Staring into Teizawa's affectionate eyes, Temari couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
She just couldn't put her finger on it.
And she couldn't sort out her own mind either.
Why was she asking those questions?
Maybe… because she liked him?
When had she started liking him?
When he saved her on the battlefield, when she began paying attention to every little thing he did.
When she watched him seize the faith of all Sunagakure?
Lost in that messy spiral of thoughts, Temari suddenly widened her eyes.
Teizawa lowered himself over her.
His hair brushed lightly across her collarbone, and his warm breath spilled over her throat, sending a prickling shiver through her skin.
A jolt ran through Temari, tingling from scalp to toes.
Then she suddenly felt a chill beneath her.
"Teizawa…"
Temari's sharp voice shattered the stillness of the Kazekage's office.
In her panic, she even left a thin crescent of nail marks across Teizawa's back.
She heard him suck in a breath.
Then Teizawa's voice came from above her.
"What? You don't want to?"
"I… I just…" Temari bit her lip, not daring to look at him. "It's too fast. I'm not ready."
Teizawa frowned slightly, about to speak, when a voice rang out inside his mind:
[Ding! A shy, flustered Temari is beneath you. What should you do? Such a difficult choice!]
[You now have two options!]
[1. Restrain yourself and date Temari properly first. Reward: Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique).]
[2. Indulge yourself. Real men do it. Reward: Ukojizai no Jutsu (Rain Tiger at Will Technique).]
…Seriously?
Teizawa pressed his lips together.
As if this needed thinking.
Who in the world was going to "date first"?
Going straight for the goal was a thousand times better.
Seeing Teizawa go quiet, Temari thought he was upset. She spoke cautiously, voice trembling:
"I… I'm not rejecting you. I'm just… scared. I'm not ready yet."
Looking down at Temari biting her lip, shy and flustered, Teizawa couldn't connect her at all to the proud, sharp-edged princess of Sunagakure.
Maybe…
This was what people called contrast gap charm.
"Opportunities only belong to those who are prepared."
Teizawa's mouth curved, and he leaned down again.
Temari's voice broke, breathy and urgent.
"W-Wait… wait, please… can we go to your place… not here… not here…"
"Quiet."
Temari was snapped at, and a wave of grievance hit her.
Then her eyes flew open, stunned.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining Ukojizai no Jutsu (Rain Tiger at Will Technique)!]
More than half an hour later.
Temari lay there, staring blankly as if her soul had left her body.
Teizawa, perched on the edge of the desk, finally had the time to process the reward.
"Ukojizai no Jutsu… that's…"
He only had to think for a moment.
This was Nagato's technique from Amegakure, that sensory ninjutsu he used all the time.
A technique that infused chakra into rainwater, letting the user monitor everything within range.
What was the point of that here?
Wait. Rain.
Teizawa froze, then his eyes lit up.
Ukojizai no Jutsu didn't create rain out of nothing.
But it could dissolve chakra into the moisture in the sky, form rain clouds, then use chakra-laced raindrops to watch the surroundings.
As long as the air was humid enough, and his chakra was sufficient…
He could control the rainfall whenever he wanted.
What did Sunagakure lack most?
Or rather, what did a desert lack most?
Obviously.
Water.
Which meant…
If he used this technique a few times over Sunagakure, even if it was only intermittent rainfall, it would still be enough to get people building him a shrine.
He'd become a living god on the spot.
This was something no Kazekage in history had been able to do.
As the system reward finalized, a rush of insight flooded his mind, and the hand seals for Ukojizai no Jutsu crystallized into place.
Teizawa didn't even bother dressing.
He hopped down and went straight to the window, staring out into the night sky, suddenly eager to test it.
If he'd had this technique before the coup…
He probably would've been "persuaded" into taking the seat long ago.
"What's wrong?"
Temari, moving gingerly, gathered her clothes, pulled herself together, and came over with Teizawa's outfit in her arms.
