Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

title: absence, written for dimancheetoile
prompt: you've said you're going to leave but I don't want you to go and if I don't say something now…
pairing: shikamaru x sakura
genre: romance / drama
rating: k+

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

Let me know what you think by reviewing! Favorite and follow, also!

-o-

"You can't leave."

The statement was blunt, right to the point. There would be no need for further explanation.

"…I'm sorry, but excuse you?!"

Her response derailed his initial plan.

-o-

Shikamaru did not like her.

Correction: Shikamaru didn't like anyone.

Now that wasn't to say Shikamaru didn't care for his friends or family.

Despite his father still wiping the floor with him in a game of shogi and his mother's consistent nagging, the Nara heir wouldn't change his home life for anything.

Even before the war, the Konoha Eleven, more specifically Ino and Choji, were irrevocably a part of him.

The bonds they all formed with one another were so profound that, on the rare occurrences they could all get together, there was an underlying sense of rightness within the group.

Together they fought, and lost, and broke, and bled, and then won.

Their lives were forever woven together, and Shikamaru secretly enjoyed the unique, kindred relationships that their friend group fashioned over the years.

Whenever he observed Ino fuss over Choji's eating habits or during arguments between Kiba and Naruto that he silently mediated, Shikamaru's contentment was incomparable.

This, amongst this particular group of shinobi, was where he belonged. 6

With that being said, Shikamaru made a clear divide between his friendships and anything that tried to move beyond his set boundaries.

Regardless of his genius status, romance was something Shikamaru didn't excel in – not that he wanted to.

The Nara heir never felt the need to involve himself with someone else. He had his whole life set out in front of him. Despite his clan's meddleing, Shikamaru didn't feel the need to worry about finding a wife and settling down.

Shikamaru compartmentalized everything; his job, his training, his family, and even his friends.

It all fit into the neat, little boxes in his brain and there was no room for an external variable like love which didn't match any of his predesignated molds.

Growing up, Choji and himself had been privy to Ino's fantasies about the perfect meet-cute, which would then lead to her ideal whirlwind romance.

His female teammate thought more about love and adventure than perfecting her clan's techniques.

Which, unsurprisingly, was what she was doing right now.

"I can't believe I didn't see this sooner," The blonde said, exasperated.

Ino brought the heel of her left palm up to her forehead and smacked herself lightly with it. "It's been right in front of me this whole time!"

The lazy-nin chose to disregard her theatrics, remaining comfortably unperturbed as he lounged in the shade of an unusually large oak, watching the clouds.

Choji, choosing to forego his kata in favor of listening to their female teammate mindlessly ramble, approached the duo.

"What are you going on about now Ino?" The Akimichi's query was punctuated with the telltale crinkle of a bag of potato chips.

Ino's pitch was far too high when she screeched her reply, "Can't you tell Choji!? Shikamaru's in love!"

The black-haired male could feel the weight of Choji's curiously stunned stare, and it caused Shikamaru to sigh. Brown eyes lazily slid towards the only female in the clearing, pinning the blonde with a halfhearted glare.

"Ino," Shikamaru muttered. "For the last time, I am not in love with Sakura Haruno."

The gleam in the Yamanaka's eye told him that she was far from convinced.

-o-

"I just…you can't…god, this is so troublesome."

She growled, a low, gurgled animalistic sound that resonated from the back of her throat.

"Please, do enlighten me as to what is that you find so troublesome, Nara."

-o-

When Shikamaru found out she was leaving, there was no sudden epiphany or dramatic scene. He just felt…kind of annoyed.

Naruto interrupted their weekly team dinner at Ichiraku, draping himself unceremoniously over the counter between Choji and Ino.

"What's wrong? Sasuke beat you in a spar again?" Ino asked, shoving the Kyuubi jinchuuriki out of her personal space with a well-placed elbow to the ribs.

Unbothered by the manhandling of his person, the future Hokage just pitifully whined, face still buried in the hardwood of the countertop.

"Did you and Hinata get into an argument or something?" Choji inquired, not removing his gaze from his third bowl of ramen.

The fair-haired male grunted a soft 'no.'

Shikamaru released a tiny huff, laying his chopsticks down, dark eyes rolling skyward.

"Then what's your issue Naruto? We very well can't help you if you don't tell us."

There was a short bout of silence, in which, Naruto turned his head to the side before he blubbered, "S-Sakura-chan is leaving!"

The blond's face contorted into a pout, but it was short-lived as Ino shot him a deadpanned look.

"And why," She ventured. "Is that upsetting? Forehead is always locked in that office of hers. It's about time she got out and went on a mission."

Shikamaru bobbed his head in a curt nod that portrayed his agreement.

He had seen less and less of Sakura around the Hokage tower, and it was beginning to put a damper on their daily, lunchtime shoji games. You very well can't play a board game without an opponent, and

Sakura was the only one in the entire building that presented an actual challenge. Without her, there just didn't seem to be a point in playing.

Naruto sat up abruptly, glowering darkly at every member of team ten.

"You don't get it!" He shouted, flailing his hands around to accentuate his point. "Granny is sending her to Suna to help them revitalize the way they teach medical ninjutsu. They're starting from the ground up! The entire thing could take years to complete. Years!"

