Sakura grinned as she walked in and sat her folder quietly on the arm of the chair. The radio covered the sounds of her shoes as she crept closer to the kitchen. Ino was waving back and forth singing to some upbeat song that seemed to have 'do-ah' as every third word. Or at least Ino's version did, the radio sung it a little differently.

She sat on a backless stool and placed her face in her hands and made herself comfortable. She was treated to Ino's voice cracking as she tried to hit a particular high note as she dramatically threw chopped carrots into a boiling pot. She thought she had been caught when Ino turned her head to the side to lift the lid and peer into another pot but the blonde didn't see her. The song was winding down when Ino, overcome by the chirpy tune, spun and using the wooden spoon as a microphone crooned into its end. Her mouth froze wide open as her eyes became huge as she finally noticed Sakura sitting watching her with rapt attention. Sakura waved cheerily at Ino's horrified face.

Ino immediately snapped to attention and her blush was darker than Sakura's hair. She tried to work for an excuse but found nothing in the face of Sakura's beaming countenance.

"How long have you been here?" She asked causally already half knowing the answer.

"Long," Sakura said fully enjoying Ino's embarrassment.

"If you promise not to tease me in public I'll let you have some dinner," Ino bargained.

Sakura tilted her head to the side as she considered the offer. "Deal."

Ino breathed a sigh of relief.

XxXx

Sakura stood stiffly facing the green wall of the nursery. The room was cleared of all furniture and dust covers littered the floor in case Sakura knocked over the paint. Her throat jerked and worked soundlessly and her hands twitched going for weapons on a ninja pouch she no longer wore. Outside the day was retreating and shining red highlights into the room that cut into the white walls and silhouetted her in scarlet.

Ino found her there her eyes far away and her muscles tightened to the point of explosion. Even Sakura's old clothes, which were cut and splattered with paint, seemed to take on a hard armour like quality. Ino made a noise and as expected the paintbrush was hurled at her with an expertise that hadn't dulled over the years. She caught it just as easily. Some skills were taught in horrendous ways that never left you.

Sakura at once came back from whatever battle field she had revisited. Her eyes took in what she had done in horror. "Ino, I'm sorry!"

"Where were you?" Ino said with understanding, coming into the room.

"He should be here," Sakura said instead looking away into the corner without seeing it "…he should be here to paint lions and clouds on my kid's wall…"

"Naruto?" Ino guessed.

"Sai…" Sakura said the word sharply like it cut her mouth to speak it.

Ino placed her hand on Sakura's arm then gave up formalities and pulled her into a hug. It was a long time before Sakura lifted her arms to hug her back. Ino held on tighter when the small frame began to shudder.

XxXx

"What is it?"

"It's a sheep!"

"A sheep? How!?"

"There's its body and those are its legs!"

"That looks like an evil mouth with fangs!"

"It does not!"

"Sakura get that off the wall before you gave my children nightmares! Before you give me nightmares."

"Fine," Sakura said petulantly smoothing her roller over her artwork.

Ino nodded satisfied and went back to setting up the cot. They still had five months or so to do this but she wanted to stay near Sakura while she was painting and this provided a good excuse. "I'm stuck."

Sakura stopped rolling and looked over her shoulder at the sitting blonde. She put the roller in its bucket and took the instructions off the blonde. She studied it then at where Ino had stalled "oh, you forgot to put the male adapter into the female one…"

"No I didn't, that's how I got into this mess," Ino snorted.

Sakura blushed and rolled her eyes "you set me up for that didn't you?"

"Yep, been waiting to do that since I saw the instruction labels," Ino confessed cheerfully "I'm hungry…" she looked at Sakura expectantly.

Sakura raised her eyebrow "let me jump right to it…" her sarcasm was thick.

Ino grinned "thanks. I want a ham and pickled cheese baguette with brown sauce."

