Snow Blind

"You're an idiot."

Nara Shikamaru—ninja registration number 012611, blood type AB, rank Chuunin, affiliated with the nation of fire's hidden village of Konoha. IQ of over 200, specialization in tactical and inter nation dignitary work.

"How else do you cross a sea other than in a boat?"

Sabaku no Temari—ninja registration number 53-004, blood type O, rank Jounin, affiliated with nation of wind's hidden village of Suna. Above average intellect, specialization in support and inter nation dignitary work.

"Troublesome woman."

"Lazy ass."

Shikamaru sighed, not bothering to mask his annoyance; his breath was visible in the cool air, so even if he had been silent she would have known. It was freezing, their boat had rammed quite nicely into a sheet of ice, and they still had twenty miles to go before reaching the nearest seaport to the nation of snow. Shifting around his thick caribou hide jacket to lean over the boat's bow, Shikamaru looked toward the sky, mind flitting over the pessimistic atmosphere of the situation. He always wound up in irritating predicaments with this woman.

"Not a cloud in the sky, either."

Temari huffed.

Placing his fingers together tip to tip in an elliptical shape, Shikamaru decided there were three options—to walk across the ice to shore, attempt to break the ice and force the boat through, or to sit there and await help. Waiting was immediately taken off the list—they could die of hypothermia, starvation, or simply never be found out in the middle of the ocean. Breaking through the ice was a tempting choice, but arms and muscles tire easily in cool weather, their coats were heavy, and with only one pickaxe amongst both of them, they wouldn't get very far.

Breaking everything by hand would be troublesome.

Turning his head to the side slightly, he examined Temari. Her skirt was blowing roughly over thick fur and canvas boots, one gloved hand holding her giant fan. Shikamaru eyed her weapon for a moment, judging its razorblade edges and wind style techniques; it seemed like a good idea, if spiritual energy was not required for elemental attacks. Even though Temari had stamina, he was pretty sure she'd run low before they could get to shore. Being from a desert climate already made her susceptible to illness and environmental drain; energy drain would only make her weaker. Aside from that, even if Temari's fighting style could tear down a forest, wind being used over freezing water would only create more ice. They had enough of that to deal with without making the situation more difficult.

He sighed. Walking across the ice was not a better option than the other two. There were too many factors to take into consideration; the thickness of the ice, distance, wind chill, direction, and lack of daylight. The water they were sitting in was moving, which signaled right away that the ice was thinner than would be sufficient for travel. On the optimistic side, it was the middle of Hokkaido's winter season; that meant multiple weeks of freezing temperatures. Any ice that had developed over that time period would be compact. It also meant raging blizzards and white out conditions.

Which, he smirked bitterly, meant that staying in the small fishing boat twenty miles from shore would kill them. Even with all the variables and risks, they were in worse shape sitting there than they would be trying to get to shore.

If a storm hit while they were stuck in the forest, at least they could find or create a shelter of some sort. Caribou pelts, canvas and waterproof insulating layers only helped to keep them warm to a specific level; neither of them were conditioned for weather this cold. Foreign climates were troublesome.

"You take too long to think, lazy ass."

Shikamaru quirked open an eye, watching as she flung the furry edge of her scarf over her shoulder while she wrapped it around face. Temari leaned into the bottom of the boat, working on unzipping her backpack with insulated fingers.

"We can't sit here." He informed her, preparing for a catty response. "We're going to have to…"

She turned to face him, pulling down her scarf below her lips. "Walk to shore, I know."

He grumbled, trying to figure out why her eyes held a glint of egotism to them. They were both smart, he would have expected her to come to the same strategic conclusion; he wasn't worried about falling below her level. He could only imagine where she would have been at that moment if he hadn't been sent on the mission with her. Suna and the nation of Snow were not on good terms, and Shikamaru had been stuck as a liaison between both nations to help negotiate a peace treaty. Sometimes being a political dignitary was irritating, but he had been working with Temari for years and worked well with her. Since Konoha was already allied with both Suna and the nation of Snow, it only fit that he'd go with her as an escort and political partner.

