#nrtccweek22

            He’s making an extremely annoying order – large, sugar-free, vanilla iced latte with extra vanilla and unsweetened soy milk – for an even more annoying and loud customer when he spots a flash of pink dashing through the door. Sakura. The girl he’s been crushing on since she first ordered a coffee from him. She always smiles at him with such familiarity that it baffles him how someone can be so kind to a stranger.

            Her cheeks are flushed from being in a rush and her eyes gleam prettily as she flashes him a smile. She steps next to his annoying customer and hugs her, telling her she’s sorry for being late but Shizune-sensei wanted to talk to her about her latest assignment after her lecture.

            “It’s alright, Forehead,” her blonde friend shrugs. “I got here not long ago.”

            Sasuke steps to the counter and hands the blonde her order then turns to Sakura. “Hey, what can I get you?”

            “Oh, just a regular latte is fine, Sasuke-kun,” she smiles at him. That familiarity again. Not many – if any – customers call him by his name despite it being displayed on a tag on his shirt. But Sakura always treats him with kindness and respect, like he is a human being like the rest of them, not just a servant. She never orders annoying, over-complicated drinks either. Sasuke rather likes her for that.

            “You can sit down, I’ll bring it around,” he says as he turns his back to her to start preparing her beverage.

            “Thanks,” he hears her say.

            Sasuke doesn’t know much about Sakura. He knows her name, that she’s the same age as him, she’s a med student, she bites the inside of her cheek when she’s concentrating on her assignments, she has the most dazzling green eyes he has ever seen, she always fidgets with a pack of sugar, her pen, or her fingers, and she always kind to everyone, even when she looks like she hasn’t slept in two days and the purplish circles under her eyes make the green of her eyes even brighter. She’s loud but never obnoxious, kind but never superficial, intelligent but never boasting.

            Sasuke wants to know more about her. He draws a carnation in the foam of her latte.

            “Thank you, Sasuke-kun,” she smiles at him as he hands her the cup. “Wow, that looks great!” She says as she looks at the cup. Sasuke just nods and turns away.

            “Huh, kinda looks like a carnation,” Sakura’s friend observes. He hears Sakura ask what carnations mean as he is walking away and he can feel the tips of his ears burning.

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            The next time Sasuke sees her, it is pouring outside and she is positively drenched. She still grins at him as she sits down on one of the barstools and takes off her jacket. “Hey, Sasuke-kun.”

            “Hey,” he greets and walks closer to her on the other side of the bar. “Usual latte?” He asks as he grabs a cup.

            “Yes, and one of those blueberry muffins as well, please,” she smiles. She’s trying to put her excessively wet hair into a bun on top of her head, but it’s not cooperating. Sasuke’s gaze lingers for a moment as he observes the strands sticking to her forehead, her neck, her throat. She’s beautiful.

            “Celebrating anything?” Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He has learned that Sakura always orders a blueberry muffin when she’s happy about something. She always orders two triple chocolate chip cookies when she’s sad.

            “Well, I don’t mean to brag,” she starts, a proud smile stretching her lips. “But I got a perfect score on my anatomy exam, which is, like, super rare. My sensei is also really, really strict. I mean she failed about two-thirds of the class. So, to get a perfect score is basically impossible.”

            “Yeah, that really didn’t sound like bragging,” Sasuke puts a small plate in front of her and turns his back to finish up her order. Despite what he said, he’s really happy for her. He’s seen her slaving over assignments while sipping coffee and seen her around the campus library, surrounded by books that probably weighed more than her. He has no doubt that she worked really hard for her score. Sasuke draws an orchid in the foam.

            Sakura has her eyes slightly furrowed and lips in a pout when he hands her the latte.

            “I’m just messing with you,” Sasuke says. Because really, he didn’t mean what he said. “Congratulations on your perfect score.”

            Sakura smiles and breaks off a piece of her muffin. “Why, thank you very much, Sasuke-kun.”