Sakura screwed her face up but ignored the strange request. That wasn't a pregnancy craving but one of Ino's favourite snacks. "Be back in a flash," she said wiping her hands on a rag to get rid of the paint.

When she came back with the sandwiches and drinks she called Ino to the table. "I saw a poster for that book you like, what was it? Oh yea; 'The blossom blooms death.' They made it into a play. When it comes we should go."

Ino's face lit up "that's a great story! We really should, when's it in town?"

"Next month just after your scan, I have a friend in the ticket office I can get us the first showing," Sakura said grinning at how happy she had made Ino.

"Excellent! It's a date," Ino said grinning.

Sakura grabbed her sandwich and turned away. She told herself that it was a figure of speech but her heart grew warm anyway at the thought.

XxXx

"So, show me how to do that jutsu," Ino said bending down and grinning at Sakura. The pink haired girl had just woken up and her hair was reaching out in all directions. She blearily looked at Ino's charming face and grumbled. She staggered to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

"Aren't you going to take breakfast?" Ino asked watching her from the door.

"No, I'll grab something later," Sakura said slumped over the sink.

"Show me the jutsu," Ino asked again.

Sakura shook her head as her mouth was filled with toothpaste.

"Why not?!" Ino demanded.

Sakura spat and then rinsed her mouth out "because it's early. Because I have to go to work. Because you have to go to work. Because it's mine and I don't want to."

"Damn Sakura it's not like I want to use it on you," Ino said rolling her eyes.

"I didn't think that!" Sakura said quickly and pulled her jumper over her head to hide her blush.

"Come on Sakura! I promise I won't let it get ripped off!" Ino joined her hands together and wiggled in an attempt to persuade Sakura into giving in.

"I can't right now, I really do need to get to the office but here," she dug around in her drawer and took out her notes "learn from this."

"Thank you!" Ino snapped the book off her and turned away. Sakura rolled her eyes and felt highly unappreciated.

XxXx

Sakura didn't feel like making her own lunch that morning which was why she was standing in line at 'Old Man's Sandwich' bar. The Old Man had been old when she was young and now he was ancient. He hated children and refused to serve anyone under the age of twenty even though his sandwiches were perfectly legal. He just didn't like the youthful energy and noise that they brought into his establishment. Despite this he had the best sandwiches in all on Konohara and they were cheap too. That had been really important to Sakura when she had been an intern.

Old Man was also one of the very few people in the village that wasn't in awe of her. That meant that she couldn't depend on her reputation as a legend to skip the rather long queue. She shifted her weight back and forth bored out of her mind. Old Man didn't even put up pictures or colourful images for customers to stare at. He was probably afraid that it would encourage them to stay.

"Tanny your expecting again?"

The incredulous voice behind her drew Sakura's attention but rather than be caught ease dropping she used her ninja skills to listen in on the conversation. She was so bored.

"Yeah, I know I said after the third child I would quit but Miki wanted to try for a girl again," Tanny said.

"I don't envy you the morning sickness!" The other mother laughed, a little meanly in Sakura's opinion.

"The all day sickness you mean!" and both women convulsed in laughter "but no, it's the ballooning out I hate. They have no decent maternity clothes in the village. They all look horrible, I demanded Miki go to the city and buy me half decent clothes this time!"

"Well he can afford it, didn't he just become principle?" The women continued to gossip but Sakura ignored them. Ino didn't seem to be affected by any of those issues. Sakura didn't hear or see her throwing up and she wasn't gaining an awful lot of weight. Her frown made her forehead wrinkles deeper than normal. She was starting to resemble the Old Man now.

"Ino," Sakura said later that night as they sat down to dinner "I think we should book an apointment with a specialist."

"Why?" Ino asked curious.

"You don't seem to be experiencing the normal pregnancy issues," Sakura said not eating.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ino waved her fork airily "my mum was always going on about how child birth is so easy for the Yamanka women. I'm expecting to breeze through this."

