#shikasaku week hanami

[dimancheetoile]

to those gods I will speak bluntly

for ShikaSaku Week Hanami 2023 @shikasaku-week

Day 1: (don't) hug me, stay away (come closer) Non-Sexual Intimacy/Touch-Starved Character(s)

read on AO3

notes: quotes from Inkpot Gods and Not Yet/Love Run (reprise) by The Amazing Devil

_________________

I made a vow out to the dark

Please let her live just one more day

'Cause she is so much more than all her scars

There is a moment of stillness, a rare pause in the violence and the fighting. Greedily, they grab onto it and refuse to let go, teeth sunk into the flesh of this instant in time, this peace well-fought for. This strange stopping of the clock in the middle of the day, sun high in the sky; strange mostly because, if asked, they'd have thought this sort of pause would only come in the darkest hour of night or the earliest ray of sunlight. Something romantic like dusk or dawn, a moment deserving of the poetry of nature. Shows what they knew of war, before this all started.

No, this is not a romantic time, a moment of stillness when they most need it, as if a reward given for their continued fighting, their relentless drive. It comes right after noon, the sun at its zenith, harsh and almost white in its blinding light, right after noon when he should be meeting with the council, under the harsh white light of the sun when she should be in the medic tents triaging who deserves to be healed and who isn't worth the effort.

This, they should be doing. But for a brief instant, the beating heart of war quiets, the screams echo and end instead of coming directly from the mouth of the dying. For a brief moment, the world stills, and they're greedy, the both of them.

(they're not, gods they've never been greedy a single day in their life, they've sacrificed everything they have and everything they are for a country that despises their continued existence, their perpetual demand for it to be better, they've never known greed because they were never given the opportunity to fully realise how little they've been allowed to live, how small they've been made to feel, to be)

(they've never been greedy a fucking day in their life, but even if they had been—)

From opposite ends of the camp, they've been staring at each other, since the moment the sounds of fighting stopped. Shikamaru is supposed to turn around, enter the tent, plan the next assault for the third time this week alone, deciding which of his friends he'll send to their death today. Sakura is supposed to round her own tent to the large tarp draped in-between Fire trees where a dozen injured will be brought very soon, so she can decide which of her friends she's let die today.

But, you see, there is a moment of stillness, a rare pause in the violence and the fighting.

Without exchanging a single word, they disappear in a whirlwind of leaves.

(they're not greedy, neither assholes nor morons, so they only shunshin to the edge of the forest; where the cover of shadows will give them the illusion of peace, where Shikamaru might even catch a glimpse of his clan's deer for the first time in weeks)

Silently, they sit on one of the larger branches of an ash tree, far from the ground, where the leaves and the other trees will hide theme easily enough.

Like a string cut, a bell rung, the tension leaves their bodies in a snap. They slouch, her against the trunk, him against the offshoot of another branch. They're facing each other, one knee up or one leg crossed, hands on the bark or the leaves, eyes never leaving the other's face.

“And what you hear is not silence, it's just the trees waiting to hear what next you'll hum.” Her words are quiet, almost inaudible between the birds and the wind in the leaves. His breath catches in his lungs. He listens.

“And what you see is not the dark, it’s just the gods upturning inkpots 'cause they know what you'll become.” He doesn't recognise the poem; he's never been much into poetry. But he knows she grabbed a single book out of the ruins of her flat, the first thing she could see. It's been keeping her company ever since, as she read and re-read it every single evening, around the fire or in the shared tents where they all rotate to guard their only surviving medic. He hasn't read the book, but she's been quoting pieces of it to him when they've found some time together, and even when they haven't. Sometimes he finds strips of paper in the pockets of his flack jacket, on the folded blanket he uses as a pillow. He cherishes them, these pieces of the last piece of her home. He knows what they cost, what they're worth now.

“And to those gods I will speak bluntly, we've an accord. If you ever touch or harm him, please rest assured that you might not fear a man, but to a woman by the end you'll kneel and plead.”

He swallows, incapable of blinking when faced with everything this woman is, everything she means to him.

He answers the only way he knows how: half-truth and bitter honesty, the knowledge of knowing too much, the burden of age that aged too fast, his wisdom and years heavy on shoulders so young, so dumb.

“Love, run. Love, run, for all the things we wished we’d done. Run until your lungs are numb.”

She crying, soft and quiet, hot tears on the grime of her face, still leaning against the tree holding them both up. Her eyes are the same colour as the leaves around them, pierced by the rays of the afternoon sky. He sees their years, their weariness, their memories, all written on the streaks left behind on her dirty cheeks.

“I think I've been missing you for a long time,” she sobs, gasping on air and empty, broken promises made by the broken, empty boys of her childhood.

On his knees, he reaches for her, crawling on the branch with chakra helping him stick to it. His hand wraps around hers for a second before she brings it to her blackened, wet cheek. His hand looks huge next to her face, his tanned skin contrasting with her paleness, the darkness under her eyes.

He can't believe they're here. He can't believe these weeks of war and fighting, of sticking to each other's side, of deciding against everything and everyone that they were going to make a choice for themselves, just for once.

He whispers, “Sakura...” and she swallows, hard.

“Yes,” she croaks. “Yes, always.”

It's his turn to choke on tears, incapable of looking away. “I love you. I love you, I love you.”

“I love you,” she's saying over him, with him, voices mingling grime and tears together.

He falls more than he leans into her open arms, legs on either side of him, and she embraces him completely.

He can't believe this.

He can hear her heart, beating. Her lips against his temple, her fingers running through his dirty hair.

As usual, she hears him when he's not speaking a single word. “It's worth it. We're worth it, we deserve it. It's worth fighting for this, Shikamaru.” She puts some space between them, just enough that she can look him in the eyes. “I want to be with you. We deserve this, you and I.”

Gods, they do. So much. How could he ever doubt that?

“I love you,” he breathes against her neck. “I love you, I lov—”

The ground shakes so hard it dislodges them from the tree and they fall to the ground. Reflexes faster than the speed of sound help them react and they've twisted in the air before their brain even catches up with gravity. They fall stable on their feet, the wave of residual heat from the explosion almost knocking them backward.

The moment of stillness is gone, the pause in the violence is broken. But there is steel in their spine now, a glint in their eye. She'd call it spite, but that's because she's Haruno-fucking-Sakura. When he was thirteen, he learned the value of raw emotions; it's alright, he thinks, looking at her. He can call it hope for them both, until she can believe it too.

Run from all you know that’s coming

Run to show that love’s worth running to

[shikasaku-week]

ShikaSaku Week Hanami 2023

🦌 🌸 ShikaSaku lovers, shippers and supporters, the team here at ShikaSaku Week is absolutely delighted to welcome you to the 10th edition of our bi-annual celebration of our favourite Brains & Brawn™ couple!

We can't believe it's been 10 editions of ShikaSaku Week already!! What the hell, when did we get this old? Thank you so much to everyone who has been participating over the years. We have no intention of stopping and it is such a pleasure to come back to this year after year, week after week. Welcome back once more to our little shipping event ♥

It’s with great pleasure that we present ShikaSaku Week Hanami 2023! 🌸 🦌

— The Rules

• you can post anywhere! Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, DA, Instagram, Twitter, Pillowfort, go wild! • if you’re posting outside of tumblr, please send us a link to the fanwork so we can add it to the masterpost • tag it with #shikasakuweek or @shikasaku-week to help us find it on tumblr • the only requirement is for ShikaSaku to be the main pairing in your fanwork. It can be a fic, a fanart, a fanvid, a gifset, an edit, it’s up to you! • if you have any questions, feel free to message us or refer back to our FAQ page

When: April 28th - May 5th, 2023 (the dates were changed, check out our last announcement for an explanation)

Please, no character bashing. We’re here to create content for our ship, not ruin other people’s day.

🌸

Your works are to be inspired by the sentence prompt and the overall theme.

— The Prompts theme: together at last // what a relief, you and I

DAY ONE (don't) hug me, stay away (come closer) AO3 tag: Non-Sexual Intimacy or Touch-Starved Character(s)

DAY TWO birth and rebirth (we're here, still alive) AO3 tag: Post-4th Shinobi War or Kid Fic

DAY THREE trauma passed down onto the next generation like second-hand socks, always mismatched AO3 tag: PTSD or Recovery

DAY FOUR frozen lakes, heartcicles AO3 tag: Character Study or Curtain Fic

DAY FIVE if gods are laughing, the joke is not evident AO3 tag: Angst or Misunderstandings

DAY SIX (turn the light on) night’s almost here AO3 tag: Literal Sleeping Together or Hurt/Comfort

DAY SEVEN firmament/finality AO3 tag: Aged-Up Character(s) or Time-Travel

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

If you’re interested in the remix challenge and didn’t participate in it last edition, here’s a quick explanation: basically, you browse through the masterposts of the previous weeks and pick a story or art you like a lot. Then you write/draw an interpretation of that fanwork! Summarize in your head what the core idea of the fanwork you picked is and use that to make your own, based on that same premise. We hope you’ll enjoy yourselves and that you’ll rediscover works from previous years!

[vannahfanfics]

Rainshowers

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara

Good day, everyone! Here’s my story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami’s Day Six prompt, “Like Air in My Lungs (I Need You).” Enjoy!

“Ino. Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurts?”

Sakura’s eyes were lidded as she gazed forlornly out of the café window. Her hand was curled around a cup of black tea that was long since cold, over half full of the dark brew. The rain was pounding against the glass beside her; the glass looked as if it were frosted with the pumping streams that were cascading down the smooth, clear surface like a steady waterfall. For the thousandth time that morning, she sighed deeply and looked out the corners of her eyes at her friend, lips pursed in a self-pitiful pout.

“Sakura.” The click in her tongue indicated that she was in for a chiding. She closed her blue eyes as she set down her cup of green tea with a shake of her head. “Shikamaru has been broken up with Temari for three weeks now! Why are you here moping to me when you could be making your move?” Sakura groaned loudly and slammed her forehead down onto the table, making the cups rattle and silverware jump.

“It’s too soon! Shouldn’t I wait at least a month?”

“Girl! You waited six months before he even started dating her! It’s not like they were together for a super long time; they went on three dates,” the blonde scolded her critically. Sakura groaned into the finished wood of the small café table. “Hey. Look at me, will ya?” Obediently, Sakura lifted her head to peer at her with big green eyes; Ino was leaning her cheek in her hand and smiling sympathetically. “I know how hard it is for you to reconcile with your feelings after the whole Sasuke thing petered out, but if you never take any risks, Sakura, you’re gonna live your life full of regret.” Ugh. I hate it when she’s right, the kunoichi thought with a dour pout as she sat herself up and ran a hand over her wearied face.

“I know,” she grumbled in agreement. She turned to glance out of the window once more. The wind whisked up the rain to all but throw it against the glass in furious pitter-patters. The perfect parallel to her tumultuous mood. I just… Don’t want to ruin the status quo, she continued silently as her eyes drifted halfway shut. The rain continued to pour.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura had bid Ino a good evening and begun the wet, rainy trek home. The rain pounding continuously on the rubbery layer of the red umbrella she was holding over her head like a shower of bullets. The dirt street was flooded with numerous, deep puddles of dirty rainwater that splashed up the sides of her bare calves with every squelching step. Sakura tilted the edge of the umbrella up for a moment to peek up at the sky; it was choked with ashy gray clouds that rolled with quiet thunder and flashes of bright white lightning deep within their bellies. No doubt, it would be a long time before the rain let up. With a small sigh, she dropped her head back down, chin striking her chest. In such dismal weather, it was nearly impossible not to brood. Her hand curled up around her heart as it clenched tightly in her chest. She had asked Ino if she had ever loved someone so deeply that it hurt, because all Sakura felt these days was a dull aching beneath her sternum- the low, throbbing pulse of insurmountable longing. It was a painfully familiar feeling, one she had lived with for several years, and sometimes she wondered if her love for Sasuke had diminished at all, if maybe she were confusing her little crush on Shikamaru with these deep feelings of hers.

Then she would see him- just like right then, as he trotted out of the door of a small convenience store with one hand in his pants pocket and the other tossing a small plastic bag of canned coffees over his shoulder. Sakura stopped in her tracks, green eyes wide as they beheld him grimacing up at the stormy heavens.

“Man, what a drag… I should’ve checked the weather forecast today. This is getting old,” he muttered. His legs were splashed up the side with mud and Sakura could clearly see dark spots littering his clothes, evident of still-drying rain spatters. Had he walked there in the pouring rain? He apparently didn’t notice her, as he hopped down the store’s steps to land with a light splash in the muddied street below and start walking in the opposite direction. Sakura flushed and dipped her umbrella down to cover her face. She didn’t want him to notice her, and yet her heart was screaming in agony, wishing dearly to be greeted. She clenched her teeth as it constricted angrily within her chest; her ears rang with the rush of blood and Shikamaru’s soft, splashing footsteps. Her eyes flickered as the toes of his boots appeared just under the rim of the umbrella, passing her left side. She could go unnoticed. She could.

But did she want to?

