6. Easier Than You Think
The journey back had been uneventful. It was pleasantly quiet and Sakura thought about how she hadn't felt so comfortable in someone else's presence like this in ages. Her teamates were now like family to her but other than them, and perhaps Ino, she was not particularly close to anyone. Tsunade was as close as an authority figure could possibly be, but there would always be that indefineable something that would separate them due to her standing as her instructor and village leader. Even Ino was one to be careful around - Sakura could never let slip anything that might be used against her in a gossip mill. Ino was her dearest female companion, but even the closest of sisters were known to be a bit petty toward one another.
Shikamaru, however, was someone Sakura knew she could count on. He was above cruel pettyness, ('Though obviously not above embarrassing me at least a little bit,' she reminded herself,) and unlike her teammates, whom she adored, he seemed more aware of her intelligence and ability to handle herself. While he was definitely still protective of those he cared about ('Does that include me?') he picked his battles and was more capable of letting her handle herself, whereas someone like Naruto would leap in without first determining if she would rather handle the situation herself.
These thoughts all ran through her furiously working brain as the made their way home to Konoha and she had moved on to wondering whether or not something would ever come of these musings when they finally reached Tsunade's office. She shook her head to clear it as they both stepped in to report to the hokage.
Shikamaru did the talking, since he was officially in charge of the mission, and also because he was the one who had conversed the most with the new daimyo. He revealed that the daimyo had already been pleased with the way Tsunade handled the hidden village and looked forward to working with her. Tsunade asked for their overall impression of the man, and Shikamaru relayed his confidence in the fact that he seemed quite capable, humble, and extremely intelligent as well as observant. Sakura raised an eyebrow, still wondering what all had been said whilst she had been unaware of the daimyo's presence behind her.
"He seemed very pleased that we attended, and sent a reply back to you." Shikamaru handed the scroll over. A servant had caught up to them just before they departed, requesting they deliver the daimyo's message to the hokage upon their return.
Tsunade broke the seal on the scroll, and nodded as she read it. Upon reaching the bottom of the note, she snorted slightly in amusement and looked up between Shikamaru and Sakura.
Sakura shared a confused and slightly apprehensive glance with her partner, hoping that the daimyo had said nothing of the slight scuffle they had with his obnoxious neighbor. But Tsunade rolled the scroll up without further comment and she felt her shoulders relax slightly.
"Thank you both. You are dismissed. I will need no formal written report, as I believe this note you've returned will suffice." Tsunade grinned a little and again the two jounin shared apprehensive glances before nodding and exiting her office.
As Shikamaru pulled the knob shut behind them, they both paused as they distinctly heard Tsunade cackle behind the closed office door. He grimaced. "That's... a little worrisome."
Sakura shook her head. "So long as we didn't get reprimanded, I'm going to try not to care."
He shrugged and they headed for the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom Sakura suddenly realized that she didn't want to part ways at all. She wrung her hands, but could think of no ideas that wouldn't make her feel foolish, embarrassed, or extremely obvious.
So, feeling a little hopeless, she turned and gave him a quick smile and a little wave before hurrying off, leaving him standing there with his hands in his pockets and staring after her with a calculating expression on his face.
She felt a bit sick to her stomach as she hurried away, thinking of her only option at this point. She reached her front door and as she put the key in the lock, resigned herself to the fact that she'd have to turn to the one person who could either help her with her situation, or make her life completely miserable: Ino.
She let her forehead fall dejectedly to the door. "Damn."
"Damn." Shikamaru couldn't believe he was here. This was insane. It was utterly stupid. 'Genius, my ass.'
He had, of course, gone to Chouji first. Chouji was his best friend. He would never laugh. And he didn't. He also didn't have any ideas as to how to get together with Sakura without looking utterly idiotic and desperate at the same time. He did, however, suggest someone who could help. Unfortunately, the risks of asking this person for help were unusually high. Ino would go crazy with the information that her teammate was interested in her best friend. She was loyal to the end, though. Maybe if he was serious enough with her and genuine in his request for help, she'd keep her teasing to a minimum and give him a hand.
