A/N:OMG, this update is so late. ;-; I do have a reason, though, and a good one: I've been in Seattle since the 22nd, without access to my computer, since it was here and all. I got back on Sunday, and worked all day to finish this. Hope you like. Read and Review! Thanks.

I walked timidly through the hospital, the guilt of not seeing Shikamaru all week bubbling back up into my throat. I hadn't been ignoring him on purpose… And it's not like he expected everyone to visit him every day. He had been in the hospital for two weeks now, and was set for release sometime next week.

I had gone to visit him almost every day the first week, save for Monday. The second week, I went every other day, and this week I've been once. Now, on Friday, the built up guilt had over taken me, and I was pretty much ready to pass out from it all. Which was why I, Sakura, was walking the hospital, heading into a room that contained my friend, Shikamaru, instead of hanging out with my boyfriend, Sasuke.

"Ohhhhh, maybe I should come back. I bet he's sleeping." I was a couple doors down from his room, and I didn't want to go in there. I was nervous. What if he was mad?

"Don't be silly, Sakura! You can do this!" I tried to pep myself up, to no avail. Why should I be so scared? It was only Shikamaru. The kid that's been plaguing my dreams ever… NO. Not thinking of that.

"Alright! Lets go!"

"Go where?" A curious voice asked from behind me. I turned to face the voice, my face probably looking a little 'sun burnt' at the moment.

I know, I should probably stop thinking out loud, and this kind of thing probably wouldn't happen to me. Standing behind me was a boy with shaggy red hair and teal eyes looking at me as though I should be in the psych-ward for this. He had bags underneath his eyes like nobody's business.

"Um, to go visit someone," I said timidly, wondering why I was talking to a stranger in a hospital.

"And you're afraid?" His voice didn't change much in tone after the initial curiosity. I would say that he had his eyebrow raised as a sign of interest, but he… didn't have any eyebrows. That was just a little bit weird.

"Um, kind of. "

"Any reason why you're scared?" For some reason, this question made me blush, and I had to look at the floor to try and hide my reddening cheeks. "Oh, it's your boyfriend," he said with a very certain understanding. "My sister used to go through them until one boy stopped her streak."

"N-No! Shikamaru's not my b-boyfriend! I have one of those!" I stammered, feeling quite stupid for being nervous about going into the room. I didn't need some travelling psychiatrist to tell me that I was being stupid.

"Oh, so you're here to see the boy genius," he growled, narrowing his eyes at me. "Yes, I recognize you now… You're Sakura." I gave him a very strange look, suddenly more uncomfortable with this situation than I would have been talking to Shikamaru. I guess he realized that he must have been freaking me out, because he suddenly spoke once more. "My sister Temari told me about you."



That bit of information took me by surprise. Not that fact that Temari talked about me, oh no; it was the fact that this boy was her brother.

"Brother? Temari's brother is Kankuro. Besides, I've never seen you at school."

"I know, we don't exactly look alike. I'm Gaara, Temari's brother with chronic insomnia. Apparently, going to school exhausted every day when your father is a very prominent person in society is not acceptable; therefore I am on the home-bound studies program."

"Oh," I said simply, feeling kind of mean for judging him right off the bat. He seemed like a really nice kid.

"Now," he said, the sharp edge apparent in his voice, "Why are you here to see Shikamaru?"

"Who's here to see- Oh, Sakura," a voice said from behind me. Everyone seemed to want to stay behind me today. I recognized it immediately as Shikamaru's voice, and I spun around to see him.

He looked pretty fine, despite the fact that he was on crutches and he had a bandage wrapped around his arm. His black hair hung by his face, instead of up in its usual spiky ponytail. "What are you doing here?"

"Dancing happily in my underwear," I responded.

"Well, that's a sight I'm glad I missed. Nothing more awkward than you in Pokémon undies," he said. He didn't seem so… fragile anymore. He was back to being Shikamaru. On crutches.

"Hey. Don't diss the Pokémon." I glanced over my shoulder to see that Gaara had left, probably bored with our bantering and off to find someone else to talk to instead of sleeping. Shikamaru noticed that he had left, also, and told me to follow him back to his room.