Besides, it wasn't like a man to let a woman go off on a mission alone, no matter how troublesome it was.

"Here," Temari tossed a rope toward him, "tie it to the front of the boat, slowpoke. The sooner we get the boat fashioned into a sled, the quicker we can start moving."

His brow furrowed. "You're thinking ahead of me. That's unlike you."

"You're just focusing too hard on things that don't matter."

"Impatient." He huffed. She smirked.

Silence passed between the two while Shikamaru worked on improvising the boat for a sleigh; he had understood her intentions. A sled would make trekking across the ice more efficient and safer. By keeping their bags and supplies in the fishing boat instead of on their backs, they could retreat further and faster by leaving the boat and fleeing, should the ice crack. They were already slowed down from the extra weight of their coats, heavily insulated boots, weapons and multiple clothing layers; that put both of them at a mass nearing two hundred pounds each. Their foot travel would be slowed considerably; it was easy to get by going four to five miles an hour without extra weight and on solid ground. Shikamaru estimated they could move anywhere from two to three miles in each hour while walking across the slick ice.

If his estimates were correct, that meant they'd be travelling by foot for eight hours. Shikamaru shifted his body out of the boat, stepping cautiously upon the ice to test its resistance and gain sure footing. It shifted slightly under his weight, but balanced out as he stepped further over the sheet, stomping here and there to test the strength. He could hear Temari in the background pulling out of the boat as he surveyed the sky, using his hand to measure the distance between the horizon and the sun; it was five hands between.

"Troublesome… we only have five hours of sunlight left." He mumbled, turning around and taking hold of the rope fastened to the boat. "If we're going to walk across this, we need to get moving now."

"You don't have to tell me twice. Living in the desert teaches you how cold it can get at night."

Reaching into the boat to retrieve his supply back, Shikamaru glanced back at her haughty form, fan tied to her back, deer pelt over her shoulder and hands on her hips in wait. He stood, strapped the single shoulder sling bag over his right side, and pulled the boat onto the ice, holding one end of the rope toward her. Temari took hold, wrapping the rope around her hand.

"And like the desert, there's nothing to trap heat for the night. It's already below freezing, so I wouldn't be surprised if the temperature dropped in the negative numbers once the sun goes down."

Shikamaru watched her visibly stiffen as they walked, eyes displaying aggravation toward the cynicism of their circumstances. He had already known Temari was ill suited for the climate of the Okhotsk Sea regions, despite rigorous environmental training, and had prepared an additional ration pack with extra cloaks and fur pelts from his family's deer ranch back in Konoha. Although his family harvested the deer antler for medicinal and tool purposes, their coats were harvested upon death or slaughter for mission equipment manufacturing.

Temari looked at him, face stern. "We can't set up camp on the ice. We'll just have to keep moving."

He breathed harshly through his nose—a sound less loud than a snort but heavier than a sigh. "Don't push yourself too hard, troublesome woman. If you sweat, you're body will lose heat and you'll get sick."

"You say that like I haven't thought of it myself."

"It's irritating, but my mission is to make sure you get to the nation of snow safely." Shikamaru's voice hinted toward his irritation. "I'm making sure you're aware of the situation."

Temari smiled widely, moving her hand fisted around the rope upward. "You're too pessimistic for your own good."

His eyebrow arched slightly at her comment. Without responding Shikamaru turned his face back toward the horizon. They were headed due north.

He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyesight to the dimming sunlight teasing a peek over the horizon. Shikamaru grunted with irritation. Night fell exactly when he had expected. Unfortunately, they hadn't travelled as far as he'd hoped. The ice had been slick and caused their progress to slow considerably. Although they'd lost sight of the ocean for the last hour and a half, Temari had been kind enough to point out that shore had not come into view quite yet. It was doubtful he'd underestimated their distance from land; so if they had begun twenty miles out and travelled an hour over half his originally estimated time, then they must be at most twelve miles from shore and at the least, eight miles. A person could usually see seven miles ahead of themselves into the horizon, so the calculations made safe assumptions to fall back on; the only other variable was the fading light.