He couldn't think of any other options. It had been over two weeks since their mission, and Shikamaru hadn't crossed paths with Sakura once. He wasn't surprised. He rarely ran into her before; why would that change now?
He couldn't imagine himself just waltzing up to her door and asking her to dinner. Shikamaru liked to minimize risk. Putting himself out like that placed his male ego front and center with a giant target on it.
For all he knew, Sakura was just very friendly with men. She didn't strike him as an out-and-out flirt like Ino, but she did seem to mostly hang around with males and could therefore just be extremely comfortable around men and easy-going enough to flirt casually.
He had been debating the merits of dating Sakura since their return to the village. There were many risks involved, and even more if it all came to nothing in the end. But then he remembered how it had felt to be around her, and imagined how much better it would be if they were actually involved. If her casual, friendly touches were enough to send him reeling, he couldn't begin to think about how amazing her more intimate ones could be. In the end he couldn't deny that she was in his head more often than not, and found himself unable to concentrate on any one thing for very long.
What was she doing? Was she laughing with someone like she had with him? Did she miss their conversations? Was she thinking of him at all?
He wanted to kick himself. He felt like some teenage girl. This was not the way his mind normally worked, and he was highly irritated with both his mind, and his extremely traitorous body.
Hell, he didn't even know if she was single. He certainly wasn't stupid enough to ask her teammates. Raising their suspicion would only bring him physical harm. He had a feeling she was. Sakura didn't seem the type to flirt with anyone else at all if she was already unavailable. And she seemed too insecure to be already in a relationship as well.
That was another reason he didn't want this endeavor to go over badly - her teammates. Facing down Naruto, Sai, or Kakashi individually would have been extremely hazardous to his health. And facing them in any sort of combination was a death wish.
He had to admit - intelligent though he was - he was relatively inexperienced with women.
He rolled his eyes as he shifted his stance, staring at the door in front of him. Alright, he was extremely inexperienced with women. They sometimes baffled him. His mother and Ino were prime examples. He just did not fully understand how their minds worked. He picked up on their tendancies, yes, but was forever in the dark as to why they behaved the way they did.
He had to face the facts. If he wanted to see Sakura again, he was going to have to find an decent excuse to do so. One that was not too obvious. One that would open up more opportunities to see one another. And for that he needed some help.
He sighed irritably and faced the inevitable. He knocked on the door.
Ino had finally gotten over her hilarity of the situation enough to settle down and reassure Sakura that if she wanted that lazy-ass teammate of hers, she was willing to help.
"Maybe if he gets laid, he'll lighten up." Sakura glared at her. "Hell, maybe if you get laid, you'll lighten up." Sakura threw the pillow she had been leaning against at Ino's blonde head.
"See what I mean? You need to chill out."
Sakura sighed and flopped to her side across Ino's bed. "It's not about sex, Ino. I feel like there is actually a lot of potential here. He's like this perfect balance of everything I look for in a guy. He's smart, but not condescending. Skilled, but he's humble. A little brooding and quiet, but not in a depressing sort of way. He talks when it's important and when he does talk, people tend to want to hear what he has to say.
She looked down at her fingers plucking at Ino's coverlet. "I just want to give it a chance. And while I know he wouldn't laugh at me if I approached him, I also don't think I can take a rejection either. I need another shot to see if he actually likes me, or if he only seemed attracted to me because I was stuck with him for a whole weekend."
Ino narrowed her eyes at the brooding woman before her. "Shika's not that kind of guy, Sakura. If you irritated him or if he wasn't interested, he wouldn't bother with you. And from what you've told me, he seemed more than interested. He wasn't just being a gentleman and putting up with you. It sounds like he really enjoyed being with you."
Sakura looked up. "You think?"
Ino nodded. "I do. Trust me, I've known him since we could first walk. Our family's have been the closest of friends for years. He's a nice guy, but he doesn't go out of his way for anyone unless they mean something to him."
She grinned. "And he definitely wouldn't have followed you into that garden and shoved some dignitary into a pond just to be polite. He was jeeeeaaalous!" She giggled at the thought. "Oh man, I wish I could have seen it. I'm still having a hard time imagining Shikamaru being jealous of anything. He's just so lazy!"
