28 Hours Ago

"So when we stop by yours, will you let me in this time? Or do I still have to wait outside?"

Shikamaru and Temari were out of the Kazekage building, preparing to travel to No Man's Land for their mission.

"How did you know we're stopping at mine?" Temari questioned him lightly.

"It's an undercover mission. Gaara said 'not even a whiff of shinobi-ness'. We can't have you walking in armour-clad with a huge weapon on your back. Anyone with two eyes and a pulse would pin you as a shinobi."

"Gaara would never talk like that. And this is the first time you've ever commented on how I dress."

"I like the way you dress. But the chest plate wont go well with our married couple cover," he informed her. "Hey do you still have that skirt you wore during the Shinobi war? The really short one? Maybe wear that."

They stopped outside the entrance of her apartment building. "I won't be wearing that skirt, it doesn't fit anymore. But circling back, who said anything about being married?" Temari asked.

"Well, a beautiful blonde woman and her male companion travelling together. It would be scandalous if we weren't married!"

"Two friends can't travel together?" Temari asked coyly, blushing at the fact he called her beautiful.

"I don't want to be just your friend on this mission," Shikamaru responded, following her in.

"How bout just work colleagues?"

"It wouldn't be undercover otherwise."

"Work colleagues, but with lingering tension," She haggled, as they climbed the stairs to her floor.

"Could it be a tension of the sexual nature?"

Temari shot him a look.

"Alright. Married couple cover - take it or leave it. You know what these little townspeople are like - all gossipy and nosey. We'll be talk of the town - which will jeopardise the mission. Scandal."

"Hmm. I guess you're right," She said. They were at her door now. "I wouldn't want to jeopardise the mission," she opened the door, gesturing for him to come in.

"Alright - so we'll share the one hotel room," Shikamaru concluded.

"Wait- no -," Temari began to say, but he had her there. She hated it when he outsmarted her.

Shikamaru walked in and glanced around her place. Temari's apartment was tidy. It was spacious, fitting for the Princess of Suna and meticulously organised, as expected for the intense workaholic he knew her to be. A book shelf filled with heavy books, a dining table spotless, save the stationery and paperwork on one end. There were a few pots by the windowsill with cactuses in them. Looked like one of them was about to bloom.

"Nice place."

"It's nothing like the Nara Estate but it's nice."

"Didn't you grow up in the royal Suna palace?"

"...I don't live there anymore."

He sat on the little sofa in the living room and as she went into her room to change, Shikamaru called out, "My mom is always asking when I'm bringing you over for dinner."

"I don't know if I'm ready to meet her yet," Temari called back out. "Did you tell her we're dating?"

"Nope."

"So how does she know?"

"She knows everything."

"Really? Do you think she'll like me?"

"Now when I come down for breakfast, the first thing she does is nag me 'Are you going to see Temari like that? Not a shave or a comb? With that scowl on your face?' Whatever happened to 'Good Morning' or 'Hello my only son' – lately it's just when will you invite Temari over? Why don't you buy Temari any flowers? Will I die before seeing her?"

"Why don't you buy me any flowers?"

"Do you want Ino calling you for a sleepover everytime you're in Konoha?"

Shikamaru and Temari enjoyed their time together, but Temari was anxious about admitting their romantic relationship since they worked so closely together. She had trained and lived as a shinobi for years - she had been taught to kill a man in a heart beat. But coming over for dinner with his mom? Being known as 'Shikamaru's girlfriend' everytime she was in town? There wasn't any training for that. Shikamaru respected her privacy so never pushed for anything. He always said the extra responsibilities and expectations were a drag.

"So do you have other people here, or am I the only one lucky enough to see this and live?"

"You assume I'll let you live," she said from her bedroom.

He got up from his seat and sauntered to the doorway of her bedroom. Temari popped out, and stopped him at the door. "You're not allowed in my room." Temari told him firmly, secretly enjoying his disgruntled look.

"So you let me kiss you in your office and then you bring me to your place, but won't let me peek into your bedroom?," he asked, bringing his face close to hers," you're such a tease, Lady Temari".

Temari held his gaze, and leaned in towards him as if to kiss. But she pulled away at the last second, pressing a parcel against his chest. "Open it," Temari ordered.

Shikamaru shook his head in despair as she walked away leaving his lips hanging.

"A gift?"

"For our anniversary."

"Anniversary? According to you, we've only been dating for 6 months. Six secret months."

"Well our first date was a year ago." Temari said, rolling the end of a ponytail with her fingers.

"So this shirt is to make up for the first 6 months of you torturing me?"

"I didn't torture you. It took you 6 months to work up the nerve to ask me to be your girlfriend," She refuted.

"Yet this present proves it doesn't matter when I asked- does it?" Shikamaru unwrapped the parcel. It was a handsome white linen button down shirt.

Ignoring that he was right, she went on, "You're always complaining about the heat in Suna - this shirt will keep you cool," she muttered. It was her first time doing something a girlfriend would do. It felt so embarrassing.

"Thank you. If I knew it was our anniversary, I would've gotten you something too."

"You can buy me some flowers," Temari told him.

"Alright, dear," he said. Temari pushed him back, her face cringing.

"Just practicing for the mission," he raised his eyebrows at her.

He waited for her to gather her things and after a quick goodbye to her tessen. Then they left Suna together. And once they were a safe distance from the Suna gates, Temari let him hold her hand.

Present

After Temari passed out, everything happened so fast. Shikamaru tried to wake her but she was limp and unmoving. Her pulse had slowed down tremendously. A crowd was gathering around them, whispering as they recognised them form the paper. Then there was shouting, somebody calling for help - an ambulance - paramedics lifting Temari onto a stretcher.

Somebody tried to grab his arm and then he heard a voice from somewhere around him say

I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry.

Somebody pushed him back but then the man from the stall said "He's her husband. Let him through!" Shikamaru was now sitting in the ambulance, holding Temari's hand. The paramedics were hooking up wires and machines to her. Shikamaru never felt so afraid in his whole life, watching her pulse weakening by the second.