/Surprise, I am still alive, so here is a new chapter for you guys. I know, as per usual I am late at updates. Really late, but I was lost on the road of life.

Ah, anyway here is the chapter hope you enjoy. Oh and Shikamaru might act a bit ooc, but oh well. Also, Sakura and Shikamaru is going to develop a friendship before anything else/

Ch. 6

Sakura woke up later that day in her bed feeling warm and fuzzy snuggling in the sheets of her own bed. Unknown to her it wasn't her bed and there where quite a few people around her looking just a bit worried. She could hear the mumbling and opened her eyes to an all to white ceiling, she blinked once then twice before she remembered everything that had happened and cursed herself. Once again, I am weak and manage to faint, during a training fight She couldn't help but feel a bit defeated as the thought passed her. Slowly she looked around the room, she was in the hospital and in her room was Naruto and Sasuke bickering over something dumb, Kakashi-sensei was reading his book while enduring Aoba-san's harsh glare and luckily, she didn't spot her parents.

Bracing herself for their disappointed looks she rose up to a sitting position gaining the attention of the whole room. "SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto was, of course, the first to break the tiny silence that had come over the room as soon she moved. The blond jumped at her side and gave her a hug and telling her how great she had been and asking her if everything was alright with her. Sasuke just stood there, but he didn't look as annoyed as he used to be. Kakashi gave the girl a small eye smile and Aoba told Naruto to give her some space.

"I.." she was somewhat lost for words, there they all more or less smiled at her (Except Sasuke of course). "I am fine, but what happened?" she had to ask just to make sure. "Ah, Sakura-san, you fainted for overworking yourself without a proper meal" Aoba answered his in a rather matter of fact tone giving her a look over, she could tell that he was disappointed in her eating habit and now she finally understood why it was so important to eat good meals.

"Anyway, I am giving you the weekend off to study and relax. Kakashi-san and I have a training schedule to discuss, so if you will excuse us" the man said and ruffled Sakura's hair before he dragged their sensei out of the room. Sakura who was still in somewhat of a haze only blinked after them.

Her eyes then trailed over to her team, Naruto was still beaming at her and Sasuke was studying her. His eyes locked with hers and she felt a tiny blush creep up her face. "I think…" Sasuke started slowly as if he was hesitant to speak "that you to both might not be as bad as you started" he draws his breath and continued on before Naruto could say something. "And I believe it would benefit me to work a bit more as a team" His eyes are looking hard on the ceiling. Sakura smiled at him and even Naruto smiled before ruining the moment "Of course Teme, we are awesome, with Sakura-chan's quick thinking and all my awesome powers we can help you do whatever you want to!"

Sakura could almost feel at home, and maybe, just maybe this wasn't a bad team, maybe they could become a good team. Even Sasuke believed a bit in all of them, so maybe she should believe in herself now. "Yeah, I think we can be a great team, I promise, I won't let you both down" she felt tears trying to sneak out, but she suppressed them and smiled instead. "Maybe we should have dinner together today?" her voice was hopeful, now more than ever.

And to her delight, Naruto beamed and gave a thumb up and Sasuke nodded with a "hn". She really couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy, and she was sure nothing could bring her mood down.

And after a few moments getting out of bed and signing all the papers she was out in the fresh air heading to one of the many restaurants. It had been decided that they needed proper food, so ramen was out of the question and Sakura also knew that just dango wouldn't do. Luckily, they found something and got a both for themselves.

Sakura had ended up sitting beside Naruto because he had taken that seat faster than one could blink. They all ordered their meat and vegetables and soon they started to girl them all in peace. If you could call the small bickering between Naruto and Sasuke peace, but somehow that was just how it was supposed to be with them, at least in Sakura's eyes. At one point she had snorted at something that was said between her teammates and they, in turn, looked at her weirdly but shook it off.

Luck was on the other hand not something they had much of and soon the peace between them broke from a high pitched "Sasuke-kun!" and all eyes turned to a blond girl who was dragging her teammates in. Everyone sighed, but before anyone could say anything to protest team 10 was at their table. Ino pressed herself down beside Sasuke, Chōji sat down beside Sasuke and smiled apologizing to them and Shikamaru dumped down beside Sakura shaking his head. Everyone knew that it was impossible to convince Ino into anything else.

Sakura gritted her teeth, but she smiled as sweetly as ever. "Ah, Ino, I didn't know you were still around. I see you are still chasing a fantasy" Sakura herself had after all slowly come to the term that Sasuke wouldn't accept anyone's feeling until his goal was reached, she also had been taking with Aoba. The man was rather wise, and he had told Sakura to drop the crush and start to think of Sasuke as a teammate. At first, she thought it was stupid and that her love for Sasuke was great, but the week away from him had given her a goal. It had given her something she wanted herself and now she still liked Sasuke, but she knew better than to chase him and waste energy on that. After all, she needed to be strong and thinking of Sasuke or any boy had not made her strong. She needed to focus on herself before she could think of other people.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here billboard" Ino shrugged it off and continued with seducing Sasuke or at least try. Sakura just shook her head, she could still feel her heartache at wanting more, but she pushed away that and instead looked at Shikamaru. She gave the boy a smile "Ne, Shikamaru-san, are your team nominated?" she was after all curious if their team was the only one and who else was going to take the exam. Said boy looked at her and nodded "It's such a drag because Asuma-sensei is putting us through hell with training" Sakura snickered and looked at Naruto and Chōji who were eating and chatting them amongst and she smiled fondly. Maybe, just maybe she could hang out with people more often, but who she didn't know.

