Temari winced wearily as her dry and flaking finger-tips scratched at her equally moisture-deprived lower back. As she moved underneath her stained and shredding dress, she could feel the tips of her sand-filled hair rub against her hands. The fact that her blonde hair now reached her lower back gave an indicator of how long she had been in captivity and although it wasn't the only thing, she estimated a little over three months.

Smirking with what little energy she had left, she corrected herself inwardly. How long she had been in captivity with a group of paramilitaries- a different overlord of imprisonment from the ones who had dragged her from Suna in the first place.

A few voices echoed in the caves, causing the girl to still- her eyes wide and ears listening intently in case any of her captors were on their way to visit her. After a while, the noise died away and she allowed herself to relax, leaning back against the rock; her head heavy and drowsy after the energy it had taken to listen and watch with such intensity.

Letting her eyes close, Temari swallowed and licked her lips; as she did so she felt the lack of saliva in her mouth; how her tongue scratched against the roof of her mouth, how her teeth stuck to her upper lip. She reminded herself that even if she wanted to cry at that moment, her body could not probably muster enough water to allow the tears to fall this time.

Propped up on the dusty cave wall, she wrapped her arms around her bent knees and torso and told herself for the five-hundredth time that she was still in Suna and that as long as she was, everything was okay.

Gaara could find her in Suna. If she ever managed to escape she could navigate Suna better than anyone or anywhere else.

A small, dull voice in her head reminded her that escaping would have meant suicide. She had no energy. She needed to eat. She needed to drink. And at least here, the Akatsuki kept her fed and somewhat watered. Out on her own in the desert, there would be no such comfort.

There were more voices in the background and she sat up quickly once again. This time they were coming in.

Wrapping her arms tighter around her body, she prepared for the entrance.

Only one came, and even through the dim light that the cave provided she could see that it was Itachi. Nothing in that surprised her- it was usually he who served her the meagre meals. Nonetheless, he usually brought a companion; some loud, annoying comrade who would make lewd remarks about her and watch her eat with an unsettling focus. Itachi's presence ensured that they never overstepped the bounds but they left her with no doubt that had he not been there, a different result would have ensued.

Wordlessly, he set down the plate of food and small flagon of murky water in front of her before leaning against the wall opposite her.

"Eat," he ordered calmly, the red eyes gleaning in the broken sunlight although Temari did not need to be told twice. She understood why he ordered her to do so; it was a force of habit. In the early days of this specific captivity she had refused to eat which more often than not had resulted in a force-feeding. But that was before.

Remaining as inwardly turned as she could, she grasped at the plate and sat it atop her knees; her finger tips dragged quickly at the food and conveyed it quickly to her mouth- in the dim light she could not see what it was she was eating although it tasted salty.

Itachi watched her calmly for a moment, maybe surprised at her continuing obedience.

After she had finished with the food and clattered the plate back to the ground, she reached for the water, which she intended to savour with all the time Itachi would allow.

"Stand up," came his next command, which echoed about the room and caught her off-guard.

She looked at him questioningly.

He nodded to show her she had heard him correctly.

"Why?" she asked, her voice sounding strange to her ears as she spoke so little these days.

With purpose he strode over to her. The pace of his feet and the clenched fists made her aware quickly of what was about to come and forced her to acquiesce.

"Alright, alright," she interrupted weakly, placing her hands on the wall behind her to help her to stand although Itachi got there before her once more.

"Never mind," he hissed and she could hear the frustration in his voice as he paced in the other direction. Hearing it made her feel like crying for the second time since they had taken her away and she wondered if she could test her theory from before. Swallowing again, Temari wondered if she should have let him hit her- but that was impossible. When Itachi hit, he hit hard and she couldn't afford to take such a hit.

Sighing, Itachi finally swung around to face her and she looked up at him imploringly.

"I was wondering how you were managing to stay the same weight on the amount we were feeding you," he bit out, glaring down at her. "You always did insist on making things difficult."

"I hate these things."

"Only because you won't enjoy yourself at them!"

"No! It's because they're horrible and stupid and I feel like an idiot in this dress."

"You don't look so terrible in it."

