A/N: I finally got some reviews! Thanks so much for all of your support and I made sure to reply to all of my reviewers!

Warning: Language

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I own Naruto in my dreams… Then all manly characters are my slaves to do my naughty pleasures! Mwah ha ha ha ha!

Chapter 6

Shikamaru woke up in an empty bed, but still damp in a moist towel. ‘What time is it?’ He glanced at his clock. Five in the morning. He tilted his nose upwards, having a delicious smell welcome him in the morning. It was something that he grew accustomed to when he lived with his mother, but then learned to live without, especially since his mother was no longer there to cook for him. Besides, he barely had time for breakfast now a days, with missions and whatnot.

He finally registered in his head what had happened the night before. ‘Where is pinky anyway?’ He found himself blushing from thinking about how he held her last night, and what he wore exactly when he did. To be perfectly honest, he was barely wearing anything, just a white towel, while Sakura was wearing a large, white shirt that happened to be his.

Shikamaru drudged out of the bed, towel falling to the floor. He drew his arms up, stretching, then rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He made his bed, which he thought to be troublesome since it was a waste of his time, but every time he would leave his bed a mess, he would hear a faint voice of his mother nagging at him. Shikamaru chuckled. He took another deep breath in, realizing that someone in his house was cooking, and also to the fact that Sakura was no longer in the room.

He walked slowly to a dresser to get out some pants, and maybe boxers if he was lucky. He opened the mahogany drawer, took out dark blue boxers and tan cargo pants that went to his knees. Today, he had no missions, so he found no point in getting out the armor. However, with being a shinobi and all, he planned to put the vest on him, just for emergency purposes.

Just when he was about to slide a leg in one the elastic… he heard plates clattering behind him. Shikamaru’s sleepy eyes grew wide, and he turned his head hesitantly over his shoulder. And there it was, well, there she was. Sakura was able to slip in the door without making it creak. But now, in front of her, were broken plates and bowls and cups. In one of her hands, a tray was dangling. His gaze traveled to her face, which was now flustered and could probably compare to a tomato at the moment; Sasuke would have indulged her if that was true.

She no longer wore his shirt, but had on a pair of white cotton panties and her white bindings underneath one of Shikamaru’s black fishnet shirts. But that could not compare to what was in front of her.

Sakura spluttered out a sorry and covered her eyes with her hands, already embarrassed of what happened. She started to state something about breakfast and bed and shirts and food in kitchen. She was actually speaking so fast that Shikamaru couldn’t comprehend. However, he wasn’t as embarrassed as he should have been. Seeing Sakura so flustered was kind of cute; besides, he had a pretty hot ass, and Sakura took note of that. Thank Kami that she didn’t see anything else!

“You can open your eyes now.”

Sakura peeked through one of her fingers and sighed a held breath.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t realize that you were a morning person, nor did I know that you were awake.”

Shikamaru chuckled, “Well I didn’t think the same,” a silence fell upon them, but he spoke up, “Well you got an eyeful… didn’t you?”

Sakura’s cheeks turned pink, and she turned around briskly, arms crossed in front of her, lips pouting, and foot stomped on the floor, “Well it’s not my fault that male shinobi are damn hot!”

Shikamaru chuckled, then whispered in her ear, “Not all,” he walked out the door, “Just me!”

Sakura laughed and proceeded to bend down to pick up the broken glass and porcelain. Slowly, she picked each piece up, sights of blood flashing through her mind. She shook the images away from her head, trying not to remember that one point in time when she was completely out of it.

The smart genius walked through the door with a dustpan, ready to sweep up the mess before anyone got hurt. Suddenly, Sakura saw red.

“Ow!”

“What’s wrong Sakura?”

“I pricked myself,” she showed him her finger and stuck her tongue out, “Nothing that I can’t fix!”

She made an attempt to control her chakra but then burned herself with the pink energy. She no longer had blue chakra, like others, but decided that maybe she should be different! So she had her chakra done pink… odd, isn’t it?

Sighing in defeat, Sakura resorted to squeezing out the blood before wrapping it in a bandage.

“I guess I still can’t control my chakra anymore!” She let out another sigh, as well as a defeated look, before plastering on a fake smile to cheer Shikamaru up, and proceeded to clean the floor, “I have breakfast ready! We have a meeting with Lady Tsunade, and I, for one, am very excited! I can’t wait to learn about my real past!”

Shikamaru smiled in a pitiful attempt and led the way to the kitchen. He was welcomed with a sight of the most delicious food.

“What’s with the feast?”

“I got bored. And I haven’t had anything good to eat, other than coffee and ramen! I think I’m getting sick of that, so I’m cooking food for a change. I hope you like it!”

