A/N: I apologize for my long absence everyone. Sometimes I just need to step back and breathe. But it's all good now, and I've got 7 more chapters ready to go for this story. Check out my upload schedule on my blog for when I'm uploading. :)
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"Who do you think you are? Trying to tell me about my life?"
Watching as Sakura jumped off the bar stool to go outside, Sora chuckled. Shaking his head, his smile growing.
Meanwhile, Sakura paused once she was in the sun room. Feeling her own smile widen as she thought of her brother's observation. Her cheeks were blazing hot, and the thought of why was enough to grow her smile even more.
A few days later, Tuesday
"So I think we should skip working today."
"Shikamaru, just because your parents are gone doesn't mean we get to slack off."
"It's not because they're gone," was Shikamaru's immediate reply, as he opened the front door of his house for Sakura to walk through first. A smirk on his face at Sakura immediately meeting her dogs. "I just think we should take a break today."
"We took a break the entire weekend that my family was here," Sakura pointed out, finishing up loving on her dogs, as she straightened up to walk to the kitchen. Going to the coffee pot that had finished brewing over the twenty minutes they were gone. "We planned to get some stuff done to make up for the time we weren't working. So we need to get it done."
Moving to sit down at the bar across from the kitchen counters, Shikamaru set down the bag in his hands. Pulling out both of their biscuits they had just bought. "Yeah, but we could do so many other things."
"We could," Sakura started, moving over to sit beside Shikamaru. Setting down both their cups of coffee. Her hands going to unwrap her biscuit as she smiled at him. "But we're going to get our work done. So that way your mom doesn't yell at you when she and your dad come home."
That had Shikamaru smirking, as he took a sip of his coffee. "I would say she'd yell at you too, but she likes you. So she'll blame both of us not working on me."
"You're right," Sakura agreed laughing. Taking a bite of the biscuit, her eyes lit up even more. "Oh my god, this is amazing."
"I knew you'd like it," Shikamaru replied chuckling. It was one of his secret breakfast places that not many people knew about. It was in a small little building towards the north side of the village. Sakura had been enamored with the atmosphere of the little breakfast place as soon as they walked in. "You like places like that."
"Like what?" Sakura questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"Hole-in-the-wall type places."
"What can I say?" Sakura questioned, shrugging as she chuckled. Taking another bite of her biscuit, she hummed happily. "This is so good."
Later that day
Focusing in on the pictures in front of her, Sakura kept a frown on her face. Studying the many pictures spread across the floor was a lot more tasking than she first thought. They had gathered portfolios from local photographers, and picked up some that had got sent in from other villages. Shadow and Tank were stretched out sleeping in the middle of all the photos, and Baby was perched on the edge of one of the desks in the room.
Shikamaru was sitting by the window, looking out at the clouds. Finally his eyes went back to Sakura. "Can you just pick one already?"
The only response he got from Sakura was a low hum. Her eyes not leaving the photos.
"Sakura-"
"Shhh," Sakura shushed him, waving her hand to get him to shut up. Still not looking away from her photos.
"You're putting too much effort into this, it's not that big of a deal." Shikamaru told her after another moment of silence.
"I just want the perfect photographer for this," Sakura said after a moment.
"That's not it," Shikamaru disagreed, then shook his head. "Well that's not fully it."
"I really like photography, okay?" Sakura countered, finally looking away from the pictures to look at Shikamaru. "I've always liked it."
"Professional?"
"No, I'm not that good," Sakura replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I just take a lot of pictures."
Shikamaru grew a smirk on his face. "So when can I see some of your pictures?"
"About thirty years after I've died. I'll be writing that in my will," Sakura countered, then she joined his laughter. Eying the pictures again, she pointed out two portfolios that have caught her eye. "I really like these two. Although the others are pretty amazing too." Grabbing the portfolios, she handed them over to Shikamaru. "You decide."
Flipping through each portfolio, Shikamaru did have to admit both were good. Even for someone like him who didn't really put effort into stuff like that. Sakura really likes them both… "How about we just pick both of them? It'll be a week long even with a lot of stuff going on. It'll be good to have more than one."
"In that case," Sakura started, reaching over to another portfolio, she held it up. "I really like this one too. I just figured giving you less choices will make it easier on you."
Laughing, Shikamaru shook his head at her. "I know you don't think I care, but it's surprisingly a lot easier to participate in this planning than I first thought."
"So would you say you enjoy it?" Sakura asked, a smile on her face, and a twinkle in her eye.
"Yeah I guess," Shikamaru replied, smiling back at her. "You make it a lot easier to enjoy." It was quiet as they kept each others eyes, smiling away. Finally he moved to hand the portfolios back to her. "All three will be fine."
Nodding, Sakura collected the remainder portfolios to go put them in the file cabinet. Knowing very well they might decide to hire more photographers down the line, and she didn't want to throw them away. Plus she really liked the work of the other photographers too.
Watching Sakura for a moment longer, Shikamaru stood up. "When you're done get your shoes on."
"What? Why?" Sakura questioned, finishing putting the portfolios away, as her eyes went to him. He was walking towards the door.
"Because."
