Chapter 18
“Get your hands off our sister” Kankuro said while looking at Shikamaru furiously. His arms were crossed to his chest “Is that your way just to get girls and get laid in the war, huh?”
"No---I-" he stutters. It was not true, he loved her with all of his heart, and from what Kankuro just said, he didn't approve of him being with their sister.
“Kankuro!” Temari yelled at him
“Let go of that boy’s hand Temari and starts walking to your war horse! Now! He’s not your commander anymore” Kankuro responded
“Kankuro, enough of that. Let’s all go” Gaara calmly said but his voice was loud enough for everybody to hear “Apologies for our little scenario. Please don’t let any gossip escape from your mouths, we will settle our conflict after the war and everything will be back to normal, is that right Lord Nara?”
Shikamaru nodded at Gaara, it’s still unknown if he approved of him or not but he knows Kankuro is obviously not.
“Let’s go Temari, our army is in the west” Gaara added
She could feel his hands gripped tightly as she was about to leave.
“I’ll see you after the war” she grabbed both of his hands and placed a gentle kiss, assuring him that they’ll meet again after.
“I’ll see you” he nodded and moistens his lips “I will look for you after we kill Konan and Nagato. Please be alive, alright? Please…..Please”
“Yes” Temari couldn’t handle his words so she shut her eyes and turn around to walk with her brothers. He made a few glances at him while walking toward their father’s army and she could see his face full of worry and pain.
Naruto placed his hand on Shikamaru’s shoulder and said “Let’s go”
With a heavy heart, Shikamaru walked to his army with half of his soul lost. He shakes his head trying to remove all the emotions that he felt that day, convincing himself that everything will be alright but inside of him, he's still bothered about the possibility of losing her. All the beautiful plans that he created in his mind with her will just be banished if he did one wrong move and he’s so scared to end up in that situation.
Rasa did not let anyone see his emotions, his face remained expressionless and unreadable but deep inside he was in sorrow after remembering his passed wife. Temari was very much like Karura, she reminds him of her that’s why Rasa was very protective of his only daughter. He wanted to have her the best in the world but failed to see what really Temari likes.
Their village was small and most of the bandits tried to invade it every now and then, it becomes a usual thing. All of the Kazekages were known to be cruel, probably because of what their environment pushed them to become. People were playing with life and death just to survive and Rasa wanted to make sure that Suna, especially his kids will have a good life while they were living. Gaara and Kankuro were now secured with the position that they’ll have after the war and Temari was planning to marry a rich feudal lord in the north. Those were his plan but her daughter seems wanted to change them.
He glanced at his children, they were now riding their war horses and marching up to their camp. Tomorrow they’ll be going to attack the Akatsuki.
A bright yellow light from the candle diffused the whole cave as the three of them starts to eat. Nagato sliced the piece of fish from their table and starts chewing it.
“Just like what we ate when we were kids, huh? Right? Nagato?” Yahiko said while chuckling
He smiled at him and continued eating “Did our army has enough food?” Nagato wanted to assure that his pirate army had enough energy for tomorrow’s battle.
“Yes, they catch a ton of fish from their last sail. It’s quite enough” Konan assured him
He nodded “Good”
Yahiko moisten his lips and cocked his head to his side “Nagato, in case that I didn’t survive I wan----"
Nagato stomps his hand on their table “You are not going to die! We are not going to die! No one is going to die!” he shouted “If we will, I’ll make sure that I’ll bring everyone in hell with us!”
“Nagato” Konan whispered
A sharp breath just escaped from Yahiko’s mouth. He was worried about their fate in the battle for tomorrow. He’s more afraid of losing them than losing himself in the war. Nevertheless, they expected this will happen soon after they choose violence by invading the people in the land.
“Let’s just eat in peace” Konan said
“There’s never been peace, let’s stop talking about peace!” Yahiko shrieked and stomps his closed hand on their table.
There’s a deafening silence after that, they tried to comfort each other but they know their fate. They wanted to pray but even the Kami will reject their plea after of what they have done to those poor souls in the land. They just trusted their destiny, whatever it is…it will be done.
“Kisame’s fleet was now near the shore. They’ll arrive in here before the sun peeked” Nagato said
There’s a little light that sheds on their worried souls, they might win this war and will own the lands. If they win, it will be a huge thing for them, they will own everything that their eyes see, all the soil that their feet will touch, and all of the things that they could touch. Just like what they dreamed of when they were little kids.
The next morning, the samurai armed forces prepared their equipment and swords for the battle. Temari clean and sharpened her katana and arrows after she woke up, to prepare herself for the war. Her eyes glanced at the camp; her brothers were having a conversation with the young samurai, giving their commands as they were now the commanders of the army as a replacement for the two Kages.
After cleaning and sharpening her weapons, she walked to her war horse. It was a beautiful black horse wrapped in armor for protection.
She rubs the nose to build a trust between them. After her preparation, her mind starts thinking about him. It’s their first time being apart from each other after they’ve been together. Her hands start to enclose and prayed to the Gods.
“Please let him live” her eyes squeeze shut while saying her prayers. She lifted her praying hands and kissed them. Her eyes stared at the cloud and wished for some miracle to happen that day.
Shikamaru stared at the moving clouds while laying on the wooden palette that was placed on the snowy grass. If only Temari was there beside him, he could assure himself that she’ll be safe. He knows she could fight but there’s something inside of him that fears him so much.
“Do you trust her?” Sasuke said. Shikamaru turn his head to where Sasuke was standing, surprised that he was there.
“Ofcourse”
“Then why are you worrying that much? If you’re going to ask me, she’s good at everything”
“She is” he smiled but his eyes looked worried “I never doubt her, even a bit” Shikamaru rubbed his chest, the letter that Temari wrote was placed inside of his armor. Like he was carrying a piece of her with him.
“You should. Now get your ass up now and we will cross the bridge to the Ouza island”
Shikamaru stood up and released a heavy sigh. They could see the marching of young samurai towards the bridge that connects Nagi and Ouza island.