Slamming her locker closed Sakura rolled her shoulders back to relieve some of the pain. She had been hunched over a surgical table for three hours and then she had been hunched over a microscope for an additional two and now she was paying the price. She stretched one more time for good measure.

Trotting out of the hospital Sakura relaxed as warm and humid air hit her. Summer was in full swing in Konoha, and while most of the village had been rebuilt in the three years since the end of the war, some things had yet to be completed. Sakura didn't mind though, she loved seeing what was left of the old mixed with the new. Taking her time on the walk, she eventually made it home.

Quietly unlocking the door, Sakura stepped into the apartment and was met by silence; unusual for the mess and noise that usually greeted her. Shrugging her pack to the ground, she proceeded to slip out of her shoes and walk into the living room; where she was greeted with floors covered in muddy paw prints. Sakura groaned before scanning the seemingly empty room for the perpetrators. She assumed that most of them were either hiding at Naruto's or Inu no Yama; well all except for the one furry butt hanging out from under the kitchen table. Padding into the kitchen the knelt down to find a mud covered Koi.

Sakura sighed as Koi turned to face her. He was a shaggy dog, a cuddle bug, with a sweet temper and could take down the enemy in a blink of an eye. He was also the least likely, out of the pack, to cause trouble. Sakura wasn't even going to ask what had happened, she already had a good idea; no doubt it involved the other dogs, a dare, and the steady rainfall outside. Still that was no reason for Koi to be hiding under the table. When he did something wrong, a very rare thing indeed, he always owned up to it; meeting her at the door with his head hanging low and giving her the puppy dog eyes that had made Tsunade dote on him as though he were her lost child, just returned.

Reaching out Sakura placed her hand on top of the dog's head, startling him enough to turn and face her. He relaxed when he saw her, scooting on his belly to lay his head on her thigh. That was ruined by a flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder. He was immediately tense and it took Sakura few minutes to call him down, running her hands though his fur and whispering soft words.

A memory flashed in Sakura's mind; days after the final battle she had been reassigned to the medical camp, tending to the wounded, when a rather bad storm had broken out. She had been mid operations when a howl had sounded through the tent followed by barking. She had been forced to refocus on the task at hand, finishing as quickly as she could, before going out side to find Koi; sitting outside the tent soaking wet and shaking. Sakura had proceeded back to her tent, to snuggle under the covers, with a towel wrapped Koi, and the other dogs surrounding them. He had been scared of thunder storms ever since. It wasn't practical for a nin-dog, then again fear never was.

Koi said nothing as they sat there and the storm raged on, and Sakura just lay there, using the dog as a pillow while running her fingers through his fur in an attempt at comforting him; until she finally fell asleep.

"Sakura . . .Sakura, wake up." Sakura did her best to ignore the voice, though it seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed. "Sakura, if you don't wake up, eventually I'm going to bleed on your new hardwood floors."

Sakura cracked open an eye to stare at Shikamaru, and for a brief minute in time she thought about hog tying him and leaving him out as a chew toy for the other dogs; until she saw the bloody mess that was supposed to be his arm. Sliding out from under the table, she sat the Nara down in one of her kitchen chairs before heading to the cupboard where she kept emergency medical supplies.

Standing next to him she cut the sleeve from his arm before dowsing it in hydrogen peroxide. Shikamaru let out a yelp, followed by a string of curses and a glare. Sakura ignored him; hydrogen peroxide was the quickest way to disinfect a cut, and with her chakra supply still depleted from her hospital shift she was going to need what she had just to close the wound. It went from his shoulder and down past his elbow; it was ragged with tearing, and would leave a scar no matter her ability.

Shikamaru sighed in relief as the pain started to disappear; Sakura had numbed the nerve endings in his arm. The nuke-nin he had faced on his way home had had one hell of a blade, and had seemed pretty determined to test it out on him. He had already lost a good amount of blood by the time he had made it to the gate, and Sakura's apartment was closer to the gate then the hospital. He had been close to passing out when he had found the kunoichi asleep underneath her kitchen table; but now he was wide awake, the peroxide doing a better job than his mother ever had at waking him up.

A cold nose pressed against his hand, dragging him out of his thoughts. Looking down he stared into black eyes partly covered by hair; Shikamaru smiled at the dog before using his good hand to scratch behind the dog's ears.

Shikamaru was not a dog fan, they barked too much, always had to be near a person, and then there was the issue of being chased by one of the Inuzuka dogs when he was a kid. Koi however, was a very chill and relaxed dog; when the rest of Sakura's pack was running around; chasing squirrels, Koi was lying around, basking in the sun or occasionally wading around in the water if it got too hot. Koi was his kind of dog. "Where are the others?"

Sakura grunted and he turned in time to see her shrug her shoulders. He turned to Koi and raised an eyebrow. The dog shook his head. "They'll turn up sooner or later. My best guess is that they're covered in mud and know better than to come home."

"Koi is covered in mud."

The dog whined "An exception was made for Koi, there were extenuating circumstances." Sakura provided. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Anyways, he's about to get a bath, while you go lie on the couch."

Shikamaru glanced at his arm, and the new jagged scar. The area was still pink and puffy, which meant Sakura had most likely gotten off of work only a few hours ago. It also meant that her chakra reserves were now depleted. It was best not to argue then, she got cranky when she was tired.

Settling on the couch he watched as Sakura dragged Koi from underneath the table and picked the now grown dog up as though he were a puppy and disappear into the bathroom. He heard water running and whimpering from Koi, then a reassurance about the thunder and lightning being over. He heard Koi quietly agree, the dog as soft voiced as ever and Shikamaru smiled before settling into sleep.

It took Sakura and hour to get Koi clean and dry and then another half hour to clean out the tub. When she finally made it back into her living room, Shikamaru was asleep on the couch with Koi draped over his legs. Settling down into the over sized arm chair Sakura was able to get another full hour of sleep in before Naruto charged in, alongside her dogs; all of them covered in mud.

Shikamaru and Koi awoke to Sakura yelling in the bathroom. Approaching cautiously they found Naruto and the remaining six dogs piled into the bath tub as Sakura poured water over their heads rinsing away the soap as she continued to fuss.

Closing the door quietly behind them, Shikamaru looked down at Koi, to find the dog looking up at him. "This was a bad dream."

Koi nodded "Agreed."

It took me a while to know where I was going with this chapter, I knew I wanted a Shikamaru appearance and I knew I wanted something funny at the end. The idea of Naruto in the tub with the dogs came to mind. I thought it was funny. I also liked the idea of having just one of the dogs as the center of attention; one that was just sweet as could be and had his fears, but was ready to fight when need be. To me that screamed Koi; and so it was! So what do ya think?