bitch take my soup
Sakura is trying very hard to focus on the lesson regarding the history of Konoha's founding, it's an interesting topic and is sure to be on next week's test.
She’s trying. Really.
But she can’t.
Because It's been 4 days since she last saw Shikamaru.
And while one of those days was spent attending to clan stuff, the other three have presumably been spent sick. (she knows this because yesterday, in her excitement to tell him about the library and Mizuki-sensei yet again failing to show up for their daily workout at lunch she had run over to Shikamaru's classroom only to be told by their teacher that he had been out since yesterday when he left at lunch, and today she got to school extra early to see if she could catch him before class but again, no luck.)
She’s starting to get worried.
Sakura herself has never been sick enough to warrant forfeiting her daily schedule but she is aware that it's not uncommon for kids her age to catch colds and need to stay home for a few days, heck just last week Ami had to stay home for 3 days because she had strep throat (she can’t really say she missed the purple-haired girl all the much.) and last month some other kid went home early with a stomach ache.
Her grandmother once told her, “All children under the age of 12 are germ-riddled pests, that's why you wash your hands.”, kids her age are icky, and doubly so when you consider her peers being ninja kids. furthermore, they’ve just started grappling sessions which means everyone’s germs are just getting rubbed all over each other instead of occasionally punched in the face.
So she gets it, kids get sick, and while she is sure Shikamaru's parents have rightfully instilled the benefits of hygiene onto him there are plenty of other ways to catch a cold, or maybe he has food poisoning or pink eye or something.
She knows, logically that there are several very reasonable and non-life-threatening reasons for her best friend to be at home resting for several days.
But she's still worried.
Because what if Shikamaru's parents are busy and can't care for him?
Sakura has gathered from the past few weeks that Shikamaru is not in fact like her and very much does live with and rely on his parents for most things so what if both of them are out on missions or something? Does he know to drink broth if he has an upset stomach? Which medications to take when he has a fever or runny nose, or how cold water worsens headaches and gurgling warm salt water can help with a sore throat? Does he know which foods help and hinder recovery?
Her best friend is very smart (probably the smartest person she knows) but sometimes he lacks knowledge on basic things like how to fold laundry (he knows how to fold laundry, he just thought the way Sakura was miming it in her explanation was cute and didn't want to stop her) or how to conduct a tea ceremony (this is definitely not basic knowledge for a 7-year-old and Sakura only knows this because her grandmother saw fit to teach her) so what if he’s sick and the reason he’s been out so long is that his parents are busy and he doesn't know how to make himself food so he's just been starving waiting to get better.
What if he doesn’t get better?
(she tries not to think of thin wrinkled hands and unanswered letters.
Tries not to focus on the overheard words of her father telling her mother that, “a doctor's visit is just a waste of money at this point.”
she tries.
She fails.)
This line of thought is how Sakura finds herself at the afternoon market 30 minutes after classes have ended browsing the stalls, contemplating what to make Shikamaru.
Anything too solid is quickly discarded, she doesn't know if he has a stomach bug or something, her spikey friend has never voiced his opinions on soup but she knows he likes chicken well enough, “and look, the chickens on sale.” so she settles on making him some chicken and rice soup.
Dipping into her savings is slightly painful but she’d rather lose 800 Ryo than her favorite person, plus, she already has all the other ingredients at home.
Sakura waddles her way to her house and wonders if she needs a recipe, she’s never made soup before but how hard can it be?
It's just meat, vegetables, and water, right?
It is, evidently not very hard at all, just a rather tedious and long process, and ends up taking Sakura the better part of the night because apparently, you need to let the chicken simmer for like, hours until it's all the way cooked. But all that time waiting did give her a chance to read through one of her mother's cookbooks and find the recipe for a “Turmeric Chicken Soup” which is supposed to be very good for sick people.
She’s just finished cutting up the least of the vegetables and her rice is about to boil over when she realizes, “Ah, I don’t know where he lives”
This turns out to not actually be much of a problem.
Because when Sakura leaves the house at 10 in the morning intent on wondering until she finds the Nara compound (there are no maps of the village, she checked, its probably for security reasons) she ends up passing by the market near her house again and overhears a tall man with a black spikey ponytail (though his is at the base of his head instead of on top) saying, “well I’ve gotta go now, wifes waiting for these eggs, thanks for the deal though Yamada-san.”
The man admittedly does not look all that similar to Shikamaru (he doesn't have eyebrows for one thing) but he has the hair and he’s wearing the Nara clan symbol on his shirt and well, Sakura doesn't look much like her parents either so she’s going to go off on a limb, follow him and hope he leads her to the Nara compound.
To her luck, he does exactly that.