“Sh-shikamaru!” she cried before her mind could stop her. Water jumped around her feet in a wide, curving arc as she whirled on her heel, and she accidentally threw the umbrella up too high, cause a sudden burst of raindrops to crash down into her face. Startled, she wiped at it quickly with her sleeve before blinking the water away to see Shikamaru staring at her with widened eyes. A mortified blush blazed across her cheeks, but she had already called out to him, so she had no choice but to stand her ground. “D-do you want me to walk you home? It’s pouring… You could catch cold.” She wished more than anything that her voice came out more confident. Hinata could run circles around her.

“You live in the opposite direction, though,” he frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. The coffee cans jingled with the movement. Sakura stared slack-jawed at him for a second. How stupid she must look! Of course it would be weird offering to walk him home when they lived on completely different sides of time.

“U-um, I’m just out for a walk. I’m not going anywhere in particular, so, it doesn’t matter to me,” she recovered lamely. His black eyes met hers for a moment, calculating. She wondered if he could see the nervousness blooming in her spring green depths.

“Well, you gonna bring the umbrella over here or you gonna just let me stand out in the rain?” With a squeak, she scampered over to him, hoisting the umbrella up to accommodate his tall frame. He slipped his hand back in his pocket as he turned to begin walking in step with her. Her legs were significantly shorter, so she had to set her pace almost twice as much as his to keep up. The umbrella bobbed up and down over their heads as she scuttled along beside him. “So what brings you out for a walk in this ugly weather?”

“O-oh, um, I met Ino for lunch at a café earlier, but I just wasn’t in the mood to go home yet.” At least it wasn’t a total lie.

“What, do you two get together once a week to exchange gossip or something?” he sniffed teasingly. Sakura’s face turned the color of her hair; yeah, basically, that was what they were doing. Shikamaru blinked at her stunned silence, then began chuckling. “Sounds about right. Lemme guess- Ino just had to spill that me ‘n Temari aren’t a thing anymore, right? Can’t tell her anything.” She couldn’t tell by the tone of his voice if he was actually angry that the blonde was spreading his business around or if he was just mildly amused; it was blank, void of much emotion at all, and when Sakura peeked up at him she saw that his face was pretty much the same. He stared straight onward with slightly lidded eyes. He looked deep in contemplation.

“… Did you really like her?” she asked quietly. If he was sad, she wanted to be there to comfort him, as his friend. However, part of her was terrified for him to answer that he had possessed strong feelings for the girl. That would just drive the nail into the coffin that contained her own feelings.

“No,” he answered, almost a little too easily. Sakura’s heart skipped with hope. She then flushed with shame. Why should she be happy that his relationship with Temari hadn’t worked out? That was a terrible thing! His eyes shifted to bore into hers again, making her wince slightly. Was she supposed to say something? What should she say? Sakura was just brutally honest; it was especially hard with Shikamaru to act all unperturbed.

“S-so… You’re the one who called it off?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” The question burned like fire on her tongue. Temari was smart and capable; honestly, Shikamaru would be lucky to have her. Of course, the answer could be as simple as he wasn’t feeling it. That was a perfectly reasonable answer, but doubt poked at the back of Sakura’s mind. The two had always had great chemistry, even to the point that people had assumed they were dating. It was almost certain that they would hit it off. So why…?

Shikamaru suddenly stopped, and she followed suit, looking at him in bewilderment. His hand slowly came up to wrap around hers that was holding the handle of the umbrella; blush shot up her arm to creep up her neck and face, and had Shikamaru not been gripping the handle tightly, the umbrella would be shaking from the quiver that had gripped her body. His dark eyes glittered with something that Sakura couldn’t place- amusement? Glee? Maybe a faint bit of derision? It was an intense stare that had a pleasurable shiver propagating from her head to her toes and back. She felt it, again, that suffocating constriction in her chest that made her lungs burn. The love that hurt. Electrified, she could only gawk up at him and wait for him to speak.

“Because I was just trying to kid myself out of the fact that I was already in love with somebody else.” His words were but ghosts, drifting over Sakura’s blush-stained face in feather-light wisps. She was so enraptured by them that she didn’t even react when the bag of coffee cans clattered loudly to the ground, nor when both his hands rose to gently cup her face. For some reason, only one thing and one thing only was on her mind.

“Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurt?”

“Every damn day.”

The seconds between his answer and what happened next were forever a blank period in her memory. Like a record skipping, she was suddenly just there, umbrella discarded and arms around his neck and lips furiously smashing against his in a desperate, heated kiss. The cool rain cascading down her skin foiled the burning sensation of lust flourishing through her insides like fire; everywhere his hands landed- her neck, her hips, her back- there bloomed fiery pleasure as her nerves short-circuited. Sakura hadn’t realized up until then how short of breath she was. As soon as his lips met hers, it felt like pure oxygen flooded her lungs, swelling them to maximum capacity. It was like he breathed life into her; she couldn’t breathe without him, she loved and needed him that much, and so she refused to part her mouth from his even as her head began to dizzy with lack of breath. When his tongue dipped into her mouth to eagerly tangle with her own, her knees buckled and she slumped against him, mind foggy as she began to slowly spin into suffocation. It felt so good. It felt like a part of her was made whole again.

She was panting hard when he forced himself away from her. Despite her gasping breaths, her face still chased his as it left, her mouth lamenting the loss of the taste of him, like bitter coffee and green tea and spices. He supported her limp frame with his sturdy arms as she slowly came down from the impossible high. She blinked as her mind came back to her. The rain had picked up considerably and they were both now dripping wet, beaded raindrops falling from their chins and elbows and seeping into their clothes to darken the fabric. Sakura laughed lightly as she swept a few of the pink strands that had plastered to her face.

“I let go of the umbrella,” she mused bashfully and looked down the street to see it rolling like a tumbleweed far down the street. She turned back to see that they had been standing in front of his house the entire time. Now I have to walk all the way home in the rain… Sakura didn’t mind it, really. With the gentle, bubbling heat pulsing through her body at the moment, she doubted the chill of the rain would be able to reach her at all. Shikamaru seemed to have other ideas, though.

“What a pity. Guess you’re not going anywhere until the rain lets up.” Her face turned beet-red at the sultry growl in his voice. She squealed in surprise as he suddenly hoisted her up, and her legs snapped closed around his hips on instinct.

“Shi-! Shika-!” she stammered uselessly. Her brain was far too fried to form coherent words. He gave her a twisted, mischievous smirk as he whirled on his heel to march up the path leading to his residence, while Sakura’s nails dug down into his shoulder in a white-knuckled grip. “Have you lost your mind?!”

“I’m quite lucid, thank you,” he purred as he kicked the garden gate latch up and opened it with a foot. He kicked it shut behind him, not seeming to care at all that it only bounced back open to begin flapping back and forth in the wind. “What, do you really wanna go on your ‘walk’ that bad?” Her face continued to flush at his teasing words. Of course she didn’t want to go on a damn walk! Mortified and shamefully excited, she leaned forward to bury her face into his shoulder as he carried her into the empty house.

It was certainly not how she expected to spend the rainy day, but boy, did she have some gossip for Ino for their next café meet-up…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[tomioneerwrites]

The last Hidden Village will fall in seven months.

But Kakashi gave Shikamaru two scrolls, and one of them was a mission. So Shikamaru has worked out his answer. What to do, where to go, and how to survive? Change the events that lead to this, go to the past, gather a small, elite team of intellectual powerhouses with eidetic memories and give them the authority to guide the world down a path that will allow them to be prepared when the attack comes.

Better yet, they could avoid it altogether.

For #ShikaSakuHanami 2019 

the uhh. the working title for this project is married domestic geniuses & time travel shenanigans. I will be tagging it as series: mdgtts because I was bitten hard by the plot bunnies and there might be uhhh... a lot more. Hope you enjoy!

[vannahfanfics]

Lucid Dream

Category: Hurt and Comfort, Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

EDIT: This beautiful piece of artwork was made by the lovely @deliathedork​ who just can’t seem to stop spoiling me rotten with all the presents! TT.TT Please give her some love too! She is very, very talented!

Bonjour, mes amis! Here’s today’s story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami, prompt “Drip, Drip, Drip (Our Blood). For some reason I really like writing in Shikamaru’s POV… Anyway, enjoy~

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The slow, melodic sound was the first thing to greet Shikamaru as he phased into consciousness. His vision rolled as he forced his eyes open but could only manage to part his eyelids into a small slit for the overwhelming nausea that engulfed him upon doing so. Eyelashes fluttering like a trembling leaf as he struggled to keep his eyes open and survey his surroundings and current situation, the water kept dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip. Dust was dancing in thin brown clouds all around him. It was dark save for a few spearing shafts of light pouring down from large, gaping holes in the ceiling.

A ceiling- he was in a building, or what was left of it. Chunks of the wall and roof were littered around him in great heaping gobs of crushed stone, with little pebbles and normal-sized rocks scattered around like their voluminous brood. Glass intermingled with the carnage, glowing with sheen as they reflected the harsh sunlight invading the dark space. Shikamaru turned his head to his left, though the muscles in his neck and shoulders screamed loudly in protest, to find a cavernous expanse stretching out just beside him. The floor- and the three stories underneath- lie far below in an indistinct collection of rubble. Illuminated by the sunlight below, a large red puddle bloomed on the smooth surface of one of the rock faces, a lake of blood that splintered off into many rivers that meandered into the cracks.

Drip. Another bead of blood bloomed on the tip of his finger from where his arm was slung carelessly into the void, then detached itself to fall down, down, down and splash into the puddle below. Blood. His blood, to be exact. It was a lot. How was he bleeding so much?

The spike of twisted metal embedded through his lower abdomen provided that answer. The jade green of his vest was dyed a dark brown where the blood had seeped into the thick fabric. He shifted slightly and could feel the sticky mass of blood squelching against his backside, traveling all the way down his left leg. The stretch of floor that he was laying on was sloped downwards and to the left, allowing the blood to run up his body, catch on his left arm, and pool on his hand before gravity stole it away.

“Well, shit,” he wheezed. His right arm twitched as he tried to move it, but the muscles were hesitant to comply at first. Slowly, he eased his arm up; his right hand shook violently that it made tremors wrack all the way up to his shoulder. Somehow, he wrapped his hand around the spear of metal that was jutting out of his stomach and gave it an experimental tug. All he earned himself was shooting pain blooming like flower petals from the epicenter of his wound; his head smacked back against the concrete as he hissed loudly in agony. That certainly wasn’t budging. It was probably his luck that the metal was worked into the concrete and had bent upon the building collapsing, and he had landed right on top of it. Pulling it out was counter-productive anyway; he would bleed out almost instantaneously. Shikamaru’s eyebrows threaded together as he fought to remember how he had ended up in such a drag in the first place.

The memories threaded like beads of dew on a spiderweb, spaced far apart but no less interconnected; he recalled something about raiding a suspected drug cartel compound. He tugged at the thread in his mind, hoping that all the dew beads would merge to form a coherent series of events. Green eyes and pink hair suddenly clouded him memories. Sakura, that’s right, he was with Sakura in the fifth-floor raid party; to catch the enemy unawares, they had planned to attack every floor at once to keep those on the upper floors from barricading themselves in or utilizing a secret escape route. It had been going all fine and dandy until some nutjob had decided to strap a bunch of paper bombs to himself to become a martyr. They had been in far too close quarters for the both of them to escape, and Shikamaru’s brightest idea at the time had been to wrench Sakura out of the window then dive for the stairs. The paper bombs had exploded and the floor had collapsed, and apparently, Shikamaru had ended up here.

Drip. Drip. Drip. The blood continued to accumulate in the rubble below.

Sakura… Is she okay? The girl was by no means a slouch, but she probably hadn’t expected to be flung off the fifth floor of a building, either. Shikamaru ought to be concerned with himself, but his thoughts were bent on the medical ninja. He could’ve killed her, really. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if that were the case. Of all the things, that stupid set of decisions? He should’ve reacted faster. There were any number of alternate scenarios that could’ve unfolded, but that had been the one he had opted for. God, he was an idiot. If she did live, he almost hoped he did die to spare himself the beating he was sure to catch later.

Wow. He was actually acting like he was going to make it out of this alive. His vision, already fuzzing black around the edges, settled once more on the sharp metal bit jutting out of his abdomen. Shikamaru felt bile rise up in the back of his throat as he felt the acidic tang of fear beginning to flood his mouth. His grip tightened around the iron, as if his hand alone could shatter it. Waves of tingling numbness began to course over his body, head to toe. Then there was that goddamned dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip. It pulsed loudly in his eardrums like tinnitus, sending spikes of pain shooting into his skull with each accursed drop. He didn’t want to die. It’s not like Shikamaru was the biggest go-getter, but still, there were things he wanted to accomplish in life before kicking the bucket. He had to see Naruto become Hokage. More than that, he had to be that dumbass’s advisor, because he sure didn’t trust anyone else to do it. God, even though it was a drag, he wanted to get married, maybe have a kid or two, watch them grow up… Maybe, then, maybe he could die- but not right now. Not yet.

Sakura.

