Naruto 1. I Dream of Rain

This is a little multi-chapter songfic based on Sting's 'Desert Rose'. I always thought it was fitting for a ShikaTema fic, but it has taken me forever to get this posted. Hope you all enjoy it.

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz media. I'm just playing with their possible futures a little.

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Kyodai Sensu or _tessen_ -Temari's fan

手まりorテマリ-Temari's name in Japanese letters

* * *

I dream of rain  
I dream of gardens in the desert sand  
I wake in pain  
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

* * *

It had been a long and exhausting day. Helping Gaara come up with training goals and academic policy had not been his idea of fun. The Kazekage was the one to thank for that brilliant idea. The lazy genius would have preferred to be in his own village helping with their own academic programs, but apparently, his Hokage had readily approved Gaara's request. Suna was still using Konoha's Academy curriculum as a model for their own, after all. Not only was Shikamaru here to help update Suna's Academy, but he was also part of the teacher exchange program that had been started as a way to exchange ideas and keep up political appearances for the sake of the alliance. He would be teaching the Sunanese children for the next 6 months on the fundamental theories of espionage. There was only one word to describe Shikamaru's current situation, troublesome.

His head was aching from the all the back and forth, arguing about every facet of the core curriculum down to the last detail, including whether or not to keep the ikebana class for kunoichi, and it had been enough to finally wear out everyone involved. Sure, they had a great plan in place for the current school year as well as the years to follow, but his brain was letting him know that it would soon explode if he had to come up with one more idea. He needed a place to escape to from all the stress, but where could he find just such a place in this Kami forsaken country? The idea of cloud watching was starting to sound really good and his pastime addiction finally pulled him up the first stairway he could find toward the rooftop. Unlike Konoha, travel over the village was looked down upon, but he just needed that breathe of fresh air, no matter how dry and sand saturated it was.

Reaching his destination through the opening in the roof that was the entrance to the stairs, he found what looked like a suitable spot to sit on. The local architecture didn't lend itself to readily to become seating, but the spot right in the middle of the roof of the Kazekage's building looked like the best vantage point from which to watch a sunset and it seemed to be calling his name. Shikamaru strode over to it and unceremoniously plopped down, coming into a reclined position with his hands laced behind his head.

The one thing Shikamaru envied the people of Suna was their sunsets. As far as sunsets were concerned, there was absolutely nothing better than the way the hot desert air seemed to catch the rays of the sun as it descended beyond the sand dunes on the horizon. It was still too early for the lightshow, but he was a patient man and didn't mind the long wait so long as no one found him hiding up here. The wind was still hot, but air movement in this village was better than none at all. At least it was spring and not summer. This time of year, he could be outside during the day and not fall victim to heatstroke while he waited for the sun to go down.

Shikamaru started to let his mind wander to what he had left behind in Konoha just a little over a week ago. Spring was his favorite season of the year, mild temperatures in the morning followed by rain showers every afternoon. Perfect weather for cloud watching. His mother had just started to harvest the first early spring crops from the garden, such as snow peas, horsetail, and bamboo shoots, and he had been missing the welcome additions to his meals. He could never quite get use to the prickly pear that seemingly made its way into every single meal here in Suna.

Spring was also the time of year when he had to help his dad take care of all the new fawns. He always grumbled at the work, but he missed watching the spindly-legged little ones play in the meadows when he was on missions. Looking out over the desert, what he really missed today was the smell of the rain that welcomed him when he would wonder the forest on spring afternoons, part of his usual routine back home when he would check on the deer. Of course, his mother always scolded him when he returned home drenched, water dripping from his uniform all over her nice clean floors, leaving a trail all the way up to his room.

The clouds had just begun to change into their fiery colors when he heard someone walking up the stairs, waking him up from his daydreams.

"Nara, you know you're not supposed to be up here without authorization, right?" asked a challenging feminine voice from the stairwell.

She was the one person he always looked forward to seeing on these trips to Suna, but she had been detained by her own duties all day. He had felt a pang of disappointment from not being able to see her since initially escorting him to the office of her brother, the Kazekage. He didn't know why he always looked forward to the presence of the combative blonde, especially since all she ever did was bring him trouble. Shikamaru always thought that it was just a silly crush and one of these days he would find the right woman, one that didn't get under his skin the same way that she seemed to. No matter how much his logical mind had convinced his heart that it was nothing more than just an infatuation during the day, at night she would still manage to slip into his dreams. Shikamaru turned his head just enough to see Temari, out of the corner of his eye, walking up the stairs towards him.

"Is that why you're here? So that you can throw me in prison just for trying to enjoy a Suna sunset, troublesome woman?" he challenged. He silently dared her to try it. At least behind bars they couldn't bother him for his opinion on education or jutsu theory, then maybe he could get rid of this headache of his.

"Nah. I didn't feel like giving Gaara more paperwork and an excuse to hate you. At least, not yet," she replied.

Shikamaru looked at her full on and gave her a quizzical look with one eyebrow raised. 'What did she mean by that?' he asked himself, but decided that he didn't really want to increase his headache by asking her for an explanation. Instead, he was content to watch her walk toward him silently. He could only make out her silhouette as she moved in the direction of his chosen spot, traveling between him and the glow of the setting sun.

"Much better. I haven't had a chance to sit down since this morning," she announced, as she plopped down rather unladylike.

She had a tendency to act like she was just one of the guys, but her short, purple battle dress and the way she crossed her ankles as she stretched her long, slender legs in front of her on the rooftop made her all woman to Shikamaru. Temari removed her tessen, setting it beside her. It was still within reach if she needed it, but it was the first time since he stepped foot in Wind that he had seen her take it off. Due to a mission, the details of which Shikamaru wasn't privileged enough to know, Temari had been on high alert since before his arrival. It was a rare display of trust, as far as Temari was concerned, and Shikamaru didn't know how to categorize this move of hers. All his brain could come up with was, 'Mendokuse.'

"We got a message from Konoha while you were sunbathing up here," Temari began, "You would think you Leaf Shinobi trusted us enough by now not to need to code_ everything_."

She tossed him a scroll, which if his quick reflexes hadn't reacted before his pain infected brain could respond, he would have been smacked right on the nose.

"Oi, woman, watch where you're throwing that thing would ya!" he said. She always seemed to be looking for an opportunity to cause him bodily harm, but he could never figure out why.

Opening the scroll, he translated the coded message finding that it was only information he had requested from the archives before he left. It really wasn't all that important to code, but he knew it was standard protocol to do so. Shikamaru shoved the scroll in one of his empty vest pockets and went back to his cloud watching. He could feel a set of eyes on him, as if she waited for him to share his news from home.

"No," he said, his response to her unasked question finite, leaving no room for argument.

"Fine. Didn't expect you to share top-secret Konoha gossip anyway. Besides, I'm sure your girlfriend back home had some really deep insights that she needed to share with you."

"What are you talking about woman?" Shikamaru asked. He had no idea why Temari had been acting rather strange, bothered might be a better word, ever since he had met her at the border. He had traveled with Ino and her team to the border, but their mission was in River Country. They had only deviated from their course a little bit so that they could accompany him to the edge of the desert, not that he needed or wanted to hear Ino's constant ramblings the entire way.

"Don't tell me you couldn't tell that your little blonde teammate was practically all over you at the border? For a genius, you really are an idiot," she said with a lopsided smirk.

"Ino? You have got to be kidding me. We've been friends and teammates since we were little. She just acts like that to piss me off. She's dating a teammate of Naruto's anyway," he replied. Sure, Sai was a pain in the ass and he didn't know what she saw in that shell of a human, but that was her choice and it wasn't really his place to say. "Wait, don't tell me you're jealous," he stated, wondering if this was the line of conversation he had really wanted to take, but the words had tumbled out of his mouth before he realized he had said them.

"Of Ino?" she said, waiving in defense, which he thought was kinda cute. "Why would I be jealous of her? She doesn't have anything I would even remotely want. I have all I'll ever need, thank you very much."

"Yea, whatever. So, why are you up here? I thought you had more important things to do today than bother me."

"My, my. Aren't we in a bad mood today. Didn't you know that I make it part of my special duty to pick on a certain shadow-nin every time he's in town? It makes my day so much more interesting that way," she said in that feisty tone she always used when they were together. Actually, unlike in Konoha, he didn't need an escort so he had no idea why she was always picking on him. She had two little brothers and at least a couple dozen Genin she could pick on, why bother him?

"Troublesome woman. Go away and leave me alone," he grumbled. He didn't really want her to go away in particular, it was just his headache was putting him in this bad mood.

"Can't. You can't be up here without someone from Suna accompanying you. No Temari, no cloud watching," she said in triumph.

Shikamaru let out a groan in surrender. He always hated it when she won. Losing to a woman was something that drove him crazy and she was becoming better at that every time he saw her. "Troublesome woman," he mumbled, to which she just laughed in response.

They sat in comfortable silence once more as the sun started to sink below the horizon. The long thin clouds that were typical for the desert caught the orange and red hue that the sun cast, giving the sky an almost fiery look. They sat there a full fifteen minutes before Shikamaru decided to break the silence again.

"So, I don't get it. You're on high alert, yet how come you never wear a flak jacket?" Shikamaru said, asking the first random thing that popped into his head.

"Probably because I can't stand those things. They restrict my movements too much and I don't want anything to get in the way of my tessen. Besides, when my father made me wear one I just kept getting this awful neck cramp. I must shrug my shoulders or something when I wear them. They are just too troublesome as far as I'm concerned."

"That sounds like something I would say," he replied with a smirk. Temari only responded with a sideways glare. 'Makes sense though. Temari is too much of a free spirit to want any restrictions, clothing included.'

"Actually, come to think of it, both of my brothers are completely opposite from me as far as that goes. Gaara has always worn clothing that makes him feel more secure and protected. Even when he was little, he liked those high collar shirts that I could never stand. It got even worse…after Naruto was here that last time," Temari said, reminiscing about things that Shikamaru had never considered before.

'I never really paid attention to Gaara's attire, but when she puts it like that, I think I would be paranoid too if I had something removed that had always been a part of me,' Shikamaru thought to himself. He knew that her little brother's death and retrieval was still a touchy subject and since they were getting along, he didn't want to ruin it. She began to pull out her lowest two ponytails from their restraints and commenced with running her hands through her hair to release the knots as well as the stress she had built up from her day. The way she moved was like something he had seen in a dream and he had never realized before just how good she looked with her hair down and somewhat disheveled. She didn't seem to notice the way he was studying her out of the corner of his eye, but in this light she radiated beauty, enough to rival the sunset that had been his whole point in coming up here.

"Kankuro wears a collarless version of one," she continued, interrupting his thoughts, "but it's hidden under that hideous outfit he wears. I think he really just wears that black getup so that he can hide in the shadows better. I'm sure you know how that goes," she commented, getting a "humph" and an annoyed reaction from her companion. "I think he delights in being able to scare the crap out of me whenever he feels like it. I swear, the next time he jumps out of the shadows like that I'm going to kill him!"

Shikamaru had to chuckle at the way she played the older sister so well, even though they were all fully grown. He never had the joys of experiencing sibling rivalry, but he had had the chance to watch several sets of siblings pass through his classes in the Academy, which had given him a little insight into typical sibling behavior. The Suna trio could never be called your typical siblings considering their father had been the Yondaime Kazekage. Temari had grown up with one brother that had homicidal tendencies do to the demon that was once inside him and the other one had a mean streak almost as bad.

Taking the time to formulate a reply, he said, "Says a lot about your personalities I guess. Personally, I've always just worn what my mom or the Hokage told me to, but only if it was comfortable. I don't like wearing the jacket either, but its part of the uniform and it has its uses. It's not like I'm someone like Naruto who just gets away with not wearing one. I've always just followed the rules there," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Figures. I never really thought of you as the type to put up much of a fight there. Actually, the uniform looks much better on you now that you're not that scrawny little brat that I fought in the Chuunin exams," she said tauntingly to which he replied with a scoff.

He wasn't one for serious training, but he had liked to think that some of that training had paid off with a few well defined muscles here and there. It must have done some good, because Shioh at the cryptology department was seriously starting to have a hard time talking in his presence. Actually, he hated to think back to how awkward he had looked back then. He hadn't really given it much thought until his mom just had to break out the old photo album of him not that long ago when he passed the Jounin exams with flying colors after _years_ of Temari nagging him to take it. He had glanced over his mom's shoulder as he walked passed, while she showed his progress off to one of her friends, and he realized just how scrawny he had really looked like back then, complete with ears that stuck out too far and a neck that didn't look like it could hold up his head. It had been too troublesome to think about how he had ever managed to go from stick boy to now fending off more females than he cared to deal with.

His concentration shifted between the horizon and his companion as she had fallen back into silence. It was unusual for her to talk about sand sibling early years and he knew that much of what must have happened had made her who she was, but every single one of them had some sort of strong defense mechanism. Temari just wore hers on the inside.

He continued to study her as the sun was now almost completely hidden behind the horizon; letting his eyes wonder over her figure. For some reason she looked more tired and vulnerable than he had ever seen her before. He wasn't sure if that was because he had come to know her so well and could read her better than he use to, or that she was letting down her defenses enough to let him see. Temari had a strange look on her face that he had never seen before, one that looked like she was sifting through the memories, trying to find something safe enough to share with him. She had opened her mouth to say something, closing it a couple of times before she seemingly worked up the nerve to say what it was on her mind.

"Shika, is there something you want to tell me?" she asked, eyes still focused on the horizon.

"What do you mean? I told you that you don't need to know what's in the scroll, so stop," he said. Her tone was different when she had asked her question. She almost sounded hopeful, but nervous at the same time. It was nothing like the tone that Ino used when she flirted, but it was making him just as uncomfortable. 'Something's out of place. Why am I suddenly nervous? Even my hands are beginning to sweat. What is she getting at and why the sudden change in nicknames? She usually only calls me "Nara",' he thought.

"Come on Shikamaru. Don't you think I haven't notice? You haven't been able to keep your eyes off me all evening. Don't think I can't tell a love sick puppy when I see one," she said, practically challenging him to try something as she turned around into a cross-legged sitting position so that she was leaning over him. Her fragrance took over his senses. She smelled of dessert spice and wind, if you could call wind a scent, the scent of the desert after a sandstorm. She was now close enough to touch, but not too close.

'Oh, Kami…,' Shikamaru started, his brain stuck on the thought that could put into words what he saw above his head. She was glaring down on him, her features becoming less distinguishable in the twilight, but it only made kissing her even more tempting. How the hell did she do this to him? The genius of his village and he was turned into one big pile of mush by this…_this_ _woman!_ How was he supposed to formulate a comeback to her challenge? For crying out loud, he was the same age as her youngest brother! He felt like the proverbial 'deer in the headlights' as she continued to wait for his answer, her mouth beckoning to him as the seconds passed like hours.

"I can see it in your eyes, Nara, you want to kiss me don't you?" she said with a taunting smirk. "Try it. I dare you."

The idea of accepting her challenge was strangely enticing. He was about to reach up and puller her down into a kiss, when they heard an explosion in the distance. It was coming not far from the west entrance, which was not much more than a narrow passageway that ran under the wall.

