It's been a while.

Enjoy.

Two weeks ago, two days after Dai was shot.

Code name: Desert Storm part one

Mission Status: complicated

The mission was supposed to be simple.

Kill the man named Dai Shimaru. Break one leg of the beast. The transmission from Suna had come a day prior to the task and she had prepared properly with her handpicked team.

Yet she had everything go wrong that day.

The one hired for the task had missed. The one assigned to watch had been found dead. As for Temari she had been pulled away from seeing the mission through, she had been distracted.

Stepping into the misty dark back alley of a small and shady inner city region in Konoha city, the only light welcoming her was a broken street lamp lighting the sidewalk. The click of her boots on the murky wet ground echoed. Four ladders leading to balconies, a couple of trash bins and a scurrying cat rushing away from the sight of her was all she had to see. Looking back, coast clear, she reached a hand to the ladder and began to climb to one of the flimsy metal balconies. An abandoned apartment complex, the few occupants that lived around the bad neighborhood hidden in their homes, away from possible danger.

Leaning towards the shut dusty window, she wrapped three times on the glass and waited. A dark glare welcomed her, and she returned the gesture with just as much cold heat.

With a sigh, Itachi Uchiha unclamped the lock and opened the squeaky window for her.

"Thought we agreed to not meet like this" Itachi muttered as she slipped in, standing tall and fixing the end of her coat with a scoff, not bothering to look at him.

"You gave me no choice" she bit back, striding past him, thumping her boots loudly on the wooden floor all the way into the living room, lit only by a few flickering candles around the space and a dim light on a busied work desk. On it, a disassembled sniper rifle sat in pieces, cleaning oils and delicate rods set to clean the weapon.

Itachi followed and walked past her to the desk, sitting on the wooden chair and waiting for her first move. She made a habit of looking about the rooms, opening and closing each door in the apartment before returning to him. He had been paid for a job, and had failed. It was only a matter of time before the one who hired him found him.

And it began.

"What the fuck was that?" She demanded, slamming a hand to the desk while the other grabbed the back of his chair with a jerk. Itachi didn't even flinch, instead breathing out a sigh and looking to his sniper pieces. Shifting a metal piece from his rifle, intent on ignoring the angry woman beside him, he picked up one of the cleaning rods "Don't ignore me, Itachi" she snapped quickly when she noticed his unwavering silence.

"I'm not one of your subordinates, Temari, I will not bow to you, so don't yell at me. We've agreed to this term before" he replied back calmly, squinting an eye unconcernedly as he slid the rod into the barrel, continuing his previous task as if she had never been there. Before she could press him any more he explained "I was compromised" he muttered, carefully inspecting the barrel "so I made a choice with the information I had at the time. Kill and run" as predicted she blew out a angry huff.

"How were you compromised? You had the perfect perch, the perfect shot, you had two of my agents with you" she paused and leaned away from him. Itachi set the metal piece down.

"I told you before to send me alone, you choose not to listen" Itachi grunted, practically feeling the burning glare at the side of his head "as our agreement stated, you were to remain unseen and uninvolved. I made sure of that" he looked back to her, right about his previous observation of feeling her intense gaze watching him "Now why did you have to leave your post at the rally?" He questioned, somewhat pleased to see the twitch in her eye "Think carefully" Itachi leaned back at his work chair, full attention on her now. Crossing his arms over his chest he spoke "you and I both know I never miss a shot, so why would Dai get hit in his shoulder instead of the head?"

"Damn it, that's why you shot Ina" she muttered after a brief moment.

"You doubted me" he stated plainly.

"I" she paused heavily and sighed "I did"

"You should know better" he hummed "You hired me, not your nation. I wasn't calculated into the official mission until last minute and your people don't trust me" shutting his eyes, Itachi sighed "Your priorities have changed, Mistress" he mocked her name and leaned forward again grabbing the glass piece from his scope and inspecting it under the lens "and you are being tricked"

"I knew it was too soon" she murmured to herself again, suspicions confirmed, and turned to lean against his desk, glaring at the dirty broken mirror near the front door in childish frustration.

"Then why did you call the start?" He asked, interested to feed his own curiosity. Temari stayed quiet for a moment, the thoughts running in the back of her mind coming forward when she blew out a breath.

