Hidan wasn't the kind of guy to leave a hundred pleading messages on my cell phone, it seemed. That or he knew I was so upset with him that I didn't even want to hear his stupid voice. I wanted nothing to do with him.

I wasn't the kind of girl to let it show though. I could cry into my journal as much as I wanted alone in my room, but apart from that; I had to keep up appearances. I wasn't going to ignite Ino's gossip sensor by crying in the school toilets; I wasn't going to sit eating tubs of ice cream in my pyjamas like they did in the movies, and I certainly wasn't going to let Hidan think he'd got the better of me.

I kept my hair tidy and my make up pristine; no slobbing around in sweats for me. I couldn't just cut Hidan out of my life; living across the street from each other had assured that, but I could make him see what he was missing. I could make him wish he'd never done what he did; throwing away everything we had; make him see his mistake and show him that there was nothing he could do about it. It was too late for second chances.

'I love you.'

It would have been so much easier if I could just shake that stupid lie from my head.

Screw you, Hidan.

I had to admit I was surprised when I answered the knock at the door. Kisame was standing there; tall frame blocking all the light, basketball tucked under one arm and a blue hoodie draped over the other; an identical tattoo to…Hidan's standing out like a sore thumb on his exposed bicep.

'Can I come in?'

I wasn't sure why I agreed. Maybe it was because despite not knowing Kisame very well, he'd always seemed like a pretty decent guy. A further recess of my mind told me it was because I was clutching at any available link to Hidan. I forced that recess to shut up.

Kisame declined the seat I offered him; apparently he preferred to stand. His face was impassive, and for someone usually so smiley it was odd to see.

'Kankuro and Gaara are upstairs, but I'm sure you can understand when I say I'd prefer them not to know you were here.'

He nodded, 'You don't want them hanging around us. I get it. But I'm not here for them. I need to tell you something.' He held up a large hand, cutting me off before I could even ask what he meant.

'Hidan's moving. As soon as he can, he's packing up and getting out. He wasn't going to say anything, but I thought you should know. You're a nice girl, Temari, your brothers too and we don't wanna cause you any more trouble, so we'll keep out of the way. You get on with your lives, we'll get on with ours.' He sighed, 'Hidan ain't great with goodbyes, and I didn't come here with a prepared message from him, but the look on his face said it all. It's killing him, Temari. What he said,' I winced; Hidan had told them all what he'd said? 'Was true, and what he did, well, he'll always be kicking himself for it. And that's punishment enough.'

'I don't…I don't understand,' I admitted.

'What I'm saying is, you think it's all Hidan's fault; and he'd probably agree with you. But there are things out of our control, Temari. He's not a bad guy. He just doesn't want to be a nice guy. There are things Hidan's been through that would make you wince; but he'd never let you see that side.'

Kisame let himself out then; leaving me even more screwed up than before. Just what I needed; deep philosophical musings from a giant with blue hair. Couldn't they all just leave me alone? Seemed Hidan had taken the easy route out by moving away; I wished I'd thought of it first.

But no; Hidan always had to be at least one step ahead.

'That was Kisame,' Gaara said blankly. It wasn't a question. I hadn't even noticed when he'd come downstairs.

I turned to him, nodding. 'Yeah, it was. Listen, as decent a guy as Kisame might seem, I don't want you or Kankuro hanging around with him or any of those guys any more, okay?'

'But, Saso-'

I cut Gaara off sharply, 'Not Sasori either. None of them. Okay, just accept the fact that they're not good guys to hang around with. They'll drag you down to wherever they're heading, and I refuse to let you ruin your lives for the sake of them.'

Gaara sighed heavily. 'Hypocrite, Temari. That is exactly what you are. You tell us not to let them bring us down when it's obvious that's exactly what has already happened to you.'

Gaara's words stung like a slap to the face. 'Wh-what?'

His eyes glazed over briefly. 'I'm sorry, that was unnecessary. But what I meant…Temari, it's like getting frostbite and then putting gloves on when you come inside. It's too late, because the damage has already been done.'

He didn't have to explain, because despite his unorthodox example, I knew exactly what he was getting at. 'Let me guess Hidan's the damage, right?' What did that make me? Damaged goods?

'It's not your fault,' Gaara said solemnly, 'He lied to you, and he shouldn't have done that. He hurt you, and that was wrong. But you're a terrible liar, Temari; always were. Trying to pretend that everything's fine and acting like he doesn't mean anything to you isn't going to do anything other than make things worse.'

Why did everyone feel the need to psychoanalyse me? It wasn't like this is the countless chick-flicks I'd watched. Even when the couple broke up; usually due to some parental disapproval or a "we're-from-two-different-worlds-so-it'll-never-work" scenario; neither of which were the problem here, they always realised how much they loved each other and got back together. And everything else could be forgotten; they could forget how much they'd both been hurting because they loved each other and that was all that mattered, right?

Wrong.

Real life has the annoying tendency not to work out how you want it to. It wasn't magically all going to turn out fine, because in real life things never do.

'What am I supposed to do?' I asked Gaara, 'Everyone's acting like I should know exactly what to do in this situation, and I don't have a clue.'