There wasn't much they could do to increase the watch on that side and it was one of the things that Shikamaru had always wondered about. The eastern entrance was the main entrance, but this little hole in the wall was a last resort if they ever had to escape the village. A mass exodus through there would be single file and slow, but losing that would also mean that being under siege was unavoidable. Shikamaru usually didn't offer unsolicited advice, but it was just a flaw in their defenses that had troubled him every time he came to Suna. He had suggested a while ago that Gaara consider looking into constructing several more underground passageways, but they hadn't had a chance to even begin the project as they were still finding suitable locations through bedrock in order to make them as secure and safe as possible.

Temari grabbed her fan and shot off across the rooftops as fast as she could go with fan in hand. She could only take the suspense so long before she finally gave into her urge to open the fan and catch an updraft that sent her toward the billowing smoke rising from the site of the explosion. Shikamaru barely had time to get up from his prone position to follow the retreating form of his rival, her challenge soon forgotten, as the air current she was on took her far enough away that her shape blended in to the gray smoke rising in the distance. Mumbling to himself, he followed her across the rooftops as fast as his legs could carry him.


	2. I Dream of Fire

Story notes: Temari is about 23 in this story and Shikamaru would be about 20. There might be hints of ANBU Gaiden in here, but not enough to confuse those who haven't read it.

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz media. I'm just playing with their possible futures a little.

* * *

I dream of fire  
Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire  
And in the flames  
Her shadows play in the shape of a man's desire

* * *

"Oi, woman, what is it? What's going on?" Shikamaru asked Temari who looked like she had just seen a ghost.

Temari stood on a rooftop, looking down at the remainder of a building that didn't look any different than any of the other buildings in Suna to the shadow-nin, but it apparently held some significance for his companion. Temari seemed to be fighting some strong emotions as she balled the hand not holding her fan into a fist at her side and she was visibly shaking with rage. A large corner of the building was missing, a combination of explosion and implosion. The rest of the building was now on fire; flames spreading very rapidly, fed by the hot desert winds. Even though the sun had just gone down, the temperature was still hot and from their location, they could feel it rising as the flames increased.

"The Puppet Corps," she growled. "No!" she hissed out in a whisper of realization.

She jumped off the rooftop and took off toward the burning building. Shikamaru reached for her in vane, attempting to stop her from her suicide mission without any success.

"Oi, don't go in there! Temari!" Shikamaru called after her, but she tuned him out and he felt helpless as he watched her for a split second before she disappeared into the building. He mumbled, "Mendokuse" before he followed her, every logical fiber in his being screaming at him to stop.

Once inside, Shikamaru could feel the rising temperature of the fire as he tried to find his bearings in the building. The fire had already claimed the upper two floors in this part of the building, he could hear the wood cracking and splintering as it strained in the heat of the fire. The noxious fumes from the smoke burned his lungs, as if his old habit of smoking hadn't done a number on them already. He pulled out the bottom of his shirt and ripped the edge of his uniform to create a makeshift mask as he tied it tightly around the lower portion of his face. The smoke was burning his eyes and he held up an arm to protect them as he stumbled through the flames toward where he thought Temari could have gone. He heard a scream that sounded more like a growl and he turned and walked as best he could toward the noise.

He coughed, "Temari! Where are you?" but he couldn't hear her anymore. He knew he had to keep his calm if he was to find her in here, but in all this heat it didn't matter how much emotional training he had had over the years, he was still becoming frustrated and scared the longer it took to find her. His frustration was compounded when a part of the ceiling behind him collapsed, forcing him to go deeper into the building.

He heard the wild cries again, this time they sounded like cries of rage just beyond the doorway to his right, so he made his way toward the sound as fast as he could, coughing since his makeshift mask was only doing so much to protect his lungs. He remembered Kankuro's workshop being somewhere on this side of town and he wondered if that was who she was looking for.

"Kankuro!" she cried. He could swear he could hear the sound of tears in her voice as she called out his name. He could finally see her shadow in the flames ahead of him and he had to stop as a support beam between their locations started to break, hot ash raining down as he covered his head with his arms. He ignored the pain as small holes burned into his shirt from the embers as he once again moved toward her before the beam came down with a crash where he stood only seconds ago.

"Temari, I'm coming, just stay there," he called out to her. The panic that had been trying to take over was starting to win in the battle with his rational side and he could feel a lump in his chest. He could see her shadow bending over something as he moved closer.

"Shika! Help me!" she called out to him. Her voice laced with pain and anger and he ran to her as fast as the fire would allow. He could see the shape of a man trapped underneath a support beam in the next room, Temari trying her best to move the huge piece of building, but to no avail.

Rushing to her side, he grabbed the free end of the beam and called forth as much chakra as he could muster into his arms and legs, giving a battle cry that would rival Sakura's in the process. Temari was also struggling against her half of the stubborn piece of wood and they were able to roll it off the man just enough to get him free. Carefully rolling him over, they saw the face of the puppet master. Temari cried out, "NO!" a single tear escaping her eye before it slid down her cheek. She turned and threw herself into Shikamaru's arms and he instinctively pulled her into a hug as she buried her face into his chest.

Shikamaru looked at the figure over her shoulder. At first glance, it looked exactly like Kankuro. When he studied it a little longer, he noticed that something wasn't right. First of all, for a dead man, the skin was surprisingly life like. And two, he noticed a crack. Even with as dry as his skin felt out here in the desert, there was no physiological way that skin would break like that. Which meant that it was just a puppet, disguised to look like it's handler with artificial skin that covered the wooden structure beneath it.

"It's not him, just a puppet," Shikamaru announced, rubbing her back as he tried to comfort her. His chin was close enough to her head that he could have rested it there if he so desired, but he wasn't feeling that bold. He had never seen her like this. Temari had become a fragile woman and holding her felt so right, like this was what she _needed_. Temari leaned back into his arms and took a shaky breath. Looking toward the figure on the floor, she confirmed his words seeing that it was in fact one of Kankuro's puppets. A renewed look of purpose on her face appeared as she pushed the fear and panic from her mind, taking back control over her emotions. She wiped her eyes free of the tears that had begun to form, leaving black smudges across her cheeks.

"Let's get out of here before they need to rescue _us_. I'm sure he's fine," Shikamaru said. He had ripped the other half of his shirt as he spoke and began to put the fabric around her face. She tried to protest but he wouldn't hear of it. "Temari, trust me," he said, she took a moment to take in his words, his arms held around her face waiting for the ok. She knew he was serious as he looked into her eyes. He had also used her name in a tone that she had never heard him use with her until now. It made him sound like he had been afraid _for_ her. Temari nodded her acceptance of his proffered fabric and he proceeded to tie it to her face.

They could hear laughter coming from behind them and they both spun on their heels to see a dark figure amidst the flames.

"He may be fine, but you're not. Hello Temari-hime. So nice to see you again. I see you are as feisty as ever," the stranger said.

"What do you want? How did you get in here?" Temari growled.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and I remember _every second_ of the last moments we spent together. You hurt me, Hime, very deeply. Therefore, I plan to take everything you hold dear, one precious piece at a time. I think I'll start with that Leaf Ninja over there," he said, nodding toward Shikamaru with a smirk. This ninja just oozed charm and it sent a shiver down Shikamaru's spine. "As far as getting in here, it doesn't take much for someone skilled in fire jutsu to overpower those who are limited to wind jutsu, isn't that right Temari-hime?"

She let out a growl again and ran straight at him, her fan closed as she swung it around with as much emotion, force, and rage as her small frame held for this man. Shikamaru had never seen her this enraged before and it was doing a good job at unnerving him. This battle was personal, even though he had no idea why or what had happened between them. He had seen a lot of the Temari hidden from the world in only a matter of minutes and he didn't really have the time to process it all.

* * *

And as she turns  
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams  
This fire burns  
I realize that nothing's as it seems

* * *

The unknown ninja did a good job at blocking her fan as she used it like a club. He had a sickly sweet smile on his face, as if he was enjoying every moment of their battle. The more enraged she was, the bigger his grin became. The blows never really seemed to be doing any damage and this was starting to worry the Leaf Jounin. Shikamaru never realized how much rage she had hidden deep within her. 'This is nothing like the Temari I know. I need to do something and fast, before we are all dead,' he thought as he started to watch the walls around them being eaten away by the flames, the heat increasing with each passing second.

'This is exactly what this bastard wants. Temari is playing right into his hands and I need to get her out of here. I don't know what pleasure he's deriving from seeing her like this, but I need the calm and rational Temari back and soon.'

Shikamaru was keeping a close watch on the enemy ninja as he fought Temari, studying every move he made. 'He seemed to be taking each blow as if he had the ability to harden himself, an earth jutsu maybe? This guy also said he could use fire jutsu, so he's at least Jounin level. He is also a sadistic bastard, but I'm going to need more time than this to come up with a plan. Kami, I could watch _her_ fight all day,' Shikamaru thought as he watched the two trade blows, slightly distracted by Temari's grace and figure in the process. Temari was very skillful at dancing away from most of the kicks and punches he threw her way, but she was a medium to long-range fighter and this fight took her out of her element, literally.

Crouching as low as he could, he studied the surroundings, looking for anything that could come in handy. The hard thing was that the surroundings kept changing. His shirt and jacket were soaked with sweat and he was starting to feel light headed from all the smoke and heat assaulting his body. This man had already made one threat on his life, so he knew that he needed to be aware of everything going on around him. This creep wanted to torture Temari. That meant that he wasn't going to kill her first. Shikamaru had to jump quickly out of the way as another beam came crashing down onto their level.

'Not good. I need to move _now_,' Shikamaru mentally yelled at himself as he collected himself and started to send out his shadow.

"Kage Nui no Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow started to divide into a dozen inky black fingers and he wrapped around both Temari and the enemy, straining to stop their fight and keep them separated.

"Nice technique. I'm going to have to keep an eye on you for sure, my friend," Temari's adversary laughed. Shikamaru didn't like his cockiness, but he wasn't going to qualify it with a remark. He had other things he needed to focus on right now.

Temari let out a frustrated growl. "Nara Shikamaru! Let. Me. Go!" she ordered.

Shikamaru struggled as they both fought with all they had against his shadow. He had been careful not to send his shadow through Temari's frame, but he had caught the enemy a couple times through the right leg and his left arm. The man seemed to be enjoying the pain and Shikamaru was reminded of Hidan with the way he was reveling in it. Disgusted, he turned his attention to the woman stuck within his grasp and approached her until he could talk to her without the other one hearing.

"Calm down woman!" he whispered so that only she could here. "What has gotten into you? We need to retreat and fight this guy somewhere where we aren't being roasted alive!"

He could feel her calm down a little; she was still fighting the Shadow Sewing, but not as fiercely.

"I want to hurt him so bad, Nara, let me go!" she ordered. "Just hold on to him and I'll finish him quickly."

"I can't do that! I'm not going to last much longer like this!" he hissed.

He could hear the roof starting to give way two floors up and he knew they were out of time for talk. He released the jutsu and grabbed Temari by the waist, running for the nearest exit he could see in the smoke. The creaking and groaning of the weakened structure was getting louder as he neared a glass window, Temari kicking and struggling as much as she could against his arms. He had caught her off guard enough when he took hold of that she hadn't had much of a chance to get her feet back in contact with the floor, leaving her hanging sideways in his grasp.

He felt a stab of pain to the back of his leg, which made him stumble and almost drop the woman in his arms. Crying out in pain and frustration, he did his best to ignore the pain, gathered the angry Temari, and continued toward the window. He could hear a hissing sound and had looked between his legs when he struggled back onto his feet to see that a kunai and a rapidly burning explosive tag accompanied the pain.

"Shimatta!" he growled just before he launched himself and Temari through the glass of the window, using his back to break through it and holding Temari in a protective angle so that only he felt the full force of the blow. He landed and rolled, feeling the kunai lodging deeper into his thigh when he hit the ground, the hissing getting faster. He needed to get this thing out and as far away from them as fast as he possibly could.

He released Temari mid roll, rolling a few more meters beyond her before he grabbed the kunai, pulling it out and launching it as far away from them as possible. It exploded a fraction of a second later. He had made it just in time and was just barely able to shield his eyes from the blast, but he could feel the searing pain in his leg now accompanied by the feeling of a warm liquid.

His colorful language and the medium sized explosion alerted Temari to where he had landed. Moreover, he could see that Temari was dazed and fuming for grabbing her the way he did. Realizing that he was in serious trouble he grabbed his leg, blood running through his fingers as it dripped into a large pool of blood beneath it. He surmised that the kunai must have hit a major artery for this much blood to be coming out, but his brain was scrambling to think of how to stop the blood flowing from his wound; a feeling of panic began to take hold of him. Shikamaru could see Temari scramble on all fours as fast as she could over to his location in his peripheral vision. Grabbing at his belt buckle, she tried to release the clasp as fast as her fingers could work, which earned her an angry glare from the Leaf Jounin.

"What the hell woman! This is hardly the time! I'm bleeding to death here!" he said trying to fend her off from his pants.

"Shut up you big baby!" she ordered. "I'm trying to get your belt so that I can use it to stop the bleeding!"

He stopped protecting his pants when he realized that she was trying to make a tourniquet for his leg. He watched as she removed it from the belt loops, placed it around his leg just above the wound, and pulled it as tight as possible; tying it in a very tight knot so that the blood flow started to slow down. Temari then proceeded to take off her obi and began to tie that rather tightly around the wound so that she could apply more pressure to the wound itself; leaving her singed and dirtied dress to hang loosely around her hips. Shikamaru was amazed at how quickly and confidently she was working on his leg, leaving him to watch her with admiration while she worked.

She had just finished tying the last knot when the roof of the puppet corps building collapsed, which sent a shower of embers and debris in their direction. Out of instinct, she fell on top of Shikamaru and he pulled her closer at the same time. The majority of the debris managed to land around them, but a few larger pieces fell on top of them. Temari was able to push the debris off her back and their legs as he feebly tried to help her, but the pain in his leg screamed at him and caused him to collapse back onto his elbows.

They could hear some maniacal laughing above their heads and they both looked up to see the rouge ninja standing there, un-singed and apparently having a good time at their expense.

"That's one point for me, Hime," he laughed as she let out a frustrated growl, her anger returning full force as soon as he appeared. "But you and I will have to settle our score later," he said as he suddenly radiated killer intent and glared at Shikamaru.

"Don't," Shikamaru ordered, grabbing her arm so that she couldn't run after him.

The enemy-nin faded out of sight with some sort of preferred jutsu, leaving them alone with the burning building. Dazed at what had just happened, she sank back onto her heels next to him and they could hear the calls of both civilians and ninja alike as they tried to put out the fire. He could see Kankuro rounding the corner, coming at full speed towards them as she unexpectedly turned and commence in pounding the first inanimate object she could find, which soon crumbled under her rage. Shikamaru didn't know what to do with this suddenly emotional version of Temari, so he did the first thing he could think of and wrapped her in his strong arms. He started whispering things he felt were more appropriate to say to a frustrated three year old than someone his senior, but he was hoping that his voice would help to calm her down.

"Nara! What the hell happened here!" Kankuro demanded.

"She apparently thought you were trapped in there and ended up finding some guy she shares a grudge with instead," Shikamaru replied. He gave Kankuro a recap of the fight in the fire, Kankuro's facial expressions warping the lines of the purple face paint that he wore as he listened to the shadow-nin's tale. Shikamaru could tell that the puppet master knew something about their enemy and he planned to speak to him later about it when Temari wasn't around. He didn't want to mess in Suna business any more than necessary, but he considered Temari a friend even if their friendship felt like it was more of a rivalry. Deep down his heart was aching to help her in any way that he could.

