He had never seen her in such a state.
Shikamaru had been peacefully enjoying an afternoon nap when a knock on the door had woken him. Grumbling, he reluctantly got off the sofa and opened the door to his apartment to see Ino standing at the entrance.
Her hair was a mess and her eyes were more than just a little bloodshot. The moment her gaze settled on his, she barged into him and wound her slim arms around his middle.
"Shika," she sobbed quietly. "I'm so worried!"
He sat her down on his sofa as he went to brew some rosehip tea for her. She'd nagged him into trying it a few weeks back, but he'd detested it so he kept the packet at the back of his cupboard in case she came over to visit him.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he set the cup down in front of her and sat by her side, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder.
To anyone else, the scene would have seemed as though he were comforting a crush or a lover, but it was nothing of the sort. Ino was like a sister to him. They'd been friends for so long that even though he was used to the raised eye brows whenever she'd throw herself on to him in the street or kissed his cheek, it still made him feel a little sick to even think of Ino in any way other than as a best friend.
"Ino. What's wrong?" He asked again, growing worried as she held the cup so tightly that her knuckles were even paler than usual.
She mumbled three short syllables, but he didn't quite hear what she'd said.
"Sorry?"
She rose her gaze to meet his and swallowed deeply before repeating what she'd said.
"Temari."
He tensed at the name.
"What about her?"
"She..." Ino shook her head. "She's not alright."
"What happened?" Shikamaru was becoming far more worried by the second. He knew how reckless the Sunan nin could be.
"I don't know Shikamaru, it's been three days, and she still hasn't said a word to me about... Anything!"
"Wait, she's in Konoha?"
"Yeah. She showed up at my house in the middle of the night and she just kinda... Collapsed. I managed to get her up the stairs and into bed, I was going to get Sakura to give her a checkup, but she started panicking and made me promise not to tell anyone she was there." Ino sighed and wiped her eyes. "The next day, I went to see if she was feeling better and she was staring blankly at the wall. I tried speaking to her but she only nodded or shook her head and kept on mumbling: 'tell no one' but I don't think she's slept the entire time she's been here."
Shikamaru frowned and thought about what he'd just heard. Surely if he were to show up, it would only cause problems for Ino, but he couldn't just leave Temari in the state that she was in.
"I'll go see her, alright? Head home, and I'll show up as if I'm just visiting you, and then I'll see what I can do. Okay?"
"Okay." She straightened herself out as best she could before standing up to smile at him. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you."
He waited for half an hour after she'd left before heading out himself.
One thing that Ino could never be accused of was being a bad friend. He'd seen how Sakura turned her back to Ino over their "Sasuke feud", and Ino tore herself apart over it. Though they were friends again, he was still slightly apprehensive of the pink haired girl.
As he arrived at Ino's house, he rang the doorbell and waited for eight seconds as Ino skipped to the front door and opened it.
"Oh, Shikamaru!" She said with a voice of surprise. "Come in!"
He walked into her house and pulled off his shoes. "Hey Ino, I think I left one of my books here the last time I stayed in the guest bedroom, do you mind if I go get it?"
"Oh..." Ino bit her lip. "I can get it for you if you'd like? Wait here."
She dropped her voice and stepped in closer to him, whispering "Give me ten seconds in case she isn't decent and then you can go in."
She stepped loudly up the stairs, allowing him to match her pace more quietly so as not to be heard.
As she opened the door and slipped in, Shikamaru shut his eyes and slowly counted to ten as he heard Ino grumble something along the lines of"That lazy shit forgot to take his book home!"
He stepped into the room.
"I think I also left my-" he didn't have to feign surprise at seeing Temari, because her appearance was shocking. "T-Temari, are you..."
He know not to finish the question, the answer was already an obvious No.
He changed tack as he knelt by the bed and looked at her.
"What happened?"
Her face was ghostly pale and her cheeks seemed hollowed. Her eyes were rimmed with dark bags and her lips were cracked and bleeding in places. She said nothing and just stared at him blankly, trembling slightly.
"Temari?"
A faint sound came from her mouth and he leaned in closer to hear her better. "What?" He asked.
"Tell. No one."
He pulled back and moved to place a hand on her forehead when she flinched at his action and for just a moment, he saw emotion in her eyes.