Maybe the blood loss was making him delirious. He was trying to keep his breath from coming in ragged, shallow gasps, because the faster he breathed, the faster the blood pumped through his veins, and the faster his blood began to drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Had it sped up? How long had it been since the building collapsed? One minute? Ten? How close was he to death, actually?

Sakura.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Girls were a drag. Shikamaru had always thought so. Seeing Ino and Sakura butt heads like fighting mountain goats was enough to solidify that in his brain. Yet… Somehow they had become less of a drag, over time. Especially her. Especially Sakura. He admired her, even. She was a bit feisty, but he preferred that to a total giggly fake pushover. She was smart, so he could hold intelligent conversation with her. She was strong, stupidly so, which meant Shikamaru never had to worry. Of course he hadn’t hurt her throwing her out of the building. It was Sakura, after all. She probably hurt the ground rather than the other way around.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He was definitely delirious. His vision swam like swirling water before his hazy eyes. He didn’t even have the strength to hold his head up any more. One minute? Ten? It felt like a lifetime. He was definitely delirious, because he was regretting not telling her that he loved her. When did that happen? They hung out, sure. They were often paired on missions because they worked well together. He’d walked her home after they went out to dinner a couple times, but that was just work stuff. Friend stuff, if he was being generous.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Did he think about her sometimes? Sure, but his mind just wandered like that. Wandered, to her pink hair like the cherry blossoms in bloom, to her spring green eyes that sparkled like a beautiful sea they had seen once in a mission out of the country, to her beautiful smile that shone like the sun itself. He had to be delirious, because he could see her before his waking eyes, calling his name with tears in those eyes like new spring growth.

“Shikamaru! Shikamaru, can you hear me?”

Was she actually there? Was she an illusion? Shikamaru really couldn’t tell. Everything around her was a smudge of indistinct grays and blacks and browns with those burning streaks of white light, yet she was so crisp and clear. His eyes settled on an abnormality, on the trail of bright red blood streaming down the side of her face from a gash in her forehead. Was that his fault? It traveled down her cheek, mixing with her pouring tears, down to her chin, where it beaded like a red jewel and dropped down onto his vest. Drip. Drip. Drip.

“Sakura… You’re… Bleeding…” Was that his voice? It sounded so garbled, like a frog croaking. His whole body was numb at this point, and the only point he knew that he had actually lifted up his hand was when it appeared in his line of sight. His trembling thumb gently swept over the thin laceration as his expression contorted into one of regret. “Sorry…”

“What? This? No, no, this is nothing!” Maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed to lean into his touch, cheek brushing into his palm. “Shikamaru, you saved me. I would have died in that explosion if you hadn’t pushed me out of the way.” His mouth twisted into a pitiful rendition of a smile. She wasn’t mad. No beating for him. He was finally catching a stroke of luck. That lovely pink hair of her whirled as she whipped her head around to shout at Naruto and Kiba, who were finally ascending the half-broken stairs to assist her.

“Sakura, you shouldn’t have run up the stairs like that! They’re all half-collapsed, believe it! We almost died!”

“Yeah, like, three times.”

“Shut up and help me!” Her voice was high-pitched, nearly manic. The tone demanded their will to comply. Shikamaru’s breath was rattling in his lungs now. It felt like it was water he was breathing, not oxygen, heavy and suffocating. He could vaguely hear the two boys suck in horrified gasps when they neared him, and Sakura vaguely instructing them to hold him still as she bent off the end of the pole. She stood over him, one foot on either side of his hips, while Naruto crouched down at his head to push his palms into his chest. Sakura grasped the end of the pole and charged her fists with chakra, and then bent the piece of metal as close as she dare to the gaping hole that was his wound.

The vibrations alone were enough to send Shikamaru’s legs to spasming, and Kiba had to dive on them to keep him from accidentally kicking her away. Short pained cries left his mouth, dignity ignored. It of course didn’t snap immediately; she had to bend it back and forth, working weakness into the metal until it finally broke, snapping off in a jagged point just above his heaving belly. “Shikamaru, this is going to hurt like hell.”

“Wha- AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGH!” he howled as the three of them all but jerked him off the remaining short spike of metal. The barbed end ripped through his flesh with fervor, sending more blood spurting into the air and his vision flaring white as he fought desperately against fainting. His entire body burned like he was being submerged in lava, but especially that small circle of agony in his lower abdomen. As soon as they had him on the ground again, Sakura was straddling his waist with her hands pressed deep into his wound, dying them a dark red that he could even see through the hemisphere of green healing chakra; his body continued to twitch with lingering tendrils of fiery pain wracking his nervous system. He was wheezing as his wide eyes attempted to fixate on her trembling form but failing miserably as they danced with white and black spots. He could feel the light tremors against his body. Her tears continued to flow, gathering on the end of her chin to splash down below.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

“S-Saku… ra… I…”

“No. Don’t you do that,” she growled at him. Her green eyes, alight with furious fire, snapped up to meet his. “You’re not dying. Not here. Not like this. I won’t let you.” He couldn’t help but allow the tired smirk to form on his lips. So angry all the time. It was amazing how much roiling rage was pent up in that petite body.

His hand was moving again. It settled in her threads of disheveled pink hair, tucking it behind her ear. “Stop moving. It makes this harder,” she ordered, but with much less bark. Shikamaru ignored her, going to tug on the neck of her shirt to get her attention. “What?” What he mumbled, she could not here. A faint tinge of pink arose to her cheeks, but whether that was from embarrassment or ire, she wasn’t sure. She shifted such that she was now kneeling by his side, allowing her to both continue administering medical ninjutsu to his wound and leaning close to his face. “What did you say?”

“Just in case,” he wheezed in a hoarse laugh, and with the last of his strength, he pushed his head up so he could press a light kiss to her lips. He actually managed to hold it for a few seconds before his head smacked back down to the concrete. She stared owlishly down at him for a few seconds more. She would probably still hit him even in his condition for pulling a stunt like that, but hey. “Don’t look at me like that,” he simpered weakly. “You’re not one to deny a dying man his first kiss, are you?” A trail of blush blazed across her cheeks like a sudden wildfire.

“Idiot,” she grumbled, looking back down to his wound. “You think I’m going to let you die now…?” He quirked his eyebrow at her soft features. Was that a smile he saw? He would’ve thought she would be angry. He yelped loudly when she suddenly applied more pressure to his abdomen. “Idiot! I’m gonna heal this stupid wound of yours so I can kill you myself! Jeez, men, can’t even handle a scratch before they start getting weird ideas in their head!” she raged loudly, and in tandem, her green chakra flared all the brighter and became bubbly and unfocused around the edges. He sputtered out apologies as the force of her fists against his stomach literally bent his spine and forced him to sit up a little.

“Yeesh, Sakura,” Naruto frowned at her. “I thought it was kinda romantic, actually…”

“Yeah, if I was a girl, I’d swoon,” Kiba agreed with his arms crossed.

“Shut up! You two want some of this?! Why don’t you go and make yourself useful with the clean-up effort before they’re washing your blood off the walls!” The two followed her advice and made a hasty retreat. She began muttering under her breath about their incompetency, which made him chuckle slightly. He soon regretted that, because it flared that flower of pain in his belly again.

“Ouch…”

“That was reckless,” she scolded him quietly. It took him a second to register that he was referring to his abomination of a strategy earlier.

“I know. I probably could’ve come up with something better if I had been thinking straight.” He could talk in longer sentences now without gasping for air, so he supposed his chances of dying were now slimmer.

“You? Not thinking straight?”

“I was too busy thinking about how I didn’t want you to die.” Her mouth folded in on itself as she blushed darker. She looked away, likely because she was embarrassed for him to see. A long period of silence unfolded between them, a book with blank pages. Shikamaru wasn’t sure of what he wanted to write there. Perhaps it didn’t need to be written at all.

“You…” she sighed, looking back to him finally as she removed her hands from his abdomen. “I’ve stopped the bleeding and sealed the wound shut, but it’s only a temporary fix. You need surgery. Move too much and you’ll bust it open again.”

“Moving too much? Doesn’t sound like me.”

“You could have died!” she shouted at him suddenly. Despite what he had just said, he flinched violently, and his hand shot to the half-closed wound as it snarled in protest. His eyebrows were knitted together as he stared up at her face, twisted in agony and regret. “You could’ve died,” she repeated, more softly, “and I don’t know what I would’ve done if you had.” She hung her head. He watched those tears, tinged pink with the blood still leaking from her forehead cut, drip down onto her lap. Drip. Drip. Drip.

He clenched his teeth tightly, forcing himself up onto his elbows, then pushing off to unsteadily pull himself into a sitting position. He slung his arms loosely around the crying girl, half in a consoling embrace and half in a gesture to ensure he didn’t fall right back down. He pushed his head into hers, his dark black strands weaving with those lovely pink ones.

“But I didn’t,” he breathed into her scalp, “because you saved me.” He felt her shaking hands screw into the fabric of the back of his vest as she held onto him tightly. Her face was buried into his shoulder, smearing it with blood and tears and low sobs.

Surely, he was no longer delirious.

He slipped his hand under her head to grasp her gently by the chin, lifting up her face. Somehow, it was possible for her to still be incredibly beautiful, even with her face smeared with dirt and smudged with blood and her expressed scrunched up into misery. Those bright green eyes peeked out at him through thick, tear-heavy lashes. “You saved me,” he repeated comfortingly. Her eyes flickered a few times before falling to his lips. Her gaze rested there for a moment.

“Just in case.” Her voice was like a breath among howling wind, nearly inaudible. She closed her eyes as she leaned into kiss him. This time, her lips molded fully into his, and he relished how soft and pliant they felt under his. With a hunger he had never known, he devoured her in passionate, starving kisses, pushing against her such that she had to brace herself with her palms flat against the concrete, back bent at a dramatic angle. His were holding her face in place as he kissed her fervently, over and over and over until both their mouths were sore and bruised. That ache in him wasn’t even close to being filled, but he forced himself to pull back regardless, mostly because his head was beginning to swim again. He laughed breathily as his forehead fell into her shoulder, and her arms jumped up to wrap around his broad back.

“Rest,” she cajoled him. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“When I wake up, will this all have been some sort of twisted lucid dream?” he laughed wryly.

“No,” she laughed and pressed a kiss into the top of his head. “Not a dream.” Shikamaru decided to take that at face value and practically melted into her, allowing all of his muscles to finally relax. As he breathed in air, Sakura’s scent wafted in with it, a blend of strawberries and cream and the fresh spring breeze.

Even if he never woke up, he was pretty content with going out this way, held in the arms of the woman he daresay he loved while the sunlight warmed his back… Of course, it would be nice if he did wake up, lucid dream or not.

After all, there was a lot he still had left to do… Marry a girl, maybe have a kid or two, watch them grow up… retire to a home in the countryside, with cherry blossoms blooming in the brilliance of spring, and be greeted every morning by that smile that rivaled the glow of the very sun.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[vannahfanfics]

Rest For The Weary

Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

What’s up, everyone? Here’s my third story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami for the prompt “Proud of You, Proud of Me.” Enjoy!

Shikamaru’s eyelashes fluttered as some distorted mumblings of his name began to pulse in his ears. Slowly, very slowly, they became clearer; it was his name, all right. Groaning away the sleep that was so insistently trying to tug him back into the realm of dreams, he shifted on the mattress. Wait, since when were mattresses this hard and uncomfortable? He involuntarily flung his arm out and hissed when he banged his wrist against another hard surface. The electric shockwave of pain that propagated up from the jarred joint shot him fully into consciousness, and as he rolled onto his side clutching his burning wrist, he fell right off the edge of the bench he had passed out on to crash roughly against the dirt ground about a foot below.

“Sonofa- owwwww!” he whined loudly, not sure whether to clutch his still-stinging wrist or his now-pounding head. He froze when he heard a girl giggling above him. Right, somebody had been calling his name. Who-?

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Sakura teased when he cracked his eye open to look up at her. He was a little dazed from being awoken plus his short tumble, so it took him a minute to actually register the pink-haired, green-eyed kunoichi. “You okay?” As he snorted in derision, a puff of dust clouded in his face, making him cough and clamp his eyes shut. He sat up slowly; his joints were already stiff from sleeping on the hard bench, and his drop to the ground had only jerked them about. He tucked his injured wrist against his chest and rubbed the back of his neck with the other hand, sighing deeply. Of course Sakura would have to be the one to find him drooling on a random bench and watch him fall right off it.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good…”

“What are you doing sleeping on a bench?” Now, that was an excellent question. He frowned deeply as he tried to drag his recent memory from his sluggish mind. He had worked all day with Kakashi until well after sunset, finally stumbling out of the Hokage’s office at about nine o’ clock to try and walk home… He had gotten up extra early that morning to train, at about five in the morning. At some point the exhaustion had caught up to him and he had just plopped down on a bench, and that was that. What an embarrassing thing to admit to a girl. He neglected to reply, only grumbling under his breath and looking away. “Lemme guess- you’ve been pushing yourself too hard again, huh?”

Damn woman was too smart for her own good.

“You’re one to talk. Lemme guess, you just now got out of the hospital even though your shift started at six this morning, right?” he countered grumpily. Sakura’s lips pursed into a dour pout; looks like he had hit the nail right on the head.

