Take Care of Me

"Sooooo, what are you and Shikamaru doing for your birthday?" Ino asked me as I was working on of the plants.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I'm suspecting that part of the reason that Tsunade told me to come here was so I could spend it with my father. And now I have not only my father, but my friends here with me as well. (I'll have to thank Tsunade when we go back.)

I turned to Ino and shook my head, "I don't know. We haven't really talked about it." Or anything much really; I've been busy working and he has been busy with some of his Kohona duties. I suppose since he was here anyways Suna decided to take advantage of that.

"Whattt? Come on, he's your boyfriend now isn't he? The two of you need to do something special!" Ino shrieked in surprise at my statement. Now I wouldn't necessarily call him my boyfriend, but I wouldn't say he isn't either. The whole 'whatever happens happens' thing was pretty vague, and I'm too embarrassed to bring it up to him.

In fact the past two days since he said that have just been one long embarrassment. It's like everything I do is more obvious now, and so every little mistake I make feels like I accidentally released a nuke and destroyed the world. Not to mention the eternal blush on my face which makes me feel like I'm overheating and ultimately just draws more attention to me.

"I need to go put this plant back, I'll be right back." I told Ino, purposely not responding to her question and running away the fastest I could.

When I put the plant back in its proper spot I stopped and sighed, just one more day and I can finally go home. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't like Suna or anything, there's just too much sand for my liking. And now I begrudgingly began to walk back to Ino to answer her question.

But when I turned the corner, I saw Ino talking to Shikamaru. My stomach immediately erupted in 'butterflies' and my first instinct was to pull back before they could see me.

"So Shikamaru…" Ino started, "What did you get Yuri for her birthday?" She asked excitedly.

At this point the smart thing to do would have been to show up suddenly and prevent Shikamaru from talking, but I just stood still in my spot. Shikamaru glared at Ino, "It's none of your business." He told her the typical Shikamaru answer.

"What? Don't tell me don't have a present for her yet!"

I clenched my fists tighter as my stomach continued to wreak havoc on me. Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, "Of course I have a present for her. I'm not like you and forgot her present in Kohona." He spat out.

"Hey I didn't know we were going to be here for this long, and besides my present can't exactly travel well." Ino pouted.

I had a feeling Ino was about to tell Shikamaru more about my present so I very reluctantly took this opportunity to leave my hiding spot and walk towards them. When Shikamaru turned to look at me an embarrassing grin worked its way onto my face. Ino seemed to keep quiet, probably because they were just talking about my birthday.

"Are you done working yet?" Shikamaru asked me, his hands in his pockets as usual.

"Almost, I just got to work with one more plant." I told him nervously as my throat felt like it was swelling from just speaking.

"Alright." Shikamaru nodded and turned around.

When Shikamaru turned I immediately turned my back to him and a wave of relief flooded over me. At least I didn't make a fool of myself that time. One down, just about a million and one left… Oh my. I quickly made my way to the last plant I was to infuse with my chakra. I stood in front of it for a second and took in a deep breath as I tried to call the chakra forth into my palms and out into the plant.

But it didn't work.

I blinked and tried again. Then all of a sudden, everything went black.

When I slowly regained some of my consciousness, the first thing I noticed was that I was very warm. Actually, I felt like I was sweating. Then as I attempted to open my heavy eyes I heard his wonderfully deep voice. "Yuri? Are you alright?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I realized I was probably blushing subconsciously to Shikamaru's touch. My eyes finally gave way and the bright sun burned its way into them. "No." I responded to his question. Of course I'm not alright. I'm pretty sure I just fainted, and now I'm blushing because the boy I like is touching me.

Shikamaru sighed and his arms relaxed. He moved one of his arms from my back and lightly placed his hand on my forehead. I looked at him confused as his eyes widened slightly, "Yuri you have a fever."

"No I don't…?" I questioned, "Aren't I just blushing?"

The Nara shook his head, "No. You're not blushing. I think you've been overworking yourself."

"How troublesome." I mumbled for him. Shikamaru smiled slightly when I said that, and when he smiled my stomach erupted again.

"Yuri! Yuri what happened? Shikamaru-kun is she alright?" My dad shouted as he ran up to us with Ino following in suit.

Oh wait, we're on the ground… I guess Shikamaru caught me. Shikamaru repeated what he said before, "I think she's overworked herself. She has a pretty bad fever."

My dad looked at us curiously then turned to the table and opened my bag. "W-What are you doing?" I asked my dad as he pulled out a folder.

Then I realized he was looking at my chakra logs for the greenhouse. "Yuri, what did I tell you when you got here? No more than 10 plants a day."

