Temari's POV:

I sighed and ran a hand through my long and wet sandy blonde hair.

(A/N I know it's canon that Temari has short blonde hair, but I wanna make her have long hair. Deal with it.)

After the talk with the Hokage a few days ago, I had been staying with Shikamaru's family in the main Nara branch household. I was staying in a large guest bedroom. Right accross from Shikamaru's room.

He would visit me often before dissapearing back into his room to work on the situation at hand. Trying to figure out what caused it, the jutsu's creator, and how we can fix it. It wasn't looking good.

He was working non-stop. Not giving himself time to eat, shower, or to sleep even. Dark circles were forming under his eyes and he was getting thinner. Whenever I offered him food or told him to sleep he would just wave me off and say he was fine.

Lie.

It was almost as if he wouldn't give up until he figured how to to fix this. Like there was a possibilty that something terrible eould happen if he didn't figure it out ASAP.

Not like it wasn't true.

At any random time, any of us could be taken to a different part in time. Either to the past, or even more frightening, the future.

A shiver ran down my spine and I snapped out of my thoughts when there was a knock at my door.

"It's Shikamaru." His muffled voice traveled into the room. "Come in" I offered, sitting up from my laid back position on my bed.

Shikamaru opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him. He took one step towards me but then froze, staring at me with wide eyes.

I gave him a questioning look as I looked him over. "What?"

He was definetly thinner. His cheeks seemed more hollow from the lack of food. His hair was in it usual ponytail but it was messier than usual. He was getting paler as well.

He blinked. "Your..." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "My...?"

He lifted his arm and weakly pointed a finger at me. "Hair. Your hair." My eyes widened.

'I forgot to put my hair up in ponytails after my shower!'

"Uhhh." I said, trying to hide my hair behind my back, moving it from it's position on my shoulders. My movements faltered though, when Shikamaru moved in front of me.

He intense stare sent goosebumps over my skin. His gaze softened when he reached out, and gently grabbed a piece of my hair. Placing it on my shoulder, he leaned closer to me.

"Shi... Shikamaru." I breathed, fighting the heat that was trying to reach my cheeks with all my strength. I would not let him see me blush.

He was close enough that I could feel his breath on my skin, and I could pick up on his scent. I stared into his dark brown eyes and tried my best to breath. A strange feeling settled in my stomach, leaving me confused.

I have never felt like this. Was it because of Shikamaru? Because I might have the tiniest amount of fondness for him? If so, he needs to stop being so- so... Shikamaru.

"Temari." Shikamaru said, gently putting my hair behind my ear. Goosebumps littered my skin and my breathing became jagged at the sound of his voice. It had never had this effect on me until recently. After I started becoming fond of his lazy ass.

Shikamaru's eyes darted around my face, "You..."

"I...?"

He stared at me for a second for he blinked and shook his head. "You should keep your hair down more often. It looks nice." He said, retracting his arm.

I held back my sigh. I should have known Shikamaru wouldn't do anything to take advantage of the moment. But it's like like I wanted him to. I would've pushed him away if he did. Yeah.

"Gee. Thanks." I deadpanned, throwing him a glare. He nodded his head as reply, taking a seat next to me on the bed.

"So," I turned to him. "Any progress?"

He sighed, "Far from." He dragged a hand over his face. "No matter what way I look at it, theres nothing. Shikadai isn't much help. No matter how smart he is. As a matter of fact. None of the kids who traveled here are any help. They don't remember anything other than a blinding white light. The scroll didn't travel with them, so I can't look at it to try to decipher what jutsu was sealed in it. Or even better, who put it there."

The thick feeling of fear and anxiety settled in my stomach. "What... What about Tenten? Have you asked her about it? I mean, she does specialize in sealing her weapons in scrolls. I bet she can seal jutsus in scrolls too. And, doesn't it take a very skilled shinobi to seal that strong of a jutsu in a scroll to begin with?"

