Sakura still knelt there next to him, felling his skin becoming colder. Kakashi somehow managed to get to her, he didn't needs any explanation. He knelt down next to him, looking if there was still a pulse and he found one, even if it was slight. The copy Nin lifted the shadow-users body from the ground poking Sakura on the shoulder. He just nods his head to tell her to follow him. She stood up and together they ran into the village towards the hospital.
"He's still alive." Kakashi told her. "It's up to you to fix him." She looked as pale as Shikamaru, but nodded slightly.
"I trust you, you can do that. I'll go and let them pay, ok?" She nodded again, this time more confident.
"I'll hope you do that." She whispered, as he laid the Nara down on an OP-table.
"Do your best." He said and left.
"I need blood bottles! Type AB, quick!" he heard her shout as he left, hoping that this help wasn't too late.

"What's up with him? Will he make it?" Ino questioned him as he rejoined them on the battlefield.
"That's up to Sakura now. He lost a huge amount of blood. Let's hope the best."
"Where's the bastard that did this to him?" she growled.
"Back there." Neji answered. "She broke his neck."
"Ok, then I'll let someone else pay for it." And with a battle-cry that could be heard all over the battlefield she attacked the next Iwa-nin she could find with more than just full force. She literally crushed him, and other ones followed.
"Wow, Naruto was right." Kakashi mumbled to himself. "Ino is really spooky when she's angry."
"Angry is not the right word." Neji stated bluntly, who was standing with his back to him. "Pissed is a more suitable word for her actual mood."
"Right, but let's follow her example. There's a battle to fight and win."

Two hours later his skin became a little more coloured, but Sakura still wasn't satisfied with her results. She couldn't tell if he would survive this attack, that's something the next two day will show. So she sat down on a chair next to the bed he was now laying in. She had taken off his vest and shirt, bandaged the wound she was only able to close but not to heal it completely. Closing it had soaked that much chakra that she was unable to do anything more at the moment. The machines he was connected to, were constantly beeping, which calmed her down a bit. Later that day, when it was already night the rest of the Konoha-nin came to look how he was.
"And?" Ino asked her whispering.
"At the moment he's stable. The next two day will show…"
The blonde nodded sadly, they were friends for such a long time now, and she feared that she could lose him. The rest remained silent. Kakashi patted his former student on the shoulder, then shooed the rest out of the room.
"If you need something, then let me know." He told her.
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei, you're the best. But actually I don't need anything." She smiled sadly, then looked back at Shikamarus relaxed still pale features. Kakashi sighed mentally and made his way to the door. Before he left he could see that Sakura was taking the cold hand, gently stroking it, while silent tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Please come back." She whispered. "Please."

The results of the day were deflating, but much more losses on Iwas' side. Ten death shinobi on Sunas side, but almost 200 at Iwas'. The medics had all hands full, but late at night it settled down a bit. Kankuro slowly walked through the corridor towards Shikamarus room. He wanted to know how his friend was doing, before he went to bed. He gently knocked on the door and then silently opened it. He wanted to step in but he stopped dead in his movements as he saw a pink haired kunoichi sitting on a chair next to his bed, holding his hand but fast asleep with her head resting on the mattress. A faint smile rushed over his face, and he decided not to wake her up. Slowly he closed the door and went back into his room. In two days was Shikamarus birthday, and he really hoped that he would've regained consciousness until then.

Sakura didn't move an inch away from his bed, fearing that he could stop breathing every moment. Ino tried to force her to eat something, but failed and after a day she thought, that Kakashi should try it.
"Good luck, maybe you can do it." She said sadly, giving him the plate.
"I'll try my best." He said sighing, taking it from her. As he entered the room Sakura still was holding Shikamarus hand.
"You should eat something, you know." He said, placing the plate on the table next to her.
"I'm not hungry." She replied without looking at him. He sighed again.
"So, who's the stubborn bonehead now, Sakura? You're a medic, you know ways better than the rest of us how important it is to eat. Plus, you're of no use for him if you break down too."
'He has a point.' Her inner self mumbled. 'Admit it, we're starving. And we can't help him if we fell unconscious too.' 'Alright, I eat something, but just a little.' 'As you please, sis.'
She took a rice-ball and ate it. "Are you satisfied now?" she asked her former sensei tiredly.
"At least a little. How's he recovering?"
"Slowly, but constantly. His skin regains colour and it became warmer."
"Sounds good to me." He said slowly. She nodded and sighed.
"I wish he'd be fine already. This waiting freaks me out." She mumbled.
"He'll make it, I'm sure." He patted her shoulder again. She took his hand and squeezed it lightly.
"Thanks for believing in me, Kakashi-sensei." He smiled down at her, ruffling through her hair.
"You're welcome." And with this he left.