“I love it,” Shikamaru gave out a true smile, and in turn, she gave out a true smile. That was something that could melt any man’s heart, as well as her laugh. Shikamaru wondered right at that moment if this is what it would be like if he was married to Sakura. He dazed out of reality and started to daydream.

“Earth to Shika-kun! Dig in!” She motioned him to sit, and he did.

Shikamaru shook the thoughts of marriage from his head. She deserved someone better; not anyone as monotonous and plain as him. He didn’t deserve someone as perfect as her; he deserved an average looking wife and an average life. The average life could not come true, but the wife thing was bound to happen, he thought.

He took a whiff and a smell of food engorged his nostrils. Pancakes? Sakura had a fork near his mouth.

“Try it! It’s American food… I think. Well, it’s something different and it’s really good!”

Shikamaru opened his mouth and chewed on the gooey, chewy… delicious bite!

“Wow… This is pretty good!”

“Yippee! I’m glad you like it,” she handed him a glass of orange juice and started to eat some herself.

They ate in silence, but chomped mercilessly. When the food was consumed, Sakura washed the dishes, with the help of Shikamaru, and went to the guest room.

“I’m going to take a shower. We still have five hours until the meeting.”

“Heh, yup.”

Shikamaru left the room, giving Sakura privacy and so that the earlier scene would not occur again. He lazily walked to the living room and plopped on the couch. The genius picked up the remote and flipped through channels, finding nothing else better to do with his time.

He started to think of the past few days: the attempted rape, the mission, the attempted suicide, the scroll, the bedroom, the sleep… but most especially, Sakura. He smiled every time he thought of her. He turned the television off, getting off the couch.

A knock was heard at the door. Shikamaru looked through the peephole and saw two people. He groaned, for he was not in the mood for any guests.

“Yo. Come in, Gaara and Kiba.” It was an unlikely couple to walk through the door together, but they just nodded their heads, gave their acknowledgement and sat down at the kitchen table.

Shikamaru inquired, “So how are you two feeling after yesterday’s predicament?”

“We’re doing just fine. How is Sakura?” Gaara asked.

“She’s okay. I think she’s over it, well, just about. She’s not acting the way you described her.”

Kiba smirked, “That’s good.”

Shikamaru offered the guests some breakfast, made by Sakura, and they wanted some, wanting to know how the kunoichi cooked. It wasn’t any surprise to them that the food was to die for. It was like a trip to paradise, heaven and back in a morsel of delights.

They went over to the living room, to mainly talk about nonsense. The television was on, running in the background.

“So where is Sakura?” Kiba asked, anxious to see her happy again.

“She’s taking a shower, and she has been for the last hour.”

Gaara smirked, ‘Just like my sister.’

“Apparently, you don’t know girls. They take so long to take showers and get ready to look just right for whomever they please. But don’t worry about it; she’s probably just washing her troubles away. We still have four hours until the meeting.”

“Hn.”

The door to the guest bedroom creaked open, and Sakura walked out of the door. When she walked, she left a trail of water behind her. The kunoichi realized that a certain brunette and red head were in the room as well. Her main concern was getting to Shikamaru. Besides, it wasn’t like she was naked! She was just a little embarrassed about how she lost control the day before. It was a sign of weakness, and she hated to be weak in front of the guys.

Sakura walked down the hallway to the room, and peered over the corner. She was wet, clad in a white, fuzzy towel, wrapped around her chest, only reaching about mid-thigh.

Sakura steeped into the living room. The way she was approaching them, none of the boys could see her unless they turned fully around. She wrapped her damp arms around Shikamaru’s shoulders, giving him a hug and startling him, and the two other boys. The image of her bending over with only a piece of cloth on made Gaara and Kiba blush furiously, with both perviness and envy.

She said loud enough for everyone to hear, but still in a hushed whisper, “Do you mind if I wear your clothes today? I never came prepared, and I don’t think that I should run around town in a towel to get into my house, nor do I really trust any of you boys to break into my house.” She giggled.

In turn, Gaara and Shikamaru smirked, leaving Kiba to chuckle. It was really a cute sight, but Shikamaru ended it when he nodded, “You can wear my clothes, but I’m pretty sure that they’re too big for you. Check the guest bedroom though. There should be a whole set of clothes in the drawers.”

“Thanks Shika-kun!” She gave him a friendly peck on the cheek and waved bye to Gaara and Kiba, who was left dumbfounded.

Gaara growled, “Shika-kun?”

“Don’t ask…”

Kiba shouted for Sakura to hear, “You could wear my jacket if you want to!”

Sakura was in the hallway and tiptoed back to the presence of the three males. Kiba took his jacket off, showing off his pecs and abs. He looked damn fine! Sakura laughed and shook her head no.

“I’ll be fine!”

“Suit yourself…” Kiba smirked at her reaction to his fit body, rippling under his tight tank.

Gaara and Shikamaru both said, “Show-off,” under their breaths.