Sakura smiled as well. They had just finished making plans to meet up for dinner later to discuss creating opportunities for Sakura to better get to know Shikamaru when there was a knock on Ino's door.
She raised a brow at her friend. "Aren't you the popular one today? I'll leave you to your next visitor and see you tonight!"
Sakura pulled open the door to leave and allow Ino to deal with whoever her visitor was. The guest in question, however, caused the smile to freeze on her face.
Shikamaru looked just as surprised to see Sakura leaving as Sakura and Ino did to see him standing on the porch, hand poised to knock again.
He let his hand drop to his side and cleared his throat before nodding at a still-unmoving Sakura.
Luckily for her, Ino was compassionate enough to step in. "Hey Shikamaru! You came just in time! We were just heading around to see about another get-together at the bar tonight. Having the whole group together last time was so much fun, we thought we should make it a more regular thing."
Sakura nodded and relaxed. Thank goodness for Ino. The bar was perfect. Lots of people, no pressure, and a relaxed atmosphere. Her blonde friend was smarter than she gave her credit for. That, or more devious.
For some reason, Shikamaru looked almost relieved about something. Ino noticed it too and sent him a suspicious look before catching Sakura's eye and clearing her expression. By the time she looked back at Shikamaru, his face was also relaxed and slightly bored-looking, set in his usual expression.
She shrugged it off and nodded. "I'm sure Naruto and Hinata will come, and Kiba's always game. Lee never likes to miss out on anything, and TenTen should be back from her mission by now. The others might need some persuading, but we'll work on them. Will you and Chouji be free?" She added the last part with as much nonchalance as possible.
Shikamara shrugged. "I don't see why not. I was just coming over to ask Ino if she wanted to join Chouji and I for dinner, but I'll go see if he wants to do that another night." He backed off the porch with a single wave of his hand and turned to head toward Choji's house.
Ino turned to Sakura and grinned. "I guess we need to start spreading the word, huh? You go tell Naruto and he can use his big mouth and energy to do the work for us, and then I'll meet you at your place with some take-out so we can work on getting you all decked out for tonight."
Sakura couldn't help but smile back. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
That had been too easy. He thought Ino had caught on some to his intentions, but luckily she could only suspect. He hadn't needed to reveal anything to her and he couldn't believe his luck.
Chouji had been surprised when he showed up at his house only ten minutes after leaving it, but pleased that everything had worked out so easily for his friend. Shikamaru agreed to dinner with him simply to keep his mind off of tonight.
It was his chance to see if anything further would come of their interactions. They would be surrounded by people, so he knew that if she still seemed interested in him even with everyone else around, he stood a chance. Last time they had been out together aside from their mission, she had been drunk. So he couldn't rely on anything that had occurred that night. And during their mission, it had just been the two of them and a bunch of strangers. In a situation like that, two people would naturally be more drawn together. But if she just laid off the alcohol tonight and still interacted with him as she had on their mission...
He knew he was over-analyzing but he couldn't help it. That was his nature.
Chouji was sitting next to him at their table in the back. Kiba, Naruto, Hinata, and Sai were already there also. As far as he knew, most of their little group of friends and teammates would be there tonight, which could work for or against him. He needed an opportunity to interact with her, because he certainly wasn't going through the trouble of creating another scenario like this all over again. The evening and opportunity had fallen into his lap this time, and he wasn't going to waste it.
He shook his head and, to distract himself, turned to the conversation occurring between Kiba and Naruto that was quickly escalating into an amusing, if pointless, argument with Hinata quietly and calmly interjecting from time to time. Hinata caught his eye and smiled as she rolled her eyes and shook her head at their antics. Kiba flicked a bottle cap at Naruto and Shikamaru chuckled as it bounced off his forehead and into his drink in front of him.
Just as Naruto opened his mouth in outrage, someone slid into the seat next to Shikamaru and chuckled. "Nice shot, Kiba." Sakura smiled and reached over him to snag a chip from the bowl on the table in front of Chouji, her arm casually brushing his chest and her leg touching his before she leaned back in her seat again. He was pleased to note that her bare knee still just grazed his as she sat back down.
