Chapter 9
Green tea and Dango, her eyes stared at the tray that she was holding while her mind still contemplated if it was the right food that will satisfy his palette.
“Is it Dango that he always eats? Or was it Onigiri?”
“Well, Dango compliments the tea. So, Dango it is”
Once satisfied, her feet lead her to the room of their leader. While walking, Temari remembered what happened last night and how Commander Hiashi scolded the three. She saw Kiba and Neji that morning except for Shikamaru, who stayed in his room until noon. Probably he was still in pain from all his wounds or was in pain because of the disappointment he felt after the war in Jiro Island.
She almost stumbled on the wooden floor of the ship; the waves were stronger today than last night. Luckily, the food in the tray was still perfect and intact. She breathes out after checking it and walked toward Shikamaru’s room. When she reached his room, Temari knocked on his door. In her fourth knock, he responded.
“Who is it?” in his low and sad tone
“Me” she glanced at her location and none was there “It’s Temari”
“Come in” he said
She twists his door knobs and peeked inside; he was reading a book on his table. Shikamaru immediately closed his book as soon as she entered, then placed the book on the shelve.
“You don’t have a practice?” he asked
“I’m done with the sparring session and tomorrow I’ll do the kyudo since we cannot do that on the ship”
He released a faint laugh “Ofcourse. What’s that?” Shikamaru asked while pointing at the tray that she was holding.
“Oh, right. I brought you tea and dango. Since you didn’t leave your room today. You need some food”
“I-I already ate but thank you” he said
“You did? I saw your plate in the kitchen. It was brought back untouched”
He turns his gaze away from her “I don’t have the appetite to eat, really. I just want to sleep”
“Then, you need to eat this. I will not leave here not until you eat all of this” she sits in his chair near the futon and placed the tray on his coffee table.
“You’re so stubborn. I told you I didn’t have the appetite” He stared at her with his furrowed brows
Temari stood up and carry the tray again and put it in front of him, on his desk.
“EAT!” she commands with hands crossed to her chest.
He sighed and pick up the Dango in his tray and eat it. She smiled then her eyes glared at the books on his shelve. There's a lot of books displayed, about politics, poems, battle strategies, farming, and a lot more.
A specific paper that was slid in between two books caught her attention, the paper was very familiar and only a Suna royalty can have that kind of paper. She was about to reach it but Shikamaru was fast enough to get it.
“You cannot touch it” he said while hiding the paper in his back
“Why? I have to see it” she was trying to reach it in his back but Shikamaru resisted
“No…stop!” he said and starts standing up from his seat
After a minute of struggling in getting the paper, Temari was able to get it. She opened the paper and was surprised after seeing it.
“This is mine!” she shrieked
Shikamaru grabbed the paper and stole it from her “No! this is mine. I found it, so it’s mine”
“Please, can I have it back? That’s my letter!”
“Well, congrats because I collected things from all the lands that we stationed, and this is what I got from Suna” he explained while pointing to one part of his shelf that was full of collected things. Temari saw the small limestones, wooden boxes, pieces of metal, and amber bottles.
“But that’s mine! You shouldn’t collect something that somebody owned. I need that letter” she tried to retrieve her letter back
“You can write another letter to your future husband you know” he said
Temari is now embarrassed “You read my letter? Did somebody teach you about privacy? You just read someone’s letter like it was nothing?” her voice starts becoming louder.
“Well princess, you should keep an eye on your letter next time. So, it wouldn’t fly by the wind” he slid the letter inside his kimono
“Okay! Right! Keep it! I’ll definitely write another one” she said in her irritated voice
Shikamaru bites another Dango from the stick with a large grin on his face, he won their mini battle about her letter.
Temari turned around and walked towards his door. Before she twists the knob, she glanced back at him and spoke.
“…and thank you Lord Nara for accepting me in your army. It was really a big deal for me, I should have said this before. About what Commander Hiashi said….don’t believe him uhm, I think you’re a good leader”
Shikamaru stared at her while trying to hide his emotions, he just nodded and turn away his gaze.
Temari immediately left his room wearing a big smile, then she walked to where Omoi and Lee were resting.
The two requested to have another kendo session with her since she’s the top of their squad and Temari gladly agreed to it. When she reached them, Omoi and Lee were now sleeping on the mat inside one of the empty rooms of the ship. She chuckled after seeing them.
“Stand up, you two!” she yelled and her voice echoed inside the room, then she laughed after seeing the two panickily woke up.
“Goodness, Takeo! You should have gently woken us up. Come on!” Omoi protested while rubbing his eyes while Lee just yawns and scratched his back.
She grabbed the two wooden katanas and handed them to Omoi and Lee “Come on! Get up now. Starts stretching. Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
They both stands up and Lee noticed something in her. Temari’s energy was different that day and her face seems more, bright.
“Heyyy, there’s something different about you today” Lee said
“Yeah. You seem happier and motivated” Omoi followed
Her face starts flushing “Of-ofcourse! We need to prepare ourselves for the next battle, right? So, we need to be…motivated” she stutters while her hands swaying in the air while explaining.
“Righttttttt. Then, why are you so red?” Omoi said while pointing his fingers at her face
“Wait? Are you in love, Takeo?” Lee asked while his hands were in a thinking pose.
“Pshh, In love? Who? Me? I doubt, what are you two talking about?” she shoves their faces away from her and pats their stomachs “Quit joking around and start positioning yourselves”
“Alright! Alright!” Omoi expressed
“I’m ready!” Lee jumps and stands up posing like a true warrior “You better teach me your ultimate technique. Takeo!”
She laughed again and the two can’t help but feel suspicious about her. They finished their session that day, Omoi and Lee were satisfied with their training. Temari has a lot of energy during their session so she taught them multiple techniques in swaying the sword to their opponents.
Shikamaru left his room and meet with his friends that night. Kiba and Neji were sitting inside their meeting room while drinking sake. Their faces were gloomy and disappointed, and the insults from Commander Hiashi’s words keep running inside their minds. They start thinking if they really deserve their positions.
“Sasuke and Naruto’s army are also heading their way to Kika Island. The kages commanded them to train all the army there” Shikamaru said while leaning in their door.
“I thought they were in Kumogakure?” Neji asked
“They were supposed to but the Mizukage requested to sail the army to Kika island. The Kages will sail directly to Ouza Island on the day of the battle”
“Great! Atleast the squad is finally complete” Kiba said then gulp the sake
“Right, we need to have an assembly when we all reached the island. We need to have a plan. This time, we need to make sure that we will win” Shikamaru said
“We need a lot of plans for that. If Plan A failed atleast we have Plan B, then C, then D” Kiba explained
“We will win this time. We don’t have any room for failure” Neji expressed
Kiba and Shikamaru stared at him, they could see his eyes were in between rage and passion to win. They both nodded at him and starts drinking inside their meeting room.