"Why, Kankuro, I think that may be the first nice thing you've ever said to me."

"Well, I was due."

She snorted and tugged at the lace sleeves that adorned the burnt gold ball gown she was currently swaddled in.

"I don't even know why he insisted I come. I never do. Never have. It was never a problem before," she continued to complain; her back still pressed against the wall of the ballroom. All in all, the dress showed off far more skin that she was prepared to display and if she had to stand with her back to the wall the whole night, she was more than happy to do so."

"Oh come on, even you aren't that stupid."

"I'm sorry?"

"You know full well why the Lord and Master insisted you come," her brother snorted dryly.

"I do?"

Rolling his eyes, Kankuro swung his head around dramatically to face hers. "It's no coincidence that every eighteen year old boy from a good family in the surrounding nations is here," he continued knowingly.

Feeling her brain click into motion, Temari's stomach dropped as she surveyed the room and momentarily caught her father's eye. He looked angry.

"Oh God," she breathed in a panic whilst Kankuro laughed heartily.

"Say hello to your future husbands, Sis!" he called cheerily as she bolted quickly, somehow managing to run in the high heels she had been told to wear.

After she had made it through the doors leading to the Grand Ballroom, she picked up the pace, running along the red velvet carpet and down the hall towards the servants' quarters. Some of the maids had allowed her to hide there on occasion- maybe this time they would be obliging again.

Her hair flying out of the clasps that held it upwards as she ran, she twisted her neck to allow her a view of the doors behind should her father be following her. Not looking where she was going, she all but tripped as she rounded the corner to the servants' quarters. Thankfully, a pair of hands grasped her around the shoulders and pulled her upwards.

Flustered and with her hair in her eyes, Temari turned to face her rescuer, only to find she had her hands pressed firmly to his chest.

"S-s-sorry," she stuttered quickly, removing her hands from the boy, who was a good deal taller than her, with astonishing eyes and cheekbones she could have cut herself on. "And thank you."

The boy regarded her with a cool detachment.

"W-who are you?" she asked breathlessly, trying to pull up her bra straps and straighten her hair with little success.

The boy looked around before deciding to answer.

"A servant," he replied dully, leaning against the wall and still watching, distinctly unimpressed by her.

"Oh," Temari replied uselessly, thinking that she hadn't seen him around before but his white shirt and black trousers suggested he was telling the truth. She was about to find a way to convince him to conceal her presence when she heard her father's voice yelling her name from behind her.

Wincing, she panicked once more as the footsteps grew louder and the angry voice grew closer.

"Temari! What on earth do you think you are…"

Eyes wide, she looked around for a place to cower but when none presented itself and the voice continued to grow she did the only think she could think of.

Lunging at the servant, she threw her arms around his neck and slamming their bodies together, she kissed him messily.

"Temari! How dare you! You have guests!"

From her fathers' voice, she could tell he had rounded the corner and so she unstuck her lips from the boys' and turned around to face him defiantly.

Being too ready to confront, she didn't notice the confused expression gracing the King's face but instead barrelled on with her plan.

"He's my boyfriend," she announced loudly to the three of them, feeling the boy stiffen beside her.

"Oh," the King said after a moment, taking the wind out of Temari's sails with his calm. After another moment, he spoke again. "Fine."

Those were her fathers' final words, as he turned on his heel and swept away from the pair.

Shocked into stillness, Temari watched him go, her mouth hanging open. Eventually, she managed to turn around only to find the boy still watching her with the same detached indifference- although she noticed his cheeks were slightly ruddy.

"Itachi Uchiha," he stated sardonically through narrowed eyes. "Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness."

After that incident, Itachi had become impossible to shake. Not because he imposed himself upon her in any way, but because of her father's relentless insistence on setting up dinners and parties and outings between the two families.

She was constantly unsure of how to break the news to her father that they were not actually a couple and that the only time they had ever kissed had been the most ungraceful affair of her life.

The subject was never broached in the end; Itachi went along with the outings with the same indifference as he did everything and she never had any indication that his feelings for her ran any deeper than mild interest until, as was usual in her life, Kiba ruined everything.

