Night 50: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[perfectrecord]

[From here]Unlike the western section, the central portion of this hallway was completely deserted. On any other night, von Karma would have used this to his advantage to arrive at one of the upstairs locations before anyone else did. The Janitor's Closet, for one, contained a large cache of metal that he could use to compensate Mr. Geeste for

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[bothersomewoman]

That had been predictable. Temari hardly made it halfway down the hall before Shikamaru came running after her, just as planned. The kid could be stubborn when he wanted, and while he was still trying to lecture Temari about her actions, he was following her to do it. That counted as a win in her book, or at least, the first step toward one.

"No, I don't have a clue where I'm going, or what exactly I should be doing at this moment. But you should, if you really know as much as you say you do." And that, ultimately, was what Temari hoped to drag out of the Leaf-nin, even if the information had to come with some kicking and screaming. "Which means that I can at least work with you on whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, unless you were going to cower under your blanket for the night.

"You shouldn't be here. Not if you've actually grown any." Temari couldn't say that he had for certain, outside of his height. But given the physical difference, and how much time it represented if Shikamaru really was right about them being drawn from different times, she expected a lot more of the guy who all but defeated her at the chuunin exams. "Which either means you're still a crybaby, or this place is formidable. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now, but only because I'm feeling gracious. Just don't expect my patience to last if you keep acting this way."

[toobothersome]

She'd gotten here what, five minutes ago? Her demeaning attitude wasn't anything new, and he fully expected her to act like she knew everything even when she admitted that she didn't. He didn't feel like arguing, though--the night was enough of a pain in the ass already, and it was getting worse by the moment.

"Yes," he said, with clearly burdened patience. "I do know what you should be doing right now. Not running around unarmed, for one." He tossed her one of his kunai, not bothering with a warning. "Not running around at all, for two." Shikamaru wouldn't keep his fingers crossed on that one. "What I'm trying to accomplish is keeping the other ninja safe, and if you want to work with me on that, the first thing you need to do is stop running headfirst into the most dangerous places."

Even at fifteen or sixteen or however old she was, Temari knew he'd follow her. Though she was right, that expectation needed to stop and it needed to stop now, before they ended up somewhere without an exit. If he had to make up plans to keep her occupied the way he'd intended to do with Sakura, he'd do it.

"I think the others went outside," he said. True so far. "This is the shortest way." He indicated the hallway behind them with a tilt of his head, though he didn't intend to lead her all the way to the door. There were plenty of relatively safe detours, detours that weren't filled with vicious birds. But then, would the birds attack Temari?

can't unthink can't unthink--

"Are you coming, or do you want to spend all night calling me names?" he asked a bit too quickly, glad that the dim light hid whatever warmth crept across his cheeks. The latter was a given, so the best he could hope for was 'both.'