One bad thing happened after another between this and last update. My girlfriend left me because she didn't think she was worth it, my new girlfriend nearly died... a few times, my mother had a heart attack, and various other 'accidents and pains' as well as a new job. But it was not all bad. In that time two babies of very close friends were born (Good luck to both the babies and their mothers) and I got to go to my second convention where I got a nice necklace for my new girl friend, whom I actually made a character after in the story in her honor.
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto the anime or manga, any of the names assosciated with Naruto, or any thing of that nature. I am simply an over imaginative fan of Naruto, and I'm not responsible enough to be an owner anyway since I'd probably abuse that privilege.
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All awoke early, as they were used to doing on a daily basis now. Some earlier than others. Temari was one of those early birds who woke up earlier than the rest having been stuck in bed longer than the rest. She was pleasantly rewarded with that nice warm feeling you get in the morning when you enjoy the nice warm covers and something extra that she couldn't put her finger on.
She started listing off the things one at a time. Early morning so it's not too bright yet, check. Nice warm covers that are as comfortable as a bed of feathers, check. A soft pillow that couldn't have been more comfortable if it was custom made, check. Something warm along her side and back while also draped over her stomach, bingo!
Everything from last night came back to her as she blushed, knowing what was different about today. She turned around so she was facing him and checked to see if he was really asleep. "Hey, Shikamaru." She whispered checking to see if he was awake. A smile spread across her face as she got an idea. She inched closer to his face with hers before she kissed him on the lips and held the kiss for a long time. It wasn't until she stopped the kiss that she got a second idea.
She whispered again to see if he was awake and grinned evilly when he didn't respond. She stripped off what she could while under the covers, leaving nothing but a pair of panties on and curled up against him again, wrapping her legs around him and resting her head on his chest as she went back to sleep. The smile grew as the knowledge that she would wake up when he did came to mind.
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Kankuro looked around not recognizing his surroundings at first before trying to make sense of everything. Last he checked he had gone into the bar and had a drink or two before... Oh yeah, he bought a bottle or two take back to the shop where they basically played a handul of drinking games until she passed out, then he did the gentleman thing and took her to bed, changing what he could without taking advantage of her. Then he took some extra sheets and such and went to sleep in another nearby room.
He stretched as he walked to the bedroom. "Hey, you awake in there Kohaku?" He knocked gently on the door, getting an annoyed groan from the other side. "I need to stop getting drunk like this." He heard her say from the other side as he heard her walk to the door. She opened the door, covered in the blanket she went to bed in and looked at the person in front of her for half a second before her eyes opened wide.
"Kankuro? Did you spend the whole night here?" She asked, he simply nodded. She blushed as she pulled the blanket over her face to hide the blush. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you here all night." She said as she mentally berated herself for keeping him busy all night.
"It's no problem, I had fun." He said as he started scratching the back of his head. "By the way, you're one hell of a drinker. We almost finished the second bottle." He said as he held up the two bottles from the night before. One empty the other with enough to barely cover the bottom of the bottle. "Apparently not as good as you, you beat me, remember?" She said.
He laughed loudly as he remembered the night before. They were playing 'I never' and kept going back and forth getting the other to take shots back and forth. She lost on the phrase 'I never fought more than four people without a weapon and won', which really suprised him. "I heard the fair is supposed to be open today, care to join me?" Kankuro said carelessly, asking it as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Kohaku's eyes got wide again as she tackle-hugged him. "Of course I'll go with you!" She said as she hugged him tightly. "Oh! I have to fix some stuff before they can open though, I'll be right back!" She turned around and closed the door quickly. Kankuro was about to turn around and go get his puppets resealed when he started hearing thumping and as the girl scrambled around her room with the occasional 'ow' when there was an exceptionally loud bumping sound.
She opened the door fully dressed while covered in her different tool belts, headgear, a harness, and even a pair of boots with lil baggies filled with different nuts, bolts, and screws. "Okay, I'll be ready around..." She thought for a second before looking at the clock. "It's only six o'clock A.M.? You're an early bird aren't you? I'll be done in an hour, okay?" She half said half asked. "Okay, I'll be back in half that. I need to let my sister know I haven't been killed, and I need to check on our prisoner."
