A/N: Fair warning...most of you probably won't be enjoying this chapter very much. All the more motivation to watch this space and see what happens next!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Three months in, and it was comfortable; they'd struck a good balance between being with each other and having their own lives. The inquisitive interest of their friends and fellow villagers had died down a little, so now they could simply enjoy their relationship in peace. Rather than Konoha's power couple, they were part of the furniture; admired and acknowledged, but never trapped in the limelight. It was almost surreal – when it came to having a girlfriend, Shikamaru never dreamed he could have everything he wanted at once: a quiet, unremarkable life with a woman who truly cared for him. His current state with Temari was like the epitome of marital bliss.

"I'm leaving for Suna."

Shikamaru added various greens and meats to his bowl of rice from the selection they had ordered. "Okay. When will you be back?"

Temari bit her lip. "I'm not coming back."

Shikamaru's head snapped up from the table and contorted curiously at his girlfriend sitting across from him. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I just need to leave, Shikamaru."

He reached across to take her hand, resting next to her plate. She flinched and quickly retracted it.

"What's the matter, Tem?"

"Shikamaru, it's been three months," she began. "We knew I'd have to go back to Suna eventually."

"I thought we were going to cross that bridge when we came to it?"

"Well, we're here," she replied quickly. "And I can't keep delaying it. I keep pretending to myself I can stay here indefinitely, but this is not my home. I don't know why I'm still paying for the rent on a small apartment here when I have a perfectly good house in Suna with my brothers. I left everything there. And now it's time for me to go back."

"What brought about this revelation?" he enquired, eyes serious, his voice growing tense.

"It was a long time coming," she reiterated. "But I don't know. I'm homesick. I don't belong here."

"Temari…"

"One more thing," she said, trying to blurt out what she had rehearsed before she became too wrapped up in his facial expression and changed her mind. "You shouldn't come with me."

His eyes widened. There was a mixture of confusion, sadness and anger in them, but all so messily blended she couldn't tell what the overriding emotion was. "What are you trying to say?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm saying…I think it's best if we go our separate ways."

"Tem, think about what you're saying here…"

"I have," she rebutted. "And it's not going to work out, Shikamaru. I've thought about it a hundred times, laid awake at night contemplating...and I realised that I don't love you," she lied through her teeth. "Maybe I did. Or maybe I was just naïve and thought it was love. But I can't give you what you want, Shikamaru. What you deserve. That's it…I can't give you the love that you deserve."

She saw the anguish in his face and tried her best to avoid looking at it for too long, fearing she would break down in tears and lose every ounce of composure she had tried so desperately to maintain for this.

"Why?" was all he could whisper in return.

"You and I…we were incompatible from the start," Temari explained. "Oil and water. For starters, I'm three years older than you. It's caused quite a stir already, and I don't want to be that cougar every young guy makes crude jokes about. We're in different places. I'll probably have to settle down soon, but you're just getting started. I'm loud and impatient and brash; troublesome to say the least. You never saw yourself having a long-term girlfriend anyway, never mind a wife. As for me…it's not like there's someone else in the picture. If anything, I think I'm better off alone. That's how I was growing up, and it's what suits me best. My brothers were the focus of my relatives, and I never had any friends to speak of. I've grown accustomed to that. I just don't think I'm cut out for this relationship business."

"Bullshit!" Shikamaru snapped, standing up and throwing his chopsticks down onto the table with such force they bounced off and landed on the floor a few feet away. A few others in the restaurant turned to look.

"Sit down, Shikamaru," Temari hissed at him. "You're making a scene."

"What else did you expect?" he retorted angrily. "Did you think I would just take this lying down? Why here? Why now?"

"I told you, it's just time for me to go. I've been putting it off for a while, and only now I finally had the courage to announce my decision."

Slowly he sunk back into his chair. "Where is this 'real courage' you always preached about? What you're doing is cowardly. You won't even give me a legitimate reason."

She exhaled, exasperated. "Fine. Just lower your voice and listen, okay?"

He crossed his arms and waited, his hard eyes locked onto hers.

"Shikamaru…when I'm with you, I feel weak. Vulnerable. Like I could be blown over by a gust of wind and I'd never be able to get back up. And that's not how I should feel. When you're in a relationship with someone, that person should make you stronger. A more powerful version of yourself. I once felt that powerful. But that was alone. Now that I'm with you…I feel weak all over again."

The anger dissipated from his eyes and was instead replaced by hurt. "How can you feel weak? I thought I was the crybaby in this relationship."

"Not anymore," she replied. "All I do nowadays is let my emotions rule me. I used to be so goal-focused, I never let anything get in the way of my work. But since being with you, I can't think straight anymore. I'm half as capable as I used to be, and I can't afford to have a relationship hold me back. It's hard enough already being a woman in a shinobi-oriented society."

