(no subject)
Pairing: one sided ShikaTem, implied ShikaIno
Summary: Temari reflects on this mission to kill the ANBU captain, Shikamaru.
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She hears him curse as her wind rips across the trees and leaves stumps standing. She had tried to lead him to a sandy clearing without shadows, but he being the genius, had foiled that attempt, and so she has to make do with a clearing of her creation.
She smirks at him halfheartedly, she had lead him into a disadvantage, but the victory is bitter.
“Dammit, Temari, why are you doing this?” he hisses, when he’s close enough despite her whirlwinds of fury. “Why are you, and the whole of Sand, doing this?” he’s about to say more but she feverishly blows him away with another graceful sweep of her fan.
And she reflects again. Why? Why, indeed, again? Why is she fighting this man whom she had allied with once and done so again so many times after? Why is she fighting this man whom she began to hold a grudging respect for after their battle in their first chuunin exam? Why was she fighting this man whom she maybe, just maybe, felt something extra she never felt before in her life as a cold, Sand kunoichi?
She knows why; the answer has already been determined. It’s because of that damned self-proclaimed-Kazekage.
She wants to annihilate that bastard; she wants to wipe that permanent smirk off his face, strip down the haughtiness and beat him to a pulp and have him beg for mercy just so she can have the satisfaction of not giving it to him. She cannot, though, for the same reason she is fighting this man before her.
He is fighting half-heartedly, and she knows this. So she proves she is serious by sending kunais among her winds, directed courtesy of Tenten inspired chakra strings. She misses the vital organs she had aimed for, but she is able to wound him seriously anyway and he gets the point.
Oh if only, if only. Her brother would have understood, would have never made her do this, never give her this mission; never have the cause for the mission. She remembers hoping fretfully it wouldn’t be anyone she knew when she was given the mission; to kill the captain of the ANBU of Konoha. But she would have never suspected that it would be him; she remembers the cold shock of realization when she pieced the pineapple hair and the bored voice behind the white mask together.
He is fighting back now with intent to kill, now, with the true heartlessness of an ANBU. She smiles, for that’s what she wants, but the smile is bitter.
And once again she curses the monster who killed Kankuro and is now holding her last family member at his mercy. She hates the fiend’s all-knowing smirk that is sure of his hold on her with his hold on the former Kazekage. She hates the brute’s usage of her, knowing she would do anything, anything, to have her baby brother safe again. She hates being weak, vulnerable, so she pushes herself harder and wills herself to do this.
They attack once again, her with her ever-lasting winds of fury; him with his ever-darting shadows. He ducks her winds as she dodges his shadows.
She’s interrupted by the radio at her hips. It’s a loud, cackling distraction she does not need, and almost does not hear, except that the voice is familiar and of a friend, and the sound is full of anguish and desperation.
“Temari! Temari, please hear me!” it cries. Temari does not really hear the words but she does recognize the voice. It’s her, the secretary of the former little brother Kazekage. “Temari…h….he killed him! The Kazekage k-killed…Gaara-sama…” and the voice breaks off, sobbing.
Temari freezes for a second, and only starts to move from reflex of incoming kunai. Gaara…dead? The voice from the radio is cut off, and somewhere in her mind Temari gets the impression that the communication was never supposed to happen, but somehow the call was put through and now it was found out…but it didn’t matter to her, for her mind could only think of one thing.
Gaara is dead.
Gaara, her brother, the one who she had sworn to protect after realizing she had abandoned her sisterly duties. Gaara, her baby brother who had been through so much and was finally brought to the light. Gaara, the Kazekage, who had finally been able to live his dream.
He is gaining the upper hand now, but she does not realize for her mind can only think of one thing.
Gaara is dead. Gone.
No.
No!
And she fights on, but with tears building behind her eyes now, she is fighting with less concentration; she will keep on fighting, damn it, but her thoughts are a blur and she quickly loses her reason for the fight as she thinks of the brothers she has lost and she also remembers that the man before her has a girl waiting for him while she no longer has anyone…
She let herself be taken by his shadow.
