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[NarutoFic] Transient - Chapter 3
Feb. 24th, 2009 11:29 amI wasn't exactly sure what to call this chapter, so I went with 'Triangle'... why? Because Shikamaru thinks so XD
Chapter 3 - Triangle
“Yo.”
Temari looked up. “Hey.”
Shikamaru was casually walking up toward her, his hand raised in greeting and his face bearing the usual lack of enthusiasm. The raised hand gradually went to the back of his head where it rested as he took a good long look up at the sky.
Temari looked up as well and noticed the few grey clouds that were clearing up for dawn. Like the curtains of an old stage drawing apart for the first act of the play, they slowly parted, letting in the first light onto Sunagakure.
Observing the village from her perch, Temari smiled inwardly, a sense of momentary joy spreading through her as the sunlight crept across it. Suna glowed a fiery orange, sparkling as if it were a village within a snow globe filled with a billion shards of red crystal.
The red sand reminded her of Gaara: as red as the blood of those who sacrificed their lives for their village, and as red as the red sand of home. That was the color of her brother’s hair. She drew in a long breath as her heart filled with both pride and sisterly affection.
Shikamaru plopped down on the sand next to her and yawned.
She frowned, her spirits immediately dampened.
Perhaps it was the very audible yawn that put off her spirits that instant. Or perhaps it was the recollection of those violet eyes that stared so fixedly at her last night. For whatever reason though, Temari felt bitter, disturbed, and uneasy. The feeling that something unpleasant was coming seemed to linger about her conscience, and she couldn’t fight it off.
She turned her gaze to Shikamaru.
The Chuunin was lying flat on the ground, knees bent, his left leg crossing his right, and his hands cupped behind his head. He looked up at her and yawned loudly in acknowledgement.
Temari cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Rough night?”
“Could have stayed in bed another hour…”
She shook her head. “Seriously.”
Shikamaru smirked.
They sat there, watching the new day unveil itself on the still sleeping village below them. The pair remained silent for about fifteen minutes until Shikamaru uncrossed his legs and rolled onto his tummy, the weight of his upper body resting on his elbows.
“So who was the weirdo with the purple eyes?”
Temari flinched at the question. She hated having to cover up things from Shikamaru. He was too hard to convince and his observing eyes saw through everything despite their lazy expression.
“Just some idiot I met once,” she said quickly, trying her best to sound uninterested, but failing entirely for he was quick to notice the slight coloration that rose in her ears. Besides, that was probably the lamest reason anyone could come up with in such a situation.
“Yeah sure,” he replied, a side smile on his face which now bore an expression that read ‘You’ve got my undivided attention now that I’ve stumbled upon one of your secrets’.
Temari groaned. His expression was so annoying, yet it also brought out the handsomeness in his features. Damn, she thought. Unable to think of any other explanation, she repeated her words, feeling extremely stupid at her lack of creativity when it came to improvising in the presence of Shikamaru.
“I told you, he’s just some idiot I met once, a long time ago.”
Shikamaru paused, scanning her features. Reading a visible change in her countenance, he asked in a somewhat mockingly humorous tone: “Is there something …or someone I should know about?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He tried to make his tone light as he spoke. “Do I have to worry about competition?”
“Huh? What?” She knew full well what he was implying, yet…
Love?
“I’m asking you...”
If he hates him enough he won’t regret killing him.
“No… no. No there isn’t.” She felt that the words which came out of her mouth seemed half-hearted.
It’s not love.
A tinge of guilt set in.
Shikamaru sat up. Leaning forward, he looked at her intently, as if searching for answers on her face. She held her breath, trying to mask any emotion that threatened to spill out of her at that moment.
“I think…” he said slowly, and paused to look into her eyes.
Temari blinked.
“I think there is,” he said softly, his voice somewhat shaky.
A hint of disappointment bordered his voice as he spoke those words. His eyes looked almost sad… or perhaps slightly angry… she couldn’t tell. But she suspected that he had probably seen right through her. He might have been both, angry and sad, at the same time.