Temari was still shaking with rage, her face streaked with the remnants of the fire and the few stray tears that had managed to slip from her eyes. She had a wild look about her as she kept looking toward the place where her adversary had once been. Her expression made him imagine that maybe she was mentally screaming for the bastard to come back and finish their fight. Shikamaru was still holding tightly onto her, trying to calm her down even though his words did not seem to reach her ears, but she was no longer struggling to get free. Kankuro looked on, appearing to Shikamaru to be unnerved from seeing his sister enraged like this and frustrated that the building that was his pride and joy lit the night sky as it burned.


	3. This Desert Rose

tessen is Temari's fan

hanten is a traditional Japanese coat worn in winter by both men and women. It looks like a quilted happi coat.

Itai yo is Japanese for 'ouch!'

テ マ リ is the katakana form of Temari.

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz media. I'm just playing around in Wind Country a little bit.

* * *

This desert rose  
Each of her veils, a secret promise  
This desert flower  
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

* * *

On the way to the hospital, Kankuro and Temari walked on silently; however, Temari had the burden of carrying Shikamaru piggyback style because of his leg injury since both men had refused the other option vehemently. Shikamaru was certain he could have hobbled along with only a shoulder for support, but the bossy woman was being particularly stubborn and said it would be faster this way. He couldn't help but cast an occasional glance down at the woman walking between his legs. Temari was glaring at the road ahead of them as if that would magically shorten the distance to the hospital. Shikamaru knew that she had returned to her defensive and anti-feminine self, maybe even more so.

Shikamaru thought it was a little ironic that she was carrying _him_, complete with her tessen on _his_ back, but decided not to make any of his standard sarcastic remarks about it. He had a feeling she was planning to hurt him later as it was with as much killer intent as she was radiating. Her fan weighed a ton and on any other day, he would have told her she must have had the strength of an ox to be able to carry him and her weapon of choice. Temari was leading the way, so he was easily able to glance at her brother just to their right. Kankuro wore a scowl on his face, emphasized by the face paint as the lines of it continued to look contorted. There was a good chance the puppet master would smack him around too if he made a comment about his sister in this awkward moment. How troublesome.

The fire was now in the capable hands of water jutsu users and only a faint glow across town. The Leaf Jounin was trying not to replay the events of the evening repeatedly in his mind, but it was his curse that his brain was programmed to run problems over and over, and even one more time after that, until he could find a suitable solution. Temari had scolded him more often than not that her problems didn't always need him to fix them, but he couldn't help it. That's what he was the best at, whether he wanted it to be or not. The memory of her battling in the middle of a raging fire was something that his mind would not soon forget.

There wasn't any natural light left as they passed through the streets of Suna. In fact, it wasn't the kind of place where one would want to be out at night. Sure, they had their bars and their nightclubs, but the nights got so cold out here with nothing but sand surrounding them, night temperatures dipped frighteningly close to freezing even in the summer months. This time of year, you could even find the occasional ice crystal in the early morning hours if he looked hard enough. His sweat soaked jacket was making any heat that he had dissipate rather quickly and he was also starting to see Goosebumps appear on the back of Temari's neck. They would be at the hospital soon, but he was secretly willing what little warmth he had would travel to her. She was also starting to calm down, much to his relief.

Upon reaching the trauma ward of the Suna hospital, Shikamaru slid off Temari's back and she assisted him in hobbling toward one of the nearby beds. The medical staff was quick to take care of the two of them, pulling Temari toward the bed right next to Shikamaru's. They both had burns on their arms and shoulders. Temari also had badly burned a spot on her left ankle that looked like it would start blistering if she didn't get some attention to it soon. Some of her hair was burned to a crisp, but when one of the young nurses tried to point it out to her, she just snapped back at the poor girl, sending her back to her duties rather cowed.

They continued to dress wounds, cleaning, and healing them, before wrapping them in gauze to keep the sand out until they were fully healed. The medic that was working on Shikamaru had made him remove his jacket and shirt, in order to get a better look at the wounds, and he was feeling rather exposed. Not that he hadn't ever been in a room with this many medics and staff without his shirt before. Quite the contrary, even Sakura and Ino had seen him without most of his clothing, but present company seemed to be the exception to the rule. Not to mention he was cold.

While one medic worked on healing his back and arms, another took charge of healing the puncture wound that had damaged the Femoral Artery in his leg. The wound was deep and Temari's obi was soaked through with blood. The medic in charge commented that if Temari hadn't done what she did, he would have most certainly bled out before he had received any medical attention. The desert princess had her head hanging down, bangs covering her eyes when the medic had said this, and Shikamaru noticed a strange sort of smirk on her lips, like she was proud that she did it right or that she could do it and he couldn't, Shikamaru wasn't sure.

Temari was done long before he was due to the medic still trying to repair the damage to his leg, as the his green chakra glowed around the Leaf Jounin's thigh. She walked past him, ankle and both arms wrapped like a mummies. Temari paused long enough to look at him in the eye, deep teal eyes meeting brown. He could see the pain and confusion buried in her eyes, but she was forcing a small smile. He lost himself in those teal seas as he tried to analyze her expression. She looked away, finally breaking their gaze after several long seconds.

Finally, she said, "Goodnight, Nara," as she disappeared .

Shikamaru replied simply with a "Goodnight" as he watched her walk down the hall, her everyday confidence appearing dented as she seemed to be reluctantly leaving him to go back home to her room in the Kazekage mansion. As he watched her go, he had the strongest urge to run after her and pull her into an embrace again, but knew he couldn't because his damaged leg, not to mention pride. Maybe later on, he would seek her out and find out if she was OK. Her burns may be taken care of, but something was obviously damaged beneath the skin.

* * *

It was close to midnight by the time the medics had the last of his wraps secured and he was able to go back to the dorm room that he had been living in for the last few days. He thought that the shirt they had sent him home in was the most hideous thing he had ever had to wear, and from a guy that could care so little about what he was wearing, that said a lot. It was a sandy brown version of the pullover shirt that he had to wear whenever he stayed at the Konoha Hospital, but it was stiff and itchy which seemed to make it worse now that his burns were starting to itch as well. His own shirt and flak jacket were a mess and he might as well throw away the long-sleeved shirt. He had another, but it was the thought of cleaning up his jacket that was just too troublesome.

Once he reached his room, he changed out of his borrowed shirt and slipped into the extra black long-sleeved shirt that he had brought with him. His leg was feeling much better, but it was approximately seventy-five percent healed and he hobbled around the room, as he got ready for bed. Shikamaru was just glad the painkillers they had given him at the hospital had kicked in and his leg was nicely numb. His mind was refusing to shut down and he grabbed a random book from the small bookshelf, hoping that whatever the subject was that it was boring enough to lull him to sleep. Hopping back over to his bed, Shikamaru gingerly sat down, easing himself back onto the mattress, adjusting his leg until he finally felt comfortable.

Staring at the ceiling, he let his mind wander over the events of the day, trying not to think of anything specific. Temari was the dominant image in his mind; wild, fierce, and intoxicating. Shikamaru just could not get that wild look she had during that fight out of his head. With a loud sigh, he looked at the book he had picked up off the shelf; the title informing him that it was a collection of children's fairy tales. Hardly reading material for an experienced ninja such as himself. He rolled his eyes at his own pathetic luck. With his leg still tender, he did not want to get out of bed again and find a better book. Figuring that they must have blessed him with a room usually occupied by academy students, he laid the book on the nightstand and decided to fore-go the idea of reading and just try to force himself to sleep.

"Nara, are you awake? Can I come in?" A hushed voice asked from the other side of his closed door.

"Come on in," He said loud enough for her to hear.

"Can't. The door is locked and unless you want to pay for a new door, I suggest you unlock it."

'Well, someone is feeling better,' he thought to himself. Rolling out of bed he mumbled his favorite catchphrase and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal Temari, in what he assumed were her pajamas. She was wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a hanten wrap-around coat meant to keep her warm on a typical cold Suna night. Shikamaru had a hard time not wondering what the rest of her sleepwear looked like without the coat, but the look in her teal eyes was what held him. She had the same look in her eyes earlier at the hospital right before she left. Her eyes held an expression that was both filled with pain and longing.

"Well, are you going to let me in or not?" she challenged. He still hadn't stepped out of the entrance to his room and his injury was leaving him feeling rather clumsy.

"Oi, woman, give me a second. I don't move backwards very well, if you hadn't noticed," he replied, as he hopped back. It was easy to fall into that old game of trading sarcastic remarks with her. In reality, he fell into this form of conversation with her more recently as a defense to cover his own feelings than to taunt her. "So, I take it you can't sleep?" he asked as she came into the room and sat down on his bed.

Her hair was down and it looked like someone had cut it recently, because there was no sign of charred hair and it looked a little shorter than it had earlier. Although, he had never really seen her hair all the way down before either. Actually, he couldn't help but think about how beautiful and fragile she looked in her sleepwear and with her hair down. Shikamaru was certain that no one outside of her brothers and Baki had ever seen her like this. Making a mental note of this moment, he decided to start the conversation before his tired imagination ran away with him. He followed her example and sat down on the bed next to her, stretching out his leg so that it was straight and as pain free as he could make it. He watched her face the entire time and noticed her wince when she looked at his leg.

"So, um, what brings you here in the middle of the night?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"I haven't been in this room in years," she started, avoiding his question. "I use to stay here while I went to the Academy, did I ever tell you that? Father thought it would be easier for Kankuro and me if we just lived at school with the rest of the war orphans instead of at home with him since he was working all the time. It looks just the way I left it, minus your boxer shorts of course," she said, a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke.

"Wait, you mean to tell me this was your room?" Shikamaru asked, ignoring the comment about his laundry hanging over the top of his pack. "The way you talk, it's like they don't use it anymore."

"They don't," she simply stated.

"Then why did they put me in here?" he asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"I asked them to," Temari replied, still not meeting his gaze.

She was studying her hands, her eyes wondering over her bandages and her nails that were still dirty from the fire. It was a visual reminder of what they had been through that day. Shikamaru watched her, studied her as she sat there. He couldn't help but think how easy it would be to love a woman such as this, his heart skipping a beat at the thought. He took a deep breath of air in preparation for a large sigh, when he had to close his eyes as her natural scent assaulted his senses, holding the breath instead so that he could enjoy her scent. Shikamaru wasn't sure if it was because he was so tired that he was having these thoughts about Temari, or if it was that being tired was letting him realize what he had always felt toward her. But really, it was just some infatuation after all, wasn't it?

Temari was looking around the room until her eyes rested on the book that he had tried to 'read' earlier.

"Doing some light reading?" she said as she picked up the book. Temari held it so that he could see the title and be reminded of his foolish choice earlier. "I would have thought that even _you_ were too old for children's stories."

"It was not my intention to read it. I was hoping to find something to fall asleep to and it was the first book I picked up," Shikamaru replied defensively. Wanting an answer to his earlier question he asked, "You didn't answer my question. Why are you here in the middle of the night?"

Temari let out a large sigh. She looked up into his deep brown eyes, temporary lost in whatever thought she was having.

"I came here to apologize. I was rash and emotional and I could have gotten us both killed and I'm very sorry," Temari said in a rush of words, a single tear running down her cheek before falling onto her bandaged arm. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't like seeing you get hurt."

Shikamaru instinctively brought his hand up and brushed the remainder of the tear away with his thumb. He couldn't help but notice how soft and warm her cheek felt under his fingers and the pain that was in her teal eyes told him how truly sincere she was in her apology. For a strong woman, a kunoichi in particular, an admission of weakness was rare. For Temari, it was unheard of. Shikamaru searched her eyes and they told him everything he needed to know in an instant. A thought came to his mind and he could no longer hide the desire he had for her as she was being all women, defenses down, and completely trusting. He remembered her challenge from earlier, but felt that he had a better idea than to claim her lips just because of a dare.

Leaning into her, he used the hand that he had wiped the tear away and brought her chin up so that he had it at a better angle. Shikamaru gently brushed his lips against hers. Feeling no hesitation, he gave her a real kiss this time, chaste but real. She didn't struggle against his lips, but seemed to welcome the contact. Pulling back, he looked at her face, her eyes fluttered open before locking onto his once more.

"Temari, don't ever feel like you have to apologize for following your heart. I understand why you did it and it shows that you're as human as I am. I just hope next time you'll let me know what you're planning so that I can support you better," Shikamaru said as he leaned in for another kiss, keeping her from responding just yet. Temari welcomed the contact just like the first time, but her response was stronger and she brought her arms up and gingerly wrapped them around his shoulders, pulling him in closer in order to deepen the kiss. It didn't take long for desire to override decorum and soon the kiss went beyond caste and into sensual. Seconds seemed like an eternity, but they both eventually had to come up for air.

"You do know that this changes everything between us, right?" she said when she had pulled back far enough to look into his eyes. "It means that I get to pick on you even more than ever," Temari teased with the lopsided grin that he was starting to love.

"Woman, you are going to be the death of me yet," Shikamaru rebuffed. "In all seriousness though, I want you to tell me what happened between you and that guy from earlier. Don't feel like you have to tell me tonight, but when you're ready. Something happened to you out there and it scared me. I know you probably don't want me to fix your problems, but when your problem is trying to kill me I want to know why."

Temari's gaze became a little icy at the mention of the enemy ninja from earlier, but the smirk was soon back as she smacked him right on the thigh above where his semi-healed wound resided.

"Itai yo, woman, what was that for!" Shikamaru hissed in pain.

"I'm glad you finally realize that I can handle myself," Temari said, giving him her cocky grin before it quickly disappeared again. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything, just give me a little time, OK?"

She pulled him down into a kiss this time, keeping him from responding; for the first time all night his pain forgotten and his mind was no longer racing. It was more like it had hit a brick wall and had stopped working altogether. It was the best feeling he had ever felt. Their battle over dominance continued as they let their desires take control. He reached into her coat, under her arm, and started to run his hand up and down her back. She was wearing a tank top underneath, but the more he explored made him realize that was all. Temari reacted as if enjoying the sensation of his hand being only a thin shirt away from her skin and he was starting to become emboldened. Shikamaru let his desire guide him and started to push her backwards onto the bed, but this is where she drew the line. Pushing back, she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes while she panted for air.

"As fun as that sounds, I don't think I'm going to take you up on that offer just yet." Getting up, Temari looked into his eyes one last time before saying, "Goodnight, Shikamaru. I'll see you in the morning."

Disappointed and momentarily speechless, Shikamaru wasn't going to let her get away that easily and stood up between her and the doorway so that he was towering over her in silent protest that this had to end. It wasn't until he rode her back that he realized just how much taller he was than her and now that he was thinking of kissing her some more it was even more obvious that he was almost a head taller. He leaned down while at the same time he took his hand and placed it behind her head in order to bring her mouth into a better angle as it met his. Their lips crashed into each other one last time before she used her hands to push against his chest and break them apart.

"Go to sleep, Nara," she ordered. Her smile was contradicting her commanding voice and he wondered just how much sleep he could get after all of that.

"Goodnight, troublesome woman," he said as he followed her to the door.

