Chapter 14: Paranoia

"What did you mean not that it matter anymore?" Sakura quickly rose from her seat and marched to Ino, who was still sitting on the couch. "Of course it matters! Your child needs a father! You can't just ditch Shikamaru and his responsibility just like that!"

Ino groaned, annoyed. What Sakura said was obviously right.

x

Some moments earlier…

"Is there spotting or bleeding?" asked Sakura as she walked to her medical spot far at the corner of her living room. She rumbled through the messy things on her desk, finding a certain object.

"No…"

"Even a little?"

"Nothing at all." Ino confirmed. However, she looked very worried.

"How about pain or cramping?"

"None."

"Still feeling nauseous?"

"Oh, yeah… A little bit." Ino rolled her eyes, slightly sighing. "Not to mention dizziness, tiredness and…and my breasts are swelling!"

Sakura smiled a little. Somehow, Ino's words cut her worries into half. Ino didn't show any signs of having a miscarriage. "Well, that's good to hear," the pink-haired kunoichi spoke in return. "Why are you so worried about?"

"Oh, I don't know…" A surge of relief seeped into Ino's heart hearing Sakura's remark, seeing her smile. "I just…worried, you know. I don't want to lose my baby…"

"Why? Something bad happen in your mission?"

"No…" Ino frowned, remembering the past events. "But I was attacked during my journey home."

Sakura lifted her face in shocked. She stared at Ino. "You were attacked?" The blonde nodded.

"Are you alone?"

"No…" Ino replied bluntly. "Temari was with me. She escorted me back, but only as far as the nearest village." Ino caressed her bare stomach lovingly. "Thieves attacked us midway. There were four of them and although Temari blew them away with her fan, however they managed to land a few attacks on us. Barely fatal, but I'm still worried." Ino fixed her gaze on Sakura. "That's why after handing the report to Tsunade-sama I came to see you straightaway."

Sakura nodded knowingly. "Good. That's what you should do in the first place. Besides, I don't have the chance to check on you the day you left for your mission." She finally found the object of her searching, a thing Ino didn't recognize and walked back to her. "Okay! First of all, I need you to lay on something flat," she instructed, starting the check-up. "No, not the couch!" Sakura quickly stopped the blonde from laying on it and grabbed her arm led her into the bedroom instead. Sakura pointed at her bed. "Just lay there."

Ino shot a quizzical look but complied anyway. When she first asked Sakura to run a few tests on her, she had no idea that one of them could be like that. "What's that?" She asked about the thing Sakura held.

"This?" Sakura swung the object. "It's a speculum."

"What's it for?" Ino knitted her eyebrows as she lay down.

"For the test," Sakura simply replied. "Oh, don't lay just yet, Ino! You need to take off your skirt and panties first."

"Excuse me?!" From worried, Ino turned anxious. "You ask me to take off my skirt and panties?"

"Yes." Sakura sighed, rolling her eyes.

"But why?!"

"Duh… Because you asked me to run a few tests on you!"

"But do I have to take off my skirt for that?" Ino frowned, slowly stood up but did nothing. She looked at Sakura curiously. "I thought you just need my blood or urine or something! Like last time!"

"Physical examination first, lab tests later." Sakura explained, sighing.

"But why?!"

Sakura rolled her eyes again. "Look, if physical examination shows that your baby is okay, then we doesn't have to run the lab tests. It's faster and easier. Though the ultrasound test is much better, we don't have the technology here."

"But it's embarrassing!" Ino still refused.

"What's so embarrassing about?" Sakura half laughed. "It's not like I never seen anything like that before! I mean…I own it, too!"

But Ino remained furious and serious. Her face was red. "Yeah, I know but the thought of having my best friend stare at my thing is…gross!"

"I'm not going to stare! I'm going to check your baby!"

"But –"

"No buts." Sakura glared. "Now take off your skirt and get down, so I could do my work."

"And what are you going to do?" Ino asked worriedly. "Put that thing inside me? No way!"

"I'm not going to hurt you. Relax, Ino!" Sakura stood with her hands on hips. "Now do you want to know whether your baby's safe or not?"

