A/N: Hey, sorry it took longer to do this one, but I was sick and busy, lost on the road of life, but it's longer, so I hope that makes up for it!

Shikamaru woke up tired, hurting, but alive and refreshed. He was alone in the hospital room, he knew, so he just lay there. He listened to footsteps in the halls, the buzzing of the lights, the quiet murmuring of other patients and employees, the fly in the corner of the room –Oh Shino, want a bug?—and the beeping of the heart monitor. He became aware of a stinging in the back of his neck and the bandage on it, the lack of weight on his chest because his Shinobi jacket wasn't on, the mask on his face—For what? Was I having trouble breathing? - And the I.V. needle stuck in his arm. Lovely. A needle is injecting drugs into my arm. He started to feel as if he was swaying, as if on a hammock, or, god forbid, on a boat. He looked around then, and saw outside the window, a vase with a camellia, an azalea, and a white hyacinth in it, - Ino, he guessed. – a basket of fruit, and a chair that someone had probably been sitting in until just a short while ago. Then he noticed a watch sitting on the chair, with the face of it directed at him. It was troublesome, but he could just barely make out the time: 12:11. It was light out, so it must be in the middle of the day.

He was tired. Maybe I should just go back to sleep, and see what happens. Or maybe I'll stay awake for a short while, and then someone will come in and tell me what's happened and how long I've been unconscious and all that relevant stuff.

He debated his possibilities for a while, but in the end, he decided he would stay up for a while and see who came. I wish I had a shogi board or something.

He was just drowsing off to sleep when the door to the room quietly slipped open and a figure cloaked in red came in. He snapped awake and focused on the person. Damn these medicines, they make it hard to focus and everything fuzzy .The person had a white had with a red squarish shape on the front. Some character was in black, on the red. Oh. It must be Naruto. What a drag.

"You're awake, then, Shika?" Naruto deduced.

"Barely. Woke up at about ten after noon." The Nara replied. "Wish I'd been able to play some Shogi."

The Hokage chuckled. "I'd play, really, if I weren't afraid of you getting worked up about how I'm the first to visit after you wake up. That would kill me."

Shikamaru sighed. "No, having to look ahead enough steps would. Your punishment for being first is telling me all the answers to my questions. You know, like was I having issues breathing and that's what this troublesome mask is on my face, if I've been poisoned and that's what the needle in my neck was for, why I was coughing so much, you know." The usually toneless voice of his, second only to Sai's, was filled with irritated confusion. "Who went to get the Kage-jutsu Found Ones?"

Naruto looked away. "And in what order do you want them answered?"

"Oh, just tell me."

"Okay, in order from first to last. You were having issues breathing, and that's what the mask is for, yes, you were poisoned, and the needle was to hit a nerve center and pressure point, thank Senju it missed, and you were coughing because of the poison, it was destroying your cardiac tissue, and making your lungs deflate and bleed. And your dad actually went to get the Kage-jutsu Found Ones. He's already back." Naruto took a deep breath. "One was found. He died. He looked a lot like you, actually. Scared half the people who knew you had been poisoned. Made them think you would die, too. The whole bad omen thing." He laughed, a sharp, bitter laugh. "Just do me a favor and don't die. Hinata would never get over it. I'm sure that Kushina, Asumite, and Sakate would swear revenge and call vendettas. So would your family. It would be so…" His face was troubled.

Shikamaru grimaced. "…Troublesome." He finished. "I agree. How long have I been out? It would be less troublesome to know."

"Um, about… 36 hours or so. It was a nasty poison. Not sure who threw the needle, though. It wasn't Konoha-made."

Shikamaru flushed red. Damn, I must have really been out of chakra and stamina, if I took that long to wake up. "What a drag," he muttered. "My team wasn't even there. I was under a genjutsu, I think. I thought that my team were there and I was talking to them. But when I broke the jutsus, they weren't there. Ino saw me go down and came and helped, and she said I was on my knees coughing for about ten minutes, and that none of my team had ever been there." He halted, suddenly racked by a fit of coughing. "I guess that I still have coughs."

At Shikamaru's coughing fit, Naruto bit his lip. He looked concerned, but felt entirely helpless. "They've had you on some medication or another, actually. I bet that one was in your food or water or something to make you stop coughing. I should really get a nurse to replenish the medication or whatever." He gestured toward the empty bag on the I.V. drip. "But I've heard that you ought to be better by Wednesday- five days from now."

The Nara moaned. "I hate . They're so troublesome." He sighed, tired. "You should probably get a nurse, nobody thought to stay or leave a call button."

Naruto nodded, put on his Hokage hat, but waited. "Do you want anything else? A Shogi board?"

Shikamaru flopped down on the pillow again. "Sure, if you have one on hand. But no, I don't want anything else. Bye, Naruto."

The Nanadaime nodded, then turned around, heading for the door. He opened and closed it quietly, so that the only thing the Jonin heard was his quiet footsteps and the wheels whining on the tracks of the door as it slid shut, leaving the disabled genius to his thoughts. My only remaining question is who left the flowers. Was it really Ino? Or was it the team? They must be really upset that we didn't go. I wonder how long it'll take them to forgive me. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice the nurses enter the room until one was pulling out the needle from his arm and the other removing the breathing mask from his face.

He started, surprised. Hey, look, the needle's out of my arm. Oh, and my mask's off, now, too. The one who had removed the mask was sitting him up. He complied, and just sat there for a moment. "Hey…Who's been leaving flowers? Has my team been here?" he asked quietly.