He shifted his gaze slightly to the right so that his eyes were fixed on the scenery that unfolded behind her. To look at her at that moment somehow felt like torture.
She stared at him in silence.
“Heh.”He tried to change the topic. “Heh… So, I suppose you’ll be… um… paying Konoha a visit next month as well?”
He picked the cheesiest topic.
He couldn’t help it.
He felt himself struggling for words. He was confused. The emotions that began to well up inside him were entirely alien. It seemed as though a darkness had begun to spread throughout his entire being, something tainted with the bitter hunch that he had been betrayed.
“Yes.”
He had parents and friends, but none had caused him to experience such a deep feeling of betrayal. Although he knew it was just a hunch, an assumption that there was somebody else in her heart, he found himself fumbling to find that much needed composure he once so easily called upon during trying situations. One could always count on Shikamaru to keep a cool head and deal with things, no matter how bad the situation got. That was one of the attributes to which he was given credit for being a genius. Yet at that moment, he felt entirely lost. And he couldn’t even sleep it off… She’d kill him if he decided to fall asleep right there.
“I see. And Kankuro?”
He understood now what Naruto must have felt. Back then, when the five of them attempted to retrieve Sasuke, he, Shikamaru, was only following orders. He had never really liked Sasuke from the very beginning, so he didn’t harbor any sentimental feelings for the guy when he left Konoha three years ago. However, what Sasuke did then clearly was betrayal. And Naruto and Sakura were still hurting from its effects.
“He might, if he doesn’t have anything else going on at the time.”
But this was different. This was worse than knowing that the person closest to you had chosen to turn their back on you. It was much worse. With Temari, he didn’t know. The ‘what if…’ that accompanied the feeling was even more agonizing than knowing for sure. He didn’t want to suspect, but he couldn’t help thinking about it.
“I see.”
The situation became even worse for him when he realized something: they were not ‘officially’ dating. It was true that they both seemed to behave as if they were, and even she positively reciprocated, but he didn’t feel it was sufficient to rely on mere assumption to guess his place.
“He’s working on a fourth puppet so… I’m guessing he might want to spend some time on it.”
She disliked that part of him – the part that stayed aloof. She was thankful that he wasn’t pushing the subject but she still felt as if he should have been a little more concerned. Like hell, she thought, why is he changing the damn subject when he ought to be concerned? A new twang of confused guilt knotted somewhere in her belly. What was she thinking? Did she want him to be… jealous?
Jealous of what?
Of Hidan?
But she hated him… so there wasn’t any reason for him to be jealous, right?
“Hnn. Adding to his arsenal I see.”
Shikamaru looked at her uneasily. She was now frowning at him, thinking. Thinking about what? Kami-sama, I hope she isn’t going to attack me. Please tell me I didn’t say anything wrong...
He wasn’t going to push the subject, though, out of fear. Fear of two things.
First, he was afraid that his suspicions might be confirmed, that there was competition out there (which also meant that their ‘relationship’ could get troublesome). Second, he was afraid of hurting Temari, especially if the whole thing really wasn’t that big of a deal. It would hurt her a lot if he were to say he didn’t trust her.
The question weighed heavily on his mind, however, and his conversational skills were refusing to function properly. Everything was so complicated.
He sighed. Women were indeed very troublesome…
Man! What a drag… Dad, wish you were here right now…
Not wanting to seem unmanly in front of her, he forced the offending emotion to the very back of his mind and made out a soft “hnn” as he smiled at her.
She looked back at him, still frowning.
“Look, hey, It’s not what you think… You don’t understand so don’t just go assuming things… You see I… I…” Her voice hitched a little as she tried to pronounce the words ‘I hate him’.
Just then a messenger bird landed beside Shikamaru.
She didn’t get to finish her sentence.
He immediately recognized the seal on the message as the Hokage’s.
Quickly undoing the neat scroll tied around the bird’s leg, Shikamaru read the note. He winced.