"Of course I do…" Ino bit her bottom lip.

"So do what I say."

It took Ino a few minutes more to think and later complied with Sakura's order. For someone who really cared about the living thing lived in her belly, surely Ino would give anything just to keep her baby safe and unharmed. So, following Sakura's order was the best damn decision she ever made. Ino stripped her skirt and panties very slowly, shakily, all the time her face was sour as lemon, and lay down.

When Sakura bent low with the speculum in her hand and started to take a look inside her vagina, Ino quickly covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, my goodness…" She softly moaned, frustrated with the way the test going. "This is so embarrassing…" And she just came back from mission and hadn't even taken a bath yet.

"You shut up." Sakura replied with her face straight. Carefully and expertly, she inserted the speculum and spread the walls of Ino's vagina apart so she can look right at the mouth of Ino's womb and examined the fetus' condition.

"Hurry…" Ino could feel the cool metal device brushing her insides lightly. "It's not comfortable, you know…"

Sakura didn't give any response to her best friend's moans and groans of protest as she deepened her concentration on the test. And finally, after Ino making some uncomfortable whimpers of embarrassment, Sakura pulled the speculum out.

"Is it over?" Ino asked, opening an eye.

"Yeah." Sakura smiled a little. "You baby's fine. I see no blood or clots present, which indicates that you're not having a miscarriage at all."

"Really?" Ino looked unsure.

"Yeah."

"So…it's over?" Sakura nodded. "I mean, the whole test is over?"

"Yeah. You can go home if you like."

"But…don't you have to run the lab test for me?"

"Ino…" Sakura stared at the worried young expecting mother. "Your baby's fine. In about six months, you'll give birth to a healthy baby for sure."

"Are you sure my baby's still breathing?"

"Yeah –"

"Even so, I still want you to run the lab test for me!" The blue eyes insisted. "I'm still worried!"

Sakura gave a hollow grumble. "Can't you just trust me?"

"Please, Sakura…"

A heavy sigh escaped Sakura's lips. "You're so – never mind. Geez… Okay. Fine. Just give me a minute to prepare the things we need." She marched back to her medical spot while Ino put on her panties and skirt back to place and sat on the couch.

"Do you need my blood or urine or something?" Ino asked. Sakura nodded.

"So, how did it go?" Ino asked worriedly once the tests was over.

Sakura didn't answer. Her jade eyes busily read the obtained result and her eyes grew bigger and bigger at each word. She stared at the paper in disbelief. Her intelligent brows knitted with concern and worry. Ino grew impatient. Silently she prayed for the best.

At last Sakura sighed heavily and threw her gaze at her nervous best friend. "Ino…" She said the name slowly, shaking her head.

Ino covered her mouth with her hands. Her big blue eyes grew wider. The tears she held were finally shed. Her body sank in bewilderment.

"Oh, no…"

Involuntarily, Sakura rolled her eyes. Really, Ino was a drama queen.

"For Heaven's sake, Ino…" The pink-haired medic-nin waved the paper in her hand. "You're just being too paranoid."

x

Shikamaru let his gaze lingered to the shadows danced in front of him, created by the fire. Though it seemed like the shadows got all his undivided attention, actually, in his eyes he saw nothing. Except…

A certain blue-eyed, blond-haired female, looking so sweet and innocent sleeping in his arms.

"You should get some sleep," suddenly Neji spoke, breaking his thoughts away. "You look exhausted. I'll be on watch by myself. It's fine."

Without thinking, Shikamaru manipulated the shadows. "I'm not tired at all."

"Oh, really?" Neji asked amusedly. "Cause your face says so."

"It's cold." Shikamaru mumbled. "I can't sleep." Neji raised a brow at his remark, seeing Shikamaru was the closest to the fire. But then he shrugged to himself, knowing that his captain's mind was rather fried right at that moment. Something must be bugging him, he concluded.

Shikamaru unbind his shadow and hugged his knees, eyes fixed on the flickering flames.

