"Oi, Sakura!"

Sakura smiled at the vendor as he handed back her change. She grabbed her newly sharpened weapons off the table carefully and turned to face the boy who had called out to her.

"Ah, Shikamaru-san. How are you?"

He stopped a few feet in front of her, hands in pockets and a determined look on his normally bored face. "Play shogi against me."

"Yes, hello, good to see you as well." Shikamaru rolled his eyes dramatically and Sakura idly wondered if they would one day fall out of his head. This particular habit was something that had followed him into the adulthood of her time.

"I want you to play shogi with me."

Sakura was busy packing her kunai into the pack on her leg and she nodded distractedly. "That's nice, Shikamaru-san. I want one million ryo."

"… what?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were arbitrarily naming off things we want. Is that not the game?"

He sighed and asked through gritted teeth, "Sakura-san, would you please play shogi with me? I would very much enjoy the pleasure of your company."

Finished with her weapons, she gave him a blinding smile. "Why, Shikamaru-san! I would be ever so delighted." She motioned with her hand ostentatiously. "Lead on, good sir." He turned on his heel, grumbling under his breath, not looking to see if she followed. She did, laughing the entire way out of the marketplace.

Shikamaru brought her through the Nara Forest as a shortcut, aiming to get at the board on the outdoor porch before his father knew they were there. He had already endured enough pointed comments about "Sakura-chan" in the past several weeks since she had soundly trounced him on the training grounds. He didn't want to bring down more trouble on his head, but he could not get the way she had easily seen through his father's strategy out of his mind. Shogi was his only real hobby outside of cloud watching and Shikaku was not always available to play when he wanted. If Sakura was as good as he hoped, Shikamaru wasn't going to let her just fade away.

They stepped out of the forest and he chanced a quick look around for his father, hoping for the first time that he was still working. Sakura followed him with an amused look on her face, stepping quietly so she wouldn't spook the deer nearby. They had stopped grazing to stare at the two children curiously, but didn't seem overly anxious by their presence. Shikamaru was surprised by the behavior; generally the deer were skittish around strangers.

He waved her over to the board and they each took a seat. Sakura was the first to speak. "So who were you looking for earlier? You seemed pretty relieved when there was no one here."

His shoulders tensed, but he kept setting up the pieces with a practiced ease. "My father has been bugging me lately. Apparently you impressed him and he's nosy."

Sakura snorted in amusement. "The greatest military mind in Konoha whittled down to "nosy" in his own son's words. That's harsh, Shikamaru-san."

"I agree. I'm hurt, son. Truly." Shikamaru's head whipped up at Shikaku's voice, annoyance warring with wariness on his face. His father leaned against the doorway casually, an unopened bottle of sake dangling in his hand. "I was just coming to see if you wanted to play, but it looks like you've already got yourself a little friend!" He lowered himself down on a cushion not far from them and relaxed. "A friend who is generous with her compliments. I'm not sure I would say "greatest", Sakura-chan, but I appreciate it nonetheless."

Sakura giggled behind her hands as Shikamaru finished setting the board, frown now firmly in place as it became clear that his father was not going to leave. "You're welcome, Nara-san. I spoke only the truth."

"Are you two done? We can start now, Sakura."

"You're so touchy today, Shikamaru-san." She had black, so she made the first move, intending to win as quickly as possible. As an adult, when she played against Shikamaru she lost more often than she would like to remember and had never won against Shikaku. If she couldn't manage to beat an eight year old Shikamaru, Sakura was going to scream, quietly, in her own head.

The porch remained quiet as they contemplated strategy, the only sound being the soft clicks of the wooden pieces as they were placed with confidence. Shikamaru was intensely focused on the board, pointedly ignoring his father's existence.

Shikaku himself was highly entertained by the proceedings, for all that they were being deliberated in silence. He sipped his sake as he watched his son trying desperately to understand his classmate's strategy and losing, though he wasn't quite aware of it yet.

Sakura-chan is as good as she said she was. I've definitely used that technique on Shikamaru before.

He watched as she made a series of drops around the board and saw Shikamaru's eyes widen as he finally realized what she was doing. He made a valiant effort to fight back, but within thirty minutes his king was in check and the game was over.

Sakura stretched her arms over her head and rolled her shoulders. "That was fun, Shikamaru-san, but I have go home now. I'm sure the boys are wondering where I am."

He was still staring at the board with a slack face, but looked up in alarm when he realized she was leaving. "I didn't know you had brothers. Can't they wait for you to have one more game?"

"Brothers? Hah! They wish. Naruto and Sasuke are more like … quarreling puppies who eat my food. I have to leave now so that I can prepare dinner for us."

Shikaku knew those names. He would have to pester Shikamaru later about her relationship to the Kyuubi jinchuriki and the last Uchiha. To make sure the village was safe, of course. It had absolutely nothing to do with his natural paternal instinct to smush Sakura and Shikamaru's faces together and demand "now kiss!" They were eight, after all. He'd wait a few years before he took any drastic action.

TWO YEARS LATER

Sakura watched Shikamaru drop a piece onto the board and sighed. He had always played exceptionally well and her win/loss ratio was quickly approaching something embarrassing for her, being an actual adult with more experience. With the proper motivation Shikamaru had turned into a monster, soaking up all her best strategies and turning them against her to great effect.

"The boys and I met our new sensei a few days ago. He's kind of strange."

Shikamaru moved his gold general one more spot closer to her king. "Oh? That's a bit of a hypocritical statement coming from you, Sakura."

She stared at the board and huffed, both at her dire position and his comment. She made a token effort of retreat. "I am simply unique, Shikamaru. It's not my fault you can't appreciate it." Sakura watched in despair as he captured her bishop. "He reads porn right in front of us! And he kept calling me Pinky."

