Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter II

He had been young, when he last saw this shade of blue.

The water had dizzied his mind, his limbs were bruised, his skin sliced and screaming in the unforgiving salt of the ocean as he forced his way to shore. He was inexperienced, had never fought one of his own kind and paid for it with two ripped tendons, and a broken paw. But even as the sun beat harshly on his back, warming his soaked fur (the red washed off by the waves) he remembered a weary gratitude,

-at least the tide was on his side.

He didn't so much wash ashore, it was more like the earth's pools had tired of his company and hurled him off in the most ungraceful and uncomfortable way possible. His dry tongue scraped against hot sand and he finally shifted back, stifling his scream onto the beach.

Skeleton reshaping, fur receding, canines shrinking. His injuries were even worse at first, but then at last- he was human, the sand scratching his calloused feet and his broken knuckle bleeding into the sand at a languid pace.

he had been young and he remembered thinking, before passing out from utter exhaustion, he had washed up onto an indicolite landscape. A place were the sky and ocean were the same shade of one color.

The girl- woman (he wasn't sure if he was contemplating the latter title because he wanted justification or because she was mature for her age) twisted in his arms and followed his line of vision. Her swollen mouth pulled into a easy grin. "Are those your books on the floor, miss poised?" Indicolite eyes flashed down and the girl, bent to retrieve her fallen supplies.

"Even perfection has it's off days Temari," she muttered, just loud enough for the other girl to hear. He raised an eyebrow at the crowd. There was a distinctly wide berth given to her and not, he suspected, because of respect or courtesy. No one stepped on her things, but no one stopped to help either, though he did catch some side way glances. "Not that you'd know, miss I come to school shitfaced."

Temari barked out a laugh and pulled him into her, walking herself (them) over to the blue-eyed girl. "I'll have you know it's only hungover today virgin."

Long pale blonde hair obscured the younger girl's face, but he could hear her heart skip a few beats and was sure her cheeks darkened a few shades. Slowly she stood and replied carefully, in a deadpan tone, "Better no experience than a little too much experience, eh senpai?"

"Bitch," she retorted with no bite. Strong, feminine fingers moved down his bicep to his forearm and she pulled him forward. Temari jerked her head back, "I want you to meet someone. New, a senior, transferred in from Hokkaido."

He got his first clear look at her. She was tall, at least 5'8, but slender, well proportioned. He ran his eyes down her legs, admiring her school issued skirt and stockings. And finally back to her face, He glance back at Temari and thought wryly that the birds of a feather comment had some truth to it. Her mouth was a lush, pale pink, and she was saying something with it.

"-anka Ino," she tossed her hair back over one shoulder and stretched out a petite looking hand. He grasped it firmly, feeling the callouses on her hand rub against his own and wondered at the rarity of somoenoe with her delicate appearance having callouses. Out of curiosity he casually moved his thumb as if preparing to part when he felt a tiny tremor shake her arm. Unnoticeable. Almost.

Her eyes were friendly, but there was an undertone, cautious- nothing big really- except his mind began to process everything about her intial stare and he felt it in the air, even venture to say he smelled it.

"Nara Shikamaru," he introduced himself.

Fear.

Even though I don't deserve it after my long hiatus, review?