Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Shikamaru x Sakura
Genre: Romance (het), General
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Many people have misconceptions of others, and Sakura was definitely one of them. Even at nineteen, she assumed Shikamaru was a lazy, whiny jounin. How wrong she was.

Misconceptions

by thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops (both me)

There were several dozen glass vials scattered across Sakura's work area. Even though it looked severely chaotic, each of them was clearly labeled with the name of the substance and any warnings needed about what was inside each glass tube. Sakura had been too busy the last few days to organize her designated lab table, and the mess just seemed to grow and grow.

She harrumphed as she squinted at one vial's label. The letters were small and scrawled onto it by a person who had horrific handwriting. Sakura's eyes crossed and then she sighed; it was her handwriting. She had obviously been at this far too long, and it showed in her work. Stepping over to the water basin, she washed her hands and removed the protective goggles from her eyes. Pinching the bridge of her nose, droplets of water still clinging to her freshly cleaned fingers dripped onto her face. She realized that if she kept hours like this she'd need glasses before she hit twenty-five. Wouldn't Naruto get a kick out of that? He would get a "girl in glasses" fetish faster than Kakashi could slurp a bowl of ramen down without anyone seeing. Though Naruto would have to be more secretive about it now that he was a married man.

It was eleven at night, and she was completely alone in this particular laboratory. She knew there were a few other people scattered throughout the research complex, but they were mostly guards and cleaning staff. Shizune might be testing new poisons, especially since five of the vials Sakura had contained recently formulized toxins from her Shishou's assistant. For as lazy as Tsunade was, she sure had a lot of very hard working apprentices beneath her; Sakura, Shizune, and even the newly appointed Hokage in training, Naruto Uzumaki.

There was a cause for woe. Tsunade would retire soon, and leave in her place a loudmouthed, blond imbecile to run one of the most powerful ninja villages in all the Great Ninja Nations. She hoped again and again that Naruto would convince Iruka to take the assistant position so she wouldn't have to. She had promised her teammate that if he couldn't find anyone else, then she would do it. Iruka was one of the few people who would be able to handle Naruto's more moronic moments, Kakashi was another, and she was the third and last on that short list. Wait, there had been one other person. Her mind twisted around, trying to recall who else Naruto had mentioned when he tried to con her into accepting the assistantship right away.

Sakura laughed. Oh lordy, she laughed. The image of the person Naruto suggested popped into her head, and dammit if he wouldn't come out. It was probably the stupidest and most outlandish idea ever to put that person in charge of so much responsibility. She could see it now, mandatory nap-time right after lunch, or cloud watching, or…

"Hey, Haruno, quit daydreaming," an indolent voice broke Sakura away from the humorous thoughts dancing inside her head. There stood a jounin with a box of glass jars near her work station. He seemed quite entertained by the woman who had just been laughing to herself. Sakura realized just how foolish (and perhaps insane) she looked standing in a lab coat guffawing about things in such a manner.

"I brought these over. I just finished crushing them into the powder you wanted. Shizune said you might need them to come up with the antidotes for her new poisons," Shikamaru told her with a lopsided grin. His eyes caught hers and he winked at her before deciding to inspect what she had been up to at her station.

"Hey!" she screeched as he picked up and scrutinized one of her vials. "You know protocol. You of all people should know that you could contaminate my specimens if you don't wash up first." She would have told him to put on a lab coat as well, but she realized he already had one on.

Sakura's hands were now on her hips, and her fingers dug into her skin through her clothes. It kept her from pummeling the lazy genius, because a tumble in the lab would undoubtedly lead to broken vials, escaped poisons, and both of them dead.

"Relax," he drawled slowly, trying to read the inscription on one of her labels, "I came from the other research lab through there," he explained and motioned toward a connecting door with a hook of his thumb. I washed in the basin by the door before I came in.

Oh, so that was why the light was on in the other room. She had assumed it was the janitor, because no one worked as long or as late as her, at least not in this division.

"I thought you were assigned to the code-breaker's office," she grumbled as she walked back and took the box from him. His jars were nice and neat and organized. It made her want to pummel him again. He was the exact opposite of Naruto, but somehow he infuriated her just as much.

