The steam from her private bathhouse filled the room from bottom to top. She had lit candles all around her and placed lilac flowers and peppermint oil in the bath to help calm her nerves. Every time she went to visit Konoha, they gave her a small apartment equipped with a bedroom, small couch area with a TV and a kitchen.

She felt like Shikamaru had every right to be upset with her and she regretted not telling him that night, but she was tired of feeling like a weak link and refused to let this person catch her off guard. Temari sat in the corner of the wooden bath with her knees pulled to her chest with her head resting on her knees. She was trying to pull herself together as much as she could so she could get back to work without there being issues. As she sat in the bath, she questioned whether she was truly delusional or not. Despite people seeing everything she saw, nobody felt the same trepidation she felt after every occurrence. It was a hidden enemy who played mind games- something she had no experience in. If they were present, she knew she'd have a pretty good chance, but if they were using spiritual measures as a tactic she was afraid this was a battle she wouldn't win.

It'd been five days since she'd last seen her brothers. Her week's work was coming to an end in Konoha. Throughout the past 4 days, she had been going to meetings with the Godaime discussing affairs with Suna. Shikamaru was assigned her escort, yet when he did attempt to walk her back to her place or to see the Godaime, she would escape through another entryway to avoid conversing and walking with him.

Temari untucked her legs from her chest grounding herself so she could meditate. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Whoever this is, they can't hurt me. I won't allow it"

There was a draft in the bathhouse causing the candles to blow out, yet she kept her eyes closed trying to focus. The steam got heavier confusing her since the bath was set to a certain temperature before she got in. Soon it became unbearable for her to hold onto her meditation causing her to open her eyes and gasp for air.

There was a brush against her cheek.

"It's all in your head." Is what her mind repeated despite the painful feeling of no air.

Soon she caught pace with her breathing again and shrunk her shoulders into the tub. Her vision was hazy, she couldn't make out anything in the bath. It felt as if her mind was playing games and hallucinating much like a bad LSD trip. A rainbow line bounced in her vision surrounded by darkness. She rubbed her eyes several times but the line only blinded her vision until darkness was the only thing she was surrounded by in her peripheral vision.

"Calm. Calm down, this isn't real."

As much as she wanted to close her eyes she couldn't- and when she thought she was awake, she questioned if she had fallen asleep in the bathhouse and fell into sleep paralysis. Her hands were still mobile though, and her head could still move, yet she could not close her eyes.

"-I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! What do you want from me?" She cried out hitting the water with closed fists. Suddenly, the bright light was shining down on her, and when she had lifted her hands from the water they were covered in blood.

Her stomach dropped to the floor. It was the feeling of holding a deceased loved one on the battlefield, yet there was no body, just blood. There was horror in her eyes and with every attempt to cry afterwards, she caught a knot in her throat.

There were shadows and whispers dancing around her- as much as she wanted to scream, they were silenced by imaginary suffocation. One of the shadows appeared adjacent from her, wading in the water making no sound. The light didn't touch the shadow completely, but it reflected off of it revealing human form. The only thing she could make out was silver hair and a devilish grin.

Temari took a gulp and gritted her teeth.

"Are you a follower of Jashin?"

The human entity nodded.

Her eyes grew wide remembering what Asuma and Shikaku told her. This didn't break her stride, she wasn't going to let up a fight for anyone.

She straightened herself up and spoke firmly. "I am Lady Temari of Suna, state your village."

All she could do to calm herself down was act as if she was not terrified and remember why she is considered to be the cruelest kunoichi. She's out for the kill. Nobody could hurt her without putting up a good fight.

The light hovered over the water revealing the symbol for Yugakure, Village hidden in hot water.

Temari wasn't sure what to say next. She didn't have much knowledge on the people of Yugakure. The human entity came closer to her. The once mobile kunoichi could no longer move any part of her body or make any noise. Her heart was beating so fast she felt as if it would pop out of her chest.

Darkness came to light and a silver haired man sat in front of her. His hair cut off at his neck and two strands of hair sat on his forehead. His eyes were beaming a deep red color as he stared directly into her teal gaze. He wore the symbol of Jashin around his neck that reached down to his bare muscled chest. He reached over and placed a hand on her cheek, stroking it with his thumb.

Temari was screaming on the inside expecting to be raped, or worse- killed. Yet there was something about him, something that gave her a sign that he wasn't here to kill her. There was lust in his eyes. The way he glared at her and licked his teeth. There was more desire for her than desire to kill her.