Blinking a few times, Sakura got up to follow Shikamaru out the room. "But we still have work to do. Picking the photographer isn't enough. We still have to let them all know-"
"We can finish it tomorrow," Shikamaru said, as he paused at the top of the stairs. Smirking at her slightly confused look. "You. Me. Food. Understand?"
Sakura was quiet, then she moved to walk past him down the stairs. "You had me at food. Let's go."
The next day
"I'm good."
"Come on Shikamaru," Yoshino started in reply to her son's words. "A little bit of salad will be good for you."
"It's not like I don't eat vegetables mom," Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes at his mom's frown. "I just prefer not eating them in a bowl with a whole bunch of other healthy things."
"You're missing out Shikamaru." Yoshino said after another moment. Shaking her head, but getting distracted by the sound of Tank barking outside. He was currently out there with Shikaku, who was running out his energy with a game of fetch.
After Shikamaru's mother left to go out on the front porch, Sakura turned to face Shikamaru. "There is no way that you don't like salads."
"Not you too," Shikamaru started, groaning at Sakura's look. "I already hear enough about this from my mom, my aunts, and Ino. I don't need you hounding me about it too."
"But they taste good-"
"I don't like salads. I won't like salads. End of story." Was all Shikamaru said.
Frowning after Shikamaru had closed his eyes, Sakura sat there for a moment. Finally getting an idea, she moved from where she was sitting. It wasn't until she was within a foot from Shikamaru that he had opened his eyes.
Seeing at how close Sakura was getting, Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but didn't move away. "What are you-"
Settling so she was sitting directly next to him, Sakura continued to lean closer. Stopping when the tip of her nose just barely touched his cheek, she twitched it slightly. A small smile on her face. "You should really give it a chance."
"What are you doing Sakura?" Shikamaru chuckled after a moment, her nose twitching against his cheek was slightly ticklish. His smile growing at her not stopping.
"Please," Sakura continued on, her own smile growing. "I'll make it for you. All special and all that."
"Sakura… Okay fine."
"Ay!" Sakura jumped up from the couch happily. Just as Shikamaru's parents and Tank came inside. Her eyes on Shikamaru's mom. "I got him to agree to eating a salad if I make it for him."
Yoshino seemed to hold a look of disbelief on his face. "He really agreed?"
Shikaku held a smirk on his face. "Eating salads hasn't ever been his thing."
"I was basically given no choice in the matter," Shikamaru said, a smirk on his face, as he stood up from the couch. Going over to sit on one of the bar stools to watch Sakura, who was getting stuff out of the refrigerator.
After gathering all the ingredients, Sakura caught onto Shikamaru watching her. "Are you going to watch me the whole time?"
"Yeah," Shikamaru replied with no hesitation. "I want to know what I'm practically being forced to eat, and if I should be worried about it being poisoned."
While that made his parents laugh, Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. You're so funny." Starting on the base of the salad, she paused before putting anything else on. "What exactly do you not like? Oh, and what do you like?"
"I don't know why you think I'd give you any helpful answers," Shikamaru replied, a smirk on his face, as he propped his head up with his hand. "I don't eat salads remember?"
"Okay then..." Sakura trailed off, as she started adding in ingredients. "Since you're not being helpful, you're just going to be surprised."
"How is it a surprise if I'm watching you-"
"Don't ruin the surprise Shikamaru," Sakura interrupted him, smiling when that made his parents laugh. Finishing up the salad, she picked up the bowl, and started to walk to the dining room.
Shikamaru watched Sakura start to walk off. "Where are you going with my salad?"
"Careful Shikamaru, don't sound so excited," Sakura said, making his parents laugh again, and she paused at the doorway to the dining room. Looking back at him. "Your mom made a dinner that's a hell of a lot better than a simple salad. So you need to eat that too."
Soon they were all seated at the table, and Shikamaru had just taken the first bite of his salad. He had held a plain look on his face as he chewed, and finally he looked to Sakura. "It's not the worst thing I've ever tasted."
Noticing a small smile on his face, Sakura's own smile grew. "You like it."
"I didn't say that-"
Interrupting Shikamaru by leaning over to get close to his face again, Sakura's nose just barely touched his cheek. "Shikamaru."
At here closeness, Shikamaru sighed to hide his smile. "Fine. I like it. Happy?"
"I knew you would," was Sakura's only reply, as she moved back to her own bubble of personal space. A big smile on her face as she hummed.
Shikamaru's parents shared a look at the interaction at their son and Sakura. Yoshino was the first to speak after another moment of silence. "So we are going to be taking a trip out of the village this weekend."
That got Sakura and Shikamaru's attention. Shikamaru speaking first. "You two go out of the village almost every weekend lately. When do Sakura and I get to go out and leave you two with all the work?"
While that made his dad laugh first, Sakura's laughter was quick to join in. "You clearly still don't want to accept the fact that this is all just training for when you are the one who has to take on all this responsibility in a few years."
Shikamaru's eyes went back to Sakura. "What does that have to do with them getting to take a vacation every weekend?"