But there was something in her tone that didn't convince Sakura. "Still," she said "a woman of your age-"

"What?" Ino cut in her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sakura's eyes widened "ah-I mean your slightly more mature-that is to say…nothing." She dropped the subject. Cowardice was the better part of valour.

XxXx

"We're babysitting," Ino said and Sakura looked up from her cereal. It was Saturday her day off. She raised her eyebrow at the blonde "oh are we?"

"Yeah Shika should be coming by soon. We're giving Temari and Shikamaru the day off," Ino grinned a secretive grin that made Sakura nervous.

"Why did you volunteer us for this?" Sakura asked slightly annoyed.

"Think Sakura! We put in the good will now and then when we need a baby sitter for the twins they can't say no!" Ino grinned mischievously but Sakura still wasn't convinced.

It didn't matter as the door bell rang. Sakura was the closest to the door and answered it. A small chubby bundle was thrust past her legs and made like a juggernaut to the tv while a backpack and teddy bear were thrust into her face.

"Hereyougothatseverythingyou'llneed. Wereallyappreciate this. Thanks! Bye!" And Temari was nothing but a blonde streak rushing down the road.

Sakura stumbled back into the room and kicked the door shut. She dropped the backpack and saw Shika sitting with rapt fascination at colourful images on the tv. Ino came into the living room eating a banana that was smothered in chocolate sauce. She grinned taking in Shika and turned to Sakura with a smug smile "see? This won't be so hard."

Sakura didn't agree.

XxXx

"Oh dear god make him stop!" Ino cried giving up the chase and flopping down on the sofa gracelessly.

Sakura felt torn. On the one hand she felt vindicated and had to resist the urge to say 'I told you so' on the other hand she was busy trying to drag Shika back inside the window.

"No I swear! I can walk on air! My dad showed my the jutsu it's the coolest thing ever!" Shika cried trying his best to wriggle out of Sakura's grip.

"I don't care! If you fall you're mum will kill me!" Sakura yelled firmly snagging a foot and giving an almighty heave. Shika was pulled back forcefully into the room to dangle upside down by his ankle.

It had been a peaceful morning. They didn't hear a sound out of Shika. Then the cartoons stopped and all hell broke loose. The quite little boy exploded into a wiry bundle of energy that poked inquisitively around his surroundings. It was after Ino pulled him away from the exploding kettle that she had given up the race leaving Sakura to quell the air master phase of Shika.

Sakura glared down at the little boy who grinned unabashedly back. She let him down gently and looked at Ino's slumped form in concern. Ino was sweating and slumped down on the sofa, she really looked exhausted. Sakura scooped up the little terror before he could scramble off. "That's it we're going to the park."

"The park?!" Shika cried with a smile wrapping his arms around Sakura's neck "alright!"

Ino groaned and went to heave herself up. Sakura pressed her gently down on the sofa with a soft smile. She picked up Shika's backpack and said "don't worry about it, you stay here and get some rest."

"If you're sure," Ino said but was already putting her feet up and reaching for the remote.

Sakura had the distinct impression she was being conned. Shika tugged on her hand repeatedly until she started to move towards the door. She tried to protest but didn't have a case when Shika turned his big brown eyes on her. She melted instantly and gave up the fight.

"Wait," Sakura turned back to Ino and lent down when she beckoned. Ino lent forward and kissed her cheek. "Thank's Sakura."

Sakura instantly felt better about being manipulated.

"So," Shika said his head swivelling like a magpie to spy all the shiny objects on their way to the park "is auntie Ino your girlfriend?"

"What?!" Sakura nearly stumbled in shock.

Shika turned to look at Sakura seriously and she was slightly unnerved by that gaze in such a young child. "Auntie Ino, is she your girlfriend?"

"No," Sakura said blushing and looking away.

"But you want her to be right?" Shika said then hopped up on a bench so he was nearly at eye level with Sakura.

"Well," Sakura hesitated stopping to face the little boy "it's complicated."