She perked an eyebrow at that last statement but shrugged it off. "Okay I'll see you in half an hour then." She said with a smile as she left for a room he hadn't noticed before now. He gathered up his sealed puppets, placing them on his back once more before leaving for the hotel.
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Shikamaru had never been in a situation like this... Once he found out he had cried out for a second before covering his mouth, but she didn't move to his relief. What's worse is that he found himself holding her close while he was sleeping. He sighed as he tried to calm himself down, trying desperately to get the fuzzy feeling out of his body and head, from pressing against her the way he was.
Think, he remembered going to bed with her, but she wasn't naked at the time, right? Of course not, Sakura would have noticed. Sakura! Of course, Temari had been in pajamas when she was healed, which means...
He grinned in relief. "Sleep well Temari?" He said directing his question to the girl in his arms. "I knew you were smart enough to figure this out." Temari said as she opened her eyes. "And yes, I slept very well." She said as she cuddled up against him.
"Are you done embaressing me like this?" Shikamaru asked. Temari grinned impishly as she kissed his cheek. "No, I'm comfortable." She answered, burying her face against him as she wrapped her legs around him. "Such a troublesome girl..." He said with a smile as he rubbed her back.
They stayed like this for what felt like hours enjoying the moment together until they were interrupted, too soon for their taste, by a knock on the door. Temari got up to answer the door, using the blanket to cover herself. "Yeah?" She said when she opened the door before turning rose red from the neck up. It was Kankuro.
"Hey Temari, I was just checking in since I didn't return... Last... Weren't you sharing a room with, Nara?" He asked when he saw his sister covered in nothing but a blanket. "Ah, um, yeah, but he went to the clan's house to talk with him about something while I was, er, changing." Temari said coming up with a random excuse. "In that case I'll meet him there since I have to check on Tenzan and that place is on the way to the jail house." Kankuro said.
He turned to leave and before Temari could stop him he was down the hall already going down the stairs. "Damn..." was all Temari said as she walked back to the bed to see a smiling Nara. "Weasel underwear?"
Temari gave him an evil look. "I happen to like weasels, deer boy." Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders.
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Sakura woke up to find Tenten already getting dressed. "Hey Tenten, what's the rush?" Sakura said as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "There's a festival today! Aren't you even a little excited?" Tenten said with a radiant look on her face.
Sakura shook her head. "The fair doesn't open for at least a couple hours." Sakura said as she pointed to the clock on the bedstand. Tenten's eyes widened before she pouted. She was really hoping to get there early in the morning.
Sakura smiled. "If you want we could go get some breakfast and I'm sure Lee and Neji won't mind waking up early." Tenten's pout was replaced with a grin. "In that case get up already sleepy head!"
Sakura smiled as she was pushed to hurry up by the eager Tenten. Even brushing her teeth had been hastened.
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Lee and Gai had been exercising in their bedroom for an hour already, each practicing their personal preference. 'Two-thousand one, two-thousand two, two-thousand three." They both said in unison as Gai did one handed pulls ups with his good arm and Lee did vertical sit ups using the same bar they had set up. They had gotten up early, as per usual habit, and had started excercising, again, as per usual habit.
"If we can't reach three-thousand..." Gai started as they both thought in unison. "Then we will do three-thousand push ups!" Lee finished. "And if we cannot do those..." Lee added. "Then we'll both do three-thousand sit ups!" Gai finished.
They both reached three thousand in unison, Lee pushing Gai to finish his last one as he started having trouble after the two-thousand eight-hundred ninety first push up. "Gai-sensei. I was wondering... How long do you plan on being a shinobi." Lee asked his teacher while they were resting after finishing.
Gai looked at Lee, completely caught off guard by the question. He thought about this hard for a long time, unsure if any answer would be a good answer. "I don't know. To say I'm unsure would be no exxageration. If I could I would stay a shinobi forever. Even if younger ninja were to retire, I would stay a shinobi as long as possible. There's no other profession I know." He said as he watched his student curiously. "Why do you ask, Lee?"
