Chapter Text
The air was pulpable, the two sat stilled by the moment. The shogi board between them momentarily losing the focus of the two most intelligent chunin in Konoha. The future head of the Nara clan took in his opponent; she was unexpected; with an IQ as high as his few things missed his purview. The pink haired kunoichi fidgeted; knuckles clenched on her knees as if holding her breath.
Easily dismissible, no remarkable talent… no one had surprised him more in growth.
Ever since he had requested her for the 'return the favour' mission where they assisted the Sand siblings retrieve the new Kazekage's genin student; Sakura and Shikamaru had awkwardly danced loops around each other. She had been noticed by him and she did not know what to do with that newfound level of respect.
He pitied her inability to even get that slight recognition from her teammates. Ever since his failed mission he had developed a newfound respect for support roles such as the Medical Corp and knowing Sakura had gone as far as to pursue an apprenticeship with Hokage herself?
Even a shirker like him might be prone to raise an eyebrow in interest.
The past year had seen him working more closely with Hokage Tower and often alongside Sakura by chance of proximity. He was also in line to prepare the coming chunin exams with that Sand Witch Temari. One lunchtime game of Shogi had turned into a tradition, which then extended to her unexpectantly turning up on his doorstep occasionally to continue their game. Shikamaru was surprised he had never suggested they match up on Shogi previously. The only sounds were the clicking of pieces across the board. They hardly ever spoke it was not generally needed. She was adept, ruthless at strategy and even though her direct approach left much to be desired as far as the 'Art of Strategy'; she had given him a run for his intelligence more then he would ever carelessly admit.
Since Sakura had become a chunin she had been doing side-line missions that even he was not privy to. And, that he had blatantly missed if his current surprise at her predicament was anything to go by. He placed his hands in a position of thought. As he pondered his response.
"Your personal handler for your 'special kunoichi' missions is being reassigned and for the promotion you must …. 'Step up'? Can you please clarify, I am not Kakashi it's too troublesome to work out the 'underneath' of this …" Sakura's temper twitched in her sharp green eyes, she might be embarrassed but, she wasn't a shirker like him.
"I have been doing C and D rank type seduction missions basically, bait switch type stuff, or where genjutsu is appropriate, to get B and A missions I have to deal with my virginity." She took a deep breath; it was obvious her sharp mind had mulled over this before approaching him. "There are protocols in this scenario, Shisou can't keep me from doing the above missions but, they will not accept that I remain a virgin. If I don't find a suitable solution it becomes my Genin instructors’ job to handle it." Shikamaru cringed, "Shikamaru, it would kill Kakashi-sensei to follow this order, or worse he would interfere with my ability to do these missions. He is so protective of me that it has in a way hindered my growth as a ninja. Not intentionally of course, but if I keep depending on him or someone else to 'save' me I won't be able to do it myself."
He put his finger to his chin, eyebrows dipping in thought. "So, this led you to your next thought which was me?" he asked simply, there was no judgement in his voice, he said it with a curiosity to his tone.
She laughed lightly, "Well, no not initially."
"What about Lee?" she laughed,
"He would be to emotionally involve." He nodded that made sense, "Neji?" she shivered, "TenTen would kill me have you seen the way those two are?" he put down another finger, then he himself added; "Kiba wouldn't keep his mouth shut, Shino well… that doesn't seem like that would work well unless you want bed bugs, Chouji is kind enough to but, it would break him especially…"
Sakura finished "Because of his crush on Ino."
He stilled. "And of course, your own teammates… who would likely help you are well, not here." He said bitterly.
The silence rang, he rarely broached the topic of Team 7's current hiatus with her. Even as chunnin leading his own teams Shikamaru still found himself consistently having missions with Team Asuma. He watched as her face dropped lost in her own thoughts on her team.
"I know, I could ask any number of jounin like Genma-san would jump at the chance…but, I don't think I could …. you know, someone I don't know…and well, Tem-Temari mentioned you…ummm,"
Well, that surprised him, the fierce wildcat admitting that something happened. She has only avoided him ever since when she's come to the village. And denied any residual feelings to the contrary. He had been vulnerable after the failed mission, and she was there. He still did not know how he felt about it anymore.