'Temari,' he sighed, 'You've pretty much single-handedly brought up myself and Kankuro; not the easiest of jobs and you've done it well. You've run a home and kept us safe, helped us with school and still managed to keep up your own straight A grades. Need I go on?' He curls a tendril of scarlet hair around his fingertip. 'If there's one person who's always figured something out; it's you.'

He scuttled away to his room then. Traitor.

Raising two troublesome brothers seemed like a piece of cake compared to trying to work out what to do about Hidan.

'Did you love him?'

I turned to face Kankuro. He'd been keeping out of my way after what had happened; I guess he'd expected me to slaughter him for getting that tattoo. Oddly enough, I couldn't stay mad at him. Even if I tried; he was still my little brother and I still cared about him. I was more angry with myself for letting him get into this mess.

'Because,' he went on before I had a chance to answer, 'It was obvious he really did love you.'

'Kankuro,' I sighed, 'I barely knew him. It was all too quick to fall in love with him. And it was too soon for him to fall in love with me too.'

Kankuro shifted on his socked feet. 'So you didn't love him?'

'No.'

It was a crappy excuse for a lie, but it was the best I could come up with.

My brother laid a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

'You know, sis, he hasn't gone yet. That car of his is still there. I'm just saying.'

'Well you can just say,' I shrugged, 'I'm done with Hidan, and the sooner he leaves, the better. He can take that tattoo with him.'

And that lip ring, my mind rambled on, and those abs, and those wonderful eyes, and all those facial expressions of his.

I rubbed my temples with my fingertips roughly, wiping the thoughts from my head before they could blossom into the dull ache in my chest they called a broken heart.

No. 'Broken heart' sounded too poetic; too overly-dramatic to explain this feeling. I felt like Hidan had jumped on my heart and stamped on it with his black and purple high tops until I couldn't feel anything else.

'I'm gonna go sit in the yard,' I decided. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach, and I needed the air.

'Like I said,' Kankuro called, 'He hasn't left yet.'

I left before he could say any more.

Sitting on the cool grass in the yard, I could hear the distinctive yelling of the guys across the street. I wasn't eavesdropping, so to speak, but when they insisted on talking so loudly, it was near impossible not to hear what they were saying.

''S'all I'm saying, Hidan, yeah. Where will you go, hmm?'

I knew I should stop listening before I heard Hidan's reply, but I just couldn't.

'Fuck knows,' he replied, and I just knew he'd be doing that nonchalant shrug of his, 'Wherever.'

Why did his voice have to be so…perfect?

Why did it make me want to run up and wrap my arms around him like they did in the movies?

Why couldn't I just forget him?

Why was he climbing over our yard fence?

'Temari,' he breathed, dropping gracefully off the fence onto the grass, 'I knew you were there. Please. Just gimme one minute. Just one.'

I wanted to scream; 'Get out of my yard you heart-breaking jerk, or so help me I'll break your nose!'

But all that came out was; 'Why did you climb over the fence?'

He sniggered, 'There was no fucking way you'd have let me in through the door. Anyway,' he let out a sigh, 'I'm sorry. I mean, I could say that for the rest of my shitty life and it wouldn't make a difference, but I really do mean it. I'm sorry, Temari, for fucking everything up, and for not breaking Pain's legs the moment he decided to do that to your brother.'

I sighed. There was something seriously wrong with me, because this guy was talking about breaking people's legs with a potty mouth like no other, and I was just nodding like it was perfectly normal.

'Yeah, well,' I muttered, 'Thanks for the concern.'

He groaned, 'Temari, can't you just punch me in the face or something and just get it over with? This is fucking killing me.'

'You know, Kisame said that.'

'What? Kisame talked to you?' he narrowed those stunning eyes, 'What did he say?'

My thoughts flashed back to one particular sentence.

'There are things Hidan's been through that would make you wince; but he'd never let you see that side.'

'Nothing,' I lied. I didn't want to know about Hidan's private business. I didn't want to get sucked up into any more mess.

'You're a shit liar,' Hidan drawled.

I shrugged, 'Can you leave now, please? I've got things to do.'

Hidan sucked in a sharp breath, 'Look at me.' He placed a large hand on my chin and tilted my head up gently so we were so close our noses were practically touching.

I don't know why I didn't just slap his hand away. I found myself staring into perfect magenta pools.

'Right, I'm a shit liar too. Deidara says when I lie, I always raise my right eyebrow.'

'And you're telling me this because?' I frowned.

'I love you, Temari. And I'm so fucking sorry.'

I realised as soon as he'd said it what he was getting at.

His eyebrow didn't move. Either Hidan was a very practised liar or he was telling the truth.

'Can you just go?' I pleaded. I was done with all this drama.

He nodded, 'I'm going.'

Before I could even think, he'd draped an arm over my shoulder. Squeezing me gently, he placed a gentle kiss on my temple.

'I'll see you around.'

He'd climbed back over the fence before I could say anything else.

I wiped away the one tear that had managed to spill over. Why was I crying? I should've been happy; I wanted Hidan out of my life and he was leaving. Mission accomplished.

A few hours later, sat in my room, I heard the tell-tale noise of the motor of Hidan's car. As I glanced out of the window, I could just see the car pull away; boxes stacked across the back seats. Hidan; bright and sharp and unpredictable, reduced to a few cardboard boxes.

Just one thought sprang to mind.

Where had it all gone so wrong?