"How?" Shika asked inquisitively.

Sakura frowned "it just is."

"That doesn't make sense," Shika said looking and sounding much too like his father for Sakura's comfort.

Sakura sighed and turned away. She had been thinking of Ino in that way for awhile but Ino hadn't really seemed like she was doing the same. Sure odd kisses on the cheek were exchanged, along with the casual hug but Ino had always been affectionate. And then there was the twins to think about. If Sakura started something and Ino rejected her it would make parenting awkward. She tried to think of an answer to the child that was focused intently on her. "Yeah, I want her to be my girlfriend."

Shika smiled and jumped down off the bench and retook her hand "that's great. I've had lots of girlfriends, I can teach you how to get auntie Ino as your girlfriend."

Sakura laughed lightly. Shika seemed extremely serious which made her laugh more. She did wonder why he was so understanding about gay couples but put it down to Temari and Shikamaru raising their son with an open mind. "Ah, Shika don't you think it's weird that I want your auntie Ino to be my girlfriend?" She asked to satisfy her curiosity.

"No," Shika said absently since the park was in sight now "auntie Ino is really cool. She lets me get away with things that my mum would kill me over. Everyone likes auntie Ino."

"Yeah but we're both girls," Sakura probed again.

"Auntie Ino always kisses girls," Shika said scornfully at Sakura's dimness.

Sakura jerked to a stop but it didn't matter as Shika had already let go of her hand and was running towards the jungle gym. Ino always kissed girls? Sakura's thoughts screeched to a stop at that bomb shell. Ino was gay? When did Ino turn gay?

"Sakura-chan!" Skika called already on top of the monkey bars "watch me swing! I can even skip a bar!"

Sakura watch the boy then quickly ran to steady him when he teetered and looked like he was about to let go. "I forgot that I usually only did this when I was on my dad's shoulders," Shika grinned down at her and settled on her shoulders in order to get comfortable. There were no other kids in the park which made Sakura Shika's only playmate.

She was dodging behind a see-saw at half speed with Shika laughing exuberantly trying to catch her, when a male nurse ran up to her. Sakura instantly recognised him as Yuki, a nurse that worked in the emergency room. He looked panicked and his chest was heaving erratically as he bent over and rested on his knees trying to get a breath.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked her smile dropping as she went quickly to his side. Shika frowned but had enough sense to know that this was important and so stayed silent.

"Sakura-sama…the hospital," he couldn't get enough air into his lungs to explain.

Sakura forced him to stand up straight and take deep breaths. In a few seconds his breathing was almost normal. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"A bandit camp was attacked last night. Their leader applied for our help and we sent an ambulance team to retrieve the wounded and brought the severe cases back. It was a trick Sakura-sama! They're holding the hospital hostage! Police are there but-" he looked at her pleadingly and she nodded.

It was her hospital and her staff "has anyone been injured?" she asked. He shrugged "I came to get you as soon as I heard the screaming. I was close to the doors and managed to get out. Please help Sakura-sama."

It was her hospital and her staff and she would be damned if she let anyone hurt them. Her eyes turned to steel and she began to march at a fast pace towards the hospital. It wouldn't do to make too much noise when arriving or she would give up the element of surprise. She noticed that a lighter tread no less determined than her own at her side. Shika had his young chubby face set in a fierce grimace or as fierce as a child's grimace could be. Sakura then remembered her responsibilities to Shika. She looked at Yuki who was jogging to match her tread. "When we get there, take care of Shika. Don't let him get hurt." She glared until Yuki nodded furiously.

The hospital was cordoned off and police ninja's were outside along with a strong thong of outraged onlookers. Word spread quickly that the legendary Sakura had arrived and people nudged each other and cheered. So much for not causing to much noise by her arrival. "What's the situation?" She asked the closest police officer.