I felt my face get even hotter now. "How many did she do then?" Ino asked as she peered over my dad's shoulder and looked at the logs. I sighed as she gasped and yelled, "Yuri! 25 a day is way more than 10!"

"Shikamaru-kun, you wouldn't mind taking her back to my apartment to rest would you?" My father asked my semi-boyfriend.

Shikamaru nodded and helped me to stand, "Come on Yuri, let's go."

I nodded and complied. Since I was sick there wasn't much I could do. So I grabbed my bag from the table and proceeded to leave with Shikamaru. At least now I have an excuse for all the times I've gotten red over the past two days.

"I really don't know why you do this to yourself. It makes no sense." Shikamaru sighed as he sat down on the couch and put his arms behind his head.

I pouted as I put my bag down on the kitchen counter about ten feet away from the couch in the living room. "I was trying to get my mind off something." I admitted. And knowing Shikamaru, he would have known what I was talking about right away.

Shikamaru turned his head to look at me, "I can't be in your mind that much can I?"

I sighed and nodded, "You are…" I told him as I slowly walked to the couch and sat down beside him. "You must find this whole thing really annoying. I can't go through a conversation without embarrassing myself for some odd reason."

The Nara shrugged and leaned back into the couch, "It's nothing I can't get used to."

"So you do find it annoying." I pointed out to him. Whenever I said things like that he would usually say how they weren't true, and since he didn't this time…

"Good annoying."

"How can something be good annoying?"

"Don't you need to go rest Yuri?"

"Only if you answer my question." Shikamaru seemed intent on avoid this conversation now, but I wouldn't let him.

Oh god, I'm being annoying right now. How is this good annoying? I thought that anything annoying that women did he disliked. A lot.

Shikamaru looked at me for a second, scanning my face for any sort of signal that I might pass out any second. He sighed and closed his eyes, "Good annoying because it's cute."

If I wasn't nervous before, then that did it. I'm pretty sure the immediate heat rush I got was from blushing immensely. I couldn't really tell since my face felt like it was hovering above fire, and my stomach felt like it was going to explode.

This is why I dislike this whole 'whatever happens happens' thing. Since I'm unsure what we are, I don't know how to react. And now that I'm blushing as red as an apple, my only thought was to run.

I clenched my fists and stood up, "Alright I guess I should go rest now." If I go rest then I can calm down and think of what to do next, otherwise I don't know what's going to happen.

"Yuri, wait." Shikamaru told me as he pulled on my arm and gently pulled me back down onto the couch. He wasn't going to let me leave. I guess he set his mind on doing something while he had the chance now.

My face was still red hot, and I clenched my fists even harder. "Yuri," Shikamaru said as he looked down at me. He isn't going to try to kiss me, is he? I don't think I can stay conscious for much longer if he is.

Shikamaru looked at my face hesitantly, "Are you alright?" He asked me with an eyebrow cocked.

I nodded.

It was getting harder to breathe now as Shikamaru continued to look at me hesitantly. Was I really that red? Nervously, he leaned in slightly closer to me. He is going to kiss me, isn't he? If he does, then does that mean we're actually dating then? But if he doesn't, then what is he doing?

I'll just have to sit still and let him do whatever he's going to do; I'll know in a second what he's planning. He leaned in a little bit closer as I reluctantly swallowed. Time just seemed to slow down now, like every millisecond took 3 minutes to pass.

But as I waited for him to finish what he was doing, everything went dark again. Turns out I was right about the not staying conscious thing.

When I woke up in the morning I was covered in a light sweat; I guess I still have my fever. After I sat up and slowly stretched I remembered that Shikamaru and I were in the middle of a moment when I suddenly passed out. I pouted and laid back down in bed, "What was he going to do…?" I thought out loud to myself.

After about five to ten minutes of laying there I decided to go grab some food to eat. When I sat up in my bed again, I noticed this time that a note was left on my night table:

You passed out. I'm guessing it's because you were blushing so much all the blood rushed to your head. You really need to calm down. I'll be back around noon to wish you happy birthday.

Shikamaru

I looked over to the clock and saw that it was around eleven. I have one hour to somehow get rid of this fever, or figure out a way to trick Shikamaru into thinking I don't have one. Neither seemed very likely.

So I spent the time getting showered and attempting to make food for myself. And may I emphasize attempting. I spent most of the time either on the shower floor or on the kitchen floor, waiting for my strength to come back or for the heat rush to go away.