Ino sat between Chouji and Sai and laughed. "Yeah, and you weren't even aiming at a huge target. If it had been Sakura's forehead, I wouldn't have been as impressed."
Rather than scowl at her friend like Shikamaru expected her to, Sakura smiled over at Ino. "Same goes for Ino's giant mouth." Ino grinned and threw one of Chouji's chips at her which missed and landed on Shikamaru's head. Chouji grimaced and pulled the bowl closer to himself to avoid the loss of any more of his chips.
Shikamaru let out an annoyed sigh and was reaching to remove the offending piece of food from his hair when Sakura plucked it away first and popped it into her mouth. She shrugged and smiled at Chouji. "Don't worry, I would never let it go to waste."
She sent him a grin as well and he was delighted to see her blush when he lifted a corner of his lips in reply. She cleared her throat and turned to reply to a question from Hinata, her cheeks still pink, but her smile still in place.
He leaned back in his chair contentedly. This was going to be easier than he thought.
She and Ino had talked the upcoming evening to death while doing each other's hair. But Ino's insistence that Sakura needn't worry and plan half as much as she was had been spot on.
"He already likes you, Sakura. Just act like you did while you were together this weekend. Relax," she had reassured calmly, over and over, pulling Sakura's tresses into an artfully sloppy bun, allowing a few pieces to frame her face.
But relaxing had seemed so much more difficult with a potential relationship on the line. Before it was simply fun to hang out with someone she had been surprised to find she got along with so well. It was a flutter of excitement every time she discovered something new about this man that she hadn't picked up on before. But now... now potential embarrassment, heartbreak, or thrilling happiness were waiting in the offing.
Now that she was here, though, hanging out with her friends, sitting beside Shikamaru and realizing what a calming influence he was, she felt her worries slip away. He was still the lazy, laid-back guy she'd known before, but now she knew how kind and supportive he was too. And while she thought his intelligence was reserved namely to coming up with brilliant strategies, she found that it was much more than that. Conversation with him was just so... simple. And he didn't lean back in his chair and snooze away like she would have expected before.
Ino was right; he was acting differently than she would have thought. He was acting... interested. He didn't do anything obvious, like buy her a drink or outright flirt with her. But little things that sent butterflies racing. He never seemed to mind brushing against her. In fact, when Ino playfully shoved Chouji into them (and Sakura was pretty sure she did it purposely,) he remained, their sides touching from knee to hip.
She could feel his every breath. The scent of his aftershave was prominent in her nose over the smells of booze and other bar-revelers. It was intoxicating.
'I keep trying to avoid alcohol all evening, and what do I do? I get all drunk and stupid off of him.'
She tried to keep her smile from looking as drunkenly euphoric as she felt.
If he thought she was capable of burning holes in him with a touch of her fingers before, it was nothing to how on fire his body felt pressed so closely to hers.
He could almost see why other people seemed to love this flirting nonsense so much. The entire process was a major boost to the ego when it went well, and things definitely seemed to be going well. He hadn't done anything ridiculous like he had seen in all the other idiots scattered about the bar, drunkenly hitting on each other. But being near her, using the excuse of the excessive noise in the room to lean in to her when they were talking, casually readjusting the strap of the dress she wore on her shoulder all seemed to be doing the trick if her blush and nervously heated glances were anything to go by.
Hitting on girls was for guys who just wanted to get laid. And while he was sure that such an event with Sakura would be unfathomably good, he wanted more than that. He wasn't the kind of idiot to get himself entangled in relationship after relationship just because he had to follow his libido around.
He was the special kind of idiot who would rather just get it right the first time and settle down with them.
Not that he was thinking about marriage. He wasn't that big an idiot.
He took another drink. 'Not yet, anyway.'
No, he felt that something with Sakura could be the perfect situation for him. They were compatible, smart, and while he was sure she would cause trouble from time to time, (all women did after all,) he somehow felt that it would be well worth it. It was a nice feeling – knowing that while it wouldn't be perfect, it would be worth the effort.
