Hello lovelies! I'm back with another update! :D This one is slightly more serious than the others as we're picking up the pace now! Enjoy~

"Sakura?" Shikamaru whispered in disbelief as he stared down at the body that lay in the hospital bed. He could hardly recognize her under all of the bandaging, not to mention how pale she looked lying there under the white sheets.

He had been aware that Sakura went out on an A-ranked mission and had only returned a few days ago. In what state, he never got to find out. Not until Tsunade personally had someone find him and take his confused self to the hospital, only to have it shift into pure shock.

The two out of the three man cell had returned with a bloodied, nearly mutilated Sakura in her arms as she screamed for help. That was what Tsunade had said when he asked about it.

"If she had been here later..." Tsunade hesitated as she swallowed thickly, eyes blinking hard. "...we would've lost her." She let out a shaky sigh full of relief as she pressed her hands into her eyes.

"Bless Kami her fighting spirit is so damn strong."

"Since when did you lie down for so long? Aren't you a medic?" Shikamaru softly said as he tried to humor himself, failing miserably. His hands were in fists at his sides as he stood next to the bed, his heart aching horribly.

He understood that the lifestyle of a shinobi was extremely dangerous - that once you leave those gates there is always that hint of a possibility that they might not make it back.

Shikamaru knew that. And yet when he would say goodbye to Sakura for a mission, why did he oh so badly just want to wrap his arms around her and never let her go? To just sometimes pretend that they weren't shinobi, used as tools and weapons for a bigger purpose, and instead pretend they were normal civilians living a carefree lifestyle?

Oh that's right. Because he was in love with her. Madly, at that.

As he glanced down at Sakura's bandaged hand, he felt his eyes begin to water and out of impulse pressed his lips together. His hand moved on its own as it gently grasped Sakura's bandaged one, giving it a small squeeze. His heart hurt when he felt how cold her hands were and sat in the chair next to her with a frown.

What were her thoughts before she slipped into unconsciousness? What did she think about when the possibility of dying had occured to her?

He tried to wrack his brain for answers that only she could say.

The deafening silence in the room was broken as Shikamaru let out a choked gasp when he felt a faint twitch of Sakura's fingers. His eyes shot up to her bandaged face that slowly showed signs of waking. With a slight turn of her head, a furrowed brow, and her eyes slowly opening, Sakura gradually woke.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru softly uttered as he leaned closer to her, his hand still in hers. He couldn't believe his eyes. He thought she would still be asleep for a week.

Her dull emerald eyes slid over to meet his, the brightness that Shikamaru absolutely adored gradually appearing again.

He blinked in shock when Sakura's eyes began to water and gaped when she squeezed Shikamaru's hand. As she squeezed her eyes shut, the tears streaked down her cheeks.

"I...I never thought I'd see you again..." Sakura whispered as she opened her teary eyes to meet Shikamaru's.

The look that he saw in them was relief, gratitude and a hint of something he couldn't put his finger on. But the effect that it had on him was colossal. His heart felt like it was going to burst from how full it felt.

He carefully put a hand behind her head and leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers gently. He caught her close her eyes as she melted into his touch.

"Me too." Shikamaru replied softly, his lips tugging on a smile as he saw Sakura do the same.

"Shikamaru, you have got to make a move soon! You can't keep her waiting forever!"

The Nara choked on his ramen at Chouji's outburst, sent into a coughing fit at Ichiraku's. They had met up for dinner after Shikamaru had left to let Sakura rest. When Chouji asked where he was before arriving, he had replied where, and thus the outburst.

"I'm serious Shikamaru," Chouji continued as the Nara composed himself with sips of water. "I can see the way she looks at you sometimes. And I bet you're the same."

He could feel the back of his neck heat up at his friend's observation. Had he been obvious about it the entire time? Shikamaru gave a side glance to his best friend, a wary look in his eye.

"I don't know..." he trailed off as he gazed down at his bowl of ramen, hearing a sharp sigh from his friend.

"Come on, exactly what have you got to lose if you go through it?" Chouji tried reasoning which earned him a scoff.

"Everything. I've thought about everything that could go wrong if I ever told her. Every minute detail." Shikamaru replied with a sad smile on his face. "It's just wishful thinking on my part."

There was a beat of silence. Then a hand clasped his shoulder firmly, shaking it slightly.

"Man, for a genius strategist you are completely out of it today. Listen to me, Sakura returned to Konoha only a few days ago in a horrible state. You know what you felt when you were at the hospital, right? That terrible stab to your heart when you think about the chance of never seeing her again."

Shikamaru blinked as his friend lectured him. It wasn't hard to understand what Chouji was trying to say.

"Focus on that feeling, Shikamaru. You just need a simple push," Chouji chuckled to himself. "Too bad it's ending up as a shove from me."

