Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I actually forgot about this story. Also rating may go up-I'm not sure yet.

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Shikamaru walked to the Hokage tower leisurely, in no mood to do any of Naruto's paperwork, again. The dumbass had him going through all of the mission reports. He was beginning to think that the Rokudaime was even lazier than he was.

He yawned as he walked though the entrance. Definitely needed more sleep. To his annoyance, Shikamaru had found it hard to sleep last night. Hid mind kept drifting back to Sakura, of all people. The way she had practically threatened him the other day. Tch. If he wanted someone as bossy and aggravating he would've just kept going on those blind dates that his mother kept setting him up on.

He hadn't even seen her the past few days. She was the one who told him to go through with this ridiculous plan and now she was avoiding him. Even worse, his mother had heard all about it from Ino and asked, or more demanded, that he introduce her.

"Why are you assigning us to this mission?" Sasuke asked the blonde irately. He didn't understand why he couldn't have asked some chunin to take this on, it was a B-class mission.

Sakura laid her hands on her hips, upset that Naruto had called her out of her shift for this. She had to agree with Sasuke. This mission seemed simple enough for chunin to complete. She could be doing something more productive, like finishing her current research on neurotoxins, rather than going on a simple reconnaissance mission.

"At least you guys still get to go on missions. You should be grateful, teme." Naruto sulked, pointing a finger at Sasuke. They both rolled his eyes at him. He had been going on and on about that for months, complaining about how much he missed being on the roster. She couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for him, he was the one who wanted to be hokage after all.

"So who are we waiting for?" Sakura asked impatiently, just wanting Naruto to debrief them so that she could return back to the hospital.

"Just Shikamaru." Naruto said, scratching his chin and swiveling in his chair. Just the mention of his name made her body stiffen.

"What!? Why him!?" Sakura immediately reacted. Kami-sama, this was just her luck. She bit back her tongue when she noticed that her teammates had begun staring at her strangely.

She couldn't help it. She wasn't up for spending a week with the guy. It was awkward. They were in a some sort of pseudo relationship and they spent most of it arguing with each other.

If she was being honest, she was thinking of calling the whole thing off. She didn't know what was worse, keeping this charade up or having to spend another Friday night with some sleazy guy her supposed best friend set her up with, trying to politely tell him to keep his hands to himself before she cut them off. This whole fake relationship was tiring, or as he would say "troublesome". Ugh. She swore that if she heard that word again she would cut her ears off. She had heard it enough from his mouth.

"What? Do you not like Shikamaru, Sakura?" Naruto questioned, staring at her. She also noticed that Sasuke had raised his brow at her curiously.

"I-no."Sakura fumbled. She didn't feel like explaining the whole thing to them."Nothing, just forget it." She replied, knowing that they probably wouldn't.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, deep in thought before a grin formed on his face. "Oh yeah! I heard the weirdest rumor ever this week, Sakura-chan. Something about you and Shikamaru dating! Can you believe it?! Pfft." The blonde guffawed.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably, she could still feel Sasuke's eyes examining her, as if he was trying to read her mind.

"That is funny." She agreed humorlessly. What should she do? She wanted to tell them the truth but she knew that Naruto's big mouth could jeopardize the whole thing.

"Shikamaru and you-I don't know where Ino gets this stuff!"Naruto kept snickering, as if it was the craziest thing he had ever heard.

For some reason, it angered her. What was so crazy about it anyways?! What? Was it that hard to believe that Shikamaru wanted to date her or something?! Was it that weird?!

"I mean we kinda are."Sakura interjected, irritation plain in her voice.

At this, Naruto's laughter stopped abruptly, his mouth forming an o. She fidgeted as she felt both pairs of eyes on her.

"Y-You're kidding right."Naruto asked her in bewilderment. It seemed to only agitate her further.

"Is it so hard to believe that me and Shikamaru are dating?" She retorted sharply.

"No, it's just-I just thought that you still liked teme." Naruto replied bluntly, making Sakura's whole face heat up, and if possible, even angrier. She did not like Sasuke anymore. She couldn't believe people still thought that! Ok, so maybe she hadn't had a serious boyfriend yet, but she had had a few flings before. She had long given up on him years ago. She was 21 for crying out loud and they still thought she had maintained her childhood crush on him?!

"I don't!" Sakura snapped, her voice turning shrill, not bothering to look at Sasuke's reaction at the moment. She was too mortified that Naruto had actually said that out loud.