Shikaku was in his normal spot on the porch, pretending like he wasn't listening to their conversation. At this point, Sakura was forced to agree with Shikamaru's assessment - he was nosy.

Shikamaru laughed at her disgruntled expression, unhealthily delighted at the nickname. He opened his mouth to comment, but she interrupted. "No, you may not call me that." He looked as if he was going to argue when she continued, "Or would you like to adjourn to the training grounds? I'm feeling a little frustrated right now and I'm sure you'd love to be my sparring partner." Shikamaru let his mouth close with an audible click of teeth, not willing to continue that line of conversation. No matter how many times he had bested her at shogi, she had always overwhelmed him when it came down to a physical battle.

There was a knock on the door and it slid open immediately after to reveal Ino, who was clearly at ease in the household. Sakura stiffened, awkward in the presence of her once best friend. She had not needed the boost of self-esteem that Ino had originally provided her this time around and their friendship had fallen by the wayside as she busied herself taking care of Naruto and Sasuke, building up necessary allies and maintaining her summoned spy network. Sakura hadn't spoken to her in months and even then it was barely civil, Ino's anger at being left out had been clear. She wasn't sure how to repair the damage, or even if she could.

"Shikaku-san! My dad sent me with a message for you. I guess it was urgent enough to use me as a carrier pigeon." Ino rolled her eyes and handed him the scroll in her hand. She then noticed the two shogi players. "Shikamaru! And … Forehead?"

She waved hesitantly. "Hi, Ino."

Ino put her hands on her hips and nose in the air, addressing Shikamaru. "I didn't know you were friends with her."

"We play shogi. Obviously." Shikamaru was bewildered at her attitude. He knew that Ino and Sakura weren't best friends since she had taken up with Naruto and Sasuke, but Ino's behavior suggested a falling out rather than a fade away. "Don't be rude, Ino."

"That's rich coming from you!"

"I'm not the one who barged into someone else's house and started insulting their guests."

Ino crossed her arms defiantly. "It's her fault that Sasuke-kun is gone from our class! She stole him from us."

Shikamaru groaned. "Is that really what this is about? That sour-faced Uchiha?"

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun!"

"Ino." The two kept squabbling like the childhood friends they were. "Ino!" The blonde started and looked at Sakura like she had two heads. "You know that Sasuke is one of my best friends. You can't steal someone like a piece of furniture. He graduated early because he deserved to."

"Still! You weaseled your way into his good graces, pretending to be his friend so you could kiss up to him!" Shikamaru made a disgusted face at the image.

"You know that isn't true!" Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wondering if there was a way to fix this. Isn't that what she came back for? To fix things? If she couldn't figure out how to work around her oldest friend's insecurities, how could she possibly take on the Akatsuki? This was a simple matter of a girl wanting the attention of a boy, surely she could manage that. An idea formed in her head and she wondered if Ino would take the bait.

"I just want Sasuke to be happy. I'll make you a deal." She paused for dramatic effect, something she knew Ino would appreciate in the back of her mind. "If Sasuke ever displays any sort of romantic interest in you, I will not interfere, no matter what."

Her friend gaped at her, flabbergasted. "W-what?"

"I'm a genin now and I'm going to have my hands full enough trying to keep those two from killing themselves - or each other." At this, Shikamaru snorted with laughter; Naruto and Sasuke's friendship had only heightened their rivalry, a well-known fact in their Academy class. "I don't have time for anything else."

Shikaku interrupted. "Ino-chan, please take this back to your father." He gave her the scroll she had arrived with, coded reply scrawled under Inoichi's neat characters. Startled, Ino stared down at her hand like she had forgotten where she was.

"O-okay, Shikaku-san. Thank you." She waved to him and Shikamaru and hesitantly nodded at Sakura, who called out to her.

"Ino, just … think about it, okay?" The blonde left through the open door with a flip of her long hair, looking thoughtful.

She stared after her for a long moment until Shikamaru resumed their game by dropping a piece with a loud clatter on the wooden board. He shook his head. "She has been insufferable about that stupid Uchiha lately. It's troublesome."

"You did hear the part where he's my best friend, right?"

"Eh." He moved his hand lazily, as if shooing the thought away. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"That you're not interested in him. Or were you just saying that for Ino's sake?"

She moved her king out of the danger zone triumphantly. "You know, I never actually said I wasn't interested." Shikamaru paused, his hand hovering over the board. "But I'm really not. He and Naruto are like family to me."

"Ah." He didn't sound particularly convinced.

Sakura sighed, resigned to the fact that no matter what time she was in, she was taken as a Sasuke fan girl. "Shikamaru, we're ten. I'm not about to tie myself down to a man before he even hits puberty." Her friend's cheeks tinted red at her blunt statement and Shikaku coughed suspiciously. It sounded more like terribly muffled laughter.

Shikamaru stared at the board, feeling inwardly pleased at Sakura's response. He knew that she was too smart to fall for the Uchiha's pretty boy looks, but they were such close friends that he had doubted Ino's proclamation that "Sasuke-kun couldn't possibly be interested in such a big forehead and weird hair." He thought Sakura had a pretty normal forehead, all things considered and her strange hair color was just a natural complement to her eccentric personality.

Shikaku eyed his son's pensive face.

Maybe there's hope for the boy yet!

Sakura suddenly grinned mischievously. "Besides, who says I wouldn't want to go for an older man? I bet Kakashi-sensei is pretty handsome under that mask of his." Her smile widened as both Naras choked at the thought, Shikamaru with shock and Shikaku with blatant amusement.

He couldn't wait to talk to Inoichi tomorrow.