"They can do that, because we're responsible for getting the work done. Not them," Sakura replied, then she laughed again. "And if you were actually listening, your parents haven't been leaving to go on vacations every weekend. They still have stuff to do with running the operations of your clan, and a few things to do for the party too."
"She's right," Yoshino agreed with a nod, then gave a pointed glare at her son. "And if you wouldn't have been so quick to speak, then you would have heard me tell you that you two are coming with us."
"Oh..." Shikamaru trailed off, his eyes going over to Sakura only to find she had leaned over to pay attention to Shadow and Tank who were laying on the floor by her chair. "What are you-"
"My poor babies are going to be so lonely," was what Sakura had interrupted with. Just by having been speaking to her fur babies, Shadow and Tank both started wagging their tails, and paying attention to her. "I'm so sorry my loves, but you get to spend the weekend with your godmother."
"Godmother?" Shikamaru questioned, then he shook his head. "Hinata. Why did I even have to ask?"
Sitting up in her chair, Sakura glanced over to Shikamaru. "Beats me. You act like you don't know me. I thought we were closer than that."
Rolling his eyes at her dramatic words, Shikamaru focused on his parents. "When are we leaving, and where are we going?"
"It's a small village close to the south east edge of the fire country," Shikaku replied after chuckling at the exchange between his son and Sakura. "Not yet reaching the beaches. It's still in the forest area."
"We'll actually be leaving tomorrow. So it'll actually be Thursday through Saturday," Yoshino added on, her eyes on her son. "But it's not a vacation, we are there for work on some things for the party. I don't want you slacking off."
Sighing, Shikamaru picked up his drink, and took a sip. "I never can get a break."
Sakura's eyes lit up, as she smiled at Shikamaru. "Relax Shikamaru. Even though it'll still be work, we'll be fine. It'll be fun, you'll see."
A few days later, Saturday
"Watch out!"
Sakura's loud exclamation was followed by a loud explosion. One that shook the ground under their feet, and made their ears ring. Smoke filled the air, and Sakura found herself alone. But not for long, as she spun around to fend off the attacking enemy. A symbol of a circle with a line down the center caught her eye on the enemies shoulder. A numbing feeling went through her mind, as it was just a reminder of why they were in this situation in the first place.
"Sakura!"
Shikamaru's exclamation hit her ears, and had her snapping out of her numbing thoughts. Finishing up the enemy she was fighting, Sakura turned to see Shikamaru across the clearing. His parents catching up not far behind him, as they had been holding their own against some of the enemy as well. Taking steps towards them, she stopped in her tracks, as her eyes caught sight of something to her right. Not far away, closer to the edge of the clearing that was the boarder to the village they were near, was a young boy.
The swift movement over Sakura's shoulder was the next thing she noticed, and it was a member from the enemy.
Staring her down, growing a dark twisted smirk on their face. Knowing very well that Sakura had noticed the young boy as well.
In that split second of pause, Sakura took in a breath, and bolted. Moving before the enemy could. As she went straight to the young boy, she deflected several of the enemies attacks. Feeling a stinging sensation in her upper arm, she knew she got hit, but the only thing she was focused on was that young boy who was screaming. Turning to send a jutsu to disturb the attacks of the enemy, Sakura turned and grabbed the boy. "Listen to me. Go back into the village. Go find your parents. Do not come back here."
"But-"
"Go!" Sakura exclaimed, interrupting the boy, as she let him go. Watching him spin around and start running, she turned back to face the Nara's. Only to find them much closer.
Shikamaru being only feet from her, as he looked her over. "Sakura, we need to get you out of here."
Quiet at the fact that Shikamaru knew that the enemy was after her, Sakura finally turned her head. "No. I have to go after them."
"No," Shikamaru started back at her, grabbing her arm gently. Looking at the area where one of the enemy's kunai grazed her arm. "You got injured-"
"I need to go Shikamaru," Sakura interrupted him sharply. "They'll come back if I don't."
"Sakura, your safety is what is important here," Yoshino added, a frown on her face.
Shikaku was nodding in agreement with his wife and son. "It's best we get you out of here now while they are distracted."
Knowing very well Sakura was going to continue to disagree, Shikamaru moved closer to her to get her to look at him. "Sakura."
"Shikamaru, I already said-" Stopping mid-sentence at sight of something behind the Nara's, Sakura's eyes widened. No. Moving then, she felt as if she was going in slow motion. Darting around the Nara's, she started to move across the clearing. Just in time to deflect one of the last remaining enemies jutsu with a jutsu of her own. Without much time to think of her next move, Sakura felt an intense pain in her stomach. Everything around her still moved slowly, as her eyes went down to see blood dripping out of wound from the enemies katana sinking into her flesh.
Then time sped up again, and Sakura retracted her fist and punched the man in front of her causing him to fly back. The katana was ripped out of her stomach, causing more intense pain. But she kept her eyes focused on the guy. Who recovered, but knew his loss was here as his men were too injured to continue fighting.
The guy stared her in the eye, and smirked. "You're lucky… This time."
Then they were gone. Leaving the training ground silent for a moment.
"Sakura," was the first word spoken to break the silence. Shikamaru and his parents were back at her side. Shikamaru's eyes were wide as he looked at her with blood coming from her wounds.
