Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

Shikamaru's heartbeat was the only thing that he could hear as he stared down at the shogi board. It was his turn. It was always his turn. A flock of birds taking flight in the distance broke the silence. Shikaku sighed loudly, pressing a finger to his temple.

"You know, no matter how long you wait, you're only avoiding the inevitable." He stroked his chin slightly, pulling the hair into a point and twisting it lightly.

"I'm thinking, old man. You should try it sometime." Shikamaru finally moved his piece. A record-setting 18 minute and twenty-seven second turn, not that Shikaku was counting.

"Thinking." He paused, making a long exaggerated motion to make his final, game-winning move, "You should watch who you call old man if you're going to get beaten by one." Shikamaru sighed and leaned back, resting his weight on his hands and closing his eyes. He had never beaten his father once in all the years he could remember. Shikaku certainly never let him forget that he was, in fact, the reigning champion in their umpteenth year-long battle.

"Do you really think you have time to rest?" Shikaku asked, glancing towards the door. The sun was quickly rising, Shikamaru had places to be and he was well aware that his son was avoiding it.

"Not in the slightest."

"What's going on with that sand girl?" Shikaku asked he placed the shogi pieces in order for what felt like the millionth time. A smile tugged at his lips as he glanced up at his son who was, for the most part, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you and mom so on that? Nothing. Nothing's going on between us. She's a liason and I have to escort her to see Tsunade today. So nothing is going on. No dates. No kissing. No fucking. No grandkids. Got it?"

"Got it." Shikaku raised his hand in mock defeat, shaking his head with a shit-eating grin, as his son so eloquently called it. Shikamaru stood at the door, his stretching his back and resting his hands around the back of his head, allowing himself this moment of silence before he had to sit in the same room as two of the loudest women he knew. Luckily his mother wouldn't be there as well, or he'd go comatose. Shikamaru heard his father breathe in, readying to make another comment, and Shikamaru glared back.

"So, grandkids?" His father snickered and Shikamaru groaned loudly, taking the stairs and deciding that he would rather listen to yelling women than his father's pestering. "Tell the girl I said hello!" Shikamaru raised a hand in acknowledgement, making his way towards the main road and towards the village gate. His heart skipped the closer he got to the gate. He could see Temari and her guards closing in on the village. Less than a mile away. He rolled his eyes, clearly his father had gotten to him. All that talk of kissing and grandchildren took him off balance. Tsunade had been talking of appointing a new head guard for the village after the last's retirement and as much as he hated responsibility, Shikamaru really desired the position as it meant more time spent at home. He was anxious waiting for her announcement. But, as much as he tried to fight away his encroaching thoughts, he had never been anxious before. He was never off balance.

- x -

Temari and her guards approached the gate quicker than they had anticipated at dawn, more than an hour ahead of schedule. She pondered, albeit briefly, if Gaara had purposefully sent them off earlier than necessary the morning before. Blowing air upwards and ruffling her bangs, she sighed. An escort took notice and asked if anything was amiss and if she needed assistance. She waved them off and thanked them for their courtesy; They were a friendly lot, loud and boisterous whenever they weren't on duty but very loyal and professional otherwise.

"Your escort is up ahead, Lady Temari." One guard spoke calmly, announcing their visual on the very bored looking man that stood several hundred meters ahead.

"Ah, yes." The sand-nin sighed, acting uninterested though a very familiar knot formed in her stomach as they approached and she could feel her feet moving just a tad faster in their approach than they had earlier.

"What would you have us do while you visit Lady Tsunade?" The other asked, the slightest bit of hinting in his voice. The two guards made eye-contact, a thousand words passing between their locked gaze in an instant.

"Fill your stomachs in the bazaar, report back to the Hokage when you're through. She would have better use for you here than I would these next few days. Though, I won't tell her when you'll be due, so when you report is your decision." The two escorts hardly contained their gasps of excitement. Temari couldn't imagine the last time Gaara had given them a night off of guarding her room at night or escorting her to and from her meetings and the like. She assumed they deserved a night off, if anything else.

- x -

"Nara." Temari spoke, feigning indifference. She refused to admit that she was glad to see his face.

"Bossy." Shikamaru returned, his eyes hazed with as much boredom as ever. He didn't meet her gaze, something that she was quick to pick up on but neglected to mention. Silence fell between them as they looked at one another. Finally, one of her guards cleared his throat and the pair finally looked away from one another, cheeks fully flushed.

"Y-You two are free to go, I'll see you before we depart. Friday, seven o'clock sharp. Don't be late." Temari tripped over her words as she tried to retain some semblance of authority while trying to hide her slight embarrassment. She sighed with a slight sense of relief once she realized that the men were too giddy to acknowledge the affair that went on between their gazes.

"Yes, Lady Temari!" They bowed to her and made their way in the direction of food, the task of which wasn't difficult as the smell permeated through the village. Their voices were loud as they laughed merrily the whole way. Temari waited until they were out of sight to speak again, but Shikamaru beat her to the punch.

"You're early." Shikamaru noted as he turned to begin their slow, deliberate walk to the Hokage mansion.