“Jeez.” He scratched the back of his head with his free hand, the other one holding the offending note.
He looked up at Temari.
“Sorry but um… I have to go.”
She only stared back.
“Tell the Kazekage that I’d be leaving earlier than anticipated and that I won’t be Konoha’s representative for the last two meetings. The Hokage has already sent a replacement and he will be here shortly.”
He rolled up the message, quickly wrote a new one, fastened it onto the bird and let it take off.
The chuunin yawned for the third time that morning.
“I should return immediately. Looks like it’s some urgent mission which apparently only I can handle. What a drag…” he sighed, and giving her a parting squeeze on her shoulder, got up to leave.
She touched his hand and turned to meet his eyes.
He nodded and smiled. He decided he wasn’t going to dwell on it too long.
He lightly touched her cheek.
“We’ll keep in touch.”
She watched as his figure faded into the early morning light.
Violet eyes and that unforgettable sneer flashed before her.
I hate you...
I hate you...
I’ll kill you…
x.X.x.X.x
It was well past midnight. About two, actually.
Her eyes hurt. She had been squinting into the vast expanse of sand for any sign of movement for hours now.
She was unarmed, except for her fan. No explosives, no traps. Temari knew he wasn’t out to kill her. Well at least he wasn’t going to harm her, not physically. Not with weapons. In fact he wanted her to kill him. So there wasn’t that kind of threat.
But killing him probably came with a price: his death for her sanity.
The last time she remembered, she had almost lost herself. Her obsession with hatred for the man had eaten away at her heart, her conscience, and even her body, that she had finally evolved into someone – or something – unrecognizable.
And no, he hadn’t even touched her.
But it was she who hadn’t left him alone. It was her hatred for Akatsuki, her fear, which kept her there: watching, waiting, teasing, and taunting him… until she made him a threat to herself when she accepted his challenge to kill him.
She was only four when she lost her mother, and gained a demon for a brother. At fifteen she lost her father, the Yondaime Kazekage. Gaara, by this time, had slowly realized his purpose in life, and was pushing away the demon within, opening up to his family instead. Orphaned and alone, both Temari and Kankuro had encouraged and welcomed the rebirth of their baby brother.
Gaara had soon become one of them.
It was during this period of calm that Akatsuki invaded Sunagakure.
The news had shattered her. Although it had been only three precious years spent with her little brother, the news left her feeling the pain of a billion knives stabbing her heart.
Never again, she vowed. Never again was she going to let anybody lay a finger or graze the shadows of her brothers. Too much had been taken away from her. Kankuro and Gaara were the only family she had and she wasn’t going to lose them.
She hated Akatsuki. She was going to kill every single one of them when she got the chance.
And then Hidan strode into her life.
She had already made her decision: she decided to make him her problem.
So she molded her fear into loathing. Her emotions dissolved one by one until there was nothing left but pure distilled hatred, an abyss taking the place of her heart. She became the weapon that would finally kill him, devoid of any emotion except its purpose: to kill. To destroy. To annihilate.
But you can’t cut your wrist with a butter knife.
Her body took its toll, weakening her physically. Her sense of self faded. Her strength diminished.
And in the end, the weapon couldn’t deliver.
Yet she wanted to see him again. She wasn’t sure why though.
3.00 am. She hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept.
Bastard. Where the fuck are you?
Her eyes drifted, alert, over the black dunes, watching, waiting, for something. Anything.
But all she could see was nothing.
Nothing moved.
I’m waiting…
And there it was.
She froze as she heard the silent whoosh of sand lifting itself up into the stillness of the night.
Something darker than the blackness of the eerie desert bordering Sunagakure moved.
It was the faintest of movements, barely visible, but she noticed it.
In a split second her hand instinctively moved up to her fan.
The dark dot in the distance stood still.
Damnit!
Temari regretted the move. He was probably going to move with more caution now.
She glanced at her watch.