Breathing heavily, Sakura's hand was at her stomach, but her eyes were on Shikamaru and his parents. "Are you all alright?"
"It's not about us!" Shikamaru exclaimed in response. His expression showed he was clearly unsettled and concerned about what was going on, unlike his usual calm self.
Knowing Shikamaru was bugging out about her injuries, Sakura shook her head. Still having to catch her breath as she found the task growing harder as time went on. "My injuries aren't that bad. I need to go make sure no one got hurt in the village."
At Sakura starting to turn away, Shikamaru's eyes widened. "You're injured. You can't just ignore that-"
"I don't care about myself!" Sakura exclaimed, as she spun around to face Shikamaru. Starting to cough, she felt liquid in the back of her throat, and she spit it out. Ruby red liquid cam out, and fell to the grass in front of her.
"Oh lord," Yoshino started, having been the first to see the blood.
"Sakura," was all Shikamaru said, noticing her begin to waiver, he stepped closer, and brought his hands to her sides to try and steady her.
Feeling her whole body weakening, Sakura tried to push past it as she shook her head. "I don't care about myself… I just have to make sure everyone else is okay." Coughing up more blood, she felt a lightness over her whole body, then everything went dark.
A couple hours later
Pushing her eyes open, Sakura still felt as if her whole body was sluggish. It didn't take her long to recognize that she was in a hospital. The sanitized light environment, and the beeping machines near her gave that away. Finally remembering what was going on before she fell unconscious she moved to sit up, but felt a hand going to her arm to stop her.
"You don't need to be moving right now dear."
The voice, belonging to Yoshino, hit Sakura's ears, and she looked over to her left. Shikamaru's mom and dad were sitting in chairs by the window in the room a few feet away. Shikamaru was the one beside her, and had his hand on her arm. When her eyes met his, she could see concern in his eyes.
"You've been unconscious for a couple hours," Shikamaru started to explain to her after a moment of silence. "We brought you-"
"To the hospital," Sakura interrupted him, her look changing to one of irritation, as she slipped her arm away from his hand. "You brought me to the hospital?"
Raising an eyebrow at her irritated tone, Shikamaru crossed his arms. "Why are you getting so mad-"
There was a knock on the door, and a doctor walked in. "Oh you're up?" The doctor questioned, a smile on her face as she walked over. "The good news is that your injury to your arm won't need any stitches, but unfortunately the one to your abdomen will-"
"And my scans?" Sakura interrupted the doctor quickly.
"What?" The doctor questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"My scans," Sakura repeated. A hand at her chest, as she had to catch her breath a little. "One of my wounds is caused from a penetration of a weapon, and you can't just stitch me up without scans. What if there is something from the weapon inside of me?"
The doctor sighed after Sakura finished speaking, but put a smile on her face. "We were able to examine the wound pretty well while you were unconscious. There doesn't seem like there should be any reason for scans-"
"Seems like?" Sakura interrupted before sighing liked the doctor had. Clasping her hands together, she closed her eyes. "Alright then. Since you're so sure that there isn't even the slightest chance that there is no left over debris from the weapon, or that there isn't any smaller tears to my internal organs that can turn to bigger tears leading to me bleeding out and dying once you send me home, let's go ahead with your plan."
The doctor stared at Sakura, before sighing again. "You're a doctor aren't you?"
"You're damn right I'm a doctor." Sakura shot back, frowning as she opened her eyes.
The doctor just tried to continue on smiling. "Well respecting the fact that you are a doctor, you are now in the patient position-"
"My name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura interrupted the woman, closing her eyes with a sigh.
Almost immediately the doctor's face changed, and she stepped forward with wide eyes. "Oh my- The Sakura Haruno? Oh my god. It's a pleasure to have you here- well not a pleasure considering the circumstances, but- Oh my god."
Opening her eyes, Sakura fought the urge to roll them, and sighed heavily as she stared at the ceiling. "You didn't scan me," she started, looking over to the doctor. "So you are not touching me. I want to see what material you have that you would use to close up my wounds, and when you come back I'm going to need a viable excuse as to why you wouldn't scan me before stitching me up, and then I might let you continue." It was quiet then for a moment, then Sakura opened her eyes again. "I'm not kidding, go now."
"Right, my apologies," the doctor turned around quickly and left the room.
Shikamaru was quick to speak to Sakura when the doctor had left. "Really? Is this necessary?"
Sakura turned her head sharply to face him, and slapped his hand away from her arm. "You brought me to a hospital Shikamaru."
That had Shikamaru's eyes going wide, then they narrowed. "What else were we supposed to do? Leave you to die?"
Shikamaru's low angry voice had Sakura growling with irritation back at him, but her focus went back to the doctor who had come into the room. A tray in hands, which she set down on the table beside Sakura's bed. Sakura's eyes went to the doctor as she forced a smile to her face. "I'm going to need some drugs."
The doctor raised an eyebrow "What?"
"I'm in pain," Sakura replied, as she brought a hand to rest lightly over her abdomen. "And the only thing you are giving me now is blood in this IV. Last time I checked that doesn't help with pain. That just helps replenish my blood so I don't bleed out and die."
