Hello friends, welcome back. I really enjoy slice of life moments like the one below. So often I see stories where the female characters are mean or jealous towards each other, and while we all know we're here for that sweet, sweet romance, I think other relationships are important too. I hope my take on everyones relationships post- time skip only adds to the greater story and to later chapters in the Fic. For anyone concerned about the behaviors of our characters, just imagine that the time-skip was 7 years long instead of 3, making everyone 18 to 19 years old respectively. I also feel that this would account for their more friendly dynamic.

Ch. 4

The rest of Sakura's evening passed in a blur. She awoke some indefinite time later embraced by shadows and spent of energy. She barely remembered stumbling to her feet, or the shocking cold shower that followed after. All thoughts of further sleep were pushed aside by one prominent thought: She needed to get to Ino's birthday party.

Her drawers were overturned in the shuffle to find a clean outfit that said 'I didn't accidentally fall asleep, I swear', but eventually she resigned to dressing down instead of up.

Checking the time to see just how late she was, Sakura's heart sparked into a panic. Shit. She wasn't just late, she was Kakashi late, and the restaurant was all the way across town. Sakura knew Ino would probably forgive her tardiness, but that still didn't make it okay in her own eye.

In her mad dash to the restaurant, Sakura chose to cut across rooftops rather than run through the streets like a menace. Even still, it took longer than she'd expected before Sakura was skidding through the entrance, head on a swivel looking for their party. Immediately, she heard a familiar voice rise above the noise of the restaurant, and Sakura finally relaxed. She could have walked in blindfolded for all it would have mattered, their rowdy group was impossible to miss.

Ino's favorite hang-out was a casual restaurant by the water, divided into two sections. A modest dining room sat to the right of the hostess stand, but the real draw was the moody bar with a riverside patio you entered around the back. Thursdays were Karaoke night, and Sakura could tell without even looking who was on the mic.

Entering the bar area, Sakura spotted Ino in a reflective blue and silver dress power belting a catchy breakup song to a room full of patrons. Her bare arm was slung across the shoulders of some stranger Sakura didn't know, and together they gestured enthusiastically with their arms or pointed to their friends in the crowd. Karaoke night always drew a lot of people, and tonight was no exception. It would be just like Ino to meet a group of strangers at the bar and end up becoming friends.

Sakura pressed her way through the crowd, making a beeline for the quiet dark-haired girl she immediately recognized in the corner. Hinata jumped lightly when Sakura slid into the tall booth beside her, but smiled happily in recognition. Kiba and Choji sat opposite together, deep in serious, drunken conversation. Over at the bar she could see a hooded Shino and dressed down Shikamaru sitting in companionable silence, each nursing a drink or making small talk with other patrons.

Sakura leaned her head into Hinata's. "Where are the others?" She asked, scanning the room for the rest of their friends. She'd been hoping to spot Tenten in the crowd when Hinata answered-

"Out of village on a mission, unfortunately."

Sakura paused for a moment, then giggled. "Maybe it's for the best. No one wants Rock-Lee accidentally drinking liquor and bringing down the building." Hinata laughed with her, in the quiet way she did everything, and soon they were catching up on each others lives.

Damn. It had been too long since the girls had all been together, it was a shame Tenten wasn't here. Maybe they could arrange another all girl sparring session once she got back from her mission. It was a tradition they had started a few years ago to mix things up, but now they only cross trained when their schedules lined up. Even though it was difficult getting them all together, it was usually the highlight of Sakura's week when they did.

"So tell me! How many songs have you sung?" Sakura teased her shy friend, knowing Konoha would freeze over before Hinata ever sang in front of a crowd. Still, it was fun playing with her.

As predicted, Hinata blushed a full beet red, violently shaking her head 'No' in response.

Ino and her new friends' song ended to a cry of applause. That's when Ino locked eyes with Sakura from the stage, an evil grin spreading across her face.

Sakura shrank down into her seat like she could avoid what was coming, despite knowing it was inevitable. Ino sprang down and over to the booth, taking Sakura firmly by the hand. "How did I know you were going to be late? You are in so much trouble." She said, dragging them over towards the bar. "Kiba, lets go! We're doing shots!"

"Alright!" Kiba laughed, never one to turn down drinking with a bunch of girls. Out of everyone present in the room, Kiba could always be counted on to be the life of the party, whether it was a quiet group cook out or a shameless Karaoke night.

"Help me!" Sakura whispered to a smirking Hinata before she was whisked away.

"Order me more dumplings while you're up there, man." Choji called out after Kiba's retreating form. The Inuzuka gave a thumbs up as he left.