I sighed as I pulled myself up using the kitchen counter, then immediately slouched over and rested on the counter. I'm pretty sure there was a noise but I couldn't be sure, my latest heat rush was mixed with light headedness.

After a few minutes the heat rush passed and all that was left was a slight headache from the light headedness. There was that noise again. I looked up and saw the clock read '12:03'. I sighed and lowered my head again as there was an even louder noise.

"Yuri are you okay?" Shikamaru's voice came from behind me.

I immediately stood up and turned around to face him. He was in some casual clothes today that really pointed out his toned body. Lately I seemed to notice what he was wearing more, and how what he was wearing would accent his features. I guess it's the teenage hormones or something.

But as I turned around I felt very lightheaded again and my knees gave out from under me. Luckily, Shikamaru was over to me before I could slam on the ground and managed to catch me. "Perfectly fine." I whispered out as I put all my weight into him; supporting myself had become very tiring.

"Very funny." He told me as he picked me up taking me to my room. As he carried me, all I could seem to notice was how much strength he had. This was dumb considering he's a ninja; he needs to be strong.

Once he placed me onto my bed he sighed and felt my forehead. I peered up at him as he looked ahead for a few seconds and shook his head. He left the room without a word. I blinked and tilted my head a bit as he came back for a wet towel in hand. Is he going to take care of me while I'm sick?

"Shikamaru I'm fine. I can take care of myself." I told him as he put the towel on my forehead.

He looked at me with a skeptical look, "Right, exactly how you were taking care of yourself on your kitchen floor?"

I sat up and looked at him seriously, "Really, I don't want to be a burden to you. I can do this myself." I told him as I took the towel off my forehead. And as I did this I realized that me resisting is probably just burdening him more.

Shikamaru sighed as he sat on my bed beside me and placed his hand on top of mine. He slowly wriggled the towel out from under my hand and looked at me, "How many times do I have to tell you this, you're not a burden to me, you're not a bother, and I don't think you're annoying… That much. But remember I said its good annoying so it doesn't matter." It sounded like he was lecturing a child that didn't know taking cookies from the cookie jar before dessert was bad.

My eyebrows furrowed as he said this, "Shikamaru. What are we exactly?" That's it. I give in; I'm asking him. This is too confusing and I'm too sick to try to decipher it anymore.

Just as I expected, Shikamaru's eyebrow lifted in confusion. I explained further, "I mean like, that whole 'whatever happens happens' thing was so vague. I can't figure out what I mean to you." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, I could feel another heat rush coming on.

Shikamaru was silent for a few moments, "Yuri." I opened my eyes to look at him as he started, "I… We're… Well I'd like to think that…" By the sounds of it he wasn't too sure what we were either. Which was odd considering Shikamaru always seemed so sure of himself.

He lowered his hand and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. Probably thinking that this is why he avoided girls in general. "Shikamaru…" I whispered to him, the heat rush taking full effect now.

The Nara then lifted his head and looked at me. What I didn't expect though, was his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Yuri, you're so red." He exclaimed as he felt my face, which as you know, just made me feel hotter.

Then just like yesterday at the greenhouse, and just like yesterday on the couch, everything went dark.

After I came out of my drowsy state I noticed I was still overheating; it looks like the fever hasn't given up on me yet. Then I noticed the cool towel on my forehead and I sighed. It felt rather nice. I sat up and noticed that the clock read '4:25' now, meaning I was sleeping for about four hours.

I looked around and saw that my room was empty. Maybe Shikamaru was just in the other room? I took this chance to slowly get up out of bed and out of my room. After about a minute, I reached my door I noticed that Shikamaru was sleeping soundly on my couch.

I smiled as this reminded me of when I realized I liked him. Shikamaru and I had just come home and he immediately fell asleep on the couch much like he is now. I carefully made my way to the couch and sat on the floor beside the couch, right by his head. I placed my arms on the empty part of cushion in front of him and then proceeded to rest my head on my arms. And as I looked at his sleeping form my smile turned into a grin.

How does this lazy, easily annoyed, yet very intelligent ninja make me feel this way for him? He had made it clear so many times in the past few months we were living together that he finds girls annoying. Why didn't I just take that hint and leave him alone? But at the same time he seemed to like my attention... I mean, he is going through all this trouble for me after all.

I sighed and took in his scent. He always seemed to smell nice. Well except for when he would come back from a mission and would smell like dirty boys, but you know. He's trying so hard to become a good ninja now that his teacher had died. I feel bad for bothering him so much with all my girl feelings and stuff. But I can't help it; he just… draws me in to him. I don't really know why.