“Well, they were a little short-handed, that’s all,” she huffed, jutting out her hip to primly rest her hand on it in a clear display of protest. Shikamaru just snorted and tucked his legs underneath him to sit cross-legged on the dirt road. It was way too much of a drag to climb back up onto the bench; the ground wasn’t that uncomfortable, and he was always down there, anyway. He laced his fingers together behind his head and leaned back against the seat of the bench, lounging there like some kind of vagabond. He was going to give some snarky retort, but a yawned overpowered whatever snark was going to come out of his mouth. He squinted slightly at the power of it; it made a few tears well up in the corners of his eyes. With it came another thrall of drowsiness. He was more beat than he thought… “Shikamaru…”

His gaze flickered up to hers, eyes lidded. She didn’t continue whatever she was going to say. She only stared down at him with a complicated expression, green eyes swimming with concern. Shikamaru figured it would be annoying that she was worrying over him so much when she was clearly running herself ragged too, but somehow he found it… refreshing. He quirked an eyebrow when she suddenly turned around to squat down beside him, easing herself down onto the ground with her legs neatly tucked underneath her. She didn’t look at him, but craned her head back slightly to stare up at the clear night sky above. It was a nice night, after all, but why did she feel the need to stargaze right next to him? “It’s just funny,” she laughed airily all of a sudden.

“What?”

“Well, I just never would’ve dreamed we would’ve had a conversation about you overworking yourself!” He flinched at the unveiled barb, uncomfortably looking away with a scowl. She wasn’t wrong; Shikamaru was the undisputed king of laziness and distributor of the label of “drag,” but did she have to come out and say it like that? When he deigned to look back at her, she was giving him a sweet smile that made his heart somersault in his chest for some reason. “I’m proud of you.”

A blush blazed a red trail across his cheeks, hot and burning. Proud of him? It wasn’t like Shikamaru was doing any of this to get praised; he was just… doing what he wanted. Still, something about her praise made him feel happy, almost ridiculously so. He fidgeted awkwardly next to her, his arms slumping down to fidget with the hem of his green vest. He wasn’t really sure how to process the runaway train of his emotions at the moment.

“Thanks…” he managed with a tiny smirk that barely betrayed how stupidly giddy he was at such a simple statement. “You should give yourself some credit too, though. You’ve come a long way since we were all Genin.”

“Hehe, thanks,” she grinned radiantly up at him. She was leaning into him a little. Every time her shoulder lightly bumped into his, Shikamaru felt electric sparks jump across his nerves. His entire right arm felt like a sparking frayed wire. Her eyes drooped suddenly as she yawned slightly, and her body swayed a little back and forth. “I told myself during our first Chunin exams that I would work hard to catch up to those two,” she murmured, almost to herself. Her side was completely pressed against him now, and her head bobbed a little over his shoulder as her hazy eyes stared somewhere off into the distance. “Sometimes I feel like I’m still so far behind them, even still…”

Shikamaru felt bad for her, really. He couldn’t imagine the pressure of having two powerhouses like Sasuke and Naruto to compete with. It was almost like looking up at two gods, with the plane they were on. Still, she kept climbing, not giving up… Her tenacity and drive were what he admired most about her.

“Sakura?”

“Mmm?” she answered sleepily. She was still swaying back and forth like a skinny tree in the wind as she bobbed on the border of asleep and awake. He stared down at her for a minute, then gently grabbed the back of her head to push it into the crook of his neck and shoulder. He half-expected her to rebuke him and even punch him for that, but apparently she was too tired to care; with a contented hum, she nestled willingly into the junction of his body. He felt goosebumps rise over his skin as her breath puffed in little gasps over his neck, and her cherry blossom-pink threads of hairs tickled him as she adjusted to her makeshift pillow. One of her hands clutched endearingly, almost child-like, at the side of his stiff vest, fingers curling into the fabric. She was breathing softly and quietly. He didn’t know if she had fallen asleep as soon as her head met his shoulder.

But he said it none the less.

“I’m proud of you.” It was a whisper, nothing more. Her entire body weight was slumped against him now. Surely she was fast asleep. There was definitely no going home for him; he didn’t want to wake her. She looked so comfortable and content snuggled into his side, tip of her nose buried into that little pocket at the base of his neck. His hand still held the back of her head, and he absentmindedly began to weave his fingers into her soft hair that smelled faintly of strawberries and honeysuckle. His other hand rose to his mouth as he yawned again. At least the night was warm; it made sleeping on the street much less of a drag than it could have been. With a sleepy grunt, his pressed his cheek into the top of her head, hand falling around her waist to hold her close. She muttered something in her sleep. Was she dreaming already? She was mumbling something about staying… Well, there was no riddle as to who that could be about. Shikamaru felt more jealous than he care to admit.

“Shika… maru…” she sighed into his neck and pushed closer, fingers now clawing across the center of his vest. His eyes widened slightly as she unconsciously uttered his name, and then he smiled into her sweet-smelling hair, other arm enclosing her in a gentle embrace as sleep began to overtake him again.

He’d have to fall asleep on benches more often.  

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[vannahfanfics]

We Could Be In Love

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hello, everyone! This is my piece for ShikaSaku Week Hanami’s Day One prompt, “Dawn (We Celebrate Our Victories).” I hope everyone enjoys it~

Sakura’s breath was coming in small, ragged gasps as she hobbled unsteadily out of the medical tent. Leaning on the wooden pole that braced the large cloth structure, she peered through cringing eyes at the dark silhouette of the tree-line stretching in a circle around the medical camp; the black surface was becoming tinged with yellow-gray as the sun began to poke its burning head above the canopy to grace the world with dawn. Unknowingly, the medical ninja had worked through the night; it couldn’t be helped. After all, the Fourth Shinobi World War had produced countless injured, ranging from minor to critical.

After the sealing of Kaguya and the long-awaited resolution between Naruto and Sasuke that resulted in the dissipation of her genjutsu, all of the Allied Forces had congregated in the medical encampment in the woods far from the battlefield. It was swelled to max capacity, and of course the ratio of medical ninja to injured shinobi was helplessly skewed. For the last twenty-four hours, Sakura had been running from tent to tent overseeing the operations and lending aid where she could, especially for the most critical cases, such as Lady Tsunade, who had spent all of her power in the fight against Madara, and the two boys, whose lives were still in danger due to the beating they had put on each other. It had been a long, hard day, but Sakura could not rest yet.

“There’s still… More I can do,” she huffed through gritted teeth. She pushed herself off of the small pole only to stumble unsteadily a few feet in a semicircle, not even moving forward an inch. Her vision hazed with exhaustion and she reflexively reached out an arm, though she wasn’t quite sure what she was reaching for. A foggy dark shape pranced in her vision. It looked like someone she knew, but with her mind in clouds, she couldn’t think of who. The figure grabbed her arm at the elbow, firmly, keeping her from tipping backwards and falling gracelessly through the flaps of the medical tent.

“I think that’s enough helping for you. God, Sakura, when is the last time you’ve slept?” The corners of her mouth tugged upward in a pitiful attempt at a smile. With the heels of her boots planted in the ground and him holding her up, she was pretty much suspended like a puppet, and the energy that her muscles had been using diverted back to her mind; her vision cleared enough to reveal a familiar visage- bored expression, one hand in his pocket while the other rubbed at his neck, angled eyes and a high ponytail holding up his dark hair- Shikamaru Nara.

“Hey,” came her garbled, tired reply. God, she couldn’t think of anything better to say to him than “hey”? She really was out of it. Snorting in derision, he jerked her forward such that she fell clumsily against his chest. As she bounced back a little, he fixed firm hands on her shoulders, black eyes piercing into her own lidded spring-green ones.

“You’re a mess.”

“That’s no way to talk to a lady, Shikamaru.” If she wasn’t using every ounce of her energy to hold herself up, she would’ve socked him. Although, Sakura doubted she could put a thousandth of her lethal force into it if she did. It felt like her entire body was being weighed down by chunks of iron; her knees wobbled so precariously that they repeatedly knocked together. As if to warn her against trying anything stupid, a bolt of fiery pain rocketed up one of her legs, disbalancing her and causing her to slump against him. “Nnngh…”

“Ugh, why are girls such a pain?” Shikamaru muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes. She had her eyes closed now, the pain too much, and was just concentrating on getting oxygen into her system. With every strained breath, she caught hints of Shikamaru’s aroma- a mixture of sweat, pine trees, and morning dew that was somehow not unpleasant. I must be going delirious if I’m thinking about how nice he smells, she thought with a small groan. “You can’t even walk, can you?” Somehow, she managed to shake her head. “What a drag.” She could only grunt as he stooped down to loop one arm under her knees and the other around her upper back. Her head lolled over his shoulder as he effortlessly lifted her from the ground, her breath puffing in labored gasps against his neck. “You can’t push yourself like this, you know.”

“Did I… ask your opinion?” It meant to come out savage, but instead, she sounded reminiscent of a kicked puppy. Her fingers curled tightly into the fabric of his green vest in a display of frustration, though if anyone say them, they would dare it was an intimate action. She cracked one eye open to peer up at him; a pang of guilt twisted into her heart as she saw the almost hurt expression on his face. It instantly switched back to that disinterested frown, and he tossed his gaze somewhere else, acting as if her attitude didn’t affect him in the slightly. “Ah… I’m sorry…” she grumbled in apology. He was only acting in her best interest, after all. Her stubbornness and pride were unwarranted.

He was still staring somewhere off to his right, but she was relieved to see the corner of his mouth inch up into a wry smirk.

“All you girls… Way to tough for your own good, y’know. It’s okay for you to worry about yourselves every once in a while.” Sakura only hummed in response. His shoulder almost seemed to embrace her the way a pillow would, and the gentle heat that was radiating from his body was lulling. The way his body moved as he walked almost was rocking her to sleep. She shifted in his arms, instinctively sliding one arm to hook it around his neck. She felt his body stiffen at the gesture, but she didn’t care. She was so comfortable… If she had to describe the feeling she felt while being held in his arms, it was… safe and cherished. Sakura was no fool. He had to have been watching her all night, refusing to sleep waiting for her imminent collapse. For Shikamaru to deprive himself of sleep was, well… Nothing short of pure concern.

“You were really worried about me, huh?” she said teasingly. Through the gaps in her eyelashes, she could see a blaze of pink rush over his cheeks, though he would’ve argued it was the dawn washing over his face. “When’s the last time you’ve slept, Shikamaru?”

“Got your cockiness back, huh? I preferred you nearly unconscious,” he muttered. Sakura giggled and snuggled further into his neck, making his muscles tense tighter than a string drawn taut. Maybe it was because she was delirious from exhaustion, but she was enjoying this; she almost fancied the idea that she could love him. Sakura liked to fool herself that she still loved Sasuke, and maybe those feelings could resurface if he ever reciprocated… But she had buried those hopeless endeavors a long time ago. Did Shikamaru think that she hadn’t noticed? The way his gaze drew to her when they were near each other? The happenstance “bumping-into-each-other” that always seemed to lead to him walking her home? She wondered, if in his Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he had envisioned her. All of this was delirious fever but also dangerously close to reality; all these thoughts she tossed around in her mind as he bore her across the encampment towards the faraway individual tents. At some point during her feverish contemplations, she had begun twisting her fingers into the thick hair on the back of his neck, tugging a few long strands from his ponytail to play with them. “Are you even awake right now?”

“I’m awake,” she yawned into his shoulder padding. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled with just as much wearied force. She had been staring at his face the whole time, watching his expressions shift, but as the light glinted in the corners of her eyes, she shifted her vision to the bubbling sun rising over the tops of the trees. Around it, the colors of dawn spread out in a halo, white merging into yellow into orange then pink then red, with the faintest fringes of the dark blue of night desperately trying to cling to life. “It’s beautiful, don’t you think?” she murmured.

“Sure is.” She looked back to him, and it was his turn to blush, for he wasn’t looking at the sunrise at all. His gaze was trained on her, accented by a soft smile that sent her heart to palpitating in her chest. Yes, she really could love him.

“Shika-“

She was interrupted by the harsh flapping of a tent being thrown open. The dawn was absorbed by the dark fabric, leaving the interior of the tent in golden gloom. Shikamaru squatted down, holding her with one arm while he used the other to throw back the blankets arranged messily on the ground. It all happened so quickly that Sakura didn’t have much time to process the shift in environment, so she just stared stupidly at the blankets like she had no idea what to do with them. She gasped, just a feather of a breath, as he gently lowered her down into them, then covered her up with one quick flourish.

“Go to sleep,” he ordered. The shadows fell over his face in such a way that it was difficult to tell how he was looking at her. He looked away for a moment, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking as if he wanted to say something-

But then he stiffly rose and went to exit the tent. At that point, Sakura was running on adrenaline, so she was going to do as she damn well pleased, any little whim that popped into her frazzled mind.