"I was. And you were waiting. Anticipating my arrival, hm?"

"Don't flatter yourself. Lady Tsunade requested that I watch the gate until your arrival earlier this morning. You caught me on a good day." Shikamaru lied, but with the monotone of his voice, Temari couldn't tell.

"So, taking me right to my meeting?" Temari asked, her voice trailed off as she finished her question, almost as if she were suggesting they do anything but. He thought, if only for a moment, that he should take her as soon as possible to Tsunade as she requested. Shikamaru reasoned, though, that the hokage liked her morning spiked tea in peace and quiet and it would be better to poke a sleeping bear than to bother her at this hour.

"No. The Hokage has back to back discussions, as she calls them, with councilmen from Konoha. You'll be lucky to be penciled in today at all. I figured that, for now, you can come back to my house and-"

"Bringing me home to mama?" Temari chided, elbowing Shikamaru's rib slightly in jest. He gave her a cold stare if only for a moment, but a small smirk crept onto his lips that he was forced to look away from her gaze in order to hide it. She grinned widely, regardless.

"Are you not hungry after travelling so far? Can I not provide you with a warm, home-cooked meal? Are you that ungrateful?" The Nara spit in return, his voice slightly more high-pitched than usual. He sounded nervous. He couched into his hand to try and contain himself.

"If you are offering to cook for me, then I accept. But don't put out your poor mother and force her to cook for a guest she didn't invite."

"Don't be ridiculous. My mother and father love you. You could walk in, eat half our home and they would still offer you more." Shikamaru scoffed, almost offended that she didn't realize such an obvious fact by now.

"And you?" She asked, her question lined with implications but she hoped he took it for what it was - a joke.

"They wouldn't even leave me a crumb." Shikamaru sighed and Temari laughed loudly, wiping little tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Alright, alright." Temari managed to squeak in between hiccups of laughter.

"Besides, they're both out in the village today. My father working with Tsunade and my mother doing God knows what. I'll cook for you." He shrugged, a knot forming in his stomach, nervousness bubbling in his throat. He swallowed loudly, forcing it down, but a little glance from Temari was all it took for him to feel it bubble again.

"And what do I thank for your sudden change of heart towards me?" The sand nin asked after a few paces in silence, her footsteps careful and deliberate.

"No change at all. I've always been a gentleman, you've just been too loud and demanding to know it."

- x -

"This is delicious." Temari exclaimed, leaning back and placing a hand on her stomach.

"I know, you've told me three times already. This makes four. Are you going for a record or just trying to flatter me into bed?" Shikamaru smirked, placing his empty bowl in front of him.

"Shut up. But honestly, this is one of the best meals I've had in a long time and I've been fed by Gaara's personal chefs."

"He has personal chefs?" Shikamaru asked, raising chop sticks to his mouth, placing a small clump of rice into his mouth.

"Does Tsunade not?" Temari laughed, raising her eyebrows. It surprised her that someone as commanding as Tsunade wouldn't have a team at her beck and call to wipe her ass if she wanted them to.

"Unless a chef can cook sake into more sake, I doubt it." Shikamaru shook his head and Temari laughed loudly, pressing her hands to her cheeks as they grew red and sore. The nin glanced up a few times at the joyous woman that sat across from them and for a moment his stomach rumbled with butterflies. He silenced them quickly with a long gaze out the window and another bite of his meal.

"It may be less of a 'personal chef' title and more of a 'I'm trying to get with the Kazekage' type of deal." Temari said, finally calming herself and dabbing at the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"And your brother's alright with that? You're alright with that?" Shikamaru asked, returning his attention to the sand kunoichi and frowning.

"Gaara is oblivious and it's his decision who he beds." Temari grumbled, passing a little more judgement along than she would care to admit, though Shikamaru neglected to comment on it and decided to change topics.

"How is he, anyway, your brother?"

"Fine, just the usual stress of the job, I guess. He worries about me and Kankuro a lot. Not that he needs to. He's the baby, we should be worrying about him but him and Kankuro are always on my ass about where I'm going, who I'm with and whatnot."

"I think it's a brother thing. Wanting to protect their sister." He spoke after taking a long sip from his tea, staring intently at the wisps of steam that rose from the liquid.

"What do you know about brothers?" Temari chided, following his lead and taking a sip from her drink as well.

"I don't. Guys always want to protect their women. I just figure that brothers and sisters are the same way. I would protect you too, but-"

"I think I can protect myself." Temari said offhandedly and silence fell over them. She wondered if she said the wrong thing, but Shikamaru finally rose from his seat in front of the table and grabbed her bowl from her.

"It's not about that. Sure, you can protect yourself. In fact, you could protect me and have a hell of a lot more times than I've protected you." Temari snorted, surprised to hear Shikamaru admit that she of all people was more capable than him at anything. "But you're you. Even if you were the most powerful kunoichi in the world, they would still want to protect you."

"I suppose, but damn does it get on my nerves sometimes. They're always on my case about every little thing. Sometimes I just want.. privacy. Peace. Quiet. You know?"