"Um, I don't know who left flowers, but are your team Yūhi Asumite, Uzumaki Kushina, and Sakate?" the one who had removed the needle inquired.

"Yeah, they are."

The nurse who had spoken, a woman with light blue hair and brown eyes, giggled nervously. "I heard that they were banned for a while, because they were causing too much of a ruckus. You see, when you were first brought in, the Yūhi girl was yelling and shouting about some ANBU-nin taking you here after shooting you with a poisoned needle. Yamanaka Ino gave her a good clout around the head saying she must have a genjutsu on her, because she certainly wasn't ANBU and she had brought you in. Kushina-sama was trying to keep her from coming at Yamanaka-domo and Sakate-kun was trying to keep them both out of the room. Actually, I think Sakate is still allowed in, right, Yuki?" She addressed the boy that had removed his mask, an older boy that must have been 18 or 19. He was silent, he only nodded his head. "Sorry about that, Shikamaru-san, he's mute. Or at least, he never talks."

Shikamaru nodded at the boy, Yuki, before resuming his thoughts. "Can you let then back in, just for me to tell them I'm awake and sorry and that?"

The girl looked at Yuki, and he nodded. "Actually, I don't have authority for that"—Shikamaru's face fell—"but I can ask my superiors. Oh, and if you need anything, ask for Rina and Yuki." Cleaning up, she and Yuki headed out the door. A few moments later, she poked her head back in the door. "Don't get up, but do you want something to eat?"

"Do you have mackerel cooked with miso?" She nodded. "Then that, please."

She nodded again and backed out the door.

A few hours later, he had had his mackerel and miso and taken another nap, thankfully not coughing. They probably did use cough medicine in the food. Sneaky little medics. The nurse from before, Rina, had just come in telling him that Asumite, Kushina, and Sakate were on their way to his room. He was sitting up, mentally preparing himself—Asumite was probably going to be loud and obnoxious. He decided he was going to joke it off, that seemed to work for Kekkashi. He smiled, he could hear the trio walking down the hall, talking to each other. They paused, then the door quietly slipped open.

Sakate was the first to enter the room. He swiftly approached the bedside, smiling. "I'm so glad you're awake! Mom was worried, even! She said it was the same poison as some guy used like 15 years ago, and he's dead, so she was really confused. Something like…Sasoke? Anyway, she's the one who got the poison out of your system. She said it was really nasty." Sakate took a breath. "She said that she got it out of the Kazekage's brother on a mission to save the Kazekage himself."

Shikamaru's smile disintegrated. "Sasori? Is that the name?" Damn, that's some old poison. Sasori's been dead for years. Thank Senju she had some antidote on hand.

"Yeah! Sasori! You're a genius!" Sakate's eyes were lit up in admiration.

"Yeah, actually, I am. Who's you bribe to get in here, you three were kicked out, right?"

Sakate grinned. "Mom pulled some strings."

"So did Daddy! He said you were awake," Kushina quipped. "I'm glad."

Asumite hunched her shoulders and looked away. "There's an ANBU outside the door," she muttered. "Good to see you're ok."

Shikamaru laughed. "What did you DO? Come screaming that Ino was poisoning me?"

"Actually, yes. I saw Ino-senpai shoot you from one of the trees, then come down and help you. She didn't even have any team with her." Asumite growled. "Probably wanted you to fall in love with her, thinking she saved your life."

The Nara narrowed his eyes. "Ino would try to get my attention, but she would never try to poison me, Asumite. Got it? She doesn't have the guts. And I would have noticed her, I've known her and her chakra signature, I can pick it up anytime. She wasn't even in the vicinity."

"I don't care..." Gee, nice to see you, too. Not like I almost died or anything. "…But you were still under a genjutsu when you got here. Your subconscious knew who it was—You were calling 'Ino' Temari. It was Sabaku no Temari who took you here, not Yamanaka Ino."

"Make up your mind. First you say it really was Ino, and now you say it was Temari."

"After I noticed you calling her Temari, I broke the genjutsu again. It was Temari."

Shikamaru said nothing. But Kushina did. "Asumite, what's wrong with you? He just woke up! Didn't we say that we wouldn't tell him until he got out?"

Sakate was suddenly between the two. "Kushina. BACK UP. No Juuken allowed in here. Asumite, knock it off. He woke up a few hours ago, and we said that we would tell him after he got out. We aren't saying that you're wrong, or that you cast the genjutsu, but SHUT YOUR TRAP. Your dad is probably turning in his grave." He sighed and turned to the hospitalized Nara, who had assumed his thinking position. "I'm sorry for this, sensei.

"These two have been at each other's throats since you were put in here. Can you see why they were kicked out?" Not giving him time to answer, Sakate continued. "It's true, though, sensei. It was Temari who brought you here, however, I think it was someone entirely different who poisoned you, based off what you said about Yamanaka-sensei's chakra. Probably some assassin who managed to get a hold of some really old poison once used in the desert. If you'd like, we can leave."

Shikamaru nodded. "Thanks, Sakate. Say thank you to Sakura for me, too, please."

The dark-pink-haired boy nodded, then shoved the two ahead of him out the door. He came back in for a moment, just to wave goodbye, then shut the door behind him. He could be heard growling at his teammates, and them speaking quietly in reply. Shikamaru sighed. Thank Senju I have a smart one on my team. Definitely takes after Sai and Sakura. Pretty calm kid, most of the time. Good thing he has the power and skill to back himself up. The jonin sighed again, lay down, and eventually fell asleep again.

A/N: Kinda of boring, kind of confusing, but it's kind of important to the story, heh.

~Tsubaki