He closed it behind her, regretting that she had left him alone again to his thoughts. They were much happier thoughts now, but this change in their relationship was going to make it just as hard to go to sleep. Shikamaru limped back toward his bed, the covers still showing where they had just been in each others embrace.

He glanced down at the fairytale book and opened the cover as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Was she trying to send him a message by having him stay in this room? It was almost as if she wanted him to get to know the little girl that she had buried deep, kept safe behind the sarcastic remarks and sharp battle instincts. Now that he had a chance to study it, he noticed how well worn some of the pages were. This had been Temari's childhood book and she had spent hours reading these stories. He noticed that on the inside cover her name was written in the shaky writing of a child, her 'ri' kanji (テマリ) was even backwards. Flipping through the book, he noticed one page that was dog-eared. It was the story of a young girl that defeated a demon to save the life of the prince. 'Ironic and appropriate,' he thought to himself, as he placed the book back on the nightstand before shutting off the light, he crawled under the covers and fell into a restless sleep.


	4. Nothing's as it Seems

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media. "Desert Rose" belongs to Sting. I'm just filling in the holes they left.

* * *

I dream of love as time runs through my hands

...

I realize that nothing's as it seems

* * *

Shikamaru didn't have a chance to see Temari at all over the next few days and he felt a lump in his chest every time he thought he saw her in a crowd or walking through the halls of the Kazekage building. He wanted so much to talk to her. It didn't matter what they talked about. Being with her had become his drug of choice and he was an addict looking for his next fix; getting more impatient the longer they stayed apart. It wasn't helping his mood that ever since the fire everyone in Suna seemed to be in a bad mood. The Shadow-nin had seen her brother several times over the last few days and Kankuro was in a particularly bad mood. Shikamaru waffled back and forth whether or not to talk to her brother about the other night and had finally decided not to broach the subject until his mood had improved.

The atmosphere at the Academy was also dark and many of the students had picked up on their instructor's moods causing them to act out. Shikamaru began to wonder why he was in Suna in the first place and would have requested a change to his mission if it wasn't for the fact that it brought him closer to Temari. On this particular morning, he had already finished with the one class he had to teach and was now helping Baki, who had become the head of the Academy. They were ordering and gathering supplies, such as weapons and equipment, for the students to use during the school year. However, the older man had no apparent empathy for his slower gate as Shikamaru was frequently forced to half run/half hobble to keep up.

Shikamaru had been very busy with this part of his duty all morning, but the sun had hit its zenith and Baki had called it a day. The Leaf Jounin had grabbed a small lunch at a local eatery and found the coolest looking piece of shade he could find to sit in. Eating outside meant that he had to eat quickly if he wanted his food to taste like anything other than sand, his onigiri gone before he had a chance to really taste it. He let his mind wonder as he sat leaning against the outer wall of a random building, drawing in the sand unconsciously while he daydreamed in the shade.

Picking up a handful of sand, he let it run through his fingers. This stuff got into everything that was in this place. His mom hated to do his laundry when he came home from his missions in Suna and it was after one such mission that she had refuse to do his laundry ever again. He was 20 after all; most of his friends either rented places of their own or had moved out of the main house. He was just too lazy to change the way things had always been, but he had a feeling that his mom was about ready to kick him out of the main house anyway.

Picking up another handful of sand, briefly he thought about his parents. To an outsider their relationship looked rather dysfunctional. His mom was always bossing his dad around and the old man just took it in stride, content to do what he wanted no matter that she had just scolded him about doing that very thing. Shikamaru could never understand how they put up with each other, but his dad always said that behind closed doors his mom was a different person. Well, it was never behind any closed doors he had been privileged to see behind.

What was really plaguing his mind was the Temari he had witnessed behind closed doors. He had always just classified her as 'troublesome' or 'bossy', but his logical mind couldn't classify her any longer. Everything about her in the last week had made him go over every memory of her that he had, looking for answers. Not being able to see her since their late night make-out session made all those memories seem like they were being played endlessly, but in an entirely new light. Had he always felt like this about her? Well, at least not at first when she had been trying to kill him in the Chuunin exams. Temari had always been critical of whatever he did or said and most of the time he had fired those same criticisms back at her. Had she really just been getting to know him in an awkward kind of way?

Closing his eyes, he leaned back and smacked his head on the building several times in frustration. It wasn't hard enough to really hurt, but it served to stop the line of thinking that he seemed to be stuck on. It also earned him a laugh from someone who had appeared without his knowledge, but he could smell that hint of desert spice and he smirked since he knew who it was.

"Bad day?" she said. Of course, it was Temari.

"Do you have some kind of jutsu that you use to know when the most embarrassing time to sneak up on me is?" Shikamaru replied eyes still closed.

"I call the jutsu, 'Woman's Intuition'," she laughed as he peered out at her with one squinting eye. "Actually, I've been looking for you. I wanted to see if you were busy. I have something I want to show you, but if my brother has you on a tight leash, I understand." She squatted down to his level so that she could look him eye to eye, even if only one eye was looking back at her. She was wearing the black yukata that prevented him from seeing her beautiful long legs today. However, she had this goofy little smirk on her face that he found was making him want to kiss her. He didn't dare do that in public, but Temari was almost outright flirting with him as she said this. What did that night in his room do to her? Scratch that thought. What did that night in his room do to _him_?

"I'm completely free until this evening when I have a meeting with some of the other instructors," he replied as he now opened the other eye to look at her full in the face. "Why, what did you have in mind?"

"No, no. I think I'll keep that little bit of information to myself. I like to keep you guessing too much," she taunted. Even now, she seemed to enjoy torturing him.

"Fine, but don't expect me to be excited if you're just dragging me around town just to get a rise out of me. Besides, guessing is just too troublesome," Shikamaru said as he got up a brushed the sand off his pants, not that his efforts at removal did any good. Even though he knew she loved to torture him, for some reason, he always went along with it.

"Come on, lazy. I think you'll like it," Temari said as she headed towards the center of town. Shikamaru followed only a step or so behind.

He watched the back of her form as they made their way through the streets of Suna. Yep, Temari's hair was definitely shorter as her four pigtails made that obvious now. He had the urge to reach out and touch one, but kept the urge down by shoving his hands even further into his pockets. It wasn't only the hair that was taunting him. Her slender neck was just begging him to touch or kiss it. Shikamaru wanted to blame the new insanity that he felt in her presence on his male urges that the memory of her taste on his lips had ignited. So, he tried to focus on something other than the temptress walking in front of him. He also wanted to calm his nerves and the old urge to pull out a cigarette started to nag him. Asuma's lighter was forever in his pocket even if he hadn't bought a pack in a couple of years, so he started to play with the lid, opening and closing it as a distraction for his hands.

They walked just past the hospital, which he was eager to do so. It was a well-known fact that all ninja hated the hospital, but at the same time it seemed to be where they spent a lot of their time when they weren't on a mission. Behind the hospital stood the greenhouses, but he had never been in there and it was beginning to be obvious this was where she was heading.

"So, how many guesses do I get?" Shikamaru asked.

"Too late for guessing now. Come on," she said.

Temari just laughed and walked toward the first greenhouse. There were three in all, but he couldn't tell what was growing in each one because the glass was coated in a thin layer of moisture making it hard to see much more than green shapes. The first greenhouse was full of herbs and a small lab where he assumed that they made many of their medicines for the hospital. Temari took hold of his hand causing him to blush as she pulled him towards the next greenhouse. She was eager to reach their destination, but slowed a bit when she realized that Shikamaru had to skip to keep up due to his leg. The second house was home to many types of dessert cacti and other dessert loving plants; the air was much dryer than the previous house. The variety of desert plant life suggested that this was someone's pride and joy. He had never seen this many plants in any one location in the land of Wind, so someone went to a lot of trouble to collect all of these then protect them from the unrelenting sandstorms that kept the Hidden Village in the Sand hidden.

The last house held plants completely different from the first two. It was very humid in this house and the midday temperatures outside made it quite hot in this micro-climate. Shikamaru was surprised to find plants from all over the known ninja world in here. He recognized the great big leafy philodendrons and Elephant Ear's from the jungles of Crescent Moon as well as more temperate plants that grew in the southern part of River and Fire Countries including a small patch of bamboo. Temari squeaked as the mister came on right as they walked under it and pulled him toward a bench that was out of its range. Shikamaru was use to the gradual change of climate when he went home from Suna to Konoha, but this sudden change made him begin to sweat and feel a little lightheaded, although that could be due to the present company.

"Ano, what do you think?" she said as she turned to face him, her hand still holding his.

"It's as if it's a whole different planet in here," Shikamaru said before taking a deep breath. "Its smells like home with a little bit of desert spice mixed in."

Shikamaru hobbled around on the crushed stone path that wound it's way through the greenhouse, Temari still by his side. Green, moss covered trees grew up to the ceiling and tropical and brightly colored flowers covered the floor. Shikamaru was surprised to even see a lizard and a few toads living within the foliage. Misters sprayed in intervals and they seemed to be driving them back toward the bench where there were more plants from Fire Country there than in any other part of the greenhouse. The trees were much smaller than back home, but Shikamaru couldn't help but think about how much he felt at home here in this little bit of heaven tucked into a Sunanese greenhouse.

"Do you like it?" Temari asked, almost as if she was nervous he would say no even if his face told a different story.

"Yeah, my skin isn't feeling like it's about to die of dehydration in here," he replied sarcastically to which she rolled her eyes in response, apparently not taking him very seriously.

"I come here whenever I need a moment to think. Most people don't bother to come in here because it gets too hot, but I love it," Temari said. Her thumb beginning to trace circles on the back of his hand sending shivers up his spine.

"I wouldn't have expected Suna to have such a diverse collection of plant life. How do you keep this so humid in here considering the rest of the village is under tight water restrictions?" Shikamaru asked. Curse his logical brain to start working on him again.

"It's a system they came up with that recycles and re-circulates the water. My father had it built for my mother a long time ago," Temari said, her attention seemed to drift as soon as she mentioned her mother; her eyes focused far away on some distant memory.

"This must be a special place for you then," Shikamaru asked. "Do you miss her?"

"Yeah, but I never really knew her. She died when I was three and I only have brief memories, glimpses of when she was alive, but I always remembered how beautiful she was. I always think of this place as the way my father use to feel for my mother. Gaara is a reminder of how _that_ ended," Temari said as bitterness laced the last statement.

Feeling certain they were alone, he reached up and cupped her cheek. The action seemed to bring her mind back to the present moment, but he could see that her guard was down. His heart almost skipped a beat as he looked at the face of the woman before him. There were tears actually glistening in the corners of her eyes as she looked up into his own brown orbs.

Shikamaru leaned in and claimed her mouth, her taste bringing back memories of their first kiss and he soon picked up where they had left off. Temari responded in kind and it was several long moments before they broke apart. As intoxicating as she was, Shikamaru knew that they needed to talk too, and thought of the words he wanted to use to bring up something that had been on his mind. Taking a deep breath, he decided to just get it over and done with, before the look in Temari's eyes and her full lips distracted him too much from his purpose.

"Temari, I don't have any idea of where this thing is going between us and I can't guarantee a happy ending, but the more I think about you and the way I've always felt about you makes me wonder if you are all I have ever really wanted. The last few days you've shown me more of the real Temari I always seemed to know was in there, but I've never really been daring enough to look past your more dangerous side," Shikamaru said, running his thumb softly across her cheek as he gazed into her teal eyes.

"Shika, my family life has never really been one full of happiness and love. Only recently have my brothers and me felt even somewhat like a family, but we usually show our affection by _not_ killing each other. I'm not sure what I would do with a serious relationship, or a family, or if I would eventually want children. I've always had terrible luck with men. Most of the ones I've ever know have only wanted one thing and I'm not about to give it away freely. I'm not someone that would just fall down with her legs open and then keep house like a good little wife should. I love the thrill of battle and the rush from being the strongest and the best too much to be that kind of woman," she admitted.

"Obviously," Shikamaru said, actually causing her to smirk at his sarcastic version of a compliment. "Temari, for as long as I've know you I've never thought of you as the type that would turn domestic," Shikamaru said, with honesty that was even scaring himself.

"So, what 'type' am I?" she asked.

"Well," Shikamaru stalled, her question having caught him off guard. "Your fiery, strong willed, and everything completely opposite of the type of woman I always thought would make a good wife."

"Why?" Temari gave him a confused look. "Are you looking for a wife?"

"I'm not looking for a wife, or even a girlfriend," Shikamaru replied. This honesty thing was starting to feel like a two edged sword.

Temari looked into his eyes and looked a little disappointed as he said this, which caused a stab of pain in his chest. It was obviously not the thing she had been hoping that he would say and if he was going to save his sorry ass, he was going to have to think of something fast. He watched her slowly sit down on the bench. She sat in her typical laid-back pose, arms spread out across the back of the bench, legs crossed and he knew that her defenses were going up as he watched her sitting there. He continued to stand but decided to walk to where she was and stop right in front of her, hands shoved deep into his pockets once more.

She looked up into his eyes and he really was afraid that he had majorly screwed up when she asked, "So, does that mean you're not interested in a relationship? Are you saying you're just in it for the sex?"

"Temari, that's not what I meant." Shikamaru closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "For once in my life, I don't want to categorize you like I do with everything else. You have always been a friend and ally for the most part and I've been too lazy to try and argue the issue. Being a shinobi has always come first, once it became my everyday life. I've always wondered if you were even an attainable goal for me. If anything, I want to have you as my best friend and partner more than I want sleep with you, not that the thought hasn't crossed my mind if that's any consolation," he said, hoping that would clear up any misunderstanding his last statements had made. He opened his eyes and sat down next to her on the bench, turning to face her so that their knees were touching and said, "But in all honestly, I think you're incredibly hot when you're in the midst of a battle. I also like the fact that I don't have to watch my back when you're around because I know that you'll watch it for me, as uncharacteristic for me as that sounds."

Shikamaru was relieved when she started to laugh at him and he just gave her a lopsided grin in return. He must have said something right when she took her left hand, put it behind his head, and pulled him into a passionate kiss. They fought for dominance for only a little while when he let her take control. In fact, he liked how Temari was kissing him too much to not want to pull back and let her win and the more he pulled back, the more she advanced and that was a good thing as far as he was concerned. He was content to bait her a little while longer until they both had to stop and come up for air. He had taken his hands out of his pockets by this time and had put his hands on either side of her hips and she obviously had no objections because they were still attached to his arms.

The time to breathe was soon over, and he started the next round by searching her neck with his mouth for that tender spot he knew all women had, or at least that's what Ino said. He really wished his blonde teammate would shut up about some things, but when it came to exploiting a weakness, information of this sort was reluctantly welcomed. It didn't take too long to find it either as she started to make soft moaning sounds when he had found it. It was in a place almost too low for comfort just inside the collar of her yukata. He was going to make a mental note of this one as she leaned her head back allowing him even more access. He snaked his arms up around her back, pulling her close as she did the same thing with her arms around his shoulders. He instinctively started making his way down just inside of the collar of her yukata, the lower he went, the more intoxicated with her he became. He wanted her as a best friend first, but sleeping with her was starting to sound tempting and he could tell that certain parts of him were in full agreement.