"Hm?" He grunted, his head jerking back in her direction after he had been staring out of the window for what felt like a moment but could have been several.

"Wake up, Shikamaru." Temari scoffed, her brows narrowing as the world began to fade from his view.

- x -

Shikamaru gasped, sputtering as he pulled a tube from his throat, choking and gagging the whole way, saliva dripping down into his goatee. His chest heaved, his eyes darting around the room, but everything was black and he panicked for just a moment before he realized that his eyes were taped over. He ripped the bandage from his eyes, cursing the tape as it pulled from his skin. The room was bright and everything was fuzzy, but he could hear footsteps rushing down the hallway. He looked down at his chest, burns and cuts, bruises and stitches. He scoffed, feeling weak for just a moment before he yanked the monitors taped to his chest, followed by a loud, prolonged beeping noise.

His hearing came back in bursts. Quick paces through the hallway, shrieks, muffled crying, groaning. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, moaning as he did so as pain shot up his back. He slid down the few inches from the bed to the floor just as a familiar face came running into the doorway.

"Oh thank Christ." Sakura grasped at her chest in relief, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Upon opening them, however, fire singed in them. "You ass! You can't just tear the monitors off! I thought you were dead!" Her voice sounded tired and strained, many hours of hard work masked behind a smile.

"Ah. Sorry, my fault." Shikamaru finally spoke, his voice raspy and quiet.

"It's.. it's fine." She sighed, leaning against the opened door. "You've missed a lot."

"How long have I been out?" Shikamaru asked, pulling his ash-covered shirt over his head. It reeked of blood and smoke and for a moment he was brought back to the seconds before he passed out. His body and mind became two different entities, his mind screaming sense and logic but his body drove forward on autopilot. It brought back memories of when his mother tried to explain post-traumatic stress disorder to him when he was six and his father went from playing shogi with him to screaming and crying behind the door of his bedroom. He shook his head and though Sakura looked at him with a mix of curiosity and concern, she hid it well.

"About 72 hours."

"Shit. Four days? Where's Tsunade? I need to talk to her, we have to come up with a game plan, we need a strategy, we need.." Shikamaru's voice rose quickly, desperation clawing its way up his throat until Sakura raised a hand, pausing him mid-sentence.

"Interrogation of one is in progress, the other was.. executed for lack of a better word." Sakura closed her eyes tightly and shook her head as if trying to expunge a memory that was burned deep into her mind.

"Ah." He said simply, but the openness of his surprised brought Sakura to tell him more.

"Tsunade informed me that their plan was to destabilize the political stability of each village, taking out each Kage under the guise of a massive attack by 'unknown assailants'. Once the village was in the process of rebuilding, they would step in as the Kages and force their ninja and even civilians to war in an effort to kill as many people as they could." The pink-haired kunoichi shuddered at the thought of another war.

"What is the point of that?" Shikamaru coughed out, gripping at his side that ached tremendously as he did so.

"He said to kill a plague, you must kill the host." Sakura spoke as she turned away from him and towards the hallway. Shikamaru simply looked at her, his gaze soft and unfocused, filled with utter confusion and sadness. "There is no rhyme or reason to sociopathy, Shikamaru. Some people just want to watch others suffer."

And with that, she was gone.

- x -

"How is she?" Sakura asked, looking at the monitor screen before her, squinting her eyes as she read the numbers and information that Neji couldn't see, let alone understand.

"She's still asleep. She grasped my hand for a moment earlier."

"That's normal, muscle spasms and nervous reactions to touch." Sakura spoke off-handedly only to look down at a distraught and dejected blind-folded man, slumped over in his seat by his girlfriend's bed. She realized then that he needed the small sense of encouragement that she just took from him so quickly. "Neji, she's going to be fine. Her body needs time to heal."

"I feel so useless."

"Don't, you are here for her and that's all she needs right now. That and rest." Sakura smiled, cupping Neji's cheek softly. He leaned into her touch, his heart aching quietly as he listened to the sound of Tenten's heartbeat on the monitor. "You know, you're free to go and take your bandages off your eyes, you should be nicely healed by now.

"I should stay here with her." Neji spoke, leaning forward in his chair.

"We could really use you out there, there's a lot of-" Sakura began, looking out the window to see a burnt landscape before her when Neji interjected.

"Bodies." He said grimly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes." She said, her heart feeling heavy in her aching chest. She felt, in that moment, that she would never recover. That her heart would keep beating half as strong, that her lungs would only give her enough to keep gasping behind a hollowed smile. "But there's also a lot of clean up that needs to be done and your cousin is out there working diligently to fix homes. You should go see her."

"Hai." The Hyuuga said numbly as he stood from his seat. He pulled bandages from his eyes and blinked roughly for a few seconds as his vision cleared. He made a few paces before looking back to Sakura, his eyes full of life and hope, the first time Sakura had seen that all day. "Will you send someone to me if she wakes up?"

"Of course, Neji." She smiled, and just like that her heart warmed again, beating proudly in her ribcage.

"Promise?" He said after he had made his way out the door, only to poke his head back into the room.

"I promise."