"Detective, Nara..."

The clouds were dark above his head, blocking out the moon and stars. A rumble of thunder shook, but it couldn't cut through the sounds of his pounding heart as he dashed to Asuma's side.

Ragged breaths tore through Asuma's chest. The strain of breathing evident. Shikamaru was tearing off his coat to apply pressure to the gunshot wound seeping blood from Asuma's chest. Frantically pressing in hopes to stop the seeping blood.

"Detective…"

"Can you be my back up tonight, Shikamaru? I'm still working that case, but things are getting... more complicated. I got a lead I need to follow-up on tonight, and I need someone I can trust."

"You expect things to get dicey?"

"Come on, when don't they? That's why I got you." Asuma chuckled as he tossed Shikamaru his jacket.

"Shikamaru..."

So much blood.

It wasn't stopping.

He couldn't stop it.

"...Nara!"

"We just need to get you to the hospital. Just need to get some help." The words spewed from his mouth. Truthful or not, it didn't matter. He wanted them to be true with every fiber of his being. That's all that mattered now.

"I don't think I'll make the trip." Asuma coughed a bit of blood. His face was getting paler by the second. "Ugh… might as well… a cigarette?"

Shikamaru searched Asuma's pockets, pulling out a worn lighter and the single "emergency" cigarette that Asuma allowed himself to carry since he decided to quit. Quit for his child. Quit for his wife. Quit for the life he would never have.

"My kid and Kureni… you'll watch-out for them?"

Shikamaru placed the cigarette in Asuma's mouth. A white stick stained with Asuma's blood from his own hands. It could have been the shaking of those very hands or the slippery blood coating them, but it took him several tries before the lighter finally ignited and a flame appeared. Shikamaru moved as Asuma gave a wet inhale to light it. His stomach dropped at the sound. The tip of the cigarette glowed.

"Like my own... but you'll be around to do it." Shikamaru searched the area for someone… anyone who could help, but the alley remained a dark void. All signs of the perpetrator long gone and no one else in sight.

"You're a good kid, Shikamaru. Lucky to have you... as my partner…"

He didn't finish. Asuma's cigarette dropped from his lips and the rain began to fall in earnest.

"...Crybaby!"

Shikamaru blinked hard. Trying to focus back into the present. Temari was in front of him, dragging his body up from the chair. His face was wet, but it wasn't from the pounding rain of his memories. He must have been crying.

Before he knew it, she pulled him from the torture room. His legs refused to work at first. He stumbled. Yeah, he had definitely been in better shape. Temari pushed his arm over her shoulder to support him as she guided them out of the warehouse. The thrumming of his heart beat was starting to recede from his ears. The fog in his brain started to lift.

"Keep your eyes on me. I need you to stay with me." Her voice was steady as she led them out into the cold pouring rain. "Take some deep breaths. Stay in the present." He did as he was told. Had he said something that clued her into the past he'd been lost in? He wasn't about to ask.

He watched as the blood speckling her face began to bleed down in rivers down her neck and collar bones. It only left clean skin in its wake, but her clothing wasn't so lucky. The blood spread and seeped into the weave. The observation made his chest tighten, so he focused back on her face and watched as her eyes scanned for a place to take cover outside the building. He watched her expressions until they were under the eve of another building. Protected from the rain or at least as much as they could be. As if it mattered.

Near enough to a wall, Temari unwound herself and let him use it for support. Each breath hurt. Scratch that. Everything hurt. Shikamaru slid down the building to sit with his back against it. Why was he still here? He was ready for his end in that warehouse. That was supposed to be his end, but here he was instead.

"Why?" The words came out angrier than expected.

"What?" Temari seemed unconcerned as she slid down the side of the building and joined his side.

"Why are you here? Why are you helping me?"

Temari rolled her eyes. "I just saved your ass, Crybaby. Maybe try saying 'thank you' first."

"That was gonna be it. Now… why… how…?" He leaned his head forward into his hands. A feeble attempt to press clarity into the convoluted puzzle pieces in his brain.

