Grasping at the Sky

Chapter 23: Reverberation

In the days that followed Shikamaru's departure from Suna the weather turned from the mild, ash hot of spring, to the inferno that was summer. Two weeks in and all she could think about was how hot it was as the sun overhead blazed in the clear sky. Days had begun to melt together for Kira, the heat of the day seeping through even the thick sandstone that made up the Kazekage tower, leaving her drained and tired. She couldn't quiet remember if Temari had left two days ago or if it had been three. She wasn't even completely sure what she had eaten that morning, leaving her to wonder if her brain was melting and would soon drip from her ears. There was a solitary fan in the corner of the Kazekage's office that served as the only dampener on the heat, the large windows behind Gaara's desk holding no blinds or curtains.

Yet, despite the heat beating down on him, the young ruler didn't seem phased, skin dry of sweat and eyes never pausing as he read over the stacks of paper in front of him. This of course meant Kira wouldn't complain, no matter how much the sweat on her back was beginning to make her itch. And oh god, did it itch. Sitting back on the couch in the room, she tried to focus her attention on the winding string of knots in her hands while staying alert.

It just wasn't easy when she was so tired.

She often wondered why and how, after living in the desert her whole life, she had never really adjusted to the temperature of it. Her body just seemingly refused to cooperate, her skin turning red instead of a darkening brown and her sweat glands soaking her underlayer of clothes by the end of the day. It was manageable for most of the year, but during the summer it was nearly insufferable. Kankuro always found it fun to tease her and she always ended her days with long, ice cold shower that lasted about five minutes. It would have been longer, but water was too precious a resource to do much more. The heat was at least one thing that hadn't changed no matter what else happened. It was a comfort, seeing as everything else in her life had changed so drastically in the last year. Not just for her, but for everyone.

Sighing quietly, Kira finished off another knot and set the start of a necklace down on her lap. She brought a hand up and rubbed the bridge of her nose and the corners of her eyes, trying to message some energy into the area. She didn't want to think about everything that had been happening, didn't want to think about the rumors still milling about. Her mind was a constant swamp of heat exhaustion and worries, leaving her to ponder each and every one of them while she laid in bed at night.

She tried to focus on the less painful ones, tried to remember that the Nara boy was now looking into the archives for her to see if he could figure out just where she'd come from. She didn't expect news anytime soon as she knew he was quite busy with his own job, but she was still thankful. The two of them had spoken at length about her power while he was here and touched briefly on the fact that her mind refused to give her anything on who she had been before coming to Suna. Shikamaru was a very inquisitive, pondering person with a dry sense of humor. The more she'd spoken with him, the more she'd seen just why Temari liked him so much.

"Are you alright?" The soft inquiry of her friend, boss, and the boy she loved, brought her out of her internal thoughts. The redhead had paused, hand mid way to picking up the next report on the shorter of the two piles on his desk. He was giving her that worried, subtlely curious look and she felt her lips twitch into a small smile. She was always worrying him it seemed, but perhaps it was only fair, given she spent so much time worrying about him.

All's fair in love and war, right?

"Yeah. Just sleepy," she assured him, knowing that he knew how the heat made her feel. She had a sneaking suspicion she was the only real reason there was even a fan in the room to begin with. It was nice to break up her day like this, being able to speak with the redhead easily for a little while before being his silent shadow again. It had been an argument that he'd won too easily, but Kira supposed she couldn't play bodyguard every minute of the day. So around lunch time she took two hours off and while she could do whatever she wished, she normally stayed close by anyway, her ANBU mask tucked away.