Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Shadowplay and Hurricanes	By : CosmicStorm14 Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2912 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto, including any of the characters, locations or themes in this fiction. I receive no money for publishing this fiction.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
Shikamaru woke up with Temari naked in his bed. It only took a few moments to remember where he was and as soon as he did, he put his arms around her and held her tightly. Temari gave a slight shuffle and a moan, so Shikamaru thought he had woken her. But she turned over to face away from and snorted absently, so he knew she wasn't yet conscious. Light was already coming through the windows but he didn't want to move. His body still held a satisfying ache from their travel and last night's activities, and the heat that the two of them had produced through the night bathed them both under the covers. He thought he was more comfortable than he had ever been and would lay there for the rest of his life if he could.
He settled his body in behind her – how well the contours of her body fitted into his – and traced his gaze along the side of her face. He wouldn't have the chance to look at her like this when she was awake enough to tell him he was being too soft. He studied the lines around her eyes, the freckles on her nose, how her eyelashes quivered as she dreamed.
He brushed some of her hair away from her neck and put his face to the soft skin there, inhaling the smell of her floral shampoo with an undertone of last night's sweat. She wriggled again then, and he froze, careful not to wake her too early. She might have tried to persuade him to get up and carry on their travels, and he wasn't ready for that, not yet. But he couldn't resist letting his hands flow over her body. Her skin was warm and soft against the masculine roughness of his hands, and he ran his touch over the valley of her waist, the rise of her hips, the flesh of her thigh and stomach, the fold of her breasts. Her nipples were so relaxed and warm that they felt like liquid under his hands.
He was so preoccupied with the touch of her skin against him that he didn't notice her eyes beginning to flutter open until she gave another little groan, the corner of her lips beginning to smile. Her nipples began to take shape under his touch, stiffening. His own body followed suit. He shuffled his hips backwards in an attempt to hide his growing erection from her, but she only pushed her body into him again, so that his hardness pressed into the flesh of her bottom.
He saw her cheeks push into a smile and she slowly turned her head back to look at him, her deep jade eyes half-closed and dreamy. He leaned over her shoulder to kiss her on the lips and would have stayed there forever if she hadn't turned her head slowly back to her pillow.
"Your morning breath is disgusting," she told him affectionately, her voice strained and croaky with sleep.
"We're both disgusting."
"How late is it?" She groaned another sigh and rolled her shoulders, stretching out her delicious-looking neck.
"Time is a man-made construct," he stalled, knowing that she would try to get out of bed if she knew. "We shouldn't be slaves to something that doesn't exist outside of our own… our own…" His words we drowned by a deep yawn that he couldn't fight. But his argument seemed to convince her enough to snuggle deeper into the covers and make no move to leave the bed.
She took hold of the hand that was resting on her hip and returned it to her breast. He took her hint and squeezed it firmly, his erection pushing a little harder against her. The covers moved as she put a hand between her legs and the sound of her moving a finger through her own wetness came to him. He didn't know if she was still slippery from last night, or because of their touching this morning, but it didn't matter. He kissed her on the neck and put his teeth on the lobe of her ear, his hand migrating from her breasts to draw his fingertips up and down the sensitive skin of her thigh. She lifted one of her legs and that was all the permission he needed. His hand joined hers where it lay between her legs to help him navigate his erection between her lips. She gave another moan as he entered her, more high pitched than the last. His lips didn't leave her neck as he pushed himself slowly into her, one hand on the bone of her hip to pull her against him. He pushed as deep as he could until he saw her grit her teeth against the feeling of being stretched. Moving so slowly that he could feel a pulse beat between them, he loved her from behind on their sides, still in their night-time pool of warmth, becoming accustomed to being able to show her how much he wanted her, ignoring the world outside. His free hand explored her body, finally resting just above her own, between her legs, feeling the rhythmic rise of fall of her knuckles as she touched herself in time to the movement of his hips. Her eyes were still closed, perhaps still in a half-dream. She would come quickly again like this.