            A customer motions for Sasuke that he’d like to pay and he shoots Sakura a look that says I’ll be right back, as if he needs her to excuse him. She happily munches on her muffin as she nods. Sasuke tells the customer that he hopes he enjoyed his drink and that he was satisfied with their services, though his flat voice and blank stare suggest otherwise. The customer leaves a small tip and says his thanks.

            Sasuke returns to his place behind the bar and starts washing the cups he collected on his way back.

            “And guess what the best part is,” Sakura continues as if he didn’t even leave.

            “What?”

            “I said guess! C’mon!” She radiates excitement, Sasuke is sure that if her eyes were any sharper, he could see small waves of energy floating around her.

            “I don’t know,” he says and she frowns. “Okay… you don’t have to retake the exam?”

            Sakura giggles, girlishly, beautifully. “Noooo, Sasuke-kun,” she cocks her head to the side. “My sensei also offered me an apprenticeship once I can start my residency after next year. That’s, like, the biggest compliment you can get. Ever. She’s a very respected and well-known doctor and doesn’t like people very much. I’m actually still not convinced I didn’t just dream up the whole thing, really.”

            “I can pinch you,” Sasuke shrugs. He doesn’t expect Sakura to hold out her arm though, and shake it slightly in front of him when he doesn’t do anything. As if to say: well, go on then. So Sasuke pinches her forearm and he’s surprised by how cold and soft her skin is. Still slightly damps from the downpour.

            “Looks like I’m not dreaming,” Sakura grins at him. “Turns out I really am a genius just like that,” she pops the last piece of muffin into her mouth and can’t seem to stop smiling even as she chews.

            She’s not only beautiful. She’s also smart as hell. Which, in Sasuke’s eyes, makes her even more stunning.

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            Sasuke kicks the waste container again and sees he’s formed a dent. He turns around and punches the wall on the opposite side of the alley next to the café. He received a call from his mother earlier. His brother has been hospitalized again, and the doctors aren’t sure what’s wrong with him.

            Apparently, he’s been coughing up blood for weeks no, hiding it from the family. After contracting tuberculosis a few months ago, everyone has been worried about his health. He was sure he was okay, he didn’t want to worry anyone. Until he went to visit Mikoto for lunch but ended up bent over in the bathroom, coughing viciously, gasping for air.

            “Sasuke-kun?” He suddenly hears a familiar voice. He has his eyes closed, forehead leaning against the wall, fists trembling by his sides. He can feel his left hand pulsing as blood trickles down his knuckles and fingers slowly. “Are you okay?” Sakura asks quietly, her voice is now closer.

            Sasuke slowly takes a step away from the wall, eyes still closed. He wishes for the first time since he had met her that she wasn’t here. He didn’t want her to see him like this, or to pity him. He sighs heavily before opening his eyes and turning his gaze toward her.

            “Yeah,” is all he says.

            “Are you sure? You look like you got something troubling you. You want to talk about it?” She offers. There is a weak, uncertain smile on her face, almost tentative and Sasuke decides he prefers her toothy grins to this one.

            “No.”

            “Can I at least take a look at your hand?” She chews the inside of her cheek.

            Sasuke contemplates her for a second before glancing down at his fist. It doesn’t look good. And she is going to be a doctor.

            He shrugs. “Sure.”

            Her face eases up the slightest bit and she takes another step closer to him. “Do you have a first aid kit inside?”

            “Yeah,” Sasuke says and holds the door open for her. She pauses in her steps.

            “Am I allowed in the back?” She asks, surprised.

            “Probably not,” Sasuke admits. “I don’t really care though.” When Sakura doesn’t move, he motions with his head inside like some sort of encouragement. He really can’t offer her anything else right now. All the reassuring words he needs to save for his mother when he goes home to visit Itachi this weekend.

            He leads Sakura to the staff room and points at the couch. She sits down without a word and he rummages through a cabinet, trying to find the first aid kit. When he finds it, he drops it in Sakura’s expectant hands and sits in front of her on the worn-out coffee table. His legs are basically caging hers in as he takes his place.

