After the picnic, Ren and Temari returned to Ren's safehouse, and alongside Kankuro and Baki, they made plans on how to move from there. Suna had likely already been informed that they had left Konoha and were on their way, so they could not just take a week off or something. They had to arrive in Suna before the village started to panic about their disappearance.
As such, Ren and Baki agreed for Ren to teleport them back into the Land of Rivers. Unfortunately, Ren could not teleport somewhere he had never visited or seen, and he had never been on a mission in the Land of Wind.
So, he informed his companions that there would be no convenient skipping straight to Suna. Baki sighed as if expecting it. Life was seldom so convenient, and the man had enough experience to recognize that fact. Kankuro scowled while cursing under his nose, which earned him a cuff on the back of his head from his unamused sister.
The same sister who was trying to throw subtle glances at Ren, making him secretly happy. But he decided not to comment on it, knowing that Temari was the sort of girl who had the risk of getting angry when embarrassed. It would just ruin the fun.
More importantly, any place within Ren's sight or other senses? It was a fair game for his transportation seal or his intangibility seal. But for long-range teleportation, he needed something to latch on. That usually meant a clear mental picture of the place, or a marker.
With the way memories worked, despite traveling through the Land of Rivers, it didn't mean Ren could teleport anywhere either. Most of the time, people did not pay full attention to their surroundings. Not even ninjas. They were trained to look for threats, not to mentally map out places for future use as a mental picture for teleport navigation.
Ren only had three markers in major cities they passed by inside the Land of Rivers, so their small party would need to speed up a bit if they wanted to arrive in Suna on time. Especially now that the information about Killer Bee's rampage was probably reaching the hidden villages.
It really did not take a genius to realize why the Kumo Jinchuuriki was in the Land of Rivers right the moment Ren and Temari were passing through it, either. Ren reckoned that Suna was going to be reasonably worried, and Baki warned that it might be better to hurry up before Gaara freaked out.
That was one thing Ren didn't even take into consideration, and when it was mentioned, both Temari and Kankuro paled. They could easily imagine their brother, now that he has somewhat changed from homicidal into an awkwardly caring brother in his own way, doing something very reckless once he was informed of their possible demise.
Three hours later, the team was ready. They teleported to the city of Kawama, the closest marker to the Land of Fire borders Ren had in the Land of Rivers, and their trek to Suna started. They no longer walked at a leisurely pace. Now they were going full ninja-hopping through the treetops at the fastest speed Kankuro, the least physically able in their team, could handle for a prolonged time.
They headed slightly to the south, unlike their previous travel path. Neither knew if Killer Bee went home or was still lurking around the Land of Rivers, looking for them. It was safer to take a detour near the south of the country, even if it increased the necessary distance they would have to travel.
Fortunately, the rest of the journey went without any further unexpected surprises, outside of Temari sneaking into Ren's tent during the night for another kissing session. But that was a surprise Ren could get behind and enjoy.
Ino and Hinata were a bit annoyed that this complication meant he decided not to go back to their Hidden Garden that night, a name the girls had coined for their hidden training ground and house.
Ren sighed. Leave them alone for a few days, and this was the result. He guessed it could be worse, and personally, he didn't care enough about it to complain. There is a reason why he never named the place, despite pretty much living in it.
Besides, having an argument through a Shadow Clone was really troublesome.
During the second day of their run, they crossed the borders to the Land of Wind, and that's when the journey turned truly troublesome. The desert was a horrible place. Sand was everywhere. It was hot as hell. The air was dry. Wind was mostly nonexistent, and when it slightly picked up, it only made things worse because then small grains of sand were flying everywhere from clothes, to eyes, even getting into the pouches.
It was irritating as hell. Ren didn't have many pouches, but how the hell did the freaking sand get into his closed pouches in the first place!?
This place was just horrible and unpleasant in all regards. This was the kind of environment Ren was supposed to live in from now on? He actually started regretting this whole political marriage thing. Just a little bit.
At least, he had some personal techniques that made sweating and the temperature a non-issue to him. Oh, he loved the pissed looks the Suna ninjas threw him when they noticed.
They had this feeling of schadenfreude around them ever since they entered the desert, and Ren noticed Kankuro expectantly glancing at him, probably waiting to see his discomfort. And Ren was happy to disappoint as he smirked back at him every time.