He pushed her over onto her front and rolled on top of her. The warm cushion of her bottom pushed against his torso as he thrust inside her, slowly at first then with a little more power. She lifted one hip to put her hand under her pelvis and touch herself again and he snarled a "fuck" behind her ear. He took the skin of her shoulder between his teeth and bit down, though not hard enough to bruise.
He used his knee to push one of her thighs outwards, spreading her legs wider. When she began to whimper and her body started to stiffen underneath him, he knew she was close to her orgasm. He sped up his thrusts and let her get herself there with her fingers. Her moaning was growing louder and she turned her head to push her face downwards into the pillow to muffle the noise. Almost without realising he was doing it, one of his hands gripped around the hair on the back of her head and formed a fist. He ran his tongue up the back of her neck and her whole body shuddered underneath him, then seemed to melt into the bed as she relaxed into her orgasm, convulsing her abs at every one of his thrusts. He came inside her almost immediately, the hot clenching walls that rubbed against him filled with a mixture of both of their juices.
He lay on her until their breathing returned to normal and she eventually broke his trance-like headspace by telling him to get off. He obligingly rolled over and she sat up on the edge of the bed.
"Shit, have you seen how high the sun is already?" She got up walked naked to the window while he arched his back against the bed, stretching his shoulders in an attempt to wake himself up.
"I know. I can't remember the last time I slept so well."
"But we'll have to hurry if we want to make it to the village we planned before the end of the day."
He begrudgingly agreed and they both dressed and collected their things. Temari checked her pockets, looking for the key to their room which they would have to hand back in to the desk when they left the inn. They were empty. Had she put them the bedside drawer perhaps? No. In one of the pockets of her pack? No.
"I don't know where they are," he told her when she asked him. But something about the way he lay back on the bed and tried to subdue a smile made her narrow her eyes at him.
"Shikamaru, where are our keys?"
"I told you, I don't have them."
"Have you stolen them?"
He avoided her eye contact but evidently found it more difficult to hide his smile. "No."
"You have, haven't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He shuffled back on the bed away from her, but that only gave her room to jump on the mattress next to him.
"You do! I can see them in your hand!" She grabbed for his wrist but he thrust his arm out away from her, laughing.
"You're obviously hallucinating, Temari!" He had such an obnoxious smirk on his face that she could help but wrestle him onto the floor, and finally he gave up.
"Now we're really late!" Scolding him was more difficult when she was laughing so hard.
"Yes. But I seem to remember you promising something about breakfast?"
They stayed in Tanigakure for breakfast – he let her pay, as promised - and it was almost midday before they finally headed out through the mountains again. The dramatic landscape grew up around them, scarred by valleys, topped by travelling clouds that got caught on the mountain peaks. As the day went on and they headed towards the Land of Wind, the landscape began to soften. Still it was clear that they wouldn't reach the border plains before nightfall.
To make matters worse, the weather began to grow more violent as the dramatic landscape of the Land of Rivers softened into agricultural land. The dark clouds made the night fall in even earlier than it should have, and Shikamaru and Temari found themselves in the middle of barely-inhabited farmland, still miles away from the nearest village, when the shadow of a storm began to roll in off the mountains after them. Neither of the two travellers wanted to acknowledge it, hoping they could outpace the weather. But as the black clouds sped directly over them, that seemed less and less likely.
"What do you want to do if this storm breaks before we reach the next village?" Shikamaru addressed the elephant in the room.
"Carry on." Something in her voice sounded as though she didn't really believe what she was saying. "A little rain never hurt anyone."
"We're not exactly in a hurry though. We could camp out somewhere," he offered.
"Camp out?"
"Find some shelter, obviously."
"Where?"
"I don't know. You make this journey more than I do." The first rumble of thunder sounded from the distant mountains behind them, the way they had come. There was no telling how much time they had. "Please? We've been walking all day."
"All afternoon, you mean. Someone slept in. Lazy ass."
"Don't pretend like you didn't want to spend all day in bed with me." Their joking was only proving to avoid the obvious tension. Now was not the time for that.
"There's a farm not too far from here, if I remember correctly."
"There's our back-up plan, then."