"We've counted five altogether. ANBU is prepped and ready to go but three have hostages so we're proceeding with caution," the officer said not even looking at her. "They want someone to go in and negotiate the terms. Captain just chose someone now, he's gearing up."

She nodded and checked where Yuki and Shika where in the crowd. She waved at them to stay back then strolled out past the police barriers. She heard the angry voices of police scream at her and she half turned back. The police as one shut up and began to silently panic. They would be held responsible if the village treasure died. The crowd on the other hand gave a giant roar of support headed by Shika who jumped on Yuki's shoulders and screamed in his high pitched voice.

Sakura walked confidently up to the shut double doors of the er room. She poked her head in first with a smile. "You wanted a mediator?"

The er was seal off from the rest of the hospital by beds and machine equipment. She swore if ANBU busted into this room and ruined all that expensive medical equipment she was going to kill them. The three men held knives close to their human shields throats and stood behind them cleverly using them as cover. One had a crossbow aimed at her and the other was ransacking her drugs locker. She felt irritation mount up as the man's sweaty beefy hands fondled and shoved her precious medicine into a black bag without thought. She kept her smile in place as she identified the one trying to glare a hole through her as the leader. She looked at his hostage and felt her irritation soar through the top of her head. Her damn secretary. "What the hell are you doing here!? Do you ever take a day off?"

Her secretary blushed as the man with the knife to her throat tightened his grip angry that she had talked to the hostage. "This is my day off, see? I'm in normal clothes…" Sakura frowned as she realised her brown haired secretary was in jeans and a frumpy brown pull over jumper.

"Then why are you here?" Sakura asked annoyed crossing over to the drug cabinet.

"Hey! Stop right there!" The leader yelled at her in a timber voice.

She stopped at the window of the locker and raised her hands none threateningly. "Hey I'm just here to get you guys what you want so you leave without any trouble."

"I swear if I see any nasty ninja tricks from you, I'll make this one a new smile, got it?!" He threatened.

"Boss, that's the Legendary Blossom," one of the man's cohorts whispered also in possession of a hostage. When you became famous and had a name like Sakura you got stuck with an obvious legend name.

"I don't care, she's just a girl and seems to like this one," his grip on her secretary tightened to the point she gagged. He reassessed her seeming to think she got the warning.

"Is this you list of demands?" Sakura asked non perturbed by her secretary's abuse. She looked at the foreign scrawl that was just as bad as any doctors handwriting. They had used a patients chart to write down their demands. Her eyes caught on the information and she picked the chart up and accidentally knocked over some jars. She straightened them with one hand absently while she shouted and glared about the room "who put Mr Ramda on glucose? He's a diabetic for gods sake!" She shook her head in misery at the incompetence.

"That doesn't matter!" The leader said his dark brown hair kept back by a red bandana the gang all seemed to wear. "Take that out to the police and get us the stuff and we'll be on our way," he sneered "just like you wanted."

Sakura nodded but didn't look up from the demands or pay any attention to the man's growl. She turned to a junior attending doctor with luscious dark hair that she had to find out the secret off before this was over. She pulled a pen of the woman's white coat and watched as she blushed at her hand being so close to her chest. She grinned, she liked it when people got flustered around her. "This isn't going to happen," she said scoring off the demand for a private ninja concubine "these are doable," she nodded scribbling away. "But the Hokage would never agree to give you any of the secret scrolls, why would you want them anyway? You can't use ninjutsu."

"Our big boss wants them and you'll get them for us if you know what's good for you," he again strangled the secretary and Sakura's face went from pleasant to cold. "If you so much as leave a bruise on any of these hostages I will come after you and kill you," she didn't believe in elaborate threats. Her glazier gaze seemed to convince him of her intentions better than any prettily worded slaughter could. He eased up on his grip but his cockiness didn't waver. "Get us the scrolls."

"Hey," Sakura said suddenly very pleasant. She dropped the chart with a loud clatter and watched as the invaders muscles tensed. "What did you mean earlier by 'nasty ninja tricks'?"