I closed my eyes and let myself rest. After a few minutes Shikamaru stirred as he was waking up from his nap. "Yuri?" He muffled as I opened my eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"Just about the same as before." I told him looking at his hand as he rubbed his face. After he rubbed his face he gently put his hand on my face to check my temperature. I sighed and leaned into his hand as he half smiled.

"Your temperature was going down before, that's why I took this nap. But it doesn't seem to want to fade." He told me, keeping his hand where it was, while he took his other hand and gently tucked the hair in my face behind my ear.

I closed my eyes again, "I guess I really overdid it…" I mumbled.

"I think we're going to have to make a trip to the hospital."

My stomach erupted at that word. Hospital. God how I hated hospitals. Ever since my mom died I've tried to avoid them like they were the plague. I immediately lifted my head and leaned back into the coffee table. "No hospitals."

The boy in front of me was startled by my reaction and went to sit on the floor with me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and was about to ask me the obvious question, but figured out his answer before he did. He sighed and looked at me with a sympathetic look, "Your mother."

This is the second time he's spoken about my mother. The first time he used it as an excuse when he rejected me. I nodded and without looking at him, I hugged him tightly. I half did it to distract him from saying the h-word again, but half because I was getting weak again, and half because I wanted to. Wait, three halves? Anyways, I didn't know if my stomach was still acting up from that word, or if it was because I was embracing him. But at this point I didn't really care anymore.

I expected him to be polite and let me continue to hug him. I didn't expect him to hug me back; it didn't seem like Shikamaru would do that type of thing. But… then he did. I'm sure he felt my smile in his chest as I tried to hold onto him just a tiny bit tighter.

Shikamaru sighed, "Fine we won't go for now. But if your fever doesn't settle down in an hour, we're going whether you like it or not." He ordered me as I nodded reluctantly.

I don't know how long we were there, but I happily just sat there and rested in his arms. This is the first time that Shikamaru and I have expressed our feelings so outwardly. The most we've ever done was hold hands, and now this was a token of our affection.

"Yuri, before I forget…" Shikamaru removed one of his arms from around me and gently pushed me away from him.

I looked at him curiously as he pulled out a gift. Oh right! Today's my birthday! I had completely forgotten…

"Happy birthday." He held the small gift out for me to take.

I smiled and took it from him. As I opened the wrapping I noticed it was a jewelry box. Shikamaru got me jewelry? When I opened the box I gasped and my heart began to melt. It was an emerald flower made of stones on a silver chain.

"I almost got you the sapphire one, but then I remembered how you said that your favourite colour is actually green." Shikamaru commented as I lightly traced the petals of the flower.

My smile felt like it literally went from one side of my face to the other, "Blue was my mother's favourite colour…" I explained to him, "Shikamaru, I love it." I looked up to him. "It's perfect."

Shikamaru smiled back at me, "I'm glad you like it."

I gently pulled the chain out from the bottom of the box and opened the clasp. Shikamaru then took the chain from me and put it around my neck, closing the clasp behind my head. "There." He said and let the chain go, the flower sitting pretty on my chest.

I took this chance to hug him again, "Thank you." I murmured into his shoulder.

Although I was expecting it to, the darkness never claimed me. About an hour after Shikamaru gave me my gift, Ino, Chouji and my father showed up. As it turns out, Ino's present was this rare flower she saw me eyeing in a book a few months ago. Chouji got me some cake, and my dad got me a new plant book.

I looked down curiously to the author's name. My eyes widened in surprise, "You wrote this book dad?"

My dad grinned sheepishly, "Yep! My first official publication on the plants of Suna! What do you think?"

I sifted through the pages. The information looked very thorough and concise. "It looks awesome dad. I can't believe this… Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well… I wanted to wait until you came down here to tell you. And since you came so close to your birthday I decided to wait." He winked as he messed the hair on my head.

I shook off his hand as usual and looked around at all the people crowded around my bed. Shikamaru had taken a spot leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room. When I saw he was looking at me I grinned sheepishly just like my dad, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" My dad asked me now once the presents were out of the way.

"I feel better. My fever seems to be going away." I nodded as he sighed in relief.

"Last night you were so unsettled in your bed. I almost took you to the…" my dad paused. He knew my dislike for the word. "I'm glad you're better. Just don't overdo it anymore ok?"

I nodded again. "Alright, alright. I promise." I informed him.

All in all, my birthday was wonderful… besides the whole being sick thing. Although, Shikamaru never did tell me what we were. I guess he's still trying to figure it out himself. And now that my sickness was fading it was finally time to go back to Kohona. Thank god.

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