He nodded, a grim look on his face. "I've already spoken with Tenten. Like you said, she told me a jutsu of that strength takes a very skilled shinobi to seal it within a scroll. But, she said she doesn't know of any other shinobi will the same skill set as her. So that leaves us with nothing. No where to start looking."

His words hit me like a kunai to the stomach, (unfortunetly I know how that feels). We had nowhere to start looking. Even if we were to try, we had no leads.

There was no recorded jutsu with this ability. So we could only assume that it was a newly developed jutsu. A jutsu we knew nothing about. A jutsu powerful enough to rip a hole in time itself. A jutsu that could take any of us. At anytime.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this." Shikamaru said, standing up and heading towards the door. "Naruto invited us to go have ramen at Ichiraku. If your interested."

I raised a curious eyebrow at him. "Your actually gonna eat? I'm surprised. I thought you didn't need food."

As if on cue I heard the loud growl of his stomach. I chuckled as he clutched his stomach. "Looks like you do need food."

"No." Shikamaru shook his head, still keeping his back to me. "I'm fine. You go. I'm gonna stay here and keep trying to figure this out."

A low growl erupted from my throat. He thinks he has a choice. He's been ignoring my attempts to get him to eat for days. Along with my attempts to get him to sleep. He will not. Ignore this.

I flickered into exsistence in front of him before he could turn the doornob. His eyes widened in shock and fear flashed in his eyes as he saw the expression plastered on my face.

"I'm sorry, did you think that was a suggestion?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. "Let me rephrase that. We are going to Ichiraku's. And you will eat. At the very least, three bowls of their largest ramen."

He audibly gulped and nodded his head.

"Good." I said, moving out of the way so that he could leave. "I'll see you outside in five minutes." He nodded once more and left.

I sighed and walked over to the mirror that was provided for me. Putting my hair in my usual for ponytails, I strapped my fan onto my back. I then walked out of my room and made my way to Shikadai's room.

My view on my future son? He's a pain in the ass. He's lazy and is always complaing about how troublesome every little thing is. Either that or he's making sarcastic remarks about the situation at hand. Half the time, I have to fight the urge to knock him unconcious.

How the hell do I deal with two lazy asses in the future?

I knocked and waited a few seconds. When I didn't hear a reply I walked in, "Shikadai, we're going to-"

Ssnnnnooorrreeee

I looked down at Shikadai's sleeping figure with a startled expression. I stood at the side of his bed, pondering wether or not I should wake him up so we could go to Ichiraku's. He looked so peaceful. Well, he probably won't have to fight in a war. He needs to know what the oppisite of peace looks like.

Taking my fan off of my back, I then carefully and quietly approached him. I poked him with my fan and he simply rolled around the bed for a few seconds before going back to his unmoving state of slumber.

I glared at him and pulled back my fan. I then proceeded to shove him in the side with my steel fan and he rolled off the bed. Hitting the ground with a painful sounding thud.

He groaned loudly as I walked over to the other side of the bed. He rubbed his back where it contacted the ground as he looked up at me, sending me a glare. I glared right back at him and slid my fan back onto my back.

"Kaa-saaan. Why would you do that?" He groaned, standing up slowly. I huffed and crossed my arms. "I tried waking you up nicely."

"Yeah, sure you did." He starcastically retorted. I rolled my eyes and I turned around and started walking to the door. "We're going to Ichiraku's. I'll see you outside in three minutes."

"Three minutes?!" He yelled, rushing to make his bed and fix his hair. I chuckled at his behavior and took my leave, closing the door behind me.

Walking outside, I was met with Shikamaru's thin figure. He looked frail and weak. He absolutely needed food and sleep. And I would make sure all he would do for the next two weeks is eat and sleep.

About a minute later, Shikadai ran out of the main Nara household. We then started on our way to Ichiraku's.

Together.

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I'm so sorry it took two extra days to post this chapter!

I feel terrible about it. I just had no inspiration for the longest time. Then when I finally figured out what I was gonna write I didn't have the time to do so.

I'm soooo sorry!

Enjoy!