"I was ordered to. They entered Kazen and Fu enterprises sent weapons there last week. It's only a matter of time before they near Suna" she said evenly, keeping any emotion out of her voice. He hadn't seen her in a couple of years, since their joint mission in Kumo. When she had found him in Konoha, a feat even the Konoha intelligence failed to accomplish, he'd be lying to himself is he wasn't pleased to meet a woman at his level. Young but promising just as he had been.

"Maybe they were ahead of their schedule?" They exchanged a look, both calculating the possibilities of the early strike. He spoke first "how do you plan to continue from here?"

"I don't know" she mumbled, rare for her to not know her next step.

"You rarely don't know something" he remarked and waited, she remained silent "Temari, your orders have been interfered with, and I would know because I specialized in this during my time as an agent for Konoha" at the comment she shifted her gaze down to him and barked a sharp word in Sunian, he found himself unexpectedly grinning at the demand to Shut up. He lost his grin as she focused her gaze to the wall, practically seeing the way she forced a deeper thought process, trying to remember every detail, but outwardly looking pissed if he had to name the emotion. So he spoke, keeping a level gaze up at her "I was surprised you wanted me to take the shot, instead of one of your own"

"No one can shoot better than you an unfortunate known fact" she stated with a roll of her eyes crossing her arms under her chest, his gaze lowered to it for a moment. He knew exactly what she hid under that shirt. Now how to distract her? Temari never lacked curiosity, so she would continue until she got what she wanted.

"Yes how unfortunate" His gaze softened and he grinned shutting his eyes "no matter what they did to you your heart is still on your sleeve. So passionate. You would have made a wonderful Akatsuki member back in the day. It is for the innocent people who you protect that you are willing to risk everything" his gaze opened and he looked at her, stroking her ego "it's admirable even now"

"It's my job" she replied flatly, not playing into the compliment, and showing it well that she was not an easily fooled woman "just like your job was to dispatch of Dai properly" she scoffed bitterly "now I have to do all the work myself and risk exposure, not what I wanted" Itachi shook his head slowly, grinning as he did.

"Complaining about a little extra effort?" He taunted and rose from his chair. She followed his movement as he stood, a short step around the chair and he was leaning over her "you just can't admit that this has helped you see"

"See what exactly?" She stared up at him, inhaling quietly as he put a hand to her knees and dragged them up her thighs, through fabric she could feel the cold tingle of his touch.

"That I've helped you expose your weak links, little weasel" he breathed close to her lips. She didn't speak, however her eyes lowered to his mouth. She seemed thoughtful for a moment as he brushed a kiss to her lips. The smallest sign of her responding was the way she spread her legs just enough for him to get closer, a single step.

"Mutiny from the inside?" she tilted her head back, allowing more access to him as his light touch of the lips lowered to her neck.

"Seems to be the case" he hushed as he pressed his lips to her exposed neck, stroking a strand of the golden hair to the side and dragging a finger against the soft skin of her collarbone.

"How ironic" she breathed a laugh, drowning it with her low moan "you've been on the other side of this. Konoha's infamous traitor" even snarky she couldn't hide the pleasure.

"Calling me a traitor" he pressed himself against her, locking her between himself and the desk "won't stop me from bending you over this desk"

"Like that time in Kumo?" She purred lowered her head to meet his gaze.

"Just like Kumo" he pressed his fingers against her bare stomach, working her shirt upwards in the process. Skin burning on both ends.

"I suppose it won't stop you" she ventured suddenly as he returned his lips against hers again and instantly regretting his boldness to approach her as something pricked his neck "But a knife might" she pressed into his neck, leaning him away with the flat end without harm. He nearly huffed out in frustration.

So close.

"I forgot how dangerous your foreplay can be" he glanced down at her hand, them back to her as she leaned closer, all heat lost as her cold eyes nearly pierced him.

"I don't reward failures" she spoke against his lips, just a lingering breath away from touching "whether it's your fault or not" she flicked the blade closed and stood straight pushing him back with a firm hand on his chest. He stumbled back a step and glanced away for a moment to adjust himself.

"Tease" he muttered, awaiting the inevitable. He had learned early on, after the first time meeting her on a mission in Iwa, while he was still an agent of Konoha, that Temari was a firece opponent. To kill her would have been a better choice than exposing her to the agency, but when he had spoken to her he had realized just why he kept her alive that night.

"You are avoiding something, Uchiha" back to a leader she went, no sign of her desire even in the slightest "You never make the first move on me, that's usually my move"

"Aren't we all avoiding something?" He hummed.