After a few moments of thought, he scratched that idea off his list. Twilight was still bright enough that their visual expanse was equal to sight at normal daylight.

"We've covered half the distance," he announced, "but it's getting dark. Can you speed up at all?"

Temari huffed, breath fogging the air in front of her. "I'm walking as fast as I can. You have no right to talk, anyway; you're walking just as slowly as I am."

"Troublesome."

If it was growing dark, they'd need some form of light. Shikamaru's supply bag housed three fire starters, a box of matches, candles, and one battery-free flashlight. The flashlight was probably their best bet; it was handshake operated, so they could recharge it easily, and the light would span the furthest ahead of them. His main concern was being able to keep an eye on the ice. Discoloration and changes in texture were telltale signs of ice hazards, and they'd need some form of illumination to pick out areas of concern.

"What has you so stirred up?"

He turned his face toward her, reaching into the pouch on his side. "Did you bring a flashlight with you?"

Confused, Temari placed her right hand into her coat pocket, pulling the light out. "Of course, you learn that in basic training—you always pack a flashlight."

"Turn it on then."

She made a face, but complied. White luminescence split toward the ice, its reflection glimmering mutely across a sprinkling of snow. Shikamaru mumbled a few words before flicking his own flashlight on and directing its ray toward the same spot. Snow was both a good and bad sign. It meant they were close to shore, but snow also worked as an insulator and caused ice to melt. Moving the beam of light ahead of them, Shikamaru took a few steps, moving the snow out of his way to check ice coloration.

"Watch your step—look for ice this color." He pointed his beam toward a patch of blue-black ice. "It's strong. I want to make sure the ice hasn't been melting."

Understanding crossed her face, and Temari nodded in response before continuing as instructed, turning toward her left and cautiously pressing her foot down to part the snow. He watched her momentarily before turning back to doing the same thing. It was unsafe to assume that the ice was safe if this patch test was fine, but there wasn't much else they could do in the dark. Standing there to weather out the night wasn't an option either; they had to keep moving, so taking precaution was the best thing they could do before continuing onward.

Shikamaru heard the crack in the ice before he heard her shriek, and was spinning around in time to watch her step back as the ice beneath her extended foot dipped into the water. Temari looked disgruntled and irritated more than frightened; her boots and clothing were still dry.

"Don't step on the weak stuff. Having to jump in after you is too troublesome."

She rolled her eyes. "At least you know where not to walk now, idiot."

He walked back toward the boat they'd left behind, digging around in one of their tool bags to retrieve the pick axe. Holding it out before him for judgment, he scrutinized the pointed to blunt blade and extent of the handle.

"What's that for?"

"Watch."

Taking a few steps to the right, he poked the ice with the axe until he heard a crack. Temari eyed him warily, arms crossed with impatience as he moved around, creating small cracks and following an intricate pathway nearby them. She was silent when he passed in front of her and dipped the axe into the water, drawing it toward the solid ice. Shikamaru kneeled carefully and slowly lowered the axe until it slid beneath the sheet and the handle collided with its edge; he dropped his hand down to grasp it just above the waterline before pulling it out.

She smirked. "I get it. Seeing how thick the ice is."

"Six inches—we should be okay as long as we stay in the center. The water current is flowing on either side of us, most likely underwater volcanic action."

"That's simple enough." She responded, bouncing her end of the rope from hand to hand. "I doubt that will get us the rest of the way to shore."

"We'll have to keep checking. That's what the flashlights are for." He stated, as if it was obvious from the start.

"Let's get moving before we freeze."­­

He grunted, not particularly liking the commanding tone of her voice or the way she pulled the boat without waiting for him to help. Women were troublesome, he had always known and understood that fact, but she was probably the most taxing out of all the women he knew; he had to admit that she was stronger than him physically and nearly as tactical, but what she really lacked was the ability to be feminine like most women. At least that meant he didn't have to cater to her superficial needs; if anything her straightforward, rough attitude at least made her tolerable to work with.