"They moved me, again, to a 'soon-to-be-released' room. It's horrible in there, but at least they let me walk around every once in a while. I'd rather be sitting outside, watching the clouds, but they refuse to let me go outside." I just nodded, following the quite skilled crutch user back to his new room.

He wasn't lying when he said that it was a horrible place; it had no windows, and the walls were a very boring white. It was tiny and cramped, so there was barely enough space for a bed and a bedside table. Probably noticing my incredulous look, he laughed, but I could see that the laugh was paining him. Probably a broken rib or two. "Told you so."

We both managed to situate ourselves on his bed, and then we got to talking. Or, we sat in silence for a bit while I mulled over my week and he stared at the ceiling. "So why are you here, Sakura?"

"To see you, duh," I said, smiling. "Why else would I be here?"

He frowned, and looked at me. "You knew I'd be out in less than a week, and you've been less than concerned with seeing me a lot recently. Anyway, you're acting strange… So I'm going to ask you again, why are you here?"



"And I will tell you again; to see you!" My anger spiked unexpectedly when my stubbornness kicked in. My hair flew around my face in a little whirl as I turned quickly to glare at him. I knew that I couldn't fool Shikamaru for long, especially not with this attitude, but it was worth a try.

His scowl deepened. "Liar."

"Dumbass."

"Bill board brow."

"Copy cat."

"Selfish," he responded, trying very hard not to break his scowl.

"Lazy," I said with a smile, finishing our name calling game.

"No denying that one." His scowl lightened after I smiled, and then he looked at me once again. "Now, will you please tell me what's going on? Ino keeps hinting at weird things that I feel I should know about, and Chouji won't tell me anything because he doesn't know any of it. Ino say's she's been 'sworn to secrecy, and Sakura will just have to tell you herself.'"

I sighed. "Geeze, she tries so hard to keep her mouth shut and just can't do it." I fell backwards onto the bed, and stared at the incredibly boring ceiling. I could feel his eyes on my body, and I fought the urge to sigh again. "It's about Sasuke."

"I wouldn't doubt it," he said snidely, probably frowning.

I let the comment pass without so much as a wince. I wanted to say something, but just couldn't. I really did want to defend him. "Well, he's just been so strange lately. It's like he's trying to pull me away from things I want to do and people I want to hang out with. But he's not demanding it."

"Huh?" Shikamaru said. "You're not making the most sense right now, Sakura."

"Okay. Like, say I want to hang out with Ino. He will be like "Wow, that sounds like an amazing time. But I was hoping that we could go to this party tonight… I mean, you've just been seeing so much of Ino ever since this thing with Shikamaru, and I kinda feel left out. But don't worry; I can get someone else to go." See what I mean by not demanding it?"

"Yeah, I get it know. It's like he wants you to do something that he wants to do and make it seem like it was your idea to go with him."

"I guess so."

I stayed on the bed, still thinking. "So what's the problem?" He asked.



Frowning, I responded, "It just makes me feel weak, you know? I'll call off my plans with someone to hang with him when he does it, and it makes me feel like I really had no choice, when I had every choice in the world."

I rolled over, choosing not to face Shikamaru as he slumped backwards onto the bed with me. I knew that he was just as concerned with this as I was… He probably knew what was going on.

"So you feel bad for him… He's manipulating you?"

"No need to say it like that," I said coolly. I knew he was grinning at my tone and behavior. I hated it. I really hated coming to him for advice like this, but I had to. I needed a best friend.

Or you like him.

"Sakura… Have you ever thought it just won't work out? That this… this thing with Sasuke isn't really right for you?" I tensed up, surprisingly mad about his thoughts. How dare he tell me this? Sasuke was my boyfriend. I like him.

You're angry because you're thinking it, too.

"I did, for a second. But then I realized I really liked him. I really like him a lot." I felt bad for saying this. A few weeks ago, I had had this dream about Shikamaru and me getting married. It's weird to think about, but strangely, I liked it. And it has been on my mind, that little fact that I was happy to see him being married to me, and that has been tearing me apart. I didn't come here today to talk about Sasuke. Not entirely.