Ren even started humming after a few hours of travel through the desert. His companions might have been used to traveling in this climate, but that did not make them fully immune to it. After a few hours, they were suitably exhausted and drenched in sweat enough that any Inuzuka could locate them from a country away. Not to mention dusty.
While Ren? He was just fine and dandy. Maybe missing over a quarter of his chakra pool, but as comfortable as he could manage in the unpleasant climate. And hey! It even counted as a chakra control exercise, too.
Of course, Ren was not terribly surprised when, after they settled in a cave they found for the night, Temari dragged him deeper inside, begging him to teach her these techniques with almost manic fervor.
Ren shrugged... and teleported them to the 'Hidden Garden' after leaving a shadow clone behind. One of the joys of teleportation was that food, fresh water, and, probably most importantly for Temari at that moment, a shower were just a jump away.
Now that they were in the Land of Wind, Ren was a lot less worried about Killer Bee ambushing them, so he decided a small gamble like this couldn't hurt. And if the worst happened, he still had a shadow clone to alert him.
He reasoned it should probably be fine.
Temari's breath hitched when she realized that she could have access to a shower. She jumped forward and almost hugged Ren, who scrambled out of the way, because... just no! She was sweaty as hell.
The grains of sand mixed with her sweat and created a layer of dirt on her that clung ot her skin and clothes.
He gave her an unimpressed look, to which she just grinned in what he interpreted as an apology. But his eyes narrowed. He had this inkling that only a part of that grin was apologetic. The other half was... he couldn't tell, but he had the impression she did not just forget about her state when she tried to engulf his clean and pristine self in a hug.
After that, Temari went in the direction of the bathroom, remembering it from the tour she was given previously, while Ren searched the house for Ino and Hinata, but the girls did not seem to be present. They most likely thought he would not come here today either and decided to stay with their family or in his apartment in Konoha.
It was a shame. Ren looked forward to meeting them after being separated for a few days. But they were kinda used to it. They still went on missions in the past, so not seeing each other for a few days was normal.
Ren decided to be nice and started making food for Temari and himself. He even made enough to take back to Baki and Kankuro. By the time he was done, Temari had spent the last forty minutes in the shower and came out of the bathroom clad only in a bathrobe with her hair still wet and hanging freely over her shoulders and back.
Ren glanced at her, and his lips twitched. He recognized a seduction attempt when he saw one. Especially when the girl in question didn't have her bathrobe fully fastened up, and was both trying to show off and cover her cleavage as if not sure what she wanted in the first place.
Ren gave her an amused chuckle, to which Temari groaned and put her face in her hands as she sat down behind the table, properly closing the upper part of her bathrobe with a quite adorable pout under a small glare in between her fingers. Her face was still red as a tomato.
Putting the plates with spaghetti bolognese on the table, Ren sat down opposite Temari, and they shared a pleasant dinner with each other, while Ren gave her tips on how to use her wind release to create a thin layer of wind chakra around her skin in order to counter the temperature. How to channel it into the air around herself to counter the dry air and the intense light. How to do several other applications of the wind chakra that could negate the effects of the desert climate.
Temari was as awed as she was disappointed because most of them were going to require a lot of practice, even for somebody as skilled in the Wind Release as she was. They were not anything she had ever tried to do. This was a completely new approach to working with Wind Release, and getting it right would take time.
That meant no instant relief from the unpleasant environment for her.
In the end, she only managed the thin layer of air around her skin, and even that was only around her exposed parts that were going to peek from her clothes. It was also not very stable, but it should at least lessen the heat and create a pleasant, cooling air current around her face. With her control and reserves, she might be able to keep it up for maybe thirty minutes.
It... was nowhere near ready for proper use.
But she was elated with even just that, and the surprised Ren found himself being dragged into the guest bedroom where she had stayed during her previous stay.
The next day, Kankuro instantly noticed that something had... changed. Temari was a bit more perky than usual. Not to mention clean.
Ren snickered as the boy figured it out and his eye gained a twitch. He realized the two had teleported somewhere, got clean, and well, the food they had brought to him and Baki was also a big tell.