Shikamaru tightened his grip on the rope, held his flashlight with his freehand, and pulled his end of the boat forward. He needed to catch up with her. It was best to keep up, even if it was aggravating to go at her pace. Leisurely paces were less work and more efficient, but he had to admit she had a point. Night had fallen, the temperatures were dropping, and they still had to reach shore before they could rest; at best, they'd be on the ice for another four hours.

"You see it?" she questioned, motioning her flashlight against the incoming horizon. "We didn't notice because of the trees."

Shikamaru squinted, lifting his own light to cross with the one in her hand up ahead of them. "We don't have much further to go, a half hour most likely."

"Seriously, you should look into becoming a mathematician instead of a ninja if you can perform distance to time calculations that quickly."

It was a compliment, even if the response came accompanied with a grunt from both of them.

The winds were beginning to pick up, and the cloud cover had removed most of the light provided by the moon. They began to slow their pace again due to fatigue; the boat was heavy, they had not eaten properly that day, and they had been traveling for nearly ten hours. Shikamaru released a sigh. They still had to find or make shelter once they made it to land, and then they'd need to figure out exactly where they managed to walk to and get themselves back on the path to the capital.

His mind wandered over to the supplies they had remaining in their makeshift sled; he'd checked over both of their bags for basic provisions before they left. Aside from the multiple caribou pelts and other garments he'd stored away just in case, he knew they both carried three readymade meals that required fire to prepare; they had also brought individual first aid kits, kunai and shuriken, compasses, pocket knives, water canteens and a small pan that could double as a bowl. He had the map in his pouch. Temari had a few scrolls and scrap paper. They would have to find shelter than start a fire with his starter sticks, and then they could eat.

A snowflake flew by his face, drifting slowly down toward the small collection by his feet. Glancing upward, Shikamaru groaned aloud, ignoring Temari's irritated glance. It was only fitting that the snow would begin falling before they'd managed to reach shore. Shikamaru pointed his flashlight directly into the sky, watching the thick flurries clump together and shine momentarily in his light. The weight and speed of their descent was increasing. The wind had begun to pick up.

"How fast do you think it'll come?"

Temari sighed, voice conveying a hint of annoyance. "The wind is only going to increase in speed—maybe forty or fifty miles an hour by the time it actually stabilizes."

"Within the next half hour?"

"Perhaps." She shrugged. "It doesn't take that long to increase in power, it just depends on the storm."

"Snowfall in this region is heavy." Shikamaru remarked. "We still have a mile to travel before we get to shore. The snow is going to make it less visible than it already is in the dark, so…"

"We have to speed up, I got it. You don't have to waste your breath explaining pointless things."

Temari set out ahead of him, missing the vexed expression spreading over her face. Shikamaru was convinced; women were troublesome, no matter how intelligence, because they were headstrong. He assumed it was a trait that would eventually get her in trouble.

His estimated half hour of travel climbed to an hour before they actually reached shore; by then the storm had picked up a ferocious force. The snow drove itself downward quickly, weakening their field of vision and stinging the exposed fleshes of their faces. Howling winds hindered any form of communication; they couldn't see each other in the dark, so hand gestures were nullified, and the billowing gusts of wind overrode any sounds they made.

Shikamaru had been the first to step through the ice near the shoreline. Salt water soaked through the lining of his boots and into the wool of his socks; before he could stop Temari from making the same mistake, she had broken into the sea as well. As they pulled out onto the frosted beach, Shikamaru could feel his feet begin to ache from the cold. Frostbite was inevitable if they could not exchange their wet gear for dry; stopping on the beach in the middle of a blizzard was not an option either. As he had assumed, the temperatures had dropped far into the negative digits; neither one of them would survive long without some form of shelter.