            She has opened the small box and is searching through it, trying to find the tools she needs. She notices how close they are when she looks up though, and Sasuke notes the light blush gracing the tops of her cheeks. He looks down at his hands. He’s feeling a bit embarrassed about the whole situation. There’s this smart, beautiful, kind girl he likes and she sees him beating the shit out of a wall. Probably not the best impression to leave on someone.

            Sakura clears her throat and Sasuke looks up to see her fidgeting with a bottle of antiseptic. “Can I see your hand?” She asks in a low voice.

            Sasuke lifts his left hand as she dabs antiseptic on a cloth. She takes his hand in one of her palms and suddenly Sasuke can’t even feel the pain in his knuckles anymore. All he can concentrate on is how soft and warm her hand is. Sakura pauses for a moment, but recovers quickly and starts disinfecting the wound. She looks up briefly at Sasuke’s face, probably expecting him to flinch or hiss, but she finds his face completely blank instead.

            She doesn’t know about the turmoil of emotions raging underneath his calm façade.

            “There are some pieces of chipped off paint and rubble I need to pick out. It might hurt a bit,” Sakura says as she picks out a tweezer from the kit. She looks up at him again and he only just shrugs. She starts digging out the pieces, there aren’t really that many and the process only stings for that one second when the pieces disconnect from his wounded flesh. Afterward, Sakura cleans the wound again, then grabs the gauze and slowly and carefully wraps his hand. “Okay. All done, Sasuke-kun,” she smiles a small, uncertain smile at him.

            “Thanks,” Sasuke says and looks at his hand as he clenches and unclenches it. “I’m sorry,” he adds quietly.

            “About what?” She asks, confused.

            Sasuke shrugs. He’s already been feeling embarrassed, but stating the situation out loud… “That you had to see that,” he eventually replies.

            Sakura laughs a little and Sasuke is even more confused but also kind of comforted by the sound. “Sasuke-kun, everyone gets angry sometimes. I, myself, prefer pummeling and kicking the shit out of punching bags, but I guess a wall works too,” she smiles genuinely at him now. “You know, leaves less of a mess, easier to clean up.”

            “Aa,” is all Sasuke manages to stay. He can’t quite fathom the girl sitting in front of him. She is, for lack of a better word, annoying. Because Sasuke can’t figure her out, because she’s a mystery despite being an open book, she’s full of contradictions and it frustrates him beyond belief.

            “Alright, well…” she clasps her hands. “I should probably go,” she stands up and reaches for her bag. She’s still trapped between Sasuke’s legs and Sasuke doesn’t want her to go anyway.

            “Wait,” he says. He stands up and he realizes she’s kind of short, despite seeming bigger than life. “Would you like a coffee?” He asks. “It’s on me.”

            She smiles up at him and nods. Her cheeks are flushed again.

            Sasuke tells her to wait in the back, his shift is over anyway. When he’s back, he gives her a cup with her usual latte while he puts his own cup of green tea down on the table.

            “What flower is this?” Sakura asks.

            Sasuke pauses, considers bullshitting, but eventually admits, “sweet pea.”

            They talk – well, mostly Sakura talks and Sasuke listens – as they drink. She tells him about the gym she goes to, although it’s an all-female gym. She says she got kicked out of her old one after kicking some man’s butt who kept bothering her and trying to correct her form. Turns out Sakura’s form was just fine when she dealt him a right hook to the jaw. She blabbers on about her classes and just university in general, she mentions this and that about her family, her friends. Sasuke finds out that blonde friend of hers with the annoying orders is called Ino. Then, she suddenly stops.

            “Oh, my god! Sasuke-kun I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to talk so much about myself, I swear I’m not an egoist or anything,” she blushes. “Tell me about yourself. I know you only work her part-time, I assume you also go to uni here.”

            “Aa,” he says. When her eyes search his face expectantly, he adds, “I’m studying law.”

            “Wow! That must be difficult. Do you want to work for a fancy firm? I think I can imagine you in a suit with a bunch of hardasses and kicking butt in a courtroom,” Sakura taps her chin as she daydreams.