Kiba laughed and sat down again.

They all imagined in their heads what Sakura was going to come out like. Was she going to wear something baggy? Revealing? Normal? It didn’t matter to them. She would always be special in their eyes.

They continued to talk again, more about how girls than anything else, and for the time being, none of them had their minds on what was happening in the guestroom, or what was going to happen in the meeting. All they cared about was relaxing and being carefree for the time.

:o:o:o:

Sakura walked back to the room and closed the door, locking it shut. She went to the drawers and couldn’t really find anything that was small enough for her. He probably threw away all of his kid clothes. She went to the closet, finding a rather tight dress shirt that was particularly long. Maybe she could look like Temari from the Genin days. She put that on, but the length wasn’t as long as she would’ve liked. It was barely mid thigh!

The buttons ran down the middle, but instead of white, it was black. The top was taut, accentuating her chest, but the sleeves were loose. Thank Kami that the bottom was tight as well, or else she would’ve had a problem walking through the day. She used her headband as a belt instead of a headband. It looked a lot cooler. Sakura took Shikamaru’s fishnet fabric and cut two fingerless gloves. They reached from just below the elbow to mid-finger.

Sakura walked to the door, took a kunai out from Shikamaru’s jounin jacket. She slid down the door, sat with her knees as close to her chest. She learned somewhere that when you lose blood, stress is relieved. The kunoichi thought about that hard, and she had not the intention for suicide anymore, so she looked at the reflection of herself in the sheer metal of the kunai, and sliced through her wrists. It wasn’t in an up and down motion, but a side to side, and she did that so she wouldn’t die of too much blood loss.

Sakura bit down her bottom lip, wincing from the sting. She didn’t want to make it such a big deal, so she only bled in two slices; one for the two people that she let down most in her life – mother and father. Sakura figured that if she cut herself for every person that she let down, she’d be long dead, so the ninja chose only her mother and father, the most important people in her life, or death… whichever she ends up with.

Out of all of this, Sakura gained one thing: to accept death. She was no longer afraid to die, nor was she afraid to see the dying. In fact, you could say that the girl accepted it. But no, she wasn’t going to let anyone suffer anymore. ‘If anyone should suffer, it should be me.’

After the blood began to slow down, she put on her newly made gloves, stood up, and straightened out her new outfit. Sakura let out another glance at the mirror and smiled. She looked at the scars on her legs, then remembered the scars she had all over her body. They were still there. Sasuke was not perfect. ‘I suppose that I will fix that later. I have to stay pretty! Right? ‘She asked herself mentally: did she even deserve to be pretty?

She walked out the door, glancing at the clock.

“Wow! Time flies by fast when you’re trying to find a decent outfit out of a man’s clothes,” Sakura scratched the back of her head, grinning, “We already have only two more hours until the meeting!”

Shikamaru blushed, noting that Sakura had called him a man; he suddenly noticed what she was wearing. It reminded him an awful lot about Temari. ‘That blond girl was such a drag back in the Genin days, but I still can’t help but get the fact straight through that I liked her… back then.’

Kiba smiled, lifting up a fist, thumb sticking out, “You look hot, Sakura!”

Gaara, not wanting all of her attention on the canine boy, said; “He’s right,” just to be modest and not overbearing.

Sakura ran over to the three sitting on the couch, and enveloped them in a bear crushing hug, lifting the back of her shirt just a little bit higher; after all, these boys were about a head taller than her.

“Thanks you guys! You’re so sweet!” She giggled, leaving each shinobi blushing, but quickly controlled it when they realized that they were staring at each other.

Sakura smiled against, shifting her shirt lower to cover more skin, “Let’s go out! I want to have some fresh air after being stuck in this place for Kami knows how long!”

The boys groaned. For shinobi, they were really lazy and didn’t really want to spend a perfectly good day walking. They rather sit down and wallow in self-depression.

Sakura took a hold of Gaara’s arm, who Sakura suspected to be the hardest to convince. She hugged the arm, casting the cutest pleasure to her eyes, while pouting her lips just slightly, “Please, Gaara-kun!”

He grunted. Sakura threw his arm down, making the red-head stumble. She turned around, back facing the three, arms crossed in front of her chest. Sakura stuck her chin up in the air, while saying, “Fine! Be that way! Let me walk through town all by myself where someone might try to gang bang me! You obviously don’t care if a random stranger or drunken guy comes up to me, takes me into a secluded area, and fuck me senseless! I might as well have my virginity lost by tonight!”

The sly kunoichi eyed them, laughing in her head, and began to saunter towards the door, leaving dumbfounded boys behind. Although they should have been registering about her threat, or rather dream, they had more fun staring at her ass.

Finally, Shikamaru, the more aware one, said, “Hey! Wait for us! You shouldn’t go out there all alone.”