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Edited for tense confusement!
Summary: Temari reflects on this mission to kill the ANBU captain, Shikamaru.
--------------------
She hears him curse as her wind rips across the trees and leaves stumps standing. She had tried to lead him to a sandy clearing without shadows, but he being the genius, had foiled that attempt, and so she has to make do with a clearing of her creation.
She smirks at him halfheartedly, she had lead him into a disadvantage, but the victory is bitter.
“Dammit, Temari, why are you doing this?” he hisses, when he’s close enough despite her whirlwinds of fury. “Why are you, and the whole of Sand, doing this?” he’s about to say more but she feverishly blows him away with another graceful sweep of her fan.
And she reflects again. Why? Why, indeed, again? Why is she fighting this man whom she had allied with once and done so again so many times after? Why is she fighting this man whom she began to hold a grudging respect for after their battle in their first chuunin exam? Why was she fighting this man whom she maybe, just maybe, felt something extra she never felt before in her life as a cold, Sand kunoichi?
She knows why; the answer has already been determined. It’s because of that damned self-proclaimed-Kazekage.
She wants to annihilate that bastard; she wants to wipe that permanent smirk off his face, strip down the haughtiness and beat him to a pulp and have him beg for mercy just so she can have the satisfaction of not giving it to him. She cannot, though, for the same reason she is fighting this man before her.
He is fighting half-heartedly, and she knows this. So she proves she is serious by sending kunais among her winds, directed courtesy of Tenten inspired chakra strings. She misses the vital organs she had aimed for, but she is able to wound him seriously anyway and he gets the point.
Oh if only, if only. Her brother would have understood, would have never made her do this, never give her this mission; never have the cause for the mission. She remembers hoping fretfully it wouldn’t be anyone she knew when she was given the mission; to kill the captain of the ANBU of Konoha. But she would have never suspected that it would be him; she remembers the cold shock of realization when she pieced the pineapple hair and the bored voice behind the white mask together.
He is fighting back now with intent to kill, now, with the true heartlessness of an ANBU. She smiles, for that’s what she wants, but the smile is bitter.
And once again she curses the monster who killed Kankuro and is now holding her last family member at his mercy. She hates the fiend’s all-knowing smirk that is sure of his hold on her with his hold on the former Kazekage. She hates the brute’s usage of her, knowing she would do anything, anything, to have her baby brother safe again. She hates being weak, vulnerable, so she pushes herself harder and wills herself to do this.
They attack once again, her with her ever-lasting winds of fury; him with his ever-darting shadows. He ducks her winds as she dodges his shadows.
She’s interrupted by the radio at her hips. It’s a loud, cackling distraction she does not need, and almost does not hear, except that the voice is familiar and of a friend, and the sound is full of anguish and desperation.
“Temari! Temari, please hear me!” it cries. Temari does not really hear the words but she does recognize the voice. It’s her, the secretary of the former little brother Kazekage. “Temari…h….he killed him! The Kazekage k-killed…Gaara-sama…” and the voice breaks off, sobbing.
Temari freezes for a second, and only starts to move from reflex of incoming kunai. Gaara…dead? The voice from the radio is cut off, and somewhere in her mind Temari gets the impression that the communication was never supposed to happen, but somehow the call was put through and now it was found out…but it didn’t matter to her, for her mind could only think of one thing.
Gaara is dead.
Gaara, her brother, the one who she had sworn to protect after realizing she had abandoned her sisterly duties. Gaara, her baby brother who had been through so much and was finally brought to the light. Gaara, the Kazekage, who had finally been able to live his dream.
He is gaining the upper hand now, but she does not realize for her mind can only think of one thing.
Gaara is dead. Gone.
No.
No!
And she fights on, but with tears building behind her eyes now, she is fighting with less concentration; she will keep on fighting, damn it, but her thoughts are a blur and she quickly loses her reason for the fight as she thinks of the brothers she has lost and she also remembers that the man before her has a girl waiting for him while she no longer has anyone…
She let herself be taken by his shadow.
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Edited for tense confusement!