            “I wanna work for the DA, maybe together with the police,” Sasuke shrugs.

            “Putting away bad guys?”

            “Something like that, yeah.”

            In truth, Sasuke wanted to be a police officer when he was little, follow in his father’s footsteps. But along the way, he realized nothing he could do would please his father. He would always be second in everything, Itachi was always the best, naturally talented at anything and everything. But Sasuke still wanted to help people somehow, to rid the streets of bad guys. His father didn’t approve of him studying law, which made it all the more appealing to Sasuke.

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            Sasuke is wiping down tables when Sakura walks in with a guy. He has short, red hair and light brown eyes. He is walking close to Sakura, leaning in as he tells her something that makes her laugh. Sasuke narrows his eyes and scrubs at the table a little harder.

            “Hey, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura greets as she walks by. Sasuke just nods, not really acknowledging her otherwise.

            The pair take a seat at a corner table, Sakura tucks her crossed feet under her chair, while Sasori spreads his out toward her. Sasuke can hear them talking about some chemistry formulas as he finishes cleaning the tables. Sakura is digging through her bag until she fishes out a small notebook.

            “Okay, so I talked to Chiyo-sensei, and apparently, if we do well on this exam, we might not have to take the next one at all,” Sakura says. So they go to the same class, Sasuke deducts. He still doesn’t like the way Sasori sizes her up.

            “That’s great and all, but do we know what’s going to be in the exam?”

            Before Sakura could answer, though, Sasuke stops beside their table. Sakura smiles at him brightly, like she always does.

            “Hey, what can I get you?” Sasuke asks in a tone that’s just a tad bit flatter than how he usually talks to Sakura.

            “I’ll just have my usual latte,” Sakura answers.

            “And I’ll have an espresso,” Sasori says, not even looking up.

            They resume talking as Sasuke walks away. He thinks about making a rose or perhaps a lily of the valley in Sakura’s latte, but for the first time since he’s met her, he doesn’t make any latte art for her. He can tell he’s surprised when he brings them their drinks.

            When she looks up to thank him, her gaze is unfamiliar to him, almost a little sad. She smiles anyway and says, “thank you, Sasuke-kun,” like she always does and Sasuke walks away feeling like an asshole.

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            Itachi is diagnosed with lupus a few weeks after Sasuke’s run-in with the wall. Sasuke’s been going home each weekend since the diagnosis, but today he has to work a double shift because his stupid colleague called in sick, but Sasuke knows better. He heard there was a crazy party last night and that Suigetsu probably just got so wasted he couldn’t stand straight still.

            Sasuke puts down the chairs from the tables, places the menus, and opens the door. He puts out the sign with that day’s special offer and on his way back, he accidentally kicks into a concrete flower pot. He curses what he thought was silently, but he hears a giggle. He narrows his eyes and looks back to find Sakura staring back at him.

            “You alright, Sasuke-kun?”

            “Hn,” he shrugs and continues back inside. Sakura follows behind him. “You’re earlier than usual,” he notes. She never ever came in before ten in the morning. To see her when he’s barely just opened is weird.

            “Yeah, my roommate got home from some party not long ago and she woke me up on her way in. Then she passed out and started snoring so loud I couldn’t fall back asleep,” she shrugged as she set down at the bar. “What are you doing here? You haven’t worked a weekend shift in a while.”

            Sasuke raises an eyebrow at her. “Stalker much?” He tries to avert the conversation.

            Sakura blushed deeply. “No… I just come here often, you know? And I notice things,” she shrugs. Notice things… sure, except for the very obvious feelings I have for you, Sasuke thinks. Then a thought occurs to him that maybe he’s a coward and he should ask her out, instead of making her stupid latte art she probably doesn’t even understand. Besides, he’s seen her turn down people before, she’s always annoyingly kind about it and he doesn’t want her pity and that look in her eyes that makes her look like she’s just kicked a puppy. He’s content with being a coward.