The next morning he slowly woke up, the beeping sound of the machines was kind of annoying. He tried to open his eyes but they were too heavy. He needed the full force of his will to open them. The room was dark and his vision was blurry. After he had blinked several times he could see clearer, and then he realized that his right hand was warmer then the left. He slightly turned his head and a faint smile rushed over his face. The familiar pink hair he could see and the warmth of her hand he could feel made him feel ways better. He still felt tired and allowed himself to drift back into sleep.

Sakura woke up as Kankuro knocked on the door.
"Morning." He said silent. "I had no intention to wake you up." he said.
"I had to, sooner or later." She said and stretched. "How are you, Kankuro-san?"
"I'm pretty well. I just came here to check how our patient is doing."
"He is out of the woods."
"Good to hear that." He said, pulling another chair to his bed. "I slowly miss teasing him."
"So you became friends?"
"Yep, good friends I'd say." He nodded. "I was shocked as I saw the lake of blood on the ground and as you carried him away. You should've seen that blonde girl in your group. Man, she was like a fury. She literally ripped the enemies apart." He still seemed to fear her.
"Ino really can be a kick-ass if she had to. Shikamarus father and hers are friends for nearly all of their life. Ino was and still is his teammate. They're good friends." He recognized the warmth in her words when she spoke about him, and the caring in her eyes as she looked at him.
"He missed you." He said after a few minutes of silence. Sakura blushed and he grinned.
"I think there are loads of things you two need to talk about." He said while standing up.
"Happy birthday brainiac." He said, poking the sleeping Naras shoulder and left again. Sakura watched him disappear, then looked back on Shikamaru. She smiled down at him, she was sure now that he'll survive that all and stood up. She would look if she could find a piece of a cake somewhere. She kissed him on his forehead and whispered: "Happy birthday, Shikamaru-kun."

Sakura walked through the corridor, and found her friends sitting on a balcony.
"Yo folks! Sitting here around that lazy!"
"Hey Sakura-chan!" Ino grinned wide. "How's he doing?"
"Pretty fine. I think he'll wake up soon. But to think about it, lazy as he is he might enjoy it to be stuck there."
"That would really be Shikamaru." She laughed.
"So, has anyone of you an idea where I can get a cake?"
"I can show you." Kiba grinned and stood up. "We always knew where to find goodies."
Everyone laughed. All were happy that he would make it.

After she had returned with a piece of cake and a little candle she sat down at the balcony to relax a little.
"Why at all has that stupid battle started?"
"That's something I can explain you." And Kiba told her the story.
"And he still refuses to talk." he finished his explanation.
Kakashi nodded slowly. "I tried to catch him with the Sharingan yesterday, but without effort."
Sakuras temper was boiling. "You say, that that many people had to suffer and that much had died only because that stubborn asshole shuts up?"
"A little crude, but you get the point. Yes." Kakashi nodded.
"Kakashi-sensei, could you please take me to him. I think I have a bone to pick with that …." She left her sentence unfinished.
"If you think you can make better efforts than I…" the copy Nin stood up and she followed him.
"I think they can send that Iwa-nin back in a matchbox when she's finished with him." Ino grinned.

"There he is. If you need something, tell me. I'll wait here for you." He said as they stood in front of the door.
"Right. If he starts screaming like hell better stop me."
"Am I crazy? That's like jumping into a running buzz-saw."
She answered his statement with a grimace and then entered the room.
"So, you are that idiotic bastard, why so many had to die." She said, sitting down in front of him.
"Do you know that over 200 of your own shinobi had died already." Her voice was sweet like honey, and her inner self was jumping up and down, screaming all the swearwords she knew.
"Do you really think that you can force me to tell anything like that?" he said, giving her a sniff look.
Sakura put on her face that would scare off death itself, looking at him in a way that tells him clearly that fun was over and she knew more than thousand ways to torture him.
"I give you one last chance, so you better think about your options. Before I'll tell you, let me explain your situation, asshole, and you better listen carefully. No one in your fucking country believes that you're still alive, because of you more than 200 men died. They won't be really happy about your mission failure. So, there's really no need to let you live. Plus, because of your stubbornness I nearly lost the one I love. There's no one here to stop me, and I think the Kazekage wouldn't blame me if I accidentally kill you."
Her whole appearance scared the shit out of him, and the gen-jutsu she caught him with was that good, that even Kakashi would've been jealous.

It only took five minutes and he screamed and whimpered. With a wide smile of victory she opened the door, Sunas ANBU standing in front of it, next to Kakashi.
"He's all yours now. If he stops talking and refuses again, tell him I'll come back."
"What have you done to him?" Kakashi asked curious as they walked back to the other ones.
"Just made him clear where he is." She grinned pleased with herself.
"In your own friendly way, I guess." He said teasingly.
"Naa, Tsunade-shisho would be proud, I think."
"And YOU wonder why some call you 'mini-Tsunade'." He stated and she laughed.
"To be honest, I've never wondered. Iruka-sensei warned me that Tsunade is rubbing off on me. And as long as I'm not completely like her, there's still hope."
"Believe me, I would never let it get that far. One is really enough." 'From every one of you' he thought smiling.

