Many thanks to these people for reviewing: motroshell, Inuclaw, bogusbabe, Saamon-sama, Sumo.
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Many years later:
Shikamaru opened one eye and promptly shut it when the daylight streaming past open curtains assaulted it. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his head in the nearest pillow. His head throbbed with each heartbeat.
A hangover should not feel this terrible for someone in their mid-twenties.
The mattress next to his side dipped as Temari sat down.
Shikamaru slitted his eyes open to peer at her face. The morning light from the window illuminated her loose hair in a beautiful halo. It also lit up her eyes, highlighting the strain in them, and the tight press of her lips.
He knew then, what she would say.
"Are you done ignoring me?" she asked.
"I've never ignored you," he whispered.
It was the wrong thing to say. Temari sat up straighter, her face twisting into anger. Shikamaru lost all his energy then. She wanted to fight. He did not want to.
And that was part of the problem. He never fought with her, and she thought it meant that he never fought for her.
"Ever since your father-" Temari caught herself.
Shikamaru resisted the urge to roll over and ignore the oncoming trainwreck. But he did shut his eyes.
She tried again. "I understand Shikamaru. I lost both my parents. I can help you. But you never let me in."
The words he wanted to speak tried to push past his tightly closed lips. He pressed the lower half of his face into the pillows to keep the dam strong.
He did not see the point of letting her in. Because she always left. She had a life in Suna, and even when she lived with Shikamaru, she visited regularly. When she got frustrated, she left. When she felt nostalgic, she left. When she missed her brothers… the list continued.
And maybe he could go with her. He used to, before he became clan head. But now, he could not.
He needed Temari more than she needed him. Which again would be fine in most circumstances. But he could not bear to watch someone else leave him. And she would.
She was doing it right now.
"If you don't tell me to stay, then I'm never coming back," she said, her voice full of tears.
Instead of watching her leave, he turned away from her. He listened to her gather her things and walk out of his house. As soon as she left, he went back to sleep.
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Word count: 410
Coming up: Shikamaru's mother confronts him.