Another stupid Sunday afternoon wasted down at the oasis with her younger brother acting like an idiot by splashing about needlessly, and her youngest brother stationed moodily underneath as many umbrellas as he could find.

Her sheer weariness at the whole event was topped off by the appearance of Kiba and the knowledge that the Uchiha's were on their way where she would inevitably have to engage in another faux mating ritual for the happiness of her father.

Shading herself somewhat by means of her own small umbrella, she winced whenever another splash sounded and a few drops of water landed over her bare legs and arms.

"Morons," she muttered under her breath.

"Didn't quite catch that one, Sis!" Kankuro yelled gleefully, splashing some more water in her direction.

"Oh, smile, Princess!" Kiba called, after she rolled her eyes again. "It wouldn't kill you."

She was about to retaliate when the pair were loudly chastised by her father, who sat a little further away in deep conversation with Gaara.

Knowingly, she cracked a smile at the two of them after which she received a stuck-out tongue courtesy of Kankuro.

She was just about returned to her book, when she looked up to see Kiba sauntering towards her.

"You win by default," he joked a little stiltedly, before settling himself beside her underneath the small umbrella.

"I would have won either way," she said steadily, regarding him narrowly. "Kankuro knows I'd beat him in a fight any day. In fact, I have."

"I'm sure," Kiba commented, grinning at her. "Why don't you come into the water anyways? It's boiling under here."

"I'm fine," Temari stated, returning to her book and hoping he'd leave.

"Oh come on," he coaxed, leaning over so that their shoulders were touching. A move she would have found annoying had he not then begun pinching her thigh- an action which trumped the previous by quite a large margin.

She was about to kick the little mongrels' ass whenever a large shadow fell over the pair of them.

"Temari?"

Squinting upwards, she recognised Itachi's outline standing squarely and firmly bearing down on them.

"Is this boy bothering you?"

"Eh…" she tried to reply a little oddly before Kiba scrambled up, clearly nervous, and removed himself from the situation.

"You must be…" he began awkwardly, before Itachi cut him off.

"Itachi. Temari's boyfriend."

Blanching as he said it- for her father and his were clearly out of earshot-, Temari looked up to try and see his face but found she couldn't for the sunlight's shadow.

As Kiba scrambled away back over to Kankuro, Itachi watched him go before turning to her.

"Excuse me whilst I go and greet your father," he said stiffly before leaving.

She was on the brink of ignoring his remark and moved to take a sip of the drink he had brought, but a swift kick from him sent the mug flying.

"You can't drink that," he said bitterly, "it's not safe."

"I hadn't thought you would care," she responded with equal severity, not bothering to look at him as she inwardly bemoaned the wasted liquid swirling about her feet, dirty as it was.

"I care because I care about the goals of our organization," he stated frankly, now back to his usual emotionless state.

"Yes and one of the long term goals of your organisation is to kill me," Temari replied, sliding her fingers through the wetness, thinking that even some amount of moisture would be beneficial to her worn body.

Itachi said nothing for a few moments though she could feel his eyes on her and she wondered if he was running their past through his minds eyes as she had begun to do on the occasions when he visited her.

"Don't think that this changes anything," he said eventually, picking up her plate and sweeping towards the exit. "Your life will be forfeit if it needs to be. If necessary, your child's too."

Shikamaru's collar was too tight. It was itching at his neck which was already sweating from the heat in this ballroom. If he was honest, he felt like he was choking although he wasn't sure that the collar was the only reason for this. The sweat of his brow was beginning to drip down the sides of his face and as one drop hit the table and soaked into his napkin, he decided that enough was enough.

Standing, he stormed towards the balcony of the hotel as quickly as he could, dodging out of the way of anyone who might stop him and actually want to speak to him. The fresh air hit him as he made his way out into the nights sky and saw the stars above and in the three seconds that it took for him to cool down, reality came rushing back to him and it was all he could do not to leap over the edge and begin running towards the city's gates.

Instead, he let all of his pride go and found a cigarette in his pocket.

Three months.

It had been three months.

He couldn't believe it. How had they not found her in three months? How was she still missing and how was he managing to function amidst it all?