It was already 3.15 in the morning.
Cursing her instincts, she looked back up at where the dot used to be, only to find it gone.
What the hell!
She screamed in her mind. She doubted. Had it really been him? Had it been someone? Or had she just imagined it there? Imagined a darkness darker than dark in the middle of the desert…
And then she saw it.
Her breath stilled as she realized the dot had moved again.
It was closer, much closer, and it was no longer just a dot.
Red clouds floated motionless on the desert…
Hair as silver as the moonlight…
And that face… a face so demonically angelic…
And violet eyes.
“Hey, bitch!”
There was no mistaking it.
He was here.
I have a heart, he thought, noticing how it skipped a beat again when he found her gaze sitting alert on his form. How depressing.
He grinned.
“Lover boy not around?”
She only flinched in response.
“What? There was a lot of PDA last night I couldn’t help but notice.” He sounded amused.
She scowled. For how long have you been watching us, bastard?
She changed the subject.
“Why did you return?”
“Because you wanted me to.”
She felt her cheeks redden. That was true. But he made it sound so… awkward.
“Tch. Who’d want to see you?”
The man’s features changed from amused to smug.
“Seriously, you have no idea.” Saying which he undid his cloak and let it fall around his feet.
She felt the desert get colder for a moment.
A dark pattern – which she knew was blood – clung to the pale skin on his chest.
“Yeah, and she totally liked me.” Laughter laced his voice. A casual, indifferent laughter.
She bit her lip, still silent, taking in the familiar features of the demon that still haunted her.
With a wink that was clearly visible under the moonlight, he added: “It was her first time too.”
You damned fucking bastard! The familiar loathing rose inside.
“Too bad though, she was only fourteen.” Casual, indifferent, mocking… unforgivable.
“You sick, demented pedophile… You--”
“Hey hey woah! Relax, she was only eight years younger than me jeez.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah you heard me. Eight years.”
“But she’s fourteen.”
“And he’s fifteen.” He smirked.
Temari frowned. “Jealous, much?”
“Heh. You bet.”
She grinned.
x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x
"There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills."
- Buddha
Chapter 3 - Triangle
“Yo.”
Temari looked up. “Hey.”
Shikamaru was casually walking up toward her, his hand raised in greeting and his face bearing the usual lack of enthusiasm. The raised hand gradually went to the back of his head where it rested as he took a good long look up at the sky.
Temari looked up as well and noticed the few grey clouds that were clearing up for dawn. Like the curtains of an old stage drawing apart for the first act of the play, they slowly parted, letting in the first light onto Sunagakure.
Observing the village from her perch, Temari smiled inwardly, a sense of momentary joy spreading through her as the sunlight crept across it. Suna glowed a fiery orange, sparkling as if it were a village within a snow globe filled with a billion shards of red crystal.
The red sand reminded her of Gaara: as red as the blood of those who sacrificed their lives for their village, and as red as the red sand of home. That was the color of her brother’s hair. She drew in a long breath as her heart filled with both pride and sisterly affection.
Shikamaru plopped down on the sand next to her and yawned.
She frowned, her spirits immediately dampened.
Perhaps it was the very audible yawn that put off her spirits that instant. Or perhaps it was the recollection of those violet eyes that stared so fixedly at her last night. For whatever reason though, Temari felt bitter, disturbed, and uneasy. The feeling that something unpleasant was coming seemed to linger about her conscience, and she couldn’t fight it off.
She turned her gaze to Shikamaru.
The Chuunin was lying flat on the ground, knees bent, his left leg crossing his right, and his hands cupped behind his head. He looked up at her and yawned loudly in acknowledgement.
Temari cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Rough night?”
“Could have stayed in bed another hour…”
She shook her head. “Seriously.”
Shikamaru smirked.
They sat there, watching the new day unveil itself on the still sleeping village below them. The pair remained silent for about fifteen minutes until Shikamaru uncrossed his legs and rolled onto his tummy, the weight of his upper body resting on his elbows.