The man spoke to her with a low voice keeping motion with his thumb. His hands were calloused and nails painted black. At this point Temari wasn't sure what he wanted, as he inflicted no pain on her.

"I have been watching you painfully from afar. I wasn't assigned to your village, but after crossing by in disguise, I saw your face. Your beauty struck me."

There was a rough silence. As much as she wanted to not look into his eyes, it was almost as if he was pulling her gaze forcing her to stare into the red abyss.

He pinched her cheek harder and harder as he continued to talk. Temari's current state was frozen. A tear rolled off her cheek as he painfully dug his thumbnail and knuckle into her.

"You threw away my gifts, ignored my visits. I felt a feeling like no other after seeing you. But here I am stuck in one place staring at you." His words grew piercing. " And that little boyfriend of yours? He's nothing but a waste of time, Temari…"

His pinch opened and his hand laid flat against her cheek.

"I know, you're in disbelief… But he doesn't see a future with you… The way your villages are set up. If anything, he's useless to your life. I want you, Temari."

He pulled away inching back into the darkness.

"-Only this isn't me. I'm much further away from you. My promise to Jashin was a bride. But you betrayed me, Temari. I see everything. But I know your heart is confused."

The candles lit back up slowly as the human entity began to fade away.

"I may not have you now... but just wait."

There was a foamy grey occurrence erupting around him.

"Hidan, servant of lord Jashin."

And with that, he licked his lips and grimaced before disappearing.

Black.

Temari woke up to see everything back in its normal place. There was no blood in the water, no pinch mark on her cheek.

"It was just a dream. Everything is okay."

She let herself out of the bathtub and wrapped herself in a towel.

"Holy shit, phewww!" Temari grabbed her chest and crouched over.

Shikamaru was standing in the doorway startling her.

"You left the door open, so I waited for you on the couch but you were taking too long so I decided to walk up to the door. I didn't know you were going to come out as I did that." He let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head.

She fixed herself up and looked up at him with her sharp teal eyes.

Whenever she saw him, it was like all of her troubles that day, that month, that year, had melted away and didn't exist. Disregarding the horrifying mind games that had appeared in front of her in the bath, she let out a sigh of relief and straightened herself up.

Before he could get out another word she apologized.

" I should have told you."

"I should be saying that to you."

"You were worried, I thought I could handle it on my own, although your snarky attitude threw me for a loop."

She frowned her lip and smacked her teeth looking in the opposite direction.

" I just don't want anything to happen to you Tem, you know this." He took a step closer and cupped her face in his hands.

"Whoever this is-"

"Hidan." She cut him off. Tears began to glisten under her eyes. She turned a cold shoulder to him looking up at the window adjacent to her. He shifted to stand in front of her noticing the glistening stream trailing down her cheek.

"His name is Hidan. He just appeared in front of me before you came."

Her face was pale, there was no emotion. She didn't want to bother him with her stalker, but she didn't want to cause another fight. No more pain. Their relationship was already rocky, considering they wouldn't confirm or deny their relationship with one another. They never even talked about the future for more than five minutes because it would always end up in an argument. This time around, Temari decided there was nothing left to hide, yet she was fearful. She was afraid of how this would affect his work and his current train of thought. Shikamaru was an overall mellow person. He had both parents, a home, no past trauma or anything serious to cause him a dilemma in his life. For the most part he was just lazy, but he enjoyed this type of lifestyle. If it was his way, he would have a basic job and not have anything to do with the ninja world anymore. Unfortunately, that was a fate he couldn't surpass.

Shikamaru's facial expression went from calm and caring to angst and annoyance after hearing those words. He balled a low fist and looked down at the ground, gritting his teeth.

He took a deep breath. "Can I ask why he isn't dead?"

The tone in his voice was one she was embarrassed to reply to. Telling him could start a fight and not telling him could also start a fight- either way, she couldn't avoid not telling him.

She let out a deep sigh. "He appeared to me as some entity while I was taking a bath… I couldn't move or anything I was in some weird tsukuyomi-" He cut her off and slammed his fist on a nearby coffee table.

"-you shouldn't have left my house. But you did, and he came to you. You don't think! You're so-" He was practically yelling at this point.

"-so what! Say it Shikamaru, I'm so what!" She turned to him, clenching her towel with anger in her eyes.

