"What do you think?"

Shikamaru has yet to finish reading the scroll so he didn't respond. Once he did finish, he closed his eyes and rubbed them. "Does he really need both of them?" he sighed. "It's like cutting two legs off at the same time."

"Don't be dramatic!" Temari scolded. "Besides, Naruto would say that you could take care of the village on your own and you know it."

Shikamaru nodded slightly, "But what about the medical department? You know Sakura has all these projects she's overseeing."

"I know. But she's also very smart and she probably has good contingency plans. This isn't the first time she was asked to oversee a medical emergency by another village."

Temari sat next to Shikamaru and placed her head on his shoulder, Shikamaru adjusted to wrap his arm around her. "It's his first child, Shikamaru. He just wants the best for both Hakuto and the baby. And let's be honest, Sakura's the best there is."

Shikamaru sighed. Of course he understood the feeling of having your first child well enough. And if he was being honest, he would probably ask the same favor if he was Gaara. Having Sakura attend to his wife and child would definitely erase any fear of childbirth he may have.

But Sakura and Naruto, going on a trip together again after all these years of being distant from each other?

"I'll talk to Naruto, but I'm not promising anything. You know how they've been."

Temari shifted a bit on Shikamaru's shoulder, "I know. What happened to them… I'm glad it didn't happen to us."

Shikamaru murmured agreements as he leaned his head on Temari's as they waited for the sun to rise to signal the start of another day.

Shikamaru only had one foot inside the Hokage's office when Naruto began to ask, "Remind me again why I wanted to be Hokage?"

It never ceases to amaze Shikamaru that everyday they leave the office empty of any paperwork and return the next day with it occupying, not only Naruto's table, but all the available space in the office - yes, even the floor - yet again.

It does really take mountains of paperwork to run a village.

"Because you thought all there is to it was chasing down bad guys and beating them up?" he answered.

Naruto laughed as he continued to sift through papers in front of him, not even looking up. "Please tell me that there's some urgent matter I have to attend to today so I could at least have a break."

"Now that you've mentioned it..."

Naruto paused and looked at Shikamaru with his eyebrows raised.

Shikamaru went over to his desk and reached over the piles of paper to pass the scroll to him. "I guess its urgency will depend on your decision. If you'll go or not."

Naruto looked at the familiar Sunagakure scroll and took it immediately. Foregoing his chair, he leaned back on his window to read.

Shikamaru sat himself at the only paper-free chair in front of Naruto's desk and waited patiently for him to finish reading.

Once Naruto was done, he placed the open scroll on top of all the papers in his desk and placed his hands on his hips, deep in thought.

Shikamaru remained patient. He knew that this silence meant Naruto was considering it.

Finally he said, "Me and Sakura-chan, huh? Well... Sakura-chan mostly, but he wants me for moral support, I guess." Naruto rubbed his chin, "That'll take at least four days."

"I've estimated as much. More, if there are any complications."

"Which wouldn't happen on Sakura-chan's watch."

Shikamaru agreed. He adjusted in his seat, having slouched while waiting for Naruto's answer. "But you know what it feels like… the panic of having your first child." Shikamaru continued. "And Sakura will probably understand too. She knows the dangers of childbirth, heck she almost gave birth by herself."

A dark look flashed in Naruto's face at the mention of Sakura's birthing ordeal, and it didn't go unnoticed by Shikamaru.

He cleared his throat, "And, it's not like it's a peculiar request."

He stood and placed his hands inside his pockets, "Sakura has been requested by all the other villages, at least once, because of her medical expertise. It just so happens that you and Gaara are best friends and that's why you're coming along as well."

Naruto turned around to look outside his window and sighed. "I haven't talked to Sakura-chan for ages. Last time we talked was... what? Her asking for my signature for the hospital expansion?"

"That was two years ago, I think." Shikamaru supplied.

Naruto grimaced, "It's been that long?"

Longer, Shikamaru thought. But he knew better than to say that out loud. This was a sensitive topic so he thought of his answer well before he said, "But you still know her, Naruto. The essence of her at least. She'll do anything to secure as many lives as she can."

Naruto nodded in agreement but didn't reply, he wasn't really sure he still knew Sakura.

Then Shikamaru added, "Maybe you can use this as an opportunity to reconnect and pick up where your friendship left off." Shikamaru sighed, "And Naruto, Sakura isn't some fragile china you could break. She's stronger than you give her credit for, you just have to talk to her."

Naruto remained silent.

After a few more moments of silence, Naruto stretched both his arms wide and took in a deep breath. "We'll go."

He turned to look at Shikamaru with a smirk. "You'll be in charge while I'm gone, as you already know."

Shikamaru feigned annoyance, "The price I pay for being your friend." And then he smiled at Naruto. "Thank you, Naruto. This means a lot, not only to Gaara and his siblings, but also to me."