That would be the next step then, he decided.

Feebly grasping hold of Temari's arm, Shikamaru began leading them toward the forest; it was ahead of them, he at least knew that. She did not protest or pull away. If the situation had not been so urgent, Shikamaru would have smirked and made a comment about how men could not just let women walk around with wet feet. He was not used to her being so compliant, though he assumed Temari realized that the best thing they could do at the moment was make sure they did not lose one another in the storm.

Shikamaru's main concern was finding some sort of shelter so they could change their boots; there were many different possibilities. Once they passed into the forest, the trees would act as a natural barricade against a good portion of the wind and snow. Flashlights would be usable again, and he and Temari could separate within earshot to search for snowdrifts to form huts, caverns, or hills they could dig into and wait out the night. Carving a dugout into the side of mound was Shikamaru's least favorable outcome. The snow was still falling rapidly, and at the base of a hill they would be prime targets for miniature avalanches or the accumulation of snow in the valley areas. Although it would provide the best protection from the wind, it would also be difficult to implant; by this time of year, the snow and freezing temperatures hardened the ground, almost to a petrified consistency. They did not have tools strong enough to dig out a hole without much extra force.

Extra force meant expended energy and sweating. Sweating placed water on the body, and the wind and temperatures would cool the body down quickly—creating a situation for hypothermia. They could do more damage attempting to get into shelter than if they sat outside the entire night.

Stumbling over snow-iced dunes, still dragging the boat of supplies, Shikamaru steered them a bit toward the right; he'd felt their shift from the wind a few steps back, waiting for the gusts to calm enough to reposition. Temari yanked him with her, forcing them further over than he'd expected; he wanted to pull her back over until he understood her intentions. Over exaggerating the distance would allow them to be less off course the more the wind pushed. She repositioned herself, throwing an arm around his back to balance their weights together as they slid around. Shikamaru wrapped his around her shoulder; the closer they were, the more heavy weighted they became and the less they'd move around. It was a simple idea he hadn't taken into consideration. Not only would it keep them warmer, but they could use each other's footsteps to keep them headed in a straight line and minimize the movement caused by unexpected wind gusts.

He could feel their bodies moving upward on a slight incline; the edge of the beach had been reached. Shikamaru took the leading steps and pulled them over the top, feet aching. Mutely he noted the stinging pain that pulsated in his toes, the weighted feeling of his boots, and the chill that ran up past his ankles. Temari was in no better position, he assumed. Frostbite was preparing to settle in; their nerves were already going haywire from the sensory overload due to unfamiliar cold.

Shikamaru bumped them into a tree before he noticed they'd reached the edge of the forest. He and Temari separated slightly, groping for tree trunks to help pull them further into the wooded area. Blinking back the flakes of snow that had accumulated on his eyelashes, Shikamaru estimated the distance into the wood they'd need to be before he could pull out his flashlight. The snow was drizzling down from the trees, sometimes falling in clumps and snapping branches, other times lingering like dust. Visibility had already increased in the first ten yards they had walked into the forest.

Temari warily waved her flashlight around before flicking it on, waiting for Shikamaru to follow suit; he could tell from the way she flashed it up at his eyes multiple times. He grunted and turned his light on as well so she would stop. Women really were impatient and troublesome; but then again, this whole mission was troublesome. He should have expected as much.

Shikamaru hoped they would be lucky enough not to run into any enemies; landing at an unnamed beach in a foreign country without a visa was not exactly the expected entrance of political dignitaries.

Walking deeper into the wood, flashlights in tow, the pair remained silent. The winds continued to howl; tree branches shook and their creaking echoed along the currents. Shikamaru felt his feet sinking through the snow, even though he'd lost sensation in that area. The snow that climbed up past his ankles wetted the thick exterior of his pants. Temari was somewhere off to his left; her flashlight twinkled off the snow twelve yards in front of him.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he began scouring the area for any sign of possible shelter. There were large banks of snow piled in sporadic places throughout the forest, and no caverns or hills as far as he could see.

