Don't fall away and leave me to myself

Don't fall away and leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again

Leave love bleeding in my hands, in my hands again

"Oh shit!" The words escaped his mouth without him even realizing it as he sprinted ahead hoping that it wasn't what he thought it could possibly be. No, there was no way that was impossible. Logically the chances of it being what (more so who) he thought were impossible. But it seemed the closer he got the more possible it became.

He ran up to the fallen figure clad in all black messy blond hair caked in dirt covering her face. Kneeling down as gently as he could he flipped the figure over being as careful as possible. "Shit Temari…." He said even though deep down he already known who it would be. The girl's eyes didn't open even as he moved her. He felt his stomach sink as panic started to set in as he tried to get her to respond.

"Please no… Don't. Just don't." He begged to himself quietly. Why was it everyone he always cared about seemed to….he couldn't finish that thought. He just knew there was no way he could go through losing somebody he loved so much again. He just couldn't not with her. He shook her again trying to get some sort of reaction out of her.

He felt his heart almost jump out of his chest as he heard a sharp breath drawn from her. She was alive having trouble breathing but alive barely. "Temari wake up." He said shaking her gently again no response. "Temari wake up! Come on we need to get you out of here! Temari!" Realizing that there was no way the girl was going to wake up on her own he leaning down he picked her up knowing he had to get her out of the hot sun and blistering heat as soon as possible.

There was no way he could bring her to the hospital it didn't matter her condition they integrate her. She was in no fit state to stand up to what they had but she'd be too damn stubborn to give them what they wanted. She'd accidentally be killed he was sure of it. That left him only one option his apartment. Lucky for him it was out by the forest isolated from almost everything and everyone else no one would ever see him. Not that, that stopped him from being extra careful about sneaking around with the unconscious missing nin in his arms.

After practically kicking the door down he made his way to the bedroom with the blonde still in his arms not moving. Setting her down as gentle as possible he leaned down to look at her closer to find out how bad of a state she was in. First he put a hand on her pulse feeling it, it was still faster than what it should have been but slowing down slightly a good sign. He couldn't help but notice the heat radiating from her body. Running a hand across her arm he could feel that her skin was dry just like her lips. Glancing up he could see the dark around her eyes. Dehydrated defiantly, probably exhausting too he thought to himself mentally thanking Ino for all the times she forced him to study with her.

"Stay here I'll be right back. I just need to grab some things." He said to her even though he knew there was no way that she'd actually be up to hear him. Walking out to the living room he started digging through his equipment. "Where is it? Where is it?" He mumbled to himself frantically digging throwing things out of his pouch. He knew he had it still but where was it when he needed it? He almost let out a shout of victory when he found what he was looking for. Running to the kitchen he grabbed the other things he knew he'd need a glass of water, a bowl filled with lukewarm water, and a couple of towels.

Walking back into the bedroom he notice that there was no sign of her trying to move. That wasn't good he thought taking a mental note. Kneeling down besides the bed he took her pulse again it was seeming to steady slightly. Her skin was also starting to cool down somewhat but still hot to the touch. He sat monitoring her breathing for a couple minutes counting the numbers of breath per minute. It seemed that her breathing was gradually becoming regular as well. Looking at her clothes he saw no cuts or any other type of wounds.

He grabbed the small bottle of pills he had put on the nightstand next to him. Opening the container he placed one in the water before mixing it up. "Ok Temari I need you to drink this it's going to make you feel better." He said gently lifting her head up slightly to pour the mixture in her mouth. It was a mixture of water, salt, electrolytes & potassium a mixture that was supposed to help with extreme dehydration. He had never needed it but Ino always insisted he take it back when he was traveling the desert a lot.

He was happy to see her responding naturally as he place the cup by her mouth. Instinctively she started to drink from him. Unfortunately her body had become used to not having water that after the first few large gulps she ending up coughing a good amount back up down the front of her shirt. He was suddenly thankful he grabbed an extra towel as he started to clean up the mess. "Ok little drinks this time." He said to her not caring that she couldn't hear. Slowly this time he poured the mixture little by little as she gratefully took it. Looking at the glass he knew that she had finished a little over 3/4s which he knew was a good.

"That's going to make you feel better. Now this might be a bit cold." He warned as he reached over putting the clean washcloth into the bowl of cool water. Ringing it out he placed the cool washcloth on her forehead. She immediately jerked away. "It's ok. It's ok just stay still." Assuring her he continued to moisten her dry skin moving down to her cheeks. Looking closer he could see the remains of dried blood on the corner of her lips. He couldn't tell if she had cleaned her face & missed the small amount of blood or if she just didn't care. The one thing he could tell though was that had to have happened before any of this because her lips were dry yes but there was no sign of any cuts. He moistened her lips & cleaned up the remaining blood.

He continued to move to her cheeks and then to her neck knowing that the moisture would help with her dehydration. That was when he noticed something that looked like dirt on her neck. Moving some of her hair out of the way he took a closer look that was when he noticed it was dirt but a huge blue & purple bruise leading from above her ear down her shoulder as far as he could see without removing her clothes. There was a yellow tinge to it, which meant it had healed some but was still large and dark. "What happened to you?" He asked wishing that she'd be awake to tell though he doubted that she would anyway.

After an hour or so he found her body temperature had lowered to a non dangerous level and her breathing had become regular. He pull a chair into the room so he could check on her every hour while giving her liquids every couple hours. He stayed there all night and through most of the day while she lay still unconscious although now he wasn't sure if it had more to do with the dehydration or the exhaustion. Part of him was starting to worry about how long she'd been out for. He pondered this half way dozing off the next night. Suddenly there was a sound so quiet he almost thought it was in his head.

Looking over he notice the figure on the bed start to stir. Jumping up he rushed over to the girl her eyes open but still foggy and unfocused in obviously confused. She tried to push herself up but there was it was obviously too straining as Shikamaru helped her into a sitting position. Sitting up she looked around the room before coughing a few times. "Where am I?" It took her a couple times to get the sentence out, as her throat was still dry & raw.

He could see she was looking around for some sort of enemy and the easiest escape route. Her ninja instincts still intact but he could still tell her mind was still too cloudy to even understand what was going on. In fact he was sure she wouldn't remember any of this. "Temari you're ok don't worry. You're at my house." He said leaning down so she could see him almost afraid she wouldn't remember him or worse herself. His worry was soon swept away as her eyes focused on him.

"Shika?" She asked her voice still not certain. He nodded to her before grabbing the water giving it to her seeing her hands shaking he helped her hold it.

"Now Temari you need to drink this you're dehydrated. But you need to drink it slowly ok? I don't need you coughing it all up again." He said watching to make sure she didn't drink to fast as she made sure to take to every last drop of water.

"What happened?" She asked it was easier for her to speak now as she licked her lips.

"I was going to ask you the same question. I found you out in the woods unconscious." He said watching her as she shrugged he didn't know if she couldn't remember in her half conscious state or she just didn't want to talk about either way he wasn't going to press the issues.

"Shika I'm so tired." She said moving down so her head was back on the pillow he just sighed.

"I had a feeling you might. Just go back to sleep." He said running a hand through her hair as she closed her eyes. He sat there watching her as she drifted back off into sleep very quickly. Watching as her breaths became more shallow and even as he sat fighting his own inner battle.

Part of him was so relieved that she was ok but another part fought back about how wrong it was he was keeping her and protecting her by hiding her? What was he getting from it? He almost forgot that in fact he hated her. Why must it always be him that she found? With a sigh he got up & walked out of the room shutting the door it was going to be a long night.

Am I the only place that you've left to go?