How Things Fall
She couldn't remember how it happened. She was attacked, poisoned to be exact. She felt the changes in her from the first needle.
She remembered pain, and red. The pain from the sword in her stomach. The pain from the marks the kunai left as they trace down her legs and arms. The sky turning red before her opened eyes, the grass beside and underneath her becoming stained.
She remembered cold hands. They smeared the red all over. They traveled up her skirt to places she had only let a select few go. They touched under her shirt, feeling everything she had. They touched her lips, allowing her to taste the copper and iron mix that what her blood.
She remembered them falling beside her, seeing them through the red haze lying as limp as herself. She sensed more chakra, more familiar and comforting. She felt warmth as they closed her eyes for her. She felt her wounds being closed and someone covering up where her clothes had been ripped. She felt warmth as she was carried away.
He wasn't sure how he knew. He felt the wrongness in the air. He knew he was late, but she had never shown up. He knew she was always punctual. He saw the swirling black clouds in the distance of the sunny day. He ran.
He ran faster than anyone ever saw him run. He arrived to the scene before the rest of them. He did what he had to. They wanted to kill her so he killed them. He snapped their necks without a second thought, letting them drop to the ground around her.
He wanted to cry but time was precious. The rest of them chased those in the distance, she stayed to help her. He gave her his jacket and carried her back to his village. She was his life, and she had no clue.
Shikamaru sat outside the operation doors, the same hallway as his first mission. Except the people he was with last time were dead or dying. His mother had stopped by, but left. She couldn't get him to move, eat or budge.
When Sakura came out he jumped up.
"Shikamaru, I told you to go home." Sakura said disappointed in her fellow shinobi.
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to make sure she was ok. So I could tell her brothers."
Sakura smiled lightly through her sweaty matted hair and blood stained hands. It was a lie that even Sai would be able to see through.
"Her system was stronger than Kankuro's fighting against it. You got to her before it did any vital damage, but she will be confined here for a while." Sakura stated.
They stood in an awkward silence. Shikamaru glancing at the door and Sakura fidgeting with her fingers, staining the white nurse uniform she was in. When the beeping and wailing of the machines went off Shikamaru reached the door before Sakura.
"Ma'am, please! We need to monitor your vitals." A nurse was saying as the two shinobi watched in confusion as Temari pulled the tubes and sensors off her barely covered body.
"I said I am fine." Temari stated slightly slurred as she tried to stand up.
"Temari. You can't leave-"Sakura was about to protest the elder blonde trying to leave by herself.
"She can stay at my house." Shikamaru said as he walked over and steadied her. When she looked up she frowned and tried to shake him off. "It's troublesome, but I know she doesn't like hospitals."
Sakura smirked and Temari let out a huff before sitting down on the bed.
"I don't need to be taken care of." Temari said as she tried to catch her breath.
"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru stated as he rubbed the back of his neck. He picked her up bridal style and carried her towards the door.
"Shikamaru?" Temari said lightly before tucking her head in and closing her eyes tightly. She wore a pained expression but quickly replaced it with a frown.
Sakura stopped the nurses from preventing them from leaving.
"She is in safe hands. Those two need to work something out anyways." Sakura said as she watched the couple leave.
Temari let Shikamaru carry her back to his house. She kept quiet, wincing at the quick movements sometimes. She didn't say anything when he placed her gently in her bed, she refused to say anything when he sat beside her and waited.
"Why?" Shikamaru asked simply. Leaving everything that had happened out in the morning.
"I can't leave them." Temari stated with a sigh and a frown.
She looked out his window, seeing the blue sky starting to turn pink and darken in the distance. They were thousands of kilometres away. She let out a frustrated sigh before pushing herself into a sitting position.
"They are my family. Suna is my home. I can't leave them," Temari said, before quickly grabbing her stomach in pain.
Shikamaru muttered something before pushing her back down. He then sat back in his chair and continued to look at her.
"Why did you come today?" Shikamaru asked, grabbing her left hand and began running it thumb across it.
Temari gently pulled her hand out of his, before frowning and looking anywhere but him.
"I needed to talk to you." Temari said, once again sitting up. She hung her head, like she was ashamed of everything that had happened.
She reached for his hand and pulled it to her face, placing it on her cheek. He ran his thumb under her eye, catching a stray tear that escaped. It confused him, knowing she was upset, but still strong enough to not show it.
"You asked Gaara and Kankuro for my hand in marriage, and they agreed to allow you if I wanted it." Temari said retelling everything he already knew. "They agreed I could move here, with you and live my life as a Konoha shinobi with blood ties to Suna. It would make our village bonds tighter than ever, beneficial for them, but not for me. I would rarely see them."
She looked at his face before letting her eyes fall back down to her lap.
"But I couldn't marry you and stay there. I would rarely see you, and that would be troublesome."
Shikamaru gave a smirk at the word, then quickly went back into the poker face he previously held.
"It would be dangerous for me to visit you every few months, and dangerous for you to visit me. We would see each other for a few days, every day would be touching and kissing, nothing more than hook ups before parting ways again. I can't be a fuck buddy, not again."
"Why did you come Temari? You already told me no, that we could be friends and try to get over everything. So why did you come today?" Shikamaru asked
Temari gripped his hand tighter and bit her lip. She quickly dropped his hands in her lap before covering her face with her hands.
"I wanted to you to know you were going to be a father. Have your own troublesome son, with a pineapple head hair do and lazy attitude." Temari muttered into her hands.
He was quiet, but climbed on the bed and pulled her to him gently. She let out a hiss of pain, but still stayed close to him.
"We can try again if you let me." Shikamaru stated into her hair. He felt the light nod on his chest and he kissed her forehead.
"I want to get married first." Temari mumbled in a sleepy voice.
Shikamaru smiled lightly before getting her to lie back down and actually sleep.
"Get better, then we will discuss everything." Shikamaru stated as he lied down beside her, giving her enough space to move without being in pain.
He thought about it all. Waking up next to her every day, the sound of little footsteps running down the hallway, home cooked meals. He wished the men in his life that helped him through so much could be here for these important moments of his, but he got what he wanted most. A troublesome woman who loved him at his worst, could fend for herself and only bared her feelings to him.
A troublesome woman who had to face death before saying yes to being his wife.
His troublesome woman.
A/N
Feeling slightly gushy from Valentine's Day, even if I didn't celebrate and it's a day late.
I have always felt like Temari would deal with pain really well, proving that even if she was hurt, she wasn't weak unless she was in front of her brothers of Shikamaru. But that may be just me. I hope you enjoyed my drabble, even if it didn't make much sense. Feeling too lazy to change it.