Revenge

I̵ ̵l̶o̸v̵e̴ ̷y̴o̴u̵

̵I̶ ̵l̷o̶v̶e̶ ̵y̷o̴u̸,̵ ̷a̶l̷r̴i̵g̵h̸t̴

I̵ ̵l̶ o̸ v̵ e̴ ̷ y̴ o̴ u̵

c̵ o̵ f̶ f̸ e̸ e̸?

Kankuro's last words glitched and screamed louder inside her head while she was having a panic attack. Both of her hands touched the cold tiled floor while she whimpers in pain. Her blood was scattered after she cut herself accidentally with the knife.

Shikamaru was knocking at her door outside multiple times but Temari didn't hear it, her ears were too preoccupied with her brother's voice. He went to the reception of the building and ask for a spare key to her room. They were able to open her door and Shikamaru was stiffened at what greeted him inside. The receptionist immediately runs outside to get some help.

Temari was on the floor, her body quivers, and her hands were full of blood. Her food and other stuff were scattered all over the place. He immediately run towards her and cupped her face.

"Temari? What's going on? Temari?" he uttered in pure terror

She closed her eyes while her whimpers become louder. Her hands moved to her ears, trying to shut whatever she was hearing at that moment.

He lifted her up and moved to her bed. Shikamaru quickly looked for an antiseptic and bandages inside her apartment. When he found them, he cleaned her wound and wrapped it with a clean bandage. He gazes at her face; she was pale and shaking. Her body was covered in sweat while catching her breath.

The worry and fearful feelings start to take over his heart after seeing her in this condition. He buried her head to his shoulder and whispered to her ears.

"Breatheeeeee….." in his calm tone

"Breathe with me please"

"Follow my breathing"

Suddenly, Shikamaru's voice echoed inside her head and Kankuro's voice slowly diminished. Temari followed the pacing of his breathing, she could feel her body starts to calm down after that.

He laid her head down on the pillow and rubbed the tears on her cheeks. She curls her body in a fetal position with her eyes still closed.

Temari felt the sudden movement of her bed, Shikamaru lay beside her. He wrapped his arms around her to warm her shaking body and pushed her head to his chest. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

She was surprised that he still didn't leave her after that. Her judgment of him was a lot different from what she was seeing right now.

Why did I even pick you as my first victim?

Her mind starts thinking if it's right that she chooses him as her first victim, she could have gone with Neji first, or Asuma, or Jiraiya. Temari wasn't sure if she's lucky that Shikamaru was clearly head over heels for her or she's doomed because she was completely clueless on how to handle a man like him. He's so much different from all the men that she met or she's been with before.

Her mind starts to shift on the first day she planned her revenge.

A Suna Daily Newspaper was displayed in one of the stores standing in the marketplace of their village. The dry air of Suna blows to the today's newspaper, it's making a flipping sound that caught her attention while she strolls the market. Her gaze focused on the headline written in front.

Konoha Detectives captured the two murderers from Suna.

Her feet froze after seeing the mugshot that was displayed beside the article. A cold sweats start forming in her temple as she touched the tip of the newspaper, pulling it to get a sharper look on the pictures.

"Gaara?"

"Kankuro?"

Her heart pounded, her eyes saw nothing but darkness, and a soundless fear screams through her ears.

"No…..No…This is not happening"

It's been five days since she lost contact with her brothers. And seeing their mugshot from the newspaper was the last thing she wanted to see.

She immediately run towards her apartment and packed her bags, she'll ride a train straight to Konoha that day to see her brothers. After all of her preparation, someone knocked on her door. It's her friend, Matsuri.

"Temari" her eyes were sore and wet while she whines her name

"Matsuri? Why?"

"I'm sorry" Matsuri moved her head to the floor while her tears starts to fall

"Matsuri! What's going on!" she worriedly asked after seeing Matsuri in pure agony.

"Kankuro…he passed away. He hanged himself"

Her whole world sank, she kneeled to the floor after feeling her soul just left her body.

"Gaara…he escaped and he's missing" Matsuri kneeled on the floor in front of her.

Temari screamed in pure rage and torment. She pounds the floor until her knuckles bleed. Matsuri tried to calm her down while she was also crying. Her room was filled with an ear-piercing scream and wails like it was in the pit of hell.

Matsuri put the white envelope between her hands, it was full of tears. A letter of the death certificate of her brother and a notification that his body will arrive in two days. She crumpled the envelope in anger and clenched her jaw.

After Kankuro's funeral, she sips a Bedouin tea at her table while writing a plan in her notebook. She pulled up the newspaper in front of her face and read the featured article in front.

Konoha Detectives captured the two murderers from Suna.

Four Konoha men in a suit were standing in front of the camera, looking proud of what they'd done. She can't help but to feel despite and loath on four of them.

Temari was not dumb, they didn't deserve to be called the Detective of the year.