After she had been taken from the palace it had taken all of Neji and Choji's strength to hold him back from running after her. He had known at the time that even if he had managed to go after her, they or the desert would have killed him but every impulse in his body had also known that it was a mistake to let her go with them.

For the past three months he had been proven right. All of them were idiots to think that it would be fine to send her out into the desert and that they could just bring her back.

Blowing smoke out into the sky, he watched it spiral upwards and thought of how the situation was making his head ache every time he thought about it. Choji had gone back to the Aid Centre to break the news to Kankuro, Neji and Ten Ten had returned with him to Konoha meanwhile after much arguing they had reluctantly left Hinata, Naruto and Kida in the Palace. They were determined to wait for Gaara to arrive, which, they assured them, would happen any moment as soon as he heard his sister was missing.

"You know, I'm not sure Ino will be alright with having a husband that smokes."

His father's voice echoing behind him made Shikamaru jump though he didn't turn around. He pictured his bride-to-be in her purple ball gown twirling around the room behind him and knew that she wouldn't really mind. Having a husband was all she cared about really. He had known that since his return.

"And I'm not sure your mother will be okay with her son spending his whole engagement party hiding from his guests."

Anger swelled in him. These were such stupid concerns when her life was in danger. When they were planning to injure her in order to provoke a revolution and start another war. Already irritation had been growing within the Sunan population at Konoha's lack of action. Quiet voices of dissent had muttered along the streets growing slowly louder at ever passing day. Shikamaru couldn't pretend that he didn't agree with them. He had been told at one point that his father was planning a revolt.

Where was it? Where was it when she was terrorised in the desert so that he could bide his time?

He had grown surly. And it had not gone unnoticed.

"I can't keep planning parties and choosing cakes and pretending like nothing is wrong when she is out there," he said, his voice contrasting with the jovial tone of his father's.

Shikaku sighed.

"Have you told anyone what happened in Suna?" his father asked, now coming to stand beside him. "It might make people understand a little easier."

"No it wouldn't," he retorted, passing him the lighter before he even asked for it.

"It would help me to understand."

"You wouldn't want to hear," Shikamaru said more firmly, throwing the butt off the edge of the balcony, "and I couldn't ask you to keep the secret from either Ino or mum."

There was a tension in the air now. It was the first time that he had ever acknowledged to his father that the relationship between himself and Temari had changed whilst they were in the Palace. He had no doubt that his father had his own ideas about what had happened but had been too wary to ask.

"You shouldn't have…" his father began wearily but Shikamaru exploded before him.

"You shouldn't be waiting!" he yelled, turning to face him as the rage bubbled over. "I can't wait for you to find the right time to launch your plans! If they hurt her…"

The thought became too much and he sagged to let his head rest against the cold marble of the balcony's edge.

"You have stopped me going after her," he continued lowly, "you have forbid me from even speaking to Choji and you have made sure that every possible way I could help to bring her back has been thwarted. Why?"

"Because you are dangerous like this," Shikaku replied simply, now lighting his own cigarette as his face de-registered the shock that had arrived upon his son shouting at him. "And you are even more dangerous to her. If you try to rescue her and fail we lose not only her but you as well."

It wasn't a good enough excuse even though it was a logical one.

"I have done almost everything you have ever asked of me," Shikamaru said weakly, standing straight now, his head still pounding. "I am marrying a woman I do not love and following a path I do not desire all at your request. I have never even asked you why I must do all of these things. But I cannot let her die. Not even if you ask me to. I wish I could make you see why…"

"Shikamaru?"

They were interrupted by the head of his fiancé appearing round the door, the jewels in her hair glittering against the moonlight.

"Shikamaru, come and dance," she said cheerfully, and in truth, she looked so young and happy and carefree in that moment that he envied Ino more than anyone else. He also bemoaned the fact that he could not be happy with her.

"In a minute," he replied gently. She gave him a glowing smile and returned to the ballroom. "If you force me to continue to do nothing, I'll leave," Shikamaru told his father starkly, his eyes boring into the elder man's. "And I won't be coming back."

