- The Black Knight -

Sakura anxiously paced the hallway outside the Summit chambers.

Shikamaru watches her shuffle back and forth, then back again. He's unable to comprehend how she has so much nervous energy after so little sleep. He's almost tempted to snag her shadow next time she passes and force her to sit still for one minute.

The idea comes and goes without him acting on it. He can't be bothered to stir up a single thread of inky shadow. The hallway is too warm and the omnipresent heat keeps lulling him into a lethargic, dream like state.

He hadn't slept very well either, despite how tired he'd been the night before. The little sleep he did get was spent tossing and turning in fitful nightmares: returning home to a mountain of paperwork, or Sakura laughing at him when he tries to hold her hand.

The rest of the morning hadn't gone much better. He'd spent the early hours with his head shoved under his pillow, drowning out the sounds of Utsuho doing push ups and Ruya washing his face again.

Inside the Summit Chambers, the Wind, Fire, Grass, River and Rain Daimyo are finishing up ruling over a trade bill proposed by Rain. The proposed bill would apparently cut taxes on medicines purchased for their prison system. As usual, a simple bill that could easily help people was being picked apart and debated to endless excess. Shikamaru marvels at how opposed people could to be to something that was so obviously for the greater good.

It sounded like the River General was weighing in on the issue now. Which ever way River voted, Shikamaru knew Grass and Rain would likely vote as well. Someone raises their voice inside the chamber, a muffled curse word that doesn't sound very diplomatic. The room devolves into more shouted arguments. The heat seems to be making everyone cranky today.

Sakura paces back and forth even faster. Her shoes were going to melt at this rate…

Alright, he couldn't take this anymore.

"For the love of God, Sakura-" He says, reaching out and snagging her wrist when it comes within snagging distance. Her head pops up from her sleep deprived spiraling. She looks at him like he's a stranger, or maybe like she's a stranger to herself. He let go of her wrist slowly, one finger at a time. Not even a minute later, she's back to pacing again.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asks, reclining further into his seat. There's a long hard bench built into the wall. He's half tempted to lay down on it and take a nap.

Sakura takes a deep breath, desperately trying to calm her nerves. "I don't think it matters if I'm ready or not, I just have to go in there and do what I can. I'm just hope I don't mix up the statistics or talk too fast or…"

She spins on her heel, turning on him with a rush of anxiety. "I can't do this. I think you should give the presentation, Shika-"

"Absolutely not." He admonishes, not even hesitating to cut her off. She was spiraling, and spiraling hard. He had to redirect her anxious energy. "You always freak out before you have to talk in front of a group. This isn't anything new and you know it. Remember when Tsunade made you take over her lecture series at the hospital?"

"I threw up outside the auditorium." She groans, covering her eyes with her hands. "Which is my point exactly, I can't-"

"-And then you eventually realized that you loved giving those lectures because you got to talk about medicine. You're good at breaking down complex ideas into things a student can understand. You're good at turning a hard question into a learning opportunity, and you're good at speaking from the heart."

"I am very bad with words!" She insists.

"You only think you're bad with words." Here, Shikamaru leaned forward in his seat. "You know what you have to do, right?"

Sakura looks at him, unconvinced. Her muscles scream that she wants to run away or maybe even pull the fire alarm. He leans his head into her line of sight until her eyes are singularly fixed on his.

"No…what?" She finally asks.

"Don't think of those people in there as Daimyo. Don't go in there and ask them to accept your proposal. Instead, think of them as your patients and tell them what they need to do for the health of their countries."

At this, Sakura stands up a little straiter. The thought hadn't occurred to her to look at them as patients. He can tell he's getting through to her, so he pushes his point home. "When you're at the hospital, you have no problem being bossy, or giving orders to people who severely outrank you. What's that thing you're always yelling at Kakashi?"

Sakura smiles a little here, the color beginning to come back to her face. "Medical science doesn't give a shit about your rank."

"Exactly. Now sit down you psychopath, before you collapse."

One by one, all the tiny knots in her shoulders begin to systematically untangle themselves. "You're right. I'm here as a doctor. I need to go in there and advocate like one."

With that, all the energy seemed to leave her body. She collapses down on the long bench beside him, close enough for their shoulders to touch. He hadn't expected her to sit so close, hadn't been prepared for such intimate contact…

Sakura did this some times when she was nervous, or having a really bad day. It was some kind of girl thing he didn't understand, but Sakura and Ino both got physically affectionate when they were stressed.

Ino expressed her affection by shoving him around playfully the way siblings do. But Sakura…She often gave him these small, unconscious touches. It was something she'd started doing after Sasuke went rogue and left the village. Ino had needed to explain to him it was Sakura's way of reassuring herself they were all still there.