It only took a few hundred yards further of travelling for them to resort to Plan B. The landscape flashed with lightning, the thunder rolling off the hills, the air becoming heavy and tense.
"You promised me a farm!" Shikamaru shouted to his companion over the noise of the wind as they broke into a steady run and there was still no shelter in sight.
"Hey, there's one somewhere around here!"
"If you've gotten us lost…" he threatened.
"Me? You're supposed to be my escort, remember?"
They ran in silence, the rain breaking now - dark, heavy wetness pelting them from all sides, swirled by the wind, bouncing off the dusty surface of the road, filling the air with the smell of wet grass and soil.
"Look!" Temari said at last. "Do you see lights? I knew I'd taken us the right way!" A way off the track, the outline of a farmhouse was just visible through the rain, lit up on the inside showing the inhabitants were home, warm and dry.
"I'm soaked already," Shikamaru complained. Their run fell to a miserable trudge through the muddy ground, weighed down by their packs. "Maybe we should just keep going. What are they going to think of us, turning up like this…"
"But the village is still miles off yet!" Temari stopped in the track and looked back and all around her to the clouds. There was no sign of them lightening in any direction and another flash of lightening lit up the mountains.
"There is another option." He was looking the other way, towards the farmhouse but closer to the track they were on. Another building stood; black and uninhabited. "They have a barn."
"We can't trespass into a hayloft like a pair of horny teenagers," she protested.
"But Temari, we are a pair of horny teenagers."
He stood with her in the rain, while she considered this. "OK, I'll give you that one. But might I remind you that while you are on a mission, you are representing your village, and committing an illegal act is-"
"Hmm nope," he interrupted her. "No I don't think you can. I don't think I'll allow it."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm escort, and it's my decision. Any old murderers could be waiting for us in that farmhouse. We'd be safer not to make ourselves known. And it's my job to keep you safe."
She didn't try to argue any further. They sped off again, to where the old farm track broke away from the main road they had been travelling. Keeping to the relative shelter of the treeline, in the shadows, they moved as quietly as they could and climbed a gate to the dark old barn. Still, the rain stabbed through their clothing and turned the ground to mud which clung to their feet and made a workout of every step.
The old padlock on the door wasn't difficult to pick, and inside, the two were relieved that there were no animals housed here that may have sounded an alarm. The front portion of the barn that they had just walked into clearly held farm machinery, while the rear portion looked to be being used as a hay-store. The air was musty and smelled of straw and leather and petrol and rust. The wind thrashed against the walls, shaking the wood, but the muffled noise of the howling storm outside made the dark place seem almost cosy.
They closed the door behind them and began to squeeze the worst of the rain from their clothes. They went to the rear of the barn where bales of straw were stacked to the high ceiling and found themselves a little dry corner to stay in.
"I can't believe you talked me into this. Ow!" Clatter.
"You're such a graceful kunoichi."
"Shut up."
"Looks like we'll be stuck here until morning," said Shikamaru.
"I guess so. But it's so early. I'm not even starting to get tired," said Temari. She flashed him a look as though she had a plan in mind. He took her hint.
"So what are we going to do all night?"
"Well, we should probably start by getting rid of some of these wet clothes." She teased him, slowly beginning to unwrap herself from her dripping kimono. She put on a show for him, taking off her clothes, then going to fetch blankets from one of her packs, bending at the hip in front of him.
"You are so cruel."
"Why? Do you want me to cover up?"
"Well, I didn't say that exactly…"
He came forward to meet her, the blanket still slung over her arm but otherwise naked. His wet clothes felt suddenly very rough and heavy against her skin, clammy with moisture and prickled where the hair stood on end. He took her face in both hands to kiss her, then took the blanket from her arm and swept it around behind her, letting it fall around her like a cape. He gripped the edge that ran along the back of her neck and used the tension of it to pull her face towards his, kissing her again before helping her to dry off. Once she was all wrapped up and dry, he began undressing himself, finding the edge of a fork of machinery to hang his clothes on in the hope they might dry a little before morning. The dripping of their moisture onto the floor was only just audible over the clattering of the rain on the corrugated iron roof above them. When he was naked, he went to take his turn with the blanket to find that she had already abandoned it and was redressing. He must have given her a look of shock because she paused in the middle of doing up a dry bra to answer a question he hadn't asked.