"And Shikamaru isn't the relationship type of guy." Naruto continued, furrowing his brows."He's seems like the type that's more in it for the sex, and no offense Sakura, but you don't seem like the type to put out." He trailed off. He regretted saying it once he saw Sakura's enraged face.

"What, are you saying that I'm a prude!?" She shouted, her chest heaving. She looked like she was going to pulverize him at any moment.

Sakura was furious. What right did he have to bother with her sex life? What right did anyone have?!

"There's nothing wrong with being one, Sakura-chan!" Naruto defended, hoping to lessen her anger."It's a good thing! That way, you'll always be our pure, little Sakura-chan!" He finished with a forced grin.

This didn't seem to help in the least. In fact, it only incensed her further.

"You know what, I am not your pure, little Sakura-chan!" She exclaimed, arms crossed defiantly. "Because me and Shikamaru do it!"

Naruto's eyes bulged at her words."W-what?"

"Have sex! We have sex. Me and Shikamaru have sex, okay!"Her face was red, half of her brain telling her to stop before she said something foolish."All the time! A-And it's good!" She added as an afterthought.

Shikamaru must have chosen the wrong time to come in because all he heard was Sakura shouting about how great their imaginary sex life was before being pounced on by Naruto.

Shikamaru wiped the cheek that was now bruised, staring up at Naruto in confusion and irritation."What the fuck was that for?!" He could taste blood on his lips.

"You deflowered our Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, getting ready to attack him again. Sakura stopped him before he could, giving him a warning glance.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Naruto." She snapped furiously.

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously."Of course it is! You-"

Sasuke coughed loudly from the other side of the room. Sakura had almost forgotten he was here and she flushed when she realized how childish she had been acting. "Now that Nara's here, can you get on with the debriefing, dobe?" Sasuke said with an impatient sigh.

Naruto was still glaring at Shikamaru but reluctantly moved back behind his desk. Sakura could also see Sasuke's eyes scrutinizing the genius. She felt bad for letting her emotions get the best of her once again.

Naruto talked to them about the mission details, explaining what they needed to do. Since it was a reconnaissance mission, they would need to take on disguises. Their target was going through Kusakagure and was apparently working with some Mist-nin. Naruto told them that they were up to something suspicious because they had found one of the men trying to get into Konoha a few days ago. Sakura had heard about that, but didn't mind it because she had thought he was merely a lost villager. It seemed much more trying than a normal B-class mission.

Naruto had named her team leader so there was that. She grimaced when she realized that the blonde was still glaring at Shikamaru.

The blonde opened his mouth again, staring intently at Shikamaru as if willing him to self-combust.

Shikamaru didn't seem to care, or if he did, he ignored it. He stood, slouching, hands in his pocket, looking bored as ever as Naruto's glower bored holes in him.

"Shika-" Naruto started.

"Well, if you're all done now," Sakura interrupted, attempting to avoid any conversation about Shikamaru and herself with Naruto."Me and Shikamaru actually have something to do, so..."

She pulled on the male's arm, dragging him towards the door. Naruto looked suspicious as she left."What exactly do you guys have to do?!"

"Uh..." Sakura faltered.

"Have sex. Apparently we do it all the damn time." Shikamaru answered for her in a monotonous yet clearly sarcastic tone. Naruto didn't catch it though as he had turned bright red with fury, about to rasengan Shikamaru into Kusakagure long before they were set for their mission.

Sakura quickly dragged him outside the office, the door behind them clanking loudly. Naruto had thrown a paperweight aimed at Shikamaru's head.

Once they were at a safe distance, Sakura punched Shikamaru hard in his arm, making him wince. He kept forgetting how powerful she was, her small frame deceiving him.

He rubbed the area, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Do you want Naruto to kill you?!" She hissed at him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her as they walked through the village.

"I wasn't the one who kept going on about our amazing sex life." He accused, raising his brow at her. She flushed, remembering her own words.

"You heard that?" She asked sheepishly, her cheeks now pink. He was amused at how easily she could change from headstrong to bashful in mere seconds.

"Good, huh?" He teased lightly. Her cheeks only became more colored. Shikamaru couldn't help the small smirk that formed on his lips. He winced. It hurt to even move his lips, Naruto was really trying to dislocate his jaw.

He raised his hand to it and rubbed, wincing again when he touched the area.

They passed Ichiraku's and Sakura turned to drag him along with her."I'm hungry, you wanna grab lunch?" She asked him. She hadn't had anything to eat since yesterday's lunch. She had forgotten to eat dinner.