"But we had a system. We managed to keep our work and personal lives separate. No one for a second questioned your integrity or rationale because of us. They still respect you now as they did before. Nothing has changed besides your perception of things."

"Now that's a lie," Temari responded defiantly. "Before, when people mentioned me, it was always about my work or my dignity or my strength of character. But now, it's what I do in relation to you. 'What's Konoha's number-one genius doing with that chick from Suna? Where are they going? Why is she so tanned?'. I've become another generic celebrity. I'm barely a shinobi anymore, I'm just a media personality."

"Why do you even care what other people think?" Shikamaru questioned. "One of my favourite things about you is how you couldn't give two shits about someone else's opinion."

"You see? All I am is neurotic when I'm with you." She put down money for her half of the meal and pushed her chair back. "I'm sorry, Shikamaru. I really am. But I can't keep lying to myself anymore."

"Tem-"

She walked away quickly, needing to get out of the restaurant before she burst into tears. As soon as she was in the street, she ran for her apartment, afraid to look at other people, afraid he would follow her. She felt as thought the guilt would swallow her whole. To sit there and say all those things she knew she didn't mean…she broke her own heart, and she knew it.

When she reached her accommodation, she shut everything: doors, windows, blinds, curtains. She put the chain on, yanked her large travel bag out from under her bed and furiously started packing, throwing her wardrobe open and grabbing clothes by the armful. As she stuffed and crammed all her belongings, she could only think of his face as she left the restaurant; pained and distraught. And then she let go of everything she was holding, fell to her knees and cried.

The doorbell rang, followed by persistent knocking. She was immediately silenced, and quickly returned to her packing.

"Temari, open up. We're not done talking about this."

She couldn't respond. She wouldn't respond. Any words, and she would lose it.

"Tem," he repeated. "Please."

She ran into her bathroom and grabbed everything from the cabinets. Thank God I travel light, she thought, returning to the bed and piling all her toiletries on top of her clothes. She went round and emptied the apartment of everything else: her books, her paperwork, her alarm clock and her photos. As she zipped up the bag, her eye was caught on a tiny, green, prickly object on her desk.

Hurriedly, she threw the travel bag over one shoulder and her fan over the other. She opened the doors to her balcony as quietly as possible, realising this was it; no going back. Without thinking, she grabbed the cactus off the desk before closing the French doors behind her and escaping into the night.

It was beginning to get light in Konoha; Shikamaru woke up, groggy and confused from sitting slumped outside of Temari's apartment all night. He shook his head to get his thoughts straight.

"Did I really fall asleep here?" he asked himself, getting up slowly. He tried to remember what had led him to be in this position in the first place.

Then he felt his heart break all over again.

It was a wretched pain; he physically ached, not just from the lack of bed but from the stress and sadness of the evening before. He wondered if it was real, or just a terrible nightmare. He turned and banged on the door.

"Temari," he groaned loudly. "Temari, let me in."

An elderly woman emerged from the adjacent apartment and frowned at him. "What on Earth do you think you're doing? It's five in the morning, for crying out loud. The village is still asleep, you know!"

"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically. "I was just leaving."

She grumbled something rude and incoherent before retreating back into her home. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck with his hand in a daze before setting off for his house.

"Where have you been?!"

Yoshino had thrown open the front door and was evidently not happy with her son. Her hands were in fists rested defiantly on her hips, waiting for an explanation.

"I'm sorry, Mom," he said. "I just had a rough night."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You're not twenty, yet; if I find out you've been drinking, you'll never hear the end of it, mister." She looked him up and down and noticed his dishevelled appearance. "What happened to you? Did you get even a wink of sleep?"

"Sort of," he mumbled in reply. "I'll be fine once I shower." He kicked off his shoes and headed for the stairs.

"Okay, but we're having a talk about your bad habits once you're clean and awake," she yelled. "Poor Temari, having to whip someone like you into shape. I was up all night worrying…"

Although unwitting, her comments stung. He quickly made his way up to his room to get away from her words.

He collapsed onto his bed, ready to sleep it all away. He turned to his side and noticed something new next to his alarm clock. He sat up and blinked a few times, examining the item a little more closely.

Sure enough, it was a tiny, green, prickly cactus; awfully similar to the one he had had given to Temari before one of their dates. It even had the same pot, and the same colour soil. In fact, it was the same. Not just the same cactus; the same exact cactus. The one he gave and she accepted.

There was only one difference: this one had a small note attached to it. He slowly took it between his fingers and read the words: "I'm sorry. You deserve better."