"Enough cryptic talk" she groaned "just spill it, you're giving me a headache" neither said anything for a minute. Itachi had to think carefully. She might have been merciful before, but now mistrust had clouded her judgment of even himself.

"It's my brother" he finally admitted.

"Sasuke?" She almost looked surprised, as if that wasn't her first pick in names.

"He has been asking around" Itachi muttered staring at his detached barrel quietly "he is trying to get into Wind borders and I can only assume it's to make his way to Suna. He made the mistake of asking an old friend of mine for help"

"Do you know why?" She asked after a quiet look. One he knew meant she was debating her options.

"Look into the shadows, it's where the secrets lie" he answered back crypticly.

"I forgot how much of a pain it is working with you" she huffed.

"Wait until you meet my brother" he grinned.

"I'm looking forward to it" no smile back.

"All I ask is that you don't kill him" one firm demand spoken evenly, but with warning.

"You know I can't promise that" she still fought for the upper hand even though he knew she would be avoiding that route "just as you want to protect your brother I want to protect mine" she leaned closer to him "He has brought this upon himself, he choose his side"

"We can't pick sides, we have to do these things for our nations, whether we want to or not, it's the life of an agent. We do what needs to be done " holding her gaze "it barely makes us human beings anymore"

"Mines yours what does it matter? Everyone gets fucked in the end and it's our job to make sure the right people get fucked" just as graceful as she could be blunt seemed to be the default.

"Don't let it consume you, this rage you feel, it will pass, but the storm you leave in its wake will destroy everything around you" she blinked at him once and let out a short amused laugh.

"Cute" she started sarcastically, a devilish look in her eyes "did you come up with that just now or were you saving it for when I needed a pep talk?"

"Food for thought, my dear" he moved past her as she made her way to leave.

"Don't think I forgot our deal Itachi" she glanced back from the hallway and grinned "no harm will come to anyone unless they get in my way"

"Then let's hope they don't Temari" he watched her leave, the window shutting and the distant sounds of the city settling once again "She is definitely in over her head" he mumbled to himself and relaxed in his chair, picking up his rod and quietly returning to work.

The Black Sun Scorpion.

Rare and delicate to the temperature of the colder Konoha climates. The creature was thought to be near extinction after the second war. Thanks to the selective breeders of Suna, it had made its comeback, that information known to very few. It's one true purpose of existence, as the most brutal form of torture one could get.

What was more painful than physical pain? The memories it created.

The ones it warped.

Sakura had explained what she knew about the venom that had been injected into the three agents and although they had recovered, the aching symptoms still seemed to linger.

On the ride to headquarters, he recalled the time he had fell as a child, scraping his knee badly, and the worry of his mother's face when he had stumbled into his house with Choji panicking beside him. He had cried. After being patched up, his mother scolding the entire time, she softened her blow with a tray of cookies for the scared children, telling them it would be alright. That had been the true memory.

This one it had changed.

His knee had been exposed to the bone, flesh hanging off his leg. Instead of healing, it was ripped off, more and more until he could no longer see blood, but only bone. No cookies soothed him after. He had cried.

Blinking now, he cleared his throat uncomfortably and glanced back at Ino, hiding his discomfort for two reasons. His walk down the headquarters hallways a unpleasant one to say the least. His first reason being the drywall tearing off the walls along with a eerie whine of some kind. His other being the woman who he would see very soon.

Shikamaru almost didn't notice he had stopped just outside the forensics lab at headquarters, reluctant to go in. It had been months since the breakup, it had been uncomfortable then and even now when he'd see Shiho in passing, both tended to look the other way.

"Don't be awkward in there" Shikamaru grimaced when Ino patted his back.

"I'm not awkward" he mumbled, nerves kicking in as he rubbed the back of his neck "I just don't like being around her is all"

"You dated her for like months and just break up without explaining" Ino sighed, she had been a believer in his short romance, possibly because she had been the one to set up the pair "trust me it's uncomfortable for me too. I really liked her for you" Ino sighed.

"It's complicated" he murmured.

"Everything about you is complicated" Ino rolled her eyes with a huff "she really liked you and you did what you always do, you gave up and ran as soon as she wanted to be serious" and now his eyes rolled, switching from the discomfort to his childish irritation with Ino.