“Wait!” she shouted and sprung at his back. He cried out in alarm as her arms hooked over his shoulders, and he was pulled down onto his rump by her weight. He fell back with a grunt, with Sakura’s upper half splayed over his left arm while her lower body curled around his head. “Sakura, what the he-“ She interrupted him by turning to kiss him full on the mouth, messily and with much passion. He went as rigid as stone as she did, and his hands hung in the empty air like he didn’t know quite what to do with them. It was then that Sakura’s consciousness finally began to fade for real, and her lips slid slowly from his as her head slumped down into his neck.

“Stay with me,” she whispered into his throat. The hands that had been frozen twitched into life, slowly descending to thread in her messy, crimped strands of cherry blossom-pink hair. The darkness was encroaching on her vision as her eyes slowly pulled closed, and she struggled to hang on to the waking world, loving the sensation of his fingers sliding across her scalp.

“Say stuff like that, and I might fall in love with you for real, you know. What a drag…” Those words, so soft and tender breathed into her ear, accompanied her into the world of sweet dreams.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[vannahfanfics]

Broken

Category: Hurt and Comfort, Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hello, everybody! This is my final story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami’s Day Seven Prompt, “We Are Ruins”! Due to participation in several other fandom days, I will not be doing the Bonus Day. I hope you all enjoyed my stories for this underappreciated ship! ^.^

Sakura’s eyes snapped open as a cold wave of adrenaline and fear crashed through her. Body pouring sweat, chest heaving with frantic breaths, and the stench of iron burning in her nostrils, it took her a few moments for her panic-clouded mind to register that she was not currently in a blood-soaked battlefield but lying in her bed. Her eyelashes fluttered repeatedly as the nightmarish images of mutilated bodies and bright red blood faded quickly from her vision. AS her wits returned to her, she groaned softly and curled her fingers into the soft sheets that were dampened with her perspiration. A dream… It was only a dream…

A ninja’s life was a hard one. Nightmares were almost certain, given their profession. Sakura had experienced many a nightmarish thing in her two decades on the planet, and naturally, those things haunted her dreams. Whether they be real-life failures or gruesome scenarios of her subconscious’ invention, they prowled in the deep dark of night indiscriminately. It was always a peculiar feeling, the pumping of her adrenaline-doped blood battling for dominance against her weary body; she felt like her entire body was just a low-pulsing drum, teetering just on the edge of sleep but unable to dive over the cliff.

With a small sigh, she rolled onto her other side to peer at the clock. The red neon numbers glared 3:49 a.m. Certainly not the time of morning that she should be out and about, but for some reason Sakura’s addled brain was screaming “go for a walk.” Resigning herself to her instincts, she slowly pushed herself up in the bed, comforter slipping from her shoulders to bunch up at her waist. She rolled her eye with the heel of one hand while the other fixed the strap of her tank top that had slipped down from her shoulder to hand loosely over her upper arm. She was trying to have a mental debate with herself as her body moved automatically to slip out of the bed and grab a light jacket from the bedpost and slip it on herself, but she was already walking down the hall before it could make a compelling argument. Almost as if she were moving on autopilot, she slipped into a pair of sandals and headed out of the house before her mind could even process it was moving.

It was summertime, so the air was only pleasantly chill though the world had been deprived of sunlight for a good long while. Her jacket kept her body from growing too cold while the chilled breeze moved over her bare legs. Dully, her mind told her that it was not a good idea to wander the streets in short pajama bottoms in the wee hours of the morning, but that compelling need for a stroll haughtily responded that she would punch anybody who dared hassle her. Her shuffling feet scraping the dirt road was the only sound that permeated the quiet of the sleeping village, save for the occasional chirp of a cricket or hoot of an owl. Moths slapped fruitlessly against the burning glass of the streetlamps above her head. Sakura felt like those moths. Prodding uselessly at the doorway to light only to be rejected again and again.

The buildings were all blurry dark masses to her hazed mind. Sakura remembered the way those buildings had been mangled into rubble and splinters the day that Pain had attacked, how she had kneeled amongst the ruins and howled Naruto’s name to the uncaring blue sky as she cried bitter tears of loss and fear. Those ruins were long gone now; Sakura was the only ruin left.

Well, not the only ruin.

Her feet had carried her there of their own volition. In the pale moonlight, the white garden gate glowed, veiling the dark silhouettes of bushes and flowers of the garden. The stone path caught the white rays at just the right angle to look like glowing moonstones had been deposited in the grass, white and shining and illuminating her way to the porch. The gate latch and hinges squeaked in protest as she entered the garden. Sakura skipped over the stones and up the porch steps, her footfalls quick but quiet. Once she was standing in front of the door, her mind briefly entertained the notion that it was about four in the morning and she had no business knocking on his door.

In the next second, her knuckles were rapping insistently on the wood.

There was a period of silence. Sakura debated both fleeing and knocking again. Her green eyes flickered to the window as the hallway light inside suddenly switched on. She saw the curtains flutter, but it was not enough for her to see who was actually peeking through the window, but it was plenty enough for the person to catch a good glance at her pajama-clad form standing awkwardly at the doorway. She looked at the porchlight as it flickered on as well, bright yellow lightbulb styled in the form of a small flame within a glass lantern. The moths sprang from the bushes to excitedly pummel themselves into the glass to try and reach it. Like the ruin Sakura, who was reaching out desperately for closure and meeting only resistance.

The door swung open.

“Sakura,” Shikamaru said in a low tone as he raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn, “it’s four in the morning.”

“I was having nightmares again.”

She had said all that needed to be said. His eyebrows quirked for a second before he wordlessly extended his arms out for her to walk into his embrace, and that she did; she slipped out of her sandals as she crossed the threshold, kicking them near the pairs of shoes that were placed neatly next to where the floor began, and buried her face into Shikamaru’s chest. The cloth of his nightshirt was soft against her face, and she breathed in deeply to inhale the comfortable scent of him, coffee and pine forest with the hint of spicy medicinal herbs. His arms closed around her and his hands began rubbing comforting circles in her back, and he propped his chin on the top of her head with a small sigh.

Sakura was not sure what to call their arrangement. It had all started one night like this, when she had awoken in the deep of night sweating and scared and in need of comfort. One would’ve though that she would have gone to Naruto’s, or Ino’s, but her fogged mind had delivered her to Shikamaru’s home instead. To his credit, he hadn’t turned her away, only awkwardly embraced her crying form and pulled her into his house. She had ended up falling asleep in his futon. Shikamaru was the perfect gentleman, of course, and had migrated to his couch once she had crashed. He cooked her breakfast in the morning and she left. It had turned into an almost weekly ritual at this point. To the oblivious bystander, they could be easily perceived as intimate, but it was never like that.

They were just two broken beings that found comfort in each other’s brokenness.

When his hands gently patted the backs of her thighs, she obediently jumped up to wrap her legs around his hips so he could cart her off to his room. It was almost uncanny how well her knew her; without even saying anything, he had read that she had no strength to walk anymore. He kicked the door shut and slipped the lock before whirling on his heel and silently carried her to his room. The entire time, Sakura just kept her face pressed into his sternum. There was always something so soothing about how his chest rose and fell against her face with his calm, gentle breaths. At this point she always vaguely considered the fact that they were strangely intimate for supposed best friends, but just like always, it was quickly washed away by the sense of calm that washed over her and chased away all the pent-up energy and fear.

Her head flopped sleepily against him as he sat down cross-legged in the tousled blankets of his futon.

“Thank you,” she murmured against him. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, both of frustration at herself and gratefulness at his selfless care. That was usual for the entire routine, too. And every time, he said-

“You’re such a drag.” That playful hint in his tone never failed to alight a smile to her face. Her arms wound up around his neck to play with the hair that was for once freed from his high ponytail. Sakura would’ve never thought that Shikamaru had such soft hair, but he did. It always felt like silk beneath her fingertips as she gently wound it and rubbed it. It had become as much a compulsive gesture as everything else in the strange little sessions. Just like usual, Sakura’s eyes were beginning to droop as she settled back into a safe space. It never took her long to fall asleep once she was in Shikamaru’s arms.

Except this night was to be a little different.

“Sakura.”

“Nnh?” she responded blearily. It was surprising she even reacted to her name being called, as she was descending in that warm watery feeling of encroaching rest. Her head lolled as she looked up at him, green eyes only barely cracked open to peer into his face through her thick lashes. “What is it?” If she had been more able of mind, she would have registered the tautness in his jaw and the uncertainty pooling in his black irises. However, it remained lost to her as she only gazed sleepily into his angular face. Her eyebrows only jumped a little as his gaze fell to her mouth, which was gaping only slightly in her sleepy stupor. Her mind was a few paces behind her senses, because even though she didn’t perceive the fact his face was enclosing on hers, her lips adjusted to the inevitable fact that his were going to meet them.

A soft sigh bled off her tongue as they did, molding over her mouth deliciously like softened chocolate. It took a minute for it to click in her mind that Shikamaru was kissing her, but when it did, surprisingly, she did not react with surprise or reproach. Instead, it was like every cell in her body relaxed with a collective “Finally…” Although she was already slumped against him, she pushed her body further against him while her hands slipped into his strands of hair to cradle the back of his head, holding him in the sweet kiss. At first, he didn’t move, but after a few seconds he hesitantly began to slide his mouth over her own in repeated movements. Sakura relished the slow, sensual dance of their lips and the way he tasted, of the husky robustness of lightly sweetened coffee… That was probably a sign he ingested way too much of it, but it was such an intoxicating flavor that Sakura sure as hell wasn’t going to ever chide him for it. His hands found purchase in the soft flesh of her waist, fingers digging in slightly as he kissed her with more fervor. Slowly, he eased her onto her back against the futon, body resting between her legs that were still hugged around his hips. As he angled his head to kiss her more deeply and passionately, Sakura’s head began swimming. It was eerily reminiscent of that feeling she had woken up with, tired yet restless, weary yet livened, exhausted yet undeniably alive.

When he finally pulled back, she was panting quietly. She had been so drunk on the kiss that she hadn’t even realized her lungs were burning for oxygen. His face didn’t full back far; he paused to run the tip of his nose along her own before his eyes opened halfway to peer intensely down at her.

“I’m really glad you didn’t slap me for that little experiment,” he remarked. Of all the things he could’ve said after such a passionate moment, that certainly was a Shikamaru thing to say, and it made her giggle.

“Would’ve been a drag, huh?” she chuckled as she circled her arms tighter around his broad shoulders. His thumbs were peeking just under her tank top hem, rubbing little circles into her hips. Sakura had a lot of things she could ask- how long had he felt this way about her, what made him choose this moment over all others, to name a couple- but she didn’t. Those questions could come later. For now, she simply wanted to bask in the simplicity of it all.  

They were just two individuals that had long been ruined, slowly piecing themselves back together. Of course a connection like that could easily turn into something more intimate. It made sense that Sakura had not reacted more strongly than she had. She was pulled out of her introspection as Shikamaru suddenly gave her a pouty look.

“Does this mean I don’t have to sleep on the couch?” he asked hopefully. When Sakura laughed and nodded her head, he sighed in relief and tipped to the side to flop down in the futon beside her. “Good, it kills my goddamn back.”

“You sound like such an old man.”

“I get that often,” he snorted but smirked at her. She rolled on her side to face him as he tugged the comforter over both their bodies, resting it just at the top of Sakura’s small shoulder. His hand fell down to cup her face and sweep away a strand of her short pink hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered admiringly. The pure reverence in his usually unbothered tone made her flush the shade of her hair. She only smiled before snuggling up against him, face pressing into the crook of his neck to once again breathe in that intoxicating natural scent of his.

Needless to say, the remained of Sakura’s night was filled with only pleasant dreams.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[vannahfanfics]

Galaxia de Primavera

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hi, everyone! Here’s the story for Day Two of ShikaSaku Week Hanami, prompt “Of Stardust and Galaxies!” Please enjoy~

If spring were a galaxy, it would exist in her eyes; the pale green of new life blooming into existence, planets of new leaf shoots and stardust of swirling white petals, cosmic waves of rippling grasses and starlight filtering in with beams of white… They were a universe of themselves, those spring-green irises of hers, and he always felt like a wayward astronaut spiraling further and further into their endless depths anytime they locked onto his own. They had so much gravity that he couldn’t help but be drawn in; she pulled him into orbit without even realizing it, into a spring galaxy of stardust green where he could spend his entire life in contentment. Such raw power did the eyes of Sakura Haruno hold.

Not that Shikamaru ever told her anything like that. It was all poetic and shit in theory, but he would make a bungle of things if he ever tried to formulate something like that into actual words. Instead, he just hovered just outside her solar system, a dying star in desperate need of gratification but too unwilling to do much of anything about it. How long had he been in love with her now? Since before the Great Ninja War, surely, and it was going on a year after that debacle. He could never bring himself to be honest with her about what he was feeling. Truthfully, he himself didn’t even know how to describe what exactly he was feeling; it hurt to look at her but he never wanted her out of his sight, he both feared and revered her insurmountable, goddess-like strength, the sweet smiles she tossed him on the street both made him feel like he was walking on air and like he had been stabbed right through the heart with a rusty serrated knife. He had always known women had been a drag, but he never would’ve thought that falling in love with one could be as massive a drag as this. Cheek leaned into the palm of his hand, he watched her through the barbecue joint window as she sat in a café across the street, munching on some sweet dango with more delicacy than would be thought of the tomboyish girl.