"Well, we can't just sit around naked all evening."
He thought of one of the last times they were together, when they had sat around naked together for the best part of three days. "Yes we can."
She put on a loose shirt over her underwear and seemed to consider that to be enough, so he did followed, clothing himself only his trousers and a vest. He had to admit, it took the edge off the cold draft that was coming in through the roof ventilation.
"You want to get a fire going or something? Warm us up a bit?"
"We're in a wooden building full of straw and petrol," she reminded him.
"Oh yeah."
"Moron."
So to keep themselves occupied until night came, the two took to exploring their home for the night. The haystore portion of the barn was rather uneventful but the machinery parked here was diverse, and curious hands slid over the metal, trying to determine each item's function. Some were obvious – tractors, trailers, ploughs – others were more obscure and vicious-looking.
Temari swung her leg over the seat of a saddle on a stand, keeping her toes on the ground so it wouldn't have to take her full weight. Her fingers toyed with the leather between her legs, the stirrups pressing against her thighs. It would be a long night if this was the only entertainment they had.
"Tell me about Ayame." She called across the barn to him, though the volume of his reply meant that he was only a few yards away.
"What do you want to know?"
"What was she like in bed?"
She heard him give a snort of laughter, but his voice cracked under it.
"What do you want to know that for?" Yes, there were nerves in his tone.
"I'm just curious. I want to know what I'm up against."
"Actually, I never slept with Ayame." His voice was closer now.
"Really? OK… Shiho then."
"No way." He was beside her now, she could see him through the darkness, leaning against something large and cold and metal. "I wouldn't tell anyone your secrets, so I won't tell you theirs."
He was too nice. It was fair, and she should have been thankful for his confidentiality, but the question still played on her mind. "Come on. If you tell me about Shiho I'll tell you about Kakashi," she bargained, but it had been the wrong thing to say. She watched the shadow of her lover's face crease as though tasting something sour.
"I don't want to know about Kakashi!"
Time to change tactics. "If you tell me about Shiho, I'll tell you about Ino."
"…that's more tempting."
She dismounted from the saddle and went to him. They were both barefooted and one of hers stumbled over the top of his as she stood facing him. He put his arms around her to the small of her back and she noticed that he had taken his wet hair out of its usual ponytail and his black locks were now falling to his shoulders. His smell cut through that of the leather and steel. She brushed the stubble on his cheek with the back of her fingers and let the other trace the edge of his vest and follow down his shoulder. She liked him without sleeves. She could enjoy the biceps that belonged to her now. It didn't hurt her to think of Shiho having once touched them. It was in the past, and he had chosen her, Temari, now. Maybe that was why he didn't like the idea of having her speak about her previous partners; she just needed to show him that she had chosen him now. Wasn't it obvious enough already?
One of her fingers traced the edge of his lower lip and she placed a small kiss on his mouth before stepping back away from him again. She climbed up onto the front wheel arch of the tractor that he was leaning against and pulled him towards her. She turned his shoulders to face him away from her and used her new height to jump onto his back, her arms wrapping around his neck. His bare arms supported her bare legs and he carried her back to the little den they had made amongst the hay bales.
"OK, let me down!"
But instead of letting her legs drop from his sides so her feet could land on the floor, he tipped his whole body sideways so that she fell on her side in the hay with a squeal. She swore at him, but before she could protest any more, he had come down to the ground himself and straddled her, using his weight to keep her down. His hands felt for her wrists and she put up no fight as he moved her arms to her sides and pinned them down with his knees. She trusted him never to hurt her more than he knew she enjoyed and the pressure of his weight against her wrists, at his mercy, was exciting. She wriggled underneath him, playing the want to escape. He leaned down over her in the darkness, his hair falling forwards so it was almost brushing her face. There was just enough light to see the edge of the muscles in his arms ripple as he stroked a hand along the skin of her collar bone, knowing that she was unable to push him away.
He kissed her.