During her mad dash across town to the restaurant, exhaustion had weighed heavily on every joint of her body. But, now that Sakura was around her friends her energy was picking up speed. Kiba gave her a belated, affectionate hug when they finally got to the bar, and even Shino waved a friendly hello from his bar seat nearby. Moment like this, surrounded by everyone she loved… they were so rare and needed to be treasured. Sakura chided herself for having missed even an hour of this precious time with them.

Each of her friends liked to celebrate their birthdays differently- some spent it solo, others preferred quiet reflection with just their team mates. Naruto's birthday was just around the corner, but he was traveling and training with Jiraiya, so she was likely to miss it this year. Odds were it would be another year all together before they could reunite like this again. Thinking of Naruto, her heart ached with the absence of her friend.

But there was little time to linger on thoughts of those not present. Soon, Ino was pressing drinks into her hand, and they were throwing back shots of sake and sweet mixers. She and Kiba happily submitted themselves to the medley of drinking games Ino kept in her arsenal. They kept daring each other to try stronger and stronger spirits, and soon the floor was tilting under Sakura's practical sandals, the alcohol going strait to her head. Belatedly she realized she hadn't eaten since lunch.

A warm presence appeared at Sakura's side, and Shikamaru wordlessly pushed a glass of water into her hands.

Sakura gave him a wink and stuck her tongue out at him as a thank you, and he rolled his eyes at their parties enthusiasm. Shino was probably rolling his eyes as well, but she could never tell from behind the glasses.

Shikamaru returned to talking with his friend, but Sakura's couldn't help her eyes lingered on his back for a long time. He always seemed to know what she needed, even before she did. When had that happened?

She was broken out of her pondering when Ino called her to help finish the last row of drinks on the bar. "Okay! Okay! I- T think I've sufficiently caught up-" Sakura cried, coughing through a shot of pungent Sunagakura Shochu. Her nose scrunched up at the astringent taste and her stomach burned with too many drinks. Ino and Kiba just laughed at her in mirth.

"I thought Tsunade-sama would have taught you how to drink by now!" Kiba barked, slapping her on the back a little too hard.

Oh god. That last shot was going to come back up.

"I think I have to- …I'll be right back!" She called, power walking to the glass doors across from the bar and stepping out into the blissful open air. The bar's patio overlooked the river that ran through Konoha's middle, and trying not to look too tipsy, she made her way over to the edge. An evening breeze enveloped her as she draped her arms over the deck railing, watching the rushing water below and trying not to throw up.

"Am I going to have to carry you home tonight?" A voice came up from behind. Their body leaned against the railing beside her, ready to catch her in case she tipped over.

"I'll be fine," Sakura let out a heavy huff of breath. She knew who it was without even looking."You know Shochu never sits well with me."

"I dont think it sits well with anybody." Shikamaru chuckled, and Sakura mentally agreed with him.

"So, how was Kakashi?"

The question caught her quite off guard. Sakura's head shot up like a sling shot, and her stomache swam in an ugly, threatening way. "What do you mean?" She asked in a hurry, thoughts of her earlier Yume-jutsu experiments tinting her face even redder than it already was from the liquor.

Shikamaru looked at her, confused. "At the Hospital." He clarified gently. "That's why you were late, isn't it?"

"Oh…Yes. In a way." She always lied badly, but hated more that she was lying to him at all. "He's much better today though." She elaborated, "Healed enough that he's started driving the other nurses crazy instead of just me."

"So troublesome." Was all he said, turning to look back out over the water. "He should take the bed rest while he has the excuse. I would kill to just lay in bed for a week, people bringing me food and everything."

They were close enough that their sides brushed together when she swayed. Despite the persistent heat of the evening, she enjoyed leaning into his frame. "I'd expect nothing less from a lazy ninja like you." She teased, bumping him with her shoulder. "But trust me, nobody actually likes bedrest when it's forced on them."

Shikamaru shrugged, looking away. "If you insist."

Back inside the bar, another Karaoke song began to play, this time with Kiba and Choji singing loud and out of tune. Shikamaru cringed.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be responsible for getting all of you home?"

"Better hurry," Sakura said, a smile spreading across her face "Escape the responsibility while you can." She was getting too comfortable, her body turning into a limp noodle hanging from the railing.

Shikamaru laughed and just shook his head. "Come on, lets find you somewhere to sit." He said, slipping an arm around her shoulder and helping her to stand. Sakura greedily leaned into his jacket, resting her head on his shoulder as he lead her over to a table.

"You know what we should do?" Sakura suddenly started -

"Get you some more water?"

"No. I mean, yes, but no. We should play chess!" She said happily. Now that she was comfortably seated in the fresh open air, she was getting a second wind.

"I don't think you could play rock-paper-scissors at this point." Shika chided, but sat down across the table from her anyway.

"Oh yeah? I'll make you a bet, Nara." She said, leaning forward in her chair. She was feeling ballsy and it was coming out in her body language. "Let's finish the game we started today. Loser has to do anything the other says."

