Belong

Part 6: Tears In The Rain

"Why couldn't I just tell him the truth?"

He was right, she was a liar. She basically insulted his intelligence with that lie she threw in his face. To think that Shikamaru would actually fall for it, how stupid, she thought. But at the moment she felt ambushed, she wasn't really prepared for a confrontation like that. But that was no excuse to lie to him any longer, if anything she should've told him the truth, she knew that. But with the look he gave her, she just couldn't do it. And at that moment, that's when she really realized that she'd made a mistake. This 'relationship' was a mistake.

But what was she to do? She loved Shikamaru but the thought of hurting him was just too much to bare even though she ended up hurting him anyway and with what Ino told her... It just made her feel worse. But then what about her? Obviously she was not ready to be in this sort of relationship in the first place. She was getting better or maybe that wasn't the case, had she lied to herself? Maybe she was never healing to begin with.

Lying to him further seemed like the only way she had out, she hated it. Seeing Shikamaru like that almost made her burst in tears especially knowing it was her fault. But she didn't show any signs of that, she kept pretending like she was angry too, asking him if he was calling her a liar. She laughed at how pathetic she was.

----------------

"What?! Asuma has..."

"Yes. Asuma... Died in battle with one of the Akatsuki." Reports Kotetsu.

"But how did you cross paths with the Akatsuki?!" Lady Tsunade asks angrily.

"I don't know... We were just heading back to the Leaf and they suddenly... Appeared out of nowhere. They weren't interested in the scroll and i don't think they knew about it either.... One of them said something about a bounty."

"Tch! Those damn Akatsuki!"

"And where are Shikamaru, Ino and Choji? Are they okay?" She asks.

"Physically... They're fine but..." Says with a sad expression.

"I see." She says with a sad look.

Following the death of Asuma, a couple of days later was his funeral. Almost everyone attended and as always everyone was dressed in black. How could a simple mission like that could've gone so wrong? He asked himself. Asuma was his sensei, his master, his mentor, his Shogi partner and just like that he was gone and already in the ground.

Temari attended his funeral too, he looked so broken, so destroyed. All she could do was imagine what he was going through. As the funeral concluded, she followed him into the crowd.

"Shikamaru." She calls.

But he didn't react, not in the slightest. He just kept walking.

"Shikamaru." She calls out again. "Shikamaru, stop!"

He comes to a halt.

"Leave me alone." He says and walks again.

"Wait. Shikamaru!"

And finally he turns his head to face her. His glare gave her the chills. He was already furious with her but not even the face he had on then compared to the one he had on at the moment.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." He spits in a venomous tone.

She couldn't tell if he was crying or not because of the rain but his voice gave her an accurate idea of what he was really feeling. It was pain but also anger.

"Just leave." He finishes and continues his walking.

Somehow she knew it wasn't just the pain of losing his sensei he was this way. She felt a sting of pain in her heart when he said that but maybe she deserved it, she thought. But seeing him so defeated, she just couldn't leave him alone.

"You can't do this alone!" She cries out, not sure if tears were emerging out of her eyes or it was just the rain. She wanted to be there for him, no matter how angry and he was with her.

"I said wait!" She yells as she runs in front of him. "I'm sorry about your sensei. But you can't isolate yourself, you can't deal with this by yourself. Please.. don't..."

"I said leave me alone!" He cuts her off. "I just want to be alone right now, don't you get it?! My life would so much easier if you weren't around and don't pretend like you care because we both know that's just a lie like everything you've been telling me. Just leave!  He spits angrily and walks around her.

Somehow what hurt most weren't the words but the way he said them, his harsh tone was stinging enough. She looked in the direction he was walking only to realize he was nowhere in sight, no one for that matter. It was just her, and only her in the middle of the rain stained street. Her vision went blurry and she felt it this time, she felt her tears escaping from her eyes. 

He was gone.