"Ino, let it go. We've been over this" he furrowed his brows sternly at her pestering "agents can't get close to anyone or they risk putting others in danger. I did it for her safety"

"Just let it go" she mocked him, sliding the card as she mumbled annoyingly to herself "let it go, yeah that's funny, every time I bring up" she shifted her expression quickly as she stepped into the lab, it's only occupant already turned to the door to see who had entered "Shiho!" Ino cheerfully greeted with a bright smile "hey girl how have you been?"

"Oh Agent Yamanaka" Shiho bowed her head after standing to greet them "I uh wasn't aware you'd be here today" she looked over her glasses at Shikamaru and her cheeks burned red "agent Nara" Shikamaru gave a nod in greeting and busied himself with looking about the lab, anywhere but at Shiho "how are you? From the uh poisoning" she veered her gaze away from him, doing just as he was.

"Fine" he muttered, holding his breath in the silence.

"Awkward" Ino groaned, massaging her temple for a second and walked between the two to the lab desk near Shiho, set up with a computer on the side and tubes and petri dishes on the other "alright Shiho what do we know?" She called back to her. Shiho shook her head, getting out of the thick air and followed after Ino to her desk.

"Well as Shino said, it's venom from a scorpion native to the southern region of Wind country" sitting she slipped open her closed file and showed the scorpio.

"The Black Sun scorpion" Ino nodded to her as she pulled up a file filled with notes and pictures.

"Correct" she nodded to her "It's venom can cause intense hallucinations, with symptoms lasting hours to weeks depending on quantity and potency given" looking back she pulled up a picture of a written analysis "what I was able to find out about it is that they use this to train their soldiers, make them fearless"

"Fearless" Shikamaru whispered and furrowed his brows.

"Ugh bugs" Ino glared disgustingly at the imagine on the screen.

"It's an arachnid not a bug" Shikamaru and Shiho corrected her simultaneously, both slowly exchanging a look with each other before avoiding eye contact again. A brief memory of quiet relaxing nights came to his mind. He had quite enjoyed having someone close to him before he let his duties became priority one. Shiho had been someone to ground him in his early days as a field agent, she and his friends alike.

"What's the difference, still gross" Ino muttered turning a silent side glare at Shikamaru for the correction, but truthfully it was to see just how tense he'd gotten. He had been to quiet and she knew better than anyone it was due to him being lost in thought.

Distracted by a blurry scorpion crawling on the table ahead of him. That was new.

"It's said that Suna used to use it for torture as well" Shiho brought up a clip, muted, of a chained prisoner writhering in pain "a way they could pull secrets from even the toughest of informants"

"Any way to get rid of the symptoms?" Shikamaru asked, rolling his shoulder as the feel of a clawed touch creeped up on him.

"Unfortunately" Shiho caught the discomfort and shook her head "it's just something you have to ride out"

"Troublesome" he muttered, finger twitching in his pocket, no lighter "Thank you for finding this Shiho"

"Of course, no problem Shikamaru" she gave a small smile and looked away pushing her glasses up her nose. The two nodded their farewell and left down the hallway again.

"That was better" Ino patted his shoulder, the involuntary jerk concerning her for a moment "could have gone worse" she hummed and kept her hands to herself "So If she used this on you" Ino stared back at him when he sighed, he knew now.

Temari was not lying to him.

"She wasn't trying to kill me" he admitted begrudgingly.

"She shot you" Ino looked confused for a moment at his suggestion "how does that indicate in any way that she wasn't trying to kill you?" He rolled his gaze over to her.

"She would have just aimed for my head with her last shot, not my chest" he pointed to his head "kill shot" he pointed to his chest "knockout shot. She knew I was wearing a vest anyways"

"Right" Ino still seemed unconvinced but his statement "still doesn't explain why you didn't just knock her out"

"You know I don't like fighting women, it's a drag" he shrugged avoiding her stare.

"She was strong wasn't she?" Ino deadpanned giving him a knowing look

"It's scary how hard she hit me" he absently rubbed his chest, feeing the bruise underneath. A kick so damn strong it broke through a door. Power in those legs he had to remember. Remember the way they nearly cracked his ribs when she wrapped them around his chest "definitely puts into question what kind of training Suna special ops go through and why exactly they would pick someone like her. Someone who was supposed to be dead"

"Asuma would have known. He specialized in foreign affairs" Ino grumbled to herself.

