Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Author's Note: First off I'm once again sorry for such a late update. I'll try to update more chapters this week, but no promises. I feel like there's a million things to do and not enough time to do them. -.- Anyways, I hope this chapter makes up for not having Sakura fight in the last one :) I would like to thank mun3litKnight, special-youkoai, and kitten-writer for their lovely reviews XD This chapter is dedicated to them and I hope it doesn't disappoint. I would also like to thank AngelOfDeath1231, Rukiagirl, rakat14, Acidalia Hyuuga-Malfoy-Uchiha, Twisted Musalih, .Blossom, XxSakuraFanxX, and 101bubbly as my new and wonderful supporters! XD I'm always so happy to open up my email and get a message saying I have a new follower or a new favorite :) It just makes my day XDD

Chapter 7

The sky was now dark with only the crescent moon to illuminate the palace grounds with the additional help of some lanterns. The palace reflected the time since it was silent, a contrast from the earlier hustle and bustle. The only ones awake were the palace guards and those who were still preparing for the upcoming celebration.

Sakura, however, was out on a night stroll inside the palace without anyone to accompany her. She wanted some peace of mind. She knew that she should have asked Konan to at least accompany her, but with what had happened earlier that day she did not feel up to having company. Of course, it did not help that Kisame had stop by earlier to relay some information by Zabuza's request.

"I would ask why you want information on who is attending the festivities, but I'll overlook it this time." Kisame was lounging in the chaise as the group from Haku to Zabuza were present. "I asked a close friend of mine and he told me that about anyone who is considered important will be attending this event."

"And exactly who are these 'important' people?" Kisame glanced at Zabuza before sweeping his gaze around to the females in the room.

"Well, from Aki there is the Senju household, the Morino, the Umino, and the Yuki."

"The Senju would include the Lady Tsunade and her Lord Jiraiya whom you all saw earlier when we exited the carriage. However, there's nothing to worry about when it comes to them. O can vouch on that. Morino would be the man who led you all away."

"You mean the scary one?" Konan's question was met with Kisame's amused chuckle.

"Yea the scary one. Trust me when I say that he can be a softie when it comes to certain things."

Haku continued to divulge her knowledge on the people Kisame would mention, speaking as if she was not just interrupted. "Morino should not be a problem either since he is the head knight for the palace here."

"Then what of the inhabitants of the palace?" Sakura could not help her interjection.

"Not to worry, the King is a close friend of the Senju's and should not pose any problems."

"You know, if your Lady knows so much why ask me?" Kisame turned to look at his old time friend.

"Because although she may have knowledge on WHO these people are, it does not by any means mean that she knows who is ACTUALLY attending."

"Right. Anyways those who are listed to attend from Aki should not pose any problems. I'm not sure who all is attending from the other kingdoms though."

"Oh. Right. Well from Fuyu you have Hatake, Hyuuga, Uchiha, and Hebi. And Natsu you have Sarutobi, Kaze, Might, and Haruno."

The group lapsed into silence when they heard the one name they each were secretly hoping would not come up.

"Well I can say that just about every one of these houses should be fine, but the 'one'."

"Can you really account for every single person in each of these household? Do you know every person who is a part of these houses? You say you can account for these houses, but you haven't even left your own place for over 3 years now. What's to say that things have not changed? How can you be so sure?" Sakura could not help but burst out in anger. She knew that Haku was only trying to help, but knowing for certain that that hateful family will be attending the festivities made her blood boil and her mind scramble with 'what ifs'.

"Enough!" Sakura flinched at Zabuza's harsh voice and could not help the hurt look that came across her face. Looking around the room she could see that what she said caused Haku to clam up, Konan to look disappointed, Zabuza to be angry, and Kisame looked awkward.

"I'm going to bed."