The doctor nodded and turned away without disagreement. "Right, that might take me a bit longer. But I should be back in five minutes or so."
"Take your time," Sakura called back as she watched the doctor walking out of the room.
"Is this really necessary-"
"Shut up," Sakura interrupted Shikamaru abruptly as soon as the door closed. Her hands went to unhook herself from the machines. "That was just to get her out of the room."
"Hey! What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked slightly alarmed at her taking out her IV next, and then blood coming from her arm.
"Shut up, and don't be so loud," Sakura shot back after healing the prick from the IV. Reaching over to the tray the doctor brought in, she grabbed the staple gun. Without any hesitation she lifted up her shirt, and proceeded to staple her wound closed.
This had Shikamaru's alarm raising. "What in the hell are you doing?"
"Sakura," Yoshino said, as her eyes were just as wide as her sons.
"The doctor is coming back you know?" Shikaku added, an eyebrow raised but not nearly as alarmed as his wife and son were.
"I'm not going to let these people do anything to me," was what Sakura replied with as she finished the staples, and set the stapler back down. Grabbing bandage next, she covered the wound, then the wound on her arm. Once done with that, she pushed the covers back to get up.
Shikamaru's eyes remained wide as he stepped in her way to keep her from moving anymore. "Have you lost your mind?"
"A little help here," was all Sakura said back, as she raised an arm towards him.
It was quiet for a long moment, then Shikamaru shook his head and moved over to help her up. "You are crazy."
"Yeah, yeah," Sakura said, once all the way up, she moved towards the window. "Let's get out of here before that doctor comes back."
Almost twenty minutes later, and they were finally back at where they had been staying over the weekend. Once in the living room of their small house, Shikamaru moved to carefully help Sakura sit down. His eyes studying her, as she tried to catch her breath. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm not okay! I just stapled my already painful wounds without any kind of painkillers." Sakura snapped back at him, then took a few deep breaths. "I need my medical bag. I'm going to stitch myself up."
It was quiet for a long moment, as Shikamaru stared at Sakura for a long moment. Trying to decide if he was going to keep enabling her crazy, or ignore what she wanted and bring her back to the hospital.
A few minutes later, Sakura was beginning to stitch up the wound to her abdomen. The intense pain was being slightly numbed with her medical chakra and a shot of vodka she had to argue with Shikamaru about her taking before she started. His parents had been fairly silent, more or less his father's doing, as he understood that this didn't need his or his wife's input.
Having been silent during the first few stitches Sakura did, Shikamaru finally broke his silence, as he turned full on to face her. "You are absolutely crazy! You could have got yourself killed today! Then on top of that, you left the hospital! You can't just do things like that!"
Scoffing at Shikamaru's sharp tone of voice, Sakura rolled her eyes. "I know what I did."
At her dismissal of his point, Shikamaru clenched his fists, then unclenched them before speaking. "So we're on the same page; you've lost your mind."
"No," Sakura said, pausing in her stitches to take a breath at the throbbing pain in her abdomen. "I haven't lost my mind."
"You clearly have if you think that what you did today was okay!"
After the exclamation from Shikamaru, he and Sakura had started bickering back and forth, as his parents stared on. Finally Yoshino looked over to her husband. "I don't think we should just be standing by and letting this happen Shikaku."
"I know it's hard on you dear," Shikaku started back in reply to his wife. He was able to read her unsure expression all over her face. "But, I have a feeling that this is a little out of our reach in how much we can help here. Our son doesn't realize it, but this situation is a lot more complicated than it seems."
"He's just concerned about her," Yoshino replied softly, eying the two younger ninja who were still arguing. Crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes went to her husband. "It's hard not to be."
"Well-"
"For goodness sake!" Sakura exclaimed, interrupting Shikaku from responding to his wife. She had just finished up her stitches, and was glaring at Shikamaru. "If I stayed at that hospital I would be in their system!"
That had Shikamaru silent as he stared back at her. His parents attention was back on Sakura as well.
Sakura just kept Shikamaru's eyes, with a serious expression on her face. "My name would send up red flags to the village. Tsunade would proceed to flip out if she found out I got attacked again outside the village. She would then send god knows how many anbu units to come and escort me home. Do you know how incredibly annoying and embarrassing that would be for me?"
Shikamaru was silent for a long moment. "Sakura, if you didn't get that badly injured I would understand, but this is bad!"
"You just don't get it," Sakura told him, grabbing the bandage to put over her stitches carefully.
"I'm sorry, are you saying I don't get that your insane for leaving the hospital? The place that is probably the best place for you right now? I don't-"
"No, I'm saying that you don't understand that this is not the first time this has happened to me!" Sakura interrupted him, snapping at him. Looking down at her injury to bandage it. "I already told you that, but you still don't get it. I have been dealing with this from a very, very young age. Years upon years of having people hovering over me, and worrying when the next time will be. I am not about to set alarms off for those people to have them worry about me again."