            “I’ve been visiting my family on weekends,” he decides to say.

            “Oh,” Sakura says. “I hope they are okay.”

            “Why wouldn’t they be?” Sasuke furrows his brows.

            Sakura looks alarmed and Sasuke relaxes his features a bit. “Well, um… Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry or anything. It’s just… I don’t know, one doesn’t usually visit his family weekly when they are miles away at uni, right? Like, I only go during holidays and breaks, because it’s so damn far away.”

            Sasuke looks at her for a few seconds, she’s biting the inside of her cheek again and she keeps twirling her thumbs. “My brother is ill,” he blurts out. He doesn’t know why, but her big, beautiful green irises seemed to just compel him.

            Her eyes widen even more and she says, “I’m so sorry, Sasuke-kun.” And Sasuke believes her. “Do you… do you know what it is?”

            “Lupus.”

            “Oh, well. You know Sasuke-kun, although it’s not curable, most people with lupus actually live quite long lives. I’m sure they will find the right treatment for him,” she puts a hand on his that is resting on the bar. He feels warmth spread over his whole arm and he looks down at his hand.

            “Thank you,” he whispers.

            That day he paints a sunflower into the foam of her latte.

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            “Hey, Sasuke-kun, Naruto,” Sakura smiles at them as she plops down on the barstool next to Naruto’s.

            Sasuke glances between them, confused, while Naruto greets enthusiastically, “hey Sakura-chan!”

            “You two know each other?” Sasuke asks as he wipes some cups dry.

            “Yeah, we had this stupid anatomy class together,” Naruto says. “I don’t even know why I needed it. Like obviously I know what a leg or a bicep is.”

            Sakura laughs. “I really don’t know how you passed that class.”

            “He’s distantly related to the professor,” Sasuke shrugs.

            “What!” Sakura exclaims. Sasuke shoots her a look that tells her she’s a bit too loud. “Sorry,” she mumbles and turns to Naruto. “You’re really related to Tsunade-shishou? How did I not know that?”

            “We’re not really related. Or, well, I guess not that closely? Like, she’s my mom’s great-great aunt’s something’s something? I don’t even know,” he scratches the back of his neck.

            “Yeah, you’re not closely related by you spend every Oumisoka together,” Sasuke points out.

            “Okay, now I can kinda see how you passed the test,” Sakura teases Naruto.

            “And how do you two know each other anyway?” Naruto asks. He, of course, knows of Sasuke’s little crush on Sakura, being his roommate and best friend and all.

            “Sakura comes here for coffee every day.”

            “I don’t come that often! Do I?”

            “Who could blame you, really? With such a handsome barista, I’d come here every day too if it wasn’t this bastard,” Naruto snickers and rubs the tip of his nose with his index finger.

            Sakura blushes deeply and Sasuke can’t seem to avert his gaze from her flushed face. She doesn’t deny nor confirm anything but her silence gives Sasuke some sort of hope that maybe his crush is not as hopeless as he thought it was. Sasuke turns his back to start preparing her usual order, even though she didn’t actually ask for anything yet. He draws an iris on the foam and turns back to give it to her.

            The redness to her face has slightly faded, but the highest points of her cheeks are still rosy. Sasuke hands her the cup. “Thanks, Sasuke-kun,” her fingers graze his and it takes a moment too long to take the cup from his hand.

            Naruto looks at them suspiciously, eyes narrowed. Then, he exclaims, “hey! How come I didn’t get some fancy art on my coffee!”

            “Stop screaming or I’m going to kick you out,” Sasuke hisses at him.

            Sakura sips her drink quietly as Naruto chats their ears off with one exaggerated story after the other. As Sasuke prepares drinks while they sit there, Sakura notes that he seems to be doing the same basic leafy design on all of them, instead of the intricate flowers he always seems to be drawing in her foam.

            Sakura leaves sometime later, telling them she’s meeting up with a friend to study. She thanks Sasuke for the coffee and says she’ll see them around. Sasuke has noticed the weird looks she keeps shooting at all the cups he’s been handling but doesn’t think much of it.