"Temari."

She stopped, repositioning her light at his feet; a signal to let him know she had heard him.

"Do you see anything?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "I don't see anything."

"Hn, what a drag." Shikamaru pulled one arm over his shoulder to rub the back of his head as he took a few steps closer to her, deep in thought. "Are your feet are numb?"

"That's a stupid question."

"I take that as a yes."

He motioned for them to continue walking, cringing slightly with each new step. The clouds were beginning to cover the moonshine again, he noted. Zigzagging the beam of his flashlight before them, Shikamaru's brow furrowed; they were running out of shelter options. If worst came to worst, they could always prop the boat up between two trees to block the wind and sit behind it. More than likely that would not be enough to keep them warm or keep the wind from bellowing around and tampering out any attempt at a fire. He was running out of ideas; it wasn't worth it to risk frostbite and potential amputation if he could set up a semi-decent shelter with the provided resources.

A splint of pain enveloped his ankle; Shikamaru hissed, glancing out the corner of his eye at Temari in time to see her grasp hold of a tree trunk. She was exhausted, he could tell by her labored breathing and weakening footsteps. He was in no better shape. They needed to rest and eat; their supplies were buried under snow in the boat, so they'd need a fire to warm the food enough to eat it. All their requirements came back to that first basic need for shelter; without shelter, they couldn't start their fire. Without the fire, they couldn't eat or warm their bodies.

It was a few more steps before the pain in his foot caused him to stumble and fall; the snow cushioned his collision.

"Hey, stop trying to be a man and let's stop." Temari's voice was aggravated and raspy.

He snorted. "Are you getting a sore throat, Temari? We can't stop yet."

"Get over yourself and this stupid man and woman bull." She was commanding, standing awkwardly with her hands on her hips. "You're being immature and it's going to cost us our lives. Sometimes being a man means showing and admitting your weaknesses, Mr. Crybaby; stop trying to play the part of a hero."

He glared at her. One thing Shikamaru hated the most about Temari was that she always had some blunt thing to say that put him in his place. He hated it when she was right, and she was right most of the time.

"Not everyone is cut out for that position anyway. We're going to have to work with what we have now instead of looking for something that may not even be there. You're the genius, right? I would have expected you to realize that before I did."

"Troublesome woman."

Pulling himself out of the snow, Shikamaru sat back on his legs, positioning his hands in an elliptical shape before him while he surveyed the area. He always used this position while he was thinking strategically; it was comforting and habitual by now. He scanned around him, looking at the trees, canopies, hollows, branches, and snow drifts; his eyes faltered a bit when he spotted a large pine tree, surrounded by snow on three quarters of the trunk diameter.

He lifted himself off the ground, leaving the boat and Temari behind to investigate. Leaning over the snow bank and onto the trunk of the tree, Shikamaru was pleasantly surprised to discover an indentation in between. All they needed to do was dig out some of the snow to create a bit of an opening for them to crawl in. It would be like having a house without a roof; they would be protected on all sides other than above, which meant there would be no concern for carbon monoxide or dioxide build up.

Temari had followed him up to the mound, hands crossed and breathing hitched slightly.

"You moron, what were you thinking just running off like that?"

"Where are our pans? We can use them to dig in the snow. I think I found us somewhere to stay for shelter. We need to change out of our wet clothes, so the quicker we do this, the quicker we can start taking care of ourselves and resting for the morning." He responded, maneuvering himself around her and toward the boat.

Sifting through the snow, Shikamaru yanked one of their travel bags from its strapped position beneath the fisherman's seat; normally it was a place to store fishing lures, but they had fashioned it to protect their packages. He dropped the bag down, listening as it clanked.

"That's my bag…"

He opened it, pulling out a few items before finding her bowl. "Doesn't matter, Temari—all I want is this."

"You're going to dig with that?" she quirked an eyebrow, but did not bother to complain while she reached into boat for his backpack.