That softened Shikamaru's face considerably. "Sakura-"
"You know what," Sakura interrupted, finishing up bandaging herself, and pushing herself up from the ground. Flinching at the pain, but pushing through. "This is just another example of why I am not telling my friends about this, about why it's happening. Because things like this happen, and they get involved." Turning away from Shikamaru and his parents. "I apologize for your involvement, that's on me. But, I can assure you this will not happen again."
Frowning deeply at her words, Shikamaru's eyes followed her. "Sakura."
Ignoring him, Sakura moved to walk outside to sit on the front porch. Having to support herself by holding on to the wall and the door to walk out, but she made it.
Shikamaru watched the door that slightly slammed shut when she left. Not moving to go after her. Holding a deep frown on his face, he clenched his fists after a long moment.
A few hours later
"Okay so you got everything done this weekend correct?"
Tsunade's question was met with a growing awkward silence. The Nara's and Sakura had just made it back to the village. Shikamaru had ended up having to carry Sakura back due to her injuries, but her threatening him to silence the whole time was the only way that had worked out. Making him set her down outside the village to ensure that nobody would see her injuries. When they arrived in Tsunade's office, they had returned their scroll that signified they had been allowed to leave the village. Not much more had been said.
"Yeah, everything was done," Shikaku spoke up after another moment of silence. He noticed Tsunade was beginning to become aware that something was going on. Her eyes showed suspicion, and they were leaning more towards Sakura than the rest of them. Well it is not that surprising that she'd notice something is off. She seems to know Sakura pretty well.
"Alright, you can go," Tsunade started, her hand resting on the top of the scroll, and her eyes were narrowing on her student. The pink haired woman's eyes were focusing on the ceiling. Something's going on with- Her eyes caught onto a bandage on Sakura's side. Just barely visible with the dip of shirt under her arms. Having already noticed the one on Sakura's arm, her hand curled around the scroll, then she tossed it to the floor by Sakura's feet. "Before you go, Sakura will you pick that up for me?"
Tsunade's question had Sakura's insides go cold, and her eyes went down to the scroll on the floor. Closing her eyes after a moment, she finally sighed and crossed her arms. "Really? You clearly already saw that I was injured. Why in the damn hell would you do something like that?"
Ignoring Sakura's question, Tsunade frowned at her. "What happened?"
It was quiet for a long moment, finally Sakura opened her eyes, and looked to Tsunade. "Don't freak out, okay?"
"What happened?" Was all Tsunade countered with.
It was quiet for another long moment, finally Sakura sighed, and recounted what happened. As soon as she finished up telling Tsunade everything that happened up until she passed out, she held up a hand. "But, like I said: don't freak out. I took care of it."
"No Sakura," was the first thing Tsunade said after having been listening to everything Sakura said without saying a word. Her expression had remained unreadable the entire time, unlike now where it reflected anger. "You didn't take care of it. You didn't send a message, or the hospital you were at didn't send a message."
Sighing, Sakura crossed her arms and mumbled under her breath. "That's exactly why I didn't stay at a hospital-"
"Are you kidding me?!" Tsunade exclaimed, interrupting Sakura as she stood up from her desk. "Are you that incredibly stupid?!"
"Tsunade-"
"Shizune!" Tsunade interrupted Sakura again, as she started to walk around her desk. At the sight of Shizune entering her office, she met her eyes. "Get the elders now!"
"That's really unnecessary," Sakura started, waving her hands in Shizune's direction. Her eyes going to Shikamaru, who had been silent since before they had left the village they were at before. "Would you just tell her that everything is fine-"
"Shut up and sit down!" Tsunade exclaimed at Sakura.
Almost an hour later
Sitting on top of Tsunade's desk, Sakura's arm was back behind her head, as Tsunade was currently checking her injury on her side. It was completely silent in the room.
"Tch," Tsunade mumbled after a moment, her eyes reflecting her anger with her student. "How can you be so incredibly stupid? I just don't get it Sakura."
Not saying anything back to Tsunade, Sakura's eyes remained focused up on the ceiling. Her mouth a tight line across her face.
"Oh," Tsunade said when Sakura didn't respond. "So you're going to ignore me now?"
That had Sakura's eyes darting straight to Tsunade. "Sorry, a half hour long lecture from the elders kind of ruins my mood. Or having an anbu unit up here to question me about what happened could have done it. Or the entire medical team you brought in here could have also done it. Maybe you should try talking to me again on a day when you haven't already pissed me off."
"Oh, I've pissed you off?" Tsunade questioned, an eyebrow raised. Pausing in examining Sakura's wound. "Don't even get me started Sakura. You've pissed several people off, and you've only been back in the village for an hour."
"Well maybe you shouldn't make a big deal about stuff like this in the first place," Sakura bit back irritably. "Then all those people could have been spared."
"Or," Tsunade countered, her eyes glaring at Sakura. "You could act like a grown up, and just let them do their job in the first place."
"You know, it's hard to act like a grown up when I'm treated like a child who can't handle herself," Sakura shot back, her glare equally challenging Tsunade's.
"No one is treating you-"
"Oh, so do you do this to everyone who gets attacked outside the village?" Sakura interrupted, before rolling her eyes. "I'm surprised that anyone still wants you to be Hokage then-"
"Sakura!" Shizune interrupted, from where she was standing over with the Nara's. All of which have been quiet, listening to Sakura and Tsunade bicker back and forth.