When I come back, I'll see you straight away… He began making plans. He wasn't sure whether Ino had returned from her mission but he just hoped for the best. He was torn between wanting her to be at home when he got back, or still on mission. If Ino was already home, then it would prove that her mission was a success and she was safe and unharmed. But that also gave Shikai Hajime's marriage proposal to reach her ears. And when Ino saw the amazing face of his rival, then probably she…

Shikamaru groaned out loud. His head was spinning.

I'll propose, I promise. Just please say yes to me, Ino…

x

"No." Ino stubbornly refused, denying her best friend's words. "It really doesn't matter anymore, Sakura."

Sakura groaned, annoyed with Ino's childish theatrics. "You and Shikamaru," she stated. "Are kind of involved now, you know what I mean? Even though it's not like a couple thing, but both of you are the parents. Shikamaru fathered your child, Ino. That makes him unofficially your husband, a part of your life."

"He doesn't want to marry me." The blonde objected.

"I know." Sakura let out a heavy sigh. The air was getting tense each second. It was suffocating inside the house. A debate, or rather argument with Ino was surely endless. "But he's a smart guy. Soon he'll get on his head, drag his lazy butt and ask your hand in marriage."

"Oh, wow… That's a miracle, Sakura." Ino mocked, cynically.

"But it's possible!" Sakura insisted.

"Maybe…" Ino rolled her eyes. "Or maybe not. I know perfectly well how Shikamaru is, Sakura. I knew him since I was a little kid, long before I met you. I know his likes and dislikes, what turns him on, what ticks him off, I knew everything. He hates troublesome things and always tries his best to avoid them in all costs." Ino pointed at herself. "I am the most troublesome of all. He hates me, obviously. I bug him a lot. He wouldn't want to share his life with me, period."

"But he really, really, really cares about you…" Sakura eagerly insisted.

"I'm his childhood friend, an ex-teammate. Of course he cares about me." Ino gritted her teeth. Her tears threatened to go out once again. Everything Shikamaru said about her that day on the rooftop echoed in her ears more loudly than before. She was reminded how stupid she was for putting the faith in him whilst he never bothered to touch the subject of marriage. "If he wants to marry me, if marriage ever crosses his mind, then he'll say it right on the spot, the moment I break the news that I'm pregnant with his child. But he never said that, never brought that up."

"Maybe he doesn't know what to do in the first place. Guys usually panic when they're not ready, Ino."

"Then maybe he's not the genius like he appears to be. He's so stupid."

"That's a cruel judgment, Ino." Sakura tried to cool her best friend down.

"He judged me first."

At last, the blonde resumed her walk and marched to the front door. "I'm tired." She announced, pausing at the doorframe to look at the pink-haired medic-nin. "I'm going home. Thanks for checking me."

As Ino turned to go, surprisingly a sentence came out of Sakura's mouth killed her steps.

"Tell me," her voice sounded eerie. "You like Shikamaru, don't you Ino?"

…to be continued.

A love letter from Shikamaru/Ino for: Hlomondodeli Majoribanks, StarryRavenFire, Khlove, kemiztri, DemonLoulou, angel0fdestiny, smiling cat, Lechu, Gonrie, sugarmonkey778, Wings-chan, Archerelf, NazaliaSan, Adeya, Sasukes-girl08, Ebil Chameleon, isamandy327, tomboy14, FallenXPoptart13, yuki, kunoichihinata14, Crimson Romance, XenaiiTwilightMoon, Cursed Dragon, TroublesomeShikamaru, MayumiNorika, Spread-My-Wingz-And-Soar, Flaming Beauty, Sakura12, anime09, yanagiblossoms, Tiernan Hunter, Airotia, Elsie-neechan, aki-child, aki6, Saphire-Moon, Shikamaru2211, -quilotz-, Lady Kenley, Shera-girl, Miss Interpreted, Nami-chan, burnstar, x0x, gaara lover, Tears Of Hell 1428, Seanshine, AniMeVietGrl, Death.To. hanajimawashere, aizuhime, imgonnadie and SonOfKakashi.

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