Inspired by; Vskrainaek request for 'Worry' Companion piece with Yoshino and Temari.


"Now you mustn't worry, dear. I can see that you are; it's written all over your face."

The girl swallowed delicately from her perch atop the hospital bed, before smiling wearily at Yoshino.

"I have no doubt that there is nothing wrong with you," Yoshino continued practically, rearranging the paper flowers that adorned the room. "Sakura is going to come right back here and tell us you are fine."

Temari nodded as her hand drifted to her mouth.

Yoshino frowned.

"Don't bite your nails," she interjected sharply, whilst wondering what on earth they taught kunoichi out in Suna.

"Sorry," Temari mumbled distractedly, shuffling about on the bed a little.

Now Yoshino knew there was something wrong- the girl never apologised for anything. Not that she was insolent; she just had enough self-assurance to keep her person in check. But for a girl that was generally so confident, biting her nails went off like an alarm bell around Yoshino's head.

She could smell a rat. And she was going to shoo it out, even if it meant forcing Temari to confess. The pair of them might think she was an idiot- maybe they even had Shikaku fooled- but Yoshino remembered all too well what it was like to be a young adult and when you shut yourself up in your room for hours on end with a member of the opposite sex there was no way the two of you were just 'reading'.

"Do you want me to go and see if Shikamaru's nearing the gate?" she asked sweetly, watching like a hawk for Temari's reaction.

The girl shook her head a little, as her eyes darted from the window to the door, searching in the bleak afternoon light.

"He will get here, Temari," Yoshino went on as gently as she could manage, turning back to the flowers.

"I don't care if he gets here," Temari replied in a muffle and Yoshino could tell she was ripping at her nails again.

That was definitely not as vehement a denial of their relationship as Yoshino was accustomed to receiving.

"But he will," she offered reassuringly, sighing when she realised that those flowers were never going to sit the way she wanted them to. Paper flowers never did. "And when he does, you'll feel better."

"I'll feel exactly the same," the Sunan mumbled defiantly, moving back on the bed a little. "I'd rather my brothers were here, to be honest."

Yoshino simpered.

Really this girl was the most terrible liar she ever met. She'd been seeing her as a regular at their little home for about three years now and not once had she ever asked for her brothers; even when she caught a bad winter flu- she still mentioned not wanting to trouble them.

She was about to continue in her own investigation but was interrupted when Sakura came bustling into the room.

"So, Temari," the pink haired girl said cheerily, before offering a nod to Yoshino. "You fainted, yes?" she inquired, checking the chart attentively.

Temari nodded queasily.

"Okay...well then I'm just going to have to ask you some questions, if that's alright," Sakura checked, her beaming smile starting to irritate Yoshino no end. "Maybe you'd feel more comfortable if Yoshino-san stepped outside?"

"Please, Sakura-san," Yoshino cut in harshly, before Temari could open her mouth. "I'm aware of the date when this girl starts menstruating every month. I doubt anything you could ask her would be unknown to me," she continued genially, resisting a smirk when Temari rolled her eyes.

"Yoshino can stay," Temari reaffirmed weakly, as Sakura eyed the two of them oddly.

"Alright then," the nurse forged on, flipping over her chart to a new page and preparing her pen. "Temari, are you diabetic?"

Temari shook her head.

"Have you been sleeping properly?"

The girl nodded.

"Eating alright?"

Another nod.

Sakura paused a little here, her eyes darting between Yoshino and Temari.

"Go on, Sakura-san," Yoshino urged as pleasantly as she could manage, resisting the urge to remark bluntly on the standard of medic-nin's this generation had produced.

"Temari...are you sexually active?" the girl asked quietly.

"No!" Temari put in quickly, her whole face flushing red as she gripped the sheets with her hands. "Never even seen...I mean I don't have a boyfriend...I don't even think I remember what sex is. How does it happen again, Yoshino?"

Yoshino's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.

Now they were getting somewhere.

"Don't be stupid, dear," she replied curtly, as Temari swallowed heavily- her breathing very deep for someone who should be calm. "We all believe you," the woman lied obviously, distinctly unpleased when Sakura sniggered. "Continue, please, Sakura-san."

This time it was Sakura who swallowed as she flipped over another page of the chart only for her eyes to widen beyond belief.

"Oh..." the nurse breathed, her eyes moving between the chart and Temari.

"Is something wrong, Sakura-san?" Yoshino queried, intrigued as she watched Temari's eyes plead on behalf of her as some sort of unspoken exchange took place between her and the nurse.

"Nothing," Sakura said finally, smiling matter-of-factly at Yoshino as she backed towards the door. "Nothing at all. I've just got to go and...see...about...another patient."

The nurse scuttled out of the room, her eyes on the floor.

"I wonder what that was about?" Yoshino asked to no one in particular, slightly moved as Temari's lower lip started to tremble.

"No idea," the girl replied shakily, fumbling with her fingers. "Medic-nin's in Konoha. Useless. All of them."

"Mmmm..." the female Nara committed as her head whirled a mile a minute.

Something was going on here and if her stupid son would only get back from his mission, then she could force it out of him.

Deciding that nothing was going to happen waiting around, Yoshino slipped into the bathroom adjoining Temari's room, pleased to see that there was some potpourri in there that needed arranging.


Just as the door to the bathroom slammed shut, the door to Temari's hospital room flew open and in ran Shikamaru.

"Where the hell have you been?" Temari hissed, nearly jumping off of the bed to strangle him.

"Sorry," Shikamaru replied sounding hassled, moving towards her to press a kiss to her forehead. "I got here as quickly as I could. What happened?"