Sakura closed her eyes, and frowned. "Right. I'm just going to keep my mouth shut about something that is none of your damn business in the first place."
"That's enough of that," a voice spoke from outside the room, the door was pushed the rest of the way open to reveal Hinata. A frown on her face, as her eyes went directly to Sakura.
Sakura ignored her friend, and glared at Tsunade. "Oh you told her too. That's just great-"
"Sakura shut up," Hinata interrupted, continuing into the room to pause a few feet from where Sakura was. Surprising to everyone else Sakura did just that, and only responded to Hinata with a glare. "Actually I found out from some nurses at the hospital, who heard it from the medical team that was here," she started, as she walked even closer Sakura, and looked at Sakura's injury. Touching it, and swatting away Sakura's hand when she tried to push her away. "That's pretty deep, but those stitches should be fine." Straightening up, she propped her hands on her hips. "When you got the bright idea to leave that hospital, were you just being rebellious, or just being stupid?"
"What do you think?" Sakura shot back irritably.
"I'm thinking it was neither," Hinata replied back, her look softening. "You were just trying to keep from making a big deal."
"Wow, you're not the first person to come to that conclusion today," Sakura shot back.
"Because," Hinata continued, watching Sakura's eyes. "It wasn't just you out there." It got really quiet then as Sakura didn't respond. No smart mouthed comments or anything. Hinata crossed her arms. "Sakura, you know that if you just simply tell your friends what's really going on, it will lighten the load on your shoulders."
"You know-"
"Yes I know you don't want to because you want to protect them," Hinata interrupted her. "But, how much longer can you keep this from people you see almost everyday? Naruto and Sai have no clue what's going on, and they've been on your team for a while. Naruto a long while. Ino and Tenten have no idea either. Shikamaru and his parents, the people who you're currently living with, have absolutely no idea."
"It's better that way," Sakura mumbled back.
"Maybe it was better that way, but you and your friends have grown up. They can handle it," Hinata started, before sighing. "Like I said, you've been acting this way because it wasn't just you out there today. Just like it wasn't just you when they attacked you and your team on that mission a few weeks ago. One of your biggest fears has been that the people close to you are going to get hurt because of what's happening to you, and everytime something like today happens it makes you feel at fault."
Sakura was silent as her eyes dropped down to the floor. "Say one of them got hurt today. This enemy is there because of me. Who's fault is it supposed to be Hinata?"
"Whoever it was who got hurt," Shikamaru spoke up surprisingly. "If I got hurt today, it's because I made a mistake. It has nothing to do with you."
"He's right Sakura," Hinata sighed at Sakura's silence. "You can't keep this to yourself for much longer Sakura. I know you're afraid of what's going to happen, but it's going to eat you alive to keep this to yourself for much longer."
Sakura hummed after a moment, and turned her head from Hinata. "You're annoying."
"So are you," Hinata shot back quickly, before turning around. "Now, I've got to go respond to a message from your mother, who's flipping out about this."
"You told my mother?" Sakura shot at Tsunade, her eyes wide.
Tsunade frowned, and propped both hands on her hips. "Well we weren't just going to leave it to you to do it after you failed to tell her about the last time."
Sakura groaned in response to Tsunade's words. "Oh no…" she trailed off, then her eyes went to Hinata. "Tell my mother that I'm alive and fine, and I really don't need her to come to the village."
"I'll try," Hinata said, then shook her head, and turned to leave the room. "But if she shows up, it's because she thinks your just as stupid as I do."
"Gee thanks." Sakura shot back, frowning as she watched Hinata leave the room. "Ow!"
Sakura exclamation was caused by Tsunade going back to examining her wound, as she started to put bandages back over it.
"You need to take it easy for a few days."
Rolling her eyes, Sakura laughed sarcastically. "Yeah okay."
"Roll your eyes at me again." Tsunade challenged, frowning darkly at her student.
Huffing with irritation, Sakura turned her head sharply away from Tsunade.
Finishing bandaging up her student, Tsunade went to grab her prescription pad from her desk. "I'm serious about taking it easy Sakura. I'm going to prescribe you some medicine to help this heal better."
"No," was Sakura's immediate response.
"What do you mean no?" Tsunade countered, a hand propped on her hip. "I'm not just advising you getting medicine for the hell of it Sakura. This is a serious wound-"
"I don't need it," Sakura interrupted, her eyes meeting Tsunade's. "I'll be fine."
"No actually, you won't Sakura," Tsunade replied, a frown on her face. "You are stubborn and impatient. You won't relax like I tell you to, so the least you can do is take medicine."
"I don't need any medicine-"
"If you keep disagreeing with me on this, I'm admitting you to the hospital, and I will have you restrained if I have to," Tsunade interrupted Sakura, holding out the prescription she wrote to Sakura. "So, what's it going to be? You doing as I ask in your own freedom? Or against your will? Do not test me-"
"Fine!" Sakura exclaimed interrupting Tsunade. Snatching the prescription paper from Tsunade's hand. "This is ridiculous, you are ridiculous!"
