Shikamaru let out a long held sigh as he brushed the hand of his fiancée. 'Temari, what am I going to do with you?' he thought.

From the moment he heard about it, Shikamaru had known that Gaara's marriage meeting was suspicious and would probably end badly. Though everyone was able to part on relatively good terms and the damage was minimal, not everyone had escaped unscathed.

Shikamaru knew, probably more so than anyone else, that Temari was headstrong. And often she was too reckless with her health for his comfort.

However, he never could have imagined that she would purposely dislocate her shoulder in a fight. She had even gone as far as setting off explosions close to her person in order to escape.

If only he had revealed himself sooner, none of this would have happened. It was lucky that he had managed to catch her before she fell and carried her to the hospital.

Their meeting was short lived as she requested he go help Gaara instead.

He had done so but a small part of his mind remained in the hospital with her. And, when he returned, she was not pleased at all. The medic ninjas were flustered, trying to figure out what to do with his unreasonable fiancée. Temari really thought she was improving the situation by trying not to be a bother.

In the short time he had stood there, he quickly lost count of how many times she had said things like, "I can do that myself" or "I'm well enough to leave." She had all but bullied the hospital staff into releasing her, though under the condition that she rest at home. And he was going to hold her to the promise she made the doctor.

After much complaining, persuading and bribing, he had finally gotten her to rest.

His fingers traced over her hands and up her arm, frowning as he felt the bandages that wrapped around her like a second skin. After helping Gaara, he had rushed back to her side the second he could. Shikamaru didn't know if it was the better lighting in the hospital or the fact that he no longer had as many things to think about but, in that moment, he had his first real chance to look at her.

And he was angry. He might still be a little now. Originally, he was going to say something about it to her, but that was before Gaara had said something that he was still mulling over.

"I'm glad you're here. Temari is happy and she used to think she didn't deserve that."

For the most part, it was easy to tell what Temari was thinking by her expressions. Emotionally, she was a maze. Every now and then she would slip and reveal small insecurities, like the time she came to Konoha for Naruto's wedding.

She had actually asked him if it was 'alright if it were her'.

In what world would she ever not be worthy of him? If anything, it should be the other way around. Usually, he felt like he lost all his smarts around her. He should be the one feeling unworthy. And now there was this new curve ball.

How could she not deserve to be happy? Temari had a difficult time letting go of guilt, forgiving herself. Years ago, he never would have imagined that the hardened and willful girl had such a side to her. Underneath layers of practiced impassiveness she was just as sensitive as everyone else, a fact she did not welcome and it somehow made her even more endearing to him. He didn't know how to convey all of that to her.

"Ouch," he was surprised by Temari's voice.

His hand had wandered its way towards her injured shoulder without him realizing and he wanted to hit himself.

"Sorry!"

It couldn't have been even half an hour since she had let her eyes close.

"Please, go back to sleep." Now that she was up he could tell that she was feeling sore. It had been a while since he had felt this stupid. He helped her sit up and was struck by a thought. "Are you happy?" Her large eyes stared into his questioningly.

"What? I don't understand," she yawned, "I'm stuck in bed so I wouldn't quite use the word 'happy'."

He supposed the question was a little vague. Now he regretted even bringing this up. But he needed to know what she was feeling. He needed to erase any guilt she felt because, whether she realized it or not, she deserved to be happy.

And he would be the last person to get in the way of that.

"Are you alright with the way things are now?" Very soon she would be leaving Suna to stay in Konoha permanently. Though she had said on many occasions that she was okay with it, some little nagging part in his mind couldn't quite give up the thought that maybe she wasn't completely telling the truth. Temari still looked a little disoriented as she processed his question.

"I mean," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously; "do you still want to get married?"

Shikamaru watched her perplexed expression quickly fall from her face and saw hurt flash in her eyes for the briefest second before it was replaced by anger, "you don't want to? It's a little late to be changing your mind Nara!"

He flinched at the use of his last name. Oddly enough he had gotten used to her calling him cry-baby and Shikamaru. Whenever she called him by his last name he knew she was truly angry.

"Eh? No! That's not what I meant at all!"

What a drag. She was usually so good at interpreting what he meant. Misunderstandings were rare between them.

"That came out all wrong. What I meant was...I don't really know how to say...um," Shikamaru was desperately searching his brain for an answer. Temari was glaring at him. "You're going to miss your brothers and Suna –

"How many times do I have to tell you?" she groaned. "I've made my decision."

"I know what you've said but what about five or ten years from now? You'll feel guilty about moving away from your brothers and maybe you'll come to feel resentful towards me for taking you away." He felt her squeeze his hand and he stopped rambling.

"You're lucky my arm is injured and this is the most I can do. Shikamaru," her voice was stern, "don't put words in my mouth. No one is making me do anything, okay? Not the council, not politics nor my brothers had any influence on my deciding to move. I chose this because I wanted it." She huffed in frustration before throwing her quilt off.

"Hey, you're not supposed to get up!"

Temari shot him an annoyed look. She repositioned herself to sit on the edge of the bed across from where he sat in a chair, their knees touching.

"You spoke with Gaara didn't you?" She stated it more like a fact than a question. Her voice was monotone and he didn't know exactly how she felt about her brother disclosing such information about her. "At one time I felt guilty about enjoying myself. Now, I guess I just got tired of always putting everything and everyone in front."

Her expression was grim before she chuckled humorlessly, "I sound so selfish."

Being extra mindful of her shoulder he pulled her in to a hug. Seeing her with such a face pulled at his heart strings. "Tch, ridiculous, that doesn't sound selfish at all. But even if you were too be that's okay. I want you to be selfish with me." He could feel her heart beat harder and her good hand clench the fabric of his shirt.

"Lines like that don't really suit you."

"Get used to it."

Shikamaru knew that Temari would rarely take him up on that offer, if at all. She had missed out on so many normal childhood experiences, growing up faster than anyone he knew in Konoha. Nothing in her life had ever been easy.

And she deserved so much more than she felt she did. Temari didn't allow other people to look after her unless it was him and he'd have to fight for those few and far between opportunities. Here and now, anyone would be able to see just how small and fragile she could be.

"You...," she spoke timidly, "you're sure you're not second guessing?"

Again, he felt instantly ashamed. Shikamaru was primarily asking about the timing of the whole thing. For Temari, he thought that if they pushed the date forwards the event, especially after what had just happened with Gaara, would become less stressful.

It was expected that their wedding would be attended by many political figures, not quite like the close knit ceremony that the two of them had wanted. Shikamaru had jumped through all the hoops to set up a quieter reception just for friends and family.

"Not a chance," he wanted to erase the cautionary look from her face.

"No running away the day of?"

"Never," he breathed into her hair, which still smelled a bit like smoke.

Once again, he managed to persuade Temari to rest. He slid under the covers on the other side; her condition for sleeping. Shikamaru could already feel the exhaustion in his own body after such a stressful day. Temari soon began to inhale and exhale deeply.

He wouldn't voice it, for fear of waking her up, but being next to her like this relaxed him as well.