Shikamaru's head cocked slightly, his eyes softened, and for some reason he seemed amused by her. "I do," he told Sakura, "And I help with my family's research too. That book you have there…" he motioned to a well-used textbook Sakura had been referencing most of the afternoon, "was written by my father. The next edition is going to be updated by me."

Sakura peered up at him in a half-glare. Of course she knew that most of her texts on ingredient compounds and raw substances were by the Nara clan. She had just conveniently forgotten that Shikamaru was a part of it.

"How do you work in this…this?" Shikamaru asked Sakura as he flitted his fingers atop of several piles of vials. He was going to say "this mess," but thought better of it when he realized how little it would take to set off the legendary temper of the Hokage's apprentice. Vials not in their proper storage holders rolled to the floor much easier than most. Shikamaru simply refused to be infected with neural toxins, chakra blocking substances, or heaven forbid, potent aphrodisiacs laced with muscle relaxants. Sakura had quite the variety of things that could kill, maim, or embarrass him to death lying around.

Sakura didn't reply, she just started stacking things and cleaning. It wasn't because Shikamaru was here, she told herself, she was just going to do it now instead of in the morning. Sakura felt eyes watching her as she put things here and there, and then there was another pair of hands helping organize.

"How do you know where I want things?" she asked bitterly. Shizune always said her way of cataloging was sporadic at best.

Shikamaru snorted, like he had been insulted. "I watched," he said flatly.

This time she watched, her eyes followed him as he put things away, and not one item was out of place in her strange, yet systematic chaos. She began cleaning again when she realized Shikamaru was actually helping, not hurting. Just a few moments after that Sakura had a organized work table and a smirking Shikamaru in front of her, and in a way it made her want to hug and smack him all at the same time.

She caught his eyes again, and she was reminded of the sly wink he'd given her earlier. She gritted her teeth together and felt an embarrassed heat rising to her cheeks. Shikamaru's eyebrows knit together in confusion as Sakura blushed so hard that she nearly turned the same shade as the scarlet undershirt she wore beneath her lab coat. She had been so angry at the time that she hadn't even realized he'd done that, not till now at least. For heaven's sake, it was just a wink, and a pretty darn inconsequential one at that.

Shikamaru was still perplexed by her sudden reaction. He would never understand women, especially loudmouthed, bossy ones like his mother, the Hokage, Temari of the Sand, or even Sakura. Shikamaru shook his head in confusion, but laughed it off this time instead of rolling his eyes like he would have when he was younger. His warm chuckle was quiet, but it was disarming enough to cause an embarrassed, yet apologetic smile from Sakura.

She walked over and picked up a clipboard from her desk. On it was a list of things to get done, and she promptly crossed off "clean up work station" with a bright red marker. It made her feel accomplished, especially since the list was long and there were very few red lines. The only other things she'd managed thus far was "eat lunch with Hinata" and "give Icha Icha Tactics back to Kakashi." She heard a muffled laugh from behind her and realized that Shikamaru was reading over her shoulder. She turned beet red again.

She was about to berate him for being so nosey when he laid a consoling hand on her shoulder, mirth clearly spelled out on his face. He wiped an amused tear from of the corner of his eye with his free hand. "We all have to relax, Sakura. If not, serious ninja like you and me would probably go insane."

Serious ninja her butt! There was nothing serious about Shikamaru. Her eyes did a once over of him, ready to make remarks about his perpetual laziness until she saw the dark circles under his eyes from sleeplessness, hair sprouting out of his disarrayed ponytail, a lab coat that was well-used and covered in stains, and he also had a bag slung over his shoulder that was brimming with scrolls and paperwork. This was not the look of a lazy man. In fact, she felt akin to him. She also had dark circles beneath her eyes, a mountain of paperwork on her desk, her frizzy pink hair was tied in knot, and her lab coat was the furthest thing from pristine as they got.

"Is that why you enjoy cloudwatching?" she asked quietly. She scolded herself for thinking badly of Shikamaru.

"When I get the time, yes," he said with a sigh. "With everything that has gone on in the last few years, days watching clouds have been few and far between. I prefer Shogi matches anyway. Clouds don't keep me sharp."

It dawned on Sakura how sharp Shikamaru was. Like the finest and most powerful chakra scalpel, he was a true genius. Her eyes drew toward the ground. And he wasn't lazy either, not even in the slightest. Naruto had once told her that Shikamaru's true heart was an inspiring one. She hadn't believed her friend back then, but she believed him now.