"Yeah he did" Shikamaru glared ahead in thought. Always unable to shut down the process when it began "What's important now is that we find Sasuke" he muttered and clenched his right fist in his pocket, no lighter to hold close, to calm him "my bet is he's being interrogated right now to find out what he knows"

"Sakura is going to be heartbroken" Ino muttered absently, knowing the connection between the two.

"We have to find him before it's to late" she shook her head grimly as he thought out loud now.

"How?" Ino argued the vague remark "his location has been unknown for two weeks now. He's usually impossible to find anyways"

"If we can't find him, we'll just look for the ones who have him" a dangerous thought of having to look for that woman again "they'll lead us to Sasuke"

"And how do you plan on finding any of them?" She watched his glare at his arm for a moment blinking the scorpion away with a grumble. Then it hit him, the scorpion. The one who knew about Suna.

"We go to the guy who brought them here" he lowered his arm.

"Who's that?" Ino slowly grinned when she noticed the way his glare darkened, a grin broke out, he had a knack for finding the missing pieces "you already know who don't you"

"Someone who is related to them and is currently in Konoha under our watch" he looked to Ino "the scorpion, Sasori Sabakuno"

Hours later, after sending Shino on a mission to find Sasori's location, Shikamaru stood stoically in Tsuande's office. Her return from Kumo in search of an ally taking her away during his weekend fiasco.

Question now was what did she know?

Tsunade stared quietly at the spot in the wall. The report from her lead agent had stunned her into silence, it had also brought a crystal glass into her hands, the dark golden scotch nearly dry from her impressive single sip. Shikamaru took in every widen of her gaze, the glaze over her eyes as she leaned back and thought to herself. She had yet to speak when he reported his findings, about the undead royals, yet to make any move or decision, so he stepped up looking to his leader for information.

"Why was the mission changed Tsunade?" He asked, still remaining in his spot, hands in his pockets, right fingers twitching at the absence of his lighter "from a rescue to an assassination?"

"Priorities changed" she muttered stocky and set her glass down to pour herself another round.

"What kind of priorities have to change in order to have a double agent killed by our own" he furrowed his brows "to want two children of a high ranking foreign leader, dead"

"Clearly those children aren't dead" she shot him a look, a warning that he was stepping into dangerous territory, the beginning of a unease running up his spine "you read the report, why even ask?"

"Because something is still missing" he stated calmly "the report states, that the double agent was to be silenced, preferably by accidental means. Asuma managed to do just that, but" he paused feeling her eyes narrow "why would he first get them out of their country to do it?" She slammed her fist into the desk, shaking the bottle and glass in one go.

"Like I said, priorities changed!" she rose quickly from her chair and leaned forward to glare at him, bracing on her hand and pointing with another "you have no right to look into his file"

"I have every right, he's the reason I'm your lead agent, because he's dead" saying it never sat any better with him. The loss of his teacher, a man who was like a second father to him had almost broken him years ago. Now it just stung to have to bury the true feelings down "You trusted me to handle all of this Tsunade" he finished with a more controlled tone.

"I trust you to be able to keep everything a secret, that is why I put you in charge, but don't forget" she pointed a finger at him "before you Sasuke would have made a great leader, had he not been a lost cause ever since Itachi showed himself again a couple years ago"

"Funny you say that" knowledge was always power in his mind.

"What now?" She growled dangerously.

"Sasuke has been captured by the dead princess" Tunade's face instantly paled, she truly was hiding something.

"What?" She asked again, quieter "are you sure?" He nodded.

"I have reason to believe she might have inside help in Konoha, but I'm already on it, unless you think Sasuke has got this covered" he leaned towards her arrogantly "on his own again" She slowly sat back in her chair, new drink already in her hand "he was clearly in the wrong place, talking to the wrong people to be captured so easily" a bitter tone took over briefly.

He had always hated being compared to the impulsive protege, the one who was meant to be the best allowing greed and vengeance to cloud his mind rather than the reason and logic Shikamaru always had. From their training days people praised him and worshipped his skill and at times it stroked Shikamaru's jealously that he got the attention. No one liked to be a second choice.

"You can be a real smartass sometimes" Tsunade grumbled, tilting her drink back.

"Don't make this a drag, just tell me why the mission was changed fifteen years ago" he asked again.