At his lead, they began to dig; the snow piled off to the side of the tree as they dug. They remained silent the entire time, simply digging and dumping repeatedly in the cold. Shikamaru watched Temari as he worked, noting the drowsiness in her movements and her imbalance on her feet. She continued to perform her portion of work without a word, diligently and dutifully.

"The wind is still blowing through. That's why the fire isn't staying lit." Temari pointed out, the frustration rising in her voice again. "I told you that before—you're wasting fire starters."

He made an irritated face. "Then do you have a suggestion?"

They stared one another down, shivering in the stagnant chill of the air. Shikamaru huffed, breath fogging up his field of vision. He could see Temari's eyes glower before closing; she smirked and lifted her body out of the shelter, stumbling awkwardly before regaining a weakened balance.

"Troublesome."

He continued trying to relight the fire; moving the starters to and fro along the uncovered ground to find a pocket where the wind would not affect it. The third time he flicked a match, a few animal pelts landed next to him; this was followed by two bags and other miscellaneous items. He realized quickly that she was emptying the boat into their fort. Eyebrow raised, Shikamaru waited until he heard her steps in the snow; he could tell from the sound that she was dragging something.

"Oi, lazy ass." She muttered. "Why don't you come help me tip this boat over?"

Shikamaru climbed out, mumbling about bossy women. "What are you planning to do with it?"

"I would have expected you to be smart enough to figure it out on your own."

Temari lifted the back end of the boat, flipping her hands under the hull and walking forward to lift it up higher. Shikamaru groaned. She was impatient as ever, and he knew she was tired; more than likely she was running on frustration. He wanted to be warm as much as she did, but his body was fatigued from lack of food, constant walking, and the cold. Once the boat landed upside down, he went toward the end nearest to him.

"You want to put this over the opening at the top?" he guessed.

"It'll stop the wind from flowing back down; we should be able to have a fire toward the center of the hut."

It was a joint effort to lift the boat and lean it sideways against the tree; the tree continued cracking and the snow-bank wanted to collapse under the added weight. Once the boat actually managed to sit in a semi-stable position, the pair slinked their way back into their shelter. Shikamaru refused to look at Temari; the smirk on her face was evident without needing to be seen. Not only was it warmer, but the wind howled over the concave hull and not into their shelter.

"Start the fire now." She slurred, fumbling into a seated position.

Shikamaru struck the matches, missing the box a few times before stripping off his gloves; it was warm enough, he reasoned—his fingers were numbing in the wetness of his gloves anyway. It took a few more trials before he'd managed to light the match; the starter sticks exploded with flames soon after. Temari ripped some paper and started feeding it into the fire, until the roasting smoke fought to peak out the open corners of their shelter. He smiled, feeling immensely warm and far more comfortable than he had the entire day.

"This doesn't look good."

Lifting an eyebrow, Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder; Temari had pulled her boots off. In the light vibrating from the fire, he could see her toes and heel had turned a blistery shade of purple.

"Frostbite." He muttered.

"Great. You made us stand out in the cold too long."

"You nag more than my mother."

Gently moving Temari's skirt up to expose her ankles, he clumsily maneuvered a deer pelt under her feet and pulled her closer to the fire. He placed his hands on the frost bitten skin to heat it again; it shocked his palm.

"Moron, what about you?"

Shikamaru looked up from his concentration on her foot, expression stern. "I'd rather not have to amputate your foot."

"I'm sure you're in no better shape." She scowled. "Let me see."

"I can't just let a woman do that."

"Again with the man and woman crap; I already told you to stop trying to be a hero. It's going to get us killed. Just let me see already."

Shikamaru repositioned his foot outside of her reach; Temari fumbled around a bit trying to grab him. They argued on and off until she'd managed to pull off his boot and the two of them settled on placing their feet near the fire to warm them. The position they were in made it impossible to cook food without further injuring themselves. Shikamaru grumbled with his stomach; it wouldn't have mattered much anyway. They were too tired and their basic gross and fine motor movements were becoming more uncoordinated the longer they sat there. He hadn't realized just how cold he was until his thoughts began to blur together into what resembled mush.