            “You should grow a pair and ask her out,” Naruto tells him as they are walking home.

            “Hn.”

            “Seriously, teme! I’m, like, totally sure she likes you too,” Naruto pushes.

            “Leave me alone,” Sasuke says and put in his earbuds. Naruto has other plans, though, and he yanks them right out.

            “Come on, man! Don’t be like that. What is your problem?”

            “I don’t have a problem. I just don’t have time for this right now,” Sasuke growls and takes his earphones back, ready to place them in his ears again.

            “Don’t have time for this conversation or don’t have time to ask out an amazing girl?” Naruto challenges. “I know you’re on this mission to prove to your father I-don’t-even-know what, but Mikoto-san worries about you. She called me the other week after you left home. She said you were gloomy, which is like your natural state anyway and she’s your mother so for her to say that, you really had to be in a sour mood.”

            “Itachi’s ill, how the hell am I supposed to feel?” Sasuke puts his earphones away and sighs frustratedly.

            “Yeah, he’s ill, I know. And I’m sorry about that. But he’s your brother, and he loves you and he doesn’t want you to slave away over law books and behind a bar serving people and at home taking care of him. And your mom doesn’t want that either. You’re young, they want you to have fun and live. They aren’t saying you should give up your ambitions, just that you should sometimes take a break. Take a cute, pink-haired girl on a date or something, I don’t know,” Naruto shrugs, pretending to be nonchalant.

            Sasuke has half the mind to punch him for meddling. He can’t admit out loud that he is making some sense, though. Eventually, he only says, “hn.”

            Naruto grins.

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            The next day, Sasuke wipes down the tables at the end of his shift. He already took the sign with that day’s specials to the back and put up the closed sign, though the door remains unlocked.

            Suddenly he sees a flash of pink dashing down the street and toward the entrance. Sakura spots the closed sign but sees him moving about inside and pushes the door open. She seems kind of surprised that it’s actually open.  She shakes her head and steps inside.

            “Sakura?” Sasuke straightens from one of the tables and wipes his hands on his jeans. “What are you doing here?”

            “A carnation,” she starts but has to stop to take a couple of deep breaths. Sasuke is sure she has been running. “A carnation can symbolize fascination,” she starts again. “Orchids can mean deep admiration, sweet pea is a way of saying thanks, sunflowers mean adoration, intelligence, vitality, loyalty, and irises symbolize hope,” she takes another deep breath.

            Sasuke feels like a deer caught in headlights. He never thought she’d actually realize the little messages he’s been sending her. He’s not all that great with words and people aren’t usually all that great at reading him. This is why he mostly keeps to himself. It’s easier. But he didn’t expect this brilliant, annoying girl with hair as pink as her namesake and eyes as green as his favorite sour apples, to take the time to read him, to learn his language.

            She takes a few steps closer when he doesn’t reply. Her movement shakes her from his frozen state.

            “Aa,” he says.

            “Sasuke-kun, do you…,” she bites the inside of her cheek. Her courage only wavers for a moment, though. She takes another step, she’s almost right in front of him. “Do you like me?”

            Sasuke gazes into her big, bright eyes and before he realizes it, he says, “aa.”

            Sakura’s lips curl into a smile so big, so beautiful, that it mesmerizes Sasuke. She put her hands on his neck, pulling his face towards hers. She is still smiling as she kisses him, and when he puts his arms around her waist, she giggles happily into the kiss. When they pull apart the smile is still etched onto her lips.

            “Good. I like you too,” she says.

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            “Good morning, anata,” Sakura almost sings as she steps into the kitchen where Sasuke is preparing breakfast. “Hmmm, that smells wonderful,” she says and stands behind Sasuke. She wraps her arms around his waist and kisses his left shoulder blade, then rests her cheek against it.

            “Are you hungry?” Sasuke asks. He’s made some miso soup, tamagoyaki, and cut-up fruit for dessert.