The leader frowned and couched behind the secretary more "you know like smoke bombs or melting through the floor to get us. I gave these people the same warning."

Sakura looked around at the cowering hostages, most were old or injured but all glared at the thugs with malevolence. "You know it's a common misconception that everyone in a ninja village can fight. I mean, look at these people, do you think if they could all use ninjutsu for violence they wouldn't team up and go after you?"

The thug was starting to become edgy and Sakura felt her smile widen "unfortunately for you I happen to be very good at violence. I also take it that one of those nasty ninja tricks you were talking about is my ability to release an airborne virus capable of causing paralysis in its designated targets."

"What?!" The leader said alarmed "you can't do that! It's impossible!"

Sakura knew that a shadow had passed over her face. She knew that in her eyes were reflected a thousand battles, a million deaths and more knowledge than she ever wanted. The grin that seemed automatic and forced giving her face an eerily quality that made everyone in the room shudder and shrink away friend or foe. "Nothing's impossible. Go on, try to move, you two as well," she gestured to the other thugs that held hostages and saw their eyes widen in shock "in a few seconds the paralysis will travel up your neck and into your head. Enjoy blinking while you can."

She saw the leader swing his head back and forth and knew he was trying to get his body to move. He was either trying to stab the secretary or escape. Either way he couldn't do anything. He swung his head to the crossbow man "shoot her!"

The crossbow man jerked at the harsh command giving Sakura the second she needed. "Oh I don't think so," she said and stomped on the ground with part of her strength. The resulting sonic boom was enough to fling everyone to the ground but not enough to shatter the windows because she did not nearly have the budget to cover that.

A second later their was two shadow clones of Sakura, one gripped the now crossbow less man and the other gripping the fat man that had ransacked her medicine cabinet. She took equal joy in flinging them both out the double doors and into the arms of the waiting police. She then went to help the hostages that were trapped in the paralysed arms of the thugs. Her secretary was the last person she reached. Her round glasses were cracked but she seemed unharmed otherwise.

"Sakura-sama can you actually release air born viruses and control them?" The secretary asked breathless in her awe.

Sakura laughed and shook her head as she helped her to her feet "no, my friend taught me to draw. I simply drew three small mice and had them bite the men with the hostages. I inked them with Anectine that I got in the drugs cabinet when I 'accidentally' knocked over the vials. It cause paralysis after one minute. It's not that long lasting though."

The awed looked didn't go away and Sakura felt really proud of herself. From Sai she learned to draw, though she could only get the mice to come alive and from Naruto she had learned to bluff. Through her they were still saving people and that made her happy.

"Kei!" A voice shouted behind her and then suddenly her secretary was on the floor with a crying attending on her chest. Kei? That was her secretary's first name? Sakura searched her memory and realised to her embarrassment that she didn't even know the secretary's last name.

"Yuna! Don't make a scene in front of the chief!" Kei said trying to crawl away bravely while the dark haired attending that Sakura had borrowed the pen from continued to wail and bury her face in her secretary's neck.

"Friend of yours Kei-san?" Sakura said eyeing the crying mess with amusement.

"Fiancée," Kei mumbled with embarrassment and Sakura blinked stunned. Well, she really didn't know that much about her secretary. Which was sad as that was the person she had seen and talked to most for the last few years excluding Tenten and more recently Ino.

The police had moved in to arrest the other three thugs and Sakura shouted at them to make sure they didn't break anything in her ER. Everyone stopped as the double doors burst open and Ino stood framed in the doorway with Shika grinning wildly at her side.

"Sakura you were so awesome!" Shika cheered.

Sakura didn't hear that because Ino was looking at her as if she had cut down every coco bean tree in the world and personally drank the last cup of coffee. "Ino…" she tried to grin.

Ino stalked towards her and the quick as lighting slapped her hard across the cheek "how dare you!"