Sakura's head hurt just thinking about everything that happened, especially the part where pretty much all of the prominent families will be attending and her attitude towards Haku. Even royalties from the other two kingdoms will be making an appearance. A few of which she have already met: Naruto (who was the only prince to the Kitsune Palace), Sasuke and Sai (princes of the Fuyu Kingdom and of the Uchiha Palace), and apparently Temari (princess to the Natsu Kingdom), the blonde chick who she never got a chance to spar with. It was probably for the best anyway that she did not spar, now that she thought about it. As much as she hate to admit it, there was still a possibility, no matter how slight, that the Haruno family was out to get her. Had she gone through with the spar there would have been a slight chance that someone would have seen her and word may have gotten back and things would have turned sour. Her train of thought only caused her headache to morph into a migraine as she stressed over every little detail. She stopped in her midnight stroll to massage her head and take a couple of deep breathes.

"You ok?" Sakura startled at the voice. She had been walking around with her head in the clouds that she had not even notice the person who was sitting on the ledge off to the side. "Sorry if I'm prying." Sakura, who was now looking at the person, could not make out their features too well but from what she could see due to the natural moonlight she could only assume it to be one person, especially with that hairstyle.

"Shikamaru?" Although, she was fairly certain it was him. It did not hurt to double check.

"Yes." His lazy reply helped relieve some of her tension; some tension she did not even know she was unnecessarily creating.

"What are you doing out so late?"

"Troublesome. I could ask you the same." Sakura by this point was standing near him.

"I was taking a walk."

Shikamaru took a moment to assess her before replying to the girl's questioning gaze. "I was stargazing."

"Stargazing?" Shikamaru shook his head in the affirmative.

"And waiting for some idiots to show up."

"The idiots? You mean Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai?" Once again Shikamaru shook his head in the positive. The two turned to look at the sky as silence enveloped them. "Why?"

"We should probably move from here. I see a guard."

"Wait." Sakura ran to catch up as Shikamaru made his way across the garden. "You didn't answer me."

"Troublesome." Sakura bristled at his comment.

"What! It wouldn't be troublesome if you actually answer my question when I first asked you!"

"Could you keep your voice down?"

"N-" Before Sakura could finish Shikamaru turned and pinned the petite girl against one of the many trees that littered the garden with one hand over her mouth and the other next to her head. Sakura not liking the fact that she was at the mercy of someone else retaliated in the only way she knew how. She fought back. She swung her fist but was only met with air where his face once was. She turned with a fiery glint to her eyes on her now victim. She will definitely make sure that he will have a taste of her punch.

Shikamaru was glad he dodged, otherwise he would have been met with an unfortunate accident. Although, now that he thought about it maybe if he got into an accident he could avoid going to that stupid dance that was going to be held. He was soon knocked out of his reverie when a kick was aimed for his face. He took a step back in time to see Sakura's kick whizz pass. Maybe it was not a good idea to get into an accident, since knowing his mom would just force him to go anyway.

Shikamaru refocused his attention in time to block Sakura's punch, in which the two jumped back when their hand made contact. He had to admit that she had a pretty good arm. It would probably be least troublesome if he made it through this fight alive though, because he could just imagine showing up to the dance with a black eye. He would definitely never hear the end of it from the other guys, especially Naruto.

"I see you can fight pretty well." Sakura could still see red. She could not help her temper. Usually a comment such as 'troublesome' would not even have bothered her, but with everything that happened today she could not help her explosive attitude.

"Thanks. You too." Shikamaru could see that the pinkette was still angry but it seemed she was angry about something else. She seemed to have a lot of pent up emotions. It probably had something to do with what she was thinking about so hard earlier.

Sakura took another breath before charging at her opponent once again. She threw her opponent a complex combination of kicks, punches, and jabs while he did his best to counter each while being on the defensive.

Shikamaru could see that the girl needed to let out her frustrations and it seems that it would be through a fight. He decided to go a long with the fight and hopefully neither of them will get into trouble. If his mother ever found out about him sneaking around at night he would be in heaps of trouble.

"Why are you not attacking me?" Shikamaru stayed silent much to Sakura's chagrin which further fueled her anger. She continued her onslaught as Shikamaru continued to dodge.

Shikamaru was born in the Natsu Kingdom and so females fighting were not out of the norm like it was in Fuyu or Aki. However, he had problems with being on the offense with Sakura. He could tell that Sakura was an amazing fighter, but with her anger, it was a sure bet that he would win hands down. Plus, the fight was only a means for to vent her frustrations.

