Sasuke had been considering changing his mind about letting Shanan do the Omoidasu technique on him. It was agonizing being around her and not being able to be with her. He constantly beat himself up for letting her slip through his hands.

He had wanted to protect her, but now he'd lost her and he still failed to protect her when Pain attacked. Sure he helped Naruto defeat the last of the Pains, but it was ultimately Naruto that convinced Nagato to relent and save everyone and he's the reason Shanan was alive today.

He wanted to show her, but Naruto had already told him about how Shikamaru had shown her and how difficult it made things. So he decided to wait for Shikamaru and ask him about it. He'd been meaning to discuss a few other things with him anyway.

By now he knew that Shikamaru worked for the Hokage, so he sat outside and waited until he walked out.

"Shikamaru," he said coolly as he got up.

Shikamaru stopped and looked at Sasuke and then kept walking. "Oh, Sasuke. What do you want?"

"Don't get smart. I have a few questions for you," he said as he walked casually in the same direction as Shikamaru.

Shikamaru stopped and looked at Sasuke. "Haven't you been back for the better part of a year already? Why now?"

Sasuke ignored his questions. "Naruto told me about you guys," he said a little less boldly. "And that you were dating when the Kaitei happened."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "What about it?" he asked dully.

"Look, you took my girlfriend. The least you can do is answer my questions," he said a bit more humbly.

Shikamaru thought for a second and relaxed. "It really wasn't like that..." he said as he rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled sharply. "I need to eat. I can answer your questions if you wanna tag along."

He turned around and started walking again and Sasuke walked behind him.

Once they'd reached the restaurant Shikamaru ordered his food and Sasuke didn't order anything. He just wanted to ask his questions and leave.

"Alright, let's get this over with," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke sat quietly for a minute so that he could make sure his voice stayed even.

"First of all. Tell me what you meant about it not being like that."

"You wanna know how we got together? Are you sure?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing you say will hurt me. Go on."

Shikamaru took a sip of his drink. "We started going on a lot of missions together after you left. Shinobi were spread thin and teams were mixed. We became really good friends. Even before Naruto left. Once she turned sixteen, she started drinking a lot. She wasn't herself for a while and really missed you guys. Even Kakashi Sensei was gone for over a year. She invited me and Neji and Lee over to hang out and drink with her. I'd also stop by after work sometimes to check on her and we would hang out sober, and I think it really helped her. We started making-out when we did get drunk, though. And then we'd make-out when we were sober. And then we..." he suddenly trailed off as he frowned slightly.

He'd wanted to tell him everything as matter of factly as possible, but when it came to the topic of loving Shanan, it was hard not to discuss it with feeling.

"We fell in love," he said sadly. "We tried not to..."

Sasuke hated hearing it. It did hurt, but he tried to keep his face expressionless.

"How long?" he asked quietly.

Shikamaru smiled softly at the memory. She had been all his. "Not long after she turned seventeen. We only dated about two months before..."

"The Kaitei..."

"Yeah. And then everything was just... ripped away." He looked out the window and took a deep breath so that he could fight back the tears. "I still love her very much," he said honestly as he stared off.

Sasuke watched him. He knew how he felt, even if he didn't like it.

"When you found out. What made you decide to let her see your memories?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

"I shouldn't have done it. I just couldn't take her not knowing. I wanted her to remember me, because I didn't wanna be alone with our memories. It was selfish," he said as he continued to fight back tears.

Sasuke looked off into the distance now as he thought.

"So, if you could make the choice again, you wouldn't let her see?" he asked tentatively.

Shikamaru lowered his hands. "No. I wouldn't do that to her again if I had the choice. I was weak." He paused for a moment. "And maybe me telling you this is still just me being weak. Maybe I'm still being selfish so that I don't have to compete with you too. But I guess we'll never truly know if that's actually the case."

Sasuke wasn't surprised, but he was still disappointed.

Shikamaru could see that Sasuke hadn't heard what he'd wanted to hear.

"I know it's a drag to hear, but my honest advice is to just try and move on. Be stronger than I am." He accidentally let a tear fall, but he didn't really care anymore. "I haven't been able to think about anyone but her. Even when I try to avoid her so that we don't give in to each other. It's the hardest thing I do every day, just letting her be happy with someone else."

Sasuke couldn't believe it, but he actually felt bad for Shikamaru. He hated him, but he understood.

"Sorry," Sasuke said sincerely.

Sasuke took Shikamaru's advice to heart. He may not have been good at keeping promises in the past, but he would keep this one and he'd never let Shanan use her Omoidasu technique on him. Not if it was going to hurt her in any way.