Sakura hissed in pain as Tsunade carefully reapplied the bandages around her arms and waist, her mentor's arm having brushed against a still particularly raw spot. Tsunade's hazel eyes shot up to meet hers in shock, her eyes creasing as she gave her an apologetic smile.

"You didn't have to, Shishou." Sakura quietly said as Tsunade pulled away and took a seat next to her. The pink haired kunoichi turned her bandaged head to meet her mentor's questioning gaze. "Bandage me, I mean. Don't you have paper work to do?"

Sakura pulled her lips into a exhausted grin as she saw her mentor roll her eyes. Tsunade put a hand on her arm warmly, rubbing it slightly. The pinkette noticed that there was a deep look of relief and fondness in her eyes and felt her heart soar.

"You did well, Sakura. I couldn't have been more proud of you as your teacher. You returned to us." Tsunade softly said as she flicked away a tear that was forming in her eyes.

At the sight of her mentor getting emotional, Sakura couldn't help but smile. It was rare for Tsunade to show much emotion to her other than annoyance, anger, pride. Tsunade glanced at the clock at the far end of the wall after a few moments and let out a soft sigh, making a move to stand.

"Haru from your three man cell has already given me the report from the mission. Since you were asleep for a few days, you had missed Gin's funeral service. I thought I would let you know." Tsunade uttered after a hesitating for a moment, glancing to the side to meet Sakura's gaze.

Sakura nodded mutely, her mind still trying to wrap around the fact that she was alive from that mission in the first place.

"Get some rest, Sakura. Good night." Her mentor warmly said as she gave Sakura a wide tired smile, making her way to the door.

"Good night, Shishou." Sakura whispered when she heard the door shut away from her.

As the sound of the ticking clock became her only company, Sakura relished in the silence, her eyes closed as she let out a long weary sigh. She was lucky eto be alive. That mission...everything had gone awry in only a few seconds. Right when everything had been completed and they were all set to return to Konoha. But then shit hit the fan, and everything had gone dark.

Her mind wandered back to earlier today, when her friends began to pop in and out of the room. Albeit she felt overwhelmed by the sudden attention, Sakura had nevertheless felt more gratitude to be breathing the same air as them. Naruto had been concerned, asking how she was. Sasuke didn't say too much like usual, however he quipped a few phrases in there such as "Get better soon." which was still a rare occurrence. Kakashi had given her his trademark soft pat on the head - as some sort of welcome back? Sakura assumed, as well as his relieved eye smile. Tenten and Ino had come in next after the three, eyes red and only brimming with more tears as they neared her. Only to give her an almost bone crushing hug out of relief as they cried into her shoulders, prompting Sakura to also let a few tears loose.

In all of those moments, Sakura had never felt more grateful to be breathing than when she had opened her eyes to see Shikamaru beside her.

Her heart had practically soared when he had touched his forehead against hers. Sakura quietly giggled to herself as she felt her cheeks warm, the fluttering feeling in her stomach when Shikamaru had done that returning all at once. She remembered the feeling of his hand at the back of her head - warm and light. And the gaze he was giving her, oh Kami it was too good. If anyone had come into the room at the moment, they would've seen a bandaged kunoichi with a face as red as a beet.

After a moment of calming herself down, her thoughts had wandered into a serious part of her mind. They were the thoughts she had when she felt the grip of death reaching for her. Right before she lost herself to the darkness and remembered nothing of reaching Konoha.

How would her parents react to her death? Would they be utterly destroyed? What about Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi? What would they have done? And Shishou? Would she have had someone sent to find who had done it to her? What about...Shikamaru? Would he have collapsed at the thought of never seeing her again? Would he have been consumed in anger, hoping for revenge? Would he have...

Sakura shook herself out of her stupor, unperturbed by her own thoughts. Instead one prominent idea remained.

Shikamaru...

"Of all the things..." She whispered to herself, a small smile on her lips.

She knew what she felt for him was real. So incredibly real that she sometimes had to control herself from doing something completely irrational just because she was near him. Sakura wanted to hug him. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck real tight and savor the warmth. She wanted to talk to him, tell him she missed him. She wanted to laugh with him, play shogi, tease him.

To be with him at this moment.

Over these past few months of getting to know Shikamaru, she always had this gut feeling that there was something between them. Something she could only describe as...a pull. An aching need to just be in the same room with him. To do anything and everything for the man.

"Anything...and everything?" Sakura said to herself as she bit her lip, making the connection. A bright smile stretched across her lips as she felt her heart race, making the butterflies in her stomach explode. If she could smack her head in her sudden realization she would have as she let out a light laugh to no one in particular.

"Oh Kami...I'm in love with Shikamaru."

And there we have it~ I know this story has been going on a while now, but I've been thinking of wrapping it up soon, now that our two main's have finally realized their feelings :) Hope you all are chill with that! I know it'll definitely be bittersweet.

Thanks for reading this!