"And?"
They were asked as they showed up on the balcony again.
"How about 'welcome back' first?" Sakura asked rolling her eyes.
"Sorry. Welcome back. And?" Ino grinned.
"Sakura cracked him."
"Wow! Cool!" Lee said. "You're really amazing, Sakura-san."
"Lee-kun, you overdo it. That was really no big act. If you excuse me, I'd like to go back, checking our bedridden lazy-bum. "

She sat down next to the bed and took his hand again. And again she gently strokes it.
"Now that damned spy is talking. So I think that story is over. Only thing that needed to happen is that you recover. I really feared that I may lose you." She whispered.
"I really feared it." Again tears welled up. She nearly jumped as he gently squeezed her hand. Her eyes grew wide as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Why are you crying?" he silently whispered.
"Because I feared that I…"
He smiled tired. "Don't worry about my worthless…"
"Don't you dare calling yourself worthless." She said, tears now running down her cheeks.
He fell silent again.
She looked at him, his hair was open and he looked even cuter that way. She took out her present for him, and handed it over.
"For you. Happy birthday, Shikamaru-kun." She said smiling again.
"Wouldn't you ran out and shout that I'm awake?" he asked with amusement in his voice.
"Naa, I think that would be too troublesome." She shot back. "If you want me to tell them…"
"No! Please, let me a little bit more silence. Ino would be ways too loud. Same counts for Kiba and I definitely can't stand to see Lee cry."
"As you please." She answered, slowly she became nervous. What would he say about her present? Would he like it?

Slowly he unwrapped the little package and as he opened the little box he was really astonished.
"Sakura, that's… wow. Thanks!" he babbled. "That was quite expensive." He stated.
"It couldn't be too expensive…" she whispered, recognizing too late that he had heard her.
She cleared her throat and started: "I… I want to tell you that… I… I…" she blushed deeply.
"I've heard what you whispered, back then on the battle field." He said, and blushed slightly too.
"Those words forced me to fight death in a way…" he said, looking out of the window.
The sun already had started to set. He looked at the necklace in his hands, and his thumb slowly wondered over the engraved leaf-symbol. Sakura was silent too, looking out of the window, but looking back on him as he whispered: "I love you too." He waited for her reaction and looked up as there followed none.

It took her a moment to really get what he had said. As she recognized he stared at her she blinked twice and then flung her arms around his neck. But let go as he coughed.
"Sorry, I didn't want to strangle you." She said blushing again.
"Never mind." He answered. "Thanks for that present. It's really beautiful."
"Like your book." She mumbled.
"So you like it?" he asked.
"Sure! It's brilliant and really interesting. I've read it through the day after."
He smiled. "So it was better than Inos pink nightgown." He stated.
"You know about that?" She said, blushing even deeper.
"Sure. Ino told me."
"Oh no!" she mumbled, hiding her red face behind her hands.
"But with your actual face-colour it would really mismatch." He teased her.
"I've got a birthday cake for you." She said quickly, trying to change the subject.
"I've heard better connections, you know." He said. "But I'll give it a rest."
"Good to know." She said.

The next day Sakura told the others that he was awake, and with stoic silence he bore their visit. Gaara had taken care of the enemy spy.
"Sad. He let him alive." Kankuro grumbled as he watched him disappear.
"Believe me, what his landsmen do to him is even crueler than anything we could've done." Kakashi said to him.
"I hope you're right."
"I would bet." The copy Nin grinned.
"Only because of some gossip the send a spy and risked a war. I just can't understand that. How stupid is that Tsuchikage?" Kankuro asked again.
"That's what I've asked myself too." Gaara appeared like always out of nowhere.
"Our policy is clear. No war anymore. I think it was Kirigakure that seed that gossip."
"Maybe. They try to weaken the alliance between Suna and Konoha." Kakashi stated.
"Let them try. They'll never make it." Gaara said determined.The others only nodded.

Two days later they made their way back home. Leaving with the promise to come back soon. Kankuro promised to visit Konoha in winter.
"I'd like to see snow, you know." He said grinning.
Sakura was supporting a weak Shikamaru. They had offered to stay a little longer until he felt better but he wanted to go home so badly.
"I don't like that everywhere present sand. You really have it everywhere."
"Even in your…"
"KIBA! JUST SHUT UP!" Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru shouted. First the Inuzuka just looked at them, but then he started to roar with laughter and the others joined.
"Good to know that we're back home soon." Shikamaru mumbled. "Right." Sakura said smiling.

Hurray! Next chap finished! I think I have to point something out: I'll never, NEVER, let a character I really love die! NEVER! And Shikamaru is such a sweetie :3
scratchingmyhead I think that sounds sort of obsessed. Blame me ;)
So, I hope you won't want to hang me. AND I hope that you still like it. PLS review!!!!