“Hey, Earth to Shikamaru.” He grimaced as Ino knocked on the side of his head, and his dark eyes flickered to meet her own baby-blue ones with a gruff “What?” “What do you mean, ‘what?�� If you want to go talk to Sakura, would you just do it already? Your pining really makes barbecue nights kind of a drag,” she sniffed haughtily as she crossed her slim arms over her chest. A blush bloomed from the base of his neck to the tops of his ears; he hadn’t even noticed he had been staring at Sakura this entire time.

“I’m not pining,” he muttered under his breath, tearing his face away from the window to instead stare down at the smoldering coals above which Choji was eagerly searing his cuts of steak. Shikamaru glanced up as the burly man’s chopsticks appeared in his line of vision to flip the half-cooked meat over.

“Shikamaru, it’s kinda obvious.” So, his best friend wouldn’t cut him any slack either. With a soft “mmmh!” Choji pushed a few juice-covered nibblets of meat into his mouth. “Y’know, you can’t wait around forever. Sooner or later she’ll be snatched up by somebody else, and how would you feel then? I’m sure you’d regret never saying anything.”

“He’s exactly right!” Ino shouted, banging her fist loudly on the table. The salt and pepper shakers jumped into the air at her assault, and Shikamaru reflexively reached out to grab them before they spilled their contents all over the place. Cleaning all that up would be a drag, and they gave the busboy enough trouble with all the plates and cups they always accumulated. Ino waggled her finger in his face as he set them down a safe distance away from her boisterousness. “Y’know what Sakura told me? She’s not even sure if she’s in love with Sasuke anymore! Now’s your perfect chance to slide in and make her yours!”

Despite himself, a tiny ember of hope flared to life in his chest. Sakura had been in love with Sasuke since they were little kids playing ninja in the Academy and had still loved him even after all the crap he had pulled. To hear that her feelings could be waning, even just a little, could mean that Shikamaru had a shot… But did Shikamaru really have a chance against Sasuke? Not that he put the guy up on a pedestal like everyone else did, but there was something to be said about how fiercely and unequivocally girls loved. It wasn’t as easy as sidling up to her and announcing “Hey, be in love with me instead of that jerk!” With a low groan, he slumped down in the booth and side-eyed his pretty teammate.

“Ino, I don’t think this is as easy as you make it out to be. It sounds like a massive drag to me.”

“Shikamaru, you need to be more of a go-getter! You’ll never be Naruto’s advisor if you can’t even work up the nerve to ask a girl out!” she scolded him hotly, and Shikamaru’s grimace deepened. Way for her to him it where it hurt. With a snort, she suddenly leaned her entire upper body over him to try and fiddle with the window.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” he cried and shimmied further down the booth seat, so far that his back was pressed down against the seat, because Ino’s endowments were just bouncing all in his face. He tried to focus on her face, blush raging even fiercer than before, right as she unlatched the window and pushed it open. “There! Now, go get her, tiger!” she giggled.

Shikamaru released a sound somewhere between a choke and a squeak as she grabbed him by the collar of his issued uniform vest, wrenched him up the booth seat, and promptly threw him out of the window. Ino had a lot of force to back herself up too, but not nearly as much as Sakura; he coughed painfully as his stomach crashed down against the windowpane, digging harshly into his skin and making him feel nauseous. Before he could recover, her high-heeled foot met his backside and pushed him all the way through the window. He landed on the dusty ground in a crumpled heap, eye twitching excessively as he tried to refrain from jumping up and socking her, female or not. “What a drag,” he grumbled as he righted himself so he was sitting cross-legged under the window, rubbing the area of his neck that was now pulsing with a dull pain. By happenstance, he happened to glance across the street where Sakura was still sitting on the bench enjoying her dango, and froze.

Those spring green eyes of hers were closed, scrunched up with laughter that she was hiding with a hand lightly hovering in front of her mouth. The dango wobbled a little in her other hand from how hard her shoulders were shaking. Shikamaru smiled in embarrassment. Man, Ino just had to make him go and look so uncool… But, it was always good to make girls laugh, right? He craned his head back just in time to see the window click closed. Ino was serious. “What a drag,” he sighed once more before picking himself up and brushing himself off. Slipping his hands into his pants pockets, he strolled casually across the street to stand in front of Sakura.

“Hehehe,” she continued to giggle lightheartedly, “did you and Ino have a disagreement?”

“Something like that,” he answered with a lop-sided smirk. Her thick lashes parted, and those orbs of brilliant green peeked out at him like twin suns appearing over the horizon, and his heart instantly twisted in his chest. God, was it possible for eyes to be that gorgeous? With a thick swallow, he tugged at his wire-mesh undershirt, suddenly hot. “A-Anyway… It’s a little late for you to be out by yourself, don’t you think?” he stammered in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation at least a little natural. She cocked her head slightly as she bit down on the end of the dumplings, the soft flesh of it yielding to her teeth.

“I suppose it is. I lost track of time.” She plucked the last colored dumpling from the stick before tossing the sharp skewer into the pile she had accumulated beside her. “I was just thinking about things, y’know?” Her smile was so pure and innocent. It was hard to believe sometimes that it concealed such a cunning and clever mind. He liked that about her, though. He much preferred an intelligent, capable woman to a total airhead. His body stiffened slightly as she abruptly stood up to peer up at him, body curving and eyelashes fluttering with just the faintest sense of demure. “Care to walk a girl home?”

Those eyes again. Shining ethereally in the starlight, the stunning pale green of lichens clinging to hardy oaken trees accented by the emerald of its stubborn leaves. All it took was one simple glance and Shikmaru was locked into their gravity; no amount of attempting to pull away would yield his escape. He would simply have to suffer through her atmosphere and crash-land somewhere, though he knew not where yet. A blush sprinkled like stardust over his cheeks.

“Yeah… Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The night was filled only by the scuffing of their sandals against the dirt road. Sakura strolled alongside him with her hands clasped behind her back, while Shikamaru’s were buried deep into his pockets. The silence was suspended between them like the crescent moon hanging low in the night sky; the tension strummed in tune with the twinkling of the thousands of stars, their brilliant light muted by the village lights. Shikamaru mused on whether or not if they were far away, in the wilderness where no man-made light could mask them, the stars above would even come close to the galaxy held within those eyes of hers. He figured not. Gradually, his gaze shifted from the path in front of him to her, those miraculously beautiful eyes and the way they caught the starlight just right to shine with springtime’s brilliance.

“So… I heard something interesting from Ino.”

“What’s that?” Her cherry-blossom hair bounced around her chin as she turned inquisitively toward him. He scowled and pawed at the back of his neck again. The question he was about to ask was so personal and awkward; did he really have the right to be prying? Then again, if he turned back up at the barbecue place empty-handed, Ino was liable to whale on him. It was simple self-preservation… right?

“Well, uh… She kinda mentioned that, uh… You didn’t have feelings for Sasuke anymore.”

“Oh.” A shiver crawled up his spine at the even tone of her voice. Was she gonna whale on him instead? Shikamaru didn’t know if he could take one of Sakura’s punches; it was only thanks to Naruto’s impossibly thick skull that he survived his frequent whackings. Sakura’s fists did not curl, nor did she make any indication that she was angry. She stopped walking, gaze falling to her feet, which shifted as her knees turned in a little. “I’ve been thinking about it… For a long time, but even more recently since he’s been gone for so very long,” she sighed wistfully. Those green irises danced around in the sea of white, but never trained on him. “I think it’s just finally sunk in, that’s all. That it was always just a childish, one-sided crush.” Shikamaru looked at her in concern. To hear her say it that way just sounded so sad, and even though she was smiling, that smile couldn’t mask how much pain she was obviously in. He didn’t know what to do though, because frankly, Shikamaru knew jack shit about girls, let alone comforting them. “Why do you mention it?” she asked with false cheer in her voice. She finally looked up at him. He jumped as those spring galaxies suddenly blazed against his own dark nebulas.

“Oh, uh, I was just, you know, wanting to make sure if you were okay about it. I mean, you’ve liked him for a really long time; it’s not easy for girls to get over stuff like that, right?” he laughed nervously. Man, if he kept rubbing his neck like that, he was liable to leave a mark. She blinked as her pale pink eyebrows crept up her forehead; then, she laughed, sweetly and with feeling. It sounded like shrine bells in a gentle breeze, melodic and invigorating.

“Oh. That’s sweet of you!” The silence drifted down between them again, like a curtain falling upon the closing act of a play. Shikamaru stood stiffly in the middle of the street, waiting for her to take up walking again, but she didn’t. The tension stretched thinner and thinner, threatening to snap any moment. It made him sweat a little. “Oh, um, this is my house,” she clarified with another anxious chuckle.

“Oh.” Duh, Shikamaru, he thought begrudgingly. He ought to bid her goodnight and leave her to her devices. His feet had other plans, rooting him to the spot and keeping him there like an idiot. He just stood there, fingers nervously kneading into the seams of his pockets, while those green eyes of hers watched her with an emotion he dare not name, lest everything come crashing down in an asteroid storm around them. It looked like leaves were dancing in cosmic tempest in her eyes with how intently she watched him, face drawn low in an unreadable expression.

“Shikamaru? What are you thinking right now?” Her face remained stony, indecipherable. Shikamaru had no idea what was running through her mind right now. Did he need to? There had to be a reason she was still goofing off with him outside in the middle of the night, right? Shikamaru was dense with girls, but even he still recognized that this was a good of a chance for him to be honest as he was ever going to get.

“I was thinking… that if spring were a galaxy, it would be in your eyes.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned red from head-to-toe and whirled around, bristling. His hands were clamped over his mouth to keep him from saying something else so incredibly stupid. That didn’t even make any sense! Oh, she was probably laughing at him right now, but the blood was roaring so loudly in his ears that he couldn’t hear the sniggers she was probably struggling to hold back. His ass should’ve just marched right on home. Why did he have to go and embarrass himself like this? He never should’ve have let Ino get to him. I’ve really done it now…

Every muscle in his body petrified as her hand landed on his shoulder. His hands dropped from his mouth and his arms flopped loosely in his arms in defeat; he knew he was still wildly blushing, but he simply couldn’t resist as her hand slowly trailed up to tug at his chin, beckoning for him to look at her. She was gonna be laughing, he just knew it. Compulsively, he squeezed his eyes shut…

And then he felt her lips, soft and light, brush over his own. It was a ghost of a comet trail at first, sprinkling of stardust to his nerves, but they soon sparked to life to spur his body into action. Drawn in by Sakura’s gravitational pull, he melded his lips to hers. They were so perfectly pliable under his own, and the faint aroma of strawberry lip gloss wafting up his nose sent him blasting off into the stars. His mouth merely rested over her own in a chaste kiss, but Heaven and Hell, it had Shikamaru’s head reeling. After a moment, he moved back, just barely. If he’d wanted to, he could kiss her again. His eyes snapped open at the realization of what had just transpired to see those eyes like a spring galaxy glimmering brighter than he had ever seen.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Her cute little purr of approval had the blush creeping back to Shikamaru’s ears again. God, did she know what she was doing to him? She totally did, because she stuck out the tip of her tongue at him with a teasing giggle. “Also, thanks for walking me home. See you around.” She gave him one last peck on the cheek before she was gone, hopping up the steps to unlock her front door and disappear inside. He saw just one last flash of those eyes of hers, and even long after she was gone they burned in his mind like two suns of green fire.

It took a long time for the pleasurable high to wear off him; when it did, he realized he had wandered back over towards the barbecue joint. Ino and Choji had seemingly grown bored of waiting for him and were just walking out of the building.

“There you are!” Ino called, and it was her voice that finally brought him out of his stupor. He ran a hand over his face, still lightly burning from flush, and wondered if what he had just witnessed was all but a fever dream. He then thought of those galactic springtime eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, where the faint scent of strawberry lingered.

No. Not a dream.

“Well, well?! What happened? Did you make your move?” she pestered as she scampered over to him to hug his arm and tug on it. “Tell me everything! Come on, come on!”

“Come on, Ino, don’t bug him so much,” Choji frowned from his other side. “He probably spent the whole time watchin’ the clouds.” Shikamaru tilted his head back to observe the thin, wispy gray clouds trawling over the night sky, blotting out the stars with their fluffy bodies. He smiled wryly.

“No… Not the clouds- the stars.”

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[vannahfanfics]

Where Time Stood Still

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hi, everybody! Here’s my story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami’s Day Five Prompt, “Laughing, Joyful, and Free.” Enjoy!

“Shikamaru, where are we going?” Sakura griped to her boyfriend as she continued to take blind, unsteady steps in the direction that he was smoothly guiding her in. Both his hands were currently eclipsing her vision, so she was forced to rely only on his insistent but gentle pushing and soft nudges of his knees into the back of hers. When he had dropped by her house this morning to announce that he had a surprise for her, she hadn’t envisioned that he would trek her through what felt like half the village to deliver it, blindfolding her no less. “Shikamaru!” she whined in a high-pitched voice as he continued to ignore her, only turning her slightly to push her forward some more.

