Author's Note: This is for xmarachanx, my favorite author on the site. You should really check out some of her stories!
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He was dying.
Who would have known that the lazy shinobi, the most calculating of the Rookie Nine, would be the first to die? He still had time, but not much.
The hospital told him it was cancer. He already knew.
It was the smoking, they said. If only he hadn't picked up the habit. He had seemed like such a bright boy. He still had a couple months, they assured him.
But he didn't have months.
Those months were revised to weeks, and those weeks to days. In all, he had anywhere from three days to a month left.
What could he do in a month?
More foolish men would have wasted their life, doing so called 'life dreams'. There was no point to dancing in Rome, or traveling to the top of the Eiffel Tower. When you are dying, such things should cease to matter. Who would you tell about them? Death is not impressed.
He was discharged from the hospital, and told to return in a few days, and they would try last ditch efforts to save him.
Being a statistical expert, he knew they would not succeed.
However, he knew what he was going to do. Shikamaru refused to have any last regrets.
The shinobi at the gate waved him through. It seemed as if everyone in the village knew of his disease, and a look of pity seemed plastered on to everyone's faces. Half of them he never even knew. He could hear the whispers sometimes, the voices filled with pity. Everyone thought that if only Tsunade were here, he would be okay. She had saved Rock Lee, hadn't she?
Quite frankly, Shikamaru didn't care.
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Three days later, he had reached Suna, the village hidden in the sand, and Konoha's ally. Walking through the streets, he noticed how refreshing it was not to see the look of pity. To them, he was just another diplomat-to be smiled at, but unimportant.
Walking swiftly for one of the few times in his life, he made his way to the Kazekage's office. He was stopped by shinobi at the gates, and when questioned, merely gave them a letter, and requested that they deliver it. Then he went to go cloud watching, although the past time was much better in Konoha.
--That night—
Shikamaru appeared at the park perfectly on time. However, she was late. He spent the time alternately pacing, and sitting on the wooden bench. Finally, she showed up, looking ethereal in a blue that offset her sandy blonde hair.
Temari walked over to Shikamaru, a question on her lips. Shikamaru merely placed his finger on her lips, indicating for silence. She readily complied, and they walked in companionable silence.
However, Temari finally could silence herself no longer.
"Shikamaru, why are you here?"
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Shikamaru began to answer, but instead fell to the ground, gasping for air. The last thing he saw was her worried teal eyes, silhouetted against the darkness.
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Shikamaru died that night, in a foreign hospital, alone except for one kunoichi, without his family and friends with him.
His body would be sent back to Konoha, to his family. There was nothing anyone could have done.
Leaving the hospital, Temari was stopped by a hospital orderly. She should have felt anger, but all she could muster was a kind of melancholy nostalgia. She had been in hospitals before, and she knew very well that people didn't always come back out.
Two items were pushed into Temari's numb hands before she could process it. They had been in his pockets.
They should go to his family, she thought, and resolved to bring them herself.
That night, however, she dropped the papers on the floor, and the heading of the letters were clearly visible in the moonlight. Curious, she perused the letter.
Dear Temari,
I am going to die. Perhaps not now, but it is inevitable. Lung cancer almost always ends in death. I know that you disapproved of the habit, and I understand you are probably furious at me for not quitting earlier. It's ironic, isn't it, that the cancer had time to get to me, while it never harmed Asuma. I guess some people aren't cut out for it.
I have anywhere from a week to a month left, and I intend to go with no regrets. However, I will not take the easy way out by telling you in this letter. (By receiving it, you have already proved that I have chickened out once) I will meet you tonight at the edge of the village. I have something to give you.
Yours Truly,
Shikamaru
Moving to her nightstand, she let the tears flow unchecked. He just hadn't been given enough time.
Crawling into bed, she noticed the oddly shaped parcel that had been the rest of the contents of his pockets.
Opening the box, she gasped. A note fell onto her feet, and she stared incredulous at the object inside of the box. Bending down to receive the note, she saw the message in her mind's eye. Unfolding it, she read the familiar slanting handwriting.
Temari-
I love you. I always have, and I always will.
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After that day, Temari always wore a thin silver chain. Many people speculated about the charm, but no one ever saw it. It could only be seen while she was training alone, the diamond ring glinting in the sunlight.
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Author's Note: I hope you liked it Mara-chan!