They sat together staring at the map of the nation of snow and discussing their potential locations. Both of their ideas were scattered across the board; they could be anywhere within a fifty mile radius. The nearest village was four miles away from the coast at any position. Shikamaru found himself shivering at the thought of walking in that cold again; but it was warm next to their fire. They could rest tonight and move in the morning; they would be late for their meeting, but at least they wouldn't die and be lost in the snow.

As he moved the map away to store it in his pouch, Shikamaru noticed a blue tinge to his fingers. He flexed them slowly, feeling stiffness in his muscles. He must still be cold. There were goose bumps littering his arms; he could feel them pressing against the lining of his clothing, and see them on the exposed skin of his legs.

"You're shaking."

Shikamaru twisted his head to look at Temari; her face was moving to and fro like a vibrating toy. He blinked a couple of times before he noticed it was the convulsions within his body obscuring his vision. Temari leaned backward awkwardly, bumping into the snowy side of their shelter to grasp hold of some of the animal hides; Shikamaru felt one drape around his shoulders.

"Hypothermia."

The words dripped out of his mouth sluggishly, like thickened custard. Temari didn't seem to acknowledge what he said, pulling herself close to him under her own blanket silently. She was shivering too, breathing erratically, and remaining quiet as she rubbed against him for warmth. Shikamaru opened his arms carefully.

"Troublesome woman; you're not used to this."

"Shut up. I told you already…"

"I could say the same to you."

She looked at him, same defiant expression as always. "You talk too much, lazy ass. You're wasting energy."

He gave the same expression back to her. "And you're doing yourself no good. I don't like it anymore than you do."

"Then what do you want?"

"Body heat, Temari."

"Hn, you know we're already too far gone for that to matter."

A chuckle escaped his lips; it was an ironic sound. He would have expected to be in a life or death battle and die before nature took him. This had started as a simple escort mission for a political negotiation. It was true; you could never judge the dangers of a mission beforehand.

"You know, I had planned on getting married, having two kids, and then dying before my wife."

"Storybook endings are impossible, idiot."

She slipped between his legs and against his chest; Shikamaru felt her arms snake around his back so they could press together. Her grip was loose. The transfer of heat would be minimal, but it would keep them comfortable for the rest of the night until they fell asleep. His arms weakened and dropped the pelt around both of them in a messy, disheveled manner.

Alight against the fire, they continued their conversation; their voices wavered and slurred together into unintelligible messes. They continued talking as their eyelids drifted up and down.

"Maybe… the boat…" Shikamaru shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the dying light of their fire. "If they see…"

"Flat. Impossible."

"Why?"

She didn't answer him; he reached up and pulled as roughly as he could on the edge of the boat, feeling it shift. The snow drizzled off beneath its weight until it collapsed, one end sticking straight out above their heads and the other rested in front of them and behind the fire. Shikamaru smirked feebly, pulling the map out from his pocket.

"You're an idiot. Stupid. Won't work." She mumbled.

"Maybe."

He tossed it into the fire and shifted their bodies so he could lean against the tree, strategically positioning her closer toward the heat. Even if it was pointless, he could still complete his mission; he couldn't die before his wife, as he'd never been married, but he could still die before her. She'd hate him if she knew; she'd always thought his code of chivalry was reckless.

Temari had been correct, as she nearly always was.

"Warm?"

He was answered with silence and a breath against his shoulder.

"I thought so."

Shikamaru decided there was no point in fighting off unconsciousness now. It was only a matter of time. Better to fall asleep believing he'd protected her as he was pledged to do than to be awake when her arms fell from his back and her breathing stopped. Temari really was a troublesome woman.

Shikamaru found he didn't care.

His blinking slowed, each one taking more energy than he had stored, until they refused to open at all.

Author's Notes: This did not end the way I had originally anticipated, but oh well. XDD Enjoy.