"By killing their general, we prevented a fourth war by pinning it on him" Tsunade took a long sip and sighed holding a hand to her head "Asuma did what he had to do. Yashamaru lied to us clearly"

"Why help them escape in the first place then?" All his answers sat before him if only Tsunade could see that she had to share it all. With a sigh she set the glass down and crossed her arms.

"We were contacted that Suna was ready to start a war on itself, a civil war, and Yashamaru asked for one request to be met before he gave us the information in stopping it" she looked at her laptop with a sigh "to take the three children of their Kazekage and bring them to Konoha for protection after Rasa was killed and their nation went into war for the leaders seat"

"Why would Konoha protect them?" Shikamaru questioned, still confused as she shook her head sadly.

"Imagine what would have happened if they returned to Suna without the protection of their Kazekage, without their father. A family that has lead a country for generations, with so many against them. It would have put those children in danger" she sighed "at least if we had them under our watch we could influence Suna politics in the future, we could have changed the entire countries dynamic if we were able to get them to trust the neighboring nations, something Rasa could not do. However, when we got word that they found out who crossed them we had no choice but to make it look like Yashamaru killed the children instead"

"To push all blame off us" Shikamaru shook his head, a bitter taste left in his mouth as he said it.

"We can't trust them, not before and not now"

"But Gaara is trying to do that now, he's trying to negotiate with Naruto. He told me himself" he furrowed his brows thinking back to the meetings Naruto had shared with the soft spoken man a few months back.

"He's trying, even with Naruto in office covering public affairs he is rarely presented with any good news on Wind borders" Tsunade deadpanned "besides he was a bad pick"

"Please don't count out Naruto just yet" Shikamaru sighed and put a hand to his forehead "I told you he needs time but he's right for the job"

"During his last public speech he tripped down the steps on his way out" Tsunade grumbled and admitted quieter "he's not very graceful in the public eye but people seem to love him for his honesty" Tsunade glanced at her laptop and grinned "just in time, we can always count on allies"

"Did you finish your meeting in Kumo?" Shikamaru steered the conversation to the main reason of her return.

"Actually I did" she clicked a buzzer on her desk phone and waited. Behind Shikamaru the door opened. As he glanced back he couldn't help the grin that grew at the sight of the masked man entering.

"Agent Hatake, late as usual" Tuande muttered annoyingly "your ongoing mission in Kumo is now officially dismissed" she confined professionally "you remember Agent Nara?"

"It's been a while Shikamaru" Kakashi extended a hand to Shikamaru, who slowly took his hand out his pocket to shake his, avoiding the scorpion crawling onto Kakashi.

"You've missed quite a bit while you were on your mission Kakashi" Shikamaru quickly retreated his hand to his pocket.

"Yes I've heard my old student made Hokage status" Kakashi mirrored his gesture, silently eyeing him up and down. He was sure a park of him still twitched but less as he willed the bleeding walls to subside "I'm impressed you made it happened"

"Troublesome to say the least" Shikamaru nodded.

"Enough reunions, you can catch up later" Tsunade tsked catching their attention toward her "agent Hatake, agent Nara is your lead now, he already knows about the conflict near Wind" Kakashi nodded to her "and with Kumo on our side we should have enough resources to aid us now" she looked between them "mission status, level one class S" they both straightens their postures, the severity of the mission now known "find Sasuke and bring him back. You have permission to do what needs to be done. He had sensitive intel that none of you have"

"What is it Tsunade?" Shikamaru stared quietly at his leader, she tipped the glass back and set the cup down with a hum, clearly not going to share anything.

"If anyone from Wind gets the information he has out of him, the fourth war will be upon us no matter what we do" she only said and Shikamaru nodded slowly.

"I thought we were trying to stop this war, not start it" Shikamaru regretted the raise in his voice, he let panic slip through, he let it show. Kakashi raised a brow in surprise and let out a hum, but said nothing.

"You tried to stop the march in River a few months ago, look how well that turned out for us" she snipped back.

"I did stop it, the whole base was locked down and all routes closed. It was troublesome really" he added.

"They resumed, with a new contract" she didn't need to glance up knowing that Shikamaru had only temporarily stopped a assembly of soilders readying for a fight.

"Fu enterprises" Kakashi offered and Tsunade nodded.

"His trip to Iwa was business after all"

12:56 pm, Monday.

Location: Small town of Jahla, hour outside of Konoha. Population: eighty four.

The end of summer was a lie.