Baki took it with the grace of a man with eyes of a dead fish and stayed quiet as he accepted his portion of the still-warm spaghetti. They definitely beat any ration bar, and Ren could swear he could almost see a glint of muted satisfaction in the man.
Kankuro didn't take it anywhere near gracefully as he glared at his sister, who smirked at him as she handed him his portion. He huffed at her and turned toward Ren with a deadpan, deciding to enact his revenge on Temari by embarrassing her.
"So, you have finally fucked my sister?" He gruffly asked, sounding unhappy about it but also taking a certain level of joy from how Temari's smug expression shifted into a sort of embarrassed anger.
Temari turned toward Ren, too, and suddenly he was between a rock and a hard place. Kankuro wanted him to give him something to embarrass her, while she wanted him to shut up.
And as a good boyfriend... he obviously had to make her blush, no?
"No. Not yet." He said toward Kankuro, whose face slightly fell, despite the relief that seeped into his expression. "But let's just say that Temari decided to start a new tongue-training exercise yesterday. Let me tell you, it took me by surprise."
Ren winked at Temari, who gave him an indignant look, but he knew her anger was only a way to hide how embarrassed she was from her brother hearing about her bedroom activities. It didn't bother her. Not really. If it did, he would have never revealed it.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as Kankuro looked a bit uncomfortable at that information. For a moment, he seemed not to know what to do with it, but then he snorted.
"Yeah. I can't imagine that being enjoyable. My sister always had a very sharp tongue. Do you even have any manly bits down there after yesterday?"
"Kankuro!" Temari yelled, affronted at his insinuation, but the puppeteer just grinned at her. She scoffed, but they both knew this was his win.
"T'is only true, sister dearest." He cheekily answered, before raising an eyebrow at Ren, "So? Did little Ren experience some chomp-chomp?" He chortled at his own joke, something that made Temari even more agitated.
It was a bit interesting to watch for Ren. He was learning a lot about Temari. Kankuro clearly knew how to push her buttons as her younger sibling, and he was not afraid of using them for his own means of petty revenge.
Ren, unfortunately for the boy, was a bit harder to rile up. He only huffed in return, "No. I didn't even need Hinata's reattaching services." He joked back, taking Kankuro a bit aback, but his lips started twitching in amusement.
Good, that lowered his guard. Ren decided to go for the embarrassing kill by being blunt in a way that Kankuro could not handle.
"Your sister was a bit amateurish, but it was only her first time. I am sure she will get better with more practice. She was still very eager to please and determined to go on for hours. She was very thirsty after yesterday's journey and did not let even a drop spi-" That's as far as Ren managed to get when Temari lunged for him.
"Shut up!" Temari hissed in a high-pitched tone, beet red as she hurriedly covered his mouth with her hands. If this were an anime, smoke would be coming out of her head.
"I want to fucking punch you so, so much, you bastard." Kankuro said with an expression that got more and more strained with every sentence that came out of Ren's mouth, and now looked painfully scrunched.
Ren hummed and pulled a bit away from Temari's hands, getting his mouth free.
"I know!" He exclaimed with restrained glee at the absolutely mortified siblings.
It was a bit crude even by his standards, but Ren was sure he had a good read on them by now to know they would not get offended much by this kind of humor. Besides, he was a ninja, and these did not play fair. If it works, it works.
Looking mightily amused, he reached up with his hand and took one of Temari's into his grasp, slowly intertwining his fingers with hers.
That made her still slightly peeved at him, but she also became grudgingly pacified as she stepped closer to Ren and hugged him while letting out a quiet whine. Ren opened his mouth to speak again, but then he felt the girl bite into his shoulder, and he only let out a small huff.
Okay. He deserved that.
"Alright, boys and girls." Baki gruffly interrupted their shenanigans. "I think that's enough fun for now. Kankuro, eat your food. We will set out in half an hour, and should be back in Suna in two, at most three hours after that."
The atmosphere instantly turned serious as they stopped fooling around, and Ren pecked Temari on the lips one last time before he decided to go set up a marker for this cave in the remaining time.
After all, he could never know when it might come in handy.
Deep inside the cave, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh as his shoulders slumped. Soon, he was going to be in Suna, and who knows what kind of political insanity was waiting for him there.
He could only hope things would go well. He didn't want to lose these carefree moments of peace.
---
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