"Troublesome! Irritable! Irresponsible! All of the above. You put yourself in this situation because you didn't tell anyone! For someone who literally raises her brothers, I would have thought you were more responsible!"

Temari took a step back. She normally didn't cry in front of him, but the tears just kept trickling down her cheeks. Shikamaru looked at her, realizing how inconsiderate he was being and rubbed a hand over his eyebrow understanding his mistake. She sat down on the couch and collected her emotions together before speaking softly.

"Get out."

He rubbed his fingers above his furrowed brows and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"But that's what you said. Those words…" She was hesitant after every sentence "-came out of your mouth. You meant it, no?"

His words triggered a piece of her, remembering what hidan had just told her.

"He doesn't see a future with you."

Shikamaru moved closer to the couch resting his hands on the arm.

"I'm sorry." He twitched his lips and rubbed his nose with his index. He tried to shift the conversation over to her work with Tsunade.

"How's work going?"

"It's going."

"When do you leave?"

"Not sure." But she did know when she was leaving. Tsunade told her that she could leave whenever because her work in Konoha was practically finished. She was preparing to leave in the morning.

Temari stood up and began to walk to her room. Before she could get far he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.

"Let me make it up to you." He traced his hands around her waist and put his lips to her ear.

"I brought Shogi."


Through the rest of the afternoon, the two made love several times before falling asleep. The whole time they did, Temari's mind was blank with that one line sitting in her mind

"He doesn't see a future with you."

As much as she didn't want that to bother her, as much as she didn't want to believe those words, she somewhat did. Every time there was talk about growing their relationship it would end up in a fight. Every time she brought up the future, he'd get mad or push it off. It wasn't something he liked to discuss, and when they did he'd reply with "I like what we have now." Yet what they had, was going nowhere in her eyes. She wanted people to fear her but at the same time see that she had a heart and was somebody that could be loved. Before she met Shikamaru, Baki had let her know that her fate was most likely going to stick within the council and that if she ever did marry, it would probably be arranged. She knew Baki didn't mean it in a harsh way, but the direction Suna was heading toward before the alliance made it seem almost predictable. She knew she loved him, she knew she wanted to build a future with him- but the main question was: Did he want to build a future with her? He never even took her out on a real official sit-down date. They were always in private- which never bothered her until today.

It was 3 in the afternoon when they had started and 5:30 once finished. Shikamaru had gone to the bathroom to take a quick shower. During that time, Temari made some rice, edamame and sesame seed beef steak for the two along with some Chamomile tea in hopes he would get tired and leave soon. She didn't want to force him out but she was so overwhelmed with emotions and fear to where she much rather be alone.

Once he got out, dinner was quiet. They didn't talk about much other than how each other's day was going. Shikamaru was acting as if nothing just happened but the awkwardness Temari felt was beaming in front of his face. She was not one to be quiet around him but she couldn't help but feel annoyed by his presence.

They began to play a game of Shogi and normally Temari would try her hardest to beat him, but today she didn't even bother to try at all with the game purposely letting him beat her so she could move on about her day.

"C'mon Temari you know moving your king was a terrible move." He squinted at the board in confusion.

"Oh, well I figured moving him would make me win. Whoops." She shrugged and picked her pieces off the board.

He shook his head. "I KNOW you know because I taught you about how that's a dumb move to make. What a-"

"-Drag." She cut him off. "I'm getting kind of tired, I think I'm going to head off to bed soon." Temari danced her fingers along the edge of the board.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's barely 7 and you're tired?"

She let off a bitter smile as she gave him a glare. "Rather, emotionally drained."

Temari walked over to the couch and laid her head on one of the cotton pillows stretching her legs across the couch. Shikamaru got up and stood behind the couch to stare at her oblivious to how she was feeling.

He scratched the back of his head and looked towards the bedroom. "Do you want me to stay over tonight?"

"Do as you please."

"Is that a yes or?"

"It's whatever."

He palmed his face and let out a laugh then walked over to the other side of the couch and crouched down by her face. She looked past him with a blank stare.

"Temari, stop being troublesome. Yes or no?"

"No."

Shocked to hear her blunt response, he put up his hands and backed off.

"I'll see you tomorrow then? We can cloud watch after the meeting." He gathered his board and walked to the door.

Without moving she replied "Sure" knowing she was leaving in the morning.