Her hand gripped his wrist once more, not even bothering for his answer before she sat him down in the stool next to hers. Geez, she could be even more domineering than Ino.

She ordered for them both before turning to Shikamaru. She sighed, feeling embarrassed that she had caused so much trouble back there."I'm sorry about all that."

Shikamaru was a bit taken aback by her sudden apology. He shrugged."It's fine."

"Naruto just riled me up." She explained further."Everyone seems to think that I'm some mega-virgin who can't handle being in an actual relationship." She scowled.

"And that was worth getting me punched in the face?" Shikamaru replied. She faced him with concern, eyeing his bruised cheek.

"Does it hurt?" Her brows knitted together in worry. Sakura could see the purple blotches forming on his skin, feeling guilty for the cause of it.

"No." Her hand rose to his cheek, the pads of her fingers softly caressing his skin before he could protest any further. She tilted his head towards her to examine his face further. Shikamaru couldn't fight the heat that rose to his cheeks at the sudden action.

Her hands continued to rub softly against his cheek. This time he could feel a cool sensation against his skin which he assumed was her chakra.

"I'm sorry." She apologized again. Her chakra began flowing into him, the cool sensation turning warm as it entered his body. It was a strange feeling, but it was also a bit relaxing. He found himself leaning into her touch, his eyelids drooping at the sensation. It felt good.

His eyes wandered onto her face. She was biting her lip in concentration, her eyes staring intently at his face. It made him feel self-conscious. His gaze kept returning to her lips, pink and full. He was reminded of the other day when she had placed them on top of his. They felt really...soft. It was then that he noticed his breath becoming more shallow.

He nearly protested when she finally removed her hand.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked him. He shook his head quickly, cursing himself. What the hell was that?

He noticed the ramen bowls in front of them and watched as Sakura eyed them as well before quickly digging into it as if she was starved. Tears formed in her eyes when she realized they were still hot.

He snorted to himself. He took a bite himself before asking her,"So why do you care if Naruto thinks you're a prude?"

At this, her brows instantly furrowed in frustration."Not just him. Ino too. And everyone really." Shikamaru took another mouthful. waiting for her to explain.

She sighed, her chopsticks beginning to swirl around her noodles as she thought."I'm just tired of people thinking that I'm this innocent little girl that they need to protect. They still think I'm naive and infatuated with Sasuke."

Shikamaru could understand her reasoning. Though he wanted to say that that was the exact opposite of what he thought of her. Many people had seen her grow into the woman she was today and they didn't feel anything less than respect towards her.

"Honestly, I could care less about how many guys you've had sex with." Shikamaru admitted to her. Her eyes quirked up at him with a small smile.

"I haven't." She said so quietly he nearly missed it. He was surprised at her confession. She wasn't unattractive, he was sure that a lot of men had tried to, um, do her.

"It's not like I haven't thought about it." She went on, a bit flustered."I just, I guess I am still a bit naive in that aspect. I just want to do it when I'm sure." She said honestly, her tone a bit defensive.

Shikamaru absorbed her words, unsure of what to say. "There's nothing wrong with that." Was all he said. Besides, who was he to care about her love/sex life?

The answer seemed to be the right thing to say as Sakura smiled at him in thankfulness before returning back to her ramen.

"So... have you ever?" She asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

Shikamaru's body stilled, feeling uncomfortable about talking about his sex life. He merely nodded.

"Oh." Sakura said, feeling foolish. what was she expecting? Of course he had. He was a 21 year old shinobi. She felt a bit insecure about it. It was the reason why Naruto never chose her for seduction missions. But it wasn't like she had never gotten close before, she had. She had almost gone all the way with a number of the men she had dated, but always stopped it before they could go any further. It just didn't feel right to her.

Shikamaru noticed the awkward silence that befell them and decided to change the subject.

"Are you busy Friday?"He asked her suddenly. She shook her head, glad for the change in topic.

"Why?"

"My mom wants to meet you." He replied, already dreading the day."Ino told her." He wanted to strangle his meddlesome teammate, really. His mom wouldn't shut up about it. She had been telling him off, asking him why he had never mentioned Sakura before.

"That's the day before the mission." She said aloud."I guess I could stop by."

"5:00." He said, turning to her.

"Ok. Well, I'm sure it won't be that bad." She said, cheerily. Shikamaru shook his head. If she only knew.

"Don't be surprised if she asks you for grandkids."

Hoped you like it! I would love a review!