Book One- The Enemy

Chapter 19

3 years ago

Only a year into being Commander of the Leaf's western force and he'd figured out his opponent, mostly, the way she enforced her tactical plans and the way she chose to strike his troops mercilessly, as well as her ruthless nature during battle. She had proven easy to keep alive as her fire seemed to fuel her wrath and any weakness she had hidden deep down, if she had one that was.

It didn't take long, about three months into his promotion, to realize he respected the woman immensely for her sheer strong offensive approach that doubled as her defense, his father was right to warn him about her.

His base camp had been informed of a sudden raid of Sand shinobi attacking the small highland town of Bara, population of less than hundred townsfolk, named after the herbal roses grown there, and the furthest town west of the Land of Fire. It was taken back from the Sand years ago during the third great war, or something like that, those details written in ancient scroll reports handed down from previous commanders.

The Leaf shinobi stationed there, now dead, were meant to protect the town and people, after finally being taken back a month ago from the three yearlong hold The Land of Wind had on it. It had been a struggle and since they entered the town many have frowned upon their presence, unusual for a previous owned territory, stating they sought peace and wished to be away from the war between the nations. Shikamaru had hesitated at first to take over with the town the people inside reluctant to the sudden change, but it had been his order and he never questioned it, until tonight.

He'd planned the tactical retaking of the town in a matter of hours and prepared his unit of forty to capture it back while the enemy remained inside the fenced walls, recovering, the best time to strike when they were still weakened from their days battle. With his unit hidden in the trees surrounding the town, he had taken two with him to evaluate the best course to choose based on their numbers.

Pressed against the dark brown shingled roofs Shikamaru stared down the silence among the two Sand shinobi standing guard before the largest home in town, said to be filled with the elders, woman, and children, the men of the town were seen further outside the gates, not very many as they had joined in the ranks of the Sand in the last year, why he still couldn't figure out. The two guarding Sand shinobi both turned their attention to the command called out to them, prompting his attention to turn to the commander of the front, Temari of the Sand.

"Goro Jun report" The dominating demanding voice, free of all feminine charm that most woman possessed, echoed down the main pathway instantly tensing Shikamaru's body, he figured the commander of the Sand would be here to oversee the takeover, he'd planned her into the possibilities anyways. Cruel, merciless woman who mocked her enemies under an iron fist, surprising at first, he understood now why she led the marches and captured so much of the Fire country in a year of her command, she was deadly as she was beautiful.

"Lady Temari, we've supplied food for the woman and children inside and sent the men to help deliver the rest of the supplies in with our shinobi, none of them were killed but a few were hurt some still missing, probably ran from the Leaf's defense. They had traps set outside of town" The guards bowed to her as she approached them, dipping deeply to her presence.

Then there was the way her shinobi revered her, he'd seen it more than once, they way they basically worshiped the ground she walked on. Shikamaru found it strange that the Suna army admired her in such a way, then again, he could recognize the way she was constantly at the front leading without a single regard for the lives of his shinobi, she wasn't playing a game she was serious, and her troops were no different. That or she was a stunning woman who seemed to twist a man's heart with a single smile, he'd leave that inner remark in the back of his mind with her teal eyes. Her tactic proved a challenge to even himself, she fought with such wrath he was still surprised he'd lasted this long against her, and reports from the previous captains, now dead, of the Leaf defense always described her as ruthless.