I'm back! :D Well, technically I never left—I've just been focusing my ShikaTema writing into another one of my fics, Destined. Which explains why I've written yet another angsty oneshot—I just wrote a fluffy one in Destined. Sorry if this series seems to be becoming downer. haha

I have at least another oneshot planned for this fic, but I think I'm just going to mark this as completed. All of my focus currently seems to be focused on ShikaTema in Futureverse, so for now I'm going to roll with it. It's quite likely that I'll update this when something random comes to me, so don't get rid of those alerts! Thanks to everyone who's been following this!

I don't own Naruto.

She sits on the ground, cradling her brother's head to her chest and rocking slightly. She is covered in dirt and there is blood everywhere, but she doesn't seem to notice.

He isn't quite sure what to say. "Temari…"

She doesn't seem to hear him, her fingers raking through bright, bright red hair, her gaze distant. She doesn't notice the blood seeping through her clothes and staining her hands.

Her silence is scaring him. He wonders if she is broken.

Shikamaru wants to touch her, to comfort her, but he knows that this is not what she needs right now. Instead, he stands silently by, joining her in her grief.

A group of soldiers approach them, their forehead protectors gleaming "shinobi". One of them, a chuunin Shikamaru recognizes from Konoha, cautiously steps forward. His face looks pained. "Your orders, Kazekage-sama?"

Her hands, busy smoothing Gaara's hair, suddenly freeze. Slowly, she turns to face them, her expression one of disbelief.

Shikamaru feels the wind knocked out of him.

Despite being the first born, her gender makes Temari the last sibling in line to take up the position.

The implications of this hit him hard, and when she looks at him hollowly, he realizes he was wrong about her being broken.

Temari is shattered.

But this is war, and if Temari is anything, she is shinobi. She kisses her dead brother on the forehead then releases him, allowing some of the shinobi to take his body away.

"Rally the troops," she says authoritatively. "We need to restrategize."

The lips he often kissed in secret are red with blood. He wants to scream for her, cry for her, grab her and never let go.

But he is her second-in-command, and this is war. So, like the rest, he responds with "Yes, Kazekage-sama."

A/N: Let me know. :)