“So who was the weirdo with the purple eyes?”
Temari flinched at the question. She hated having to cover up things from Shikamaru. He was too hard to convince and his observing eyes saw through everything despite their lazy expression.
“Just some idiot I met once,” she said quickly, trying her best to sound uninterested, but failing entirely for he was quick to notice the slight coloration that rose in her ears. Besides, that was probably the lamest reason anyone could come up with in such a situation.
“Yeah sure,” he replied, a side smile on his face which now bore an expression that read ‘You’ve got my undivided attention now that I’ve stumbled upon one of your secrets’.
Temari groaned. His expression was so annoying, yet it also brought out the handsomeness in his features. Damn, she thought. Unable to think of any other explanation, she repeated her words, feeling extremely stupid at her lack of creativity when it came to improvising in the presence of Shikamaru.
“I told you, he’s just some idiot I met once, a long time ago.”
Shikamaru paused, scanning her features. Reading a visible change in her countenance, he asked in a somewhat mockingly humorous tone: “Is there something …or someone I should know about?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He tried to make his tone light as he spoke. “Do I have to worry about competition?”
“Huh? What?” She knew full well what he was implying, yet…
Love?
“I’m asking you...”
If he hates him enough he won’t regret killing him.
“No… no. No there isn’t.” She felt that the words which came out of her mouth seemed half-hearted.
It’s not love.
A tinge of guilt set in.
Shikamaru sat up. Leaning forward, he looked at her intently, as if searching for answers on her face. She held her breath, trying to mask any emotion that threatened to spill out of her at that moment.
“I think…” he said slowly, and paused to look into her eyes.
Temari blinked.
“I think there is,” he said softly, his voice somewhat shaky.
A hint of disappointment bordered his voice as he spoke those words. His eyes looked almost sad… or perhaps slightly angry… she couldn’t tell. But she suspected that he had probably seen right through her. He might have been both, angry and sad, at the same time.
He shifted his gaze slightly to the right so that his eyes were fixed on the scenery that unfolded behind her. To look at her at that moment somehow felt like torture.
She stared at him in silence.
“Heh.”He tried to change the topic. “Heh… So, I suppose you’ll be… um… paying Konoha a visit next month as well?”
He picked the cheesiest topic.
He couldn’t help it.
He felt himself struggling for words. He was confused. The emotions that began to well up inside him were entirely alien. It seemed as though a darkness had begun to spread throughout his entire being, something tainted with the bitter hunch that he had been betrayed.
“Yes.”
He had parents and friends, but none had caused him to experience such a deep feeling of betrayal. Although he knew it was just a hunch, an assumption that there was somebody else in her heart, he found himself fumbling to find that much needed composure he once so easily called upon during trying situations. One could always count on Shikamaru to keep a cool head and deal with things, no matter how bad the situation got. That was one of the attributes to which he was given credit for being a genius. Yet at that moment, he felt entirely lost. And he couldn’t even sleep it off… She’d kill him if he decided to fall asleep right there.
“I see. And Kankuro?”
He understood now what Naruto must have felt. Back then, when the five of them attempted to retrieve Sasuke, he, Shikamaru, was only following orders. He had never really liked Sasuke from the very beginning, so he didn’t harbor any sentimental feelings for the guy when he left Konoha three years ago. However, what Sasuke did then clearly was betrayal. And Naruto and Sakura were still hurting from its effects.
“He might, if he doesn’t have anything else going on at the time.”
But this was different. This was worse than knowing that the person closest to you had chosen to turn their back on you. It was much worse. With Temari, he didn’t know. The ‘what if…’ that accompanied the feeling was even more agonizing than knowing for sure. He didn’t want to suspect, but he couldn’t help thinking about it.
“I see.”
The situation became even worse for him when he realized something: they were not ‘officially’ dating. It was true that they both seemed to behave as if they were, and even she positively reciprocated, but he didn’t feel it was sufficient to rely on mere assumption to guess his place.
