ShikaTema : Waiting For You

Chapter 17 : Returning Wisdom

Sweat drenched her hair, slicking sticking against her forehead and back of her neck. The only breeze that strayed from the dense air was the one she forced from her Tessen. She flung her weapon once, demanding the stream of air created to sharpen into a whirlwind. Her wind was as fine as tiny needles, piercing through the dummy at the training field. Even with her manmade wind, her skin felt as if it was being sizzled to a crisp by the sun fixated on only her. The heat was unescapable. This is what she lived with, this was her home; the desert village that loved the sun.

Huffing, panting, pushing with all her power, she trained for two hours straight. Tossing wind fiercely from her fan to impale through the fake enemies that stood their ground in the empty waste of a training field. Sweat was the only moisture in the desert, and it glued her clothes to her body. Her tanned skin goldened even more from the exposure to the baking spotlight of a sun. There were no trees to shield her, nor breeze to cool her like in Konoha. Just desert that attracted the blazing ball of fire.

She took a break, sitting on top of one of the rocks that freed her of the summer heat. She felt lighter and heavier at the same time. The amount of body water she sweated out should make her mummified from her dehydration, while the amount of body muscle she accumulated made her feel as heavy as an anchor. She chugged from her water impatiently, restoring the liquid she expelled from her body.

Her eyes closed when the soothing water trickled down her throat. The peaceful encounter was halted when her throat closed on itself from a sudden jolt of fear as a circling bird above her screeched unexpectedly. She coughed and lidded her bottle with exasperation furrowing on her wet brow. 

She held out her free arm to the needy bird that had the courage to scare her, and the bird gracefully accepted her offer. The bold bird allowed her to unclip the container attached. She pulled out the folded contents, and sent the bird on its way.

"Tem,

Me missing you? The clouds in Konoha have been more relaxing without you here. Not having your constant nagging to entertain you, your childish whining about how bored you are, or your scolding at me for falling asleep while you ramble on about the most pointless topics. It's a nice feeling.

Then again, it's weird not having the responsibility of forcing you to 'relax'. So maybe I am missing you, what of it?

Are there any clouds in Suna yet?

Shikamaru"

Temari blushed a deep red that she argued was just from the heat, 'Maybe I am missing you, what of it?', attracted her eyes for longer than it should have. Why did he have to be so damn forward about things! She folded the papers and shoved them in her pouch.

"What does he want from me? A confession?", she shouted to the emptiness of the sand. She thrashed her fan in a circle around her, causing a huge storm of wind to surround the field she was in. The spinning tornado created picked up the surrounding sand narrowing it upwards. The tightening wind enclosed on her, drenching her in sand. She coughed her lungs out, trying her hardest to free them of sand, "... That backfired.", she grumbled to herself. She shook like a wet dog, trying to get most of the sand off of her body.

She sighed, looking up at the bared blue sky. She didn't understand her location. The wind was constantly blowing, constantly moving, and taking advantage of its surroundings, why couldn't it bring one lone cloud? But there was none. Not one. No hint of any coming soon. Just sand and the harsh wind.

Temari trailed to her room, propping her fan on its rightful place after thoroughly cleaning her valued possession. She grabbed the now crinkled papers from her pouch and put them on her desk, leaving them lonely and unanswered. She headed to her shower to cleanse the sweat and grime off she accumulated from her training.