The two continued their dance around the garden. Shikamaru made sure that the two of them stuck to the shadows in case someone were to come by the area. However, as the fight dragged on he was starting to grow weary from the amount of energy he was having to exert in order to stay on defense. He could also see Sakura starting to grow weary.

"Why can't you take me seriously?" With that one statement, Shikamaru turned the table and forced Sakura to be on the defense. After a couple of maneuvers, Shikamaru was able to wrestle Sakura to the ground.

"I was taking you seriously."

Sakura who was breathing heavily by this point looked up at him. Looking into his eyes she could see that he was serious. "If so why didn't you attack sooner?"

Shikamaru rolled off of her to take seat beside the pinkette making sure she wouldn't try to throw another punch at him. "It looked like you needed to get some exercise."

"Are you calling me fat?" Shikamaru glanced down to show her that that was not what he meant. Sakura cracked a smile.

Shikamaru seeing her smile could not help but let his favorite phrase slip. "Troublesome."

Silence settled over the two once again. Out of no where Sakura started giggling madly and Shikamaru ended up joining her.

"There you are." A new voice popped in. "Huh? Sak-"

"Shut it you moron. Do you want the entire palace to know that we are not where we are suppose to be?" Both Sakura and Shikamaru turned to see Naruto being quietened by Sasuke, while Sai stood to the side.

"Porcupine head. You weren't at the meeting place. Were you on a date with Pinky?" The other two turned to look at both Shikamaru and Sakura at Sai's comment.

Sakura raised her brow at his assumption. "No he was just kicking my ass at hand to hand."

"I ran into her on my way to find you guys."

"I hoped you were able to throw a couple of good punches at the lazy ass Sakura. Because he honestly needs a good wake up call." Naruto beamed at the girl as he held out his hand for her to grab.

Sakura shook her head in amusement. Every time these guys were together she could not help but to feel like her troubles were insignificant. "Well I should probably head back." Sakura could not help but feel a bit dejected that she had to go back. She did not want to leave the comfort of these four.

Naruto could sense the girl's slight mood change. "Would you like to join us, Sakura?"

Sakura could see that Naruto was trying to be polite and she was pretty sure that he would not really want her there, where ever 'there' was.

"Prettyyyyy pleasssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee." Naruto ended up latching to the girl's arms and begging with wide eyes. Sakura glancing at the blonde's pleading and then at the others before deciding to give in.

"Fine."

"Ya-"

"Dammit it Naruto! If I have to tell you to keep it down once more I will tie you up and gag you." Sasuke whispered yell at the blonde as he clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth and dragged him off. Sai ended up trailing on Naruto's other side to add in his insults here and there as the three lead the way leaving Sakura and Shikamaru to trail behind them.

"Sorry." Sakura broke the silence with her apology. She realized that she should not have allowed her emotions to get the better of her like that, especially towards someone she barely even knew. He had only been nice to her and there she was picking a fight with him. Thank goodness he knew how to fight. Otherwise she would have felt immensely guilty later for hurting him.

"Forget it." Sakura glanced to her right and she could see that he was slightly smiling. Seeing such a sight made her feel less guilty for picking a fight.

"So where are we headed?"

"It's a surprise." Sakura scowled but seeing the smirk on the brunette's face made her relax.

"So about my earlier question. Are you ok?" Sakura could not help but smile.

"Now why would you even need to ask?"

"You were walking with your brows furrowed and you seemed a bit distressed is all." Shikamaru continued to gaze at the sky while using his peripheral to look at the girl.

Sakura turned her head to analyze him. Although he was in the clear for being part of the Sarutobi household, she was not going to risk anyone else knowing about her situation. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm fine now." Shikamaru fully turned to the girl only to see her smile brightly at him. Knowing when to drop a subject, he let it slide, even if he felt there was something about her he felt that maybe it was better left unknown. If he REALLY wanted to know, he could always use his brain to figure it out but that would require too much work so he dismissed the thought before it even fully processed. The two went back to gazing at the sky.

Author's Note: Please let me know how you feel about the chapter if possible. Thank you for taking your time to read my story. XD