CHAPTER 10 - Confessions

The rain seemed to be never ending, and the gang could've sworn they had saw a streak of lightning. The ride was quiet, at least, most of the time, that was until Temari left. And then they found themselves comfortable enough to talk, bit by bit.

"You feeling any better?" Neji spoke, placing a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.

Shikamaru turned his head. "Sorry, didn't mean to burst out like that in front of you guys. Just got a little shocked."

"Yeah, man," Sasuke muttered. "Fuck those guys."

Neji crossed his arms, letting out a hum. From the corner of his eye, he saw a bright yellow linen tote bag on the floor next to his feet. He bent over to reach over for it, handling it by the arm strap. "Oh? I think Temari left her bag here."

He would open the bag to peek of its contents, seeing that there seemed to be some important stuff in here. "There's her keys, phone, and.. sunscreen?"

Shikamaru looked back at him. "Just leave it there, I'll bring it back to her after we drop you guys off."

A spiral of uneasiness went through Temari's head, as she sat on the carpeted floor next to the glass slide-doors of her balcony. Without noticing his presence, Gaara kneeled down to position a warm mug of peppermint tea next to her, and then crossed his legs to sit beside her.

"I figured I would play a role of being a decent brother today, so why? Why do you look so hurt?" The red-head asked, expressionless.

Temari gave a faint smile, inserting her fingers into the handle of the cup, bringing it close to her lips and blowed before tasting its contents. "I'd tell you, but you promise not to kill anyone if I do?" She joked.

Gaara closed his eyes, holding an arm back and leaned against it. "It's not that Nara, is it?"

His older sister gave a sigh, Gaara was really a typical protective brother. "No, if anything Shikamaru did me a good deed today."

"Oh? And so what did happen?"

Temari bit softly on the inner skin below her bottom lip. She controlled her breathing because moistening her mouth to spit out the sentences of what happened three hours ago. "Well, did a little shopping, and then I finally reunited with Sentha. Do you remember him?"

Gaara nodded. "I do."

"Senta and I went to go talk, catch up on things which meant I left Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru, who were the people I was with the whole time. And after Senta left, I went up another story to check if they were still there, and when they weren't, I began to search for them myself. Until..."

"Until?"

Temari fixed her face, but failed to do so and frowned. "The mall is huge, you know," she took a breath. "I didn't know where to go, and went into a dead area of the mall which lead to this exit. Outside that exit? These two guys, old, crackhead lookin' guys."

Gaara clenched his fist, hoping his senses were incorrect. He blinked, waiting for her to finish the story to see if he was correct.

"I tried to escape, but they took a hold of me, calling me names and then..." She looked down, tears began to flow, but she sucked it up and took the sleeve of her sweatshirt and wiped them away. "H-He tried to.. h-he unzipped his pants-"

"Alright, I think I heard enough." Gaara told her strictly. "And so? What did Nara do?"

She swallowed. "He saved me Gaara.. him and Sasuke both, they beat both of them senseless."

There was silence between the two siblings, and the silence continued until they heard a knock on the door. They both glanced to it, and Gaara figured it was probably for her. He reached out a hand, squeezing one of her hands as a sign of care, before getting up and walking into his room.

Temari got up, fixing her sweatshirt and pulled up her pajama pants as she got up to open the door. As she opened, there stood a soaking wet, Shikamaru.

"H-Hey.." Shikamaru greeted, handing her bag towards her. "Y-You forgot your bag."

Without a warning, she grabbed her bag, tossing it lightly to the floor next to her and grabbed him in for an embrace. She wrapped her hands around his waist, holding her face close into his chest. It took him a second to adhere into what was happening, but he figured that she was probably in a bigger state of shock than he was, and so he hugged her back, placing his chin on top of her head.

After staying in the same position for awhile, she let him inside and made him take off his jacket. "Shikamaru, you need to change, you're going to get sick."

"Yeah, sorry," he said while fighting his shoes off. "The rain wouldn't stop."

Temari turned on her feet, approaching her couch as she sat on her folded legs and waited for him to sit beside her. They both stayed quiet for awhile, most likely thinking about the traumatic experience they had gone through, so recently.

The silent broke as Temari parted her mouth. "Do you want to borrow some of Kankuro's clothes for a bit?"

"No, but- Temari..." The intelligent guy would turn his head to her, making eye contact. "We need to be aware of what just happened to us.. to you, especially."

He fiddled his thumbs rapidly, showing signs of stress from his body language. Shikamaru turned back to focus on his hyperactive thumbs, not wanting to look at her as he was not in a well-fitted state of mind.

"Shikamaru, I get it." That was all Temari told him from his words of worry. There were times where Temari had to be considerate, and realize that their lives were much more different than hers. Growing up the way she was, therapy was a luxury. Unless you were physically dying, anything supposedly wrong within the mental state was considered something that could be overturned by force and relaxation. Or, they get over it. Although she had her fair share of emotional training, it was clear that her new friends, have not.

"But you need to understand, I am poor," Temari then stood up from the couch, looking down at him as he gazed at her with sudden eyes. "Unless I'm bleeding to death, what I think about what happened earlier today is the past. I need to get over it, just like anything else that had come crashing into my life... and I think you need to do the same."

Shikamaru stood up as well, fighting the urge to want to avoid eye contact. "That's not a healthy way of coping with things," he said. "Temari, you have no idea what kind of things those guys are capable of. Think of us, your friends, your family, and most importantly, you. If me and Sasuke hadn't showed up, what would have happened then? Huh? Do you have an answer for me?"

The tension between them was finally recognized, and Temari looked down at her feet. Of course, she felt bad, and she was grateful that Sasuke and Shikamaru had come to save her, but she was someone who had too much of a big ego to admit that he was right, very right. And instead of fighting back, she looked up and gave a small smile. "If a thank you is what you really wanted, you could of just asked," she told him with sass. "Alright, crybaby, you're right, I'm sorry, and you're my hero."

'Damn, this woman is really a headache.' Shikamaru thought to himself. He sighed, because if he replaced the air escaping from his mouth with a few sentences, the tension would of spiraled. He sat back down on the couch, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "I'm just glad you're safe."

She smiled. 'He always gives in.'