Sakura blushed, "I am sorry, it's just…."
"Logical." He muttered wondering if he was going to regret his answer.
Sakura twitched, asking this of Shikamaru was the most humiliating thing she had to work herself up for. More humiliating then being abandoned on a park bench in the middle of winter by the boy you love. She knew enough about him through their unlikely match ups both on missions and during their silent shogi sessions that he would not laugh at her at the very least and at the most he would see how this would benefit not just her but, further missions she took for Konoha. Shikamaru as always could see the bigger picture.
"I will do it." He said, simply meeting her gaze for the first time since she broached the topic. "You will?" she squeaked, relief. She had not realized how tight the issue had made the tension in her shoulders as they relaxed; 'she wasn't going to be a burden when they went after Sasuke-kun' she thought to herself.
"I will, for the sake of Konoha and your future as a Kunoichi I will help you." He stood up dusting dust off his pants and put out his hand.
She grabbed it lifting herself up, gulping, "…. Now?" He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "Now's as good as any and I am sure if either of us are given the chance to think about it, it won't happen."
He was right, of course.
He led her through the threshold of his family home. She had only been there a few times Yoshino-san had insisted on her staying for dinner the few times she had caught her playing shogi with her son. His father had always patiently answered her insistent questions around the deer antler properties for her medical knowledge.
His room was tidy not what she expected from the lazy chunin. It was simple in its presentation and the sun sat nicely behind the thin curtains. Perfect for easing into the day. She shivered. Shikamaru took in her nervousness; he briefly took a moment to appreciate the difficulty that must have led her to this. He touched her hand she jumped slightly, she was like skittish doe cautious but, approaching his open hand. She placed hers in it.
"You are safe." She looked him in the eye meeting his steady gaze. For a moment he saw the blossoming in her eyes steadying with his reassurance he was reminded of his chunin exams when she sliced her hair in a fit of determination. Her eyes were beautiful, he wondered how he had not noticed that before. He lifted his hand tracing her chin slowly guiding it up. Leaning down he placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She hesitated unsure but, followed his lead. As he felt her ease into him, he begged entrance with his tongue she opened instinctively; the kiss was warm and lazy just like him.
She shivered as his hands softly traced snail trails up her arms leaving goosebumps in his wake. She was sensitive and responsive to his touch even if she hardly realized it, lost in the kiss her mewls and sighs begged him silently for more, for what she did not know exactly. Her own arms moved to his waist. The chunin vest awarded her enough distance to almost forget her reasoning for being there with him like this. He prodded the zip down; his vest slowly as to not scare the skittish doe. He moved back breaking their kiss to remove it. Her eyes followed his movements as he stood in just the fishnet shirt. Sakura was slightly stunned at the physique he held for such a lazy shinobi; she reached as if in a daze to place a hand on his chest. They stood still for a moment their steadying breaths calculating the next move.
Nara Shikamaru was a leader when it was required.
He gently unzipped the front of her dress following it as it opened revealing pert breasts encased in a delicate white lace. He raised an eyebrow slightly with a roguish grin, 'no bindings?' Seems she did come prepared. She dropped her top nervously, looking down with embarrassment, she had not been this revealed in front of anyone but, the girls ever. He cupped her left breast while meeting her lips again; a gasp at the lightening new sensations curled her toes arching her body towards it. A soft 'Oh,' on her lips. He picked her up groaning himself at the tightness of her firm rear as he laid her down on his bed.
Sakura was acutely aware of the new sensations of warmth rolling through her petite body. Her bodies instinctive response to his hands across her came naturally. The roll of her hips, her spine curving to follow the length of his body with hers. He deftly unclipped her bra; she blushed at his obvious finesse. As he slowly released her breasts from their lace; nipples taunt with arousal Shikamaru latched his mouth eliciting harsh gasp, "Ah, fuck," His own arousal gaining with each authentic movement and response.