"I made sure Shika was okay! I didn't put him in danger! Honest!" Sakura said cowering. She felt her reputation of saviour taking a rapid nose dive.

"Who cares about Shika!" Ino screamed furious on the verge of slapping Sakura again. Shika's annoyed "hey!" went unnoticed. "What if you died?! I would have been all alone with twins! What would I have done then? Damn it Sakura I don't want you to die!" And Ino collapsed into her arms hugging and strangling her in turns.

Sakura held on to the crying blonde puzzled beyond belief. She looked at the people surrounding her that were obviously listening but pretending they weren't. She took Shika's hand and proceeded to guide Ino out of the er occasionally accepting the odd hit that the blonde remembered to give.

"Is that normal," Yuna asked watching them go.

"Oh, yeah," Kei said lightly "they do that a lot."

XxXx

Shika was snoozing on the couch after dinner. The boy had valiantly tried to stay awake at the table but kept nodding off. Sakura had finally given in and carried him to the sofa for him to sleep. They had spent the rest of the day re-enacting the hospital takeover only it was Shika's turn to take on the big bad while Sakura wearing a black bag as a cape tried to stop him. When she had asked about the black bag she had been scornfully told that every bad guy had a cape. She smiled and pushed the dark unruly hair out of the sleeping boys eyes. It had been fun today. Shika grumbled and rolled over twisting the large blanket that dwarfed him and kept him warm.

"Is he asleep?" Ino asked coming out from the kitchen drying a plate.

Sakura nodded and padded silently to the blondes side. Ino retreated into the kitchen still drying dishes. "You okay now?" Sakura asked. Ino hadn't really spoken to her since she stormed out of the hospital. She had made sure that Sakura was in her line of vision the whole afternoon when she was making dinner. It had meant that Sakura's nefarious plans to take over the village had been confined to the living room but she and Shika didn't mind if it meant Ino didn't worry.

"I'm sorry," Ino said with her back to Sakura "I just seem to keep freaking out. I never freaked out so much before I got pregnant. I swear I was easy going back then."

Sakura gazed off to the side as she remembered the various competitions for Sasuke's affection that she and Ino had been involved in. And how Ino had screamed at Choujo for being an idiot and how she would curse Shikamaru for being a slob and then how she would slap Temari for being a slut, which was before they became best friends. And she had scared the crap out of Naruto… "well you weren't pregnant back then," just extremely hormonal, which she would never say because she liked her head on her shoulders.

"What if I do that when they're born?" Ino fretted "what if I'm that mum that screams at their kids on the jungle gym? Or worse, the one that follows their kids around with a fully stocked first aid box?"

Sakura laughed and embraced Ino from behind. She set her chin on the blonds shoulder and squeezed her softly to reassure her "Ino we both know you're going to be the cool mum and I'm going to be the worrier that's scared of everything."

Ino seemed to think this over "well I am cooler than you," she said matter of factly and Sakura rolled her eyes. Ino really would believe anything if it was a compliment. She stood their holding Ino moving softly with her when she went to put the dishes away instead of releasing her hold.

"Ready for bed?" Ino asked and Sakura nodded regretfully breaking away. She didn't think Ino would let her cling on to her when she went to get changed, even though she wanted to. She immediately missed Ino's warmth.

Sakura was about to succumb to sleep when Ino turned towards her in the bed. The blonde traced her cheek in the dark and Sakura looked at her sleepily. "You're amazing you know," Ino said in the quite and Sakura rolled her eyes and paid her no attention. Ino said it again more sincerely this time "no, you really are. Not many people would walk into the middle of a crisis zone and take out the bad guys. You didn't even think of the danger, you were more worried about the people. And then you come back here and play with Shika like you didn't just save so many lives. That's amazing Sakura."

"I was more annoyed at them," Sakura said thinking Ino was giving her too much credit. She burrowed into her pillow.