This was an extraordinary revelation for him, and he knew it. He was honest enough to admit that he was lazy. He preferred to think of it as intelligently removing unnecessary complications, but those were semantics.
And for someone as lazy as he was, to acknowledge that no matter what potential trouble a woman put him through it would be worth it in the end was monumental.
He watched her wave a farewell to TenTen, who was heading home to get some much-needed rest after her mission and grinned to himself.
She turned his direction and caught the smile with a self-conscious look on her face. "What?"
He shrugged, still smiling a little. "I was just thinking about your last exit from the bar."
She blushed darkly and covered her eyes with her hand. "Don't remind me."
He laughed. "I noticed you haven't had nearly so much to drink tonight."
She smiled then, her face still pink. "I figure I'm good enough at embarrassing myself without any help from booze."
"Excellent, I really wasn't looking forward to a repeat performance."
She bit her lip. "That bad, was it?"
He shrugged. "It could have been worse. I mean, you managed to puke over the railing, and not on me, so that's a plus." She groaned. "Aaaaand, while I had to carry you out of the bar, you at least were courteous enough to compliment my fantastic physique."
She wracked her brains for a moment before laughing outright. "Ahhhh. Right. Your ass. Well, don't get too amped up about it. I was drunk, after all. You could have had the red butt of a baboon and I might have said the same thing."
He spluttered on the sip he had just taken and she grinned deviously, twisting the tiny straw around in the drink she had been nursing all evening.
He glared at her slightly, still trying to clear his throat and she relented some. "I suppose if you'd like me to take another look, I could give you a proper opinion?"
"That eager to get your hands back on my ass?"
She blushed, but pushed on gamely. "Only if it means you'll walk me home again."
He raised an eyebrow. "No puking?"
She raised her hand in a mock solemn vow. "I promise. Unless you really do have the behind of a baboon, because then there might be a little gagging at least."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think we have to worry about that."
She blushed and grinned. "I don't think so either."
They both conveniently ignored the fact that, when they left together, Sakura's hand tucked into the crook of his arm, it took the combined efforts of Hinata, Ino, and Kiba to keep Naruto restrained in his seat.
Over a year had pass since the new daimyo had taken charge of the land of Fire, and Tsunade found that working with him was better than she had hoped. He had been nothing but supportive of the people who worked so hard to keep their country safe.
She wrote him monthly reports on the village's missions and progress as a courtesy rather than an obligation. He had started their correspondence shortly after his installment, writing to send Tsunade praise over her management of Konoha, as well as his good impressions of their shinobi.
She grinned to herself, gazing out her window that overlooked the village. It had actually started shortly before that, with the quick note she had received from the hands of Shikamaru.
It had been a brief letter of introduction as well as a thank-you for sending such wonderful representatives. What followed was a brief but hilarious account of the interactions of aforementioned shinobi and one of the daimyo's annoying neighbors. It involved a pond, some very traumatized koi, a highly embarrassed servant, some heavy drapes, and one irate neighbor.
He had assured her that the entire incident was not the fault of her shinobi, but Tsunade somehow doubted this.
The following request from the daimyo at the bottom of the letter was what really caught her interest, and she fulfilled it dutifully.
I would consider it a great personal favor if you would update me briefly on these two young individuals. They remind me a great deal of my late wife and I at their age. It is my fondest hope that they find happiness together, just as we did. Young people have such a tendency to overlook or complicate things. I hope this is not the case for these two.
She smiled again, watching a young woman with pink hair race from the hospital doors to meet the slouching gentleman across the street waiting for her in the shadows. When they walked away together, she turned back to her desk and the letter she was finishing.
I hope that you find this month's update adequate. Please inform me at once if you have any questions regarding these matters.
On a different note you will be pleased to know that all is well in regards to your favorite two shinobi. That lazy slacker finally got off his ass and bought her a ring. And, you will appreciate this, he proposed to her on a bridge over one of the koi ponds on his family's land. No one was thrown in, and the koi remain un-traumatized.
I imagine you will be receiving an invitation to the wedding soon - she said yes.
The End
I will never be stupid enough to write anything but one-shots ever again. Argh.
I hope you enjoyed this at least minimally!