:::::Mendou na Koi :: Troublesome Love:::::

By: Violettachan

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its related characters.

Summary: Shikamaru finds that love just won't leave him alone, no matter how troublesome.

...And He Says I'm Bothersome...

Part II: Sakura

I'm so excited!! I can't believe I've been chosen for such an important task. This is the perfect opportunity to show that I'm a talented kunouchi that can handle higher-level missions. I can't mess up!! Especially since people's lives will be on the line... Oh god, I'm so nervous! No, stop! Sakura, girl, you can do this!! HELL YEAH!!

After talking herself out of her nervous state, Sakura arrived at the waiting room. Oh, there's Shikamaru. I hope he'll be on the same mission. He'd be perfect; smart but no ambition...definitely not a back-stabber that'll try to take all the credit. Hearing her enter, Shikamaru turned his sleepy eyes towards Sakura.

"Yo-. Hisashiburi."

"Ohayo-! Are you here for the Satou Mission too?"

"Satou? Um..who?"

"Oh, I guess you aren't then."

Sakura sighed disappointedly. Darn, looks like I'm the only one here. I guess I'll just have to make the best of it. Besides, the guy is so lazy that he probably wouldn't have done much anyways.

After a few moments of silence, a jounin came into the waiting area and glanced at the two teens.

"You're both here. I'll brief you in this room. Follow me."

As the two obediently followed him, Sakura shot Shikamaru an annoyed glare. What the hell? This guy doesn't even know who Satou is and he's on this mission?! How the hell is he going to be of any use if he's so ignorant of the details? Ugh, he's so completely useless! He better not bug ME for information that he could have learned himself! Geez, you'd think he would know that preparation for missions are just as important as the execution itself. And it's not like he had to try that hard either. Most of the essential facts were right there on the scroll given with the request!

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Sakura listened carefully as the jounin explained the mission. Oh god, he's looking at us as if he can't believe that KIDS were chosen for such a vital mission. That IDIOT!! Why can't he at least pretend like he's paying attention instead of looking out the window?! As the jounin paused to give the two an evaluating look, Sakura tried her best to look mature but visibly twitched when Shikamaru yawned. The jounin looked at the two dubiously, but merely nodded as he disappeared in a poof of smoke. As soon as he was gone, Sakura whirled around to face Shikamaru.

"How can you be on this mission without knowing who Satou is??"

"Oh. I'm bad with names."

"Ugh. Fine. Whatever. Just tell me that you know the background information for the mission."

"I do."

"Are you sure??"

Shikamaru gave her an irritated look and sighed heavily. Sakura could barely restrain Inner Sakura from taking over and strangling him. Moments before her slipping control turned the situation violent, Shikamaru spoke up in a bored monotone.

"Yeah. There's a bad guy with a fortified base that is seemingly impossible to infiltrate. But one of his trusted henchmen is one of our shinobi. It's really not going to be that difficult with so much insider information. Plus, did you see the blueprints for the building? The west wing of the second floor is such a weak point. Whatever idiot thought that the building was difficult to infiltrate is a complete moron."

Sakura was visibly surprised. The west wing?? What is he talking about? That would be the last place anybody would want to go through. It's guarded heavily and...Oh! Wait! No way! Is he talking about the cooling system? Well, yeah...I could see how that would work. But we'd definitely need a strong genjutsu user and it would be time-sensitive. Sakura smiled widely. I think this mission is going to be a success! Ha! It would show that jounin for doubting us!! HELL YEAH!!!

"That would be perfect!! But we'll have to think of other entry points too. If the guard duty schedule changes, the west wing will definitely be out."

Sakura was happily thinking of the logistics when she noticed that Shikamaru had a smirk on his face. Did I miss something?

"What?"

"Uh. Nothing. Let's go to the strategy room. I think more information is there."

He's avoiding an answer. What the hell? Wait!! Does he think I'm stupid for not noticing the security hole until he pointed it out?!!

"You can stop looking so smug! You're not the only one who can come up with plans, you know!"

Inner Sakura started her destructive rampage as Sakura's eye's gleamed maliciously. Anger clouded her brain and she barely registered that Shikamaru was about to speak. You BETTER have a damn good explanation you bastard if you want to live to see the next day!! HELL YEAH!

"Ha-, you've misunderstood. Look, I know you're smart and you know I'm smart. We both are more than capable of this mission regardless of what that jounin thought. I don't doubt your abilities."

Sakura was shocked that he hadn't offered a barrage of lame excuses like Naruto would when he was trying to avoid her rage. What the hell? He actually sounds sincere. She paused to look in his eye and saw understanding lurking behind the veil of sleepiness. Okay, maybe I DID jump to conclusions. And perhaps I was being overly sensitive because of that jounin's scepticism. I mean, maybe he always goes around smirking for no reason like Neji. Ha, I DO need major help if I want to finish these plans today and show that jounin that we're not pathetic losers. I'll let this one slide, but he won't be so lucky next time!

"Fine. But you better not think that I'm going to let you take all the credit for this mission just because you came up with some general idea! Sure, it's clever but there are a lot of details that have to be ironed out."

Sakura saw the corners of Shikamaru's lips lift slightly. However, the flicker of emotion on his face was quickly replaced by his habitual look of annoyance.

"Whatever."

Jeez, that's like the first time I've seen him with anything other than a scowl. I hope he'll loosen up a bit or else this mission is going to suck. As Shikamaru walked away she could hear him grumbling under his breath. Okay. Not gonna loosen up. That's fine. I'm stuck with an annoying bum, but at least he's not hyperactive and loud. She started to catch up to him and heard him still mumbling under his breath.

"How troublesome."

Same to you buddy. I have to put up with you as much as you have to put up with me.

To Be Continued

It was hard to use thoughts for Sakura since she has an Inner Sakura too, so I pretty much kept Inner Sakura silent except for the occasional "Hell Yeah". I suppose that's a blah way to handle it though...Any helpful comments would be greatly appreciated.

-Review Replies-

scorpion05: Ah, the pairing. I can't tell you who it's going to be yet, gomen m(..)m I promise it won't be Ino or an OC, but that's all I'm saying for now. Hope you'll keep reading to find out

And thank you to everyone else who reviewed!!

I have most of the plot planned out, so my next update should be pretty soon. Until then...

Cheers,

Violettachan