(though not before stopping twice, once to buy some flowers and a second to look behind him in suspicion which forced Sakura to hide behind a tree and very politely ask her chakra to still and compress. She learned this trick a few months ago from a mushroom-shaped journal in the academy library that, once she was seen reading by the librarian was immediately taken away and put in the genin section.)
Soon she’s through the gate, (after once again asking her chakra to “Please be quiet” and darting through on her quietest footsteps when the guard's eyes closed in a yawn) sitting on a stump and trying very hard to sniff out her best friend's chakra in an attempt to find his house amid the enclosed forest she’s unwittingly been led to.
The forest is very full of smells and it is incredibly frustrating.
At some point, she’s trying so hard that she’s standing on the tree stump with her eyes closed and her face all scrunched up in both irritation and effort when her chakra does something, and suddenly she can't smell Shikamaru's smoky incense scent but she can feel it and it's leading her into the woods on her right. Weird.
(does this mean she can always find him if she tries hard enough?)
But Sakura has nothing else to go on so she follows the kind of suspicious tugging chakra and rounds a corner to see a very nice traditional-looking home.
She takes a solid minute to just observe the building, trying to note if there are any traps or anything (this is a ninja house after all) before walking up the pathways lined with flowers and herbs wondering if they grow poisonous plants as well.
Taking a moment to make sure she's presentable, she puts the soup down, pats down her nicest (and currently only fitting) dress, picks the soup back up, balances it on her knee, and knocks.
(Shikamaru)
Shikamaru hadn’t wanted to miss any school (re: Sakura) but when sitting down for lunch the day after falling into a pond and having a rather illuminating conversation with his dad he was faced with the reality that in another measly 4 hours, he’d see Sakura again.
And that… was slightly terrifying.
Last night he’d had a fever and his mom had offered to let him stay home but Shikamaru had denied stating it would be boring but he was really regretting that because now, after dismissing himself from Ino and Chouji to go to the bathroom and passing what should be an empty classroom he sees Sakura.
Beautiful perfect lovely Sakura, HIS Sakura. (his light) Sakura who’s elected to leave her hair down and is moving through katas so fluid that she looks like she’s dancing, her hair splays behind her as she spins into a kick and she has this smile on her face that makes Shikamaru want to pick up a brush because while he’s never been particularly interested in art before surely, surely there is nothing more worthwhile than capturing something so ethereal. (it would be a picture so perfect he’d hang it above his bed to be the last thing he sees before sleep and the start of all his days)
She’s alone in the room and Shikamaru has to wonder if it's the fruit of his father's investigation into the school or if the teacher is just away for a moment. Either way Shikamaru can't help the speechless blush that rises to his cheeks when she stumbles, pouts, and starts the sequence anew.
He doesn't know how long he spends getting lost in her movements, thinking about the fact that out of all the incredible wonders in the world he (from his father's words) happened to fixate on perfection. (how lucky he is, to be granted the opportunity to admire the sun itself so close.)
However long after he is brought back to the present by the way his vision wavers and the thought that he really really shouldn't have come to school today.
She’s too beautiful and Shikamaru’s too raw from the knowledge that she is likely the only thing keeping his mind tethered and definitely feeling that resurging fever and just very much cannot be at school right now (can't be in the presence of her brilliance and dealing with the swirling thoughts of MineMineMine while acting like nothings changed, though quietly, he supposes it hasn’t)
Before he can make a conscious action of it he’s running through the hallway looking with dizzy eyes for Iruka-sensei and requesting to be sent home early. He can admire her brilliance when the world stops spinning and the shivering withdraws.
4 days later he’s still at home and has (for the most part) sorted through his emotions.
Sakuras everything and she always will be but she also always has been so, no need to change anything, he’s just going to continue being her best friend and any thoughts of anything more will come years in the future. (she deserves far more than what he can currently give her anyway)
He’s pouring some chips into a bowl for him and his parents to share while he and his dad work through their game and missing Sakura, thinking about seeing her tomorrow after class and wishing it could be sooner when he hears a very familiar voice coming from the front of the house “-don’t want to intrude. Also, It would not do me well to catch his cold if he’s sick.”
Shikamaru faintly registers his mother answering but can't focus on her words because no way is Sakura standing in his house right now.
Hearing her response disperses any denial and instead opens the way for a mixture of confusion (why on earth is Sakura here???) and elation (OH MY GOSH SAKURAS HERE) and Shikamaru has to physically stop himself from running down the hallway, “how is she here? Why is she here? How does she know where he lives? Did he somehow summon her in his longing?”
However, when he reaches the living room and sees her standing in the doorway, handing off a pot(?) to his father instead of voicing any of these questions he lets out a far too loud to happy
“Sakura!”