Naruto rubbed his nose and chuckled, "Happy wife, happy life, right?"

They both smiled.

They were silent for a while until Shikamaru broke it and said, "Can you talk to her?"

"Yeah… How hard could it be?"

"This is so hard!" Complained one of Sakura's students. Which was then followed by some wails of agreement from the other students. "How could you close five gaping wounds in ten seconds?!"

Then another student said, "Your chakra control is amazing, sensei. I don't think I could do this."

Sakura, who was observing the whole group in the corner of the room, sighed dramatically, "Are you giving up already? And here I thought I was training the next batch of best medic ninjas the hidden villages have ever seen." She placed a hand on her hip and smirked. "Guess I'll just move to Sunagakure and train the medics there instead."

Everyone protested, irked by the unspoken competition between the hidden villages' medic students who wanted Sakura as their sensei.

"No! We'll definitely learn this!" One student said.

While another screamed, "Even if it kills me!" Which made everyone laugh, including Sakura.

"I'll revive you, don't worry." Sakura chimes, which made everyone laugh more.

"But seriously sensei, your chakra control is amazing! I wish my family had a clan trait like that."

Sakura shook her head and smiled, "I don't belong to any special clan nor do I possess some great power. It's never ending training and learning, coupled with always reminding myself that I can't let my comrades down… That I have to be more than fully equipped to heal them when hurt."

Everyone in the room was silent, not wanting to miss any of her words. What she said made great sense, they knew about the story of how their very own sensei brought back their Hokage from the dead during the war by literally holding his heart.

Before Sakura could add some more words of wisdom, a knock on their door pulled them out of their silence and one of the nurses entered, "Excuse me, Sakura-san. May I speak with you?"

Sakura nodded her head before turning to face her students again, "Rest and try to revive your chakras while I'm out." She proceeded to walk outside, leaving the students to rest.

"Yes, Ayame?" Sakura asked as the door closed behind her. "Is anything wrong? I'm sure I've completed all my rounds, and delegated..."

"Uhm..." Ayame interrupted her, "Hokage-sama has been pacing in the hospital's entrance for about an hour now. Did you by any chance forget that you were meeting him today?"

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. "Naruto?"

Visiting me? No… don't be naive, Sakura. She scolded herself.

"Were any of his children confined? Hinata Hyuga, maybe?"

Ayame opened the chart that she was holding and gave it to Sakura, "No, I've checked the records."

And as Sakura was reading through the day's log she added sheepishly, "And... um, a staff member heard him say "Maybe Sakura-chan wouldn't want to see me"." Ayame ended in a whisper.

Sakura's hand paused halfway from turning a page of the log.

She looked up at Ayame and blinked. And then she looked at the wrist watch she was wearing, "I guess I'm taking an early lunch break. My students will be thrilled."

Ayame chuckled and retrieved the chart Sakura was handing to her. "Oh to be a student again."

After dismissing her class, she made her way to the hospital's main lobby. She was greeted by staff and students alike while walking confidently through the corridor.

What made her stop in her tracks though, was seeing Naruto's back by the window of the second floor.

She guessed it didn't occur to her that Naruto was really there, looking for her. That he was really there, waiting for her.

Naruto, unsuspectingly turned around and Sakura could now see his face.

Sakura gasped audibly as something in her chest suddenly ached. She clenched a hand to a tight fist over her heart, scrunching her blouse. She leaned on a wall as she had to take several deep breaths to ease the pain. She was glad it happened in the corridor that was never filled with people. Unfortunately for her, Ayame, who would always be doing several rounds throughout the day, came by.

"Sakura-san!" A worried Ayame rushed to her, one look at Sakura and out the window where you can clearly see Naruto, she understood what was happening. "Sakura-san... if you can't do it, I'll tell him you're busy."

Sakura took a couple more deep breaths and tapped her chest a few more times before she slowly straightened her back and took one good last deep breath and let it out slowly.

She looked at Ayame and smiled. "No, it's okay. I'm okay. Thank you."

Ayame looked worried, fully understanding what just happened, but she knew she didn't need to say anything more.

"Could you grab two juice boxes from the station?" Sakura asked Ayame who nodded her head and immediately went to fetch what she's asked.

As soon as Sakura received the juice boxes, she straightened herself again and proceeded to meet Naruto outside.

"Just go in there and look for Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted at himself.

He's been pacing back and forth outside Konoha's hospital for about an hour now. "It's not like I'm the one asking for a favor but… gahhh!" He pulled at his hair.

All the passing villagers around pretended not to look at him. But to be honest, even if they were to actively stare at him, he wouldn't even notice since he was so focused on his internal monologue.

Finally, Naruto heaved out a big sigh and looked up at the sky, "When did it become so hard to talk to you?"

"Talk to who?"

Naruto jumped in surprise and he turned around to see Sakura who was holding two juice boxes.