Both parties were enjoying their new game of give and take, but the more heated it became, the more Shikamaru realized that her body was sending him signals that she was losing her focus, but he couldn't make himself stop. She let out a deep, shaky sigh and began to push him away so that she could sit up taller; as he had pushed her as far back as she could go on the solid wooden bench. As he gazed into her eyes, he could see that her thoughtful look had returned and Shikamaru knew that she had something else on her mind that was plaguing her besides the status of their relationship. However, she gave him a small smile as she playfully whipped his mouth of with her thumb to remove the evidence of their passion from his lips.

"Shikamaru," she said, the use of his full name making him aware that what she was about to say would be serious. Temari's facial expression also changed as she started to think about how she was going to broach the subject. "As long as we're being honest with each other, I brought you here not only so that I could share my oasis with you, but to tell you about the guy from the other night."

"Can't it wait?" Shikamaru said as he started to move in for another kiss. He wanted to hear this, but he was no longer thinking with the logical side of his brain.

Temari, however, had a different idea, pushing him upright as she replied, "Please. Let me get this off my chest before I lose my nerve. It will also explain why I react to certain _activities_ the way I do. It's not that I don't want to, especially with you, but it will explain a lot."

Shikamaru sat up straight and gave Temari her space, as she took a deep breath before relating her tale.

"The first time I crossed paths with him was about seven years ago when I was on my first mission leading a team as a Jounin. I only had a three-man team of Chuunin with me and we were patrolling the Northern border while Gaara and Kankuro were with the majority of our security forces. I don't know if you remember when the strange ships from across the sea landed on our shores, but it was about that time that his small band of rouge ninja tried to bypass our security forces."

"Yeah, I remember when that happened. Sakura, Naruto and I met up with your brothers while we were on a separate mission," Shikamaru said.

"Well, I never did get any information out of them about why they were trying to sneak through Wind and our battle was a short-lived one at that. He wasn't very talented back then, but he was good at evading my jutsu and he's always been a close range fighter with a knack for earth jutsu. The one thing I noticed the most about him, during that first battle, was that no matter how much I pushed him back he would act as if he was almost enjoying it. I really don't know how best to put it, but it was almost as if he was deriving sexual satisfaction from it. As I said, they were not a very strong band of rouges, but they retreated and we no longer deemed them a threat and decided not to pursue them across the border.

"I thought he acted strange during that first encounter and just kind of tucked it into the back of my mind. You know as well as I do that there are some real characters out there that take pleasure from some of the strangest things. His band has been known to cross the border from time to time, each time they had improved their jutsu. Several of our teams have picked up a stray man each time we come across them, but our interrogation team hasn't been able to get much more out of them than the fact that they are all formerly from hidden villages and they use their skills in the black market. I tracked him a couple of times and once he even pinned me up against a tree, apparently just so that he could feel my body against his. No matter how hard we tried, each time it ended with their escape.

"It wasn't until a year ago when I had been on a mission with Kankuro and his team that we came across him and the same group of rouge-nin. There had been no trace of his group in three years and I had secretly hoped that he had finally been wounded and left alone to die somewhere. This time around, he had picked up the art of fire jutsu making him even harder to battle than before. He had also become bolder and he wasn't afraid of breaking right through one of my attacks, coming at me directly with taijutsu."

Temari took in a deep breath. She had been staring at her hands through much of her story and Shikamaru had a lump in his chest at where her story seemed to be heading. He knew she was strong, but there was something in her voice that had him dreading what she was about to share next. After a moment of silence, Temari continued.

"The force of his attack had caught me off guard and both of us slammed into a tree at the edge of the clearing where we had been fighting. I lost my tessen when he hit me and it landed on the forest floor, out of my reach. Kankuro and his three man team were busy with the rest of his group and they didn't see me go down right away. We were high enough in the canopy that our momentum carried us down to the forest floor and that is when everything about the battle went from bad to worse. He landed on top of me in such a way that I was pinned underneath him and the fall didn't affect him, but I had the wind knocked out of me. He took advantage of those few seconds and he must have grabbed a kuni from somewhere, because he started to cut at my armor and then at my cloths in an attempt to remove them from my body. I tried to push him off, I really did, but he had the advantage over me."

Temari opened up her yukata at the shoulder enough to for Shikamaru to see the scars that the knife had left behind. The pattern looked more like she had gone through a glass window with her shoulder. With the amount of scar tissue that they had, some of them looked like they had been deep. One was right next to where he had been kissing her neck and he hadn't even noticed it before because he had been so intoxicated with her scent. Temari began to talk again, but Shikamaru couldn't take his eyes off the scars until she covered them back up; his face contorted in shock and rage.

"It didn't matter that the kuni was also cutting me in the process, but he worked quickly while he started to take advantage of me. His lips felt like they were burning my skin and I'll spare you the details, but there was nothing I could do but smack uselessly at his hands. I don't know what I would have done if Kankuro hadn't finished off his opponent when he did and came barreling at us in a rage once he saw what that man was trying to do to me. They fought a while; long enough for me to gain my barring, compose myself, and recover my tessen. I was so mad that I almost hit Kankuro with a cutting wind, but he didn't go down as easily as I had hoped. Between the two of us, we left him for dead on that battlefield and I only wished that we had dragged his body back to Suna."

The pain written on her form was evident. He had overpowered her emotionally even though Kankuro had been able to step in before it had gone very far. However, the memories were just as traumatic as if he had gone farther. Shikamaru had become more enraged the more she spoke about this rouge-nin, wishing that he had been more aware of her struggle during those years. If he had, he probably would have even been willing to become a rouge-nin himself just to kick the snot out of the teme. The Shadow-nin was well aware that a kunoichi's assets went beyond those that pertained to battle, but those same assets were sometimes their greatest weakness and Temari was no exception. Even when he had been on recognizant missions with Ino, he knew that as good as she was at her job that it would mean that he had to keep an even closer eye on her just in case something went horribly wrong. Now, the sadistic ninja had returned, apparently wanting to claim what he believed what rightfully his and Shikamaru was in a position to keep that from ever happening to Temari again.

"You can see now why I freeze up if you start pushing me backwards. I'm sorry," Temari said, still not looking Shikamaru in the eye.

Shikamaru was angry, but not at her and the look on her face was breaking his heart. He replied, "Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong."

Temari was visibly shaken by the end of her tale, hot tears glistened in her eyes; threatening to fall down her cheeks, and Shikamaru wasn't hesitant in the least to pull her into a comforting embrace. She released her frustration and pain as the hot tears flowed, making wet spots on the fabric covering his chest as she brought her hands up his back and sobbed as she held on for dear life. In here, they were alone and he would remember this place as the one place on earth where she felt free enough to be just Temari, not the kunoichi or the daughter and sister of a Kazekage, just Temari. They remained in this pose until her tears dried up and he knew that she had felt released from her burden when she started to laugh in between the sniffles. Kami-sama, he loved to hear her laugh.

"Look at me, I'm shaking like a leaf and here I've been teasing you about being a cry baby," Temari said as she wiped at the tears still on her cheeks.

Shikamaru just chuckled at this and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. His dad was right, behind closed doors they were very different.


	5. No Sweet Perfume Ever Tortured Me More

Itai- Japanese for 'ouch'

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz Media. "Desert Rose" belongs to Sting. I'm just filling in the holes they left.

* * *

This desert flower  
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

And as she turns  
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams

* * *

"So why the sudden interest in our weather, Nara? I know this sandstorm is interfering with being able to hold classes, but you can't beat it down with a book," Temari said.

Shikamaru absentmindedly ignored Temari's question as he searched the titles of the books on the shelves. Their foe had disappeared without a trace since the fire and Suna had been hit by a severe sandstorm that had already lasted two days and was threatening to last at least two more. The bad part about the storm was that it halted all work within Suna, but it was also a good thing as now Shikamaru had the time he needed to do a little research. With the village bombarded by the storm, it was impossible for anyone to leave or enter the village without risking their lives. Most of the village had underground passageways to use on days like these so that one might be able to carry on everyday village life without too much of a problem. Fortunately, for Shikamaru, Gaara had given him access to their library as an excuse to keep him out of his office. The Shadow Master usually took a blasé approach to making requests of the Kazekage, or even the Hokage, but he suddenly felt an urgency when it came to anything relating to Temari and had decided to try it Naruto's way by making repeated requests, which surprisingly worked. Well, except for the fact that he was banned from Gaara's office until further notice.

"Damn, is there _any_ information about the static electricity that these storms can create? Has anyone in Suna ever tried to harness their power?" Shikamaru said, continuing to search the shelves of the Suna Library for anything that might help support the plan he had secretly been working on for the last two weeks since that afternoon in the greenhouses.

"What the hell are you planning, Nara? If you're planning on getting yourself killed, I'm not going to stop you," she said as she started to flip through one of the books he had set down on a nearby table, trying to figure out what this confusing man was planning.

"I'm planning the exact opposite. I just want to answer a question I had and if it's possible than I'll fill you in on what I have in mind," Shikamaru said, still studying the books, but on a different shelf. 'I just don't like the idea of not knowing all of my options before facing someone in battle and I haven't had enough experience battling in Suna to feel comfortable enough to spar Chouji out here.' Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind, he asked Temari, "Now are you going to help me or distract me?"

"I was thinking of distracting you, but since you're doing a good job of killing the mood, I might as well help you. Why are you looking for research on sandstorms anyway? I prefer to avoid them if at all possible and I _live_ here," Temari asked as she continued to flip through the books in front of her.

Shikamaru wanted more than anything to let Temari distract him, but he needed an answer before the question drove him crazy. He could see her out of the corner of his eye as she sat, looking rather bored at the small table nearby. She was slumped over the table as she sat in the hard wooden chair and her delicate chin was resting in the palm of her hand as she flipped through the books. Temari also looked like she could easily fall asleep at any moment as her eyelids were drooping and her head bobbed every few minutes. He knew why she was so tired and couldn't keep the small smirk from forming on his lips while he searched. They had been up late last night and he didn't regret the late night they had had, but he may have to carry Temari home through the tunnels on his back and he didn't want to have to explain to either of her brothers why she was so tired. Besides, he didn't think they would believe they had been playing shougi all night in his room. Actually, it was more like the first two hours they played shougi and it had digressed from there into more passionate activities.

"If you must know, I was trying to exploit a weakness in earth jutsu and I'm personally limited to my shadows. I don't know about you, but I feel better if there are more options than just hoping that I have a lightning jutsu user nearby every time I need one," Shikamaru explained without really explaining anything.

"Lightning, huh? Have you ever thought of using updrafts to make a storm? You know I'm getting pretty good at that myself," she said with a yawn.

Shikamaru found a rather promising book, pulled it off the shelf, and came over to join Temari at the table. She was still hiding her yawn behind her hand and he couldn't help but chuckle at how little girlish she looked when she was sleepy.

"Remind me not to let you keep me up all night ever again. I need to stay alert and you're not helping me do that," she said as she punched him playfully on the shoulder. "How come you're not yawning as bad as I am?"

"Probably because I raided someone's stash of some imported drink, coffee I think it was called. One of the instructors at the Academy was trying to hide it, albeit rather poorly. That stuff could become addicting and I don't think I really want to start a new habit of drinking that bitter stuff all the time. But, it defiantly helped me wake up," he replied as he began to read.

"Yea, I remember the last addiction you had. I'm glad you're over that one," Temari said, now giving in to her urge and resting her head on her arms.

"If you're implying my current addiction, I don't think I'll ever get over that one, nor do I want to," he calmly replied, a lopsided smirk hidden by his research material.

"Did you just flirt with me?" Temari asked, her eyes just barely visible over her arm.

"Did it sound like I was flirting?"

"Yes."

"Well, don't expect me to do that often. It must be because I'm functioning on two hours of sleep and a lot of caffeine. I really prefer the direct approach," he replied as he placed his book down. "I found something, listen to this."

Shikamaru went on to explain the different electrical charges made in the sandstorms and how that could change depending on the materials caught within a storm. Temari wasn't really listening, as the lack of sleep was blurring her thoughts, but Shikamaru had his answer and now he could start to formulate a plan. Temari was almost asleep by the time he was done with his explanation and he started to put his books away, except for the one he needed. Checking that one out at the front desk, he came back and found her sound asleep right where he left her. He sighed at the thought of the awkward looks he was going to be getting on their trip back to the Kazekage mansion, but went ahead and situated her on his back before picking up their belongings, her warm breath brushing his neck as she slept with her head on his shoulder. He couldn't help but think about how angelic she looked as she slept and her intoxicating scent would drive him crazy the whole way back, but it was worth it.

* * *

OK, this was _not_ what he had had in mind. Shikamaru was getting the third degree from Kankuro as they stood in the kitchen of the Kazekage's private residence that Temari shared with her two brothers. The Konoha shinobi had tried to be as quiet as he could when he had carried Temari home from the library and he thought he had been successful until he turned around to find her brother. Kankuro was standing there waiting for him when he came out of her bedroom, arms crossed and purple face paint distorted by a scowl. The puppet master was sending him just enough killer intent to let Shikamaru know that he was treading on thin ice.

Shikamaru mumbled his favorite catch phrase as he leaned against the counter. Kankuro had obviously noticed that she had come home early this morning, during a sandstorm no less. The puppet master was visibly upset at seeing a Leaf Ninja coming out of her bedroom, Shikamaru knew that Kankuro was jumping to conclusions that couldn't be further from the truth. It wasn't like Temari was allowing him to do more than kiss her and he knew her reasons. However, Kankuro didn't know that and Shikamaru assumed that he could probably be dead at the drop of a kunai if he said something the puppet master didn't agree with. Shikamaru was only slightly glad that Gaara wasn't here too, but at least he knew his death would be quick with Gaara.

"I want to know what you're doing here! I don't like the fact that I just caught you coming out of my sister's room," the puppet master growled.

"Kankuro, it's not what you think. She fell asleep at the Library while she was waiting for me and I brought her home. End of story."

"She has been spending too much time with you, Leaf Ninja, and I don't like it."

Kankuro wasn't pulling any punches and Shikamaru didn't like how this conversation was heading in the wrong direction and fast.

"Her time is her own. You obviously wouldn't believe me if I told you. Why don't you ask her when she wakes up. I'm sure that she would be willing to explain why I've been hanging around more," Shikamaru said in defense. He was starting to feel his blood boil and the last time he had seen Kankuro fight, albeit a long time ago, he knew the puppet master had a bad tempter to go along with his high-level jutsu.

"Don't tell me you two…Shikamaru I'm going to kill you if you hurt her in any way!" Kankuro warned as his face started to turn red at the thought of what might be going on between the Leaf Ninja and his sister.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I am not sleeping with your sister," 'at least not yet,' he didn't dare say out loud. "But we are more than friends and it is a mutual decision, which makes me one of the ones responsible for watching her back."

"If you're thinking of trying to save her from that teme that started the fire, I suggest you pack your bag and head back to Konoha and I don't care if the sandstorm kills you in the process," Kankuro growled.

"First of all, I'm here by request of the Kazekage, not _you,_ and only he can say when my mission is over," Shikamaru said. It was a lame reason and he knew it, but he knew that Kankuro wouldn't dare go against Gaara. "And, second, I think you're assuming that more is going on than there is and there is no reason for you to get hostile over my being here."

"I'm suggesting that Temari can handle herself and that she doesn't need your sorry, Konoha ass, interfering in Suna business," the elder Jounin said in warning.