"First off, you're drunk. That's a terrible idea!"

Sakura waved her hand as if to wipe away the accusation. "I'm not drunk…I am pleasantly imbibed."

Shikamaru suppressed a smirk. Sakura could tell her friend wanted to laugh but was doing his best to keep a strait face. "And secondly," he continued more seriously, "I'm not sure our friendship will survive when I humiliate you and win in five moves."

"I'm not as drunk as you think I am." She insisted, her competitive nature burning through her buzz. "And I'll prove it by capturing your last knight in three."

Shikamaru, bless him, never turned away from one of her challenges.

In moments, their roll-up travel board was out on the table and they were repositioning pieces from earlier in the day.

"Nu-uh, that pawn was over here-" Sakura said, stopping his hand and pointing to the correct square. They bickered for a moment over where it was suppose to go, and Sakura defended her point by replaying their last three moves for him.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at her, begrudgingly admitting his mistake. "I get it now. You're just pretending to be drunk in order to get my guard down."

Sakura didn't look up from where she was studying the board intently. "You know me better than that Shikamaru. I would never dream of underestimating you."

Chess. Drinks. Karaoke. Friends… Sakura was both warm and cool in her seat, her exhaustion from earlier now completely washed away by the energy of the party. Her thoughts now hummed in preparation for their game. She relished in the sense of camaraderie it brought her - a type of playful intimacy just between Shikamaru and herself that came from anticipating the others moves. She wondered if Shikamaru ever felt the same.

Once the board was fully reconstructed, they jumped right in, trading moves rapidly back and forth. Shikamaru's eye twitched when she played her third move, but instead of attacking his knight like she'd promised, she captured his much more valuable rook and put his king into check.

"That's not the piece you said you were after." He growled, visibly irritated. He'd thought they'd been playing a different game.

Sakura looked up at him through long, dark lashes, savoring her victory. It was a page right out of Shikamaru's own playbook - Make the enemy think you will go low, then go high.

"A diversion." She said simply. His eyes go wide with 'd been playing the game before they'd even started. "And now you know not to underestimate me either."

The air around them suddenly turned electric.

His gaze lingered on her face like a burn. This was not the first time Sakura had surprised Shikamaru, but the way his energy shifted now surprised her. All at once, he'd gone stiff and rigid. She watched his adams apple bounce in his throat as he swallowed hard around something unspoken. His pupils dilated wide, as if seeing her for the very first time.

He looked as though something inside him had change, and it would never be the same again.

Moments ticked past. She squirmed under the weight of his stare, wondering if she'd gone too far tricking him like that. She'd only meant to have a bit of fun at her friends expense before he turned their game around and won, as he usually did. Still, he seemed unable to take his eyes off her, lost in the thoughts racing through his mind.

"What?" She asked defensively, sitting back and turning away from him. She couldn't handle that intense eye contact for a second longer. "Can you blame me for being a little underhanded?" She knew she could be a bit over-competitive but-

Shikamaru stood with a start, like he was waking up from a dream. "I just…I need another drink." Was the only excuse he gave before practically taking flight. His hips bumped his chair in his rush to get back inside to the party, Sakura's confused gaze following his clumsy escape.

What on earth… had that been about?

It felt like he was gone forever. In fact, he'd kept her waiting so long that she'd just about sobered up when a blonde head leaned out the patio entrance, pale eyes looking around the tables until they found her.

"There you are!" Ino called, walking over to her. She gave the chess board a brief look of 'What is this thing doing here?' before accosting Sakura with a string of questions. "What are you doing out here all alone? And what on earth did you do to Shikamaru? You know what, Nevermind. What ever it was, I'm sure he deserved it. Come inside and sit with us, I feel like I've barely seen you all night."

All at once, Sakura remembered who tonight was suppose to be about, and sat bolt upright in her chair. Damnit. "I'm so sorry Ino," she began, quickly packing up the chessboard into its pouch. "I came out to get some fresh air and somehow it turned into a chess-bet with Shika. I guess we got carried away, I'm really sorry-"

"Wait, did he finally lose a game?!" Ino interrupted, a wicked edge overtaking her voice. Despite being Shikamaru's teammate, she was heavily invested in the day when Sakura finally broke his winning streak.

Sakura halted, caught off guard by Ino's lack of irritation with her. "N-no, the game's not finished. All I did was trick him into losing an important piece."

Ino looked back to the bar, perplexed. "Huh. Then why is he inside drinking with Choji like his world is ending?"

Sakura's brain clicked into third gear. "I'm sorry…...He's doing What?"

-Authors Note-

Ahhh, and so the love triangle begins. I hope you're here for it as much as I am. Thank you again for reading, friends! Next chapter will hopefully be out in a few days.

xoxo - VB