Hey everyone, first of all thank you for reading. Second of all usual disclaimer here, I obviously do not own Naruto. Thirdly, this story is set after the war and I'm aware some things don't quite follow what happened, they're only minor and also because I'm not 100% up to date (I'm not far off though). If you don't like OC's the story won't be for you. With that said, thanks for reading and enjoy!


These days Minako found herself holding the importance of the word "goodbye" higher and higher. You never knew when you would see someone for the last time and as depressing as that thought is, it was common within her line of work as a Shinobi. So many faces she was used to seeing every day had disappeared and often feelings such as regret, guilt , anger and sadness filled her when she remembered these faces. Minako was not foolish, you could not expect to be a Shinobi without experiencing loss, too often did she feel that it would just be a matter of time until someone else precious to her is gone, or perhaps even herself.

But sometimes it all felt ridiculous, to feel this old so young, still only in her twenties (barely) She had seen the last great Shinobi war, fought in it, lived through it (barely) and to this day she swore she could still feel it within every part of her body. She could still feel every movement she made on that battlefield and it still made her body ache some days. She could remember every breath she took out there, because those were precious, so you savored them and you held them close and you focused on getting to your next one.

Breathing in deeply and exhaling slowly, bringing herself back to the present Minako placed the flowers down on her Sensei's grave and traced her fingers over his name slowly and tenderly, offering a warm smile. It had been over a year since the war, almost two, but it doesn't really get any easier, not when the loss is so sudden and so large. Sighing more so to compose herself, she stood up dusting of her jounin pants and white singlet and after a few minutes finally feeling like she had regained the simple energy to talk, she turned around to face Shikamaru who had patiently been waiting there for nearly ten minutes now.

"Thank you." Minako said quietly, Shikamaru shook his, as far as he was concerned there was no need to apologise. Never, not for this.
"Sorry to bother you on your day off but the Hokage asked if you wouldn't mind-" she cut him off already aware of what he would be asking
"If I could cover some shifts at the hospital."he let out a slight chuckle, scratching the back of his head, she had been working at the hospital a lot lately over the past year. Go figure, Konoha needed all the medics it could get. People were still recovering, physically and mentally, and with constant construction work to rebuild the village, well, accidents should be expected.
"Of course I don't mind, I'll head straight over." the two walked in silence exiting the cemetery, it wasn't until a few minutes later that Minako spoke again.

"You seem to be Tsunade-Sama's errand boy of choice recently Shikamaru." she smiled, he muttered a troublesome, she expected nothing less.
"I think she figures since I complain about being holed up in that office all day I won't mind." Minako laughed and Shikamaru looked annoyed
"Well maybe you shouldn't be so smart, then you wouldn't have been promoted." she offered, he scoffed
"What, and end up on troublesome missions with Kiba or Naruto? I don't think so."
"Shikamaru, with how smart you are I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade-Sama considered you for the ANBU exams honestly."
"I'm more than just brains you know." he answered, mock hurt.
"Really? I was never aware." Sarcasm on her behalf.

Shikamaru was obviously more than capable. He had proven that many times, Minako's thougths flashed to their Chunin exams where he had been the only one to be promoted and while he could have easily been the first to make Jounin he saw no issue with taking things easy and waiting for the rest of his team to catch up before even considering the idea of the Jounin exams. He had proven himself countless times during missions developing well thought out strategies sometimes in less than a minute, then of course there was the whole Akatsuki incident with Asuma, that pained her heart to remember, while they had lost a sensei, Kureni had lost a love, their child a father and herself and Konohamaru an uncle. On top of it all, Minako distinctly remembered the anxiety and fear when they left so recklessly to avenge him. Shikamaru's voice bought her out of her thoughts.

"If you're not feeling well I can tell Sakura, I'm pretty sure Hinata is still around." she smiled apologetically
"It's fine, I-" she paused not really wanting to explain, not right now. Shikamaru held up a hand to stop her from explaining. That was the good thing about Shikamaru, he never forced himself on anyone and never expected anyone else to do so with him, he had an understanding and he let people do things in their own time, just as he liked to. She smiled at him, they had stopped walking a few minutes ago, the paths to the hospital and back to the Hokage tower now being separate. "Are you working tomorrow?" she finally spoke, he shook his head no, slightly confused as to how she ended up with that question "We should get lunch." she left the words hanging in the air, not giving him time to answer yes or no and simply continued walking towards the hospital.


I'm fine with constructive criticism but please try not to be mean (there is a difference between honesty and being rude)