Temari and Saul showed up at Yakiniku Q for lunch, as had become their daily routine. Today she wore a dark flowing Kimono tied with a red sash. As she walked, a fishnet covered thigh slipped out from the folds of the split robe, allowing her to move freely. This was different from her usual ninja wear. Saul noticed she didn't bring her gigantic fan either.
Today something about Temari was different. She had taken special care to present herself as a woman rather than a ninja. This was so unlike her usual, arrogant self. She smiled softly at him in greeting. Yep, something was very wrong.
They made small talk as they went inside the restaurant. Saul ordered his usual, and Temari the same. When the food arrived Saul finally got to the point.
"What's up Temari?"
"Nothing's up... Why do you ask?" The smile on her face grew slightly strained as she fiddled around with the food on her plate. "I'm just tired from training, you know? The final round of the exams is just in two days."
"I see... It puts a lot of pressure on you, you know? Everyone will be watching, whether it be Konohagakure, Sunagakure, or even the nobles from the land of fire."
Temari pursed her lips. That wasn't what she was worried about, but what the hell was she supposed to say?
"Pressure? Please." She forced a laugh and stabbed a piece of meat with her chopsticks. "Do you think something as small as that could bother me?"
Saul caught onto the connotation within her words.
"Then what's bothering you then?"
She hadn't meant to let that slip.
The woman snapped. "Obviously nothing! Keep eating your food, pig."
Now that was more like Temari. Saul obliged. Free food was free food after all. He valued every lunch with the woman; he needed the sustenance to support his endeavors.
His current training was almost exclusively Taijutsu in direct combat with his clones. There was no other conventional method to train his body's strength that he knew of other than direct fighting, after all. This was not just the traditional spars with Kunai or Genjutsu.
He had banned the Mind Body Palm for his sparring sessions. The frontloaded Jutsu cost too much chakra and turned fights into desperate attempts to land the Genjutsu. Unlike him, other opponents might have better methods to deal with an opponent who constantly tried to get in close with a body flicker or Taijutsu. He could not grow complacent.
Oftentimes his spars against himself turned into duels of Taijutsu. Each version of himself had to exert their entire body's force to compete against an equally strong opponent. Straight on fights at a distance turned into clinches, clinches turned into grapples. Saul was more lenient on weapon usage as well, abiding by a first blood rule.
The same skills used to control an arm wielding a blade or a kunai were also used to subdue your opponent. The only thing weapons did was to increase the potential damage. Even without technique, their users could still inflict serious damage. Saul had to be ready for them.
His increased prowess regarding Medical Ninjutsu increased the tolerance of risky damage he allowed himself to take. From breaches of the skin to cuts of muscle, even broken bones. The pain sucked, but it was temporary. The gains however, he hoped would allow him a much higher chance of survival in the free for all that followed the Chunin exams.
After the end of every training when his body reached its limits, he would dispel his clones, heal himself, and rest. While he did so he reviewed and learned from every injury, every loss. A unique Taijutsu style, born of his own repeated cage fights, began to take shape.
This method of training was similar to how Alpha Zero was trained. Rather than a chess engine, it was an AI neural network that started off knowing nothing about chess other than the rules of the game. Yet after repeated battles against itself, fight after fight, game after game, forget other humans. Even the greatest of human minds were simply no match for it. The engine even became so strong that no other program was its equal. All the other engines at the time had to adopt similar methods to even be able to later compete with it.
Saul's rapid growth was limited only by two factors. Firstly, specialized training knowledge. Constantly fighting was not the most efficient method of training bodily strength. Fights used much more than just strength. Battle tactics, weapons, speed, Jutsu, clones, everything was put to the test. His body would really only be pushed to the limits if and when he grappled with himself.
The more limiting factor was his intake. Saul felt constantly hungry - his body needed much more sustenance to grow stronger even with his current standard of training. Yet between feeding Karin, Hinata, and himself, even his multiple sources of funds were not enough. His dates with Temari were the only times Saul really got to eat his fill.
Soon, all the contents of his plate and the grill were gone. The only food left was the meat on the Sand Princess's plate. She stirred at the food disinterestedly with her chopsticks, lost in her own thoughts. No appetite?