            “Sasuke-kun, you really didn’t have to do all this,” she smiles at him as he faces her.

            “You don’t graduate med school every day,” he points out. With the highest scores ever, even surpassing your master,” he pokes her in the forehead and her smile widens.

            “Thank you,” she kisses the corner of her mouth.

            “Sit down, I’ll make you some coffee.”

            Sakura sits and does as she’s told. She keeps complimenting the food because really, Sasuke-kun is such a great cook and she loves breakfast now and she doesn’t know how she managed to live off of cereal or no breakfast at all before meeting him. She talks about the graduation ceremony and how nervous she is that she’s going to trip on the podium, and that she’s nervous about lunch afterward because both of their parents are coming to lunch and their fathers are so different and she can feel a disaster just waiting to happen.          

            Sasuke places a cup in front of her. She looks down and traces the cup with a delicate finger. “A tulip?” She asks, not looking up.

            “Aa,” Sasuke never stopped making her latte art, even after they moved in together, or after he stopped working at the café and took up an apprenticeship at a firm.

Finally, Shikaku would be able to impart some advice about romancing a woman to his son.

"Who is it?" Yoshino slapped her hands on the table and leaned forward, staring deep into their son's soul. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'Lucky'," Shikamaru cringed when his mother leaned in a bit closer. "I don't think you've met her."

"Haven't met her, so it can't be Ino," glancing Shikaku's way, Yoshino huffed when he simply shrugged his shoulders. If this was a game his wife wanted to play, he would let her play it. "And not Sakura. Is she from Konoha?"

"No?"

"well, that's a little unexpected," settling back in her spot, Yoshino smirked. "The Suna girl?"

"Temari," Shikaku corrected his wife, a little smile tugging at the side of his lips when Shikamaru glanced his way with a look of betrayal. "Come on now, you didn't think I would fail to tell your mother about her did you?"

How could he keep such important information from the woman he had married? It was too much fun seeing her eyes light up when he regaled her with stories of how their son would swoon over the older girl, or watching her giggle when he talked about Shikamaru's obvious crush.

"Just like your father," Yoshino nodded her head approvingly. "Of course, you'll have to bring her over to meet us properly if this date goes well."

"you know, I think Lord sixth-"

"Lord Sixth has nothing for you to do the night of your date," Shikaku corrected his son before he could even come up with an excuse. "Go and enjoy yourself. It can't be as bad as my first date with your mother."

What a disaster that had been. an hour late because of a last-minute mission with nothing on hand to give her except some forget-me-not he had plucked from Inoichi's shop on the way by. How he had managed to get a second date after that was still beyond him, but Yoshino didn't complain too much about her choice of men so he must have done something right.

"Speaking of," Yoshino flashed him a grin. "If your father gives you any advice, do the exact opposite."

"H-hey!"

"I want this to work out for Shikamaru," she defended her words. "And not every woman is going to be as forgiving as me."

"You're forgiving?" Shikamaru cringed when both of his parents glared at him. "I just mean...Do you have any advice for me?"

"Get flowers," Yoshino answered before he even had a chance to open his mouth. "And I mean good flowers. Not forget-me-nots. Tulips or Lillies would be the best."

Not forget-me-nots? How insulting. Did she really mean that?

"You have your forget-me-nots from our first date pressed into a book," Shikaku argued. "They were good flowers."

"You stole them from Inoichi."

"I paid him!" Three days later and a little short on change, but his friend had never held that over his head.

"Are you two really doing this?" Shikamaru groaned. "Right now?"

Neither of them paid him any attention, focusing their energies instead on arguing about the importance of forget-me-nots and the value of not stealing from one's friends. Shikaku would stand his ground until the day he died, or Yoshino told him he was sleeping on the couch.

A good night's rest was not possible on the couch and he would gladly concede any argument just to be allowed into bed to cuddle his beautiful, correct wife.

The issue of Shikamaru's upcoming date would have to wait until later, and Shikaku would pass on some of his dating knowledge. Even if he had to wait for said beautiful wife to leave the room before doing it.