"I fainted," Temari replied bleakly, bemoaning her own stupid weakness.

"What?" he all but shouted whilst Temari attempted to shush him. "Why? Where you hurt? Is the baby okay?"

Groaning inwardly, Temari didn't have the heart to tell him that his mother was in the bathroom and probably listening to every word they said.

"Hopefully," she answered eventually, feeling as though she was about to vomit. Their secret was out. Now it was only a case of who Yoshino decided to murder first. "I'm still waiting for them to do some tests."

Nodding oddly, Shikamaru settled himself beside her as his arms drifted around her middle.

"You look worried," he commented quietly against her hair.

"I am," Temari whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder. "This isn't going to work out."

"Yes, it is," Shikamaru pressed fervently, turning his head to look at her.

"No, it isn't," she argued back, twitching as he started to trace circles on her back. He was trying to calm her down, but it wasn't going to work. "We have no money. We're not even married. My brothers are going to kill you. Your mother is going to kill me. Where are we going live? How can we afford to live? I don't even have a resident visa here; I'll be kicked out, baby in tow..." she rambled on, working herself into an even greater frenzy as she went.

"Hey...hey!" Shikamaru cut in, eventually kissing her just to get her to shut up. "None of that is going to happen," he reassured gently, smiling down at his rationally-challenged girlfriend. "I'm going to go and talk to Tsunade now about your visa and about getting an advance on my wages. We can get a small place that will do for the three of us," he continued as Temari blinked at him owlishly, wanting to believe him that it was all going to work out but knowing that it was never going to be as simple as he made out. "I told you I was going to take care of you both and I am," he finished confidently, encasing her in his arms once more. "Troublesome as it may be."

Elbowing him in the ribs, Temari couldn't resist a smile as he laughed.

"Useless...lazy, stupid..." she mumbled against his chest, as he continued to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied smartly, giving her one last hug as he stood up. "Useless and lazy is going to go see about our house now. Try to have something nice for dinner when I get home wifey," he quipped grinning, leaving the room just in time for a pile of paper flowers to come hurtling towards his head.

And so she sat, waiting for Yoshino to come out of the bathroom and ring her neck.


"Was that voices I heard?" Yoshino asked, poking her head out of the bathroom and frowning at the now distinctly unarranged display of paper flowers on the floor.

"Eh...Shikamaru just dropped by," Temari answered quietly, as Yoshino stooped to pick up the flowers.

"Oh good," the Nara stated happily, smiling at Temari as she replaced the flowers in there vase. "I'll just go and see where he is. I feel as though I haven't seen my son in ages."

"O...kay," the girl said oddly, watching Yoshino closely as the elder woman tried very hard not to laugh.

"Get some rest, dear," Yoshino ended sweetly, closing the door on a dumbfounded Sunan.

At the end of the ward, Yoshino caught sight of her esteemed husband standing uselessly against the wall.

"Shikaku!" she barked, as the elder of her lazy family moved towards her. "I want a new house."

Her husband's face dropped.

"What?"

"I want a new house," she repeated firmly.

"I heard that," Shikaku replied dimly, rubbing at the back of his head. "I suppose I should have asked why."

"We need the space."

"There's only three of us," he reasoned desperately, as they began to walk towards the door.

"Not for long," Yoshino said cryptically, taking his arm as she thought happily of her ever growing family.

"Oh God," Shikaku breathed, his mouth falling open as he regarded her. "You're not...I mean...there's not another..."

Rolling her eyes, Yoshino resisted the urge to kick him in the shins.

"No, I'm not," the woman answered harshly, trying to recover her happy mood. "Besides...we won't be moving."

"We won't? Then why do we need a new house?"

"I'll give you a moment to work that one out, husband," Yoshino deadpanned, smiling as in the distance she observed Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi shriek and pile on top of her son in a heartening display of friendship.

They were just about to leave when Yoshino spotted Sakura at the end of the hall and, after saying goodbye to her husband, made a beeline for her.

"Sakura-san!" she hissed as the nurse turned a pale white but came to her all the same. "Temari's pregnant."

Sakura stuttered here, her face turning red.

"I-I-I know," she said finally, clutching her chart until her knuckles turned white.

"I know," Yoshino pressed firmly, grasping the girl by the shoulders. "But now that I know, I have a number of jobs for you. Number one," she began assuredly, as Sakura gazed at her wide-eyed. "You are going to go to Tsunade and tell her to give my son a pay raise. If she doesn't, tell her I'll give Naruto her home address. Secondly, you will go and tell Ino to plan the biggest baby shower she can. That girl is far too upset about her own pregnancy to be normal. Somebody needs to cheer her up," she continued as Sakura nodded fervently, trying to remember it all. "Finally, if you see Eiko Yamanaka, tell her I'm looking for her. I need to inform her that I have a daughter-in-law now," she finished gleefully, turning on her heel towards the hospital doors.

"But Yoshino-san," Sakura called meekly. "Temari and Shikamaru aren't engaged."

"Not yet, Sakura-san," Yoshino replied happily. "Not yet."


I always pictured Yoshino on Desperate Housewives for some reason; a mix between Lynette and Bree. Either way, hope you all enjoy.

Should be more Anecdotes coming soon and as for the 30,000 one I've gotten cold feet about posting it so I might edit it a bit and see how I feel. Apologies to anyone who was waiting :)

And thanks to KeshvsWhitePoison for her request. My imagination is getting to work! lol.

Thanks for reading,

REVIEW!

SP7 :)