He hadn't given the habit much though after that. Not until now, at least.

In all the years that they'd been friends, he'd never seen her touches for more than they were- a way for her to ground her overactive brain. He knew this because he was exactly the same way, overactive brain and all.

"I just wish you could be in there with me." She says. She leans over, resting her head heavily on his shoulder. Shit, she must be really nervous…

But a moment later, she closed her eyes, her breath gradually beginning to slow. She seems to have finally spent all her nervous energy and now she's crashing hard from the adrenaline high.

Hitoshi had dropped the bomb on them earlier that morning- only one of them would be allowed into the chamber to speak in front of the Daimyo panel. It was a policy meant to cut down on time spent listening to proposals. It didn't make sense in Shikamaru's mind, but it was what it was. Sakura would be giving her presentation alone.

"Come on, you don't need me in there." He says, feeling his face prickle hot with a blush. He tries not to read too much into her proximity. She was just stressing out of her mind. Despite his brain telling him he's being stupid, his heart takes control of his traitorous body. He lifts a hand and pats the side of her head, pulling her into the shell of his neck.

She melts into his side like she was born to be there, mumbling something he can't quite make out.

"What was that?" he asked, leaning down to hear her better.

"I said…" She takes in a deep breath, lingering in the moment before spilling her guts. "That I'll always need you, you lazy jerk. There, you happy now?" She turns her face away from him but keeps her head resting on his shoulder.

Inside Shikamaru's chest, his fragile heart ticks on like a time bomb. Any day now, his chest would explode, violently splattering his feeling for her all over the walls. His lungs would become a macabre graffiti, spelling out his secrets for anyone and everyone to see.

Falling hard for his best friend. What a total idiot. It would read.

He really needed to put a name to what ever these feeling were, to understand them before they killed him outright. He couldn't keep going on like this, ricocheting between friendly affection, heart pounding lust or… or something more. A more grown up feeling he'd never personally known, but had often seen his parents share.

He was absolutely losing his mind.

"I'll be listening at the door the entire time." He says, trying to gloss over her words and his feelings. "Don't get too lost in the statistics either. Speak to their minds, but also to their hearts."

She nods her head quietly, avoiding his eyes but still refusing to move away from him. He keep his hand resting against her head. They sat like that for a long time, listening to the Daimyo raise their voices. Grass and Rain continue to argue on.

Then, an idea comes to him. A stupid Shikamaru idea… "I know a way I could be in there with you. It's kind of dumb but.." It was more than dumb, it was totally stupid. She would probably laugh at him.

She lifts her head to look up at him. He tells himself he's imagining the blush dusting the bridge of her nose.

Reaching down under the bench, he pulls out the day-pack he'd brought with him. In it, he keeps a few emergency supplies, a bottle of water… but he'd also packed their travel chess set, just in case she wanted the distraction. It didn't take up much room at all, and it had become a habit now for him to keep it on hand. Taking the set out now, he unties the drawstring bag that holds all the game pieces together. From it, he removes a single tile.

"This is my favorite piece." He says, handing her the black knight. He tucks it into her outstretched hand where she stares at it, unblinking.

Inside the meeting chamber, Gaara's voice calls over the noise. "If you're ready, we will move on to the next item for consideration."

He can feel her blood pressure spike at the words. Her fingers close slowly over the tile. He wonders if she's about to laugh at him, but when she turns, she's no longer pale or afraid. She clutches the Knight in her hand like a lifeline, like no one is going to take it from her.

"You're going to go in there and give them hell. The hard work is already behind us, now it's time to drive it home." He knows he's babbling, saying nonsense things to try and hype her up at the last second. He knows she's about to walk into the lions den and demand the respect that's owed to her. He knows she's going to do just fine. "I'm just the plan guy, but you? You're the follow through. I promise, you're going to do just fine-"

His brain stops working. The world has turned sideways. She kisses the corner of his mouth, and her lips linger there like a burning star searing into every fiber of his being. His brain is screaming, telling him to kiss her back, to ask her if she care about him or if he's loosing his mind. But his body is paralyzed, unable to move. It's like someone is using his own Jutsu against him, freezing him to this very spot.

"Thank you, Shikamaru." She says. Her gaze doesn't meet his eyes, but her voice is cool determination. She stands up and walks over to the great double doors, shoulders squared and head held high. The time bomb in his chest becomes new years fireworks. She pushes her way into the chamber when Gaara calls her name. He watches her crack her neck like she's walking into battle.

He sits like that, frozen and alone in the hallway, unable to find his limbs again.

- A/N -

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