“He’s working on a fourth puppet so… I’m guessing he might want to spend some time on it.”
She disliked that part of him – the part that stayed aloof. She was thankful that he wasn’t pushing the subject but she still felt as if he should have been a little more concerned. Like hell, she thought, why is he changing the damn subject when he ought to be concerned? A new twang of confused guilt knotted somewhere in her belly. What was she thinking? Did she want him to be… jealous?
Jealous of what?
Of Hidan?
But she hated him… so there wasn’t any reason for him to be jealous, right?
“Hnn. Adding to his arsenal I see.”
Shikamaru looked at her uneasily. She was now frowning at him, thinking. Thinking about what? Kami-sama, I hope she isn’t going to attack me. Please tell me I didn’t say anything wrong...
He wasn’t going to push the subject, though, out of fear. Fear of two things.
First, he was afraid that his suspicions might be confirmed, that there was competition out there (which also meant that their ‘relationship’ could get troublesome). Second, he was afraid of hurting Temari, especially if the whole thing really wasn’t that big of a deal. It would hurt her a lot if he were to say he didn’t trust her.
The question weighed heavily on his mind, however, and his conversational skills were refusing to function properly. Everything was so complicated.
He sighed. Women were indeed very troublesome…
Man! What a drag… Dad, wish you were here right now…
Not wanting to seem unmanly in front of her, he forced the offending emotion to the very back of his mind and made out a soft “hnn” as he smiled at her.
She looked back at him, still frowning.
“Look, hey, It’s not what you think… You don’t understand so don’t just go assuming things… You see I… I…” Her voice hitched a little as she tried to pronounce the words ‘I hate him’.
Just then a messenger bird landed beside Shikamaru.
She didn’t get to finish her sentence.
He immediately recognized the seal on the message as the Hokage’s.
Quickly undoing the neat scroll tied around the bird’s leg, Shikamaru read the note. He winced.
“Jeez.” He scratched the back of his head with his free hand, the other one holding the offending note.
He looked up at Temari.
“Sorry but um… I have to go.”
She only stared back.
“Tell the Kazekage that I’d be leaving earlier than anticipated and that I won’t be Konoha’s representative for the last two meetings. The Hokage has already sent a replacement and he will be here shortly.”
He rolled up the message, quickly wrote a new one, fastened it onto the bird and let it take off.
The chuunin yawned for the third time that morning.
“I should return immediately. Looks like it’s some urgent mission which apparently only I can handle. What a drag…” he sighed, and giving her a parting squeeze on her shoulder, got up to leave.
She touched his hand and turned to meet his eyes.
He nodded and smiled. He decided he wasn’t going to dwell on it too long.
He lightly touched her cheek.
“We’ll keep in touch.”
She watched as his figure faded into the early morning light.
Violet eyes and that unforgettable sneer flashed before her.
I hate you...
I hate you...
I’ll kill you…
x.X.x.X.x
It was well past midnight. About two, actually.
Her eyes hurt. She had been squinting into the vast expanse of sand for any sign of movement for hours now.
She was unarmed, except for her fan. No explosives, no traps. Temari knew he wasn’t out to kill her. Well at least he wasn’t going to harm her, not physically. Not with weapons. In fact he wanted her to kill him. So there wasn’t that kind of threat.
But killing him probably came with a price: his death for her sanity.
The last time she remembered, she had almost lost herself. Her obsession with hatred for the man had eaten away at her heart, her conscience, and even her body, that she had finally evolved into someone – or something – unrecognizable.
And no, he hadn’t even touched her.
But it was she who hadn’t left him alone. It was her hatred for Akatsuki, her fear, which kept her there: watching, waiting, teasing, and taunting him… until she made him a threat to herself when she accepted his challenge to kill him.
She was only four when she lost her mother, and gained a demon for a brother. At fifteen she lost her father, the Yondaime Kazekage. Gaara, by this time, had slowly realized his purpose in life, and was pushing away the demon within, opening up to his family instead. Orphaned and alone, both Temari and Kankuro had encouraged and welcomed the rebirth of their baby brother.
