Although, he wasn't sure if that was even an option... But if he could do it, that would give him time. And time was exactly what he needed — what Tenten needed, actually. For her to dig deeper and reflect, she needed weeks, maybe months. Until she eventually comprehended what he had done. In case she gave him any credit, that was. No matter, he would be long gone, back to his life in Suna. Out of her life.

His chest felt numb. He knew that after their last conversation, any change was up to Tenten. He understood that he had to come to peace with himself. He didn't really have a choice.

Kankuro dragged himself to the bed in cabin fifteen and plopped on it with a groan. His knee was pulsing, the joint unresponsive to both bending and straightening, as if it were caught in a vice. He pulled his leg up with his hands, forcing it to lay up on the bed. Twenty-four hours of constant affliction had made him a little less perceptive to it. Which meant that his brain was at least starting to work, capable of ignoring the sensation to a tolerable extent. But he couldn't use his thinking abilities because his body had other plans, finally letting him fall asleep.

Thank you, my dear jtoo, as always!

Thank you, Bryan Tong, for betaing this chapter. Your suggestions have made it better, and I am really grateful for your time and efforts!