"You know…" Shikamaru interrupted her thoughts. He was standing beside her with a partial scowl creeping over his face, hiding the warmth and friendliness that had been there only moments before. Then she realized it, he was embarrassed, and this was how he showed it. He gulped, looked her in the eye, and then continued, "…I could teach you. It would be nice to have a worthy opponent."

If there was one thing Sakura wasn't, it was stupid. She knew she was clever. It had always been her greatest contribution to Team Seven. Now it was affirmed by Shikamaru's invitation to play Shogi. The only other person he played willfully was Kakashi and his father. Shikamaru seemed to grumble at the thought of anyone else. She was quite aware of what an honor it was to receive an invitation to learn from him.

"Too bad I already know how to play," she giggled.

Shikamaru shrugged, that was fine by him. "Good, then I can get straight to the playing and winning. Want to try a match tomorrow?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head at his cockiness. "Don't think it'll be easy," she told him pointedly, "I'm a decent player."

"I'm a great player," he countered, his ego leaking from everywhere.

She walked back over to the water basin and washed her hands again, he followed, doing the same. She wasn't one to back down from this kind of cock-fight. She frequently had to assert herself in a team of geniuses, so Shikamaru didn't scare her at all. She laid the bait as she informed him, "I hear that you still get beat by Kakashi quite a bit."

"Sometimes…" Shikamaru said cautiously. He knew this was leading somewhere, but he wasn't sure exactly where.

"And who do you think taught me?" she continued.

Shikamaru muffled a laugh, "Just because he taught you, doesn't mean you'll beat me…"

She promptly interrupted him, "My record with Kakashi is about dead even," she told him matter-of-factly. "And that includes the games when I was learning." Shikamaru seemed to get slack-jawed as she revealed that tidbit of information. Sakura turned and placed a finger beneath his chin and urged it up, motioning for him to close his gaping mouth. It still didn't change the look of surprise on his face.

She smiled and summoned all of her courage from within. Normally, when she tried to be womanly like Ino or Hinata she failed, but somehow she knew she had Shikamaru in the palm of her hand, and it was a very good feeling. She smiled prettily at him and returned the earlier wink, trying her hardest not to blush, though she did just a little.

"I'll see you tomorrow at lunch for our game. I'll make us a bento so we don't starve," she told him.

Shikamaru was still standing in the same frozen position by the sink watching her. Sakura walked toward the door that led to the outside hallway, adding the tiniest bit of swagger in her hips to beckon to him. Shikamaru bit his tongue. Even he could tell she was flirting, and the female gender was the one area of expertise he was completely clueless about.

As she waved and closed the door, Shikamaru realized he didn't mind. He wasn't irritated like he'd been when he formed a young crush on Temari of the Sand several years ago. He was actually intrigued by Sakura, and freely invited the idea of shogi games, snarky debate, and bento lunches. Oh crap, he thought he smacked his forehead with his hand, this is bad…or is it good? He really wasn't sure. Sighing, Shikamaru figured that he'd just take it one step at a time; and at the very least, he was drooling at the thought of testing his mettle against this pink-haired vixen.

LONG Author's Notes:

Okay, I knew I wanted to write something that was Shikamaru x Sakura for a long time, because they could be right for one another. Shikamaru has all the aspects of a guy Sakura goes for: genius, a little broken (because she's a healer, she wants to fix her guys, just look at Sasuke), and they have a lot in common with their work.

Being from the Nara clan, Shikamaru and Sakura will probably have to work together a lot in the future on medical projects. I also believe that Shikamaru will undoubted fall for a loudmouthed, brash kind of woman. Sakura definitely fits that bill. It isn't that I don't love ShikaTem, but sometimes I wonder if the distance and village difference wouldn't strain their relationship beyond breaking. Plus, Temari bruised Shikamaru's pride, something I'm not sure he could get over since it happened when he was so young. There are a lot of similarities between Sakura's and Temari's personalities. You'll probably see more of this pairing from me.

This was inspired by the latest chapters of Naruto where Shikamaru is adorable and wonderful, and I love how his character has grown. It also makes me think that ShikaNaru is beyond cute as well. I liked the pairing before, but was never inspired to write it. I might have to now.