Whispering Bells

Icha Icha Confessions

The silence between them was deafening. After they had passed the gates, Shikamaru had dropped her hand and returned them to his pockets. He kept his eyes peeled on their surroundings, but never once glanced at her. She returned her hand back to her side.

"Shikamaru, I was doing what I thought –"

"Now is not the time to talk. There are too many ears and eyes" he replied quietly. His voice was cold, all facets of warmth erased.

The rain crashed down on their cold bodies as they made their way to the Jinku district to find an inn. The city was unlike any she had ever seen before. The roads were narrow and dark. The buildings ominously reached the sky, lights littered throughout the towers. It appeared that people did not live in houses here, but in these large apartment complexes. Children were sitting on the wet balconies watching the streets below.

The streets were very busy but oddly quiet. There appeared to be people lurking in every direction. On the stairwells, in the alleys, in the streets. Everyone was watching but not talking.

They were now in the Jinku district, and Shikamaru was speaking with an inn owner. He soon returned with a key. "Let's go settle in, we can plan the rest of our day from there."

They walked up the dusty stairs of the inn to their room at the end of a short hall. The inn was nothing to write home about, but it did appear to be clean and tidy from the entrance. Shikamaru turned the key and opened the door. They both quickly assessed the room.

"That's a huge improvement from the place we stayed last night!" Temari said brightly as she dropped her rain soaked bag to the floor.

The room, while quite small, was very neat and tidy. There was a queen sized bed, a small couch, table, and a bathroom with a shower and toilet.

Shikamaru dropped his bag and gingerly took off his coat and hung it on a hook by the door. He glanced at his hand. It was covered in blood.

"Is that blood!? Shikamaru, what happened?" Temari said rushing over.

He stalked past her quickly to the bathroom. Once inside he peeled his shirt off and looked at his arm in the mirror. When Hiroki had checked him, he had squeezed so hard that the wound had reopened. It had kind of resealed in a congealed mess, but had bled down his arm earlier. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it to try to clean up the blood.

Temari peered into the bathroom. "Here let me help, I think you should –"

"I've got it." Shikamaru stated. He slowly was dabbing the now red-tinged facecloth up his arm inching closer and closer to the wound.

Temari took a step back. Why was he acting this way? She had come up with a plan that had successfully gotten them into the city. Shouldn't he be happy? Or was his pride hurt so much that his plan was not the one utilized. Either way, his behaviour to her was unfair.

She walked over to her bag, and got out the bandage and ointment and returned to the bathroom. "Here at least let me help you re-bandage your arm."

He was about to object but then considered that he would not be able to wrap his own arm at that angle properly. He sighed and then held out his arm.

She washed her hands then took the washcloth from him. As she put her hand on his bicep she shuddered at his temperature.

"You're ice cold! Why do you feel like an ice cube?"

"Maybe because I was standing in the rain for over an hour wondering if someone had hurt or killed you." His eyes glared at her accusingly.

Her expression softened as she gently washed the wound. "Shikamaru, listen. I only did –"