AN: Heres' the next chapter! Enjoy!
……Present Day……….
Shikamaru sat in his office. He didn't understand why she would call him like that out of the blue. It was the first time he had spoken to her since 'that night.' He had attempted to reach her, but somehow always managed to miss her. That's why the conversation he had with her last night came as such a shock to him. Not only were her words eating away at him, but his own words were as well.
"Excuse me Mr. Nara" His secretaries' voice sounded over the intercom.
"What is it?"
"Mr. Uchiha is here to see you"
"Sasuke? Send him in"
Sasuke opened the large wooden door leading into the fairly lit room. "Do you always work in the dark?" He said clicking the door behind him.
"At times" Shikamaru chuckled "Have a seat"
"Actually do you mind?" Sasuke asked pointing to the small table holding a couple flasks of liquor and a few glasses.
"Be my guest."
Sasuke did indeed; he poured two glasses of scotch. "So how's the wedding planning going?" He asked setting a glass down in front of Shikamaru.
"I left everything to Temari." He sighed taking a sip.
Sasuke chuckled. "That was foolish, your bankbook will be empty in no time" Sasuke noticed the forced smile his friends face held. He walked to window and stared out over the skyline of the city. "Do you love her Shikamaru?" He asked out of the blue.
"What are you are saying?" Shikamaru asked a little taken back by his question. "Of course I do, I wouldn't be marrying her if….."
"Not Temari…..Sakura"
"………………..I have no idea what your talking about" Shikamaru defended.
Sasuke was silent for moment before he let out a small chuckle. "Yes your right she's just an ordinary woman. She nags all the time, she's the most naïve person I ever met." He explained taking the last swig of scotch from his glass. "But you know I still love her all the same."
Shikamaru just about choked on his drink hearing these words come from this man. "Sasuke what are you saying?"
"I have never told a soul about this, not even Naruto. But the truth is I have always loved her. Ever since the day Naruto told her there was a monster living in her sandbox and she asked me to be her hero and save her." He smiled remembering once happy days. "You see, three months before we graduated high school Sakura went away for the weekend with her parents. Ino and I had a few drinks and things went a lot further then either of us had planned. Then a month later you probably guess how shocked I was to find out she was pregnant."
"What?" Shikamaru had never heard anything about before.
"The night Sakura found us together was honestly a misunderstanding though. Ino had tripped and I caught her, it was at that moment Sakura found us in a rather friendly position. She never spoke to either of us after that."
"I don't understand?"
"The child?" Sasuke sighed "Ino had a miscarriage in her fifth month. That was before you and I met."
"So why didn't you return to Sakura?"
"It wasn't that simple. Dates were already set, things were said and done. Due to the reputation of the family name and the company we went ahead with the wedding. It was too late for me and Sakura. I don't even think she knew about the pregnancy."
"Why…are you telling me this?"
"Because" He said looking his friend in eye. "It's not too late for you. You can still hold the woman you truly love. Don't let the sake of the company keep you from being happy."
"I take it you are not happy with your life."
Sasuke chuckled. "I am happy with my life now. And even though it may be wrong of me to say this, I regret not chasing after her when I had the chance." Shikamaru was still bewildered by this whole conversation.
"Well I said all I came here to say. Thank you for the scotch." He said heading for the door. "Oh and I spoke to Sakura a few days ago and appears she got a job offer from a hospital in America, her plane leaves in a few hours. If you hurry you can still catch her." With that said and a small nod Sasuke left his friend to decide for himself what he really wanted.
AN: Please Review! Luv Ya