Shikamaru x Temari Distance (AU)

Part 12. Chapter 3.

Part 12. Chapter 3.

Shikamaru walked into the house and poured himself coffee. It was already past 7 am; he had barely enough time to change and head for school. Every step he took was excruciating but his brain was too foggy, with only few thoughts flowing around, repeating themselves over and over again, to realize that he should probably call in sick and get some rest. He had been at the police station overnight because there was a chance that they were going to appoint someone from his father's congress instead of him as the new police chief, and he wasn't going to let that happen. Under no circumstances, his father's last memory of his great, genius son be "He failed."

There was such a little time. Little time to get to school right now. Little time to spend with his dad. Little time to graduate with enough grades so he can be qualified to compete for his father's spot – little time to pay back even a fraction of what he owed to his father. Everything in his life was rushed. Hours, days felt like minutes now, like it was on time-lapse.

Temari's very painful habit of her eyes looking for the sight of him was now slowly disappearing. But every time she looked, she couldn't not stop for a second to see his ever so focused eyes steady on the board, his pen scattering rapidly across the notebook's pages. It always took her by surprise because she was just so used to seeing him sleeping, at ease, and she'd always feel jealous because she was seldom at ease. But now, the boy had changed. His whole-body tense, his eyes scattering across the board to identify anything he didn't get, his hand holding the pen moving so rapidly that the pen's tip was invisible – the last thing he resembled was being at ease.

But this time, when she turned around to look at him, his appearance was the one that shocked her. The bags under his eyes were ever so prominent; his skin along with his chocolate brown eyes had lost its brightness. The boy had officially returned to the state he was in when he was in the hospital.

He was still focused, the pen scattering along as always indicating he was fine, but everything else said otherwise, and she couldn't help but feel fearful for him. Something was going on.

In the back of her mind, her selfish self was glad because it meant there was a reason for him agreeing to end everything with no explanations. But mostly, she was panicking. And her panic was right because at lunch time, she found a crowd of people, standing in a circle. She rushed to the direction, knowing what she would see would hurt her in the most excruciating way, and pushed through the crowd.

There laid the hospital version of Shikamaru, very much unconscious. Only he wasn't safe in the white sheets, guarded by medical officials, but he was on the cold ground guarded by teenagers who some of which, were laughing as they whispered to one another.

His head was on Shiho's lap, who had mascara running down her cheeks.

- What happened?

- He said he didn't feel like eating, but then the next thing we knew, he was passed out. – said Naruto, who was sitting on his knees beside him.

Shiho didn't seem to notice anything around her as her hands were stroking his cheeks ever so delicately as if she's afraid he'll break in her arms.

Soon, Shizune came into the cafeteria with medical workers.

At first, Shiho was confused, protective even. With mascara still running down her face, she looked worse than him. She stared at the medical worker, truly not understanding that he was there for help.

"Why is he reaching for him?" she thought to herself, her arms embracing him tighter. The medical worker forcefully pulled him up out of his grasp and put him on the cart. Shiho almost growled but came back to her senses when she saw him putting his hand on Shikamaru's forehead to check his temperature.

"They'll wake him up" she tried to tell herself as a matter of fact, but it only sounded like a distant promise.

Seeing everything unravel before her eyes, Temari couldn't stop looking at the girl who has yet not discerned her presence. To be fair, she hasn't discerned anyone's presence besides the boy that was in her arms just a moment ago, and the guy who had taken him away from her.

Their eyes met for only a second before Shiho stood up and ran besides the cart. What she saw can only be described as pain. She knows what pain looks like very well.

She only knew Shiho's very much unruffled, calm state of being, but the person she was seeing right now, running after the cart, was not that.

Temari shook her head. Why wasn't she running after the cart? However much she wanted to, she couldn't shake the feeling away that she'd be intruding somehow.

In this world, some people are just loved more than others. And Shikamaru was definitely one of those lucky people. In that moment, Temari felt all the jealousy that was forming, not under her discretion, go away. There was nothing, and no one to blame. Not even herself. She only felt sorry. For both of them. 

A/N might delete this chapter later. but for the time being, here you go because i was starting to feel guilty about not uploading. 

hope this was what you were waiting for, if not, i'm sorry, i'll try harder next time. 

AS ALWAYS, VOTE AND COMMENT PLEASE. YOUR FEEDBACK IS VERY IMPORTANT BOTH TO ME AND THE STORY'S CONTINUATION. 

UNTIL NEXT TIME, HEROES