"Do you want to be with me even though my jaw clicks when we're doing it?" She hoped he couldn't see her rolling her eyes at him that he was still remembering what she had said when she had been angry, but his lips felt like they were smiling through his words.
"I want you because your jaw clicks when we're doing it."
"Do you want me right now?" He straightened up a little, laying his hands on her shoulders, pushing her down. Of course she wanted him. How could she not want him? She nodded.
The pressure on her shoulders released and Shikamaru moved his hands from her shoulders to the buckle of his trousers. It clicked loudly, close to her face where she lay unable to move.
"Let me up first."
He paused, and took his weight off her, standing. She rubbed her wrists briefly before scrambling to her knees in front of him, to see that he had just undone the zipper of his trousers. She felt him stroke the top of her head as she looked up at him, his face almost invisible now in the darkness. She moved slowly, taking a moment to enjoy running her hands across his lower back, his abs, and the edge of his trousers along his hip bone. He was already pushing hard against his underwear. She inched his trousers down, down under the muscle of his butt to the top of his thighs. She ran her lips over the part of his underwear that pushed furthest out towards her, hoping it was torturing him having to wait like this. His fist was gripping at her hair now, clenching and pulling at her whenever his body tensed in anticipation.
Finally, she slipped a hand under his underwear and wrapped her fingers slowly around his length to pull it from its bindings. He groaned now, barely audible over the noise of the wind outside, but she was so turned on to every little noise and motion he might make. Her knees scuffed on the floor as she positioned herself to take him into her mouth. Using her hand to keep the length of him warm, she put her tongue to the base of his cock. His chest was heaving for breath above her, his abs clenching. She spat into her palm so that he could hear it and used the wetness to lubricate his shaft, her hand feeling him rhythmically like he did to himself. He was making a lot of noise now. She moved her touch down the base of his cock, the other arm wrapping around one leg to grip into the back of his thigh, and took the tip of him into her mouth. She could taste his own wetness mixed with that she had given him and used her tongue to give him a little friction while the tip of his cock pressed against the back of her throat. He gripped her hair tightly, pushing himself into her mouth, and she took this as a sign to speed up her motions slightly, pushing him again and again into the back of her mouth, little gagging noises coming from her throat as his hardness hindered her breath.
His hand softened its grip on her hair and he leaned down towards her ear, though she didn't know why he felt the need to whisper.
"You're gonna have to stop that."
She removed him from her mouth, using her hand to keep the rhythm up while she spoke. "Why?"
He seemed to need a minute to decide how to phrase it, but she already knew what he was going to say. "Because you're gonna make me cum in your mouth if you keep going."
"Would you rather cum on my face?" Her words made him skip a breath. He stood straight again and she took the end of their conversation to mean "yes."
So her mouth went back to work on him again and now that he was no longer holding back, the tightness was gone from his body and he fell into a rhythm along with her as she sucked him on her knees on the ground, his cock warm and wet down her throat was still making such satisfying noises. She was waiting for some kind of signal from him and took a rise in the tone of his moaning and an increase in grip on the back of her head to mean what she was waiting for. She pushed the tip of his penis to the very tip of her tongue and used her hand to give him the stimulation he needed to cum across her lips, over her cheek, into her hair. When the last of it dripped down her chin, she took his erection into her mouth slowly once more and cleaned the hot, sticky mess from his skin, feeling him shudder at the feeling, now hypersensitive from his orgasm. His breath was still racing but his muscles had relaxed and he placed his fingers underneath her chin to pull her face upwards towards his. She stood.
"Let me feel it," his voice was still whispered, husky. The tips of his fingers went to her face, smoothing the slippery substance into her skin and through her hair. It was still on her lips but he kissed her anyway and she tasted him all over again.
After a breathy moment of recovery, he pulled up his own trousers and refastened them. Temari wondered if he would want to carry on, but he didn't leave her guessing for long. She should have known. When had he ever been selfish? He embraced her around the waist and put his lips to hers, turning her to push her back up against the firm surface of the edge of the hay stack. His lips migrated from her mouth to her ear, to her jaw, to her collarbone, and before she had realised what he was doing, her arms were guided up around his neck. There was pressure around her wrists again. Where they crossed behind him, something was pulling her wrists together, stopping her from letting them back down to her sides. Shadows. He used them to pull her arms up above her head and keep them here, tied against the hay wall.