"Time is friend to none. Everybody has a time when they can no longer do what they once did. What would you do if you were forced to retire, sensei?" Lee asked. "Then I would teach taijutsu at the Academy until I am old and senile." Gai said with his nice guy pose. Lee smiled as he thought about how great his teacher truly was. No matter the age he would continue to be an excellent ninja until the day he died.
"What of love, sensei?" Lee asked. In the entire history he had known Gai, he had never had a girlfriend, instead devoting himself entirely to hardwork. Gai's expression changed. "I've had a love once before Lee, it's a wonderous thing, but something not meant for me." He said without elaborating. Lee was about to continue asking when he heard a knock on the door.
"Lee, you there? It's me Sakura." He heard her say through the door. He was out the door in seconds. "Sakura! It is good to see you!" He said as he hugged her tightly. Sakura giggled "It's good to see you too, Lee. Tenten and I were thinking of going around to see the town while we waited for the carnival to open, we knew you would be up and wanted you to come along." She said with a hopeful look. Lee was jumping up and down cheering inside, but kept it inside as he smiled. "I would love to join you, Sakura. I need a few minutes to shower and change, I will meet you in the lobby in five minutes, okay?" He replied.
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"That was strange." Kankuro said as he walked down the halls of the jail to see their prisoner, as was his duty. "I went to the compound, but no sign of Shikamaru, and nobody remembered seeing him... I'll have to ask him about it later." He said to himself as he came up to the cell Tenzan was in as he paced back and forth, looking around the room before his eyes came upon his visitor.
Tenzan glared at Kankuro as he smiled. "How are you Tenzan? Enjoying your stay in the hospitality suite?" Kankuro asked. Tenzan sighed as he sat down on his cot in the jail cell. "Yeah, of course I am, just an everyday regular hoot. All I need now is three women and three pairs of handcuffs to make this really fun." He said sarcastically. "You're in here because it's what you've earned. You know that and I know that." Kankuro said. "Heh, it was worth it. Women, money, power, all the things men want. I could give it to you too if you want, all you have to do is let me go." Tenzan said, trying to bribe Kankuro.
"You just don't get it do you? There are things better than all that. Friends, family, love, honor, and all of the other things that you can never understand." Kankuro said, having had some interaction at least half of those within that very day. "Maybe if you weren't so busy thinking of yourself you would see that." Kankuro said as he glared at the other man. Tenzan simply shrugged, having gotten his fill of annoyance for the day.
Kankuro started growling, but smiled after a second. "You know that once you get to Konoha, stuff like this." Kankuro tapped the metal bars. "Is going to be an everyday thing. And to everybody in Konoha you're a traitor, I'm sure that this will just be the tip of the kunai, they'll probably do alot more, so I hope you had your fun because now it's all going away." Kankuro said, getting his last low blow in before walking away.
"And you know that once I get out of here, I'll skin your sister alive in front of your eyes for trying to take me to Konoha as a prisoner." Tenzan said trying to scare the puppeteer. Kankuro just smirked and continued to walk away as Tenzan yelled hollow threat after hollow threat at his back.
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It had been a while since everybody had gotten to the fair, Sakura and Tenten each wearing a new outfit, with an upbeat Lee and a stoic faced Neji in tow. "Hey! Over here!" They heard from a nearby festival ride. They looked over to see a grease stained Kankuro standing next to an equally messy shorter girl, both waving. The group ran over to see the two on the other side of a gate. "Hey, Kankuro. Why are you in there?" Sakura asked as she noticed looked at the 'Do Not Enter' sign nearby.
"Oh, yeah. I'm helping Kohaku, here, fix up some of the machines before they open up." He said with a smile as he motioned towards the shorter girl beside him. "Wait you haven't met her before. This is Nezumi Kohaku. Kohanku meet my friends. The girl with pink hair is Haruno Sakura and the boy in green beside her is Rock Lee. The boy with the white eyes is Hyuga Neji and the girl next to him is... er... What is your surname Tenten?" Kankuro asked.
