This is my second story. Still learning a bit. KakuSaku is my fav paring but I thought I would try something new.

I don't own Naruto. Obviously

Sakura was excited. She had been summoned to the Hokage's office. She hadn't been on a mission in forever. She was always stuck in the hospital and on-call every hour of the day and night. She was feeling the itch to get back out in the world…in more ways than one.

Sakura was 23. She had grown quite a bit. She let her hair grow out a little bit to just below her shoulders. She had curves in all the right places. Her chest wasn't as big a Tsunade's or Ino's. She felt adequate. Her bust appealing enough without getting in the way during missions or her work at the hospital. She had a firm, lean body that didn't look overly muscular. She didn't want to look manly. And she had finally, FINALLY, grown into her forehead. She was intelligent, and was the best medic-nin in Konoha. She had even surpassed Tsunade. But even with all of those things on her side, she still managed to be single.

She went on a few dates when she actually had time. But none actually ended well. She found that the guys asking her out certainly were interested in her. But they weren't interested at all with her mind or intelligence. They were more interested in how fast they could get her unclothed. And she just wasn't really into that. At least not on the first date. But none of the guys seemed to be able to make it past that.

She finally made it to the Hokage's office. Brushing a hair out of her face, she knocked and opened the door. "Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from behind the Hokage's desk. Sakura smiled warmly at him. They barely had time to see each other anymore. With Sakura always at the hospital and Naruto with Tsunade, grooming to become the next Hokage, it was rare they could even meet for lunch anymore.

"Good morning Naruto. Is Shishou having you do her paperwork again?" Sakura said giggling as she sat in one of the seats in front of the desk.

"UGH! Yes! It's like she saves it up for me or something! I can't feel my hand, I've signed so many papers!" Naruto said with a huff of frustration. Sakura laughed loudly at this.

"Well I would hate to disturb your work, but Shishou sent for me. Do you know what it's about?" Sakura leaned forward to possible catch a peak at what possible mission she had, if any. Naruto saw this and quickly shut all of the folders in front of him. Smiling he said, "No peaking Sakura-chan!" he laughed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. Sakura gave him her best pouty face she possibly could.

Naruto sighed, slightly defeated. "I know you have been itching to get out of the village and go on a real mission for quite some time. But all I could really dig up that wasn't an extended mission was to search for some medical herbs the village is getting low on. The council rambled off some nonsense about you being too important and valuable to send out for an extended mission in case you were needed for surgery or something…. Sorry Sakura-chan." He looked down at the floor disappointment written all over his face.

Sakura was disappointed, but not with him. 'Stupid council with their stupid theories! I'll never get out of this village now…' Sakura thought dejectedly to herself. "It's ok Naruto. I know you tried your hardest, so thank you. I'll accept the mission." She said softly with a caring smile on her face.

Naruto smiled back, handing her a scroll. "Sakura Haruno. Your mission is to retrieve the listed medical herbs for our village. You will have one week to do so. Report to the main gates in 2 days at 5 am. The 'tag-a-long' that the council demanded you have will meet you there."

Sakura's mouth opened in shock. "A baby sitter? They think I need a baby sitter?" Sakura said loudly, slowly standing up. "Calm down Sakura." Naruto said in a very serious voice. "You're lucky you even get to go at all. Take what you can get." Sakura sighed loudly. "I know…. Thank you, Naruto." She bowed slightly, turned and walked to the door.

Right when she opened the door, she turned around and saw Naruto was already back to his paperwork. She smiled. "Naruto?" "Hm?" the blonde didn't look up at her. "Who is my partner on this mission? You never mentioned." Naruto looked up at her finally, a big smile on his face. "Shikamaru"

Sakura froze. She was stunned. "He's finally back!" She said as more of a statement than a question. Naruto chuckled. "Yup, just got back last night. He got checked out at the hospital and was cleared for mission duty. He asked for another mission, but I wanted to give him a bit of a break since he's been gone for over 5 years. So I gave him a few days to catch up with his family and then off on an easy mission with you."

"Alright. Well thanks Naruto. Make sure you are giving your hand a break here and there." Sakura said walking out the door. "Sure Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with a laugh. Just as the door was about to close, Sakura peaked her head back in. "Oh and Naruto?" Naruto glanced up at her again. "Yes Sakura-chan." "Let's do lunch soon ok?" She said with a smile. It really has been such a long time since she had seen him. "Of course Sakura, when you get back from your mission I'll make sure to schedule both of us a day off and we can hang out." Naruto replied chuckling.

With that, Sakura closed the door and was on her way to her house. She started thinking. 'I wonder how Shikamaru is. He has been gone for so long. Will he still feel part of his team? Or would he move on? I wonder how much he has changed.' Sakura thought back to the day he left.

******************Memory Flashback**********************

He and Ino had been seeing each other for over a year. Ino clung to him. And he always said how 'troublesome' she was. But Sakura could see they were both very happy. No matter how much of a 'drag' Shikamaru insisted it was.

But then it was time for the exams again. And Shikamaru was part of the committee. It was his job to meet the committee members from the other villages, show them around Konoha, make arrangements for their stay, and make sure they all made it to the meetings. That's when things started to go downhill quickly. Gaara had wanted to discuss this year's exams with Tsunade and Naruto, so he came early. And he brought Temari with him since she was on the committee this year. Shikamaru held true to his duties and escorted Temari around the village while Gaara was with the Hokage.