He was walking back towards the interior of the building, when he heard his father cough quietly.

"Itachi Uchiha," he said cryptically, causing Shikamaru to stir.

"What about him?"

"You should have paid more attention in your history lessons," Shikaku said wryly. "He was her betrothed," he told his son, causing Shikamaru's stomach to lurch. "He is now in the Akatsuki and she is by his side and when they have their country back she will marry him, mark my words."

"She went with them to save Hinata!" Shikamaru spat, his temper flaring again.

"Then why is she still there?" Shikaku asked calmly. "Why hasn't Gaara or Kankuro or any of the other Sunans' you encountered in the Palace managed to rescue her?"

These were questions that Shikamaru had been running over in his head for the past three months and he didn't have any answer to them yet.

"It is because they know he is with her and that he will not harm her. I want her safe for the good of her country," Shikaku went on bleakly, "not so that you can marry her."

And with that he disappeared inside, leaving Shikamaru alone with the moon and his doubts.

"Get up."

"Is it even morning yet?

"We're leaving. Konoha is calling, Your Highness."

Ino woke up the next morning with her head swimming. She had drank far more alcohol than she had meant to but the purple glow of the lights, being surrounded by so many good friends and the fact that her engagement ring was by far the biggest of any of the girls there had put her in such a good mood that she couldn't quite help herself.

Also, that bartender made one of the best Manhattan's she had ever tasted. As an added bonus he managed to hide the fact that she was drinking them from her mother as well.

But, she was awake early nevertheless, as her first official wedding dress fitting was to take place that very morning. It made her giddy with excitement to think of things actually moving forward, given how surly Shikamaru had been recently. She thought that maybe she could instil some excitement into him with the thought that they would finally be moving towards the aisle.

And so she skipped happily along the deserted streets of Konoha, intent on getting to her favourite bakery before it opened; she wanted some pastries for her bridesmaids whilst they waited on her and then they would 'ooh' and 'aah' appropriately as they should when she appeared.

Her excitement was slightly dulled however at the amount of dust in the air. Konoha by nature was always dusty, but this morning it was getting in her eyes and causing them to water. She swiped it out of her eyes, trying to shield them by blinking rapidly. It was getting ridiculous.

And then the dust cleared. And as the dust cleared she saw that she had veered rapidly out of her intended direction and ended up at the gates of Konoha.

Ino was just about to scold herself and begin on her journey again when she saw something.

She blinked once more.

And she couldn't believe what she saw.

It was that girl.

She was tied to one of the gates, the ropes wrapped around her neck and hands binding her to the pillars.

Ino's brain suddenly started to think and she remembered that they had taken her. Shikamaru had spent some days there looking for her but then she'd been captured and taken. And they had brought her back here…but why? Her heart couldn't help but go out to the girl; her hair was ridiculously dirty, her clothes were in bits and she looked severely ill.

So she ran to her despite the fact that the girls head was shaking at her and as she got closer she could hear her yelling; "no, no, no."

Ino reached her and fell to her knees.

"I'm not much good with knots but I'll do the best I can," she breathed, going for the ones around her ankles. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" These seemed like stupid questions to Ino but she didn't know what else to say.

"You have to run," the girl croaked, her eyes leaking. "They have guns trained on me, they're waiting…"

"Waiting for what?" Ino asked, her mind stalling as soon as she heard the words 'guns'.

No sooner had she asked the question than a man appeared from behind the pillar, holding one of the biggest guns she had ever seen.

"For either her little brother to show, or some other dickhead from the Konoha military, in which case we kill first, ask questions later," the silver-haired man said devilishly, his grin scaring Ino more than anything ever had in her life.

Falling back on her knees and away from the girl, Ino pushed herself away.

"He won't come," she breathed shakily, somehow finding the courage to speak as the man watched her closely. "He was staying in my house…but he left."

"Left?!" the man shrieked. "Left to go where?!"

"I told you," the blonde Sunan breathed, her head falling forward onto her chest.

"I don't know," Ino said as he pointed the gun at her head and tears flooded her eyes, "I promise I don't know! I just know that he went somewhere else. He's not in Konoha."

