Ai's Ama: Hope you guys are all enjoying this, honestly this is the Most Slow Burn I've ever done in my life, I've never been one for that 10+ chapters without romance between the two leads happening, this pining is all I've been able to do so far.
Side Pairings Confirmed: NaruSaku
So, Read and Review, I'm thankful for all of you that has stayed around this long!
Shikamaru Nara was always one step ahead of almost everyone.
Sure, people can come to the same conclusions as him or connect the dots, but that's likely after he's already thought about what to do against that.
It would be Overthinking if he wasn't so selective about what he would pay such attention to.
Such as how to have Hinata get over Naruto.
He had heard Kiba complain about it before that Hinata had said more than once that she was going to get over Naruto and yet she never did.
Honestly, it always came up to probability.
Even the sensitively stunted Nara could see that if there was even a 1% chance that Naruto would turn around and look at her, she would always stick around as the loyal person she was.
So, all that needed to be done was to snub out that 1% chance.
Shikamaru stood in front of the billboard that had many missions on it, looking over each and every one of them for the best probability, eventually picking a mission around Yugakure.
Since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War everything was rather peaceful and now missions were to travel rather than anything urgent, the more violent outspoken groups squashed after the first two years afterwards.
So this would be more to travel than anything else.
He ripped the mission off the board and went to take it to Tsunade with the request of who he would bring, it being approved as though Tsunade had no idea what was running through the young genius' mind, she knew better to question it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
" Haaah, It'll be so good to go and enjoy Yugakure!" Sakura sighed with a smile as she stretched, backpack on her back as Naruto grinned to her, hands behind his head.
" Especially after coming off visiting Suna on our last Mission, Gaara just keeps having those criminals trying to hide in his territory I swear!" Naruto chuckled.
" Ah, just thinking about a soak in the onsen there sounds like a dream~" Sakura agreed with the blond as Shikamaru looked around, hands in his pockets when he looked down to his shadow in the morning light, seeing it was trying to morph away again.
He shifted uncomfortably as he watched it, feeling like he should stay in the village and spend time with Hinata, even if that wouldn't really work out for him in the long run.
The shadow nin pushed away the gnawing feeling in his gut with a small scuff to the ground, reigning his shadow in as he sighed and looked over to the chattering pinkette and blond.
He would have invited Hinata instead to spend time with her, but he had to focus on the objective of Sakura without having to worry about the beautiful Hyuuga actually confessing to the blond, for as far as Ino had reported to him she had not in the day it had been.
" Troublesome. Let's get going shall we?" He raised it as a question without letting it be one, already starting to walk off as Naruto and Sakura chuckled and followed after him.
" You say Troublesome but you're the one who invited us onto this trip!" Naruto grinned his bright Uzumaki grin to him, Sakura looking smug.
" It's almost as if you care about us Shika, who knew?" Sakura teased, Shikamaru turning his head with a small sigh.
" I would have taken Chouji and Ino, but you and Naruto have been going on so many missions together, tying up loose ends that I thought you would have appreciated something that you don't have to worry about."
" You're the best Shika!" Naruto beamed to him as the Nara merely paid attention to Sakura and her reaction to the pointed words.
He knew the blond wouldn't get the reference, it wasn't supposed to be for him really as he watched Sakura's face transform from pride to realization, to deep thought as they started their journey.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The mission went as planned, too smoothly for it to have been necessary for the Symbol of Peace and the Senju Protégé to be needed in the mission.
The Lazy Genius was sure Naruto's friend Konohamaru would have been able to deal with it by himself for all he knew, but it didn't matter.
He stared into the milky shine of the Sake cup imagining staring into Hinata's eyes as his shadow twitched on the floor of the shared room he had with the others.
They were at a Hot Springs Inn, one of the many in town as he was drinking in the recluse of his room, looking at the time as he knew Sakura would show up soon.
The Haruno always did have a problem with her emotions outside of Sasuke Uchiha, the couple of days was just enough time to let her gain the courage to come and talk to him.