One would think the introduction to fall would be cooling and comforting, instead a running degree of nearly eighty was steaming up the color changing trees of the shaded woods around the small town of Jahla. On the outskirts of Konoha, about an hour outside the highway limits, a lone car shop sat on the winding long road headed north towards the countryside. So small and insignificant that no one would notice the man inside. Those that did know, tended to stay away.

Deidara enjoyed the silent bliss, just as much as he hated it. Set beside him on the counter a tinkered trinket shaped of clay and wires. A habit hard to break, even after the war had ended. He'd been here for nearly ten years.

He managed a small car garage, a simple, crime free, task he took after making a deal with Konoha to stay out of trouble. Fixing the locals vehicles with a snarky attitude and high price range. Many stayed away, just how he liked it, but he had a job that allowed him freedom within limits. Stay out of trouble and he would be rewarded with a peaceful existence, alone.

Mostly alone.

A knock interrupted his bliss. Loud and obnoxiously banging on the glass door of the shop, the bell on top ringing with the force of it. He groaned at the unwelcome idiot who couldn't read the closed sign. He'd been reading a magazine, taking a break from the truck lifted in the garage, four tires newly replaced and a engine in the works.

"We're closed" he rolled his eye and huffed, retuning to the magazine in his hand, intent to enjoy his break time before the owner came the next day for pickup. The knock came again "I said we are closed!" He shouted louder and scoffed as he straightens the page he was on, it remained quiet for only a moment. The knock came again, louder. With a growl he stood and marched away from the counter in the back room to the front glass door, ready to scare the person away "Sign says closed, dumbass, can't you read!" As he opened the glass door angrily, the woman standing lowered the dark shaded sunglasses and looked at him. He stared blankly at her, slowly losing his scowl. She pointed thumb to the sign.

"The sign actually says open" leaning forward, she smiled broadly at a stunned Deidara "you forgot to flip it, dumbass" he blinked, processing her appearance. She had grown. Two sharp teal eyes, perfect set of straight teeth, the wild golden unruly hair wind blown and framing the proud woman, it had been nearly a decade since he saw her last, saw Sasori's cousin.

"Temari?" Deidara blurted out, stumbling to say her name properly or anything coherent for that matter.

"Who else would show up to this dump?" she shouldered past him, knocking him aside to walk into the poorly ac'ed shop "dump might be a understatement" she muttered, reaching a hand to touch a keychain hanging from a display. Deidara watched her continue past the few racks of car essentials and towards the back room. He let it sink in for a moment, her presence, before speaking.

"The fuck are you doing here kid?" he quickly locked the door and followed her.

"Didn't you miss me Deidara?" she looked back at him, losing interest in his shock and let her eyes wander around the garage, circling around the lifted truck to get to the back counter.

"Miss you?" He scoffed, regaining his composure as she strode to the counter he had been at "please the moment you left was the happiest day of my life" he raised his voice as she continued on "seriously, what are you doing here?" He paused and suspicion entered his gaze "Wait, how did you find me?"

"It's not like you're in some kind of witness protection program. I simply looked up your location" she stated casually. Deidara narrowed his one blue eye at her, his other covered with a long bang, and thought.

"Did Sasori send you or something?" He muttered, regretting the uncertainty his voice when he asked. Last time he saw his old comrade, he had given up the location of Temari and Kankuro to their old commander, Baki. Years later and Sasori had still not spoken to him after he found out about the betrayal.

"Already asking about your ex? A little desperate, don't you think?" Temari mocked with a short laugh, catching the way he tensed and revealed the truth with a single gesture "relax, I'm here to hire you, not mend your pathetic love life with my cousin" she spoke dryly, fixing her expression and leaning against the counter.

"Hire me for what? To fix your car" he grumbled back, eye widening as she picked up the clay trinket on his desk "don't touch that!" He shouted, snatched the device from her hands, carefully holding it in his "it had delicate wiring, and you'll just fuck it up" she rolled her eyes and grabbed something else from his desk, inspecting the wire cutters.

"You still messing around with explosives?" She jumped straight to the point and looked at him innocently, not resisting as he snatched the wire cutters from her hands next.

"Are you insane? Where would I get the parts to make a bomb" she looked to his hands, he slowly followed and sighed as he set the handmade explosive down "never mind" he huffed "why are you asking?"

"Because if I recall you were expert in Iwa's bomb squad before ditching the military to join your merry band of traitors" she shrugged with a smirk.