"You have me," the girl said, her voice sounding as though her mouth were full of gravel. "You don't need Gaara. I am enough."

"You are not enough!" the gun-toting man spat, kneeling down to hiss in her ear. "We can't kill you. We can't even injure you anymore."

"Nobody else knows," the girl replied. "Not one person is aware…"

"If your body was ever found, then everyone would know. We are not going to injure the favourite daughter of Suna when she is carrying the heir to the throne!"

Ino's hands slipped from underneath her but she just managed to get her grip and not fall over. Her eyes drifted downwards to the girl's stomach, where she saw that it was indeed slightly rounded. She was about to protest that they couldn't hurt her when she saw that the Sunan was looking at her fearfully. And then not at all. Then she would not look at her anymore.

And for the second time that day, Ino began to think.

Hadn't he been different since they had returned? Hadn't she known in her gut that something was up? Hadn't she wondered why this time he had to help the army out, despite all the times he had refused to do so in the past?

"I wish I was as stupid as he thought I was," she whispered, forcing the girl to connect with her once more as this time her eyes did fill with tears.

"You!" the man growled, kicking Ino's leg. "You need to take me to someone in the military. High up."

"I'm sorry," the girl before her whispered as she seemed to pass out, her head lolling to the side.

Ino shook her head.

He moved towards her and she shrieked to feel the gun at her temple.

"Then you die."

"Here and here."

"That's stupid, we've already looked there."

"Yes, but maybe we missed something."

"It doesn't matter if we have; we're not going to find her by ourselves."

"Well then we need to think of something else!"

"Will you two stop bickering?" Hinata asked wearily, moving towards the two boys as they sat on the roof of the palace facing the mountains. "Arguing is the one thing that won't get us anywhere."

Naruto smiled at her causing her to blush a little but she knew as well that it wasn't him that was causing the arguments but Kiba. He had been sullen and cranky ever since their guests had departed for Konoha. Hinata was of the opinion that he was suffering from some form of cabin fever; as devastated as she was that they had lost Temari but unable to deal with it as well.

"I made some dinner."

"How did you find food?" Naruto asked her happily, giving her another smile that she wasn't sure she could withstand.

"I always make do," she said, trying not to sound proud. "There should be just enough for the three of us."

"I'm not hungry," Kiba interjected bitterly, not bothering to turn around to face them, his eyes still trained on the hills.

"You have to eat, Kiba," Hinata told him gently, not wanting to rile him anymore. "You need your energy."

"For what? For sitting around here waiting for the news of her death?"

"If the Inuzuka won't eat, then I will have his share."

The voice was so quiet that the three of them didn't hear it. But the wind carried it to their ears and they turned to spot the intruder on their company. And as had been her custom when she had first seen Temari, Hinata fell to her knees and tried to contain her tears.

The two boys jumped to their feet and she could practically feel Naruto shaking beside her.

"You will need your strength, Inuzuka for when we rescue my sister," Gaara stated, his eyes staring through them all. "You want your chance to prove your loyalty? Well this is it."

Ino shook her head vigorously. She had thought through the options whilst the tears streamed down her face and she knew she couldn't do what he said.

"I'm s-s-s-sorry," she tried, "I c-c-can't…"

"You either take me to who I ask, Blondie," the paramilitary growled, bending down closer to talk into her head, "or I blow your fucking head off and grab the next person who walks past."

"I can't do that," Ino said, wondering how her life had turned into this from what she had known just last night, "I'm sorry but you're just going to have to…"

Both of them looked up quickly as they heard footsteps coming through the clouds of dust behind them.

The bottom dropped out of Ino's stomach as she realised who it was.

"Temari…Ino…" Shikaku called as he reached them.

"Well, well Blondie," the man said, "looks like you can stay where you are after all."

Then there was a shot, a scream and darkness.

A/N: Well, well well hasn't it been forever and a day?! For some reason, tonight I wanted to continue Slave and actually publish a new chapter and here it is. I'm sorry for making everyone wait so long- if there is indeed anyone still here to read it!- and I hope it's been worth that wait.

Please let me know that you're still reading by offering up a much loved review!

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