"If you aren't going to eat, then how about I take that plate off your hands?"
He snatched the biggest piece of beef off her plate and put it into his mouth directly. Temari watched on with shock, her lips forming a small 'o'. Then she blushed and pushed her entire plate towards him.
"God, you really are a pig. Just take it, this was my treat anyway. Enjoy your free meal while you can."
"Don't we still have tomorrow?"
"No. I have to be with my brothers, Kankuro and Gaara, for official business. I won't have time to loiter around with a nobody like you."
She looked away, a fleeting moment of emotion crossing her eyes. Saul was starting to get what all this was about.
"Finish quickly. You'll be accompanying me around the outskirts of Konoha today."
"Why?"
"Why not? Today is going to be our last day. It's your privilege to hang out with the Sand Princess of Sunagakure." She put her hand to her mouth and laughed, her face the picture of arrogance and... Something else.
Saul decided to temporarily play along.
"Alright, but I'll be busy this evening. So I'll have to leave sometime in the afternoon."
"That's... Fine." Temari forced a smile, "I don't have that much free time to spend on you anyway."
Saul toured her around various places within Konoha, even pointing out his own house. Temari's eyes sharpened at the sight. Eventually, she asked to see the view from the Hokage Rock. Saul obliged.
They sat together on the mountainous rock that overlooked the entirety of the village. It was quiet. The winds were nice here as well, cool breezes blew and buffeted through their clothes. Temari's ponytails swayed in the wind.
While gazing at the expanse of the village, she spoke up first.
"It's nice up here, huh."
Saul smiled. "It is. You can't really feel the summer heat at all up here."
"Your village... It is such a nice place. Sunagakure is constantly barraged with desert winds, and there is no escape from the sun. If one day I could live here, I would."
"But you can't, can you?"
"No... We all have our responsibilities to our village, don't we? Especially me..." Her gaze grew heavy.
Saul smiled. He looked away from her face, also gazing over the village.
"That sounds pretty strange to me. Sometimes, I feel like Konoha is just a place to live. Sure the people we love keep us here, but if I didn't have such attachments, I might have already left. What about you, Temari?"
She turned towards Saul, studying his face intently as he talked. Then she looked away again when the subject of conversation returned to her.
"For me, it is my brothers. My mother died soon after giving birth to her youngest son, Gaara. Kankuro and Gaara, my two younger siblings, they disagree on a lot of things. I know Kankuro doesn't mean harm but Gaara... He has a demon inside of him. If I wasn't there to calm him down sometimes, I'm afraid Kankuro would already be...!"
"Demon. It can't be that serious. Gaara just looks like some troubled guy."
She turned quickly to glare at him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes before she blinked them away.
"No... No, you do not understand. The demon within him speaks to him, talks with him. Gaara cannot even sleep! It warps his mind. Sure, the sand demon grants power untold, but it also drives him insane! Even now as the final stage of the Chunin exams approach, it thirsts. The only thing that can satiate it is blood."
"I see..."
Temari studied his facial expression for a little while, before shaking her head.
"You do not. The only one who can stop Gaara in all of Sunagakure when the Demon takes control is my father, the Kazekage of the Sand. Listen to me. If you ever end up against Gaara in the final stage, I want you to forfeit, ok? Do not risk your life over something as meaningless as the public spectacle that is the Chunin exams. And if he ever loses control... Run away as far as you can."
"Alright, Temari. I get it. I promise you, I won't fight Gaara."
Her countenance softened as Temari gave him a beautiful smile. She hugged Saul shortly, courteously, yet tightly all the same. It was brief, yet all Temari could think about now was not relief that the man might keep himself safe.
No. Her Jonin sensei, Baki had informed her. She, Gaara, and Kankuro were going to betray the Leaf soon. After the final match of the Chunin exams, when the Ninja came to personally meet with the Daimyo, Gaara was told to release the tailed beast within him and destroy everything. The Konoha ninja there would be among the first to die - Saul might be one of them.
The next time the two of them met, instead of friends, they would be enemies. All Temari felt was dread.
Author's Note: Caught back up to schedule, here's today's second chapter! Hope you all are enjoying the buildup for the Final Stage of the Chunin Exams so far!
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