Gaara had soon become one of them.
It was during this period of calm that Akatsuki invaded Sunagakure.
The news had shattered her. Although it had been only three precious years spent with her little brother, the news left her feeling the pain of a billion knives stabbing her heart.
Never again, she vowed. Never again was she going to let anybody lay a finger or graze the shadows of her brothers. Too much had been taken away from her. Kankuro and Gaara were the only family she had and she wasn’t going to lose them.
She hated Akatsuki. She was going to kill every single one of them when she got the chance.
And then Hidan strode into her life.
She had already made her decision: she decided to make him her problem.
So she molded her fear into loathing. Her emotions dissolved one by one until there was nothing left but pure distilled hatred, an abyss taking the place of her heart. She became the weapon that would finally kill him, devoid of any emotion except its purpose: to kill. To destroy. To annihilate.
But you can’t cut your wrist with a butter knife.
Her body took its toll, weakening her physically. Her sense of self faded. Her strength diminished.
And in the end, the weapon couldn’t deliver.
Yet she wanted to see him again. She wasn’t sure why though.
x.X.x.X.x
3.00 am. She hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept.
Bastard. Where the fuck are you?
Her eyes drifted, alert, over the black dunes, watching, waiting, for something. Anything.
But all she could see was nothing.
Nothing moved.
I’m waiting…
And there it was.
She froze as she heard the silent whoosh of sand lifting itself up into the stillness of the night.
Something darker than the blackness of the eerie desert bordering Sunagakure moved.
It was the faintest of movements, barely visible, but she noticed it.
In a split second her hand instinctively moved up to her fan.
The dark dot in the distance stood still.
Damnit!
Temari regretted the move. He was probably going to move with more caution now.
She glanced at her watch.
It was already 3.15 in the morning.
Cursing her instincts, she looked back up at where the dot used to be, only to find it gone.
What the hell!
She screamed in her mind. She doubted. Had it really been him? Had it been someone? Or had she just imagined it there? Imagined a darkness darker than dark in the middle of the desert…
And then she saw it.
Her breath stilled as she realized the dot had moved again.
It was closer, much closer, and it was no longer just a dot.
Red clouds floated motionless on the desert…
Hair as silver as the moonlight…
And that face… a face so demonically angelic…
And violet eyes.
“Hey, bitch!”
There was no mistaking it.
He was here.
x.X.x.X.x
I have a heart, he thought, noticing how it skipped a beat again when he found her gaze sitting alert on his form. How depressing.
He grinned.
“Lover boy not around?”
She only flinched in response.
“What? There was a lot of PDA last night I couldn’t help but notice.” He sounded amused.
She scowled. For how long have you been watching us, bastard?
She changed the subject.
“Why did you return?”
“Because you wanted me to.”
She felt her cheeks redden. That was true. But he made it sound so… awkward.
“Tch. Who’d want to see you?”
The man’s features changed from amused to smug.
“Seriously, you have no idea.” Saying which he undid his cloak and let it fall around his feet.
She felt the desert get colder for a moment.
A dark pattern – which she knew was blood – clung to the pale skin on his chest.
“Yeah, and she totally liked me.” Laughter laced his voice. A casual, indifferent laughter.
She bit her lip, still silent, taking in the familiar features of the demon that still haunted her.
With a wink that was clearly visible under the moonlight, he added: “It was her first time too.”
You damned fucking bastard! The familiar loathing rose inside.
“Too bad though, she was only fourteen.” Casual, indifferent, mocking… unforgivable.
“You sick, demented pedophile… You--”
“Hey hey woah! Relax, she was only eight years younger than me jeez.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah you heard me. Eight years.”
“But she’s fourteen.”
“And he’s fifteen.” He smirked.
Temari frowned. “Jealous, much?”
“Heh. You bet.”
She grinned.