She jumped up and down, clapping her hands, “Yay!”

Sakura ran down the stairs, a fluster of shinobi following her every step.

:o:o:o:

They got to town square, bumping into Ino, Hinata, Ten Ten and Temari. The two blonds, latched onto Shikamaru’s muscular arms, while his hands were currently occupying his pockets.

The genius rolled his eyes, “What a drag.” Making the two giggle.

Ten Ten and Hinata went over to Sakura, not knowing what happened to her that day before, but hugged her and commented on her new outfit.

Gaara’s arm latched onto Sakura, hooking them up. I suppose that this was a kind gesture to protect her, but his real plans were to get Haruno to see the guy he really was. Gaara liked her, but he didn’t want this to be unrequited.

Ten Ten waved to a batch of other shinobi, bringing more ninja to the group that was already large. Kankuro and Choji, Naruto and Sasuke, Neji and Lee, Shino and Sai joined them. They walked through the town, basically laughing and talking. But one person was just out of reality, not in tone with it whatsoever. Sakura put on an act by laughing every so often and plastering a smile on her face throughout the entire walk, but she rarely listened.

Sakura was in a whole other world, where she didn’t know who or what to control. She was trying to mentally prepare herself for what Tsunade was going to tell them, and picturing in her head what all her friends’ reactions would be. She hoped that whatever the news was, they would still accept her, no matter what. Sakura hoped that this news about her past wouldn’t break the connection that she had with the Fighting Dreamers.

She still wasn’t in tone with reality, until Ino and Temari shrieked about some kimono that they wanted Shikamaru to buy for them. He honestly didn’t have the money, but still grew irritated at the latching monkeys.

That grew out a conscious laugh from Sakura, as well as everyone else. Ino and Temari just pouted as they laughed and flirted with the poor boy.

Throughout Sakura’s daze, time flew quickly, before finding themselves in the Hokage’s office. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there and instead, she left a note saying to meet them in the secluded park, belonging to the Hokage.

Each of them made a simple hand seal, transporting them to the area. Sakura didn’t bother to tell anyone to wait for her, so she just stood there as she watched her friends disappear in balls of smoke. She let out a bittersweet smile, for knowing that her friends have come such a long way and for knowing that she may not be able to do any sort of jutsu, maybe even be a kunoichi ever again due to the poison.

Sakura proceeded walking down the stairs in a slow fashion. Why not make everyone wait? They made her go by herself anyway. Halfway down the stairs, Sasuke got a grasp on her covered wrist.

“It’s not safe for you to be wandering alone.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Not from what I heard,” Sasuke scoffed.

Sakura shook her head in disbelief slowly, then preceded going down the stairs, enjoying the company of someone that cares.

Sakura spoke up during the walk, which would take ten minutes until they got there, unless they ran, but anyway, “Thanks for staying behind.”

“Don’t mention it. Besides, I know about your… well you know.”

“Yeah. And thanks for trying to heal me! I know that I could have probably done a better job, but now I’m pretty sure that I’ll never be able to do that again, since I can barely produce chakra anymore.”

“Hn,” Sasuke closed his eyes, hands fisted in his pockets.

They stayed in silence until they reached the park, which was more like a garden. There, Sakura was met with a barrage of questions, like why didn’t you transport with us? Or what were you doing with Sasuke-kun? Or do you know why we’re here?

Lady Tsunade saw the bustle that Sakura was in, and felt bad for the tension it gave Sakura, so she announced loudly to shut up and that she was there.

Each ninja immediately shut their mouths and moved into a comfortable position for a rather long lecture.

“Get yourselves comfortable. This may take a while.”

Each ninja nodded, eyes brimming with anticipation of her news, except for those who do not know what happened to Sakura and such. Actually, it was a rather pleasing sight, seeing how the normally stoical ninja went along their way to look interested, even Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, and Gaara looked like their heads were about to burst from the wait.

Sakura smiled, but no twinkle in her eye. Suppose she was excited too? More likely, she was nervous… nervous of what her future held.

The lady Hokage sat down on a bench, comfortably, “I’m sure that all of you are probably wondering why I summoned you here, except for a select few; however, you will know soon enough. This meeting has been brought about because of Sakura… yes, Sakura Haruno. And it has come to my attention, after the several occurrences that have happened around her in Konoha, that all of you, especially Sakura, have the right to know what exactly is going on. Sakura, you are not who you think you are. You are,” Lady Tsunade paused, looked down, took a deep breath in, and said, “Are not from the Village Hidden in the Leaves.”

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews I got in the last chapter! It really boosted my confidence. I’m not sure when I will update, but hopefully it will be soon. With modeling, and my new book that I’m working on that is going to be publically published, I may not have time. But I will try my hardest to update, even if I have to sacrifice my sleep!