And immediately feels his face burn when she turns to him with a beaming smile.
(Yoshino)
There's a little girl with pink hair at the door.
She's small and cherubic and Shikamaru’s very own Sakura she’s heard so much about.
She is also very polite and offering them soup with “turmeric, rosemary, and lots of vitamins in it, to help Shikamaru get better.”
It is without a doubt incredibly adorable and Yoshino can see the very moment her husband (who has until this point failed to speak from the overwhelming cuteness) decides to open his mouth to coral the girl into a hug, “Hello Saku-” “-Hello Sakura-chan! It's so good to meet you! You're Shikamaru’s friend, aren’t you? It's so sweet of you to make him soup!” she cleanly cuts her husband off and moves to bend to the (very small) girls height.
Sakura seems a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm so Yoshino does her best to tone it down a bit.
“Hello Nara-san.” Sakura bow’s her head a bit, “Yes Shikamaru is my best friend ( “Oh my god he’s her best friend”) and when he failed to make it to class for several days I grew worried and made him soup in hopes of his recovery.”
Yoshino sees Shikaku clench his heart with a stricken look out of the corner of her eye and has to force herself to not do the same with the little girl's attention on her, “Well that's incredibly kind of you Sakura, Shikamaru is currently in the kitchen and we were planning to have lunch in about an hour, would you like to come in a join us, we could have a bowl of your soup?”
“No thank you Nara-san I don’t want to intrude. Also, It would not do me well to catch his cold if he’s sick.” Sakura states, eyes on the ground before them. “Well, that won’t do.”
“It would be no intrusion, we’d love to have lunch with Shikamaru's friend, and don’t worry about Shikamaru being contagious, his fever broke yesterday morning he's just being lazy not going to school.” Yoshino puts on the most motherly welcoming smile she can but to her surprise, this does nothing to calm the girl's nerves. Instead, she looks to Shikaku who stands next to her with a small pout on his face, and at his smirk and nod she calms and looks back to Yoshino to accept. “Then yes please, as long as Shikamaru doesn’t mind me being here that is.”
Yoshino waves Shikaku to take the no-doubt heavy pot off her hands and is about to reassure her that it's fine when Shikamaru enters the room. He then, With a voice louder than she’s ever heard from her son and a smile as wide as Ino-chan’s on a sugar rush practically yell’s “Sakura!”
The little girl in front of her smiles a beautifully radiant thing that lights up her whole face and Yoshino has the gratification of seeing her usually bored stoic son blush like a schoolgirl and stutter out a question, “What- what are you doing here? How did you know where I live?”
Yoshino is quite curious as well and had assumed that Shikamaru had told Sakura where they live but she sees that’s not the case.
Sakura is directed inwards and towards the couch, but seems hesitant to answer, glancing at Yoshino and Shikaku. Yoshino quickly gets the hint that she's not comfortable talking in front of them and announces that she and Shikaku are “going to drop the soup off at the kitchen and start on reheating it.” (usually she would not be so comfortable leaving a stranger with her son but this is Sakura and she has technically been watching the girl for months so she thinks it's okay)
They, of course, do not do this and instead stop just out of sight in the hallway and therefore hear the ensuing conversation.
“Oh well, you were gone for days, and at first it was fine because I discovered a mystery with the library and met this dude with one eye who told really fun stories but wasnt really helpful but then you were still gone and I went to your class during lunch and the teacher said you were sick and then got to school early yesterday but you were still sick and so I got worried that maybe you weren't getting better because you weren’t eating like what happened to my grandma and my grandma died and I really don't want that to happen to you so I made you soup and followed someone with the Nara symbol to your compound and snuck in and tried to sniff you out but that didn't work until it did and now I'm here.” the last bit was said in a shaky voice and Yoshino did not have to be in the room to realize the poor girl was crying as she asked, “are you okay?” the words were warbled out and Yoshino didn’t need to hear any more, at this point it felt like she was intruding.
She pulled away from the wall and glanced in the room to see her son trying his very best to comfort the sniffling girl (adorable) and when she looked to her husband to gesture to the kitchen she found him looking thoughtful.
Its as she’s putting the pot on the stove that he speaks up, “You know, only Chunin rank or above are allowed to wear the Nara symbol.” he’s resting against the counter and looking in the livingrooms direction and for a moment Yoshino is confused but then it hits her, “how did sakura follow a chunin and not get caught?”
(Shikamaru)
Shikamaru is an awful, horrible, stupid person, and whoever told his dad that he had an IQ of 200 was obviously lying because only idiots make Sakura cry.
