Forgotten Thoughts || Shikamaru X Temari

chapter 9

"That's not what I meant." He whispered. He had been referring to losing his girlfriend. Shikamaru had planned a lot of things, but that had never been one of them. He sighed, "You should get some more rest while you can." He put on his still damp clothes and headed to the front of the cave to look for food.

"Shikamaru, get back over here." Temari said, her voice held power despite being weak. She needed to talk to him, and it wasn't safe to go out eat, especially since she could tell that even though the storm was almost over, it wasn't quite safe to go out.

Shikamaru flinched as Temari spoke. So demanding the damn women. He turned around as if he wasn't terrified of her and raised a brow. "What is it?"

"It's not safe to go outside yet. And your clothes are still wet. So get back here." She says, her throat burning. Why did her throat hurt? She couldn't think of any reason why her throat would hurt.

"My clothes aren't that bad. At least I'm not dripping wet. I'll let them dry more when I get back but we need food. You're sick. I need to get yo-..." He stopped himself before he said something he may regret. The cold must have frozen his brain cells because his mouth wasn't moving as fast as it was earlier. "I need to get us food."

"There's food in my bag, Shika... Enough for us both.." she looked at him. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she didn't want him to leave. "And food pills."

He sighed and scratched his head. "Fine, it's all a drag anyway." He took off his shirt and pants and put them back over by the fire. Then he scrounged around in his backpack for until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a soggy pack of cigarettes and groaned, throwing it across the cave.

Temari grabbed her own bag and dug out food and a pack of cigarettes, which were dry. She tossed one over to him. "Don't use them all." She sighs.

He caught it and looked at her in surprise. "Why do you have this?" Shikamaru had never been so happy to see a cigarette. A lot of people thought he was a chain smoker but he truly wasn't. He only did it when he felt stressed or lost and needed help. It was his way of connecting to Asuma. However since he started the mission with Temari his smoke breaks had increased.

"You left them at my house." She looks away. How was she supposed to tell him that she didn't have the heart to throw them out. That somehow the sight of the pack on her dresser in the morning made her feel better.

"Oh." He looked at her curiously then sat down and lit his cigarette. He took a deep breath and sighed, smoke seeping out of his mouth as he did so. It made him fill somewhat at peace. Dare he say normal?

"Shika..." She says softly, still looking away. "I-I promise not to get mad... Just tell me why." Her voice quivered some. She knew that he understood what she meant.

Shikamaru looked forward and sighed. If he had a dime for every time he had sighed on the mission.. He could see her with his peripheral vision. He had remained silent for so long he figured the Suna girl would snap at him any second. When he began to fear for his life he finally spoke. "It's not a matter of if you'll get mad."

She didn't have the heart to yell at him right now. Besides, her throat hurt and she rather not yell. "Then what is it? You constantly say you didn't cheat but give no evidence as to that." She looks at her, her eyes silently begging him to explain. "Did....did I do something wrong? Is this my fault?"