Her emerald eyes turned over to the lazy boy and nodded "Well, at least you get to train and be prepared..." She lowered her voice so only he could hear her "I had to find another teacher you know" her smile was small, but she could see that Shikamaru saw through it. They may not have talked much during the academy, but she had wanted to. He was smart after all, and when she didn't understand a thing or wanted to learn more, she wished she could have talked to him. "Mmh, such a drag, I think the luckiest team is team 8" he answered her before putting some meat in his mouth. "She is rather kind, and don't push her team that much, just about enough"

Sakura was a bit shocked, she still couldn't believe she was speaking with Shikamaru, but she found out that she enjoyed it. He was relaxed and straightforward and it looked like she didn't bother him that much, even if he complained about both Naruto riling up Chōji and Ino's high pitched voice giving him a headache.

Soon they were done eating though and everyone started to separate to get to their homes, at first Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru went the same way and Chōji, Sasuke and Ino was going in somewhat the same way. Before she knew it, however, she and Shikamaru was walking together alone chatting idly about their team.

Shikamaru was far from blind, Sakura had changed a lot from the blind fangirl to a more pleasant girl. She seemed more grownup and a lot less annoying that almost every other girl her age. She wasn't loud like Naruto, nor did she have a stick up her ass like Sasuke and she definitely hadn't that high-pitched voice Ino had, no Sakura had turned out to be a rather pleasant girl. So when they were nearing their end of the road splitting them up he did something unexpected. Later he would blame it on his curiosity for this new Sakura and only that.

"Ne, Sakura, I was wondering if you would go star watching with me?" Shikamaru asks in an uninterested voice looking ahead in case she tried to read into it to much. "eh.." Sakura was surprised and looked at the boy beside her, she had hoped to get a chance to talk a bit more with him. She had hoped to ask him if he could help her with tactics. "Mmh, sure Shikamaru-san, but I would like to ask you… If you don't mind me asking, that is… Would you, maybe, help me get ready with some tactic and training?" she asked holding her breath and when he just looked at her surprise written all over his face she continued a bit fanatical. "I know your not a fan of training and stuff, but I know your good, or actually a genius" she stumbled a bit in her own words, she was after all asking something big of him and they weren't even friends. "Bu-but I need to get stronger to protect those around me, and help my team, so if it's not too much to ask for…" she was at this point looking at her feet and fiddling with the hems on her sleeves. She was trying to distract herself from her own stupidity and therefore she never noticed the tiny smile Shikamaru gain.

"Sure, if you watch the stars with me, I might have a few hours without it being too much of a drag" He said slowly scratching his head. He could turn down most people, but the way she was standing stiff and the way her eyes reflected things she didn't want others to see, fear, he couldn't turn her down. No, he couldn't turn down people that truly needed his help, even if it was boring or a drag.

Sakura's eyes shoot up to the boy before her, the way he scratched his head awkwardly and the way he no longer looked at her made her blink before a heat rose to her chin from embarrassment. She had felt her tears trying to press forward, but once again she could push them down and before she knew it she gave him a hug as she realized what he said. "Thank you, it means a lot to me!" Realizing once more what she had done she scratched her chin "And yeah, of course, stargazing! Right this way, or maybe you know a spot?" she tried to calm a beating heart that tried to jump out of her chest and turned away from him.

Shikamaru was shocked once more, was this really Sakura? He never remembered her so friendly towards anyone except for Sasuke and maybe Ino before those two became rivals. He looked at her back feeling a light tingling and some red creep up to his own chin, he never expected the hug from her. "Mmh, troublesome, I know a spot in the Nara forest?" he waited for her approval and when she slowly turned towards him with a nod he started to walk.

All the way over to the spot Shikamaru knew went in silence except for maybe a few words exchanged between them. Luckily it was a comfortable one, not at first but it didn't take long before the embarrassment was pushed out of both teens head. It didn't take long for them to arrive, just about 20 minutes, and Sakura found the please lovely.

"So, let me guess, this is where you escape when Ino is being too annoying or someone is nagging you?" she smirked at him and he just gave a shrug and a nod. "Yeah, it's quiet and sometimes even the deer come past" he added and laid down in the tall grass looking up at the clear sky. "It's relaxing," he said and clapped beside him. Sakura didn't answer as she just laid down beside him.

True to Shikamaru's word, it was relaxing and maybe just what she needed. She couldn't remember the last time she had relaxed, maybe before the wave mission? Shaking out that though she looked at the stars above them and felt a small smile spread on her face. "Thank you Shikamaru" she whispered before the silence enveloped around them and both teens drifted away into a comfortable sleep out in the open. The last thought on both teens mind was 'maybe being with him/her isn't the worst idea ever, maybe we could be friends?' And later that night they were found by two teachers who had been called by some worried parents since their children never came home.

"Ha, never knew they would fall asleep here and what surprise me more, together" the one with brown hair commented taking a sip for a cigar he had lighted. The silver-haired man hummed in agreement. "She has grown you know, maybe this can benefit them both" he said with a knowing look. "Ah well, better get them to their houses" And soon both Shikamaru and Sakura was whisked away and lulled into their own beds still fast asleep and both had a smile on their face indicating a good dream.