It took a few seconds for his words to set in, but when they did Ino had disappeared in a flurry of golden hair, most likely going to hunt down the subject of their conversation in order to extract more information.

Choji remained unconcerned by the news and Naruto, not getting the verbalized protest and outrage he initially anticipated, slammed his forehead against the countertop once more.

"What if they offer her a job when she's finished?" Naruto groaned. "Or worse! What if she ends up finding someone and decides to stay on her own!?"

That particular thought made Shikamaru's lips draw down into a frown.

Naruto raised his head slowly, his expression filled with unadulterated horror. "Oh god, what if she falls in love with Gaara?!"

-o-

"Could you stop screaming? Really, you can be worse than Ino sometimes."

"Excuse me?! I'm not the one who locked us in a room under the pretense of talking, then decided not to talk."

There was a slight pause, then he mumbled, "This turned out to be such a drag…"

She took a step towards him; her intent hostile, hands clenched into fists at her side. "I'll show you a drag, Nara!"

-o-

He saw her the next day as she was leaving Tsunade's office.

Sakura greeted him with her usual cheery smile and a small wave, "Hi, Shikamaru!"

The Nara heir returned a greeting with a nod of his head.

Unphased by his silence, the pink haired woman continued on her way, but before she could entirely brush past him, Shikamaru reached out, lightly grasping her elbow.

Sakura stopped, half turning towards him with a raised brow.

"I heard you're going to Suna," Was all he provided as an explanation for his sudden irruption.

Realization dawned on her face, and her lips curled into a small smirk.

"Yeah, I leave at the end of the week. Upset that you're going to lose your shogi partner?"

"Something like that," He murmured, releasing his hold on her.

"Don't worry," Sakura assured with a wink. "I'm sure you'll find someone that can put up a better challenge than I can. I'll see you around Shikamaru!"

He watched her retreat down the corridor, dark eyes drinking in every movement as she disappeared around the corner.

For the rest of the day, Shikamaru scowled.

-o-

"Could you just relax for a minute and let me get this out?"

His question – though it sounded more like a demand, even to him – went unheard.

Before Sakura could lunge, Shikamaru took a step forward, grabbed her by both of her forearms and dragged her towards him.

Too stunned to protest, Sakura went along willingly, wide emerald eyes staring up at him.

"I…I need…," He toiled with his words for a moment. In a tone that sounded far to pleading for his tastes, he then said, "You just can't go."

Her response was a whispered, "Why?"

-o-

Ino threw Sakura a going away party, invitations given to all of the Konoha Eleven, plus some of the older shinobi like Kakashi and Kurenai.

He remained by himself most of the night, isolated in the corner of Ino's living room merely observing the head of bubblegum pink hair as it bobbled between different groups of people, mingling and laughing, acting so ridiculously carefree that it made him angry.

Didn't she care?

Didn't she realize that she would be leaving this all behind?

After everything that they had gone through together as a group, Sakura would just up and leave the village without so much as batting an eye?

The shadows stirred around him as his fury grew and the longer the night went on, the more his emotions churned in disarray. There was a hollow feeling in the pit of Shikamaru's stomach, and his fingers restlessly twitched at his side.

The moment Ino dipped into her kitchen to gather more refreshments, Shikamaru beelined right for Sakura, spiriting her away to their host's bedroom under the muttered pretense that they needed to talk.

-o-

Shikamaru dipped his head before he even realized what he was doing and Sakura, who was still unsure of what was going on, tilted her head to evade his movement.

The kiss – if you could call it such – was sloppy, landing on the corner of her mouth, more so on her cheek than on her lips.

Shikamaru pulled back, and Sakura froze, but before she could demand an explanation, he leaned down to kiss her again, this time slanting his mouth hard across her own.

The rosette tensed, but she didn't try to escape his hold. Only after hesitating for another moment, did she finally melt into his embrace, returning his kiss with as much fervor as she could muster.

Things didn't escalate much further before the need for air forced them to break apart.

"What," Sakura started, an embarrassed flush painted across her cheeks. "Was that?"

His head was spinning, and the erratic heartbeat echoing in his ears made it hard to think straight.

"That," He rasped. "Is why you can't go to Suna."

Sakura stared at him for a long, drawn-out moment and Shikamaru took the time to admire the splash of freckles across the bridge of her nose. His hands ghosted along her shoulders as he reached up to cup both sides of her face.

"Oh," She finally breathed, then paused for a moment.

"Oh," She repeated, the one syllable portraying that comprehension had finally dawned.

Silence descended on the room once again, and Shikamaru hated to admit it, but it made him nervous.

His frayed anxiousness was banished, however, when he suddenly felt a tiny hand reach up and brush along the underside of his jaw.

Sakura smile was coy, viridian hues dancing with warm appreciation.

"Well," She stated with a punctual finality. "We're just going to have to talk to Shishou about finding a replacement for me tomorrow morning."

Shikamaru responded with a chuckle before he leaned down for another kiss.

-o-

When they finally vacated Ino's room sometime later, the Yamanaka heiress's scream of, "I knew it!" was the first thing to greet them.

Thank you for reading!

word count: 1,967
last edited on: 05/17/18

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