"Kankuro," Shikamaru said, now glaring at her brother, "I am aware that Temari can take care of herself, but I'm too involved to turn a blind eye. You may be her brother, but I'm a part of her life whether you like it or not!"

Shikamaru was never one to start a fight, much less with someone such as Kankuro, but he was losing his patience and his emotions were clearly getting in the way. He also didn't want to be in a long distance relationship that ended up with him being the boyfriend who sat on the sidelines and watched her life pass before his eyes. However, he held the philosophy that a man should do everything in his power to protect the woman he cared about. Temari would be the first one to call his ideas antiquated, but it was still how he felt. There was nothing anyone could say to make him change his mind.

"Kankuro! Shikamaru! Would you two knock it off!" Temari shouted from the doorway of the kitchen, her tessen showing all three circles as she leaned against it. Both Shikamaru and Kankuro spun around, not realizing how close they had come toward each other during their argument as they were almost touching shoulders when they turned to look at an enraged kunoichi. The fact that they could also see three circles on her fan was not good. "I don't know what's got into the both of you, but I can take care of myself and I don't need either of your hard-headed ideas determining how I should live my life!"

Their argument had apparently awoke the kunoichi and she was in a rather bad mood from the looks of it. Shikamaru looked at Temari and realized that the look in her eyes was not only angry, but there was pain there too. He knew that she had just started to truly become close to her brothers in just the last few years and she certainly didn't appreciate him messing that up. He let out a sigh and glanced at the face of Kankuro, which was looking just as surprised and cowed as he knew his face did.

"Kankuro," Temari growled, trying to reign in her own temper in the process of addressing her brother. "Who I see and what I do on my own time is none of your damn business and unless I ask you for your opinion I suggest you stay out of it! And as for you, Nara, I want to speak to you in private." As she said this, she snapped her fan shut, walked forward, grabbed Shikamaru by the studded ear, and pulled him toward the other room. He had been use to his mom doing this when he was younger, but it was a different story now that Temari was doing it. He was also noticing that Temari was a lot stronger than his mom was; either that or she was pulling harder than his mom ever did.

"Itai, woman, leave the earring in would ya," Shikamaru couldn't help but hiss. It really hurt.

Once they had reached an adjoining room she finally released the hold she had on his ear, spinning on her heal as she turned to look up at him. Her eyes flashing with pain and anger as she said, "Damn it, Nara!" He also thought he could see just the beginnings of tears in her eyes too. "If I knew you were going to start acting like a big, overprotective _ape_, I wouldn't have told you!"

Kami, he hated the look he was seeing in her eyes and he wanted to do whatever it took to never see this look again. He sat down on a nearby couch and pulled her toward him with his outstretched hand. She reluctantly allowed herself to be pulled toward him. Actually, she could be very intimidating when she was staring up at him and he didn't know how she pulled it off, but it just made him feel safer if he was sitting down looking up at her. In fact, she could be more intimidating than any other foe he had faced and that was saying a lot. Not to mention that she wasn't above hitting him where it hurt.

"I suppose that you heard most of what we said?"

"Shouted was more like it. I can't believe you seriously didn't think I couldn't hear that. Shikamaru, I don't need you defending my honor with my brothers. They know damn well what I'm capable of," Temari said. Shikamaru knew that she wasn't looking for a response and waited for her to continue, which she did. "And I can't believe that idiot brother of mine! It's not like he hasn't been with women outside of Suna, and you just had to play into that didn't you! So typically male! What is it with men and their territories! Well, for your information, I'm not some piece of property that you guys can just do with as you please!"

Shikamaru looked up into her face and carefully considered his words. He thought back to a long time ago when he asked his father why the bucks fought every fall. His father laughed at him, said calmly that it was a battle over territory, and left it at that. He remembered telling his father that he thought that was a dumb reason, which just caused Shikaku to laugh in response. Now as he looked up into Temari's face, he realized just what had set her off about their whole argument.

"Temari, I'm sorry, but I just got upset when Kankuro told me to butt out and I lost it," he apologized, hoping that his words would act like soothing ointment on the wounds he had given her. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you were weak, but I was being honest when I said that I'm too involved to leave it alone."

Looking up into her face, he could tell that she was trying to come to a decision. He just hoped that the decision would include allowing him into her good graces once more. Shikamaru didn't want to come between her and her brothers, but he had never felt like this for anyone and it was like something in him just snapped when the fact that he and Temari were from different villages was thrown in his face. He was loyal to his village, but he was loyal to this desert princess too. If he wasn't careful, this relationship really could be the death of him and as long as he was with Temari he didn't really care.

She quirked an eyebrow and looked down at him, her anger slowly diffusing as she stood there. Letting out a big sigh she said, "Shika, what am I ever going to do with you? If you aren't driving me crazy one way, you manage to drive me crazy in another."

Shikamaru was just glad she wasn't planning on killing him anymore and took a hold of her other hand, causing her to drop her fan and stand between his knees. He absentmindedly started to rub the backs of her hands with his thumbs and play with her fingers, which caused one corner of her mouth to relax and turn up. She had a touch of bed-head from having just got up from a rather short nap and her clothes were ruffled, but he hadn't really noticed that until now, as it was her eyes that had held him captive since the moment he had seen her standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

He was feeling a little lightheaded from the rush of emotions earlier and he was glad that he had chosen to sit down. Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure why he was feeling this way, but it wasn't a terrible feeling and he really didn't seem to mind it. He was also 85% certain that it had something to do with the way Temari seemingly possessed his body, because he certainly didn't feel like he was in control. She continued to look down on him as they sat in charged silence for a few seconds when Shikamaru couldn't help himself but to say the first thing that popped into his head.

"Woman, you have no idea how sexy you are when you look like you're about to kill me. You must have put me under some sort of genjutsu, because I've done things this last week that I've never done in my life." Temari responded with an eye roll and a laugh, as he continued, "Just don't release it. OK?"

"OK. But I'll warn you, I don't know if I can control it. It's an all consuming jutsu if you haven't noticed," she said as she gave his hands a gentle squeeze.

He felt out of his element as she flirted with him, but he needed this. It amazed Shikamaru how addicting Temari was becoming to him. The more time they spent together like this, the more it became harder to go without her; like his old addiction to nicotine. He could see Kankuro walk down the hall past the doorway as he sat there, the puppet master glared at him as he passed. Her brother was obviously not done with their argument and he was going to have to watch his back around him until Kankuro got use to the idea of his sister being in a relationship, much less one with some ninja from anywhere other than Suna. In fact, Shikamaru wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with the politics that would undoubtedly interfere with their relationship any more than he thought Temari did. Letting out a deep sigh that Temari didn't seem to notice, he turned his attention back to her. They had bigger things to worry about than Kankuro's approval.


	6. This Way She Moves

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz media. "Desert Rose" belongs to Sting. I just wanted to combine the two, shake them up, and see what came out.

* * *

And as she turns  
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams

I dream of rain  
I dream of gardens in the desert sand  
I wake in pain  
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

* * *

Shikamaru was on his way out the door after his meeting with Gaara when she passed him in the hall. Temari gave him a small, knowing smile as she entered her youngest brother's office. They were to meet later and it wasn't necessary to interrupt each other's duties to exchange pleasantries. There would be plenty of time for that later. Shikamaru paused outside the Kazekage's office as he read the stack of papers that Gaara had asked him to review, nothing more than reports pertaining to the current test scores of the kids in the Academy compared to years previous.

Partway through their meeting, although Shikamaru had no idea how long because he had been focused on reading the report as he stood in the hall, a messenger rushed into the office with a scroll in hand. Temari's voice became audible once Gaara shared the information he had just received with her and this caught Shikamaru's attention enough to make him completely forget what he had just read.

"That's all the message says. He wants a meeting with you. Alone," Gaara said, his voice carrying as he addressed his sister.

The fact that Gaara had raised his voice spoke volumes about what was going on in that office. Shikamaru strained to hear what was going on, his interest piqued by her reaction. Leaning closer toward the half open door to Gaara's office, he could here Gaara going over the details pertaining to the requested meeting place. However, he wasn't speaking loud enough for Shikamaru to catch any details.

"How did he send the message?" Temari asked, temper barely in check.

"Temari, you don't want to know," the Kazekage replied calmly as he did in all things, unless you were on the wrong side of his Desert Coffin.

"Gaara, tell me!"

Only Temari would dare speak to Gaara like this. It was the privilege of being his sister.

"It was written in the victim's blood. I'm sorry, Temari. She died quickly. There was nothing they could do," Gaara replied.

Temari obviously knew the victim, but Shikamaru was not privileged to know the importance of this person to Temari. He supposed that this murder had something to do with the ninja that had promised to take that which was precious to Temari, one thing at a time. The Leaf Jounin knew that he would be in a lot of trouble for listening in on this conversation, but he could not tear himself away. Shikamaru wasn't about to admit it to himself, but he needed to know what was going on in Temari's life; more than he worried about his own safety. Whatever the case, his mind was already formulating a way to follow her. He hated to go against orders, but he would do what he knew must be done for Temari. Troublesome emotions.

Shikamaru could hear the sound of objects breaking and he only supposed by the amount of chakra that was emanating from the room that Temari was taking her anger and frustration out on something in Gaara's office with her tessen. He then heard Gaara speaking to her in a tone too quiet for him to pick out the words, but whatever the Kazekage had said to his sister, sent her out of the room distraught and foul tempered. Temari stormed past where he was standing and briefly glanced at him enough that he knew that she had seen him, but she obviously wasn't in the mood to tell him what had just happened. Shikamaru didn't know if he should follow her or leave her alone. Their relationship was still new enough that he wasn't sure what she wanted him to do or what she would let him do without it blowing up in his face. How troublesome.

Gaara came out of his office, silent, arms crossed, with no emotion on his face at all, and stood next to the Shadow-nin as they watched Temari's retreating form.

"I want you to go with her," Gaara said, the command in his voice unmistakable.

"Excuse me?" Shikamaru's heart dropped into his stomach at what Gaara had just said. He had expected to have to fight to get permission to break from his assigned duties to follow her. This was not what he would have expected Gaara to do in this matter.

"Considering who she's going to meet, I know that you'll try to follow her. I'm just making it a part of your mission," Gaara stated. He didn't even bother to look in Shikamaru's direction as he said this. The fact that Gaara knew that Shikamaru was eavesdropping remained unspoken.

"Wait a minute, with all due respect, Gaara, I thought you just explained to her that he wanted to meet with her alone," Shikamaru said, trying not to let the excitement he felt enter into his voice.

"He does. I will let Temari fill you in on the details of the meeting. She needs someone with a sharp mind and a level head to go along and you'll provide her that edge. I'd send Kankuro, but she needs you," Gaara said. His body continued to face forward, but his eyes shifted toward Shikamaru, which was something that always unnerved the Shadow-nin. The man could have absolutely no expression on his face, but those dark rimmed eyes of his could speak volumes with just a simple movement and right now, they bored into him with deadly seriousness.

"I understand," Shikamaru said before he started to follow Temari. More than likely, she was headed toward her room to begin packing for the journey.

"Shikamaru," Gaara said, causing the Leaf Jounin to pause, locking eyes with the Kazekage. "I do not approve of your relationship. I am doing this for Temari's sake."

"Understood," Shikamaru said, before disappearing from Gaara's sight down the hall.

Shikamaru rushed down the hall, not fast enough to break into a run, but fast enough that he had to dodge people as he went through the halls of the Kazekage building. He could see that the door to the private quarters was left halfway open. Letting himself in, Shikamaru could hear the sound of things breaking coming from the direction of Temari's room. He could also hear Temari's angry cries. It seriously sounded like she was trying to break everything in her room and he reacted before his brain did and soon had her surrounded in an embrace, her fists weakly beating him on the chest. She soon calmed down and allowed him to hold her; panting for air, her face still flushed with anger, but her eyes remained dry. They stood like this for several moments until Temari relaxed enough to rest her forehead on his shoulder.

When she had finally calmed down, Shikamaru relaxed his hold on her and she released herself from his embrace. Turning back to her sealing scroll that lay open on the bed, she ignored the mess on the floor as she began to gather things that were only relevant to her mission. Shikamaru stood and studied her, his heart ached for her as he waited for her to break the silence.

She took a shaky breath and said, "Gaara told you didn't he?" It was more a statement than a question.

"I'm going with you," Shikamaru replied, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"I told you I can take care of myself," Temari said, sealing a couple of different fans into her scroll as she spoke.

"Gaara wants me to go with you. Officially."

"He did what?" she asked, for the first time locking eyes with Shikamaru.

"He wants me to go with you," Shikamaru repeated as Temari tried to process what he just said. Apparently, Gaara hadn't only surprised Shikamaru by insisting that he go along with her.

"Did he tell you what that teme did? What he wants me to do now?" Temari said; her emotions making her shake as she clenched her fists at her side.

"He said to ask you," Shikamaru said. He walked toward where she stood, stopping only a half meter in front of her. Close enough to touch, but not too close.

Temari dropped her eyes onto the floor, took another shaky breath and gave Shikamaru a summary of the message contained in the scroll. Shikamaru watched her, studied her as she spoke. By the time Temari was finished, Shikamaru could feel his blood boiling, but he kept his cool, as he knew Temari needed him to be the calm and calculating one in this situation. He brought his hand up under her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.

"I will be right by your side the whole time. I have an idea that I've been working on and we'll take care of this creep once and for all. Just trust me," he said. He was leaning forward enough that they could kiss easily, but now was not the time for that. The time for pleasure would be on hold this mission. Emotions must be pushed aside if it was going to be successful and both veteran Jounin knew that. "I just need to stop by my room before we go."

Temari looked at him. Shikamaru could see the mixture of emotion in her eyes, but she just nodded her response. Turning to continue her packing, Temari walked toward the kitchen and came back with the last of her supplies. She sealed them quickly. Grabbing her travel cloak, she put the scroll on her back and turned toward the door. Just before she reached it, she spun around on him and her lips crashed into his before he even had time to pull his hands out of his pockets.

"Arigato," she said as she had his face between her hands, only pulling away slightly. Releasing Shikamaru from the hold she had on his flak jacket, Temari turned and walked out the door; the Leaf Ninja close behind.

Once they reached his room, it didn't take long for him to pick up his pack. Temari looked a little suspicious that he was already packed, but Shikamaru only said that he just preferred to keep his pack ready to go at a moment's notice. There was no use in telling her that he had anticipated this guys move and had been prepared since the sandstorm had let up only the day before. His only concern was that the special kunai that he had ordered for this occasion were safely stored in a pocket on the side of his cargo style pants.

With many of his jutsu limited to shadows, he had taken to wearing pants with multiple pockets to house the various sealing scrolls, tricks and traps that he had come up with over the years to supplement his shadow ninjutsu. He still kept Asuma's chakra knives in his hip pack, always at the front in case he needed to pin an opponent at a distance. It was still the best way he could find to extend his range without running the risk of getting too close to an enemy. One day he would hand these over to Kurenai's son, but it would be a while yet before the boy would have the ability to wield such weapons.

