Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forbidden Embrace ❯ A Night Disturbed ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1: A Night Disturbed

- - -

The coolness of the night was beginning to settle in. Temari sighed gently, as she sat up on the wall to watch the stars. Behind her was the Sunagakure Embassy, where highly-important people she didn't care about were having a celebratory dinner in honor of the completion of the building. From the beginning, she couldn't bare this assignment; she couldn't bear any assignment that meant going to Konoha since her last mission there. Gaara had forced her to come on this one; he couldn't stand having her mope around all day in the offices, it looked bad for the newly appointed Kazekage to have a depressed sibling. She should've been inside, keeping a closer watch on the Suna Ambassador. But when Temari found out who else from Konoha was coming to oversee the event, she switched out duties with another Suna jounin so that she could be posted outside of the building.

 

Anything that reminded her of him, that boy Shikamaru, brought her pain now. It was hard enough that every time she looked up at the sky from her office window in Suna that she was reminded of Shikamaru. Never could she imagine having to work with him again, so she tried all she could to convince the other shinobi to switch assignments with her. The place was loaded with highly-trained shinobi from both of their villages watching for trouble, so she wouldn't be needed there anyway.

 

But she hated him for that. She hated the fact that she was so often reminded of him, of his carefree, seemingly apathetic nature and how she found the small, stupid “hobbies” he took part in enjoyable as long as she was with him. She hated Shikamaru for always being there; being in her mind, even when she was trying so hard to push him out of her life, to forget about him. She hated the way he'd argue her decisions and opinions in a way no other shinobi had. She hated how she, beyond any logical reason, was deeply and madly in love with Shikamaru.

 

Being in Konoha alone to her thoughts wasn't helping her either. Simply entering the gates earlier in the day brought back painful memories of that day. The day when she vowed she could never see Shikamaru again. But none of that mattered anymore; she would have to find a way to move on. How would it look, the older sibling of the Kazekage, torn to pieces? She would at least have to appear to be strong, at least for her brothers' sake. Kankuro didn't understand, and Gaara just wanted the whole thing to be done with. Temari chanced another gaze at the star-lit night sky. Memories of cloud gazing with Shikamaru began to rush through her mind, all the amazing and breath-taking times they had shared before, and Temari couldn't fight it any longer. She let her feelings take her over, consume her, and she could feel her eyes begin to water and redden. Temari began to think, “If only I could've been stronger for him that day…”

- - -

“Temari, get out of here! I can handle it!” Shikamaru yelled at Temari. The Akatsuki agent watched from the tree branch above them as Shikamaru argued with Temari. “Trust me Tema, you need to keep moving and catch up with them before it's too late and we lose him again!”

 

Temari looked at Shikamaru, uncaring of his opinion of the situation. He had already sustained injuries to much of his body; there was no way he could hold up against this Akatsuki.”Shikamaru, you won't last a second against this guy, go on with the rest of the team, I'll handle him!”

 

“Temari, you can run faster than me, just listen to me once for damn sake! Stop worrying about me!”

 

“Shikamaru, no! You listen to me!”

 

The Akatsuki agent leaped from his place in the trees. “Oh, for Pete's sake, I'll kill both of you!” He produced three kunai from his pocket, and flung them towards Temari.

 

Temari looked up, and prepared her fan to swipe away the incoming kunai. Just as they got in range, Temari swept her blade in an arc, but instead of a clang of the kunai being deflected as she expected, puffs of smoke were all that occurred.

 

“Shit! Shadow clones?” She looked back up to see another set of kunai about to strike her. Her arms weren't set to protect herself in time before she'd be hit by the projectiles, still in motion from her last deflection. Temari braced herself for impact as best she could, and heard the gushing sound of metal puncturing flesh. Yet, she felt no pain. To her horror, when she looked back up she saw Shikamaru right in front of her, the kunais dug into his right arm and leg. Temari froze in place, shocked by the sight of the man he loved pierced by so many of the dangerous weapon. She wanted to scream out his name, or do anything, but all of the muscles in her body were stuck in place.

 

Their opponent, unfazed by Shikamaru's attempt to protect Temari, flung another barrage of kunai at Shikamaru. “Damn,” Shikamaru thought to himself, “I can't move my leg anymore. Poisoned kunai?” As if to answer his question, his right arm began to feel the paralyzing effect of the venom as he got hit in the chest with three more kunai.

 

Pleased with himself, the Akatsuki retook his former position on the tree. “Heh heh, you two aren't my targets. Shame I can't kill you, but Itachi's orders, no unnecessary kills. Damn. Maybe next time!” With a deep laugh, the Akatsuki left Temari and Shikamaru behind in the forest.

 

Shikamaru looked up at Temari, who was kneeling beside him now, trembling from the fact that the one boy that she thought she could ever love might die, and that it might've been her fault. He coughed, and blood spurted out of his mouth. “T-Temari. You, t-troublesome woman…” He tried to raise his arm up to her face, but he began to slip in an out of consciousness.

 

Shikamaru's body was a wreck. One internal organ was punctured and he was losing blood fast from the multiple wounds. Temari called for a medical ninja on their wireless radio, hopefully one would be in range. She had never been one to cry: having a brother with a demon locked up inside him and being the eldest child in her family had made her strong, and to cry would only ruin her reputation But now, she couldn't help it, and tears began to slide down her face. “Shikamaru, this is my fault. Damnit! If I just listened to your stupid head just once…my fault…my fault…”

- - -

As Temari fell deeper within her thoughts, an explosion echoed behind her. Quickly woken from her daydream, Temari looked back to see a cloud of smoke emerge from one side of the embassy building. Quickly, Temari took her fan off her shoulder and ran to the site of the explosion. She could hear the screams as she got closer, and realized the attack was an assassination attempt. Someone attacked the Sunagakure Ambassador! Temari got up on a nearby rooftop to survey the scene. From the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow quickly dart for the nearby woods. Sensing whoever that was might've been part of the attack, she began her pursuit.

 

“Temari here,” she called into her radio. “I think I've caught sight of the assailant, I'm going to pursuit. He's not going to get away!” And with that, Temari was in the woods, chasing the disturbance of the night. In front of her, she could faintly see the person she was chasing. The cracking of wood as they leapt from tree to tree filled her ears, and adrenaline began to pump through her veins.

 

Then, she heard an extra noise. It was the sound of someone running, but it wasn't coming from in front of her where the attacker was running. From behind, she heard another set of feet, running through the undergrowth. Temari came into a small clearing in the forest and took a quick glance behind her. And there, running alongside her, was him. The boy that she forced herself to try to forget about. The boy who treated her differently from all the others. The last boy she wanted to see. The only boy she had ever loved.

 

Shikamaru.