I came here to see if my heart would flutter when I saw Shikamaru, or if it was all an illusion. I was really hoping it was just an illusion. But I was not so lucky. I could feel it, coming back like a disease that was slowly killing me. Why must he do this to me?

"Really? You don't sound like you're all that fond of him, Sakura."

"Shut up."

"Why did you come here if you don't want to hear what I think? Why bring this up if you don't want to listen to my opinions about your relationship?" His tone went from thoughtful to accusatory in a matter of seconds. My stubbornness and confusion can do that to him.

We sat in silence for a while. I didn't want to say anything for fear of blowing up again. I needed to calm down. I needed to get over Shikamaru once and for all.

But I can't, can I?

A slight buzzing came from my pocket as we laid there. In one quick moment, I had my phone out of my pocket. One New Text! It exclaimed happily from the little view screen I could see. Shikamaru grunted, and I flipped open my phone to read it. To my surprise, it was a text from Temari.



"sakura, we ned 2 talk l8er bout sasu and shika n ur visit 2 hospital 2day."

I stared in confusion at the text. Not the text talk, oh no, but the fact she knew I was here. Gaara must have talked to her since I got here… Oh man, she's probably going to blackmail me. Like she knew I liked Shikamaru. OH NO! And if she told Karin, I'd be screwed. Karin might like me, but she likes Sasuke so much more.

After a few seconds I responded. 'OK. Wut time?'

Shikamaru made his grunt again, and I closed the phone as the message sent. With more pressing matters on my mind, my little blowup at Shikamaru seemed ridiculous and childish. Heck, a lot of our fights seemed ridiculous and childish.

"Shikamaru… I didn't mean to get so angry about this. It's just… I- I'm so confused." Confused was a good way to put it.

I rolled back over so I was staring at the ceiling instead of the wall, and he spoke. "It's okay. I shouldn't have spoken like that to you."

"Good God, don't we sound like a sappy moment in a soap opera…"

He laughed, and I couldn't help but smile as I sat back up. He just laid there like a bump on a log, eyes closed, reverting back to his usual lazy state. I just looked at him, and it hit me how much I liked the way his hair looked when it was down. It framed it face quite nicely, and it was like he was a different person without changing at all.

It was nice.

"Let's go outside," I said suddenly, getting the urge to run around in fresh air. He opened his eyes, and stared up at me.

"I can't," he responded simply, confused as mess as to why I suddenly wanted to go outdoors.

I laughed. "And who really cares? You're almost out of this joint. You're probably too lazy to break any rules, so they won't be watching you. You haven't been outside in forever. Let's go. It's a nice day; we can watch the clouds."

He sat up slowly and looked at me in the eye. He was giving it great consideration, weighing out every possibility. I could see the gears turning inside of his head, and when he finally grinned, I knew that he was going to say yes.

"Alright. Let's break out of this prison." I smiled, and slid of the bed. Shikamaru followed suit, grabbing his crutches and walking toward the door. He went our first, and I followed him once more, toward who knows where.



Judging by the way he went through out the halls, he probably knew where all the good exits to escape from where. And the more that he slid through the hallways, I had a feeling that he had already been outside a few times before I suggested it. Sneaky little boy, letting me think I was liberating him.

Unnoticed save for a few non nurses and the vending machine guy, we made our way out of the door and to the outside world. True to my word, it was a perfect day to sit back and watch the clouds. We moved out to a small garden type thing that was on the side of the hospital, and sat down on a bench.

Another buzz came from my pocket. 'ur house, 8:30 pm 2nite' I put away my phone, and turned to Shikamaru.

An hour later, we were still outside, having a rather interesting conversation.

"Oh, come on, Shikamaru. Tell me who this girl is."

"No."

"Please? I want to know who she is!"

"No."

I paused for a second. We had come upon this conversation solely because she had made a comment about this girl he liked, and I immediately jumped on him about it. Part of it was actual curiosity because my friend liked someone. The other part was the fact that this boy that I used to like and kind of like now liked someone. Most likely, another girl.