Temari took off at full speed across the desert. It was clear and relatively flat after the four-day long sandstorm that they had just been through, but the surface of the sand was softer and shifted easier than it had when he arrived. Shikamaru had to keep changing the amount of chakra he had in his feet in order to run on the sand at the same pace as Temari. She was obviously use to running on the shifting sands of Wind Country, but Shikamaru had a feeling it would take him a few meters to get the hang of it. He was just glad that his leg was 99% healed. It only really bothered him when he first got up in the morning, but he was too focused on the blonde in front of him now to notice it at all.

The sun was beating down on them, as it had just passed mid-afternoon. Temari had opted for the shorter battle dress today and that suited her in this heat better than her black yukata, but Shikamaru was wearing all black except for his green flak jacket and he was wishing that he had opted for something more along the lines of the typical brown the Suna uniform was made from. Temari had the edge of being brought up in this environment, which helped her to be able to live her life out here in the middle of the unrelenting desert. The harshest of environments sometimes made for the fiercest warriors and Shikamaru had been getting an up close and personal example of that lately. Temari was all woman when she allowed him behind her defenses, but those defenses went back up just as quickly.

Shikamaru wondered to himself, following behind her as they ran across the vast expanse of sand, what kind of woman she would have been like if she had grown up in Konoha. He watched her back as he tried to picture her as someone other than the woman the desert had made her, and nothing seemed to fit. The more he let his thoughts wonder over this idea, the more he realized that he liked all of Temari for who she was, fiery, stubborn, outspoken, defensive, and passionate in everything she did. Had he fallen for this desert rose? Shaking these thoughts from his mind, Shikamaru thought it was best to concentrate on the mission at hand and not let the thoughts of his heart get in the way of his head.

Temari kept glancing at him every few hundred meters to make sure that he was still there. Her impeccable sense of direction led her forward and she wasn't about to slow down for his sake, but he was able to keep up with her even if his shirt was soaked with sweat and he was already running dangerously low on water. Temari seemed to sense this and tossed him one of her extra bottles as they ran.

"Desert rookie," she teased.

Shikamaru was glad that she was feeling levelheaded enough for some friendly banter. It was a sign that she had regained control over her emotions and that was a good thing. It was what was needed for the success of the mission.

"And proud of it. You'd be surprised at how many of us Leaf Ninja, once we are out of the desert, stop at the first river we find and jump in, cloths and all just to get some moisture in us," Shikamaru admitted. Temari laughed which made him feel like picking up the pace to run next to her, which he did.

Actually, it was a mystery that he hadn't turned into a raisin or a walking mummy the way the moisture was sapped from his skin out here. After this extended mission, he may have to find the first available body of water and just sit in it for a week to get some moisture back into his system. Oh, how he missed the rain.

They could see an outcropping of rock just ahead of them and Temari started to slow her pace. They had been running cross-country for nearly 6 hours in the dry heat and Shikamaru was ready for a break and a quick nap in whatever bit of shade they could find. This sand saturated country was a natural enemy to his ability. There was absolutely nothing to make a shadow out here and all that he had of his own shadow was what was directly under his body. It made for a troublesome battle when one had to rely on a shadow only about a half-square meter in area to rely upon. Thankfully, the meeting would take place in the early morning hours. He liked the shadows then. They were long shadows and every sand dune in Wind would still have its own little shadow that he could glean from to stretch his range.

"We'll stop here for now," Temari said as she stopped next to the rocks. There was just enough shade for them to sit in to rest. Temari removed her sealing scroll and set it on the ground as she spoke. "There should be a small river just over that ridge and we'll be able to fill our water bottles there. I want to be on the move again before midnight."

"I take it you want to take advantage of the cooler temperatures so we can cover more ground, right?" Shikamaru asked once he caught his breath.

"Hey, you're pretty smart. I knew there was a reason I liked you," Temari teased.

"So, you think I'm worth keeping, huh?"

"Maybe," She replied with a smirk and a wink.

Shikamaru didn't have a comeback ready and just mumbled, "Mendokuse." Oh, he would be getting her back later for that one. Maybe it was worth pinning her to this cooler sand and…'Not now, Shikamaru!' he mentally scolded. Damn hormones.

Sarcastic humor was obviously a release for her as well as destroying things with her fan. It was one thing they had in common which was why some of their conversations made others around them wonder if they would rather kill each other than what they really had been up to behind closed doors recently. Maybe that was why love and war were always compared the same way.

Once Shikamaru had filled up his bottles in the aforementioned river, which really wasn't much more than a muddy stream, he came back to the rock outcropping and found that Temari had pulled out something that he assumed was her dinner. He had some fish jerky that his mom always made in large batches in his pack and hers didn't look much different. Sitting down next to her, he proceeded to eat his meager meal plus a soldier pill for good measure.

"So, you got a plan for when we meet up with the guy?" Shikamaru asked.

He figured he'd let her share her ideas first before he shared his plan. That way, since she _was_ the ranking Jounin, he would get a better feel for her strategy and maybe work his own ideas around that.

"I came up with several ideas while we were running, but I just can't shake this bad feeling I have about all of this. He wants to meet with me alone," she reminded him.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, remember," Shikamaru cut in.

"Yes, but you won't be able to start out standing right next to me if he's to believe that I followed his conditions. He does have a hostage you know," Temari replied as she brought her knees toward her chest and hugged them, jerky half eaten in one hand.

"No, you failed to mention that. Do you know the hostage?" Shikamaru asked before taking another bite of his 'diner'.

"She's just a random Chuunin, but Gaara made it clear that we were to get her back, unharmed if possible. Unfortunately, we may be too late for that," Temari said ruefully.

The words hung unspoken in the air. They both knew that this sadist might have already had a little fun with the poor girl.

Temari took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "He just managed to take out the woman who taught me how to use my tessen, my mentor." Shikamaru could hear the bitterness in her voice. "If he could eliminate her, he has learned how to best the tessen techniques which makes me a little apprehensive about this whole thing."

Temari gave Shikamaru a rundown of the ideas that she had come up with on their journey across the desert, but she seemed to disqualify each one while she spoke. Temari was visibly frustrated by the time she had finished relating every detail of her encounters with him over the years. She had only given Shikamaru a shortened version of their encounters that day she shared with him in the greenhouses, but now she had to dig deep within herself and the effects showed on her countenance as she spoke. Shikamaru took in all the information, pausing long enough to organize his thoughts before he shared them with her.

"So, you don't have a plan other than go in there and hope to beat the crap out of him before he can kill either of us, am I right?" Shikamaru said.

Shikamaru really didn't want to make it sound that simplified, but she was looking tired and defeated already. He knew she could be better than this and now he understood why Gaara had been so insistent that he go along. She needed him, in many ways. Well, at least he and Gaara knew that, because right now it looked like she was about to attack _him_. Shikamaru knew he needed to tell her his plan quick or else it would be a long walk back to Suna after she thoroughly kicked his sorry ass.

"Look, Temari, I know that he's trying to get into your head and that is the first thing that we are going to have to take away from him. The more you lose control over your emotions, the more control he thinks he has. I'll be right there the whole time, whether you can see me or not. You are going to have to dig up every milligram of emotional training you have in that tough shell of yours and use it. Now, this is what I have in mind…," Shikamaru said before filling her in on his plan of attack.

Handing her one of the special kunai he had stored in his side pocket he concluded with, "And try not to use this until the last minute. I'll be watching and waiting for an opening, but if I can't get one, use that. If it does what I think it should, we should be in for one hell of a show."

As he spoke, Shikamaru took out a scroll that had a seal written on the outside. Opening the scroll, he proceeded to write something quickly before rolling it back up and tying it securely. Once he was finished he bit his thumb, swiped it across the seal on the scroll, and formed several hand signs before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What's that for?" Temari asked.

"I'm sending a note to Gaara to start a sandstorm at an appointed time. I'm counting on him to make this work," Shikamaru said, completely calm as he looked her right in the eye.

Gauging how far they would be from Suna to the meeting place, Shikamaru had taken into account the speed in which the average storm moves (which didn't count the abnormally long one they had just been through earlier that week), and this was the information he had sent back to Gaara. Now he just had to cross his fingers and hope that Gaara would understand and that this would work. As always, he had a backup plan and Temari had enough tricks up her sleeve to be a large part of that.

"A sandstorm? Are you insane?" she said, to which he responded with a raised eyebrow. Reading his facial expression, she relented by saying, "Fine, I understand. Let's get some sleep. We still have a long way to go and I plan on getting there as early as possible."

Putting the Kunai in a place Shikamaru wasn't sure he thought a kunai should go, which was down the front of her mesh shirt, Temari leaned back against the rock and closed her eyes. Thinking that she had fallen asleep, Shikamaru watched her for a little while longer. The sun was beginning to set and soon it would be time to run across the vast expanse of dunes and on toward their meeting place. He had chosen to meet them not far from the old Northern outpost where he had taken his hostage and killed her mentor.

Funny, Shikamaru couldn't picture her as a little girl struggling with a gigantic fan. He had met Temari when she was already practically a woman. Still, he could catch glimpses of that little girl every now and then. She had shown up a lot during the past week in fact. Thinking of that girl, turned woman, he moved closer to her so that they could share what little shade the rocks provided. Leaning so that their heads were touching, he too was soon fast asleep.


	7. I Lift My Gaze

After reading the latest manga chapters, I realized that one should not write a battle scene for Shikamaru without knowing at least the basics of Shogi, or at least find a good list of Shogi proverbs.

Naruto and the Narutoverse belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Viz media. "Desert Rose" belongs to Sting. With lyrics like this, how can you not picture Shikamaru thinking about Temari?

* * *

Sweet desert rose  
I lift my gaze to empty skies above  
I close my eyes  
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love

* * *

He could see Temari from his hiding place as she sat upon a rock, long slender legs crossed as she sat cleaning her tessen. They had arrived early to make sure that they had the advantage of scrutinizing the terrain before the enemy's arrival. Temari looked absolutely bored, but Shikamaru knew that she was far from it. They had had to stop several times before reaching their appointed destination just so he could get her refocused. He smirked to himself. Shikamaru always did think that she was "as subtle as a rhino" but having the chore of reining in the "rhino" was a different story.

Actually, if he hadn't been analyzing her for the past hour polishing her fan, no one else would be able to see how nervous she was. Watching her take a deep breath, he could see her gather her emotions one more time as she began to inspect her weapon of choice. It was a nervous habit of almost all shinobi to inspect their weapons while waiting for a fight. Shikamaru just hoped that it would hide their intentions as they waited. The last thing they needed was for this shinobi to get spooked by something that looked off to him. Shikamaru glanced at his watch. The sadist was only five minutes late. It could mean nothing. It could mean that he was nearby watching her or trying to get under her skin. Looking up at the empty skies, Shikamaru calculated just how much time they had remaining as they waited. Whatever the reason for his tardiness, he needed to stay as alert as possible.

His Shadow Concealment had him well hidden from sight. It was similar to a jutsu the late Jiraiya-sama had used to control other shinobi and he had stumbled upon the notes in his family's library. With it, he was able to add his shadow to another, either animate or inanimate, before he literally dissolved into the combined shadow. He loved using this one for intelligence gathering missions. No one really paid much attention to how accurately the shadow portrayed the corresponding object and he took advantage of it. He appeared as just another part of the combined shadow of Temari and the rock.

From his vantage point, Shikamaru was able to see both Temari and the dunes between them and the outpost. He wanted Temari alone, but what he didn't know was their advantage. The shadow-nin could sense someone coming and he looked for any sign of their visitor. A breeze started to kick up between Temari and a large dune where the swirling sand settled to reveal their nemesis striding towards them. The man had a girl with short brown hair hanging from under one arm. Her slender form just dangled, as she remained unconscious. Shikamaru could feel anger building in his chest at the sight of the poor, helpless Chuunin, but he forced his mind not to think about what the poor girl may have been through since her capture. He could see Temari in his peripheral vision, her expression was blank, as she looked at their opponent. However, a fire had started behind those teal eyes and Shikamaru had a good idea who she was going to take her anger out on very soon.

Temari stood up slowly. Shikamaru watched as Temari calmly tucked her cleaning rag in her obi and placed her fan against the ground. It was still closed, but she held it out at arm's length. It was a posture meant to intimidate and he recognized it from when they fought years ago. Kami, he couldn't help but notice just how sexy she was standing there with her weight mostly on one leg so that her hip jutted out just so. Shikamaru made sure that his shadow remained attached to her own, waiting for the moment when he would be needed.

"Hello, Hime." A smug expression was on their opponent's face as he spoke. His overconfidence would be his downfall if Shikamaru had anything to do with it.

"Your message said you wanted to talk with me in exchange for the girl. As you can see, I'm here. Put the girl down and we can talk," Temari said. She remained perfectly in control of her emotions and the enemy shinobi seemed just a bit surprised at her calm demeanor.

'That's it Temari. You're doing great. Just get me close,' Shikamaru thought, mentally willing that she would stick with their plan. Half-praying that Gaara had received his message and that "reinforcements" were on the way.

The sun was perfect today, lots of long shadows this morning and it was putting him in a good mood considering the circumstances. He could feel anticipation building as Temari and her nemesis exchanged pleasantries. There was only one other battle that had made him feel like this. He wasn't sure if it was the personal nature that was making it more exhilarating, but he was ready to fulfill his part of the plan. Now if he could only keep himself from being distracted by Temari's long legs at this angle, he would be fine.

"I think I'll hang on to her for a little while longer. I want to make sure that I have your full attention. She's perfectly fine with me."

Temari and Shikamaru could hear her make a small moan in response. She wasn't unconscious after all, just unable to move under her own power. Temari eyed him suspiciously, but kept her calm.

"I'm not going anywhere. There is no reason for you to involve the girl anymore. Just set her down. I have some business of my own to settle with you," Temari's command was unmistakable. Her anger was building, but she was channeling it. Good girl.

"And I with you. The girl was a good distraction, but she's _nothing_ compared to you. Temari-hime, you know you left me with a broken heart. There is no one that can make me feel like you do," he said before he flickered and appeared right behind Temari.

Temari may have been in control of her emotions, but this guy certainly was not. He was reminding Shikamaru of a certain Snake Sannin the way he was practically salivating on Temari as he stood behind her. Temari had turned her head to look over her shoulder, but she didn't move any more than that. She needed to stay in control of the moment. Letting her anger out on him now would be a mistake that they couldn't afford to make. Temari's anger was his high, a come on as far as this sadist was concerned. It was obvious that he just wanted her for the challenge. There was no way a mental shinobi like this would find real pleasure in loving this woman like Shikamaru hoped to.

Taking advantage of the moment, Shikamaru began to reach for Asuma's chakra knife. Silently he charged the knife, waiting for the moment when he would need it. He placed it between his teeth, as it was now time for him to prepare the next step. He could feel the pulse in the metal, but he needed to focus on his chakra and Temari. Shikamaru began making the required hand seals, focusing his chakra into the surrounding shadows.

Slowly, effortlessly he began to feel the shadows around him respond to his own. No one realized how different every persons shadow was and he hadn't really appreciated it when his father had been teaching him the family jutsu when he was younger. Shikamaru had happened to stumble on this fact when playing with people's shadows, as they would pass him on the street. Most people just thought he was being his lazy self as he watched them pass him by, but he was playing with their shadows as they passed unawares over his own. More than once, he had freaked out Naruto with this game when he would catch just the edge of his friend's shadow with a split second Shadow Possession as he passed, causing him to trip over himself. The blonde still hadn't figured out that Shikamaru was the one that had been playing the prank on the prankster. Whenever Naruto looked his direction, he would just nod calmly and act as if nothing happened. He considered it payback for all the times Naruto had gotten him in trouble back in the Academy.