The mattress shifted and Sakura looked up. Ino hovered over to her and kissed her cheek softly. Sakura blushed and turned towards the heat. Their lips were only centimetres apart. "Amazing," Ino breathed and Sakura couldn't. She held her breath until Ino lay back down on her side. "Good night, Sakura," Ino said and Sakura had the distinct impression that she was smiling.

XxXx

"Got everything?" Sakura asked Shika.

The little boy nodded and passed his backpack to Sakura to carry. Ino had left for her shift at the flower shop so Sakura had to drop him off before she headed off to work. She needed to assess the damage those idiots had cause the day before. "Right, lets go," she opened the door and ushered the boy out.

"So, how are you going to get Auntie Ino to fall in love with you?" Shika asked when they stepped outside.

Sakura was startled that he actually remembered their conversation. "I'm going to take her to a play. It opens tomorrow," she said proud of her plan.

Shika was less than impressed and rolled his eyes "that's boring, you should give her cookies. They always work for me."

"I'll keep that in mind," she humoured him then bent down and scooped him up and sat him on her shoulders. He squealed with delight and wrapped his arms around her head. She just didn't want to lose him in the thickening crowd and he seemed to be enjoying it.

She knocked on the door to Shikamaru's house. The door was yanked open in surprise and Sakura stepped back as a raven haired girl in a towel answered. Sakura glared at her suspecting the worst. She sat Shika down and said "I dropped the bag down the road go get it."

"It's on your shoulder," Shika pointed out.

Sakura took it off her shoulder and flung it down the road. She grinned at Shika's shocked face and pretended it was a game "go get it. I'll count to see how long it takes you."

And he ran off after the bag. Sakura turned her attention to the girl in the doorway and grabbed a fist full of her towel and dragged her forwards with a growl. "I don't care who you are but if you're trying to mess up Shikamaru and Temari's relationship I'll flatten you. They have a kid for god sakes!" She glared at the home wrecker who didn't seem bothered at the threat. A small hand came up to try and loosen her grip but couldn't. The slut raised her eyebrow in a very familiar expression "women are so bothersome," she said in a husky voice and Sakura let go feeling like she should recognise the girl. Had she been in her class?

"Wow, Sakura I didn't think you were such a romantic," the door opened wider and a blonde man in a towel grinned at her. He leaned on the door showing off his muscular chest and glistening body to its fullest. Sakura felt herself blushing at the leer in the man's eyes as he looked down at her. She felt flustered for some reason. Then it clicked "Temari?!" She looked at the dark haired slut that she had threatened "Shikamaru?!"

Temari laughed and Shikamaru gave a small smile. She felt like an idiot for not realising sooner. The same features were apparent but the different sex threw her totally. But how did they-? Her face hardened "Ino showed you my jutsu…" That's why she wanted to know the seals.

"Don't worry Sakura, we have no plans on stealing it. It was only for a bit of fun right babe?" Temari said leaning down to kiss Shikamaru. The sight was so wrong to her. "You better change back before you confuse Shika!" She said as she spotted the boy running back with the bag,

"Oh, yeah. Give us five minutes to get dressed!" Temari said dragging Shikamaru back into the house and slamming the door shut.

Sakura turned to the child mentally scared beyond belief. She choked her thoughts when they tried to veer towards what Shikamaru and Temari had been doing while she was babysitting. She just didn't want to know. When the door opened again Temari was in her right form and fully dressed "so how did you like stay with auntie Ino and Sakura-san?"

"It was great! Sakura beat up these bad guys that tried to take over the hospital," Shika said excitedly.

"What?" Temari said her good mood starting to drain away. She glanced up at Sakura suspiciously.

"Well, I'll see you later!" Sakura ran off uncaring that she had left her dignity behind. Temari was scary when she was angry.

XxXx

Whooo! Big update! I had a little extra time this week so I thought I would treat the fans of this story as a thank you for so many encouraging reviews. You're keeping me on my toes and filled with a happy buzz.