“Pipe down, will ya? Just be patient.” Sakura had plenty of patience. One could argue based on her years’ worth of pining after Sasuke that she had too much patience. Eager to live up to that good name, she obediently fell silent, but she damn sure poked her lips out in a childish pout to illustrate her displeasure. Shikamaru’s hands shook lightly as his shoulders jumped in a throaty chuckle. “We’re almost there. It’ll be worth it. I promise.”

“Okay…”

Shikamaru and Sakura getting together had taken everyone by surprise, especially themselves. Their friend group thought Sakura had never abandoned her lifetime crush of Sasuke, and most of them had a bet pool going on when Shikamaru was going to get with Temari (because apparently guys and girls just couldn’t be best friends without something between them). If someone asked her, Sakura really couldn’t tell them how the crush started; a few happenstance meetings, a handful of joint missions, a couple of generous walks home and some seemingly innocent dinner dates had apparently been the recipe for a budding relationship. The first time he kissed her, she was caught completely unawares- but she still kissed him because it felt way nicer than it ought to. Now, here they were a year and a half later and still going steady. It was funny how life worked out that way.

“All right. We’re here.”

“About time,” she carped, “I thought my feet were going to fall off!” Her tone was playfully chiding; honestly, she was bristling with excitement to see whatever Shikamaru had been so adamant about showing her, because it wasn’t every day he came knocking on her door with surprises. As far as romantic gestures went, he was as low-key and relaxed as the rest of his lifestyle. It made the rare instances where he put forth substantial effort all the more worth it, in her opinion. His hands fell away from her eyes. She had to flap her lashes a few times as they adjusted to the sudden sunlight; gradually, the landscape cleared before her.

It was breathtaking.

“Oh, Shikamaru, it’s beautiful,” she breathed aloud, unable to do anything but stand there entranced by the scene that unfolded before her. Tucked away in one of the village’s many forest training grounds had apparently been a spacious clearing that was currently bursting with wildflowers bursting in spring blooms. The colors weaved together like an ornate quilt- brilliant whites, summery yellows, cheerful pinks, rich violets, all accented by the fresh greens of stems and shoots. Every time the wind rolled over the small meadow, the blossoms bobbed back and forth like they were droplets in a crashing wave, spilling their petals into the air to decorate the wind and be carried off into the bowels of the forest. Sakura breathed in deeply to inhale the melodious blend of their aromas. She turned around to beam brightly at him, finding him watching her with his hands in his pockets and a serene smile on his face. “How did you find this place?”

“I stumbled upon it during early-morning training. I thought you would like it,” he remarked casually, but the happy twinkle in his eye belied his excitement that was so delighted about his little gift. She crouched down to inspect the flowers closer, giggling with pleasure as she poked the pollen-coated stamens and brushed her fingers over the silk-soft petals. She heard soft crunches behind her as Shikamaru approached to stand over her, feet planted on either side of her legs as he leaned over slightly to watch her pore over the blooms. Sakura was tough and maybe even a little tomboyish, but thanks to her perpetuating friendship with Ino, she really did have a soft spot for flowers. It warmed her heart knowing that it was something Shikamaru remembered about her. Her fingers glided back and forth through the thin stems. The flowers swished in tandem with her movements.

Suddenly, she whirled around to grab Shikamaru’s arm and yank him down. He yelped in surprise as he was knocked off-balance and crashed roughly into the greenery and earth, landing awkwardly on his side with his legs splayed out on either side of her. “Hey, what’s the-“ He stopped midsentence and flushed the color of a rose as Sakura shimmied up his body, laying herself across him with her lower half resting snugly between his long legs. Smirking demurely, she crossed her arms against his chest and rested her chin on them to flutter her thick lashes at him.

“Let’s stay here a while.”

“You- what- okay.” He acted for a minute as if he were going to argue, face contorting in confusion and concern, but Shikamaru was never the type to pass up an opportunity to laze about. With a deep sigh, he reclined into the loamy soil, bending a few of the flexible plant stems as he pushed his head back into the thick growths. His hands lazily meandered up to Sakura’s slim shoulders to begin tracing abstract patterns into her deltoids. The smile on her lips stretched further as she rested her cheek against her arm and closed her eyes to enjoy the feelings of the warm sun on her skin and Shikamaru’s ministrations across her upper back. She felt as if this place were separated from the rest of the world, and for this short sweet time, Shikamaru and herself could abandon all their responsibilities and worries to simply bask in the simple harmony of nature.

At a point, his fingers abandoned their artistry on her shoulders to slip into her short pink hair. He continuously threaded his slim fingers through the strands, starting at the roots and traveling all the way down to the lightly curled ends and starting over again. He always did love playing with her hair; her meticulous shampooing routine always kept it soft and luscious, and he just loved the feeling of the silken hairs under his fingertips- or so he said. The way the pads of his fingers brushed softly over her scalp was so soothing that she never even entertained the idea of complaining, of course.

Sakura cracked an eye open as she heard the low-pitched buzzing of a honeybee. The fat yellow-and-black insect hobbled into her vision, bobbing around the head of one of the purple flowers before it docked on the thick petal. Its wiry antennae wiggled about to find purchase on the clump of powdery pollen at the center. The little spores coated its fur as it gathered the nectar; the way its bulbous back end shook about made it seem like the creature was partaking in a dust bath instead. After it had collected its fill, its clear wings fluttered to lift it into the air, and it bumbled onward to another flower nearby. Seeing the insect hard at work reminded Sakura that they unfortunately could not lounge in the flowers all day.

“What time do you have to report to Kakashi-sensei?” she inquired, turning her head and walking her index and middle fingers up his chest. It had been mid-morning when they had left her residence, about nine or so, and she had no idea how much time had passed since then.

“Ten-thirty. But he’ll live if I’m a little late,” he puffed without opening his eyes. His hand snuck over the top of her head to catch hers that was walking little lines about his pectorals. Eyes still shut, he brought it to his lips to press little kisses across her knuckles, before he wrapped it in a light grip and held it at the space over his heart. Sakura laughed lightly at his blatant disregard for the Hokage. As devoted as Shikamaru was, he still held onto some of those lazy, unbothered tendencies.

“We should go.”

“Why? You got a hot date I don’t know about?”

“Yeah. I got a spicy rendezvous with Lee scheduled for ten-forty-five, and I’d hate to miss it,” she joked with a teasing wink. It was then that he cracked one of his dark eyes open to glower at her. “Buuuuuuut, I suppose I could push it back to eleven,” she pressed further. The corner of his mouth twitched in the mixture of a smirk and scowl.

“You’re hilarious.”

“I know. Just another one of my endearing qualities,” she quipped with a click of her tongue. He rolled his eyes at her, making her laugh again. With a grunt, he snaked his other arm around her middle to pull her up his body so that her face was resting completely over his. Their entwined hands were crushed between their chests, but he made no move to release his grip. Sakura cocked her head slightly as she stared down into his dark irises. “If it makes you feel any better, I wish time would stand still, too,” she murmured gently. He grunted again in response and closed his eyes again, tilting up his face to run the tip of his nose sensually along her jawline before pressing a long kiss to the joint just below her ear. Sakura bit down lightly on her bottom lip at the pleasurable ticklish feeling of his lips skipping over her cheekbone. It felt reminiscent of a feather being brushed over her skin, sending sparks of electricity jumping through her stimulated nerves.

“Then let it stand still,” he mumbled at the corner of her lip as he pressed another kiss there. Abandoning herself to his affections, Sakura turned her face to allow her lips to smooth into his, like half-melted chocolate spilling into a mold. A pleased rumble purred in his throat at her action and his arm bent around her waist in a nearly crushing hold. A soft sigh fluttered past her lips as they rhythmically moved against his repeatedly in long, passionate kisses. Just as she was thinking that she could easily resign herself to wasting the day away in this secluded meadow, she felt Shikamaru abruptly heave beneath her. He jerked his face away with her with a strangled grasp and began frantically pawing at his ear.

“What? What?!”

“A goddamn bug crawled up the side of my face,” he spat angrily. She blinked down at him, and then in the next second began laughing hysterically. “Hey! It felt weird!” Chest heaving with uncontrollable giggles, she leaned forward to press her forehead into his shoulder. She could tell by his tensed muscles that he didn’t appreciate her laughing at him, but slowly, they relaxed and his arms wove around her again. “I guess it was kinda funny,” he grumbled in defeat. After another minute or so, her laughs had dissolved into occasional hiccupy snickers. She settled her face into the crook of his neck as she continued to release bubbly chuckles. With each breath, she inhaled Shikamaru’s earthy scent of sage and oakwood, and it slowly settled the remaining laughs fizzling up inside her. “Didn’t you say we need to get going?” he asked after a minute.

“Yeah, but…” she murmured sleepily. Held in his arms with his warmth and aroma embracing her, Sakura had no care to see to their responsibilities at the moment. “I changed my mind.”

And so, they dozed off together with the endless blossoms to stand guard over them, there in the place where time stood still.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

[shikasaku-week]

🦌 🌸 ShikaSaku lovers, shippers and supporters, the team here at ShikaSaku Week is absolutely delighted to welcome you to the 9th edition of our bi-annual celebration of our favourite Brains & Brawn™ couple!

Things were tumultuous this year, so the Hanami edition was skipped, but we hope you'll be just as excited for this return as we are! We have a special edition prepared for you all and we're so happy to be back and to share this event with you. ShikaSaku Week means a lot to many people, us included, and we can't wait to see what you'll create this time.

It's with great pleasure that we present ShikaSaku Week 2022! 🌸 🦌

— The Rules

• you can post anywhere! Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, DA, Twitter, Pillowfort, go wild! • if you’re posting outside of tumblr, please send us a link to the fanwork so we can add it to the masterpost • tag it with #shikasakuweek or @shikasaku-week to help us find it on tumblr • the only requirement is for ShikaSaku to be the main pairing in your fanwork. It can be a fic, a fanart, a fanvid, a gifset, an edit, it’s up to you! • if you have any questions, feel free to message us or refer back to our FAQ page

When: October 20 - October 28, 2022.

Please, no character bashing. We’re here to create content for our ship, not ruin other people’s day.

🌸

Your works are to be inspired by the sentence prompt and the overall theme.

— The Prompts theme: what we fight for // battle cries

DAY ONE what died didn’t stay dead: they’re marching home, now

DAY TWO when a good man goes to war (it's not a victory march it's a tragedy)

DAY THREE blood on your brow like benediction

DAY FOUR your bones creaking like so many battle cries

DAY FIVE we reap what’s left of fields, all sprouted bullets

DAY SIX the beat of the war drums always made dead leaves fall

DAY SEVEN i cried out for you/my dear, you are too dead to hear

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

If you’re interested in the remix challenge and didn’t participate in it last edition, here’s a quick explanation: basically, you browse through the masterposts of the previous years and pick a story or art you like a lot. Then you write/draw an interpretation of that fanwork! Summarize in your head what the core idea of the fanwork you picked is and use that to make your own, based on that same premise. We hope you’ll enjoy yourselves and that you’ll rediscover works from previous years!

— The Bingo Card

This year, we wanted to introduce something new, in our continued effort to make each edition feel a little special! So, we came up with a ShikaSaku Week Bingo Board, that you can use during the week! Any fanwork counts, not just writing, so you can make gifs, draw fanart, make playlists, anything at all as long as it fits the bingo space and you'll be able to cross it!

There isn't a big prize or anything, but we'll be making a dedicated post for each fancreator who managed to complete a bingo line or the bingo card, with a link to all their contributions to the bingo card as well as links to their AO3, their tumblr, their pillowfort, anywhere they're active so people who enjoyed their work can find them and follow them!

Here's the bingo card, and have fun!

We’re incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated, inspired, creative community, and once more we’re so excited to be doing this event with all of you. We hope this will inspire you to create, and we’ll see you again in October!

[shikasaku-week]

🦌 🌸 ShikaSaku lovers, shippers and supporters, the team here at ShikaSaku Week is absolutely delighted to welcome you to the 8th edition of our bi-annual celebration of our favourite Brains & Brawn™ couple!

We hope that the familiarity of this event and the small, but incredible community we built around it, will help you withstand the world as it is. We are continuing the prompt system we started for the Hanami 2021 edition, as it seems to be particularly popular among the many variations we brought to this event year after year.

To help us improve, we have created a survey that we encourage you to take if you’ve ever participated in ShikaSaku Week, be it for one edition or all eight of them. We need this data to make changes and know what to keep, and to get your input, so we would truly appreciate your help in this. You’ll find the survey at this link, thank you all so much for your assistance.

Now, let’s get started on the fun stuff! 🌸 🦌

— The Rules

• you can post anywhere! Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, DA, Twitter, Pillowfort, go wild! • if you’re posting outside of tumblr, please send us a link to the fanwork so we can add it to the masterpost • tag it with #shikasakuweek or @shikasaku-week to help us find it on tumblr • the only requirement is for ShikaSaku to be the main pairing in your fanwork. It can be a fic, a fanart, a fanvid, a gifset, an edit, it’s up to you! • if you have any questions, feel free to message us or refer back to our FAQ page

When: September 23-October 1, 2021.