"All right. What grade is she in?"

"I can say that. Our grade."

"Do I know her?"

"Yes."

"Do I know her well?"

"How am I supposed to know."

I frowned. He was probably avoiding giving me a real answer for that one, since that would give it away if I did know her well. There was all of Ino and Hinata, really. I mean, there are others, but I only know those two really well.

The silence extended for a few seconds as I thought about who it might be. "So,what about Tayuya?" I asked quietly, remembering the last night before the hospital.

As soon as I asked, I immediately wished I hadn't set a word. Shikamaru got this weird look on his face, as though I had stepped on a mine or something. I was truly scared that he would get up and leave. We sat in an awkward silence for what felt like ages. It just stretched on and on…



And on. "God, Shikamaru, I'm sorry. I did-"

He cut me off right there with a speech of his own. "I… I don't think I ever really liked Tayuya. I think she was just a way for me to show you I was just fine without you."

"I don't know, the way you were kissing her at that party… And why would you want to show me that?"

"Oh, haha. And because you were getting over our fight really quickly, by going to a party with Sasuke and getting to know all of those people. All the people we used to dislike were your friends. And I needed a way to get back at you. Tayuya was suddenly thrown into the equation the day I found out she was the person who parked next to me. That say, she was such a wreck. I was late getting to my car, and she was just sitting in hers, crying. Regardless of my not knowing her, she looked hurt. She reminded me somewhat of you when I knocked on the window. Aha, this is probably so boring and useless to you."

I was captivated by his story, despite my deep dislike of Tayuya. "No, go on," I urged, wondering why he was telling me all of this. Maybe sitting inside that hospital no really getting to talk to anyone as getting to him. But I liked him in this "pass on the Wisdom" mood of his.

"Well, I knocked on the window, and she looked really startled. She rolled down the window, and asked me who the fuck I was. I told her my name, and I asked her what was wrong. I mean, what kind of man leaves a crying woman in a car? Anyway, she went off on this little rant about her boyfriend, and how much of an ass he was, and how she hated him. I just listened. She went on and on, and I just listened. At the end of her rant, she introduced herself as Tayuya Otoga. She called me a little dumbass for talking to her, but asked for my number anyway. 'Just in case I need a friend.' She had told me with a smile as she started her car to leave. I stood there as she pulled out of her spot, and watched her leave the parking lot.

"About a day later, she called me after school and asked me if I wanted to go to get something to eat or something. I was going to say no, but then I saw you sitting there, talking to Sasuke, and I just agreed without thinking about it. I don't know why, but I decided then and there that I would get over our broken friendship as well as you had. I met her at a fast food joint, and we started talking about different things. She seemed fully over her boyfriend by then, which was weird to me, but I went along with it. We talked over a number of subjects, like school and interests. She liked playing the flute, but never joined the band because she didn't like one of the girls in it. She called her a whore more times than I can count. We did this talking thing more and more after school, and I was starting to feel better for the first time in a while.

"Well, one day, she asked me about you."

"What?" I asked, suddenly confused. Why would Tayuya ask about me of all people? I mean, even if I hated Shikamaru at the time… Actually, especially because I hated him at the time. I wouldn't have been talking to him.

"Apparently, she had heard the drama. And she asked me what was going on with the pink headed girl that hung around a lot with Sasuke and Neji, and I guess my silence must have told the entire thing. I 

couldn't answer her. I just sat there, staring at the table, feeling like an idiot for not being able to talk about it. I imagined you laughing at me with all of your friends, and yet I still couldn't stand to say something that could come and make you even more mad at me. So I kept quiet. But she realized what was going on, and smiled. "I can make up for what you lost," she said to me, and then kissed me. Out of the blue, she kissed me, and I liked it. She told me that there was no reason to waste my relationships on you, and that she would make up for years of no girlfriend in days. I just accepted that and decided that I was going to like Tayuya. This was a few days before the party, and we spent a lot of the time between after that kissing.