"What are you doing? You're scaring my staff, Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened, realization sinking in. He looked over Sakura's shoulder and saw the worried look of the hospital staff inside the lobby. He let out a nervous laugh.

"Is it me you wanted to talk to?" Sakura continued.

Naruto looked at Sakura again, "Uh… yeah. Yes! I have something important to talk to you about, Sakura-chan."

"Great. I'm on my break. Let's take a walk." She threw one juice box at him and proceeded to walk. Naruto fumbled to catch the juice box and ran to catch up with Sakura.

They walked for a while, drinking their juices in silence. Naruto not having any idea where they were headed but still following along.

When they finally reached the river, Sakura sat at one of the benches. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Ah, right into business as usual. No, how've you been Naruto?", Naruto thought glumly.

Nevertheless, he reached into his pocket for the scroll he received this morning and gave it to Sakura. She took it and began reading. "Gaara is requesting for you to be the attending physician when Hakuto gives birth in a few days." Naruto said.

"And he's asking for you to accompany me…" Sakura said while still browsing the message, "for moral support?"

"Reading between the lines, yes."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully, "I'm fully prepared for situations like these where I have to leave Konoha for days. And I can leave Sarada with Ino too. She'll love that actually." She handed the scroll back to Naruto. "Okay. When are we leaving?"

"Uh…" Naruto was never this clumsy with words, but he prepared himself for a more argumentative Sakura, so this no nonsense version of her caught him off guard. "Is the day after tomorrow enough for you to prepare?"

"Yeah. That'll be enough." She stood up and brushed imaginary dust on her pristine white trousers, "I'll get going then." Sakura started to walk away, not waiting for Naruto's reply.

"Oh, and Naruto…" Naruto turned around to look at Sakura's back, because she didn't turn to look at him anymore. "I was never the one who was hard to talk to."

"What?" Ino paused halfway through stirring the pot, "With Naruto?"

Sakura nonchalantly placing plates at the dining table answered, "Yes, for four days at least."

Ino tasted the soup one last time and satisfied, she turned the stove off and set the ladle aside. She pressed her back against the counter and crossed her arms, "And you're okay with that? Being with Naruto for four days? Assuming Hakuto's childbirth has no complications and you wouldn't be required to stay longer."

Sakura continued to fuss over the table, "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? And you don't have to worry about Hakuto's delivery. I'm quite offended actually that you are, it's not like I was the attending physician when you had Inojin or whatever."

Ino went over to Sakura and she held her hand to stop her from fussing on a placemat. Sakura was surprised by this and then she looked at Ino who had worry apparent in her face.

"I'm not worried a bit about Hakuto, I'm worried about you." Ino said. "Stop that and sit down."

When they both got settled in their seats Sakura placed her head on both her hands, applying pressure in her eyes. "I'm going to be fine, Ino. It's been years already."

Ino started tapping her finger on the table. She didn't know if it was the right time to say this, but she realizes it's now or never, "I still see the way you look at him, y'know."

Sakura's head snapped up to look at Ino. "You'll look hurt for a split second, like you've been stabbed in the chest, and then you'll put on this indifferent, cold facade and then move on." Sakura looked into Ino's worried eyes.

Ino leaned forward, closer to Sakura's face. "You're still hurt. You still hurt everytime you see him."

Sakura's eyes wavered for a moment. She blinked quickly to regain her composure, "It doesn't matter anymore. We're all grown adults with children now, we… I can't afford to have these feelings."

Ino leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms again. "That's the problem with the both of you ever since we were kids. You feel too much for others, you forget that your feelings are valid too."

Sakura, wanting to divert the conversation, chuckled, "You just don't want me to leave Sarada to you, don't you?"

"Hey! I could hit you! Sarada's like my daughter too!" Ino protested, then she continued, not wanting to let the topic go, "Sakura… the only way you'll both get back to what you once were is if you both untangle yarns of feelings you've kept from each other."

"We'll never get back to what we once were." Sakura replied.

"That may be true, but a great friendship is much better than not having him in your life at all."

Sakura looked at Ino, then she turned her eyes down. They sat in silence for a short while. The silence was only disturbed by each of their children, with Sai in tow, entering the house and asking what's for dinner.

A/N: Hi! Thank you for reading! I hope you'll follow along :)

I don't watch Boruto, but I do get bits and pieces of it because of social media, and I googled who Gaara's wife is, LOL, so you'll have to forgive me if I have some characters/timeline wrong. I just take available information to fit my story. :)

This plot of mine originated from my frustration of learning that Sakura went looking for Sasuke when she was about to give birth. And then proceeded to give birth, in the middle of nowhere, with only Karin to help her. It just doesn't make sense that that would happen if Sakura and Naruto were still as close as they were in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden:

Anyhoo, reviews are greatly appreciated333