Please, no character bashing. We’re here to create content for our ship, not ruin other people’s day.

🌸

Your works are to be inspired by the sentence prompt and the overall theme, and fit into the tag/genre we’ve provided below.

— The Prompts theme: we are giants // tales of our battles

DAY ONE storms in your lungs tag: BAMF Haruno Sakura

DAY TWO (hello again) if only our history could be eroded tag: Unreliable Narrator

DAY THREE scream, beat your chest at the wind tag: Disabled Character

DAY FOUR the sun all golden, glaring tag: Fairy Tale/Myth

DAY FIVE tears gleaming (your smile reflected in them) tag: Clan Politics

DAY SIX those sky-climbing cliffs tag: Superpowers

DAY SEVEN fresh scars on my soul (you’re the weaver of my heart) tag: Non-Sexual Intimacy

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

If you’re interested in the remix challenge and didn’t participate in it last edition, here’s a quick explanation: basically, you browse through the masterposts of the previous years and pick a story or art you like a lot. Then you write/draw an interpretation of that fanwork! Summarize in your head what the core idea of the fanwork you picked is and use that to make your own, based on that same premise. We hope you’ll enjoy yourselves and that you’ll rediscover works from previous years!

We’re incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated, inspired, creative community, and once more we’re so excited to be doing this event with all of you. We hope this will inspire you to create, and we’ll see you again in September!

(all ShikaSakuWeek art and banners are free to use in your own posts/works as decoration!)

[shikasaku-week]

🦌 🌸 To all ShikaSaku shippers, it’s that time of the year again! We hope 2021 has been treating you kindly so far, and we’re delighted to bring you this edition of ShikaSakuWeek Hanami! 

As usual, we bring you prompts and inspirations, and we hope to see many of you share your amazing works and your incredible creativity. Every year, we’re blown away by all the people who join, old and new, and how much ShikaSakuWeek works have diversified over the years (!!!!) we’ve been doing this. Let’s not stall any further, and let the 2021 Edition of ShikaSakuWeek Hanami begin! 🌸 🦌 

— The Rules

• you can post anywhere! Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, DA, Twitter, Pillowfort, go wild! • please send us a link to the fanwork so we can add it to the masterpost • tag it with #shikasakuweek or @shikasaku-week to help us find it • the only requirement is for ShikaSaku to be the main pairing in your fanwork. It can be a fic, a fanart, a fanvid, a gifset, an edit, it’s up to you!

When: April 4th-11th. We normally do this at the end of March, but we want to give you a bit more time to prepare!

Please, no character bashing. We’re here to create content for our ship, not ruin other people’s day.

🌸

This time, we’ve tried something new: you have your usual cryptic prompt that your mods love so much, and coupled with them are “official” tags from both our AO3 accounts, which we’ve picked from our most used tags. This tells you a bit about our own writing, haha (you don’t want to know how many times Mod Mako has used Angst in their own works...).

Your works are to be inspired by the sentence prompt and the overall theme, and fit into the tag/genre we’ve provided below. 

— The Prompts theme: beauty in habits // the joy of daily life

DAY ONE the cluttered kitchen table tag: Team as Family

DAY TWO i love you when you— tag: Fluff

DAY THREE nails tapping on porcelain tag: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD

DAY FOUR we were dragging slow comet tails tag: Grief/Mourning

DAY FIVE we lock eyes (as we brush our teeth, in the mirror) tag: Alternate Universe - Soulmates

DAY SIX every night like dying/every morning like a dream tag: Angst

DAY SEVEN i feel your every fingertip on my skin tag: Hurt/Comfort

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

If you’re interested in the remix challenge and didn’t participate in it last edition, here’s a quick explanation: basically, you browse through the masterposts of the previous years and pick a story or art you like a lot. Then you write/draw an interpretation of that fanwork! Summarize in your head what the core idea of the fanwork you picked is and use that to make your own, based on that same premise. We hope you’ll enjoy yourselves and that you’ll rediscover works from previous years!

(all ShikaSakuWeek art, banners and badges are free to use in your own posts/works as decoration!)

Thank you for being with us year after year as we cultivate this little patch of rareship land we’ve made for ourselves. It’s such a great feeling to see the ShikaSaku tag fill up on AO3 and Tumblr year after year, and we have you to thank for that! If you weren’t there, Mako, Mouse and our few rareship friends would still be screaming our love into the void. We love this little community and we’re excited to do this with you all once more!

[shikasaku-week]

One more edition of ShikaSaku Week, and another sincere thank you to all of you who participate year after year. We recognise names and styles with every new edition and it is a pleasure to see you return. Just as exciting is having new people join every time, slowly but surely expanding the Naruto verse where our two favourite idiots made it to a happy ending. 

With good news slowly trickling in as Spring passed us by, this edition of ShikaSaku Week was blessed with a much lighter societal climate than the last two, and it’s such a relief. We truly hope this has been a better, happier, safer time for all of you who contributed, and we thank you again for your participation despite what life most likely threw at you during this week.

Once more, we tried something new with the prompts, and with quite a bit of experience behind us, we now ask you for your help: follow this link to find a quick survey to give your opinion on the various prompt styles we used over the years, as well as general questions regarding what you love about ShikaSaku Week and what we can improve. We’d genuinely appreciate any help you can give in this matter.

But for now, it’s with great joy that we list all the contributions you lovely people made to the ShikaSaku Week Hanami 2021!

beauty in habits // the joy of daily life

DAY ONE the cluttered kitchen table tag: Team as Family

Art:

Day one by @ohayohimawari

Fic:

the village’s best kept secret by @snickiebear​

I'm what’s left when children go to war by @dimancheetoile​

let the soft animal/love what it loves by @mouseymightymarvellous

DAY TWO i love you when you— tag: Fluff

Fic:

harsh and exciting/over and over by @mouseymightymarvellous

the world settles on his shoulders by @snickiebear​

Run to show that love’s worth running to @dimancheetoile​

DAY THREE nails tapping on porcelain tag: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD​

Fic:

god's pity by @snickiebear​

I’m the face that stares back when the screen goes to black by @dimancheetoile​

tell me about despair (i will tell you mine) by @mouseymightymarvellous​​

DAY FOUR we were dragging slow comet tails tag: Grief/Mourning

Fic:

reflections of our soul (reflections of you and me) by @snickiebear

I’m not going to scream, beat my chest at the wind (I’m doing fine) by @dimancheetoile​

high in the clean blue air by @mouseymightymarvellous​

DAY FIVE we lock eyes (as we brush our teeth, in the mirror) tag: Alternate Universe - Soulmates

Fic:

you/how lonely by @mouseymightymarvellous​​

truths: seek them, tell them, accept them by @snickiebear​​

DAY SIX every night like dying/every morning like a dream tag: Angst​

Fic:

meanwhile/the world/goes on by @mouseymightymarvellous​​

DAY SEVEN i feel your every fingertip on my skin tag: Hurt/Comfort

Fic:

to be good by @mouseymightymarvellous​

In Return by @maiikawriter​

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

Art:

Day eight by @yamirav​

Fic:

the family of things by @mouseymightymarvellous​

[shikasaku-week]

Hello, fellow ShikaSaku lovers! Guess what time of the year it is?

Yes, it’s ShikaSaku Week 2020! The main event of the year, during the worst year of the millennium, of course. We don’t do things by half, here at ShikaSakuWeek Ltd. For this edition, we have an interesting mix of prompts for you, and we hope you’ll be inspired by them and give us even more content than last time! Fun fact: ShikaSaku Hanami 2020 was the most prolific week since the event was created, and we know you can do even better this time! Let’s get started ♥

— The Rules

• you can post anywhere! Tumblr, AO3, FF.net, DA, Twitter, Pillowfort, go wild! • please send us a link to the fanwork so we can add it to the masterpost • tag it with #shikasakuweek or @shikasaku-week to help us find it • the only requirement is for ShikaSaku to be the main pairing in your fanwork. It can be a fic, a fanart, a fanvid, a gifset, an edit, it’s up to you!

When: Sept 30th to Oct 7th. We would have loved for it to match with Shikamaru’s birthday like we usually do, but we want to let people know a bit in advance, so herewe are.

Please, no character bashing. We’re here to create content for our ship, not ruin other people’s day.

This time, you get two prompts, like for Hanami, with a twist! One prompt is our traditional group of obscure words and obtuse metaphors. And the second prompt is a song from which we picked two lyrics and you have to find a way to work one of them into your story (bonus point if you use the quote word for word, but it’s not mandatory, you can just be inspired by the lyrics).

You get to choose if you’d rather use our pretentious word prompts, or the song lyrics (and if you’re not inspired by the lyrics we picked, you can still use the song prompt and pick your own lyrics in it to integrate in your story! We just encourage you to challenge yourself with the limitation of the lyrics we picked).

We tried our best to pick as many different genres of songs as possible, so everyone can find something they like. So there’s pop, rap, folk/trad, indie, hard rock, glam metal, you get the idea. Have fun!

— The Prompts Light & Shadow Theme

DAY ONE streetlights at dusk Insomnia by IAMX Lyrics #1 “ Oh, my god, you're beautiful Why do you stay with this neurotic fool?” Lyrics #2  “ I don't know what is happening to me Or if I'll die, 'cause I just never sleep”

DAY TWO like a moth (to flame) Moby Dick by Jakey Lyrics #1 “I'm not the one that you wanted But damn it I think I could be what you need” Lyrics #2 “I know you better than you know yourself Well, my self said "you can go straight to hell"

DAY THREE chiaroscuro/clair-obscur The Seed by Aurora Lyrics #1: “Through dirt and shadow I grow I’m reaching light through the struggle” Lyrics #2: “Suffocate me So my tears can be rain” 

DAY FOUR eclipse (looking for the moon) Bushes and Briars by McDonnel Trio Lyrics #1: “I overheard a voice, it rang so loud and clear Long time have been waiting for the coming of my dear” Lyrics #2: “Sometimes I am weary and troubled in my mind But if I should go to love, my love he will say, "Nay." If I show to him my madness, he'll never love me again”

DAY FIVE Well then, kiss me,—since my mother left her blessing on my brow, There has been a something wanting in my nature until now” “Though my soul may set in darkness, i will rise in perfect light; i have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night Only The Good Die Young by Kissin’ Dynamite Lyrics #1: “I'll never sleep, how long the game will go? I have to burn bright like a star” Lyrics #2: “Only the good die young Living as a rebel, dying as a rebel”

DAY SIX (like a crystal) he diffracts the light

The Chain by Fleetwood Mac Lyrics #1: “Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise Run in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies” Lyrics #2: “Break the silence Damn the dark, damn the light And if you don't love me now You will never love me again”

DAY SEVEN the night is ours (i want, i want) Her Sweet Kiss by Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli Lyrics #1: “I'm weak my love, and I am wanting If this is the path I must trudge I'll welcome my sentence, give to you my penance Garroter, jury, and judge” Lyrics #2: “A storm raging on the horizon Of longing and heartache and lust She's always bad news, it's always lose, lose”

DAY EIGHT (bonus day) free day or remix challenge

If you’re interested in the remix challenge and didn’t participate in it last edition, here’s a quick explanation: Basically, you browse through the masterposts of the previous years and pick a story or art you like a lot. Then you write/draw an interpretation of that fanwork! Summarize in your head what the core idea of the fanwork you picked is (for exemple: Shikamaru and Sakura are captured. The story is their escape.) and use that to make your own, based on that same premise. It’s basically like making a movie remake, or writing fanfiction based on the canon of something you like (we have a feeling you know how to do that, don’t you?). So there you go, that’s the remix challenge! We hope you’ll enjoy yourselves and that you’ll rediscover works from previous years!

Once again, thank you for participating in ShikaSaku Week. I (Mako) can’t believe how far we’ve come, from this little event in 2017 where two people and a half knew about it, to the massive (for a rarepair, at least) amount of content from the last edition. Thank you so, so much for being here every year, you’re the best. Let’s celebrate ShikaSaku one more time!

[shikasaku-week]

ShikaSaku Week is done once again! 

Thank you to everyone who participated, veterans and new creators. We had everything from art to words, fluff to angst, and everyone gave it their creative all. It’s such a pleasure every time to see all your incredible works and see, edition after edition, our little ship grow. Can you imagine being a new ShikaSaku fan in 2021 and finding all these works, compared to the literal handful of them there was in 2017 when ShikaSaku Week was done for the first time?

Thank you so much for your time and effort this week; as always, you can still post after the deadline and tag us in your works so we can see them and add them to the masterpost, which will be posted later this month to give everyone the time to finish up whatever they were working on. We’d appreciate your feedback on this edition’s prompts, with the added AO3 tags. Were they helpful, interesting? A fun challenge or a welcome guideline? Both?

We’re excited to hear from you, and we can’t wait to see you all again in September! We hope 2021 is treating you well so far, and we thank you all once more for your participation in ShikaSakuWeek Hanami 2021  🌸 🦌