Tsunade crossed her arms, and watched Sakura turn away to leave her office. "And you better take the medicine once you get it, don't think I won't have you randomly drug tested to make sure you are taking it-"
The sound of Tsunade's office door slamming shut behind Sakura interrupted Tsunade. It was quiet for a long moment. Finally noticeable movement from where the Nara's and Shizune had been standing quietly during all this. Shikamaru had shifted more so he was facing the door, but didn't move.
Her eyes focusing in on her son, Yoshino's hand went to rest on her husband arm. Catching his eyes, she nodded at him, then stood up. "Tsunade, we should discuss what's going to happen from here. I don't want to hold off on planning for this party, but we really want to make sure that Sakura is going to be okay."
"Oh you don't have to worry," Tsunade replied, moving to stand up from her desk. "It's going to be handled."
"Well, I know that she is an adult, and can handle herself," Yoshino replied, her hands behind her back. "But, as she is living under my roof, I would like to be informed on exactly how it's going to be handled. You'll have to understand that as a mother to an 18-year-old, age is but a number to me. They are still children in my eyes."
As his wife and Tsunade continued on, Shikaku leaned over towards his son. "You can go now. Your mother and I have it handled here."
Nodding, Shikamaru pushed himself up from the chair he was in, and slipped out of Tsunade's office. Quietly closing the door behind himself, he took off down the hall, and outside on top of the stairs. Pausing as his eyes caught sight of Sakura sitting on the steps halfway down the stairs. Taking the steps down until he was a few steps down from her, he turned to face her. Her eyes were closed, and one of her hands rested on her abdomen. When she said nothing, he sighed, and turned his back to face her. "Climb on."
"What?" Was Sakura's sharp reply.
However, Shikamaru was quick to spin around and face her. Reaching his hand up to catch her chin, causing her to open her eyes quickly, and the glare in them was mixed with surprise at his quick action. His own eyes were filled with a seriousness, then he spoke calmly to her. "Listen to me. You are going to shut up, climb on my back, and we are going to go to the hospital. We are going to get your prescription filled, then we are going to go home. You will proceed to take your medicine, lie down, and get some rest," he paused, then let go of her chin. "And you are going to do all of that without a single complaint, because you're going to let me help you whether you like it or not."
After a long tense moment of silence with them both staring each other down, Sakura finally sighed, and dropped her eyes down. "I think I tore one of my stitches. So I can't exactly jump on your back, so you're going to have to come another step closer to me."
Shikamaru hesitated, having not expected her to agree so quickly to what he was saying. After another moment, he took a step up to be closer to her, and turned and knelt down. Feeling her hands slide over his shoulders, her arms, then her whole body was close to him. Taking a breath in, he brought his hands to her legs to help support her, then picked her up. She's a piece of work, who irritates me to no end, but it's almost impossible for me to stay mad at her.
A couple hours later
It was quiet in the Nara house. The only sounds was from Yoshino and Shikaku preparing dinner, and Baby swatting at one of her toys on the ground. Shikamaru was seated on the couch that faced the kitchen, and was writing things down on a pad of paper. On the rest of the couch was Sakura. Having been asleep for the past hour. Her pill bottles resting on the coffee table, one of them knocked over from where Baby had tried to swat at it. Shadow and Tank were on the floor beside the couch, having been brought over by Hinata just after Sakura had fell asleep.
Shikaku and Yoshino had been rather quiet as they had been preparing dinner. Shikaku having just finished putting the meat on a plate to take out to the grill, looked over to his son. His eyes having met his wife's concerned one's on the way. "Son?"
When Shikamaru didn't reply, Yoshino spoke up. "Shikamaru?"
Finally looking up at his parents, Shikamaru sighed. "What- I mean yes?"
"You've been writing on the paper since we got home a half hour ago." Shikaku pointed out.
Shikamaru nodded after a moment, and flipped to a new page on the pad of paper. "I have a lot to do. I may have managed to get Sakura to cooperate enough to go get her medicine and take it right now, but when she wakes up I guarantee it's not going to be so easy. She'll fight resting and taking her medicine, because after this past month we've worked together I've learned she's probably one of the most stubborn and hardheaded people I've ever met, and will probably ever meet. She's going to want to go back to work, so I figured if I go head and take care of everything we had planned for the next few days she'll have one less thing to bargain her way out of taking it easy for a few days."
Silence overcame them once again. Finally his mother spoke. "Well that's quite thoughtful of you… Tsunade said she is looking into more steps to keeping her safe and secure here in the village. Of course, now that she's staying under my roof, I expect she'll be just fine here."
Shikaku nodded in agreement with his wife. "She'll be fine here no doubt."
It wasn't until after Shikaku left outside to go to the grill, and his mother had left to go back to her bedroom for a moment, that Shikamaru finally stopped his writing, and looked over to Sakura. After the chaotic day they had, her face held a calmness that was welcoming. She looked peaceful. Yeah, she'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to her here.
A/N: Another chapter down! I really enjoyed writing in the fun scene with Sakura getting Shikamaru to eat the salad. I thought it'd be nice to have such a light and happy scene before the scene that followed. What was your favorite scene?
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