"But now that I'm here, and she hasn't visited or called, I knew that we were both just using the other one. She was talking to her ex- boyfriend after our fight, and stopped whenever I came out, angry. She told me that I looked hot angry, and tried to kiss me again, but I told her to stop, because we both knew it was just a show for him. There was no denying it, and now I know it was just rebound. And I don't care." He paused for a second. I was amazed at his story. I affected him so much…

Wow.

"So… who is the girl again?"

"It's y-…" he said. My mind flew to the girl, Yuki, from our biology class. Rumors had been flying lately that she did like Shikamaru, and I suddenly didn't like her very much, either.

"Oh, finish? Please?"

"No," he said, and I knew that my quick question had really made him mad. I glanced down at my phone, and noticed it was 6:53pm. I had been here for almost four hours, talking to Shikamaru. I had to get home for dinner and I had to make sure I was there when Temari came over.

"Well, as enlightening as this day has been, I really have to be getting home. I do hope you understand." I waited for his response, but he just nodded and kept his mouth shut. I must have made him mad, like really mad. Or he was just tired of talking. "Okay, well… bye."

"Bye, Sakura. See you when I get out?"

"Of course," I said as we both got up and started toward our destinations. He went toward the hospital, and I moved to my car.

"I almost told her that I like her," he mumbled.

As I was walking away I could have sworn I heard him say something. But when I turned around, he was inside. "I wonder what that was…" I said as I climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. I raced home, careful not to go too fast though. The Konoha police were quite scary people, even if they were all of Sasuke's relatives. They were cops who were unafraid to give tickets, not caring who you knew or anything.



When I got home, my parents made no mention of my lateness. My mother just told me that my plate was in the fridge, and so I went to go eat. It was weird for them not to get on me, like they do when I stay out a little late because of Sasuke. I guess Shikamaru was a different story for them. He was my best friend, after all.

8:30 inched nearer at I sat there and ate my meal. I was nervous about what we were going to talk about, and why she needed to talk to me tonight. I guess it couldn't wait until tomorrow, and it was very serious, or else it could be done over the phone. Oh geeze, I was not looking forward to this. She was Karin's friend that wanted to kill Tenten because Neji liked her now. I stood no chance.

Finally, 8:30 was here, and pretty soon after that, the doorbell rang. I walked slowly through my house, wanting to know what was going on, but not wanting to see Temari. What if she was going to beat me up? She could probably kill me; I had no real fighting skills what so ever. Maybe if I had some enhancer, I could totally punch her through a wall or some crazy shit like that. But I didn't.

I opened the door slowly, and I saw Temari standing there, just as I knew she would be. But she wasn't angry looking. On the contrary, she looked as nervous as I must have looked to her.

"Hi Temari. Come on in," I said, stepping aside and waiting for her to take her shoes off. We walked to the empty living room (I have told my parents that I didn't want them to be there when Temari was over) and both took a seat.

"So, what do we need to talk about?"

"Well… It's about Sasuke and Karin…" She paused. She looked nervous. "I don't know how to say this…"

I got an incredibly bad feeling at this point. "Y-yes?"

"Well…"

A/N: Yeah, that's what they call a cliffhanger. NOW. I want to say, I like hos well this story is doing. It's noting compared to Plan Sasuke Ino Breakup, but it's my 3rd highest on hits and reviews. I'd like to push that to second, please! My Tenten story has 4600 hits, while this one only has 2500. I'd like for that to go up, even though I don't think it will ever beat it. No, what I want is to beat it review wise. I, Sakura has 46 reviews (THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU!) while Tenten's MP3 Player has 55. Let's see if we can't get 10 reviews for this chapter so it can be second highest! Please? Please? THANK YOU! And remember to tell all your ShikaSaku loving friends, too. AND OH! I be writing Ouran fic soon. You readz? Now I really have to go before my carpal tunnel sets in or something. My wrist hurts...

ENJOY! REVIEW! TRY TO REACH 10 MORE REVIEWS!

And this chapter made me like Tayuya. I'm not supposed to like Tayuya... But telling her and Shikamaru's story was... well, I think I mghit like her now. D;