As she helped him dress, she asked in a small voice.
There was a new softness in her brows and eyes, as if something had been unlocked.
After becoming a woman, she'd turned unexpectedly gentle.
Teizawa couldn't help wondering.
Was this just a trait people liked to joke about?
Teizawa let Temari fuss over him, then reached up and rubbed her hair where it fell loose over her shoulders.
"You look good with your hair down."
Temari looked troubled. "It gets in the way when I fight."
After a pause, she leaned against Teizawa's shoulder and spoke timidly:
"If you like it… I'll wear it down when I'm with you."
Teizawa shook his head. "Just be yourself. I like the way you were."
"Hmph." Temari's cheeks reddened as she shot him an annoyed look. "You say you like me, but I was crying and you didn't even feel bad for me."
"Sorry. But you had to go through it once. Next time, you'll be used to it."
"Ah. Stop talking." Temari slapped his shoulder lightly, mortified.
"All right."
Teizawa wrapped an arm around Temari's slim waist and shifted the topic.
"Temari, how long has it been since Sunagakure last had rain?"
"Rain?" Temari didn't understand why he was asking. She thought for a moment. "The last time was probably last year. Just a small rain."
"Two or three rains a year. This shinobi world is really harsh on Sunagakure."
"Yeah." Temari's expression dimmed too. "Amegakure floods with constant rain, but the Wind Country right next to it is this dry. Why?"
In truth, Wind Country and Fire Country were one on the west, one on the east.
By common sense, the gap shouldn't have been this extreme.
But reality didn't care what made sense.
Sometimes fate was just unfair.
"Probably because the sea winds coming from the west and south push all the moisture over to the Rain Country," Teizawa said, trying to apply the geography he remembered from his past life.
"Aren't sea winds supposed to bring rain?" Temari asked, confused. "The monsoon winds on the southeast side of Fire Country bring long stretches of rain in spring and autumn."
"You said it yourself. Monsoons change direction with the seasons."
"And Wind Country doesn't have that kind of luck. We get southwest winds all year. Even if a monsoon did show up, Wind Country can't hold onto the moisture."
In the end, it was location.
Wind Country was too flat, with no major divide to block moisture.
The key windward slopes were inside Rain Country's borders.
The 'through-draft' across Wind Country didn't leave rain behind, it just increased evaporation and carried away what little surface water existed.
So the climate dominating Wind Country…
Probably wasn't a simple ocean climate at all.
It was tied to the planet's heat distribution and rotation, bound up with global wind belts.
With their limited knowledge, the locals in the shinobi world didn't have a concept for trade winds.
Naturally, they couldn't fully grasp how brutal Wind Country's water problem really was.
From Teizawa's observations, arid Wind Country was very likely being shaped by a trade-wind belt.
To truly solve it…
You'd practically need to become a Ten-Tails jinchūriki and raise a mountain range out of nowhere as a windbreak and watershed, creating a proper windward slope.
Only then could you intercept even a fraction of the moisture and improve the environment.
Or you'd annex Rain Country, carve a river channel with shinobi force, and divert water into Wind Country.
Build massive reservoirs, push waterworks, restore vegetation, and store groundwater.
But which of those was easy?
None.
It was the kind of dream you only got to have in your sleep.
Temari asked unwillingly, "So there's really no way?"
"There's always a way," Teizawa said. "It's just too hard. Not something we can do right now."
If technology ever advanced far enough to manufacture reverse-osmosis membranes or use multi-stage flash distillation to desalinate seawater, then with shinobi power to build pipelines, they could pump fresh water inland.
That would greatly relieve Wind Country's pressure.
But none of that happened overnight.
Teizawa smiled faintly.
"Even if we can't solve Wind Country's water problem at the root, making it rain a few times is still doable."
"M-Making it rain?" Temari looked out at the night sky.
There wasn't even a single cloud.
How was it supposed to rain?
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