Ino wasn't anyone specifically important in her clan. Her father was still head of the clan council. She had no interest in politics so she often disregarded the meetings, not often showing up for them at all. But this left her in the dark with a lot of things going on around the village. Specifically, why Shikamaru was walking around town with 'that hussy'.

Well it all came to a screeching halt one day when Temari and Shikamaru were walking through the village with each other. Ino couldn't hear what they were saying. But she saw Shikamaru saying something to 'that slut'. Then she saw 'the bitch' reach over and touch her 'Shika-kuns' shoulder and laugh. And she didn't even expect what was coming next. Shikamaru actually smiled and chuckled. He never laughed at anything she said. She couldn't believe he was cheating on her. And she couldn't have been any more wrong. Shikamaru had actually been telling Temari the story about how he tried asking Ino out when he had finally gotten the guts to do so. And how every single time he tried, Ino ended up messing it up, or missing the point completely.

I had walking a small distance behind the 2 the entire time, and she never saw me apparently. Who knew my bright pink hair could be missed or over-looked.

So what did Ino do? She couldn't have waited and talked to him like a civil, mature adult. No, because this was Ino we are talking about here. Instead, Ms. Drama Queen went to the one boy who had been hitting on her for months. The same boy she kept harshly pushing away because she loved her 'Shika-kun' and he could never measure up to even half the man Shika was. That boy was none other than Kiba. Poor guy never saw it coming.

Ino slept with Kiba that night. In the same spot Shikamaru asked her out and she finally got the point and said yes. The same spot Shikamaru and I came almost every night to watch the sun set. The spot that Shikamaru and I had walked to and caught Ino and Kiba in the middle of the act.

"INO!" I screamed. Ino looked up, saw Shikamaru, and lazily pushed Kiba off of her. Shikamaru was frozen in shock. "I…..you…but…..I" Shikamaru managed to choke out. He quickly spun around and I watched him run off. I looked back at Ino who had a smirk on her face. Kiba was getting dressed. I walked up to her. I grabbed her and threw her up onto her feet. I smacked her across the face, throwing her back on the ground. "How could you Ino. That was disgustingly low, even for you." I growled out at her.

She looked at me shocked. She brought a hand to her face, feeling the tenderness of where I had just hit her. "How could I? It's his fault. He cheated on me first!" Ino screamed. "What the hell is going on in that mind of yours, pig! Shikamaru would never cheat on you!" I took a few steps forward towards her.

She coward backward toward Kiba, who was smart enough to stay out of this. "I saw how he was with that blonde hussy today." She yelled back. "Temari?" I said surprised. "Yes, that whore! I saw how they were acting together when they walked past the flower shop. All laughing and happy." She threw back at me. "Ino" I said sternly. She looked up at me. "Shikamaru was telling Temari about all those times he tried to ask you out and you ruined the occasion, not knowing he was trying to confess his love to you. I was walking behind them the entire time. They were headed to the Hokage's office and picked me up on the way."

Everything was quiet. Kiba finally broke the silence "So you didn't even really like me, huh Ino? You were just using me to hurt Shikamaru." "I'm so sorry. Oh my god what have I done." Ino started to sob. She was going to lean into Kiba's shoulder for support. Until he moved away, quickly getting up, allowing her to fall on her face. She looked up at them. Her face stained with tears. "That's low even for you Ino." Kiba said harshly. "I can't believe I actually liked you" He said turning and walking away. He held his arm out to Sakura, who gladly accepted his offer for a shoulder to lean on.

Her and Kiba looked everywhere for Shikamaru that night. But couldn't find him. The next morning Naruto told her that Shikamaru had requested and extended mission. And that his clan, and the council accepted his request. They gave him a mission with no definite end date. And he might never come back. Sakura broke the news to the rest of her friends. Ino broke down. Everyone hated her for what she did. He team requested she be reassigned to a different team, as they could no longer work with her. The request was granted by the council.

***********************End Memory Flashback****************************

She never did talk to Ino since that day. They would see each other in the streets. Ino would smile at her, Sakura would turn her head and ignore the girl she once called her best friend.

She really missed Shikamaru. They had an odd friendship. Neither talked much when they were together, appreciating the silence. But they were still close. And when she had a rough day training or at the hospital, she knew she could let it all out on Shikamaru and he would never complain.

She never missed going to their special spot on the hill to watch the sunset. She went every night. She would talk to the sky as if she were talking to him.

She hoped he was watching too, where ever he was.

She opened the door to her house and walked in. She went to the kitchen and started cooking dinner. She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Who could be visiting me this time of the night?" She said to herself as she grabbed the hand towel and headed to the door. She dried her hands and opened the door. "Choji! I wasn't expecting a visit from you. Come in, please." She stepped back, opening the door more and Choji walked in.

"Sakura, we need to talk." Choji said nervously. He was silent for a moment and then continued. "Shikamaru is back" "I know. Have you talked to him?" Sakura asked hopeful. Choji's eyes fell to the floor "No. I was so nervous once I found out. My mom kicked me out because I kind of ate everything in the fridge…." Sakura let out a laugh "What! I get hungry when I'm nervous!" Choji said, waving his arms around frantically.

"You get hungry from everything Choji, don't try fooling yourself. Well then you came just in time. I was just making dinner. We can talk in the kitchen." Sakura said still giggling, walking towards the kitchen.

'This is going to make for an interesting night. I wonder if Ino knows yet.' Sakura thought to herself as she and Choji began to make dinner.