Grabbing a hold of the girl's shadow, he slowly took control of her muscles. He had no idea of how badly she was hurt, but her legs and arms seemed sound and he just needed the chance to get her out of the way. They needed this to be a clean fight. Through her shadow, he could tell that the grip on her wasn't that strong and he twisted just enough that she fell to the ground. The semi-conscious Chuunin landed just where he wanted her to and he popped up out of the shadow, grabbed her and flipped out of the way in one fluid motion. While he was halfway out of his shadow, he pulled the knife from his teeth and threw it into the part of the enemy shinobi's shadow that had not crossed Temari's.

Landing several meters away, next to some larger chunks of desert rock, Shikamaru announced, "Shadow Possession successful."

The other shinobi was able to turn his head just enough to give Shikamaru and confused and angry glare. Shikamaru set the girl down gently on the leeward side of the rocks, making sure that her head was supported and that she was not too badly injured. He had business to take care of, but trouble was busy fighting against his Shadow Possession at the moment. He could hear the ninja making vulgar threats toward him, but he paid them no mind as his attention drifted from the Chuunin to the rage-fueled kunoichi assessing her target.

"Once I break free from this jutsu, you'll be the first to feel my anger. Hime, I told you that I wanted a meeting with you alone!" he said glaring at Temari. "How dare you let that slime here? I have half a mind to kill all three of you."

"Shikamaru, I suggest that you let him go," Temari said as she glared at the man that was now before her.

Shikamaru smirked and replied, "As you wish."

He had a good idea what she was planning and sent out a shadowy tendril to retrieve the chakra knife. Once he pulled it from the shadowy sand, Temari took her tessen and smacked the shinobi up the side of his head hard enough to cause him to stumble. Once he regained his footing, they could see blood seeping from the corner of his mouth where she had split his lip.

Temari calmly stepped back so that she was at a better distance for her tessen to perform her wind-based jutsu better and with a flick of her wrist, she opened it only a small distance. Not enough to do any real damage and Shikamaru knew that she was toying with him. Taking up a defensive stance, Shikamaru waited for his opportunity to join the fight or dodge her technique depending on what Temari decided to do.

Temari started to sweep her fan in one giant arch, building up momentum until she was in the center of a small tornado that was picking up sand, as her fan was moving so quickly now that Shikamaru could not see it. The enemy grunted and Shikamaru could see that his skin changed to a more earth tone color than his normal tan; earth jutsu user indeed. Shikamaru was afraid of what was about to happen and the enemy shinobi stomped toward his prey, the jutsu obviously making his limbs heavier as well. Jabbing his arm into the cyclone, the shinobi gave an evil smirk as he had caught a hold of something within. The cyclone stopped and Shikamaru couldn't help but feel his breath hitch as he hoped that he hadn't caught Temari in that outstretched hand.

Once the sand settled, Shikamaru could see his broad hand clamped onto the delicate throat of Temari. She struggled for a moment before disappearing in a cascade of sand. A sand clone and Shikamaru thought that was only a jutsu used by her brothers. Temari was standing a few meters away, one purple circle showing on her tessen. Shikamaru felt himself relax and his lungs began to work again.

She smirked and said, "Missed."

The ninja's face contorted with a scowl and he started to lumber his way towards where she was standing on the top of the dune. With a cry, Shikamaru sent out his shadowy tendrils and they wove around the man. A split second before they took a hold of him, the man disappeared and reappeared right behind Temari. He apparently had release his earth jutsu, allowing him to move faster. Shikamaru knew that they were just outside of his reach and charged the chakra knife again so that he could extend his range. He held back only because Temari looked as if she was preparing another jutsu and he knew that her cycling winds were not something he wanted to be caught in, connected to the victim through his shadows or by himself.

The young Chuunin let out painful moan, which caused Shikamaru to turn and kneel down at her level. Her eyes were still closed, but her breathing seamed ragged. The Leaf-nin wondered if she had sustained broken ribs during her captivity and began to check her thoroughly for injuries. What he wouldn't give to have Ino or Sakura here right now. First aid was _not_ his area of expertise. The girl lay limply as he checked her ribs over for any obvious breaks; he felt his stomach bottom out when he noticed she was smirking.

"Shimitta," he hissed, right before she sliced through the front of his flak jacket, effectively cutting through a few of the front pockets.

Shikamaru lost a few half-sliced scrolls as he jumped awkwardly backwards. He landed right into the arms of a couple of enemy ninja; he assumed they had come with the bruit that was currently fighting Temari. How could he have missed this? The Chuunin changed forms to reveal a wiry and ragged looking man in his mid 30's. Henge no jutsu. Child's play and he had missed it.

Cursing under his breath, he tried to go into the shadow sewing hand signs and found himself being restrained on both sides, arms held apart, before he could send the inky lines of his shadow out. Two of the three thugs had his arms and the third proceeded to send a blow to his midsection that took his air away and made his head swim with the pain from the blow. Coughing up blood, Shikamaru knew that this was a turn in events that he had failed to foresee. By now, he should know that bad guys always come in groups and that the only reason these three hadn't shown up before is that the leader was a cocky bastard that had planned on them believing that he was a solo act. Actually, Temari had mentioned he was on a team at one point and he had just assumed that the other three were destroyed when the one Temari was currently battling was believed to be dead the first time. No matter, now he needed to regroup his thoughts and adjust his plan, as soon as these three were tired of beating him bloody. What a troublesome turn in events.

Blow after blow, Shikamaru tried to focus as much chakra into the areas where the thugs were focusing all their energy, hoping that it would minimize the damage.

'Damn it! These guys just won't give up,' he thought to himself.

He could hear Temari crying for them to stop in the background and he glanced up at her as much as his head would rise to see her battling the leader with all her rage. That was the last thing she needed to do, feed the desires of the sadistic bastard. He wanted her angry, enraged and he was getting it from her. Shikamaru took several more blows to the stomach before he was able to look up again and he found that Temari was caught by the front of her dress, staring angrily into the eyes of her enemy. This time, she wasn't dissipating into sand. She was the real thing and apparently, the bastard was whispering something in her ear that was making her glance helplessly at Shikamaru. In between punches, Shikamaru was able to get out the phrase, "Don't…don't listen… to him… Temari! It's… a lie!"

Temari's face blanched as the bastard whispered some more with a glare focused on Shikamaru's face and a look of victory when he glanced back at Temari. He let go of her dress as he caught her by the waist. He began to ravaged her cheek and neck with his mouth before confidently walking behind her and loosely wrapping his arms around her shoulders, hands dangling in their embrace. Temari stood there as if frozen by a shadow possession jutsu. She looked as if her heart was breaking; she hung her head so that her bangs covered her eyes. He had said something that had taken the fight out of her. Shikamaru looked on in horror, unable to do anything. Rage started to build within him as he took several more blows to the head and stomach. These guys just wouldn't let up!

The troublesome trio took a small break from their beating and studied his bent over form, as they tried to figure out just how much more Shikamaru could take before they upped the ante. From somewhere deep within, Shikamaru was able draw the strength he needed.

'The side stepping knight foils the best laid plans,' Shikamaru thought with a smirk. It had been years since Asuma had called him a knight and it was times like these that Shikamaru could appreciate the inspiration that it gave him. 'It's now or never,' he thought.

The thugs resumed beating their captive and Temari seemed frozen in time as the lead thug continued his monologue. It took them all a minute to realize that something wasn't right. Shikamaru came out from behind a sand dune, a little worse for wear, but smirking with satisfaction.

"Basic jutsu really isn't your thing, is it?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically. "Substitution Jutsu, a success."

Four sets of eyes looked at him in awe as he bent down on one knee and held his hands in the sign of one of his preferred jutsu. One set of teal eyes looked on him in understanding and gave him a small nod, to which he only smirked in reply.

"Kage Nui no Jutsu!" he screamed.

Inky tendrils exploded up from the shadow covered ground where the three thugs were standing; still trying to figure out how they had lost their captive. They still held a very convincing looking Shikamaru, but with one difference, the face had a crack in it. They had been left holding the half charred, yet repaired, puppet of Kankuro's that Shikamaru had later recovered from the burned out building; rigged with seals for just such an occasion. The inky black tendrils raced to each of the three bastards that had been beating him mercilessly and they were limp figures on his outstretched shadows in a matter of seconds. "Hm, that's what they get for messing with a Leaf Ninja."

Coughing up some blood, Shikamaru whipped his mouth on his sleeve, leaving a nice long bloodstain on black Jounin shirt that he was currently wearing. Assessing his damage, he could count at least three cracked ribs, a punctured lung, a very sore gut probably bleeding somewhere, the puncture wound in his right leg was bleeding again, and a cut above his left eye was bleeding profusely. His injuries would have to wait as they had more important matters to attend to. Looking up at Temari, he gave her a smirk as she took on a renewed look of determination and gave him a nod. It was time to end this.

Temari jumped back from her stunned opponent; the loss of his team was the last thing he had expected. Apparently, Shikamaru must have looked worse than he felt because this guy wasn't even thinking that he would be a factor in this situation, even after what just happened to his team. Overconfidence would be his downfall.

Opening her fan to where all three circles were visible, Temari started to spin herself around until she had a small tornado forming around her. The opponent smirked, as he knew that he had an advantage over wind jutsu and started to form hand signs for what Shikamaru assumed would be a fire jutsu. Temari continued to spin as the fireball whooshed towards her. Letting out one final thrust of wind from her fan, Temari pushed the cyclone away from herself and sent it straight toward the fire jutsu. Their opponent smirked as the firestorm started to increase in size and heat. What he didn't account for was that now Temari had control of where this firestorm could go and she built it up larger and larger until it was reaching into the sky. The heat created an updraft that was starting to build some serious clouds and even on this hot, dry day, Temari had been able to set off a dangerous looking thundercloud.

Shikamaru raced to Temari's side as she tumbled backwards on the unsteady sand as she sent one final blast of air into the storm. As the storm continued to build, Shikamaru helped her into a sitting position as the jutsu she had used apparently took quite a bit out of her. Not that he was in much better shape, as he winced at the pain in his ribs as he pulled her up. Reaching into one of his pant pockets, he held his hand there in preparation for what would come next.

Shikamaru pulled her toward him and whispered in her ear, "Temari, no matter what, I Love You!" causing her to look up in shock at him.

He knew that saying that would break her of whatever spell that the sadistic bastard had put her heart under, but it was also something that he had been thinking about for a while now. He loved her. It couldn't be helped that she had control of his heart and probably had since the first time that she gave him that confident smirk of hers. He loved her, as troublesome as it was and if they lived through this he'd probably have hell to pay for saying it in the middle of a fight like this, but it was all worth it in the end, wasn't it?

The storm continued to build and with the amount of dry, charged air that now surrounded them, Shikamaru smirked at how this was now playing in their favor. The man had backed away from the blaze as it continued to burn and Shikamaru rushed towards the man in one final attack; leaving a tired and slightly stunned Temari to recover her strength. Using the chakra blades, that the man's teammates hadn't even bothered to take from him (and people called him lazy), Shikamaru came at the man with all his rage.

"What did you say to her?" Shikamaru hissed between clenched teeth.

"What do you care? You're after her for the same thing I am," the man said with a smirk as he countered Shikamaru's blows.

"Oh really? What is that?" Shikamaru said as he took another swing at the man, only to have it deflected by the man's jutsu hardened arm.

"Oh, come on; don't tell me you haven't fantasized what her smooth skin would feel like next to yours or her curves within the power of your hands?"

"But I don't fantasize about it causing her pain. That's the last thing I want for her."

"Why am I not surprised. All you Kanoha-nin are a bunch of big softies," the man said as he grunted in the effort of his attack.

This was getting Shikamaru nowhere, bantering with the man like this; it was distraction he was going after, not an understanding.

Blow after blow, the man was able to counter every one and land a few of his own. Shikamaru was only biding his time until the right moment. The thunder began to crash and the lighting flashed more and more frequently. Out of habit, Shikamaru blocked an earth jutsu hardened arm with a downward block with his own flesh and blood arm. He could feel the bone crack as they made contact, but he continued to fight through the pain. Shikamaru figured it must be just a hairline fracture as he could still use the arm even though he could feel that nauseous feeling in his stomach as the appendage began to throb.

It wouldn't be much longer now. Shikamaru sped up his attacks, as he knew that the man couldn't keep up with his earth jutsu and speed. Just as predicted, the man dropped his earth jutsu long enough to keep up with Shikamaru's speed, careful not to let him hit any vital points while he did so. The man was gaining the upper hand and knew it. He started to hit Shikamaru with a rapid succession of blows that were effectively knocking him off balance and backwards.

"Women are week. They need a real man to take care of them. A real man like me, not some pansy-ass Leaf ninja," the man taunted, a smug look of victory on his face.

"Who said I need a man's protection?" Temari said. "I can take care of myself."

Shikamaru smirked as the man's face contorted in pain and confusion. Temari appeared behind him and traded a smirk with Shikamaru over the man's shoulder.

While Shikamaru had kept the man busy, Temari was able to sneak up behind him and stab the man in the back with one of the kunai that Shikamaru had given her earlier, the special tag wrapped around the handle allowed it to sink completely into the man's flesh. The lightning flashed and the thunder crashed around them as Temari grabbed Shikamaru's hand and they dove behind a nearby dune. As if on cue, a large bolt of lightning caught their long time opponent in its path, the special metal in the kunai acting as a lightning rod. All the man could do was let out one last, blood-curdling scream. Once the lighting had dissipated, Temari and Shikamaru both looked up to see the man sink to his knees then fall to the ground with hallow eyes and smoke rising from his body.

The wind started to kick up even more and they could hear a low rumbling in the distance. Looking at each other, they knew that it wasn't over as they grabbed each other's hand and took off toward the rock outcropping where Shikamaru had hidden the real Chuunin that he had found while the men had been fooled by his Substitution Jutsu. The sand started to kick up around them and Shikamaru could feel his eyes begin to burn because of the airborne sand. They dove into a space just barely big enough for three people as the storm hit. Gaara had apparently got the message and had sent Shikamaru's requested, but unusual backup. Even if any of the men out there had made it through this battle alive, in their conditions they wouldn't last for long buried by the sand from this storm. Now all Temari and Shikamaru had to do was survive it themselves and everything would be fine.

Before Temari fastened her Suna issued face-mask on that all Suna-nin had in their packs, she turned to Shikamaru and caught his lips forcefully before snapping Shikamaru's own mask in place; the pain in Shikamaru's now throbbing and useless arm as well as his broken ribs forgotten in the moment.

"What was that for, woman?" Shikamaru said his voice muffled through the mask.

Temari finished putting her own mask on before reaching over to put one on the unconscious Chuunin that was hidden in the same, small space.

"Thank you," she said as she peered over her mask at him.

"For what?"

"For loving me," was all she said before the wall of sand hit.

All his senses were overrun with stimuli, but he could still smell the scent of Temari's desert spice as he buried his face in the crook of her neck as they braced for the full impact of the storm. The rest was a blur of sand, as they held on tight to each other, waiting and hoping that they would live to see the end, together.


End file.