He sipped on the alcohol before there was a quick knock on the door before it slid open, showing Sakura as she wore a sleeping Yukata, her hair out of any headband at the moment as she looked to the Nara, her face flushed pink as her hand tightened into a fist before she walked over to him, standing before the low table as Shikamaru looked over to her.
" Hey, what brings you here?" The tan male held the cup before his mouth, watching her over the rim.
He had to operate this conversation very carefully, knowing he shouldn't call her out before she was ready or else she would get angry.
Sakura watched his single cup before looking around, " Um... May I have a drink with you?"
" Hm, Don't see why not." He shrugged as he downed his cup, waiting for her as she went and found the small section by the mini fridge with cups, taking one to him as he poured the two of them cups.
Sakura immediately downed the cup when he was done, making him pause before filling up the glass for her again.
" Is something bothering you?"
" Yeah. I..." The pinkette figited with the cup as it still sat on the table, " A couple days ago, you might not remember it, but you said I had been on a lot of missions with Naruto."
" Well, you have." Shikamaru pointed out, " You two have been very close since the end of the War and when Sasuke left. You've been going on missions with him everywhere as he cleans up those that try to break the new peace." He remembered with slight irritation the fact that despite Naruto being gone Hinata would look at Ichiraku's as if the blond was going to pop out of nowhere and show that he was back.
Sakura traced the edge of her cup as she gazed through the wood of the table, " I... I guess. I just wanted to be there while he brought peace to the world like he said he would to everyone, you know?"
" A noble thought I suppose. But why did you decide to go with him?" He could have extended the question, asked her why she decided to go when she had told Ino that Sasuke was going to come back, asked her why she decided to go with him when Naruto could have had any other person by his side as he brought about the dawn of a new age, but he already knew that she knew those questions, and was thinking about them herself.
When a sufficient pause was through, Shikamaru finished his own sake glass and set it down, on his third drink as he had been nursing the first one until the pinkette showed up, " I suppose it doesn't matter what the answer is.
Ino always did call you ' The Girl in Love' in terms of the Uchiha, Naruto probably isn't the one you think of when you think of who you would be happy with."
" Wh-What?" Sakura looked to him in shock, her hands tightening into fists on her lap, but it didn't seem as if she noticed.
Perfect.
" Well..." He amended a little as he rubbed the back of his head, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, " It's not as if your confession everyone knows about was real. It's not as if Naruto owes you anything either."
Sakura balked a little, " I... Shika-"
" You don't need to explain anything to me Sakura, it's rather troublesome to me. I just suggest you think about your priorities."
It was either the man whom had left her for the second time for who knows where after she had confessed to him for the dozenth time, or the man whom she followed when he tried to heal the world and whom was obviously in love with her.
Any sane woman would know which one to pick, but Sakura wasn't entirely sane.
So Shikamaru just had to give her that nudge.
She then gulped down the sake and nodded, standing and going to open the door.
" I need to clear my head. Night Shikamaru."
" Goodnight Sakura."
When the door slid closed Shikamaru found himself alone.
-.-.-.-
And when he was alone he felt the stretching begin again.
Looking down to his shadow he found it pulling from him, an ache appearing in himself as he looked to the Sake bottle, his hand seizing it and pouring himself another glass as he watched the swirling cloudiness, seeing her eyes again as his mouth filled with saliva.
Every moment he was paying attention to the world around him the more he wanted to be home again.
The more he wanted to see the beautiful heiress.
The more he wanted her to look at him and let him find a home in her eyes as he was in the faint mirror of Sake.
His shadow continued to stretch and he could already tell he was going to let it go after the one they wanted if he wasn't home soon, barely even paying attention to the fact that Naruto never made it to the room- until the next morning where both Naruto and Sakura were both shyly eating breakfast together, no regrets or doubts showing that there was no naughtiness the previous night, more than likely just the talk the two needed to have since before the war ended.
But despite the emotional payout the two were feeling, he himself was feeling his insides claw him deeply to go home.