All eyes went to Tenten as they awaited an answer. She just smiled and shook her head. "Just call me Tenten." She said with a smile. Her team mates frowned and Lee whispered something to Neji that he nodded to as they continued to listen. "So how did you meet Kohaku?" Sakura asked. "Oh I met her at the local repair shop and..." He looked at Kohaku with a look that said he was uncertain what to say.
"We got to know eachother and had fun." She finished for him as she hugged him around the waist and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. All of them watched in shock as he bent over to return the kiss the short girl. "Is she your girlfriend, Kankuro?"
Kankuro looked up with a shocked look before looking to the girl who also was looking back with the same expression. "Yes. / No." They looked at eachother again. "No. / Yes." Kankuro shook his head as the girl smacked her forehead.
"I think that would be a yes." Lee whispered to Neji who nodded just barely enough to be noticed by his teammate.
Kankuro started an explanation of how they met and some of the things that occured, leaving out some of the more ridiculous or personal moments. "And after all of that we decided to come here together and work on it as a team since it would speed things up." Kankuro said as he finished his explanation. "Wow, that's amazing Kankuro!" Sakura said as she cheered on the purple face-painted man.
"Heh, I guess so..." He said as he rubbed the back of his hooded head. "It's nice to meet all of you, but we have a few last minute tinkering to do, we'll join you later in the picnic area over by the roller coasters in half an hour." Kohaku said as she handed a wrench to Kankuro who nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sorry about that, but we'll be finished soon. See you guys later." He said as he waved them off.
"They seem like fun." She said as she pulled out a wrench from her tool belt. "Yeah they really are interesting to be around, that's for sure." He said with a chuckle. "If you think that's funny, you should see my sister and that lazy Shikamaru kid." He added.
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He didn't know when he had ever more at peace. Sure it was still kind of embaressing, but it didn't seem so troublesome anymore. 'I guess I'm going to get a lecture from my dad about how he was right and I was wrong about women.' He thought to himself. His thoughts kept bouncing around in his head about the woman he was sharing the bed with as they were laying together.
She had snuggled in close to him after they had gotten comfortable once more, savoring every moment she had with him as she rested for the day ahead. "I'm suprised I feel so much better, after getting beaten to a pulp, even with adequate healing I didn't think I would recover so fast." She said, remembering that she didn't want Sakura to waste chakra healing her any more than she already had since she knew the pink-haired kunoichi was low on chakra. Shikamaru shrugged causing Temari to smile at his aloof attitude.
Her eyes drifted from his face to a nearby object as her eyes got wide.
All too soon Temari finally got up from her place on top of him and went to get dressed. "Huh? Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked, missing the warmth. "We have to get to the fair today, you remember, right?" For one of the first times in his life, Shikamaru felt like an idiot. How could he possibly forget the carnival? He had spent most of last night thinking of ways to help her get well enough for her to join him at the festival. He shook his head as he followed suit and got his clothes ready for after the shower, stopping short of the bathroom door when he realized Temari was already inside.
"How troublesome..." He said as he sat back down on the bed and waited for her to come out. "What are you waiting for Shikamaru, get in here!" Every hair on Shikamaru's body stood on end when he heard that. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He slowly inched towards the door and opened it covering his eyes with one hand.
"What are you doing?" He heard her ask. "Open your eyes." He did as she asked to find two walk in showers, one occupied by the wind mistress, the other unoccupied. "Why are there two showers?" He asked as his eyes drifted to the glazed glass hiding the girl's feaures. "Building quirk. This room is smaller than the rest, and due to an error on the inn owner's part they bought an extra stand-in shower, so they decided to put it in here since they never expected many people to use it."
Shikamaru heard the explanation, but he was distracted by the hazed features of the woman in the shower. "Shikamaru? Did you hear me?" He broke out of his trance and walked into the other shower, taking his clothes off and placing them somewhere safe. "Kind of a strange convenience, don't you think?" Shikamaru said as he turned on his shower.
