Naruto - After the Last

Chapter [7] : I can't afford to loose you

"Temari!", Shikamaru suddenly muttered in the silence of sorrow. Most of the eyes are now draw to Shikamaru before he yelled in happiness. "Yes, Temari! Temari is here! And Gaara is here too," Shikamaru continued to cheer on, remembering his short meeting with Temari and her brothers nearby his house just now, before he been summoned by the Hokage.

"Gaara can help with his sand to lift Hinata up to the hospital!", Sai broke his silence before seeing Ino's light in her eyes. Hopes flash in everyone's faces there, especially that one blonde guy.

***

Sasuke is now heading to the hospital with Sakura lying unconscious in his one arm while her head tilted to his chest. The rest of the shinobis followed closely from behind, hoping the best for Sakura and also Hinata, which are still missing from their knowledge.

"Clear Operation Room 1 for Sakura!", Shizune ordered hurriedly as soon as they arrived at the main door, leaving the staffs working that night stuck in a chaos situation knowing one of their own is the one needed the operation.

"We have no time for gasp or aww at this time! Sakura's life is in danger!", Shizune shouted again, resembling Tsunade that shocked everyone and they start to move and do what exactly was ordered by their leader.

To Sasuke, regardless how loud and clear Shizune's voice was, only one word that keeps on echoing in his ears, 'danger'. While Sakura is still in his arm, he steal the look of her, bearing a heavy sobbed before the hospital staffs took Sakura gently from his arm, leaving only blood stained all over his right arm's shirt and palm.

"Minna, prepare another operation room as well, we may expect Hyuuga Hinata to reach here anytime soon and we are still unclear about her current condition! Please give all of your cooperations and determinations for tonight. Be ready as we got a lot to do tonight!", Shizune directs again before disappear in the operation room with Sakura and seven other hospital staffs.

'H..Hinata? What happened to Hinata?', Hiashi wondering all by himself.

He woke up from his slumber in the middle of the night upon hearing chaos at the nurse counter nearby his room and decided to go downstairs and have a look himself on what went wrong. Hearing his daughter's name was mentioned, he starts to get anxious, thinking of the worst that could happen to her while sitting on the hospital's staircase not far away from where Sasuke was still standing still, staring blindly at all the bloods on his arm.

***

Gaara uses his sand jutsu and form a very delight sand form underneath Hinata while his eyes stared directly to Naruto's puffy and red eyes. Seems to understand the situation, he spread the size of the sand form and ask Naruto and Tsunade to hop on, so they may help a little bit here and there on Hinata along the way to the hospital.

As they all were half-running, heading to the hospital, Temari saw most of the people there were either sobbed or have a puffy red eyes, and she try to lightened a bit the situation upon seeing her one and only person she can relate to crying, without fail.

But feeling inappropriate to say it out loud, she gets herself nearby to the genius of the village that is now slowing his steps, leaving only both of them at the back while others are busy pursuing Gaara's sand that is floating on top of them which is carrying Hinata's weak body, Naruto and Tsunade.

"Hey cry baby, why are you slowing down? Taking your own sweet time to starts crying too huh?", she smirked, not realizing that Shikamaru's eyes are on her now. Temari glanced at his face upon not hearing any usual responses or an expected sigh after she said that to him, only to receive his sudden hugs that immediately stops their steps right there itself. Temari was half suprised, not sure to return back the hugs or just stay cold as a stone.

"W..what are you doing Shikamaru?", she finally asked after feeling uneasy and too much awkward.

"Please.. Please don't d..die", Shikamaru finally said something in the most shaky voice, as if he is now letting go a very huge burden that has been stuck in his heart for quite sometimes now, but that only makes Temari even more confuse about the whole situation.

"Hey, no one is dying here, you don't have to be like this you know. W...we need to get to the hospital or th..the rest will be wondering....", she stopped noticing Shikamaru only tightens his hugs and let go a soft sob.

"Shikamaru...."

He loosen his tight hugs a bit, facing Temari with a direct eye contact and his hands cupping Temari's soft cheek.

"I may not be as strong as Naruto or Sasuke, not in the battlefield of war, nor battlefield of love. That's why after what I saw tonight on what happens to Hinata and Sakura, I want to keep you away from all these miseries. P..please stay alive, Temari. I don't want to keep on denying my feeling towards you anymore.  I can't afford to loose you, Temari. I... I love you!", with that said he slowly lean his forehead towards Temari's, crying his heart out.

He have lost two of the most important persons that he loves dearly with all his heart, his teacher and his father. He knows as a shinobi, they are attached to the responsibilities of saving people's lives by risking their's, but a huge part of his heart is against for anything bad to happen to the woman he had grow his love to for quite sometimes now.

He tried his best to deny his feelings the moment he starts to feel excited and happy everytime he saw that suna blonde kunoichi because he is afraid to commit his feelings for other people again. What happened with Asuma back then was still hurt until this very moment.

Temari has been longing for Shikamaru's attention all this while. Despite her cool and serious character, she oftenly feel insecure everytime she is around him. She constantly have the need to make Shikamaru notice her, always.

Lost in their thoughts while their forehead are still leaning against each other, Temari slowly reached Shikamaru's hand that is still cupping her face, making Shikamaru startled and lift up his face a little to see her reaction to what he just said, and that is when Temari quickly lifted up her face too and kiss him on the lips.

Shikamaru returns back the kiss after startled again, understood that his love towards her has been returned.

After their lips departed, chuckling in a light sob, Temari spoke softly, " you are a cry baby after all, my cry baby..", with a priceless tears in her eyes, her love is finally answered.

"Oi Shikamaru, Temari, are you both coming or not?", shouted Kankurou from a far noticing his sister and Shikamaru is not within the crowd that is rushing to the hospital.

"Y.. yess.. We're coming now! Tsch!", pouted Temari for her moment with Shikamaru been shutted by his brother.

Smiling, Shikamaru muttered silently in his heart, "you are the one".