Clothes detached piece by piece, each caress harsher than the one before it. Pinching her hips, he paused as his hardness grazed her entrance, he waited for an indication that this was in fact what she was asking of him. Her slick legs pulling him closer in response, his brown eyes meeting her jade; a small nod was all it took. Gently, he slid in with all the care he could muster, 'fuck, fuck,' the urge to just shove through the barrier of resistance was strong but, a small seed of sanity prevailed gently burying himself into her tight opening. Her eyes closed tight as she breathed through the initial discomfort. She slowly nodded her eyes meeting his as he rolled his hips. The apparent shock to the pleasure surprising her. Her hand gripping the bed head above them creating chakra infused indents unconsciously. As he moved to the rhythm of his own making. Sakura felt a flush as a new feeling rose within her stomach, though never having the experience before she knew what was happening. "Shika…I think…I'm…." She did not finish the sentence as he smothered her mouth reaching down between them to flick that ever elusive button while pushing harder into her then before. Her voice pitched as she came, lost momentarily in a place of pleasure, and want.
Shikamaru felt her pulling all around him dragging him along with her. He graciously slid to the side not wanting to collapse his weight onto her tiny frame. He pulled a blanket up covering their cold sweated bodies shifting her under his arm into a lazy embrace.
Sakura lied still as the silence fell; she felt Shikamaru's breath steady out with lightness indicating he had fallen asleep. She took a moment to take in her devirginized state. She knew she had done the right thing; she knew this would open her ability to seek intel. She thought of Naruto training with Master Jiraya pushing away the rising guilt at keeping her secrets from her team.
Kakashi-sensei had no idea that the information he was following up was intel she had been gathering with her handler. He had no idea that she would be the one acquiring that intel or by what means if necessary. Her determination to not bring her team down, carrying the weight of this burden alone. She turned slightly to Shikamaru taking in his profile in a way she had not before; 'maybe not entirely alone?' she thought, at least she had someone to talk to about it now.
They would never know her sacrifice and she was ok with that.
She would bring Sasuke-kun home.
***
Sakura would have to be kidding herself to believe that what had happened between them would not play out into their everyday lives. As she stood in her shower early morning in her apartment more than a week later, she couldn't deny that every present urge that had been plaguing her since that moment. It was like a slow burning fire had awakened in her body.
Shikamaru to his credit had acted as she knew he would towards her; with the same indifference he had before. He had turned up to play Shogi at lunchtime the next day after she had discreetly exited through his bedroom window when she had woken to hear his mother returning that evening. The newly awakened part of her body twitched every time she was in vicinity of the shirker. And, at the worst times she would catch herself remembering the feel of his body to then throw herself headfirst into her training with the Hokage. Sakura schooled her features in his presence but, behind closed doors she found herself exploring herself in a way she had never been able to before.
A knock at her disrupted her morning exploring much to her frustration. She leapt out of the shower rolling her towel around her as she answered the door. She blushed as Shikamaru stood there. He took in her appearance schooling his own response, "Hokage, wants us in her office once you are ready." Sakura beckoned him in, "Put on the tea, I will just get dressed." She rushed to her room taking a moment to catch her breath. That was close…
Shikamaru awkwardly made himself at home with the pot. Admittedly, he was having more trouble in her company then he would ever dare let on. It would be far more troublesome if she thought he was ashamed or embarrassed. Knowing Sakura, she would misunderstand. Shikamaru was lazy there was no doubt to that. And, even though he did not make a habit of walking into trouble when he found himself in the middle of it, as his father had taught him; he faced it. You could not strategize solutions to a problem if you avoided it all together that strategy was more of a delay tactic. It would always come back to bite you in the arse. By acting as his usual self, the awkwardness should disappear with time. He hoped.
Truth is answering the door like that; just made him want to bend her over the nearest horizontal surface and have his way with her. They were adolescents it was an understandable hormonal response, was it not?
Sakura returned kitted for training or a mission. She had adopted a more battle appropriate attire then from when she was a genin. He passed her a tea and leant back on her bench. It was not the first time he had disturbed her morning routine on Hokage orders but, this was defiantly different.