"What are you doing?" Her words came through a smile.
He didn't answer. His mouth was too busy kissing at her shoulder. He pulled the collar of her shirt down as far as it would go, just enough so that he could slip the skin of her chest, just above her breasts, between his teeth. He sucked hard, so that Temari clenched her eyes shut against the pain. He finished and rose again to set his mouth against her ear. He pulled her close to his body, pinning her against the wall and digging his fingertips into the dip of her lower back. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. But it was wonderful.
"You belong to me now," he said slowly against her ear so that she could feel the heat of his breath. "Don't you?"
"Yes."
One of his hands slipped up her shirt and squeezed one of her breasts hard through her bra.
"And I'm gonna make sure everyone knows." His fingers rose up to the place where his teeth had painted a lovebite on her skin. "Do you want everyone to know?"
"Yes."
He bent again, this time lift her shirt and kissing against the soft skin in the curve of her waist. There was plenty of flesh here for him to mark if he chose to. She gritted her teeth in anticipation of it, her arms still pinned above her head where she couldn't protect herself. He chose a spot and sucked hard again, the pressure of his teeth sharp enough that she couldn't help but give a childish squeal in pain. But he didn't stop. And what's more, another shadow was now making its way up her body, up her neck, coiling snake-like around her jaw to keep her mouth closed. She fought against it but found she could no longer open her mouth and any noise she made through her teeth was muffled, like screaming into a pillow.
When the next scar was done, he stood again, this time touching his lips to her ear only for a second. Just long enough to say, "if it's too much, click your fingers." But she knew she wouldn't have too. She wanted to take whatever he wanted to do her.
He was down to her hips now, kissing along the top edge of her underwear. She felt a scratch just above where her hair grew and already knew what he was planning. He was going to do to her what she had done to him, all those months ago. She just hoped he was going to use his surname, so it would be over sooner. Sure enough, another scratch and she felt him etching a clear "N" into her skin. Were his fingernails sharp enough for this, or was he using a tool? Had he been planning this? She looked down but it was too dark to see and gave in to pushing her head back against the wall, bracing against the pain of it. N-A-R-A.
When he was done with his engraving, the relief was so intense that for a moment she thought she didn't need an orgasm any more. But he continued to play with her, pulling one leg away from the other and she didn't protest. She let another shadow pick up one of her legs and pin her knee to the wall so that her underwear was totally exposed, her bodyweight balanced on one foot. He played on her thighs for some time, threatening to bite but never quite going through with it. His lips passed from one thigh to the other, brushing over her underwear as she had done to him. At last, he pulled her underwear to one side and pushed his fingers inside her. She was already so wet that she was dripping down his hand. But it was his tongue that she wanted.
It found her slowly, his fingers doing most of the work at first. But as soon as his tongue found her clitoris she let herself scream into her gag, hoping that he wouldn't hear it over the noise of the rain. His fingers continued to move in and out of her, not filling her nearly as much as his cock would have done, but spreading her wetness all across her labia so that every accidental brush of his stubble against her skin was divine. She seemed to take no time at all to come to her orgasm under his tongue, her walls clenching around his fingers as she came. Her one weight-bearing leg fell weak but she forced herself to stay standing, her wrists and her knee pulling against their shadow bindings, her noises swallowed by the shadows that bound her jaw. He kept his tongue against her long after her abs melted and her body gave in to shivers.
Finally, his shadows retracted and she wobbled back onto both feet. He stood to hold her, kissing her mouth when her breath allowed it.
"Can we sleep now?" He asked her. She had no idea what time it was but knew they would have to be up early after their rest.
"Only if we can do that again, every day, forever."
"Deal."

They awoke long before first light. Farmers often had earlier starts to their day than even ninjas, so they were keen to get away under protection of darkness, trying to leave the barn just as they had found it, leaving nothing behind. The air was cold and the ground wet underfoot, but no more rain was falling. Streams were full and a tree or two had come down in the night, but otherwise they carried on their travels just as they had done the previous day.