"I don't know, I think he purposely did it actually. At the time, me and Kankuro came out here on many missions and whenever we decided to train. I think he actually personalized this room for the two of us since we're out here so often and we had helped so much." Temari explained. "Mm." Was the response she got.
"Anyway, none of that matters, what does matter is that we have to hurry before everybody starts getting suspicious that we're doing something we weren't supposed to." She said. "But we aren't, so why does it matter?" Shikamaru said. He couldn't see her through the wall that seperated them, but he knew from the silence that she was glaring at him through the wall. "Alright, alright, I'm hurrying." He said, muttering an inaudible 'troublesome' under his breath as he washed as fast as he could.
Getting into the shower wasn't much of a problem since they could get undressed toweled and dressed in the shower. The 'troublesome part', as Shikamaru put it with a blush, was when they both realized that their clothes were still sticking to their skin when they left their room. For Shikamaru he received many looks from women he passed since his shift stuck to his chest and stomach. Temari gave many a woman a death glare for winking at him. The reverse was also true, though. Even with Temari's underwear keeping the shirt from sticking to her chest, Shikamaru had to stave off many men from hitting on her, until the two finally dried off.
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The two stood in the shadows of the alleyway as they watched the couple walk by, examining them carefully for weapons, scrolls, anything that could be used against them while keeping their presence hidden from the crowds passing by. "Nothing. They really shouldn't be so lax, even if they're in town. Oh well, I guess they're going to have to find out the hard way. How are the other two?" The smaller of the two asked.
"They're somewhere safe. Most of the mercenaries were either killed or stopped outside of the village by the clan, so reinforcements are next to impossible." The partner answered. The smaller one smiled. "Guess that means it's our job to rough them up, huh?" The taller one just nodded before pulling her back into the back of the alley.
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Hello fans, I have good and bad news. The good news is I'm back and I have a few things I'm going to post, the bad news is... I can't continue this story anymore. I know you're prolly peeved beyond hell about this, but I can't continue it because I have to work on my actual work now. What is this work you ask? It's story writing for a manga. I have the story, and I'm working on hammering details out as I speak. So far I've only gotten two chapters (about 5 books worth, and 2-3 Anime episodes worth) actually done so far. While this may be good to some, this is still nowhere near done since not only is it going to prolly come close to 200 episodes (which is excessive for some) long, but it's also going to have to be rewritten at least once, corrected, plotholes filled, and then I have to work with the artist and my coworker on getting the characters to look right.
Then I have to make sure the notarized copies are sent to animators to turn it into an anime that looks good visually (my partner is very picky about this since he claims it to be a masterpiece, I don't think so because I wrote it, but then again who knows.) After the writing is done I promise to get back to this (it shouldn't take more than a half year or year) BUT in case I don't... I'll post a simple spoiler at the bottom three lines down.
SPOILERS!!!
Those two sillohuettes (sorry my spelling is off atm) are the Tora clan leaders making sure that the ninja are 'worthy' of the village's alignment with the two villages (send people from their village to become shinobi.) They pass, and while peeved they are okay by it.
Shikamaru suggests that he wants to leave Konoha, but instead Temari leaves Suna.
Kankuro brings lil Nezumi to Suna on the way back, but when she's supposed to leave she doesn't and ends up staying with him.
Lee wins Sakura's heart big time.
Sasuke is the bad guy waiting for everybody near Konoha (yes a weak plot point, but it's drama for the LeeSaku relationship.)
Neji tries to avoid getting intimate with Tenten but she ends up getting to him in a way where he falls head over heels.
Gai is Gai. He does meet a girl his age who likes him before he leaves the village, but nothing else is shown beyond that.
When Kankuro gets back to sand he notices Gaara's attachment to a certain young female (yes I'll keep from telling you just because it's fun.)
There was going to be a 5 month time skip at the end, yet again as with my normal tradition meeting at a wedding. Tenten's trying to get Neji to smile, Shikamaru's getting nudged by Temari who's saying 'when will we get married' while he mumbles his usual troublesome, and Lee and Sakura are getting married. Heh sorry it took so long though.