Temari rifled through his jacket pockets. She must have grabbed it and pulled it out here with her, just like she had him. She dug his pack of cigarettes and the worn lighter from the pocket and got to work lighting one between her lips.

She took a deep inhale of smoke before leaning her head back and closing her eyes, then slowly let the smoke seep out from her lips.

Once done, she bumped her shoulder into Shikamaru to get his attention, as she held out the cigarette to him. An offering. "Here, it looks like you could use this."

Shikamaru grabbed it and took a greedy drag, looking for any comfort it could offer. It helped steady him. Ground him. Whether it was the familiar act or the hit of nicotine his body craved, he finally started to be able to sort through his thoughts.

After several minutes, he exhaled a question with a puff of smoke. "Why did you help me?"

"I'm still asking myself that…" a shake of her head, "...but like I said before, I think we can help each other."

"How did you know I was here?"

"All thanks to a source and just lucky timing, I suppose," she wryly answered.

Shikamaru shot her a hard, questioning look.

She gave a little shrug before she decided to elaborate. "I got a tip that someone I've been watching had your friends," she motioned with a nod to the main warehouse building they had just left, "over for a chat. A meeting he wasn't keen on being well advertised. I followed them with the plan to just do some surveillance to the library. But I got to see the show as things unfolded," she chuckled. "You actually put up a pretty good fight. Then I was crazy enough to follow, enter the warehouse, and save your ass."

"Someone you're watching?"

"Let's leave a little something to the imagination, Nara," she smirked. She wasn't ready to share too much. She didn't trust him fully, and he respected that. The feeling was mutual, but he suspected the answer was actually District Attorney Orochimaru. Sasuke worked closely with the guy, as a Deputy District Attorney and was most likely the one who tipped her off.

Pieces were starting to fall into place and make sense when considering what he had learned in the library and Temari's association with Sasuke. Maybe they were planning to blackmail Orochimaru? From what he'd put together, the guy was no saint. If the guy had been the one to send Tayuya and pals his way Shikamaru didn't mind the thought of him being blackmailed. Orochimaru could offer power, favors, money, and more if you had something on him.

"You're a surprisingly good shot."

His comment brought a soft chuckle, "You don't grow up how I did without picking up some useful skills."

"Makes sense with your father's crime empire, I suppose you would need to be..." Shikamaru watched as Temari's body froze and stiffened. She hadn't expected him to know her background.

She looked at him warily. "We should get going in case anyone else shows up." It may have been a convenient way to change the subject, but it was still true.

"Yeah. First we need to get to a phone to call the police."

Her response was fast and given with wide eyes. "We can't call the police." Recovering her composure she continued, "I can't be linked to this. Yeah, you're right. My family has a past. I have a past. I can't afford to have my name and questions thrown around."

Considering she just saved his life, it seemed like a little concession to make for her.

"Fine. I'll keep you far from this, but I'm going to play it as close to the books as possible. After we get things set here, you'll go and make sure no one sees you as you are coming from here. No witnesses. Get yourself home and cleaned up. Then you need to make it to the club for work tonight so you can cement your alibi. I'll walk to the road and see about flagging down someone or finding a nearby farm... or something so I can use the phone to call the police"

"I don't know if you'll make it to the road in the shape you're in." Temari was skeptical as her eyes ran over his frame. He didn't really blame her, but he knew that his trail to get help would be important evidence. It would be needed to help sell his story. As far as he saw it, worst case, he wouldn't make it. It would be a lot easier, but he didn't share the thought with her.

"Don't worry, I'll make it, but I need your gun and some additional bullets, if you have some, in the case I see any other friendlies when I'm walking. Plus we're going to set things up like this gun belonged to Tayuya. Make it look like I got free and took them all down with it. Safe to assume it can't be traced back to you?"

"Safe." Temari started to stand and offered him her hand to help her up. "I don't know if anyone would believe you could be such a good shot, but if we're going to do that and have me make my shift on time, we had better get to it."

"I still have questions that need answers from you."

"I have a few of my own. How about I come by your office in a few days, after things cool down, and we can play twenty questions then. Deal?"

"Deal." He finally grabbed her hand and allowed her to haul him up to his feet.