They were already near the village that they had aimed to stay in the night before by the time the world was beginning to wake up. It was a small market town, lying in the border plains which would eventually give way to the desert sands of the Land of Wind. They stopped briefly in the village to stock up on food supplies.
As they passed through the main street, there was a pair of girls, about their own age, walking from the opposite direction. As they passed, one of them looked Shikamaru up and down. He himself didn't notice, but Temari did.
She gave his hand a squeeze and leaned towards him to speak quietly. "Did you see that girl checking you out?"
"Which one?" He didn't sound particularly interested.
"That one. Don't look!" She couldn't keep the grin from her face and wrapped another hand around his arm. "You're so not subtle!"
"Getting jealous, are you?" He elbowed her playfully in the ribs.
"No, I just think it's kinda nice how everybody wants you, but no one else can have you." It felt like winning, and Temari liked to win. She was suddenly very aware of his surname written into the skin between her hips. She thought of how she would once have given anything to keep her feelings for Shikamaru a secret and how strange the idea of hiding it was now. What were the words she had spat at him after their first time together? That she was ashamed of him?
"Of course everybody wants me. Have you seen me? Ouch!"
"You're such a cocky bastard. I am so fucking proud of you."
As they had begun their travel so early, they soon made up for the delays of the day before. They made good time that day and crossed the border into the Land of Wind in the early afternoon. The sky grew wide, the clouds sparse, and the monotonous hills seemed to draw out forever in front of them. It looked as though those in the far distance might have been more barren, drier and paler, but perhaps that was just their eagerness to reach it playing with their minds.
The night was so warm compared to the wintery scene of Konoha they had come from, that they opted to sleep outdoors that night rather than find a village. There was a spot that Temari knew well, where she and Konkuro often stayed on their travels back and forth between the Hidden Villages. It was a rock formation, rising up from one of the dune-like hills that formed a kind of natural cave in the flank of the hill. The mouth of it faced west, keeping warm in the last light of the sunset while the body of it was hidden from the wind. The land still hadn't shaken the last of winter, but even a Suna winter was warmer than Konoha spring so they spread out their blankets to form a private little den, and slept in relative comfort in the mild night air.
They woke up to their final day of travel, knowing that they would reach the Hidden Sand Village before nightfall. And sure enough, the land grew drier and hotter as they walked. But as they drew closer, their pace slowed as it became apparent that neither of them particularly wanted their journey to be over. Temari's home had seemed so far away from his own, he almost let himself believe that they could travel in this private world of affection and insanity forever. But now they were almost at her village, and it would be over. They would have to hide again, prioritise their work over each other again. How could he look either of her brothers in the eye? Their private travel was almost over and he didn't want anything to be left unsaid, in case they never got the chance to be alone again, in case it would never be like this again. He hated himself for blabbering to her like this, but it came out anyway.
"My parents used to say 'you'll understand when you're older' or 'it'll happen to you too one day' and I never believed them." He told her. She rolled his eyes at him for being so soppy but didn't try to stop him. "Because it just seemed so irrelevant. Why would you waste time bickering and compromising with another person when you don't have to, when there are so many other things to be getting on with. But we don't have a choice, do we? It just happens, whether we want it or not." His tone slipped from serious to jovial again. "And now I'm stuck with you forever."
"Forever? That's a little optimistic."
"I didn't mean we have to be together forever. But we'll always be a part of each other, you know? Even if this doesn't work out and we live our lives without each other. We'll always have this to remember."
Finally, Suna came into view, growing larger and larger as they approached. They made an effort to walk a little further apart from each other than before, just in case anyone should be looking out for them. And sure enough, they soon saw a figure waiting for them at the gates, ready to escort the two of them up to the Kazekage's residence.
"You ready for this?" She asked him, refusing the urge to squeeze his hand in moral support of meeting her brothers for the first time since they had been together.
He couldn't help but answer honestly. "Nope."
- 8
- 9
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Shadowplay and Hurricanes