"It's amazing how your still a bitch after all these years" he grumbled out.

"I take pride in it" she widened her snarky grin, enjoying her win in annoying him "I need your expertise for something"

"What's in it for me?" He jerked his jaw out narrowed his eye, suspicious.

"I'll put a good word in with Sasori. I can tell he misses you even after everything you did" she forced the regret to show on his face.

"Strangely compassionate of you" he mumbled.

"I have very little room for compassion Deidara" she pushed off the counter narrowing her eyes "this is just a security measure, to ensure you won't go behind my back"

"I fucked him over once" he sighed looking to the hidden trinkets under a dusty cloth on the desk "what makes you think he'll forgive me"

"To quote you, shit happens" she shrugged "and we both know Sasori can hold a grudge until the end of time. Not a very strong trait to have, all considering" she huffed "besides leaving that stuffy cabin we shared together was the best moment of my life. Hearing you bitch and moan everyday was torture to say the least"

"A lot changed after you and Kank left us" Deidara muttered.

"Don't call him Kank" Temari shook her head distastefully and fixing her expression to somthing that resembled regret "you all left each other, after Konan, and Pein, and Nagato died, your family didn't even try to mend each other you all just left, gave up. Like cowards you fled each other"

"You know I thought I taught you how to wire explosives?" He avoided her choice in words, in names, and glared down at the explosive on the desk "so why even ask me? After what I did to you and your brother" he swallowed "to Sasori"

"I've been compromised" she stated plainly, emotionlessly "I need someone else to do it"

"Someone else knows you're alive?" Deidara gasped quietly, staring back at her, she remained unmoved and only nodded once.

"Not just someone, the apprentice of the man who killed my uncle" Deidara widened his eye at her and looked down "if public word gets out, Gaara will be targeted by every other nation, not just our own. They want Suna"

"Why should I help you, I'm not even from Suna" he argued "I'm from Iwa, remember? Your enemy nation"

"The Akatsuki stood for peace Deidara, whether it was for Suna, or Iwa, or Konoha, you all stood for peace. To protect those that cannot protect themselves" she shut her eyes "I admired that about your rebellion, not seeing borders as the other nations did"

"Yeah but-" he began, putting a hand to his head and shaking it.

"But nothing. It's beginning again" she snapped back at him, exhaling sharply and cooling her temper "right now Wind is the start, troops are being assembled from the north and east and they are making their way into the desert. They aren't just after Gaara, like they were after my father before. They want to tear everything down"

"Yeah, but Rasa died" Deidara furrowed his brow.

"Apparently killing him wasn't enough" she admitted and looked away.

"You" Deidara blinked and leaned against the counter, bracing his weight against his hands. Temari was quiet for a moment and found herself staring at the small windows to the garage door. Deidara looked back to her "you killed the Kazekage, killed your father"

"We thought that if we eliminated him that Suna would stabilize and change could be made when Gaara took over" Temari shut her eyes "we even eliminated the followers of him, but it wasn't enough to convince the rebels. Outside interference had made it near impossible to even have Gaara meet the other officials, it's been one hell of a year"

"I've heard about that" Deidara muttered with a little jab anyways to brighten her mood "thought he was just taking after the old man and continuing on the tradition of your nation being a pain in everyone's ass" she shot him a look, but he didn't let up his own grin, easing her temporarily.

"If we don't stop it now, the start of the fourth war will no longer just be a possibility" she stated severely.

"What will me helping you accomplish then"

"Like I said" she took a deep breath, and despite himself Deidara grinned slightly as she spat out her words through gritted teeth "I've been compromised and need help"

"Throw in a please and I'll do it for free" he chuckled as she puffed out her cheek.

"Don't push your luck" she growled and he got the threat quickly and stupidly grinned wider.

"I'll get my gloves" with his acceptance she eased and hopped off the desk "but you owe me big time"

"And one more thing" she added smugly "you breath a word of this to anyone, and I will give you something worse than death"

"What's worse than dying?" He said almost instantly.

"Pain" it was a moment the two just looked back to one another. Sure they had always bickered with one another once upon a time, but Deidara and Sasori had been there for her when the world hadn't made sense. When she was just a young girl confused and betrayed they had been there.

"You're right, I did kinda miss you, little weasel" he dared to grin, not a smirk or smug look, but one of relief and happiness. He tilted back when she came and embraced him quietly speaking.

"Same here"