Pure terror.
He quickly brought his hand back to his side and kept a safe distance from her. He didn't know what to say.
"Ino. You have to get a doctor."
"I've tried to examine her for any injuries, but she's refused and she started lashing out when I tried to... Restrain her." She looked away, embarrassed.
Shikamaru didn't judge her, she was simply concerned for her friend. If Temari had reacted like that to Ino, there was no telling how crazy she'd go if anyone else tried to see her.
"She hasn't left the bedroom except to shower every five hours or so and... She just..." Ino motioned to her friend, lacking words to describe her.
"I understand."
He frowned as he thought about the predicament that he was in. He always prided himself on being able to take the most pragmatic approach to things, but at that moment, he felt as though someone had given him a bucket and told him to empty out the sea.
He didn't have enough information to work with. He wasn't sure wether Temari was traumatised emotionally or physically and he didn't know how to help her.
"I'll come back tonight." He told Ino. "I just need to get my thoughts together."
The blonde nodded and Shikamaru left her house to hurry back to his apartment.
He bought chestnuts, a novel and a small sketch book that came with a pencil. After a quick dinner of instant noodles, he set out for Ino's house once more.
He was of course worried, but somehow, he was angry at the same time. Angry at whatever (or whoever) was responsible for making Temari be how she was, but also angry at himself for not being trustworthy enough for Temari to have gone to him instead of Ino.
He let himself into Ino's house and headed straight for the guest bedroom. As he walked in, he saw that the bed was empty and he heard the water from the shower running in the en suite bathroom.
"Shikamaru?" He turned to find Ino standing in the doorway with a sad expression on her face as she motioned for him to sit on the bed, taking a seat beside him.
"I think I have a vague idea of what it might be," she said carefully, as though picking the wrong words would be the end of the world. "I think that-"
She stopped talking as the sound of the water being turned off reached their ears. She leapt off the bed and pulled Shikamaru along with her, dragging him out of the room.
They went downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Well?"
Ino massaged her forehead and sighed.
"I don't know, Shikamaru. I think she was..." She made an expectant gesture with her hand as though she didn't want to say the word but he knew what she meant. He didn't.
After he'd stared at her blankly for for ten seconds she sighed again.
"I think she was raped, Shikamaru."
He suddenly felt empty.
He had considered it, of course, but hearing it said by someone else was far worse. It made sense: Not wanting to talk about it, manically cleaning herself, not wanting to let people see her, flinching when a guy tried to touch her...
He swallowed down a lump that had formed in his throat and shut his eyes. "Can I um, have a minute to think about this please?"
Ino nodded and left the kitchen. "Come up when you're ready."
He sat at the kitchen table and rested his head in his hands. He knew that it was still only a possibility, but it didn't take his high intelligence to guess what had gotten Temari in such a state.
What had broken her.
He set his hands in his usual thinking stance and said nothing for hours as he tried to find a way he could fix her.
"Ino, can I ask you for a favour please?" Shikamaru asked when Ino walked back into the room.
"Sure, what is it?" She asked as she opened the fridge and looked through it, a small frown in place.
"Can I stay the night? I um-"
"Yes. You can stay," Ino said with a small smile. "You don't need to justify yourself. We're both worried."
She left after a moment and came back with a small bundle of clothes.
"These are Sai's, he left them here the last time so I washed them for him. He wouldn't mind you borrowing them, I'm sure." He thanked her and went to the bathroom to get changed.
"Shikamaru?" She called through the door. "You can stay as long as you like. Bring your things over tomorrow and we can organise something more convenient for you two."
Shikamaru didn't even try to argue with her, he knew it would be pointless.
"Thank you, Ino. Really, thanks."
A/N: I just wrote this? Idk if I'll continue it, but a thought just hit me so I had to type it down. I guess if I do end up continuing this, the rating might be a bit higher than my usual stuff, I hope you don't mind?
For anyone who has read my other stuff, you will definitely have noticed just how much I *adore* Ino, so I guess I just really wanted to write a piece where she plays a bigger part.
A review would be greatly appreciated! Again, this might just be a one-shot so if I don't update, it's because I gave up on this piece. Also, idk if I'll change the title at some point. Okie, lets leave this!
Please follow/fave/ Review!
~Lee!