It has been more than a week now since he was discharged from the hospital.
He sat on the sofa, staring at the poster in front of him.
"Join the Police Force – safeguard the city!"
He arched an eyebrow as an officer walked up towards him.
"Mr. Nara?" He looked up and saw a young man, similar to his age. "We are ready for you to do the identification."
He nodded as he pulled himself up, and followed him into a room.
He waited as five men entered the room across the glass; Shikamaru knew that they could not see him, while he could see each of their faces clearly. All of them had silver hair, but he was unmistakable.
Hidan stood in the middle, his violet eyes taunting as he impatiently tapped his fingers on his lap. It was as if he was daring him, calling out to him to identify him as the murderer. The look on his face was psychotic, maniac-like.
Shikamaru raised his right arm and pointed straight at Hidan, as if he was pointing a gun towards him. "That's your man."
"Right, thank you." The officer escorted him to the entrance of the police station without another word. "We might call you in as a witness when the trial begins, but that is probably unlikely – it is likely that he would admit to his crimes."
"Sure thing." He walked outside and began his slow stroll towards the bus station.
He thought as the usual bus he took passed by him swiftly – he would take the bus home, given that he could not drive properly before his arm healed.
He shrugged to a limited extent, not moving his bandaged arm.
Just in time as he arrived at the station, a bus approached.
It was not the normal bus he would take usually to get home, but he walked up and boarded.
This was the bus he needed to take to get to her apartment, to see her.
He knocked on the door hesitantly, his heart pounding as he heard the shuffling of her slippers, the sound of it brushing against the ground.
She opened the door slowly.
"I thought you…" Temari arched an eyebrow as she saw the familiar dark haired man at her door.
"I…uh, I just wanted to drop by and see you." He said, scratching the back of his head with his right hand. "Can I come in?"
Temari nodded as she moved aside, he walked in and crouched down, fumbling as he removed his shoes.
He thought he heard her chuckle when he looked up, she was biting on her lip, trying not to look at him – she did laugh.
He smiled to himself – he probably looked very stupid just now.
"I will get you some tea." Temari said as he sat onto the sofa.
He closed his eyes as he heard the sound of pouring water, and when he opened his eyes, Temari was staring at him with her brilliant green eyes.
"So?" She crossed her legs and sat there, like a statute from an art museum.
"Identified him right away," he said, shrugging. "They said he would probably plead guilty."
"Hmph." Temari smirked coldly as she took a sip from her tea. "And your accident?"
"They updated me – it wasn't Hidan." He said sipping from his tea.
"Who could it be, if not Hidan?" Temari's eyebrows raised in surprise.
"They said it's his manager – another creepy dude named Kakuzu." He put down his cup of tea. "That name rang a bell?"
"Ha. That creep sent me death threats when I threatened Hidan to expose his drug abuse and crap." She put down his cup of tea. "If it was that creep who tried to kill you, I wouldn't be surprised – ridiculous as it sounds, Hidan was his money tree."
Shikamaru sighed. "Good thing that they arrested him too," he said as he leaned backwards. "This world is crazy enough."
"True." She smiled, and slumped a little into her armchair.
They fell into a momentary silence, staring at the air in front of them.
Shikamaru took a gulp, and moved his gaze, placing it on Temari.
"So… how have you been?" He asked, trying to start a decent conversation with her – they have not had one for too long.
Her eyelids fluttered as he closed his mouth. "I am fine." She replied, her gaze fixated at the tea cup in front of her.
"Good to hear." He said, before they descended into silence again.
Remember what you promised Shikamaru.
Don't waste any more time. Not again.
He took a deep breath as he stared at her with his dark obsidian eyes.
"Temari."
She sat there, emotionless, motionless.
"Temari, please look at me."
She slowly turned her head and looked back at him with her emerald-like green eyes.
"I know this is a greedy thing to ask," he said, softly, gently, as if he might break her with his words. "I want to be with you, I want to treasure you, and love you properly like I already should have."
Temari's expression was unreadable, it was as if she was confused, sad and angry at the same time.
"Would you give me another chance? I promise this time I won't let you get hurt."
She sighed as she looked away. Standing up, she walked towards the window, staring at the descending sun that painted the sky orange and pink.
"I can't afford to gamble, Shikamaru. I have already gotten hurt too many times."
Her voice was soft and sad, gentle yet it was carving cut after cut in his heart.
"All these promises, love and bullshit – it is killing me, it is drowning me."
She took a short breath and turned around, only to realize that he was standing behind her, a feet away.
"I am not even sure whether I can love properly again." She laughed a little at herself. "Hell, I am fucked up."
He raised his right hand and patted on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we are all fucked up."
"Perfect for each other huh?" She smirked, as she sighed exasperatedly.
"Troublesome," he said softly, as his hand moved up and touched her face, caressing it slowly and gently.
She smirked, not stopping him. "Don't think I won't hit you just because you are a cripple."
He smiled back at her. "I wouldn't mind if you hit me – you know the saying 'those who hit you are those who love you'."
She chuckled. "Somebody wants to get hurt, real bad."
He laughed a little, as his hand left her face. "Anyway, I need to get home for dinner." He said, as he walked towards the door.
"You need a lift?" Temari walked behind him, staring as he put on his shoes.
"Nah, I will take a bus home." He smiled at her over his shoulder.
She smiled back, looking at him.
There was an awkward tension in the air, as the two of them stared at one another.
He leaned forward, gently cupping her face with his right hand.
She did not flinch, blinking as he moved forward.
He paused for a second, before leaning in closer and pressed his lips onto her forehead gently.
She froze, slowly closing her eyes.
He slowly parted away; his hand leaving her with a gentle stroke on his cheek.
"I will see you later," he smiled at her, and closed the door.
As he walked towards the elevator, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
He reached down and pressed onto the device.
"Hello?"
"Shikamaru?" He could recognize this voice, anytime.
"Ino." He replied.
"Can we meet up?"
"It's not good time – I need to go back to my parents'."
He could hear her sobbing across the phone, he frowned.
"I think I am going to kill myself." Ino said, her voice was calm, stating the sentence like it was a matter of fact.
He frowned again, not saying a word.
"Please Shikamaru, I need to talk to you."
A single thought crossed his mind.
What the fuck?
Author's note:
Another short chapter! I am on holiday in Europe so haha here you go!
I will update soon when I return home :3
Enjoy xoxo
V.S.V
