summer clouds - shikatema

i think about you too

brief chapter, but more to come :)

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Two hundred miles away, Temari made her way down a dusty street, walking nowhere in particular. Her eyes were full of thought. She looked up at the clouds.

"What a drag."

"Sister?" She heard her younger brother's voice sound from beside her.

"Hm?"

Gaara looked at her worriedly, then shook his head. "It's nothing." She's been stressed about something, I can tell. I don't think she wants to talk about it, though...

Temari thought back to what she told Shikamaru. "That was a one-time thing. You know that nothing can happen between us." That may have been true, but she regretted saying it nonetheless. It wasn't because she didn't want anything to happen between them, she just knew that it couldn't.

She was from the royal bloodline of a different village, and in charge of Sunagakure's diplomacy. Shikamaru was in training to be the next advisor to the Sixth Hokage, and nowhere close to being of royal blood. He was just her escort for Konoha, and although they had a lot more background, it didn't matter. Temari was virtually obliged to marry someone from Suna in order to carry on the bloodline and continue hereditary rule. An outside romance could never work, and Suna's council would never approve. On top of all that... they were friends. She couldn't risk ruining that.

Friends. Nothing more.

Temari realized now that she had feelings for that friend of hers, and it was annoying as hell. She couldn't go a day without thinking about him. He was different than any other crush she'd had before. Suddenly, Gaara spoke up again.

"Sister, I know you just got back from Kumogakure, but I think it's time for you to visit Konoha again for about a week."

The biggest smile crossed her face, but she eradicated it immediately. "I see... what am I going to be doing there?" She gulped.

"That's your choice," Gaara said.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You are always a bit sad when you get back from there, but it's never been this prominent. I don't know what it is in Konoha that you seem to miss so much, but you've been working very hard to help rebuild the village and oversee the Alliance. The war is over. You deserve a break."

Her little brother had truly grown into a good-hearted, compassionate man. He had always been serious at heart... just a few years ago he would have killed anyone he didn't like. And now, he was giving his sister a break simply out of sensitivity.

"G-Gaara, you don't have to-"

"No. I want to. It's the Kazekage's decree." Gaara smiled lightly.

"Thank you... that means a lot." Okay, but... what the hell am I supposed to do now?

--

Back in Konoha, Shikamaru felt calmer than he had in the past few months. Since he talked with Ino, he had figured out his feelings so he wasn't stressed out anymore.

Now, all he had to do was get over the girl. Temari was busy finishing up duties in Suna the same way he was in Konoha; she wouldn't be back for a while. And by the time she returned, he would be totally over it. No problem.

He ignored the doubts.

Shikamaru sat outside playing shogi with himself, thinking hard about possible strategies and tactics he could use against his invisible opponent. He picked up the pieces and moved them across the board, arranging and rearranging them square by square. Evening light spilled over the village and the sounds of Konoha at peace comforted him.

Suddenly, he heard a bird caw from the sky. Shikamaru looked up, and a brown messenger hawk circled above his head before delicately swooping down. He calmly stuck out his arm and the hawk landed carefully as to not stab him with its talons.

Shikamaru grasped the letter that was attached to the hawk's leg, then set the bird back out into the air. He unrolled the parchment. The message was encoded; he read it easily, having studied how to decipher the messages sent during the war. It read:

Dear Loser,

I'm coming back for a week unofficially. Don't know when I'll arrive, but maybe I'll see you in a couple days and you can be my unofficial escort. Sorry it's a drag.

Temari of Suna

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he let out a laugh. It was such a casual letter; did she really have to encode it? She really is a Shinobi to the core, huh. Well, that's Temari I guess.

Abruptly, he realized what this meant. "Unofficial?" So does that mean she's coming for no reason... like as a break? Ugh, so much for me getting over her... what the does this mean? What should I do...?

Shikamaru fell backwards onto the grass and crossed his arms behind his head to think.

He accidentally fell asleep instead.

Shikamaru awoke to a sudden gust of wind that blew something across his face. He opened his eyes to see the letter blowing away, carelessly fluttering against the ground. "Agh!" He shot up and started speeding after the piece of paper, eventually making his way out onto the street again. Shikamaru felt weighted with sleep, having just woken up from his spontaneous nap.

He saw a hand snatch the letter off the ground and he kept running to take it back from them. A pair of bright emerald-green eyes read and deciphered the message out loud with ease, pink hair rustling in the wind. "Dear loser. Coming back unofficially. Don't know when I'll arrive, but maybe I'll see you in a couple days and you can be my unofficial escort, sorry it's a drag... it's from Temari, but who's the loser...?"

"Sakura!" Shikamaru finally reached his destination, panting slightly and holding out his hand for the letter. She turned to him with eyebrows raised. "Oh, Shikamaru, so you're the loser." Shikamaru stood upright. He scratched the back of his neck with a nervous smile. "You read it, huh?"

Sakura handed it back to him. "Sure I did. Hey, what's this about, anyways? What does she mean by "unofficial"?"

"O-Oh, it's... nothing. I don't really know, to be honest."

She eyed him with suspicion as a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Shikamaru... what are you hiding?"

"Nothing. Bye, Sakura!" Shikamaru sped off back in the direction of his apartment. "Hey, you forgot about your shogi board!" She called after him. He quickly spun around and headed back to the grassy area without a word.

"What was that all about...? Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Those two have always had some weird chemistry between them." Sakura smiled to herself and continued on her way.