Title: Third Snow
Rating: T
Pairing: Shika/Tem
Summary: It would be the third and last time she would ever see snow.
Author's Note: This story was thought up in the comfort of my bed, when I found out that there was no school because of the snow. This is in memory of the rare snow.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Shikamaru and Temari would have two babies, and one would be named Al Pacino.
…I do not own Al Pacino either. I just like the name.
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Third Snow
Temari stood alone, wind lightly brushing her bangs. She looked up and saw the snow coming down, mingling with her hair.
She had cried that time, she mused. However, her eyes were dry this time. She wouldn't, no—she couldn't cry this time.
Temari saw his friends, Ino and Chouji slowly leaving. The Yamanaka girl was crying silently and her boyfriend tried to soothe her, his own tears falling silently. She looked back and their eyes met. Slowly, the Yamanaka nodded to her in acknowledgement. They weren't friends or enemies, just acquaintances. Temari nodded back and turned to look back at the lonely stone in front of her.
Nara Shikamaru
Underneath, were his birth date and the day he had died. Temari clenched her fists and bit down on her lip, hard. Blood dripped down and mixed with the snow. She looked at the ground. The snow looked gray to her. Everything looked gray to her. The first time she had seen snow; it was a pearly white that had mesmerized her.
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Flashback
"Oy, lazy! Where are you taking me!? OY!" Temari shouted, trying to pull her arm back.
"Tch, hold on woman, how troublesome," Shikamaru said, his grasp on her wrist strengthening.
They were slowly climbing up a hill. A very steep hill, Temari thought. It was dawn and hard to see. She was cold and it looked like it was going to snow. She had never seen snow in her life, of course. He had told her that when the clouds looked like that, it would inevitably snow. She snorted at the thought. Only he would know such a thing. Gosh, this hill is really annoying, Temari huffed. She had tripped over rocks and would have fallen if it hadn't been for the lazy genius. Of course, she would never tell him that. Shikamaru had woken her up at five in the morning. If she hadn't been so alarmed at the fact that he had woken up so early, she probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed.
"Oy, are we there yet?" she asked impatiently, allowing herself to be dragged to the unknown place.
"Almost there, woman." Shikamaru said, not at all affected by her tone. He led her into a clearing at the top of the hill and lied down. Temari just stared at the sky, her eyes big. The stars were still there, but looked less visible. The sky was a mixture of inky blue and a lighter blue. She could just see the sun on the horizon.
Shikamaru looked up when he noticed that she wasn't lying down next to her. Seeing his curious gaze, she snapped back to reality and lied down next to him.
"Wow," she said, still in awe. She turned her head to look at him. His eyes were closed and was smirking, expecting that kind of reaction. She rolled her eyes but looked back at the sky.
"Oy," Shikamaru said. She looked at him curiously.
"What?" Temari said, eyebrows raised. He leaned forward a little before she felt his hand pulling her to him. Her lips were pushed against his. He pulled back and their eyes met. Temari's eyes opened and looked at Shikamaru before leaning back in. When they broke apart, she had nestled her head into his chest and stayed like that, until she felt a cold substance falling on her. She snapped her head back up to see snow. It was white and flaky. Her face lit up like a child on their birthday. As she lied back on Shikamaru's chest, she watched at the snow falling around them.
End Flashback
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It was their first kiss, Temari mused. The snow was so white back then. They were so happy in their own world. She remembered laughing so much with him. But, the second time, the snow wasn't white.
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Flashback
Temari desperately cradled Shikamaru's head to her chest. She rocked him back and forth, her tears mingling with the snow that she had come to love so dearly.
"Shikamaru, Shikamaru!" she said, blundering over her words. He looked up and another set of tears racked through her chest. Oh, how horrible he had looked. His face was covered in blood and his ponytail was limp. She couldn't see the left side of his face. She knew that he was bleeding everywhere else; she could feel the blood seeping through her fingers and onto the snow.
"Don't cry, Temari," he said, attempting a smile. The tears streamed down even faster now. He would never, ever call her Temari. It was usually 'troublesome woman' or such.
"Tch, who's crying?" she said, her voice thick. She would be strong, she had to be strong.
He smirked painfully before coughing up some more blood. The blood fell to the ground, staining the snow even further. He raised a shaking hand and caressed her face, wiping a stray tear. His smirk disappeared and was replaced by a sad smile. Seeing that pathetic smile, she knew what would come next.
"I'm sorry," Shikamaru rasped out, before his hand fell limp and fell to the ground. Upon seeing his limp body, she let out a choked sob before clinging to him desperately. Tears fell everywhere and her vision was clouded. Temari was a woman that didn't cry often, the last time she had cried was when her mother had died, and that had been over ten years ago. She couldn't cry prettily like other girls would. Tears racked her body, and she let out animalistic sounds. It was all her fault.
End Flashback
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That time, the snow was red. Not white, but red. It had stained the snow and went further down to stain the ground. If Temari went back to the place, the ground would still be a rusty red.
It was meant to be a simple mission. All they had to do was to escort some guy back to his country. However, there were some rogue shinobi and they had underestimated them. They had some foreign jutsu that she had thought she could evade. But, Shikamaru had took the blow instead.
She looked at the grave once again. Underneath the birth date, it read:
Died in Action
Tch, she thought bitterly. It should have said that he was murdered by his fiancée. The snow was steadily covering the gravestone and she angrily brushed it aside. A tear made its way down her face, and it would be the last.
She would never see snow for the rest of her life again.
She stood, and with her head held high, she walked out of graveyard with one last glance at the gravestone.
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Thank you for reading this humble story of mine!! Please forgive me for killing off Shikamaru. (avoids looking at any Shikamaru fans)
This is my first Shika/Tem story so I'm not sure if it's too good.
Criticisms and reviews are most certainly welcome!! (nudge)