Foundations

Prologue

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Konoha was silent, for once.

The sky was the mottled grey and pink of early morning, and the village was still.

Well, mostly.

After all, it was a village of ninja, a village never truly off duty. ANBU still lurked in the shadows, protecting and serving, while the rest of the world slumbered around them. It was not a time of war, but you could never be too careful.

One such ANBU landed lightly on the forest ground, staring down the dirt path that led to the clan's main house. He moved in whispers, in the absence of space, just as he had been taught to do all those years ago. His chakra was cloaked out of second nature, and the hand that rapped sharply on the wooden door was controlled and precise.

Even the surrounding forest was silent as he waited for an answer.

Several long seconds later, the door cracked open and a face peered out at him. The ANBU nodded his head in respect, and the door opened further. The woman in front of him was clearly not happy to be pulled from her bed, robe pulled tightly around her and dark hair falling in sleep-mussed curls.

Her inky eyes looked deep into his, wary and weary in equal measures.

"Which one of them do you need?"

Her voice was rough with sleep.

His voice was equally stony.

"Both."


He'd awoken the second the ANBU had appeared on his grounds.

He'd like to attribute that all to pure survival skill, but it was largely due to the deep paranoia, the overwhelming protectiveness that curled deep in his soul. He was the man of the house now, and he had people to protect.

He wouldn't lose anyone else.

It had taken his eyes a second to catch up with his brain, but as they opened he registered the grey light filtering lazily through the window. Early morning visits from ANBU weren't good - not that visits from ANBU generally were.

Leisurely, he pushed himself up into a seated position, scrubbing calloused hands over his face in an attempt to gain some clarity. The sheet pooled in his bare lap, and the body beside him shifted at the loss of warmth.

With his past girlfriends, he'd never understood the whole 'watching while they slept' thing. To him, it was creepy, and no one looked good sleeping anyway.

But that was then, and this is now, and he could watch her for days.

She was twisted away from him, her bare back slightly flushed from where it had been pressed against his chest as they slept. Her hands were tucked up under the pillow that her face was hidden in, and her pink hair fell across her shoulders and the sheets, contrasting so brightly against the black.

She was beautiful when she slept.

Maybe that was the bias talking.

Either way, she was waking now, her senses picking up the foreign chakra that was making it's way towards the house. Some would think that meant that her senses were slower than his, but that was far from the case. As a medic, she had extensive sensory training, and she never slept deeply anyway.

Not many of them did these days.

No, rather she was slower to wake because she trusted him. Trusted him to watch her back, keep her safe no matter what.

And wasn't that both an honour and a burden.

They both knew they'd protect each other to the end, but that didn't mean that their abilities didn't have limits like everyone else. He'd do what he could, but he always feared it wouldn't be enough - because one day it wouldn't be.

But there was no time to dwell on that now, as the ANBU was starting down the path to the house and Sakura was sat up staring at the window, probably able to tell who it was from the chakra signature - as head medic of ANBU, she knew all of them.

After a pause, she turned to him with a smile, green eyes shining. He gave her one back, a small curve of the lips that he reserved largely just for her.

Then the second passes, and they are ninja once more.

And by the time the ANBU had stated that it was both Sakura and Shikamaru he was after, the two were dressed and geared up, smiling reassuringly at Yoshino before following their summon through the dreary breach of morning.


A/N: So started one Shika/Saku story and ended up working on another one instead. Wanted to do something a little more serious, where romance was already established (and therefore isn't the main focus of the story). I don't think it will be a very long story, maybe 10 or so chapters, but you'll have to wait and see!