Sakura sipped her tea with a sigh, she hesitated to bite her lip instead of saying what was on her mind, he didn't miss the hesitation; he heard his father's voice, 'Don't avoid it will delay any strategy you come up with,'
"What is it?" he asked gently, in his usual bored drawl; "Does it always feel …." Unable to find the right word for their scenario. Her face blushed slightly, he shrugged. "Well, maybe I don't know. But intimacy … seems to from my experience, create chinks in the armour we wear in world."
He sipped his tea, "Can I ask you something, Sakura?" she nodded, her lip quirked with humour, "Well, it'd hardly be fair for me to ask all the questions and favours." He laughed, "I have to ask, are you really prepared to go down the road you are travelling? How far are you really prepared to go for information?" She took a deep breath, "Seems strange that you are asking this now rather than before…" he shrugged, "I doubt, you could have given a real answer until after the experience."
"Well, you are right in that it has opened my eyes to what it means. But for my duty to Konoha," 'and Sasuke-kun….' "I am prepared to die; for those I wish to protect," she met his eyes, "Even if it kills pieces of me at a time… it is for Konoha." He placed a hand on her shoulder with an empathetic squeeze. 'Maybe, the boys of Team 7 were never the strongest…'
"Let's get going."
Her fists curled on her desk begging not for the first time that week for the hangover to just disappear. This had to be the hardest decision she ever had to make as Hokage. But, ultimately in a lot of ways it was not even her decision. The Council had made it clear when she had taken on Haruno Sakura as an apprentice that favouritism of any sort would terminate the girls' future within the village. Sakura had understood that and handled it better then she herself did.
Yaguo-san stepping down as her Handler/ Trainer in the seduction arts was foreseeable. No colleague of Copy-nin Hatake Kakashi was ever going to be prepared to hide such a secret from him. She had only agreed to train her and allow her to assist on lower rank seduction missions as a middle ground compromise but, she was not prepared to be on the sideline when his student went into the darker aspects of their profession.
Sakura disclosing that she had 'dealt with the virginity' issue had moved the timeline out of her hands. She honestly did not think the girl had it in her. Her loyalty to Sasuke was the apparent driving force for her to want to be out there gathering intel. Tsunade had been gambling on the idea that she would have to face Kakashi due to the protocol, seems Sakura had no intention of it coming to be his decision.
She should have known better then to place a bet on that.
When she passed the Pre-Seduction Medical verifying that she had in fact lost her virginity Tsunade's hands were bound. Bound with Chakra enforced rope of Sakura's on making.
Tsunade took in the scarlet mission scroll in front of her uneasily as the two chunnin's entered her office. She took in the slouched posture of Shikaku's son with her usual twitch and the pink haired Haruno whom she had in the time since Naruto's departure honed into her own image. She passed the scroll to Sakura. "It's a B rank scarlet mission." She said quietly, Sakura nodded a firm set her shoulders, hiding her nerves behind her professionalism all too well. Tsunade had no doubt in Sakura's ability, but it terrified her… Shikamaru eyed the scroll wondering why the Hokage would hand out such a mission in front of him. 'Did she know?' "Shikamaru, you will be Haruno Sakura's new handler/team leader for these missions…" The shock on his face was evidence enough to Sakura he had no idea this was coming. "But umm…" he started; his mind blank. "Why me?' Tsunade smiled, a hint of the devil in her grin, "It seems no jounin or ANBU operative would dare stand up to Hatake Kakashi if he were to find out about Sakura's new status." She shrugged, "You on the other hand, are smart enough to know the one to fear is Sakura if her determination to get forward is hindered." Tsunade laughed, remembering something he had said, "Was it not you that stated, 'she's as ruthless as you, Hokage-sama' after your last mission with her?" Sakura blushed, Shikamaru shivered. "She had just punched a pretty large crater through that drug cartels hide out… clearly I was in shock." He deadpanned. Sakura laughed; she remembered the mission well.
Tsunade nodded staring with all seriousness down at Shikamaru, "Look out for her Nara, I am trusting you to bring her home safely. And, on the promise of all things you hold precious, do not tell Kakashi."
"Troublesome."