"You all thought you deserved this kind of fucking award? I'll give you your awards. I'll drag you all to hell"

Kiba's case was not the hardest and impossible case they handled. It was all just a front. As she dug deep into Kiba's cases, she found out that he handled Senator Sato's case the most, a very controversial man in Konoha. They rushed to solve the case and captured her brothers as part of their solution, just to clean the mess that Senator Sato's name might involve.

"What a dirty politics. Dirty…dirty politics"

Shikamaru's name was scattered all over the article, he's the one who's explaining most of what happened in Kiba's case, so she wrote his name as her first victim. Then Neji, then Asuma, and then Jiraiya.

She rode a train to Konoha and availed the apartment in front of Shikamaru's balcony. Every 7 pm she waited for him, Temari knows his schedule, the time he left and arrived at his apartment, the day of his laundry, and the time he woke up.

For six months, she executed her plan. Luckily, she lands on the job which makes her more close to the detectives, the Konoha's burlesque. She teased Tsunade about Jiraiya in one of their talk sessions, pushing Tenten to date Neji backstage, and describing how beautiful of a man Asuma is to Kurenai. Then her move will be for Shikamaru.

Tenten owned the expensive clothes in Konoha's burlesque so she asked for some. Wearing the best attire and executing a seductive performance were her key, she wanted to make sure that she was prepared that night when they met.

From the way he gazed at her and the way he touched her, Temari already claimed her win.

She walked to the laundry shop that he always went to every Saturday to tease and invite him, making sure that she gained his trust. He agreed to it instantly which she didn't doubt. He's easy to manipulate. That's what's on her mind.

On their first fight outside of her work, she was taken aback by his reaction. His darkened gaze focused on her while he was spilling his frustrations. Temari was ready to fight him, physically. It's her natural defense from all of her abusive past relationships. All of her exes were abusive and she was familiar with those angry eyes that Shikamaru have that night, they always lead to something that will hurt her, physically and mentally.

That's probably the reason why every time she felt the pain lingering through her body whether it was physical or mental, she always fights.

But she was surprised that he didn't fight back, or physically hurt her. He even protected her after, which irritates her more. She hates it because the version of him in her mind is different from reality.

And now, he's with her again, making sure that she's okay. It's rare for her to experience these kinds of things, being protected. All of her defenses suddenly were put down after receiving his warmth. It's lifting to feel safe in someone's arms. Ironic because she felt it with him, with Shikamaru. The man she was trying to kill.

After her body calmed down, she opened her eyes and gaze at the man in front of her. He was now asleep, a faint laugh escaped from her mouth after seeing him in a deep sleep.

Temari realized that he slept faster than she did, it was just half an hour passed when they lay in her bed. She stood up from the bed and walked to the kitchen where she cleaned all of her mess. There's a pair of pancakes on the table inside of a paper bag, the smell of it made her stomach growl. She was now hungry.

After cleaning her kitchen, she walked to the table and starts eating the pancakes that he brought. When she was about to finish her food, Shikamaru stood up from the bed and walked towards her.

She sighs and moved her gaze to the side after seeing him.

"How are you now?" he asked

She just nodded while chewing the pancake.

"Alright, pack your things we're going to see a doctor" he commands

"I already did….Sit and eat these pancakes" she points to the pancakes on her table

"Oh, you already did? Uhm, Can I ask what your doctor said?" he was concerned about her

"I don't know, it's in the prescription" she said without any expression

"What do you mean you don't know?" he buried his arms on his waist while asking in pure confusion

She clicked the back of her touch and pointed at her drawer "You can check it in there if you want"

He walked to her drawer and looked for her prescription. A bundle of paper with medical tests, diagnoses, and prescriptions was sitting in one of the drawers, he reads what was inside. Most of her tests were out of range, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and panic disorder.

"Temari, you were scheduled to see a therapist and these prescriptions are not filled" he didn't remove his eyes from her result.

She was just silent.

"Temari!?" his voice becomes louder

She stood up from the table and rubbed the crumbs from her mouth. She washed her hands at the sink and throw the disposable plate in the trash.

"Temari please don't be so stubborn. Get your things we will go to see your therapist" He was frustrated and said.

"Leave!" she yelled when she turns around to face him

Shikamaru palmed his face then walked to her cabinet to get her bags and stuff, he'll bring her to the therapist one way or another.

"I said leave!" she pulled his arm away from her stuff

"NO! we're going to do what you failed to do! You need to get better! Did you see yourself earlier? Huh?"

"Just fucking leave! Or I'll call the police for trespassing!?"

He didn't listen to every single word she said, he walked to her medical results again and put them in her bag.

"Please just leave! Don't waste your time for a girl who has this fucking mental illness" her voice almost becomes a scream while pointing her fingers in her head. She's mad that he's doing this to her, he wasn't supposed to do this thing, it's not his business. Or probably she's just not used to this kind of treatment, that finally, someone was taking care of her.

"And do you think that'll convince me to leave? You're going with me" he grabbed her hand and cling her bag to his shoulder.

She didn't have enough energy to decline, she wasted too much of it from her earlier attack. They both walked to his car and drove to the therapist and pharmacy for her prescription.