Because while Shikamaru has been over here avoiding confrontation with the girl, Sakura has been worried and trying to visit him in class and talking to strangers (which he will definitely be coming back to) and making him soup and now she’s crying and Shikamru does NOT know what to do. (because he is, again, an idiot)
Sakura’s not like Choji who weeps when he spills food or Ino who lets tears fall when she’s frustrated, in the month he’s known Sakura she hasn't cried once, not when he accidentally elbowed her in the face while wrestling and not when she accidentally spilled the snack’s she brought, not even when she told him about her grandma.
And now, she’s standing in front of him very obviously trying to keep tears at bay as she asks him if HE’s okay and it's all his fault and he’s clueless on what to do. Does he hug her? Answer her question? Cry along with her? (that last one is very tempting)
She wipes a tear away and reaches for his hand so he settles on cradling the appendage and trying his best to explain that, “Yes I'm okay now, I caught a bad cold.” and comforting, “I'm sorry I worried you, I promise it wasn't on purpose.” and trying to distract, “so you met a guy with one eye huh? And you made me soup?” the tears have mostly stopped and now she’s just sniffling quietly, watching their intertwined hands, “Thank you for trying to visit me at class sakura, and for bringing me food.”
He hears a mumbled, “Welcome” and while Sakuras not crying anymore, she’s still just watching their hands, he’s about to offer to see if the soup is heated up yet when she raises her head and with glistening eyes and a red nose asks, “May I have a hug please?”
And what would it be but blasphemy to refuse?
5 minutes, a very fulfilling hug, and Sakura refreshing herself with a chakra trick that makes it look like you haven't just been crying (“I actually learned this one from a civilian housewife book, weird right?”) Shikamaru leads Sakura to the dining room connected to the kitchen where his dad is lounging on a chair looking through some papers and mom is setting down the last of 4 bowls filled with Sakura’s soup on the table.
His mom smiles as they approach but doesn’t say anything until everyone’s sitting, “So Sakura, you made the trip here on your own? I hope it wasn’t too far.”
Sakura perks up at her name but once again hesitates to answer (he never really thought of Sakura as shy, just a little reserved and quiet maybe) Shikamaru catches her glancing at his dad before answering, “No Nara-san, it took me about 30 minutes because I didn’t know where I was going but distance wise its this is only about 10 minutes from my house. I think.”
His parents are both observing Sakura now, his father having put down his papers, “Sakura-chan no need to call me Nara, that’ll just get confusing, you can call me Yoshino if you’d like.”
“And me Shikaku, if you're comfortable with it, though it might be best to stick with Nara if we meet outside the house.”
Sakura looks wildly uncomfortable with being told to call his parents by their names but accepts anyway, “Yes Shikaku-sama, Yoshino-san” sakura looks neither of them in the eye as she replies and wow, that is so gross, “no one should ever have that much deferment for his dad, ew”
His dad apparently feels the same because Shikamaru watches in fascination as his face twists and he rushes to dismiss the title, “Please Sakura-chan just Shikaku.”
His friend doesn’t verbally respond this time, instead choosing to nod and sneakily hold his hand under the table. (it wasn’t that sneaky, both parents noticed and mentally coo’d at the action) It's weird seeing Sakura so shy, she generally has no problem speaking her mind but maybe it's just because they are adults?
His parents seem to realize that they’re not getting anywhere with the name situation so his mom announces, “All right, well the soup should have cooled enough by now, let's eat yes?”
Shikamaru is about to (reluctantly) let go of Sakura’s hand and eat a spoonful of what he’s sure will be the best meal of his life (because Sakura made it) but as he tugs he finds Sakura unwilling to let go and while it's possibly the cutest thing to ever happen to him he is actually very hungry. He looks up to tell Sakura they can just switch places and then she can hold his right hand but finds her watching, eyes intent, on his dad.
He then watches as she watches the Nara head pick up a spoonful of soup and start to eat. Then he watches as she switches to observe his mother take her first bite and only then does she let go of his hand, turning to (he suspects) watch him start to eat.
He has no idea why she’s so intent on making sure they eat but maybe it's some sort of ritual she has? (thinking back she always eats after he’s taken the first bite with snacks as well) Unlike with his parents, she gestures for him to take a bite and only after he’s shoved the (very tasty) soup in his mouth does she start eating.
Weird.
Lunch is pretty quiet until halfway through with only praise over the food being offered (“This is very good sakura, do you think I could have the recipe before you leave?” “Yes of course Yoshino-san”) they aren't a very talkative family during meal times anyway but he admits the silence is a bit awkward.
Eventually, his dad pipes up asking, “So how’d you meet Shikamaru anyways Sakura? You mentioned the academy earlier do you go to class together?”
Which is kinda ridiculous because he's already told his parents how they met but he guesses his dad is just trying to get Sakura to open up- “Oh well at first I thought he was dead.”
...
"What?!”